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BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


THIS  VOLUA^E  CONTAINS  BIOGRAPHICAL 
SKETCHES  OF 

THE  LEADING  CITIZENS  OF 
DELAWARE   COUNTY 

NEW    YORK 


"  Bio§:raphy  is  the  lioiiie  aspect  of  history" 


BOSTON 

Biographical  Review  Publishing  Company 
1895 


■  e^r^'f 


PREFACE 


GC)\'riCMI'()RAR\'  lecorils  ma}-  l)e  said  to  be  a  dcln  clue  from  every  t;ciKTatiiin  to  the 
future.  So  inuch  has  the  \vritin<;-  of  annals  and  ])lacinfi  them  in  a  ]ieriiianent  form 
been  neglected  liitherto  that  an  additional  burden  has  fallen  on  the  |)resent,  which,  besides 
doing  its  own  work,  must  needs  bra\-ely  endeavor  to  make  u\)  for  things  left  undone  of  old. 
Hence  this  volume  of  Delaware  Comity  biograjjliies.  which,  thanks  to  the  generous  co-operation 
of  an  a]j])reciative  public,  we  are  now  enabled  to  |)lace  before  our  readers,  while  fintling  its 
subjects  mostly  among  the  li\-ing,  men  and  women  faithfulh'  intent  on  the  business  of  to-dav. 
mentions  not  a  few  of  their  ancestors,  near  and  remote, —  emigrants  from  the  Old  World,  from 
the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  and  from  the  waxe-washed  shores  of  New  I-jigland.  These  jxiges  call 
to  mind  the  toils  and  endurance  of  the  jaioneers  who  sturdi]\  hewed  their  wav  through  the 
jiathless  woods,  finding  sweet  |)asture  on  the  tufted  hillsides  and  along  the  water-courses  in 
the  valleys  for  their  flocks  and  herds,  and.  slowl\-  ujiturning  the  sod  to  the  sunshine,  made  the 
wilderness  to  smile  with  the  earl\-  harxest.  Here.  too.  are  chronii-jed  names  and  deeds  of 
stanch  patriots  who  fought  and  bleil  for  the  "land  of  the  noble  free."  -Such  |)rogenitoi's 
may  well  claim  from  their  descendants  what  a  wise  speaker  has  termed  "  a  moral  and  philo- 
sophical respect,  which  elexates  the  character  and  impro\es  the  heart."  It  is  the  nature  of 
jK-rsonal  memoirs  like  the  jiresent  to  increase  in  \-alue  as  the  \ears  go  h\.  wheiefore  the  book 
should  commend  itself  as  of  more  than  passing  interest  and  fleeting  worth. —  .i  volume  that  will 
be  jirizetl  by  children's  children  for  one  generation  after  aiiothei-.  "'  The  great  lesson  of  biog- 
rai)hy,  "  it  has  been  well  said,  "  is  to  show  what  man  can  be  and  do  at  his  best.  .A  noble  life 
]Hit  fairly  on  record  acts  like  an  insjiiration.  " 

Rn)(;K.\Piiic.\[.   Ri:\ir,w   Pliu.ishini.   Co.miwnx. 
.M.\RCH.   [<S95. 


\ 


Williams    Martin. 


BIOSRAPHIGAL. 


ENERAL  WILEIAMS  MAR- 
TIN, a  well-known  antl  widely 
influential  citizen  of  Delaware 
County,  one  of  tlie  foremost 
in  works  of  internal  ini])rove- 
ment,  and  jn'iMninent  also  in 
military  circles,  was  t)orn  May 
3,  1827,  in  the  town  of  Han- 
cock. His  grandfather,  Eben- 
ezer,  was  a  native  of  Mans- 
field, Conn.,  and  was  of  ICng- 
lish  descent,  the  family  being  among  the  early 
settlers  of  New  England.  Ebenezer  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and,  after 
that  struggle  was  over,  gave  his  attention  to 
farming  in  Connecticut.  On  April  3,  1777, 
he  married  Eucy  Eane.  by  whom  he  had  three 
children:  Eydia,  born  March  11,  1778;  Eem- 
uel,  born  January  21,  17S0:  Amasa,  born 
September  6,  1782.  Amasa  was  the  original 
settler  of  Fayetteville,  Onondaga  County, 
N.Y.,  coming  there  from  Connecticut,  and 
clearing  the  farm  where  his  descendants  still 
live.  Eeniuel  was  a  pioneer  of  Parksville, 
Sullivan  County,  N.Y.,  to  which  place  he 
came  in  181 1,  bringing  his  young  wife  (Eory 
Trowbridge)  on  an  ox  team.  The  second  wife 
of  Ebenezer  was  Joanna  I'assett,  whom  he 
married  March  i,  1785,  and  by  whom  he 
had  seven  children.  The  eldest,  Ebenezer, 
born  March  30,  1786,  was  a  lawyer  by  profes- 
sion, and  died  of  cholera  at  Harrisonville, 
III.,  August  27,  1819.  Josiah,  born  April 
17,  1788,  was  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  and  died  July  27,  1856.  Orra,  born 
January  25,  1791,  was  a  Baptist  clergyman, 
and  lived  to  be  nearly  a  hundred  years  old. 
John  was  born  April  4,  1793.  Eucy  was  born 
.May  3,  1795.  Henry  was  born  July  2,  1799. 
Charles  was  born  September  14,  1802. 


Josiah  Martin  was  educated  in  his  native 
town  of  Mansfield,  and  then  studied  law,  but 
later  took  up  the  profession  of  surveyor.  He 
was  drafted  in  the  War  of  1812,  and,  after 
getting  his  discharge,  settled  in  Hancock  in 
1816,  being  engaged  as  teacher  in  the  town 
school.  Previous  to  this  he  had  taught  in 
Virginia.  On  I'V'bruary  26,  1817,  he  married 
Rachel  Williams,  who  was  the  daughter  of 
Titus  and  Phcebe  Williams,  her  father  being 
a  local  i)reacher  and  one  of  the  first  settlers  of 
the  Delaware  Valley.  Josiah  and  Rachel 
Martin  were  the  parents  of  nine  children,  two 
of  whom  died  in  infancy.  The  following 
lived  to  reach  maturity:  Charles,  born  No- 
vember 12,  18 18;  James,  born  October  12, 
1S20;  lane,  born  November  26,  1822;  Levi, 
born  March  24,  1825;  Williams,  born,  as 
above  mentioned.  May  3,  1827;  Josiah,  born 
September  19,  (829;  Rachel,  born  January  7, 
1833.  Mrs.  Rachel  Martin  died  August  5, 
1836:  and  on  March  20,  1842,  Josiah  Martin 
married  Sally  Purdy.  They  lived  upon  the 
home  farm   the   remainder  of  their  lives. 

Williams  Martin  was  educated  in  the  dis- 
trict schools  of  his  nati\e  town,  after  which 
he  followed  the  river  as  a  lumberman,  and 
also  taught  school  in  Delaware  and  Sullivan 
Counties.  When  but  eighteen  years  old  he 
piloted  two  rafts  to  Trenton,  and  was  called 
the  youngest  steersman  on  the  river.  At 
twenty-one  he  was  elected  Superintendent  ot 
the  common  schools  of  his  native  town. 
Much  time  in  his  early  life  he  spent  with  his 
father  as  a  surveyor:  and  after  a  while  he 
adopted  that  profession,  and  has  followed  it 
for  many  years,  and  has  been  employed  by  the 
State  engineer  and  sur\-eyor  for  the  last 
twenty  years  in  settling  many  disputed  lines 
between  counties  and  towns.      He  was  one  of 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


the  most  active  promoters  of  the  Midland 
Railroad,  and  was  Railroad  Commissioner  for 
the  town  of  Hancock  during  the  building  of 
the  road.  He  was  also  Vice-rresident  and 
Director  of  what  is  now  the  Scranton  Branch 
of  the  Ontario  &  Western  Railroad. 

On  July  27,  1848,  General  Martin  was  mar- 
ried to  Polly  Landfield,  daughter  of  Clark  and 
Hannah  (Thomas)  Landfield.  Her  parents 
were  born  in  Delaware  County,  and  here 
spent  their  entire  lives,  dying  when  quite 
advanced  in  years.  Wherever  known,  they 
were  loved  and  respected  for  their  many 
virtues.  A  brief  account  of  them  and  of 
Mrs.  Martin's  grandparents  is  given  in  the 
sketch  of  her  brother,  the  Hon.  Jerome  B. 
Landfield,  of  Binghamton,  in  the  "Biographi- 
cal Review  of  Broome  County."  Clark  Land- 
field,  who  was  a  business  man  of  Hancock, 
was  of  New  England  ancestry.  His  father, 
Mijah  Landfield,  a  native  of  Stonington, 
Conn.,  born  in  1767,  was  one  of  the  earliest 
settlers  of  Delaware  County,  pushing  out  into 
this  wild  and  almost  unknown  region  when 
but  a  young  man.  He  made  a  part  of  the 
journey  by  canoe  up  the  Delaware  River, 
reaching  the  frontier  soon  after  the  last  guns 
of  the  Revolution  had  sounded  the  note  of 
victory  over  foreign  tyranny,  and  when  the 
Indians  had  retreated  to  their  hilly  fastnesses 
and  surrendered  their  favorite  hunting- 
grounds.  Mr.  Landfield  was  a  man  of  will 
and  energy,  and  he  went  to  work  to  clear  the 
forest  where  now  lies  the  village  of  Harvard. 
He  was  active  in  advancing  the  best  interests 
of  the  settlement,  being  among  the  first  to 
lend  a  helping  hand  to  every  new  comer,  ex- 
tending hospitality  to  the  stranger  who  sought 
a  home  along  the  valley  of  the  upper  Dela- 
ware. He  married  the  daughter  of  a  pioneer. 
Miss  Phebe  Youmans;  and  they  reared  a  good 
family  to  succeed  them  in  the  development  of 
the  new  country.  Having  lived  useful  and 
happy  lives,  they  died  amid  the  scenes  of 
their  long  labors,  respected  and  beloved,  and 
leaving  to  their  children  the  priceless  treasure 
of  a  good  and  honored  name.  Early  members 
of  the  Landfield  family  had  fought  for  their 
country   in  the   Revolution. 

Mrs.    Martin's    mother,    a    lady    of    strong 
character   and    high   mental    qualities,    was  a 


daughter  of  Elijah  Thomas,  of  sturdy  New 
England  ancestry,  himself  a  Revolutionary 
patriot.  He  entered  the  army  in  1778,  and 
served  faithfully  till  the  close  of  the  war, 
often  employed  as  a  bearer  of  despatches  from 
the  commander-in-chief.  His  discharge  bears 
the  signature  of  the  immortal  Washington. 
Having  led  a  life  of  honorable  activity,  he 
died  when  about  fourscore  years  of  age,  in 
Delaware  County,  whither  he  had  come  as  a 
pioneer  from  his  native  State.  He  married 
Mindwell  Baxter,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  her 
family  being  of  the  early  Puritan  stock.  She 
was  a  true  wife  and  mother,  antl,  like  her  hus- 
band, a  devoted  Christian.  She  died  in  the 
village  of  Harvard,  when  full  of  years. 

General  and  Mrs.  Martin  have  had  four 
children,  a  brief  mention  of  whom  is  as  fol- 
lows: C.  Leslie,  born  December  i,  1849, 
Auditor  of  the  Charleston,  Sumter  &  North- 
ern Railroad;  William  Jay,  born  P'ebruary  8, 
1852,  General  Freight  and  Passenger  Agent 
of  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Railroad; 
Fletcher  W.,  born  June  26,  1853,  now  at  Liv- 
ingston Manor  on  the  O.  &  W.  Railroad; 
Charles  Francis,  born  October  28,  1855,  died 
February  19,  1857. 

From  his  youth  General  Martin  has  taken 
an  active  interest  in  the  State  militia,  and  at 
the  age  of  eighteen  was  elected  Second  Ser- 
geant of  the  company  to  which  he  belonged. 
In  1845  he  was  elected  Orderly  Sergeant,  twt) 
years  later  received  his  commission  as  Cap- 
tain, and  during  the  war  was  given  by  Gov- 
ernor Seymour  the  rank  of  Colonel.  He 
raised  and  equipped  the  One  Hundredth  New 
York  State  Volunteers,  and  Iiad  them  ready 
for  marching  at  a  moment's  notice.  He  held 
command  of  the  regiment  till  June  27,  1867, 
and  then  received  his  commission  as  Briga- 
dier-general of  the  Eighteenth  Brigade  of 
the  National  Guard  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
He  remained  in  the  service  until  1873,  when 
he  received  his  discharge,  and  is  still  held  as 
a  supernumerary.  In  1877  the  General  was 
associated  with  a  syndicate  of  New  York  capi- 
talists in  building  the  P.  N.  C.  &  L.  E.  Rail- 
road, and  was  Secretary  and  Director  of  the 
company  for  three  years,  after  which  he 
again  removed  to  his  native  town  of  Hancock, 
and  has  since  been  actively  engaged   in  super- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


intending  and  caring  for  his  lumbering  and 
farming  interests,  being  one  of  the  largest 
real-estate  holders  in  the  Delaware  Valley. 
In  1892  he  was  elected  a  Director  of  the 
"Orange  Count)'  Trust  and  Safe  Deposit 
Company,  at  Middletown,  N.V.,  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  prospL'rous  institutions  of  the 
kind  in  Soutliern  New  York." 

In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat,  and  is  one  of 
the  leaders  of  his  party.  He  was  Postmaster 
at  Harvard,  N.Y.,  during  the  Fillmore  admin- 
istration. "The  Pines,"  the  comfortable 
home  of  the  General  and  Mrs.  Martin,  is  sit- 
uated on  a  promontory  some  fifty  feet  above, 
and  five  hundred  feet  distant  from,  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Beaver  Kill  and  luist  Branch  of 
the  Delaware  River,  and  overlooking  the 
bustling   little   village  of    luist    Branch. 

The  first  portrait  in  the  present  volume  will 
be  recognized  as  a  likeness  of  General  Will- 
iams Martin,  who  is  shown  by  the  foregoing 
sketch  to  have  done  good  service,  and  justly 
to  have  won  an  excellent  reputation  both  as  a 
soldier  and  a  civilian.  The  work  in  which  he 
has  largely  been  engaged  calls  to  mind  the 
words  of  Emerson,'  "Railroad  inni  is  a  magi- 
cian's rod,  in  its  power  to  evoke  the  sleeping 
energies  of  land  and  water." 


TJSTUS  W.  TAYLOR  has  lived  in  the 
village  of  Hobart  but  a  little  short  of 
half  a  century,  and  is  now  the  oldest 
inhabitant.  Mxcepting  that  he  is 
still  active  and  vigorous,  bearing  with  ease 
his  fourscore  years,  he  might  be  likened  to 
the  sere  and  yellow  leaf,  the  last  on  the  tree; 
for  it  is  true  that  he  is  the  sole  survivor  of 
the  companions  of  his  early  manhood  who 
with  him  were  residents  of  this  (lart  of  Stam- 
ford, when  it  was  but  a  small  hamlet.  He 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Stamford,  September 
30,  1814,  being  the  son  of  Baruch  and  Sarah 
(Wilcox)  Taylor,  the  former  of  whom  was  a 
native  of  Danbury,  Conn.,  born  on  January  7, 
1789,  and  the  latter  a  native  of  Delaware 
County,  iiaving  entered  this  world  May  12, 
1792,    in   the   town   of   Harpersfield. 

Baruch  Taylor  was  a  son  of  .A.ndrew  and 
Hannah  (Smith)  Taylor,  both  natives  of  Con- 
necticut.    Andrew  Tavlor  was  a  weaver  and  a 


tanner  by  trade,  and  foUowed  those  vocations 
in  the  State  of  his  ])irt]i.  During  the  Revo- 
lutionary War  he  w.is  drafted  into  the  army. 
He  subsequently  migrated  to  Delaware 
County,  becoming  among  the  earliest  set- 
tlers of  the  town  of  Harpersfield,  where  he 
iiought  a  tract  of  unimproved  land  from  one  of 
the  members  of  the  original  Harper  family. 
After  clearing  many  acres  of  that  purciiase,  he 
removed  to  another  farm  in  the  same  town, 
where  he  continued  his  [)ioneer  labor  until 
death  closed  his  earthly  career  at  the  age  of 
seventy  years.  He  was  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful farmers  of  the  vicinity,  being  enabled 
to  spend  his  last  years  free  from  active  labor. 
At  the  time  of  his  settlement  Catskill  was 
the  nearest  market,  and  the  nearest  mill  was 
in  Schoharie,  whither  the  grist  had  to  be 
taken  on  horseback.  He  was  a  stanch  Demo- 
crat ill  his  political  views,  and  both  he  and 
his  good  wife  were  members  of  the  Episcopal 
church.  She  lived  to  the  venerable  age  of 
ninety-four  years.  They  reared  three  chil- 
dren—  Baruch,  Andrew,  and  Laura,  all  of 
whom  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  and  each  reared 
large  families. 

Baruch,  the  eldest  son,  was  reared  on  the 
farm,  and  during  the  earlier  years  of  his  ma- 
ture life  was  engaged  in  teaching  in  the 
district  schools.  He  was  also  a  pioneer  sing- 
ing-school master,  being  engaged  in  that  ca- 
pacity for  nearly  forty  years.  He  succeeded 
to  the  ownership  of  the  parental  homestead  in 
the  town  of  Stamford,  the  part  then  known  as 
Harpersfield.  He  was  a  very  useful  and  a 
thoroughly  respected  citizen,  being  a  man 
whose  word  was  as  good  as  his  bond.  His 
wife,  who  was  a  sincere  and  worthy  nn-mber 
of  the  Baptist  church,  of  which  he  was  an 
attendant,  dejiarted  this  life  on  December  9, 
1S50.  Baruch  Taylor  was  a  prominent  mem- 
ber of  the  Democratic  party,  serving  as  Su- 
pervisor, Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  in  various 
other  offices.  He  spent  his  last  years  at  tlie 
home  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  dying  Feb- 
ruary 15,  1873.  Iiight  children  were  born  to 
him'  and  his  wife,  seven  of  whom  grew  to 
maturity,  and  two  are  now  living,  as  follows: 
Justus  W. ;  Andrew,  born  July  29,  1827,  a 
lawyer  in  Hancock.  Edmund  R.,  born  Feb- 
ruary 20,    1822,   died    May   31,    1831;  Deloss 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Lafayette,  born  September  14,  1824,  died 
November  i,  1887;  Celia  J.  Dickson,  born 
January  11,  1816,  died  March  13,  1869; 
Laura  L.  Taylor,  born  February  8,  18 18,  died 
October  4,  1846;  and  Sarah  H.,  born  January 
30i  1820,  died  February  2,  1870. 

Justus  \V.  Taylor  was  given  the  advantages 
of  a  good  education,  his  first  steps  in  the  path 
of  knowledge  being  trod  in  the  schools  of  the 
district;  and  the  instruction  there  obtained 
was  further  advanced  in  a  select  school  and 
at  Jefferson  Academy.  Mr.  Taylor  was  sub- 
sequently engaged  for  twelve  winter  seasons 
as  a  teacher  in  the  day  schools,  and,  inherit- 
ing his  father's  musical  talent,  had  also  large 
classes  in  singing  for  many  winters.  He  is 
one  of  the  oldest  teachers  of  Delaware  County 
now  living.  Mr.  Taylor  has  owned  and  occu- 
pied his  farm  of  fifty  acres  in  the  village  of 
Hobart  since  the  day  of  his  marriage,  and  in 
its  management  has  met  with  great  success. 
He  is  a  farmer  of  excellent  judgment,  and  a 
keen,  capable  business  man,  deservedly  held 
in  much  respect  as  a  citizen  and  neighbor. 

Mr.  Taylor  was  married  June  17,  1845,  to 
Thirza  M.  Booth,  a  native  of  Harpersfield, 
where  she  was  born  November  25,  1825,  being 
a  daughter  of  John  and  Maria  (Smith)  Booth. 
Mr.  Booth  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  this 
section  of  Delaware  County,  and  in  his  capac- 
ity of  carpenter  and  builder  did  much  toward 
advancing  the  growth  of  the  place.  He  died 
while  yet  a  comparatively  young  man,  at  the 
age  of  forty  years.  His  widow  lived  to  cele- 
brate her  eighty-third  birthday.  Both  were 
active  members  of  the  Methodist  church,  and 
in  politics  he  was  a  Whig.  Of  their  eight 
children  three  are  now  living,  namely:  Mrs. 
Lydia  Humphrey,  of  Harpersfield;  Mrs. 
Thirza  Taylor;  and  Mrs.  Ruth  Humphrey, 
of  Harpersfield. 

The  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taylor  has  been 
blessed  by  the  birth  of  two  children.  Eliza- 
beth, born  October  12,  1849,  is  the  wife  of 
Jabez  H.  Barlow,  a  painter  residing  in  Ho- 
bart; and  John  B.,  born  May  3,  1852,  a 
farmer,  is  married,  and  also  lives  in  Hobart. 
Mrs.  Taylor  is  a  woman  of  far  more  than  aver- 
age ability  and  energy,  both  mental  and  phys- 
ical. Since  the  age  of  sixteen  years  she  has 
been  engaged  in  the  millinery  business  in  the 


village,  and  may  rightly  be  entitled  the  "pio- 
neer milliner."  She  has  the  largest  and  most 
stylish  stock  of  millinery  goods  to  be  found  in 
the  vicinity,  making  two  trips  to  New  York 
City  each  year  to  buy  her  goods  and  secure 
the  fashions. 

In  his  political  views  Mr.  Taylor  is  identi- 
fied with  the  Democratic  party,  of  which  he  is 
a  faithful  adherent.  He  has  ever  taken  an  ac- 
tive part  in  local  matters,  and  has  served  for 
four  years  as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  besides 
holding  various  other  offices.  Both  he  and 
his  wife  are  active  members  of  the  Methodist 
church,  in  which  he  has  served  as  Trustee  and 
is  now  a  Steward. 


of    these 
uable,  hir 


YRON  L.  BEACH  is  one  of  the 
practical  and  prosperous  farmers 
of  his  native  town  of  Masonville, 
and  one  of  the  representative  men 
parts.  He  is  the  owner  of  a  val- 
;hly  cultivated  farm  of  two  hundred 
acres;  and  .here  he  carries  on  general  farming 
and  dairying,  besides  devoting  a  good  deal  of 
attention  to  the  business  of  his  saw-mill. 
He  first  opened  his  eyes  to  the  light  of  this 
world  on  September  17,  1829,  being  a  son  of 
Chester  and  Eliza  Ann  (Root)  Beach.  His 
father  was  born  in  Litchfield  County,  Conn., 
and  his  mother  in  Dutchess  County,  New 
York. 

Among  the  early  settlers  of  the  town  of 
Masonville  were  several  families  from  Con- 
necticut, who  removed  from  their  native  State 
in  1824,  and,  establishing  themselves  in  this 
part  of  Delaware  County,  became  largely  in- 
strumental in  developing  its  resources  and 
advancing  its  growth.  Prominent  among  this 
number  was  Joshua  Beach,  the  paternal  grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  who,  with 
four  of  his  sons,  settled  within  the  limits  of 
the  town  of  Masonville,  each  buying  a  tract  of 
wild  land.  Joshua  Beach  purchased  about 
two  hundred  acres,  on  which  a  small  place 
had  been  cleared  and  a  log  house  erected. 
The  forests  still  contained  deer,  bears, 
wolves,  and  other  wild  animals,  which  roamed 
unrestrained  over  the  beautiful  valleys  and 
hillsides  where  sleek  herds  of  cattle  may  now 
be  seen  peacefully  grazing.     By  dint  of  labo- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


'3 


rious  industry  the  cklci-  Ikach  improved  a  fine 
homestead,  and  remained  a  respected  resident 
of  the  town  until  his  decease  at  the  age  of 
sixty-five  years.  In  politics  he  was  a  Whig, 
and  in  religious  matters  w^as  a  sound  I'reshy- 
terian.  He  married  Lois  Loomis,  who  sur- 
vived him,  living  to  the  ripe  old  age  of 
fourscore  years.  They  reared  a  family  of 
eight  children,  si.\  sons  and  two  daughters, 
none  of  whom  are  now   living. 

Chester  Beach  was  one  of  the  four  sons  who 
came  to  Masonville  when  his  father  did, 
bringing  with  him  his  wife  and  family-  He 
bought  one  hundred  acres  of  unimproved  land, 
on  which  he  l)uilt  a  block-house;  and  into 
this  he  moved  with  his  family.  He  cleared 
quite  a  tract  of  his  land,  and,  buying  more, 
bec.uiie  the  owner  of  a  farm  of  one  himdred 
and  ninety-four  and  three-quarters  acres.  His 
death  occurred  when  he  was  about  sixty-five 
years  old.  His  wife  died  long  afterward,  on 
the  old  homestead,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty  years.  In  politics  he  was  a  Whig 
until'the  disbandment  of  that  party,  when  he 
became  identified  with   the   Democratic  party. 

Of  the  four  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ches- 
ter Beach,  Myron  L.  is  the  only  one  now  liv- 
ing. Ph(tbe  Ann,  a  single  lady,  died  at  the 
age  of  sixty-six  years.  Electa  M.,  who  be- 
came the  wife  of  Erastus  Mills,  died  when 
only  twenty-five  years  old.  Lucius  H.  passed 
away  at  the  age  of  fifty-three  years. 

Myron  L.  Beach  grew  to  man"s  estate  on 
the  homestead,  receiving  his  mental  training 
in  the  district  school,  and  on  the  farm  acquir- 
ing a  practical  knowledge  of  agriculture.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-two  years  he  began  the 
battle  of  life  on  his  own  account,  buying  fifty 
acres  of  land,  not  very  far  from  the  parental 
homestead.  He  prospered  in  his  labors,  and 
through  his  habits  of  industry  and  thrift  was 
enabled  to  add  to  his  possessions,  buying  land 
adjoining  the  old  homestead,  so  that  he  is  now 
the  possessor  of  two  hundred  valuable  acres. 
In  1864  Mr.  Beach  moved  on  to  the  place 
adjoining  the  old  home,  where  he  has  since 
resided,  carrying  on  his  farming  operations  in 
such  an  intelligent  and  judicious  manner  as  to 
reap  the  best  possible  results. 

Mr.  Beach  was  first  married  on  the  iith  of 
February,  1852,  to   Maria   II.  Green,  who  was 


born  in  llarpersheld,  Delaware  County,  iJe- 
cember  16,  1833,  and  who  died  November  6, 
1853,  leaving  no  children.  On  Octcjber  8, 
1S54,  he  married  Phtebe  Ann  Wilson,  a  na- 
tive of  Otsego  County,  born  in  -South 
Worcester,  February  20,  1827.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  Joseph  and  Jane  (Wilsey)  Wilson, 
neither  of  whom  is  living.  Of  this  union 
were  born  six  children,  whose  record  is  as  fol- 
lows: Lewis  R.,  born  April  4,  1856,  died 
October  27,  1869.  Lydia  M.,  born  April  8, 
1858,  became  the  wife  of  Simeon  Pond,  and 
(lied  May  29,  1883.  Henry  Kelson  Beach, 
born  May  15,  i860,  a  single  man,  living  at 
home,  assists  in  the  management  of  the  home 
farm.  Ida  ICllen,  born  October  31,  1862, 
died  March  4,  1863.  Orrin  Arthur,  born 
August  I,  1864,  is  a  farmer,  residing  in  Ox- 
ford, and  is  married,  and  has  five  children. 
Electa  M.,  born  September  i,  1867,  married 
Emory  BarthoIomew^  and  died  May  25,  1887. 
Mrs.  Ph(ebc  A.  Beach,  the  mother  of  this 
family  of  children,  passed  on  to  the  higher 
life  October  4,  1891  ;  and  Mr.  Beach  was 
united  in  marriage  on  February  14,  1893,  to 
Lucy  Ann  Wilson,  a  sister  of  his  second  wife, 
and  the  widow  of  the  late  Reuben  Jump.  She 
was  born  in  South  Worcester  on  February  6, 
1834. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beach  are  liberal  m  their  re- 
ligious beliefs;  and  he,  politically,  is  a  firm 
siqiporter  of  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party.  He  has  served  as  Justice  of  the  Peace 
eight  years,  and  has  hehl  many  of  the  minor 
offices  of  the  town. 


AMES  HOLLEY,  a  successful  agri- 
culturist of  Walton,  owns  and  occupies 
a  comfortable  homestead  on  the  river 
road,  about  two  miles  from  the  village. 
Lie  comes  of  patriotic  Puritan  stock,  his 
grandfather  Holley  having  been  a  life-long 
resident  of  Connecticut  and  a  veteran  of  the 
Revolutionary  War. 

Mr.  Holley  was  born  December  23,  1826, 
in  the  town  of  Delhi  in  this  county,  being  a 
son  of  William  Holley,  a  native  of  L'airfield 
County,  Connecticut.  William  Holley  re- 
mained with  his  parents  until  seventeen  years 
old,  when   he  went  to  Troy,   N.V.,  where  he 


M 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


learned  the  trade  of  shoemaking  from  a  worthy 
Crispin  who  afterward  became  his  brother-in- 
law.  In  1818  he  came  to  Delaware  County, 
becoming  one  of  the  early  pioneers  of  Delhi, 
where  he  worked  at  his  trade  for  many  years. 
He  finally  removed  to  Hanidcn,  and  there 
passed  his  remaining  days,  he  living  to  cel- 
ebrate his  eighty-second  birthday.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife,  who  was  of  Irish 
descent,  the  daughter  of  George  Stewart,  of 
Schenectady,  was  Ann  Stewart.  They  reared 
a  family  of  seven  children;  namely,  John  S., 
George,  Stephen,  ICliza  Ann,  James,  Mar- 
garet, and  Matilda.  Mrs.  Ann  Holley  was  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  church,  in  which  she 
did  active  work.  She  survived  her  husband, 
and  died  in  Walton  at  the  home  of  her  son 
James,  after  a  long  and  useful  life  of  seventy- 
eight  years. 

James  Holley  was  the  fifth  child  born  into 
this  household;  and,  being  very  young  when 
his  parents  moved  to  Hamden,  he  there  spent 
the  days  of  his  youth,  receiving  as  good  an 
education  as  the  public  schools  of  the  locality 
afforded,  and  worked  with  his  father  until 
seventeen  years  old.  He  then  began  working 
out  by  the  month  at  lumbering  and  farming, 
continuing  thus  employed  for  eight  years. 
Having  saved  enough  money  to  warrant  him 
in  establishing  a  household,  he  married,  and, 
removing  to  Sullivan  County,  there  rented  a 
farm,  which  he  carried  on  for  one  year.  Mr. 
Holley  then  returned  to  Delaware  County, 
and,  purchasing  a  farm  in  Colchester,  was  for 
some  time  engaged  in  its  management.  He 
subsequently  worked  at  the  carpenter's  trade 
for  about  seven  years  in  Sullivan  County.  In 
1865  Mr.  Holley  bought  the  seventy-acre  farm 
where  he  now  resides,  and  has  since  dili- 
gently worked  at  its  cultivation.  In  addition 
to  general  husbandry,  he  makes  a  good  profit 
on  his  dairy,  keeping  about  fourteen  cows, 
and   selling  his   milk   at   the   creamery. 

The  first  marriage  of  James  Holley  was 
celebrated  in  1850,  when  Lois  H.  Lindsley, 
a  daughter  of  David  Lindsley,  an  early  pio- 
neer of  Sullivan  County,  became  his  wife. 
She  was  a  most  amiable  woman,  and  a  devoted 
member  of  the  Baptist  church.  She  died  in 
1854,  leaving  two  children  —  a  son  named 
William  and  a  daughter  Matilda.     William, 


who  is  a  farmer  in  Tompkins,  married  Jane 
Hull.  Matilda  married  William  H.Wilson, 
a  farmer  in  Colchester,  the  son  of  Ephraim 
Wilson,  of  that  town;  and  they  are  the  par- 
ents of  six  promising  sons:  Frank;  Walter; 
James;  Earl;  and  Sherman  and  Herman, 
twins.  Mr.  Holley  subsequently  married 
Elizabeth  S.  Moore,  a  native  of  Hilton,  and 
a  daughter  of  James  and  Betsey  (Armstrong) 
Moore,  who  removed  to  Hamden  from  Hilton. 
Two  children  were  born  of  this  union, 
namely:  Marshall,  who  assists  his  father  on 
the  farm;  and  Mary,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
thirteen  months.  In  October,  1892,  Death, 
who  loves  a  shining  mark,  again  crossed  the 
threshold,  bearing  away  the  affectionate  wife 
and  tender  mother.  She  was  a  sincere  Chris- 
tian woman,  and  a  valued  member  of  the 
Methodist  church. 

Mr.  Holley,  who  is  a  true-hearted  man, 
and  an  esteemed  and  worthy  citizen,  is  a  zeal- 
ous worker  in  the  cause  of  temperance,  being 
a  stanch  supporter  of  the  Prohibition  party. 
He  has  also  been  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church  for  forty-five  years. 


EBSTER  M.  BOUTON,  Principal 
of  the  Bloomville  Graded  School, 
is  a  promising  young  man  of  supe- 
rior mental  attainments,  and  during  his  pro- 
fessional career  has  given  evidence  of  special 
aptitude  for  his  chosen  vocation.  He  is  a 
native  of  Delaware  County,  Stamford  having 
been  the  place  of  his  birth,  and  June  23,  1871, 
the  date  thereof.  He  is  the  descendant  of  an 
ancient  and  respected  family  of  this  county,  his 
paternal  great-grandfather,  Stephen  Bouton,  a 
native  of  Greene  County,  having  been  a  soldier 
in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  subsequently 
a  pioneer  of  the  town  of  Roxbury.  He  was  a 
farmer  by  occupation,  and,  settling  in  Rox- 
bury in  1780,  resided  there  until  his  death,  at 
the  venerable  age  of  ninety  years. 

Anson  Bouton,  son  of  Stephen,  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Roxbury,  and  was  bred  to  a 
farmer's  life.  He  owned  a  good  farm,  and 
became  one  of  the  representative  farmers  of 
that  vicinity,  living  there  until  his  departure 
from  earthly  labors,  when  seventy-four  years 
old.      He  married   Elizabeth   Craft,  who  died 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RKVIEVV 


'S 


in  the  prime  of  life.  Slie  bore  him  six  chil- 
dren, of  whom  the  following  three  are  yet  liv- 
ing: Ann,  the  wife  of  Robert  I'.arl,  resitiing 
at  Beaver  Hill:  Adelia,  the  wife  of  Cieorge 
Hookhout,  living  in  Roxbury;  and  Henry  C, 
living  in  Kortright. 

Henrv  C.  Houton  was  born  May  2,  i  S44,  in 
the  town  of  Roxbury.  Ho  has  devoted  his 
entire  life  to  farming,  and  is  well  known 
throughout  this  section  of  the  county  as  a 
practical  ami  iirosperous  agriculturist  and  an 
extensive  landholder.  His  homestead  in  the 
town  of  Kortright  contains  three  hundreil 
acres  of  choice  land,  and  constitutes  one  of 
the  finest  farms  in  the  locality.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  the  town  of  Stamford,  February  13, 
1868,  to  Hannah  M.  Haines,  who  was  born  in 
Jefferson,  Schoharie  County,  in  February,  } 
1846.  Both  he  and  his  wife  are  conscientious 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Kort- 
right Centre;  and  in  politics  he  is  a  firm  su])- 
porter  of  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party.  He  has  served  as  Collectoi-,  and  in 
various  town  offices,  and  is  in  all  respects  one 
of  the  foremost  citizens  of  his  community. 
To  him  and  his  wife  seven  children  have  been 
born,  as  follows:  Cora,  the  wife  of  George 
Parris,  of  Meredith:  Charles  E.,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania; Webster  M.  :  Frank  H.:  Anson  S.  ; 
Grace  ]\I. ;  and   Carrie  A. 

Webster  M.,  the  second  son,  who  is  the 
subject  of  this  biographical  notice,  acquired 
the  rudiments  of  his  education  in  the  district 
schools  of  Kortright,  where  he  laid  a  substan- 
tial foundation  for  his  present  mental  accjuire- 
ments.  He  afterward  pursued  his  studies  at 
Stamford  Academy,  making  such  good  use  of 
the  opportunities  afforded  him  that  before  six- 
teen years  of  age  he  passed  a  standing  exami- 
nation for  teaching.  When  seventeen  years 
old,  he  assumed  the  duties  of  a  pedagogue,  his 
first  school  being  in  Hari)ersfield  Centre:  and 
from  that  time  until  the  present  he  has  con- 
tinued in  this  useful  and  pleasant  occupation, 
enjoying  a  well-merited  reputation  as  a  teacher 
of  more  than  ordinary  ability  and  success. 
Mr.  Bouton  came  to  his  present  position  in 
1893;  and  under  his  regime  the  Bloomville 
school  maintains  a  high  rank  among  the  graded 
schools  of  Delaware  County,  its  excellent  con- 
dition   reflecting   great    credit   upon   him,    and 


upon  his  industrious  pupils,  and  the  intelli- 
gent iKirents  of  the  district,  who  heartily 
co-ojjerate  with  him  in  his  efforts  for  its  im- 
provement. Religiously,  Mr.  Bouton  is  a 
valued  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church; 
and,  socially,  he  is  a  member  of  Delaware 
V'allcy  Lodge,  No.  612,  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  l'\llows,  of  Bloomville.  Politically,  he 
is  a  stanch  Republican,  taking  an  active  in- 
terest in  local  and  national  affairs;  and  dur- 
ing the  campaign  of  1892  he  delivered  stirring 
and  sound  political  addresses  on  the  issues  of 
the  day  throughout  Delaware  County. 


llCWIS     BUSH,    of    Walton,    is    one    of 
the    veterans    of    tlie    Grand    Army  of 
the   Republic  who  still    live   to  tell 
of  hardships    untlergonc    and    deeds 
of    valor    done    in    the    most    perilous    period 
of    our    nation's     history.     Descended    from 
good    okl   stock,    he    w\as    bf)rn    and    bred    on 
a  farm,  and   early  engaged  in  such  studies  and 
toils   and   pastimes  as   opportunity  afforded  or 
duty  directed.      His  native  place  was  in  Rens- 
selaer County,  New  York,  where  he  was  born 
on   June    12,    1843.      His   father,    John    Bush, 
was   born  in  the  same  county  on   August   23, 
1807,    and    died    at    his    home   in    Walton    in 
1884.      Mr.    Bush"s    grandfather    was    Daniel 
Bush,    who  also    died    in   Walton,    and    whom 
many  will    still    remember  as   having  retained 
all  his  faculties  to  an  extreme   old   age.      The 
wife  of  Mr.  John  Bush  was  Mary  Faunt,  a  na- 
tive  of    Hanulen;  and    she  was   the   mother  of 
nine   children,  six   sons  and   three   daughters, 
Lewis    being    the    sixth    child.      He    and    his 
sister  Margaret,  wife  of   Asa  Weldon,  of   Dry- 
den,  Tompkins  County,  are  the  only  survivors 
of  tliis  numerous  family. 

Shortly  after  finishing  his  course  of  study 
in  the  district  school,  young  Bush  became  in- 
terested in  the  questions  that  stirred  the  pub- 
lic mind,  and,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion  and  the  call  to  the 
front,  was  ready  and  willing  to  go.  He  en- 
listed from  Walton  in  the  One  Hundred  and 
I-'ortv-fourth  New  ^'ork  \'olunteer  Infantry. 
Company  B.  and  served  in  the  ranks  for  three 
vears,  thus  becoming  accustomed  to  the  haril- 
1  iest   kind   of    life,   and  showing  a  most  com- 


i6 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


mendable  bravery.  For  a  long  time  the 
ravages  of  disease  made  it  necessary  for  him 
to  remain  at  Upton  Hill,  Fairfax  -Seminary, 
where  typhoid  fever  bereft  him  of  much  of  the 
manly  vigor  of  which  he  had  always  been 
proud.  He  experienced  some  of  the  worst 
horrors  of  the  war;  and,  when  honorably  dis- 
charged at  its  close,  he  came  home  to  the 
farm,    thankful  that  his  life  had  been  spared. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  year  i86g  he  was 
married  to  Elizabeth  Cornwell,  of  Otsego 
County,  who  was  the  daughter  of  William  and 
Fidelia  (Worden)  Cornwell.  Mrs.  Bush 
never  knew  her  father,  he  having  died  before 
her  birth.  Her  mother,  however,  lived  to  be 
sixty-eight  years  old,  and  died  in  1882,  hav- 
ing been  twice  married,  and  leaving  nine 
children.  Mrs.  Bush  has  one  own  sister, 
Louisa,  wife  of  Augustus  Fuller,  of  Downs- 
ville,  Delaware  County,.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bush 
are  without  children  of  their  own,  but  have  an 
adopted  son,  Clarence  K.  Bush,  a  promising 
young  man  of  twenty-one,  now  at  Amherst 
College,  who  has  already  shown  much  intel- 
lectual ability.  Mr.  Bush  is  a  member  of 
General  Marvin  Post,  No.  209,  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic,  of  which  he  has  been  Junior 
Commander  and  Quartermaster  Sergeant. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bush  came  to  this  village 
eleven  years  ago,  and  it  is  now  three  years 
since  they  purchased  the  property  where  they 
now  live.  They  have  remodelled  the  place 
so  that  their  present  home  is  a  credit  to  them- 
selves and  an  ornament  to  the  town.  Here 
Mrs.  Bush  carries  on  the  flourishing  millinery 
business  which  she  established  eleven  years 
ago,  and  in  which  she  stands  at  the  head  of 
the  trade  in  the  town  in  the  excellence  and 
good  taste  of  her  work. 

The  family  are  zealous  and  valued  members 
of  the  Methodist  church,  being  among  the 
most  earnest  workers  and  liberal  contributors 
toward  completing  the  new  house  of  worship 
and  paying  off  the  debt,  all  of  which  by  eager 
and  heroic  effort  they  hope  to  accomplish  be- 
fore the  end  of  1894. 

Mr.  Bush  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and 
has  proved  himself  a  faithful  citizen,  having 
quickly  responded  in  the  hour  of  his  country's 
need,  bravely  venturing  his  life  in  its  cause. 
Beginning   early  to    make    sacrifices,   he    has 


been  always  influenced  by  higii  motives  and 
aspirations;  and  he  is  to-day  one  of  the  men 
who  are  looked  to  with  assurance  for  earnest 
help  in  works  for  the  uplifting  and  advance- 
ment of  humanity. 


/IV,, 


H.BERT  T.  SCOTT,  M.D.,  a  prac- 
\  •)  I  tising  physician  in  East  Davenport, 
was  born  March  30,  1854,  in  the 
town  of  Bovina,  Delaware  County,  that  town 
being  likewise  the  birthplace  of  his  father, 
James  R.  Scott.  His  grandfather,  Adam 
Scott,  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  whence  he 
came  to  America  when  a  young  man.  He 
took  up  his  abode  in  Bovina,  where  he  devoted 
his  time  to  the  pioneer  labor  of  clearing  a 
farm.  He  had  made  excellent  headway  in  his 
work,  having  redeemed  a  very  good  homestead 
from  the  wilderness,  when  he  was  accidentally 
killed  by  his  horses  running  away  and  throw- 
ing him  over  a  bridge.  He  married  Nancy 
Russell,  who  survived  him,  and  spent  her  last 
years  on  the  old  homestead.  They  reared 
eight  children  —  James  R.,  Henry,  Frank, 
John,    Nancy,    Elizabeth,    Mary,   and   Ellen. 

James,  the  eldest  son,  was  brought  up  by  an 
uncle,  Andrew  Hamilton,  in  Delhi,  where  at 
an  early  age  he  learned  the  carpenter's  trade. 
He  first  located  in  Bovina.  In  1861  he  re- 
moved to  the  town  of  Andes,  and  thence  went 
to  New  Kingston,  where  he  departed  this  life 
at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  When  a  young 
man  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Mary 
Winter,  who  was  born  of  Scotch  parentage  in 
Middletown.  Her  parents  were  pioneers  of 
this  county,  settling  in  Middletown  when  the 
place  was  one  vast  forest,  wherein  wolves, 
panthers,  and  other  wild  beasts  disported  at 
will.  During  their  first  year's  residence  there 
they  depended  largely  on  the  game  they  shot 
for  meat;  but  each  succeeding  twelvemonth 
saw  a  few  more  acres  of  land  under  cultiva- 
tion, and  in  course  of  time  they  had  a  com- 
fortable homestead.  They  reared  a  large 
family  of  children — a  full  dozen.  Of  the 
union  of  James  R.  Scott  and  his  wife  eight 
children  were  born,  as  follows:  James  A.,  a 
carpenter,  living  in  New  Kingston;  Thomas 
H.,  a  farmer  living  in  Walton;  Gilbert  T. ; 
Andrew  H.,    deceased;   Anna  Bell,  deceased; 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


'7 


Mary  Ellen,  the  wife  of  Jacob  N.  Thompson, 
a  farmer,  of  New  Kingston;  Fanny,  deceased, 
who  married  Oscar  I'"aulkner,  of  Xew  King- 
ston; and  Elizabeth,  who  makes  her  home 
with  her  brother,  the  Doctor.  The  mother 
spent  her  last  years  in  New  Kingstcm,  d\'ini;- 
at  the  age  of  threescore  years. 

Gilbert  T.  Scott,  having  spent  his  early 
years  in  New  Kingston,  where  his  first  les- 
sons were  conned,  subsec|uently  attended  the 
district  schools  of  Midilletown  and  Andes, 
and  was  next  enrolled  as  a  stuilcnt  at  Stam- 
ford Seminary,  and  later  at  the  Andes  Col- 
legiate Institute,  where  he  finished  his 
preparation  for  college.  Matriculating  at 
Westminster  College  in  Pennsylvania,  he  was 
there  graduated,  after  a  four  years"  course, 
with  the  degree  of  B.A.  He  first  pursued  the 
study  of  medicine  with  Ur.  Alexander  Allen, 
of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  and  afterward  entered  the 
medical  department  of  the  University  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  from  which  he  received  his 
diploma  in  1884.  Dr.  Scott  began  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession  in  the  town  of  Koxbury, 
where  he  remained  three  years,  at  the  expira- 
tion of  which  period  he  came  to  Davenport, 
succeeding  to  the  practice  of  Dr.  James  M. 
Donnelly. 

Dr.  Scott  was  married  in  1S85  to  Miss 
Mary  Birdsall,  one  of  six  children  born  to  the 
Rev.  Isaac  and  Isabella  (Davidson)  Birdsall, 
of  New  Kingston,  where  Mr.  Birdsall  is  en- 
gaged as  a  local  preacher  of  the  Methodist 
denomination.  Their  happy  wedded  life  was 
not  of  long  duration;  for  on  December  11, 
1893,  Mrs.  Scott  jiassed  to  the  spirit  world, 
leaving  one  child,  Clifton  R.  Scott.  She 
was  a  woman  of  superior  merit,  possessing  a 
deeply  .sympathetic  nature,  excelling  in  the 
Christian  virtues,  and  was  an  esteemed  mem- 
ber of  the  United  Presbyterian  church,  of 
which   the   Doctor   is   a   Trustee. 


ILAS  M.  OLMSTI'.D,  a  i)ractical 
and  progressive  agriculturist  of  the 
town  of  Masonville,  was  born  within 
its  precincts,  the  date  of  his  birth 
being  August  8,  1843.  His  parents,  John 
and  Delilah  (Tallman)  Olmsted,  were  both 
natives    of    Greene    County,    New    York,    his 


father  having  been  born  I'cbruary  21,  181  1, 
and  his  mother  October  13,  1822.  His 
grandfather,  Moses  Olmsted,  was  a  i)ionei'r  of 
Greene  County,  and  prominent  among  its 
early  settlers.  He  was  an  enterprising  man, 
full  of  life  and  activity,  and  was  engaged  as  a 
contractor  of  public  works,  as  a  successful 
hotel-keeper,  and  as  a  ]iros[)erous  farmer.  He 
belonged  to  a  loj'al  arid  ]iatriolic  family,  and 
one  of  his  brothers  served  in  the  Revolution- 
ary War.  Both  he  and  his  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Cornelia  Pitcher,  died  in 
(jreene  County.  They  had  a  family  of  eight 
children,  three  of  whom  are  now  living,  the 
family  record  l;eing  as  follows:  Frederick, 
deceased;  Wilbur,  deceased;  John,  who  re- 
sides in  Bainbridge,  Chenango  County;  Will- 
iam, deceased;  Dorr,  who  lives  in  Greene 
County;  Lany,  deceased;  Adaline,  deceased; 
Emeline,  the  widow  of  Daniel  Linon,  resid- 
ing in  Cireene  County.  Jedediah  Tallman, 
his  maternal  grandfather,  was  born  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  died 
before  1830.  But  little  of  his  life  record  has 
been  preserved.  His  wife,  Melinda  Trip, 
was  born  in  1800,  and  died  in  (ireene  County 
in  the  seventies.  She  was  the  mother  of  five 
children,  four  of  whom  are  living,  namely: 
Ursula,  widow  of  ICzekiel  I'alen,  residing  in 
Rome,  Ga. ;  Delilah,  wife  of  John  Olmsted, 
in  Bainbridge,  Chenango  County,  N.'\\;  Ar- 
mida,  deceased;  Jeannette,  widow  of  Lewis 
Hunt,  in  Ouaker  Street,  Schenectady;  P'.lijah, 
in  ( ireene  C(iunt\'. 

John  Olmstetl  was  rearetl  and  educated  in 
Greene  County,  in  early  life  turning  his  at- 
tention to  agricultural  pursuits.  He  made 
his  first  jnux-hase  of  laiul  in  Delaware  County, 
coming  to  Masonville  in  1841,  crossing  the 
intervening  country  with  teams,  and  bringing 
with  him  his  family  and  all  their  worUlly  pos- 
sessions. Buying  the  land  now  ownctl  and 
occupied  by  Jonas  Finch,  which  was  at  that 
time  heavily  timbered,  he  erected  a  frame 
house  that  is  still  standing,  and  resided  there 
for  many  years.  He  cleared  much  of  the  land, 
and,  i)uying  other  tracts,  was  at  one  time  the 
possessor  of  a  farm  of  three  hundred  and  forty 
acres.  He  was  well  known  as  one  of  the 
leading  farmers  of  his  locality,  and  during  his 
residence  in  Masonville  was  numbered  among 


i8 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


its  influential  citizens.  Ho  served  his  fellow- 
townsmen  in  various  official  capacities,  hav- 
ing been  Assessor  three  terms.  Road  Com- 
missioner, and  the  incumbent  of  several  minor 
offices.  In  1867  he  and  his  wife  moved  to 
Bainbridge,  where  he  bought  the  valuable 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  forty  acres,  on  which 
he  .still  lives,  and  carries  on  general  farming. 
Although  advanced  in  years,  he  and  his  wife 
are  still  vigorous  both  mentally  and  physi- 
cally, and  hajjpy  in  the  enjoyment  of  good 
health,  l^olitically,  he  is  a  firm  Republican, 
and  in  religious  matters  is  liberal.  Of  the 
fourteen  children  born  of  their  union  nine  are 
now  living,  as  follows:  Theodore  and  Silas 
M.,  both  farmers  in  Masonville;  Levi,  a 
farmer  in  Sanford,  Broome  County;  Adelbert 
H.,  a  civil  engineer,  in  Bloomfield,  N.J.; 
Jonathan,  living  with  his  parents  in  Bain- 
bridge: Armida,  who  married  Samuel  Smith, 
living  in  Bainbridge;  Arcella,  the  wife  of 
Charles  Osborne,  living  in  Milford,  Otsego 
County;  Rueyette,  wife  of  Elmer  Ford,  resid- 
ing in  Batavia,  N.Y.;  and  Josephine,  the 
wife  of  Eugene  Brightman,  living  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Sidney.  The  names  of  the  deceased 
are:  Jeannette,  who  died  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
years;  Walter,  who  died  at  the  age  of  five 
years;  Elizabeth,  who  died  when  an  infant; 
Adaline,  who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-five 
years;  and  Harriet,  who  died  when  an  infant. 
Silas  M.  Olmsted  obtained  his  early  knowl- 
edge of  book  lore  in  the  district  schools  of 
Masonville,  and  on  the  home  farm  early  be- 
came initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  agricult- 
ure, and  remained  at  home,  assisting  in  the 
management  of  the  farm,  until  September  i, 
1864,  when  he  enlisted  in  the  service  of  his 
country,  as  a  private  in  Company  B,  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-fourth  New  York  Volun- 
teer Militia,  under  the  command  of  Captain 
M.  W.  Marvin,  his  term  of  enlistment  being 
for  one  year,  or  until  the  close  of  the  war. 
With  his  company  Mr.  Olmsted  participated 
in  several  skirmishes  and  battles,  among 
others  being  the  battles  at  James  Island  and 
Honey  Flill.  While  at  the  front  he  con- 
tracted a  disease  from  which  he  has  never 
fully  recovered.  On  June  25,  1865,  he  re- 
ceived his  honorable  discharge,  at  Hilton 
Head,  S.C.      Returning  to  Delaware   County, 


he  resumed  his  former  occupation  in  the  place 
of  his  nativity,  and  subsequently  bought  one 
hundred  acres  of  land  in  the  town  of  Sidney, 
where  he  pursued  farming  initil  1873.  He 
then  disposed  of  his  property  there,  and 
bought  the  farm  of  one  hundred  and  ten  acres 
on  which  he  now  resides,  carrying  on  mixed 
husbandry  with  excellent  pecuniary  results. 
He  has  a  choice  dairy  of  fourteen  cows, 
mostly  native  cattle.  He  thoroughl)'  under- 
stands his  work,  and  is  acknowledged  to  be 
one  of  the  most  able  and  successful  agricultur- 
ists in  his  locality. 

On  May  15,  1867,  Mr.  Olmsted  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Emma  L.  Sikes,  a  native  of 
Connecticut,  where  she  was  born  January  4, 
1846.  Her  parents,  Thomas  and  Pamelia 
(Barnes)  Sikes,  both  natives  of  the  same 
State,  removing  to  Delaware  County  in  1850, 
settled  on  a  farm  in  Masonville,  on  which  the 
father  still  lives.  Mrs.  Sikes  departed  this 
life  in  1882.  She  bore  her  husband  eight 
children,  five  of  whom  are  living,  namely: 
Henry  W.,  of  Pittsfield,  Mass.;  Mrs.  Olm- 
sted; Sila,  the  wife  of  Rufus  Randall,  of 
Masonville;  John,  a  farmer,  of  Masonville; 
Celestia,  the  wife  of  Nelson  Wilcox,  of 
Masonville.  The  names  of  the  deceased  are 
as  follows:  Julia,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three  years;  Ellen,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  eleven  years;  and  an  infant.  Mrs. 
Sikes  was  an  esteemed  member  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church,  while  Mr.  Sikes  is  lib- 
eral in  his  religious  views.  Politically,  he  is 
a  straight  Democrat. 

The  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Olmsted  has 
been  blessed  by  the  birth  of  eight  children, 
the  following  being  their  record:  Ida,  born 
April  4,  1868,  is  the  wife  of  Frank  Wright, 
of  Oneonta.  Walter  J.,  born  January  24, 
1 87 1,  resides  at  home.  Blanche,  born  Janu- 
ary 31,  1875,  niarried  George  Reynolds,  and 
resides  at  home.  Janette,  born  January  11, 
1880,  lives  at  home.  Clara  died  at  the  age  of 
six  years,  Leah  died  when  ten  months  old, 
Iva  died  when  a  week  old,  and  John  died 
when  two  and  one-half  years  of  age. 

■•  There  is  no  flock,  however  watched  and  tended. 
But  one  dead  lamb  is  there  ; 
There  is  no  fireside,  liowsoe'er  defended, 
But  has  one  vacant  chair.'' 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


'9 


Mrs.  Olmsted,  a  sincere  ami  Christian  woman, 
is  a  devoted  member  of  tlie  Metlioilist  Epis- 
copal church;  and  Mr.  ()lmsted  is  quite  lib- 
eral in  his  views  on  religion.  In  politics  he 
affiliates  with  the  Republican  part)',  support- 
ing its  i>iinciples  by  voice  antl  vote.  .So- 
cially, he  is  a  member  of  Masonxille  Lodge, 
No.  1 80,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  of 
which    he    is    Past    Commander. 


^i:\'.  RICHARD  C.  .SJ'.ARING,  rec- 
^-^  tor  of  Christ  ICpiscopal  Cluu'ch  at 
'o\  Waltiin.  has   been    potent   in  elevat- 

^"^  ing  the  moral  and  religious  status 
of  this  part  of  Delaware  County,  and  in- 
fluential in  forwariling  its  educational  and 
literary  interests.  He  was  born  April  13, 
185  I,  in  Saratoga  .Springs,  which  was  also  the 
place  of  nativity  of  his  father,  William  M. 
Searing.  His  grandfather,  Richard  Searing, 
was  a  pioneer  of  Saratoga  County,  whither  he 
went  from  Hempstead,  L.I.,  where  he  was 
reared  and  married.  During  the  Revolution- 
ary War  he  was  engaged  as  teamster,  but  also 
handled  a  musket  to  good  purpose  at  the 
battle  of  Stony  Point.  Removing  to  Saratoga 
County,  he  purchased  a  tract  of  land  which 
was  still  in  its  virgin  wildness,  and  there  en- 
gaged in  general  farming  until  his  death. 
He  was  twice  married ;  his  second  wife,  from 
whom  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  descended, 
was  Hannah  Stanley  Marsh  Searing,  the 
daughter  of  .Samuel  Stanley,  and  the  widow  of 
William  Marsh.  She  bore  him  three  chil- 
dren, namely:  William  M.  :  Sarah,  the  wife 
of  J.    IngersoU;  and    Hannah. 

VVilliam  M.  Searing  was  reared  to  agricult- 
ural pursuits  on  the  home  farm,  assisting  in 
its  labors  during  the  years  of  his  boyhood  and 
youth,  but  not  neglecting  his  educational 
advantages.  After  mastering  the  common 
branches  of  learning,  he  taught  school  several 
terms  with  unciuestioned  ability  and  success. 
Having  a  logical  and  analytical  mind,  with  a 
taste  for  jurisprudence,  he  began  the  study  of 
law  in  the  office  of  William  A.  Beach  in  Sara- 
toga Springs,  and  subsequently  entered  upon 
the  practice  of  his  profession  in  that  place. 
He  has  always  taken  an  active  interest  in 
works  of  philanthropy  and  reform,  ever  being 


foremost  in  the  cause  of  the  o|)pressed,  and 
was  prominent  among  the  rree-soiiers,  who 
s])enl  some  time  in  Kansas  in  the  stirririg 
periotl  of  its  settlement.  During  the  late 
Civil  War  he  won  a  recortl  as  a  brave  man  and 
a  loyal  officer,  of  which  lie  and  his  descendants 
may  well  be  proud.  He  enlisted  in  the  ser- 
vice of  his  C(nuitry  in  1861  as  Major  of  the 
Thirtieth  New  York  X'olunteer  Infantry,  and 
for  gallant  conduct  was  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  Lieutenant  Colonel,  and  subsecpiently  was 
appointed  Colonel  of  his  regiment,  serving  as 
such  until  honorably  discharged  in  1863.  He 
was  an  active  participant  in  several  heavy  en- 
gagements, being  at  the  second  battle  of  l^ull 
Run,  .\ntietam,  P'redericksburg,  Chancel lors- 
ville,  antl  others,  and  at  one  time  having  his 
horse  shot  from  under  him.  Returning  to  Sara- 
toga Springs,  he  resumed  his  law  practice,  and 
is  still  an  honored  resident  of  that  place,  where 
he  is  filling  the  office  of   Pension  Agent. 

He  married  Caroline  M.  Huling,  daughter 
of  Peekman  and  Maria  (.Smith)'  Huling,  the 
former  of  whom  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Beekman,  Dutchess  County,  .\.V.,  being  the 
son  of  John  Huling,  a  native  of  the  same 
place  and  a  pensioner  of  the  Revolution. 
Jacob  -Smith,  the  father  of  Maria  Smith  Hu- 
ling, was  a  resident  of  Kinilerhook,  Columbia 
County,  where  the  latter  was  born,  December 
8,  1 799.  Of  the  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
William  .Searing  seven  children  were  born, 
namely:  Beekman;  William,  deceased ;  Rich- 
ard C.  :  lulmund;  Carrie;  .Samuel,  Chaplain 
(if  Citv  Institutions,  Boston,  Mass.;  and  Han- 
nah, deceased.  Both  parents  are  esteemed 
members  of   the  Bethesda  Church  at  Saratoga. 

Richard  C.  Searing,  the  subject  of  this 
brief  biography,  spent  the  first  years  of  his 
life  in  the  village  of  Saratoga  Springs,  ac<|uir- 
ing  his  elementary  education  in  its  district 
schools,  wdiich  was  further  advanced  by  attend- 
ance at  the  graded  school.  He  went  thence 
to  St.  Stephen's  College  at  Annandale,  N.V.. 
and  was  graduated  from  the  Ceneral  Theologi- 
cal .Seminary  in  New  York  City  in  1877. 
His  first  pastoral  work  after  graduation  was  at 
Walton,  in  the  church  where  he  is  now  offici- 
ating, of  which  he  had  charge  until  1879, 
when  [he  accepted  a  call  to  Columbia,  Pa. 
After   remaining   there   three  vears  and   eight 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


months,  Mr.  Searing  spent  a  short  time  at 
Middle  Haddam,  Conn.,  and  subsequently  two 
years  in  VVillimantic  and  two  years  at  Union- 
ville,  in  the  same  State.  He  next  had  charge 
of  a  church  at  Arlington,  Vt.,  for  nearly  five 
years,  and  from  that  place  returned  to  his 
first  pastorate  in  July,  1893.  Through  his 
untiring  efforts  when  at  Arlington,  the  church 
at  Sunderland  was  established.  He  is  a  man 
of  great  perseverance,  and  in  his  present  re- 
sponsible position  in  the  Master's  vineyard  is 
acquitting  himself  with  the  same  fidelity  to 
duty,  and  with  the  same  lofty  purpose,  clear 
judgment,  and  tempered  zeal  which  have  ever 
been  among  his  distinguishing  characteristics. 
.Under  his  faithful  ministrations  many  per- 
sons have  been  added  to  the  different  congre- 
gations under  his  charge,  and  he  has  made  his 
influence  felt  for  good  in  the  community 
wherever  he  has   resided. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Searing  with  Lizzie 
Chrisman  Seeley,  the  daughter  of  Aaron  C. 
and  Caroline  (Jennings)  Seeley,  of  New  Ca- 
naan, Conn.,  was  solemnized  on  January  15, 
1880.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Seeley  removed  from 
their  New  England  home  to  the  town  of  Wal- 
ton, and  were  numbered  among  its  most 
valued  citizens.  They  had  four  children  — 
George  C,  Erastus  C,  Carrie  C,  and  Lizzie 
C.  Mr.  Seeley  died  while  yet  a  young  man, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-nine  years.  Mrs.  Seeley 
survived  her  husband  until  1882,  when  she 
passed  to  the  higher  life  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
three  years.  Roth  were  sincere  communicants 
of  the  Episcopal  church.  After  the  death  of 
her  husband  Mrs.  Seeley,  who  was  a  woman 
of  fine  character  and  rare  mental  endowments, 
devoted  herself  with  faithful  solicitude  to 
rearing  her  little  family,  who  all  continue  to 
reside  in  Walton,  and  have  become  useful 
members  of  society,  George  being  junior 
member  of  the  firm  of  Fitch  Brothers  &  See- 
ley, and  Erastus  member  of  the  firm  of  Tobey 
&  Seeley. 

Politically,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Searing  is  a 
Republican;  and,  socially,  he  is  a  member 
of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  having  joined 
Walton  Lodge,  No.  559,  in  1878.  He  is 
also  a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  belonging  to 
Adoniram  Lodge,  Royal  Arch  Masons,  of 
Manchester,   Vt. 


RED  H.  GRIEFIS,  proprietor  of  the 
Edgerton  House,  the  leading  hotel  of 
Delhi,  has,  by  his  ready  tact  and  uni- 
form courtesy,  made  his  well-managed  estab- 
lishment, with  its  beautifully  supplied  table 
and  its  excellent  service,  one  of  the  most  at- 
tractive resorts  for  the  travelling  public  that 
can  be  found  within  the  limits  of  Delaware 
County,  and  has  won  for  himself  a  far  more 
than  local  reputation.  He  is  a  native  of 
Delaware  County,  having  made  his  first  en- 
trance upon  the  stage  of  lite  October  22, 
1S58,  in  the  town  of  Hancock,  where  his 
father,  Calvin  B.  Griffis,  was  then  engaged  in 
business. 

Calvin  B.  Griffis  was  born  on  the  farm  of 
his  parents  in  Montrose,  Susquehanna  County, 
Pa.,  being  one  of  a  family  of  eight  children, 
seven  of  them  being  boys;  namely,  Calvin, 
Abner,  Milton,  Austin,  Elisha,  John,  and 
Jefferson.  He  remained  on  the  paternal 
homestead  until  his  freedom  birthday,  then 
purchased  a  farm  and  engaged  in  general  agri- 
culture on  his  own  account.  Being  an  ener- 
getic, stirring  man,  with  keen  foresight,  he 
saw  the  way  to  make  money  in  the  timbered 
region  of  New  York  State.  Removing  to 
Delaware  County,  he  bought  eleven  hundred 
acres  of  wild  land  in  the  town  of  Hancock, 
giving  twenty  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  acre 
therefor.  He  erected  a  mill  and  began  clear- 
ing off  the  timber,  which  he  sawed  and  sold, 
being  an  extensive  dealer  in  lumber  for  many 
years,  and  supplying  the  Erie  Railway  Com- 
pany with  wood.  With  characteristic  enter- 
])rise  he  purchasetl  an  interest  in  the  stage 
line  from  Hancock  to  Delhi,  and  also  one  from 
Hancock  to  Downsville,  that  being  prior  to 
the  time  of  railways.  The  business  proved  to 
be  very  remunerative,  as  many  as  one  hundred 
passengers  a  day,  at  three  dollars  per  fare, 
being  sometimes  conveyed  between  Hancock 
and  Delhi.  This  was  during  war  times,  in 
1862   and    1863. 

Mr.  Griffis  also  built  a  large  store,  in  which 
he  not  only  kept  a  complete  assortment  of  dry 
goods,  boots,  shoes,  and  ready-made  clothing, 
but  ran  an  extensive  flour  and  feed  business, 
being  one  of  the  most  successful  general  mer- 
chants of  the  place.  All  of  these  he  con- 
ducted   until    1872,    when    he    purchased    the 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Hancock    House,    the    largest    hotel    in    that 
town,  and  for  five  years   thereafter  managed    it 
with   eminent   success.      In    1877   he   came   to 
Delhi,    and   assumed   the   management    of    the 
li^dgerton    House,  which   he  carried   on  in   the 
same   prosperous  manner  until    1889,  when  he 
sold   his  interests  to  his  son  Fred,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch.      Trevious   to   this  time  Calvin 
H.  Griffis   had   bought   what    is   now  known  as 
the    Edgerton    House  farm,    which   he  mn    to 
supply  the   hotel,  and    which   he   continued    to 
operate  until    March,   1893.      He  still  leads  an 
active   life,    paying   personal   attention   to   his 
many  interests  and  superintending  his  farm  in 
Hancock,    which    is  one  of    the  finest    in    the 
entire  State.      He  married  Jane  M.  \'aughn,  a 
native  of   Pennsylvania,    and    the   daughter  of 
one  of   its  prosperous  farmers.      She  has  borne 
him     four     children,    all     sons,     namely:     I'^. 
Walker,  who    is    retired    from   active    life,  and 
resides    in    Hancock:   Olis    C,    proprietor    of 
the     Hancock     House,     which     was     formerly 
owned   by   his   father;   Charles    H.;  and    Fred 
H.       The     mother     is    an     active      Christian 
woman,  and  a  member  of  the   Baptist  church. 
Fred   H.,    the  youngest    of    the   four    boys, 
spent     his     early    years     in     Hancock,    being 
reared  on  the  farm,  and   acquiring  his   educa- 
tion in   the  union   scliool.      After   comideting 
his  education,  he  came  to  Delhi,  and  began  to 
assist  his  father  in  the  hotel.      ]?ecoming  fully 
acquainted  with  the  details  of  the  business,  in 
1888  he  bought  the  hotel  of  his  father,  and  in 
its   subsequent   management   he  has   met    with 
well-merited    success.      In    1892    Mr.    C.riffis 
leased   the   Edgerton   House  farm,    containing 
one   hundred   and   seventy  acres   of   land;   and 
here  he  keeps  a  large  number  of  cows,  suj)ply- 
ing  the  hotel  table  with  pure  cream,  undiluted 
milk,  and  fine  butter,  and  cultivating  the  land 
for  the  raising  of  vegetables.      From  1891  to 
1893  Mr.  Grififis  was  also   engaged    in   buying 
and  selling  horses,  owning  a   large  sale  and 
exchange     stable,    in    company    with     K.    A. 
Young,  and  doing  a   lucrative  business  under 
the  firm  name  of  Grifiis  &  Young.      On  Janu- 
uarv    I,     1893,    he    sold    his    interest    in    the 
.stable  to   his   partner,   and   has  since  devoted 
his  entire  attention  to  his  farm  and  hotel,  tlie 
latter    being    in    every  respect  the  finest   and 
best-equipped  hotel    in  the  county. 


In  1 88 1  Mr.  Griffis  led  to  the  marriage 
altar  Miss  Anna  L.  Judson,  a  native  of  Delhi, 
daughter  of  Charles  and  Mary  (Hergen)  Jud- 
son, former  proprietors  of  the  American 
House,  Mr.  Judson  being  the  worthy  repre- 
sentative of  one  of  the  old  and  iionored  fam- 
ilies of  this  part  of  Delaware  County.  One 
son,  Calvin  C.  Grififis,  has  been  born  of  tiieir 
union.  Mr.  Griffis,  socially,  is  a  leading 
member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  belonging 
to  Delhi  Lodge,  No.  439,  A.  !■'.  &  A.  M.,  to 
Delaware  Chapter,  No.  249,  and  to  .\orwich 
Commandery,  No.  46. 


Il.LARD  11.  FRISBI':i:.  The  farm 
of  this  gentleman,  with  its  comfort- 
able residence  and  out-buildings 
and  tlieir  jdeasant  surroundings,  lies  like  a 
picture  in  the  landscape  of  Delhi,  and  bears 
the  appropriate  name  of  "  Maple  Shade." 
The  iiomestead  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Frisbee 
from  his  father,  Edward  A.,  into  whose  pos- 
session it  had  come  on  the  death  of  Daniel 
Frisbee,  of  whom  he  was  the  youngest  son. 
It  embraces  two  hundred  and  thirty-two 
acri's  of  land,  which  has  been  managed  in 
the  wisest  manner,  and  has  responded  liber- 
ally in  rich  jiroducts  to  the  hand  of  one  of 
the  most  skilful  agriculturists  of  Delaware 
County.  In  the  prosecution  of  his  labors  Mr. 
Frisbee  has  availed  himself  of  the  experience 
of  older  men,  and  of  the  skill  of  the  inventor, 
adapting  his  land  to  that  branch  of  husban- 
dry which  he  deems  most  jirofitable,  and  using 
the  most  approved  modern  machinery.  He 
is  at  present  largely  engaged  in  dairying  and 
stock-raising,  selling  the  milk  from  filty 
choice  cows  in  the  markets  of  New  York,  and 
owning  a  valuable  lot  of  cattle  and  horses. 

Mr.  h'risbee  was  born  ApvW  9,  1858,  on  the 
homestead  where  he  now  resides;  and  this 
same  farm  was  also  the  birthplace  of  his  fatiier, 
lulward  .\.  Frisbee.  His  great-grandfather. 
Judge  Gideon  Frisbee,  was  one  of  the  earliest 
settlers  in  this  part  of  the  State,  where  the 
name  Frisbee  has  long  been  prominent.  He 
was  a  New  luigland  man  by  birtli.  Init  mi- 
grated to  this  .State,  and,  after  a  short  stay  in 
Schoharie  County,  came  thence  t(j  Delaware 
Countv.    wlu-re    he   took    up   a   timbered    tract 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


lying  in  the  town  of  Delhi,  and  in  time  estab- 
lished a  good  home  for  his  family.  He  was 
a  remarkably  well-informed  man,  and  was 
very  influential  in  the  management  of  impor- 
tant affairs.  He  had  the  honor  of  being  ap- 
pointed the  first  Judge  of  this  county,  and  in 
his  house  the  first  court  was  held.  Of  his 
large  family  of  children  none  arc  now   living. 

Daniel  Frisbee,  son  of  Judge  Frisbee,  was 
born  in  New  Canaan,  Conn.,  went  from  there 
to  Schoharie  County,  New  York,  with  his 
parents  and  at  the  age  of  nine  years  came 
with  them  to  this  county-  He  was  reared  a 
farmer,  and,  when  reaJy  to  begin  his  inde- 
pendent career,  took  up  a  timber  tract  of  two 
hundred  acres  of  land  and  proceeded  to  clear 
a  farm.  In  the  customary  log  house  he  and 
his  young  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Ruth 
Beardsley,  began  their  labors,  mostly  of  a 
pioneer  nature,  experiencing  many  difficul- 
ties, but  with  a  resolute  spirit  overcoming 
them  all.  Here  they  lived  and  toiled,  and 
here  this  worthy  couple  passed  to  their  final 
rest.  The  home  which  they  reared  in  the 
wilderness  came  successively  into  the  posses- 
sion of  their  son  Edward  and  their  grandson 
Willard,  whose  name  heads  this  sketch.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Daniel  Frisbee  were  the  parents  of 
twelve  children,  of  whom  eleven  grew  to  ma- 
turity; namely,  Erastus,  Huldah,  Dalinda, 
Sally,  Beardsley,  Ruth,  Gideon,  Lydia,  Dan- 
iel, Marilla,  and  Edward  A. 

Edward  A.  Frisbee  was  the  youngest  mem- 
ber of  the  parental  household,  and  his  entire 
life  was  spent  on  the  farm  where  he  was  born. 

Through  the  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth 
he  attended  school  and  assisted  on  the  farm, 
acquiring  a  good  common  school  education, 
and  becoming  well  versed  in  the  pursuit  of 
agriculture.  After  the  decease  of  his  parents, 
he  came  into  the  possession  of  the  old  home- 
stead, and  was  for  many  years  known  as  one 
of  the  best  farmers  in  this  region.  He  added 
many  of  the  fine  improvements  of  the  place, 
building  the  present  commodious  residence 
and  good  barn  and  out-buildings.  He  de- 
parted this  life  on  February  5,  1893,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-four  years,  leaving  behind  the 
blessed  memory  of  a  life  well  spent.  On 
April  II,  1855,  he  married  Rosella  D.  Gra- 
ham,   the  daughter  of   Henry  R.   Graham,   of 


Meredith.  She  passed  to  the  better  land 
April  6,  1888,  at  the  age  of  fifty-tsvo  years. 
They  were  the  parents  of  two  children  —  Wil- 
lard H.  and  Esther  H.  The  latter  is  the  wife 
of  John  D.  Paine,  a  clerk  in  Graham's  hard- 
ware store  at  Delhi.  Both  parents  were  con- 
scientious members  of  the  Baptist  church,  in 
which  Mr.  Edward  A.  Frisbee  served  with 
fidelity  as  Trustee  for  many  years. 

Willard  H.  Frisbee  was  reared  upon  the  old 
homestead,  receiving  the  rudiments  of  his 
education  in  the  district  school.  Being  a 
bright  and  ambitious  boy,  he  was  afterward 
sent  to  the  Delaware  Academy,  thence  to  Col- 
gate Academy  at  Hamilton,  where  he  pursued 
the  classical  course.  Returning  to  the  home 
of  his  youth,  Mr.  Frisbee  engaged  in  farming, 
and  in  1891  purchased  from  his  father  the  old 
homestead,  in  whose  management  he  is  meet- 
ing with  encouraging  results.  He  is  well 
known  throughout  this  locality  as  an  honest, 
upright  man  and  a  true  and  faithful  citizen,  and 
as  the  encourager  and  supporter  of  all  enter- 
prises calculated  to  benefit  the  community. 

Mr.  Frisbee  was  united  in  wedlock  January 
3,  1883,  to  Miss  Minnie  E.  Hoag,  the  descend- 
ant of  an  old  and  honored  family  of  Delhi, 
being  the  daughter  of  Cyrus  Hoag.  Into 
their  pleasant  home  five  children  have  been 
born  —  Ralph  H.,  Clarence  E.,  Elmer  G., 
Rosella  B.,  and  Wyatt  C.  Mr.  Frisbee  takes 
an  active  interest  in  the  temperance  cause, 
and  casts  his  vote  with  the  Prohibitionists. 
Religiously,  he  is  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Baptist  church,  of  which  he  is  a  Trustee. 


ISAAC  WINANS.  For  more  than  a 
half-century  Mr.  Winans  has  been  a 
resident  of  the  town  of  Sidney,  and 
during  the  time  has  established  a  good 
reputation  as  a  man  of  industry,  intelligence, 
and  thrift.  He  was  for  many  years  an  impor- 
tant factor  in  the  industrial  interests  of  the 
town,  carrying  on  a  successful  business  in  the 
manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes.  He  is  a  na- 
tive of  New  York,  born  in  the  town  of  Una- 
dilla,  Otsego  County,  March  14,  1822,  being 
a  son  of  Silas  and  Elizabeth  (Smith)  Winans. 
His  paternal  grandfather,  Isaac  Winans,  Sr., 
who    was    born     in     Horse     Neck,    Dutchess 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Count)',  Juno  26.  172S,  was  a  veteran  of  llic 
Revolution;  and  after  the  close  of  tliat  war  he 
settled  in  Otsetjo  County,  beint;'  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  Cnadilla.  ile  was  a  farmer  by 
occupation,  but  not  a  land-owner,  and,  al- 
thouj;h  making  a  comfortable  li\ing,  never 
accumulated  much  property.  On  Jul)'  21, 
1774,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Sarah 
Holly,  a  native  of  Dutchess  County,  the  date 
of  her  birth  being  December  12,  1743.  Of 
their  union  se\en  children  were  b<irn,  all  of 
whom  grew  to  maturitx';  but  none  are  now 
living.  Grandfather  W'inans  was  a  man  of 
profound  con\'ictions  in  regard  to  the  great 
truths  of  religion,  liberal  in  liis  views,  and 
tolerant  of  the  opinions  of  others.  Init  rather 
inclined  toward  the  tenets  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  of  which  church  his  good 
wife  was  a  consistent  member.  Huth  spent 
the  last  years  of  their  lives  in  the  town  of 
Unadilla,  he  passing  away  at  the  home  of  one 
of  his  daughters  at  a  ripe  old  age. 

lulward  .Smith,  the  maternal  grandfather  of 
Mr.  Winans,  was  a  nati\-e  of  England,  where 
he  spent  the  earlier  years  of  his  life.  In 
1803  he  emigrated  to  America,  and,  proceed- 
ing directly  to  Otsego  County,  settled  in  the 
town  of  Butternuts,  where  he  bought  a  tract  of 
land  and  engaged  in  farming.  He  died  there 
on  Eehruary  24,  1813,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
seven  )'ears.  On  June  12,  1783,  a  score  ot 
years  prior  to  his  emigration,  he  was  married 
to  Catherine  Chapman,  who  accompanied  him 
to  his  new  home,  and  who  survived  him  a  few 
years,  dying  in  Butternuts,  May  27,  1818, 
when  fifty-seven  \ears  old.  They  reared  a 
family  of  eight  children,  but  none  are  now- 
living.  While  in  his  native  country,  Mr. 
Smith,  who  had  great  mechanical  ability,  was 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  buttons;  and 
his  grandson,  Mr.  Winans,  has  in  his  posses- 
sion a  button  made  by  him  in  1770,  which  is 
of  great  value  as  a  work  of  mechanical  skill, 
being  worth  more  than  its  weight  in  gold.  It 
is  as  large  as  a  silver  dollar,  and  consists  of 
seventy-two  pieces  of  steel  put  together  in  an 
ingenious  manner.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  were 
people  of  great  moral  worth,  and  were  highly 
respected.  They  were  members  of  no  relig- 
ious organization,  but  weie  firm  believers  in 
the  Univcrsalist  faith. 


.Silas  Winans,  son  of  the  elder  Isaac,  was 
born  in  Little  Nine  Partners,  Dutchess 
County,  May  13,  1785,  and  sjient  the  days  of 
his  bovhood  and  early  manlu>od  near  the 
scenes  of  his  birth,  being  reared  to  the  occu- 
pation of  a  farmer.  Subsequently  removing 
to  Otsego  County,  he  bought  a  small  farm  in 
the  town  of  Unadilla,  and  was  for  some  years 
there  engaged  in  agriculture.  In  1839  he 
came  to  Delaware  County,  and,  buying  one 
hundred  and  si.xty-five  acres  of  land  near  Sid- 
1  ney  Centre,  began  the  improvehient  of  a 
homesteail.  He  was  a  man  of  good  intellect- 
ual capacity,  fond  of  reading  and  study,  but 
not  a  ver)'  practical  manager;  and  it  was 
through  the  excellent  judgment  and  business 
ability  of  his  wife  that  his  farming  operations 
were  ably  carried  on.  He  married  IClizabeth 
.Smith,  who  was  born  in  Leicestershire,  ICng- 
land,  August  29,  1794,  a  daughter  of  ICdward 
and  C"atherine  (^Chapman)  Smith,  above 
named.  She  proved  herself  a  helpmate  in 
every  sense  implied  by  the  term;  and  both 
she  and  her  husband  spent  their  remaining 
\'ears  in  the  town  of  .Sidney,  she  dying  in 
May,  1 86 1,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven  \'ears, 
and  he  in  November,  1873,  at  the  venerable 
age  of  eighty-eight  years.  They  were  re- 
spected for  tlieir  integrity  and  ui)right  moral 
character:  and,  although  not  church  members, 
he  was  a  Univcrsalist  in  his  religious  views, 
and  slie  was  a  Methodist.  To  them  were  born 
ten  children,  seven  sons  and  three  daughters, 
of  whom  the  following  is  a  brief  record: 
Catherine,  born  .Se])tember  23,  1820.  is  the 
widow  of  Joel  Lee,  ami  resiles  in  Sidney 
Centre.  Isaac  is  the  one  whose  name  heads 
the  present   sketch.      Laura,  l^orn    in   August, 

1824,  married  Chester  Pomeroy,  and  died 
August    15,     1884.      .Silas  C    born    in    Ma_\', 

1825.  is  a  resident  of  P'ranklin.  Eliza,  born 
in  August,  1827,  dietl  young.  Cyrus  W.  was 
born  in  .Au-ust,  1829.  Jose]ih.  born  in  Octo- 
ber, 1831,  was  a  physician  in  Linn  County, 
Iowa,  where  his  death  occurred  in  March, 
1892.  Henry  IL.  born  in  .Xugust,  1833, 
lives  in  .Sidney  Centre  with  his  sister,  Mrs. 
Lee.  -Samuel,  born  in  August,  1836,  was  an 
able  pinsician.  and  dietl  in  .Si(hiey  Centre  in 
1863.  James,  born  on  May  24,  1839,  '^  '■^ 
farmer   residing   in    Sidney    Centre. 


24 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Isaac  Winans,  the  eldest  son  of  Silas,  re- 
mained in  the  place  of  his  nativity  until 
seventeen  years  of  age,  and  there  received  the 
rudiments  of  his  education,  which  was  com- 
|)lcted  in  Sidney  Centre.  He  remained  at 
home,  assisting  on  the  farm,  until  attaining 
his  majority,  when  he  started  life  for  himself, 
beginning  as  a  farm  laborer,  working  during 
the  summer  months  for  nine  dollars  a  month, 
and  during  the  winter  seasons  working  at  the 
shoemaker's  trade,  which  he  learned  after 
leaving  home.  In  1845  he  established  him- 
self in  Sidney  Centre  as  a  manufacturer  of 
boots  and  shoes,  and  was  for  thirty-six  years 
prosperously  engaged  in  that  business.  By 
steady  application  to  his  work  and  the  exer- 
cise of  sound  judgment  in  his  investments  he 
has  acquired  a  good  property  and  a  comfort- 
able home.  Clinging  to  his  early  habits  of 
industry  and  thrift,  Mr.  Winans  still  leads  a 
life  of  activity,  and  realizes  a  handsome  an- 
nual income  from  the  sale  of  honey,  keeping 
about  fifty  stands  of  black  and  Italian  bees; 
and,  in  addition  to  this  business,  he  also 
raises  a  good  deal  of  poultry,  his  principal 
stock  being  brown   leghorns. 

On  the  3d  of  August,  1845,  Mr.  Winans 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Rhobey  Hunter,  a 
native  of  Sharon,  Vt.,  and  a  daughter  of  Dr. 
Ira  and  Rhobey  (Spalding)  Hunter.  Rhobey 
Hunter  Winans  was  born  on  January  26, 
1 8 16,  and  for  several  years  was  a  successful 
school-teacher.  She  had  an  older  brother, 
Philip  S.  Hunter,  a  clothier  by  trade,  and  two 
sisters:  Thirza,  who  died  when  only  two  years 
old;  and  Louise,  who  died  at  sixty-six  years 
of  age.  The  "Review"  is  indebted  to  the 
practised  pen  of  Mrs.  Winans  for  further  par- 
ticulars concerning  her  parents  and  interesting 
incidents  in  the  lives  of  distant  ancestral  con- 
nections, which  she  has  recorded  as  they  were 
told  her  by  her  mtJther,  and  which  show  the 
heroic  spirit  that  animated  the  pioneer  men 
and   women   of  the   perilous  times   of  old. 

Ira  Hunter  was  born  in  Grantham,  N.H., 
January  lo,  1785,  worked  at  shoemaking  for 
several  years,  and  then,  under  the  instruction 
of  Dr.  Elias  Frost,  began  the  study  and  prac- 
tice of  physic.  In  181 2  he  was  married  to 
Rliobey  Spalding,  daughter  of  Captain  Philip 
and  Thankful   Waterman   Spalding.      In    181 7 


he  bought  a  farm  in  Roxbury,  Vt.,  where  he 
settled  with  his  family,  as  a  farmer  and  phy- 
sician, remaining  there  until  he  came  with 
them  to  Franklin,  Delaware  County,  N.Y.,  in 
the  year  1837.  A  few  years  later  they  re- 
moved to  Sidney  Centre,  where  Dr.  Hunter 
died,  November  g,  1856,  aged  seventy-one 
years.  He  was  a  man  of  much  talent  and  a 
skilful  physician.  He  was  a  Republican  in 
political  principle,  and  a  true  patriot.  Rho- 
bey (Spalding)  Hunter,  his  wife,  spent  the 
remainder  of  her  years  with  her  daughter, 
Mrs.  Winans,  in  Sidney  Centre,  and  entered 
her  rest  in  hope  of  a  glorious  resurrection,  at 
the  ripe  age  of  ninety-one  years.  She  was  a 
woman  of  a  sound  mind,  a  Baptist,  and  much 
respected  by  all  who  knew  her. 

Captain  Philip  Spalding,  father  of  Rhobey 
Spalding  Hunter,  was  born  in  Connecticut  in 
November,  1755.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the 
War  of  the  Revolution,  and  served  as  Captain 
under  the  command  of  General  Washington. 
He  was  a  tall,  well-built  man,  of  command- 
ing appearance,  a  wise  counsellor,  a  good 
Christian,  and  a  Baptist.  He  retained  his 
mental  faculties  almost  to  the  last;  and, 
when  his  life  work  here  was  finished  in  his 
ninety-third  year,  he  passed  away  so  peace- 
fully it  might  be  said  of  him,  "Asleep  in 
Jesus,  oh,  how  sweetl"  His  wife,  who  died 
at  sixty,  was  a  Christian  believer,  a  Baptist  in 
sentiment,  not  a  church  member.  Her  name 
was  Thankful  (Waterman)  Spalding.  She 
had  a  brother  in  the  Revolutionary  War, 
whose  name  was  William  Waterman;  and,  at 
one  time,  while  in  a  battle  where  the  enemy 
were  victorious,  he  was  the  last  man  on  the 
field  who  turned  to  flee.  In  his  flight,  the 
"balls  whizzed  by  his  ears  thick  and  fast,"  he 
used  to  say;  and,  as  he  leaped  over  a  wall,  a 
ball  entered  his  hip.  He  fell,  and,  with 
many  others,  was  taken  prisoner;  aiul  with 
them  he  was  stowed  away  in  an  old  ship  on 
the  briny  waters,  three  miles  from  any  land. 
Many  had  the  prison  fever;  and,  to  use  his 
own  expression,  "they  were  dj'ing  off  like 
rotten  sheep."  He  knew  it  was  death  to  stay 
there,  and  how  to  escape  was  the  question. 
They  soon  found  a  plug  in  an  old  gun-hole, 
which  they  worked  at  till  they  loosened  it; 
and  in  the  night  they  pulled  it  out,  and  three 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


2.S 


of  them  committed  themselves  to  the  merci- 
less waters,  determined,  if  possible,  to  swim 
ashore.  When  they  came  to  land,  they  found 
themselves  in  the  midst  of  the  enemy.  Their 
only  way  of  escape  was  to  swim  back  to  the 
ship,  and  take  another  course.  They  started 
for  the  ship,  but  he  alone  reached  it.  He 
then  took  another  direction,  and  finally  again 
reached  the  shore,  so  exhausted  he  could  not 
stand  u|),  but  crawled  to  a  place  where  he  was 
found  and  taken  to  the  hospital.  He  shortly 
went  home  to  his  friends,  where  he  lived  to  a 
good  old  age,  and  died  in  the  Baptist  faith  in 
Christ. 

Another  incident  relates  to  the  burning  of 
Royalton,  \'t.,  on  October  16,  1780.  Dr.  Ira 
Hunter's  father's  name  was  William  Hunter, 
and  he  had  a  sister  who  married  a  man  by 
the  name  of  Hendee.  At  the  time  of  tliis  Ind- 
ian raid  Royalton  had  but  few  houses,  and 
thev  far  between.  The  intent  of  the  Indians 
was  to  kill  every  white  man  they  found,  so  liie 
men  fled  for  their  lives.  When  the  Indians 
iiad  secured  all  the  valuables  they  cared  for, 
they  set  (ire  to  the  houses,  captured  nine  boys 
from  nine  to  twelve  years  old,  and  left. 
Wheti  Mrs.  Hendee,  who  had  been  away,  re- 
turned to  her  home  and  found  what  had  been 
done,  she  took  the  Indian  trail,  ami  went  on, 
overtaking  them  just  as  they  had  crossed  the 
river,  a  branch  of  the  White,  and  entered 
their  cam]i.  She  ]ilunged  into  the  water, 
swimming  where  wading  was  impossible, 
reached  the  other  side,  and,  braving  the  toma- 
hawk and  the  threatening  aspect  of  the  sav- 
ages, rushed  into  the  camp,  seized  a  boy,  and 
bore  him  to  the  o]3posite  shore.  In  like  man- 
ner she  took  another  and  another,  until  eiglit 
were  carried  over.  While  taking  the  last 
one,  her  strengtli  began  to  fail.  An  Indian, 
seeing  this  and  admiring  her  Iieroism, 
said,  "White  woman  brave;  me  help  white 
woman,"'  and,  stejiping  foward,  kindly  aided 
her  across  the  river.  He  then  left  her 
and  her  boys,  one  of  them  being  her  own  son, 
to  go  on  their  way  rejoicing;  while  the  Ind- 
i  ms  looked  on  with  mingletl  emotions  of 
astonishment   and   admiration. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Winans  have  no  children  of 
their  own  lixing,  their  only  child,  Herman 
Hunter    W'inans,    who  was    born    August    29, 


1848,  iiaving  passed  to  the  world  beyond  on 
December  29,  1861.  They  subsequently 
ado])ted  a  daughter,  h'dith  (i.,  who  was  born 
July  5,  1857,  and,  marrying  James  Voorhees, 
now  resides  in  Brooklyn,  N.Y.  Mrs.  Voor- 
hees's  parents  were  Dwight  and  Louisa 
(Hunter)  Manwarring,  the  former  of  whom  was 
born  in  the  State  of  Connecticut,  and  the 
latter  in  Vermont,  the  date  of  her  birth  being 
October  3,  1825.  Mr.  Manwarring  is  a 
wagon-maker  by  trade,  and  carried  (jn  his 
business  in  Sidney  Centre  for  several  years, 
but  is  now  a  resident  of  Iowa.  Mrs.  Man- 
warring, a  sister  of  Mrs.  Winans,  was  an  ar- 
tist of  much  ability.  She  passed  on  to  the 
higher  life  October  8,  1891,  being  then 
sixty-six  years  of  age.  She  bore  her  husband 
three  children,  as  follows:  Ida,  born  Decem- 
ber 2  1 ,  1855,  a  talented  singer  and  a  leading 
star  on  the  stage;  Mdith  G.,  Mrs.  Voorhees; 
L'rania  Evelyn,  born  September  17,  1859, 
now  residing  in  North  Dakota.  Both  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Manwarring  were  members  of  the 
Baptist   church. 

Mr.  Winans  is  identified  with  the  Repub- 
lican party  in  politics,  and  served  for  several 
years  as  Poor  Master.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
are  held  in  high  esteem  throughout  the  com- 
munity, and  are  faithful  members  of  the  Bap- 
tist church,  of  which  he  is  Treasurer,  a 
position  which  he  has  filled  acceptably  for 
many  years,  besides  lilling  tiie  oflfice  of 
Trustee. 

The  following  poem,  "In  Memory  of  Our 
Early  .Settlers,"  was  written  by  Mrs.  Edith 
G.  Voorhees,  of  BrookKn,  N.V.,  for  the  cen- 
tennial celebration  at  .Sidney  Centre,  and  was 
there  read  on  June  29,    1892:    — 

l-'ar.  far  away  llu-  l)ieakeis  moan  ami  fict 

U'liciL'  islands  of  strange  growth  and  licaulv  rise. 
No  giant  folios  formed  these  hinds,  and  vet. 

lieneath  the  azure  arch  of  tropic  skies. 
.\  wealth  of  waving  palm-trees  they  u])l)ear. 

For  .Nature's  hand  has  given  most  lavishlv 
Of  all  her  treasures,  those  most  rich  and  rare. 

As  though  in  triljute  to  the  memor\ 
()f  all  the  tiny  lives  built  up  in  tliese 
fair,  lonelv  islands  of  the  distant  seas. 

Hut  who  shall  say  what  years  or  ages  long 

Passed  liy,  wliile,  upward  through  tlie  calmer  .sea 

.And  toward  the  light,  the  innumerable  throng 
Of  coral  builders  grew?     .-Vt  last  tlie  free. 


26 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Wild  surface-waves  were  parted ;   then  the  white. 

Still    moonlight's    radiaiue    touched    them,    or    there 
shone 
Upon  each  spray-crowned  height  the  golden  light 

Of  tropic  sun.     The  silent  work  went  on, 
And  life  on  life  was  builded;   then  a  space 
Of  ages,  then  the  palm-trees  waving  grace. 

And  we.  to-dav.  do  hold  in  tender  thought 

The  lives  on  which  our  lives  are  safely  built. 
Now.  looking  backward  o'er  what  years  have  wrought. 

We  lind  this  day  has  come  to  us  all  gilt 
And  overlaid  with  golden  memories. 

What  though  the  hearts  so  filled  with  purpose  true 
A  century  ago  are  still  in  this, 

Our   own    bright,  peaceful    age?     What    though    the 
dew 
Of  heaven  has  fallen  for  these  many  years 
On  mounds  where  once  fell  bitter,  farewell  tears  ? 

What  though  the  toil-worn  hands  are  folded  there 

Beneath  the  grasses  that  grow  lovingly 
O'er  graves  }     Set  free  from  all  of  pain  and  care. 

The  earthly  part  rests  on,  while,  full  and  free. 
The  sunbeams  come,  or,  dark  athwart  the  cold. 

White  stones,  the  shadows  fall.     But  t)od  is  love ; 
And  deathless  souls,  thank  God,  no  grave  can  hold, 

No  cold  white  stone  keep  watch  and  guard  above. 
And  still  with  us  the  deeds,  the  words,  endure. 
Of  those  who  gave  this  age  its  character. 

There  may  be  those  who.  listening  here  to-day. 

Will  find  this  scene  grow  dim.  w'hile.  in  its  place. 
The  faces  known  amidst  their  childhood's  play 

Will  look  on  theirs  with  all  the  old-time  grace. 
.\nd  voices  that  they  loved  in  years  gone  by 

Will  sound  again  like  music  from  the  past. 
And  mem'ries  that  all  changing  years  defy 

.•\round  the  heart  the  old-time  charm  will  cast; 
And  who  shall  say, what  childish  prayer  may  be 
By  aged  lips  repeated  tremblingl)-  ? 

But,  some  day,  o//rs  will  be  the  faces  seen' 

Through  mists  of  years,  while  our    own    words    and 
deeds 
Will  have  been  built  upon  ;   and  then,  serene. 

The  sky  will  bend  o'er  work  that  thus  succeeds 
Our  own.      Upon  this  age's  higher  plane 

Some  build  whose  years  will  reach  out  fair  into 
The  grander  century  to  be.     These  gain 

Its  vantage  ground,  a  greater  breadth  of  view: 
Yet  all  foundation  still  must  be  the  same.    - 
Truth,  justice,  purity,  and  worthy  aim. 

Behind  these  grand,  old  sheltering  hills  to-day. 

We  pay  this  tribute  to  the  hearts  that  gave 
To  us  our  heritage.     Thank  (Jod,  we  say. 

That  life's  true  worth  and  best  results  no  grave 
Can  hide !     And  on  those  lives  of  theirs  we  build 

Our  own.     So.  upward,  until  Time  shall  cease. 
New  heights  shall  rise,  and  all  shall  be  fulfilled 

When  He  whose  wondrous  birth-song  was  of  Peace, 
Whose  life  was  Love,  the  finished  work  shall  bless, 
And  so,  in  blessing,  grant  it  perfectness. 


TTAHARLES  L.  LYON,  who  is  actively 
I  V-'  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  in 
^Is^^  his  native  town  of  Masonville,  has 
by  energetic  diligence,  good  judg- 
ment, and  wise  economy  made  a  success  in 
his  chosen  vocation,  and  is  numbered  among 
the  faithful  citizens  of  his  neighborhood.  He 
first  drew  the  breath  of  life  on  April  27, 
1845,  and  is  a  son  of  the  late  Richard  and 
Mahala  (Burdick)  Lyon,  the  former  of  whom 
was  born  in  Bainbridge,  and  the  latter  in 
Pennsylvania.  His  paternal  grandfather, 
William  Lyon,  was  a  pioneer  farmer  of  Bain- 
bridge, and  there  passed  the  declining  years 
of  a  life  long  devoted  to  useful  industry. 

Richard  Lyon,  son  of  William,  was  reared 
and  married  in  Bainbridge,  removing  from 
there  to  Delaware  Coimty  in  1842,  and  set- 
tling in  Masonville.  He  bought  the  farm 
where  his  son  Charles  now  resides,  and  which 
was  then  but  a  dense  stretch  of  woods.  He 
and  his  brother,  Caleb  Lyon,  and  a  brother- 
in-law,  Randolph  Burdick,  came  here  at  the 
same  time,  and  bought  in  partnership  a  tract 
of  two  hundred  acres  of  wild  land.  Game  was 
still  abundant  in  this  vicinity,  deer  being  fre- 
quently seen.  Mr.  Lyon  erected  a  house  and 
cleared  a  large  portion  of  his  land  before  his 
death,  his  toilsome  labors  meeting  with  a 
deserved  reward.  He  died  on  the  homestead 
which  he  had  redeemed  from  the  wilderness, 
in  1869,  at  the  age  of  si.xty-four  years.  His 
faithful  wife  and  helpmeet  lived  until  1886, 
passing  away  in  that  year,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-one  years.  She  was  an  intelligent, 
energetic  woman,  and  a  strong  L^niversalist  in 
her  religious  faith.  Her  husband  was  a  de- 
voted member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  and  politically  he  was  a  Republican. 
They  reared  a  family  of  five  sons  and  three 
daughters,  as  follows:  Wilfred  lives  in  Wis- 
consin. James  is  a  resident  of  East  Mason- 
ville. Charles,  of  Masonville,  is  our  subject. 
Ambrose  lives  in  Norwich.  Sally  A.  Ran- 
dall resides  in  Oneonta.  Emily  Ramsdell 
lives  in  Masonville.  Julia  died  at  the  age  of 
three  years.  Arad  died  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
two  years,  while  serving  in  the  late  Civil 
War  as  a  member  of  the  Fifth  New  York 
Heavy   Artillery. 

Charles    I^.  Lyon   grew   to   manhood   on   the 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


27 


old  home  farm,  acquiring  his  education  in  tiie 
public  schools  of  the  nt'ighborhootl,  anil  as- 
sisting in  tile  care  of  the  farm  until  twenty- 
two  years  old,  when  he  started  out  to  win  a 
living  for  himself.  His  first  venture  was 
made  in  the  lumber  regions  of  Wisconsin, 
where  he  remained  two  years,  going  thence  to 
Nebraska.  The  following  year  he  was  em- 
ployed by  the  Turlington  Railway  Comjiany, 
and  subsecjuently  took  u])  a  homestead  claim 
in  that  State;  biit,  not  being  able  to  get  his 
money  from  the  railway  company,  he  was 
com[)elled  to  give  up  his  land.  From  there 
he  went  to  Hannibal,  Mo.,  and  for  four  years 
was  engaged  in  burning  lime.  In  1876  Mr. 
Lyon  returned  to  Masonville,  and  was  for 
some  time  thereafter  employed  in  working  out 
by  the  month  at  anything  he  could  find  to  do. 
In  1879  he  bought  the  paiental  homestead, 
and  from  that  time  took  care  of  liis  mother 
until  her  death.  His  farm  contains  seventy- 
six  acres  of  fertile  land,  in  a  good  state  of 
cultivation;  and  iiere  he  carries  on  general 
farming  and  dair\ing,  milking  nine  cows, 
and  also  pays  some  attention  to  the  raising  of 
sheep,  keeping  from  eighteen  to  twenty  head 
of  Shropshire  Downs. 

Mr.  Lyon  was  married  December  13,  1887, 
to  Mary  Rhinehart,  a  native  of  Germany, 
where  she  was  born  September  12,  1854, 
being  a  daughter  of  John  A.  and  Barbara 
Rhinehart,  both  of  whom  are  tleceased.  Mrs. 
Lyon  came  to  America  in  1872,  making  the 
long  journey  unaccompaiiietl  by  friends.  She 
is  the  mother  of  four  children,  nameh':  her 
eldest,  IClsie;  and  three  who  ha\'e  been  born 
of  her  union  with  Mr.  Lyon,  their  names 
being  Bertha,  Ralph,  ami  Frank.  She  is  a 
member  of  the  Haptist  church,  and  a  faithful 
worker  in  that  denomination;  while  Mr.  Lyon 
is  liberal  in  his  religion.  Politically,  he  is  a 
sound  Rejiublican,  sustaining  the  principles 
of   that    party   at    the   jiolls. 


.APTAIX     JOSHUA     K.     HOOD,     of 
'.-V      til,-  firm  mI"   Hood  &  Douglas,  proprie- 


I  the  hrm  or 

is  tors   of   the    largest  general   store  in 

Delhi,  is  one  of  the  leading  busi- 
ness men  of  Delaware  County.  He  was  a  dis- 
tinguished officer  in  the  late  war,   in  which  he 


rendered  the  government  valuable  service; 
and  he  has  been  no  less  consi^icuous  in  civil 
life.  He  is  a  native  of  the  Prairie  State, 
born  in  Oakdale,  Washington  County,  Sep- 
tember I,  1843,  being  a  son  of  John  and 
Rachel    Kennedy    Hood. 

John  Hood  was  born  in  .South  Carolina, 
probably  of  Scotch  ancestry,  and  was  there 
reared  to  agricultural  ])ursuits.  Being  a 
strong  Abolitionist,  and  in  active  sympathy 
with  the  anti-slavery  mo\ement,  life  in  the 
South  was  not  as  pleasant  for  him  as  it  might 
have  been;  and  he  moved  to  Illinois,  becom- 
ing a  pioneer  of  Washington  County.  Buy- 
ing a  tract  of  raw  prairie  land,  he  erected  a 
log  cabin,  and  began  the  improvement  and 
cultivation  of  his  farm.  He  was  very  suc- 
cessful in  his  efforts,  and  added  to  his  origi- 
nal purchase  until  lie  had  three  hundred  acres 
of  well-tilled  land,  on  which  he  erected  a  good 
set  of  farm  buildings,  and  a  fine  brick  resi- 
dence in  place  of  the  humble  cabin  of  logs. 
Oti  that  homestead  he  spent  the  remainder  of 
his  years,  passing  away  in  1861.  He  was 
twice  married.  After  the  death  of  his  first 
wife,  who  bore  him  two  children,  he  married 
Rachel  Kennedy,  a  native  of  Greencastle,  Pa., 
but  afterward  a  resident  of  Illinois,  to  which 
.State  she  remo\'ed  when  she  was  a  young  girl. 
.She  reared  five  children,  of  whom  only  two 
are  now  living;  namely,  Joshua  Kennedy  and 
Archie.  The  latter,  who  served  three  years 
in  the  late  Rebellion,  in  the  Tenth  Missouri 
\'olunteer  Infantry,  is  now  a  wholesale  mer- 
chant in  Ct)lumbus,  Kan.  The  others  were 
James,  Mary,  ami  John  C.  The  mother  was 
an  exemplary  Christian  woman,  and  a  member 
of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  church,  as  was 
also  her  husband.  She  was  called  from  life 
in  the  midst  of  her  usefulness,  dying  on  the 
Illinois  liomestead  when  but  fort\-two  years 
old. 

When  only  six  years  of  age,  Joshua,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  had  the  misfortune  to 
be  left  motherless.  He  remained  with  his 
father  until  about  fifteen  years  old,  and  in  the 
mean  time  attended  the  district  school'  and 
the  .Sparta  Lnion  Acailemy.  Coming  east- 
ward to  Pennsyhania,  he  entered  the  Fa)ette- 
ville  Academy,  where  he  ]iursued  his  studies 
until    aroused   by  the  tocsin   of  war  which    re- 


28 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


sounded  through  the  land.  He  was  then  a 
member  of  the  senior  class  in  the  academy; 
but,  prompted  by  patriotic  zeal,  he  responded 
to  the  first  call  for  volunteers,  enlisting  as  a 
private  in  Company  K,  One  Hundred  and 
Twenty-sixth  Pennsylvania  Volunteer  Infan- 
try. After  serving  for  nine  months,  he  re-en- 
listed for  six  months  in  Company  K,  Twenty- 
first  Pennsylvania  Cavalry,  as  a  Sergeant  of 
the  company.  At  the  expiration  of  his  term 
of  enlistment,  he  again  enlisted  in  Company 
G  of  the  same  regiment.  While  serving  with 
the  nine  months"  men,  he  participated  in  the 
battles  of  Bull  Run,  Antictam,  and  Fred- 
ericksburg, receiving  a  severe  wound  in  the 
last  engagement  by  the  explosion  of  a  shell. 
During  his  second  term  of  service  he  took  an 
active  part  in  many  heavy  engagements;  and 
during  his  last  he  fought  bravely  for  his  coun- 
try in  the  battles  of  Cold  Harbor,  Petersburg, 
Appomattox,  and  also  at  the  battle  of  the 
Wilderness,  his  regiment  being  connected 
with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  For  bravery 
and  heroic  conduct  he  was  promoted,  going 
through  the  various  ranks,  and  serving  until 
the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  discharged  July 
1 8,   1865,  at  Lynchburg,  Va. 

Upon  his  return  to  the  duties  of  civil  life, 
Captain  Hood  went  to  New  York  City,  and 
was  for  a  time  employed  by  Foster  Brothers 
on  Broadway,  remaining  with  them  until  his 
health  broke  down,  when  he  came  to  Bovina, 
Delaware  County,  to  recuperate.  In  1866  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  T.  Hastings,  of 
that  place,  and  opened  a  general  store.  Two 
years  later  he  bought  out  the  interest  of  Mr. 
Hastings,  and  continued  the  business  alone 
for  a  year.  Then,  selling,  he  went  to  Andes, 
where  he  bought  out  the  business  of  Connor  & 
Glending,  and,  after  managing  it  alone  for  a 
year,  admitted  Mr.  Dunn  as  a  jjartner.  They 
subsequently  purchased  another  store  in 
Shavertown,  and  soon  afterward  took  one  of 
their  clerks,  J.  W.  Dixon,  into  the  firm.  At 
the  end  of  the  next  two  years  the  Captain 
became  the  sole  proprietor  of  the  store,  which 
he  conducted  for  a  while,  subsequently  selling 
out  to  Mr.  Dixon,  his  former  partner;  and, 
leaving  Andes,  he  came  to  Delhi.  In  the  fall 
of  1882  Captain  Hood  purchased  the  interest 
of  one  of  the  brothers  Bell   &   Bell,  in  their 


extensive  establishment,  and  nine  months 
later  bought  out  the  other,  for  a  time  carrying 
it  on  in  his  own  name.  In  February,  1893, 
John  A.  Douglas  became  associated  with  him; 
and  the  firm  has  since  carried  on  a  thriving 
and  lucrative  business  under  the  name  of 
Hood  &  Douglas. 

The  union  of  Captain  Hood  and  Mrs.  Mary 
E.  Norris,  a  native  of  New  York  City,  but 
later  a  resident  of  Andes,  was  solemnized 
December  i8,  1875.  Into  their  happy  home 
three  children  have  been  born;  but  their  only 
son,  John  K.,  died  at  the  tender  age  of  four 
years.  The  daughters,  Mary  B.  and  Florence 
Irene,  are  both  students  at  the  Delhi 
Academy. 

Politically,  Captain  Hood  has  always  been 
a  stanch  Republican,  and  a  man  of  influence 
in  the  party,  having  served  as  a  member  of 
the  Republican  County  Committee  for  nine 
years,  for  the  last  three  of  which  he  has  been 
its  Chairman.  He  is  ever  interested  in  local 
matters,  and  while  in  Andes  served  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  village.  He  has  also  belonged  to 
the  fire  department,  serving  faithfully  in  the 
ranks,  and  being  promoted  to  the  position  of 
Chief.  He  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote 
while  in  the  army  for  Abraham  Lincoln. 
Captain  Hood  is  very  prominent  in  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic  circles,  having  been 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  organization.  He 
belongs  to  England  Post  of  Delhi,  of  which 
he  was  formerly  Commander,  and  was  one  of 
the  members  of  the  department  staff.  As  a 
member  of  the  national  staff,  he  served  as  one 
of  the  Council  of  Administration  of  the  De- 
partment of  the  State  of  New  York.  In  1889 
he  was  elected  to  the  position  of  Senior  Vice- 
Commander  in  this  State,  which  is  next  to  the 
highest  office.  He  has  been  urged  for  the 
position  of  Department  Commander,  and  has 
been  several  times  delegate  to  State  and  na- 
tional encampments,  being  one  of  the  best 
known  men  in  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Repub- 
lic. He  was  elected  delegate  to  the  national 
encampment  at  Indianapolis,  receiving  the 
highest  number  of  votes  of  any  delegate  on 
the  national  ticket.  He  was  elected  County 
Clerk  of  Delaware  County,  December  6,  1894, 
on  the  Republican  ticket,  receiving  three 
thousand   one   hundred  and   five  majority  over 


James   S.   Kerr. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


31 


his  competitor,  tiio  largest  majority  any  can- 
didate ever  received  in  Delaware  County. 
Religiously,  Ca|)tain  Ilootl  and  his  wife  are 
valued  members  of  the  Presbyterian  ciuirch, 
with  wiiich  he  has  been  connected  for  tweiity- 
se\en   jears. 


§AMKS  S.  KICRR.  Along  Beatty 
Hrook  Valley,  in  the  town  of  South 
Kortright,  is  a  valuable  tract  of  a 
thousand  acres  with  a  good  residence 
owned  by  the  gentleman  whose  name  stands  at 
the  head  of  this  sketch,  who  is  the  largest 
dairy  farmer  of  Delaware  County.  His  cows, 
betw(.'en  two  and  three  hundred,  supply  the 
Sheffield  Farms  Company  with  over  two  thou- 
sand ([uarts  daily  of  milk  nearly  always  above 
the  legally  required  standard  gratle,  yielding 
nearlv  five  per  cent,  of  butter  fat.  This  pros- 
]3erous  and  progressive  farmer  axoids  labor 
complications  by  employing  P(dish  hands,  in 
sufficient  numbers  to  keep  each  other  con- 
tented, and  free  from  the  homesickness  almost 
inevitable  to  strangers  in  a  strange  land.  He 
finds  them  competent,  quick  to  learn,  trust- 
worthy, and  systematic,  though  often  lacking 
in  prior  agricultural  experience.  In  addition 
to  his  extensive  farm  work  he  is  a  stock- 
raiser,  and  has  a  stone  quarry,  from  which 
good   flagstones   are   cut. 

Like  most  men  who  are  worth  anything  in 
the  world's  growth,  Mr.  Kerr  is  interested  in 
procuring  facts  which  throw  any  light  upon 
his  family  history.  He  is  a  grandson  of  Rob- 
ert Kerr,  who  was  a  farmer  in  County  Mon- 
oghan,  Ireland,  but  came  to  this  country  in 
180T  with  his  family,  and  bought  the  Kort- 
right farm,  where  he  lived  till  his  death, 
many  years  later.  He  was  undoubtedly  of 
Scotch  descent. 

Robert  Kerr's  .son  Henry,  the  father  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  died  February  20, 
1864,  seventy-five  years  of  age,  having  been 
born  in  1789.  His  birthplace  was  not  in 
America,  however,  but  in  the  old  country. 
He  was  brought  hither  by  his  parents  when  a 
dozen  years  old,  and  they  worked  on  the  farm 
now  carried  on  by  William  Briggs.  Henry 
Kerr  learned  the  blacksmith's  trade,  which 
he  followed  for  a  ciuarter-centurv ;   but  he  also 


bouglit  forty  acres  of  land,  to  which  he  added 
from  time  to  time,  rising  in  fortune  by  the 
ladder  of  hard  work,  till  he  owned  the  two 
hundred  and  eighteen  acres  now  belonging  to 
his  son,  James  -S.  Kerr.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  I'nited  I'resbyterian  Society  in  South 
Kortright,  and  used  to  go  regularly  to  meet- 
ing when  stoves  were  considered  needless 
luxuries,  not  conducive  to  "pure  and  undc- 
filed  religion,"  and  the  meeting-house  was 
constructed  of  rough  shb  boards.  His  wife, 
Mary  Anne  Keator,  who  was  a  descendant  on 
the  jjaternal  side  of  the  noted  Sands  family  of 
I'jigland,  died  twelve  years  before  her  hus- 
band, in  1S52,  aged  sixty-two,  having  been 
born  only  a  year  later  than  he,  in  1790, 
in  Marbletown,  Ulster  County,  N.Y.  This 
Christian  couple  had  only  four  children,  three 
of  whom  are  now  living.  Mary  Kerr,  the  eld- 
est, is  the  wife  of  Robert  S.  Orr,  of  Kort- 
right. Her  sister  Jane  died  in  the  midst  of 
her  career  as  a  school-teacher.  Matthew  H. 
Kerr  resides  with  his  brother,  James  S.,  on 
the  big  farm,  portion  whereof  was  first  put 
under  cultivation  by  their  industrious  and  re- 
spected father. 

James  S.  Kerr  was  born  in  1834:  his  birth- 
place was  the  town  of  Kortright.  on  the  very 
estate  now  his  exclusive  property.  Besides 
attending  the  district  school,  he  went  to  the 
Delaware  Literary  Institute  and  to  Delhi 
Academy,  where  he  received  a  good  education 
for  his  position  and  generation.  Thereafter 
he  li\-ed  at  home,  and  cared  for  his  father,  his 
mother  dying  before  he  reached  his  nineteenth 
birthdav.  To  equal  his  honored  father  in 
agriculture,  and  excel  him  if  possible,  was 
James's  great  ambition;  and  this  end  he  has 
fully  achieved.  As  already  implied,  of  the 
thousand  acres  luider  I\Ir.  Kerr's  control,  over 
three  hundred  are  his  own  exclusive  property. 
In  1893  he  shipped  over  thirteen  thousand 
cans  of  milk  to  market.  lie  gives  employ- 
ment to  a  score  of  men  or  more  in  the  busy 
season,  and  his  buildings  are  all  in  fine 
condition. 

lames  S.  Kerr  did  not  marry  early  in  life. 
In  fact,  it  was  not  until  September  14.  i  S69, 
when  he  was  thirty-five  years  old,  that  he  took 
to  himself  as  wife  EflFie  Scott,  who  was  born 
across  the   water   on   Februarv  12,   1838.      Her 


32 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


birthplace  was  on  the  noted  East  Boonrovv 
tarm,  which  was  in  the  family  for  over  two 
hundred  years.  Her  parents  were  George  and 
Mary  (Thompson)  Scott;  but  she  was  soon 
bereft  of  her  father,  who  died  on  the  ocean 
when  Effie  was  but  a  child.  Only  one  son 
has  resulted  from  this  marriage,  M.  Henry 
Kerr,  named  for  his  grandfather,  and  born  on 
May  14,  1872.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Delhi 
Academy  in  1894.  They  lost  one  child, 
Katie  J.  Kerr,  who  died  on  April  4,  1894,  in 
the  very  flower  of  her  youth,  at  the  age  of 
twenty.  Mrs.  Kerr  belongs  to  the  Presbyte- 
rian church  in  Kortright.  Mr.  Kerr  in  poli- 
tics is  a  Democrat.  As  an  upright  and 
reliable  man.  intelligent  and  affable,  he  has 
been  a  Justice  of  Peace  since  1866,  besides 
being  one  of  the  Supervisors  seven  years. 

An  excellent  likeness  of  Mr.  Kerr  appropri- 
ately graces  this  portrait  gallery  of  Delaware 
Count\-  worthies. 


(^JENRV  LITTEBRANT,  who  is  num- 
bered among  the  enterprising  agri- 
culturists of  Delaware  County,  owns 
a  well  -  cultivated  and  productive 
farm  of  eighty-four  acres  in  the  town  of 
Masonville.  The  larger  part  of  the  improve- 
ments are  the  work  of  his  own  hands,  and  re- 
flect on  him  great  credit,  his  buildings  being 
of  a  handsome  and  substantial  character  and 
well  adapted  to  the  purposes  for  which  they 
are  used.  He  carries  on  general  farming  in  a 
skilful  manner,  giving  considerable  attention 
to  dairying,  keeping  fifteen  head  of  cattle. 
Mr.  Littebrant  was  born  in  Schoharie  County, 
New  York,  October  28,  1834,  being  a  son  of 
Adam  Edward  and  Christian  (Getter)  Litte- 
brant, both  natives  of  the  same  county. 

His  grandfather  I.ittebrant  was  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  Schoharie  County,  and  died 
there  at  a  good  old  age.  Stephen  G.  Getter, 
his  maternal  grandfather,  who  was  born  in 
Germany,  emigrated  to  America  when  a  young 
man,  and  became  one  of  the  pioneers  of 
Schoharie  County,  where  he  lived  for  some 
time,  but  subsequently  removed  to  Delaware 
County,  settling  in  the  town  of  Masonville. 
He  engaged  in  farming  in  his  new  home,  con- 
tinuing to  reside  here  until   his  death,  which 


occurred  in  1858,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three 
years. 

Adam  E.  Littebrant  lived  in  the  county  of 
his  nativity  until  after  his  marriage,  removing 
to  Masonville  in  1835.  His  first  purchase  of 
land  here  consisted  of  eighty  acres,  on  which 
he  resided  a  few  years.  Then,  disposing  of 
that,  he  bought  the  farm  where  his  son  Henry 
now  lives.  The  original  tract  contained  fifty 
acres  of  heavily  timbered  land,  very  little  of 
it  being  cleared.  He  began  its  improvement, 
but  was  erelong  overtaken  by  death,  passing 
from  the  scenes  of  his  earthly  labors  in  1844, 
when  only  thirty-eight  years  of  age.  He  was 
a  hard-working  man,  a  true  Christian,  and  an 
active  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.  His  early  loss  was  deeply  deplored 
throughout  the  community.  His  estimable 
wife  survived  him  many  years,  dying  in  1885, 
at  the  age  of  eighty  years.  Of  the  eight  chil- 
dren born  to  them  the  following  is  a  record : 
Aurilla,  the  wife  of  Cornelius  Cornell,  re- 
sides in  Unadilla,  Otsego  County.  Mary, 
the  wife  of  Horace  Benedict,  lives  in  Michi- 
gan. Joseph,  a  volunteer  of  the  late  war, 
died  while  in  service,  his  death  occurring  in 
Tennessee,  when  he  was  about  thirty  years  of 
age.  Henry  lives  in  Masonville.  George 
died  at  the  age  of  fifty-five  years.  Elizabeth, 
the  wife  of  James  Blincoe,  is  a  resident  of 
Masonville.  Jane  French  died  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years.  Hannah,  who  married 
Herbert    Frazier,    resides    in    Michigan. 

Henry  Littebrant  was  an  infant  when  his 
parents  came  to  this  county;  and  he  grew  to 
manhood  in  Masonville,  receiving  his  educa- 
tion in  its  public  schools.  When  nine  years 
of  age,  he  removed  with  the  family  to  the 
homestead  where  he  has  since  resided,  after 
the  death  of  his  father  assisting  in  its  devel- 
opment and  improvement,  and  finally,  buying 
out  the  interest  of  the  other  heirs,  becoming 
its  owner.  His  mother  remained  with  him, 
tenderly  cared  for  in  her  last  years,  until 
called  to  meet  the  loved  ones  on  the  farther 
shore.  Mr.  Littebrant  served  during  the  War 
of  the  Rebellion,  enlisting  as  a  bugler,  Sep- 
tember 2,  1863,  in  Company  H,  First  New 
York  Veteran  Cavalry,  under  the  command  of 
Captain  Allen  Banks.  He  was  subsequently 
taken    sick,    and    was    transferred    to    a    brass 


BIOGRArHICAT,    REVIFAV 


.i3 


band.  IK'  was  lionoral)ly  discharscil  and 
nuistcrod  out  of  service  at  I'rcdcriok  City, 
Md.,  on  June  6,  1865.  Resuming  his  duties 
as  a  jirivate  citizen,  Mr.  Littebrant  has  since 
resided  on  his  farm  and  devoteii  iiis  entire 
attention,  with  marked  success,  to  its  niana;;e- 
nient.  He  occupies  a  good  position  in  the 
community  as  an  honorable  and  upright  citi- 
zen, and  possesses  the  confidence  and  esteem 
of  his  fellow-townsmen.  He  has  never  mar- 
ried. He  is  libeial  in  his  religious  views, 
and  socially  is  a  member  of  the  (irand  .Army 
of  the  Republic,  belonging  to  Masonville 
Post,    No.    180. 


MMETT  ().  COAN  is  extensively  en- 
gaged in  farming,  dairying,  and  stock- 
growing  in  the  town  of  Kortright, 
where  he  has  a  valuable  farm  of  two  hunilred 
and  fourteen  acres  under  a  high  state  of  cult- 
ure, with  substantial  and  convenient  build- 
ings, and  all  the  accessories  of  a  model 
homestead.  He  is  the  worthy  descenilant  ot 
one  of  the  early-established  families  of  the 
town  of  Kortright,  where  his  birth  occurred 
August  10,  1850.  His  i)arents,  Orrin  and 
Elvira  (Burdick)  Coan.  were  also  natives  of 
the  same  place;  and  here  his  grandfather, 
Miller  Coan,  was  one  of  the  original  settlers. 
He  was  a  native  of  Dutchess  County;  and, 
coming  here  when  the  country  was  new,  he 
bought  a  farm  near  Hloomville,  and  in  the 
course  of  years  by  dint  of  energetic  toil,  long 
continued,  cleared  a  good  homestead,  living 
upon  it  until  his  form  was  bent  by  the  weight 
of  more  than  fourscore  years.  In  [lolilics  he 
was  a  sound  Democrat,  and  in  his  religious 
beliefs  quite  liberal. 

Orrin  Coan  spent  his  entire  life,  a  long  and 
active  one  of  eighty-two  years,  in  the  place  ol 
his  birth.  Following  in  the  footsteps  of  his 
father,  he  became  interested  in  agricultural 
pursuits,  and,  buying  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
acres  in  Kortright,  abided  thereon  until  liis 
death,  successfully  engaged  in  its  cultivation. 
His  wife  survived  him,  and  still  lives  on  the 
homestead,  where  they  passed  so  many  years 
of  wedded  happiness.  Eight  children  were 
born  into  their  household,  of  whom  the  fol- 
lowing five  are  now  living:    Paulina  A.  Dean; 


Mary  Scott,  of  Walton;  I.eroy  J.;  lunmell 
O. ;  and  Fanny  L.  Paulina  A.,  I.eroy  J., 
and    Fannv    I.,    reside   on    the   home    farm. 

in  the  (lavs  of  his  youth  lunmetl  O.  Coan 
attended  the  district  school  of  his  neighbor- 
hood, and  under  the  instruction  of  his  father 
acquired  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  art  ot 
agriculture.  On  attaining  his  majority,  he 
began  life  on  his  own  account  as  a  farmer. 
In  his  business  affairs  he  has  met  with  pros- 
l)erity,  and  is  now  classed  among  the  most 
thriving  and  progressive  farmers  of  Delaware 
County.  In  1891  Mr.  Coan  Ijmight  the  farm 
where"  he  now  lives:  and,  under  his  close 
application  to  work,  and  through  his  judicious 
management,  it  has  become  one  of  the  most 
attractive  estates  in  the  vicinity.  He  devotes 
much  attention  to  the  rearing  of  tine  stock, 
and  his  dairy  contains  twenty-nine  head  of 
choice   cows. 

Mr.  Coan  was  united  in  marriage  in  1891 
to  Addie  M.  Boyd,  a  native  of  Bovina  Centre; 
and  one  son,  Charlie,  has  come  to  brighten 
their  household.  By  his  sterling  traits  of 
character  and  straiglitforward  business  ways 
Mr.  Coan  has  fully  established  himself  in  the 
esteem  and  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens 
and  associates.  In  politics  he  is  an  ardent 
Republican,  and  in  religion  he  is  liberal  in 
his  views.  His  worthy  wife  is  a  consistent 
member  of   the   Presbvterian    church. 


E)\\1X  TAYLOR,  son  of  William  and 
Anna  (Dewey)  Taylor,  was  born  on 
™-^  March  15,'  1830,  in  Franklin,  Dela- 
ware County,  N.V.,  where  he  still  makes  his 
summer  home,  although  he  is  now  a  resident 
of  Binghamton.  His  father,  who  came  here 
from  Mas.sachusetts  in  the  early  part  of  the 
present  century,  was  a  cloth-dresser  by  trade, 
but  chiefly  followed  farming.  He  bought  the 
first  settled  farm  in  the  town  of  Franklin,  and 
resided  thereon  over  seventy  years,  dying  in 
1880  at  the  great  age  of  ninety-seven.  He 
was  a  representative  man  of  his  day,  was 
highlv  respected  by  his  neighbors  and  a  wide 
circle  of  friends,  and  held  several  town  oflfices. 
His  intelligence  was  of  superior  order,  and 
his  character  above  reproach.  In  religious 
matters    he   was   connected   with    the    Baptist 


34 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


church,  which  he  helped  to  support  to  the 
extent  of  his  means,  his  Christianity  being  of 
that  practical  kind  that  is  manifested  in  daily 
life  and  in  contact  with  one's  fellow-men 
rather  than  in  empty  professions.  His  wife, 
formerly  Miss  Anna  Dewey,  was  born  in 
Springfield,  Mass.,  and  came  to  Delaware 
County,  New  York,  with  her  parents  while 
young. 

Edwin,  the  subject  of  this  brief  narration, 
was  brought  up  on  his  father's  farm,  and  laid 
the  foundation  of  his  education  in  the  public 
schools,  afterward  attending  the  Delaware 
Literary  Institute  at  Franklin.  Having  fin- 
ished his  course  as  a  student  in  the  classes, 
he  continued  his  career  in  the  public  schools 
by  beginning  at  eighteen  years  of  age  the 
work  of  teaching,  in  which  he  was  engaged 
during  six  winter  terms.  Meanwhile,  in  the 
warmer  seasons  he  took  up  farming,  which 
remained  his  principal  occupation  for  several 
years.  He  also  devoted  considerable  time  to 
handling  butter  and  farm  produce,  which  he 
shipped  to  Eastern  markets.  His  ability  as 
a  man  of  affairs  was  recognized  by  his  fellow- 
townsmcm  ;  and  he  was  chosen  to  serve  as  Dep- 
uty Sheriff  and  Road  Commissioner,  and  was 
also  Collector  for  his  town  for  two  years. 

In  1872  he  went  to  Binghamton,  N.Y.,  and 
engaged  in  the  produce  business,  which  at 
first  he  conducted  by  himself,  but  afterward 
was  associated  with  Mr.  A.  H.  Leet,  under 
the  firm  name  of  Leet  &  Taylor.  A  year  and 
a  half  later  this  connection  was  dissolved; 
and  Mr.  Taylor  then  went  into  partnership 
with  Mr.  North,  the  firm  being  known  as 
North  &  Taylor,  wholesale  provision  dealers. 
Their  store  was  on  State  Street.  A  year  after 
this  Mr.  Taylor  established  the  firm  of  Saun- 
ders &  Taylor,  the  first  prominent  house  in 
Binghamton  to  handle  dressed  meats.  They 
built  a  fine  refrigerator,  or  cold  storage  build- 
ing, on  Prospect  Street,  near  the  Erie  Rail- 
road. After  doing  a  large  business  for  four 
years,  Mr.  Taylor  sold  out,  in  1887,  to  Mr. 
Saunders,  and  in  the  same  year  formed  a  con- 
nection with  Messrs.  Shaw  and  Eitapene  in 
the  provision  and  wholesale  grocery  business, 
at  132-134  State  Street,  under  the  firm  name 
of  Taylor,  Shaw  &  Co.  Later  the  firm  became 
Taylor  &  Niven,  occupying  the  same  floor  as 


wholesale  dealers  in  provisions,  especially 
flour,  of  which  they  made  a  specialty.  They 
have  a  large  outside  trade,  and  employ  several 
commercial  travellers,  their  trade  in  flour 
being  larger  than  that  of  any  other  firm  in  the 
city.  Their  business  increased  so  rapidly 
that  they  were  soon  obliged  to  double  their 
floor  capacity.  Mr.  Taylor's  business  expe- 
rience in  Binghamton  covered  a  period  of 
twenty  years.  It  is  Mr.  Taylor's  custom  to 
spend  a  few  months  each  year  upon  his  large 
farm  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  acres, 
which  is  run  as  a  dairy  farm,  in  Franklin, 
Delaware   County. 

Mr.  Taylor's  marriage  occurred  June  g, 
1852,  when  he  was  united  to  Miss  Delila 
Taylor,  daughter  of  Oliver  Taylor,  of  Sidney, 
N.Y.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taylor  attend  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Binghamton,  of  which 
Mr.  Taylor  is  a  member;  and  it  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  their  influence  is  ever  cheer- 
fully exerted  on  behalf  of  every  worthy  cause, 
and  that  they  are  ready  at  all  times  to  aid  in 
furtherance  of  the  public  good.  They  occupy 
an  important  place  in  their  community,  and 
enjoy  the  general  respect  and  good  will.  Mr. 
Taylor,  like  his  father  before  him,  was  for- 
merly a  Whig.  He  has  been  a  strong  Repub- 
lican since  the  organization  of  that  party. 
He  served  as  Alderman  for  four  years,  and  is 
now  serving  his  fourth  term  as  Supervisor,  a 
fact  which  shows  the  estimation  in  which  he 
is  held  by  his  fellow-citizens.  A  well-in- 
formed, thoughtful  man,  of  quick,  clear  per- 
ceptions and  sound  judgment,  he  possesses 
superior  business  abilities;  and,  being  public- 
spirited,  he  is  one  to  whom  his  neighbors 
gladly  intrust  the  management  of  matters  of 
general  concern. 


§OSHUA  BEERS,  proprietor  of  an  ex- 
cellent farm  situated  on  the  river  road 
about  three  miles  from  the  village  of 
Walton,  is  numbered  among  the  suc- 
cessful grain  and  stock  growers  of  Delaware 
County.  His  land,  one  of  the  most  fertile 
tracts  in  this  region,  has  been  brought  to  a 
good  state  of  cultivation;  and  the  homestead 
is  particularly  noticeable  on  account  of  the 
fine  set  of  frame  buildings  and  their  jreneral 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


3S 


air  of  comfort  ami  jjlciity.  'Sir.  Ik-crs  is  a  na- 
tive of  this  town,  having  been  born  February 
1,  1S19,  on  the  homestead  property  of  liis 
father,  Benjamin,  and  his  grandlatlier, 
Iqihraim  Beers,  a  farm  about  two  Tniles  i)elow 
his  present  residence. 

Ephraim  Ikers  was  a  Connecticut  man  by 
birth,  but  after  his  marriage  came  to  Delaware 
County,  following  a  path  marked  by  blazed 
trees,  and  was  among  the  very  first  to  settle  in 
this  section  of  the  county.  He  found  the 
land  a  wilderness,  and,  like  all  the  idoiieers, 
was  called  upon  to  undergo  the  harilshijis  and 
privations  consequent  upon  life  on  the  Iron- 
tier.  He  was  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  and  con- 
tinued that  occupation,  in  connection  with 
farming,  after  coming  here.  He  took  up  a 
tract  of  land,  the  one  previously  mentioned, 
and  cleared  a  homestead,  on  which  he  passed 
the  remainder  of  his  years.  He  and  his  wife 
reared  thirteen  children. 

Benjamin  Beers,  son  of  Ephraim,  was  born 
on  the  parental  homestead,  and,  as  soon  as  okl 
enough  to  wield  the  sjjade  and  hoe,  began  to 
assist  his  father  in  tilling  the  soil,  from  that 
time  being  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits. 
After  the  death  of  his  father  he  took  posses- 
sion of  the  home  farm,  which  he  carried  on 
successfully  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-four  years.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Polly  Alverson.  She  was  a  native 
of  Nova  Scotia,  and  a  daughter  of  Jeremiah 
Alverson.  Six  children  were  born  of  their 
union,  as  follows:  William;  Joshua;  l^zra; 
Maria,  wdio  married  Charles  Buckbee ;  Allen; 
and  Antoinette.  The  mother  outlived  her 
husband,  and  died  on  the  old  homestead  at  the 
age  of  seventy-two  years.  They  were  people 
of  sterling  worth,  and  Mrs.  Beers  was  a  con- 
sistent member  of  the  Free  Will  Baptist 
church. 

Joshua,  the  second  son  of  Benjamin  antl 
Polly  Beers,  was  reared  as  a  farmer,  and  as- 
sisted his  parents  in  the  management  and  care 
of  the  old  homestead  until  twenty-nine  years 
old.  Then,  having  saved  some  money,  and 
being  desirous  of  enjoying  life  under  his  own 
vine  and  fig-tree,  he  bought  the  farm  on 
wdiich  he  now  resides,  and  energetically  began 
its  improvement.  It  had  been  partly  cleared; 
and  he  has   since  placed   it  all   in  a  condition 


for  pasturage  or  tillage,  and  erected  a  com- 
fortable set  of  farm  buildings.  He  is  thus 
now,  in  the  sunset  of  life,  enabled  to  enjoy 
the  fruits  of  his  earlier  years  of  toil  and 
denial. 

In  1.S4.S  Mr.  Jk'crs  was  united  in  marriage 
to  .Sarah  1'..  Buckbee,  the  daughter  of  l-'/.ekie] 
and  Ruth  Buckbee,  well-known  members  of 
the  farming  community  of  Walton.  To  glad- 
den their  hearts  anil  brighten  their  home  came 
fi\-e  children,  whose  record  is  as  follows; 
Willis,  who  married  Maggie  Telford,  of  Wal- 
ton, the  daughter  of  William  and  I.sabella 
(Ruby)  Telford,  who  are  of  .Scotch  descent; 
Orrin,  now  deceased;  luiiily,  who  became  the 
wife  of  Albert  Barlow,  both  she  and  the  one 
child  born  of  their  union  now  deceased; 
IClsie;  Ira,  who  married  l-'lsie  Howard,  the 
daughter  of  Charles  and  Juliet  (Seward) 
Howard.  Mrs.  Beers,  who  was  an  active 
member  of  the  P'piscopal  church,  departed 
this  ■  life  in  the  summer  of  iS.S.S.  The 
daughter  belongs  to  the  same  religious  de- 
nomination that  her  mother  did,  and  in  her 
daily  life  exemi)liftes  its  excellent  teachings. 
Politically,  Mr.  Beers  and  his  sons  are  stanch 
Democrats,  and  steadily  uphold  the  principles 
of  that  party. 


RNOI.D  S.  CARROI.E,  an  enterpris- 
ing hanlware  merchant  of  the  village 
of  Hobart,  dealing  e\tensi\-ely  in 
shelf  hardware,  stoves,  ranges,  fur- 
naces, and  plumbing  materials,  is  also  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  agricultural  community, 
owning  a  snug  farm  of  ninet\--six  acres  on 
Rose  Brook.  He  is  a  native  of  Delaware 
County,  having  been  born  on  December  16, 
[853,  in  Roxbury.  That  town  was  also  the 
birtliplace  of  his  parents,  Samuel  B.  and 
Elsie  (Travis)  Carroll,  the  former  of  whom 
was  born  on  August  21,  1829,  and  the  latter, 
December  3,   1833. 

Enos  Carroll  was  one  of  the  early  settlers 
of  Roxbury,  and  w\as  born  in  the  year  1798. 
He  was  a  man  of  unlimited  energy,  coura- 
geous and  ambitious,  and  during  the  many 
years  of  his  residence  in  Roxbury  was  engaged 
in  tilling  the  soil,  being  well  known  as  one  of 
its    most    ])rosperous    agriculturists.      Having 


36 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


accomplished  a  life's  work,  he  quietly  closed 
his  eyes  on  earthly  scenes,  December  ii, 
1874.  Politically,  he  was  a  Jeffcrsonian  Dem- 
ocrat, and  ill  his  religious  views  a  decided 
I^aplist.  He  married  Anna  Stratton,  a  native 
of  Roxbury,  whose  birth  was  on  November  7, 
1 801.  She  bore  him  six  children,  five  of 
whom  j:;rew  to  maiurity.  The  three  now  liv- 
ing are  Angeline  Hill  and  John  S.  Carroll, 
of  Roxbury,  and  Mrs.  Sarah  Barlow,  of  Ho- 
bart.  Mrs.  Abbie  Squares  and  Samuel  ]?. 
Carroll   are  deceased. 

Samuel  B.  Carroll,  son  of  Enos,  grew  to 
man's  estate  in  the  town  of  Roxbury,  and, 
giving  his  attention  from  his  youth  to  farm- 
ing, succeeded  his  father  in  the  ownership  of 
the  old  homestead,  which  he  conducted  in  a 
most  successful  maimer.  Besides  adding  es- 
sential improvements,  he  bought  adjacent 
land,  becoming  the  possessor  of  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  valuable  pieces  of  property 
in  the  vicinity.  He  was  noted  for  his  enter- 
prise and  progress,  and  was  an  authority  in 
matters  pertaining  to  agriculture.  He  spent 
the  major  part  of  his  life  on  the  old  home 
farm,  having  moved  into  the  village  of  Rox- 
bury but  one  month  prior  to  his  decease, 
which  occurred  January  26,  1884,  after  an 
active  life  of  fifty-four  years.  His  widow 
survived  him,  and  is  living  in  their  village 
home.  She  is  a  worthy  member  of  the  Bap- 
tist church,  and  he  was  also  a  believer  in  the 
doctrines  there  taught.  In  politics  he  was  a 
strong  Democrat.  They  reared  four  children, 
as  follows:  Arnold  S. ;  Adelbert  E.,  a  lawyer 
in   New   York   City;   Annie  S. ;  and  Abbie  S. 

Arnold  S.,  the  elder  of  the  two  sons  of  Sam- 
uel B.  and  Elsie  Carroll,  spent  his  early  years 
in  Roxbury,  acquiring  his  elementary  educa- 
tion in  the  district  school,  which  was  further 
advanced  by  an  academical  course.  He  re- 
mained at  home,  assisting  on  the  farm,  until 
1878,  when  he  purchased  an  estate  of  two 
hundred  and  thirty-three  acres  on  Rose  Brook, 
in  the  town  of  Stamford.  For  nine  years  he 
put  in  practice  the  knowledge  that  he  had 
acquired  on  the  jjarental  homestead,  and  car- 
ried on  a  thriving  business  in  general  farming 
and  dairying.  Disposing  then  of  that  farm, 
he  bought  another,  a  smaller  one,  also  on 
Rose  Brook,  which  he  still  owns.      It  contains 


ninety-six  acres  of  very  fertile  and  productive 
land,  well  adapted  for  general  farming  pur- 
poses. Being  a  wide-awake,  alert  young  man, 
with  a  keen  eye  for  business,  Mr.  Carroll  took 
advantage  of  the  opportunity  for  buying  the 
hardware  store  of  Charles  P.  Foot,  which  was 
offered  him  in  18S8,  and  has  since  been  ]inimi- 
nently  identifietl  with  the  mercantile  interests 
of  Hobart.  His  large  stock  of  goods  is  valued 
I  at  about  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars. 
I  On  May  2,  1877,  Mr.  Carroll  was  united  in 
;  marriage  with  P^lla  Kaltenbeck,  who  was  born 
{  in  Delaware  County,  in  the  town  of  Roxbury, 
May  3,  1857,  being  a  daughter  of  Fred  and 
Lucy  Kaltenbeck.  Her  father,  who  in  his 
earlier  years  was  a  shoemaker,  is  now  a 
farmer  in  Roxbury,  where  the  death  of  Mrs. 
Kaltenbeck  occurred  some  years  since.  On 
January  29,  1879,  was  born  the  only  child  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carroll,  who  is  named  Isaac  S. 
Carroll.  In  politics  Mr.  Carroll  uniformly 
casts  his  vote  with  the  Democratic  party,  and 
has  served  satisfactorily  as  Assessor  three 
years,  and  is  now  filling  his  third  term  as 
Town  Clerk,  having  recently  been  elected  to 
the  office  for  a  term  of  two  years.  He  is  lib- 
eral in  his  religious  views,  and  his  wife  is  a 
conscientious  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church. 


I  LIT  AM  ANDREWS.  Who  in  the 
town  of  Walton,  Delaware  County, 
N.Y.,  is  not  familiar  with  the 
pleasant  face,  gray  head,  and  wrinkled  brow 
of  "Uncle  Billy,"  as  Mr.  William  Andrews 
is  affectionately  called  by  old  and  young? 
Everybody  knows  him  and  loves  him — facts 
not  to  be  wondered  at,  considering  that  he  is 
the  oldest  inhabitant  of  the  place,  having  been 
born  here  on  April  20,  iSoi,  and  connected 
with  all  the  interests  of  the  town  and  its  resi- 
dents ever  since  that  early  date. 

His  father  was  William  Andrews,  Sr.,  of 
Shrewsbury,  Conn.,  who  was  born  in  1764, 
and  when  a  young  man  removed  to  Dutchess 
County,  New  York.  Here  he  married  Han- 
nah Burrhus,  a  daughter  of  Silas  Burrhus, 
who  died   at   sea,  and  was   buried  on  a  distant 

i  island,    his    widow    afterward     marrying    Dr. 

;  Payne    and    removing    to    Dutchess    County. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


37 


After  bur\  itii;  one  child  in  Uutchoss  County, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Andrews,  -Sr.,  in  1793 
emigrated,  with  their  three  remaining  chil- 
dren, to  Delaware  County,  and  here  occu[)ied 
an  old  log  cabin  which  had  been  deserted  b\- 
some  former  sojourner  in  the  wilderness. 
Clearing  awa\'  the  forests,  they  tilled  the  soil 
and  cultivated  their  farm,  which  was  situated 
between  the  tracts  now  kmiwn  as  the  Mc(jih- 
bon  farms. 

Thev  were  the  ]iarents  of  twelve  children, 
of  whom  William,  Jr.,  is  the  only  survivor. 
A  daughter  Lucy,  wife  of  George  Simmons, 
died  in  Indiana,  an  octogenarian.  Burrhus 
was  sixty  years  old  at  his  death,  Thomas  was 
over  eighty,  and  Sallie  lived  to  be  about  sixty 
years  old.  In  the  little  burial-ground  on  the 
old  farm,  which  remained  in  the  possession  of 
the  family  until  forty  years  ago,  rests  in  peace 
all  that  is  earthly  of  those  worthy  pioneers, 
who  labored  with  undaunted  courage  and  pa- 
tience, bearing  cheerfully  all  hardships,  and 
founded  a  home  for  the  generations  to  come. 
Mr.  Andrews  was  a  lover  of  sport  and  a  fa- 
mous hunter,  being  an  adept  with  fire-arms, 
and,  though  at  times  nervous  and  tremulous, 
never  missing  his  aim.  His  brother.  John 
Andrews,  attained  a  celebrity  throughout  the 
country,  being  hung  near  Seneca  Lake  for  a 
crime  of  which  he  was  innocent,  as  was  after- 
ward proved  by  the  confession  of  the  real 
culprit. 

William  Andrews,  Jr.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  born  ninety-three  years  ago  at 
Eastbrook,  five  miles  from  the  village  of  Wal- 
ton. On  :\[arch  <S,  1837,  at  Unadilla,  N.^'.. 
he  married  Miss  Amanda  Rumse\',  who  was 
then  in  her  twenty-fourth  year.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  Ebenezer  S.  and  Chloe  (DuBois) 
Rumsey.  Her  father,  a  native  of  Dutchess 
County,  learned  the  trade  of  blacksmith  of  his 
stalwart  sire,  who  was  a  German,  and  who 
lived  and  died  in  Colchester.  The  parents  of 
Mrs.  Andrews  moved  to  Walton  in  1829,  and 
later  lived  in  Steuben  County,  and  finally  re- 
moved to  De  Kalb  County,  Illinois,  where  the 
father  died  in  1851.  His  widow  then  made 
her  home  with  her  son,  Elnathan  Rumsey,  in 
St.  Clair  County,  Michigan,  where  she  after- 
ward died  in  1872,  at  the  age  of  seventy-si.x 
years,  having  been  the  mother  of  twenty  chil- 


dren, of  whom  eighteen  grew  to  nialuriiv. 
Amanda  Rumsey  was  the  eldest  of  this  large 
family,  and  was  born  on  July  7,  1S13.  Iler 
brotliers  and  sisters  who  are  still  living  are 
the  following:  Afary  .Ann,  a  maiden  lady  of 
Kansas,  born  in  1819;  .Annis,  born  in  1S22; 
h'.dwartl,  born  December  9,  1S32;  Rachel, 
widow  of  John  Herrald,  of  Hinghamton,  who 
was  born  .Xugust  13,  1823;  Margaret,  widow 
of  Elisha  Wallen,  of  Pennsylvania,  born  I'^eb- 
ruary  19,  1828;  Ebenezer  S.,  of  Iowa,  burn 
.August  30,  1829;  James  H.,  whfi  now  lives 
in  the  .South,  ami  was  born  January  24,  1831  ; 
Martha,  wife  of  Amasa  Fox,  of  Chetopa, 
Kan.,  born  March  11,  1834;  Henry  H.,  of 
New  York,  who  was  born  on  October  22, 
1840.  One  sister,  Almina,  l)orn  December  2, 
1843,  wife  of  Clarke  Burzett,  died  December 
28,   1892,  the  ninther  of  eighteen  children. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrews  mourn  the  loss  of 
two  children:  an  infant;  and  a  daughter  fifty- 
one  \ears  of  age,  Mary  I'".  Andrews,  who  died 
October  10,  1889.  The  latter  was  a  teacher 
in  Walton  for  man\'  years,  and,  although  she 
had  never  attended  any  but  a  district  school, 
])roved  to  be  remarkably  successful  in  her 
vocation.  .She  was  the  possessor  of  many  ac- 
com]ilishments,  among  which  jiainting  in  oils 
held  a  ])r(>minent  jjlace.  The  following  are 
the  surviving  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  An- 
drews: Charles,  who  livi^s  in  Elmira,  is  mar- 
ried, and  is  the  father  (.f  one  son  and  one 
daughter;  I'errv,  a  conti'actor  in  .Atlanta, 
Ga. ;  -Sarah,  now  the  wife  of  Robert  Mcl.aury, 
and  who  is  the  mother  of  one  daughter  and 
one  son  b\'  her  former  husband,  Edwin  Frost; 
,  lulward  R.,  who  resides  in  Walton  at  28 
Union  .Street,  and  with  whom  his  aged  \y,\v- 
ents   now   make   their  home. 

Edward  R.  .Andrews  was  married  in  1890 
to  Annabel le  Fravor,  who  was  born  in  1871, 
the  ilaughter  of  .Alonzo  and  Ella  (House) 
Fra\or,  farmers  of  Oswego  County.  .She  is 
the  eldest  of  a  family  of  four:  three  girls, 
Annahelle,  Myra,  and  Alwillda:  and  one  boy, 
Charles  -all  of  whom  live  at  home  and  are 
unmarried  except  Annal)elle.  Mr.  and  .Mrs. 
E.  R.  Andrews  have  one  child,  a  fine  boy. 
Perry  W.,  who  was  born  on  November  14, 
1891,  in  Ohio,  where  Mr.  .Andrews  was  em- 
plo)etl  in  drilling  oil  and  gas  wells. 


38 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


In  politics  "Uncle  Billy"  was  a  Democrat 
before  the  war,  but  now  votes  always  with  the 
Republican  party.  He  is  a  truly  old-fash- 
ioned Methodist,  loving  the  old  hymns,  and 
singing  them  even  now  in  a  strong,  clear 
voice.  Time,  of  course,  has  left  its  stamp 
upon  his  brow,  and  his  hearing  is  somewhat 
impaired;  but  his  heart  is  yet  young,  and  he 
holds  his  place  among  his  family  and  friends 
with  a  dignity  and  grace  well  becoming  a  man 
of  his  age  and  long  experience.  Mrs.  Amanda 
K.  Williams,  though  several  years  her  hus- 
band's junior,  is  in  her  eighty-second  year, 
but  still  possesses  all  her  faculties  as  per- 
fectly as   she  did   twenty  years  ago. 

"Uncle  Billy"  and  his  wife  have  liv^^d  to- 
gether for  fifty-seven  years,  a  faithful,  loving 
couple,  whom  all  esteem  and  revere;  and  they 
are  now  drifting  hand  in  hand  toward  that 
shining  shore  where  there  is  no  more  parting. 
What  a  record  is  his  of  long  years  of  useful 
labor,  nearly  a  century  of  manly,  honest 
livinsr! 


1-",XRY  LEAL  was  born  on  January  9, 
1855,  on  the  farm  on  which  he  now 
resides,  in  the  town  of  Meredith. 
His  family  is  of  excellent  Scotch 
ancestry,  and  was  first  represented  on  Ameri- 
can soil  during  the  later  years  of  last  century 
by  his  great-grandfather,  Alexander  Leal,  who 
was  born  in  Scotland,  and  there  reared  to 
farming  pursuits.  Emigrating  when  a  young 
man  to  the  United  States,  Alexander  settled 
in  the  town  of  Kortright  in  this  county, 
where  he  cleared  a  good  farm,  and  in  the 
course  of  time  had  it  comparatively  well  im- 
])roved ;  and  there  he  lived  and  lalDored  until 
gathered  to  his  final  rest.  His  wife  was  born 
of  Scotch  parents  in  the  town  of  Stamford; 
and  she,  too,  spent  her  last  years  on  the  old 
homestead,  which  is  now  owned  by  one  of  her 
grandchildren,  the  house,  built  probably  in 
1800,  still  standing.  They  reared  five  chil- 
dren, all  boys;  namely,  John,  Hugh,  Alex- 
ander,   Jr.,    James,    and   Clark. 

John  Leal,  the  eldest  son  of  Alexander,  was 
born  in  Kortright.  near  the  centre,  and  lived 
on  the  parental  homestead,  on  which  he  did 
much   pioneer   labor,  until    attaining  his  free- 


dom. He  then  removed  to  Stamford,  where 
he  carried  on  a  farm  for  three  years,  going 
from  there  to  Delhi,  and  entering  the  employ- 
ment of  the  old  ex-Sheriff,  Robert  Leal,  with 
whom  he  remained  four  years.  He  then 
bought  the  land  on  Catskill  turnpike,  near 
East  Meredith,  on  which  his  grandson  Henry 
now  lives,  and,  erecting  a  log  house,  at  once 
began  the  establishment  of  a  homestead.  The 
land  was  then  in  its  primitive  condition,  pre- 
senting a  spectacle  sufficiently  wild  and  deso- 
late to  discourage  any  one  less  daring  and 
hopeful  than  the  pioneers  of  that  early  day. 
He  labored  with  diligence  and  energy,  and  in 
due  time  had  cleared  a  good  farm  and  erected 
frame  buildings,  among  others  being  a  sub- 
stantial dwelling-house,  which  he  built  in 
1838,  and  which  remains  in  a  comparatively 
good  state  of  preservation.  Here  he  spent 
the  latter  part  of  his  life,  and  died  at  the  age 
of  eighty-six  years.  His  faithful  wife,  who 
had  courageously  shared  his  trials  and  priva- 
tions, also  resided  here  until  her  death,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-five  years.  Both  were  consist- 
ent members  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
church,  of  which  he  was  a  Trustee.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Martha  Mc- 
Lawry.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Mc- 
Lawry,  of  whom  a  sketch  appears  elsewhere 
in  this  volume.  She  bore  her  husband  five 
children:  namely,  Nancy,  Lydia  A.,  Mary, 
John  R.,  and  Alexander  T.  John  R.  served 
during  the  late  war  as  a  Surgeon  in  the  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-fourth  New  York  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  and  from  the  effects  of  the  hard- 
ships and  exposures  which  he  then  endured  he 
lost  his  life. 

Alexander  T.  Leal,  the  youngest  child  of 
John  Leal,  was  born  on  July  29,  1815,  in  the 
town  of  Kortright,  and  was  very  young  when 
he  came  with  them  to  the  farm  in  Meredith, 
where  he  has  since  resided.  After  the  death 
of  his  father,  he  continued  the  work  already 
begun,  and  has  brought  the  one  hundred  and 
seventy  acres  of  productive  land  to  a  fine  con- 
dition, and  has  erected  a  handsome  house, 
the  estate  now  ranking  as  one  of  the  most  val- 
uable in  the  locality.  He  engaged  in  general 
farming  and  dairying,  keeping  about  twenty 
cows,  and  sending  the  products  of  his  dairy  to 
the  New  York  and  local  markets.      In  1846  he 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


39 


nKuried  Mar<;aret  Hell,  a  native  of  Ilarpers- 
tioltl,  being  one  ol  eight  children  born  to 
James  and  Isabella  15ell,  well-known  members 
of  the  agricultural  communit)'  of  Ilarpersfield. 
Of  this  ]ileasant  union  were  born  the  follow- 
ing children:  John,  who  was  graduated  from 
Yale  College,  is  a  teacher  of  prominence  in 
Plainfield,  where  he  prepares  young  men  for 
college.  Mary  I.  is  the  wife  of  James  Smith, 
a  farmer  of  Davenport  Centre.  Henry  is  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  James,  deceased,  mar- 
ried Jennie  Hamilton;  and  they  reared  one 
child,  Aggie.  Hugh,  a  banker  in  Nebraska, 
married  Jeanelte  (iale.  Joseph,  the  youngest, 
in  early  manhood  fell  a  \'ictim  to  consump- 
tion. He  spent  four  or  five  years  in  I)en\er 
and  other  places  in  Colorado  and  Western 
Kansas,  vainly  seeking  relief  from  lung- 
trouble.  At  length,  realizing  that  his  days 
on  earth  were  numbered,  his  only  desire  was 
to  reach  home  as  soon  as  possible.  With  the 
consent  of  physicians,  he  started  at  midnight 
on  a  through  train;  but  at  nine  o'clock  the 
next  morning  he  had  come  to  the  end  of  life's 
journey,  dying  in  the  arms  of  his  brother.  A 
few  days  after,  his  mortal  remains  were  gentl\' 
laid  to  rest  in  the  cemetery  at  Delhi.  Mrs. 
Margaret  1>.  Leal,  the  mother  of  these  chil- 
dren, died  in  April,  1888,  leaving  behind  her 
a  memory  which  will  ever  be  cherished  with 
love  and  reverence.  She  was  a  devoted  mem- 
ber of  the  Presbyterian  chui-ch,  in  which  her 
husband  served  as  Elder  for  man)-  )-ears.  In 
politics  Mr.  Alexantier  T.  Leal  is  a  stanch 
Republican. 

His  second  son,  Henry  Leal,  received  a 
good  common-school  education,  and  is  num- 
bered among  the  most  enterprising  agri- 
culturists of  Meretlith.  The  place  formerly 
consisted  of  two  huntlred  and  forty  acres,  but 
in  the  past  few  years  has  been  sold  down  to 
its  present  size,  the  remainder  being  so  im- 
proved by  drainage  and  otherwise  as  to  double 
its  capacity.  The  work  still  goes  on:  tor,  as 
the  owner  well  says,  "There  are  many  im- 
provements Net  to  be  matle  on  this  farni." 
When  the  place  came  into  his  hands,  the 
stock  consisted  of  twent\--five  head;  to-day 
the  barns  contain  fifty  cattle.  The  large  barn 
now  standing  was  built  in  the  fall  of  1889,  to 
replace  the  one  burned  in  October,    188S;  and 


the  ])resent  stock  has  been  gotten  together 
since  that  date.  The  business  is  strictly 
dairying,  and  a  cream  separator  has  been  used 
the  past  season.  Mr.  Leal  has  been  twice 
married.  The  maiden  name  of  his  first  wife 
was  Joanna  Miirdock.  She  was  a  native  of 
Kortright,  being  the  daughter  of  J.  L.  .Miir- 
dock, a  well-known  farmer  of  that  town.  .She 
died  in  1884,  leaving  him  with  two  children 
—  Clara  Belle  and  Joanna.  Mr.  Leal  married 
for  his  second  wife  Miss  Mary  K.  l-'ehrensen, 
of  Hamden.  This  union  has  ix-en  blessed  by 
the  birth  of  three  children — lulward,  Lthel, 
and  William.  Politically,  Mr.  Leal  alfiliates 
with  the  Re|)ublican  ])arty;  and  religiously  he 
is  a  worthy  mend)er  (if  the  Presbyterian 
church,  ot  which  he  was  a  Trustee  for  many 
\-ears,  anil  in  which  he  is  now  an  Llder. 


armv 


<RV  A.  COMBS,  one  of  the  lead- 
ng  merchants  of  Hamden,  was  born 
in  this  town  in  1839,  and  is  proud 
to  trace  his  ancestry  to  an  ICnglish 
jfficer  of  Revolutionary  times.  His 
great-grandfather,  John  Combs,  who  was  born 
in  Devonshire,  l{ngland,  in  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  ceiitur\-,  while  yet  a  youth  joinetl 
the  Lnglish  army,  and  was  sent  to  .-Xmerica  to 
fight  against  the  ]jatriots  of  the  new  country. 
Here  he  i-emained,  aiid  after  a  while  com- 
pletely lost  sight  of  his  parents  and  ;dl  their 
kindretl  in  the  old  liome.  He  married  in 
Connecticut,  and  became  the  lather  of  six 
chiklren,  namely:  I'olly,  born  in  I  "82,  who 
became  the  wife  of  Herman  Baer;  John,  Jr., 
grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  born 
in  1784;  .Seth,  born  in  1786;  .'\nson,  born  in 
1790;  Jose]')h,  born  in  1794;  b.lecta,  born  in 
1798.  All  these  children  married  and  lived 
to  old  age,  although  the  race  is  now  nearly 
e.vtinct. 

John  Combs,  Jr.,  married  Catherine  Bri- 
sack,  of  Connecticut,  and  in  1805  settled  on 
land  adjoining  his  father's  farm  in  Hamden. 
This  land  was  still  new,  and  coxered  with 
pine  timber,  which  was  the  stajile  product  of 
this  region.  Together  ihev  cleared  some 
three  inmdrod  acres  of  good  t.irm  land;  and 
here  John  died  in  1864.  and  was  buried  beside 
his   parents    in  the  old    famil\-  cenieter)-.      He 


40 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


had  two  daughters  and  two  sons.  One  of 
these  was  Daniel  Combs,  who  died  in  1870, 
and  whose  daughter,  Mrs.  Augusta  Rush,  is 
the  only   surviving   member  of  his  family. 

William  E.  Combs,  the  other  son  of  John, 
and  father  of  the  present  storekeeper  of  Ham- 
den,  was  born  on  April  6,  18 13.  He  was 
reared  on  the  farm  where  his  parents  first  set- 
tled, and  in  his  young  days  helped  to  clear  its 
broad  acres.  He  attended  the  district  school 
in  the  log  school-house,  and  supplemented 
this  limited  education  by  the  broader  experi- 
ence of  a  busy  life.  In  his  twenty-second  year 
he  married  Louise  Canfield,  of  Connecticut, 
who  died  at  their  farm,  a  mile  below  the  vil- 
lage, March  11,  1885.  She  was  the  mother 
of  three  sons:  Henry  A.  Combs,  born  in 
March,  1839;  George,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
one  year;  Marshall  E.,  born  in  1852,  well 
known  in  this  vicinity  as  Matt  Combs. 
William  E.  Combs  sold  his  river  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  acres  in  18S8,  and  moved 
to  Hamden  to  be  with  his  sons.  He  still 
owns  a  hill  farm  of  some  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  acres,  in  which  he  takes  great  de- 
light. In  1 841  Mr.  Combs  voted  for  William 
Henry  Harrison,  and  half  a  century  later  for 
his  grandson,  Benjamin,  first  in  his  success- 
ful and  again  in  his  unsuccessful  Presidential 
campaign.  He  belongs  to  no  society  or 
church. 

Henry  A.  Combs  acquired  his  earl}'  educa- 
tion at  the  district  school,  and  pursued  his 
advanced  studies  at  the  Delaware  Literary 
Institute.  He  began  mercantile  life  in  1S67 
in  company  with  his  uncle,  Daniel  S.  Combs; 
and  when,  after  five  years,  his  uncle's  health 
failed,  Mr.  Combs  continued  the  business  for 
a  while,  and  then  was  joined  by  his  brother 
Marshall,  who  had  been  a  clerk  with  him 
since  1878.  They  now  carry  on  a  leading 
trade  in  general  merchandise,  and  supply  goods 
to  a  large  section  of  territory.  In  the  winter 
of  1869  Mr.  Combs  married  Mary  Robinson, 
daughter  of  Francis  Robinson.  Mrs.  Combs's 
mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Barlow,  died 
in  the  prime  of  life,  leaving  this  one  daughter 
and  a  son  Charles.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Combs  have 
one  son,  George  K.  Combs,  a  young  man  of 
twenty-one  years,  who  is  with  his  father  in 
the   store. 


Mr.  Combs  is  a  stanch  Republican  in  poli- 
tics, and  is  now  serving  his  seventh  year  as 
Supervisor  of  the  town.  He  is  a  very  ca- 
pable man  of  affairs,  and  under  his  skilful 
management  his  business  has  rapidly  grown 
to  wide  dimensions.  He  has  in  all  his  under- 
takings cast  lustre  on  a  name  already  claim- 
ing for   its   own   an    unsullied   reputation. 


DOUGLAS  BURNS,  one  of  the  self- 
made  men  and  well-to-do  farmers  of 
the  town  of  Bovina,  is  actively 
engaged  in  general  agricultural  pur- 
suits, and  operates  a  large  dairy,  keeping 
from  twenty  to  twenty-five  head  of  graded 
Jersey  cattle,  and  milking  about  eighteen 
cows,  his  sales  of  butter  for  the  past  three 
years  averaging  two  hundred  and  seventy-five 
pounds  each  year.  He  is  a  native  of  Bovina, 
and  was  born  August  9,  1858,  of  Irish  and 
Scotch  antecedents. 

His  paternal  grandfather,  Moses  Burns,  was 
born  in  Ireland,  anil,  after  coming  to  this 
country,  was  married  to  Catherine  St.  Clair, 
a  native  of  Orange  County,  New  York,  and 
the  daughter  of  John  St.  Clair,  who  emigrated 
here  from  Scotland.  After  his  arrival  in  this 
State,  Moses  Burns  settled  in  Bovina,  in 
1802,  and  here  bought  a  farm,  on  which  a  log- 
house  and  small  clearings  constituted  the  only 
improvements.  The  country  was  then  in  its 
primitive  wildness;  but,  laboring  with  ener- 
getic perseverance,  he  reclaimed  a  large  por- 
tion of  it,  although  he  was  called  from  the 
scenes  of  this  earth  when  a  young  man,  hav- 
ing received  injuries  while  assisting  in  the 
erection  of  the  first  frame  house  built  in  Bo- 
vina, from  the  effects  of  which  he  died,  being 
then  but  thirty  years  old.  He  was  the  owner 
of  one  hundred  and  five  acres  of  land,  which 
he  carried  on  in  an  able  manner.  He  was  a 
Federalist  in  politics,  and  he  and  his  good 
wife  were  esteemed  members  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian church  of  South  Kortright.  They  had  a 
family  of  five  children,  of  whom  John  Burns, 
the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  and 
his  sister  Elizabeth,  who  resides  in  Brod- 
head.  Wis.,  being  the  wiiiow  of  James 
Kirkpatrick,  are  the  only  ones  now  living. 
John   Burns  was  born    in    Bovina,  March   7, 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


4' 


1S07,  on  the  farm  whorr  lio  now  resides,  ami 
received  his  education  in  tiic  district  school 
known  as  the  Ma)nard  Scliool.  Durinj;-  tiie 
early  years  of  his  life  mnch  of  the  pioneer 
labor  of  clearing  awa\-  the  forests  devolved 
upon  him.  the  idd  homestead  of  his  parents 
being  at  that  time  heavily  timbered.  Game 
abounded:  and  he  remembers  once  chasing  a 
wolf,  although  he  was  not  fortunate  enough  to 
kill  it.  He  was  reared  to  farming  ]iursuils 
and  to  habits  ol  industry  and  honestv,  and  has 
followed  agriculture  the  whole  of  his  life.  In 
April,  1S32,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Nancy  Ormiston,  a  lu^tive  of  Bovina;  anti 
they  began  housekeeping  on  the  parental 
homestead,  which  he  had  jireviously  bought. 
He  carried  on  a  thriving  business  in  general 
agriculture  and  dairying,  and  in  course  of  time 
added  to  the  original  acreage  of  the  place,  and 
now  has  a  fine  farm  of  one  hundred  and  fiftv- 
five  acres.  His  im])ic)\cmenls  lune  been  of 
an  e.Ncellent  character,  his  residence  being 
substantial  and  comfortable,  and  the  necessary 
farm  buildings  convenient  anil  commodious. 
He  has  been  a  hard-working  man,  and,  al- 
though now  cripi^led  b\'  rheumatism,  is  enjoy- 
ing life,  surrounded  by  hosts  of  friends  and 
neighbors,  of  whose  respect  and  gootl  will  he 
is  assured.  ]5oth  he  and  his  wife,  who 
crossed  the  river  of  death  Noveiuber  6,  1877. 
in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of  her  age.  were  mem- 
bers of  the  United  Presbyterian  church  at  P)o- 
vina  Centre,  with  which  he  is  still  cnnnected. 
In  politics  he  was  a  Whig  until  the  abandon- 
ment of  that  |)arty  and  the  formation  of  the 
Republican,  when  he  joined  the  latter,  and 
has  since  been  one  of  its  most  faithful  adhe- 
rents. He  has  always  taken  an  active  part  in 
local  affairs,  and  has  ser\ed  as  Highway  Com- 
missioner and  Assessor,  besides  filling  various 
minor  offices.  His  family  circle  inchuled 
seven  children,  of  whom  five  are  now  living, 
the  record  being  as  follows:  Moses  K.,  born 
August  18,  1833,  is  a  farmer  in  Brodhead, 
Wis.  William,  born  November  28,  1834, 
is  engaged  in  farming  in  Delhi.  James,  born 
January  6,  1845.  is  a  farmer,  living  in  Mere- 
dith Hollow.  Alexander,  born  December  8, 
1848.  resides  on  the  old  homestead.  J. 
Douglas  lives  in  Bovina.  Janette,  born  Se])- 
tember    3,     1839,    married    Francis    C.    Arm- 


strong, iind  died  February  15,  1885.  John 
C,  born  August  2,  1841,  enlisted  during  the 
late  Kebellion  in  Company  li,  ( )ne  Hundred 
and  hdrly-fourth  New  \'ork  Volunteer  Inf.in- 
tr\',  and  was  killed  while  in  service  in   1863. 

J.  Douglas  Burns  has  been  a  life-long  resi- 
dent of  Bo\ina,  gleaning  his  education  in  its 
jiublic  schools,  and  growing  to  man's  estate 
within  its  [irecincts.  When  starting  in  life 
for  himstdf,  he  began  as  a  farm  laborer  at  fif- 
teen dollars  a  month.  Being  jirudent  ami 
economical,  he  saved  money,  and  in  1880 
bought  the  farm  where  he  now  resides,  con- 
taining one  hundred  acres  of  land.  This 
he  has  brought  under  cultivation,  and  has 
eifuipped  it  with  a  good  set  of  farm  buildings 
which  are  buth  tasteful  and  substantial.  He 
devotes  a  good  >hare  of  his  attention  to  his 
dairy  and  to  stock-raising,  and  is  numbered 
;unong  the  most  progressive  and  enterprising 
farmers  of  this  vicinity. 

An  important  step  in  the  career  of  Mr. 
]5urns  was  his  marriage  with  Maggie  S.  Doig, 
the  daughter  of  William  .S.  and  Fli/.abeth 
(Doig)  Doig,  the  latter  of  whom  died  at  the 
age  of  filt_\-lhree  years.  Mr.  Doig  is  a  re- 
spected member  of  the  agricultural  community 
of  the  town  of  Andes,  where  he  still  resides. 
To  him  and  his  wite  three  chiUlren  were  born, 
nameh':  Belle,  who  tlied  at  the  age  of  thir- 
teen years;  Maggie  S.,  Mrs.  Burns;  and  An- 
ilrew,  a  resident  of  Kansas.  The  union  of 
Mr.  Hums  and  iiis  wife  has  been  l)lessed  by 
the  birth  of  four  bright  and  interesting  chil- 
ilren :  namely.  James  A..  l,i/./ie  M.,  l".\-;i  J., 
and  Willie  C.  Burns. 


!Ts     svia'i:.st1';k     wood,     a 

highly  esteemed  citi/en  of  the  village 
of  hVanklin,  where  he  has  lived  in 
retirement  from  active  life  for  the 
last  ten  \ears.  was  born  in  the  same  town  in 
1832.  His  grandfather.  John  Wood,  came 
when  a  v<iung  man  from  Ireland  to  Boston, 
Mass.,  with  two  brothers,  one  of  whom  was 
named  Heni\-:  but  the  three  soon  became 
separ.Ued.  John  married  Mar\'  Sarles,  and 
settled  on  a  farm  in  Newheld.  Toni|)kins 
County,  N.Y.,  where  were  born  their  three 
bovs  and   four  girls,  all    <if   whom  grew  to  ma- 


42 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


turity.  One  lived  to  be  over  eighty;  but  two 
died  much  earlier,  of  consumption.  Their 
father  died  in  the  prime  of  life;  but  the 
widow  married  again,  and  did  not  pass  away 
till  she  had  left  behind  her  the  milestone  of 
threescore  and  ten.  Among  the  children  of 
John  and  Mary  Wood  was  Charles  Jefferson 
Wood,  who  was  born  in  Newfieki  in  1804,  and 
died  in  Franklin  in  1893,  aged  eighty-nine. 
He  married  F.liza  Wheat,  born  in  Franklin, 
a  daughter  of  Captain  William  Wheat,  who 
came   from    Marlboro,    Conn. 

The  Wheat  family  derive  their  lineage  from 
Thomas  Wheat,  who  came  from  Wales  to  Bos- 
ton in  1692.  In  the  genealogy  it  is  possible 
to  go  back  fully  through  four  generations,  to 
Solomon  Wheat,  of  Connecticut,  a  graduate  of 
Yale  College,  a  Surgeon  in  the  Revolution, 
and  a  Baptist  clergyman,  who  was  born  in 
1753;  so  that  he  was  twenty-two  when  the 
struggle  lor  independence  began.  He  lived 
through  the  War  of  18 12,  and  died,  at  a  great 
age,  about  the  time  when  Vice-President 
John  Tyler  had  succeeded  to  the  Presidency 
by  the  untimely  death  of  General  William 
Henry  Harrison,  and  was  disturbing  the 
equanimity  of  the  Whig  party,  which  had 
elected  him.  Dr.  Wheat  hatl  nine  sons  and 
four  daughters,  one  of  whom  ilied  in  infancy. 
Samuel  Wheat  settled  in  the  .South,  and  had  a 
son,  Robert  Wheat,  who  fought  in  three  wars 
—  first  in  the  Mexican  War,  second  under 
Ciaribaldi  in  Italy,  and  third  in  our  Civil 
War,  dying  during  the  siege  of  Petersburg, 
with  the  title  of  Major.  Another  son  of 
-Solomon  Wheat  was  Thomas,  who  lived  and 
died  on  the  old  Connecticut  farm.  .Still  an- 
other son  was  the  junior  Solomon,  a  man 
whose  great  strength,  immense  stature,  and 
surgical  proficiency  did  not  prevent  his  capt- 
ure, and  who  died  on  board  his  father's  ship 
soon  after  his  liberation  from  a  P'rench 
prison.  Aaron,  the  youngest  son  of  Grand- 
father Wheat,  lived  in  Sackett's  Harbor, 
L.I.;  while  his  biother  Benjamin  settled 
either  in  Chemung  or  Steuben  County,  New 
York.  Solomon  Wheat's  son  William  fol- 
lowed in  the  nautical  rather  than  the  theolog- 
ical or  medical  lead  of  liis  father,  and  was  a 
marine  merchant  and  commander  for  thirty 
years.     He  was  born  on  January  19,  1772,  and 


began  life  as  a  sailor  when  only  thirteen.  At 
nineteen  he  was  mate  with  a  Captain  Smith, 
bound  for  the  West  Indies  with  a  cargo 
which  included  much  live  stock.  In  the 
midst  of  a  gale  the  captain  ordered  his  mate 
to  free  the  horses,  and  try  to  make  for  the 
shore.  William  Wheat  disobeyed.  Instead 
of  driving  the  horses  overboard,  he  gave  the 
pigs  that  opportunity,  and  so  succeeded  in 
righting  the  ship  and  keeping  out  of  danger. 
The  marine  rule,  "Obey  orders  or  break 
owners,"  did  not  work  in  young  Wheat's  case; 
for  he  was  promoted  for  his  disobedient  bra- 
very, and  placed  in  command  of  the  brig 
"■Buck,"  and  thereafter  made  voyages  not  only 
to  the  West  Indies,  but  to  South  America, 
Italy,  and  Africa.  The  valorous  captain  died, 
full  of  days,  in  Franklin,  N.Y.,  in  March, 
1868,  lacking  less  than  four  years  of  his 
century. 

Among  his  sons  was  Cyrus  Howell  Wheat, 
who  was  born  in  Franklin,  March  ly,  18 13, 
and  followed  an  agricultural  career.  He  mar- 
ried Amanda  Rogers,  of  Sidney,  Delaware 
County,  on  P^ebruary  7,  1836.  Their  first 
child  was  Watson  Wheat,  who  died,  not  of 
wounds,  but  of  disease,  at  Harper's  F"erry,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-four,  a  member  of  Company 
G,  of  the  Sixth  Regiment  of  New  York  Vol- 
unteers. Another  son,  Leroy  Wheat,  died  in 
Croton,  aged  sixteen.  Herbert  Wheat  died 
in  P""ranklin,  of  typhoid  fever,  when  only 
twenty.  Of  the  living  children,  Marion 
Wheat  married  Manzer  Smith,  of  Meredith, 
Hartson  Leroy  Wheat  is  a  Franklin  farmer, 
and  Orton  Wheat  is  a  carpenter  in  Croton. 
Their  brother.  Porter  Alton  Wheat,  is  a  noted 
resident  of  the  village  of  Croton,  where  he 
was  born  March  24,  1845,  on  the  place  pur- 
chased by  his  grandfather  after  retirement 
from  a  seafaring  life,  and  where  Porter's 
father  also  was  born.  Besides  attending  the 
district  school.  Porter  Wheat  was  educated  at 
the  Delaware  Literary  Institute.  He  began 
teaching  in  1861,  when  only  sixteen,  and  just 
as  the  Civil  War  began;  and  he  continued  to 
teach  in  district  schools  till  1877,  when  he 
was  thirty-two  years  old.  In  1866,  thi-ee  days 
before  Christmas,  he  married  Lydia  Maria 
Southworth,  of  Masonville,  daughter  of  the 
Rev.  Nelson  and   Jennie  (PTnch)  Southworth. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


43 


Lydia  was  horn  in  Schoharie  County;  and  her 
father  was  one  of  four  brotliers,  two  others 
being,  like  himself,  Methodist  clergymen. 
Mrs.  Wheat  had  not  onl}-  these  two  uncles  in 
this  profession  and  denomination,  but  also 
two   brothers. 

The  I'orter  Wheats  have  five  children:  Cora 
Wheat  married  Leroy  ICvans,  a  Franklin 
farmer.  Homer  W'heat  resides  still  at  home. 
Bertha  Wlieat  is  her  father's  assistant  in  the 
post-office.  Se\niour  Wheat  is  an  agricultur- 
ist. The  youngest  son,  born  in  1881,  Roscoe 
Wheat,  is  still  a  boy  at  home.  Mr.  Wheat 
is  a  Democrat.  I'or  sixteen  years  he  has  been 
a  Justice  of  Peace,  and  in  Cleveland's  first 
administration  was  appointed  Postmaster,  a 
place  he  still  holds.  The  surname  recalls 
what  was  said   by  an  early  historian,  that   God 


had   sifted   three   nations   to   give    Ni. 


I'JU 


land's   colonies   the   finest   of   wheat. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Charles  J. 
Wood  married  into  the  Wheat  family,  his 
wife  being  an  aunt  of  Postmaster  Wiieat. 
They  had  three  sons  and  a  daughter.  One  of 
the  boys  died  in  1848,  at  the  early  age  of 
eleven.  Of  the  three  living,  Rufus  Sylvester 
is  the  eldest.  Henry  W.  Wood  is  a  resident 
of  F'ranklin,  and  a  separate  sketch  of  him  may 
be  found  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Jane 
Wood,  the  youngest,  married  Daniel  Colby 
Dibble,  of  Dakota,  Neb. 

Rufus  .S.  Wood  grew  up  on  a  farm,  attended 
the  district  school,  and  also  the  Delaware 
Literary  Institute,  but  afterward  felt  it  his 
duty  to  remain  at  home  with  his  parents. 
There  his  mother  died  in  18S3,  aged  seventy- 
two,  a  decade  before  lier  husband,  wln)  sur- 
vived till  1893,  dying  at  his  son  Rufus's,  and 
lying  beside  his  wife  in  the  Oulcout  Valley 
cemetery.  In  1855,  September  16,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-three,  Rufus  Wood  married  Susan 
Maria  Mann,  daughter  of  Horace  and  .So- 
]ihronia  (Fitch)  Mann.  P^ither  Mann  was  a 
native  of  Connecticut,  Init  his  wife  belonged 
in  I'ranklin.  Her  paternal  grandfather  was 
Abijah  Mann,  whose  wifi'  was  Chloe  Clark; 
and  they  were  pioneers  in  Delaware  Count)', 
coming  thither  in  an  ox  cart,  and  settling  in 
the  woods  in  1803,  when  John  Adams  was 
growing  unpoi)ular  as  President  of  the  United 
States.      Mrs.    Wood's    maternal    grandfather 


was  Colonel  .Silas  I-'itch,  who  was  another 
early  settler  on  Ouleout  Creek.  Mrs.  Wood's 
motlier,  .Sojjhronia  Mann,  was  one  of  nine 
children,  having  two  brothers  and  six  sisters, 
all  refined  and  intelligent  people. 

Grandfather  Fitch  was  a  Colonel  in  the 
militia;  and  his  wife  was  Clara  Howell,  a 
daughter  of  Isaac  Howell,  belonging  to  a  New 
lingland  family  that  came  early  into  this 
region.  His  two  sons,  Mrs.  Wood's  uncles, 
were  both  professional  men.  Almiron  l'"itch 
was  a  college  graduate  of  powerful  physique, 
and  became  a  physician  at  Delhi,  where  he 
died.  Silas  F"itch  went  to  college,  and  be- 
came a  Methodist  preacher.  He  died  sud- 
denh',  in  1872,  at  Irvington,  N.Y.,  while 
engaged  in  animated  conversation  with  a  visi- 
tor. Mrs.  Wood  has  tliree  brothers  living, 
one  having  died  in  childhood:  George  W. 
Mann  is  a  farmer  in  Franklin.  Silas  Fitch 
Mann  is  a  merchant  in  Warsaw,  Wyoming 
County.  Almiron  Howell  Mann  studied  at 
the  Delaware  Literary  Institute,  but  was 
reared  a  farmer,  and  now  lives  a  retired  life 
at  I'>aid<lin. 

In  18S4  Mr.  Wood  sold  his  inherited  farm, 
and  removed  to  the  village,  where  he  iuis  a 
small  estate  of  fourteen  acres.  He  and  his 
wife  had  the  misfortune  of  losing  one  son, 
Ivlson  .Stanley  Wood,  when  only  thirteen 
months  old;  l)ut  they  have  two  living  chil- 
dren. Their  son,  Irving  C.  Wood  was  grad- 
uated at  the  Jefferson  Medical  College  in 
Philadelphia,  and  is  now  a  physician  in  the 
town  of  Logan,  Harrison  County,  Iowa.  His 
wife,  P'lorence  Bolter,  was  a  daughter  of 
.Senator  Bolter  of  that  place.  Carrie  J.  Wood 
is  the  wife  of    Frank  C.  Daniels,  of  Franklin. 

Mr.  Wood  is  a  Blue  Lodge  Mason.  He 
was  formerly  a  Democrat  in  jioiitics,  but  left 
the  ranks  to  join  the  Prohibitionists.  His 
wife  is  a  Ba[)tist.  Tiiey  live  in  a  pleasant 
home,  and  are  highly  respected.  Though 
prosperous  in  his  undertakings,  Mr.  Wood  is 
not  a  rich  man,  Init  has  chosen  that  better 
])art,  a  good  name.  He  has  been  always  a 
total  abstainer  from  liquor  and  tobacco,  and 
therefore  finds  a  congenial  abiding-place  in  a 
community  where  no  licenses  are  granted  for 
the  s.ile  of  that  which  stupefies  men's  brains. 
He  is  more   than   satisfied   with   his   children, 


44 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


and  in  both  these  sentiments  his  wife  heartily 
shares.  With  the  practical  sage  for  whom  his 
town  was  named,  Ben  Franklin,  Mr.  Wood 
might  say,  "Temperance  puts  wood  on  the 
fire,  meal  in  the  barrel,  flour  in  the  tub, 
money  in  the  purse,  credit  in  the  country, 
contentment  in  the  house,  clothes  on  the 
back,  and  vigor  in  the  body."  Concerning 
the  weed  he  would  adopt  the  opinion  of  the 
old  dramatist,  whose  first  name  was  like 
Franklin's,  Ben  Jonson,  "It  is  good  for  noth- 
ing but  to  choke  a  man  and  fill  him  full  of 
smoke  and  embers." 


KEWIS  MARVIN,  who  worthily  repre- 
sents important  industrial  interests  of 
^  the  town  of  Walton,  where  he  owns 
and  operates  a  stone  quarry,  is  a  na- 
tive of  this  State  and  county,  his  birth  having 
occurred  in  Walton,  March  13,  1831.  He  is 
the  son  of  Jared  Marvin,  a  native  of  Hoosick, 
Rensselaer  County,  N.Y.,  whose  father,  Mat- 
thew Marvin,  was  a  native  of  Connecticut  and 
a  veteran  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  having 
served  in  the  ranks  for  seven  years. 

In  1799  Matthew  Marvin  came  to  this 
county,  and,  settling  in  the  town  of  Walton, 
on  Mount  Holly  farm,  which  he  cleared  from 
the  wilderness,  resided  there  until  he  had 
rounded  out  a  full  life  of  ninety-six  years. 
The  worthy  descendant  of  one  of  the  Puritan 
fathers,  he  was  very  strong  in  his  religious 
convictions,  and  very  strict  in  observances. 
He  married  Mary  Weed,  the  daughter  of 
Thomas  Weed,  who  was  born  in  Simsbury, 
Conn.,  June  7,  1754.  He  was  a  Revolution- 
ary soldier,  and  one  of  the  si.xty-eight  who 
were  pickets  for  Lafayette's  regiment,  and 
stormed  the  redoubt  near  Yorktown.  He 
served  with  distinction  throughout  that  war, 
participating  in  the  most  prominent  battles, 
coming  forth  with  an  untarnished  war  record. 
The  children  of  Matthew  and  Mary  Weed 
Marvin  were  as  follows:  Joseph,  Abigail, 
Jared,    Thomas,    William,    and    Lewis. 

Jared  Marvin  was  reared  to  the  carpenter's 
trade,  which  he  followed  for  several  years  in 
the  town  of  Walton,  in  which  place  he  after- 
ward operated  a  woollen-mill,  remaining  there 
until  his  death,  in  1865,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 


si.x  years.  He  married  Fanny  Rodgers,  a 
native  of  Greenville,  Worcester  County, 
Mass.,  and  a  daughter  of  Asa  and  Catherine 
(Hamilton)  Rodgers.  (For  further  parental 
history  see  sketch  of  George  W.  Marvin, 
which  appears  on  another  page  of  this  work.) 

Lewis  Marvin  received  a  substantial  educa- 
tion in  the  public  schools  of  his  native  town, 
and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years  began  teach- 
ing, a  profession  in  which  he  engaged  for 
several  terms.  He  was  appointed  Postmaster 
in  1868,  and  retained  the  position  eighteen 
years.  Purchasing  the  stone  quarry  about  the 
time  he  left  the  office,  he  assumed  its  manage- 
ment, and  has  since  carried  on  the  business. 

On  September  3,  1862,  Mr.  Marvin  was 
united  in  marriage  with  L.  Vesta  Beard,  the 
daughter  of  Ezra  and  Lois  (Gaylord)  Beard. 
Mrs.  Marvin's  ancestors  were  from  Massachu- 
setts, that  State  having  been  the  birthplace  of 
her  grandfather,  Ezra  Beard,  Sr.,  who  was 
born  May  2,  1764,  and,  after  spending  the 
earlier  years  of  his  life  there,  moved  to  Jeffer- 
son, Schoharie  County,  N.Y.  His  children 
were  Julia,  Ann  is,  Russell,  Ezra  Lusk,  and 
Ezra  Gibbs.  He  and  his  wife  lived  to  a  good 
old  age,  he  dying  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight 
years,  and  she  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years. 
The  father  of  Mrs.  Marvin  was  born  in  1804, 
and  was  very  young  when  he  came  with  them 
to  this  State.  He  was  a  successful  tiller  of 
the  soil  on  the  old  homestead  for  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  during  which  time  he 
buried  his  wife,  the  mother  of  his  children, 
and  married  her  sister  Ruthala.  When  the 
shadows  began  to  lengthen,  he  left  the  large 
farm,  and  moved  to  Harpersfield,  Delaware 
County;  and  here  they  lived  until  the  time  of 
their  respective  deaths.  May  30  and  June  11, 
1888,  having  numbered  fourscore  and  four 
years.  They  were  people  of  genuine  worth, 
and  were  members  of  the  Congregational 
church,  of  which  he  was  Deacon.  Their 
children  all  survived  them,  namely:  Mary, 
who  married  the  Rev.  L.  M.  Purington; 
Lydia,  the  wife  of  M.  S.  Wilcox;  Mrs.  Mar- 
vin; and  Ezra.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Marvin  have 
one  child,  a  son,  Robert  B.  Marvin,  who  is  a 
young  man  of  superior  mental  ability  and  at- 
tainments, a  graduate  of  Hamilton  College, 
and  is  now  a  Professor  in   the  Blair  Presbyte- 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


45 


rial  Academy  at  IMaiistown,  N.J..  occupyini; 
the  Cliair  ol  Cicniian  Lani;ua!,^c  and  Litera- 
ture. Mrs.  Marvin  is  iicrself  a  woman  of 
much  cultivation,  being  a  graduate  of  Mount 
Holyoke  Seminary,  South  Iladley,  Mass.,  in 
the  class  of  1859. 

Politically,  Mr.  Marvin  is  a  strong  Repub- 
lican, and  for  the  past  twenty-five  years  has 
served  as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  an  office  which 
he  has  filled  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  con- 
cerned. He  and  his  family  are  members  of 
the  Congregational  church,  of  which  he  has 
been  a  Trustee  for  a  quarter  of  a  century;  and 
in  the  Sunday-school  connected  with  it  he 
and  his  wife  are  faithful  teachers.  Mr.  Mar- 
vin, who  has  labored  for  the  educational  and 
moral  advancement  of  the  town,  served  on  the 
Board  of  Education  for  twenty  years,  several 
of  which  he  was  Secretary  of  the  Hoard. 
Mrs.  Marvin  has  also  served  as  President  of 
the  P'oreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Con- 
gregational   church. 


M1<:RV  JENKINS,  of  Union  Grove, 
town  of  Andes,  farmer,  stock-raiser, 
and  dealer  in  butter,  is  one  of  the 
best-known  and  most  progressive  men  iti  his 
line  of  business  in  Delaware  County.  He  is 
quite  a  young  man,  having  been  born  October 
24,  1868,  son  of  Anst)n  and  Sarah  (Mekeel) 
Jenkins,  the  former  of  whom  was  a  native  of 
the  town  of  Roxburv',  his  birth  having  oc- 
curred there  December  3,  1S33.  The  pa- 
ternal grandparents  of  Mr.  Jenkins  were 
James  and  Polly  (White)  Jenkins.  James 
Jenkins  followed  agriculture  as  his  occupa- 
tion, and  with  his  wife  reared  a  large  fam- 
ily, his  other  children  besides  Anson  being- 
named  Alonzo,  Nathan,  David,  P'gbert,  Deli- 
lah Hlephan,  Lucinda,  Ella,  and  Angelina. 
He  bought  one  hundred  and  thirty  acres  of 
land  in  the  town  of  Andes,  built  a  saw-mill, 
and  in  company  with  John  Mekeel  &  Son 
engaged  in  lumbering,  floating  their  lumber 
down  the  river  in  rafts  to  Philadelphia.  He 
afterward  bouglit  other  land  to  the  amount  of 
two  hundred  and  seventy  acres.  He  died  at  the 
age  of  seventy-two,  after  an  industrious  and 
well-spent  life.  His  wife  still  survives,  and 
resides  with  her  son  Nathan  in  Union  Grove. 


Anson  Jenkins,  father  of  limery,  early  ac- 
quired hal)its  of  industry,  and  assisted  his 
father  on  the  farm  and  in  the  work  of  lumber- 
ing. He  married  Sarah  Mekeel,  daughter  of 
John  Mekeel,  his  father's  partner.  This 
gentleman  came  to  Delaware  County  among 
the  early  settlers.  He  look  up  three  hundred 
acres  of  land,  and  built  a  log  house,  later 
constructing  a  saw-mill  and  engaging  with 
Mr.  Jenkins  in  the  lumber  business  as  above 
narrated.  His  son-in-law,  Anson  Jenkins, 
afterward  bought  the  farm  in  an  improved 
condition,  and  still  further  im|)roved  the 
propert)'  by  erecting  new  buildings,  one  of 
the  barns  being  the  largest  and  most  substan- 
tial in  that  ])art  of  the  county.  The  children 
of  Anson  Jenkins  were  as  follows:  Jnhn  \V., 
deceased;  James  H.;  and  Emery. 

The  latter,  the  subject  of  this  notice,  came 
into  possession  of  his  father's  farm,  which  he 
has  improved  and  cultivatetl  to  a  high  degree. 
He  is  far-sighted,  and  is  ever  on  the  alert  to 
take  advantage  of  new  inventions  and  the 
latest  methods.  His  farm  is  provided  with 
every  convenience  for  getting  the  most  out  of 
the  soil;  and  in  addition  to  his  reputation  as 
an  agriculturist  he  has  achieved  fame  for  the 
excellence  of  his  butter,  which  finds  a  ready 
market  at  all  times,  and  is  considered  the  best 
[jroduced  in  his  part  of  the  county.  Mr.  Jen- 
kins married  Eliza  Lynn,  daughter  of  John 
and  Margaret  (Fellows)  Lynn,  the  former  of 
whom  was  born  in  Jen  Capen,  Sweden,  April 
28,  1840,  ami  was  the  son  of  Frederick  Lynn. 
The  grandfather  was  born  in  1782,  and  spent 
his  whole  life  in  Sweden,  where  he  died  at 
the  age  of  eighty-two. 

John  Lynn  left  home  at  the  age  of  fifteen, 
and  went  to  sea  as  cabin  boy.  He  fcdlowed  a 
sailor's  life  for  fifteen  years,  visiting  most  of 
the  great  seaports  of  the  workl.  With  the 
intention  of  bidding  farewell  to  salt  water, 
he  landed  in  luigland,  but  soon  after  decided 
to  seek  his  fortunes  in  the  New  World,  and 
emigrated  to  America.  .Arriving  in  the  land 
of  jii-omise,  he  went  first  to  Suspension 
Bridge,  where  he  found  employment  in  a 
freight-house:  but,  after  remaining  there  a 
while,  he  removed  to  Greene  County,  New 
York,  where  he  met  and  married  Margaret  1-'. 
Fellows,     daughter    of     Philip    and     Hannah 


46 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


(Kelly)  Fellows,  residents  of  Albany  County, 
the  former  being  a  lumberman  by  occupation 
and  of  (jerman  ancestry.  John  Lynn  then 
purchased  a  farm  in  Ulster  County,  where  he 
resided  six  years,  after  which  he  sold  the  farm 
and  bought  another  in  Delaware  County. 
Here  he  stayed  some  time,  and  finally  pur- 
chased a  farm  on  Barkerboom  Creek.  This 
he  retained,  and  resides  thereon  at  the  present 
time.  He  is  the  father  of  three  children: 
Eliza,  born  November  21,  1874;  Charles, 
September  6,  1876;  and  Inez,  July  21,  1S80. 
Mr.  Jenkins,  as  already  mentioned,  is  a 
wide-awake  and  progressive  agriculturalist. 
Possessing  every  modern  convenience  for  suc- 
cessfully pursuing  his  chosen  occupation,  he 
makes  the  most  of  his  advantages;  and,  in  a 
community  where  farming  is  carried  on  with 
exceptional  skill,  he  is  renowned  for  the  thor- 
oughness of  his  methods  and  the  excellent 
quality  of  his  produce.  He  is  the  owner  of 
some  forty  Jersey  grade  and  young  stock,  has 
good  water  power  on  his  premises,  and  pos- 
sesses the  most  improved  farm  machinery. 
In  the  fraternal  orders  he  stands  high,  being  a 
member  of  Margarettville  Lodge,  No.  389, 
A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  of  Arena  Lodge,  No. 
589,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  He 
is  a  Republican  in  his  political  views,  true  to 
the  principles  of  his  party,  and  is  esteemed 
by  his  fellow-townsmen  as  a  man  whose  word 
can  be  relied  upon  and  whose  judgment  is  of 
value  in  all  town  affairs. 


'ARVEY   M.   SEAMAN,   a  miller  and 
dealer  in  flour  and  feed  in  DeLancey, 
lis  I  in   the  town  of   Hamden,  Delaware 

County,  N.Y.,  led  an  eventful  life, 
which  has  develojjed  a  strong  character,  mark- 
ing him  as  a  man  of  indomitable  will,  high 
moral  principles,  and  honorable  ambition. 
His  grandfather  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier, 
whose  bounty  land  included  what  is  now  the 
town  of  Cieneva.  His  fatlier,  Joshua  Seaman, 
was  born  in  Bovina  in  1803,  and  was  educated 
in  that  place  and  the  town  of  Delhi.  In  1824 
Joshua  Seaman  married  Mary  Millard,  daugh- 
ter of  Amos  Millard,  she  liaving  been  born  in 
Delhi  in  1804.  Eleven  children  blessed  this 
union,  all   of  whom   lived   to  reach  maturity. 


Three  sons  and  one  daughter  still  survive, 
namely:  Harvey  M.,  of  whom  this  sketch  is 
written;  Amasa,  a  farmer  on  Hamden  Hill; 
Joshua,  who  is  engaged  in  farming  in  Mere- 
dith; and  Ann  Eliza,  wife  of  Frank  Welch,  of 
Delhi.  The  mother  of  this  large  family  died 
in  April,  1883,  the  father  having  preceded 
her  some  sixteen  years;  and  they  sleep  among 
their  children  in  the  old  cemetery  at  De- 
Lancey. 

Harvey  M.  Seaman  was  born  in  Delhi, 
February  13,  1829;  and,  when  a  lad  of  ten 
years,  was  sent  to  live  with  his  uncle,  H.  R. 
Millard,  a  merchant  of  Delhi.  For  six  years 
he  acted  as  clerk  in  his  uncle's  store,  and  at 
the  expiration  of  that  time  left  for  his  father's 
farm  near  Montrose,  Pa.,  where  he  remained 
for  two  or  three  years.  The  next  scene  of  his 
labors  was  New  York  City,  where  he  was  oc- 
cupied for  a  few  months  as  clerk  in  an  es- 
tablishment dealing  in  woodenware.  Again 
returning  to  the  paternal  home,  he  took  up 
the  role  of  teacher,  and  for  three  terms  had 
charge  of  the  district  school.  Urged  by  his 
restless  nature,  he  then  started  out  as  a  trav- 
elling salesman  with  a  stock  of  tin  trunks. 
This  departure  proved  to  be  not  as  successful 
as  he  had  hoped.  Accordingly,  he  abandoned 
the  life  of  a  traveller,  and  settled  down  to  the 
carpenter's  trade  and  chain-pump  business  in 
Elmira,  where  he  remained  for  one  and  one- 
half  years. 

In  185 1  his  desire  for  adventure  once  more 
predominated;  and  he  departed  for  California, 
that  golden  Mecca  of  the  New  World,  sailing 
around  Cape  Horn,  spending  one  hundred  and 
sixty-five  days  on  the  storm-tossed  waves, 
and  three  or  four  weeks  in  St.  Catherine, 
South  America.  He  reached  his  destination 
in  October,  1851,  and  remained  five  years  in 
that  country  of  sunshine  and  flowers,  making 
his  home  with  three  brothers.  Dent  by  name, 
a  sister  of  whom  married  General  Grant. 
Mr.  Seaman  was  here  engaged  as  a  dealer  in 
mining  claims,  and  also  had  charge  of  a  local 
ferry.  In  1856  he  returned  to  DeLancey  by 
way  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama;  and  in  com- 
pany with  his  brother  Amasa,  who  had  joined 
him  in  California,  and  had  now  come  back 
with  him  to  the  old  home,  he  bought  the  old 
Russell   &    Erkson    tannery,  which    was    built 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


47 


in  1844,  and  was  occupied  as  a  tanncr\-  until 
1885.  Mr.  Seaman's  father  was  a  tanner, 
and  from  him  the  two  sons  learned  the  track- 
in  1859.  After  a  tiiue  Harvey  Seaman  pur- 
chased his  brother's  interest  in  the  business, 
and  was  its  sole  proprietor  until  he  abaniloned 
that  industry  and  remodelled  the  buildin.;;s 
into  a  feed  and  yrist  mill.  The  new  mill, 
since  built  on  the  old  site,  consists  ot  a 
structure  seventy-four  by  thirty-two  feet,  with 
a  roomy  wing  and  storehouse.  A  saw-mill  is 
operated  in  connection  with  this,  the  water- 
power  bein<;  furnished  by  Bayley's  Creek, 
which    never   fails    in    its   sujiply. 

Mr.  Seaman  was  marrietl  May  i,  1869.  to 
Miss  Isabel  (ioodrich,  who  was  born  in  11am- 
dcn  in  1837.  Her  father  was  Hiram  (iood- 
rich, of  Connecticut,  who  ilied  at  the  ai;'e  of 
eighty;  and  her  mother  was  Betsey  (Butler) 
Goodrich,  who  passed  away  April  10,  1871, 
aged  seventy-four,  her  death  occurring  just 
one  month  previous  to  that  of  her  husband. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Seaman  are  the  parents  of  four 
children,  namely:  Fanny,  who  is  the  wife  of 
Herbert  Chapman,  and  the  mother  of  two  chil- 
dren ;  Amasa  G.,  a  young  man  of  twenty-one 
years,  in  business  with  his  father;  Clifford 
D..  who  at  the  youthful  age  of  sixteen  is 
teaching  his  hrsi  school;  Bayard  J.,  a  school- 
boy of  fourteen.  Unlike  the  majority  of  his 
townsmen,  Mr.  .Seaman  is  a  Democrat,  lieing 
an  ardent  follower  of  that  jjaitN^'s  code  and  a 
steatlfast  supporter  of  its  platform.  He  is  an 
industrious,  honorable  man.  who  throughout 
his  varied  occupations,  travels,  and  exiieri- 
ences  has  merited  the  confidence  and  enjoyed 
the  esteem  of  his  wide  circle  of  accpiaintances. 


OIJVAR  RADl-.KER  is  a  farmer 
in  the  town  of  Colchester,  having 
-^  1  returned  to  the  place  of  his  birth, 
and  adopted  the  calling  of  his  fathers 
after  several  years  of  experience  in  other  oc- 
cupations elsewhere.  The  earliest  Radeker 
that  we  hear  of  in  this  country  is  William, 
who  came  from  Germany  about  the  midtllc  of 
the  last  century.  His  experience  in  crossing 
the  Atlantic  was  far  from  ])leasant;  for  he 
had  not  sufficient  of  this  world's  goods  to  pay 
for  his  passage,  and  he  was  therefore  sold   and 


serveti  his  time,  landing  at  last,  together  with 
his  two  brothers,  who  were  also  unable  to  pay 
the  ])assage  money,  and  were  obliged  to 
undergo  similar  inconvenience.  After  land- 
ing, William  settled  near  Newburg;  but 
since  that  time  nothing  has  been  heard  of  tlie 
other  brothers,  so  that  the  members  of  the 
family  liere  know  not  whether  they  returned 
to  the  l'"atherland  or  settled  in  some  distant 
])art  of  this  vast  country. 

William  raised  a  family  of  six  children  — 
i'eter,  Jeremiah,  Henry,  John,  Jacob,  and 
Kate -— and,  having  lived  to  a  gootl  old  age, 
died  u]xin  his  own  farm.  His  two  sons  Jacob 
and  John  came  to  Delaware  County  in  the 
\ear  1795,  settling  in  what  is  now  Colchester, 
then  called  -Soden,  buying  about  four  hundred 
acres  of  new  land,  which  had  never  felt  the 
touch  of  cither  plough  or  axe.  Across  the 
river  was  an  Indian  town,  and  the  savages 
made  their  power  felt  to  its  full  extent. 
Often  did  the  settlers  flee  with  their  families 
to  the  mountains,  that  they  might  save  their 
lives  and  their  treasures  from  the  red  men. 
The  brothers  here  built  a  saw  and  grist  mill, 
and  then  a  carding-mill,  the  first  and  for 
many  years  the  only  one  of  the  kind  for  many 
miles  around. 

Jacob  Radeker  married  -Sarah  Morton,  who 
was  born  May  17,  1775,  and  had  the  follow- 
ing family:  I'Tbridge;  Annace;  John  R.; 
Creorge;  l^arna;  Sylvia;  Hannah;  William 
II.;  Henry  J.;  Perry;  ICsther;  Alnieda  and 
Alniira.  twins;  and  Betsy.  Jacob  Radeker 
died  April  5,  1857,  and  his  wife  August  i, 
1834.  Both  were  members  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian church.  In  the  latter  ]iart  of  iiis  life  he 
sold  his  mill  property,  and  lived  retired  from 
business  cares.  His  son  Henry  J.  married 
Catherine  Hitt,  and  raised  a  family  of  four 
children.  He  is  still  living  in  the  full  en- 
joyment of  health  and  activity,  although  well 
along  in  years.  Alniira,  witlow  of  H.  Wil- 
son, is  also  in  excellent  health,  an  examiile  of 
the  longevity  of  the  race.  She  and  her 
brother   Henry  are    residents    of    Downsville. 

Batna  Radeker  was  married  at  the  age  of 
twenty-four  to  Elizabeth  Fuller;  and  they 
reared  a  family  of  eight  children,  Bolivar 
being  the  eldest-born.  The  others  were:  El- 
bridge    G.,    who   married    Adalinda    Sprague; 


48 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Milo  C,  who  married  Minda  Fuller;  Sarah 
M.,  wife  of  George  R.  Shaver;  Margaret  A., 
wife  of  William  R.  Shaver;  Charles  Porter, 
who  married  Electa  Terry;  James  M.,  who 
married  Estella  Fuller;  and  Dr.  Barna  E. 
Harna,  in  company  with  his  father,  bought 
eighty-four  acres  of  land,  and  after  two  years 
bought  his  father  out  and  commenced  work 
for  himself  in  farming  and  lumbering  and 
mercantile  business,  doing  a  large  and  pros- 
perous business  for  many  years.  He  was  a 
highly  respected  man,  a  kind  neighbor,  and 
helpful  friend.  He  was  a  strong  Democrat, 
and  a  man  of  liberal  views  in  religion. 

Bolivar  Radeker  was  born  on  the  old  farm, 
where  he  grew  to  manhood,  finishing  his  edu- 
cation at  the  Franklin  Institute.  On  leavins 
school  he  accepted  the  position  of  cashier  in 
the  Deposit  Bank,  the  duties  whereof  he  faith- 
fully discharged  for  ten  years.  Then,  sever- 
ing his  connection  with  the  bank,  but 
remaining  in  that  village,  he  started  in  busi- 
ness for  himself,  and  continued  it  successfully 
for  the  ne.xt  fifteen  years.  He  was  later  em- 
ployed in  the  coal  business  with  Rodney  A. 
Ford  in  Binghamton  for  two  years,  and  then 
came  to  Colchester  and  bought  his  father's 
farm.  In  1866  Mr.  Radeker  married  Anna 
L.  Perry,  who  lived  but  four  years  after  her 
marriage.  He  subsequently  married  Myra  G. 
Ford,  daughter  of  Rodney  A.  and  Adaline 
(Whitney)  Ford;  and  they  have  one  child, 
Mary    I',.,    who   is   still   at    home. 

Rodney  Augustus  Ford,  the  father  of  Mrs. 
Radeker,  was  a  son  of  Daniel  Ford,  who  for- 
merly lived  in  Herkimer  County,  but  died  at 
his  residence  in  New  York  Mills.  His  wife, 
Adaline  Whitney  Ford,  was  daughter  of 
Virgil  and  Marcia  (Doty)  Whitney,  Virgil 
Whitney  being  son  of  Joshua  Whitney,  who 
was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Binghamton, 
and  who  there  built  the  first  house,  when  the 
place  was  called  by  the  curious  name  "Che- 
nang  P'int."  Joshua  was  a  Democrat  of  the 
stanchest  kind.  His  son  Virgil,  who  was 
also  of  that  political  party,  was  Postmaster 
for  many  years,  being  the  first  to  hold  the 
office  there. 

R.  A.  Ford  raised  a  family  of  eight  chil- 
dren: Charles  W.,  born  June  9,  1845;  Char- 
lotte   A.,    born    November    14,    1846,    wife  of 


C.  J.  Knapp;  Myra  G.,  Mrs.  Radeker,  born 
August  26,  1848;  Mary  L.,  born  April  29, 
1854,  who  died  March  17,  1888;  George  H., 
born  February  22,  1865,  who  married  Harriet 
Smith,  and  died  May  21,  1894;  Virgil  W., 
born  November  4,  1857,  who  married  Delia 
Sheppard,  and  died  April  29,  1S89;  Helen 
J.,  born  November  13,  1866,  who  married  Ed- 
ward E.  Powell;  Frederick,  who  died  in 
1865;  Edward  A.,  born  July  13,  1869,  who 
married  Maude  McDonald.  Mr.  Ford  is  a 
large  coal  dealer  in  Binghamton,  is  a  man  of 
liberal  views,  a  Democrat,  and  a  supporter  of 
the  lipiscopal  church,  of  which  his  wife  is 
also  an  attendant. 

Bolivar  Radeker  is  a  farmer  of  the  modern 
type,  adopting  all  the  improvements  which 
time  has  brought;  and  his  twenty-five  Jersey 
cows,  sheep,  and  other  live  stock  are  tended 
and  sheltered  in  the  most  approved  manner. 
In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  his 
wife  is  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  church. 
He  comes  from  good  old  German  stock,  char- 
acterized by  courage,  endurance,  and  sagacity, 
and  has  profited  much  by  his  varied  experi- 
ences   in    life. 


bpRANCIS  E.  TIFFANY  is  an  enter- 
ic prising  citizen  of  that  part  of  Colches- 
ter called  Pepacton,  owning  there  a 
great  deal  of  property,  which  he  is  constantly 
improving.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Jeffer- 
son Tiffany,  came  here  at  an  early  date  and 
bought  one  thousand  acres  of  land  in  what  is 
known  as  Tiffany  Hollow,  where  he  was  the 
first  settler.  He  and  his  wife,  Louisa  Mcln- 
tyre,  reared  three  children  —  Henry,  William, 
and  Sylvenas.  At  length,  disposing  of  his 
farm,  he  removed  to  DeLancey,  where  he  re- 
sided until  his  death,  both  he  and  his  wife 
living  to  a  very  old  age.  Jefferson  Tiffany 
was  a  firm  believer  in  the  principles  of  the 
Republican  party.  -Sylvenas,  his  youngest 
son,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Hamden,  and 
grew  to  manhood  on  the  old  homestead.  He 
married  Miss  Mary  Stevens,  daughter  of 
Zebra  Stevens,  an  extensive  farmer  in  Catta- 
raugus County.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sylvenas 
Tiffany  were  the  parents  of  six  children  — 
Augusta,       Marshall,        Eugene,       Sylvenas, 


Francis  E.  Tiffrny. 


BIOGRAIMflCAL    REVIEW 


51 


Charles,  and  l-'iancis  i{.  Mr.  Tiffanv  was  a 
Republican,  like  his  father,  aiui  was  a  hi,i;h]y 
respected  farmer.  11  is  wife,  who  siuvi\ed 
him,  resides  in  Ranilolph,  Cattaraugus 
Count)'. 

Francis  E.  Tiffany,  younf;est  son  of  .Syl- 
venas  and  Mary  (Stevens)  Tiffany,  was  born 
in  Tiffany  Hollow,  December  22,  1S54,  and 
was  educated  in  the  common  schools  of  the 
town,  where  he  was  studx-ing  his  early  lessons 
when  the  patriotism  of  the  coiuitry  was 
aroused  by  the  firinj;'  on  I'ort  Sumter.  He 
was  far  too  young  to  go  to  the  front,  even  as  a 
drummer-boy ;  but  no  doubt  he  longed  to  be  a 
soldier  and  follow  the  Hag.  Ha])pil\',  the 
conflict  was  over  befoie  he  had  seen  ele\-en 
summers.  Hence,  as  he  grew  to  manhood,  he  1 
had  no  call  to  engage  in  an)'  other  than  the 
joeaceful  pursuits  of  husbandry,  with  which  he 
became  familiar  on  the  home  farm.  His  first  \ 
purchase  of  land  was  a  tract  nf  ninety-seven  j 
and  one-half  acres,  known  as  the  Hunter  farm. 
It  being  well  u-ooded,  he  employed  himself  in 
clearing  it  and  dealing  in  linuber.  Later  he 
sold  that  place,  and  bought  a  farm  of  one  hun-  j 
dred  and  twenty-five  acres  at  I'epacton.  known 
as  the  Townsend-Shaver  fai'm,  on  the  east 
branch  of  the  Delaware  River.  Here  he  built 
'  a  cottage,  hotel,  and  barns,  the  house  being 
four  stories  high  with  basement.  It  is  a 
charming   location   for   summer   boarders. 

On  Ainil  4,  1870,  Mr.  Tiffany  married  ; 
Miss  I'llla,  daughter  of  N.  15.  and'  Margaret 
(Gregory)  Fuller,  who  was  born  August  2, 
1 861.  Mrs.  Tiffany's  father  is  a  son  of  lo- 
seph  Fuller,  and  resides  in  Colchester.  He 
has  three  daughters:  Ida,  who  maiiied  John 
Flint;  Rachel,  the  wife  of  I'arker  II. 
Sprague;  and  Ella,  who  is  the  wife  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tiffany 
have  one  daughter  still  living  —  Clara,  born 
Jill)'  27,  1890.  Their  eUler  daughter,  Lena, 
was  born  October  28,  1882,  and  died  in  De- 
cember of  the  same  year. 

Mr.  Tiffany  is  at  iiresent  carrying  on  a 
large  lumber  business,  and  also  managing  his 
extensix'e  farm,  where  he  keeps  a  fine  herd  of 
Jersey  cattle.  He  is  a  person  of  great  per- 
severance and  industry,  who  exhibits  much 
ability  in  the  conduct  of  his  affairs,  being,  as 
would    be     judged    from    his    ])ortrait,    which 


meets  the  e)e  of  the  reader  on  another  i)age  of 
this  "Re\iew,"  a  man  eminently  cajjable  of 


•■  br.ivcly  lu'win;; 
'I'lirouj;!)  tlic  world"  liis  ••wav." 

The  Republican  party  claims  him  as  a  sup- 
j)orter  of  its  jilatform,  he  being  a  stanch  ad- 
herent of  its  principles;  and  throughout  the 
community  in  which  lu-  is  a  resident  he  is 
highly   respected. 


RAM  N.  CEORGl-:,  a  highly  re- 
spected resident  and  successful 
farmer  of  Middletown,  was  born  on 
the  old  homestead  where  he  now  re- 
November  12,  1832,  son  of  Henry  and 
IClizabeth  (Tremper)  George.  His  father  was 
the  son  of  John  George,  a  native  of  Germany, 
who  came  to  America  before  the  Revolution- 
ary War,  and  during  that  arduous  struggle  was 
engaged  as  military  tailor,  making  uniforms 
f(U-  the  Continental  soldiers.  In  addition  to 
his  knowledge  of  the  tailor's  trade,  John 
Gecu-ge  was  also  skilled  in  music,  wdiich  he 
had  followed  as  a  profession  for  seven  years  in 
his  native  country.  At  the  close  of  the  Rev- 
olution he  settled  in  Dutchess  County.  New 
York,  and  was  engaged  as  gardener  by  the 
Livingston  family,  also  working  to  some  ex- 
tent at  his  original  trade  of  tailoring.  Both 
he  aiid  his  wife  li\'ed  to  a  good  old  age,  he 
dying  in  his  eighty-first  year,  and  she  at  the 
age  of  seventy-five.  They  had  three  children, 
two  of  whom  died  in  infancy. 

Henr)-  George,  the  third  child,  and  the  only 
one  who  grew  to  maturitv.  was  born  in  Dutch- 
ess Count)'.  On  arriving  at  manhood,  he 
chose  for  iiis  wife  Elizabeth  Tremper,  daugh- 
ter of  John  and  Rachel  Tremper.  The)'  came 
to  Delaware  Count v  together  antl  settled  on 
the  present  site  of  the  C<igburn  farm,  near 
Margarettville.  After  residing  there  three 
)ears,  Mr.  George  ]iurchased  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  wild  land  at  Arkville,  and,  after 
building  a  log  house,  set  to  work  to  clear  off 
I  he  heavy  growth  of  tiniber.  He  built  a  saw- 
niill,  and  succeeded  in  bringing  the  land  into 
a  slate  of  fair  cultivation  before  arriving  at 
middle  age.  He  was  a  popular  man  in  his 
neighborhood,  and  was  much  respected,  filling 


52 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


several  town  offices  during  his  long  and  active 
life  with  credit  to  himself  and  satisfaction  to 
his  fellow-citizens.  In  the  War  of  1 812  he 
served  in  the  American  army  as  a  musician. 
He  became  a  Republican  on  the  formation  of 
that  party,  and  ever  after  adhered  to  Republi- 
canism as  his  political  creed.  In  religion  he 
was  a  Methodist.  He  lived  to  the  remarkable 
age  of  ninety-five,  and  his  loss  was  much  de- 
plored by  all  who  knew  him.  His  faithful 
wife  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years, 
after  a  life  of  toil  and  devotion.  She  was  the 
mother  of  eleven  children,  whose  names  are  as 
follows:  Catherine,  John,  William,  Daniel, 
Peter,  Edward,  Alfred,  Rachel,  Walter,  An- 
drew, and  Hiram  N. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-one  Hiram  N.  George, 
who  had  received  a  plain  but  practical  educa- 
tion in  the  district  schools  of  his  native  town, 
engaged  in  lumbering,  and  continued  in  that 
occupation  until  he  came  into  possession  of 
the  old  homestead.  On  this  event  he  went  to 
work  to  improve  the  place.  He  remodelled 
the  buildings,  bought  more  land,  and  made 
other  improvements,  until  he  now  has  a  fine 
farm  of  over  two  hundred  acres.  He  owns 
twenty  Jersey  cows,  and  raises  some  fine 
horses  and  sheep.  Realizing  the  truth  that  it 
is  not  good  man  should  be  alone,  he  obtained 
in  marriage  the  hand  of  Phebe  Seager,  daugh- 
ter of  Hiram  and  Synthia  Bly  Seager,  the  for- 
mer of  whom  was  a  native  of  Ulster  County, 
New  York,  and  was  a  large  lumber  dealer  and 
farmer.  Mr.  Seager  was  twice  married,  first 
to  Tirzah  Murvvin,  by  whom  he  had  the  fol- 
lowing children:  Murwin,  who  married  Ada 
Todd,  of  Ulster  County,  and  has  two  children; 
Lucy,  who  became  the  wife  of  Dyer  Todd, 
and  died,  as  did  her  husband,  leaving  one  child: 
Susan,  who  married  Daniel  Todd,  and  has  a 
family  of  six  children;  Aylwin  and  Hiram 
H.,  both  of  whom  died  when  quite  young. 
Mr.  Seager's  second  marriage  (to  Synthia 
Bly  Lemore)  added  to  his  family  three  more 
children,  namely:  ICiizabeth,  now  deceased, 
who  married  Judson  Haynes,  and  at  her  death 
left  five  children;  Phebe,  wife  of  Hiram  N. 
George,  of  this  biographical  notice;  and 
James,  who  married  Estella  George,  and  has 
two  children.  The  father  of  these  children 
died  at  the  age  of  seventy  years,  and  his  sec- 


ond wife  when  seventy-seven.  The  latter, 
previous  to  her  marriage  to  Mr.  Seager,  was 
the  widow  of  James  Lemore,  and  by  him  had 
three  children  —  George,  Mary,  and  Melissa. 
The  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hiram  N.  George 
has  been  blessed  with  two  children:  Samuel, 
born  May  28,  1869,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
thirteen;  and  Seager,  born  February  12,  1884. 
Mr;  George  is  a  man  of  influence  in  his 
town.  By  industry  and  judicious  economy, 
qualities  doubtless  inherited  from  his  pioneer 
ancestors,  he  has  improved  his  worldly  condi- 
tion and  achieved  a  fair  competence.  He 
does  not  confine  his  attention  to  local  affairs, 
however,  but  takes  a  keen  interest  in  the  gen- 
eral welfare  of  the  country,  keeping  himself 
well  informed  upon  national  issues.  He  ad- 
heres to  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  votes  as  he  believes.  In  religious 
matters  he  is  an  active  and  sincere  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Arkville, 
as  is  also  his  wife.  Both  are  much  esteemed 
members  of  the  community  in  which  they  re- 
side, and  may  well  be  counted  among  Dela- 
ware County's  representative  citizens. 


OSIAH  MARTIN,  proprietor  of  a  stone 
quarry  in  .the  town  of  Walton,  where 
he  also  carries  on  the  trade  of  a  carpen- 
ter, is  a  practical,  well-educated  man  of 
good  business  talents,  which  have  made  him 
highly  successful  in  his  present  enterprise. 
Mr.  Martin  is  a  native  of  this  State  and 
county,  his  birth  having  occurred  in  the  town 
of  Hancock,  September  19,  1829.  He  is  of 
German  descent,  his  paternal  grandfather, 
Ebenezer  Martin,  having,  it  is  thought,  been 
born  in  Germany,  whence  he  emigrated  to 
America,  settling  in  Connecticut,  where  he 
took  up  land,  and  there  passed  his  remaining 
years. 

His  father,  also  named  Josiah  Martin,  was 
born  on  a  farm  in  Mansfield,  Conn.,  and  was 
there  reared  to  man's  estate.  He  received  a 
good  education,  and  in  his  early  manhood  was 
a  popular  teacher.  He  was  a  remarkably  fine 
reader,  a  circumstance  which  is  well  remem- 
bered by  his  children.  He  also  learned  civil 
engineering,  a  vocation  which  he  followed  for 
many  years.     When  about  twenty-five  years  of 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


53 


age,  he  came  to  Delaware  County,  and  in  the 
town  of  Hancock  carried  on  his  former  occu- 
pation for  a  while,  but  finally  became  a  tiller 
of  the  soil,  following  this  occupation  until  his 
death,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight  years,  lie 
married  Rachel  Williams,  the  daughter  of 
Titus  Williams,  a  farmer  of  Hancock,  ami 
also  a  local  preacher  in  the  Methodist  denom- 
ination. Of  this  marriage  seven  children 
were  born,  namely:  Charles,  Williams,  of 
East  Branch,  and  Josiah,  now  living;  and 
James,  Jane,  Levi,  and  Rachel,  deceased. 
The  mother  of  these  children  was  an  esteemed 
member  of  the  Methodist  church,  of  which 
the   family   were   regular  attendants. 

Josiah,  son  of  Josiah  and  Rachel  (Will- 
iams) Martin,  was  reared  upon  his  father's 
farm  in  Hancock,  and  passed  the  years  of  his 
boyhood  in  the  usual  manner,  attending  the 
district  school  in  the  winter,  and  working  on 
the  farm  during  the  summer  season.  He  had 
some  native  talent  as  a  mechanic,  and  worked 
at  the  carpenter's  trade  when  he  could  con- 
veniently, remaining  with  his  parents  until 
attaining  his  majority.  He  secured  work  as  a 
bridge-maker  for  the  Pittsburg,  New  Castle, 
&  Erie  Railway  Company;  and  during  the 
year  that  he  was  in  their  employment  he 
assisted  in  the  construction  of  eleven  bridges, 
and,  as  foreman  of  the  workmen,  made  every 
pattern  an<l  laid  out  the  entire  work.  He 
afterward  worked  for  a  while  for  the  Onl.irio 
&  Western  Railway  Company.  In  1871  Mr. 
Martin  came  to  Walton,  and.  purchasing  a 
lot,  erected  his  present  fine  residence,  which 
he  has  since  occupied.  Forming  a  partner- 
ship with  K.  r.  Berray,  he  established  the 
cabinet  business  here,  and  conducted  it  for 
about  six  years.  He  then  resumed  his  former 
vocation  of  carpentering,  which  he  continued 
until  i88g,  when  he  bought  the  stone  quarry, 
where  he  has  since  been  actively  employed  in 
getting  out  stone.  He  is  an  enterprising 
representative  of  the  industrial  interests  of 
the  town,  and  is  widely  and  favorably  known 
in  business  circles  as  an  upright,  incorrup- 
tible  man   and   a  good   citizen. 

An  important  step  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Martin 
was  his  marriage  with  P'annie  Niles,  the 
daughter  of  Festus  and  Sarah  Niles,  the  for- 
mer'of  whom  was  a  native   of   Walton  and   the 


latter  of  ilamden.  The  only  child  of  this 
union  was  a  son,  James  Curtis  Martin,  who  is 
now  studying  l:iw.  He  was  born  during  tiie 
residence  of  his  parents  in  Hancock,  the  date 
of  his  birth  being  Octol)er  7,  1869.  When 
he  was  four  years  old,  his  parents  removed  to 
Walton,  where  he  was  educated,  attending 
first  the  district  schools,  and  subsec|uentl)- 
being  graduated  from  the  Walton  Academy. 
He  began  his  business  career  as  a  clerk  in  the 
store  of  D.  McEean,  and  was  afterward  with 
G.  O.  Mead,  with  whom  he  remained  for  a 
time,  relinquishing  that  position  to  acce])t 
the  general  agency  of  the  publishing  house  of 
H.  7.  -Smith  &  Co.,  of  Philadelphia,  for 
whom  he  travelled  about  a  year,  his  territory 
being  in  the  State  of  New  York.  He  after- 
ward entered  the  United  States  mail  service 
as  a  clerk  on  the  train  running  from  Oneida 
to  New  York  City,  continuing  in  this  busi- 
ness about  eighteen  months.  Going  then  to 
Cornwall,  he  was  for  a  short  time  a  clerk  in 
the  general  store  of  Oliver  &  Bogara.  On 
his  return  to  Walton,  he  entered  the  law-  office 
of  Marvins  &  Hanford,  where  he  is  rapidly 
qualifying  himself  for  admission  to  the  bar. 
He  is  a  \-oung  man  of  exceeding  promise, 
genial  and  courteous,  and  very  popular  in 
social  circles.  I-Intering  the  Thirty-third 
Separate  Company,  N.  C.  S..  New  York. 
October  12,  1887,  as  a  private,  in  1889  he 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Corporal,  and  in 
March.  1892.  to  that  of  Sergeant,  and  in  the 
same  month  was  elected  Second  Eieutenant, 
a   rank    which   he   still   holds. 

Mr.  Josiah  Martin  has  always  been  a  stanch 
adherent  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  takes 
an  acti^'e  interest  in  local  and  national  affairs. 
During  his  residence  in  Hancock  he  served  as 
Justice  of  the  Peace  two  terms,  and  was 
elected  to  the  same  office  the  third  term,  but 
refused  to  qualify.  While  there  he  acted  as 
Inspector  of  Elections,  Constable.  Collector, 
and  as  Assessor,  filling  each  office  with  credit 
to  himself  and  satisfactorily  to  all.  Since 
coming  to  Walton,  he  has  been  Road  Commis- 
sioner and  Inspector  of  Ivlections:  and  he 
came  within  forty  votes  of  being  elected  Su- 
pervisor and  Justice  of  the  Peace,  which 
speaks  well  for  his  standing  in  the  commu- 
nity,   this   town   being    a    Republican   strong- 


54 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


hold.     Both  he  and   his  wife  are  members  of 
the  Methodist  church. 


'AMUEL  E.  WHITE,  who  lives  in 
the  town  of  North  Walton,  in  Dis- 
trict No.  9,  is  the  owner  of  one  of 
the  finest  homesteads  in  this  part  of 
Delaware  County.  It  consists  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-five  acres  of  hunl,  with  a 
comfortable  and  substantial  residence,  a  good 
barn,  and  all  necessary  outbuildings  for  the 
storing  of  grain  and  the  shelter  of  stock. 
The  fences  and  farm  machinery  are  kept  in 
good  repair,  and  everything  about  the  prem- 
ises indicates  the  supervision  of  an  intelligent 
and  practical  farmer.  Mr.  White  is  a  native 
citizen  of  Walton,  and  is  the  offspring  of  a 
New  England  family,  his  father,  Daniel 
White,  having  been  born  in  Stamford,  Fair- 
field County,  Conn.,  in  which  town  William 
White,  his  grandfather,  was  a  life-long  resi- 
dent. He  was  a  successful  farmer,  and  also 
carried  on  an  extensive  shoe  business,  and 
was  closely  identified  with  the  industrial  in- 
terests of  the  town.  He  reared  a  large  family 
of  twelve  children. 

Daniel  White  came  to  Walton  in  the  days 
of  its  early  settlement,  when  the  clearings 
were  few,  and,  purchasing  a  tract  of  wild 
land,  set  himself  industriously  to  work  to  im- 
prove its  condition  and  to  raise  the  crops  upon 
which  he  depended  for  his  ])rofits  and  liveli- 
hood. His  first  residence  was  the  customary 
log  cabin  of  the  pioneer;  but  this  in  a  few 
years  was  replaced  by  a  fine  frame  structure, 
a  good  barn  was  erected,  and  on  the  home- 
stead which  he  had  thus  established  he  lived 
until  1849,  when  his  death  occurred,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-six  years.  On  November  10, 
1808,  he  married  Catherine  Webb,  a  native  of 
Connecticut,  born  June  11,  1788,  being  one 
of  six  children  born  to  I'^benezer  and  Hannah 
Webb.  Her  brothers  and  sisters  were  Cla- 
rissa, Jemima,  Phebe,  Joseph,  and  Ebenezer 
Webb.  Mrs.  White  proved  herself  an  effi- 
cient helpmate  during  their  years  of  pioneer 
life,  and  with  her  busy  hands  found  time  to 
card,  spin,  weave,  and  make  the  garments 
worn  by  the  family.  Both  were  original 
members    of    the    Congregational    church    of 


North  Walton.  Previous  to  the  formation  of 
this  church,  they  were  members  of  the  First 
Congregational  Church  at  Walton,  where  they 
used  to  go  on  horseback,  following  a  path 
through  the  woods,  there  being  then  no  public 
highway.  Mrs.  Catherine  White  survived 
her  husband  many  years,  dying  October  30, 
1876,  at  the  home  of  one  of  her  daughters  in 
North  Walton.  She  reared  six  children; 
namely,  William  Edward,  Eliza  Ann,  George 
E.,  Emily,  Samuel  E.,  and  Charles  E. 

Samuel  E.,  the  third  son,  who  was  born  on 
June  24,  1824,  spent  his  early  years  on  the 
parental  homestead  near  the  one  which  he  now 
occupies,  and  in  the  district  school  and  the 
academy  at  Franklin  received  a  practical  edu- 
cation. After  finishing  his  studies,  he  as- 
sisted his  father  on  the  farm;  and  several 
years  before  the  death  of  the  latter  he  assumed 
the  sole  management  of  the  homestead,  his 
father  being  in  feeble  health  and  unable  to 
superintend  the  work.  He  afterward  engaged 
in  general  farming  in  Woodlawn  near  by,  re- 
maining there  three  years.  He  then  bought 
the  farm  where  he  has  since  resided,  and  has 
carried  on  mixed  husbandry.  He  makes  a 
specialt)'  of  dairying,  and  until  within  a  few 
years  manufactured  choice  butter,  which  he 
sold  in  the  New  York  and  Connecticut  mar- 
kets, but  has  recently  adopted  the  plan  of 
selling  his  milk. 

Mr.  White  was  marrieil  in  1852  to  Eliza- 
beth C.  Knapp,  a  daughter  of  William  and 
Rebecca  (Webb)  Knapp,  of  Stamford,  Conn. 
The  only  child  of  their  u  ion  is  a  son,  Arthur 
L.,  a  finely  educated  man,  having  been  fitted 
for  college  at  the  Franklin  Academy.  He  is 
now  at  home,  and  assists  in  the  management 
of  the  farm.  The  entire  family  are  members 
of  the  Second  Congregational  Church  of  North 
Walton,  of  which  Arthur  has  been  Clerk  for 
many  years,  besides  faithfully  performing  the 
duties  of  superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school. 


ILLIAM  S.  THOMSON,  a  success- 
ful farmer  and  stock-raiser  and  a 
leading  dairyman  of  his  native  town 
of  Bovina,  is  the  possessor  of  a  fine  homestead 
containing  two  hundred  and  two  and  a  half 
acres  of  well-improved  land,  on  which  he  and 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


his  family  resiclc.  His  estate  is  supplied 
with  a  substantial  set  of  modern  farm  build- 
ings, his  stock  and  machinery  are  of  first-class 
description,  and  everything  about  the  premises 
is  indicative  of  the  intlustry,  intelligence,  and 
thrift  of  its  proprietor.  The  date  ot  his 
birth,  December  32,  1861,  shows  him  to  be 
yet  in  the  prime  of  early  manhood.  His  par- 
ents, Andrew  and  Margaret  (Scott)  Thomson, 
were  also  natives  of  Bovina,  where  his  father 
entered  upon  this  stage  of  existence  on  Janu- 
ary 14,  1836,  and  his  mother  on  the  ^d  of 
April,    1835. 

On  the  paternal  side  i\Ir.  Thomson  is  ol 
sturdy  -Scotch  ancestry.  His  grandfather, 
William  Thomson,  who  was  born  in  Scotland 
in  1801,  emigrated  in  1825  from  the  land  of 
his  birth  to  America,  and,  coming  to  Delaware 
County,  bought  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Kovina, 
and  here  engaged  in  tilling  the  soil.  He 
died  at  the  good  old  age  of  fourscore  years. 
He  was  a  man  of  strong  religious  convictions, 
and  a  member  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
church,  of  which  he  was  for  many  years  an 
holder.  He  married  Janet  Hamilton;  and  to 
them  were  born  six  children,  three  sons  and 
three  daughters,  all  of  whom  are  living  except 
Andrew,  the  father  of  the  subject  oi  the  pres- 
ent sketch. 

Andrew  Thomson  spent  his  entire  life  in 
the  town  of  Hovina,  and  was  the  larger  [lart  of 
his  time  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits.  In 
1861  he  bought  the  farm  now  ownetl  liy  his 
son,  William  S.,  and  made  thereon  the  major 
portion  of  the  excellent  improvements,  plac- 
ing it  among  the  most  valuable  homesteads  of 
this  locality.  He  was  a  man  of  good  business 
ability,  and  faithfully  fulfilled  his  obligations 
as  a  good  citizen,  residing  here  until  his 
death,  July  17,  18SS,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two 
years.  Hi's  wife,  Margaret  Scott,  was  the 
daughter  of  John  Scott,  a  life-long  resident  of 
Bovina,  and  one  who  jjerformed  his  full 
share  in  the  pioneer  labor  of  developing  its 
resources  and  assisting  its  gmwth.  .She  sur- 
vived her  husband  a  short  time,  dying  January 
II,  1891,  at  the  age  of  fifty-four  years.  Both 
were  active  workers  in  the  cause  ot  religion, 
and  were  members  of  the  Reformed  Presbyte- 
rian church,  in  which  he  was  an  Klder.  Five 
children  were  born  of   their  union,  as  f(dlows: 


William  S.  ;  luhvin  !•".,  a  well-known  tlealer 
in  boots  and  shoes,  who  resides  in  the  village 
of  Delhi;  Burtis  M.,  a  farmer,  who  lives  in 
Walton;  Carrie  E.,  the  wife  of  A.  T.  Doig, 
a  merciiant  in  liovina  Centre;  and  Millard 
II.,    a    farmer   residing    in    Walton. 

William  .S.,  the  eldest  of  the  family,  W'as 
reared  on  the  idd  home  farm,  and  educated  in 
the  district  schools.  Having  grown  to  man- 
hood, he  continued  to  make  his  home  with  his 
parents,  and  during  the  winter  seasons  taught 
school  for  three  years,  between  terms  working 
on  the  land.  After  the  death  of  his  father  he 
bought  the  family  homestead,  taking  posses- 
sion in  1890,  and  here  carries  on  an  extensive 
business  in  general  farming  and  dairying,  milk- 
ing thirty-five  cows,  which  in  1893  yielded  an 
average  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  jiounds  of 
liutter  per  head.  He  has  full-bloodetl  Jersey 
cattle  and  graded,  and  also  keeps  other  stock, 
having  about  sixty  head  in  all. 

Mr.  Thomson  was  married  on  January  29, 
1890,  to  Jennie  A.  Archibald,  who  was  born 
April  24,  1870,  and  is  the  daughter  of  Sloane 
and  Elizabeth  (Russell)  Archibald,  esteemed 
residents  of  the  town  of  Bovina,  where  her 
father  is  a  prominent  agriculturist.  Both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  .Archibald  were  born  in  New 
Kingston,  his  birth  having  occurred  on  Janu- 
ary 5,  1848,  and  hers  on  November  13,  184S. 
l^oth  ai'e  members  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
church  of  Hovina  Centre,  and  in  politics  Mr. 
Archibald  is  a  stanch  Democrat.  Tliey  are 
the  ])arents  of  twii  children,  namely:  Mrs. 
Thiimson;  and  Russell,  who  resides  at  home 
with  his  ]iarents.  The  ]iaternal  grandlather 
of  Mrs.  Thomson,  James  Arc-hibald,  was  born 
in  Bovina  on  July  20,  18 16,  was  married  to 
Margaret  Sloane  on  April  7,  1842,  and  re- 
sideci  at  New  Kingston  till  after  her  death  in 
1848.  He  afterwanl  lived  in  Bovina.  but  is 
at  present  in  New  Kingston.  He  has  been 
three  times  married.  His  occupation  is  farm- 
ing. I'ntil  (|uite  ri'cently  he  has  also  siiecu- 
lated  in  slock.  He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics, 
and  is  a  member  of  the  I'nited  Presbyterian 
churcli. 

John  G.  Russell,  the  maternal  grandfather 
of  Mrs.  Thomson,  and  his  wife,  whose  maitien 
name  was  Jane  Chisholm,  were  natives  of  New 
Kingston,  where   he   still    lives,  and  of  which 


56 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


town  his  father,  Matthew  Russell,  was  a  pio- 
neer settler.  During  his  earlier  years  John 
Russell  was  an  active  farmer  and  a  successful 
miller,  and  one  of  the  influential  members  of 
his  community.  His  first  wife  died  at  the 
age  of  sixty-nine  years,  ami  he  subsequently 
married  again. 

Of  the  hapjjy  union  of  Mr.  Thomson  and 
his  wife  two  sons  have  been  liorn  —  A.  Ralph 
and  Archibald.  They  have  a  pleasant  and  at- 
tractive home  and  enjoy  the  society  of  a  large 
circle  of  warm  friends.  They  are  sincere 
Christian  people,  he  being  a  member  of  the 
Reformed  Presbyterian  church,  and  she  be- 
longing to  the  United  Presbyterian  cliurch. 


'ORREST  F.  GIBSON  was  born  in 
South  Kortright,  on  March  21,  185 1, 
and  died  at  his  home  in  Stamford  on 
May  28,  1890.  His  father,  the  Rev.  John  D. 
Gibson,  was  born  in  Washington  County;  and 
his  mother,  Catherine  D.  (Wood)  Gibson,  in 
Orange  County.  His  grandfather,  Colin  Gib- 
son, was  born  in  Scotland,  and  came  to  Amer- 
ica when  a  young  man,  being  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Washington  Coimty,  where  he  died 
at  a  good  old  age.  He  was  a  United  Presby- 
terian, and  politically  a  Democrat.  He  was 
married  three  times.  The  Rev.  John  D.  Gib- 
son was  a  minister  in  the  United  Presbyterian 
church,  and  a  very  successful  man  in  his  call- 
ing, standing  at  the  head  in  his  i.irofession. 
He  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  Dela- 
ware County.  He  was  a  graduate  of  the 
Theological  Seminary  in  Newburg,  and  was 
pastor  of  the  South  Kortright  church  for  over 
forty  years,  beloved  by  his  people,  and  well 
known  and  venerated  throughout  the  county. 
He  retired  from  the  ministry  seven  years  be- 
fore his  death,  which  occurred  at  his  son's 
home  in  Stamford,  January  6,  1893,  when  he 
was  seventy-six  years  of  age.  His  wife  died 
in  August,  1892.  They  hatl  five  children, 
all  of  whom  grew  up,  and  three  are  now  liv- 
ing, namely:  John  H.  Gibson,  residing  in 
Kansas  City;  Robert  P.,  who  resides  in  West- 
chester County;  Margaret  A.  Gooding,  wife 
of  D.  M.  Gooding,  who  resides  at  Hoosick 
Falls,  Rensselaer  County;  Charles  A.,  who 
died  when   fifty   years  of  age;   the   subject   of 


this  sketch,  who  was  the  youngest  of  the 
family. 

P'orrest  F.  Gibson  grew  up  in  Stamford, 
and  received  more  than  an  ordinary  education. 
He  first  went  to  the  district  schools  of  the 
town,  then  to  Andes  Academy,  and  from  there 
tt)  Delhi  Academy.  When  his  school  days 
were  over,  he  bought  his  first  land,  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  acres,  at  Rose  Brook, 
shortly  after  his  marriage,  in  1874,  and  re- 
sided there  for  nine  years.  He  then  sold  out, 
and  in  1884  bought  the  farm  where  his  widow 
now  resides.  He  here  owned  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  acres  and  carried  on  general 
farming  and  dairying.  He  made  many  im- 
provements, adding  to  the  farm  buildings,  and 
in  1885  built  a  commodious  modern  residence 
worth  thirty-three  hundred  dollars.  He  was  a 
successful  farmer  and  an  active  man  in  pro- 
moting the  welfare  of  the  town,  of  which  he 
was  at  one  time  Assessor. 

On  Christmas  Eve,  December  24,  1873,  he 
married  Helen  T.  Sackrider,  daughter  of 
James  and  Jane  Ann  (Thomas)  Sackrider. 
(See  the  sketch  of  James  Sackrider  and  Mrs. 
Agnes  Thomas.)  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gibson  be- 
came the  parents  of  two  children:  a  daughter, 
J.  Anna  Gibson,  born  November  21,  1874, 
now  Mrs.  Henry  E.  Smith,  residing  in  New 
York  City:  and  James  Sackrider  Gibson,  born 
August  23,  1877,  who  lives  at  home  and  as- 
sists in  the  management  of  the  farm.  They 
keep  twent\'-one  milk  cows,  and  also  much 
young  stock.  All  the  family  are  members  of 
the  United  Presbyterian  church.  Mr.  Gib- 
son, who  was  also  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
faith,  and  in  politics  was  a  Democrat,  was  a 
man  who  stood  in  high  honor  among  his  asso- 
ciates; and  his  death  occasioned  heartfelt  sor- 
row throug-hout  the  town. 


^■^•»  > 


RS.  HANNAH  D.  OGDEN,  widow 
of  the  late  Chauncey  Ogden,  is  a 
woman  well  known  and  much  re- 
spected in  the  town  of  Franklin, 
where  her  husband  died  in  1892,  and  where 
she  still  makes  her  home.  Mr.  Ogden's 
grandfather,  David  Ogden,  Sr.,  was  a  soldier 
of  the  Revolution.  He  was  born  in  Dutchess 
County  in  1764;  and,  although   very  young  at 


RIOGRAPII ICAL    REVIEW 


.';7 


the  :imc  of  the  war,  like  so  many  of  the  pa- 
triots of  that  (ia\-  lie  enlisted  in  the  eaiise  of 
freeiloni,  and  was  taken  prisoner,  not  by  the 
British,  but  by  the  Indians.  l'"or  two  years 
he  lived  in  a  wii;\vam  with  the  si|uaw  who 
ailopted  him,  and  tjien  he  eseaped  and  re- 
turned to  his  home.  During  the  time  of  his 
eaptivity  he  acquired  great  lluenc\'  in  tlie  Ind- 
ian tongue,  which  was  of  great  use  to  iiim  in 
his  dealings  with  the  red  men.  lie  died  in 
Croton  in  1S40,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six 
years.  llis  son,  David,  Jr.,  who  was  horn  in 
that  town  in  1792,  and  died  in  1858,  mairied 
Sally  McCall.  .She  was  born  January  7, 
1794,  antl  died  in  1869.  'I'hey  had  ten  chil- 
dren, four  sons  and  six  daughters,  only  four 
of  whom  are  now  living,  namely:  Linus 
Ogden  in  Croton:  Susan,  wiilow  of  Isaac 
Hitchcock,  in  North  Carolina:  Marian,  widow 
of  Pardon  Howland,  of  Whitney's  Point, 
N.Y.;  Mary,  widow  of  the  late  Julius  Brown- 
son,  of  Oregon. 

Chaunccy  Ogden,  son  of  Da\id.  Jr..  and 
his  wife  Sally,  was  l)orn  in  Croton  in  1S24, 
and  married  Hannah  I).  Munn,  born  in  the 
town  of  Franklin,  October  5,  1830.  .She  was 
the  daughter  of  Reuben  and  l.ydia  (Jones) 
Munn,  and  was  but  eighteen  years  old  in 
1848,  when  she  became  Mrs.  Ogden.  .She 
has  three  children  still  living,  namel}-; 
pjnma,  wife  of  Charles  Potter,  of  P'ranklin, 
and  mother  of  two  sons  —  .Albert  Ogileii, 
twentv-one  years  old ;  and  Orion  C,  eighteen 
years  old.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chaunccy  Ogden 
began  life  as  farmers,  with  a  capital  iif  fu'c 
hundred  dollars:  and  before  the  death  of  Mr. 
Ogden  the  property  was  worth  several  thou- 
sand dollars.  In  religion  Mrs.  Ogden  is  a 
Congregational  ist. 

Alfred  K.  Ogden,  eldest  son  of  Mrs. 
Ogden,  was  born  December  22.  1851.  He  re- 
ceived his  primary  education  in  the  common 
schools,  and  then  spent  two  years  at  the  Dela- 
ware Literary  Institute.  He  remained  at 
home  until  December  8,  1887,  when  he  was 
married  to  Ida  Isabel  Penfield,  who  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Har|3ersfield,  January  12. 
i860,  and  was  the  daughter  of  Da\id  PenfieUI. 
Her  father  died  in  January,  1893,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-three.  He  was  a  native  of  Har- 
persfield,    and    was  a   son    of    David    Penfield, 


.Sr.,  and  Boadicea  Scoville,  both  of  Danbury, 
Conn.  Coming  to  Delaware  County  with  his 
brothers,  they  here  manufactured  the  famous 
Penfield  axe.  Mrs.  Iila  Isabel  Ogden  was 
etiucated  in  the  Delaware  Literarv  Institute, 
and  taught  school  for  three  terms.  After  re- 
maining one  \i-ar  on  the  old  farm,  she  and 
her  Inisband  came  to  their  ]. resent  home  and 
farm  of  ninety-five  acres,  which  the\-  bought 
in  1889.  Phey  lia\e  one  child,  Chauncey, 
three  years  old,  named  fnr  his  grandfather. 
Mr.  Ogden  is  a  Republic;ni  xoter;  and  he 
and  his  wile  are  members  of  the  |-"ranklin 
Congregational  church,  in  which  he  is  a 
Deacon.  He  carries  on  a  general  farming 
business  ami  a  dairy  of  fourteen  cows  He  is 
a  much  esteemed  citi/.en,  and  one  of  the  rising 
young  men  of  the  county,  being  one  to  whom 
all  look  lor  the  fulfilment  of  much  jiromise  in 
the  future. 


DSOX  S.  P).\X.\.  who  stands  promi- 
nent among  the  prosjierous  agricultur- 
ists of  this  countv,  is  an  extensive 
landholder  in  the  town  of  Walton,  where  he 
occu[)ies  a  fine  farm  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Delaware  Ri\er.  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from 
the  village.  It  is  aiiiplv  sii|)])lied  with  mod- 
ern taini  Iniildings:  ami  his  handsome  resi- 
dence, which  he  erected  in  1886,  has  a 
charming  location  on  the  ri\'er"s  bank,  over- 
looking the  village  below,  and  commanding 
])ictures([ue  natural  scenerw  The  birth  of 
Mr.  Dann  having  taken  place  on  the  parental 
homestead  mar  bv  on  March  25,  1849.  he  is 
now  in  the  full  vigor  of  manhood,  and  is  con- 
tributing his  share  toward  the  advancement  of 
the  industrial  and  business  interests  of  his 
native    town. 

His  paternal  grandparents  were  Ebene/er 
and  -Sarah  Dann,  of  Connecticut,  the  former 
of  whom  was  liorn  on  Julv  25.  1768,  and  the 
latter  on  October  10,  1770.  They  reared  the 
following  children —- Amaii:ili,  .Sarah,  Phtebe, 
IChenezer,  Lnoch.  Asa,  ^latthew,  Darius,  and 
Harve\'.  Darius  Dann  came  to  Delaware 
Couiitx'  before  his  rnaniage.  and  in  the  town 
of  I'ranklin  learned  the  hatter's  trade  of  a 
man  by  the  name  of  Northrup.  .After  work- 
ing at   his   trade   for   some   time,    he   came   to 


S8 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Walton,  and,  purchasing  the  tract  of  land 
known  as  the  Goodrich  farm,  engaged  in  gen- 
eral farming,  living  here  nearly  half  a  cen- 
tury, passing  away  September  9,  1892,  in  his 
eighty-ninth  year.  He  married  twice.  On 
September  23,  1830,  he  wedded  Minerva  See- 
ley,  a  daughter  of  Abijah  Seeley,  of  Franklin. 
She  was  a  faithful  member  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church,  and  died  on  the  old  homestead, 
September  21,  1851.  She  bore  her  husband 
five  children,  namely:  Sterling  S.,  deceased; 
Julia,  who  married  P.  F.  Sprague;  Theron, 
deceased;  Ellen  M.,  who  married  Silas  Brad- 
ley for  her  first  husband,  after  his  death  be- 
coming the  wife  of  A.  N.  Tracy;  and  Edson, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch.  On  November  20, 
1855,  Darius  Dann  married  for  his  second 
wife  Almeda  Beers. 

Edson  S.  Dann  was  but  two  years  old 
when  his  mother  died.  He  remained  with  his 
father  until  twenty-two  years  of  age,  assisting 
in  the  necessary  labors  of  the  farm.  He  re- 
ceived the  rudiments  of  his  education  in  the 
district  school,  afterward  becoming  a  student 
of  Walton  Academy.  He  acquired  while  on 
the  home  farm  a  practical  experience  in  the 
art  of  agriculture  that  was  of  incalculable 
benefit  to  him  in  after  years.  After  his  mar- 
riage he  settled  on  the  farm  where  he  now 
resides,  and  which  he  had  previously  pur- 
chased of  William  Marvin,  it  having  in 
former  times  been  known  as  the  Case  farm. 
Besides  this  property,  which  contains  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  acres  of  excellent 
land,  Mr.  Dann  owns  the  valuable  parental 
homestead  near  by,  which  consists  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  acres.  On  these  farms 
there  are  three  substantial  dwellings.  Mr. 
Dann  devotes  his  attention  principally  to 
stock-raising  and  dairying,  keeping  about 
forty  cows,  horses,  and  young  stock,  raising 
all  the  hay  he  needs  and  having  some  to 
spare,  his  farms  being  among  the  most  pro- 
ductive of  any  in  the  vicinity.  His  fine 
cattle  are  of  a  native  breed,  producing  large 
quantities  of  nuik,  which  he  sends  to  the 
creamery. 

Mr.  Dann  was  united  in  wedlock  May  29, 
1872,  to  Miss  Ella  E.  Pierson.  who  was  born 
in  Walton,  December  2,  1850.  Her  father, 
Joseph    M.    Pierson,    was    born    February   25, 


1820,  in  the  town  of  Saratoga,  and  on  Febru- 
ary 2,  1848,  he  married  Priscilla  R.  Lyon, 
who  was  born  in  Stamford,  July  28,  1824. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pierson,  who  reared  three  chil- 
dren—  Charles  J.,  a  farmer;  George  J.,  a 
worker  in  the  Novelty  works;  and  Mrs.  Dann 
— still  live  in  the  village  of  Walton. 

The  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dann  has  been 
brightened  by  the  advent  of  two  intelligent 
and  promising  children.  The  elder,  George 
J.,  born  March  13,  1874,  was  graduated  from 
Walton  Union  School  with  honors,  when 
eighteen  years  old.  He  then  entered  Union 
College  at  Schenectady,  and,  having  passed 
through  the  Sophomore  class  with  a  high 
rank,  is  now  a  member  of  the  Junior  class, 
and  will  be  graduated  in  1896.  Florence  E., 
born  December  21,  1879,  's  now  a  student  in 
the  Walton  High  School,  where  she  has  a  fine 
record  for  good  scholarship.  Mr.  Dann  is 
one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  his  community, 
and  for  two  years  has  served  as  Highway 
Commissioner.  In  politics  he  has  usually 
supported  the  Republican  ticket.  He  and  his 
wife,  and  also  his  son,  are  among  the  most 
esteemed  members  of  the  Methodist  church, 
in  which  he  has  been  Steward  for  many  years. 


/§>, 


FORGE  BARLOW,  a  highly  re- 
V  ji)  I  spected  member  of  the  agricultural 
community  of  the  town  of  Stamford, 
N.Y.,  is  a  man  who  from  a  modest  beginning 
has  worked  his  own  way  up  in  the  world  to  a 
good  position,  socially  and  financially,  among 
his  fellow-citizens,  and  who  by  his  upright 
life  has  secured  their  kindly  regard  and  con- 
fidence. Mr.  Barlow  is  a  worthy  representa- 
tive of  the  native-born  citizen,  having  first 
opened  his  eyes  to  the  light  September  14, 
1825,  in  the  town  of  Stamford,  which  was 
also  the  place  of  nativity  of  his  parents,  Jesse 
and  Lucretia  (Rollins)  Barlow,  the  former 
having  been  born  January  12,  1789,  and  the 
latter  November  14,   1788. 

Mr.  Barlow  comes  of  excellent  New  Eng- 
land stock.  His  grandfather,  Edmund  Barlow, 
who  was  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Stam- 
ford, having  been  born  in  Connecticut,  came 
here  when  this  part  of  the  country  was  an 
almost  pathless  wilderness,  with  an  occasional 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


59 


opening,  whence  tlie  smoke  lioni  the  chimney 
of  some  pioneer's  cabin  niigiit  be  seen.  lie 
clearefl  a  farm,  ])lacing  it  in  a  good  condition, 
and  continued  its  cultivation  until  the  time  of 
his  death  while  in  the  prime  of  life.  His 
widow  survived  him  many  )ears,  living  to  a 
ripe  old  age.  They  reareil  eight  children,  but 
none  arc  now  living. 

Jesse  Barlow,  who  was  reared  on  the  pa- 
rental farm,  was  of  invaluable  assistance  from 
the  time  he  was  old  enough  to  wield  the  a.\e 
or  spade,  and  performed  his  full  share  in  the 
pioneer  labor  of  felling  the  trees  and  improv- 
ing the  land.  He  became  a  farmer  from 
choice,  and,  devoting  his  wht)le  time  and 
attention  to  agriculture,  became  very  success- 
ful. He  lived  sixty-four  years  of  useful  life, 
dying  October  14,  1854.  His  faithful  wife 
preceded  him  to  the  golden  shore,  passing 
quietly  away  November  27,  1853.  Both  par- 
ents were  conscientious  members  of  the  Epis- 
copal church,  and  in  politics  he  was  a  zealous 
advocate  of  the  princijjles  of  the  Democratic 
party.  Of  the  nine  children  born  to  them  two 
are  now  living,  namely:  George,  of  Stamford; 
and  Edmund,  a  resident  of  the  village  of 
Hobart.  The  names  of  the  deceased  are  as 
follows :  Mary  Ann,  Burr,  Aaron,  Betsey, 
Samuel,  William,  and  Eunice.  All  of  these 
grew  to  maturity  excepting  William,  who  died 
young. 

George  Barlow  was  reared  and  educated  in 
the  place  of  his  birth,  attending  its  district 
schools,  and  assisting  his  parents  on  the 
homestead  until  the  time  of  his  marriage. 
He  subsequently  bought  the  home  property, 
where  he  resided  for  some  years,  engaged  in 
general  farming.  Selling  that,  Mr.  Barlow 
bought  the  farm  where  he  ni!W  resides,  taking 
possession  of  it  April  i,  i<S68.  It  contains 
one  hundred  acres  of  well-tilled  and  produc- 
tive land,  which  he  has  furnished  with  new 
and  substantial  buildings,  besides  adilirg 
other  necessary  improvements.  He  carries 
on  mixed  husbandry,  paying  a  good  deal  of 
attention  to  dairying,  which  is  a  very  impor- 
tant branch  of  his  industry.  He  still  resides 
on  the  farm,  but  has  given  up  its  management 
to  his  son,  William  S.  Barlow. 

Mr.  Barlow  was  married  October  27,  1S53, 
to    Mary    P.    Taylor,    a    native    of    Stamford, 


where  she  was  born  November  20,  1827. 
Her  father,  Ilezekiah  Taylor,  was  a  cooper  by 
trade,  and  when  a  young  man  was  united  in 
marriage  with  I'lKJcbe  Beers,  who  became  the 
mother  oi  .Mrs.  Barlow.  The  ha]i|)y  union  of 
Mr.  and  .Mrs  Barlow  was  made  still  more 
bright  by  the  birth  of  three  children  —  Mary 
-Ann,  William  S.,  and  b'annie  I'..  Mary 
.Ann,  the  wile  ot  Kosuell  Barlow,  lives  in 
Stamford,  where  her  husband  is  engaged  in 
farming.  William  S..  who  earrii's  on  the 
home  farm,  married  lunma  J.  Hubljard,  a  na- 
tive of  Jefferson,  Schoharie  Countv,  and  a 
daughter  of  Lucius  and  Jerusha  C.  (Havens) 
Hubbard,  who  now  make  their  home  with  her. 
Mr.  llubb/ard  was  formerly  a  carjjenter,  but 
is  now  retired  from  the  active  pursuits  of  life. 
b'annie  IC.  is  the  wife  of  George  .M.  More,  a 
marble  dealer  of  Hobart. 

The  life  of  Mr.  liarlow  has  not  been  with- 
out its  sorrows,  his  most  severe  atlliction  hav- 
ing been  the  loss  of  his  beloved  com])anion, 
who  tleparted  this  life  May  6,  1893.  Al- 
though not  a  confirmed  invalid,  Mrs.  Barlow 
had  never  fully  recovered  from  injuries  which 
she  received  in  October,  1882,  when  riding 
with  her  husband  and  Mrs.  .Augusta  I""oot. 
riiev  were  struck  bv  a  train  while  crossing 
the  track,  Mrs.  l~oot  being  killed  outright, 
Mrs.  Barlow  injured  se\'erel_v,  while  Mr.  Bar- 
low had  a  \ery  narrow  esca])e  trom  death. 
Both  horses  were  killed.  In  his  i)(ditical 
views  Mr.  Barlow  is  a  warm  advocate  of  the 
princijiU-s  of  the  Democratic  i)arty.  Relig- 
iouslv,  lie  is  an  I-".piscopalian,  and  is  a  Warden 
of  the  church  in  Hobart,  of  which  his  wife 
was  also  an  esti'emed  communicant. 


RL.ANDO  GOULD  is  a  farmer  In- 
calling,  and  the  owner  of  a  valuable 
homestead  on  the  West  Jirook  road  in 
the  town  of  Walton.  He  is  a  native 
of  Delaware  County,  born  in  the  town  ol 
Walton,  May  5,  1834:  and  during  the  many 
years  that  he  has  lived  in  this  locality  he  has 
fulfilled  his  obligations  as  a  good  citizen,  and 
has  contributed  his  full  quota  toward  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  community. 

Mr.  Gould  is  the  scion  of  an  excellent  New 
England   family,  his  grandfather,    Eli    Gould, 


6o 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Sr.,  having  been  a  native  of  Connecticut,  anti 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  Walton.  He  removed 
here  with  his  family,  and,  buying  a  tract  of 
partly  improved  lind,  erected  a  frame  house, 
which  was  his  home  until  his  death.  Eli 
Gould,  Jr.,  was  born  on  the  homestead  of  his 
parents  in  Walton,  and  was  reared  a  farmer 
and  lumberman.  After  becoming  of  age  he 
started  as  a  farmer  on  his  own  account,  living 
on  his  father's  farm  for  several  years.  He 
then  purchased  a  farm  at  the  foot  of  Walton 
Mountain,  three  miles  from  the  village  of 
Walton,  where  he  lived  fur  a  number  of  years. 
Selling  this,  he  then  bought  the  farm  where 
his  son  Orlando  now  lives,  and  here  continued 
his  agricultural  labors,  living  to  the  good  old 
age  of  fourscore  years.  His  wife,  Ophelia 
Wakeman,  was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  being 
the  daughter  of  Epaphras  and  Abigail  (Banks) 
Wakeman.  She  died  at  the  venerable  age  of 
eighty-five  years.  Both  she  and  her  husband 
were  members  of  the  Methodist  church.  The 
names  of  the  five  children  born  to  them  were 
as  follows:  Alfred,  Emily,  Amelia,  Adelia, 
and  Orlando. 

Orlando  Gould  was  the  youngest  child  of 
the  parental  household.  During  the  days  of 
his  youth  he  remained  at  home,  assisting  on 
the  farm,  receiving  his  elementary  education 
in  the  district  school,  and  afterward  for  two  or 
three  terms  attending  the  Walton  Academy. 
After  his  marriage  Mr.  Gould  lived  for  seven 
years  on  a  part  of  the  homestead.  In  1864  he 
entered  into  the  livery  business  in  Walton, 
buying  out  a  stable  owned  by  George  Smith, 
devoting  his  time  to  that  for  the  next  two 
years.  Disposing  of  his  livery  interests,  he 
again  went  to  New  Jersey,  where  he  lived  for 
a  year,  learning  the  carpenter's  trade,  which 
he  followed  for  a  time.  He  then  returned  to 
Walton,  and,  buying  out  the  interests  of  the 
other  heirs,  soon  after  took  possession  of  the 
homestead.  He  now  carries  on  a  substantial 
business  in  general  agriculture,  dcvr  'ng  his 
farm  in  the  main  to  dairying,  which  i  finds 
very  profitable. 

The  first  wife  of  Mr.  Gould,  to  whom  he 
was  united  in  1857,  was  Mary  St.  John,  who 
was  one  of  six  children  born  to  John  and 
Sarah  (Acker)  .St.  John,  early  pioneers  of 
Walton.      She  lived  but  a  few  years  after  their 


marriage;  and  Mr.  Gould  subsequently  mar- 
ried Eliza  Jane  Kerr,  the  daughter  of  Joseph 
and  Antoinette  (Honeywell)  Kerr.  Of  this 
last  union  two  children  have  been  born,  Mary 
Anna  and  Erank  Wheeler.  In  local  affairs, 
Mr.  Gould  is  a  man  of  influence,  and  in  what- 
ever position  he  has  been  placed  has  acquitted 
himself  in  a  creditable  and  praiseworthy  man- 
ner. In  politics  he  supports  the  Republican 
party,  and  has  served  as  Inspector  of  Elec- 
tions. He  has  been  a  stockholder  and  one  of 
the  directors  of  the  Delaware  County  Bank. 
.Socially,  he  is  an  active  member  of  the  Sons 
of  Temperance.  Religiously,  he  and  his  fam- 
ily are  members  of  the  Congregational  church, 
toward  the  support  of  which  they  are  liberal 
contributors. 


RY  ENGLAND,  a  retired  mer- 
chant, has  been  an  important  factor 
in  advancing  the  wealth  and  pros- 
perity of  Delhi,  whose  position 
among  the  flourishing  villages  and  towns  of 
Delaware  County  is  due  to  the  men  whose 
excellent  judgment  singled  it  out  as  an  eli- 
gible point  for  business,  it  being  situated  in 
the  midst  of  a  country  possessing  vast  re- 
sources ready  for  development.  Prominent 
among  the  keen,  far-sighted  men  who  took 
advantage  of  this  condition  was  the  subject  of 
this  personal  history,  who  for  more  than 
half  a  century  has  been  closely  identified  with 
its  interests,  and  taken  an  active  part  in  pro- 
moting its  welfare.  He  is  a  native  of  Eng- 
land, having  been  born  on  April  21,  1807, 
near  the  city  of  Bath,  where  his  father,  John 
England,  carried  on  the  trade  of  a  cloth- 
dresser,  dying,  however,  when  comparatively 
young.  He  married  Elizabeth  Bleakley,  a 
life-long  resident  of  England,  and  a  native  of 
Bradford  on  the  Avon.  .She  was  a  beautiful 
type  of  true  womanhood,  and  a  conscientious 
member  of  the  Baptist  church,  her  long  life  of 
eighty-nine  years  being  spent  in  doing  good. 
She  reared  the  following  children:  Rachel, 
Ruth,    Thomas,    Henr)jf  Isaac,   and   George. 

Until  twenty  years  of  age  Henry  England 
lived  with  his  parents,  obtaining  a  substantial 
education  in  the  excellent  schools  of  Bath, 
and     a    practical     knowledge     of     the     cloth- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


dresser's  trade  from  bis  fatlier.  In  the  mean 
time  lie  won  the  affections  of  an  attractive 
girl,  Mary  Knapp.  one  of  the  seven  children 
of  William  and  Mary  Knapp,  the  former  of 
whom  was  the  superintendent  of  a  large  cloth 
manufactory;  aiul  theii-  lianns  were  soon  pub- 
lished. The  same  year,  on  May  6,  1827, 
their  marriage  was  solemnized  in  the  old 
church  of  Bradford  Wells,  England.  The 
following  day  the  youthful  couple  bade  adieu 
to  home  and  friends,  and  started  on  their  wetl- 
ding  trip,  goinn  by  stage  coach  to  the  coast, 
and  then  crossing  the  Channel,  and  sjiending 
the  first  month  of  their  huneymonn  in  France. 
Finally,  embarking  at  Ha\re  de  Grace  in  a 
sailing-vessel,  they  came  to  America,  their 
long  voyage  of  nine  weeks  arid  three  days 
being  one  of  pleasure.  After  landing  in  New 
York,  the\-  [iroceeded  to  Fishkill  on  tlu'  Mud- 
son,  thence,  after  a  short  stop,  to  Glenham, 
Dutchess  County,  where  Mr.  England  liegan 
working  at  his  trade.  Five  years  later  he  re- 
moved to  Poughkeepsie,  where  he  continued 
at  his  occu[jation  until  iiS^Q.  In  that  year  he 
came  to  Delaware  County,  and,  securing  em- 
ployment with  Mr.  Titus,  the  owner  of  a  fac- 
tory in  Delhi,  remaint'd  with  him  ten  years. 
Mr.  England  then  entered  into  business  as  tiie 
American  agent  for  Hatfield  &  Shaw,  boot  and 
shoe  manufacturers  of  ICngland.  In  1844  the 
firm  dissolved  partnership;  and  Mr.  ICngland 
established  a  dry-goods  business,  opening  a 
store  on  the  corner  of  Meredith  and  Main 
.Streets,  in  the  building  now  occupied  l)y 
Groat  &  Ferguson,  of  whom  a  sketch  is  given 
elsewhere  in  this  book.  From  that  time  until 
1884  Mr.  England  carried  on  an  extensive  and 
very  lucrative  business,  occupying  a  conspicu- 
ous position  among  the  leading  merchants  of 
the  county.  He  then  sold  out  to  Ikdl  & 
Honeywell,  and  has  since  lived  retired  from 
the  active  pursuits  of  life,  enjoying  the  com- 
petency which  he  earneil  l)y  his  many  years  of 
honorable  labor. 

He  has  been  twice  married.  (Jf  his  union 
with  the  bride  of  his  youth  were  born  three 
children — Theophilus,  Hemy  J.,  and  Erne- 
line.  Henrv  J.,  who  married  Elizabeth 
Barns  on  January  i,  1852,  now  resides  in  the 
South;  and  his  househoUi  includes  five  chil- 
dren—  Mary,  Charles,  Augustus,    Libbie,  and 


Jessie.      Of   these,  Mary  married    lulgar   Wat- 
kins:    and    they    have    two    children    -   Bessie 
and   Harry.      Libbie  married   James  G.  Jester, 
of    Delhi.      Augustus  married   Jennie   Covert; 
and   they    have   one   child,    Henry.      1-lmeline, 
the   youngest    child,    married    Thomas    Carter, 
the   pastor  of  a   Methodist    church;  and    they 
are     the     i)arcnts    of     four    children — Josie, 
Annie,  George,  and  Harry.      Theophilus,  who 
was   born   October  2,    1834,    was   educated    in 
the    schools    of    Fergusonville,   and    was  con- 
nected  with    his   father  in  the  dry-goods  busi- 
ness until    1 861,  when,   inspired   by  an  earnest 
and  ]Kitriotic  zeal,  he  raised  a  company  of  one 
luunhed    men   from  among  the  best  and    most 
chivalrous  of   Delhi's  population,  and  on   Oc- 
tober 21  went  to  the  front  as  Captain  of  Com- 
pany   I,     Eighty-first     Regiment,     New    York 
Volunteer    Infantry.      He    was    as    brave    and 
true-heartetl   an   officer  as  ever  drew  a  sword, 
and    for  gallant  conduct  and    meritorious  ser- 
\ices  was  ])romoted  to  the  rank  of    Lieutenant 
Colonel.       He    showed    his    valor    in    several 
hard-fought    Ijattles,    anKjng    which    might    be 
mentioned   those   of    South    Mountain,    Antie- 
tam,    Fredericksburg,   the   ad\'ance  on    Feters- 
burg,  and   many  others.      While   passing   over 
the   battlefield   after  a   severe  engagement   on 
June    18,    i86j,  ami    when    stooping   to   give   a 
gray-coaled    private    from    the    Rebel   army  a 
cirink    from    his    canteen,    he    was    shot    by    a 
sharpshooter,  receiving  his  death  wound.      He 
was    loved,    honored,    and    respected    by   every 
man    in    his  regiment :   ami    his   body  was   ten- 
derly   cared     for     and     subsequently    brought 
home,    and    is    now    interred    in    the    beautiful 
cemetery    of     Delhi.      He     was     the     idolized 
child  of  his  father,  who  has  never  full)'  recov- 
ered   from   the   shock   of  this  sudden   bereave- 
ment.     The  Grand   Army  Post  of   Delhi  takes 
its    name    from    the    menioi-v    of    this    heroic 
soldier, 

A  few  nioiuli>  alter  liie  io>,^  oi  this  beloved 
son,  soirow  again  laid  its  chastening  hand 
ui)on  Mr.  ICngland  in  the  death  of  his  wife, 
who  was  taken  from  him,  after  a  blessed  com- 
l):inionship  of  more  than  thirty-five  years,  on 
the  25th  of  October.  1862.  In  her  daily  life 
she  e.\em])lified  the  teachings  of  the  Methodist 
church,  of  which  she  was  a  consistent  member. 

Mr.  England   subsequently  formed  a  matri- 


62 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


monial  alliance  with  Mrs.  Margaret  Beller, 
widow  of  the  late  James  E.  Beller,  and  the 
daughter  of  Henr)-  C.  and  Magdalen  (Becker) 
Shaver,  life-long  residents  of  Schenevus. 
Her  mother  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-two  years, 
and  her  father  at  the  venerable  age  of  eighty- 
two  years.  Both  of  the  parents  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Lutheran  church.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
England  attend  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  of  which  he  is  a  member,  having  been 
one  of  the  organizers,  and  in  which  he  has 
held  all   the  offices. 

Mr.  England  is  a  straight  and  stanch  Re- 
publican. He  has  filled  several  of  the  more 
important  offices  of  the  town,  and  served  as 
Justice  of  the  Peace  for  many  years.  He  has 
always  been  a  leader  among  men,  and  was 
for  years  a  stockholder  and  a  director  in  the 
bank.  The  beautiful  home  occupied  by  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  England  was  built  in  1862,  and  is 
one  of  the  most  complete  and  attractive  resi- 
dences in  the  village. 


AMUEL  M.  WHITE,  a  practical  and 
prosperous  farmer  of  the  town  of 
Tompkins,  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Kortright,  September  10,  1838. 
He  is  of  Irish  descent,  his  parents,  James  and 
Catherine  (Pursell)  White,  having  been  born 
in  the  Emerald  Isle,  the  former  in  the  year 
1793  and  the  latter  in  1798.  In  1S18,  soon 
after  their  marriage,  they  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica, landing  in  New  York  City  after  a  voyage 
of  fourteen  weeks.  They  proceeded  directly 
to  Kortright,  where  Mr.  White  bought  one 
hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land,  on  which  many 
improvements  had  already  been  made.  He 
labored  with  unceasing  energy,  and,  as  time 
passed  on,  bought  other  land,  owning  at  the 
time  of  his  death  a  v'aluable  farm  of  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  acres  and  being  classed  among 
the  leading  farmers  of  the  town.  Politically, 
he  was  identified  with  the  Democratic  party, 
and  held  liberal  views  in  regard  to  religious 
matters;  while  his  good  wife  was  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  They 
were  the  parents  of  nine  children,  five  of 
whom  are  now  living,  as  follows:  James,  a 
farmer,  lives  in  Unadilla.  John,  also  en- 
gaged    in    farming,     resides     in      Kortright. 


Susan,  the  widow  of  John  B.  Burdick,  lives 
in  Davenport.  Samuel  M.  lives  in  Tomp- 
kins. Amelia  is  the  wife  of  K.  N.  Thomj)- 
son,  a  farmer  of  Meredith.  The  deceased 
are:  Edward,  who  died  when  sixteen  years 
old;  Mary,  who  passed  away  at  the  age  of 
twenty  years;  Henry,  who  died  when  forty- 
five  years  old;  and  Catherine,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-one  years. 

Young  Samuel  spent  the  earlier  part  of  his 
life  in  the  town  of  Kortright,  obtaining  his 
elementary  education  in  the  district  schools, 
and  afterward  attending  the  Del-hi  Academy 
two  terms.  He  remained  under  the  parental 
roof-tree  until  twenty-nine  years  of  age,  work- 
ing most  of  the  time  on  the  home  farm,  al- 
though for  three  years  he  worked  out  as  a 
farm  laborer,  receiving  for  his  wages  three 
hundred  dollars  a  year,  a  portion  of  which  he 
saved.  In  1871  Mr.  White  purchased  the 
farm  where  he  has  since  resided,  and  which 
was  known  at  that  time  as  the  Brundage  farm. 
To  the  eighty  acres  that  then  constituted  the 
farm  he  has  since  added  by  purchase,  and  now 
has  a  beautiful  homestead  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy  acres.  Here  he  is  interested  in  gen- 
eral farming  and  dairying,  keeping  twenty- 
four  cows  and  young  cattle,  the  proceeds  of 
his  dairy  yielding  him  an  annual  income  of 
one  thousand  dollars.  He  also  makes  a  spe- 
cialty of  raising  sheep,  having  a  fine  flock  of 
twenty-six,  of  the  Shropshire  breed. 

Mr.  White  was  united  in  marriage  October 
15,  1867,  to  Catherine  M.  Hammond,  born  in 
Delhi,  April  5,  1848,  being  a  daughter  of 
William  and  Maria  (Burgett)  Hammond,  both 
natives  of  Delaware  County.  Her  father  was 
born  in  Delhi  in  1806,  and  her  mother  in 
Davenport  in  1812.  William  Hammond's 
father,  Gideon  Hammond,  served  in  the  Revo- 
lution, and  afterward  became  one  of  the  pio- 
neer settlers  of  the  town  of  Delhi,  where  he 
took  up  a  tract  of  wild  land,  and  made  his 
home  thereon    until    his   death. 

Mr.  William  Hammond  is  stil)  living  on 
his  farm  in  Delhi,  and  is  an  active,  hearty 
old  gentleman,  bearing  well  his  burden  of 
eighty-eight  years.  He  has  always  been  an 
industrious  and  energetic  man  of  business, 
evincing  excellent  judgment  in  the  manage- 
ment  of   his   affairs.      In  religious   matters  he 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


('?. 


is  liberal,  and  in  politics  is  an  uncompromis- 
ing Democrat.  Mrs.  Hammond  passed  to  her 
rest  in  1868,  being  then  but  fifty-six  years 
old.  Three  of  the  children  born  of  their 
union  are  yet  living,  as  follows:  David  (i., 
who  lives  in  I'eoria  County,  111.;  Walter  W., 
on  the  home  farm  in  Delhi:  Catherine  M., 
Mrs.  White.  Their  other  children  were: 
Harmon  .S.,  who  enlisted  to  serve  his  country 
in  the  late  Civil  War,  in  the  Sixth  New  Jer- 
sey N'olunteer  Infantry,  and  died  in  Ander- 
sonville  Prison,  aged  twenty-five  years;  and 
Hulda  A.,  the  wife  of  J.  D.  Gardener,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  fifty-one  years. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  White  have  three  children 
living,  namely:  Florence  A.,  born  June  26, 
1872;  Marsha  M.,  born  July  25,  1880;  and 
Susan  H.,  born  April  16,  18S6.  A  son, 
William  H..  born  September  22,  1875,  passed 
to  the  life  eternal  on  February  17,  1891. 
Mr.  White  is  one  of  the  useful  and  valued 
citizens  of  his  town,  and  is  contributing  his 
full  share  toward  its  prosperity  and  advance- 
ment. Mrs.  White  is  a  conscientious  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  he  is 
liberal  in  his  religious  views.  In  politics 
Mr.  White  is  a  sound  Democrat,  and  invari- 
ably casts  his  vote  in  support  of  the  principles 
of  that  party.  Socially,  he  is  a  member  of 
St.  Andrew's  Lodge,  No.  289,  A.  l'\  &  A.  M.. 
at  Hobart. 


AMES  H.  JENKINS,  a  prosperous 
lumber  merchant  of  I'nion  Grove,  was 
liorn  April  14,  i860,  at  the  family 
home  on  Harkerboom  Creek,  in  the 
town  of  Andes,  Delaware  County.  His  par- 
ents were  Anson  and  Sarah  (Mekeel)  Jenkins. 
Anson  Jenkins  was  born  on  December  3, 
1833,  in  Roxbury,  and  was  the  son  of  James 
and  Polly  (White)  Jenkins.  His  brothers  and 
sisters  were  Alonzo,  Nathan.  David,  Egbert, 
Delilah,  Elephan,  Lucinda,  Ella,  and  Ange- 
lina. James  Jenkins  was  in  several  different 
occupations  in  his  younger  life ;  and  in  184c), 
a  number  of  years  after  his  marriage,  he 
bought  one  hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  new 
land  in  the  town  of  Andes,  where  in  company 
with  John  .Mekeel  &  Son  he  built  a  saw-mill 
on  the  Harkerboom    Creek.      Here   thev  sawed 


their  lumiier  and  rafted  it  down  the  river  to 
Philadelphia.  To  this  estate  he  afterward 
added  two  hundred  and  seventy  acres,  on 
which  he  worked  till  his  death,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two  years.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
activity,  accumulating  quite  a  large  property, 
the  care  of  which  during  his  life  occu|)ied  his 
whole  attention.  In  ])olitics  he  was  a  Repub- 
lican. His  widow  now  lives  with  her  son 
Nathan   at    Union    Grove. 

Anson  Jenkins,  who  came  with  liis  father 
to  Andes,  here  grew  to  manhood,  and  worked 
at  clearing  the  land  and  running  the  saw-mill. 
He  married  Sarah  Mekeel,  daughter  of  John 
Mekeel.  This  latter  gentleman,  already 
spoken  of  as  the  partner  of  the  elder  Jenkins, 
was  born  October  6,  1798,  and  was  the  son  of 
Lewis  and  Mary  (Birch)  Mekeel,  natives  of 
Connecticut,  who  came  from  there  to  the  town 
of  Middletown,  and  settled  on  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  acres.  Their  children  were  John, 
Charles,  (ieorge,  Phebe,  Martha,  Betsy,  and 
Axie.  They  were  members  of  the  Baptist 
church,  anil  Mr.  Mekeel  was  a  Democrat  in 
[)olitics. 

The  children  of  Anson  Jenkins  were:  John 
W.,  deceased;  James  IL;  and  Emery,  of 
whom  a  sketch,  with  further  account  of  the 
father  and  grandfather,  may  be  found  on  an- 
other page.  James  H.  grew  up  in  the  town 
of  Andes,  and  was  educated  in  the  district 
schoid.  .'\t  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  married 
Inez  J.,  daughter  of  James  H.  and  Melissa 
(Miner)  Davis,  farmers  on  Tremperskil  in 
the  town  of  Andes.  Mr.  Jenkins  bought  of 
Mr.  Hitt  a  house  below  his  saw-mill,  which 
was  built  bv  Harris  Ilulbert.  This  he  has 
entirely  remodelled,  and  here  he  dwells  near 
his  business.  The  work  at  the  saw-mill  is  in 
a  flourishing  condition,  about  two  hundred 
thousand  feet  of  his  own  lumber  being  run, 
beside  much  custom  work.  The  manufacture 
of  shingles  and  laths  forms  an  important 
branch  of  his  industry,  which  also  includes 
planing   and    matching   boards. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jenkins  have  one  child,  a  son 
Roy,  born  October  6,  1882.  They  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Episcopal  church,  and  he  is  a 
stanch  upholder  of  Republican  principles. 
Mr.  Jenkins  is  widely  known  throughout  this 
section  for  his  extensive  lumber  interests,  and 


64 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


personally  is  held  in  high  regard  for  his 
straightforward  business  ways  and  manly 
character.  He  is  much  respected,  and  is  one 
whose  opinion  and  advice  in  regard  to  mate- 
rials for  carpentry  and  cabinet-work  arc  highly 
valued. 


LBERT  O.  .SCOTT,  attorney-at-law  of 
Croton,  Delaware  County,  N.Y.,  is  a 
gentleman  who  possesses  rare  quali- 
fications for  his  profession,  and  enjoys  a  well- 
established  reputation  as  an  able  counsellor 
and  advocate.  He  is  a  grandson  of  Caleb 
Scott,  a  Connecticut  farmer  who  fought  in  the 
Revolution,  and  three  years  before  his  death, 
at  seventy-four  years  of  age,  received  a  pen- 
sion from  the  government.  In  1812  he  and 
his  wife,  Phebe  (Webb)  Scott,  w^ith  their 
two-year-old  child,  Harvey,  left  the  land  of 
their  birth  and  removed  to  the  town  of  Frank- 
lin, N.Y. 

In  1 83 1  Harvey  Scott  married  Miss  Mary 
Blair,  who  was  born  in  Aurora,  Portage 
County,  Ohio,  daughter  of  Elam  and  Anna 
(McOnoughey)  Blair.  This  worthy  couple 
were  natives  of  Hampden  County,  Massachu- 
setts, whence  in  181 1  they  moved  to  Ohio, 
where  they  remained  but  one  year,  after  which 
they  returned  eastward,  and  engaged  in  farm- 
ing in  Stamford,  Delaware  County,  and  later 
in  Jefferson,  Schoharie  County.  Mr.  Blair 
died  in  1865,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty- 
five,  his  wife  surviving  him  nine  years.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Blair  were  blessed  with  nine  chil- 
dren, of  whom  these  four  daughters  still  live: 
Mrs.  Scott,  the  mother  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Angeline  Blair,  a  maiden  lady  of 
Franklin  Village,  aged  eighty;  Arvilla,  who 
taught  in  the  public  schools  for  sixty-one 
terms,  but  retired  seven  years  ago,  and  now 
lives  in  Croton;  and  Mrs.  Juliet  Shepard,  a 
widow   lad}',    who   lives    in    Croton. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harvey  Scott  spent  most  of 
their  wedded  life  on  the  farm  which  Mr. 
Scott's  father  bought  eighty-two  years  ago; 
and  here,  on  November  10,  1891,  they  cele- 
brated the  si.xtieth  anniversary  of  their  mar- 
riage. On  this  joyous  occasion  there  were 
present  two  of  the  ladies  who  had  acted  as 
bridesmaids    at    the    wedding  —  Mrs.    Scott's 


sister  and  Mrs.  Hine  (Nell  Green);  and  it  is 
needless  to  say  that  they  occupied  the  places 
of  honor  next  to  the  bride  and  groom.  At 
the  death  of  Harvey  Scott,  the  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  sixteen  acres  adjoining  the  old 
homestead  was  left  to  his  son  Elbert.  Mrs. 
Harvey  Scott  is  still  living,  in  her  eighty- 
third  year,  spending  the  summers  with  her  son 
Elbert  in  Croton,  and  going  to  her  other  son 
at  Oneonta  for  the  cold,  hard  winters.  She  is 
a  well-preserved  lady,  being  still  active  both 
in  mind  and  body. 

Elbert  O.  Scott  was  born  March  6,  1839, 
in  Franklin,  where  he  attended  the  district 
school  until  about  fourteen  years  old,  after 
which  he  entered  the  academy,  and  at  eigh- 
teen began  the  study  of  law.  In  i860  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar,  for  which  he  was  fully 
prepared  one  year  earlier,  but  had  not  reached 
the  required  age.  Previous  to  this,  he  had 
been  in  charge  of  the  ofifice  of  Judge  Lamont 
in  Schoharie  County  during  the  five  months" 
absence  of  the  judge  at  the  meeting  of  the 
legislature.  For  one  year  he  remained  in 
this  office,  practising  on  his  own  responsibil- 
ity. In  1863  he  left  for  New  York  City, 
where,  in  company  with  his  brother,  he  be- 
came a  salaried  attorney  for  Henry  A.  Burr, 
which  position  he  occupied  for  three  years. 
After  one  year  in  business  with  Major  J.  B. 
Caryl  in  Candor,  Tioga  County,  he  opened  an 
office  for  himself  in  that  flourishing  village, 
and  continued  to  practise  his  profession  with 
no  other  help  than  his  own  well-balanced 
brains,  remaining  there  for  twenty-two  years. 
During  his  residence  in  Candor,  Mr.  Scott 
was  a  candidate  for  Special  County  Judge; 
but,  as  he  was  a  Democrat  and  the  county 
Republican,  he  was  defeated,  although  in  his 
own  district  he  stood  far  in  advance  of  the 
other  candidate.  Mr.  Scott  now  spent  a  year 
in  practice  in  Owego,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1889  removed  to  Croton. 

In  i860  Mr.  Scott  married  Miss  Anna  R. 
DeGraff,  of  Schoharie  County;  and  two  sons 
have  been  born  to  them:  Harry  D.,  a  com- 
mercial traveller  in  Syracuse,  who  is  married 
and  has  one  son;  and  William  H.  Scott,  an 
accomplished  electrician,  who  for  several 
years  has  occupied  a  responsible  position  at 
Fishkill  on  the   Hudson. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RKVIF.W 


^■S 


An  honorable  man,  hi'^^lily  intellectual  and 
strongly  practical,  Mr.  Scott  stands  in  the 
front  rank  of  his  profession:  and  the  high 
regard  in  which  he  is  held  gives  abundant 
proof  of  his  ability  as  a  lawyer  and  his  strong 
and  noble  character. 


]\IASA  I'ARKICR  COOK.  wh,.  has 
converted  his  home  at  I>utternut 
Grove  into  a  most  delightful  sum- 
mer hostelry,  which  is  well  jjatron- 
ized  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighboring 
cities,  is  one  of  the  best-known  and  most  jjop- 
ular  citizens  of  the  town  of  Colchester.  He 
is  a  great-grandson  of  Jnhn  Conk,  who  came 
to  America  as  an  luiglish  snldier,  and  was 
wounded   at   the   battle   of   Monmouth. 

During  his  confinement  in  a  hospital  John 
Cook  met  Miss  Doll)-  Parker,  whom  he  after- 
ward married,  and  who  became  the  mother  of 
four  children  —  Daniel,  Joseph,  j'nidence. 
and  Catherine.  He  lived  for  a  short  time  at 
Collicoon,  Sullivan  County,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged in  the  lumber  business,  and  whence  he 
moved  to  Pepacton  in  the  town  of  Colchester, 
there  building  a  log  house  and  barn.  The 
family,  being  subsequently  attacked  by  Inil- 
ians.  were  obliged  to  flee  for  their  lives,  leav- 
ing the  redskins  to  carry  off  all  of  their 
earthly  possessions  which  were  of  any  \alue 
and  to  burn  all  tlie  buildings  on  the  jilace. 
After  peace  was  again  restt)red,  John  Cook 
returned  to  the  old  location,  which  was  unusu- 
ally attractive,  rebuilt  the  demolished  house 
and  barn,  cleared  the  land,  and  raised  grain 
and  cattle.  He  remained  there  for  several 
years,  but  in  1797  sold  the  farm,  and  with  his 
family  and  some  stock  crossed  the  mountain 
to  Beaver  Kill,  where  he  l)ought  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  land,  which  he  cleared, 
erecting  buildings,  and  sending  the  logs  down 
the  river  to  Philatlelphia.  Hears,  deer, 
wolves,  and  panthers  were  frequently  killed, 
the  two  former  for  food,  the  latter  to  prevent 
their  depredations.  A  herd  of  elks,  at  first 
twelve  in  number,  which  lingered  near  the 
clearing,  for  some  time  su[iplied  the  familv 
larder  with  game.  Trout,  also,  were  very 
plentiful  in  the  neighboring  brooks  and  creeks, 
and    furnished    an    agreeable    and    wholesome 


article  of  diet.  This  was  fortunate,  as,  al- 
though John  Cook  raised  grain  on  his  farm, 
he  was  obliged  to  carry  it  to  Kingston  to 
be  ground,  the  nearest  mill  being  in  that 
town.  The  journey  to  this  mill  and  return 
occupied  four  days,  and  so  was  only  made 
when  absolutely  necessary.  John  Cook  made 
his  home  at  Heaver  Kill  for  the  remainder 
of  his  days,  but  died  at  Downsville  while 
on  a  visit  to  his  daughter,  at  the  advanced 
age  of  eighty  years,  his  wife  also  living  to  be 
very  old. 

Joseph,  son  ot  John  and  Dolly  Cook,  was 
born  in  1777,  at  Collicoon,  Sullivan  County, 
where  he  grew  to  manhooil,  and  married  Miss 
Illeanor  Carrier,  afterward  settling  at  Lib- 
erty in  the  same  county.  They  were  the 
parents  of  four  children  —  Halsey,  Munoris, 
Alonzo,  and  Liicretia.  At  Liberty  Joseph 
Cook  built  a  hotel,  of  which  he  was  proprietor 
for  ten  years,  at  the  end  of  which  period  he 
returned  to  the  old  homestead,  and  with  the 
assistance  of  his  brother  operated  the  farm 
there,  being  at  the  same  time  engaged  in  the 
lumber  business.  He  was  a  volunteer  in  the 
War  of  1812,  taking  part  in  the  engagements 
at  Brooklyn  and  Sackett"s  Harbor.  When 
peace  was  declared,  he  once  more  returned  to 
his  old  occupation,  and  devoted  much  of  his 
leisure  to  hunting,  killing  over  four  hundred 
deer,  which  with  other  game  he  exchanged 
for  groceries.  He  was  an  ardent  Demo- 
crat, and  died,  a  firm  believer  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  that  party,  in  185 1,  his  wife  living 
until   1S79. 

Halsey,  eldest  son  of  Joseph  Cook,  was 
born  at  Liberty  Village  in  1820,  and  removed 
with  his  parents  in  1832  to  Heaver  Kill, 
where  he  was  educated  in  the  common  schools, 
and  followed  the  occupation  of  his  father,  that 
of  a  lumberman  and  farmer,  in  which  he  was 
\ery  successful.  Hy  patient  labor  and  eco- 
nomical living  he  managed  to  accumulate 
enough  money  to  purchase  a  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  near  that  of  his  father, 
which  he  also  bought  some  time  later,  and 
was  then  the  possessor  of  seven  hundred  acres. 
Halsey  Cook  married  I'llsie  Lawrence;  and 
they  had  two  children:  Amasa  Parker,  the 
subject  of  this  notice;  and  iCmily,  who  was 
born   July   21,    1S5",    .,1  in;,-,!    H,ii-f,,n    r,„,i:. 


66 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


and  died  in  1875,  leaving  one  daughter, 
Viola.  Halsey  Cook  resided  on  his  farm 
until  his  death  in  1867.  He  was  a  Republi- 
can, and  always  voteil  with  that  party.  His 
wife  passed  away  in  1880. 

Amasa  Parker  Cook  was  born  February  8, 
1847,  and  was  but  four  years  of  age  when  he 
came  to  his  present  home,  where  he  was 
reared  to  manhood,  and  received  his  education 
in  the  common  schools  of  the  town.  His  days 
were  devoted  to  the  work  on  the  farm  and 
lumbering,  and  his  evenings  he  spent  in 
studying  and  reading.  By  this  means  he  be- 
came well  informed  and  a  good  business  man. 
He  began  to  ship  his  lumber  to  Philadelphia 
when  he  was  but  twenty  years  of  age,  sending 
one  thousand  dollars'  worth  down  the  river 
in  a  year.  For  five  years  he  continued  in  this 
business,  cutting  the  trees  himself. 

When  twenty-eight  years  of  age,  he  married 
Rebecca,  daughter  of  William  Davidson,  who 
lived  on  Campbell  Mountain,  and  had  six 
children  —  Charles,  Rebecca,  Elizabeth,  Will- 
iam, Nettie,  and  Fannie.  William  Davidson 
was  the  son  of  William  Davidson,  Sr.,  who 
was  the  father  of  seven  children — John, 
James,  Thomas,  William,  Nelson,  Walter, 
and  Nettie.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  Parker  Cook 
are  the  parents  of  four  sons,  namely :  Har- 
mon, born  December  22,  1875,  a  pupil  at 
Walton  Academy;  George  C.,  born  February 
10,  1S78:  Edmond,  who  was  born  August  21, 
1880;  and  Walter,  born  June  24,   1885. 

Mr.  Cook  owns  one  hundred  and  eighty-two 
acres  of  farm  land  and  a  fine,  large  house, 
where  he  accommodates  twenty-five  summer 
boarders,  the  situation  of  the  estate  on  the 
bank  of  Beaver  Kill  giving  exceptional  facili- 
ties for  fishing  and  other  sports.  He  has 
erected  commodious  barns,  and  he  keeps  on 
the  premises  ten  choice  Jersey  cows.  This 
pleasant  summer  resort  is  about  one  and  one- 
half  miles  from  the  railway  station,  Cook's 
P'alls,  and  during  the  heated  season  is  well 
filled  with  city  residents,  who  seek  the  cool 
and  quiet  of  country  life.  Mr.  Cook  is  an 
earnest  member  of  the  Prohibition  party,  in 
whose  cause  he  is  an  able  champion.  He  is 
an  energetic,  practical  man,  whose  success  in 
life  is  largely  due  to  his  own  untiring  efforts, 
who  performs  his  duties  as  a  citizen  in  a  con- 


scientious manner,  and   enjoys  the  esteem  and 
good  will  of  his  townspeople. 


tp)Tl-:CTOR  .SHAW  is  a  native  of  Ham- 
l-^-l  den,  Delaware  County.  N.Y.,  antl  an 
lis  I  influential    and     worthy    citizen    of 

^-^  that  town,  for  the  welfare  of  which 
he  is  ever  laboring.  He  is  of  Scotch  ances- 
try, being  a  son  of  Donald  Shaw,  who  was 
born  in  Argyle,  Scotland,  in  1788,  and  was 
brought  to  America  by  his  parents  when  but 
nine  years  of  age.  Twenty-four  years  later 
he  married  Janet  McNaught,  who  was  also 
Scotch,  being  a  native  of  Dunbartonshire  on 
Loch  Lomond,  where  she  was  born  in  1798, 
a  daughter  of  John  McNaught.  She  sailed 
for  the  New  World  in  18 17;  and  in  182 1  they 
were  married  in  Bovina,  and  settled  in  Ham- 
den,  on  the  flats  one  mile  below  the  village, 
where  they  were  at  one  time  the  possessors  of 
one  thousand  acres  of  land. 

They  became  the  parents  of  nine  children, 
of  whom  six  are  still  living,  two  sons  and  one 
daughter  having  died  in  the  prime  of  life. 
One  son,  Donald  Douglas  Shaw,  was  a  brill- 
iant young  lawyer,  a  graduate  of  Yale  in  the 
class  of  1856,  who  studied  his  profession  in 
Albany,  and  was  elected  Assemblyman,  but 
died  December  29,  1859,  and  was  buried  on 
the  day  when  he  would  have  taken  his  seat  in 
the  legislature.  He  was  a  genial,  scholarly 
man,  with  prospects  of  a  brilliant  future, 
whose  loss  was  keenly  felt  by  a  large  circle  of 
admiring  friends  made  in  his  short  but  effec- 
tive career.  Another  son,  Augustus  Shaw, 
died  of  consumption,  in  Hamden,  March  13, 
1861,  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine  years.  The 
children  now  living  are:  Alexander,  a  retired 
merchant,  with  a  family  at  Delhi;  Marshall,  of 
Rock  Lsland,  111.,  who  was  an  ofificer  in  the 
Civil  War,  but  was  forced  by  illness  to  resign 
his  commission;  Hector,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Edwin,  a  farmer  near  Hamden;  Cath- 
erine, wife  of  Daniel  Crawford;  and  Arthur, 
who  married  Jennie  Bostwick,  daughter  of 
Marcus  and  Deborah  (Kellogg)  Bostwick,  and 
is  the  father  of  four  children.  Donald  Shaw, 
the  father,  died  in  September,  1865.  His 
widow,  Janet,  is  still  living,  and  at  ninety-six 
years  of  age  her  mind  is  yet  clear. 


Thompson   K.   Walker, 


BIOGRAIMIICAI,    REVIKVV 


69 


Ilcctor  SIkuv  was  lioni  in  tlio  villa>;c  of 
Ilamdcn  in  I.S2.S,  and  received  a  common- 
school  education.  He  lias  been  twice  mar- 
ried. His  first  wife,  Harriet  Haslow,  was  the 
mother  of  two  children,  namely:  Arabella, 
who  died  when  fi\-e  years  of  ai;e;  and  Malcom, 
an  electrician  in  Albany,  who  is  married  and 
has  a  daii<;hter.  On  l'"ebruar)-  2,  1.S66,  Mr. 
Shaw  married  Mis^,  Rachel  McClaren,  of 
Haniden,  daughter  of  David  and  C"atln'rine 
(Coon)  McClaren,  the  father  a  nati\e  of  (Ilas- 
gow,  Scotland,  ami  the  mother  of  New  ^'ork 
State.  Mr.  McClarcn  was  a  farmei-  in  Ham- 
den,  where  he  died  in  1850,  aged  (ifty  years.  , 
His  wife,  Mrs.  .Shaw's  mother,  survived  him 
about  thirty-two  years,  and  passed  away  after 
reaching  her  sevent)-eigluh  _\ear.  Mrs.  Mc-  j 
Claren  was  the  mothi-r  of  three  daughters  and 
one  son,  the  latter  dying  when  an  infant  of 
eighteen  months.  These  daughters  are  :  Mary 
C.  wife  of  the  Rev.  George  Hrown,  of  \\'al- 
ton:  Mrs.  Shaw;  and  hjiiily,  wife  of  John 
Genimell,  of  New  York  City,  who  resides  in 
.Syracuse. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  .Shaw  are  the  parents  of  two 
children,  as  follows:  David  Alexander,  who  j 
was  a  student  at  Delhi  Academy,  a  graduate 
of  Philli]is  Academy  at  Andover,  Mass.,  and 
of  the  business  college  at  I'oughkeepsie,  and 
is  now  a  book-keeper  at  Mishaw.aka,  Iiul.  ;  j 
and  Catherine,  wife  of  the  Rev.  H.  A.  I'erci- 
val,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  Mishawaka. 
.Mr.  .Shaw  has  lived  in  his  large,  ]deasant 
house  in  the  \'illage  foi-  the  last  four  years, 
his  farm  of  three  hundred  and  eighteen  acres, 
three  miles  from  Hamden,  being  occu|)ied  bv 
one  of  his  tenants.  His  wife  is  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  church,  where  she  is  a  con- 
stant and  interested  attendant.  Mr.  Shaw  is 
a  Republican,  of  which  party  organization  he 
has  long  been  an  active  member.  He  is  held 
in  great  esteem  by  his  associates  and  fdlow- 
townspeople,  whose  interests  he  e\-ei-  lias  at 
heart,  and  for  whose  progress  and  improvement 
he  is  always  ready  to  lend  a  helping  hand. 


HOAH'SOX    K.    WAI.KI'.R,    the   genial 
and    capable   pi'oprietor  of    the   Downs 
House   at   Downsville,  N.Y.,  is  a  man 
of    versatile    talents    and    varied     experience. 


among  othei'  things  basing  had  much  to  do 
with  educational  matters.  Hi-  is  a  descend- 
ant, in  the  fifth  generation,  of  l'hili|)  Walker, 
who  was  of  i'Jigiish  ancestry,  and  whose  son, 
Phili]),  Jr.,  was  a  brave  soldier  in  the  Revo- 
lution, and  afterward  served  as  Town  Clerk 
in  the  town  of  Rehoboth  from  1787  to  1801. 
These  facts  sliow  the  character  and  tendencies 
of  tlie  early  Walkers,  and  those  who  have  fol- 
lowed have  duly  exemiilifiod  the  same.  This 
I'liilij),  Jr.,  was  father  of  Thompson  Walker, 
who  was  horn  in  Rhode  Island,  June  11, 
1786,  and  died  May  ij,  1842,  in  Roxbury, 
N.Y.  He  was  a  carpenter,  and,  coming  to 
Roxbury  in  his  early  manhood,  here  followed 
his  traile  until  his  tle.itii. 

Uy  his  wife,  Mary  I,_\nch,  he  had  four  chil- 
dren—  (leorge  \V.,  D.miel  1..,  Delia  C,  and 
Henry  L.  He  was  a  Democrat,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  l''[)iscopal  church. 

Henry  L.  Walker  was  born  in  Roxbury, 
.Se])tember  6,  18 18,  and  was  educated  in  the 
district  schools,  after  which  he  started  in 
business,  first  driving  a  team  for  Ishani 
J>r()thers,  tanners  and  merchants,  and  after  a 
}ear  being  promoted  to  a  clerkshiji,  in  which 
he  remained  three  years.  He  then  went  as 
clerk  for  Matthew  (iriffin,  and  after  three 
more  3'ears  went  into  business  with  Harvey 
Keator,  establishing  himself  in  Kingston, 
Ulster  County.  .Many  years  later  he  went  to 
Roxbury,  and  bought  the  old  homestead  and 
the  farm  connected  with  it,  comprising  in  all 
about  one  hundred  and  forty  acres.  His  wife 
was  Allice  Griffin,  horn  IMarch  10,  1814,  a 
daughter  of  l'>.ekiel  and  Charlotte  (White) 
(jrilTm.  Her  father  was  born  April  24,  1776, 
and  her  mother  on  June  11,  1779,  a  daughter 
of  John  and  Tabitha  White.  Mrs.  Allice 
(iriffin  Walker  died  January  10,  1887.  Henry 
I,.  Walker  was  an  industrious  and  a  very  pros- 
|)erous  man,  and  one  who  is  well  remembered 
for  his  great  generosity.  In  politics  he  was 
a  Reiniblican.  He  died  February  13,  1890, 
and  had  two  ciiildren — 'Thompson  K.  and 
Mar\-  C,  the  latter  of  wdiom  was  born  October 
18,   1854.  and  died  February  4,   1874. 

Thompson  K.  Walker  was  born  in  Kings- 
ton, March  22,  1S49,  and  while  yet  a  boy 
removed  to  the  old  home  at  Roxbur\'.  There 
he  attended  the  academy,  and  then  finished  a 


7° 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


full  course  at  the  Franklin  Institute.  He 
was  book-keeper  for  Dr.  Keator  for  a  while, 
and  when  but  twenty  years  old  began  teaching 
school  at  Olive,  Ulster  County,  N.Y.  Here 
he  remained  for  two  years,  and  then  accepted 
the  position  of  principal  in  the  union  graded 
school  at  Napanock  in  the  same  county. 
After  holding  this  position  for  fifteen  years, 
in  1883  he  resigned,  and  engaged  in  the  real 
estate  and  insurance  business  in  Middletown. 
During  this  time  he  bought  the  Holding 
House  property,  and  there  for  about  two  years 
he  conducted  a  hotel.  By  this  time  an  ac- 
complished landlord,  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  business  of  inn-keeping,  he  came  to 
Downsville,  and  bought  the  Downs  House, 
which  is  beautifully  located  among  the  hills 
and  in  close  proximity  to  some  of  the  best 
trout  brooks  in  the  country.  What  sportsman 
who  makes  his  yearly  visit  to  these  pleasant 
streams  does  not  know  the  hospitality  of 
"mine  host"  of  the  Downs  House?  The 
place  is  well  managed,  everything  being  neat, 
orderly,  and  in  good  condition;  and  those 
travelling  on  business,  as  well  as  those  seek- 
ing sport  and  recreation,  are  glad  to  lodge  at 
this  hostelry,  the  doors  of  which  are  always 
open  to  welcome  the  stranger. 

In  1 87 1  Mr.  Walker  married  Evelyn  M. 
Munson, .  daughter  of  John  H.  and'  Julia 
(Hodge)  Munson.  Her  father,  who  was  born 
in  1815,  a  son  of  Heman  and  Julia  Munson, 
was  a  farmer  in  Delaware  County.  He  and 
his  wife  raised  a  family  of  six  children: 
Ainer,  who  resides  at  the  old  homestead; 
Albert  H.,  who  lives  at  .Sheridan;  Milton  D., 
of  North  Franklin;  Dr.  J.  A.  Munson,  of 
Woodbourne;  Mrs.  Josephine  McMinn,  of 
Oneonta;  and  Mrs.  Walker,  of  Down.sville. 
Heman  Munson,  father  of  John,  married 
.Sarah  Hecock,  and  came  from  the  Flastern 
States,  settling  at  Meredith.  There  they 
carried  on  their  farm  for  about  forty  years, 
and  thence  moved  to  Oneonta,  N.Y.,  where 
Mr.  Munson  died.  His  widow  still  lives  in 
Oneonta.  They  were  Univensalists,  but  John 
H.  Munson's  family  are  members  of  the 
Methodi.st  F.piscopal  church.  The  wife  of 
John  H.  Munson,  Julia  Hodge,  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  A.  and  Evelyn  (Goodrich)  Hodge, 
who  raised  a  large  family  of  children,  namely: 


Julia,  wife  of  John  Munson;  Rebecca,  wife  of 
Maj'ir  Osterhout;  Evelyn,  wife  of  C.  Clark, 
uf  Owego;  Lucretia,  wife  of  I.  Wilson,  of 
Illinois;  Lavinia;  Walter,  a  Major  in  the 
late  war;  Henry  and  William,  who  died 
young;  and  John,  a  Lieutenant  in  Company 
K,  One  Hundred  and  Forty-fourth  New  York 
Infantry,  now  living  in  New  Mexico,  and 
practising  medicine  as  well  as  being  inter- 
ested in  mining.  Mrs.  Munson  is  still  living 
at  Oneonta.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church. 

Thompson  K.  Walker  has  one  child,  Harry 
L.  Walker,  born  December  7,  1872,  who  is 
with  his  father  in  the  hotel  business,  con- 
nected with  which  they  also  have  a  large  liv- 
ery. Mr.  Walker  is  a  Republican  and  a  man 
of  liberal  religious  views,  being  ever  ready 
to  adopt  those  principles  which  embrace  the 
most  modern  and  progressive  thought.  Fra- 
ternally, he  is  a  Mason,  belonging  to  Downs- 
ville Lodge,  No.  464,  A.  F.  &  A.  M., 
Wawarsing  Chapter,  No.  286,  Ellenville, 
N.Y.,  Rondout  Commandery,  No.  53, 
Rondout,  N.Y.,  and  Dewitt  Clinton  Consis- 
tory, No.  II,  Middletown,  N.Y.  He  is  also 
a  member  of  Lancelot  Lodge,  No.  189, 
Knights  of  Pythias,  Middletown,  N.Y.  He 
has  shown  marked  ability  for  carrying  on  a 
line  of  business  in  which  it  is  most  difficult 
to  please,  his  success  being  such  as  to  win  the 
plaudits  of  his  patrons.  A  highly  intelligent 
gentleman,  possessing  a  well-.stored  and  well- 
trained  mind,  courteous,  obliging,  and  genial, 
he  has  a  happy  faculty  for  making  his  guests 
feel  at  home,  and  for  retaining  them  as 
friends. 

The  portrait  of  Mr.  Walker  on  another 
page  will  be  recognized  with  pleasure  by 
many  who  have  tarried  for  a  longer  or  shorter 
time  under  the  hospitable  roof  of  the  Downs 
House,  here  perhaps  first  realizing  the  warm 
welcome  of  a  wavside  inn. 


IRAM      K.     STOUTENBURG,     cash 
collector    of     the     Adams     Express 
1.9  I  Company,   and   a    Inisiness    man    of 

ability,  is  a  native  of  Delaware 
County,  having  been  born  in  Delhi  on  Octo- 
ber    14,     1842.     The    first    of    his    paternal 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


7' 


ancestors  to  come  to  America  was  his  great- 
great-grandfatlier,  Jacobus  Stoutenburjj;,  who 
emigrated  from  HoHand  early  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  in  171 7,  :ind,  settling  in 
ICastern  New  York,  became  a  pioneer  of 
Dutchess  County,  where  he  purchas^'d  land 
and'  improved  a  farm.  lie  raised  a  large 
family:  and  among  them  was  'r(jbias  Stouten- 
burg,  father  of  Peter  Stoutenburg,  who  was 
the  grandfather  of  Hiram  K.  Peter  Stouten- 
burg after  his  marriage  moved  still  farther 
westward,  coming  to  Delaware  County  and 
buying  wild  land  in  the  town  of  Kortright, 
being  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  that  town. 
Erecting  the  customary  log  cabin  of  the  pio- 
neer, he  spent  many  a  long  year  in  the  ardu- 
ous labor  of  clearing  his  land  and  placing  it 
under  cultivation.  He  was,  however,  pros- 
pered in  his  unilertaking,  and  resided  here 
until  his  death,  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  ninety 
years.  He  married  I.ydia  Borden,  who  bore 
him  twelve  children:  namely,  William,  I".d- 
ward,  Tobias,  Jackson,  Alfred,  Charles,  Silas, 
Ann,  Sarah,  Eliza,  Catherine,  and  Maria. 
His  wife  also  spent  her  last  years  on  the 
homestead,  living  to  an  advanced  age.  His 
mother,  who  after  the  death  of  her  husband 
left  her  home  in  Dutchess  County,  to  live 
with  her  grandson,  William  .Stoutenburg. 
lived  to  the  remarkable  age  of  one  hundred 
and  two  years:  and  her  venerable  form  is  held 
in  vivid  remembrance  by  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  her  great-grandson. 

William  Stoutenburg,  eldest  son  of  Peter 
and  Lydia,  was  reared  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits, remaining  on  the  paternal  homestead 
until  attaining  his  majority.  Following  in 
the  footsteps  of  his  ancestors,  he,  too,  became 
a  pioneer,  settling  in  the  village  of  Delhi  at  a 
time  when  two  or  three  houses  sheltered  its 
entire  population.  In  addition  to  farming, 
he  also  followed  the  trade  of  a  millwright: 
but  he  has  long  since  retired  from  active  life, 
and  is  now  spending  the  sunset  years  of  his 
life  in  comfort  and  plenty.  The  maiden 
name  of  his  wife  was  Caroline  Peake.  She 
was  a  native  of  Delhi,  and  the  daughter  of 
Oliver  and  lUizabeth  (Clark)  Peake,  who  were 
of  New  England  birtli.  To  them  were  born 
five  children  —  Sarah,  Maria,  Hiram  E., 
William    C,    and    Jane.      'I"he    latter    died   at 


eight  years  of  age.  .Sarah  is  the  wife  of 
A.  M.  Hurdick,  a  retired  farmer  of  Delhi. 
Maria,  the  widow  of  George  Ilutson,  lives 
in  the  village  of  Delhi.  William  C.  w;is 
wouniled  at  the  Ixattle  of  the  Wilderness,  and 
soon  afterward  died  from  its  effects,  at  Phila- 
delphia, Pa.  The  mother,  a  woman  of  much 
force  of  character,  and  a  faithful  membei-  of 
the  Baptist  church,  departed  this  life  in  1886, 
at  the  age  of  threescore  and  ten  years. 

Hiram  E.,  the  third  child  of  his  parents, 
and  their  eldest  son,  received  a  good  educa- 
tion in  the  district  schools  and  academy  of 
Delhi,  assisted  in  the  management  of  the 
home  farm  until  after  the  breaking  out  of  the 
late  Rebellion,  when,  in  res]K)nse  to  his  coun- 
try's call,  he  enlisted,  September  15,  1861, 
in  Company  G,  One  Hundred  and  I-"irst 
Regiment,  New  York  X'olunteer  Infantry, 
under  the  command  of  Cajitain  A.  Huckham. 
This  regiment  belonged  to  the  Third  Army 
Corps,  which  was  then  commanded  by  (jeneral 
Heintzelman,  afterward  by  General  Sickles: 
and  in  December,  1862,  it  was  consolidated 
with  the  Thirty-seventh  New  York  Volunteer 
Infantry,  commanded  by  Colonel  Keeley,  and 
Mr.  .Stoutenburg  became  a  member  of  Com- 
pany A,  which  was  commanded  by  Captain 
Dougherty.  In  May,  1S63,  the  regiment  was 
united  with  the  I'ortieth  New  \'ork :  and  here 
Mr.  Stoutenburg  remained  until  September 
10.  \^C>4,  when  he  was  rt'moved  to  the  hos- 
pital, from  there  receiving  his  honorable  dis- 
charge in  the  spring  of  1865.  He  has  a  long 
and  honorable  war  record,  having  been  an 
active  ])articipant  in  forty-two  of  the  most 
hotly  contested  battles  of  the  Rebellion,  be- 
sides numerous  skirmishes.  'I'he  following 
are  some  of  the  most  important  battles  in 
which  he  was  engaged:  with  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  I'irst  New  York  at  Fair  Oaks, 
Seven    Pines,  Peach   Orchard,  Savage  Station, 

'  Chickahominy  Swamp,  White  Oak  Swamp, 
Charles   City  Cross-roads,   Malvern    Hill,  sec- 

;  ond  Hull  Run,  Groveton,  Chant  illy,  and  I-'red- 
ericksburg:  with  the  Thirty-seventh  New 
York  at  Chancellorsville:  with  the  I-"or- 
tieth  New  York  at  Anlietam,  Healeton, 
Bermuda  Hundred,  Brandy  Station,  Bristoe 
Station,  Callett"s  Station.  Cold  Harbor, 
Culpeper,   Deep    Bottom,    Gettysburg.    H  ■"!- 


72 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


son's  Landing,  Jerusalem  Plank  Road, 
Kelley's  Ford,  North  Anna  River,  Peters- 
biiri(,  Rapidan,  Ream's  Station,  Snieker's 
Gap,  South  Mountain,  Spottsylvania  (1863 
and  1864),  Sulphur  Springs,  Va.,  Wilderness, 
Wapping's  Heights.  A  number  of  these 
were  from  one  to  four  days"  continuous  fight- 
ing. 

Mr.  Stoutenburg  was  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  Orderly  Sergeant  three  times,  but  twice, 
on  account  of  consolidation,  was  reduced. 
He,  however,  held  that  position  at  the  time 
of  being  wounded,  and  was  discharged  as 
Orderly  Sergeant  of  Company  E,  Fortieth 
New  York  Regiment.  He  was  three  times 
wounded  during  his  army  life,  the  first  two 
wounds  being  slight;  but  the  third  was  occa- 
sioned by  a  shot  from  a  sharpshooter's  rifle, 
which  shattered  the  bone  of  the  arm  to  such 
an  extent  that  he  was  obliged  to  have  it  ampu- 
tated at  the  right  shoulder  joint,  which  neces- 
sitated a  six  months'  stay  in  the  hospital. 

Returning  to  Delhi  after  the  cessation  of 
hostilities,  Mr.  Stoutenburg  was  soon  after 
elected  Under-sheriff,  a  position  which  he 
held  for  three  terms  of  three  years  each,  from 
1865  to  1874.  Since  then  he  has  been  with 
an  express  company,  first  in  the  employ  qf  the 
National  Express,  and  more  recently  in  that 
of  the  Adams  Express.  He  is  well  fitted  for 
the  responsible  position  of  cash  collector, 
which  he  is  filling  with  such  fidelity,  being  a 
most  genial  and  accommodating  man,  with 
whom  it  is  a  pleasure  to  transact  business, 
and  one  whose  sterling  integrity,  and  every- 
day honesty  have  gained  for  him  the  entire 
confidence  of  his  employers  and  of  the  public 
in  general.  Mr.  Stoutenburg  is  quite  promi- 
nent in  F.ngland  Post,  No.  142,  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic,  of  Delhi,  of  which  he  was 
elected  Commander  in  1889,  serving  one  year. 
He  had  previously  been  Quartermaster  since 
1866,  and  still  holds  that  position. 

The  union  of  Hiram  li.  Stoutenburg  with 
Miss  Frances  A.  Hine,  a  daughter  of  Reiley 
Hine,  of  Franklin,  was  solemnized  on  Octo- 
ber 14,  1865.  Their  only  child  is  a  daughter,  ; 
Estella  M.,  who  married  John  J.  Burke,  a  > 
prominent  business  man  of  Delhi,  of  whom  a 
sketch  appears  on  another  page  of  this  vol- 
ume.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burke  are  the  parents  of  i 


one  child,  a  little  daughter  named  Leda. 
Politically,  Mr.  Stoutenburg  is  a  stanch  sup- 
porter of  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party.  Religiously,  he  and  his  family  are 
valued  members  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  active  laborers  in  the  good  works 
of  that  ortranization. 


DMUND  H.  ROSE  bears  a  name  that 
has  long  been  known  and  highly  re- 
spected in  Delaware  County.  Among 
the  pioneers  of  this  section  of  the  Empire 
State  was  one  Hugh  Rose,  who  came  here 
from  Scotland  prior  to  the  Revolutionary 
War.  He  settled  in  the  town  of  Stamford, 
being  the  first  to  make  his  home  on  the 
stream  of  water  that  in  his  honor  has  since 
been  known  as  Rose's  Brook.  Taking  advan- 
tage of  the  water-power,  he  put  up  a  saw  and 
grist  mill,  the  very  first  one  in  the  vicinity, 
and  for  many  years  followed  his  former  occu- 
pation of  a  miller.  On  his  arrival  he  took 
up  six  hundred  acres  of  land,  but  this  he  let 
revert  to  the  government.  He  subsequently, 
however,  acquired  two  hundred  acres  that 
are  now  included  in  the  homestead  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  his  great-grandson. 
His  mill  was  built  of  logs,  as  was  also  the 
house  which  sheltered  himself  and  family. 
In  his  home  on  Rose's  Brook  he  rounded 
out  a  full  period  of  years,  dying  there  at  the 
age  of  eighty-six.  He  was  a  religious,  God- 
fearing man,  and  one  of  the  prime  movers  in 
organizing  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Kort- 
right   Centre. 

His  son,  Hugh  Rose,  the  second,  was  born 
in  Stamford,  and  was,  like  him,  both  a  miller 
and  a  farmer.  He  and  his  family  at  first 
occupied  the  primitive  log  cabin,  subsisting 
principally  upon  the  game  from  the  forest  and 
the  productions  of  their  own  land,  and  were 
clothed  in  "homespun,"  which  was  spun, 
woven,  and  fashioned  into  garments  by  the 
dexterous  fingers  of  the  good  housewife. 
When  he  first  moved  into  his  humble  habita- 
tion, it  had  neither  doors  nor  windows;  but 
the  appearance  of  a  panther  led  him  to  hasten 
his  operations  and  hang  the  doors.  He  was 
persevering,  and  cleared  a  fine  homestead,  on 
which  he  resided  until  his  departure  from  this 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


73 


life,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four  years.  He  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Barlow,  who  bore  him  ten  chil- 
dren, of  whom  only  one,  luhmmd  Rose,  of 
Delhi,  is  now  living.  His  wife  survived 
him,  living  until  seventy-three  years  old. 
Both  of  them  were  consistent  members  of  the 
Reformed  Presbyterian  church  at  South  Kort- 
right.      In  politics  he  was  a  Whig. 

The  third  Hugh  Rose,  son  of  the  second 
Hugh,  was  l)orn  on  the  farm  which  his  fatlier 
cleared  from  the  wilderness,  and  afterwartl 
succeeded  him  in  its  ownership.  Toiling 
early  and  late  to  place  his  land  under  cultiva- 
tion, and  adding  somewhat  to  its  acreage,  he 
had  at  the  time  of  his  decease,  when  only 
forty-four  years  old,  a  farm  of  two  hundred 
and  forty  acres.  He  married  Isabelle  BJakely, 
the  daughter  of  William  Blakely,  of  whom  a 
sketch  appears  on  another  page  of  this  volume. 
She  survived  him,  dying  on  the  old  home- 
stead, at  the  age  of  sixty-four  years.  Of  the 
four  children  born  to  them  three  are  now  liv- 
ing, as  follows:  James  H.,  a  resident  of 
Stamford;  Mrs.  Gibson  Grant,  of  Stamford; 
and  Edmund  H.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hugh  Rose 
were  held  in  high  esteem  by  all  who  knew 
them,  and  were  valued  members  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  church  of  South  Kortright.  Po- 
litically, he  was  a  Republican. 

Edmund  H.  Rose  was  the  youngest  child  of 
Hugh  Rose,  the  third,  his  birth  occurring 
August  14,  1855,  on  the  farm  where  he  now 
resides.  He  received  the  rudiments  ot  his 
education  in  the  district  school,  and  this  was 
further  advanced  by  an  attendance  at  Walton 
Academy.  Following  in  the  pathway  marked 
out  by  his  honored  ancestors,  he  has  devoted 
his  time  and  attention  to  the  various  branches 
of  agriculture;  and,  having  come  into  posses- 
sion of  the  old  homestead,  where  his  entire 
life  has  been  spent,  he  has  made  constant  and 
valued  improvements,  and  owns  now  one  of 
the  finest  estates  in  this  locality.  He  has 
two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  acres  of  land, 
on  which  he  has  a  comfortable  residence  and 
substantial  farm  buildings.  His  farm  is  de- 
voted chiefly  to  dairying,  his  fifty  tine  Jersey 
cows  yielding  him  an  average  of  eight  cans  of 
milk  a  day  throughout  the  year. 

Mr.  Ro'se  and  Miss  Ida  L.  Kilpatrick  were 
united    in    marriage    on    February    19.    1879. 


The  home  circle  established  by  this  pleasant 
union  has  been  gladdened  by  the  birtJi  of  five 
children,  namely:  Clarence  A.,  born  Sei)tem- 
ber  5,  1881;  ICverc-tt  Bruce,  born  July  23, 
1887;  lulmund  H.  and  Etliej  J.,  twins,  hovn 
January  13,  1889;  and  Anna  Belle,  born  Au- 
gust 9,  1891.  The  parents  of  Mrs.  Rose, 
Richard  and  Juliet  (Dennison)  Kilpatrick, 
were  for  many  years  esteemed  members  of  the 
agricultural  community  of  Kortright,  wheri; 
her  father's  death  occurred  in  1880.  His 
widow  is  still  living,  and  resides  in  Stamford. 
Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rose  are  valued  mem- 
bers (if  the  I'nited  Presbyterian  church  at 
.South  Kortright.  In  jiolitics  he  casts  his 
vote  with  the  Democratic  ]xirty.  He  has 
shown  good  jutlgment  in  the  management  of 
his  business  and  farming  operations,  and  has 
met  with  excellent  success.  In  the  various 
relations  of  life  he  acquits  himself  well,  sus- 
taining the  character  of  an  estimable  and 
\-aluetl   citizen,    neighbor,    and   friend. 


RSON  J.  ELLS,  of  Walton,  Dela- 
ware County,  N.Y.,  is  one  of  the  old- 
est and  most  successful  business  men 
of  this  town,  where  he  is  the  proprie- 
tor iif  a  large  furniture  establishment,  and 
has  won  a  well-deserved  reputation  as  a  man 
of  ability,  integrity,  and  upriglitness,  the 
competency  he  is  now  enjoying  being  the  re- 
sult of  the  assiduous  labor  of  many  years. 
The  family  name  was  formerly  Fells,  but  was 
changed  by  the  last  generation,  one  "e"  being 
dro]iped,  making  it  Ells,  as  ajjove  spelled. 

Jacob  ICells,  the  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  was  born  in  New  Canaan.  Conn., 
in  1785,  son  of  Moses  Eells,  who  learned  the 
trade  of  a  weaver,  at  which  he  worked 
throughout  his  life,  using,  as  was  the  custom 
in  those  early  times,  an  old-fashioned  iiand 
loom.  Moses  1-Lells  married  Miss  Comstock : 
and  they  were  the  parents  of  eight  children, 
six  of  whom  lived  to  rear  families  of  their 
own.  Both  Moses  ICells  and  his  wife  lived  to 
be  over  ninety  years  old,  not  an  uncommon 
occurrence    in   those   times. 

In  Colchester,  Delaware  County,  in  1806, 
Jacob  Eells  married  Miss  Maria  Halliday, 
who  was  born  in  Johnstown,  but  removed  with 


74 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


her  parents  to  Colchester  when  but  three 
years  of  age.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Will- 
iam Halliday,  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  who 
served  for  seven  years  in  the  war,  being  held 
as  a  prisoner  during  a  portion  of  that  time. 
Although  a  man  small  of  stature,  he  possessed 
wonderful  strength,  activity,  and  endurance. 
Tradition  has  it  that  he  reaped  grain  with  a 
sickle  for  ninety-six  years  in  succession  —  an 
unparalleled  record.  He  married  Miss  Hitt, 
and  ten  children  were  the  results  of  this 
union.  A  few  years  before  his  death  Mr. 
Halliday  lost  the  sight  of  one  of  his  eyes,  but 
this  misfortune  did  not  prevent  his  being  an 
attentive  reader  of  the  Bible  to  the  last.  He 
died  at  the  extraordinary  age  of  one  hundred 
and  four  years,  a  Deacon  of  the  Baptist 
church,  in  whose  doctrines  he  was  a  firm 
believer. 

Jacob  Eells  and  his  wife  began  their  domes- 
tic life  in  a  most  humble  manner  in  Walton, 
he  working  at  his  trade  of  carpenter  and  cabi- 
net-maker, an  occupation  requiring  the  finest 
mechanical  skill.  Here  were  born  their 
eight  children,  six  daughters  and  two  sons, 
tiamely :  Alonzo,  who  died  in  1835,  aged 
twenty-two  years;  Antoinette,  wife  of  Robert 
Shaw,  whose  death  occurred  in  Laurel,  Dela- 
ware; Louisa,  wife  of  Sylvester  Simpson, 
who  dietl  in  Binghamton,  N.Y.,  in  1S58; 
Cornelia,  wife  of  Whiting  Beebe,  who  has 
also  passed  away:  Catherine,  wife  of  Ceely 
Rood,  of  Binghamton;  Orson  J.,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch;  -Sally  M.,  of  Boardman,  Wis., 
widow  of  Dr.  C.  R.  Powers;  and  Harriet  E., 
wife  of  Lowell  Harding,  of  Binghamton.  On 
March  30,  1876,  Mr.  Eells  |)assed  away,  aged 
ninety-two  years;  and  one  year  later  his  wife 
followed  him  to  the  eternal  home,  she  beina: 
ninety-three  years  old.  Both  had  been  Con- 
gregationalists  in  early  life,  but  later  had 
adopted   the   Methodist   faith. 

Orson  J.  Ells  was  born  July  25,  181S,  in 
Walton,  Delaware  County,  where  he  attended 
the  district  school  until  fourteen  years  of  age, 
when  he  began  working  at  the  trade  of  car- 
])enter  and  caliinet-maker,  in  which  he  was 
instructed  by  his  father,  with  whom  he  re- 
mained until  his  marriage.  This  interesting 
event  occurred  on  June  16,  1841,  Miss  Martha 
-Strong  becoming  his  bride.      She  was  a  native 


of  Eranklin,  and  daughter  of  Alfred  Strong. 
Two  daughters  —  Augusta  and  Estella — were 
born  of  this  union.  Augusta  became  the  wife 
of  A.  S.  Chamberlin,  and  died  in  1876,  at 
the  age  of  thirty-two  years,  leaving  one 
daughter,  Cora  Ells,  now  living  in  Seattle, 
Wash.,  the  wife  of  William  Perkins,  a  banker 
of  that  city.  Estella  is  the  wife  of  Hobart 
M.  Cable,  a  member  of  the  Cottage  Organ 
Company,  which  operates  a  large  factory  in 
Chicago.  Mr.  Cable  formerly  lived  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  was  for  three  years  a  member 
of  the  State  legislature,  serving  on  several 
important  committees.  For  nine  or  ten  years 
he  was  a  member  of  the  School  Board  of  Hyde 
Park,  a  suburb  of  Boston,  and  for  three  years 
was  one  of  its  Selectmen.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Cable  have  three  children,  as  follows: 
Martha,  wife  of  Howard  Morenus,  who  is  em- 
ployed l:iy  the  Cottage  Organ  Company,  and 
who  resides  in  Chicago;  Hobart,  a  lad  of 
twelve  years;  and  Mary,  a  bright  little  miss 
of  ten  summers. 

It  is  now  nearly  five  years  since  Mr.  Ells 
was  bereft  of  his  wife,  her  death,  on  the  7th 
of  March,  i8go,  being  the  result  of  a  severe 
fall  on  the  17th  of  January  previous.  His 
spacious  residence,  with  its  extensive  lawn 
and  fragrant  garden,  is  one  of  the  finest  in 
Walton.  Here  Mr.  Ells  is  quietly  passing 
the  eventide  of  life,  enjoying  the  esteem  and 
affection  of  neighbors  and  friends,  his  home 
being  frequently  enlivened  by  the  visits  of  his 
daughter  and  frrandchildren. 


§AMES  ABNER  MORSE,  a  well-known 
carpenter  of  Halcottsville,  in  the  east- 
ern part  of  Middletown,  N.Y.,  was 
born  on  Hubble  Hill,  in  this  town, 
July  5,  1838,  .son  of  Joseph  and  Albie  C. 
(Ellis)  Morse.  His  grandparents  were  John 
and  Martha  (Mead)  Morse.  His  great-grand- 
father, Joseph  Morse,  was  a  native  of  Wales, 
and  when  a  young  man  came  to  this  country, 
and  first  settled  on  a  farm  in  Connecticut,  but 
afterward  came  to  Delaware  County,  and  set- 
tled on  a  farm  at  Batavia  Kill.  Four  chil- 
dren survived  him — John,  Ira,  Josejih,  and 
Henry. 

John  Morse,  the  eldest  son  of  the  emigrant, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RKVIEW  75 


left  his  home  early  in  life,  and  took  up  a  tract  ;   needed    his    services,    the    Rebellion    not    yet 

of   land    in    the   wilderness,    which  he  cleared,  I  heini;-    quelled,    he    enlisted    in    Conipanv    (i, 

and   lx't;an  farniini;.      lie  lived  in  a  loi;-  house,  I   One    Hundred    and     l'"iirty-fourlh     Rej^inient, 

and   endured    many  hardshijfs  while   endeavor-  New  \'ork  X'olunteers,  and  served  one  year  as 

ing   to  establish   a   home,  beiui;-   compelled   to  private.      On    his    return,   in  1865,  sellinj;   his 

go  on   foot    forty  miles   to    Kingston    for   sup-  farm  to  his  brother  John,  he   bought  a  smaller 

plies.       He     married     Martha     Mead,     whose  place;  and  shortly  afterward  he  and  his  father 

father  was  also  a  ])ioneer  settler,  and   who   be-  bought   a  two-hundred-and-thirtv-atre  farm   in 

came   one   of   the   progressi\'e   farmers    of    the  .Schoharie  County. 

ilistrict.      Later   ^Fr.    Morse   bought   of    Amos  About   this   time   Mr.  Morse  was  married  to 

Sanford  a  farm  of  three  hundred  acres  at  Hub-  I   Mary    A.    Owens,    daughter    of     Thomas    and 

ble  Hill,  where  he  sjient   the   rest    of  his   life.  linieline  (.Sanford)  Owens.      Mr.  Owens  was  a 

He  dieil  at  the  age  of  ninety-one,  and  his  wife  ^  well-known  carpenter  and  millwright  of  Dela- 

at   the  age  of   eighty.      Both  were  members  of  '  ware   C'ounty.       The  maternal   grandjjarents  of 

the   Baptist  church,  and  in  ])olitics  Mr.  Morse  Mrs.     Morse    were    members    of     the     Baptist 

was  a  Whig.      He    left    eleven  children,  three  church,  and    lived  to  be  about   eighty  years  of 

sons    and     eight     daughters — I'hiebe,     Anna,  age.      They   left    five    children:   William    R. ; 

Cynthia,     Arenia,     Sally,     Marinda,     Mercia,  luiieline,    Mrs.    Owens:    1-Mecta;    Phcebe:    and 

Useabee,    Joseph,    .Xhner,    and    I"./ra.  Ran.som   W.      Mr.    Morse   remained    in    Scho- 

Joseph  Morse,  son  of  John  and  Martha,  was  .  haric  County  two  years,  and  then  sold  his 
born  at  liatavia  Kill.  When  a  young  man,  he  interest  to  his  brother  John,  and  bought  a 
bought  one-half  of  his  father's  three-hundred-  farm  at  Hubble  Hill,  on  which  he  lived  fcjr 
acre  farm  at  Hubble  Hill,  and  lived  on  it  for  twenty  years.  During  this  time  he  did  much 
many  years.  His  wile  was  Albie  C,  daugh-  to  improve  the  land  and  the  bui  Idings  thereon, 
ts.>r  of  IClijah  and  lumice  Ellis,  the  former  of  greatly  increased  the  value  of  the  ])lace,  mak- 
whom  was  a  farmer  of  Delaware  County.  .She  ing  it  one  of  the  finest  farms  in  that  region, 
is  still  living  in  Ulster  County,  at  the  ad-  I  He  finally  sold  it,  and  in  1890  bought  a  half- 
vanced  age  of  eighty-four  years.  Mr.  Morse  acre  of  lan<l  at  Halcottsville.  wlu're  he  built 
finally  sold  his  farm  at  Hubble  Hill:  and  a  large  double  house,  in  which  he  and  his 
with  his  son  James  he  bought  another  one  of  family  now  live.  At  present  he  is  success- 
two  hundred  anil  thirty  acres  at  West  Cones-  1  fully  carrying  on  the  business  of  a  carpenter, 
ville,  Schf)harie  County.  Here  he  lived  the  I\Ir.  and  Mrs.  .Morse  have  three  children, 
rest  of  his  life,  dying  at  the  age  of  sixty-five.  The  eldest.  1-^mma,  born  December  i,  1867, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morse  had  nine  children — John  wife  of  Henry  S.  D.ivis,  of  Hubble  Hill,  has 
A.,  Jason  A.,  James  Abner,  Jerome  A.,  Mary  •  three  children.  The  secoml  ilaughter,  Celestia 
J.,  Ezra  J.,  I^lijah  W.,  Hiram  K.,  and  lui-  I  J.,  was  born  November  18,  1870;  and  John, 
nice  A.  the   only   son,    was    born    December   6,    1879. 

To  return  now  to  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  ;    In    politics   Mr.    Morse    is   a    Republican,   and 

James   Abner  Morse  received  his  education  in  always  takes   a   lively    interest    in    all    public 

the  common  schools  at    Hubble  Hill,      .\nibi-  matters.      He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the 

tious  and   energetic,   at   the   age   of   eighteen,  Ba])tist     church,    in     which     they    are    active 

three  years   before  attaining   his   majority,  he  '  workers.      The\'    are    much    devoted    to    their 

bought   with   his   brother  John  a  farm   of   one  I  home  and    famil\-,  and   are   widely  known    and 

hundred  and  fifty-si.\  acres,  which  they  worked  ,   respected. 

together  for  one  year.      He   then   sold   his    in-  *..».  - 

terest  to  John,  and  worked  for  him  the  follow- 
ing year.      James   and    his   lirother  Jason  next  ir~\-^^  "'    '"^  •    H.\i\RIS.    foreman  of  the 
became  joint  owners  of  the  farm,  and  together  li       1      woodworking   dep;irtment   of    Craw- 


worked  it  a  year  and   a   half,  when   James  sold       ^-X^^      'o'd     Brothers,    carriage    manufact- 
his   interest,  and   bought   another  farm   in    the  urers  of   Delhi,   N.V.,   is  an   expert 

vicinity.      In    1864,    feeling  that   his   country  ,    in   his    line   of    business,    possessing    unusual 


76 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


mechanical  ability  and  artistic  skill,  and  dis- 
charging the  duties  of  his  responsible  position 
with  practical  sagacity  and  discretion.  Mr. 
Harris  is  a  native  of  the  JCmpirc  State,  hav- 
ing been  born  in  Columbus,  Madison  County, 
August  9,  1839.  His  father,  Devillo  Harris, 
was  also  a  native  of  Columbus,  where  his 
grandparents  resided  many  years.  They  finally 
removed  to  Edmeston,  Otsego  County,  how- 
ever, where  the  grandfather  spent  his  remain- 
ing years.  His  wife,  who  bore  him  four 
children  —  Devillo,  Celia,  Freelove,  and  John 
—  died  in  Columbus. 

Devillo  Harris,  like  the  majority  of  the 
farmers'  sons  of  his  day,  worked  on  the  farm, 
attending  school  when  he  was  not  needed  at 
home,  and  remained  with  his  parents  until 
twenty-one  years  of  age.  He  began  farming 
on  his  own  account  in  Otselic,  where  he 
rented  a  farm.  He  then  worked  for  a  few 
years  for  his  wife's  father,  Lyman  Carrier, 
going  thence  to  Michigan,  which  was  then  an 
almost  uninhabited  country  and  presented  the 
appearance  of  a  vast  wilderness  in  some  of  its 
districts.  He  bought  land,  and  improved  a 
comfortable  homestead,  on  which  he  thereafter 
lived  and  where  he  died.  He  married 
Amanda  Carrier,  who  died  in  New  York  City. 
They  reared  three  children  —  David  R., 
Martha,   and   Amelia. 

David  R.  Harris,  who  was  the  eldest  child 
and  the  only  son  born  to  his  parents,  spent 
the  first  ten  years  of  his  life  beneath  the 
parental  roof,  and  from  that  time  on  lived  in 
various  places,  the  first  being  on  the  farm  of 
an  uncle,  in  Otsego  County,  New  York.  He 
ne.xt  worked  as  a  farm  laborer  in  Otsego, 
going  thence  to  his  grandfather's,  for  whom 
he  worked  for  a  twelvemonth.  He  was  after- 
ward in  Hrookfield,  working  for  a  Mr.  Lamb, 
then  in  Coontown,  West  Edmeston,  finally  in 
Edmeston,  in  the  manufactory  of  Julius 
Lines,  of  whom  he  learned  his  trade  of  car- 
riage-making. Later  he  worked  at  his  trade 
in  Wheeler,  .Steuben  County,  whence  he  went 
to  lulmeston,  where  he  remained  until  1862. 
In  that  year  Mr.  Harris  began  his  career  as  a 
soldier,  enlisting  to  defend  his  country's  flag, 
in  Company  F,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty- 
first  New  York  Volunteer  Infantry,  serving 
two  years  and   nine  months,  and   in   the  mean 


time  being  promoted  from  a  private  to  the 
rank  of  Corporal.  With  his  regiment  he  was 
in  the  thickest  of  the  fight  in  several  battles 
and  skirmishes,  and  on  June  21,  1863,  re- 
ceived a  severe  wound  at  the  battle  of  Peters- 
burg. He  was  honorably  discharged.  May  17, 
1S65  :  and,  returning  to  the  State  of  his  birth, 
he  establisheil  himself  in  business  in  New 
Berlin,  continuing  there  five  years.  The  fol- 
lowing twenty-two  years  Mr.  Harris  was  em- 
ployed in  a  manufactory,  the  Hanford  wagon 
works,  in  Unadilla,  the  last  ten  years  of  the 
time  being  foreman  of  the  sho]5.  While  there 
he  was  solicited  to  take  his  present  position 
with  Crawford  Brothers,  the  inducements  of- 
fered being  such  that  he  accepted  them,  com- 
ing here  October  17,  1892,  since  which  time 
he  has  labored  with  credit  to  himself  and  to 
the  perfect  satisfaction  of  all  concerned. 

Mr.  Harris  was  married  in  1861  to  Anna 
Beatty,  a  daughter  of  Alexander  Beatty,  of 
New  Berlin;  and  of  their  happy  union  three 
children  have  been  born  —  Carrie,  Nellie,  and 
Hattie.  Carrie,  the  eldest  daughter,  died  at 
Unadilla,  in  her  sixteenth  year,  in  1878,  of 
typhoid  fever.  Nellie  married  Philip  Brady, 
a  cigar-maker  in  Unadilla;  and  they  have  two 
children  — Guy  and  Leo.  Hattie  is  a  student 
in  the  State  Normal  School,  preparing  herself 
for  a  teacher. 

Politically,  Mr.  Harris  is  a  stanch  sup- 
porter of  the  Republican  ticket,  and  is  a 
prominent  member  of  the  C.  C.  Siver  Post, 
No.  124,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  in 
which  he  has  always  taken  an  active  interest, 
having  been  Commander  of  the  post,  and  Sen- 
ior Vice-Commander  and  Chaplain.  He  has 
also  been  Aide-de-camp  in  the  Department 
Staff  of  the  State.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harris 
are  active  workers  and  conscientious  members 
of  the  Baptist  church,  and  deeply  interested 
in  the  Sunday-school  connected  with  it,  she 
being  superintendent  of  the  school,  and  he 
one   of   its   most   valued   teachers. 


NDREW     J.    CORBIN,     a    prominent 
merchant  of  the  village  of  Bloomville, 
in  the  town   of    Kortright,  was  born 
in      Roxbury,      Delaware      County, 
P^ebruary  23,  1836.      He  is  a  grandson  of  Mc- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


77 


Keach  Corbin,  of  Dutchess  County,  who  in 
early  manhood  left  his  native  ])lace,  and,  witli 
the  pluck  and  energy  rccjuisite  for  the  lite  of 
a  pioneer  farmer,  Ijccame  one  of  the  first  set- 
tlers ill  Roxbury.  Mere  his  intelligent  anti 
persevering  efforts  were  crowned  with  success, 
and  he  was  soon  the  possessor  of  a  fine  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and  the  hus- 
band of  a  good  wife.  Chiklren,  seven  in 
nunibei",  were  sent  to  bless  liis  home;  an<l  he  ! 
had  the  happiness  of  seeing  all  of  them  reach  ' 
maturity.  L'pon  his  pleasant  farm  Mr. 
Corbin"s  busy,  but  tranquil  life,  was  spent: 
and  here,  at  the  age  of  threescore  years  and 
ten,  his  days  were  ended.  His  sense  of  jus- 
tice, his  kindliness  of  n.ature,  and  broad  intel- 
ligence, all  inclined  him  to  liberality  in  relig- 
ious views,  though  he  lived  in  a  time  when 
bigotry  and  intolerance  were  far  more  com- 
mon  than   to-dav.      He  was  a  true    Democrat; 


and,    like    Richard     Rumbold, 


ni.-vi.'r    CO 


uld 


believe  that  Providence  had  sent  a  few  men 
into  the  world  ready  booted  and  spurred  to 
ride,  and  millions  ready  saddle<l  and  l)ridled 
to,  be  ridden."' 

Philetus  Corbin,  son  of  McKeach  Corbin, 
was  born  in  Roxbury.  in  the  memorable  year 
1812.  His  bovhooil  was  spent  upon  his 
father's  farm.  XV'hen  manhood  was  reached, 
he  married  Maria  l^enjamin,  who,  like  him- 
self, was  a  native  of  Roxbury.  .•\fter  the 
patriarchal  manner  of  life,  I'hiletus  Corbin 
brought  his  bride  to  the  home  of  his  parents, 
which  he  made  his  jiermanent  abiding-])lace. 
Here  he  brought  up  his  family;  and  here,  on 
the  fruitful  acres  his  father  had  wrested  from 
the  wilderness,  the  son's  life  work  was  accom- 
plished. I'hiletus  Corliin's  children  were 
three  in  number:  Andrew  J.,  the  subject  ol 
this  sketch;  Hiram,  who  died  at  forty-three 
years  of  age;  and  I'olly  M.,  who  married 
brrin  A.  Meeker,  and  died  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
seven.  I'hiletus  Corbin  became  one  of  the 
leading  farmers  of  Roxbury,  where  at  one 
time  he  was  the  owner  of  several  hundred 
acres  of  land.  His  knowledge  and  interest 
were  not  limited  to  the  art  of  husbandry,  as  is 
proved  by  the  fact  that  he  served  his  town  in 
various  public  capacities.  His  judgment  in 
estimating  the  value  of  property  made  him 
especially   capable   as    an    Assessor.      His    in- 


terest in  education  led  him,  in  conjunction 
witli  joim  H.  (iould  (the  f:ither  of  the  late 
eminent  financier,  Jay  (jould),  to  estal)lish 
J5eechwood  .Seminary.  His  humanitari;uiism 
influenced  him  to  ilo  all  that  Lay  within  his 
power  for  the  good  of  the  community.  His 
religious  sentiments  were  in  h;irmony  with 
those  of  his  worthy  father:  and,  ])olitical]y, 
he  sujiported  the  same  Democratic  jjolicy. 
Mr.  Corbin's  wife  was  taken  from  Iiim  when 
she  h:id  reached  the  age  of  forty-seven.  She 
was  ;i  woman  whose  devout  nature  found  con- 
genial exjiression  in  the  w'orshii)  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church.  His  active  life  was 
spent  u]ion  the  farm  where  his  father  dwelt 
and  toihd.  His  last  d;iys,  however,  were 
passed  in  the  village  of  Roxbury.  To  his 
temperate  life,  his  varied  and  wholesome  in- 
terests, and  his  habits  of  mental  and  jjhysical 
activits',  he  doubtless  owed  his  longevity.  It 
was  not  until  the  age  of  eighty-one  years  had 
been  reached  that  this  estimable  m;in  was  laid 
to  rest. 

Andrew  |.  Corbin,  of  Bloomville,  was  the 
eldest  son  of  I'hiletus  and  Maria  Henjamin 
Corbin.  He  was  born  in  the  very  month 
when  John  (Juincy  Adams  was  making  his 
noble,  single-handed  fight  in  Congress  (which 
lasted  for  eleven  days)  for  the  right  of  peti- 
tion. At  this  time  the  wonder  wliich  ha<l 
been  excited  in  the  minds  of  the  people  by 
Morse's  invention  of  the  electric  telegrai)h  — 
the  scientific  miracle  of  the  age  —  was  still 
unabated.  It  was  a  period  of  intense  interest 
and  great  fruitfulness  in  the  history  of  the 
countrv— a  [leriod  likely  to  have  a  t|uicken- 
ing  influence  upon  a  mind  wiiich  was  then  be- 
ginning to  untold.  Andrew's  boyhood  was 
passed  in  Roxbury,  and  he  early  became  a 
slutlent  at  Beechwood  Seminary.  Among  his 
companions  at  this  time  who  became  famous 
was  Jay  Could.  The  two  boys  became  inti- 
mate friends,  olten  visiting  one  another  and 
sharing  the  same  room.  Andrew  had  a  bright 
mind  and  scholarly  tastes,  ;ind  did  himself 
much  credit  while  at  school.  On  leaving  the 
seminary  his  ability  and  rejuitation  were  such, 
though  only  a  lad  in  his  teens,  that  he  readily 
obtained  a  position  as  teacher  for  five  terms 
in  his  native  town,  and  also  for  a  short  time 
in    Ulster   County.      At   the  age  of   seventeen 


78 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


he  became  interested  in  mercantile  life,  and 
entered  the  employ  of  A.  H.  Burnham,  of 
Roxbiiry,  as  clerk,  fur  his  first  year's  work 
receiving  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  He 
remained  with  Mr.  Burnham  five  years,  show- 
ing marked  and  increasing  mercantile  ability. 
At  the  end  of  this  apprenticeship,  in  company 
with  Mr.  H.  B.  Montgomery,  he  bought  a 
store,  where  he  did  business  tor  several  years. 
In  1865  he  sold  out,  and  came  to  Bloomvllle, 
to  establish  himself  in  the  store  he  still 
occupies. 

The  following  year,  1866,  Mr.  Corbin  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Lucy  Ann,  daughter 
of  Aaron  Champion ;  but  their  wedded  happi- 
ness was  of  brief  duration.  She  died  in 
1867,  and  her  babe  was  soon  laid  beside  its 
mother.  In  1870  Mr.  Corbin  married  Sarah 
E.  Dales,  daughter  of  George  and  Angel ine 
Dales.  Mr.  Dales  had  been  among  the  early 
settlers  of  the  village,  and  was  largely  inter- 
ested in  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  proprie- 
tary medicines.  His  widow  now  makes  her 
home   with   her  daughter,    Mrs.    Corbin. 

Remembering  with  what  ancestry  Mr.  Cor- 
bin was  blessed,  it  is  not  surprising  that  he 
had  within  him  the  capacity  for  great  useful- 
ness. He  has  a  well-filled  general  store,  in 
connection  with  an  extensive  trade  in  flour 
and  grain,  and  al^o  deals  largely  in  eggs. 
He  carries  a  stock  worth  twenty  thousand  dol- 
lars; and  in  1893,  despite  the  general  depres- 
sion, he  did  a  business  amounting  to  nearly 
a  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  methods  he 
has  employed  are  the  result  of  unusual  sagac- 
ity and  unerring  judgment.  Though  Mr. 
Corbin  has  but  reached  the  prime  of  life,  he 
enjoys  the  distinction  of  being  the  oldest 
merchant  in  the  town,  while  his  success  is 
proverbial.  His  large  business  interests  now 
demand  his  entire  time;  but  in  the  past  he 
has  held  public  offices,  the  duties  of  which  he 
has  discharged  with  honor  to  himself  and  sat- 
isfaction to  his  townsmen.  He  was  Super- 
visor one  term  in  Roxbury,  and  three  terms  in 
Kortright.  Mr.  Corbin  is  a  member  of  St. 
Andrew's  Lodge  of  Yrcc  Masons  in  Hobart. 
Like  his  father  and  grandfather,  he  is  a  Dem- 
ocrat;  and  he  has  also  inherited  their  liberal 
religious  opinions.  Mrs.  Corbin  is  a  member 
of   the   Episcopal  church  at   Bloomville;  and 


its  benevolent  work  is  furthered  by  her  kindly 
help.  Mr.  Corbin  is  a  large-hearted,  public- 
spirited  man,  from  whom  any  worthy  appeal  is 
sure  to  meet  a  ready  response,  whether  the 
call  be  for  effort  of  his  mind  or  hand,  or  for 
gift  from  his  time  or  purse. 


/^^^TkORGIC  W.  BOOTH,  Postmaster  at 
V  5T  Sidney  Centre,  a  gentleman  in  the 
prime  of  life,  although  a  veteran  of 
the  late  war,  is  one  of  the  most  popular  and 
well-known  native  residents  of  Delaware 
County.  He  was  born  in  the  town  of  Frank- 
lin, May  31,  1846,  and  is  of  sturdy  New  Eng- 
land stock,  his  father,  Isaiah  Booth,  being  a 
native  of  Pittsfield,  Mass.  That  State  was 
also  the  birthplace  of  his  paternal  grand- 
father, who  removed  thence  to  Delaware 
County  after  marriage,  and,  becoming  one  of 
the  pioneer  settlers  of  the  town  of  Walton, 
was  largely  instrumental  in  promoting  its  ad- 
vancement and  growth.  Earlier  ancestors 
came  from  England  to  Massachusetts,  but  can- 
not be  traced,  as  the  family  records  are  lost. 

Isaiah  Booth  accompanied  his  parents  to 
this  county,  and,  settling  in  the  town  of  Frank- 
lin, purchased  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
acres  of  land,  and  there  improved  a  fine 
homestead.  He  was  a  man  of  unusual  activ- 
ity and  ability,  energetic  and  progressive,  and 
was  numbered  among  the  leading  farmers  of 
his  vicinity.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife, 
to  whom  he  was  united  in  1859,  was  Philanda 
Bronson.  She  was  a  native  of  Otseeo 
County.  Mr.  Booth  died  in  Franklin,  when 
fifty-five  years  old,  and  his  widow  at  the  age 
of  seventy-four  years.  She  was  a  woman  of 
much  force  of  character,  a  valued  member  of 
the  Congregational  church;  and  her  husband 
was  liberal  in  his  religious  views.  Of  the 
eleven  children  born  of  their  union  six  are 
now  living,  the  following  being  their  record: 
Mrs.  Mary  Youngs,  wife  of  Norman  Youngs, 
resides  in  Otsdawa,  Otsego  County.  Mrs. 
Fanny  Haskins  is  a  resident  of  Franklin. 
Mrs.  Jessie  Murdock  lives  in  Masonville, 
Delaware  County.  George  W.  is  our  subject. 
Mrs.  Rosella  Roof  resides  in  Sidney  Centre. 
Frank  E.,  a  commercial  traveller,  resides  in 
the  West. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


79 


George  \V.  Booth,  the  elder  of  the  two  sons 
of  Isaiah,  was  reared  ami  eilucated  in  the 
town  of  his  nativity,  attending  tirst  the  dis- 
trict schools,  and  afterward  the  I-'ranklin 
Academy.  When  seventeen  years  of  age,  he 
began  tiie  battle  of  life  on  his  own  account, 
his  first  labor  being  on  a  farm.  At  this  time 
the  late  Civil  War  was  in  progress;  and  in 
September,  1864,  in  the  nineteenth  year  of 
his  age,  he  enlisted  in  the  Thirteenth  New 
York  Hcav\-  Artillery,  under  the  command  of 
Captain  II.  C.  I'ratt.  With  his  regiment  he 
participated  in  several  skirmishes,  serving 
faithfully  until  the  close  of  the  war,  and  re- 
ceived his  honorable  discharge  June  28,  1865. 
After  returning  home  Mr.  Booth  engaged  in 
various  occupations,  his  versatile  talents  win- 
ning him  success  in  most  of  his  undertakings. 
He  was  for  a  while  actively  engaged  in  the 
livery  business,  surrendering  that  to  become 
agent  for  an  insurance  company,  anil  subse- 
quently engaging  in  the  hotel  business  in 
this  county  for  eighteen  consecutive  years  efli- 
cicntly  and  profitably,  managing  hotels  in 
Hancock  and  Walton,  Downsville  and  Sidney 
"Centre.  While  in  Downsville,  Mr.  Booth 
held  various  responsible  ofllcial  positions,  and 
for  three  years  was  in  government  employ  in 
the  city  of  Washington,  having  received  dur- 
ing the  first  term  of  (Irover  Cleveland's  ad- 
ministration his  appointment  as  superinten- 
dent of  the  Treasury  stables,  and  afterward 
holding  the  position  of  clerk  in  the  Auditor's 
office  in  the  Post-office  Department.  He  was 
reappointed  to  this  office  during  the  adminis- 
tration of  Benjamin  Harrison,  and  resigned 
before  its  close.  in  1893  he  removed  to  Sid- 
ney Centre,  and  was  appointed  Postmaster 
here  in  February  of  the  present  year.  1894, 
assmning  the  responsibilities  of  his  office  on 
the  1st  of  April. 

An  important  step  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Booth 
was  his  marriage  on  October  6,  1856,  to 
Miss  Prudence  Hall,  who  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Delhi,  Delaware  County,  December 
29,  1847,  being  a  daughter  of  Asahel  and 
Pamelia  (Jackson)  Hall.  Their  union  has 
been  blessed  by  the  birth  of  one  child,  a 
daughter,  Kmma  A.,  a  most  estimable  young 
lady,  who  assists   her  father  in  the  post-office. 

Mr.  Booth  is  an  influential   member  of   the 


Democratic  party,  and,  .socially,  is  a  promi- 
nent member  of  Hancock  Lodge,  No.  552, 
A.  !•".  &  A.  M.,  of  Hancock  Lodge,  No.  1026, 
Knights  of  Honor,  ami  of  Hancock  Post,  No. 
483,  Ciraml  Army  of  the  Reiniblic,  for  one 
year  being  Senior  Vice-Commander  of  the 
post.  He  was  a  charter  member  of  luigland 
Post,  No.  142,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
IX'lhi,  N.Y.,  and  a  charter  member  of  Flem- 
ing Post,  No.  280,  Downsville,  N.Y..  and  is 
a  charter  member  of  George  N.  Riedfield 
Post,  No.  512,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
Sidney  Centre,  of  whicii  he  is  at  the  inesent 
time  Commander.  Religiously,  both  he  and 
his  wife  are  esteemed  members  of  the  Congre- 
gational church,  and  active  workers  in  its 
support. 


RCIIIBAI.D  FORFMAN,  a  prosper- 
ous farmer,  of  Scotch  birth  and 
ancestr)',  now  residing  on  his  one- 
hundred-and-eighty-one-acre  farm 
in  the  town  of  Bovina,  presents  a  good  ex- 
ample of  the  thrift,  energy,  and  success-com- 
pelling tiualities  of  most  of  .Scotia's  sons  who 
seek  a  home  in  the  New  World.  His  paternal 
grandparents  were  Robert  and  Agnes  Fore- 
man, life-long  residents  of  Scotland,  making 
their  home  for  the  most  i^art  in  the  good  old 
town  of  Fdinburgh.  The  former  was  a  slater 
by  trade,  and  had  a  family  of  six  sons  and 
one  daughter,  all  of  whom  are  now  deceaserl. 
Archibald  Foreman,  Sr.,  son  of  the  fore- 
going, was  the  next  in  line.  He  grew  to 
manhood  in  his  native  land,  and  when  of 
])roper  age  took  for  his  wife  Margaret  Hood. 
He  was  a  farmer,  but,  like  the  father  of  Scot- 
land's gi'eat  i)oet,  Burns,  was  too  poor  to 
become  the  owner  of  the  land  he  w-orked.  He 
raised  a  family  of  eight  children,  four  of 
whom  now  survive,  namely:  James,  now  a 
retired  carpenter,  residing  in  Fdinburgh: 
lanette,  who  became  the  wife  of  William 
Yule,  and  lives  with  her  husband  in  Canada; 
Betsy,  wife  of  Andrew  Wallace,  and  resident 
in  Berwickshire,  Scotland.  .Agnes,  Robert, 
Catherine,  and  Margaret,  all  of  whom  grew 
to  maturitv  and  married,  are  now  deceased. 
The  father  of  these  children  died  in  Berwick- 
shire, at  the  age   of  seventy-five,  and  his  wife 


8o 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


when  about  seventy.  They  were  membets  of 
the  Presbyterian  church,  the  former  being  an 
Elder. 

Archibald  Foreman,  son  of  the  preceding, 
grew  to  manhood  and  received  his  education 
in  his  native  country,  Scotland.  The  day  of 
his  nativity  was  February  ii,  1827.  In  1852 
he  emigrated  to  America,  landing  in  July  of 
that  year,  after  a  voyage  lasting  nearly  six 
weeks.  He  wasted  no  time  in  the  large 
cities,  but  came  directly  to  Delaware  County, 
New  York,  settling  in  the  town  of  Bovina. 
He  first  worked  out  by  the  month  for  Daniel 
Frazier;  and,  as  it  was  in  the  haying  season 
and  help  was  scarce,  he  received  one  dollar 
per  day  for  his  services.  In  1854,  feeling 
the  influence  of  the  gold  excitement,  he  went 
to  California,  via  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  the 
trip  occupying  three  weeks.  On  arriving  at 
his  destination,  he  engaged  in  mining,  and  so 
continued  for  nearly  six  years,  meeting  with 
fair  success,  and  undergoing  the  privations 
and  typical  experiences  of  a  miner's  life.  At 
the  end  of  the  time  mentioned  he  grew  tired 
of  the  life,  and  returned  to  Bovina. 

On  October  21,  1861,  Mr.  Foreman  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Devina  Laid- 
low,  who  was  born  in  Roxburyshire,  Scotland, 
daughter  of  David  and  Ellen  (Hart)  Laidlow, 
both  natives  of  the  same  shire.  Mr.  Laidlow 
was  a  shepherd  by  early  occupation,  and  came 
to  America  in  1851,  settling  in  Bovina,  where 
he  bought  land  and  engaged  in  farming.  He 
was  an  industrious  man,  and  after  a  well- 
spent  life  died  on  his  farm  at  the  age  of 
seventy  years,  his  wife  departing  this  life  at 
the  age  of  sixty.  They  were  both  faithful 
members  of  the  United  Presbyterian  church. 
Their  family  consisted  of  six  children,  four 
of  whom  now  survive,  namely:  Isabella,  wife 
of  William  Wight,  of  Delhi,  N.Y.;  Helen, 
who  married  William  Cook,  and  resides  in 
the  town  of  Bovina:  Margaret,  now  Mrs. 
George  Currie,  of  Bovina;  and  Devina,  Mrs. 
Foreman.  The  other  children  were  Robert, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-two,  and  George, 
who  lived  to  the  age  of  forty-nine. 

In  1862,  the  year  after  his  marriage,  Mr. 
Foreman  purchased  the  farm  where  he  now 
lives,  and  on  which  he  earned  his  first  dollar 
after    landing    on    American    soil.     He    has 


since  devoted  his  time  to  its  cultivation  with 
very  happy  results.  He  has  a  herd  of  twenty 
cows,  Jersey  grade;  and  the  farm,  which  con- 
tains, as  above  mentioned,  one  hundred  and 
eighty-one  acres,  is  very  productive.  In  all 
he  may  be  considered  as  a  prosperous  and  suc- 
cessful man,  his  good  fortune  being  due  to 
his  own  habits  of  industry  and  perseverance, 
under  the  blessing  of  Providence.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Foreman  have  four  children,  three  sons 
and  a  daughter,  namely:  Archibald,  Robert 
G.,  and  James  F.,  all  residing  at  home,  and 
engaged  in  farming;  and  Maggie  B.,  a  young 
lady  attending  school,  and,  like  her  brothers, 
living  at  home. 

In  1889  Mr.  Foreman,  desirous  of  seeing 
once  more  the  land  of  his  birth  and  the 
friends  of  his  early  years,  took  a  trip  to  Scot- 
land, remaining  about  three  months,  and 
pleasantly  renewing  old  recollections.  He 
has  served  his  adopted  town  of  Bovina  as 
Road  Commissioner  (three  terms)  and  Asses- 
sor, filling  the  latter  office  two  terms.  His 
politics  are  Republican,  and  the  family  are 
attendants  and  members  of  the  United  Pres- 
byterian church  at  Bovina  Centre. 


UGENE  B.  SOUTHWORTH,  a  worthy 
citizen  of  Trout  Creek,  Tompkins, 
Delaware  County,  N.Y.,  was  born 
in  Phoenix,  Otsego  County,  May  19,  1855, 
and  is  of  Pilgrim  ancestry.  His  grandfather. 
Nelson  Southworth,  was  born  in  Otsego 
County,  and,  after  being  educated  in  the  dis- 
trict schools,  learned  shoemaking,  and  then 
became  proprietor  of  a  hotel  at  Seward. 
While  engaged  in  this  occupation,  he  was  con- 
verted to  the  Methodist  faith,  and  soon  gave 
up  the  hotel  business,  and  devoted  himself  to 
shoemaking  and  preaching.  At  the  breaking 
out  of  the  war  he  removed  to  Delaware 
County,  settling  at  Masonville,  where  he  pur- 
chased about  three  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of 
the  best  farm  land  in  that  section.  He  was 
well  informed  on  legal  matters,  and  assisted 
in  many  trials  at  the  courts  in  the  vicinity  of 
his  home.  For  the  last  three  years  of  his 
life  he  was  engaged  in  mercantile  business  in 
Loomis,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
four   years,    in    1888.     He    married    Jemima 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


8i 


I'incli,  of  Otsego  County;  ami  sixteen  cliil- 
tlren  were  horn  of  this  union,  of  wlioin  the 
following  lived  to  reach  maturity,  and  have 
families  of  their  own:  Keziah,  Austin  S., 
iMiiery  K.,  Adeline,  Lysander  D.,  Lydia, 
Nelson,  William,  Henry  A.,  Gurley  S.,  ami 
Lois. 

Austin  S.  Southworth,  eldest  son  of  Nel- 
son, was  born  in  Seward,  Schoharie  County, 
and,  after  receiving  his  education  in  the  dis- 
trict school  at  Seward,  began  to  teach  school 
when  but  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  at  seven- 
teen entered  the  Methodist  ministry.  l-"or  a 
time  he  preachetl  in  Otsego,  and  then  went  to 
Edmeston.  He  was  next  at  Morris  two 
years,  and  went  thence  to  Bainbridge,  where 
he  remained  one  year.  Later  he  preached  two 
years  in  Gilford.  In  July,  1862,  he  enlisted 
in  Company  A,  One  Hundred  ami  Fourteenth 
Regiment  New  'S'ork  Volunteers,  at  Oxford, 
as  First  Sergeant,  and  served  throughout  the 
terrible  conflict.  He  was  wounded  in  the 
foot  by  a  shell  at  Cedar  Creek,  in  the  Shenan- 
do'ah  Valley,  and  was  discharged  from  the 
service  on  account  of  disability.  But  he  re- 
enlisted  in  his  old  company,  and  was  then 
transferred  to  the  Ninetieth  New  York  \\>t- 
eran  Volunteers,  and  served  one  year  in 
Georgia. 

At  the  close  of  the  great  struggle  he  en- 
gaged in  farming  at  North  Walton,  preaching 
at  "Sidney  Centre,  North  Walton,  Merriott- 
ville,  and  Little  York.  After  a  time  he 
disposed  of  his  farm  and  entered  the  life  in- 
surance and  sewing-machine  business.  He 
preached  at  Clarksville,  Albany  County,  for 
three  years,  and  then  removed  to  Wheeler- 
ville,  where  he  was  engaged  in  his  good  work 
for  three  years.  His  next  parish  was  at 
Gloversville,  where  he  remained  one  year; 
and  after  that  he  was  employed  as  book-keeper 
for  the  Harmony  cotton-mills  at  Cohoes,  also 
preaching  in  tlie  Independent  Methodist 
church  of  that  town  for  two  years.  His  next 
move  was  to  Schenectady,  where  he  was  one 
of  the  organizers  of  the  Independent  Metho- 
dist church,  of  which  he  became  pastor,  and 
was  also  employed  there  by  the  Appleton  lui- 
cyclop:cdia  Company  for  two  years.  At  the 
expiration  of  that  time  he  removed  to  Fhil- 
mont   on   the   Hudson,  where  he  preached  one 


year.  lie  then  settled  in  Albany,  lieing 
again  employed  by  the  Appleton  Company. 
After  a  year  there  he  wejit  to  Chicago,  his 
family  going  to  live  with  his  son  Eugene  at 
North  Walton.  For  five  years  he  was  em- 
jjloyed  in  Chicago,  and  then  returned  to  Wal- 
ton. While  in  Chicago  he  began  to  wrile  a 
work  on  optimism,  entitled  "The  Bright 
Side  of  Life,"  three  parts  of  which  have 
alreatly  appeareil  in  pamphlet  form,  and,  when 
completed,  will  be  bound  in  one  volume. 
Since  that  time  Mr.  Southworth  has  lived  in 
retirement,  and  now  resides  at  Ware,  Mass., 
with  his  son,  the  Rev.  V'ictor  Emanuel  South- 
worth,  pastor  of  the  First  Unitarian  Church. 
He  married,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  Miss 
Jane  I'"..  Gage,  of  Milford,  Otsego  County, 
N.Y.,  whom  he  first  met  when  they  were  both 
employed  in  a  cotton-mill  at  Cooperstown. 
They  were  the  parents  of  thirteen  children, 
namely:  Eugene  B. ;  Thaddeus  D. ;  Emerson; 
Nettie  A.;  Victor  and  Victoria,  who  were 
twins;  William  A.;  Ellen;  Irena  Vashti; 
Minnie  M. ;  and  Walter;  Charles  and  Ira, 
who  liave  passed  away.  Mrs.  Southworth  still 
lives  at  Walton  on  the  farm  owned  l)y  the 
family  there,  and  is  em])loyed  as  a  nurse  in 
that  vicinity. 

luigene  B.,  eldest  son  of  the  Rev.  Austin 
S.  SoullnvDrth,  was  educated  in  the  district 
!  school  and  at  Walton  Academy,  after  which 
he  worked  on  the  farm  until  sixteen  years  of 
age,  when  he  took  charge  of  a  flour-mill  at 
Clarksville,  Albany  County.  Two  years  later 
he  went  to  Wheelerville,  luilton  County,  and 
learned  the  currier's  trade  in  a  tannery  owned 
by  ex-Governor  Claflin.  This  trade  he  fol- 
lowed for  eight  years.  He  then  rented  a  farm 
in  North  Walton,  remaining  there  for  seven 
years,  after  which  he  purchased  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides.  It  contains  one  hun- 
dred and  f(n-ty-four  acres,  nearly  all  of  which 
is  under  cultivation,  over  forty  acres  having 
been  cleared  and  ploughed  in  three  years. 
When  he  moved  to  his  present  farm,  it  would 
support  but  eight  cows  and  a  team;  but  he 
now  keeps  twenty-four  cows,  five  horses,  and 
forty  sheep.  His  income  in  cash  has  resulted 
from  the  farm  i>roducts,  and  for  the  year  end- 
ing April  I,  1804,  amounted  to  about  two 
thousand   dollars.      His  farm    is   rich    in   min- 


82 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


eral  paint,  part  of  which  was  disposed  of  by  a 
former  owner.  Mr.  Southworth  is  a  Republi- 
can in  politics,  and  is  a  public-spirited  citizen. 
Mr.  Southworth  married,  in  Sidney,  Miss 
Nellie  Scott,  dau-^hter  of  James  K.  and  Mary 
(Gardner)  Scott,  of  Beach  Hill,  Masonville. 
David  Scott,  the  father  of  James  K.,  removed 
to  Masonville  from  Queemans,  Albany  County, 
N.Y.,  and  was  engaged  in  farming  and  car- 
pentering. James  K.  Scott  was  born  at 
Masonville,  where  he  also  followed  the  life  of 
a  farmer  and  carpenter.  He  married  Mary 
Garilner,  a  daughter  of  Andrew  Gardner,  of 
Tompkins;  and  they  had  eight  children:  Nel- 
lie, the  wife  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Fred;  Elmer;  Inez;  Oscar:  Flora;  Willie; 
and  Wallace,  who  died  young.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Eugene  B.  Southworth  are  the  parents  of 
eight  children  now  living:  Mabel  C. ;  Alice 
Pearl;  Henry  A.;  Nettie  A.;  Edith  Maud; 
Alta  May;  and  Thaddeus  D.  and  Mary  J., 
who  are  twins.  They  have  been  called  upon 
to  part  with  three  children,  who  died  when 
very  young. 


iRS.  SARAH  RICH,  who  lives  on 
the  Rich  homestead  of  two  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  acres  in 
Almeda,  in  the  town  of  Stam- 
ford, N.Y.,  and  carries  on  the  place  with 
marked  ability,  is  the  widow  of  Stephen  Rich. 
The  Rich  family,  hers  by  birth  as  well  as 
marriage,  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  best  estab- 
lished in  the  county. 

The  present  record  begins  with  James  Rich, 
who  was  born  in  New  York  City  in  1764,  and 
was  therefore  a  boy  eleven  years  old  when  the 
Revolution  began,  and  still  older  when  the 
patriotic  tide  reached  his  native 
trade  he  was  a  tailor,  but  died  at 
age  of  thirty-five,  only  ten  years 
marriage,  and  in  the  same  year 
Father  of  his  Country.  His  wife 
Altgelt,  also  a  native  of  the  metropolis,  where 
she  was  born,  July  30,  1769.  She  outlived 
her  husband  many  years,  and  twice  entered 
again  the  holy  estate  of  matrimony.  Her 
second  husband  was  Joseph  Thomson ;  and 
the  other  was  Robert  Forrest,  of  Stamford, 
who  left  her  the   third   time  a  widow.     Her 


city.  By 
the  early 
after  his 
with    the 

was  Mary 


own  death  occurred  in  Stamford  on  December 
6,  1857.  To  her  first  husband  she  bore  three 
sons.  Stephen  Altgelt  Rich,  a  grocer  in  New 
York  City,  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Rich, 
was  born  August  4,  1790,  during  Washing- 
ton's first  Presidency,  and  lived  till  1858, 
when   Buchanan   was  in   the  White   House. 

The  next  son,  to  whose  line  this  sketch 
specially  relates,  was  born  October  23,  1791, 
and  was  named  for  his  grandfather.  James 
Rich  was  a  Stamford  farmer,  and  carried  on 
the  place  subsequently  owned  by  his  son 
Stephen.  This  he  did  so  practically  and  pro- 
gressively as  to  make  agriculture  a  profitable 
pursuit.  He  was  an  old-time  Whig,  and  an 
Elder  and  Trustee  in  the  United  Presbyte- 
rian church  in  South  Kortright.  His  first 
wife,  Miss  Helena  Marshall,  was  born  in 
New  York  City,  October  13,  1792.  They 
were  married  in  1816,  just  a  week  before 
Christmas,  when  the  second  peace  with  the 
mother  country  had  been  finally  declared,  and 
praises  of  General  Jackson's  warlike  pluck 
echoed  on  every  hand ;  and  she  died  on 
Christmas  Day,  1835,  aged  forty-three,  while 
Jackson  was  President,  so  that  the  great 
Christian  holiday  and  America's  democratic 
and  autocratic  statesman  were  peculiarly  asso- 
ciated with  her  life. 

From  this  union  came  ten  children,  two  of 
whom  survive.  Henry  Marshall  Rich  was 
born  September  12,  18 19,  and  lived,  unmar- 
ried, on  the  homestead  with  his  brother's 
widow  until  his  death,  August  24,  1894.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and 
a  Republican,  greatly  respected  by  his  asso- 
ciates. Robert  S.  Rich  was  born  March  7, 
1823,  and  is  a  merchant  in  Hobart  village. 
Helena  Jane  was  born  on  February  14,  1832, 
and  is  now  the  widow  of  Hector  Cowan,  of 
Stamford,  of  whom  a  sketch  may  be  found 
elsewhere  in  this  volume.  The  eldest  child, 
James  Altgelt  Rich,  a  Stamford  farmer, 
named  for  his  grandparents,  was  born  in  Oc- 
tober, 1817,  and  died  March  5,  1894.  Mary 
Rich  was  born  February  17,  1821,  and  died 
unmarried  in  New  York  City  on  April  3, 
1842.  Stephen  was  born  October  8,  1824; 
and  he  died  July  6,  1884,  at  the  sound  age  of 
sixty.  Of  him  more  hereafter.  Thomas 
Rich,  a  farmer,    was  born   August   28,    1826, 


KIOGRAl'HICAL    RKVIEW 


8? 


and  (lied  in  Mexico  (in  the  last  day  of  Ainil. 
1852.  Alexander  Rich  was  born  on  the  first 
day  of  Novenihir,  ICS30,  became  a  New  \'ork 
phnnber,  and  died  February  18,  1854.  Ann 
F.liza,  twin  sister  of  Hek'n,  died  in  October, 
1889,  at  fifty-seven.  James  Rich"s  first  wife, 
as  already  stated,  was  Helena  Marshall;  but 
he  was  married  again.  The  second  wife  was 
lane  .Southard,  a  native  of  Dutchess  County, 
and  by  her  he  had  three  children.  The  eld- 
est, Hannah  Rich,  born  July  17,  1S38,  mar- 
ried William  B.  Peters,  of  Hloomville,  of 
whom  a  sketch  may  be  found  in  its  proi^er 
place  in  this  v(dume.  John  Rich  w.is  born 
December  14,  1839,  and  died  March  19, 
1885,  in  Jacksonville,  Fla.,  where  he  was  act- 
in";  as  agent  for  the  Mallor\-  line  of  steamers. 
Isabella  Rich  was  born  April  10.  1841,  four 
days  after  the  country  was  appalled  by  the  sad 
news  of  the  death  of  General  Harrison,  when 
only  a  month  in  the  Presidential  chair.  She 
married  the  Rev.  James  M.  Stevenson,  and 
died  December  ig,  1893.  Thus  we  see  that 
James  Rich  was  indeed  a  patriarch,  with  one 
more  child  than  Jacob,  of  the  Bible  history  he 
so  loved.  He  was  also  an  Elder  in  the  Pres- 
byterian church,  and  a  Whig  in  politics,  but 
would  have  rejoiced  over  the  triumph  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  which  occurred  three  years  after 
Mr.  Rich's  death  on  the  homestead.  July  10, 
1857. 

The  father  of  James  Rich  s  first  wife. 
Henry  Marshall,  was  born  in  Scotland,  and 
came  to  America  before  iiis  marriage.  He 
stu(fie(l  medicine,  became  a  successful  ]iracti- 
tioner  in  Kortright  in  pioneer  days,  and 
reared  a  boy  and  six  girls,  all  of  whom  have 
passed  away.  Dr.  Marshall  died  in  Hobart, 
at  threescore  and  ten,  an  F'lder  in  the  Presby- 
terian church,  and  a  Whig  in  jKililics.  His 
wife  also  lived  to  a  good  oJd  age. 

.Stephen  Rich  grew  up  on  the  Stamford 
farm  where  he  was  born,  and  which  had  been 
bought  by  his  grandmother,  Mrs.  .Mary  Alt- 
gelt  Rich  (Thomson)  Forrest,  of  its  former 
owner,  Mr.  Sheldon,  early  in  this  century, 
and  upon  which  the  widowed  Mrs.  Stephen 
Rich  now  resides.  .After  attending  the  dis- 
trict school,  Stephen  went  to  New  York  City 
when  he  was  eighteen,  and  found  work  with 
lames    lUichan   &   Co.,  niainilacturers   of    soaj) 


and  candles.  In  due  time  he  was  al)le  to  buy 
an  interest  in  the  concern,  and  pursued  a  suc- 
cessful trade  till  1865,  after  the  war,  when  he 
returned  to  .Stamford,  bought  the  old  home- 
stead, passed  his  last  days  there  farming,  and 
died  July  6,   1884. 

He  was  married  .May  6,  18C9,  at  the  mature 
age  of  forty-five,  to  his  cousin,  Sarah  Rich, 
a  native  of  New  York  City,  the  daughter  ot 
Stephen  .-Mtgelt  Rich  and  his  wife,  Jane 
Oliver,  who  was  born  October  22,  1788. 
These  parents  were  married  May  12,  1812, 
by  the  Rev.  Robert  Forrest.  Stephen  A. 
Rich  died  August  29,  1858,  and  his  wife  on 
l''ehruary  25,  1868.  They  had  ten  children, 
half  of  whom  survive.  Charlotte  and  Rachel 
are  both  widows  in  New  York  City,  the  for- 
mer having  married  William  Patterson,  and 
the  latter  Mr.  Buchaii,  of  the  firm  above  men- 
ti(Hied.  Jane  Rich  lives  with  her  sister 
-Sarah  on  the  homestead.  1-Tizabeth  Rich  is 
the  wife  of  James  Rintoul,  of  .\ew  York  City. 
Sarah  Rich  married  her  kinsman,  Stejihen 
Rich,  as  before  stated.  The  five  deceased 
children  are  as  follows:  James  B.  was  born 
on  the  first  day  of  March,  1 81 3,  and  died  in 
.Mabama,  August  12.  1844.  Mary  Struthers 
Rich  was  born  March  18,  18 15,  and  died  Jan- 
uary 28,  1892.  Robert  Forrest  Rich,  born 
lanuary  3,  1820,  died  November  11.  1872,  in 
.New  lersey.  Hannah  Thomson  was  born 
November  u),  1822,  and  died  March  27, 
1852,  in  New  York  City.  Andrew  Mather 
Rich,  born  December  23.  1825.  died  August 
17.    1826. 

Mrs.  Stephen  Rich  belongs  to  the  I'nited 
Presbyterian  church  in  Kortright,  in  which 
her  husband  held  the  birthright  office  of 
IClder.  He  was  also  a  Republican  and  a  thor- 
oughly good  citizen,  and  left  his  widow  well 
endowed.  Both  the  land  and  house  are  val- 
uable. In  her  management  of  the  place  Mrs. 
Rich  was  aided  by  her  brother-in-law,  Mr. 
Henry    Rich,    until    the   time   of  his   death. 


fr-^|'l.\RY    S.   C.R.MI.XM,    who    is  one  of 
the     foremost    citizens    of    Delhi,     is 
carrying  on   a    ])ros])erous    business 
as  a  dealer  in  hardware,  at  No.  477 
Main    Street.      He   is  a  native  of    this   State 


84 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


and  county,  having  been  born  in  Mereditli  on 
October  23,  i860.  He  comes  of  pure  Scotch 
ancestry,  the  first  of  his  forefathers  to  emi- 
grate to  this  country  being  his  great-grand- 
father, James  Graham,  who  was  born  and 
reared  to  manhood  in  Scotland.  Crossing  the 
stormy  Atlantic  in  search  of  a  fortune,  he 
came  from  New  York  City,  where  he  had  dis- 
embarked, to  Bovina,  and  there  engaged  in 
tilling  the  soil  for  a  time,  and  also  established 
a  mercantile  business  on  a  small  scale.  He 
afterward  removed  to  Franklin,  where  he  fol- 
lowed agricultural  pursuits  for  many  years, 
but  later  became  a  resident  of  Meredith, 
where  he  passed  the  remaining  years  of  his 
earthly  existence.  He  reared  a  family  of 
eleven  children,  seven  boys  and  four  girls,  of 
whom  two  are  still  living,  one  in  Afton, 
N.Y.,   and  one   in  Toledo,    Iowa. 

Henry  R.  Graham,  son  of  James,  was 
reared  a  farmer,  and  followed  that  peaceful 
occupation  through  the  days  of  his  active  life. 
He  purchased  a  tract  of  timbered  land  in  the 
town  of  Meredith,  from  which  he  cleared  and 
improved  a  comfortable  homestead,  and  there 
made  his  abiding-place  for  many  years. 
Later  he  removed  to  Delhi,  where  he  de- 
parted this  life  at  the  age  of  seventy-three 
years.  He  married  Esther  Stilson,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Cyrenus  Stilson,  and  a  native  of  Mere- 
dith, of  which  town  her  parents  were  pioneer 
settlers.  She  is  still  living  at  the  venerable 
age  of  eighty-six  years,  and  is  one  of  the  old- 
est members  of  the  Baptist  church  at  Delhi. 
She  became  the  mother  of  five  children, 
namely:  Edwin  J.,  the  father  of  Henry  S. ; 
Rosella,  deceased,  who  married  Edward  Fris- 
bee,  of  Delhi;  Emeline,  the  wife  of  Darius 
Grant,  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church,  West- 
ville,  N.Y.;  Elmer  M.,  who  married  Jennie 
Mein,  of  Meredith;  and  Lyman  S.,  who  mar- 
ried Jennie  Kemp,  of  Meredith. 

Edwin  J.  Graham  was  born  in  Meredith, 
January  19,  1832,  and  was  reared  on  the  farm, 
tilling  the  soil  in  season,  and  attending  the 
district  school  in  the  winters.  On  attaining 
his  majority  he  left  the  parental  homestead, 
and  was  for  some  time  employed  as  a  clerk  in 
a  store.  He  subsequently  purchased  a  farm; 
and,  putting  in  practice  the  knowledge  which 
he  had  acquired  in  the  days  of  his  youth,  he 


successfully  engaged  in  its  cultivation  for  sev- 
eral years.  In  1865  he  came  to  Delhi,  and 
invested  a  portion  of  his  money  in  the  store, 
where  he  still  continues  carrying  on  a  flour- 
ishing business  in  general  merchandise.  Ann 
Eliza  Bill,  who  became  his  wife  in  1857,  was 
a  native  of  Meredith,  but  of  New  England 
descent,  being  a  daughter  of  Charles  Bill  and 
Lois  (Woodworth)  Bill,  both  of  whom  were 
natives  of  Connecticut,  the  latter  being  the 
daughter  of  a  substantial  farmer  of  that  State. 
Four  children  were  born  of  their  union,  as 
follows:  Charles  W.,  who  was  engaged  with 
his  father  in  business  until  January,  1880, 
when  he  entered  into  the  drug  business; 
Henry  S. ;  George  E.,  now  a  resident  of  Cali- 
fornia; and  Grace  M.,  now  the  wife  of  Henry 
R.  Gibbs,  and  residing  in  Sewickley,  Pa. 
On  June  10,  1888,  the  family  fireside  was 
made  desolate  by  the  death  of  the  beloved 
wife  and  affectionate  mother,  who  passed 
away  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven  years.  She 
was  a  conscientious  member  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian church,  to  which  her  husband  belongs. 
In  politics  he   is  a  stanch   Republican. 

Henry  S.  Graham  was  five  years  old  when 
he  came  with  his  parents  to  Delhi,  where  he 
has  since  resided.  His  elementary  education, 
which  he  obtained  in  the  public  school,  was 
supplemented  by  an  attendance  at  the  Dela- 
ware Academy.  As  soon  as  old  enough  to  be 
useful,  he  became  a  clerk  in  his  father's  store, 
a  position  which  he  occupied  until  the  spring 
of  1 88 1.  In  the  fall  of  that  year  Mr.  Graham 
opened  a  grocery  store,  purchasing  a  complete 
stock  of  groceries,  and  continuing  in  that 
business  until  1886,  when  he  sold  out  his  es- 
tablishment, and  entered  the  employment  of 
Wright  &  Frost,  dealers  in  hardware.  He 
subsequently  purchased  their  goods  and  build- 
ing, and  has  since  conducted  a  large  and  very 
successful  business,  which  he  has  extended 
and   increased  from  year  to  year. 

Mr.  Graham  has  been  twice  married.  His 
first  wife,  to  whom  he  was  united  on  July  8, 
1884,  was  Frankie  B.  Ward,  a  daughter  of 
William  Ward,  a  former  resident  of  Tioga 
County,  but  later  superintendent  of  the  Delhi 
Woollen-mill.  After  a  brief  period  of  wed- 
lock she  died  in  November,  1886,  leaving 
one  child,  Bessie.      His  second  wife,  Mary  A. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


H 


Russell,  is  n  daughter  of  the  late  John  Rus- 
sell, of  Delhi,  who  was  for  many  years  en- 
gaged here  in  trade.  Of  this  union  two 
children  have  been  born  —  K.  Russell  anil 
Howard  R.  Mr.  Graham  is  a  stanch  suji- 
porter  of  the  Republican  pacty,  and  is  a  true 
and  loyal  citizen,  always  using  his  influence 
to  promote  the  best  interests  of  the  town,  and 
well  deserving  the  esteem  and  favor  in  which 
he  is  held  by  all.  Both  he  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Delhi. 


ILLIAM  H.  EELLS.  editor  and 
]iroprietor  of  the  Walton  Times,  is 
conducting  this  paper  with  signal 
ability  and  success,  and  holds  a  ]irominent 
position  among  the  journalists  of  Delaware 
County.  He  is  a  native  of  this  State  and 
county,  having  been  born  in  the  town  of  Wal- 
ton, April  1 6,  1853,  youngest  son  of  Stephen 
Decatur  and  Mary  (Marvin)  Eells.  and  comes 
of  good  New  England  stock,  being  a  lineal 
descendant  of  one  John  Eells,  who  emigrated 
from  old  England  to  Massachusetts  in  1628. 

A  son  of  the  emigrant,  -Samuel  Eells,  born 
in  Hingham,  Mass.,  January  2^,  1629.  was 
married  August  i,  1663,  to  .Annie,  daughter 
of  the  Rev.  Robert  Lenthal.  of  Plymouth, 
Mass.:  and  they  reared  seven  children. 
Their  son  Samuel,  born  in  Milford,  Mass., 
April  2,  1666,  was  twice  married.  His  first 
wife,  Martha,  died  on  October  2J.  1700. 
His  second  wife.  Widow  Hayor.  iic'c  Russell, 
bore  him  a  son  named  John,  who  was  baptized 
April  I,  1703,  was  graduated  from  Yale  Col- 
lege in  1724,  and  became  a  minister  of  the 
gospel,  presumably  a  Congregationalist.  He 
married  Annie  Baird,  January  11,  1727,  and 
died  in  New  Canaan,  Conn.,  October  15, 
1785.  His  two  children  were:  Anna,  born 
May  I,  1729:  and  Jeremiah,  born  December 
21,   1732. 

Jeremiah  Eells,  the  great-great-great-grand- 
father of  William  H.,  was  a  life-long  resident 
of  New  Canaan,  and  was  there  engaged  in 
farming  and  shoemaking.  He  married  Mrs. 
Louise  Benedict,  a  Huguenot  of  I-'rance,  and 
the  daughter  of  Dr.  Benten.  of  Norwalk, 
Conn.      Their  eldest   son,  John,  born    Novem- 


ber 16,  1765,  married  Anna  Mead,  the  daugh- 
ter of  General  John  Mead,  who  during  the 
Revolutionary  War  had  command  of  the  Con- 
tinental troops  stationed  near  the  neutral 
ground  between  Horse  Neck,  now  Nyack,  and 
New  York,  and  on  whose  farm  General  Israel 
Putnam  rode  down  the  stee])  precipice  and 
escaped  the  15ritish  dragoons.  Their  children 
were  as  follows:  John,  Jr.,  born  P'ebruary  24, 
1786;  Benjamin  B.,  born  March  8,  1788; 
Meade,  born  July  3,  1790;  Samuel,  born  in 
Walton,  March  12,  1793;  ^lary,  born  May 
12,  1795:  Baird,  born  October  10,  1797;  and 
Allen,  born  May  13,  1800.  Some  years  after 
their  marriage,  which  took  place  on  December 
20,  1784,  the  parents  of  these  children  came 
to  Delaware  County,  and  were  among  the  ear- 
liest settlers  of  Walton.  John  Eells  estab- 
lished the  first  hotel  of  the  place,  running  it 
for  nineteen  years.  He  was  one  of  the  lead- 
ing citizens  of  the  town,  and  served  nineteen 
years  as  Justice  of  the  Peace.  Taking  up  a 
tract  of  wild  land,  he  cleared  up  a  good  farm, 
on  which  he  spent  the  latter  years  of  his  life. 
The  father  of  Mr.  William  H.  Eells,  Stephen 
Decatur  Eells.  is  in  possession  of  the  desk, 
now  about  one  hundred  years  old,  on  which 
John  I^ells  during  his  official  life  did  all  of 
his  writing.  It  is  well  preserved,  and  is  re- 
markable in  conception  and  in  workmanship. 

Meade  Eells,  who  was  born  in  New  Canaan, 
was  little  more  than  an  infant  when  his  par- 
ents removed  to  Walton,  where  he  was  reared. 
He  was  a  lumberman,  was  in  the  War  of 
I  81  2,  and  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-six  years. 
He  married  Philena,  daughter  of  Dorman 
fohnson,  who  was  the  kee])er  of  a  hotel  in 
Walton  for  many  years.  They  reared  seven 
children,  as  follows:  Stephen  Decatur,  .'\llen. 
Sylvia  Ann,  Hannah  Marvin,  Philena,  Mary, 
and  Julia.  The  mother  passed  away  in  1865, 
at  tiie  home  of  George  Marvin  in  Walton. 
She  was  a  most  estimable  woman  anil  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Congregational  church. 

Stephen  Decatur  ICells.  the  father  of  Will- 
iam H.,  was  born  on  the  parental  homestead  in 
that  part  of  Walton  known  as  Mount  Pleasant, 
November  3,  181  5.  He  was  the  recipient  of 
good  educational  advantages,  and,  after  leav- 
ing the  district  school,  was  fitted  for  college, 
and  matriculated  at  Oberlin,  but  was  unable 


86 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


to  complete  his  course.  He  was  industrious 
and  ambitious,  and,  having  but  little  money, 
supported  himself  while  in  college  by  work- 
ing as  a  painter.  This  trade  he  completed 
after  his  return  to  Walton,  and  for  upward 
of  threescore  years  was  the  leading  painter  of 
the  village.  Having  during  these  years  of 
labor  acciuired  a  competency,  he  is  now  living 
in  retirement  in  the  village  of  his  birth.  His 
union  with  Mary  Marvin,  a  daughter  of  Jared 
Marvin,  was  celebrated  on  November  12, 
1840,  the  date  of  the  marriage  of  Queen  Vic- 
toria. They  have  reared  tour  children, 
namely:  John  M. ;  Ellen  M. ;  Emma  Isabel, 
who  died  in  1878;  and  William  H.  Mr. 
Stephen  D.  Eells  enlisted  in  Company  I,  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-fourth  New  York  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  at  the  time  of  the  late  Rebel- 
lion, and  served  until  the  close  of  the  war, 
receiving  his  honorable  discharge  at  Hilton 
Head,  S.C.  He  has  been  closely  identified 
with  all  enterprises  calculated  to  improve  the 
educational  or  moral  status  of  the  town,  and 
has  been  an  actix'c  worker  in  the  cause  of 
temperance.  Both  he  and  his  wife,  in  relig- 
ious matters,  are  in  sympathy  with  the  teach- 
ings of  the  Congregational  church,  of  which 
they  are   members. 

In  his  boyhood  William  H.  Eells  attended 
first  the  district  school,  and  afterward  the 
village  academy  at  Walton.  At  the  age  of 
fifteen  years  he  left  home  to  serve  an  ap- 
prenticeship in  the  office  of  the  Norwalk 
Gazette,  at  Norwalk,  Conn. ;  and,  having 
learned  the  trade  of  a  printer,  he  was  employed 
for  the  following  year  or  more  in  the  office  of 
the  famous  Danbury  Ncivs.  Going  thence  to 
New  York  City,  Mr.  Eells  secured  a  good 
position  with  the  Rradstreet  Mercantile 
Agency,  remaining  there  until  he  had  the 
misfortune  to  lose  one  foot  by  having  it 
caught  in  the  elevator.  In  1875,  being  able 
to  resume  work,  Mr.  Eells  accepted  a  situa- 
tion in  the  office  of  t\\Q.  Moi  ning  Journal  and 
Courier,  at  New  Haven,  Conn.,  continuing 
there  until  1881,  when  he  went  to  the  city  of 
Washington,  where  he  served  six  years  in  the 
government  printing-office,  a  portion  of  his 
time  being  employed   in   reading  proof. 

In  1887  he  again  went  to  New  York,  and 
for  four  years  worked  on  the  Morning  Journal, 


afterward  holding  a  position  in  the  oflFice  of 
the  Times,  and  then  in  that  of  the  Commercial 
Advertiser.  He  subsec]uently  returned  to  the 
place  of  his  nativity,  and  accepted  the  posi- 
tion of  managing  editor  of  the  Walton  Cliron- 
iclc,  resigning  it  to  enter  the  office  of  the  New 
York  Tribune  as  operator  of  a  typesetting 
machine.  In  1892  Mr.  Eells  came  back  to 
Walton,  and  voted  for  Benjamin  Harrison  for 
President;  and  in  November  of  that  year  he 
started  the  Walton  edition  of  the  Delaware 
Express,  published  in  Delhi,  meeting  with 
such  good  success  that  he  was  encouraged  to 
make  it  an  independent  publication.  Accord- 
ingly, in  March,  1893,  changing  the  name  of 
the  paper  to  the  Walton  Times,  he  established 
a  plant,  and  began  printing  it  himself.  He 
began  with  two  hundred  and  fifty  subscribers, 
and  in  February,  1894,  less  than  a  year  after 
the  paper  was  started,  the  circulation  had  in- 
creased to  fourteen  hundred,  new  subscribers 
being  added  to  the  list  each  month. 

Mr.  Eells  has  been  twice  married.  On 
June  24,  18S0,  was  celebrated  his  union  witii 
Miss  Huldah  Stoddard,  of  New  Haven,  Conn., 
who  was  a  daughter  of  George  W.  and  Harriet 
Stoddard,  and  who  died  a  few  months  later, 
on  F"ebruary  24,  1881.  -Mr.  F.ells  was  again 
married  in  1886,  leading  to  the  altar  Miss 
Eleanor  Place,  of  Washington,  D.C.,  the 
wedding  ceremony  taking  place  in  that  city. 
Of  the  five  children  born  to  them  three  are 
now  living,  namely:  Hamilton,  a  manly  little 
fellow  of  seven  years;  Martha;  and  Ruth. 
In  politics  Mr.  Eells  is  a  straight  Republican. 
Socially,  he  is  a  member  of  the  Golden  Rule 
Lodge,  No.  21,  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows,   of  Washington,   D.C. 


JTCHEl.I.  N.  FRISBEE,  the 
owner  of  one  of  the  largest  farms 
and  most  extensive  dairies  in  the 
town  of  Kortright,  of  which  he 
is  one  of  the  foremost  citizens,  comes  of  one 
of  the  leading  pioneer  families  of  Delaware 
County,  his  great-grandfather  having  been 
Gideon  Frisbee,  one  of  the  most  widely 
known  and  most  important  mdn  of  the  early 
time  in  this  neighborhood.  Gideon  Frisbee 
was  a  native  of    Columbia    County,   but    was 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


87 


among"  the  first  settlers  of  the  town  of  Delhi, 
where  he  beeamo  the  possessor  of  a  large  tract 
of  land.  He  was  the  first  Judge  of  Delaware 
County,  and  his  house  was  the  scene  of  the 
first  court  held  in  the  county- 
William  I-"risbee,  son  of  (lideon,  was  lK)rn 
in  Delhi,  and  was  possessor  of  a  ])art  of  the 
old  home  farm.  He  was  one  of  a  famil\-  of 
nine  children,  a  practical  farmer  and  excellent 
business  man,  who  took  an  active  part  in  all 
town  affairs,  and  held  the  office  of  County 
Treasurer.  ICleven  of  his  chiklren  grew  to 
maturity;  and  three  still  live,  namely:  Mrs. 
Mary  Churchward,  of  Janes\-ille,  Ohio:  Mrs. 
Alice  Cottrell,  who  resides  with  her  sister; 
and  Fritz  W.  I-'risbee,  who  lives  in  Iowa. 
The  mother  of  this  large  family  died  in  the 
prime  of  life;  but  William  l^'risbce  li\ed  to  a 
good  old  age,  dying  in  his  native  town. 

William  Frisbee's  son,  Marcus  W..  the 
father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  horn 
in  Delhi,  April  8,  18 17,  and  resided  in  that 
town  throughout  his  life.  He  was  industri- 
ous and  ])ersevering,  and  owned  two  excellent 
farms,  which  he  cultivated.  Politically  a  Re- 
publican, he  held  many  town  offices,  among 
which  was  that  of  Superintendent  of  the  Poor: 
and  he  and  his  wife,  Susan  Mitchell,  born  in 
Meredith,  October  8,  1816,  were  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  Both  died 
in  the  town  of  Delhi,  she  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
one  years,  and  he  when  seventy-six  years  of 
age.  They  were  the  parents  of  fovn-  children, 
three  of  whom  are  still  li\ing,  namely: 
Mitchell  X.  Frisbee,  of  whom  this  sketch  is 
written;  Mrs.  G.  L.  Bell,  a  resident  of  Wind- 
.sor,  Broome  County,  N.Y.;  and  AI.  Dwight 
Frisbee,  of  Binghamton.  One  daughter,  An- 
gelia,  died  when  forty  years  of  age. 

Mitchell  N.  I-'risbcc  was  born  in  Dt-lhi. 
October  27,  1847,  and  educated  in  the  Dela- 
ware Academy.  Making  his  home  with  his 
parents,  he  then  taught  school  for  three  terms. 
June  I  v  1873.  he  married  Miss  h'rances 
Clark,  who  was  born  November  iS.  1S46,  in 
Kortright  on  the  farm  purchased  by  Mr.  I''ris- 
bee  and  at  present  occupied  by  his  family. 
Miss  Clark  was  the  daughter  of  Joseph  Clark, 
an  early  settler  and  prominent  man  of  Kort- 
right, who  married  Jane  Burdict,  a  descendant 
of   one  of   the  ]iioneer   families   ol    tliat   town. 


Josejih  Clark  died  when  sixty-three  years  of 
age,  and  liis  wife  has  also  jjassed  away.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  I'risbee  are  the  parents  of  two  chil- 
dren -  Clark  |-"risbee  and  .Susan  M.  I-'risbec-. 
both  of  whom  reside  with  their  parents. 

Mr.  I'"risbee  first  purchased  the  (dd  home 
farm  of  two  hundred  an<l  twenty  acres  where 
he  was  born;  and  there  he  resided  for  twelve 
years,  selling  it  at  the  expirati<jn  of  that  time, 
and  buying  his  present  home  of  six  hundred 
acres.  Five  hundreil  acres  of  this  is  cleared 
1;uk1,  which  is  cultivated.  Mr.  Frisbee  oper- 
ates a  very  extensive  dair)',  owning  over  one 
hundreil  head  of  grade  Jersey  cattle.  He  is 
also  engageil  in  stock  and  sheej)  raising,  giv- 
ing emi)loyment  to  fi\'e  luen  throughout  the 
year.  His  farm  is  one  of  the  very  best  in  the 
town,  and  his  residence  a  fine,  commodious 
one.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  I'risboe  are  liberal  in  re- 
ligious views.  Mr.  I'risbee  suppcjrts  the  Re- 
publican ]iartv,  and  has  held  the  office  of 
.Super\'isor  for  two  terms.  lie  is  a  man  of 
remarkable  business  qualifications,  energetic, 
upright,  and  reliable,  and  enjoys  the  esteem 
of  the  communitv  in  which  he  dwells. 


IIOM.AS  L.  CRAIG,  M.D.,  who  has 
but  recently  established  himself  as  a 
regular  practitioner  in  the  town  of 
Daven]iort,  after  a  thorough  medical  course  of 
study  and  two  years  of  valuable  experience  in 
the  Baltimore  I'niversity  Hos])ital,  is  emi- 
nently fitted  for  the  ])ractice  of  his  ])rofession. 
He  claims  Delaware  as  the  county  of  his 
birth,  which  occurred  Ajiril  10,  1865,  in  the 
town  of  Harijcrsfield.  lie  is  of  Irish  [larent- 
age,  and  the  descendant  of  a  well-known  pio- 
neer family  of  this  county.  His  grandfather, 
Thomas  Craig,  who  was  born  and  bred  in  Ire- 
land, and  liwd  there  until  after  marriage, 
emigrating  to  this  country  in  the  early  part  of 
the  present  century,  settled  in  the  town  of 
Meredith,  Delaware  County.  He  was  accom- 
])anied  bv  his  wife  and  little  ones,  and  there 
took  up  a  timber  tract,  from  which  by  dint  of 
persevering  toil  he  develojjed  a  farm,  on 
which  he  and  his  faithful  companion  lived  to 
be  quite  aged  people.  They  reared  a  family 
of  six  children:  namely,  John,  Samuel,  Rob- 
ert, Mattie.  Margaret,  and  Jane. 


88 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Robert  Craig,  the  third  son,  was  born  in 
Ireland,  whence  his  parents  came  to  America 
when  he  was  eight  years  old.  In  the  pioneer 
labor  of  clearing  a  homestead  he  was  soon 
after  strong  enough  to  be  of  assistance;  and 
he  was  thus  engaged  until  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  with  the  exxeption  of  the  short  time  each 
year  that  he  spent  in  school.  Leaving  home, 
he  first  worked  out  by  the  month ;  then, 
marrying,  he  purchased  a  farm  in  Meredith, 
where  he  lived  thirteen  years.  Selling  this 
at  a  good  advantage,  he  removed  to  Harpers- 
field,  and,  buying  a  farm,  continued  his  agri- 
cultural labors  until  his  early  death,  at  the 
age  of  thirty-nine  years.  He  was  a  hard- 
working man,  and  by  his  honest  life  and 
sound  religious  principles  gained  the  good 
will  and  esteem  of  all  who  knew  him.  He 
was  an  active  member  of  the  United  Presby- 
terian Church  of  North  Kortright,  to  which 
his   wife,    Mary   Adair    Craig,    also   belonged. 

Mrs.  Craig  was  born  in  this  county,  being 
one  of  five  children  of  James  Adair,  a  native 
of  North  Ireland,  and  his  wife,  who  were  for 
many  years  residents  of  Kortright.  Of  their 
union  five  children  were  born,  namely:  Sam- 
uel; James;  Robert,  a  lawyer  in  Omaha, 
Neb.;  Sarah  E.,  deceased;  and  Thomas  L. 
Mrs.  Craig  is  still  living,  and  makes  her 
home   with   a   brother   in    Harpersfield. 

The  childhood  and  youth  of  Thomas  L. 
Craig  were  spent  on  the  farm,  assisting  in  its 
work,  and  attending  the  district  school  until 
sixteen  years  of  age.  The  following  year  he 
worked  by  the  month,  then  spent  two  years  in 
hard  study  at  Walton  Academy,  fitting  him- 
self for  a  teacher,  a  profession  which  he  sub- 
sequently followed  in  Rloomville  and  other 
towns  in  the  vicinity  for  some  years.  Having 
acquired  sufficient  means  to  defray  his  ex- 
penses, he  then  entered  Baltimore  College,  and 
later  the  Baltimore  University,  from  which 
he  was  graduated,  with  an  honorable  record, 
in  1892.  Dr.  Craig  then  spent  two  years  in 
the  hospital  connected  with  the  I'niversity, 
where  he  had  an  excellent  opportunity  to  put 
into  practice  the  knowledge  he  had  acquired 
through  his  many  years  of  hard  study.  He 
came  to  Davenport  early  in  the  present  year, 
1894;  and,  judging  from  the  success  he  has 
already  met  with  in  his  professional  labors,  he 


bids  fair  soon  to  have  an  extensive  and   lucra- 
tive patronage. 

The  marriage  of  Dr.  Craig  is  an  event  so 
recent  that  he  has  not  ceased  to  receive  con- 
gratulations. On  November  20,  1S94,  he  was 
united  in  the  holy  bonds  of  matrimony  with 
Miss  Addie  Earle,  Head  Nurse  of  the  Balti- 
more University  Training  School  for  Nurses. 
Mrs.  Craig's  parents  were  natives  of  England; 
but  she  was  born  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  and 
always  lived  in  that  city,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  years  that  she  spent  in  Berlin  in  a 
training  school  preparing  for  her  profession. 
She  is  a  communicant  of  the  Episcopal 
church.  Her  father  died  about  twenty-three 
years  ago.  Her  mother  is  still  living  in  Jial- 
timore.  Mrs.  Craig  has  two  sisters  and  three 
brothers.  Her  eldest  sister,  Nellie,  is  mar- 
ried, and  lives  in  Baltimore.  The  youngest 
sister  is  at  home  with  her  mother.  The  two 
elder  brothers  are  in  business  in  Chicago, 
while  the  youngest  is  a  draughtsman  in  the 
Baltimore  car-shops.  In  politics  Dr.  Craig 
supports  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party.  Although  a  member  of  no  religious 
organization,  he  has  .been  accustomed  to  at- 
tend   the   Presbyterian   church. 


TT^APTAIN  JAMES  IRA  WEBB,  a 
I  \y  scarred  and  pensioned  veteran  of  the 
^^Hs  Grand     Army,     now    engaged     as    a 

dealer  in  wagons  and  agricultural 
implements  at  Walton,  Delaware  County, 
N.Y.,  was  bom  in  Delhi,  N.Y.,  August  18, 
1837.  He  is  of  Scotch-Irish  descent.  His 
grandfather,  Alanson  H.  Webb,  who  emi- 
grated from  the  north  of  Ireland  about  the 
year  1800,  settling  in  Hobart,  N.Y.,  was  the 
father  of  three  children:  Josiah,  father  of 
Captain  Webb;  Cornelia,  widow  of  John 
Wesley  Hawkins,  of  Delhi,  N.Y.;  and 
James,  deceased.  Josiah  Webb  was  born  at 
Hobart  in  January,  1804.  He  was  first  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Hannah  Bowen,  of  Meredith,  the 
daughter  of  William  and  ICmma  Bowen.  The 
great-grandfather  Bowen  was  a  soldier  in  the 
Revolutionary  War,  as  were  also  two  of  his 
sons.  At  the  time  the  alarm  came  that  New 
York  was  taken  he  was  engaged  in  ploughing 
in  the  fields.      He  at  once  unyoked  hjs  tearr) 


cJfiMES    I,    Webb. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


9» 


of  oxen;  and,  his  sons  having  taken  all  the 
firearms  along  with  them,  he  hastily  gathered 
together  a  few  elothes,  and,  armetl  with  a 
pitchfork,  started  for  the  seat  of  war,  where  he 
remained  for  two  years. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Josiah  Webb  settled  on  a 
farm  near  Delhi,  where  six  children  were  born 
to  them,  the  youngest  being  James  Ira.  The 
others  were  the  following:  Hannah  !■',.  mar- 
ried Chester  IC.  Wellman,  and  settled  in 
Laurens,  Otsego  County,  where  Mr.  Wellman 
died.  She  is  now  a  residerit  of  Morrice, 
Mich.  Emma  married  Major  1"..  II.  Noyes. 
who  was  on  the  "Congress"  at  the  time  that 
vessel  was  sunk.  He  was  Cajitain  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  marines,  all  of  whom  were 
aboard;  and  most  of  them  perished.  He  was 
made  Chief  Commissary  at  h^ortress  Monroe, 
with  the  rank  of  Major.  Juliette  married 
James  A.  Harvey,  a  wholesale  liquor  dealer 
of  Sparta,  Wis.  Ruth  Adaline  married  John 
Hastings,  now  deceased.  Mrs.  Hastings  at 
the  present  time  resides  in  Kansas  City.  I^r. 
Josiah  Watson  Webb  went  to  Chicago,  where 
he  took  up  the  study  of  medicine,  graduating 
from  the  Bennett  Medical  College  of  that 
city.  He  began  practice  in  Chicago,  subse- 
quently going  to  Salt  Lake  City,  where  he 
lectured  for  one  w'inter.  Thence  he  went  to 
Oakland,  Cal.,  and  there  founded  the  Oakland 
Medical  College.  He  died  February  13,  1.S79, 
being  at  that  time  President  of  the  college. 
His  wife  was  an  own  cousin  of  Robert  G. 
Insersoll.  Mr.  Webb's  second  marriage  was 
to  Miss  I'nlly  Krofft,  by  whom  he  had  six 
children,  namely:  George,  who  enlisted  in 
Company  H  of  the  One  Hundred  and  I-'orty- 
fourth  New  York  Volunteer  Lifantry,  serving 
with  honor  and  distinction  throughout  the 
war,  and  died  at  Hornellsville,  N.Y.:  Mary, 
wife  of  Thomas  Kane,  of  Susquehanna,  I'a.  : 
Elizabeth,  wife  of  George  Chulib,  of  Hor- 
nellsville: Aletta,  of  Atldison,  X."\'.,  widow 
of  L  Morse;  Arthur  L.,  an  engineer  on  the 
S.  &  I{.  Railroad;  and  Charles,  a  conductor 
on  Delaware  Division  Railroad. 

fames  I.  Webb,  who  lost  his  mother  when 
he  was  about  a  year  and  a  half  old,  resided 
with  his  father  until  he  was  fourteen  years  of 
age,  and  u])  to  this  period  had  never  attended 
school.      He    now    started    out    in    the    world 


alone.  Having  a  sister  at  Laurens,  he  went 
there  to  live,  working  at  any  honest  emjjloy- 
ment  he  could  get,  a  portion  of  the  time  earn- 
ing only  about  three  dollars  per  month.  The 
winter  he  was  seventeen  years  old  he  attended 
a  district  school,  working  for  his  board.  He 
afterward  spent  two  terms  in  the  high  school 
at  Hancock.  In  1858  he  had  attained  the 
l^osition  of  Superintendent  of  the  plank  road 
between  .Summit  and  Hancock.  On  the  ist 
of  May,  1861,  he  enlisteil  in  the  Seventy-first 
New  York  Volunteer  Infantry,  Company  I. 

Their  first  renilezvous  was  Staten  Island, 
where  they  remained  until  after  the  battle  of 
Hull  Run.  .Soon  after  that  the  regiment  was 
called  to  Washington,  D.C.,  where  young 
Webb  was  made  Orderly  .Sergeant.  He  was 
sent  on  an  expedition,  in  company  with  six- 
teen hundred  men,  to  .Stafford's  Court  House, 
Va.,  and  participated  in  the  engagement  of 
April  7,  1862.  Thence  he  went  to  Fortress 
Monroe,  and  was  there  at  the  time  of  the  fight 
between  the  "Merrimac"  and  the  "Monitor." 
On  the  1 2th  of  April  he  w^as  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  Second  Lieutenant.  He  was  sent  to 
take  charge  of  a  saw  and  grist  mill  near 
Cheeseman's  Creek  Landing,  having  under 
him  thirty  men  who  were  engaged  in  sawing 
lumber  for  use  in  the  fortification  of  York- 
town.  He  reported  to  his  regiment  on  the 
night  of  the  e\'acuation  of  that  city.  He  was 
next  sent  to  Williamsburg,  and  for  a  time 
was  occupied  in  gathering  up  stragglers  from 
the  armv,  being  successful  in  picking  up 
about  three  hundred,  taking  them  to  White 
Oak  .Swamp'  just  as  the  engagement  com- 
menced, and  narrowly  escaped  being  made 
jirisoner  by  General  Jubal  Early.  He  went 
thence  to  i''air  Oaks,  partici])ating  with  his 
com])an_\'  in  the  desperate  bayonet  charge. 
While  lying  in  the  redoubt  in  front  of  the 
Twin  House,  he,  in  comijanv  with  Ccdonel 
H.  L.  Potter,  resohed  to  find  out  the  position 
of  the  rebels.  .Starting  forth  on  their  jieril- 
ous  undertaking,  and  coming  to  a  large  white 
oak,  the  Lieutenant  climbed  to  the  top,  and. 
by  the  aid  of  a  powerful  glass,  gathered  much 
valuable  information.  The  following  day  he 
and  the  Colonel  again  went  out  to  recon- 
noitre; but,  by  the  time  the  Lieutenant  was 
fairly    located    in    the    top    of    the    tree,    the 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


bullets  Hew  thick  and  fast  around  his  head. 
He  at  once  hurried  down  from  his  lofty  posi- 
tion, and  betook  himself  to  safer  quarters. 
He  was  next  engaged  in  the  seven  days'  fight, 
and  at  the  second  battle  of  Malvern  Hill  was 
made  Adjutant. 

Arriving  at  Warrenton  on  August  27,  1862, 
he  retired   as   Adjutant,  and   took  command  of 
his   old    company    in    the    Seventy-first    Regi- 
ment.     He  could   rally  only  twenty-four   men 
fit  to  enter   into  the   engagement,  and   seven- 
teen    out     of    this    number  were     killed     and 
wounded.      He    himself     was    twice    hit,    and 
carries   one   of   the   bullets    in   his  side  to  this 
day.      P'or    meritorious    service     he    was    pro- 
moted  to   be   Captain  on  September  12,   1S62, 
and  was  sent  to   the   hospital   at   Washington, 
D.C.      The  following  winter,  to  save  his   life 
it  was  thought  best  to  send  him  to  New  York, 
under  the  care  and  charge  of   Surgeon-general 
Hammond.      The  following  April  he  returned 
to    Washington,    out    of    money,   and  with    no 
means   of   obtaining    it,  as  he   had  never  been 
mustered  in  as  Captain   of   his   company.      At 
that  time  a  special   order  had  been  issued  dis- 
charging  all    officers  and    men   who    had    not 
been   in  their  companies  for  a  certain   length 
of  time.      This  would  have  discharged  Captain 
Webb;   but,    being   desirous   of   remaining    in 
the    service,    he    wrote    to    Adjutant    General 
Sprague,  who   advised   him   to   go  to  his  regi- 
ment.     The   General    forwarding   his  commis- 
sion,   he   joined   his   regiment,    where   he   was 
soon  mustered   in   as   Captain,  and   took   com- 
mand  of   his  company,  although   he  was  then 
carrying   his   arm    in   a   sling.      He  was  at  the 
battles    of    Fredericksburg    and     Chancellors- 
ville,  and  was   ranking   Captain   and    acted   as 
Lieutenant  Colonel,  his  two  companies  being 
engaged  at  the  front  when  the  rebel  general, 
Stonewall   Jackson,  fell.      Captain  Webb  soon 
after  resigned,  with  the  rank  of  Brevet  Major. 
He   draws   a   pension  for  a  gunshot   wound   of 
the  right  arm  and  shoulder. 

Captain  Webb  was  married  April  26,  1871, 
to  Miss  Florence  M.  Roff,  a  daughter  of 
Lieutenant  William  II.  Roff,  of  the  Second 
New  York  Heavy  Artillery,  who  received  his 
death  wound  at  Cold  Harbor,  dying  in  the 
hospital  at  Washington,  D.C.  After  his 
marriage   Captain   Webb   purchased   a  farm  of 


four  hundred  and  fifty  acres.  In  October, 
1887,  he  came  to  Walton,  where  he  has  since 
been  engaged  in  the  sale  of  agricultural  im- 
plements. Captain  and  Mrs.  Webb  have  two 
children:  b:tta  J.,  barn  June  12,  1874;  and 
Ethel   E.,    born   February    15,    187S. 

In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  supporter  of  the 
Republican  party,  and  served  as  a  member  on 
the  Town  Committee.  He  is  a  Director  of 
the  First  National  Bank  of  W'alton,  and  a 
member  of  the  Financial  Committee.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  Ben  Marvin  Post,  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  No.  209,  and  has 
served  as  Adjutant,  at  the  present  time  being 
Senior  Vice-Commander.  He  is  a  member  of 
Walton  Lodge,  No.  559,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and 
is  also  a  member  of  She-hawken  Chapter,  No. 
258.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church, 
and  is  Trustee  and  President  of  the  Board, 
and  is  at  present  the  President  of  the  village. 

Captain  Webb  is  a  man  of  strong  patriot- 
ism, and  eager  to  promote  the  welfare  of  his 
country.  He  has  always  taken  a  deep  interest 
in  the  affairs  of  the  town,  and  has  at  all  times 
exhibited  an  unwavering  rectitude  of  charac- 
ter. A  portrait  of  this  true-hearted  Ameri- 
can citizen,  who  fought  and  bled  for  the 
Union  in  its  hour  of  peril,  and  has  now  ex- 
changed rifle  and  sword  for  ploughshares  and 
harvesters,  may  be  seen  on  another  page. 


AMi;S  S.  WILSON,  who  was  one  of 
the  youngest  Union  soldiers  in  the  late 
war,  was  born  in  Delhi,  Delaware 
County,  April  25,  1847.  His  grand- 
father came  to  New  York  in  the  early  days 
from  Vermont,  and  had  a  son.  Freeman  Wil- 
son, who  was  born  in  Colchester,  June  10, 
1812,  and  died  July  12,  1862.  Freeman 
Wilson  was  brought  up  on  a  farm,  being  one 
of  a  family  of  six;  namely,  Daniel,  Freeman, 
William,  Thomas,  Sylvia  A.,  and  Adaline. 
He  kept  a  store  in  Delhi,  and  was  a  success- 
ful business  man.  His  wife,  Eunice  Page, 
who  was  born  in  1812,  and  died  September. 
13,  1856,  was  the  mother  of  three  sons  — 
Daniel  P.,  James  S.,  and  William  H.  Her 
father,  Solomon  Page,  came  from  Vermont 
early  in  this  century,  and  settled  in  Franklin 
on  what  is  called    "Page's   Hill."      His  wife, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


93 


Irene,  died  l'~cbniary  14,  184S,  aged  sixtv- 
nine  years,  leavini;  the  following  family: 
John,  Horace,  llirani.  Ralph,  Solomon, 
Laura,  I.etitia,  Miranda,  Marcia,  luuiice. 
Mr.  Pago  was  a  carpentei':  he  passed  iiis  last 
days  in  L'nadilla. 

James  S.  Wilson,  second  son  of  l'"rei.'nian 
and  luinice,  when  live  years  old  came  to 
Trout  Creek,  receiving  there  the  ordinary 
education  of  that  time.  .\t  the  outbreak  of 
the  Southern  Rebellion  he  had  not  seen  his 
fourteenth  birthday,  but  he  was  none  the  K'ss 
shortlv  tired  with  patriotic  zeal  and  military 
artlor.  When  the  Mightv-seventh  Regiment 
was  being  recruiteil  at  hdiiiira.  he,  with  four 
other  boys,  ran  away  from  home,  and  at- 
tempted to  enlist:  but  the  ol'ficer  in  charge  re- 
fused to  accept  him  on  account  of  his  youth. 
His  determination,  however,  was  strong: 
and,  through  the  inter\enlion  of  Llder  Co\'ey, 
Chaplain  of  the  (^)ne  Hundred  antl  l-"irst  New 
York  State  \"olunteers  at  Hancock,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  enlisting  in  Company  1),  late  in 
1S61.  This  company  was  consolidated  with 
five  companies  from  Syracuse,  and  proceedeil 
to  Calaroma  Heights.  Washington,  thence  by 
transport  to  White  House  Landing,  Va.,  in 
the  spring  of  1862.  Private  Wilson  was  first 
put  under  fire  at  Fair  Oaks,  and  for  seven 
days  was  in  the  fight  before  Richmond. 
Afterward  he  participated  in  the  engagements 
at  Savage  Station,  Ream's  Station,  Charles 
City  Cross-roads,  Harrison's  Landing.  Mal- 
vern Hill,  Vorktown,  whence  he  went  b\' 
transportation  to  Alexandria,  marching  then 
to  Warrington  Junction,  then  to  Bull  Run  for 
the  second  battle  there.  (~)n  the  following 
day  the  company  was  ordered  to  Chant  illy. 
In  the  darkness  they  came  u])on  the  enemy 
before  they  knew  it;  and,  at  the  same  time 
that  General  Kearny  received  his  death 
wounds,  Mr.  Wilson  was  shot,  barely  cscajj- 
ing  with  his  life.  Not  a  commissioned  officer 
was  left,  and  scarcely  seventy-five  out  of  the 
whole  regiment  remained  to  tell  of  the 
slaughter.  These  were  then  consolidated 
with  the  Thirty-seventh  New  York  State  Yol- 
unteers.  In  the  night  of  September  i,  dur- 
ing a  heavy  thunder-storm,  the  troops  were 
drawn  up  in  line  of  battle.  While  engageti, 
and   after   firing   over   twenty   rounds   of    car- 


tridi;es,  Mr.  Wilson  was  struck  b\'  a  musket- 
ball,  wiiich  lodged  in  his  right  side,  and 
would  probably  have  ended  his  life  had  its 
course  not  been  checked  by  a  rubl)er  blanket 
which  was  slung  over  his  shouldei'.  lie  was 
carried  to  the  rear,  when  (icneral  Hurney 
ordered  his  comrades  to  the  front  again;  and 
he  crawled  under  a  large  beech-tree,  which 
was  riddled  with  bullets,  and  lay  there  till 
his  comrades,  one  of  whom  was  John  C.  Has- 
kins,  of  Tomiikins,  were  released  frf)ni  duty 
after  the  battle,  and  he  was  then  taken  to  a 
barn  and  received  medical  attention.  When 
the  ball  w;is  t;iken  out,  a  piece  of  the  blanket 
was  tound  on  the  back  of  it  in  the  wountl. 
In  tlu'  morning  thev  were  taken  prisoners, 
paroled,  and  after  se\en  days  the  ambu- 
lances came  and  tocjk  them  to  Washington. 
Mr.  Wilson  was  at  Douglas  Hospital  for  three 
months,  and  was  then  ordi'red  to  Annapolis. 
Before  going  there,  howe\er,  he  went  home, 
staying  two  months,  and  then  re[5orting  at 
Klmira,  whence  he  went  to  Annapolis,  and 
joined  the  Thirtv-seventh  Now  \'ork  State 
\'olunteeis.  He  afterward  was  present  at 
I'almouth,  I'redericksburg,  and  Chancellors- 
ville.  Being  taken  sick  after  the  last  battle, 
he  was  sent  to  Alexandria;  and  after  his  re- 
covery, the  ThirtN-seventh  being  mustered 
out,  lie  was  transferred  to  the  I'ortieth  at 
Brandy  -Station.  With  them  he  was  at  Mine 
Run,  after  which  his  regiment  re-enlisted, 
and  he  with  them,  and  then  came  home  on  a 
furhiugh.  .After  thirtv  davs  he  returned  to 
Branch'  Station,  ami  was  in  the  battles  of 
the  Wilderness,  .Spottsylvania,  ("old  Harbor, 
North  Anna,  Petersburg,  Deep  liottom,  and 
Weldon.  There  was  now  continuous  fighting 
until  Lees  surrender,  and  Mr.  Wilson  never 
missed  a  battle  or  skirmish  in  which  his  regi- 
ment took  part.  After  the  surrender  he 
marchet!  witli  the  rest  to  Washington,  where 
the  troo[)s  were  reviewed;  and  he  was  mus- 
tered out  in  July,  1865.  after  four  years  of 
continuous  service. 

After  the  war  Mr.  Wilson  came  to  Trout 
Creek,  anil  engaged  in  various  business  vent- 
ures. He  was  at  first  proprietor,  in  company 
with  his  brother  Daniel,  of  the  hotel  which  he 
now  carries  on.  Buying  out  his  brother,  he 
then  successively  traded   the   iiotel  for  a  farm, 


94 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Wilson    married 

of    William    and 

William  Austin 


and  the  farm  for  a  grist-mill,  starting  his 
younger  brother  in  the  hotel  business  in 
Masonville.  He  next  bought  a  saw-mill, 
which  he  carried  on  with  Daniel  for  eight 
years,  then  worked  it  alone  for  two  years,  and 
finally  sold  it  to  L.  L.  Teed,  trading  his 
grist-mill  for  a  farm  in  Aroostook  County, 
Maine.  Selling  the  farm,  he  bought  a  hotel 
in  Unadilla,  and  after  three  years  bought  an- 
other in  New  Berlin,  which  he  sold,  and 
bought  one  in  Sidney.  This  he  sold  inside 
of  a  week,  and  leased  the  Ouguaga  House  at 
Deposit.  After  a  time  he  sold  his  lease  and 
his  furniture,  and,  removing  to  Roxbury,  went 
into  the  livery  business.  A  year  later  he 
went  to  Middleburg,  Schoharie  County,  lived 
there  two  and  one-half  years,  and  then  re- 
turned to  Trout  Creek,  and  bought  the  hotel 
he  first  owned,  and  which  he  now  runs  in  con- 
nection with  his  other  business  of  buying  and 
selling  cattle. 

On  June  15,  1871,  Mr. 
Deborah  Austin,  daughter 
Harriet  (Darling)  Austin, 
was  born  in  Middletovvn,  Delaware  County. 
His  great-grandfather  was  Pardon  Austin,  of 
Putnam  County,  who  cleared  a  tract  of  land 
on  the  Delaware  River,  and  erected  a  log 
cabin.  He  and  Alden  Peckham  were  the  first 
settlers  in  this  district,  and  they  kept  their 
sheep  and  cows  close  to  their  cabins  to  protect 
them  from  the  wolves  which  infested  the 
neighborhood.  One  night,  as  Peckham  was 
leaving  the  Austin  farm  for  his  own,  two 
miles  distant,  he  heard  the  screech  of  a 
panther,  and  only  saved  his  own  life  by  rais- 
ing his  gun  quickly  and  shooting  the  animal. 
Experiences  of  this  kind  were  common  occur- 
rences; and  Great-grandmother  Austin,  who 
was  Rhoda  Stanton,  of  Dutchess  County,  had 
to  be  continually  on  her  guard  against  the 
wild  animals,  who  made  frequent  visits  upon 
her  in  her  doorless  cabin.  It  is  related  of  her 
that  once,  when  her  husband  was  on  a  four 
days'  journey  to  the  nearest  market,  she  was 
attacked  by  wolves  in  great  numbers,  and  all 
night  long  fought  them  off  with  blazing 
brands  from  the  fire,  and  was  well-nigh  ex- 
hausted when  help  arrived.  Pardon  Austin 
started  the  first  tannery  in  that  section;  and 
the  farm  in  Middletown  is  still  in  the  family. 


always  descending  to  the  youngest  child. 
Alexander  Austin,  son  of  Pardon  and  Rhoda, 
was  one  of  ten  children,  and  worked  on  the 
home  farm,  going  forty-five  miles  to  the  near- 
est market,  carrying  with  him  the  cloth  which 
his  wife  had  spun  from  the  flax  and  wool  of 
their  own  raising.  His  wife  was  Deborah 
Dean,  of  Middletovvn.  Their  children  were 
Alfred,  William,  Adaline,  Henry,  Theopho- 
lis,  Julia,  Clarinda,  Huldah,  and  Polly. 

William  Austin,  father  of  Mrs.  Wilson, 
came  to  Trout  Creek  when  young,  and  built 
the  house  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Wilson  as  a 
hotel ;  and  there  he  kept  the  first  store  of  the 
village.  He  married  Harriet  Darling,  daugh- 
ter of  Jeremiah  and  Elizabeth  (Drake)  Dar- 
ling, of  Broome,  Schoharie  County.  Joseph 
Darling,  her  grandfather,  and  his  wife,  Abi- 
gail Bull,  were  natives  of  Blenheim;  and  he 
was  a  blacksmith  and  farmer.  Jeremiah  was 
at  one  time  a  schoolmaster.  He  spent  his 
last  days  in  Trout  Creek,  and  left  the  follow- 
ing children:  Harriet,  Aaron,  Moses,  An- 
drew, Charles,  Elizabeth,  and  Mary.  The 
Drake  family  came  from  Massachusetts  early 
in  the  century.  Joshua  Drake,  great-grand- 
father of  Mrs.  Wilson,  was  a  soldier  in  the 
War  of  1 81 2.  He  settled  at  Harpersfield,  and 
later  in  Loomis.  William  Austin  after  his 
marriage  went  to  Canada,  and  engaged  in 
horse-trading,  and,  returning,  first  bought  a 
farm  on  Knickerbocker  Hill,  and  then  bought 
the  one  where  he  now  lives,  the  L.  L.  Teed 
place.  He  had  three  children  —  Deborah, 
George  H.,   and  Bessie. 

Deborah,  wife  of  James  S.  Wilson,  was  born 
at  Osbrook,  Canada,  in  1S53,  and  was  educated 
at  Trout  Creek.  She  is  the  mother  of  four 
children:  Eunice  L.,  born  January  27,  1872, 
who  married  Roma  Wakeman,  a  farmer  in 
Walton;  William  A.,  born  July  29,  1873; 
Hattie  L.,  born  August  17,  1876;  Florence 
H.,  born  F"ebruary  27,  1878. 

James  S.  Wilson  has  a  large  circle  of 
friends  and  acquaintances,  who  look  to  him 
with  the  respect  due  to  a  man  of  his  character, 
a  citizen  that  so  nobly  served  his  country  in 
the  time  of  its  greatest  need.  His  brother 
Daniel  is  a  farmer  in  Tompkins;  and  William 
is  a  prominent  citizen  of  Masonville,  having 
been  Supervisor  and  Justice  of  the  Peace. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


95 


l.l.IAM  j.  THOMPSON,  ;i  repre- 
sentative farmer  of  the  town  of 
Delhi,  has  a  fine  estate  of  two  hun- 
dred and  seventy  acres  lying  on  the  Little 
Delaware,  which,  with  its  handsome  resi- 
dence, commodious  harn,  and  other  suitahle 
out-buildings,  constitutes  one  of  the  most  at- 
tractive homesteads  in  this  part  of  Delaware 
County.  Mr.  Thompson  was  born  on  April 
6,  1856,  in  Middletown  in  this  county.  He 
comes  of  stanch  Scotch  ancestry,  his  father, 
James  M.  Thompson,  having  been  born  and 
bred  among  the  (Irampian  Hills,  in  Perth- 
shire, -Scotland.  He  was  a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion, and  resided  for  thirty  years  in  the  land 
which  gave  him  birth.  Being  then  desirous 
of  bettering  his  financial  condition,  he  sailed 
for  America,  a  country  of  great  possibilities 
for-  a  poor  man,  and  after  his  arrival  came 
directlv  to  this  jiart  of  the  Empire  State,  set- 
tling in  Mitldletown.  He  bought  a  tract  of 
forest  land,  and  for  twenty  years  he  was  en- 
gaged in  its  improvement.  Then,  selling 
that  property,  he  came  to  Delhi,  where  he 
purchased  the  farm  now  owned  and  occupied 
by  his  son  William,  and  resided  here  until  his 
departure  from  this  life,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
two  years. 

He  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife, 
Rachel  Cairns,  daughter  of  William  Cairns,  a 
life-long  resident  of  Roxburyshire,  Scotland, 
lived  but  a  short  time  after  her  marriage, 
dying  in  the  land  of  her  birth,  antl  leaving 
one  son,  John  M.  Thomi-ison.  Her  sister, 
Beatrice  Cairns,  became  his  second  wile,  their 
nuptials  being  celebrated  in  Scotland:  and  of 
their  union  were  born  five  children,  three 
daughters  and  two  sons.  Betsey,  the  eldest, 
is  the  widow  of  William  Thompson,  a  farmer, 
and  resides  in  Delhi.  Jessie,  who  married 
William  Aiken,  lives  in  Andes.  Annie  mar- 
ried Robert  Blair,  of  Delhi.  The  sons  are 
William  J.  and  Melville  hi.  Thompson,  lioth 
the  father  and  mother  were  respected  members 
of  the  Presbyterian  church,  having  made  a 
public  profession  of  their  faith  while  in  Scot- 
land, and  from  the  Perthshire  church  bringing 
letters  to  the  church  in  Middletown,  and 
afterward  being  received  into  the  church  at 
Delhi    by   letter. 

William  J.  Thompson  received  a  good  prac- 


tical education  in  the  days  of  his  xouth,  and 
from  his  earliest  remembrance  lias  i)een  en- 
gaged in  agricultural  labor.  L'ntil  twenty- 
four  years  of  age  he  assisted  his  father  in 
clearing  and  tilling  the  old  home  farm,  antl 
then  in  company  with  his  brother  bought  the 
entire  property.  After  taking  possession,  the 
brothers  at  once  began  making  extensive 
improvements,  both  in  the  land  and  buildings, 
erecting  a  large  and  convenient  barn,  sixty- 
four  feet  by  forty-six  feet,  and  thirty-three 
feet  in  height,  besides  other  buildings  need- 
ful for  their  increased  work.  They  enlarged 
their  dairy  from  twenty-three  cows  t(j  sixty, 
and  in  addition  thereto  keep  forty  head  of 
young  stock  and  six  fine  horses.  His  cows 
are  Jersey  grades,  which  produce  large  quanti- 
ties of  rich  milk;  and  this  is  sent  direct  to 
New  Yoik  City.  Five  years  ago  the  partner- 
shi])  between  the  brothers  was  dissolved;  and 
since  that  time  Mr.  William  Thompson  has 
continued  the  business  alone,  meeting  with 
the  same  success  as  in  ])revious  <lays.  He  is 
a  thorough  business  man  and  agriculturist, 
honest  and  upright  in  all  of  his  transactions, 
antl  fully  entitled  to  the  higli  res[)ect  accorded 
him  by  all. 

Mr.  Thomjjson  was  married  November  i, 
1884,  to  Isabella  J.  Mabel,  a  grand-daughter 
of  Robert  Mabel,  one  of  Delaware  County's 
most  honored  pioneers,  who  emigrated  from 
Scotland  with  a  large  family  in  1822,  and  set- 
tled in  Delhi.  He  bought  a  farm  on  the 
Little  Delaware,  and  there  he  and  his  good 
wife  s]K'nt  their  remaining  years.  They 
reared  a  family  of  five  children  —  Robert. 
James,  Alexander,  Jeannette,  and  Mary.  The 
third  son.  Alexander  Mabel,  was  the  father  of 
Mrs.  Thomjison.  He  was  bred  to  a  farmer's 
life,  and  became  one  of  the  influential  men  of 
this  part  of  the  county,  holding  many  of  the 
local  offices  of  the  town,  and  also  of  the  Agri- 
cultural Society  of  the  county.  He  married 
Isabella  .Middlemas:  and  they  became  the 
parents  ot  seven  children,  as  follows: 
Thomas,  a  ranchman,  resides  in  California; 
Robert  A.,  a  farmer,  lives  in  Delhi;  James 
D.,  a  farmer,  lives  on  the  old  homestead; 
Samuel  W..  deceased;  Isabella  J.,  Mrs. 
Thompson;  Agnes,  the  wife  of  Charles  Mc- 
Gregor;   and    Lizzie,    who    lives    on    the    old 


96 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


homestead  with  her  brother  James.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Mabel  spent  the  first  forty  years  of  their 
married  life  on  the  old  homestead,  but  subse- 
quently removed  to  a  farm  in  the  town,  where 
they  spent  their  last  years. 

The  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thompson  has 
been  brightened  by  the  birth  of  two  smart  and 
active  boys  —  Edward  H.  and  .Samuel  W. 
Politically,  Mr.  Thompson  is  a  steadfast 
Republican;  and,  although  no  aspirant  for 
official  honors,  he  takes  a  warm  interest  in 
local  affairs.  The  pleasant  home  of  the  fam- 
ily is  the  resort  of  a  host  of  friends,  whom 
they  delight  to  entertain. 


RV      W.      HOLMES,      Postmaster 
ind  Justice  of   the  Peace  in  the  town 


of  Hamden,  is  a  resident  of  De 
Lancey  and  a  citizen  of  high  standing 
in  Delaware  County.  He  was  born  in  Delhi, 
June  14,  1859,  but  has  resided  in  DeLancey 
since  the  age  of  one  year.  He  was  educated 
in  the  public  school  of  DeLancey  and  at  Dela- 
ware Academy  at  Delhi,  which  he  attended 
during  the  years  1876,  1877,  and  1878.  He 
commenced  teaching  at  the  age  of  seventeen, 
and  for  eleven  years  pursued  that  vocation, 
being  employed  in  all  the  larger  public 
schools  in  the  towns  of  Hamden  and  Delhi. 
In  1887  he  was  elected  to  the  ofhce  of  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  and,  at  the  expiration  of  his  term 
in  1891,  was  re-elected,  and  still  holds  that 
office,  doing  a  large  share  of  the  justice  court 
business  of  the  town. 

In  1892  he  was  appointed  Postmaster  at 
DeLancey  by  the  Harrison  administration, 
and,  although  an  ardent  Republican,  has  not 
been  removed  by  the  Cleveland  administration. 
He  was  one  of  fourteen  postmasters  out  of 
ninety-six  in  Delaware  County  whose  conduct 
of  their  offices  was,  after  an  examination  b\' 
special  inspectors  in  1893,  officially  declared 
by  the  Postmaster-General  to  be  excellent  or 
first-class.  He  was  United  .States  Census 
Enumerator  in  1880,  and  again  in  1890,  tak- 
ing the  census  of  the  entire  town  each  time, 
being  the  first  enumerator  in  Delaware  County 
to  receive  his  compensation  in  1890,  and 
being  honored  with  a  special  letter  of  com- 
mendation   from    the    superintendent    of    the 


census  for  the  eflficiency  and  accuracy  of  his 
work. 

For  the  past  six  years  Mr.  Holmes  has  been 
a  regularly  employed  correspondent  for  vari- 
ous local  papers,  and  has  written  during  that 
time  an  immense  amount  of  local,  general, 
and  editorial  matter.  He  is  at  present  on  the 
staff  of  the  Delaware  Express,  publisiied  at 
Delhi,    N.Y. 

Mr.  Holmes  is  an  only  son.  His  father, 
Henry  Holmes,  a  native  of  Paisley,  Scotland, 
came  to  this  country  in  1829,  at  the  age  of 
nine  years,  and  settled  in  Holmes  Hollow  in 
Delhi,  where  he  resided  till  his  removal  to 
DeLancey.  In  1850  he  married  Lucinda 
Peake,  a  grand-daughter  of  Roswell  Peake,  one 
of  the  early  pioneers.  At  the  time  of  her  mar- 
riage Miss  Peake  was  a  popular  school-teacher, 
and  she  still  takes  an  active  interest  in  educa- 
tional affairs.  Mr.  Holmes,  the  senior,  was  a 
lumberman  and  farmer  in  Holmes  Hollow,  own- 
ing a  saw-mill,  manufacturing  his  own  lumber, 
and  rafting  it  down  the  Delaware  River  to 
Philadelphia  every  spring.  After  selling  his 
farm  and  removing  to  DeLancey,  he  continued 
his  lumbering  business  until  about  1873,  when 
the  dejjletion  of  the  hemlock  forests  put  an 
end  to  that  industry  in  this  vicinity.  He  has 
ever  been  prominent  in  public  affairs,  and  has 
held  almost  every  town  office  from  Supervisor 
down  to  Inspector  of  Elections,  and  was  Post- 
master at  DeLancey  from  1889  until  1892, 
when  he  resigned  because  of  failing  health. 


,ISS  LAI  RA  GAY,  a  retired 
teacher  of  the  town  of  Walton, 
who  was  for  the  last  six  years  of 
her  life  an  efficient  member  of 
the  Board  of  Education,  died  here  a  short 
time  since,  July  28,  1894,  deeply  lamented 
bv  a  large  circle  of  friends.  She  was  one  of 
the  early  graduates  of  Vassar  College,  of  the 
class  of  June  20,  1869;  and,  possessing  much 
native  force  of  character,  her  influence  as  a 
woman  of  culture  was  widely  felt.  In  relig- 
ion she  was  an  Episcopalian.  Miss  Gay  was 
the  daughter  of  David  Hyde  and  Susan  (Gar- 
diner) Gay,  and  a  grand-daughter  of  William 
Gay,  who  was  a  pioneer  settler  on  the  banks 
of  East  Brook. 


BIOGRAPHICAI,    REVIEW 


97 


The  progenitor  of  the  family  in  America  was 
John  Ciay,  who  came  o\er  in  the  ship  "Mary 
and  John,"  landini;-  in  Boston  in  1630,  and 
first  settling  in  W^atertown,  Mass.,  but  be- 
coming a  founder  of  the  neighboring  town  of 
Dedham  before  1636.  He  died  there,  on 
March  4,  1688  (the  very  year  when  William 
of  Orange  and  Mary  Stuart  w'cre  jointly  estab- 
lished on  the  I'Lnglish  throne),  his  wife  Jo- 
anna surviving  till  August  14,  1691.  Among 
their  ten  children  was  one  Samuel,  born  in 
Dedham,  March  10.  1639,  married  to  Mary 
Bridge,  November  23,  1661,  and  died  in  his 
native  place  on  April  5,  171 8,  aged  seventy- 
nine,  two  days  after  the  death  of  his  wife, 
with  whom  he  had  lived  happily  for  fifty-six 
years,  rearing  five  sons  and  three  daughters. 
Their  third  son  was  John,  born  June  25,  1668. 
He  married  Mary  Fisher,  of  Dedham,  on  May 
24,  1692,  and  died  on  the  first  day  of  June, 
1758,  aged  ninety,  having  outlived  by  a  dec- 
ade his  wife,  who  tiled  May  18,  1748,  having 
borne  seven  children.  John,  Jr.,  their  second 
son,  was  born  in  Dedham  on  July  8,  1699, 
and  died  in  Sharon,  Conn.,  on  August  6, 
1792,  aged  ninety-three,  having  lived  through 
the  Revolution,  which  began  when  he  was  six 
years  past  his  threescore  and  ten,  too  old  to 
take  part  in  the  patriotic  contest.  His  wife 
was  Lydia  Culver.  They  were  married  in 
1721,  and  reared  eleven  children. 

This  brings  us  to  their  son,  Colonel  Eben- 
ezer  Gay,  born  in  Litchfield,  Conn.,  on  the 
day  after  Christmas,  1725.  He  was  twenty- 
five  years  old  when  he  came  to  Sharon,  and 
married  Anna  Cole,  who  bore  him  four  sons 
and  two  daughters.  The  Colonel  was  a  mill- 
tia  ofificer,  and  served  in  the  Revolution  with 
distinguished  bravery  at  Danbury  and  other 
places.  He  died  at  Sharon,  July  16,  1781,  at 
the  age  of  fifty-six;  and  his  resting-place  is  ; 
marked  by  a  headstone,  now  one  hundred  and 
seven  years  old.  Colonel  Ebenezer  had  a 
son,  David  Gay,  born  March  24,  1756,  who 
married  Keziah  Merchant,  and  reared  two  sons 
and  one  daughter.  One  of  these,  William  , 
Gay.  who  was  born  in  Sharon  on  September 
21,  1776,  came  to  Walton  in  1804,  and  settled 
on  a  farm  on  East  Brook.  He  married  Anna 
Seymour;  and  their  son,  David  Hyde  Gay, 
was    born    in    181 5.       William    Gay    died    on 


March  25,   1854,  just  nine  days  after  the  death 
of  his  wife. 

David  Hyde  Gay  was  the  only  son  of  his 
parents  living  to  maturity,  one  other  son  hav- 
ing died  young;  and  of  his  sisters  only  one 
outli\ed  him,  Ann,  who  became  Mrs.  William 
Henry  Eells,  of  Walton.  Like  his  father  and 
sisters  he  was  a  teacher  in  early  life,  and 
later  he  was  a  merchant  for  thirty  years.  He 
inherited  property  from  his  parents,  and  also 
received  it  through  his  wife.  His  death  oc- 
curred in  Walton  on  October  14,  1893,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-eight  years  and  two 
months.  Though  no  politician,  he  was  a  de- 
cided patriot,  being  a  war  Democrat.  For 
over  half  a  century  Mr.  Gay  was  connected 
with  the  Episcopal  church,  and  was  for  a 
quarter-century  Senior  Warden  of  the  parish. 
He  was  a  liberal  supporter  of  educational  in- 
stitutions; and,  being  a  thoughtful  and  care- 
ful reader,  he  collected  a  fine  library, 
including  the  ninth  edition  of  the  lincyclo- 
pieilia  Britannica. 

The  wife  of  David  H.  Gay  was  Susan  Gar- 
diner, the  third  daughter  of  Jetur  and  Susanna 
(Johnson)  Gardiner,  and  was  born  on  the  old 
family  farm,  on  the  west  branch  of  the  Dela- 
ware River,  January  4,  181 1,  four  years  before 
her  husband.  They  were  married  October  21, 
1839;  and  she  died  June  12,  1887,  aged 
seventy-six,  six  years  before  her  husband, 
with  whom  she  had  lived  forty-eight  years. 
Her  father,  Jetur  Gardiner,  died  in  Walton, 
November  11,  181  i,  of  pleurisy,  before  she 
was  a  year  old.  He  was  descendetl  in  the 
seventh  generation  from  Lion  Gardiner,  of 
Gardiner's  Island,  off  the  east  end  of  Long 
Lsland.  The  place  was  known  as  "Gardi- 
ner's Manor,"  and  Lion  Gardiner  was  called 
the  Lord  of  the  manor.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  seventeenth  century  he  was  in  Holland  in 
military  service  with  William  of  Orange. 
On  July  10,  1635,  he  took  his  bride  to  Lon- 
don, and  on  August  16  sailed  for  New  Eng- 
land, arriving  on  November  28.  At  first, 
under  the  commission  of  Lords  Say  and 
Brook,  he  built  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Connecticut  River,  called  Saybrook,  where  he 
remained  four  years.  There  was  born  his 
son.  David  Gardiner.  April  29,  1636,  the  first 
white  child   born    in  the  Connecticut  colony, 


98 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


though  he  afterward  had  two  sisters.  On  the 
death  of  his  mother  in  1665,  David  Gardiner 
became  proprietor  of  the  island.  He  married 
Mary  Leringman,  and  died  in  Hartford  on 
July  10,  1689,  very  suddenly,  while  attending 
the  General  Assembly.  One  of  his  descend- 
ants, another  David,  was  born  in  1705,  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Wickham  in  1725,  and  died  in 
South  tlole,  L.I.,  March  2,  1743,  leaving 
four  children.  John  Gardiner,  son  of  the  sec- 
ond David,  was  born  in  1727,  married  Mary 
Reaves  in  1749,  and  died  in  1795.  In  the 
si.vth  generation  from  Lion  (Gardiner  was 
John's  son,  a  third  David  Gardiner,  who  was 
born  September  11,  1750,  married  Jerusha 
Strong,  August  3,  1771,  and  died  at  South 
Hole  in  1784,  after  which,  in  1799,  his  widow 
moved  to  Walton  with  her  oldest  son,  Jetur, 
and  there  died,  aged  ninety-four,  in  Decem- 
ber,   1843. 

The  father  of  Mrs.  Jetur  Gardiner,  Laura 
Gay's  great-grandfather,  was  Captain  Samuel 
Johnson,  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  who  came 
to  Walton  from  the  village  of  Northeast, 
Dutchess  County,  April  17,  1787,  with  his 
wife,  Sarah  Pennoyer,  and  ten  chidren,  three 
more  being  born  after  their  arrival.  In  all 
there  were  seven  boys  and  six  girls,  with  the 
following  alliterative  names:  Sabra;  Siles; 
Solomon;  Sylvia;  Samuel;  Sarah;  Shubael ; 
Schuyler;  Simeon;  Susanna,  who  became 
Mrs.  Gardiner;  Sybil;  Sylvester;  and  Susan 
Elizabeth.  Well  it  is  said  by  Lord  Bacon: 
"  It  is  a  revered  thing  to  see  an  ancient 
castle  not  in  decay;  how  much  more  to  be- 
hold an  ancient  family  which  have  stood 
against  the  waves  and   weathers  of  time  I  " 


'MITH  W.  REED,  M.D.,  is  among 
the  best-known  residents  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Margarettville,  in  the  town  of 
Middletown,  where  he  has  for  many 
years  pursued  his  profession,  alike  with  profit 
to  himself  and  benefit  to  others.  His  grand- 
father, William  Reed,  came  from  New  Eng- 
land, and  settled  in  Pleasant  Valley,  Dutchess 
County,  where  he  bought  a  farm,  upon  which 
he  worked  as  a  pioneer.  He  served  in  the 
War  of  1812,  was  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and 
lived  to  be  eighty-five.     His  eight    children 


were  Oliver,   William,    Amos,    Aaron,    Eben- 
ezer,  Henry,  Lydia,  and  Esther  Reed. 

Oliver    Reed,    William's    eldest    son,    was 
born  in  New   London,  Conn.      He  came  early 
to  Delaware  County,  and  hired  a  farm  in  Ro.x- 
bury,     where    he    married     Eunice     Dulong, 
daughter  of  John  Dulong,  a  Delaware  County 
farmer,  who   lived   till   the   latter  part   of   the 
nineteenth     century.       During    the    War    of 
18 12    Oliver   Reed  did  military  duty  for  three 
months   at    Sackett's    Harbor.      Later    he    re- 
moved to  Cortland   County,  where   he  died   at 
the  age  of   eighty-four,  his  wife   living   to   be 
three  years  older.     Both  were  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  church.      He  was  at  first  a  Dem- 
ocrat, but  later  became  a  Republican.     They 
had  a  large  family  of  thirteen  children,  ten 
living  to  maturity.     Esther   Reed  married  a 
farmer  named   Abram   Blumberg,  and  had  four 
children.      William    Reed    died    in    our   Civil 
War,   fighting    bravely   in    the   One   Hundred 
and   Sixty-fifth   New  York  Regiment  of  Vol- 
unteers.     John    Dulong    Reed    lives   with    his 
family  in  Michigan.      Aaron    D.  Reed  became 
a    physician,    married    Marian    Hubbell,    and 
died    in   Cortland   County,  New  York,  leaving 
two    children.      Lydia    Reed    married     Peter 
Baljea,  lives  in  Cortland   County,  and  has  two 
children.     Phebe   Reed   is  the  wife  of   Loren 
Cole,  a  Michigan  farmer.     Dr.  S.  W.  Reed  is 
the    subject    of    this    sketch.     Polly   Reed    is 
married    to    Chapman    Grinnell,   a    Tompkins 
County  farmer.      Orin  C.  Reed   married   Mary 
Ann  Russell,  and  was  killed  in  the  Rebellion 
of    1861-65,  leaving  one  child.     Sherman  S. 
Reed  married  Miss  Fanny  Pierce,  and  lives  in 
Tioga  County. 

Smith  W.  Reed  was  born  in  Roxbury, 
June  21,  1830.  He  was  educated  in  the  Rox- 
bury common  schools,  and  in  the  Delaware 
Institute  at  P"ranklin.  In  the  fall  of  1850, 
when  twenty  years  of  age,  he  came  to  Margar- 
ettville, in  order  to  study  medicine  with  his 
elder  brother  Aaron,  and  subsequently  received 
a  diploma  at  the  Vermont  Medical  College  in 
1854.  After  practising  in  the  same  town 
with  his  brother  for  a  year,  the  young  man 
went  to  the.  town  of  Liberty  in  Sullivan 
County,  but  did  not  stay  there  long,  for  he 
found  a  stronger  attraction  in  his  old  field, 
where    he    was    already    so    well    and    kindly 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


99 


known;  and  there  he  has  ever  since  remained, 
having  the  largest  practice  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. In  1S90  he  opened  a  drug  store,  one 
of  the  finest  business  places  in  the  village; 
and  in  1867  lie  built  a  very  large  house  on 
Walnut  Street,  where  he  has  since  resided. 
In  fact,  he  built  this  residence  in  consequence 
of  his  marriage,  which  had  taken  place  in 
1865.  The  bride  was  Harriett  A.  Diunond; 
but,  she  dying  at  the  early  age  of  nineteen, 
the  Doctor  was  again  married,  the  bride  being 
Frances  A.  Dumond,  an  aunt  of  his  first  wife, 
and  the  daughter  of  Cornelius  and  Sylvia 
(Wood)  Dumond.  Of  this  union  have  come 
four  children,  namely:  Harriett  Amanila 
Reed,  who  died  young;  Randolph  R.  Reed, 
Emma  Dumond  Reed,  and  Smith  W.  Keed, 
Jr.,  who  are  all  at  home.  The  doctor  is  a 
Democrat,  and  has  thirteen  times  filled  the 
office   of   Supervisor  of  the   town. 

The  present  Mrs.  Reed  was  born  December 
8,  1846.  Her  grandfather  was  Egnos  Du- 
mond; and  from  him  the  genealogy  runs  back 
lineally  through  Peter,  Egnos,  and  John,  to 
Waldron  Dumond,  a  native  of  France,  who 
was  exiled  in  the  religious  troubles,  and  mar- 
ried his  wife  in  Hollantl.  At  first  the  name 
was  spelled  de  Mont,  then  Du  .Mond.  and 
finally  Dumond.  WaUlron  Dumond  settled 
on  Long  Island  as  a  farmer.  His  first  ap- 
pearance in  the  records  was  on  March  28, 
1660,  as  a  soldier  in  Netherlandish  service, 
in  the  company  of  his  noble  honor,  the  Direc- 
tor-General, Peter  Stuyvesant,  then  stationed 
at  lisopus  (Kingston),  N.V.  Waldron  was 
one  of  the  Military  Council,  December  i,  1663. 
On  January  13,  1664,  he  married  Margaret 
Hendrix,  widow  of  Arentsen  Hendrix.  His 
son  John  married  Nelltye  Van  Vegden. 
I'^gnos,  son  of  John,  married  No\ember  13, 
1725,  Catherine  Schuyler,  daughter  of  David 
Schuyler  and  Eliza  Rutgers.  David  Schuyler 
was  Mayor  of  Albany  in  1706  and  1707.  His 
son  Peter,  born  about  1730,  married  Elsie 
\'an  Waggenen.  Their  son,  Egnos  Dumond, 
was  born  in  Shandaken  village,  and  married 
Harriett  Winnie.  Their  children  were  Will- 
iam. Egnos,  James,  Cornelius,  Christian, 
Abraham,  Harriet,  .Mary,  .Sally,  and  Anna. 
The  parents  were  among  the  early  settlers  of 
New  Kingston,  Mr.  Egnos   Dumond  receiving 

LOFC 


a  tract  of  land  in  recompense  for  his  Kingston 
house  burned  during  the  Rev(;lution,  in  which 
he  patriotically  fought.  Hoth  he  and  his  wife 
lived  to  a  good  old  age  in  Middletown,  and 
belonged    to   the    Dutch    Reformed    church. 

Cornelius  Dumond  was  born  in  .Shandaken, 
came  with  his  father  lignos  to  Delaware 
County,  and  settled  in  New  Kingston,  where 
he  bought  a  new  farm  of  three  hundred  acres. 
His  first  wife  was  born  in  New  Kingston. 
Her  name  was  Mary  Vaple,  and  she  bore 
eight  children:  Harriett,  Jane,  John  Yai)le, 
Catherine,  Mary,  Phebe,  Prudence,  and  Mi- 
nerva Dumond.  After  her  death,  in  middle 
life,  he  was  again  married  to  Sylvia  Wood, 
daughter  of  Christian  Wood,  by  whom  he  had 
one  child,  Frances  A.  Dumond,  who  became, 
as  mentioned  above,  the  second  wife  of  Dr. 
Reed.  Mr.  Dumond  continued  nearly  all  his 
life  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  John  T.  Archi- 
bakl.  He  built  first  a  log  cabin,  and  then  a 
frame  house  in  place  of  the  old  building.  He 
lived  to  be  eighty-two,  but  his  wife  died  ten 
years  younger.  In  politics  he  was  a  Demo- 
crat, and  both  husband  and  wife  were  Presby- 
terians. Among  their  children  still  living 
are  Jane,  Mary,  Catherine,  and  Prudence. 
Harriett  Dumond  married  W.  Sanford.  and, 
dying,  left  five  children.  Jane  Dumond  mar- 
ried William  Reynolds,  and  had  ten  children. 
John  Yaple  Dumond  married  Priscilla  Hilton, 
and  had  six  children.  Catherine  Dumond 
married  Cornelius  Vansiclen,  and  had  nine 
children.  Mary  Dumond  married  William 
Palmateer,  and  had  ten  children.  Phebe  Du- 
mond married  Caleb  Travis,  and  had  three 
chihlren.  Prudence  Dumond  married  Charles 
Macomber,  and  had  ten  children.  .Minerva 
Dumond  married  Peter  F.  Swart,  and  had  six 
children.  Both  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Reed  have 
rea.son  to  be  proud  of  their  progenitors.  The 
great  English  physician.  Sir  Benjamin  Brodie, 
has  well  said,  and  it  is  a  sentiment  embodied 
in  such  lives  as  are  commemorated  in  this 
sketch  :  — 

"Nothing  in  this  world  is  so  good  as  use- 
fulness. It  binds  your  fellow-creatures  to 
you.  and  you  to  them:  it  tends  to  the  im- 
provement of  your  own  character,  and  it  gives 
you  a  real  importance  in  society,  much  beyond 
what  anv  artificial  station  can  bestow." 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


lent  farm  which  he 
Major  Butts  farm, 
of  twelve  children, 
ters,    only    one    of 


RSON  J.  BUTTS,  the  enterprising 
proprietor  of  an  extensive  milk  farm 
in  the  south  part  of  Kortright,  N.Y., 
was  born  in  this  town  on  December 
21,  1845,  son  of  Jeremiah  and  Emma  (Dart) 
Butts.  His  eminent  ancestor.  Major  Jere- 
miah Butts,  was  also  a  native  of  Delaware 
County,  the  family  being  among  the  early  set- 
tlers of  Kortright.  The  Major,  after  an  early 
life  spent  on  the  farm,  became  an  officer  in 
the  War  of  18 12,  and  afterward  was  promi- 
nent in  the  affairs  of  the  town.  The  excel- 
owned  was  known  as  the 
Here  he  reared  a  family 
five  sons  and  seven  daugh- 
whom  is  now  living  — 
Mrs.  Loranda  Barlow,  of  Binghamton.  Major 
Butts  spent  his  last  days  on  his  farm,  dying 
at  the  age  of  eighty-four;  and  his  wife,  who 
was  Beulah  Sheldon,  of  Dutchess  County, 
died  at  the  same  place  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
eight.  They  were  members  of  the  Baptist 
church,  and  he  was  a  Democrat.  The  grand- 
father of  Orson  J.  Butts  was  Wilson  Butts, 
who  spent  most  of  his  life  in  Kortright,  hav- 
ing come  from  Harpersfield,  where  he  first 
settled.  He  was  a  hard-working  farmer,  and 
one  whose  success  was  due  to  his  own  efforts. 
His  first  wife,  Lucy  Smith,  died  at  the  age  of 
thirty-six,  leaving  five  children,  the  only  one 
now  surviving  being  Mrs.  Mariette  Banks, 
wife  of  Henry  D.  Banks,  of  Kortright.  Wil- 
son Butts  afterward  married  Amy  Reynolds, 
by  whom  he  had  two  children,  the  one  now 
living  being  Mrs.  Candace  S.  Murdock,  wife 
of  Matthew  Murdock,  of  Kortright  Centre. 
Wilson  Butts  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church.  When  he  died,  he  had  attained  the 
age  of  sixty-seven  years. 

Jeremiah,  father  of  Orson  J.  Butts,  located 
himself  in  1835  on  the  farm  now  owned  by 
his  son,  and  here  followed  farming  all  his 
life.  The  farm  consisted  at  first  of  sixty 
acres;  but  by  industrious  application  and 
good  management  he  became  so  prosperous 
that  he  was  able  at  the  time  of  his  death 
in  1880,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five,  to  see 
double  this  number  in  his  possession.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  at  Bloomville,  and  in  politics  a  Demo- 
crat, and  was  a  prominent  man  in  town  affairs, 


being  for  many  years  Assessor.  His  wife, 
Emma  Dart,  died  at  the  age  of  fifty,  having 
been  the  mother  of  five  children,  namely: 
Wilson  W.,  of  Goshen,  Ind. ;  Orson  J.;  Ovid 
L. ;  Lucy  Ann;  and  Robert  J.  Ovid  L.  was 
a  prominent  and  successful  physician  of 
Bloomville,  where  he  died  in  1876,  aged 
thirty-six,  leaving  a  wife  and  one  child  who 
survived  him  but  one  year.  Lucy  Ann  died 
at  twenty-one.  Robert  J.  died  in  1856,  when 
but  eight  years  old. 

Orson  J.  Butts  was  educated  at  the  district 
school  and  at  Stamford  and  Delhi  Academies. 
He  taught  school  some  twelve  terms  and  then, 
in  1875,  bought  the  farm  on  which  he  now 
lives,  consisting  at  first  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty  acres,  and  comprising  now  about  three 
hundred  acres.  He  has  about  sixty  cattle, 
Jersey  grades,  and  sells  his  milk,  the  amount 
produced  in  1893  being  about  three  thousand 
four  hundred  cans.  He  has  also  given  some 
attention  to  horse-raising,  in  which,  as  in  his 
dairying,  he  has  been  very  successful. 

On  July  I,  1875,  Mr.  Butts  married  Anna 
E.  Eells,  daughter  of  Deacon  Horace  D. 
Eells,  a  resident  of  L^nadilla,  a  mention  of 
whom  may  be  found  in  the  "Otsego  County 
Biographical  Review."  She  is  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  church  at  Unadila.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Butts  have  no  children.  Mr.  Butts  is  a 
libera]  Democrat,  but  has  never  taken  an 
active  part  in  politics.  His  excellent  farm  is 
a  model  of  thrift  and  neatness,  his  fine  build- 
ings and  latest  modern  improvements  showing 
the  care  and  pride  of  its  owner.  He  is  one  of 
the  leading  farmers  of  this  part  of  the  town, 
and  a  man  who  is  held  in  much  respect. 


,HARLES  H.  VERRILL,  A.M., 
Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Mathematics, 
Civics,  and  Methods,  has  been 
Principal  of  the  Delaware  Literary 
Institute  at  F"ranklin  for  the  past  seventeen 
years,  and  has  ably  discharged  the  duties  de- 
volving upon  him  in  this  responsible  position, 
gaining  a  wide  and  enviable  reputation  as  an 
educator.  He  is  a  native  of  Massachusetts, 
having  been  born  in  1837  in  Dorchester,  then 
a  suburb  of  Boston,  but  now  included  within 
its  limits.      His  ancestry  is   English,   and   is 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


traced  to  Captain  Samuel  X'crrill  who  sailed 
from  England  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
landed  at  Cajjc  Cod,  Mass.  His  father  hav- 
ing- tlied  wiien  he  was  young,  he  li\ed  with 
his  uncle,  Alden  ].  Verrill.  He  hecame  an 
inmate  C)f  his  home  in  Aulnun,  IMe.,  living 
with  him  eleven  years. 

At  the  age  of  fifteen  years,  he  entered  a 
shoe-shop  to  learn  the  trade,  and  serveil  an 
apprenticeship.  l)in-ing  this  time  Professor 
Verrill,  who  was  an  ambitious  student,  at-  ! 
tended  school  three  months,  anil  taught  school 
one  term.  Leaving  the  shoe-shop,  he  fitted 
himself  for  college  at  the  I.ewiston  Falls 
Academy,  and  at  the  Maine  State  Seminary  of 
Lewiston,  matriculating  at  Bowdoin  College 
in  1858,  and  being  graduated  from  that  insti-  j 
tution  in  1862.  Professor  Verrill  began  his 
professional  labors  very  soon  after,  holding 
the  principalship  of  the  P'ast  Corinth  Acad- 
emy in  Maine  t\>r  three  years.  He  subse- 
quently became  Professor  of  Mathematics  at 
the  Pennsylvania  State  Normal  School  at 
Mansfield,  remaining  there  until  1869  as  one 
of  its  corps  of  instructors,  and  the  following 
eight  years  occu])ied  the  position  of  Princijial 
of  that  school.  In  1877  he  was  elected  Prin-  ; 
cipal  of  the  Delaware  Literary  Institute, 
Franklin,  N.Y.,  an  office  for  which  his  talents 
and  fine  scholarly  attainments  eminently  qual- 
ify him,  and  in  which  he  is  giving  universal 
satisfaction.  As  an  active  member  and 
worker  in  the  teachers"  associations  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  New-  York,  and  as  an  instructor 
in  teachers'  institutes  for  the  past  twenty-five 
years,  he  has  gained  a  great  popularity  and 
distinction,  his  scholarship,  affability,  and 
enthusiasm  being  among  the  elements  of  his 
success. 

On  May  3.  1871.  Dr.  Verrill  was  married 
to  Miss  ICmma  J.  Shattuck,  of  Hlossburg,  Pa. 
She  is  a  daughter  of  the  late  Levi  II.  and 
.Sarah  (Pack)  Shattuck,  and  is  a  woman  of 
culture  and  many  accomplishments,  having 
been  educated  at  the  Mount  Holyoke  Semi- 
nary, in  Massachusetts.  Of  the  children  who 
have  been  born  into  their  household,  two  have 
been  taken  from  earth:  Arthur,  a  babe  of  five 
months;  and  Howard,  a  bright  and  promising 
boy  of  eight  and  one-half  years.  The  two 
older  children   are   now   living:    Henry   Shat- 


tuck V^errill,  born  October  12,  1872;  and 
Sarah  .Shattuck  W-rrill,  a  young  lady  <ii  nine- 
teen years.  Henry  was  graduated  from  Dela- 
ware Literary  Institute  in  the  class  of  1888 
and  from  Hamilton  College  in  tlie  class  of 
1892,  and  is  now  Professor  of  Rhetoric  and 
Literature  at  Park  College  in  Parkvillc,  Mo. 
.Sarah,  who  is  an  accomplished  musician,  was 
graduated  from  the  Delaware  Literary  Insti- 
tute in  1891,  and  is  now  pursuing  her  studies 
in  the  F'lmira  College. 

Religiously,  Professor  Verrill  is  a  member 
of  the  Congregational  church  of  I'ranklin,  and 
a  Trustee  of  that  society.  He  is  also  a  li- 
censed preacher  in  the  Delaware,  Chenango, 
and  Oneida  Association,  and  has  filled  differ- 
ent pulpits  with  ability,  making  a  good 
im|)ression  by  his  earnest  and  persuasive 
manner,  and  delighting  and  ])leasing  his 
hearers  by  his  clear  and  logical  reasoning. 
.Sociallv,  he  is  a  Master  Mason,  and  is  a 
man  of  good  financial  skill,  and  has  for 
some  years  been  a  Director  in  the  I'irst  Na- 
tional Bank  of  Franklin.  N.Y.  Lafayette 
College  gave  him  the  degree  of  Ph.D.  in 
1881.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Delta  Kap])a 
Epsilon  fraternity,  Bowdoin  Chapter;  and  his 
son  is  a  member  o(  the  same  fraternity,  Ham- 
ilton Chapter. 


DMUND  ROSE,  a  worthy  representa- 
tive of  the  thriving  agriculturists  of 
Delaware  County,  owns  and  occupies 
a  valuable  farm  of  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  acres  jileasantly  located  on  Elk  Creek, 
about  five  miles  from  Delhi.  His  homestead 
is  well  improved,  and  amply  supi)lied  with 
comfortable  and  convenient  farm  buildings, 
and  all  the  needed  modern  machinery  and 
implements  for  carrying  on  his  work.  He 
is  a  thorough-going  and  skilful  farmer, 
whose  prosperity  is  due  to  his  energetic, 
enterprising  spirit  and  judicious  manage- 
ment. He  is  of  substantial  Scotch  ances- 
try, and  a  native  of  Delaware  County,  hav- 
ing been  born  in  the  town  of  Stamford, 
on  Rose's  Brook,  December  8,  18 17.  His 
father  was  Hugh  Rose,  Jr.,  and  his  grand- 
father Hugh  Rose,  Sr.,  an  honored  pioneer 
of    .Stamford. 


102 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Hugh  Rose,  Sr.,  was  born,  bred,  and  mar- 
ried in  Scotland,  where  he  was  engaged  as  a 
tiller  of  the  soil  until  his  emigration  to  this 
country.  His  first  location  in  the  United 
States  was  in  New  ^'ork,  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Catskill  Mountains,  from  whence  he  came 
to  this  county,  at  a  time  when  it  was  a  vast 
forest,  with  here  and  there  a  clearing  in  which 
some  venturesome  pioneer  had  raised  a  hum- 
ble cabin.  Buying  about  six  hundred  acres 
of  timbered  land,  he  built  a  log  house  and 
began  clearing  the  land.  With  characteristic 
enterprise  he  built  a  saw  and  grist  mill  at  the 
mouth  of  Rose's  Brook,  the  very  first  in  the 
locality;  and  his  milling  business  proved  very 
remunerative,  farmers  taking  their  grain  to 
him  from  long  distances,  some  bringing  it  on 
horseback  and  some  in  canoes.  He  was  for 
many  years  one  of  the  most  conspicuous 
figures  in  the  management  of  local  affairs, 
serving  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century,  and  being  for  many  years 
Associate  Judge.  He  accumulated  quite  a 
pro]ierty,  and  continued  to  reside  on  his 
homestead  until  his  demise.  His  wife,  who 
outlived  him,  passed  her  last  years  in  the 
town  of  Claverack.  They  reared  six  children 
—  John,  Aleck,  Hugh,  Lydia,  Nancy,  and 
Catherine. 

Hugh  Rose,  Jr.,  w'as  likewise  a  native  of 
old  Scotland,  and  came  here  when  a  small 
boy.  He  was  reared  on  the  paternal  home- 
stead, receiving  the  rudiments  of  his  educa- 
tion in  the  district  school,  and  afterward 
continuing  his  studies  at  home.  He  was  a 
man  of  clear  understanding  and  good  judg- 
ment, and  a  great  lover  of  books,  being 
especially  well  read  in  ancient  and  modern 
history.  While  at  home  he  assisted  his  father 
on  the  farm  and  in  the  mill,  and  subsequently 
purchased  a  farm  in  Stamford,  where  he  re- 
sided until  his  death,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven 
years.  He  married  Elizabeth  Barlow,  one  of 
a  large  family  of  children  born  to  Edmund 
Barlow,  a  farmer  of  Stamford.  Of  this  union 
two  sons  and  eight  daughters  were  born,  the 
following  being  their  record:  Mary,  the  wife 
of  George  Hume;  Margery,  wife  of  William 
Loring;  Salonia,  wife  of  John  King;  Nancy, 
wife  of  John  Gammell;  Lydia,  wife  of  Peter 
Grant;  Elizabeth,   wife  of  James   McDonald; 


Abigail,  wife  of  William  Brock;  Catherine, 
wife  of  Thomas  Smith;  Hugh;  and  Edmund. 
The  mother,  who  survived  her  husband,  died 
at  the  home  of  her  youngest  daughter,  Mrs. 
Thomas  Smith,  in  the  town  of  Kortright,  at 
the  advanced  age  of  seventy-seven  years. 
Both  parents  were  esteemed  members  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  church. 

P^dmund  acquired  a  good  education,  and  at 
the  age  of  sixteen  years  began  teaching  in  the 
district  schools  of  his  native  town,  afterward 
pursuing  this  high  calling  in  Delhi  and  Bo- 
vina,  making  in  all  about  four  years.  Mr. 
Rose  next  spent  a  year  in  Ohio,  and,  on  re- 
turning to  Stamford,  remained  with  his 
brother  during  the  summer,  and  in  the  follow- 
ing winter  taught  the  district  school.  Com- 
ing then  to  Elk  Creek,  in  company  with  Mr. 
McDonald  he  bought  a  large  farm,  and, 
erecting  a  mill,  engaged  in  the  milling 
business  for  a  year.  They  then  divided 
the  farm,  Mr.  Rose  selling  his  interest  in 
the  mill  to  his  partner;  and  since  that 
time  he  has  given  his  entire  attention  to 
his  agricultural  interests.  Mr.  Rose  makes 
a  specialty  of  dairy  farming,  manufacturing 
table  butter  of  superior  quality,  for  which 
he  receives  the  highest  market  price  in  New 
York  City.  His  fine  herd  of  cows  are  mostl)'^ 
Jersey  grades,  and  number  about  fifty  head 
of  as  fine  and  sleek-looking  cattle  as  can 
be  found  in  the  county.  In  1891  Mr.  Rose, 
wishing  to  become  more  familiar  with  the 
beauties  of  his  native  country,  spent  about 
six  months  in  a  trip  to  the  Pacific  Coast, 
travelling  extensively  throughout  Southern 
California. 

Mr.  Rose  has  been  three  times  married. 
His  first  wife,  Nancy  Blakeslee,  to  whom  he 
was  united  in  1842,  was  a  daughter  of  Will- 
iam Blakeslee,  of  Kortright.  She  bore  him 
the  following  children:  William,  Hugh, 
Sarah,  Jennie,  and  Augusta.  The  youngest 
daughter,  Augusta,  married  Hiram  Ingersoll, 
a  lawyer,  residing  in  Denver,  Col.;  and  they 
have  four  children — Leonard,  Jennie,  Julia, 
and  Sarah.  In  1852  Mrs.  Nancy  Rose  died; 
and  Mr.  Rose  subsequently  married  Helen 
Sturgis,  the  daughter  of  George  Sturgis,  of 
Delhi.  After  ten  years  of  wedded  life  she, 
too,  died,    leaving  four  children  —  Cora,  Isa- 


RFOGRArnirAT,    RFVIFW 


'03 


bclla,  Wilson,  and  Gcoi-gc.  Kc  married  for 
iiis  tiiird  wife,  IClilic  McKadiicn,  wiio  is  a  na- 
tive of  Delhi,  beint;-  the  daughter  of  (dIui 
McFadden,  a  well-known  farmer,  and  one  of 
the  early  settlers  of  the  town. 

During  his  younger  years  Mr.  Rose  sup- 
ported the  Republican  ticket;  but  since  the 
days  of  Horace  Greeley's  candidacy  for  the 
office  of  President  he  has  been  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  party  lines,  his  only  cjuestion  in 
such  matters  being  wliether  any  measure  is 
for  the  benefit  of  the  town  or  county  in  which 
he  lives,  or  is  calculated  to  improve  or  elevate 
society  at  large.  Socially,  he  has  been  for 
many  years  a  Granger.  Religiously,  he  was 
formerly  connected  with  a  church  in  Kort- 
right,  being  one  of  its  most  active  members; 
but  he  now  attends  the  l'"irsl  I'resbvterian 
church    at    Delhi. 


(sH'OIIN  THOM.'\S,  Jr.,  a  descendant  of 
an  old  and  well-known  family  of  that 
name,  was  a  ]irominent  citizen  of 
.Stamford,  where  he  was  born  on  No- 
vember 20,  182.S,  and  died,  highly  respected 
and  beloved,  on  April  14,  1887.  Hisgrantl- 
father,  Abram  Thomas,  the  original  settler, 
was  a  son  of  an  earlier  John  Thomas,  who 
was  born  on  November  25,  1746,  and  whose 
wife,  Phfube  Thomas,  was  born  on  August  10, 
I74<).  Abrani  Thomas  was  boiii  January  3, 
1773,  and  married  Lvdia  ilawlev,  who  was 
born  March  4,  1776.  He  was  a  farmer,  and 
I)roprietor  of  the  first  ta\erii  in  .Stamford, 
which  is  still  standing  on  the  Thomas  fai'm  on 
the  main  road  between  Bloonuille  and  lln- 
bart,  in  what  is  now  .South  Kortright.  it  is 
built  on  the  old  Dutch  plan,  and  with  its 
great  chimncvs  and  moss-grown  roof  is  a 
landmark  for  the  inhabitants  of  all  the.  sur- 
rounding country,  having  been  in  its  dav  one 
of  the  most  noted  and  important  inns  of  that 
section.  By  industry  and  economy  Abram 
Thomas  accumulated  a  comfortable  fortune, 
which  his  tlescendants  now  enjoy.  He  was 
the  father  of  twelve  children,  ten  of  whom 
reached  maturity;  but  all  have  since  passed 
away.  Abram  Thomas  died  on  October  11, 
1848.  He  was  liberal  in  religious  views,  and 
a    Whig    in    politics.      His    wife    lived    until 


May  12,    i84(),  when  she,  too,  passed   away  on 
the  old  homestead. 

Their  son,    John    15.     Thomas,   the   father   of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Dutch- 
ess  County,   I'"ebruary    15,    1795,  and   married 
I'anny    Smith,    who    was    born    on    January   3, 
1795.      He    was   a   successful    farmer,    ami    in 
18 1 7   settled    in    .Stamforil   on    the  farm  where 
Mrs.    Thomas   now   resides.      His   wife   was   a 
member   of   the    Presbyterian  church  at    South 
Kortright;   but  he  was  liberal  in  religion,  and 
a    Repui)Iican    in    politics.      John    H.   Thomas 
passed   away  on    April  23,   1S70,  and  his  wife, 
October  15,    1875.      They  had   six  children,  of 
whom    three    are    now     li\ing:    Sally    Adelia 
Perkins,  who  resides  in  California;  James  A., 
a   resilient    of   Wisconsin:  and    Maria    L.    Ks- 
chemberg,     who     also     lives     in      California. 
Their  son  .Abraham  died   at   the  age  of  forty- 
eight  years.      A  daughter,  Mrs.  Adeline  Wet- 
more,  also  passed  away  when  forty-eight  years 
(dd.      Tlie   other   son,  John   Thomas,    Jr.,  was 
I  born  on  the  old  Thomas  farm  now  occujned  by 
his  widow,  and  here  grew  to  manhood,  attend- 
ing   the   <listrict    schools,    afterward    teaching 
lor  a  time.      Like  his  fatiier  and  grandtather, 
he  adopted    a   farmer's    life,    buying    the    old 
;  homestead  and    living   there   until    his  death. 
On    June    2,     1S63,    he    married    Miss    -Sarah 
Agnes   l^lakley,   who   was    born    in   Kortright, 
December   5,    183S,    a   daughter  of    James   G. 
Blaklc)-,   whose   family   history    is   given    else- 
where in  this  volume.      Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas 
were    tlie    parents     of     foin'    children:     .Sus:in 
I'l'ances  Cronk,  born  .September  21,   1864,  and 
;i  resident   of    Roxbiuy;  Sarah    A.  I. von,  born 
November    28,    i  S67,    residing    in    .Stamford: 
Jennie    L.,    born    .August    8,    1870,    at    home: 
and   John   James   Thomas,  who  was  born    May 
23,    1872,  imiiKuried,  and  assisting  his  mother 
in    the    management    of    the    old    home   farm, 
which  she   has  carried  on  since  her  husband's 
death. 

The  old  Thomas  farm  consisted  of  three 
lunulred  acres  of  land;  and  here  the  descend- 
ants of  the  family  now  live,  keeping  fifty 
head  of  cattle,  and  carrying  on  a  large 
dairy.  ni;iking  ;in  excellent  quality  of  but- 
ter. At  his  ileath  Mr.  Thomas  w'as  an 
Elder  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at  South 
Kortright.       He    had    held    many    public    of- 


104 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


fices,  among  which  were  those  of  Assessor 
and  County  Superintendent  of  Poor.  He  was 
a  liberal-minded,  public-spirited,  conscien- 
tious man;  and  his  death  was  keenly  felt 
and  sadly  mourned  by  a  wide  circle  of  loving 
relatives  and   friends. 


T^HARLES  C.  WEBB.  The  gentle- 
I  kJ  man  whose  history  is  here  briefly 
\%  sketched  is  an  active  and  practical 

^  farmer  in  the  prime   of   life,  who  is 

the  proprietor  of  a  pleasant  homestead  in  the 
town  of  Walton,  where  he  is  profitably  pur- 
suing his  useful  and  time-honored  calling. 
He  is  a  native  of  this  town,  his  birth  having 
taken  place  on  the  farm  adjoining  the  one  on 
which  he  now  resides,  February  7,  1842.  He 
comes  of  a  good  family,  his  grandfather, 
Ebenezer  Webb,  who  was  a  native  of  Connect- 
icut, and  there  worked  many  years  at  the 
tailor's  trade,  having  migrated  to  Delaware 
County  in  early  times.  As  a  pioneer  of  Wal- 
ton he  must  have  been  of  great  assistance  in 
facilitating  its  settlement  and  growth.  He 
married  Hannah  Todd,  who  lived  until  1857, 
dying  then  at  the  venerable  age  of  ninety-five 
years. 

Joseph  Webb,  son  of  Ebenezer,  was  born 
during  the  residence  of  his  parents  in  New 
Canaan,  Conn.  He  received  his  education  in 
the  pioneer  schools  of  his  day,  and  at  the  age 
of  fifteen  years  left  the  parental  roof,  and 
came  to  the  town  of  Walton,  living  with  a 
sister,  and  working  on  her  husband's  farm 
until  his  marriage,  when  he  became  the  owner 
of  the  farm  adjoining  the  one  now  owned  and 
occupied  by  his  son,  Charles  C.  He  cleared 
the  larger  portion  of  the  land,  and  made  the 
essential  improvements  on  the  place,  and  re- 
sided here,  a  prosperous  tiller  of  the  soil, 
until  his  death,  when  sixty-nine  years  old. 
He  was  three  times  married,  the  mother  of 
Charles  C,  Sally  Seeley,  being  his  third 
wife.  She  was  of  New  England  parentage, 
but  a  native  of  North  Walton,  and  a  life-long 
resident  of  this  part  of  Delaware  County. 
She  passed  her  last  years  on  the  family  home- 
stead, although  she  was  taken  sick  and  died 
when  in  the  village  of  Walton,  being  then 
sixty-seven  years  of  age.     Both  she  and  her 


husband  were  valued  members  of  the  Second 
Congregational  Church  of  Walton.  Of  their 
union  were  born  three  children  —  Charles  C, 
Eliphalet  S.,  and  Hannah  M. 

Charles  C.  Webb,  the  eldest  of  the  three, 
spent  the  early  years  of  his  life  on  the  pater- 
nal homestead,  acquiring  a  good  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  the  town,  and  a  substan- 
tial knowledge  of  the  agricultural  arts  on  the 
home  farm.  After  leaving  school  Mr.  Webb 
was  employed  as  a  teacher  two  terms,  but 
afterward  assisted  in  the  management  of  the 
home  farm  until  the  death  of  his  father. 
Having  chosen  farming  as  his  life  occupation, 
he  bought  the  old  homestead,  and  in  1888 
added  to  it  the  farm  where  he  now  resides, 
and  has  continued  engaged  in  general  agri- 
culture  until   the   present   time. 

The  union  of  Mr.  Webb  with  Miss  Rebecca 
B.  Wood  was  solemnized  November  2,  1864. 
Mrs.  Webb  is  the  daughter  of  Benjamin  and 
Elsie  (Hoyt)  Wood,  formerly  of  New  Canaan, 
Conn.,  and  later  respected  members  of  the 
farming  community  of  Walton.  Her  grand- 
father, Ebenezer  Hoyt,  was  a  soldier  in  the 
Revolutionary  War.  IMr.  and  Mrs.  Wood 
were  members  in  good  standing  of  the  Con- 
gregational church  at  North  Walton,  remain- 
ing active  workers  in  that  church  until  called 
to  their  home  beyond  the  vale  of  shadows, 
Mr.  Wood  passing  away  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
five  years,  and  his  wife  when  seventy-nine 
years  old.  Of  their  eight  children  seven 
grew  to  maturity:  Louis;  Mary  E. ;  Nancy  M., 
who  married  William  Haring  (a  sketch  of 
whose  life  appears  in  another  part  of  this  vol- 
ume); Ebenezer;  Charles  S. ;  George  W. ; 
Amelia  E. ;  and  Rebecca. 

Into  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Webb  two 
children  have  been  born  —  Walter  and  Annie 
R.  The  former  married  Julia  Seeley,  the 
daughter  of  William  and  Henrietta  (Durfey) 
Seeley,  of  Walton;  and  their  union  has  been 
brightened  by  the  birth  of  one  child,  Mary  R. 
Mr.  Webb  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  an 
able  supporter  of  the  principles  of  that  party. 
In  the  welfare  of  his  town  he  ever  takes  an 
active  interest,  and  has  served  as  Assessor 
eight  years  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  con- 
cerned, and  is  now  a  Director  of  the  Delaware 
County  Insurance  Company. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


'OS 


IIOINIAS  ]•;.  WlIITi:.  a  popular  citizen 
of  Colchester,  a  veteran  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  is  a  native  of 
the  town  where  he  now  resides,  haviny,-  been 
born  here  on  October  i6,  1836.  lie  is  the 
son  of  Richard  Laraway  White,  who  was  born 
in  Colchester,  March  27,  1797,  his  parents 
being  Benjamin  and  Levina  (Lotten)  White, 
whose  biographies  are  narrated  elsewhere  in 
this   volume. 

Richard  L.  White  inirchased  of  Peter  \'>o- 
gart  three  hundred  acres  of  land  above  Brock 
Bridge,  and  there  carried  his  wife,  Elizabeth 
Washburn,  who  became  the  mother  of  nine 
children,  namely:  Myria,  born  November  14, 
1822;  Mary  W.,  born  January  26,  1824:  Le- 
vina A.,  born  July  30,  1826;  Junett  A.,  l)orn 
November  23,  1828;  James  J.,  born  Novem- 
ber 18,  1S31;  Perry  L.  S.,  born  October  18, 
1834;  Thomas  E. ;  Amos  K.  and  Ambrose  IC, 
twins,  born  November  22,  1839.  By  unceas- 
ing toil  and  dauntless  energy  Richard  White 
cleared  his  land,  and  erected  a  substantial 
house  and  barn.  This  land  he  improved  until 
it  was  converted  into  a  fertile  river  farm,  and 
cultivated  it  in  connection  with  the  lumber 
business,  in  which  he  was  extensively  en- 
gaged, sending  the  logs  down  the  Delaware 
River  to  the  large  cities,  where  they  w^ere 
readily  sold.  In  1850  he  began  to  deal  in 
flour  and  salt,  taking  to  Rondout,  sixty-eight 
miles  away,  a  load  of  wool,  dried  apples,  or 
other  farm  products,  and  returning  with  a  load 
of  salt  or  flour,  the  journey  occupying  five 
days.  Mr.  White  engaged  in  this  business 
until  his  death,  May  14,  1859.  He  was  a 
Democrat;  and  both  he  and  his  estimable 
wife,  who  died  March  16,  1882,  were  members 
of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

Thomas  E.  White  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  Colchester.  He  was  a  bright. 
active  lad,  and,  when  but  eleven  years  ot 
age,  drove  his  father's  team  to  Rondout  and 
Oxford,  Chenango  County,  returning  with  the 
load  of  -salt  and  flour,  which  his  father  then 
sold.  When  sixteen,  he  learned  the  carpen- 
ter's trade,  at  w'hich  he  worked  in  the  sum- 
mer, lumbering  in  the  winter,  until  his 
marriage  in  1872.  He  purchased  many  tracts 
of  land,  which  he  cleared,  selling  the  lumber, 
but  since  1892  has  worked  at  his  trade,  build- 


ing for  himself  a  beautiful  dwelling  in  a  fine 
lot  on  River  .Street,  where  he  has  a  fine  dis- 
jilay  of  fruits  in  their  season.  His  spacious 
house  accommodates  about  twenty  summer 
boarders,  who  enjoy  his  genial  hospitality  and 
the  charming  surroundings  of  Downsville. 

Mr.  White  married  Melissa,  daughter  of 
William  and  Prudy  A.  (Ingraham)  Marshall, 
who  was  born  March  12,  1849.  Mr.  and  .Mrs. 
Marshall  occupied  a  farm  in  Rockland,  and 
were  the  parents  of  si.\  children — Melissa, 
James,  Ruth,  Erank,  Ella,  and  Henry.  Mr. 
Marshall  is  still  living,  a  resident  of  Mere- 
dith; but  his  wife  has  passed  away.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  White  have  two  daughters:  Leiah  Bell, 
born  November  12,  1877:  and  Lizzie  L., 
born  January  17,  1881,  both  of  wdiom  are 
accomplished  musicians.  He  was  a  volunteer 
in  the  Civil  War,  enlisting  in  1864,  in  Com- 
]iany  C,  l-"irst  New  York  pjigineers,  and  serv- 
ing until  the  close  of  the  war,  after  which,  on 
account  of  impaired  health,  he  spent  two 
years  in  Texas. 

Mr.  White  is  a  member  of  Eleming  Post, 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  is  also  a 
Eree  Mason,  belonging  to  Downsville  Lodge, 
A.  I-".  &  A.  M.  Industrious,  enterprising, 
and  upright,  he  is  widely  known  and  highly 
respected. 


ILLIAM  ELl-rrCill-.R,  the  well- 
known  village  blacksmith,  whose 
flaming  forge  is  on  I'pper  Main 
Street,  Delhi,  is  an  active,  wide-awake  man, 
who.se  success  in  life  is  attributable  to  indus- 
trious habits  and  good  business  principles. 
Born  in  Lanarkshire,  Scotland,  Eebruary  3, 
1836,  he  inherits  in  a  large  degree  the 
honesty  and  prudent  thrift  that  distinguished 
his  progenitors.  His  grandfather,  James 
ITetcher.  Sr.,  whose  occupation  was  farming, 
was  also  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  there  spent 
a  life  of  ninety  long  years.  He  and  his  wife, 
Margaret  McQueen,  were  the  ]iarents  of  four 
sons  and  one  daughter;  and  of  this  family  one 
son,  Robert,  is  still  living  in  Scotland,  occu- 
pying the  paternal  homestead. 

James  Eletcher,  Jr.,  the  father  of  William, 
was  born  in  Lanarkshire,  Scotland,  and 
lived   there  until  after  his  marriage,  being  en- 


io6 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


gaged  in  farming.  He  subsequently  removed 
to  England  with  his  wife  and  family,  which 
then  consisted  of  five  children.  A  few  years 
later  his  life  was  .saddened  by  the  death  of  his 
beloved  companion,  who  passed  to  the  better 
land  at  the  age  of  forty-si.\  years.  She  was  a 
woman  of  many  noble  qualities,  and,  with  her 
husband,  was  a  conscientious  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church.  Life  in  the  old  country 
being  no  longer  desirable  for  him,  he  emi- 
grated to  America  with  his  children,  coming 
directly  to  Delaware  County,  New  York,  and 
settling  in  Andes.  There  he  bought  a  farm, 
and  for  some  time  carried  on  general  agricult- 
ure. He  subsequently  removed  to  Tompkins, 
where  he  purchased  a  smaller  farm,  on  which 
he  lived  a  few  years;  then,  returning  to 
Andes,  he  purchased  a  home  in  Shavertown, 
and  remained  there  until  eighty-one  years  of 
age,  when  he  was  gathered  to  his  long  rest. 
His  family  circle  included  nine  childrsn,  as 
follows:  James,  Margaret,  Agnes,  Ellen, 
William.  Jeanette,  Elizabeth,  Robert,  and 
lohii,    onlv   three    of    whom    are    now    living. 


W 


Uliam 


Eletcher,  who  was  the  second   son 


and  fifth  child,  was  an  infant  whrn  his  parents 
removed  to  England,  where  he  lived  until  fif- 
teen years  of  age,  obtaining  his  education  in 
the  parish  schools  of  that  country.  Coming 
with  his  father  to  Delaware  County,  he  as- 
sisted him  for  a  little  while  on  the  farm,  but 
soon  afterward  began  blacksmithing  in  Andes, 
continuing  it  for  two  years  in  that  town.  Mr. 
Fletcher  then  came  tf)  Deliii,  where  he  se- 
cured work,  and  two  years  later  ojjened  a 
blacksmith  shop  of  his  own  in  the  village. 
In  1864  he  removed  to  his  present  smithy, 
and  has  continued  in  active  employment. 
His  superior  workmanship  and  his  general 
desire  to  please  and  accommodate  his  patrons 
are  fully  recognized  by  the  public,  and  have 
secured  for  him  an  extensive  and  profitable 
business. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  h'letcher  with  Miss 
Rebecca  Hughes,  a  native  of  Franklin,  and 
the  daughter  of  James  and  Margaret  (Weis- 
mer)  Hughes,  was  celebrated  on  December 
24,  in  the  year  1857.  The  beloved  wife  died 
when  fifty-eight  years  old,  on  December  23, 
1893,  their  happy  wedlock  having  lasted 
thirty-six    years    lacking    one    day.     The    six 


children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fletcher  may 
be  here  recorded,  as  follows:  Margaret,  who 
married  Wallace  B.  Gleason,  of  whom  a 
sketch  may  be  found  on  another  page  of  this 
volume;  Minnie,  deceased;  Myrtie,  who  mar- 
ried James  E.  Russell,  a  native  of  Hamden, 
but  now  a  j)rofessor  in  Germany,  and  has 
two  children  —  William  and  Charles;  Lulu, 
wife  of  W.  Ward  Seward,  of  Lenox,  Mass.; 
Nellie;  and  Ned  W.  Mr.  Fletcher  takes  a 
warm  interest  in  public  affairs,  and  may  truly 
be  considered  a  representative  man  of  the 
town.  He  is  frank  and  open  in  the  expres- 
sion of  his  opinions,  and  is  a  strong  Republi- 
can. He  is  a  Trustee  of  the  village;  and  he 
and  his  family  are  members  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian church,  of  which  he  is  also  Trustee. 


March 
father. 


ELSON  SMITH,  a  respected  citizen 
and  successful  farmer  of  Tompkins, 
Delaware  County,  was  born  in 
Sharon,  Schoharie  County,  N.V., 
2,  1830.  John  -Smith,  his  grand- 
was  one  of  four  brothers  who  came 
from  Germany  before  the  Revolutionary  War, 
and  all  enlisted  in  the  patriots"  cause.  The 
other  three  must  have  lost  their  lives  in  the 
struggle,  as  they  have  never  been  heard  from 
since.  John  lived  to  reach  the  age  of  eighty- 
four  years,  and  died  at  the  home  of  his  son  in 
Cherry  Valley,  Otsego  County.  He  was  sta- 
tioned at  l'"ort  Plains  at  the  time  of  the  Cherry 
Valley  massacre,  and  was  detailed  to  remain 
on  duty  at  the  fort  while  his  companions  went 
to  the  rescue  of  the  unfortunate  victims.  His 
wife  was  Nancy  Verdon,  a  descendant  of  an 
old  Dutch  family;  and  they  became  the  par- 
ents of  nine  children — Philip,  Jacob,  Mar- 
garet, Sophia,  Delia,  Katie,  Mary,  Susan, 
and  Laimy,  all  of  whom  lived  to  reach  ma- 
turity and  have  families  cf  their  own.  The 
mother  of  this  family  died  about  twelve  years 
previous  to  the  death  of  her  husband,  and  they 
are  buried  side  by  side  in  Cherry  Valley. 
Their  son  Philip,  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  born  July  12,  1801,  in  Cherry 
Valley,  and  was  a  pioneer  of  Schoharie 
County.  He  received  a  district-school  educa- 
tion, and  adopted  the  occupation  of  a  farmer, 
marrying    Nancy  Coonroodt,    a  descendant  of 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


107 


an  old  Dutch  famil)-  of  Nlw  York.  They  had 
eight  children — Nelson,  Katie  W..  William 
A.,  Lydia,  Delia,  John  ].,  David,  I^llon  R. 
Philip  Smith  was  a  Democrat,  and  died,  aged 
seventy-seven  years,  at  the  home  ol  his  eldest 
son,  Nelson.  His  grave  is  m  the  l.oomis 
cemetery,  with  that  ol  his  wite,  who  passed 
away  in  1869,  and  their  son,  John  J.,  whosi- 
death  occurred  on  ApvW  (o,  1884,  at  tlie 
home  of  Nelson.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Philip  Smith 
were  memhers  of  the  Lutheran  church. 

Nelson  Smith,  their  eldest  son,  was  edu- 
cated in  the  district  schools  of  ('herry  Vallev, 
and  in  his  boyhood  helped  his  lather  in  the 
management  of  the  farm.  When  nineteen,  he 
started  out  for  himself,  working  out  by  the 
month  and  year.  He  married  October  24, 
1858,  Julia  A.  Dnester,  who  was  born  March 
8,  1834,  daughter  of  Andrew  and  Maria  (Van 
Valkenburg)  Dnester,  of  Root,  Montgomery 
County.  Martin  Dnester.  the  grandfather  of 
Mrs.  Smith,  was  a  farmer  in  Montgomery 
County,  a  descendant  of  a  prominent  Dutch 
family.  When  a  boy  of  twelve,  at  the  time  of 
the  Schoharie  massacre,  he  and  a  companion 
hid  in  the  wheat,  while  the  Indians  ami 
Tories  searched  for  them,  and  with  threats 
tried  to  induce  them  to  come  from  their  hid- 
ing-place. His  companion  endeavoretl  to 
escape  by  jumping  the  fence,  but  was  over- 
taken by  the  Indians  and  scalped;  while  Mar- 
tin remained  concealed  until  tlri\en  out  by 
hunger  and  thirst,  when  he  esca|)ed  to  the 
fort.  Martin  Dnester  passed  his  last  days 
with  his  daughter  in  New  Berlin.  His  wife 
was  Maria  Cellar,  a  member  of  a  Dutch  fam- 
il)' of  Minden.  Their  son  Andrew  dieil,  aged 
eighty-six  years.  May  5,  1891,  at  the  home 
of  the  subject  of  this  biography,  with  whom 
he  passed  the  last  fifteen  years  of  his  life. 
His  burial-place,  and  that  of  his  wife,  is  the 
cemetery  at  Charleston  I'our  Corners,  Mont- 
gomery  County. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nelson  .Smith  have  had  three 
children,  two  of  whom  died  within  a  week,  of 
diphtheria:  Andrew  D.,  at  fifteen  years  of 
age ;  and  Charles,  at  ten  years.  The  eldest 
passed  away  in  infancy.  Mr.  .Smith  has  a 
foster-son,  Charles  A.  C_"onstable,  who  has 
lived  with  him  since  boyhood,  and  still  re- 
sides  there,  taking   the  jilace   of   the    chilrlren 


who  were  called  away.  He  is  devoted  to  his 
foster-i)arents,  is  faithful  and  industrious, 
assisting  in  the  farm  work,  and  possesses 
their    utmost    confidence   and    regard. 

Ml'.  .Smith  settled  on  his  farm  on  June  15, 
I  85  J,  and  cut  the  first  tree  for  a  fallow.  Bv 
dint  i>f  hard  labor  he  cleared  the  land  ami 
built  the  house  he  now  occupies.  He  has 
been  remarkably  successful  in  business,  and 
has  been  able  to  do  much  for  his  parents,  his 
brother,  and  his  wife's  lather.  He  is  a  Dem- 
ocrat, prominent  in  all  town  affairs,  where  he 
has  hehl  several  positions  of  trust.  He  and 
his  wife  attend  the  Christian  church,  of  which 
organization  the  parents  of  Mrs.  Smith  were 
also  members.  Mr.  Smith  is  universally  es- 
teemed and  honored  throughout  the  town  of 
Tompkins,  the  welfare  of  which  he  ever  has  at 
iieart. 


:sr\  I.1-:XANDI':R  TWI;|;DI1-;,  farmer  and 
feed-dealer,  residing  in  the  village  of 
Walton,  has  the  reputation  of  being 
a  strictly  first-class  business  man, 
and  is  a  citizen  of  whom  Walton  may  well  be 
proud.  His  fanu,  which  is  located  about  five 
miles  from  the  village,  contains  two  hundred 
acres  of  land,  and  is  specially  adapted  to  the 
raising  of  grain  and  stock,  in  its  equi]jments 
comparing  favorably  with  any  estate  in  this 
part  of  the  coimty.  In  noting  the  industrs' 
and  thrift  of  Mr.  Tweedie,  who  ranks  among 
the  most  sulistantial  residents  of  Walton,  one 
is  not  sur]irised  to  learn  that  he  is  of  .Scotch 
birth  and  jiarentage.  The  shire  town  of 
(ilenrauth.  in  Peeblesshire,  which  was  the 
place  of  birth  of  his  father,  .Mexander,  .Sr., 
was  the  home  of  his  ancestors  for  many  gen- 
erations back:  and  there  John  Tweedie,  his 
grandfather,  following  in  the  footsteps  of  ear- 
lier progenitors,  was  a  life-long  resident,  en- 
gaged in  the  sheplierd's  calling. 

The  first  member  of  the  Tweedie  family  to 
emigrate  to  .\merica  was  .'\le.\ander  Tweetlie, 
Sr.,  who  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  1849,  bring- 
ing with  him  his  wife  and  eleven  children. 
On  landing  he  came  ilirectly  to  this  county, 
and,  after  sjiending  a  short  time  in  Hamden. 
came  to  Walton,  and,  purchasing  a  farm  on 
Dunk's    Hill,    settled    there    the    same    \'ear. 


io8 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


After  being  successfully  engaged  for  many 
years  as  a  tiller  of  the  soil,  he  moved  into  the 
village,  and  there  lived  in  honorable  retire- 
ment for  three  years,  coming  then  to  the  home 
of  his  son  Alexander,  where  he  was  tenderly 
cared  for  until  his  death,  at  the  venerable 
age  of  eighty-seven  years.  His  wife,  Mary 
Bruce,  a  daughter  of  James  Bruce,  was  a  na- 
tive of  Scotland,  and  a  lineal  descendant  of 
King  Robert  Bruce,  of  historic  fame.  She 
also  spent  her  declining  years  at  the  home  of 
her  youngest  son,  passing  away  at  the  age  of 
seventy-eight  years.  Both  she  and  her  hus- 
band were  members  of  the  Scottish  Presbyte- 
rian church.  The  names  of  the  eleven  chil- 
dren born  to  them  are  as  follows:  John, 
Archibald,  Christina,  Nicholas,  William, 
Mary,  James,  Eliza,  Alexander,  Euphemia, 
and   Margaret. 

Alexander  Tweedie,  Jr.,  who  was  born  in 
Scotland  on  January  27,  1840,  was  a  sturdy 
little  lad  of  nine  years  when  he  came  to  the 
United  States;  and  the  larger  part  of  his  edu- 
cation was  obtained  in  the  public  schools  of 
Walton.  With  his  brothers  he  assisted  in  the 
cultivation  and  improvement  of  the  parental 
homestead,  remaining  with  his  parents  until 
attaining  his  freedom.  Being  a  young  man  of 
enterprise  and  ability,  keen  and  shrewd  in  his 
judgment  of  values,  he  began  his  business 
career  by  going  to  Pennsylvania,  where  he 
engaged  in  various  speculations.  Afterward 
he  was  similarly  employed  in  the  States  of 
Illinois  and  Missouri.  Returning  to  Walton, 
Mr.  Tweedie  purchased  a  farm  on  West 
Brook,  on  which  he  has  since  devoted  himself 
largely  to  agricultural  pursuits.  He  has  from 
year  to  year  increased  his  operations,  and  now 
keeps  from  thirty  to  thirty-five  head  of  choice 
milch  cows,  with  some  young  stock  and  sev- 
eral horses.  In  addition  to  his  labors  on  the 
farm,  Mr.  Tweedie  carries  on  an  extensive 
feed  business,  running  a  mill,  and  selling  and 
buying  grain. 

Mr.  Tweedie  and  Margaret  Smith,  the 
daughter  of  Robert  and  Christiana  Smith, 
were  united  in  marriage  on  December  24, 
1872.  Mrs.  Tweedie  is  also  of  substantial 
Scotch  ancestry,  her  parents  having  emi- 
grated to  New  York,  afterward  settling  in 
the    town    of    Delhi,    where    they    carried    on 


farming  for  many  years.  They  were  the  par- 
ents of  ten  children:  Jane;  Nancy;  John; 
Catherine;  Robert;  Christina;  Daniel;  Jen- 
nie; Alexander;  and  Margaret,  the  wife  of 
Mr.  Tweedie.  Mrs.  Smith  died  at  the  early 
age  of  forty-two  years;  but  Mr.  Smith,  who 
lived  retired  for  some  years,  died  in  the  town 
of  Delhi  when  seventy-six  years  old.  They 
were  people  of  high  moral  standing,  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  church. 
Of  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tweedie  five 
children  have  been  born,  namely:  James  and 
Robert,  who  died  young;  and  Christina, 
Maurice,  and  Jennie,  who  are  now  pursuing 
their  studies  in  the  Walton  Academy.  With 
the  exception  of  one  daughter,  the  entire  fam- 
ily are  members  of  the  Presbyterian  church, 
in  which  Mr.  Tweedie  has  served  as  an  Elder 
for  seventeen  years.  He  is  a  stanch  advocate 
of  temperance,  and  in  politics  is  a  Prohibi- 
tionist. 


T^HARLES    W\   WETMORE    is   one   of 
I  V-^      the  prosperous  and  progressive  farmers 

\%)  .  and  dairymen  of  Stamford,  of  which 
town  he  is  a  native,  and  has  been  a 
life-long  resident.  His  great-grandfather  was 
an  Englishman,  who  came  to  America  at  an 
early  day,  and  settled  in  Rye,  Westchester 
County,  N.Y.  He  was  an  Episcopal  minis- 
ter, and  lived  to  a  good  old  age  in  his  adopted 
home.  His  son,  James  Wetmore,  was  born 
in  Rye,  but  when  a  young  man  came  to  Dela- 
ware County,  soon  after  his  marriage,  and  set- 
tled in  Kortright  on  Beatty  Brook.  Later  he 
removed  to  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  where 
William  Barlow  now  resides.  James  Wet- 
more  died  in  Stamford,  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
two  years,  his  wife,  Elizabeth,  passing  away 
in  her  sixty-fifth  year.  Both  were  members 
of  the  Episcopal  church,  and  Mr.  Wetmore 
was  a  Democrat  in  politics.  They  were  the 
parents  of  four  sons  and  three  daughters,  all 
of  whom  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  but  are  now- 
dead. 

Their  son,  James  Wetmore,  Jr.,  grew  to 
manhood  in  the  town  of  Kortright,  where  he 
was  a  merchant,  and  was  also  interested  in  a 
hotel  in  what  is  called  "The  Hook."  He  was 
proprietor  of  this  hotel  for  thirteen  years,  and 


Charles  W.  Wetaore. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


then  rcmoveil  to  the  farm  where  his  son 
Charles  now  resides,  engagini;-  in  the  ocfii])a- 
tion  of  stock-raisini;-  and  dairying,  ownini; 
two  iuuKhed  and  eighty  aeres  of  land.  lie 
was  a  prudent  manager  anil  industrious 
farmer,  antl  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-two 
years,  his  wife,  Hannah  Sackrider,  whose 
family  history  appears  in  this  volume,  lixing 
to  be  ninety-two. 

James  Wetmore,  Jr.,  was  a  Democrat;  and 
he  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  ICpisco- 
pal  church.  They  had  six  children,  five  sons 
and  one  daughter,  three  of  whom  still  survive, 
namely:  Solomon  1).,  a  resident  of  Delhi; 
James,  who  lives  at  Hainbridge,  Chenango 
County;  and  Charles  \V.,  of 'whom  this  biog- 
raphy is  written.  One  son,  Thomas,  died 
when  si.xty-five  years  of  age,  another,  Henry, 
at  the  age  of  eleven,  and  a  daughter  Mary 
passed   away   when   sixty-five. 

Charles  W.  Wetmore  was  born  in  .Stamford. 
on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides,  January 
28,  1826.  He  was  educated  in  the  district 
schools,  and  remained  at  home,  providing  for 
his  parents  in  their  declining  years.  In  1857 
he  purchased  the  old  homestead,  and  now  pos- 
sesses a  productive  farm  of  two  hundred  and 
ninety  acres,  making  superior  butter  from  the 
milk  produced  from  his  forty  cows.  The 
buildings  on  his  land  are  built  with  the  best 
of  material  and  kept  in  perfect  repair,  among 
them  being  his  fine  residence  and  commodious 
stable,  the  latter  being  one  of  the  most  costly 
and  complete  in  its  furnishings  in  the  town. 
At  the  time  of  purchasing  his  farm,  Mr.  Wet- 
more was  obliged  to  shoulder  a  debt  ot  five 
thou.sand  dollars,  all  of  which  has  now  been 
paid  through  his  careful  management  and 
strict   attention   to   business. 

September  26,  i860,  he  married  Miss  Fran- 
ces Thomas,  a  native  of  Stamford,  and  daugh- 
ter of  John  ]^.  and  Frances  (Smith)  Thomas, 
both  of  whom  have  passed  away,  the  mother 
at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years,  and  the  father 
at  seventy  years.  Mrs.  Wetmore,  a  devoted 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  died  in 
June,  1882,  sadly  mourned  by  her  husband 
and  only  child.  Tlie  latter,  Charles  T. 
Wetmore,  who  was  born  April  16,  1865, 
married  Miss  Carrie  I',.  Nesbit,  a  native  of 
Stamford,    and     daughter    of    George    Nesbit, 


This  son  is  now  in  partnership  witii  his 
falher,  ;issisting  in  the  Tnanagement  of  llie 
faini    and    dairy. 

In  iiis  religions  views  Mi'.  Wetmore  is 
thoroughlv  liberal,  and  in  politics  he  votes 
with  the  Democratic  parly.  hulustrious,  up- 
right, and  with  unusual  business  ability,  Mr. 
Wetmore  has  accomplished  more  than  the 
ordinary  man  of  his  time,  and  is  ninnbered 
among  the  foremost  men  of  thi'  locality,  where 
he  is  a  res]iected  and   highly  esteemed  citizen. 

The  reader  will  turn  witli  interest  to  the 
portrait  of  this  gentleman  on  an  adjoining 
])age. 


1876, 
place 


RS.  MbT.INDA  SAVVVI'.R,  widow 
of  Isaac  W.  Saw)'er,  who  died  on 
ills  homestead,  which  is  known 
as  the  Abram  Ogden  farm,  in 
is  a  native  of  Walton,  her  birth  taking 
in  1820.  She  is  of  New  Fngland 
origin,  and  is  a  daughter  of  J(uiathan  and 
Nancy  I*.  (Kichards)  Smith,  both  natives  of 
Connecticut.  Her  maternal  grandfather,  Ne- 
hemiah  Richards,  was  born  in  New  Canaan, 
Conn.,  and  his  wife,  Nancy  Piatt,  in  the  town 
of  Ncnwalk.  the  same  .State.  They  emigrated 
to  Delaware  County  in  the  earl)'  days  of  its 
settlement,  and  took  uj)  a  timber  tract  three 
and  a  half  miles  from  Walton,  on  the  south 
side  iif  the  Delaware  River.  Besides  devel- 
oping and  improving  a  farm,  they  made  quite 
a  business  of  manufacturing  maple  sugar, 
using  the  primitive  method  then  in  vogue  of 
catching  the  sa])  in  tlug-out  troughs,  like 
canoes,  and  boiling  it  in  large  potash  kettles. 
The  farm  which  they  cleared  was  the  home  of 
three  generations,  and  is  still  owned  by  the 
family,  although  it  is  now  occupied  b_\-  a  ten- 
ant. Mrs.  .Sawyer"s  progenitors  were  of  Fng- 
lish  birth,  the  first  of  her  mother's  ancestors 
to  come  to  .America  being  one  .Samuel  Rich- 
ards, who  emigrated  from  .Staffordshire,  I'Jig- 
land,  in  the  closing  years  of  the  seventeenth 
centurv.  He  located  in  New  Canaan,  Conn., 
wherein  1714  he  married  Ivlizabeth  Latham, 
who  bore  him  ten  children,  five  sons  and  five 
daughters.  Five  of  these  children  married 
into  the  Waring  family.  James  Richard.s, 
the    grandson    of    Samuel    Richards,    married 


112 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Hannah  Waring,  who  bore  him  eleven  chil- 
dren, one  of  whom,  Nehemiah  Richards,  was 
the  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Sawyer,  as  above 
mentioned. 

Melinda  Smith  Sawyer  was  trainetl  b)-  her 
excellent  parents  to  habits  of  industry  and 
economy,  and  received  her  education  mainly 
in  the  common  schools  of  her  native  county. 
June  28,  1855,  she  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Isaac  W.  Sawyer,  a  jirosperous  farmer,  and  at 
one  time  a  dealer  in  lumber.  He  was  a  na- 
tive of  Walton,  and  a  son  of  Elisha  Sawyer, 
who  came  here  when  a  young  man  from  the 
Green  Mountain  State,  and  engaged  in  farm- 
ing and  lumbering,  being  a  well-known  citi- 
zen of  this  community.  He  subsequently 
married  Betsey  Smith,  of  this  town;  and  they 
reared  a  family  of  three  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, all  of  whom  have  passed  away.  Jesse 
Sawyer,  the  father  of  Elisha  Sawyer,  was  a 
Green  Mountain  boy,  and  served  in  the  Revo- 
lution. He  married  Catherine  White;  and 
they  spent  the  earlier  years  of  their  wedded 
life  in  Vermont,  the  State  of  their  nativity, 
coming  here  after  their  son  Elisha  had  become 
well  established.  They  were  the  parents  of 
four  sons  and  four  daughters,  some  of  whom 
became  prominent  residents  of  tiiis  section  of 
Delaware  County. 

Isaac  W.  Sawyer  was  a  very  active  and  en- 
terprising man,  and  labored  hard  in  his 
efforts  to  secure  the  competence  which  event- 
ually became  his.  He  was  first  married  in 
1842  to  Elizabeth  Ogden,  daughter  of  Isaac 
Ogden.  She  died  in  1852,  leaving  no  chil- 
dren. By  his  second  marriage  there  was  born 
one  child,  Eanny,  who  is  the  wife  of  Irving 
Robinson.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robinson,  who 
have  three  bright  and  lively  children  — 
Francis,  a  boy  of  twelve  years;  Albert,  nine 
years  old;  and  Mary,  a  little  girl  of  six  years 
—  make  their  home  with  Mrs.  -Sawyer  at  No. 
88  North  Street. 


LBERT  P.  CARPENTER,  lisQ.,  is  a 
well-known  lawyer  of  Margarcttville, 
in  Middletown,  where  he  was  born 
September  5,  1829.  His  father, 
Richard  Carpenter,  was  a  native  of  Dutchess 
County,  born  on  January  6,  1791.     He  mar- 


ried Miss  Margaret  Hicks,  by  whom  he  had 
nine  children,  namely:  William,  who  married 
Ann  Cornell;  Deborah,  who  married  Luther 
Landon;  John,  who  married  Mrs.  Delia  R. 
Plllison;  Isabell,  who  married  first  William 
J.  Walker,  second  the  Rev.  B.  S.  Wright; 
Luman,  who  died  in  infancy;  Abram,  who 
married  Margaret  Jacquish;  Elias,  who  mar- 
ried first  Sarah  Allen,  second  Frances  De 
Silvia;  Charlotte,  who  died  in  infancy;  and 
Richard,  who  married  Jane  O.  Barber.  After 
the  death  of  his  first  wife  Mr.  Carpenter  mar- 
ried Charlotte  Hicks,  by  whom  he  had  two 
children:  Albert  P.,  of  whom  this  sketch  is 
written;  and  P^lizabeth  A.,  who  married 
David  S.  Hill.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Car- 
penter's second  wife  he  married  Mrs.  Juliette 
Hewitt,  by  whom  he  had  one  son,  Orson  A., 
who  died  when  four  years  old. 

Richard  Carpenter  sold  his  place  in  Dutch- 
ess, and  came  to  Delaware  County  after  the 
death  of  his  first  wife,  settling  at  Griffin's 
Corners,  where  he  married  again.  He  then 
moved  to  Margarettville,  which  was  but  a 
hamlet  at  that  time.  There  were  no  stores 
or  mills  nearer  than  Kingston,  where  all  of  the 
marketing  had  to  be  done.  Mr.  Carpenter 
was  a  man  of  public  spirit  and  enterprise,  and 
took  an  active  part  in  forwarding  the  interests 
of  the  village.  He  died  at  the  advanced  age 
of  eighty-eight  years,  having  accumulated  a 
good  property,  and  raised  a  large  family  of 
sons  and  daughters.  He  was  a  stanch  Repub- 
lican, and  faithful  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church. 

Albert  P.  Carpenter  received  a  common- 
school  education  at  the  Hobart  Seminary,  and 
read  law  for  one  year  with  Munson  &  Glea- 
son  and  one  year  with  Samuel  Gordon,  of 
Delhi,  after  which  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
on  the  nth  of  January,  1853.  He  then  went 
into  the  office  of  S.  Gordon,  Esq.,  of  Delhi, 
with  whom  he  entered  into  partnership,  and 
with  whom  he  remained  for  a  year,  after 
which  he  removed  to  Margarettville.  Here 
he  was  taken  ill  with  disease  of  the  lungs, 
and  was  incapacitated  for  work  for  some  time. 
As  soon  as  he  recovered,  he  began  to  practise 
his  profession  in  the  village,  where  he  is  now 
a  respected  and  jjrtjsperous  lawyer. 

In  1858  he  secured  for  his  wife  the  woman 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


".? 


of  his  choice,  Miss  Nettie  M.  Coloney,  tlie 
daughter  of  James  and  Melissa  Cohiiiey- 
Mrs.  Carpenter"  s  fatlier  was  a  native  of  New 
Hampshire,  where  he  was  born,  January  23, 
1803.  Ho  was  a  farmer  in  St.  Lawrence 
County,  New  York,  for  some  years,  whence 
he  went  to  Oliio,  and  finally  removed  to  Fort 
Wayne,  Ind.,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of 
forty-five.  His  wife  diet!  at  twenty-eight 
years  of  age,  lea\ing  five  children:  Mary  J., 
who  married  Royal  Martin,  and  has  one  child: 
M\ron,  who  married  Josephine  Tuttle,  and 
has  one  son;  Nettie  M.,  Mrs.  Carpenter;  Jo- 
siah  B..  w'ht)  married  Margaret  Currie,  and  w'as 
killed  in  the  Civil  War,  at  the  battle  of  the 
Weldon  Railroad,  \Mrginia,  leaving  one  son; 
and  Sarah,  of  whom  the  family  know  little, 
as  she  was  adopted  in  her  infancy,  and  has  had 
no  relations  whatever  with  those  of  her  own 
blood  since.  The  wife  of  Mr.  Carpenter  is  a 
member  of  the  I'resbvterian  church.  He  is 
an  advocate  of  Republican  ])rinciples,  to 
which  he  strongly  adheres,  and  is  one  of  the 
successes  of  the  legal  guild  of  his  section. 


rACOB  H.  CHAMHl'.RLIN  is  a  pros- 
jiering  farmer  and  po]iular  resident  of 
Tompkins,  formerly  known  as  Pine- 
field,  Delaware  County,  N.'N'.,  where 
he  was  born  on  November  17.  1849.  His 
father,  Eliphalet  Chamberlin,  who  was  a  na- 
tive of  Vermont,  married  IVLary  A.  Boice, 
daughter  of  Joshua  Boice.  He  died  in  the 
prime  of  life;  and  his  widow  married  Peter 
Hogan,  a  farmer  of  Tompkins.  (For  further 
particulars  of  the  Chamberlin  family  see 
sketch   of  John    Chamberlin.) 

Jacob  H.,  son  of  ICliphalet  and  Mary 
(Boice)  Chamberlin,  was  an  infant  when 
father  died.  He  was  brought  up  by 
mother  and  step-father,  and  educated  in  the 
district  schools  of  Tompkins.  When  fifteen 
years  of  age  he  began  life  for  himself,  wfirk- 
ing  out  on  various  farms,  and  later,  in  1878, 
purchased  from  William  Dermis  the  farm  on 
which  he  now  resides. 

August  28,  1877,  Mr.  Chamberlin  married 
Deborah  A.  Dennis,  daughter  of  W'illiam  and 
Adeline  (Austin)  Dennis,  of  Ovid,  Seneca 
County.      Joseph    Dennis,   father  of  William, 


married  Nancy  Calups,  who  was  of  (ierman 
descent ;  luid  they  were  among  the  early  set- 
tlers of  that  coimty.  William  Dennis  passed 
his  e;irl_\'  d;iys  in  the  town  of  Andes.  Losing 
his  father  when  very  young,  he  was  i)ound  out 
to  l^arna  Radeker.  ICnergetic  and  self-reli- 
ant, he  began  to  work  for  himself  as  a  farmer 
in  (,"olchester  when  about  nineteen  years  of 
age,  and  later  removed  to  Andes.  After  a 
few  \ears  he  disposed  of  his  [property  there, 
;nid  in  1867  [)urchased  the  farm  in  Tompkins 
which  is  now  owned  by  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  lie  resided  here  until  he  sold  liie 
place,  and  then  moved  to  the  farm  now  occu- 
pied by  his  son  John,  at  Trout  Creek,  in  the 
same  town:  and  there  he  passed  his  last  da}'s, 
retired  from  acti\e  life,  dying  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two,  and  being  buried  in  Trout  Creek 
Cemetery.  He  was  a  Republican  in  politics, 
and  a  member  of  the  Melhotlist  church,  which 
he  joined  when  twenty-one  years  of  age,  his 
daughtei-  Deborah,  Mrs.  Chamberlin,  also 
being  a  member.  His  wife  still  survi\-es, 
and  resides  with  her  son  John.  Their  daugh- 
ter was  educated  in  the  district  schools,  and 
resided  with  her  parents  until  her  marriage  to 
Mr.  Chamberlin. 

The  quiet,  well-kept  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Chambeilin,  who  have  no  children,  is  plainly 
the  abode  of  intelligence,  industry,  and  thrift. 
Mr.  Chamberlin  is  engaged  in  farming  and  in 
sheejj  and  stock  raising,  in  which  business  he 
exhibits  good  judgment  and  ])ractical  ;UMlit\', 
and  has  been  eminently  successful.  He  is  a 
Rei)ublican  in  politics,  giving  that  party  his 
most  hearty  support. 


IP  LASHER  owns  a  tnict  of  land 
King  along  the  river  road  in  the 
[I9  town  of  Delhi,  which  is  one  of  the 
most  valuable  estates  in  the  vicinity. 
Here  he  is  engaged  in  gener;il  farming,  pay- 
ing especial  attention  to  dairying,  in  which 
he  has  been  \ery  successful,  his  fine  herd  of 
graded  Jerseys  amply  rei)aying  him  for  the 
time  and  attention  he  devotes  to  them.  Mr. 
Lasher  is  a  native  of  Delaware  County, 
Critfm's  Corners,  Middletown.  being  the 
place  of  his  birth,  and  April  30,  1843,  the 
date   thereof.      He    is  a  descendant   of  one  of 


114 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Delaware  County's  respected  pioneers,  his 
paternal  grandfather,  Conrad  Lasher,  having 
removed  from  Dutchess  to  this  county  in  the 
early  days  of  its  settlement.  He  bought  a 
tract  of  timbered  land  in  Middletown,  on  a 
spot  known  as  Brush  Ridge,  and  thereafter 
devoted  his  life  to  its  cultivation  and  im- 
provement. 

Frederick  Lasher,  the  father  of  Philip,  was 
born  in  Dutchess  County,  being  one  of  seven 
children.  He  came  with  his  parents  to  this 
county,  and  assisted  them  in  their  pioneer 
labor  of  clearing  a  farm  until  of  age,  when  he 
purchased  a  small  piece  of  land,  and  began 
the  work  of  making  a  home  for  himself.  He 
was  a  man  of  unusual  ability  and  enterprise, 
and  in  the  years  that  followed  met  with  great 
success.  He  continually  added  to  his  landed 
possessions,  and  at  the  time  of  Iiis  decease 
was  the  owner  of  four  good  farms,  three  being 
in  Middletown,  and  one  in  Halcott,  Greene 
County.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Annie  Record,  was  a  native  of  Dutchess 
County,  and  bore  him  the  following -named 
children:  Conrad  and  Jane,  both  deceased; 
Philip;  John;  Annie  C;  Isabella;  Frances, 
deceased;  George;  Albertina;  Henrietta,  de- 
ceased; and  Jeanette. 

Philip  Lasher  spent  his  early  years  with  his 
parents,  attending  school,  and  doing  the 
chores  around  the  homestead  that  inevitably 
fall  to  a  farmer's  boy.  When  a  youth  of 
twenty  years  he  took  upon  himself  the  cares 
and  responsibilities  of  matrimony,  and,  in 
order  that  he  might  support  his  wife,  bought 
a  farm  in  Ulster  County,  where  he  made  a 
good  living  for  some  twelve  years.  Dispos- 
ing of  that  property,  he  came  to  this  county, 
and  purchased  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Andes, 
on  which  he  lived  about  a  year,  going  from 
there  to  Halcott,  Greene  County,  where  he 
bought  land  and  conducted  a  farm  for  two 
years.  Returning  to  Griffin's  Corners,  the 
place  of  his  nativity,  Mr.  Lasher  entered  upon 
an  entirely  new  enterprise,  building  a  large 
house,  in  which  for  the  next  ten  years  he  en- 
tertained boarders  from  the  city,  a  very  pleas- 
ant and  profitable  occupation.  Then,  selling 
his  boarding-house,  he  bought  the  farm  which 
he  now  owns  and  occupies,  formerly  known  as 
the  Redfield  farm,  and  considered  one  of  the 


finest  pieces  of  property  in  Delaware  County, 

it  containing  from  one  hundred  and  sixty  to 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five  acres  of  valuable 
land. 

Mr.  Lasher  has  been  twice  married.  His 
first  wife  was  Jane  Townsend,  the  daughter  of 
Alfred  Townsend,  of  Halcott,  Greene  County; 
and  to  them  three  children  were  born,  as  fol- 
lows: Willard,  who  died  at  the  age  of  thirteen 
years;  Hester,  who  died  at  the  age  of  twelve 
years;  and  Isaac,  who  married  Libbie  Butler, 
of  Sullivan  County.  After  fifteen  years  of 
peaceful  wedded  life  the  wife  and  mother 
passed  to  the  better  land,  laying  down  the 
burdens  of  life  in  1878.  Mr.  Lasher  subse- 
quently married  Melissa  Sherwood,  daughter 
of  James  Sherwood,  of  Roxbury;  and  their 
union  has  been  blessed  by  the  birth  of  two 
children  —  Frederick  and  Eathel,  the  latter 
deceased. 

Politically,  Mr.  Lasher  votes  the  straight 
Republican  ticket.  Both  he  and  Mrs.  Lasher 
are  consistent  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church,  and  are  numbered  among  its 
most   generous   and    liberal   supporters. 


of  the 
home. 


valued     practi- 
one   mile   south 


His  grandfather 
town;  and  his 
was    Deming. 


OSEPH  H.  FOOTE,  M.D.,  a  resident 
of  P'ranklin,  and  one  of  its  most  re- 
spected and  highly 
t loners,  resides  about 
village,  where  he  has  a  most  delightful 
The  ancestors  of  Dr.  Foote  were  na- 
tives of  Southington,  Conn, 
was  Robert  Foote,  of  that 
grandmother's  maiden  name 
Robert  Foote  was  a  well-to-do  farmer,  and 
reared  five  sons  and  one  daughter,  all  of  whom 
grew  to  maturity,  married,  and  reared  fami- 
lies of  their  own.  His  son  Leonard,  father  of 
the  Doctor,  was  born  in  Southington  in  1789, 
and  died  in  Oxford,  N.Y.,  in  1875.  He  mar- 
ried Bede  Wright,  daughter  of  Enos  Wright, 
of  Connecticut.  Mr.  Wright  moved  to  New 
York  in  1814,  and  settled  on  a  farm  of  about 
fifty  acres;  and  in  1817  his  daughter  and  son- 
in-law,  the  parents  of  Dr.  Foote,  followed 
him  to  their  new  home,  occupying  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  acres,  part  of  both  of  these  farms 
being  included  in  the  estate  which  is  now  the 
property  of  the  Doctor.     When  Mr.  and  Mrs. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


"S 


Footc  came  here,  the  mode  of  conveyance  was 
very  crude,  the  journey  being  made  in  a  one- 
horse  lumber  wagon,  and  Mrs.  I'oote  being 
installed  in  a  chair  among  her  liousehold 
goods,  while  the  husband  and  father  walked 
by   the  side   of  the   horse. 

Dr.  Foote  is  the  \-oungest  of  five  sons,  all 
of  whom  have  been  called  from  earthly  toil 
except  himself  and  one  other,  Robert,  of  0.\- 
ford.  The  early  life  of  the  family  was  a  stern 
struggle,  but  in  their  old  age  Air.  and  Mrs. 
Foote  enjoyed  the  quiet  of  a  well-earned  rest. 
Mrs.  Foote'survived  her  husband  several  years, 
and  died  when  eighty-seven  years  of  age. 

Dr.  Joseph  II.  Foote  received  his  earlv  edu- 
cation at  the  district  school,  a  mile  and  a  half 
from  his  home,  and  by  his  own  exertions  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  sufficient  training  to  enter 
Oxford  Academy.  After  teaching  three  win- 
ters he  studied  with  his  brother.  Dr.  Ira  Foote, 
in  Wellsboro,  Pa.  The  latter  was  a  promi- 
nent physician,  and  one  who  showed  great 
promise  in  his  profession;  but  his  health 
failed,  and  that  dread  disease,  consumption, 
soon  made  itself  manifest,  he  falling  a  victim 
at  an  early  age. 

Dr.  Joseph  Foote  settled  in  North  Walton 
in  January,  185 1.  and  |3ractised  there  fi\e 
years.  On  May  21,  1S55,  he  married  Pamelia 
Fitch  Churchill,  of  Delhi,  and  in  Seistember 
of  that  year  came  to  I-'iaiiklin,  where  he  has 
since  practised.  In  1867  he  purchased  the 
hotel  property,  which  with  the  old  buiklings 
he  bought  for  five  thousand  dollars.  He  re- 
built it,  erecting  the  large  barn  antl  shetls  in 
connection,  and  sokl  it  in  January.  1894. 
During  the  twenty-seven  x'ears  in  which  he 
was  connected  with  the  hotel  business  he  also 
continued  his  practice,  being  as  popular  a 
practitioner  as   he   was   a   host. 

In  July,  1893,  Mrs.  T'oote  passeil  away, 
leaving  one  daughter,  Stella,  who  is  still  at 
honn-.  An  elder  daughter,  Julia,  tiled  when 
an  infant.  A  niece  of  the  Doctor's,  Ruth 
I'\jote,  now  lives  at  his  home,  and  keeps  house 
for  him,  her  two  sons  and  two  daughters  also 
living  there.  He  moved  to  his  present  home 
in  1894,  having  bought  a  most  delightful  farm 
of  ninety  acres. 

Dr.  Foote  is  a  Democrat,  but  does  not  allow 
party  principles   to    interfere   with   his   always 


voting  for  the  best  man.  Vov  over  forty  years 
he  lias  been  engaged  in  arikious  toil  for  his 
fellow-men.  Often  sleejiing  but  five  hours  out 
of  till'  twenty-four,  he  has  labored  with  disin- 
terested service,  accpiiring  for  himself  a  name 
which  will  far  outlast  his  earthly  possessions. 
He  is  generous  and  large-hearted;  and  his 
congeniality  of  spirit  has  made  him  a  friend 
to  be  highly  prized,  and  a  welcome  guest  in 
all   the   homes  of   Franklin. 


,\'RL  S    GE.MMFL    was    born   July   20, 
1850,  in  the  town   of   .Stamford,  a  son 

of     Hugh     and     Mary     (McArthur; 

Gemmel.  Hugh  (iemmel  was  born 
in  .Stamford,  August  14,  1803,  and  his  wife 
in  the  town  of  Jefferson,  Schoharie  County, 
December  31,  1809.  The  grandfather,  also 
Hugh  (jemniel,  was  born  in  .Scotland,  but  in 
1790  came  to  America,  and  settled  at  Rose 
Brook,  Delaware  County.  He  was  a  weaver 
by  traile,  and  followed  this  occu])ation  to 
some  extent.  He  bought  about  two  hundred 
acres  of  land,  most  of  which  was  in  a  state  of 
nature.  Ilobart,  then  called  W'atertown,  was 
the  nearest  market  and  de]50t  for  supjilies; 
and  the  ])eople  lived  chiefly  off  the  ])roducts 
of  their  land  and  the  wild  game.  ]\Ir.  Gem- 
mel was  a  hard  worker  and  a  ])ractical  farmer, 
and  succeeded  in  his  undertakings.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at  South 
Kortright,  and  in  politics  a  Whig.  He 
reared  a  family  of  seven  children,  all  of  whom 
grew  to  maturity,  but  have  now  jjassed  away. 
He  died  on  the  farm  which  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  now  owns  antl  occupies,  when  seventy- 
five  years  of  age,  his  wife  dying  at  the  same 
age. 

Hugh  Gennnel,  the  father  of  Cyrus,  grew  to 
manhood  on  the  oUl  homestead  at  Rose  Brook. 
He  was  one  of  the  early  school-teachers,  and 
taught  for  aliout  eleven  years,  after  which  he 
gave  his  attention  to  farming,  continuing  in 
this  occujiation  the  rest  of  his  life.  He 
bought  the  farm  where  his  son  now  lives,  just 
before  his  marriage,  it  then  comprising  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres.  This  he  improved 
and  increased  so  thatat  his  death  he  owned 
two  lunulred  and  five  acres.  He  was  a  hard 
worker  and  a  successful  farmer,  and  an  active 


ii6 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  of 
which  he  was  a  Trustee.  His  wife  was  a 
member  of  the  same  church.  He  was  a  Re- 
publican in  politics,  was  a  conscientious,  hon- 
ored citizen  of  the  town,  and  held  several 
public  offices,  including  Highway  Commis- 
sioner. Collector,  Constable,  and  School  In- 
spector, besides  several  minor  positions.  He 
died  on  the  old  homestead  March  6,  1878,  and 
his  widow  July  22,  1884,  making  them  at  the 
time  of  their  deaths  the  same  age  to  a  day, 
seventy-four  years,  six  months,  and  twenty- 
two  days. 

He  was  twice  married,  his  first  wife  being 
Nancy  McArthur,  who  died  P^ebruary  13, 
1845.  He  was  the  father  of  eleven  children, 
ten  of  whom  grew  to  maturity,  and  seven  still 
survive:  Robert,  born  February  14,  1833,  re- 
sides in  the  village  of  Delhi.  James  R., 
born  August  4,  1834,  is  manager  of  the 
Lookout  House  at  Utsayantha  Mountain,  and 
lives  with  his  brother.  Mrs.  Nancy  M.  Iser- 
man,  born  September  13,  1840,  resides  in 
Rockland  County,  New  York.  Mary  I. 
Brown,  who  was  born  July  i,  1844,  resides 
in  Montgomery  County,  Iowa.  Cyrus,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  July  20, 
1850.  Mrs.  Francis  H.  Allison,  born  De- 
cember 4,  185 1,  is  a  resident  of  Kortright. 
Homer  R.,  born  October  5,  1853,  is  also  liv- 
ing in  Kortright.  Thomas  H.,  born  October 
21,  1831,  died  January  24,  1886.  George  E., 
born  February  15,  1837,  died  June  29,  1872. 
Margaret  J.,  born  December  8,  1838,  died 
October  9,  1842.  The  Rev.  William  A., 
born  August  4,   1848,  died  October  7,  1876. 

Cyrus  Gemmel  grew  to  manhood  in  the 
parental  home,  and  received  his  education  at 
the  district  school.  When  nineteen  years  of 
age,  he  went  to  work  on  the  farm  of  H.  K. 
Rose,  receiving  for  his  services  twenty-three 
dollars  per  month,  which  at  that  time  was 
considered  a  good  salary.  When  twenty-three 
years  old,  he  learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  at 
which  he  was  engaged  for  some  eight  or  nine 
years,  but  finally  gave  it  up  and  devoted  his 
time  to  farming,  buying  the  old  homestead 
after  his  father's  death. 

January  i,  1878,  Mr.  Gemmel  married 
Mary  E.  Higbie,  who  was  born  in  Stamford, 
a  daughter  of  Thomas  C.  and   Sarah  (Titus) 


Higbie.  Thomas  Higbie  was  born  in  Stam- 
ford, and  his  wife  in  Harpersfield.  He  was  a 
farmer,  and  also  a  merchant  in  New  York 
City  for  some  years,  a  descendant  of  the  pio- 
neer family  of  that  name,  his  father,  Nathan- 
iel Higbie,  being  the  first  to  locate  in  this 
vicinity.  Thomas  Higbie  was  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and,  politi- 
cally, a  Republican.  He  died  at  Rose  Brook 
when  seventy-eight  years  of  age.  He  was  the 
father  of  six  children,  five  of  whom  are  now 
living.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gemmel  have  two  chil- 
dren: Mary  A.,  born  April  29,  1879;  and  Ida 
Bell,  October  29,  1889. 

Cyrus  Gemmel  has  an  excellent  farm  of  two 
hundred  acres,  where  he  carries  on  general 
farming  and  dairying,  owning  forty  head  of 
Jersey  cattle.  In  connection  with  this  he  is 
agent  for  Buckley's  Watering  Device.  He 
has  been  fortunate  in  his  business  life,  and  is 
a  highly  respected  citizen,  showing  much  in- 
terest in  the  welfare  of  the  town.  He  has 
been  Inspector  of  Elections,  and  for  six  years 
Overseer  of  the  Poor.  Fraternally,  he  is  a 
member  of  the  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  belonging  to 
St.  Andrew  Lodge,  No.  289,  at  Hobart,  and 
Delta  Chapter,  No.  185,  Royal  Arch  Masons, 
at  Stamford.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gemmel  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
at  Rose  Brook,  and  in  politics  Mr.  Gemmel 
is  a  Republican.  He  occupies  a  high  place 
in  the  esteem  of  his  fellow-citizens. 


§AMES  ARTHUR  HOLLEY,  M.D., 
is  a  prominent  physician  and  surgeon 
of  Walton,  and,  being  a  close  student, 
is  well  versed  in  medical  lore,  and  has 
a  large  and  successful  practice.  A  native  of 
Delaware  County,  he  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Hamden,  October  10,  1854,  on  the  farm  of 
his  parents,  George  and  Maria  (Bice)  Hoi  ley, 
the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  1818,  of 
English  ancestors,  and  the  latter  in  1819,  of 
German  antecedents. 

George  Holley  was  one  of  the  early  settlers 
of  this  section  of  the  county,  and  an  important 
factor  in  its  development  and  imj^rovement. 
He  began  life  here  as  a  farmer,  with  limited 
means,  but  by  sturdy  industry  not  only  hewed 
out  a  good  farm  from  the  wilderness,  but  ac- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


««7 


quired  a  comfortable  competence.  He  was  a 
man  of  probity  and  ability,  and  of  a  religious 
character.  Both  he  and  his  excellent  wife 
were  conscientious  members  of  the  Baptist 
church,  wherein  he  served  for  many  years  as  a 
Deacon.  Eight  cliildren  were  born  into  their 
household,  mentioned  as  follows:  William,  a 
resident  of  Walton,  married  Enmia  Robinson. 
He  was  a  volunteer  soldier  in  the  late  Civil 
War,  serving  in  Company  B,  One  Hundred 
and  P'orty-fourth  New  York  Volunteer  Infan- 
try, and  was  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Hany 
Hill.  Sylvia,  who  was  the  wife  of  Jacob 
Boyer,  of  Broome  County,  New  York,  died  at 
the  age  of  twenty-five  years.  John,  a  farmer, 
living  in  Walton,  married  lunma  Benedict,  a 
daughter  of  D.  B.  Benedict,  of  the  same  town. 
Eliza,  who  married  George  E.  Benedict,  died 
in  Walton  in  1S70.  Lois  died  when  twelve 
years  old.  George,  a  carpenter  residing  in 
Sidney  Centre,  married  Hattie  Smith,  a 
daughter  of  Horace  Smith,  of  Hamden. 
James  A.  is  the  subject  of  this  notice.  Jen- 
nie is  the  wife  of  William  Olmstead,  of 
Walton. 

James  A.  HoUey  was  reared  upon  the  pa- 
ternal homestead,  and  during  the  times  of 
sowing  and  reaping  assisted  his  father  on  the 
farm,  and  devoted  the  winter  seasons  to  the  : 
pursuit  of  knowledge,  being  a  regular  attend- 
ant at  the  district  school,  and  one  of  its  most 
promising  pupils.  He  subsequently  attended 
Walton  Academy,  and.  after  receiving  a 
teacher's  certificate,  engaged  in  teaching  for  I 
several  terms,  with  the  money  thus  earned 
making  his  way  through  college.  In  1S83  he 
entered  the  office  of  Dr.  O.  H.  Young,  of  Sid- 
ney Centre,  remaining  there  for  two  years,  in 
the  mean  time  attending  Albany  Medical  Col- 
lege, from  which  he  was  graduated  with  honors 
in  1886.  In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year, 
being  well  equipped  for  a  medical  career.  Dr. 
Holley  located  in  Walton,  where  he  has  since 
resided.  His  ability  and  talent  are  every- 
where recognized:  and  he  has  built  up  an  ex- 
tensive and  lucrative  practice,  and  won  an 
assured  position  among  the  foremost  practi- 
tioners of  the  county.  He  is  very  popular 
among  his  professional  brethren,  and  is  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Delaware  County 
Medical   Societv. 


Ur.  Holley  was  united  in  marriage,  in 
1876,  to  Miss  Flora  l^enedict,  a  daughter  of 
Daniel  and  Nancy  (Weldon)  Benedict;  and 
their  union  has  been  a  most  ha])i)y  one.  'Ihcy 
iiave  no  children  of  their  own,  but  have  taken 
to  their  home  and  hearts  an  adopted  son, 
Frank  Holley,  and  are  bestowing  upon  him 
the  same  attention  and  advantages  that  they 
would   sive   to   one   of   their  own    blood. 


,^  ...1.IA;\I  TWEEDIE  is  a  prominent 
'^S\/  farmer  in  the  town  of  Hamden, 
Delaware  County,  his  estate  being 
locatetl  on  East  Brook,  Joint  District  No.  5. 
He  was  born  in  Peeblesshire,  -Scotland,  in 
1830,  anil  in  the  spring  of  1849  came  to 
America  with  his  parents  and  nine  brothers 
and  sisters.  The  father  was  Alexander 
Tweed ie,  and  the  mother  was  Mary  Bruce,  a 
descendant  of  Robert  Bruce.  One  of  their 
children  died  in  Scotland,  at  the  age  of  three, 
and  an  infant  in  Hamden.  William  was  the 
fifth  in  ortler  of  birth,  two  brothers  and  two 
sisters  being  his  predecessors.  All  but  one 
of  these  adult  children  are  now  living,  and  all 
the  sons  are  in  Walton  except  \\'illiam.  The 
one  exce|)tion  is  James  Tweedie.  In  1S56  he 
went  to  California  bv  way  of  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama,  and  engaged  in  mining.  For  gen- 
erations his  ancestors  had  been  shepherds; 
and  so,  after  tiring  of  gold-digging,  he  fol- 
lowed his  inherited  instincts,  and  turned  his 
attention  to  sheep-raising  in  Nevada,  where 
he  died  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-eight,  and 
was  buried  in  Virginia  City,  on  November 
6,  1862.  As  he  was  unmarried,  his  lands, 
flocks,  and  herds  should  naturally  and  legally 
have  belonged  to  his  relations:  but  they  never 
came  into  possession  of  any  of  his  property. 

The  paternal  grandfather  was  John  Tweedie, 
and  his  wife's  name  was  Nicholas:  but  noth- 
ing more  is  known  of  her  parental  families. 
John  Tweedie  had  five  boys  and  a  girl,  but 
the  only  one  who  came  to  .America  was  Alex- 
ander. He  became  (thanks  to  freer  institu- 
tions) a  far  more  successful  man  than  his 
home-kL-eping  brothers.  His  wife  died  June 
II,  1881,  aged  sc\enty-eight :  and  he  passed 
away  on  the  8th  of  November.  1 8S2,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-five.     On  coming  hither,    they 


ii8 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


had  thirteen  hundred  dollars  left  after  paying 
the  passage  for  their  party  of  twelve  in  the 
sailing-ship,  which  made  the  ocean  passage  in 
thirty  days,  arriving  when  the  echoes  of  the 
Mexican  War  were  yet  flying  in  the  air,  and 
General  Taylor  had  ridden  into  the  White 
House  on  the  strength  of  his  military  popular- 
ity. As  might  be  supposed,  the  Tweedies  are 
Presbyterians  in  religion;  and  the  father  was 
an  Elder  in  the  kirk. 

William  Tweedie  fed  his  father's  flocks  on 
the  Cheviot  Hills;  but  he  also  received  a  fair 
schooling  there,  which  was  increased  by  one 
term  after  he  was  nineteen  and  the  family  had 
come  to  America,  though  his  time  was  mostly 
occupied  by  work  on  the  two-hundred-acre 
farm  adjacent  to  the  one  now  owned  and  culti- 
vated by  himself.  During  two  summers  he 
worked  out  by  the  month.  In  1859,  when  he 
was  twenty-nine,  came  an  important  change; 
for  he  then  married  May  D.  Munn,  daughter 
of  John  and  Margaret  (Clark)  Munn,  both 
Scotch  people,  though  they  were  married  in 
Bovina.  Mrs.  Tweedie  was  born  in  1838,  so 
she  is  her  husband's  junior  by  eight  years. 
She  has  one  brother,  Hugh,  and  two  sisters: 
Mary,  the  wife  of  Andrew  Doig;  and  Mar- 
garet, the  widow  of  James  Arbuckle,  of  Wal- 
ton. The  mother,  Mrs.  Munn,  died  when  her 
youngest  child,  Margaret,  was  born,  though 
only  in  the  prime  of  life.  The  father  re- 
mained a  widower  many  years,  and  died  on 
his   farm,    Ajiril    22,    1879,   aged  seventy-six. 

After  their  marriage,  April  6,  1859,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  William  Tweedie  began  united 
domestic  life  in  a  log  cabin  in  the  woods, 
with  a  log  barn  and  log  out-houses  to  keep  it 
company.  The  original  hundred  and  twenty- 
six  acres  cost  fourteen  hundred  dollars,  and 
the  young  couple  ran  in  debt  seven  hundred 
dollars  in  order  to  stock  it.  Among  other 
things  they  bought  a  yoke  of  oxen,  six  cows, 
and  (true  to  the  Cheviot  training)  three 
sheep.  In  due  time  the  hundred  acres  in- 
creased fourfold,  with  from  eighty  to  a  hun- 
dred sheep,  and  a  dairy  of  from  forty  to  sixty 
cows.  In  later  years  Mr.  Tweedie  gave  his 
attention  largely  to  a  flock  of  Cotswold  sheep, 
hut  never  did  he  forget  his  native  Cheviots. 
In  connection  with  his  active  enterprise  as  a 
sheep-breeder,  he  has  exhibited  at  the  State 


and  county  fairs  his  Cotswold  specimens, 
yielding  fleeces  weighing  over  twenty  pounds: 
and  very  often  he  has  been  appointed  one  of 
the  judges,  for  nowhere  is  there  a  better  judge 
of  wool.  One  Cotswold  lock,  cut  from  a 
Canadian  yearling  ram,  was  sent  to  Washing- 
ton because  of  its  extraordinary  length  of 
twenty-one  inches;  and  the  owner  was  awarded 
a  diploma.  The  patient  oxen  have  been  dis.- 
placcd  by  five  fine  horses,  and  the  master  can 
drive  a  fine  team  before  plough  and  wagon. 
After  the  martyrdom  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  for 
whom  he  wore  crape  a  month,  Mr.  Tweedie 
gave  his  adherence  to  the  prohibitory  cause, 
but  has  never  held  any  office,  though  he  was 
once  placed  on  the  Prohibition  ticket  as  can- 
didate for  the  General  Assembly,  and  received 
a  large  vote.  The  family  residence  is  far 
from  the  main  road,  and  is  a  fine  dwelling, 
built  in  1887,  embowered  amid  Norway  spruce 
and  other  evergreen  trees,  set  out  in  1870, 
and  now  grown  from  nine  inches  to  thirty  feet 
high. 

In  religion,  as  well  as  in  daily  pursuits, 
the  Tweedies  have  followed  in  the  parental 
paths,  and  are  members  of  the  United  Presby- 
terian church.  Forty  years  has  the  head  of 
the  household  had  charge  of  a  Bible  class, 
besides  being  a  Trustee,  Deacon,  and  the  in- 
cumbent of  other  offices.  Besides  being  re- 
spected for  his  ability  and  thought,  Mr. 
Tweedie  is  a  popular  man.  The  IJ'cfi'/j'  Re- 
porter instituted  a  voting  contest  for  the  most 
popular  farmer,  and  Mr.  Tweedie  won  by  two 
thousand  majority;  and  on  his  shelves  is  a  set 
of  historic  books,  received  as  the  prize  for  the 
best  article  on  farming.  It  is  somewhat  re- 
markable that  a  man  whose  days  have  been 
necessarily  passed  in  plodding,  agricultural 
pursuits  should  have  developed  so  much  liter- 
ary ability,  suggestive  of  great  possibilities  in 
the  line  of  scholarship  had  Providence  called 
him  into  academic  grooves.  His  wife  has 
borne  her  full  share  of  the  labor,  having  a 
vigorous  physique.  Though  the  mother  of 
nine  children,  she  can  to-day  walk  miles 
without  fatigue.  The  heroes  of  the  world  are 
not  all  in  parliamentary  halls  or  battlefields. 
These  old  farms  represent  years  of  labor. 
How  many  times  they  have  been  cleared  — 
first    of    timber,    next    of    stumps,    and    then. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


successive 
moitgagcs  I 
tho- 


oncc,    twice,    and    even    tlirico,    of 
stone     crops,     and     final  1\'     from 
Well  has  that  dear  lover  of   outdoor  life, 
reau,  written :  — 

"Did  you  ever  hear  of  a  man  who  had 
striven  all  his  life  faithfully  and  sint;ly 
toward  an  object,  and  in  no  measure  obtained 
it?  If  a  man  constantly  aspires,  is  he  not 
elexated?  Did  ever  a  man  try  heroism,  niaj;- 
nanimity,  truth,  sincerity,  and  find  that  there 
was  no  advantage  in  them,  that  it  was  a  vain 
endeavor?" 

Of  Mr.  Twcedie's  children,  the  eldest  is 
Alexander,  who  was  born  April  23,  i860,  is 
married,  and  now  a  farmer  at  Dunk  Hill,  in 
Walton.  Margaret,  born  December  17,  iSfn, 
is  the  wife  of  Walter  Miller,  of  North  1  lam- 
den,  and  has  one  daughter.  Mary,  born  April 
8,  1864,  is  the  wife  of  Frank  Doig,  a  farmer, 
and  has  one  daughter.  John  Tweedie,  born 
August  5,  1869,  is  a  stone  worker  in  Hamtlen, 
and  unmarried.  William  James,  born  F'ebru- 
ary  7,  1872,  is  still  at  home;  and  so  are 
Lizzie  M.,  born  September  7,  1874,  George 
Bruce,  June  22.  1877,  and  Robert  A.,  July 
19,    1 88 1.      One   child   died    in    infancy. 


-OHN  D.  CLANCEV.  of  Margarettville, 
N.\'.,  the  well-known  proprietor  of 
the  largest  cooper's  shop  in  Delaware 
County,  was  born  in  Olive.  Ulster 
County,  on  July  14,  1864.  His  parents, 
William  antl  Elizabeth  McCadden  Clancey. 
were  both  natives  of  West  Maid.  Ireland,  and 
came  to  America  on  their  wedding  journey  in 
1839.  They  bought  a  farm  of  eighty  acres  in 
Olive,  and  remained  thereon  for  thirty-two 
years,  prosperously  engaged  in  farming. 
William  Clancey  died  in  1871,  leaving  these 
children:  Thomas,  who  married  Sarah  Becker, 
to  whom  one  child  was  born,  lives  in  the 
town  of  Hurley.  Anna,  who  married  IM.  A. 
Meagher,  of  Kingston,  a  commercial  trav- 
eller, is  the  mother  of  eight  children.  Cath- 
erine, who  married  H.  P.  Kelly,  lives  near 
Arkville.  Lizzie,  who  married  B.  Soper,  a 
real  estate  agent  in  Illinois,  has  one  child. 
Willie,  who  married  L.  Lavy,  lives  in  Shan- 
daken,  Ulster  County,  and  has  one  child. 
John    D.    is    the    subject    of    further    mention 


below.  Joseph  and  George  are  both  in  the 
ice  business  in  Jersey. 

John,  the  original  of  this  sketch,  grew  up 
on  his  father's  farm,  and  at  eighteen  learned 
the  coojx'r's  trade  at  Margarettville,  under  the 
training  of  M.  A.  Meagher,  whose  ]ilace  was 
on  the  corner  of  Walnut  and  Orchard  Streets. 
Mr.  Clancey  afterward  liought  out  Mr. 
Meagher,  and  has  since  conducted  a  large 
business,  manufacturing  tubs,  firkins,  churns, 
and  barrels,  and  dealing  in  cooi)er  supplies  of 
all  kinds,  having  many  varieties  of  wooden- 
ware.  His  shop  caught  fire  on  the  4th  of 
July,  1894,  and  was  burned  to  the  ground; 
but,  with  the  energy  which  is  characteristic  of 
the  man,  he  has  built  a  new  shop  on  a  larger 
scale,  two  stories  in  height,  and  anticijxites 
making  still    further  aildilions. 

In  i8()r  he  married  Maggie  B.  Carey, 
daughter  of  Lute  and  Sarah  (Kelly)  Carey. 
The  father-in-law  of  Mr.  Clancey  lives  on 
Red  Kill,  near  Griffin's  Corner,  and  is  consid- 
ered one  of  the  best  farmers  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, conducting  a  fine  dairy,  in  which  he  takes 
great  pride.  He  has  four  children:  Maggie, 
Mrs.  Clancey:    .\ellie;   William;  and  Rose. 

Mr.  Clancey  is  a  faithful  Democrat,  and  is 
as  active  in  the  political  interests  of  the 
country  as  he  is  in  his  own  business  affairs 
and  personal  concerns.  As  is  well  known  in 
these  parts,  his  shop  has  always  been  consid- 
ered to  be  one  of  the  best  in  the  county;  and 
it  is  a  fact  worthy  of  being  here  recorded  that 
firkins  and  tubs  manufactured  in  John  D. 
Clancev's  cooperage  have  taken  first  premium 
in    Delaware   County  five  years   in   succession. 

Mr.  Clancey  has  always  had  a  great  many 
warm  friends  among  the  farmers  of  this  sec- 
tion, and  m.ay  be  trusted  by  manly  dealing  to 
merit  the  continuance  of  their  patronage  and 
;rood  will. 


(^rAMllS  i:.  HARPER,  a  dealer  in 
watches,  diamonds,  jewelry,  and  silver- 
ware, whose  attractive  store  is  located 
on  Main  Street,  Delhi,  well  represents 
the  mercantile  interests  of  this  village,  and  is 
classed  among  its  most  substantial  business 
men.  He  is  here  carrying  on  a  brisk  and 
thriving   trade,  and,  although   young  in  years, 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


has  already  fully  established  himself  in  the 
confidence  of  his  fellow-townsmen.  Mr. 
Harper  is  a  native  of  Delaware  County,  hav- 
ing been  born  February  i,  1867,  in  the  town 
of  Kortright.  His  immediate  ancestors  were 
also  of  this  county,  his  grandfather,  Henry 
Harper,  having  been  a  life-long  resident  of 
the  town  of  Harpersfield,  which  was  likewise 
the  birthplace  of  his  father,  William  H. 
Harper. 

William  H.  Harper  was  reared  on  the  home 
farm,  in  Harpersfield,  and  accjuired  his  early 
knowledge  in  the  district  schools.  At  the 
youthful  age  of  fifteen  years,  by  reason  of  the 
death  of  his  father,  Henry  Harper,  he  was 
obliged  to  assume  the  entire  management  of 
the  old  homestead,  where  he  faithfully  labored 
for  thirteen  years.  Going  then  to  Kortright, 
he  purchased  a  farm  on  which  some  improve- 
ments had  been  made,  and  for  thirty-five  years 
thereafter  cultivated  the  land,  making  essen- 
tial and  valuable  improvements,  and  placing 
it  among  the  most  productive  homesteads  in 
the  vicinity.  Having  by  diligence  and  thrift 
amassed  a  comfortable  competency,  he  re- 
moved to  the  village  of  Delhi,  where  he  is 
living,  retired  from  active  life,  and  heartily 
enjoying  the  well-deserved  reward  of  his  many 
years  of  toil.  His  wife,  Sarah  McEckron, 
was  a  native  of  Washington  County,  New 
York,  and  one  of  six  children  of  Alexander 
McEckron.  Five  children  blessed  the  union 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harper,  of  whom  four  are 
living;  namely,  George,  William,  Anna,  and 
James.  The  parents  were  both  members  of 
the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  North 
Kortright,  where  the  father  served  as  Deacon 
for  many  years. 

James  E.  Harper  spent  his  boyhood  and 
youth  on  the  parental  homestead  in  the  place 
of  his  nativity,  pursuing  his  studies  in  the 
public  schools  until  seventeen  years  old,  when 
he  came  to  Delhi  to  learn  the  jewelry  trade, 
serving  his  time  with  J.  S.  Page,  the  leading 
jeweller  of  the  village.  Four  years  later  Mr. 
Harper  bought  out  the  jewelry  business  of 
O.  C.  Mann,  of  this  place,  and,  after  carry- 
ing it  on  in  his  own  name  for  three  years  and 
six  months,  largely  increased  his  trade  by 
purchasing  the  long-established  business  of 
his  former  employer,  Mr.    Page.     This  large 


store,  ninety  feet  long,  he  has  completely  re- 
stocked with  choice  goods  from  the  best  man- 
ufacturers in  his  various  lines,  having  to-day 
not  only  the  most  extensive,  but  the  best- 
equipped  establishment  of  its  kind  in  Dela- 
ware County.  His  honest  and  square  dealing 
in  all  business  transactions  has  won  for  him 
the  respect  of  all  who  know  him,  and  enabled 
him  to  secure  an  extensive  patronage  among 
the  good  people  of  this  vicinity. 

On  February  20,  1890,  Maggie  S.  Mon- 
teith,  a  native  of  Martin,  Mich.,  became  the 
wife  of  Mr.  Harper;  and  into  their  family 
circle  two  bright  and  active  children  have 
been  born  —  Pauline  and  Harold  Glen  Harper. 
The  parents  of  Mrs.  Harper,  Thomas  and 
Margaret  (Campbell)  Monteith,  were  pioneer 
citizens  of  Martin,  Mich.,  where  Mr.  Monteith 
cleared  off  a  large  tract  of  heavily  timbered 
land,  and  improved  a  good  homestead,  on 
which  he  and  his  wife  spent  their  declining 
years.  He  lived  until  seventy-five  years  old. 
Mrs.  Monteith,  who  survived  the  death  of  her 
beloved  husband  but  fifteen  weeks,  died  at  the 
age  of  seventy  years.  Both  were  devoted 
members  of  the  United   Presbyterian  church. 

Mr.  Harper  has  a  pleasant  home  in  a  very 
desirable  location  on  Main  Street.  In  poli- 
tics Mr.  Harper  is  a  firm  adherent  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  ever  sustaining  its  principles 
by  voice  and  vote.  Socially,  he  is  a  promi- 
nent member  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance  of 
Delhi,  and  is  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the 
Young  Men"s  Christian  Association,  and  is 
President  of  the  Coimty  Christian  Endeavor 
Union.  Both  he  and  his  estimable  wife  are 
valued  members  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church,  of  which  he  is  Trustee,  and  in  whose 
Sunday-school  he  has  been  a  faithful  teacher 
for  the  past  six  years.  He  may  be  counted  as 
always  ready  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to  the 
needy,  and  to  push  forward  any  good  substan- 
tial enterprise  that  will  benefit  his  neighbor 
or   improve  the  town. 


AVID   W.   HUBBELL,   whose  home 
is    near    Ilalcottsville,    in    Middle- 
town,    N.Y.,    is  a  descendant  of   a 
family  which  has  for  several  genera- 
tions been  known  and  respected   in  America, 


Ji 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


The  first  ancestor  in  the  colonies  was  Richard 
Ilubbell,  who  was  born  in  Great  Ikitain  in 
1654,  and  came  to  the  New  World  in  1699. 
The  next  in  line  successively  were  Peter,  born 
1688,  Enoch,  born  1735,  Joseph,  born  1758. 
Milow  W.,  son  of  Joseph,  and  father  of  David 
W.  Hiibbcll,  was  born  February  17,  1798, 
and  came  to  Hubbell  Hill  from  Connecticut. 
He  here  bought  a  farm  of  seventy  acres,  and 
cleared  the  land,  which  he  afterward  sold,  in- 
tending to  remove  to  Indiana.  This  intention 
was  never  carried  out,  as  he  decided  to  remain 
in  Delaware  County,  and  accortlingly  pur- 
chased two  hundred  and  forty  acres  in  Bragg 
Hollow,  which  he  improved  b\-  cultivation 
and  made  still  more  valuable  b\-  erecting  a 
frame  dwelling-house  and  barns.  Some  years 
later  he  sold  that  place  to  Daniel  H.  Jacjuish, 
and  bought  another  farm  on  the  river,  where 
he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life.  Me  mar- 
ried Mary  Faulkner,  a  daughter  of  Patrick 
Faulkner,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Dela- 
ware County.  Eleven  children  were  born  to 
them  here— George  W.,  Lyman,  Charles, 
Harvey,  Patrick,  John,  David,  Maria,  Nancy, 
Catherine,  and  Fanny.  Mrs.  Hubbell  was  a 
member  of  the  old-school  Baptist  church. 
Milow  Hubbell  was  a  Democrat,  and  held  the 
office  of  Supervisor  and  Assessor  during  the 
anti-rent  war.  Having  served  in  the  army 
as  a  substitute  three  months  at  New  York,  at 
the  close  of  the  War  of  1S12  he  drew  a  pen- 
sion from  the  government  up  to  the  time  of 
his  death. 

David  W.,  seventh  .son  of  Milow  and  Mary 
Hubbell,  as  named  above,  was  born  November 
26,  1839,  at  the  homestead  where  he  now 
resides.  At  the  age  of  twenty-four  years  he 
wooed  and  married  Hulda  Jaquish,  who  was 
born  in  Roxbury,  Meeker  Hollow,  on  March 
21,  1838.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Daniel  H. 
and  Sarah  (Hull)  Jaquish,  and  was  a  descend- 
ant of  John  Jaquish,  a  French  emigrant  who 
came  to  America  during  the  Revolutionary 
War,  and  found  his  way  through  the  forest  by 
marked  trees  to  Kortright,  where  he  settled. 
He  died  in  Delhi,  ninety-three  years  of  age, 
leaving  a  family  of  twelve  children — John, 
Joseph,  David,  Margaret,  Daniel  IL,  Nathan, 
John  W.,  Mary,  ]\Iathias,  Dolly,  Betsey,  and 
Sallv.      His   wife    died    in    her  eighty-second 


year,  in  1887.  Daniel  II.  Jaciuish  was  born 
August  19,  1799,  and  died  at  the  age  of 
eighty-four  years,  in  September  of  1883. 
He  raised  a  family  of  ten  children  —  P'rastus 
R.,  Sarah  B.,  Martin  B.,  John  I.,  Cynthia, 
Polly,  Eliza,  Hulda,  George  L.,  Ursula. 

Mr.  Ilubbell  and  his  wife  Hulda  had  a 
family  of  chiklren,  who  came  in  the  follow- 
ing order:  Jolm  E.,  born  October  27,  1865, 
who  died  June  20,  1868;  .Sarah  M.,  born  Se])- 
tember  10,  1867,  who  married  John  PTan- 
cisco,  a  conductor  on  the  V.  &  P).  Railroad; 
Byron,  who  was  born  October  20,  1869,  and 
died  March  18,  1876;  George  E.,  born  Octo- 
I)er  30,  1871,  a  graduate  of  the  Baltimore 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons;  Burnet, 
born  March  26,  1S74;  Mary  F.,  born  May  6, 
1876;    L'rsula,  born  June  10,   1883. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ilubbell  began  domestic  life 
on  a  farm  which  he  bought  at  Halcottsv  ille: 
but  he  has  since  sold  that  estate,  and  returned 
to  the  old  Bragg  Hollow  homestead,  remodel- 
ling the  dwelling  into  a  large  and  beautiful 
residence.  Here,  during  the  hot  summer 
months,  they  entertain  that  class  of  town 
folks  known  as  "summer  boarders,"  who  arc 
delighted  to  exchange  the  din  and  dust  and 
glare  of  hot  ])avements  and  sun-scorched  walls 
for  the  cool  quiet  of  some  country  retreat. 
The  large,  airy  house,  with  its  water  sujiply 
from  the  pure  hillside  streams,  its  excellent 
dairv,  and  charming  location,  offers  s])ecial 
attractions  to  families  of  children,  and  is  a 
favorite  rendezvous  for  New  Yorkers  each  sea- 
son. As  many  as  twenty-five  are  accommo- 
dated at  once,  and  there  arc  thirty-two  fat 
[ersey  cows  in  pasture  whose  special  mission 
it  is  to  minister  to  the  apjietites  of  Gotham's 
summer  idlers. 

Mr.  Hubbell  is  a  Democrat  and  a  Granger, 
and  in  his  religious  views  is  a  liberal  Chris- 
tian, not  being  bound  down  by  creed  or 
dogma. 


I  PES  BRAMEIA',  favorably  known 
in  the  town  of  Walton  as  an 
J|L(  industrious  and  enter])rising 
farmer,  is  the  proprietor  of  a  fine 
homestead  pleasantly  situated  on  the  river 
road  about  three  miles  from  the  village.     Thg 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


])lace  of  his  birth  was  in  the  town  of  Hovina, 
Delaware  County;  its  date,  December  19, 
1 83 1.  Mr.  Rraniley  is  the  worthy  representa- 
tive of  an  old  New  England  family,  his  pa- 
ternal grandfather,  who  was  a  Revolutionary 
pensioner,  having  been  a  life-long  resident  of 
that  part  of  the  Union,  and  one  of  its  re- 
spected farmers. 

Henry  Bramley,  the  father  of  Miles,  was 
reared  to  manhood  in  his  New  England  home, 
but  after  his  marriage  removed  to  this  part  of 
New  York,  and,  settling  in  the  town  of  Bo- 
vina,  bought  the  farm  on  which  his  youngest 
son,  Girard  Bramley,  now  lives.  There  he 
toiled  early  and  late,  and  by  unremitting 
labor  improved  a  good  homestead,  where  he 
and  his  faithful  wife  and  helpmate  spent  their 
remaining  years,  he  passing  away  at  the  age 
of  fourscore  and  four  years,  and  she  living  to 
celebrate  her  eighty-fifth  birthday.  Her 
maiden  name  was  Betsey  Wright,  and  she  was 
a  life-long  resident  of  Delaware  County. 
She  bore  her  husband  twelve  children; 
namely,  Mary  Ann,  Phebe  Ann,  Sylvanus, 
William,  John,  Amanda,  James,  Susan, 
Charles,  Miles,  Alexander,  and  Girard.  Of 
this  large  family  five  sons  and  two  daughters 
are  still  living.  The  mother  was  a  practical 
Christian  woman,  and  was  identified  with  the 
Methodist  church,  to  which  she  belonged  for 
many  years. 

Miles  Bramley  assisteil  his  father  in  open- 
ing up  his  farm,  and  made  his  home  with  his 
parents  until  he  was  twenty-five  years  of  age. 
He  then  purchased  land  in  Bloomville,  in  the 
town  of  Kortright,  and  for  two  years  was  em- 
ployed in  the  labors  of  husbandry.  The  fol- 
lowing year  he  spent  in  Bovina,  coming  thence 
to  Walton,  when  he  bought  the  farm  on  which 
he  has  since  resided.  He  raises  hay  and 
grain,  but  pays  especial  attention  to  dairying, 
sending  his  milk  directly  to  the  city  of  New 
York. 

Mr.  Bramley  has  been  twice  married.  His 
union  with  Abigail  Nicholas,  the  daughter  of 
Elijah  and  Amanda  Nicholas,  members  of  the 
farming  community  of  Bovina,  was  solemnized 
on  January  6,  1857;  and  their  happy  wedded 
life  lasted  twenty-five  years.  Mrs.  Abigail 
Bramley  was  a  Methodist  in  religion.  She 
died   at    fifty-five  years    of   age,    leaving    two 


children  —  Ella  A.  and  Frances  A.  Ella  is 
the  wife  of  Hubert  Sewell,  of  Walton,  of 
whom  a  sketch  appears  on  another  page  of  this 
volume.  Frances  married  Charles  Sabin,  a 
banker,  residing  in  Susquehanna,  Pa.  On 
March  20,  1890,  Mr.  Bramley  formed  a  sec- 
ond matrimonial  alliance,  with  Elizabeth  H. 
Blair,  a  daughter  of  Peter  and  Margaret  (Mc- 
Cune)  Blair,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  in 
Scotland,  and  the  latter  in  Bovina,  but  of 
Irish   parentage   on   the  maternal   side. 

The  paternal  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Bramley, 
William  Blair,  emigrated  from  Scotland,  bring- 
ing his  family  with  him,  and  took  up  his 
abode  in  Delhi,  where  he  bought  land,  and 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits,  carrying  on 
farming  in  conjunction  with  blacksmithing,  a 
trade  which  he  had  followed  in  his  native 
country.  The  father  of  Mrs.  Bramley  began 
his  career  as  an  independent  farmer  in  the  town 
of  Bovina,  where  he  met  and  wooed  the  fair 
woman  who  became  his  bride;  and  on  the 
homestead  in  that  town,  which  he  improved, 
both  afterward  lived  until  their  departure  from 
this  world,  he  passing  away  at  the  age  of 
sixty-seven  years,  and  she  at  threescore  years. 
They  were  both  esteemed  members  of  the 
Associate  Reformed  Presbyterian  church. 
Eight  of  the  ten  children  born  of  their  union 
grew  to  maturity;  namely,  Nancy,  Mary, 
William,  Samuel,  James,  Margaret,  Elizabeth 
H.,  and  Jane  S.  Of  this  number  Mrs.  liram- 
ley  and  one  son  are  the  only  ones  now  living. 
Mr.  Bramley  uniformly  casts  his  vote  with 
the  Republican  party,  and  in  all  respects  is  a 
citizen  deeply  interested  in  the  welfare  of  his 
county  and  community.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  Methodist  church. 


/^3T*EORGE  H.  BRINKMAN,  M.D.,  is 
y  •)  I  one  of  the  most  popular  and  success- 
—  ful  physicians  of  the  town  of  Frank- 
lin, where  he  has  practised  since  December 
20,  1893.  He  was  born  in  Ro.xbury,  Dela- 
ware County,  N.Y.,  March  10,  1864,  son  of 
Dedrick  and  Elizabeth  (Vareschorst)  Brink- 
man,  a  short  sketch  of  the  life  of  whom  is 
given  elsewhere  in  this  volume,  where  the 
biography  of  his  brother,  William  Brinkman, 
is  also  narrated.     When  but  two  years  of  age 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


'23 


George  was  brought  to  I'ranklin  by  his  par- 
ents, who  resided  in  the  town  for  fourteen 
years,  and  then  moved  to  the  Chauncy  Ogden 
farm,  one  and  one  half  miles  north.  After 
living  here  for  two  years,  they  removed  to  a 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  acres  on 
East  Handsome  lirook,  known  as  the  Warren 
Green  place.  This  home  they  occupied  until 
the  death  of  Dr.  15rinkman"s  father,  when  his 
mother  moved  into  the  village. 

Studiously  inclined  from  his  boxhood, 
young  Brinkman'made  good  use  of  his  time  at 
the  district  school,  and  when  sixteen  was  sent 
to  the  Delaware  Literary  Institute,  where  he 
was  a  pupil  for  eight  terms.  He  afterward 
taught  school  one  term,  and  began  the  study 
of  medicine  with  Dr.  McNaught,  in  February, 
1885.  For  three  years  he  studied  with  Dr. 
McNaught,  during  which  time  he  took  three 
courses  of  lectures  at  the  medical  department 
of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
eraduatinfr  March  6,  1888.  standing  number 
seventeen  in  a  class  of  two  hundred.  In 
April,  1888,  he  began  to  practise  at  Daven- 
port, in  this  county,  where  he  remained  until 
December  20,  1893,  when  he  removed  to 
Franklin,  and  entered  into  partnership  with 
his  old  classmate,  Dr.  S.  J.  White.  These 
two  young  physicians  have  already  secured 
quite  a  large  practice,  which  is  constantly  in- 
creasing, as  their  ability  in  their  j^rotession 
becomes  more  widely  known. 

On  December  27,  1886,  Dr.  Brinkman  mar- 
ried Miss  Lotta  M.  Wilson,  of  Xew  York 
City,  by  whom  he  had  one  son,  William  Farl, 
who  died  when  four  and  one-half  months  o'ld. 
Mrs.  Brinkman  passed  away,  after  a  year's 
illness,  on  December  31,  1890,  being  but 
twenty  years  of  age.  The  Doctor  was  again 
married  January  18,  1893,  his  bride  being 
Mrs.  Hannah  Andrews,  widow  of  George  I). 
Andrews,  and  the  only  child  of  C  S.  and 
Emma  (Stewart)  Robertson,  both  of  whom 
were  natives  of  Worcester,  Otsego  County. 
Mrs.  Brinkman  received  her  education  at  the 
Albany  Female  Academy. 

Dr.  Brinkman  votes  with  the  Democratic 
party:  but,  although  displaying  a  lively  inter- 
est in  all  political  affairs,  he  has  little  time 
in  which  to  take  an  active  part.  He  is  an 
energetic,    progressive    man,     who    possesses 


rare  qualifications  for  his  chosen  profession. 
The  Doctor  is  a  member  of  Franklin  Lodge, 
No.    562,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  I'ranklin,  X.Y. 


01 IX  J.  HL'RKE.  The  manufacturing 
and  mercantile  interests  of  Delaware 
Count}'  have  no  more  worthy  rejiresent- 
alive  than  the  gentleman  whose  name 
stantls  at  the  head  of  this  sketch.  He  is  the 
leading  merchant  tailor  of  the  county;  and  at 
his  place  of  business  in  liell's  Block,  Main 
Street,  Delhi,  he  carries  a  comi)lete  stock  of 
both  domestic  and  imported  gcjods,  including 
the  hitest  and  most  desirable  patterns  from 
the  largest  and  most  reliable  manufacturers  of 
two  continents.  His  thorough  knowledge  of 
his  business  and  the  especial  pains  which  he 
takes  to  please  his  customers,  personally 
studying  the  wants  of  each  and  every  one,  sec- 
onded by  his  genial  and  agreeable  manners 
and  his  honorable  and  upright  business 
methods,  have  won  him  during  his  residence 
in  Deliii  a  well-deserved  reputation  as  the 
best  and  most  trustworthy  tailor  in  this  part 
of  the  State.  He  is  of  Irish  i)arentage.  and 
a  native  of  West  \'irginia,  having  been  born 
in  Rowlesburg,   February  27,   1S65. 

Martin  Burke,  the  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  brief  biography,  was  born  and  bred  in 
Ireland,  where,  on  attain  iTig  manhood,  he 
worked  as  a  ilav  laborer  until  about  1864, 
when,  accomjjanied  by  his  wife  and  one  child, 
he  sailed  for  America,  hoping  in  this  country 
to  achieve  the  independence  denied  him  in 
his  native  land.  After  a  short  stay  in  New- 
York  City,  where  he  landed,  he  ])roceeded  to 
Rowlesburg,  Preston  County,  W.Ya..  whither 
one  of  his  brothers  had  preceded  him.  He 
subsequently. purchased  a  farm  there,  and  car- 
ried on  general  farming  the  residue  of  his 
life,  which  was  not  a  long  time,  he  being 
called  to  his  eternal  rest  in  1878,  when  fifty 
vears  old.  He  was  an  honest,  hard-working 
man;  and  both  he  and  his  wife  were  faithful 
members  of  the  Catholic  church.  The  bride 
of  his  vouth,  to  whom  he  was  united  while  in 
the  country  of  his  nativity,  was  Hannah  Lee. 
She  bore  him  four  children,  namely:  Valen- 
tine; Mary,  deceased;  Bridget,  deceased:  and 
John    J.      She   lived   but    a   few  short    months 


124 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


after  coming  to  the   United   States,    dying   in 
Rowlesburg,    at   the  age   of   forty  years. 

John  J.  Burke  was  but  two  months  old 
when  he  was  left  motherless;  and,  until  his 
father  again  married,  he  lived  with  an  uncle. 
Returning  home  after  that  event,  he  remained 
a  member  of  the  paternal  household  until  the 
death  of  his  father,  when  he  was  a  lad  of  thir- 
teen years.  The  following  winter  he  con- 
tinued his  studies  in  the  public  school,  going 
thence  to  Grafton,  where  he  lived  about  six 
years,  being  first  employed  as  an  office  boy. 
When  fifteen  years  old  he  began  to  learn  the 
tailor"s  trade,  entering  the  shop  of  J.  H.  Ger- 
kin,  of  Grafton,  with  whom  he  served  a  four 
years"  apprenticeship.  He  became  a  most 
efficient  and  skilful  workman,  thoroughly  con- 
versant with  every  branch  of  the  business,  re- 
membering the  adage  that  "whatever  is  worth 
doing  at  all  is  worth  doing  well,"  and  on  this 
fundamental  principle  basing  his  success.  In 
1 88 5  Mr.  Burke  removed  to  Pittsburg,  Pa., 
where  he  worked  a  short  time,  going  from 
there  to  McKeesport,  and  soon  afterward  to 
Washington,  D.C.  Coming  thence  to  Dela- 
ware County,  he  secured  a  position  in  Delhi 
with  Mr.  O'Connor,  with  whom  he  worked  for 
three  years.  The  following  year  he  worked 
in  Watertown,  N.Y.,  being  afterward  em- 
ployed as  a  cutter  in  a  tailoring  establish- 
ment in  Turin,  N.Y.,  for  a  year.  Mr.  Burke 
then  returned  to  Delhi,  and  established  the 
business  in  which  he  has  since  been  so  pros- 
perously engaged,  easily  taking  a  foremost 
rank. 

On  October  14,  1891,  Mr.  Burke  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Miss  Hstellc  Stoutenburg. 
Mrs.  l?urke  is  the  daughter  of  Hiram  Stouten- 
burg, cashier  of  the  Adams  Express  Company 
of  Delhi,  a  sketch  of  whose  life  appears  else- 
where in  this  volume.  Their  happy  marriage 
has  been  blessed  by  the  birth  of  one  child, 
Leda.  Politically,  Mr.  Burke  is  a  stanch 
sujiporter  of  the  principles  of  the  Democratic 
party,  and  holds  a  conspicuous  position  in  the 
.social  organizations  of  the  town,  being  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Masonic  frater- 
nity, belonging  to  Delhi  Lodge,  No.  439, 
A.  F.  &  A.  M.  Mr.  Burke  is  also  an  effi- 
cient member  of  the  fire  department,  belong- 
ing to  Active   Hose,  No.    5,   in   which,  owing 


to  his  great  popularity  with  the  members  of 
the  company,  he  was  in  1892  elected  to  the 
position  of  foreman.  He  is  a  regular  attend- 
ant of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  of 
which  his  wife  is  a  sincere  and  consistent 
member.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burke  vie  with  each 
other  in  their  efforts  to  make  their  home  at- 
tractive to  their  many  friends,  extending  to 
each  one  with  true  hospitality  a  cordial  and 
hearty  welcome. 


AMES  SACKRIDER,  who  for  many 
years  successfully  farmed  his  ancestral 
acres  in  the  town  of  Kortright,  where 
he  died  May  4,  1883,  was  born  in 
Schoharie  County,  December  i,  1813,  and 
was  the  son  of  Henry  W.  and  Hester  (Wet- 
more)  Sackrider.  His  great-grandfather. 
Christian  Sackrider,  came  from  Germany  and 
settled  in  Dutchess  County. 

Moses  Sackrider.  son  of  Christian,  was 
born  August  29,  1746,  and  was  the  first  mem- 
ber of  the  family  to  settle  in  Kortright. 
When  he  came  to  this  county,  it  was  a  wooded 
wild,  with  here  and  there  a  clearing.  He 
made  the  journey  on  horseback,  and,  on  arriv- 
ing, bought  the  farm  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
acres  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Mrs.  Sack- 
rider. Building  a  rude  log  cabin,  he  here 
spent  the  rest  of  his  life,  being  at  the  time  of 
his  death  ninety  years  old.  The  wife  of 
Moses  Sackrider  was  Hannah  Wright,  born 
August  2,  1745;  and  they  had  seven  children; 
namely,  Daniel,  Thomas,  Solomon,  Mary, 
Timothy,  Hannah,  Henry.  All  grew  to  ma- 
turity, and  all  except  Thomas  attained  a  good 
old  age.  Moses  was  a  Whig  in  politics,  and 
in  religion  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  church. 
He  was  a  strong  Free  Mason,  was  a  hard 
worker,  and  a  prominent   man    in   his   day. 

Henry  W.  Sackrider  was  born  in  Delaware 
County,  and,  like  his  father  Moses,  was  a 
farmer  and  an  able  and  diligent  worker.  The 
old  homestead  descended  to  him  by  inheri- 
tance; and  by  him  and  other  members  of  the 
family  the  territory  included  in  the  first  farm 
of  the  Sackriders  was  greatly  increased,  till  it 
consisted  of  about  four  hundred  and  fifty 
acres.  His  religious  interests  were  centred 
about    the     Methodist     Episcopal     church     at 


JfiMES    SflCKRIDER. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


127 


Bloomvillo,  of  which  he  ami  his  wile,  Hester 
Wctniore,  were  members.  They  had  tiirce 
children  —  Christian,  Sail)',  and  James  —  all 
of  whom  lived  to  reach  maturity,  and  are  now- 
deceased.  Henr)'  W.  Sackrider  died  July  5, 
1S66,  aged  sovent\'-nine,  and  liis  wife  Novem- 
ber 24,   1866,  aged  eighty. 

James,  the  only  son  of  IIenr\'  W.  and  Hes- 
ter Sackrider,  grew  up  on  the  farm,  received 
his  clementar}'  education  in  the  district  school 
near  his  home,  and  then  went  to  a  high  school 
in  Schoharie  County.  After  finishing  his 
studies,  he  succeeded  to  the  management  of 
the  farm,  and  engaged  extensively  in  <lairy- 
ing.  Being  an  excellent  business  man,  his 
success  was  assured  from  the  start;  and  he 
carried  on  his  farm  with  much  care  and  sys- 
tem. He  was  married  September  23,  1S44, 
to  fane  Ann  Thomas,  who  was  borrt  in  the 
town  of  Stamford,  March  5,  18 19,  and  was  the 
daughter  of  Abram  Thomas,  an  earlv  settler 
of  Stamford.  They  had  four  children,  only 
one  of  whom  is  now  living — Helen  S., 
widow  of  the  late  V.  V.  (iibson,  of  Stamford. 
Mrs.  Jane  A.  Sackrider  passed   away  in  1870. 

In  1880  James  Sackrider  married  foi'  his 
second  wife  Mary  Jane  Trelease,  wlio  was 
born  May  21,  1854,  in  Rondout,  L'lster 
County,  N.Y.  Her  father,  William  Trelease. 
was  born  in  Cornwall,  I""ngland,  Decc'mbtr 
14,  1826,  and  died  March  6,  1S87.  His 
wife,  Ann  Mitchell  Trelease,  was  boin  in 
I'"nglan<l  in  1S35,  and  died  October  24,  1863. 
They  were  the  parents  of  tliese  children  :  Mary 
Jane,  Mrs.  Sackrider,  the  eldest;  Celia,  wife 
of  John  N.  Boyd,  of  Rondout;  Edward;  and 
Burdella,  who  also  li\-es  in  Rondout.  Mr. 
Trelease  was  a  public  contractor  and  an  able 
business  man  of  Rondout  for  many  years  pre- 
vious to  his  death.  The  family  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Episcopal  church,  and  he  was  a, 
strong  Rejniblican  in  ]M)litics.  The  grand- 
father of  Mrs.  Sackrider  was  Abraham  Tre- 
lease, born  in  bjigland,  ( )ctober  2.  1794. 
His    wife,    lennie    Alford,    was    also    born    in 


Ensrland, 


lune    f).     \7'-)7-      Hi 


land,  in  1664,  and  was  conni'cted  with  many 
of  the  stirring  e\ents  of  two  centuries  ago. 
Mrs.  Miry  J.  Trelease  -Sackrider  has  two  chil- 
dren: William  IL,  born  December  22,  1S80; 
ami  Harry  ]•:.,  born  May  25,  1883.  Since 
the  deatli  of  her  husband  eleven  years  ago, 
Mrs.  .Sackrider  has  conducted  the  business  of 
the  farm.  She  has  two  hunch-ed  and  forty  of 
the  original  acres,  and  carries  on  a  dairy  sup- 
plied by  forty-five  cows,  grade  Jerseys,  selling 
milk  at  the  station  at  an  average  of  two  thou- 
sand cans  a  year.  Eike  her  husband,  she  has 
shown  in  all  her  dealings  great  executive  abil- 
ity. As  members  of  the  Methodist  I^piscopal 
church  at  Bloomville  and  liberal  sujijiorters  of 
its  work,  they  have  always  been  held  in  high 
regard . 

A  ])ortrait  of  James  -Sackrider  accompanies 
this  brief  record  of  himself  and  his  connec- 
tions b\-    birth   and    mai'riatre. 


keeper,  one  of  the  jovial  hosts  of  thi.'  last 
century,  and  was  father  of  fourteen  children, 
thirteen  of  whom  grew  to  maturity.  The 
famil}'  trace  their  lineage  back  to  Richard 
Trelease,    who    was    born    in    Cornwall,    I'-ng- 


RS.       CORDlvI.IA        HANEORD, 

widow  of  the  late  (ieorge  M.  Han- 
iord,  of  Walton,  is  a  w-oman  of 
ulture  and  refinement,  and  is 
held  in  high  esteem  throughout  the  commu- 
nity wherein  hi'r  entire  life  has  been  spent, 
her  birth  having  occurred  in  North  Walton, 
Eebruary  26,  1826.  She  is  of  New  I'.ngland 
ancestry,  and  the  descendant  of  a  prominent 
pioneer  of  this  part  of  Delaware  County,  her 
grandfather,  Caleb  Benedict,  having  come 
hither  from  Connecticut,  the  -State  of  liis  na- 
tivity, at  an  early  da\-.  He  was  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  Wtrth  Walton,  where  he  pur- 
chased a  tract  of  tindjcred  land,  from  which 
he  cleai'eil  a  goodly  portion  of  the  wood:  and 
on  the  farm  which  he  thus  improved  he  spent 
the  remaining  years  of  his  life.  His  worthy 
wile  cheerfully  shared  with  him  the  i)rivations 
of  their  lot.  and  assisted  in  the  establisliment 
of  their  new  home.  Both  were  people  whose 
lives  were  directed  by  high  moral  principles, 
and  they  were  devout  members  of  the  Congre- 
gational church  of  North  Walton. 

[ra  Benedict,  son  of  Caleb,  the  father  of 
Mrs.  Hanford,  was  born  in  Connecticut,  and. 
coming  here  with  his  ]jarents,  soon  grew  idd 
enougli  to  assist  them  in  their  arduous  labors 
of    improving  a   homestead.      He  attended  the 


128 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


pioneer  schools  of  this  place,  and,  being 
familiar  in  his  boyhood  with  agricultural  pur- 
suits, naturally  selected  farming  as  his  life 
occupation.  After  his  marriage  with  Hannah 
Fitch  he  bought  a  farm  near  the  home  of  his 
parents,  and  there  carried  on  general  husban- 
dry many  years.  At  length  disposing  of  that 
property,  Mr.  Benedict  removed  to  Wisconsin, 
where  he  spent  a  few  years,  but  later  returned 
to  Walton  and  spent  his  last  days  at  the  home 
of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Hanford,  passing  away 
at  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty-six  years.  His 
wife  was  the  daughter  of  Seymour  Fitch,  an 
honored  and  influential  pioneer  of  Walton, 
who  came  here  from  Connecticut,  bringing 
with  him  his  young  wife  and  three  children, 
who  performed  the  long  journey,  through  vast 
forests,  on  horseback.  They  began  life  in 
their  new  home  in  a  humble  log  cabin,  on  the 
farm  adjoining  the  one  on  which  Mrs.  Han- 
ford now  lives.  Mr.  Fitch  was  an  important 
factor  in  building  up  this  town,  contributing 
his  full  share  toward  its  development  and 
advancement.  Both  he  and  his  wife  were 
closely  identified  with  the  interests  of  the 
Congregational  church  of  Walton,  of  which 
they  were  active  members.  Ira  Benedict 
reared  a  family  of  nine  children,  as  follows: 
Edward  S.,  who  died  April  17,  1894;  Eliza- 
beth; Lewis;  Maria;  Nathan;  Cordelia; 
Marv;  Hiram;  and  Helen.  Mrs.  Benedict 
died  in  North  Walton  when  but  forty-nine 
years  of  age. 

Cordelia  Benedict  passed  the  days  of  her 
childhood  and  early  maidenhood  with  her  par- 
ents, receiving  from  her  mother  a  practical 
training  in  the  domestic  arts  that  well  fitted 
her  for  her  future  position  as  a  housewife  and 
helpmate  to  her  husband.  On  November  2, 
1848,  .she  became  the  bride  of  George  M. 
Hanford,  a  son  of  Levi  and  Cynthia  Hanford. 
His  father  was  a  native  of  Connecticut  and  an 
early  settler  of  Walton.  Mr.  Hanford,  who 
was  a  man  of  honor  and  integrity,  possessing 
qualities  of  character  which  greatly  endeared 
him  to  his  family,  and  won  for  him  the  es- 
teem and  confidence  of  all  who  knew  him, 
departed  this  life  November  8,  1878,  being 
then  sixty-two  years  of  age. 

Into  the  hou.sehold  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hanford 
were  born  six  children — ^  William    L.,    Eliza 


M.,  Samuel  I.,  Piatt  Mead,  Henry  C,  and 
Lucia  C.  Henry  C.  died  at  the  tender  age  of 
one  year.  William  L.  married  Anna  Tib- 
bals.  Eliza  M.,  who  married  William  T. 
Moore,  a  clerk  in  a  general  store  in  Walton, 
has  three  children  —  Annie  H.,  Henry  S., 
and  Charles  W.  Samuel  I.,  who  married  Ro- 
setta  Ritsher,  is  a  graduate  of  the  Theological 
Seminary  in  Chicago,  and  the  ])astor  of  a 
Congregational  church  in  Aurora,  Neb.  Piatt 
Mead  married  Emily  Ogden,  the  daughter  of 
Edward  and  Margaret  Ogden ;  and  of  their 
union  three  children  were  born,  only  one  of 
whom,  Bessie  E.  Hanford.  is  now  living. 
George,  the  only  son,  died  in  1884,  and  the 
youngest  daughter,  Mabel,  and  her  mother 
passed  away  in  18S7.  Mrs.  Cordelia  Bene- 
dict Hanford  and  her  family  are  worthy  of  the 
high  respect  accorded  them  by  a  wide  circle  of 
friends  and  acquaintances.  They  are  con- 
scientious members  of  the  Congregational 
church,  in  which  her  son  William  has  served 
with  fidelity  for  many  years  as  Trustee  and 
Deacon. 


(5  I  HO  MAS  D.  MIDDLEMAST,  a  promi- 
'  I  nent  farmer  residing  on  the  old  home- 
-*-  stead  near  Delhi,  was  born  May  18, 
i860,  and  is  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Jane 
(Douglass)  Middlemast.  The  paternal  grand- 
father, Thomas  Middlemast,  was  a  native  of 
Scotland,  residing  there  until  his  marriage, 
when  he  came  to  this  country,  and  settled  on 
a  farm  on  the  Little  Delaware  River.  He 
made  his  home  with  his  children  during  the 
latter  years  of  his  life.  The  names  of  his 
children  were  as  follows:  Thomas,  John, 
William,  James,  Ellen,  Elizabeth,  and  Anne. 
Thomas  Middlemast,  the  father  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  biographical  notice,  was  educated 
in  the  district  schools,  and  assisted  his  father 
on  the  farm.  He  rented  a  farm  for  three 
years,  afterward  purchasing  the  one  where  his 
son  now  lives.  Mrs.  Middlemast  is  a  native 
of  Meredith,  her  father  having  been  a  well- 
known  farmer  of  that  locality.  The  family 
were  originally  from  Scotland,  in  which  coun- 
try her  father  was  engaged  in  the  occupation 
of  a  shepherd.  Mrs.  Middlemast  was  one  of 
six   children,    as   follows:  Margaret,    who   re- 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


129 


sides  in  Delhi;  Jane;  Jinies;  I'llizabetli ;  Isa- 
bella: and  William  11.  Mr.  Middlemast  died 
September  27,  1887,  at  the  aj;e  of  sixty  live. 
He  left  a  family  of  five  children:  Mari^aret, 
the  wife  of  Joseph  -S.  MeMurdy.  of  Delhi: 
Thomas  D.  ;  William  J.:  Belle  W.,  the  wife 
of  William  J.  lloaj;-,  a  farmer  of  Sullivan 
County:  and  I'.hene/.er  R.  John  died  when  an 
infant. 

Thomas  D.  Middlemast  was  educated  at  tiie 
district  schools;  and  since  his  father's  death 
he,  with  one  of  his  l)rothers,  has  mana,>;ed 
the  farm,  which  consists  of  about  two  hundred 
and  fiftv  acres,  devotiui;-  a  large  portion  of  iiis 
time  to  the  dairy,  and  keeping  from  fifty  to 
seventy  head  of  cattle.  Mr.  Middlemast  is  a 
prominent  member  of  Delhi  Lodge,  No.  439, 
A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  in  which  he  has  held  several 
important  offices.  In  politics  he  is  a  Repub- 
lican. He  has  been  Collector  of  Taxes  for 
the  town,  and  is  President  of  the  Delaware 
County  Agricultural  Societ),  a  iiosition  he 
has  filled  with  honor  and  dignity  for  two 
years.  He  is  an  attendant  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  of  which  his  mother  is  a  mendjer. 
That  Mr.  Middlemast  possesses  progressive 
ideas  is  clearly  demonstrated  by  the  model 
farm  which  he  so  ably  conducts,  a  fine  ex- 
ample of  careful   and   [n-udent   management. 


Yf^ICHARD      15.     ROBINSON,     son     of 

\i\        I)'"o^'"-'c  A.  and  Roxy  A.  (Benjamin) 

Vs\  Robinson,    was    born   on    .September 

^""^  II,   1841,   in   the   town   of   Roxbury. 

His   maternal    grandfather  was   Ijorn    in    1778. 

When    a    young    man    he    came    to    Delaware 

County,  where  he  plied   his  trade  of  masonry, 

undertaking  work  by  contract,  paving  the  way, 

and    laying   the   foundation,   in   both    a   literal 

and  figurative  sense,  to   prosperity  and   hapj)!- 

ness;  "for  it  was  here   that  he  met  and  won  his 

wife. 

Mr.  Dinghee  A.  Robinson  was  also  a  native 
of  Roxbury,  and  received  a  jjractical  education 
in  the  district  school.  He  was  a  farmer  and 
teamster  until  1866,  when  he  exchanged 
plough  and  spade  for  counter  and  scales,  antl 
established  a  grocery  store,  in  which  his  son 
Richard  held  a  partnership,  and  in  which  he 
took   an   active   interest    until    the   day   of   his 


death.  He  w;is  a  stanch  aiilierent  of  the 
Democratic  party,  and  a  consistent  member 
of  the  old  schocd  Ba|)tist  church.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  Benjamin,  whose  father  has  been 
before  mentioned,  and  died  in  the  fifty-fifth 
year  of  his  age,  leaving  a  widow  and  three 
children:  Henry  C,  who  married  Miss  Sarah 
Dart,  and  is  now  a  merchant  in  Camden, 
N.J.;  a  ilaughter  Betsey,  who  died  young; 
antl  Richard  B.  Robinson,  the  original  of  the 
])resent  outline  portrait. 

Richard  was  educatetl  at  the  Roxbury 
Academy,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-tiiree  went 
into  the  drug  business  in  Prattsville,  Greene 
Count)',  but  s(dd  out  later,  and  returned  to 
Roxbury,  where  he  joined  his  father  in  the 
grocery.  Ten  years  afterwaid  he  sold  out  his 
interest  in  this  to  Burhans  &  Lauren.  In 
1885  he  was  ajiiiointed  Postmaster  under 
Grover  C'levelarurs  first  administration.  At 
the  end  of  the  Democratic  Presidential  term 
he  resigned  Ills  office  and  became  clerk  for 
W.  M.  Banker,  in  whose  employment  he  re- 
mained until  President  Cleveland's  second 
term  in  the  White  House,  when  he  again  re- 
ceived the  a]>|)ointment  as  Postmaster,  having 
l)roved  his  fitness  for  the  work  and  his 
efficacy. 

Mr.  Robinson  won  for  his  wife  Miss  Plutbe 
White,  of  Prattsville.  Miss  White  was  a 
daughter  of  Hiram  and  Maria  (Bate)  White, 
whose  married  lives  extended  over  such  an 
exiKinse  of  vears  —  their  deaths  occurring 
within  the  sjiace  of  five  days,  both  caused  by 
])neuinonia  —as  to  tleserve  more  than  a  pass- 
ing notice.  There  is  a  halo  of  beauty  and 
|)athos  surrounding  the  aged  couple  who  had 
lived,  sorrowed,  and  rejoiced  together  for  the 
greater  part  of  eighty-five  years  of  shadow  and 
sunshine,  and  whose  earthly  separation  was  so 
mercifully    short. 

Mrs.  Robinson  died  in  tlu-  s|)ring  of  1894. 
at  the  age  of  tifty-two  years.  She  was  a  con- 
sistent and  faithful  member  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian church.  She  left  one  child,  a  daughter, 
Anna  M.,  who  lives  at  home,  the  only  solace 
of  a  desolated  fireside  and  a  bereaved  husband. 
Richard  B.  Robinson  is  a  clear  exponent 
and  stanch  adherent  of  the  Democratic  party,  in 
whose  serMces  his  energies  have  always  been 
enlisted.      He  is  a  notary  public,  and  a  mem- 


13° 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ber  of  the  Masonic  Order,  belonging  to  Cceur 
de  Lion  Lodge,  No.  571,  at  Roxbury,  N.Y. 


IX1;R  MINSON,  whose  post-office  ad- 
dress is  Ouleout,  is  a  fine  repre- 
sentative of  the  prosperous  and 
intelligent  agriculturists  of  Dela- 
ware County.  He  was  born  on  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides,  in  the  town  of  Frank- 
lin, December  21,  1843,  being  the  son  of 
John  H.  Munson,  who  was  born  in  Meredith 
in  18 1 7,  and  died  in  Oneonta  in  i88g. 

Mr.  Munson  is  of  honored  English  ancestry 
on  both  sides  of  his  family,  his  great-great- 
grandfather on  his  mother's  side  having  been 
the  Duke  of  Northumberland.  His  paternal 
grandfather,  Heman  Munson,  was  born  in 
Watertown,  Litchfield  County,  Conn.,  in 
1784,  and  was  a  resident  of  that  place  for 
many  years.  He  married  Sarah  Hecock,  a 
native  of  Connecticut,  and  afterward  re- 
moved to  this  State,  and  was  numbered  among 
the  well-to-do  farmers.  He  reared  six  sons 
and  one  daughter.  One  of  these,  Peter  Mun- 
son, is  now  a  bright  and  active  man  of  eighty- 
two  years,  having  the  full  use  of  his  mental 
and  physical  powers.  The  grandfather  lived 
to  celebrate  his  seventy-sixth  birthday,  dying 
in  the  town  of  Davenport,  and  being  buried 
beside  his  wife  and  son  John  H.  in  the  Oule- 
out cemetery. 

The  father  of  the  subject  was  from  boy- 
hood a  tiller  of  the  soil.  He  bought  the 
nucleus  of  the  present  homestead  of  the  sub- 
ject in  1842,  paying  twelve  dollars  an  acre 
for  the  first  thirty  acres  of  it.  He  cleared 
and  improved  this,  and  added  somewhat  to  its 
acreage,  having  before  his  decease  a  good- 
sized  and  well-appointed  farm.  His  widow, 
who  has  passed  the  seventy-fifth  milestone  of 
life,  is  now  living  with  her  daughter,  Mrs. 
Josephine  McMinn,  in  Oneonta.  Her  other 
living  children  are  as  follows:  Milton  D.,  a 
farmer,  lives  in  F'ranklin.  Albert  H.,  a 
commercial  traveller,  resides  in  Chautauqua 
County;  John  A.,  a  physician,  in  Sulli- 
van County;  Ainer  in  Franklin;  and  Mrs. 
T.  K.  Walker  lives  at  Downsville.  One  son, 
William  A.,  formerly  a  cattle  dealer,  died  in 
1885,  at  the  age  of  thirty  years. 


Ainer  Munson  was  reared  to  farm  life,  and 
obtained  a  firm  foundation  for  his  education 
in  the  district  school,  this  being  supplemented 
by  a  year's  attendance  at  a  select  school  in 
Oneonta,  and  another  year  at  the  Delaware 
Literary  Institute  in  Franklin.  During  the 
progress  of  the  late  Civil  War  he  enlisted  in 
September,  1864,  as  a  L^nion  soldier  in  Com- 
pany A,  Thirteenth  New  York  Heavy  Artil- 
lery, serving  as  a  private  until  the  close  of 
the  war,  being  honorably  discharged  June  24, 
1865.  He  participated  bravely  in  several  en- 
gagements and  skirmishes.  After  his  return 
from  the  army  Mr.  Munson  resumed  his  farm- 
ing operations  on  the  old  homestead,  upon 
which  he  has  since  resided,  being  now  the 
possessor  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of 
land,  the  larger  part  of  which  is  under  culti- 
vation, well  fenced,  and  improved,  he  having 
built  two  thousand  five  hundred  rods  of  fenc- 
ing, and  amply  supplied  the  place  with  con- 
venient buildings.  The  barn  is  very  ca- 
pacious and  well  arranged,  being  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-four  feet  by  forty-eight  feet, 
with  a  basement  having  accommodations  for 
fifty  or  sixty  head  of  cattle.  Mr.  Munson  has 
a  fine  dairy,  containing  twenty-five  grade  Jer- 
sey cows;  and  to  the  care  of  this  he  devotes  a 
good  deal  of  his  attention,  finding  it  a  very 
profitable  branch  of  industry. 

On  October  30,  1866,  Mr.  Munson  married 
Adelaide  Ward,  of  Davenport  Centre,  where 
her  birth  occurred  in  1849,  her  parents, 
Daniel  and  Emily  (Brewer)  Ward,  being 
prosperous  members  of  the  farming  commu- 
nity. Seven  children  have  been  born  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Munson,  one  of  whom  died  when  an 
infant,  and  another,  Eva  W.,  when  eight 
years  old.  Alberta  G.  is  the  wife  of  John  M. 
Hotaling,  a  farmer  in  Franklin,  and  has  one 
daughter.  Berenice  B.,  a  young  lady,  lives, 
at  home.  Edith  Lyle  lives  at  Oneonta. 
Walter  H.,  an  active  youth  of  seventeen 
years,  and  John  H.,  eleven  years,  live  with 
their  parents. 

In  politics  Mr.  Munson  is  a  stanch  sup- 
porter of  the  Republican  party,  and  has  held 
various  offices  of  trust,  among  others  that  of 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  which  he  is  now  filling 
most  creditably  and  acceptably.  Socially,  he 
is    a    Chapter    Mason,   and  a  member  of    the 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Graiul    Army  o(    the    K<.'[)ublic,    bclongiuL^    to 
the  v..  1).  l'"arnicr  Post,   No.   Ii6,  of    Oiu-oiita. 


III'.OPIIILL'S   G.   Al'STIN,   whoso    bi- 

oi;iai)li)'  is  herein  given  among  those 
)f  tlie  prosperous  men  of  Delaware 
County,  was  born  on  January  30,  1830,  on  the 
family  estate  where  he  now  lives.  His  grand- 
father. Pardon  Austin,  was  of  English  descent 
anil  a  native  of  Rhode  Islanil,  where  he  was  a 
skilled  tanner  and  shoemaker.  Purchasing  a 
tract  of  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  and  one- 
half  acres  of  land  in  Delaware  County,  he 
established  a  tannery  near  Arkville,  still  fol- 
lowing also  for  about  twenty  years  his  other 
trade  of  shoemaking.  lie  bought  the  frame 
of  a  grist-mill  on  White  Brook,  and  built  a 
house,  and  also  put  up  the  first  frame  barn  in 
Middletown.  He  afterward  moved  to  the 
Carter  farm,  and  eventually  to  luie  County, 
Pennsylvania,  where  he  died,  in  his  eighty- 
third  year.  He  was  a  Whig,  and  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  His 
wife,  Jane  Stanton,  lived  to  be  eighty-three 
years  old,  and  was  the  mother  of  eight  chil- 
dren—  Pardon,  Alexander,  Jane,  Eaura,  Ma- 
linda,  Rhoda,  Henrietta,  and  P'reeman. 

Alexander  Austin  was  born  at  the  old 
homestead  on  April  5,  1798.  Having  grown 
to  manhood,  he  bought  the  farm,  and,  drop- 
ping the  tannery,  went  on  with  the  improve- 
ment of  the  place.  He  also  bought  and 
cleared  one  hundred  and  thirt)'  acres  more, 
making  his  home  here  til!  his  death,  when 
sixty-three  years  old.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  December  19,  1819,  he  married  Deborah 
Dean,  who  was  born  August  16,  1804,  a 
daughter  of  William  and  Mary  (Mott)  Dean. 
Mr.  Dean  was  a  Delaware  farmer,  and  con- 
ducted a  carding  factory.  Nine  children 
were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  Austin, 
namely:  Alfred  L.,  Eebruary  11.  1822; 
William  D..  August  16,  1823:  Adalinc,  De- 
cember 23,  1826:  Henry  M.,  December  i, 
1828:  Julia,  August  12.  1832;  Clarinda,  Oc- 
tober 6,  1S35;  Huklah  Austin,  born  P\-bruary 
5,  1838;  Polly  D.,  March  4,  1843;  Theoph- 
ilus  G.,  January  30,  1830.  Mr.  Austin  was  a 
Republican,  and  served  his  town  as  Poormas- 
ter.      His    wife,    who    was    a    member    of    the 


Haptist    church,    li\'ed    to   the   age   of   seventy- 
two  )ears. 

'I'heophilus  (j.  Austin  was  educated  in  the 
district  schools,  and  continued  during  iiis 
_\'outh  and  early  manhood  to  work  with  his 
father,  putting  the  farm  into  .1  higli  state  of 
cultivation,  and  was  thirty  years  of  age  when 
the  estate  came  into  his  possession.  He  won 
the  heart  and  haiul  of  Miss  Iluldah  Allison, 
one  of  Micklletown's  maidens,  and  the  child 
of  Jefferson  T.  and  Margaret  (Paul)  Allison. 
Mr.  Allison  was  a  mason  and  farmer  in  ])ros- 
perous  circumstances,  on  the  stream  known  as 
Platter  Kill.  Mrs.  Austin  had  five  brothers 
—  James  P.,  William  'P.,  Andrew  B..  Hiram 
IE,  and  Amos.  The  children  of  the  marriage 
ol  'rheo])hilus  Austin  antl  Miss  .Allison  were: 
Margaret,  born  December  I,  1870;  Deborah, 
March  19,  1873;  William  'P.,  born  March  23, 
1879;  and  Alfretl  E.,  born  on  August  8, 
1882. 

The  (dd  house  of  his  ancestors  has  been  en- 
tirely remodelled  since  Mr.  Theo]ihilus  Aus- 
tin came  into  possession  of  it:  and  he  has 
Iniilt  a  new  barn,  wagon-house,  and  other  out- 
buiUlings.  P'ive  thousand  rods  of  stone  wall 
lately  built  have  greatly  enhanced  the  value 
of  the  farm,  which  has  an  exceptionally  fine 
location,  being  on  the  I'.  &  D.  Railroatl, 
within  two  miles  of  Margarettville,  anti  one 
mile  distant  from  Arkville.  Mr.  Austin  is 
liberal  in  his  religious  views,  believing  that 
Christianity  is  embodied  in  the  practical  ap- 
plication of  the  Golden  Rule  rather  than 
in  formulated  theology.  His  wife  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  church.  He  is  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics.  A  beautiful  home,  hai)i)y 
domestic  relations,  and  the  esteem  of  his 
contemporaries  are  the  rewards  of  his  well- 
spent    N'cars. 


DIXCAN  EAWRENCI-:,  a  successful 
farmer  and  leading  citizen  of  Kort- 
right,  where  he  is  engaged  in  dairying. 
is  a  son  of  Jacob  W.  Eawrence,  a  na- 
tive of  Middletown,  who  carried  on  an  exten- 
sive lumber  business  in  that  town,  whore  he 
erected  a  saw-mill.  Removing  to  .Sullivan 
County,  he  engaged  in  farming,  and  by  unit- 
ing energy  and  toil  became  the  possessor  of  a 


132 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


comfortable  fortune.  At  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Civil  War  he  enlisted  in  Sickies's  Brigade 
in  the  Ninety-first  New  York  Volunteer  In- 
fantry, and  died  in  1862  from  injuries  re- 
ceived while  in  service.  He  was  a  Whig, 
and  later  a  Republican.  The  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  found  in  him  a  consistent 
member.  His  widow,  Margaret  Monroe,  a 
native  of  Scotland,  and  five  children  survived 
him.  The  latter  are  as  follows:  J.  Duncan, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Jacob  H.,  a  resi- 
dent of  Massachusetts;  George  E.,  a  carpen- 
ter residing  in  Omaha,  Neb.;  Mary,  the  wife 
of  William  Tuttle,  of  Curtisville,  Mass.;  and 
Addison  E.,  who  also  resides  in  Curtisville. 
Mrs.  Margaret  Monroe  'Lawrence  is  still  liv- 
ing,   and  resides   in  Curtisville. 

J.  Duncan  Lawrence  was  born  in  Colches- 
ter, January  29,  1846,  and  received  his  educa- 
tion in  Sullivan  County.  When  fifteen  years 
of  age  he  enlisted  in  Company  H,  Fifty-sixth 
New  York  Volunteers,  Captain  William  Jos- 
lyn,  and  saw  much  hard  service,  taking  part 
in  sixteen  battles,  among  which  were  those  of 
Williamsburg,  Yorktown,  and  Fair  Oaks.  ; 
He  was  honorably  discharged  in  1865,  and 
went  to  Andes,  Delaware  County,  where  he 
attended  the  Andes  Collegiate  Institute.  He 
then  spent  about  two  years  travelling  through 
the  States,  and  then  settled  in  Binghamton, 
where  he  was  employed  as  a  clerk  for  five 
years,  then  engaged  in  buying  and  selling 
stock   in   Andes. 

October  30,  1880,  Mr.  Lawrence  married 
Miss  Kate  Keator,  who  was  born  in  Kingston, 
a  daughter  of  Harvey  and  Elliff  Keator. 
Mrs.  Lawrence's  father  has  passed  away;  but 
her  mother  still  survives,  and  is  a  resident  of 
Kingston.  After  his  marriage  Mr.  Lawrence 
moved  to  Kingston,  and  for  a  year  and  a  half 
managed  the  farm  of  his  mother-in-law.  In 
1882  he  purchased  the  farm  where  he  now  re- 
sides, removing  to  it  the  following  year. 
This  comprises  two  hundred  and  thirty  acres 
of  land,  with  a  fine  residence.  All  the  build- 
ings have  been  remodelled  and  improved;  and 
a  productive  dairy  is  operated,  over  forty  head 
of  cattle  being  cared  for  on  the  place,  Mr. 
Lawrence  devoting  his  entire  time  to  the  man- 
agement of  his  farm,  and  being  eminently 
successful. 


Mr.  Lawrence  is  liberal  in  religious  mat- 
ters, while  his  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church.  He  is  a  Republican, 
and  is  serving  his  second  term  as  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Supervisors.  For  three  years 
he  was  Superintendent  of  the  Poor.  Frater- 
nally, he  is  a  member  of  Delaware  Valley 
Lodge,  No.  612,  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows.  He  is  an  excellent  business  man, 
and  interested  in  all  matters  concerning  the 
welfare  of  the  town,  and  has  won  well-de- 
served  success    in   his   chosen   occupation. 


TEPHEN  DECATUR  EELS,  one 
of  the  oldest  native-born  citizens  of 
Delaware  County,  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Walton,  November  3,  1815, 
and  during  nearly  fourscore  years  has  watched 
the  wonderful  metamorphosis  of  an  originally 
wild  and  wooded  tract  of  land  into  fertile 
fields  and  blooming  gardens,  which  yield 
abundance  and  to  spare.  In  the  days  of  his 
boyhood  the  surrounding  country  was  largely 
covered  with  timber,  through  which  bears, 
deer,  and  other  wild  game  roamed  at  will,  fur- 
nishing the  principal  meat  for  the  pioneer 
families. 

Mr.  Eels  comes  of  distinguished  English 
stock,  the  first  of  the  name  to  locate  on  Amer- 
ican soil  having  been  one  John  Eels,  who 
emigrated  from  England  to  Dorchester,  Mass., 
in  1628.  To  him  and  his  wife  there  was 
born  on  June  25,  1629,  a  son,  Samuel  Eels, 
who  afterward  removed  to  Hingham,  Mass., 
and  on  August  i,  1663,  married  Anna,  a 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Lenthal,  of  Wey- 
mouth, Mass.  Soon  after  his  marriage  he  re- 
moved from  Hingham  to  Milford,  Conn., 
where  seven  children  were  born  into  his 
household.  The  first  two  died  in  infancy. 
The  third  child,  Samuel,  was  born  September 
2,  1666.  His  first  wife,  Martha,  died  in 
1700,  he  subsequently  marrying  the  Widow 
Bayard,  nee  Russell.  Of  this  union  there  was 
one  son,  John  Eels,  who  was  born  in  1702, 
and  was  baptized  April  11,  1703.  He  re- 
ceived a  liberal  education,  was  graduated  from 
Yale  College  in  1724,  and  died  in  New  Ca- 
naan, Conn.,  October  15,  1785.  He  married 
Anna  Baird ;  and  they  became  the  parents  of 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


'33 


two  children  :  .Anna  Ixiird,  born  Ma)'  i,  1729; 
ami  J(.Tcmiah  Haird,  December  21,  1732. 
The  hitter  married  Lois  Benedict,  a  grand- 
daughter of  Dr.  liouton,  of  Norwalk,  Conn.,  a 
French  Huguenot,  and  a  man  of  note.  They 
had  a  family  of  ten  children,  the  eldest  of 
whom,  named  John,  was  born  in  New  Canaan, 
Conn.,  November  iC,  1755,  and  marrieil 
Anna  Mead,  a  twin  daughter  of  General  John 
Mead,  of  Greenwich,  Conn.  General  Mead 
had  command  of  the  Continental  troops  adja- 
cent to  the  ncLitral  grounds  between  Horse 
Neck  and  New  York:  and  it  was  on  his  farm 
that  General  Israel  Putnam  made  his  perilous 
ride  down  the  rock\-  hill  and  esca])ed  the  Tory 
light  horse,  so  famous  in  Revolutionary 
history. 

John  and  Anna  Mead  Kels  removed  from 
New  C-anaan  to  the  town  of  Walton  in  1785, 
and  were  numbered  among  its  most  honored 
and  valued  pioneer  settlers.  The\'  reared  the 
following  children:  Anna,  born  in  New  Ca- 
naan, Conn.,  December  20,  17S4;  John  J., 
born  in  \Valtt)n,  I'"ebruary  24,  1786;  Benja- 
min B.,  born  March  8,  1788;  Mead,  July  3, 
1790;  Samuel,  March  12,  1793;  Mary,  May 
I,  1795;  and  Baird,  October  10,  1797.  Mead 
Eels,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
married  Philena  Johnson,  a  daughter  of  Dor- 
man  and  Rebecca  (Church )  Johnson,  of  Ver- 
mont, and  reared  seven  children. 

Stephen  Decatur  Eels  received  his  educa- 
tion in  the  typical  log  school-house  of  early 
days,  and  on  the  home  farm  was  trained  to 
habits  of  inilustry  and  thrift.  He  learned  the 
painter's  trade,  and  for  fifty-four  years  made 
that  his  principal  occupation.  During  the 
progress  of  the  late  Civil  War  he  enlisted  in 
the  One  Hundred  and  Fort}'-fourth  New  York 
Volunteer  Infantry,  and  served  until  the  ces- 
sation of  hostilities,  being  then  discharged 
with   an   honorable   record. 

Mr.  Eels  and  his  wifeT  formerl_\-  Mary  Wood 
Marvin,  have  passed  a  hajip)-  wedded  life  of 
more  than  half  a  century,  ha\ing  been  married 
fifty-three  years  ago,  and  have  occupied  their 
present  home  forty-eight  years  of  this  time. 
Four  children  have  blessed  their  union. 
John,  born  December  31,  1843,  married  Anna 
Kneer;  and  they  are  residents  of  this  county. 
He   was  a  volunteer    in    the    late   war,  being  a 


membei'  of  the  One  Hundred  and  I'orty-fourth 
New  \'ork  Volunteer  Infantry,  which  was  sta- 
tioned at  Hilton  Head,  .S.C.  ICllen  M.,  born 
January  27,  1846,  married  J.  O.  Barlow,  a 
farmer  of  Delaware  Count)-;  and  they  have 
three  sons  —  William  Marvin,  Jose[)h,  and 
John  Alan  —  and  also  an  adopted  daughter, 
Daisy  L.  I'Lmma  Isabel,  born  May  6,  1848, 
married  Robert  L.  Eels,  and  died  in  Norwalk, 
Conn.  William  H.,  born  April  16,  1853,  is 
proprietor  of  the  Walton  7'biiis,  of  Walton, 
Delaware  County.  He  has  been  twice  mar- 
ried, his  first  wife  having  been  Huldah  II. 
Stotldard,  who  died  in  New  Haven,  Conn. 
He  subsequently  married  l^leanor  Place;  and 
this  luiioh  has  been  blessed  by  the  birth  of  two 
children  —  Hamilton  Chace  and  Martha  D. 

In  early  life,  and  during  the  existence  of 
the  l-"ree  .Snil  party,  Mr.  Eels  was  one  of  its 
warmest  atlherents,  and  cast  his  first  Presi- 
dential vote  for  James  G.  Birney.  On  the 
organization  of  the  Rejiublican  party  he  cor- 
dially indorsed  its  princi]iles,  and  has  since 
sustained  them  at  the  polls.  For  many  years 
both  he  and  his  wife  have  been  honored  mem- 
bers of  the  First  Congregational  Church.  As 
a  man  and  citizen,  his  record  is  without  spot 
or  blemish;  and  he  is  held  in  high  esteem 
throuuhout    the   communitv. 


ir^PAVlTT  CLINTON  SHARPE,  one 
|:^=|  "f  the  thriving  farmers  of  Stamford, 
^Jwy  was  born  in  New  York  City,  July 
19,  1S44.  being  a  son  of  Alexander 
Y.  and  Clarissa  (Palmer)  .Sharpe,  the  former 
born  in  Brooklyn,  March  29,  1817.  and  tlie 
latter  in  Connecticut,  Januar)-  19,  1822.  Tlie 
grandfather,  Peter  Sharpe,  was  a  respected 
and  successful  business  man  of  New  York 
City.  He  was  born  in  Holland,  coming  to 
America  when  comparati\'ely  a  voung  man, 
and  settling  in  New  \'ork  Cit)'.  where  he  re- 
sided until  his  death.  Being  an  early  settler 
of  that  city,  he  numbered  among  iiis  friends 
many  of  the  substantial  old  Knickerbocker 
families.  He  carried  on  \-ery  successfully  a 
whip  m.'inufactor)',  owned  considerable  real 
estate,  and  at  his  death  left  a  large  isrojjerty. 
On  the  I  2th  of  .April,  1792,  he  married  Chris- 
tina  Notrand,   who   was   born    March  4,   1771. 


134 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Of  this  union  there  were  four  children, 
namely:  Fanny,  born  January  2,  i8oi;  Har- 
riett, February  22,  1806;  John  H.,  December 
4,  1809;  and  Alexander  Y.,  March  29,  1817. 
Of  these  children  but  one  is  living,  Mrs. 
Whetmore,  who  now  resides  in  Brooklyn, 
N.Y.  Mrs.  Christina  Sharpe  died  in  New 
York  City  in  June,  1839,  her  husband  surviv- 
ing her  but  a  few  years,  and  dying  August  2, 
1842. 

Alexander  Y.  Sharpe  was  a  life-long  resi- 
dent of  New  York  City.  He  inherited  a 
large  share  of  his  father's  estate,  and  passed 
the  greater  part  of  his  time  in  travel,  but 
finally  located  in  Stamford,  Conn.,  where  he 
spent  his  last  days.  He  died  in  the  prime  of 
life,  when  but  thirty-nine  years  of  age,  on  the 
14th  of  November,  1856.  He  was  a  Presby- 
terian in  his  religious  views,  and  in  politics 
a  Whig.  He  had  but  one  child,  DeWitt 
Clinton  Sharpe,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
On  September  29,  1861,  Mrs.  Alexander  Y. 
Sharpe  was  again  married,  her  second  hus- 
band being  Daniel  Andrews,  a  successful 
farmer  of  Stamford;  and  they  moved  to  the 
farm  upon  which  Mr.  Andrews  was  born  May 
17,  181 3.  Daniel  Andrews  was  the  son  of 
Samuel  and  Elizabeth  (Marriam)  Andrews, 
the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  Fairfield 
County,  Conn.,  August  2,  1770,  and  the  lat- 
ter in  Connecticut,  September  7,  1775. 
They  were  the  parents  of  fourteen  children, 
twelve  sons  and  two  daughters.  In  1794  they 
moved  to  Delaware  County,  and  settled  on  the 
farm  now  owned  by  Mrs.  DeWitt  Sharpe. 
The  country  around  was  rough  and  unculti- 
vated; and  wild  game,  which  is  now  almost  a 
thing  of  the  past,  abounded.  Samuel  An- 
drews was  a  sturdy  pioneer,  and,  nothing 
daunted  by  his  surroundings,  began  to  make  a 
home  for  his  family.  He  erected  a  log  cabin; 
but  with  hard  work  came  success,  and  this 
rude  building  was  replaced  by  a  frame  house, 
which  was  one  of  the  first  in  this  town.  His 
farm  was  a  good  one,  and  comprised  a  large 
tract  of  land  located  in  the  Delaware  River 
Valley;  and  here  he  lived  until  his  death,  Oc- 
tober 10,  1838.  His  wife  passed  away  Octo- 
ber 12,  1865.  Of  their  fourteen  children  but 
one  is  now  living,  the  youngest,  Benjamin, 
who  resides   in   Brooklyn. 


Daniel  Andrews  grew  to  manhood  on  the 
old  farm,  and  was  extensively  engaged  in 
farming  all  his  life.  He  was  a  large  land- 
owner, having  had  possession  during  his  life 
of  seven  or  eight  hundred  acres.  Most  of  the 
improvements  on  the  old  place  were  made  by 
him.  He  was  married  twice,  his  first  wife 
being  Isabella  Ann  McDonald,  who  was  born 
in  Kortright,  December  26,  18 19.  Of  this 
union  there  were  two  children:  Mary  H., 
wife  of  DeWitt  C.  Sharpe,  born  June  13, 
1844;  John  T.,  born  July  31,  1846,  who  now 
resides  in  New  York  City.  Mr.  Andrews's 
first  wife  died  April  27,  1859;  and  in  1861 
he  married  Clarissa  (Palmer)  Sharpe,  the 
mother  of  DeWitt  C.  Sharpe.  There  were  no 
children  by  this  union.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  An- 
drews were  rnembers  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  in  which  both  were  active  workers. 
He  was  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  inter- 
ested in  the  welfare  of  the  town.  For  several 
years  he  held  the  office  of  Supervisor  of  Stam- 
ford. He  died  at  the  old  homestead  Septem- 
ber 21,  1 87 1.  His  wife  also  spent  her  last 
days  here,   and   passed  away  January  3,    1883. 

DeWitt  C.  Sharpe  came  to  Stamford  with 
his  mother  in  1861,  being  then  a  young  man 
of  seventeen.  For  about  four  years  he  was 
engaged  in  mercantile  business  in  Brooklyn, 
but  in  1865  moved  to  Hobart,  and  carried  on 
a  general  store  for  about  seven  years,  when, 
closing  up  his  business  there,  he  moved  to 
the  farm  where  he  now  resides.  October  6, 
1865,  Mr.  Sharpe  married  Mary  H.  Andrews; 
and  five  children  have  blessed  their  union. 
DeWitt  C,  born  October  28,  1866,  is  a 
farmer  in  the  town  of  Kortright.  Daniel  A., 
born  July  15,  1869,  is  a  telegraph  operator 
and  station  agent  in  Brooklyn.  Clara  Belle, 
born  April  3,  1871,  is  the  widow  of  M.  J. 
McNaught,  and  now  resides  at  home.  Mary 
E.,  born  August  4,  1881,  is  also  at  home. 
John   A.    was   born    February  9,    1885. 

Mr.  Sharpe  is  liberal  in  his  religious 
views.  Politically,  he  is  a  Republican.  He 
has  taken  an  active  part  in  the  Hobart  Agri- 
cultuial  Association  and  Horse  and  Cattle 
Show,  has  been  President  of  the  association, 
and  held  many  of  the  other  offices.  The 
weather  signal  station,  "Volunteer  Observer 
Weather    Bureau,"   which    is    located    on    bis 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


'35 


farm,  was  established  in  iS86  under  General 
Hazcn,  and  is  nmv  ennducted  by  Mr.  Sharpe. 
The  farm,  which  contains  three  huntlred  and 
seventy-five  acres,  is  beautifully  located  in 
the  valley  of  the  Delaware  River,  and  is  sur- 
rounded by  the  grand  hills  and  mountains  of 
the  Catskills.  It  is  de\'oted  to  general  farm- 
ing and  dairying,  the  dairy  comprising 
seventy-five  head.  That  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sharpe 
have  been  successful-  in  life  is  indicated  by 
their  surroundings,  which  i)lainly  denote  the 
good   judgment  and  foresight  of  the  owners. 


'AM1-2S  .S.  ADI'^M  is  a  respecteil  and 
well-to-do  agriculturist,  descenilant  of 
a  widely  known  pioneer  famil}',  and 
a  fine  representative  of  the  citi/en- 
soUlier  element,  who  so  bravely  served  their 
country  during  the  ilark  days  of  the  Rebellion. 
He  is  a  native  of  Delaware  County,  having 
been  born  on  April  14,  1836,  in  the  town  of 
Bovina,  on  the  same  farm  which  some  years 
before  had  been  the  birthplace  of  his  father, 
Stephen  Adee. 

His  grandfather,  Samuel  Adee,  was  born 
and  reared  in  the  town  of  Rye,  Westchester 
County,  N.^'.,  and  lived  there  until  1790, 
when  he  came  to  this  count)-,  where  he  took 
up  a  tract  of  f(, rest-covered  laiul  in  the  t(jwn 
now  called  Bovina.  He  built  a  log  house  to 
shelter  his  wife  and  children,  and  entered 
upon  the  hard  task  of  clearing  a  farm.  His 
persevering  toil  was  in  due  time  rewarded, 
the  dense  wilderness  giving  way  to  a  well- 
cultivated  farm,  on  which  he  had  erected  a 
good  set  of  frame  buildings:  and  there  he  and 
his  faithful  wife  lived  until  called  to  the 
bright   w^orld   beyond. 

Stephen  Adee  was  one  of  eight  childien 
born  to  his  parents.  He  received  as  good  an 
education  as  the  pioneer  schools  of  his  day 
afforded,  and  early  began  to  perform  his  full 
share  of  the  artluous  labor  required  in  clearing 
and  improving  the  wild  land  of  the  parental 
farm.  Diligent  ami  faithful,  he  remained 
with  his  parents,  laboring  day  after  day  in  the 
pioneer  work  of  felling  trees  and  upturning 
the  sod,  and,  after  the  death  of  his  father, 
took  possession  of  the  old  homestead.  Year 
by  year  he  added   to   the  improvements  of  the 


jilace,  residing  there  until  two  years  [)rior  to 
his  decease.  .Selling  the  old  homestead  to 
his  son  James,  he  at  length  removed  to  Kort- 
right  Centre,  where  he  spent  his  last  days, 
dying  there  at  the  age  of  si.\ty-niiie  years. 
He  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife,  Eliza- 
beth I.iKldington,  was  one  of  a  family  of  ten 
children,  five  girls  and  five  boys,  born  to 
Henry  and  Jane  (Northrupj  I.uildington,  of 
Bovina.  Of  their  union  six  children  were 
born,  namely:  Henry,  deceased;  George,  a 
lawyer  in  Delhi;  James  S. ;  Augustus,  a  resi- 
dent of  Indiana,  engaged  in  the  stock  busi- 
ness; Ruth,  the  wife  of  Robert  McLouny,  a 
farmer  in  .Stamford;  and  Mary,  the  wife  of 
Charles  Martin.  The  mother  of  these  chil- 
dren passed  to  the  higher  life  at  the  compara- 
tivly  earl}'  age  of  thirty-six  )'ears.  She  and 
her  husband  were  faithful  members  of  the 
Baptist  church.  After  her  death  Mr.  Adee 
married  Nancy  Orr,  of  Kortright,  who  died  on 
the  old  homestead,  leaving  no  issue. 

James  .S.  Adee  was  reared  on  the  home 
farm,  ami  acquired  a  substantial  foundation 
for  his  education  in  the  district  school.  This 
was  sujiplemented  by  a  thorough  course  of 
study  at  the  Delhi  Academy,  after  which  he 
taught  two  terms  in  the  district  schools  at 
Kortright  and  Bcjvina.  He  then  formed  a 
partnership  with  James  I'Hliott,  and  entered 
into  business  in  Bovina  Centre,  opening  a 
store  for  general  merchandise.  They  con- 
ducted a  flourishing  trade  for  four  years,  when 
Mr.  Adee  sold  out  his  interest  in  the  concern 
to  his  partner.  The  late  Civil  War  was  then 
in  progress,  and  Mr.  Adee  took  stejis  to  place 
himself  among  the  brave  men  who  were  going 
forth  to  fight  for  the  defence  of  the  country's 
flag.  He  enlisted  in  September,  1862,  as  a 
private  in  Company  E,  One  Hundred  anil 
Forty-fourth  New  York  \'olunteer  Infantry, 
and  did  faithful  service  until  receiving  his 
honorable  discharge,  July  15,  1S65.  He  was 
an  active  participant  in  man_\-  skirmishes  and 
in  some  of  the  most  decisive  battles  of  the 
war,  anil  for  gallant  and  nieritorious  conduct 
was  promoted  first  to  the  rank  of  Sergeant, 
theii  to  Order!)-,  or  First  Sergeant,  and 
finally  to  the  First  Eieutenancy,  which  rank 
he  held  at  the  time  of  his  discharge. 

Returning   to   civil    life,    he   settled    in    Bo- 


'36 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


vina,  and  the  following  year,  1866,  bought 
his  father's  farm,  which  he  carried  on  most 
successfully  until  1880,  improving  the  land 
and  erecting  new  buildings,  greatly  increas- 
ing the  value  of  the  estate.  In  1880  Mr. 
Adee  moved  to  the  farm  of  his  father-in-law 
in  Kortright,  where  he  remained  until  the 
purchase  of  the  estate  on  which  he  now  re- 
sides. This  farm  contains  three  hundred 
acres  of  rich  and  fertile  land,  beautifully  lo- 
cated on  the  river  road,  about  four  and  one- 
half  miles  from  Delhi.  Mr.  Adee  devotes  a 
good  share  of  his  attention  to  his  dairy,  keep- 
ing fifty-six  cows  and  about  thirty  head  of 
young  stock,  and  in  this  branch  of  industry 
meets  with  rich   returns. 

In  1866  Mr.  Adee  married  Mary  E.  Wet- 
more,  one  of  the  three  children  of  S.  S.  D. 
Wetmore  and  Rebecca  A.  (Jacobs)  Wetmore. 
Mr.  Wetmore  was  formerly  engaged  in  farm- 
ing in  the  town  of  Kortright,  but  recently 
sold  his  farm  to  his  son-in-law,  W.  O.  Hill. 
The  pleasant  wedded  life  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Adee  was  blessed  by  the  birth  of  three  chil- 
dren—  James  W.,  Lucia,  and  Ferris.  In  the 
chill  November  days  of  1891  the  home  of  this 
family  was  saddened  by  a  great  bereavement, 
the  loving  wife  and  tender  mother  being  then 
called  to  the  "life  immortal."  The  domestic 
cares  and  duties  now  rest  upon  Miss  Lucia, 
the  daughter,  who  has  become  presiding  gen- 
ius of  the  household.  Both  she  and  her 
father  are  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  and  are  active  participants  in  all 
charitable  works  connected  with  that  organ- 
ization. Politically,  Mr.  Adee  is  a  strong 
Republican,  and  is  a  member  of  Flngland 
Post,  No.  142,  Grand   Army  of  the   Republic. 


((JBKRT  !•:.  OLIVER  was  born  Janu- 
ary 12,  i860,  on  the  farm  upon  which 
he  now  resides.  Both  his  father 
and  grandfather  were  natives  of 
Perthshire,  Scotland,  from  which  place  the 
grandfather  emigrated  to  America  with  his 
family  in  1830.  They  took  passage  in  a  sail- 
ing-vessel, and  were  seven  weeks  in  making 
the  voyage.  Thomas  Oliver,  the  emigrant, 
settled  in  Meredith,  Delaware  County,  where 
he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life. 


His  son  William,  who  was  a  boy  of  nine 
when  he  was  brought  to  this  country,  became 
a  clerk  in  a  general  store  when  he  was  old. 
enough  to  earn  his  living,  and  was  so  indus- 
trious and  economical  that  he  was  soon  able 
to  buy  an  interest  in  the  establishment,  and 
become  a  partner  of  his  employer,  Mr.  Rich. 
Some  years  later  he  sold  out  and  engaged  in 
business  at  Delhi  with  a  Mr.  Elwood.  De- 
ciding at  length  to  engage  in  agricultural 
life,  he  again  sold  his  mercantile  interests, 
and  purchased  a  tract  of  land  in  the  town  of 
Tompkins,  where  he  lived  until  his  death. 
Only  five  acres  of  land  were  in  culti\'ation ; 
but  William  Oliver  possessed  both  energy  and 
judgment,  and  he  soon  added  to  his  posses- 
sions, and  left  at  his  death,  July  11,  1876,  a 
farm  of  four  hundred  acres,  two  hundred  of 
which  were  in  an  improved  condition.  Will- 
iam Oliver  married  Harriet  Parsons,  of 
Franklin,  a  daughter  of  Simeon  and  Rebecca 
Parsons.  There  were  eight  children  born  of 
this  union,  six  of  whom  are  still  living. 

Robert  K.  Oliver  was  a  lad  of  sixteen  when 
his  father  died;  and  he  worked  with  his 
brothers  until  1885,  when  he  undertook  the 
management  of  the  place  alone.  He  is  exten- 
sively engaged  in  dairy  farming,  and  owns  a 
dairy  supplied  with  all  the  modern  improve- 
ments. In  1890  he  married  Miss  Susie  M. 
Gregory,  of  Tompkins;  and  they  are  the  par- 
ents of  two  children  —  Mary  and  Mabel.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Oliver  are  members  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian church. 

Mrs.  Oliver  belongs  to  a  family  whose 
record  is  worthy  of  more  than  a  passing  note. 
One  of  her  ancestors,  who  was  among  the  ear- 
liest settlers  of  this  part  of  New  York,  came 
from  New  England  in  1775,  and  selecteil  a 
tract  of  land  upon  which  he  intended  to  set- 
tle; but  the  hostility  of  the  Indians  in  the 
vicinity  made  it  unsafe  to  remain.  He  ac- 
cordingly burned  his  stacks  of  grain;  and 
then,  taking  his  wife  on  horseback  behind 
him,  he  journeyed  back  to  New  England. 
He  enlisted  and  served  throughout  the  Revo- 
lutionary War,  and,  after  the  establishment  of 
the  American  republic,  returned  to  his  forest 
possessions  in  New  York,  which  he  cleared 
and  improved,  and  from  which  a  home  was 
gradually   evolved.     Here   he   lived  until   his 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


'37 


death.  Mcr  i;rcat-!;raii(lfalhcr,  being  raised 
up  as  a  farmer,  naturally  followed  the  lead  of 
early  training,  and  purehaseil  a  tract  of  land 
in  what  is  now  known  as  Gregorytown,  where 
he  passed  the  residue  of  his  life.  He  married 
a  Miss  Sally  Fuller.  The  grandfather  of 
Mrs.  Oliver,  josiah  Gregory,  removed  to 
Tompkins  in  1840.  and  remained  there.  Mis 
wife  was  X'iletty  Sutton,  the  daughter  of  a 
lumber  dealer  and  farmer.  The  mother  of 
Mrs.  Oliver  was  Mary  I-"isher,  a  daughter  of 
Frederick  and  VAiza  Fisher. 


M.L.ACK     H.     GLICASOX,    who    is 
pros])erously   engaged    in    the    Hour 


and  feed  business  with  Charles  E. 
a  sketch  of  wdiose  life  appears  on  an- 
page  of  this  work,  is  a  representative 
citizen  of  Delhi,  and  intimatel}'  identified 
with  its  industrial  interests.  He  is  a  native 
of  the  town,  and  first  saw  the  light  of  this 
w^orld  on  March  14,  1S59.  He  is  of  stanch 
New  F,ngland  ancestry,  his  grandfather,  Will- 
iam Gleason,  having  been  a  native  of  Connect- 
icut and  a  descendant  of  a  well-known  and 
honored  family  of  that  State.  After  spending 
the  days  of  his  early  manhood  in  the  town  in 
which  he  was  born.  William  Gleason  came  to 
Delaware  County,  being  aniong  its  earliest 
settlers,  arriving  here  in  1S02,  and,  buying  a 
tract  of  unimproved  land  in  the  town  of  Rox- 
bury,  there  continued  the  occupation  to  which 
he  had  been  reared.  By  unwearied  and  skil- 
ful labor  he  cleared  a  good  homestead  from 
the  forest,  and  remained  one  of  Roxbury's 
most  respected  citizens  until  his  death  in 
1 861.  He  reared  a  family  of  eight  children, 
one  of  whom  was  a  son,  also  named  William. 
William  Gleason,  jr.,  was  born  in  Mores- 
ville,  now  Grand  Gorge,  in  the  town  of  Ro.\- 
bury,  and  until  the  age  of  twenty-one  years 
remained  a  member  of  the  parental  household. 
He  attended  the  district  schools,  and  fitted 
himself  for  a  teacher  by  ]jrivate  study,  in 
which  he  obtained  a  knowledge  of  the  higher 
branches  of  education.  For  some  time  he  was 
engaged  in  teaching  school,  and  later  studied 
law  in  the  office  of  Judge  Munson  at  Hobart. 
in  the  town  of  Stamford,  remaining  with  him 
until  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1843.      He   began 


the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Hobart,  con- 
tinuing there  seven  years,  when  lie  came  to 
Delhi.  Here  he  engaged  in  the  active  prac- 
tice of  law  until  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  State  Assembly  in  the  year  1850.  After 
serving  one  term  he  was  made  .Surrogate  and 
County  Judge,  an  ofifice  whicli  he  so  ably  and 
faithfully  filled  that  after  the  exjiiration  of  his 
term  of  service,  in  1859,  he  was  re-elected  for 
another  term.  iXu'ing  the  ]jrogress  of  the 
late  Rebellion  Judge  Gleason  was  Commis- 
sioner of  the  drafts  for  the  United  States  ser- 
vice. His  eminent  legal  qualifications  were 
lecognized  throughout  the  county:  and,  hav- 
ing built  up  a  lucrative  |)ractice,  he  continued 
in  active  work  until  1890,  when  he  retired, 
ha\ing  in  his  honored  career  by  his  own  un- 
aided efforts  amassed  a  competency.  In  his 
home  life  he  was  a  most  affectionate  and 
tender  husband  and  an  indulgent  father, 
revered    bv    his    children. 

On  Mav  9,  1894,  after  a  lingering  illness 
of  sixteen  weeks,  Judge  Gleason,  at  the  age  of 
seventv-six  years,  passetl  beyond  the  confines 
of  earth.  His  death  was  deemed  a  ])ublic 
calamit\';  and  at  a  meeting  of  the  Dehnvare 
County  bar,  held  at  the  court-house  in  the 
village  (if  Delhi,  May  10,  1894.  W.  II.  John- 
son, Fsc].,  upon  taking  the  chair,  paid  an  elo- 
cjuent  tribute  to  his  many  virtues  and  great 
intellectual  attainments,  George  Adee.  I'".sc|.. 
gave  a  graphic  and  interesting  biographical 
account  of  the  Judge,  Arthur  More,  Fsq., 
spoke  feelinglv  of  the  great  assistance  which 
he  had  in  his  youth  received  from  the  wise 
counsel  anil  friendly  advice  of  Judge  Gleason. 
Alexander  Cummings,  Esq.,  spoke  of  his  un- 
swerving integrity  and  unwavering  fidelity  to 
his  clients,  and  J.  A.  Kemp,  I".s(|.,  and  C.  L. 
Andrus,  Esq.,  spoke  in  behalf  of  the  younger 
members  of  the  bar.  Resolutions  in  honor  of 
the  memory  of  Judge  Gleason  were  subse- 
quently prepared,  of  which  the  following  is  a 
copv :     - 

••'(^n  the  ninth  day  of  .May,  1894,  Judge 
William  Gleason  passed  from  among  us.  His 
familiar  face  we  shall  never  again  see,  except 
as  we  look  upon  it  in  the  stillness  of  death. 
His  busy  life  is  ended,  and  all  that  is  left  of 
him  for  us  is  a  memory.  But  that  memory, 
thanks  to  the  natural    gifts  with    which    God 


138 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


endowed  him,  and  his  own  industry,  persever- 
ance, integrity,  and  upright  life,  is  to  all  of 
us  a  most  kindly  recollection.  His  work  is 
ended,  but  his  character  for  good  has  left  its 
impress  on  all  our  minds.  He  will  be  re- 
membered and  honored  as  a  most  able  lawyer, 
sound  jurist,  and  conscientious  citizen.  His 
habits,  morality,  industry,  and  integrity  gave 
to  him  the  proud  distinction  of  being  one  of 
the  leaders  of  the  Delaware  County  Bar.  The 
world  is  better  for  Judge  Gleason's  }ears  and 
life.  The  present  generation  of  young  men 
in  and  out  of  the  legal  profession  may  learn 
from  his  life  and  character  a  lesson  of  incal- 
culable value.  They  should  study  and  con- 
template the  lesson  of  his  life.  In  honor  of 
our  deceased  brother  we  desire  that  this  ex- 
pression of  the  sentiments  of  the  bar  of  Dela- 
ware County  be  ordered  placed  upon  the  re- 
cords of  the  court.  Abram  C.  Crosby,  George 
Adee,  Arthur  More,  Committee  of  the  Bar." 

The  wife  of  Judge  Gleason,  formerly  Caro- 
line Blanchard,  was  one  of  four  children 
born  to  John  Blanchard,  of  Meredith.  Mr. 
Blanchard  subsequent!)"  removed  to  Delhi,  and, 
forming  a  partnership  with  Charles  E.  Kiff, 
became  one  of  its  most  successful  merchants. 
Mrs.  Gleason,  who  still  occupies  the  home- 
stead, reared  three  children  born  of  her  union 
with  Judge  Gleason  —  John  B.,  Wallace  B., 
and  La  Fayette  B. 

Wallace  B.  Gleason,  second  son  of  Judge 
Gleason,  received  a  substantial  foundation  for 
his  education  in  the  district  schools  of  his 
native  village;  and  this  instruction  was  sup- 
plemented by  a  course  of  study  at  the  Dela- 
ware Academy.  After  leaving  school,  Mr. 
Gleason  read  law  for  a  while  with  his  father; 
but,  being  desirous  of  entering  upon  a  mer- 
cantile career,  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
Charles  E.  Kiff  in  1882,  and,  establishing  a 
flour,  feed,  and  general  grain  business,  has 
since  built  up  an  extensive  and  lucrative 
trade. 

The  most  important  event  in  the  life  of  Mr. 
Gleason  was  his  marriage  with  Miss  Maggie 
Fletcher,  the  daughter  of  William  Fletcher, 
a  blacksmith  of  Delhi,  and  a  native  of  Scot- 
land, and  of  whom  a  sketch  may  be  found  on 
another  page.  Their  nuptials  were  celebrated 
August   22,    1883;  and    their   pleasant   home 


circle  has  been  brightened  by  the  birth  of 
two  children  —  Caroline  Louise  and  Donald 
William.  In  i)olitics  Mr.  Gleason  afifiliates 
with  the  Democratic  j^arty,  and  takes  an  intel- 
ligent interest  in  whatever  is  for  the  general 
good  of  the  community.  Religiously,  he  at- 
tends the  Presbyterian  church,  of  which  his 
wife  and   mother  are   devout   members. 


'|n\R.    EDGAR    B.    LAKE,    a    talented 

|^=i  young  physician  of  Meredith  Hol- 
^J^J  low,  was  born  at  Cherry  Valley,  Ot- 
sego County,  N.Y.,  March  4,  1864, 
a  son  of  Thomas  and  Louisa  (Wood)  Lake. 
His  grandfather,  Joel  W'ood,  was  a  native  of 
Connecticut,  coming  to  Otsego  County  when 
a  young  man.  He  purchased  a  tract  of  land, 
which  he  cleared,  and  followed  the  occupation 
of  a  farmer.  He  w^as  the  father  of  five  chil- 
dren;  namely,  Joel,  Henry,  Jehial,  Elizabeth 
Ann,  and  Thomas. 

Thomas  Lake  w^as  brought  up  to  farming 
pursuits,  residing  at  home  until  he  was 
twenty-five,  when  he  rented  a  farm  for  a  time, 
afterward  purchasing  one  in  Jefferson  County, 
where  he  lived  for  several  years.  Some  years 
ago  he  moved  to  Schenevus,  where  he  is  now 
living  retired.  Mr.  Lake  married  Louisa 
Wood,  a  daughter  of  John  Wood,  of  Jefferson 
County,  who  was  of  Quaker  ancestry.  Of 
this  union  the  following  children  were  born: 
Frank,  Edgar  B.,  Merritt,  Elmer,  and  Adel- 
bert. 

Edgar  B.  Lake  spent  his  early  years  on  his 
father's  farm,  receiving  an  education  at  the 
district  and  normal  schools.  He  afterward 
taught  school  for  three  terms  at  Milford  and 
Cartersville.  For  one  year  he  read  medicine 
with  Dr.  Manchester,  of  Oneonta,  and  then 
entered  the  l^niversity  of  New  York  City, 
whence  he  was  graduated  with  high  honors  in 
the  class  of  188S.  After  graduation  he  prac- 
tised for  two  years  at  Marion,  Ohio,  but  left 
there  on  account  of  his  wife's  health,  locating 
at  Meredith,  and  has  to-day  a  large  and  lucra- 
tive practice. 

Dr.  Lake  was  married  August  15,  i8go,  to 
Miss  Mollie  J.  Taylor,  a  daughter  of  Arthur 
Taylor,  a  shoe  dealer  of  Cardington,  Ohio. 
Dr.    and    Mrs.    Lake    have  one    living   child, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


1^0 


Eva  B.  Mabel  died  in  infancy.  Dr.  Lake  is 
a  member  of  the  Delaware  County  Medical 
Society,  also  of  the  Patriotic  Order  of  the 
Sons  of  America.  He  is  an  attendant  of  the 
Methodist  church,  of  which  Mrs.  Lake  is  a 
member.  Dr.  Lake  is  Postmaster  of  Meri- 
dale,  formerly  Meredith  Llollow,  receivint^ 
the  appointment  under  the  Cleveland  adminis- 
tration, and  his  wife  occupying  the  position  of 
Deputy.  He  is  also. Health  Officer  of  Mere- 
dith. For  several  months  he  has  studied 
under  Dr.  Swinburn,  the  celebrated  specialist, 
thereby  adding  to  his  already  large  fund  of 
medical   knowleilge. 


~-YPN0RT1-;R  G.  XORTIIUP  is  a  success- 
11*^'  ful  agriculturist  and  life-long  resi- 
jig  dent  of  Franklin.  Delaware  County, 
N.\'.  His  father,  William  Northup, 
was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  but  when  very 
young  was  brought  by  his  parents  to  Franklin, 
where  he  later  engaged  in  farming.  He  mar- 
ried Amantla  Foote,  a  daughter  of  Jairus 
Foote,  whose  wife  was  a  Miss  Wilson;  and 
they  became  the  parents  of  eight  children. 
One  daughter,  Martha  Northup,  was  educated 
in  the  district  school,  but  tor  many  years 
suffered  from  ill  health.  September  8,  i886, 
she  married  Mahlon  Rowell,  who  was  born  in 
Walton,  January  6,  1857,  a  son  of  Alvah  and 
Sarah  (Wakeman)  Rowell.  Alvah  Rowell 
was  born  in  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut,  in 
May,  1803,  and  became  a  successful  teacher 
and  prosperous  farmer.  He  died  of  heart  dis- 
ease, April  3,  1869,  his  widow  living  to  reach 
her  seventy-eighth  year,  and  passing  away 
September  16,  1881,  leaving  five  children, 
namely:  Helen  M.,  widow  of  Isaac  Elderkin; 
Mahlon;  Charles  D.,  a  farmer  in  Franklin; 
Julia  Ann,  wife  of  Robert  Woodburn,  of 
Addison,  N.Y.;  Edward  P.,  a  teacher,  re- 
siding in  California.  Mahlon  Rowell  was 
reared  on  bis  father's  farm,  but,  being  in 
delicate  health,  receiveel  only  a  limited  educa- 
tion. LIntil  his  marriage  to  Miss  Northup  he 
lived  on  the  old  farm  with  his  sister,  but  now 
owns  a  small  place  of  thirty-one  acres  near 
l^ast  Handsome  Brook.  His  has  been  a 
quiet,  uneventful  life,  passed  in  peace  and 
happiness    in    the   country,    where   the   excite- 


ment and  noise  of  the  l)ustling  city  never 
jienetrate.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  Mr. 
Rowell  has  never  ridden  in  a  public  convey- 
ance or  attended  a  circus.  He  is  a  Republi- 
can, although  never  an  office-holder,  and 
religiously  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
church. 

Porter  G.  Northup  was  born  in  l-'ranklin, 
April  24,  1829,  and  attended  the  district  school 
and  academy  of  that  town.  When  seventeen 
years  of  age,  he  determined  to  start  out  in  the 
world  for  himself,  and  accordingly  accepted 
a  position  as  travelling  salesman  for  a  firm 
dealing  in  jewelry  and  silver,  which  position 
he  occupieil  for  several  years.  Ajiril  31, 
1850,  he  married  Miss  M.  Mary  Chamberlin, 
daughter  of  Deacon  David  Chamberlin;  and 
the  newly  married  couple  began  life  on  Mr. 
Northui)"s  farm  of  two  hundred  acres.  This 
he  sold  in  1866,  and  bought  another,  compris- 
ing one  hundred  and  thirty  acres,  which  they 
occupied  until  1888,  then  rented  it.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Northup  have  lost  one  son,  Louis,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  six  years;  but  one  daugh- 
ter, Mary  Augusta,  is  still  spared  to  them. 
She  graduated  at  the  Delaware  Literary  Insti- 
tute, and  taught  for  several  terms.  She  is 
now  the  wife  of  William  D.  Ogden. 

.Mr.  Northup  was  a  member  of  the  Republi- 
can party  until  1873,  when  he  espou.sed  the 
cause  of  the  I'rohibitionists,  representing  this 
party  in  the  State  Convention  in  1876,  and 
being  the  only  Prohibitionist  in  the  county  at 
that  time.  He  is  familiarly  known  as  tiie 
"Prohibition  War  Horse."  so  ardent  is  he  in 
the  work  uf  his  political  jilatform.  He  held 
the  office  of  Highway  Commissioner  under  a 
Repul)lican  administration,  and  has  been  a 
candidate  for  Supervisor,  Assemblyman,  and 
Congressman  on  the  Prohibition  ticket.  For 
manv  years  he  has  been  intensely  interested 
in  ail  matters  pertaining  to  agriculture,  being 
President  of  the  Agricultural  Association  for 
two  years,  and  serving  as  its  Secretary  for  a 
long  period.  He  has  taken  jirizes  to  the 
value  of  five  hundred  dollars  on  his  choice 
sheep,  cattle,  horses,  and  farm  produce  at  the 
different  fairs. 

'Sir.  Northup's  parents  were  Congregation- 
alists;  but  he  joined  the  Baptist  church,  and 
for  many  years  was  a  leading  member  of  this 


140 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


society,  from  which  he  resigned,  August  8, 
1879,  at  a  public  meeting,  claiming  as  a  rea- 
son for  his  resignation  that  the  church  was  en- 
couraging the  licjuor  traffic  At  present  he  is 
not  a  church  member,  but  gives  proof  of  his 
strong  convictions  in  upright,  honest  living, 
true  to  his  conscience  and  his  country's 
welfare. 


ILLIAM  HENRY  WOOD,  a  wealthy 
farmer  in  P'ranklin,  was  born  in 
this  town,  March  8,  1834,  during 
the  second  Presidency  of  General  Jackson. 
His  grandfather  was  John  Wood,  who  died 
while  Charles,  William's  father,  was  a  small 
boy.  John  came  from  Ireland,  settled  in  Bos- 
ton, and  fought  in  the  Revolution.  His  wife 
was  Mary  Sarles;  but  what  became  of  his  four 
brothers,  who  immigrated  at  the  same  time 
with  himself,  nothing  is  now  known  by  this 
branch  of  the  Wood  family.  Charles  Wood 
was  born  in  1804,  just  thirty  years  earlier 
than  his  son  William,  in  Tompkins;  but  he 
died  in  Franklin,  November  22,  1893.  He 
married  Eliza  Wheat,  daughter  of  a  sea  cap- 
tain, William  Wheat,  and  his  wife,  Mary 
Bolles.  The  Wheat  family  was  of  Welsh  de- 
scent. Eliza  and  Charles  were  married  in 
September,  1S31;  and  they  had  three  boys 
and  a  girl.  The  third  son,  Charles,  named  for 
his  father,  died  at  the  early  age  of  eleven. 
Rufus  Sylvester  Wood  is  a  retired  farmer,  liv- 
ing in  Franklin,  at  the  age  of  sixty-two.  The 
second  son  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
Their  sister  Jane  married  D.  Colby  Dibble,  a 
farmer  now  in  Dakota  County,  Nebraska. 
The  mother  of  these  children  died  in  1883, 
aged  seventy-two,  and  rests  beside  her  husband 
in  the  Ouleout  cemetery.  William  Henry 
Wood  grew  up  on  the  farm,  and  went  to  the 
district  school  and  to  the  academy  in  Frank- 
lin. His  father  was  by  trade  a  blacksmith. 
The  homestead  was  on  an  estate  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-four  acres,  not  far  south-east 
of  the  village  of  Franklin.  William  Wood 
was  married  October  23,  1855,  to  Sarah  Jane 
Abell,  daughter  of  Emery  Abell,  of  Franklin, 
and  Ruth  Northway  Abell,  both  natives  of 
Massachusetts.  They  came  to  Delaware 
County   in    1824.     Mrs.  Sarah    J.  Wood    has 


two  brothers  and  two  sisters,  all  living.  Her 
father  died  February  10,  1884,  aged  seventy, 
and  her  mother  a  year  earlier,  on  January  28, 
1883,  aged  sixty-seven;  and  both  these  deaths 
occurred  in  the  present  home  of  their  daughter 
Sarah,  where  they  had  lived  during  tweh'e 
years  after  Mr.  Abell's  retirement  from  active 
life.  In  1856  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Henry 
Wood  went  West,  as  far  as  Jackson  County, 
Iowa,  where  they  remained  eighteen  months, 
thereafter  removing  to  Dakota  County,  Ne- 
braska, where  they  took  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres.  Always  an  agriculturist, 
and  believing  thoroughly  in  land-ownership, 
Mr.  Wood  now  has  six  farms,  aggregating  in 
all  fourteen  hundred  acres,  to  which  he  gives 
his  attention.  He  is  the  father  of  two  chil- 
dren now  living.  Stella  Wood  married  L.  W. 
White,  land  and  loan  agent  in  Woodbine, 
Iowa,  and  has  three  children.  Frederick 
Abell  Wood  is  just  finishing  his  education 
at  Hamilton  College.  The  parents  have  lost 
three  other  children.  Charles  Emory  Wood, 
named  for  his  grandfathers,  died  in  boyhood, 
aged  fourteen  months,  while  the  parents  were 
in  Iowa.  Nellie  Wood  died  when  only 
twenty-two  months  old,  in  Franklin.  George 
F.  Wood,  a  brilliant  and  promising  scholar,  a 
fluent  speaker,  and  a  graduate  of  Hamilton 
College,  had  completed  his  first  year  in  the 
Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York  City, 
when  he  was  called  to  give  up  his  young  life 
at  the  early  age  of  twenty-six. 

In  religious  belief  the  father  is  a  Baptist 
and  the  mother  a  Methodist;  but  they  agree 
in  practical  religion,  adopting  the  sentiments 
of  the  immortal  Washington:  "Of  all  the 
dispositions  and  habits  which  lead  to  political 
prosperity,  religion  and  morality  are  indis- 
pensable supports.  In  vain  could  that  man 
claim  the  tribute  of  patriotism  who  should 
labor  to  subvert  those  pillars  of  human  happi- 
ness, those  firmest  props  of  the  duties  of  men 
and  citizens." 


lALVIN     MiALEISTER     is     a    well- 
known  and  highly  respected  resident 
of     Walton,    and    a    man    who     has 
always,    since    he    settled     in    this 
town,     been     closely    connected     with    local 


■ 

'•^ 

A 

'i 

~  1 

'  ■^.  ■ 

P^ 

• 

' 

CflLYIN  Mc  fiLLISTER. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


141 


affairs,  and  especially  with  all  religious  mat- 
ters. He  was  born  in  New  York  City,  Octo- 
ber 22,  1844.  Mis  father,  David  McAllister, 
was  born  in  iSoo,  in  the  north  of  Ireland, 
where  he  grew  to  manhood,  and  was  married 
to  Mary  Scott  Enrouth.  Not  long  after  that 
event  he  embarked  with  his  wife  in  a  sailing- 
vessel,  and  after  a  long,  tedious  voyage  ar- 
rived in  this  country.  Me  engaged  in  the  dr\'- 
goods  business  in  New  York  City,  where  they 
lived  for  twenty  3'ears,  and  then  removed  from 
the  metropolis  to  Ik'thcl,  Sullivan  County. 
A  short  time  ])rior  to  his  death  he  made  his 
residence  in  Newburg,  Orange  County,  on 
the  Hudson.  He  died  about  1870,  leaving 
his  widow  with  eight  children,  five  sons  and 
three  daughters,  of  whom  Calvin  was  the 
seventh  chikl.  Mrs.  McAllister  dietl  in 
Newburg,  in  1887,  at  eighty-three  years  of 
age.  They  were  members  of  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  church,  of  which  Mr.  McAllister 
was  an  Elder.  Their  bodies  rest  in  the  ceme- 
tery at  Coldenham,  Orange  County. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen,  after  finishing  his 
education  in  the  district  schools,  Calvin  Mc- 
Allister volunteered  in  the  service  of  his 
country,  and  went  to  the  front  in  Companv 
G,  Second  Reginnmt,  New  York  \"olunteer 
Rifles,  and  was  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
during  the  campaign  at  Spottsylvania,  North 
Anna  River,  Cold  Harbor,  and  at  Petersburg, 
Va.  At  the  latter  place  he  received  a  gun- 
shot wound  in  the  left  elbow.  He  went  to 
the  field  hos]iital,  and  then  by  transport  to 
Alexandria.  Here  he  suffered  from  severe 
mortification  of  his  wound,  which  at  one  time 
appeared  so  serious  that  he  was  given  a  leave 
of  absence;  and  he  came  North  to  his  father's, 
where  he  could  receive  treatment  amid  the 
comforts  of  home,  and  the  kind  ministrations 
of  friends  and  kindred.  A  council  of  physi- 
cians was  held,  and  decided  that  amputation 
was  necessary.  Dr.  Apply,  surgeon  of  the 
New  York  &  Erie  Railroad,  was  called;  and 
through  his  excellent  skill  Mr.  McAllister 
escaped  all  the  discomforts  of  an  operation 
and  the  loss  of  his  arm,  coming  out  of  the 
crisis    in   good   condition. 

In  1867  Mr.  McAllister  married  Maria, 
daughter  of  D.  G.  and  Jane  (Chambers)  Mc- 
Donald,   of    Walton.      Mrs.    McAllister    died 


after  one  year  of  married  life,  leaving  an  infant 
who  lived  but  three  months  after  its  mother's 
death.  Mr.  McAllister  was  again  married 
June  13,  1S70,  to  Mary  Cowan,  daughter  of 
William  and  IClizabelh  A.  (McCullough; 
Cowan.  Mrs.  Cowan  was  a  native  of  New- 
burg, wliile  Mr.  Cowan  was  born  in  New 
York  City.  ^Ir.  and  Mrs.  Cowan  were  mar- 
ried in  New  York  in  1836.  and  continued 
living  in  that  city  for  seven  years,  when  they 
moved  to  York,  Livingston  County,  where 
they  carried  on  agricultural  pursuits  until  the 
death  of  Mr.  Cowan  in  1870,  in  his  sixty-scc- 
ontl  year.  His  witlow,  now  in  her  eighty-first 
year,  is  with  her  daughter  in  Walton,  and 
although  feeble  in  body  is  still  vigorous  in 
mind,  and  interested  in  all  the  affairs  of  the 
day.  Her  one  living  son,  Moses,  is  a  farmer 
in  Livingston;  and  another  son,  William, 
tlied  from  an  accident  when  but  eleven  years 
old. 

Mrs.  McAllister  studied  at  Ingham  L'ni- 
versity,  Le  Roy,  N.Y.,  and  before  her  mar- 
riage engaged  in  teaching.  A  deeji  sorrow 
came  to  the  family  in  the  loss  of  the  eldest 
daughter  while  still  an  infant,  and  great  was 
the  joy  of  the  father  and  mother  when  two 
other  childien  came  to  bk'ss  their  home. 
The  eldest  of  these  is  Anna  \'ida,  who  is  now 
a  Sophomore  at  Welleslev  College,  Wellesley, 
Mass.  The  other  child  i's  David  C.  McAllis- 
ter, who  has  just  graduated,  in  1894,  from  the 
Walton  High  School,  and  although  but  six- 
teen years  of  age  bore  off  the  highest  honors, 
being  valedictorian  of  his  class.  He  is  now 
a  Freshman  in  Amherst  College,  .Andicrst, 
Mass. 

Since  Mr.  McAllister  came  to  Walton,  in 
1874,  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  proiluce  busi- 
ness, esiK'cially  in  buying  butter  and  shipping 
it  to  Eastern  markets,  and  has  established  a 
flourishing  trade,  which  is  rapidly  growing  to 
large  proportions.  In  ])olitics  he  is  a  firm 
adherent  of  the  Rejiublicaii  jiarty.  In  the 
Congregationalist  church  both  Mr.  McAllister 
and  his  wife  are  valuable  workers,  he  having 
been  superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school 
connected  with  that  church  for  the  past  four 
years.  He  is  a  clear-headed,  high-])rincipled 
man,  of  strong  personal itv  and  wide-reaching 
influence. 


142 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


T^APTAIN  WILLIAM   SMITH,   a  well- 
I   \y      known     resident    of    Tompkins,     who 

^^"U  earned  his  shoulder-straps  by  bravely 

battling  for  the  L'nion  in  the  late 
war,  has  passed  through  varied  experiences, 
meeting  with  thrilling  adventures;  and  the 
story  of  his  life  is  most  interesting.  His 
great-grandfather  Smith  was  one  of  the  famous 
"Green  Mountain  Boys"  who  fought  for  free- 
dom under  Ethan  Allen  in  the  Revolution. 
He  was  an  extensive  land-owner,  and  gave  to 
each  of  his  five  sons,  as  they  attained  succes- 
sively their  majority,  a  large  farm.  His  last 
days  were  passed  in  Wardsboro,  Vt.,  of  which 
town  the  family  w-ere  pioneers. 

Richard  Smith  was  born  in  Massachusetts, 
and  moved  with  his  parents  to  Vermont,  where 
he  was  a  prosperous  farmer.  He  died  there  at 
an  advanced  age,  in  1863.  Many  exciting 
stories  of  Revolutionary  times,  gleaned  from 
his  father,  he  in  turn  told  to  his  son  and 
grandson.  Mason  Smith,  son  of  Richard,  was 
born  in  Windham,  Vt.,  but,  when  a  young 
man,  renijDved  to  Delaware  County,  New 
York,  and  purchased  land  in  Masonville, 
which  he  proceeded  to  clear,  and  there  erected 
a  log  house,  being  employed  in  the  saw- 
mills in  the  winter.  He  married  Caroline 
Reynolds,  of  Masonville;  and  they  were 
the  parents  of  six  children  —  Mary,  Henry 
M.,  Winchester,  William,  Stillman,  and 
Charles.  Mason  Smith  was  killed  at  the 
age  of  forty-five  by  a  fall  from  a  building  in 
Masonville.  His  wife  survived  him  a  number 
of  years. 

William,  son  of  Mason  and  Caroline  (Rey- 
nolds) Smith,  was  born  in  Masonville,  Janu- 
ary 31,  1843,  and  passed  his  boyhood  in 
Vermont,  being  educated  in  the  town  of 
Wardsboro  in  that  State,  and  afterward  at- 
tending the  normal  school  in  Geneseo,  111. 
He  started  out  in  life  on  board  the  whaler, 
"Homer,"  of  Fairhaven,  Mass.,  and  sailed  to 
the  coast  of  Morocco,  where  they  were  ship- 
wrecked. The  natives  being  hostile,  they 
were  obliged  to  watch  day  and  night,  and 
twice  fought  them  for  their  lives.  The  na- 
tives endeavored  to  smother  them  by  closing 
the  only  opening  for  air  in  the  hut,  but  were 
repulsed;  and  after  five  days  a  small  boat  was 
sighted.     This  proved  to  be  commanded  by  a  : 


Portuguese,  and  manned  by  a  crew  of  negroes, 
one  of  whom  was  left  on  board  while  the 
others  landed.  Mr.  Smith  and  his  compan- 
ions lay  in  hiding  until  the  sailors  of  the 
small  boat  had  made  their  way  inland,  and 
then  swam  out  and  captured  their  prize,  tak- 
ing prisoner  the  only  man  on  board,  whom 
they  bound  and  took  ashore.  Gathering  to- 
gether their  possessions,  they  put  out  to  sea, 
and  after  five  days  sighted  one  of  the  South 
Azores  Islands,  where  they  landed,  and  were 
most  kindly  received  by  the  American  consul. 
Mr.  Smith  then  shipped  on  the  American 
brigantine,  "Candace,"  of  Boston,  engaged  in 
the  smuggling  of  tobacco  into  Portugal,  and, 
after  many  exciting  adventures,  returned  to 
Boston  on  her,  arriving  there  in  September, 
i860.  He  then  shipped  for  the  winter  on  a 
coaster,  after  which  he  returned  to  Mason- 
ville, having  been  absent  for  two  years,  and 
found  his  mother  mourning  him  as  lost,  the 
wreck  of  his  vessel  having  been  reported  by  a 
homeward-bound  ship  which  saw  her  driving 
on  to  the  rocks,  but  was  unable  to  render 
assistance. 

In  March,   1862,  Mr 


Smith  enlisted 


in   the 

Eighth  V^ermont  Infantry,  and  went  South 
with  General  Butler,  participating  in  the  tak- 
ing of  Fort  Jackson,  Fort  St.  Philip,  New 
Orleans,  and  Baton  Rouge.  In  the  fall  of 
1862  he  was  detailed  as  Drillmaster,  and  in 
September  was  promoted  by  General  Butler  to 
the  office  of  First  Lieutenant.  After  raising 
the  Union  troops  of  Louisiana,  he  was  made 
First  Lieutenant  of  Company  A,  Second  Reg- 
iment of  that  State,  and,  for  bravery  in  action, 
twenty  days  later  was  promoted  to  the  office  of 
Captain,  and  assigned  to  Company  H  of  the 
same  regiment.  He  was  present  at  the  siege 
of  Port  Hudson,  and  participated  with  his 
regiment  in  all  the  fighting  that  followed, 
taking  an  active  part  in  thirty-one  battles, 
besides  several  skirmishes,  and  following 
General  Banks  on  his  Red  River  expedition. 
In  1864  he  resigned  his  commission,  and  went 
to  Illinois,  three  months  later  enlisting  in  the 
Ninth  Illinois  Cavalry  from  the  town  of  Gen- 
eseo for  one  year.  He  was  discharged  July  i, 
1865,  having  been  present  at  the  battle  of 
Nashville  and  in  many  skirmishes.  After  the 
war  closed.  Captain  Smith  engaged  in  farming 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


'43 


for  fourteen  years  in  Clayton,  Bay  County, 
Mich.,  of  which  town  ho  was  Supervisor  from 
the  village  of  Mapleridge  for  twelve  succes- 
sive years,  also  Commissioner  of  Highways, 
Superintendent  Pulilic  Schools,  and  Justice  of 
the  Peace.  Mis  health  failing,  he  removed  to 
the  State  of  Delaware,  and  was  employed  in 
building  electric  railways,  being  foreman  in 
the  building  of  several  large  lines.  lught 
years  later  he  returned  to  New  York  State, 
and  settled  on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides, 
very  near  his  birthplace,  having  been  absent 
twenty-three  years. 

September  20,  1866,  Captain  Smith  married 
Sarah  A.  Scott,  daughter  of  David  and  Cla- 
rissa (Eggliston)  Scott,  of  Tompkins;  and 
they  had  seven  children:  Mlmer  E.,  who  died 
when  ten  months  old;  Clara  E. ;  Rosa  A.; 
Lela  Irene,  who  died  at  the  age  of  two  and 
one-half  years;  Lulu  May;  Lena  Maud:  and 
Walter  S.,  who  died  at  nine  months  oUl. 
Captain  Smith  and  his  wife  are  members  of 
the  Kingswood  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
of  Wilmington,  Del.,  and  are  most  profoundly- 
esteemed  wherever  thev  are  known. 


'rank  MELVILLE  ANDRUS,  one  of 
the  leading  law-yers  of  the  town  of 
Roxbury,  Delaware  County,  where  he 
was  born  on  the  8th  of  February,  1861,  is  of 
English  descent,  and  seems  to  have  inherited 
the  traits  of  sagacity,  thrift,  and  industry  that 
have  through  successive  generations  distin- 
guished the  Andrus  family.  He  is  the  son  of 
Daniel  D.  and  Catherine  N.  (Stratton)  An- 
drus, and  the  grandson  of  Daniel  D.  and  Polly 
D.  (Demmon)  Andrus,  both  of  English  par- 
entage. Daniel  Andrus,  the  grandfather,  a 
native  of  Albany  County,  where  he  was  born 
.March  26,  1786,  came  to  Meeker  Hollow,  and 
settled  upon  a  tract  of  land  covering  an  area 
of  one  hundred  and  thirty  acres.  Later  in 
life  he  moved  to  \'ictor,  Ontario  County,  tak- 
ing his  family  with  him,  and  established  him- 
self there  as  a  drover.  In  the  fiftieth  year  of 
his  age,  while  on  a  business  trip  in  the  east- 
ern part  of  the  State,  he  was  taken  ill,  and 
died  on  the  20th  of  July,  1836,  leaving  a 
wife,  who  did  not  long  survive  him,  and 
eleven  children,  who  were  born  in  the  follow- 


ing order:  Joseph  D.,  born  November  19, 
1808;  Alonzo  R.,  March  19,  1810;  Laura  L., 
May  28,  1812;  Justice  D.,  August  8,  1814; 
Anna,  August  29,  1816;  Catherine,  July  30, 
1818;  Polly  D.,  September  10,  1S20;  Ikazil, 
February  10,  1823;  Maranda  D.,  October  20, 
1828;  Daniel  D.,  December  2,  1831  ;  and 
Anna  C,    April   2,    1833. 

Daniel  D.,  the  youngest  son,  was  sent  back 
to  Delaware  County  at  the  age  of  five  years, 
where  he  grew  to  manhood  under  the  guidance 
and  supervision  of  Mr.  Ira  Hicks.  He  was 
educated  in  the  district  school,  and  for  some 
time  was  a  clerk  in  Mr.  Hicks's  store,  but 
finally  embarked  in  the  cattle  business,  inher- 
iting an  aptitude  in  that  line  from  his  father, 
and  jHoving  himself  equally  successful.  He 
married  Kate  N.  Stratton,  who  was  born 
March  17,  1839,  a  daughter  of  Lewis  and  Jane 
(Lockwood)  Stratton.  The  grandfather  of 
Mrs.  Kate  Andrus  was  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers of  that  locality  so  famous  for  its  beauty, 
and  known  as  the  Stratton  Falls.  Daniel 
Andrus  was  a  Democrat  in  politi(|^,  and  held 
the  offices  of  Assessor,  Supervisor,  and  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace.  Socially,  he  was  a  member 
of  Cceur  de  Lion  Lodge. 

P'rank  Melville  Andrus  attended  the  dis- 
trict school  of  Delaware  County,  and  after- 
ward went  to  Stamford,  N.V'.,  where  he 
pursued  more  advanced  studies.  He  finally 
apjilied  himself  to  the  study  of  law,  and,  after 
reading  with  Mr.  Henry  C.  Soop,  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1885,  since  which  time 
he  has  practised  his  profession,  in  partnership 
with  his  former  tutor,  Mr.  Sooji. 

Mr.  Andrus  married  Nellie  K.  Pierce, 
daughter  of  Roderick  and  Olive  A.  (Peck) 
Pierce;  and  their  union  has  been  l)lesscd  with 
one  child,  Olive  E.  In  his  political  convic- 
tions Mr.  Andrus  is  a  Democrat,  and  in  his 
religious  views  liberal.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Masonic  fraternit)-,  ami  is  Past  Master  of 
Cceur  de  Lion  Lodsje. 


RUMAN  GUILD  may  properly  be 
classed  among  the  most  prosperous 
business  men  of  Walton,  Delaware 
County,  N.V.,  where  he  is  senior  member  of 
the  firm  of  T.  Guild  &   Son,  druggists.     Mr, 


144 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Guild  is  purely  American,  his  grandfather, 
Jeremiah  Guild,  having  been  born  in  Warren, 
Conn.,  September  4,  1746,  in  which  town  he 
also  died  in  1822.  His  mother,  who  was 
early  left  a  widow,  passed  away  in  1792,  at 
the  age  of   seventy-two  years. 

Jeremiah  Guild  was  a  navigator,  who  fol- 
lowed the  sea  for  many  years,  experiencing 
the  marvellous  escapes  and  exciting  advent- 
ures of  a  sailor's  life.  During  one  voyage 
his  vessel  was  seized  by  the  British,  and  he 
and  his  brother  were  taken  prisoners  and  car- 
ried to  Halifax.  After  their  release  he  re- 
turned to  Middletown,  Conn.,  and  later  re- 
moved to  Warren,  where  he  engaged  in  the 
charcoal  trade  in  connection  with  the  iron 
works  of  that  place.  Mr.  Guild  was  a  mem- 
ber of  Trinity  Parish,  and  was  most  influen- 
tial in  the  building  of  the  church. 

Mr.  Guild  married  Miss  Hannah  Hale,  of 
Middlefield,  who  became  the  mother  of  nine 
children,  five  of  whom  were  sons:  Timothy; 
Gael;  Albon;  Everett,  the  father  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch;  and  Jeremiah.  When  but 
forty-four  years  old,  this  tender,  loving  mother 
was  taken  away;  and  September  2,  1800,  the 
husband  was  again  married,  to  Miss  Lucinda 
F.  Eaton,  who  was  born  in  Coventry  in  1768, 
and  lived  to  reach  her  eighty-first  year.  Five 
children  were  the  issue  of  this  second  mar- 
riage, all  of  whom  have  passed  away:  Lu- 
cinda: Frederick,  a  soldier  of  the  late  war; 
Sophrona:  Truman;  and   Anna   Maria. 

Everett,  son  of  Jeremiah  and  Hannah 
(Hale)  (iuild,  was  born  in  Warren  in  1773, 
and  died  in  Walton  in  1849.  C)"  May  5, 
1810,  he  married  Miss  Hannah  Perkins,  of 
Massachusetts,  who  was  born  August  31, 
1775,  and  died  November  27,  1850.  -Soon 
after  their  marriage  they  settled  in  Walton, 
N.Y.,  where  Mr.  Guild  gave  his  attention  to 
the  manufacture  of  harnesses  and  saddlery. 
Like  his  father,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Epis- 
copal church,  and  in  politics  a  Democrat. 
He  and  his  wife  were  parents  of  nine  chil- 
dren, namely:  Everett;  Lyman;  Delia;  Emily; 
lulwin;  Truman;  Marshall;  Emma;  and  Ed- 
ward, who  died  in  infancy.  Only  two,  Mar- 
shall and  Truman,  arc  still  living.  Everett 
E.  was  a  Universalist  minister  in  Bingham- 
ton,   where    he    died    when    seventy-six   years 


old,  leaving  one  daughter.  Edwin  was  a 
prominent  merchant  of  Walton,  where  he 
died,  aged  sixty-four,  in  1 884,  mourned  by  a 
widow  and  one  son.  Delia  became  the  wife 
of  Gabriel  Hoyt,  of  Walton,  in  which  town 
she  passed  away  in  1892,  being  seventy-five 
years  old  and  the  mother  of  eight  children. 
Lyman,  a  harness-maker,  was  born  in  Walton 
in  181 3,  and  died  at  his  birthplace  in  the 
prime  of  life.  Emily,  who  was  born  in  18  17, 
married  B.  F.  Griswold,  and  died  in  Atlantic 
City  in  the  fall  of  1892,  leaving  one  son. 

Truman  Guild  was  born  in  Walton,  Sep- 
tember I,  1825,  and,  like  most  of  his 
brothers,  learned  the  harness-maker's  trade 
from  his  father.  In  1849,  on  the  fifth  day  of 
September,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Keen,  daughter  of  George  M.  and  Matilda 
(Saybolt)  Keen.  The  Keens  were  natives  of 
Orange  County,  where  Mr.  Keen  was  em- 
ployed as  a  stone-mason.  They  were  the  par- 
ents of  nine  children,  and  lived  to  a  good  old 
age,  Mr.  Keen  dying  in  Prompton  in  1865, 
aged  eighty-one,  and  ^Irs.  Keen  living  till 
her  ninety-sixth  year,  when  she  died,  Decem- 
ber 23,  1871.  Oi  these  children  the  follow- 
ing are  now  living:  Mary  Jane,  widow  of 
William  F.  Wood,  a  livery  man,  of  St.  Jo- 
seph, Mo. ;  Abigail  M.,  wife  of  W.  T.  Palmer, 
of  Milwaukee;  Valentine  Mottkeen,  who  is  a 
railroad  machinist  at  Scranton,  Pa.;  George 
P.,  a  drayman  in  Honesdale,  Pa.;  Frederick; 
Ira;  Lucy;  and  Elizabeth,  the  wife  of  the 
subject   of  this   sketch. 

Although  Elizabeth  was  very  young  at  the 
time  of  her  marriage,  she  was  an  excellent 
housekeeper,  and  with  her  husband's  aid  has 
guided  to  maturity  four  children,  namely: 
George  Everett  Guild,  born  November  9, 
1850,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  Scranton, 
Pa.,  who  married  Mary  Clark,  of  P"lorence, 
Mass.,  by  whom  he  has  three  children  — 
Clark  G.,  E.  Burnham,  and  Gertrude  K. ; 
I-'annie  M.,  widow  of  Herbert  Twaddell,  who 
has  three  sons  —  Ralph  S.,  Howard  J.,  and 
Everett  E. ;  Edwin  L.,  a  druggist  in  partner- 
ship with  his  father,  who  married  Julia  C. 
Ogden,  of  Walton,  and  has  two  children  — 
Edna  S.,  eight  years  of  age,  and  Emily  O., 
who  has  seen  but  four  summers;  Harriet  E., 
wife  of  Henry  O.  Tobey,  a  grocer  of  Walton, 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


■45 


who  is  the  mother  of  two  chuightcrs  ami  one 
son  —  Anna  G.,  Martha  1?.,  and  Truman  C. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Guild  have  been  ealled  upon  to 
part  with  two  sons  and  three  L;ranilchiklren, 
who  have  passed  on  to  the  eternal  home.  The 
family  are  all  members  of  the  Congre>^ational 
church,  where  they  are  constant  and  interested 
attendants. 

Mr.  (niild  is  a  Democrat,  but  has  never 
held  office  in  that  organization,  content  that 
his  vote  should  always  favor  the  men  best 
qualified  in  his  estimation  to  rule  the  people 
of  this  land.  A  gentleman  of  rare  mercantile 
ability,  high  moral  principles,  and  genial, 
affable  manner,  he  has  founded  a  reliable 
business,  in  the  successful  conduct  of  which 
he  is  ably  assisted  by  his  son.  The  sterling 
qualities  of  Mr.  Guild  are  most  thoroughly 
appreciated  by  his  large  circle  of  friends,  all 
of  whom  regard  him  as  a  man  of  noble  charac- 
ter and  upright  life. 


fOHN  T.  SHAW,  a  well-known  and 
l)rnniinent  lawyer  of  Delhi,  Delaware 
County,  N.V.,  was  born  in  the  same 
town,  May  14,  1844.  His  father,  Dan- 
iel Shaw,  was  also  a  native  of  Delhi.  The 
grandfather,  John  Shaw,  was  a  Scotchman  by 
birth,  and  came  to  this  country  about  1800, 
bringing  his  wife,  who  was  a  Miss  Anna 
McBain,  also  his  father,  mother,  brothers, 
and  sisters.  They  all  settled  in  Delaware 
County,  with  the  exception  of  James  Shaw, 
who  went  to  Genesee,  where  he  reared  a  fam- 
ily of  ten  or  eleven  children,  some  of  his  de- 
scendants still  living  there. 

John  Shaw  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers 
in  Delhi,  purchasing  land  here  at  a  period 
when  there  was  but  one  store  in  the  village, 
Main  Street  being  at  that  time  nothing  but  a 
country  road.  ^Ir.  Shaw  was  one  of  the 
active  men  of  his  day,  possessed  of  good 
judgment,  and  eminently  successful  in  busi- 
ness. He  moved  from  his  first  location  to  a 
farm  on  the  Little  Delaware  River,  where  he 
lived  for  many  years,  but  later  sold  it  to  one 
of  his  sons,  and  retired  to  Delhi,  where  he 
died  July  3,  1868,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
ninety-six.  His  wife  was  also  long-lived, 
dying   in   her   ninety-third  year.      The  follow- 


ing-named children  of  their  family  lived  to 
years  of  maturity;  namely,  Ann,  Nellie,  Isa- 
bel, Margaret,  Daniel,  Alexander,  John, 
James,    and    William. 

Daniel  Shaw  was  educatet!  at  the  district 
school,  afterward  working  with  his  father  on 
the  farm,  and  remaining  with  him  until  lie 
was  twenty-one.  Later  he  purchased  a  farm, 
which  he  conducted  successfully  until  1847, 
and  then  bought  one  near  Delhi.  Mr.  Shaw 
was  a  member  of  the  Republican  party,  and 
held  several  important  town  offices.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  Margaret  Lenox,  a  tiaughter  of 
James  Lenox,  an  early  settler  in  Delhi  and  a 
prominent  man  of  the  town.  To  them  were 
born  ele\'en  children,  of  whom  tiie  f(jllowing- 
named  reached  maturity:  John  T.,  Jennie  A., 
Daniel  W.,  Lmma,  Ilattie,  Nettie,  Perry,  and 
Lillie.  Mrs.  Shaw  died  May  30,  1870,  aged 
forty-seven,  and  Mr.  .Shaw  in  18S1,  aged 
sixty. 

John  T.  .Shaw,  the  subject  of  this  notice, 
received  his  education  at  the  district  school, 
afterward  assisting  his  father  on  the  farm.  A 
farmer's  life  not  being  to  his  liking,  however, 
he  took  a  course  at  the  Delhi  Academy,  and 
then  taught  school  during  the  winter  season 
until  he  was  twenty,  when  he  entereil  the 
employ  of  Mr.  D.  Ballantine  as  clerk,  re- 
maining with  him  for  one  year.  He  was  ne.\t 
employed  in  New  \'ork  City  for  a  year,  after- 
ward returning  to  Andes,  where  he  com- 
menced the  stuiiy  of  law  in  the  office  of 
William  H.  Johnson.  In  1867  he  went  to 
Iowa,  where  he  taught  school,  but  the  follow- 
ing year  returned  to  Andes,  and  for  a  time 
acted  as  clerk  for  Mr.  Johnson.  In  Ma\-, 
1869,  he  was  ailmitted  to  the  bar  at  Hing- 
hamton,  at  the  general  term  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  to  practise  in  all  the  courts  of  the 
State.  He  continued  as  clerk  for  Mr.  John- 
son until  1870,  when  he  opened  an  office  at 
Margaretl\'ille,  remaining  there  for  eighteen 
months.  In  1872  he  commenced  practice  in 
Delhi,  and  has  remained  here  ever  since, 
practising  in  all  the  courts  of  the  State.  I-"or 
eight  consecutive  years  he  held  the  ofTice  of 
Justice  of  the  Peace. 

January  4.  1S71,  'Sir.  Shaw  married  Miss 
Margaret  S.  .Maxwell,  a  daughter  of  l-lbene/.er 
K.    Maxwell,    grandson    of    Judge    Foot,    first 


146 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


judge  of  Delaware  County;  and  to  this  union 
have  been  born  three  chikiren:  Maxwell  D.,  a 
clerk  for  Mr.  Hudson,  of  Delhi;  Frederick  F. 
and  Frances  R.,  both  students  at  the  Delhi 
Academy.  Mr.  Shaw  is  a  strong  supporter  of 
the  Republican  party.  The  family  are  all 
members  of  the  lipiscopal  church.  Mr.  Shaw 
is  essentially  a  self-made  man,  having  gained 
his  present  honorable  position  by  dint  of  en- 
ergy and  perseverance. 


DWARD  EDGERTON,  a  leading  citi- 
zen of  Franklin,  Delaware  County,  was 
born  in  Sidney  Plains,  on  April  26, 
1829.  An  enterprising  ancestor  was  Richard 
Edgerton,  one  of  a  company  of  nine  men  who 
purchased  and  settled  on  a  tract  of  thirty-nine 
square  miles,  in  that  part  of  Connecticut 
where  the  city  of  New  London  now  stands. 
F"rom  his  three  sons  are  descended  most  of  the 
Edgertons  now  to  be  found  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic.  One  of  these  three  was  Nathan 
Edgerton,  the  great-grandfather  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch.  This  Nathan  Edgerton  had  a 
son,  to  whom  he  gave  the  same  name.  The 
second  Nathan  was  born  in  Connecticut,  but 
came  early  to  the  region  where  the  town  of 
Franklin  now  stands.  The  nearest  mill  was 
at  Cooperstown ;  and,  when  there  was  a  bag  of 
corn  to  be  ground,  he  rode  with  it  as  far  as 
the  port  of  Unadilla,  on  the  river,  where  he 
took  a  canoe.  This  involved  a  trip  of  two  or 
three  days;  and  on  his  return  his  wife  would 
meet  him  at  the  landing,  with  the  horse,  and 
they  would  ride  home  together.  Their  son 
Thomas  was  the  first  white  child  born  in  the 
town  of  Franklin.  Nathan  Edgerton  was  at 
one  time  Sheriff  of  Delaware  County.  He 
died  some  years  before  his  wife,  who  lived  to 
within  four  years  of  a  century.  They  were 
iiKlustrious  farmers,  and  able  to  pass  their 
(.leclining  years  in  comfort;  and  their  bodies 
rest  in  the  family  burial-yard.  The  grand- 
mother was  Sally  Belshaw,  a  lady  with  some 
Irish  blood  in  her  veins;  and  her  seven  chil- 
dren all  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  having  fami- 
lies and  farms  of  their  own.  One  son,  John, 
lived  to  be  eighty-six.  Grandfather  Nathan 
Edgerton  had  a  brother  Roger,  who  fought  in 
the    Revolution,    and    was    captured    at    New 


York,  but  later  became  a  Coventry  farmer,  on 
land  won  by  his  military  services,  where  he 
died.  His  son,  Albert  Edgerton,  is  now  a 
lawyer  in  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  and  was  one  of  the 
veteran's  two  sons  to  be  present  at  the  family 
reunion,  recently  held  in  the  metropolis. 

Grandfather  Nathan  Edgerton  had  a  son 
Nathan,  the  third  to  bear  this  name  He  was 
born  in  Franklin  in  1795,  and  died  in  Walton 
in  1856.  His  wife  was  Emily  Howell,  of 
Franklin,  the  daughter  of  Simeon  Howell. 
Their  only  son  was  Edward,  though  he  has 
had  three  sisters,  of  whom  one  survives, 
Maria,  the  widow  of  W.  T.  Dart,  of  Des 
Moines,  Iowa.  One  sister,  Sally  Ann,  died 
in  the  prime  of  life,  unmarried;  and  the  other 
sister,  Harriet,  died  in  Walton  in  1857,  the 
wife  of  Andrew  Steele,  leaving  three  sons  and 
three  daughters.  Mrs.  Emil)-  Howell  Edger- 
ton died  in  1851. 

Till  he  was  sixteen  Edward  Edgerton 
stayed  at  home,  going  to  school,  and  working 
on  the  farm.  He  then  went  to  work  with  his 
uncle,  John  Edgerton,  a  prominent  store- 
keeper in  Franklin,  who  was  also  in  public 
life  as  Supervisor  and  Sheriff.  Six  years 
later,  in  1851,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  Ed- 
ward took  to  himself  a  wife  on  Christmas  Day. 
She  was  Lucy  Mellor,  of  Middlefield,  Otsego 
County,  a  daughter  of  John  Mellor  and  his 
wife,  Ann  Barnett,  both  of  whom  came  from 
Derbyshire,  England,  in  1830,  though  the 
father  crossed  the  seas  in  advance  of  his  wife, 
in  order  to  have  a  home  ready  when  the 
mother  came  over  with  her  three  boys  and  five 
girls.  She  died  in  1867,  aged  seventy-seven, 
and  he  in  1875,  ten  years  older;  and  they 
both  now  rest  in  Ouleout  Valley  cemetery, 
he  being  the  first  person  interred  in  that  beau- 
tiful spot.  A  cousin  of  our  subject,  Erastus 
S.  Edgerton,  the  son  of  Erastus  Edgerton,  did 
much  for  this  cemetery.  He  was  a  banker  in 
St.  Paul,  Minn.,  was  interested  in  several 
other  banks  in  different  States,  and  was  one 
of  the  few  business  men  able  to  withstand  the 
financial  panic  of  1857.  At  one  time  he  was 
Deputy  Sheriff,  and  in  this  capacity  was  ac- 
tive in  suppressing  the  anti-rent  riots,  and 
barely  escaped  with  his  life,  having  a  horse 
shot  under  him  and  a  bullet  passing  through 
his  hat.     At  the  same  time  the  Under-sheriff, 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


'47 


Mr.  Steele,  was  killed.  lua.stus  S.  ICdj^erton 
left  provision  in  his  will  for  a  family  monu- 
ment to  be  erected  in  the  Ouleout  X'alley 
cemetery,  which  provision  has  been  fulh'  car- 
ried out,  the  monument  costing  ten  thousand 
dollars. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kdvvard  Edgcrton  have  lived 
in  I'^ranklin  since  their  marriage,  and  from 
1853  to  1857  kept  the  hotel,  but  have  now 
been  farming  for  nearly  forty  years,  c.\ce[)t 
during  two  years,  when  Mr.  Fldgerton  was 
engaged  in  lumbering.  They  have  lost  two 
children.  Agnes  married  Isaac  Birdsall,  and 
died  in  April,  1877,  just  as  she  reached  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  leaving  an  infant  son,  lui- 
ward  Ira  Birdsall,  who  has  been  adopted  by 
his  grandparents,  and  received  the  ]iatro- 
nymic,  Edgcrton.  He  is  a  }'oung  man  of  great 
])romise,  having  been  graduated  with  honors 
from  the  Delaware  Institute  in  the  class  of 
1S94,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  receiving  a 
gold  medal  for  declamation.  Edward  E.  Ed- 
gcrton was  graduated  from  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  New  York,  and  also 
from  the  Homceopathic  College  in  the  same 
city.  He  was  enjoying  a  successful  practice 
when  his  death  occurred,  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
one,  in  Chicago,  at  the  Lincoln  Park  Sanita- 
rium, November  21,  1893,  just  at  the  close 
of  the  Columbian  Eair.  The  eldest  son  is 
George  H.  lulgerton,  who  has  a  wife  and  five 
children.  Samuel  Lloyd  Edgerton,  a  twin 
brother  of  Dr.  Edward,  is  married,  and  resides 
at  Unadilla.  being  connected  with  the  Han- 
f(}rd  Wagon  Company. 

Mrs.  lulgerton  is  an  Episcopalian.  Mr. 
Edgerton  is  a  Mason  and  a  Democrat,  though 
not  an  office-holder.  The  records  of  such 
families  as  the  Edgertons  suggest  such  praise 
as  James  Russell  Lowell  bestowed  on  Presi- 
dent Garfield,  "The  soil  out  of  which  such 
men  as  he  are  made  is  good  to  be  born  on, 
good  to  live  on,  good  to  die  for,  and  to  be 
buried    in." 


(OBERT    NESBITT,    a  prominent   and 
wealthy  citizen   and   farmer  of   Stam- 
b  V  ford,    was    borri   on    St.    Valentine's 

Da\-,   1826,  in  the  same  tow^n.      His 
grandfather,    William    Nesbitt,    was   an    Eng- 


lishman, coming  to  .Stamford  as  an  early  set- 
tler .IS  far  back  as  1795,  and  bringing  wiili 
liini  his  wife  and  children.  .Speedily  he  built 
a  log  house,  and  owned  two  hundred  acres, 
which  he  cleared  by  hard  work.  This  home- 
stead, thus  won  from  the  wilderness,  became 
very  dear  to  him;  and  theie  he  died  at  the 
age  of  eighty,  after  a  prosperous  agricultural 
career,  still  maintaining  his  faith  in  the  lipis- 
c:)pal  church,  wherein  he  had  been  reared. 
He  was  a  Eedcralist,  or  Whig,  and  attributed 
the  ills  of  the  nation  to  the  misrule  of  the 
opposition  ])aity  when  in  ]5ower.  It  was  no 
easy  task  for  a  farmer  in  Delaware  Counts'  a 
centur)'  ago,  when  every  bushel  of  meal  hatl 
to  be  ground  in  .Schoharie  County,  where 
stood  the  nearest  mill;  but  game  and  fish 
were  plentiful.  Grandfather  Nesbitt  had 
three  sons  and  two  daughters  —  George,  Will- 
iam, Robert,  Nancy,  and  Mary,  all  of  whom 
grew  up  and  married,  but  have  passed  into 
"that  undiscovered  country,  from  whose 
bourne   no   traveller   returns." 

George  Nesbitt  was  born  in  tiie  luiglish 
home  about  the  year  1777,  while  the  colonies 
were  fighting  for  their  independence,  and 
came  over  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  with  his 
parents,  younger  brothers,  and  sisters.  He 
married  I^lizabeth  Maynard,  a  native  of  Bo- 
vina.  More  about  the  Maynards  may  be 
found  in  the  sketch  under  that  name.  George 
Nesbitt  was  a  good  farmer,  and  his  fertile 
fields  laughed  out  with  plenty.  .Such  a  man 
could  not  be  otherwise  than  prominent  in 
local  affairs.  When  the  anti-rent  contest 
arose,  he  sided  very  strongly  with  the  efforts 
of  the  conuiion  j^eoplc  to  resist  aristocratic 
land-monopoly;  and  he  also  serveil  as  .Super- 
visor and  School  Commissioner  in  Bovina. 
where  his  farm  was  located.  With  his  youth- 
ful training  in  Great  I'Jritain,  it  was  but  nat- 
ural for  him  to  follow  the  religious  example 
of  his  father,  and  be  an  E.piscopalian ;  but  his 
wife  was  a  Methodist.  He  was  also  like  his 
father  in  being  a  \Miig:  but.  when  this  party 
disappeared  in  1856,  he  joined  the  Demo- 
cratic ranks.  His  last  years  were  si)ent  in 
Stamford,  he  dying  on  the  parental  farm, 
which  had  come  into  his  possession.  There, 
also,  his  wife  ilied,  at  the  great  age  of  eighty- 
five.      Of    their    eight    children     six    grew    to 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


adult  age,  and  three  still  survive.  William 
Nesbitt  lives  a  retired  life  in  Stamford,  and 
George  is  in  De  Kalb  County,  111. 

The  youngest  of  these  sons,  Robert,  is  the 
special  subject  of  this  sketch,  and  was  named 
after  an  uncle.  He  grew  up  like  other  lads 
of  the  neighborhood,  working  on  the  home 
farm  and  attending  the  district  school.  A 
year  after  he  came  of  age  he  learned  carpentry 
under  Hector  Cowan,  and  in  1849  began  for 
himself  the  business  which  for  fifteen  years  he 
carried  on  uninterruptedly.  His  first  pay  was 
at  the  rate  of  ten  dollars  per  month,  from 
Charles  Higby,  who  paid  him,  not  in  the  ex- 
pected cash,  but  with  a  promissory  note. 
Frugal  in  disposition,  he  at  last  accumulated 
fifteen  hundred  dollars,  wherewith  he  bought 
part  of  the  old  homestead.  In  September, 
1868,  he  married.  The  bride  was  Jane  Whip- 
ple, a  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Maria  (Cham- 
berlain) Whipple.  Daniel  Whipple  was  born 
in  the  Green  Mountain  State,  and  his  wife  in 
Roxbury,  Delaware  County.  Not  only  was 
he  a  successful  farmer,  but  a  tanner  also,  a 
trade  much  in  demand  in  a  new  country.  His 
declining  years  were  spent  in  Kortright, 
where  he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven,  his 
wife  passing  away  at  the  age  of  sixty-six. 
They  had  ten  children,  of  whom  eight  sur- 
vive; and  the  family  belonged  to  the  Meth- 
odist body.  Mr.  Whipple  was  a  Republican 
in   politics. 

Mr.  Nesbitt  from  time  to  time  increased 
the  old  farm,  till  it  included  over  five  hundred 
acres;  but  in  1868,  at  the  time  of  his  mar- 
riage, he  sold  out,  in  order  to  buy  another 
farm,  where  he  still  resides,  and  which  was  at 
one  time  only  one  hundred  acres  smaller  than 
the  old  one;  but  he  has  parted  with  portions 
of  it,  till  now  he  carries  on  a  little  less  than 
three  hundred  and  fifty  acres,  which  are  in 
first-rate  condition,  affording  pasturage  for 
sixty  cows,  besides  other  stock.  What  he 
has  he  has  earned  by  hard  labor,  and  thriftily 
cares  for.  Land  and  buildings  are  in  fine 
condition,  and  one  can  read  prosperity  in  barn 
and  meadow.  Mr.  Nesbitt  has  been  chosen  a 
director  of  the  new  creamery  in  process  of 
erection  in  South  Kortright.  Though  he  has 
been  a  Stamford  Assessor,  he  has  not  cared  to 
mix  very  much   in  political  life.     The  family 


belong  to  the  Presbyterian  society  in  Almeda. 
Only  two  children  have  blessed  the  home,  and 
one  of  these  has  been  already  called  to  higher 
spheres.  Sherman  S.  Nesbitt  was  born  Feb- 
ruary 17,  1875.  In  the  same  year,  on  No- 
vember 14,  in  Schoharie  County,  was  born  his 
wife,  Hattie  Hilts,  a  daughter  of  Jay  and 
Lydia  (Boyington)  Hilts,  farm-owners.  The 
deceased  brother  was  the  older  of  the  two,  and 
born  July  12,  1872.  He  bore  the  family 
names,  Robert  Whipple  Nesbitt,  and  passed 
away  July  17,  1891,  in  the  very  bloom  of  his 
youth,  his  twentieth  year  only  five  days  begun. 
Mr.  Nesbitt  may  well  look  with  pride  upon 
lowland  and  upland,  as  well  as  upon  the  cat- 
tle so  well  cared  for,  not  only  by  himself,  but 
by  his  enterprising  son,  who,  with  his  young 
wife  beside  him,  is  not  only  the  pride  of  his 
father's  heart,  but  bids  fair  to  share  his  agri- 
cultural laurels.  Well  did  the  late  President 
Garfield  say:  "If  wrinkles  must  be  written 
upon  our  brows,  let  them  not  be  written  upon 
the  heart.  The  spirit  should  not  grow  old." 
With  equal  truth  was  it  said  by  an  older 
thinker  and  scholar,  Josiah  Quincy,  "An 
agricultural  life  is  one  eminently  calculated 
for   human    happiness   and   human   virtue." 


|APTAIN    JULIUS    W.     ST.    JOHN. 
I  In  the  annals  of  Delaware  County  no 

^  ^.  name  stands  forth  more  promi- 
nently, or  adds  a  brighter  lustre  to 
its  records,  than  that  of  the  gentleman  whose 
name  heads  this  sketch.  For  many  years  he 
has  been  an  important  factor  in  the  mercan- 
tile circles  of  the  town  of  Walton,  having 
been  senior  partner  in  the  firm  of  St.  John, 
Eells  &  Reynolds,  dealers  in  hardware.  He 
is  one  of  Walton's  favored  sons,  his  birth 
occurring  within  its  limits,  March  29,  1855. 
His  father,  William  S.  St.  John,  was  born  in 
Walton,  about  half  a  mile  from  the  village, 
on  the  East  Brook  Road,  April  13,  1822.  He 
was  a  son  of  Thaddeus  Seymour  St.  John,  who 
was  also  a  native  of  Walton,  where  he  spent 
his  entire  life.  In  his  early  days  he  was 
engaged  in  farming,  but  relinquished  that 
occupation,  and  for  several  years  managed 
the  only  hotel  in  town.  He  subsequently 
opened   a  store  for  the  sale  of  general    mer- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


'49 


chanilisc,  and  carried  on  an  extensive  busi- 
ness, being  one  of  tiie  most  [irominent 
niercliants  in  tbis  vicinit)',  and  remaining 
actively  engaged  in  business  until  tbe  time 
of  bis  death.  He  married  Hannab  (irav 
Eel  Is. 

The  father  of  tbe  subject  of  tbis  sketih  was 
but  six  years  of  age  when  his  parents  removetl 
from  their  farm  to  the  hotel,  which  was  lo- 
cated three  miles  up  the  river  from  tlic  vil- 
lage of  Walton.  There  he  resided  until  ten 
years  old,  and  during  tbe  last  three  years  of 
his  residence  there  carried  the  mail  from  Wal- 
ton to  DownsN'ille,  a  distance  of  twelve  miles, 
on  horseback,  being,  without  doubt,  the 
youngest  mail-carrier  in  existence.  At  the 
expiration  of  that  time  his  father  entered  upon 
bis  mercantile  career  in  the  village  of  Wal- 
ton; and  he  pursued  his  studies  in  the  village 
school,  and  afterward  attended  the  academy  at 
Delhi  one  winter,  remaining  with  his  parents 
until  twenty-one  years  old.  He  then  assumed 
the  responsibilities  of  marrieti  life,  sui^port- 
ing  himself  and  wife  by  clerking  in  bis 
father's  store.  He  later  entered  the  business 
as  a  i^artner,  continuing  for  a  short  time, 
when  the  goods  were  sold  out  and  the  firm  dis- 
solved. He  then  went  to  Ohio,  where  be 
dealt  in  sheep  and  cattle,  buying  there  and 
selling  to  the  New  York  market.  Returning 
to  Walton,  he  again  entered  the  mercantile 
business,  forming  a  partnership  with  .S. 
North,  antl  continuing  with  him  a  few  }-ears, 
when  he  bought  out  the  interest  of  his  part- 
ner, and  ran  the  business  alone  for  a  time. 
He  subsequently  took  in  H.  E.  St.  John,  and 
carried  on  business  with  liini  for  a  time,  then 
bought  him  out,  and  made  bis  son,  Charles 
B.,  a  partner;  and  the  firm  continued  thus  for 
a  few  years.  He  afterward  removed  to  Nor- 
wich, where  be  was  eni|)loyed  some  years  in 
the  shops  of  tbe  Ontario  &  Western  Railwa\' 
Company,  then,  returning  to  Walton,  was  for 
a  time  in  the  coal  office  of  I'ond  &  I'"ancher. 
Later  he  went  to  Sing-.Sing,  and  worked  for  a 
time  on  the  New  York  Central  Railway,  then 
came  back  to  the  place  of  his  nativity,  where 
he  has  since  lived  retired. 

He  has  been  twice  married.  When  be  was 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  his  union  with  Juli- 
ette   Bristol,   the   daughter   of  John   and    I'ris- 


cilla  Bristol,  of  Walton,  was  celebrateti. 
She  (lied,  leaving  four  children,  as  follows: 
(ieorge,  an  engineer,  who  was  killed  on  the 
railway  at  Liberty,  was  married,  and  left  one 
son,  who  is  now  running  an  engine  on  the  fast 
express  from  Middletown  to  New  \'ork,  and  is 
considered  one  of  the  best  engineers  in  the 
employ  of  tbe  Ontario  &  Western  l^ailway 
Company;  Charles  B. ;  Edward  S. ;  and  l-'lor- 
ence.  who  died  when  young.  In  1850  ^Ir. 
St.  John  was  again  married,  taking  for  a  wife 
Mrs.  Betsey  Ann  (Hanford)  Waring,  a  daugh- 
ter of  .Seth  Hanford,  a  native  of  Walton,  but 
of  New  England  origin.  Of  this  union  two 
children  ( twins)  have  been  born:  Julius  W., 
the  subject  of  this  sketcii ;  and  Julia  B.,  the 
wife  of  Charles  .S.  Waters,  of  Norwich,  \.Y. 
In  politics  Mr.  .St.  John  uniformly  sujiports 
the  ReiMiblican  ticket,  and  has  served  as  Col- 
lector of  Taxes  and  as  Trustee  of  the  school 
district.  His  wife  is  an  active  worker  in  the 
Congregational  church,  of  which  she  has  been 
a  member  foi-  years. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  spent  the  davs  of 
his  boyhood  and  youth  with  his  father,  obtain- 
ing his  preliminary  education  in  the  village 
school,  and  comjileting  it  in  the  Walton 
Academy.  On  (October  20,  1S73,  be  began 
to  learn  tbe  tinsmith's  trade  with  S.  B.  I'itch, 
and  also  assisted  in  clerking  in  his  large  hard- 
ware store.  In  1877  he  was  taken  into  part- 
nership, "buying  a  one-third  interest,  and  so 
continued,  tlu'  firm  being  known  as  .S.  B. 
Eitch  &  Co.,  for  two  years.  Then,  selling 
out  to  his  partners,  Mr.  St.  John  went  on  the 
road,  selling  stoves  for  Russell,  Wheeler, 
.Son  &  Co.,  of  Utica,  N.Y.,  and  remained  in 
their  cmjiloy  until  I'ebruary  14,  18S5.  He 
then  established  the  present  Iiardware  business 
here,  from  which  he  has  just  retired,  succeed- 
ing Eells  6t  Wood,  under  the  firm  name  of 
L.  S.  iK:  J.  W.  St.  John,  and  having  a  store  at 
the  corner  of  Ncn'th  and  Delaware  .Streets,  the 
old  Eells  store.  Tliis  firm  continued  until 
June  20,  1889,  when  L.  .S.  .St.  John  sold  out 
'<  his  interest  to  J.  P.  White,  the  lirm  name 
<  being  changed  to  -St.  John  &  While;  and  on 
No\-ember  14,  1890,  tlie  present  magnificent 
store,  which  bad  been  erected  and  completed 
I  under  the  suiiervision  of  our  subject,  was 
I  opened.      Tbis    is   conceded   to   be  one  of  the 


15° 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


finest  hardware  stores  in  the  State  of  New 
York;  and  in  it  the  firm  continued  to  do 
business  until  January  i,  1891,  when  Mr. 
White  retired,  Mr.  St.  John  buying  his  inter- 
est. On  February  i  of  the  same  year  Messrs. 
Eells  and  Reynolds,  whose  sketches  appear 
elsewhere  in  this  volume,  were  taken  into 
partnership;  and  the  firm  name  changed  to  St. 
John,  Eells  &  Reynolds,  continuing  to  read 
thus  until  May  i,  1894,  when  Mr.  St.  John 
practically  retired  from  the  business,  although 
remaining  with  and  assisting  Messrs.  Eells 
and  Reynolds  in  the  management  of  the  same. 

The  stock  of  goods  carried  by  this  firm  is 
the  largest  in  any  town  in  the  State  of  New 
York;  and  the  store  is  one  of  the  largest,  fin- 
est, and  best-arranged  in  the  State,  its  stock 
of  goods  being  one  of  the  most  complete  to  be 
found  in  the  country.  The  business,  which 
was  established  by  Henry  Eells,  the  father  of 
the  present  partner,  nearly  half  a  century  ago, 
has  been  successfully  conducted  from  that  time 
to  the  present,  and  more  particularly  so  dur- 
ing the  past  ten  years,  under  the  able  man- 
agement of  Mr.  St.  John.  His  excellent 
reputation  throughout  the  surrounding  coun- 
try, his  pleasant,  agreeable  manners,  and  his 
frank,  open,  and  straightforward  business 
methods  have  won  for  him  a  large  circle  of 
friends,  and  have  materially  increased  the 
profits  of  the  business.  September  15,  1894, 
he  purchased  the  interest  of  E.  W.  Pond,  of 
the  firm  of  Pond  &  North,  in  the  insurance 
business,  which  business  will  be  continued 
under  the  firm  name    of    North    &   St.   John. 

In  all  social  matters,  and,  in  fact,  in  all 
matters  connected  with  the  advancement  of  the 
village  of  Walton,  the  Captain  has  always 
taken  a  very  warm  interest.  On  May  29, 
1879,  he  joined  the  Thirty-third  Separate 
Company  of  Walton,  under  the  command  of 
Captain  M.  W.  Marvin,  a  sketch  of  whom 
appears  upon  another  page  of  this  volume. 
On  account  of  being  compelled  to  travel  in 
the  interests  of  his  business,  the  name  of  Mr. 
St.  John  was  tlropped  from  the  rolls  of  the 
company  on  April  21,  1880;  but  on  May  5, 
1887,  he  re-enlisted,  and  on  April  6,  1888, 
was  elected  to  the  position  of  Second  Lieu- 
tenant from  the  ranks,  passing  all  interme- 
diate offices  of  positions,  showing  his  immense 


popularity  with  the  members  of  the  company. 
This  rank  he  retained  until  March  29,  1S90, 
when  he  was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant, 
and  continued  in  this  position  until  July  5, 
1892,  when  he  was  made  Captain  of  the  com- 
pany, which  at  this  time  consisted  of  seventy- 
six  men,  not  more  than  half  of  whom  were 
located  within  the  corporation  limits.  The 
company  has  now  the  names  of  ninety-four 
men  upon  its  rolls,  nine-tenths  of  whom  are 
within  the  corporation  limits,  and  in  point  of 
discipline  and  execution  has  few  superiors  in 
the  State.  Through  the  influence  of  Captain 
St.  John  and  his  friends  a  bill  has  been 
passed,  and  signed  by  the  Governor,  for  a 
magnificent  new  armory,  which  will  be  com- 
pleted in  about  a  year,  and  will  be  one  of  the 
finest  armories  of  a  separate  company  in  the 
State.  In  all  martial  circles  the  name  of 
Captain  St.  John  is  held  in  high  respect,  and 
in  all  martial  matters  his  opinions  are  eagerly 
sought  for. 

The  Captain  is  also  a  member  of  Walton 
Lodge,  No.  559,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  which  he 
is  Senior  Warden.  He  is  a  Royal  Arch 
Mason,  and  Treasurer  of  the  chapter  to  which 
he  belongs.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Lodge  of 
Perfection,  Scottish  Rite,  of  Utica,  an  ex- 
member  of  the  Red  Men,  and  a  charter  mem- 
ber of  the  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen, 
of  which  he  is  now  Master  Workman.  Mr. 
St.  John  was  also  a  charter  member,  and  the 
first  torch  boy  of  the  Alert  Hose  Company; 
and,  when  he  left  in  1880,  he  had  risen  to 
the  position  of  foreman  of  the  company,  of 
which  he  had  been  secretary  for  many  years. 
He  likewise  belonged  to  the  band  and  orches- 
tra for  many  years,  and  has  been  an  official 
member  in  every  secret  society  organized  in 
the  village  of  VValton  within  the  past  twenty 
years. 

On  September  26,  1876,  Mr.  St.  John  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Hattie  Ada  J. 
Chrisman,  one  of  three  children  born  to  James 
D.  and  Julia  A.  (Bassett)  Chrisman,  a  sketch 
of  whose  lives  may  be  found  elsewhere  in  this 
work.  The  pleasant  household  thus  formed 
has  been  brightened  and  enlivened  by  the 
advent  of  three  children ;  namely.  Earl  Shef- 
field, Frank  Chrisman,  and  Howard  Raymond. 
Mr.  St.  John  and  his  family  are  members   of 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


the  Eijiscopal  church  of  Walton,  and  lor 
twenty  years  lie  has  sung  in  its  choir,  lie  is 
also  an  officer  of  the  church,  having;  been 
elected  W'strxman  in  iSSS,  and  is  now  serv- 
ing as  Junior  Warden.  Politically,  he  is  a 
Republican,  and  is  now  a  Trustee  of  the 
.School  Ixiaril.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Building  Committee  when  the  present  mag- 
nificent   Union    School    building  was   erected. 


-OIIN  JAY  ANDRl-lWS,  a  prominent 
resident  of  Kortright,  was  born  in  the 
same  town  on  the  last  day  of  January, 
1840.  His  mother,  Xancy  Mace,  was 
born  in  Kortright,  with  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, November  10,  1800.  His  father,  for 
whom  he  was  named,  John  Andrews,  was 
born  in  Stamford  on  Alay  11,  1798.  The 
grandfather,  Samuel  W'akeman  Andrews,  was 
a  farmer,  who  on  horseback  came  from  Con- 
necticut to  Delaware  County,  and  settled  in 
Stamford,  where  he  bought  a  tract  of  wild 
land,  and  built  a  log  cabin.  This  was  in 
1790,  while  Washington  was  in  the  midst  of 
his  first  administration.  Catskill  was  the 
nearest  market.  Came  was  very  abundant. 
Success  meant  hard  labor;  but  in  this  respect 
Samuel  Andrews  was  fully  up  to  the  mark, 
taking  the  lead  among  the  agriculturists  of 
his  day.  At  his  death,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
five,  he  was  the  ])routl  possessor  of  four  liun- 
dred  valuable  acres,  and  left  his  family  the 
equal  heritage  of  a  good  name.  He  was  a 
Democrat  (Republican,  the  i-arty  was  early 
called),  and  perhaps  not  particularly  well 
pleased  when,  not  long  before  his  son  John's 
birth,  the  Federalists  elected  John  Adams,  in 
opposition  to  that  deep  thinker  and  steadfast 
patriot,  Thomas  Jefferson.  Mr.  Andrews  be- 
longed to  the  Baptist  church;  but  his  wife, 
whose  maiden  name  was  I'llizabeth  Meriani. 
was  a  Methodist.  They  had  ten  sons  and  two 
daughters,  all  but  one  of  whom  lived  to  the 
age  of  about  fourscore,  and  one  was  living  in 
1894 — Benjamin  Andrews,  of  New  Yoik 
City. 

Among  these  children,  as  already  sug- 
gested, was  John,  the  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.  He  grew  up  on  the  farm  in 
-Stamford,    Init     added     to    farming    a    skilful 


knowledge  of  carpentry.  His  first  land  |)ur- 
chase  was  in  another  part  of  Delaware  County, 
the  town  of  Hamden,  where  he  also  found 
plenty  to  do  as  a  builder.  His  next  business 
venture  was  in  Kortright,  where  he  added 
wagon-making  to  his  former  trade,  and  also 
bought  a  second  farm,  on  which  he  labored 
till  the  last  part  of  his  life.  He  passed  from 
earth  in  1881,  while  living  in  his  son  John's 
home,  at  the  good  old  age  of  eighty-three. 
His  wife  died  in  the  same  filial  home,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-fi\e.  Both  were  stanch  adher- 
ents of  the  United  Presbyterian  church. 
Politicall)-,  he  followed  his  father  in  being  a 
Democrat;  and  he  had  nearly  the  same  num- 
ber of  children,  ten  in  all,  of  whom  six  sur- 
vive. .Samuel,  named  for  his  grandfather,  is 
a  citizen  of  the  metropolis,  and  so  are  his 
brothers,  Charles  and  Benjamin  Clark.  Their 
sister  l'~li/.abeth  has  a  home  with  her  brother 
John  J.  Mrs.  Mary  D.  Bush,  another  sister, 
lives  in  the  \illage  of  Hobart.  .Simeon  Mace 
Andrews  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-six.  Charles 
Clark,  Cordelia,  and  Hannah  Andrews  died  in 
early  life.  It  is  a  religious  as  well  as  a  patri- 
otic satisfaction  to  the  Andrews  family  that 
they  are  able  to  trace  their  lineage  directly 
back  to  an  ancestor  bearing  the  same  name, 
who  crossetl  the  seas  in  the  "Mayflower,"  anil 
landed  where  "the  breaking  waves  dashetl 
high,    on   a   stern   and   rockbound   coast." 

J.  J.  An(h-ews  was  like  his  father  in  grow- 
ing to  manhood  on  the  paternal  acres,  though 
in  a  different  district.  What  schooling  was 
pi)ssible  he  obtained  in  his  native  place. 
Vacu  after  he  began  to  support  himself  he 
still  li\ed  under  the  parental  roof-tree,  anil 
cared  for  his  father  and  mother  in  their  feebler 
\ears.  He  was  not  married  till  the  second 
day  of  October,  1878.  The  bride  was  born 
in  Hobart,  April  24,  1859.  Her  name  was 
Mary  lunma  Kniskern.  and  at  the  time  of  her 
marriage  she  was  only  nineteen.  Her  mother, 
Jane  lileanor  .Story,  was  born  in  Schoharie 
Countv,  December  17,  1828;  and  her  father, 
John  v.  Kniskern.  an  industrious  cabinet- 
maker and  builder,  was  horn  in  the  same 
county,  1-ebruary  7,  1822.  Their  home  was, 
and  still  is.  in  Hobart,  where  they  arc  active 
workers  in  the  :\Iethodist  church.  A  Rei)ub- 
lican    in    iiolitics.    INIr.    Kniskern    has   always 


^52 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Andrews 

in    1865, 

To   the 

acres   he 


been  interested  in  everything  that  affects  the 
welfare  of  the  community.  To  the  Kniskerns 
were  born  ten  children,  as  also  to  the  parents 
of  Mr.  Andrews.  Walter  J.  is  a  house- 
painter  in  Hobart.  Aldamont  is  a  book- 
keeper in  Baltimore.  Mrs.  Maud  Chapman 
resides  in  New  York  City.  Claude  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Hobart.  Mary  is  the  wife  of  Mr. 
Andrews.  Mrs.  Cora  L.  P.  Lyon  resides  in 
the  metropolis.  Herman  and  John  B.  are 
both  painters  in  the  village  of  Hobart,  like 
their  brother  Walter.  Elloy  and  Jennie  both 
died  when  only  eighteen  months  old. 

The  productive  farm  where  Mr. 
and  his  family  reside  was  bought 
just  at  the  close  of  the  Civil  War. 
original  two  hundred  and  eighteen 
added  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  more  two 
years  later,  so  that  he  now  owns  three  hun- 
dred and  forty-four  acres,  one  of  the  largest 
farms  in  this  section.  Like  his  neighbors,  he 
turns  his  attention  mainly  to  dairy  products, 
having  seventy-five  milch  cows,  and  selling 
ten  cans  of  milk  daily,  the  year  round.  He 
also  deals  in  fine  horses,  and  keeps  his  barns 
and  stables  in  excellent  condition. 

Three  children  have  blessed  the  home. 
Maud  Elizabeth  was  born  November  23,  1879, 
and  still  graces  the  homestead.  John  Sim- 
eon, named  for  grandfathers  and  an  uncle,  was 
born  May  15,  1884,  and  has  not  yet  left 
home;  and  the  same  is  naturally  true  of  his 
younger  brother,  Benjamin  Clark,  born  March 
22,  1887.  These  children  are  growing  up  an 
honor  to  their  parents.  Mrs.  Andrews  is 
Presbyterian  in  faith.  Her  husband,  how- 
ever, is  a  liberal  in  his  religious  views.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Democrat,  like  the  two  gener- 
ations preceding  him.  The  home  is  located 
in  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Delaware  River, 
and  surrounded  by  the  hills  and  mountains 
forming   part    of    the   famous   Catskill    range. 


/3)lORGE  WEBSTER.  The  thriving 
\  JTT  villige  of  Walton  has  a  full  quota 
^ —  of  live,  energetic,  and  persevering 
business  men,  among  whom  is  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  who,  in  company  with  Mr.  Frank 
Clark,  has  recently  embarked  in  the  market 
business.      He   is  a  man   of   sound  judgment 


and  keen  foresight,  and  has  met  with  uniform 
success  in  the  various  transactions  in  which 
he  has  engaged.  He  is  a  native  of  the  Em- 
pire State,  appearing  upon  the  scenes  of  life 
in  1 841,  in  the  town  of  Milford,  Otsego 
County,  at  the  homestead  of  his  parents, 
David  and   Ruth   (^Worden)  Webster. 

David  Webster  was  born  on  the  green  sod 
of  the  Emerald  Isle,  in  the  year  1796,  in 
Armagh,  County  Down,  and  was  named  for 
his  father.  When  fifteen  years  old,  he  accom- 
panied his  parents  to  America.  They  had  an 
unusually  tempestuous  voyage,  their  seven 
weeks  of  ocean  travel  being  weeks  of  terror 
and  danger.  After  landing  in  New  York 
City,  they  proceeded  at  once  to  the  town  of 
Westford,  near  Schenevus,  Otsego  County, 
where  they  bought  a  tract  of  timbered  land, 
on  which  they  reared  their  large  family  of 
eighteen  children,  all  of  whom  were  born  in 
Ireland.  Many  of  these  sons  and  daughters 
were  old  enough  to  be  of  great  assistance  in 
clearing  and  improving  the  land;  and  in  a 
few  years  they  had  a  good  farm,  entirely  free 
from  debt.  On  this  homestead,  which  they 
reclaimed  from  the  forest,  David  Webster, 
Sr.,  and  his  wife  spent  their  remaining  years, 
rearing  their  large  family  to  habits  of  indus- 
try and  economy;  and  all  became  honored 
and  trustworthy  men  and  women,  and  most  of 
them  well-to-do  farmers.  They  were  Protes- 
tant in  religion,  and  held  in  high  respect 
throughout   their  neighborhood. 

David  Webster,  Jr.,  the  father  of  George 
Webster,  was  an  earnest  and  honest  tiller  of 
the  soil,  and  after  his  marriage  bought  a  farm 
in  Otsego  County,  on  which  he  resided  until 
1849,  prosperously  engaged  in  mixed  husban- 
dry. During  that  year  he  removed  to  Dela- 
ware County,  buying  a  farm  in  the  town  of 
Tompkins.  After  living  there  eight  years, 
he  exchanged  that  two  hundred  acres  of  land 
for  a  farm  near  by,  and  was  there  a  resident 
until  the  spring  of  1866,  conducting  his  agri- 
cultural interests  very  successfully.  Selling 
that  at  an  advance,  he  purchased  another  farm, 
which  was  finely  situated  on  the  Delaware 
River,  between  Cannonsville  and  Deposit. 
In  1869,  feeling  the  infirmities  of  years  com- 
ing on  apace,  and  having  performed  his  full 
share  of  manual  labor,  he  sold  his  property  to 


BIOGRAI'HICAI,    KI'.VIFAV  ij.i 

his  son,  with   whom    lie   ami    liis    faitlilii!  wife  manird    l''loroncc   Walworth,  aiui  also  lias  on.- 

afterward    made    their    liome,    both    dyiiii;-    in  ehild.   a   liri-ht   hoy  of    fourteen   months:   and 

Cannonsville,  at   the   a,<;e   of   eighty-six  years,  George    I..,   a  young    man   of   eighteen    years, 

his  death  occurring  in  1883,  ami  hers  in  1.S84.  who     is     now    attending     the     Walton     High 

Of   eleven  children   horn  to  them  nine  grew  to  School.      Mr.  and  Mrs.  Webster  occupy  .1  very 

maturity,  four  sons  and  live  daughters:  and  of  pleasant    home    on    I'ark    Street,    which    they 

these   the   following  are   now    living:  John,   a  bought   from    William  Woodin,  who  had  built 

farmer,  who  lives  in  Sanford,  Broome  County:  it  for  his  own  use. 

Mary    Ann,   the  widow    of    Stutely   Sherma'n,  In  politics  Mr.  Webster  is  an  unconipromis- 

who'  resides    near    Cooperstown    Junction,    in  ing  Republican,  ever  interested    in    local   mat- 

Otsego   County;   ]':bene/er,  wlio  likewise  lives  ters,    and    now    serving    as    Village    Trustee, 

near  Cooperstown  Junction,  and  owns,  in  com-  While  in   Tompkins   he  was  for  one   year  As- 

pany  with   his   son-in-law,  a   valuable   farm  of  sessor.      In    his   religious   views    he   coincides 

six   hundred   acres,  on  which   they  carry  on  an  with    the    tenets    of    the    Baptist     church,    of 

extensive  business    in   dairying  and  hop-grow-  which    he   and   his   wife  and   two   children  are 

ing;    Ruth    Ann,   the    wife 'of    N.    S.    l$oyd,    a  faithful    and    worthy    members,    he     being    a 

farmer,  who  lives  in  Downsville;  and  (leorge.  Trustee   and    Deacon, 

of  whom  we  write.  . -_«.». 

George   W\-bster  received   a    limited   educa-  ^_^,^mm^ 

tion    in^the  district   school,   and   at   the   early  TjDW.XRD     AUGCSTCS     SlIAFI-^I-'.R     is 

age  of  eight  years  began  working  on  the  farm,  r^      a     leading     citizen    of     Margarettville. 

hTs  first  c^njilovment  being   to  drive   the   team  '^■^  -  ■-  where  he    has   a    large   store    in    the 

for    his    father    to    i)lough.      From    this    time  very  centre  of  the  village.      He  was  born   May 

until   the  vear  i8go  Mr.' Webster  was  steadily  27,   1869.  in   the  town   of   Andes;  and  his  an- 

engagcd   in   agricultural    pursuits,    and    was    a  ;  tecedents  are  worth  considering, 

fanner  of   more  than  average  skill  and  ability,  :       The     great-grandparents     were     Adam     and 

his  earlv  experience  in  that    line  being   of   in-  ;   Laura  ( Shoefelt)  Shaffer.      .Adam    Shalfer  was 

estimable  value  to  him.      His  first  purchase  of  born   in   Dutchess   County,  and   there   married, 

land    was    near    Cannonsville,    and    contained  Willi   his   wife  and   older  children  he  came  to 

one  hundred   and   fifty  acres   of    rich   and   iiro-  Delaware   County,  and   settled    in   the   village 

ductive   land,  from    which   he   receive:!  a  good  of   Shavertown,  in  Andes,  on  the  banks  of  the 

annual    income.      In    1 8()0  he   sold    that    farm  Delaware    River,    on    a    farm   now    owned    by 

for  the  consideration  of  six  thousand  five  bun-  W.  II.  Terry.      He   brought    cattle  and  horses 

dred    d(dlars,    and,    coming   to   the    village   of  fnuii  his  oUI  home,  and   built   almost   the  first 

Walton,  bought  a  small   tract    within   the  cor-  log  house  and   barn  in  this   part   of   the   town, 

poration    liniits.      This    he  divided    into  town  On    I'.each    Hill   Creek   he   built   subsequently 

lots,  all    of   which  he  has  sold  with  the  excep-  the  only  saw-mill  to  be  found  for  many  miles: 

tion   of   five.      In  1893  he  and   his  son   bought  ,  and,  as   there  were  as  yet   no  roads  to    Kings- 

the   Walton   bakery,  which    is   now   under  the  ton,     the     nearest     settlement,      only     trails 

management    of    his    two    elder   sons,    liugene  .,  through  the  woods,  it  was  no  easy  task   to   get 

and    Arthur.  together  the  proper  materials.      As  there  was 

The    marriage    of    Mr.    Webster    and    Miss  great  need  of  a  grist-mill,  he  contrived  a  rude 

Hulda   Pomero'v  was  celebrated  September  30,  machine  for  corn-grinding,  much    like   an  old- 

1863.      Mrs.    VVebster   was    born   in    Hamden,  fashioned     well-sweep:     only,    in    place    of    a 

Delaware  County,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Orange  bucket,  was   a   heavy  stone   that_  was   pounded 

D.  and    Sally  ( Montfort)  Pomeroy,  the  former  ,  up  and  d.iwn  upon  the  grain,  which  was  placed 

of   whom  was   born    in    Massachusetts,  and  the  '   in   a   hollow   log  by  way  of  a   hopper.      So  in- 

latter   in   Delaware   County.      This  union    has  dispensable    was    this     pounder    that^  larmers 

been    blessed    with    three 'children :    Eugene,  came  from  near  and   far  to  use  it.       I  hen    Air. 

who    married     l-:mma    '1-iffanv,    and    has    one  Shaffer   began   to   raft    lumber  down  the  rivc-r. 

daughter,  now  a  few  months  old;  Arthur,  who  ,  and  in  the  course  of  years  was  able  to  erect  a 


IS4 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


frame  house  and  barn,  the  first  in  this  part  of 
the  county.  It  need  hardly  be  said  that  a 
farmer  so  enterprising  and  inventive  soon 
wanted  more  than  the  two  hundred  acres  at 
first  bought.  In  the  woods  were  wolves, 
bears,  panthers,  and  wild-cats,  as  well  as  deer. 
Like  the  father  of  the  human  race,  this  Adam 
could  call  the  beasts  by  name,  and  in  later 
life  could  narrate  to  a  younger  generation 
many  an  adventure  of  the  wilderness.  Six 
boys  helped  him  in  his  work  —  George, 
Henry,  Philip,  Peter,  William,  and  John. 
The  pioneer  was  a  Whig  in  his  latter  days, 
but  earlier  in  life  was  a  Federalist;  and  the 
family  belonged  to  the  Dutch  Reformed 
church.  Adam  Shaffer  died  in  middle  life,  at 
fifty-two;  but  his  wife  lived  to  be  a  dozen 
years  older. 

Adam  Shaffer's  son  William,  on  attaining 
manhood,  bought  part  of  his  father's  farm. 
He  married  Hannah  Vail,  daughter  of  Joseph 
and  Ruby  (Wilson)  Vail,  who  came  from  the 
South,  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware, 
reared  a  large  family,  and  lived  to  be  old 
people,  though  the  descendants  are  no  longer 
found  in  this  region.  Like  his  father,  Will- 
iam Shaffer  not  only  farmed,  but  dealt  largely 
in  lumber,  owning  at  one  time  three  saw- 
mills. Like  his  parents,  William  and  Han- 
nah Shaffer  had  six  children.  Alfred,  born 
January  5,  1815,  married  Mary  Jessup;  and 
they  had  one  child,  who  now  lives  in  Andes. 
Delancey  Shaffer  was  born  in  the  last  month 
of  the  year  18 17.  He  was  twice  married,  first 
to  the  Widow  Bambardt,  and  second  to  Anne 
Knapp,  and  had  in  all  seven  children. 
Edwin  Shaffer  was  born  October  i,  1823. 
George  R.  Shaffer  was  born  November  10, 
1825,  married  Sarah  Radecker,  has  two  chil- 
dren, and  lives  at  Shavertown.  Sylvester 
Shaffer,  born  January  29,  1830,  married  De- 
lotte  Fuller,  and  lives  in  Downsville.  Sallie 
C.  Shaffer,  born  in  August,  1839,  married 
Dr.  Oliver  Carroll,  lives  in  Port  Jervis,  and 
has  one  child.  William  Shaffer  was  a  soldier 
in  the  War  of  18 12,  and  received  for  his  ser- 
vice a  thousand  acres  of  land,  divided  into 
farms  and  woodland.  He  died  March  30, 
1835,    ^i^c'   li's   wife  on   July   22,    1840. 

William  Shaffer's  son  lulwin,  father  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  studied    in   the  district 


school,  and  worked  at  home,  where  he  re- 
mained till  he  was  thirty  years  old.  His 
father  gave  him  a  saw-mill  and  land,  and  nat- 
urally Edwin  took  to  the  lumber  business; 
but  in  1864  he  turned  drover,  taking  cattle  at 
first  as  far  as  Dutchess  County,  and  later  to 
New  York  City  and  New  Jersey.  November 
29,  1863,  amid  the  Civil  War,  he  married, 
his  wife  being  Agnes  Boyce,  daughter  of 
James,  Jr.,  and  Barbara  (Gordon)  Boyce. 
James  Boyce,  Jr.,  was  the  son  of  James,  Sr., 
and  Agnes  (Currie)  Boyce,  of  Dumfries,  Scot- 
land. James  Boyce  the  younger  came  to 
America  when  twenty-two  years  old,  and  here 
met  and  married  Barbara  Gordon,  daughter  of 
James  and  Mary  (Hay)  Gordon.  Her  brothers 
and  sisters  were  Peter,  Jane  Ann,  Owen,  and 
Jeanette.  At  first  James  Boyce  and  his  wife 
lived  in  New  York  City,  but  later  in  Delhi  and 
Andes.  The  names  of  their  children  were: 
James ;  Joshlynn,  who  married  Laura  Caulk- 
ins,  and  has  two  children;  Mary;  Peter,  who 
married  Mary  E.  Davis,  and  has  one  boy; 
Fannie:  Agnes,  who  was  born  March  28, 
1849,  and  married  Edwin  Shaffer,  as  already 
related;  John,  who  is  dead:  Thomas,  who 
married  Maggie  Bell,  has  four  children,  and 
lives  in  Hartford,  Conn.;  William  A.,  who 
married  Anna  Burhaus,  lives  in  Margarett- 
ville,  and  is  a  merchant;  David,  who  lives  in 
Michigan:  Annie,  who  married  C.  J.  Dick- 
son, of  whom  a  special  sketch  may  be  found. 
James  Boyce  lived  in  Andes  when  his  wife 
died,  in  1882,  December  20,  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church ;  and  then  he  moved  to 
Margarettville,  where  he  now  lives,  at  the 
extreme  age  of  eighty-five.  Edwin  and  Agnes 
Shaffer  had  only  two  children.  Edward  Au- 
gustus Shaffer  was  born  May  27,  1869,  and 
was  married  June  28,  1893.  Laura  Anna 
Shaffer  was  born  February  28,  1877,  and  lives 
at  home.  Their  father  is  a  Republican,  and 
his  wife  is  a  Presbyterian. 

Edward  Augustus  Shaffer  went  to  school 
winters  and  worked  on  the  farm  summers. 
Four  years  he  worked  for  T.  R.  McFarland, 
and  then,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  was  em- 
ployed as  clerk  by  C.  J.  Dickson,  of  Mar- 
garettville, his  kinsman  by  marriage.  Being 
then  of  age,  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
Fred.    S.    Tobey;    and    they    continued    three 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


1 5  - 


vcars  in  tlic  liardwarc  Ijusincss,  till  18S3, 
when  Mr.  Shaffer  sold  out,  and  worked  a  year 
with  his  old  employer,  and  then  went  into 
business  elsewhere  for  himself,  adding  to  his 
plumbing  an  extensive  traffic  in  all  sorts  of 
farming  tools.  His  place  of  business  is  on 
Bridge  Street.  He  w\'is  married  in  1S93,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-four.  His  wife,  Ccua  \l. 
Terpenning,  is  the  only  daughter  of  H.  H. 
and  Susa  (Myles)  Terpenning.  He  was  born 
in  Ulster  County,  near  Ksopus,  and  first  ditl 
business  in  New  York  City,  but  later  came  to 
Margarettville,  where  he  jjurchased  of  C.  H. 
Scboonmaker  the  Riverside  Hotel,  and  does 
a  large  business  in  entertaining  summer 
boarders.  Mr.  1'".  A.  Shaffer  is  a  Keiiublican, 
very  liberal  in  his  religious  views. 


r?)l-;\VIS  1!.  STRONG,  a  well-to-do 
farmer,  residing  on  the  l'"rank]in  road 
in  the  town  of  Meredith,  is  a  man 
of  much  energy  and  ability,  and 
has  attained  success  by  his  untiring  industry, 
combined  with  a  careful  and  wise  manage- 
ment of  his  business  interests.  He  is  a  na- 
tive of  Delaware  County,  having  been  born  on 
September  23,  1828,  in  that  part  of  the  town 
of  Meredith  Iving  between  Delhi  and  Mere- 
dith Square.  He  comes  of  Colonial  stock, 
ami  traces  his  aneestr)'  back  to  one  Caleb 
-Strong,  his  great-grandfather,  who  was  born 
in  Connecticut,  in  the  town  of  Colchester, 
February  20,  1713.  He  was  a  farmer  by  occu- 
pation, and  spent  his  last  years  in  Sharon, 
Conn.  His  son,  Caleb  Strong,  Jr.,  was  also 
of  Connecticut  birth,  born  June  20,  1749.  He 
carried  on  farming  in  Sharon  until  1797,  when 
he  came  to  this  county  and  cleared  olf  a  tract 
of  land  now  included  in  the  site  of  Meredith 
Square,  remaining  there  until  his  decease. 
He  married  and  reared  thirteen  children. 

William,  the  youngest,  was  born  l*"ebruary 
29,  1797,  in  the  Connecticut  home  of  his  par- 
ents, and  was  brought  here  by  them  when  an 
infant.  He  was  bred  a  farmer,  and  remained 
with  his  father,  helping  in  the  farm  work 
until  of  age.  He  then  began  working  by  the 
month  for  Judge  Law,  and  subsequently 
bought  a  farm  on  Honest  ]5rook,  where  he 
lived  a  few  years.      Selling  that   property,  he 


removed  to  Taylor,  Cortland   County,  residing; 
there    three    years.      In    1834    he    returned    to 

'1  this  county,  and  purchased  the  farm  udw 
owned  and  occupied  by  his  son,   Lewis  K.,  the 

{  sul)jecl  of  this  sketch.  He  labored  diligentiy 
in  clearing  and  impro\ing  tiie  land,  and  in 
course  of  time  waving  fields  ot  grain  and 
green  jxisture  lands  occupieil  the  tract  wliere 
fc-rmerly  stood  the  primeval  forest.  (Jn  this 
snug  homestead  he  and  his  good  wife  jiassed 
their  remaining  years,  she  crossing  the  dark 
river  of  death  in  1867,  he  dying  in  1876,  at 
the  venerable  age  of  sevent)'-nine  years.  The 
maiden  name  of  Mrs.  William  Strong  was 
Ciiarlotte  Whitney.  .She  was  a  native  of 
Walton,  and  was  one  of  a  large  family  of 
children  born  to  David  and  Nancy  (Raymond) 

!  Whitney,  the  date  of  her  birth  being  February 
15,  1800.  Her  ]jarents  were  natives  of  New 
Ivngland  ;  but  after  their  marriage  they  settled 

i  in  Walton,  where  Mr.  Wliitney  followed  the 
trade  of  a  blacksmith  for  many  vears.  Se\en 
children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Strong: 
Mary  .\nn,  who  married  Thomas  Bartlelt; 
Marietta,  who  niarrieil  William  H.  (kites: 
Maria,  who  married  Thomas  Craham,  a  butter 
dealer  of  Croton :  James  W.  :  Lewis  H.  : 
William  M.:  and  ^iilton  M.  Mrs.  Strong 
was  a  noble  t\[)e  of  the  ])ioneer  women  of  her 
ilay,  a  faithful  coadjutor  of  her  husband  in  all 
of  his  labors,  and  a  sincere  member  of  the 
Presbyterian   church   of   Meredith. 

Lewis  B.,  the  second  son  of  William  and 
Charlotte  Strong,  was  two  years  of  age  when 
his  parents  went  to  Cortland  County,  where 
they  lived  three  years,  and  was  five  years  old 
when  they  removed  to  the  farm  he  now  occu- 
pies. He  shortly  began  his  education  in  the 
district  school,  and,  completing  it  at  the 
I'ranklin  Literary  Institute,  was  subsequently 
engaged  one  term  in  teaching.  His  assist- 
ance being  then  needed  on  the  home  farm,  he 
gave  his  attention  to  that  until  1853,  when  he 
purchased  a  farm  in  the  western  part  of  the 
town,  where  he  resided  ten  years,  successlully 
engaged  in  general  husbandry.  Returning  in 
1S63  to  the  home  of  his  boyhood,  he  bought 
the  place,  which  he  has  since  carried  on  with 
satisfactorv  pecuniary  results.  During  the 
lifetime  of  his  honored  parents  they  re- 
maineil    inmates   of  his   home,    and   were   ten- 


iS6 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


derly  cared  for  by  himself  and  family.  His 
farm  contains  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
of  good  land,  on  which,  besides  raising  grain 
of  all  kinds  and  cutting  a  good  deal  of  hay,  he 
keeps  a  dairy  of  graded  Jerseys,  which  yield 
him  a  profitable  income,  his  sweet,  pure  but- 
ter finding  a  ready  market. 

Mr.  Strong  has  been  twice  married.  His 
first  wife,  to  whom  he  was  united  in  1850, 
was  Jeanette  Hymers,  one  of  ten  children 
born  to  John  and  Elizabeth  (Ormiston) 
Hymers,  the  former  of  whom  was  a  native  of 
Scotland  and  the  latter  of  Bovina.  Three 
children  were  born  of  this  union,  namely: 
Henry  M.,  who  married  Anna  McCormick,  of 
Meredith,  and  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-two 
years;  Alfred  D.,  a  butcher  in  Delhi,  who 
married  Sarah  Thompson,  and  has  one  child, 
James  Madison;  Frank  M.,  who  married 
Adelia  Osborne,  of  Croton,  and  has  one  child, 
Lewis  Ranson.  Mrs.  Strong,  a  sweet,  lov- 
able woman,  passed  to  the  higher  life  in  1878, 
at  the  age  of  forty-six  years.  She  was  a  true 
Christian,  and  a  devout  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian church.  Mr.  Strong  subsecjuently 
wedded  Miss  Eugenia  L.  Covell,  a  native  of 
Wisconsin,  and  the  daughter  of  Peter  and 
Jane  (Moscrip)  Covell,  natives  of  Delaware 
County.  Peter  Covell  died  in  Wisconsin; 
and  his  wife  returned  with  her  family  to 
Delaware  County,  and  married  James  Sloane, 
who  was  for  many  years  a  well-known  farmer 
in  the  town  of  Kortright. 

Politically,  Mr.  Lewis  B.  Strong  is  a  true- 
blue  Republican,  and  in  the  affairs  of  his 
town  and  county  takes  an  intelligent  interest. 
He  has  filled  the  office  of  Supervisor  four 
terms,  and  for  eleven  years  was  a  Justice,  of 
the  Peace.  Six  years  he  was  employed  as 
Deputy  Collector  of  Internal  Revenue.  Re- 
ligiously, he  is  a  believer  in  the  tenets  of  the 
Methodist   church,  to  which  iiis  wife  belongs. 


1 1  ETON    H.    MAYNARD,    a  promi- 
nent    lumber    merchant    at    Fish's 
Eddy,     was      born     October     26, 
1829,  in  Delhi,  Delaware  County. 
His   earliest    ancestors   in    this   country  came 
from    England    and   settled   in    Massachusetts. 
Thomas  Maynard,  his  grandfather,  was  born 


in  Deerfield,  on  the  Maynard  farm,  which  is 
one  of  the  oldest  in  that  part  of  the  State. 
He  married  Elizabeth  Choat,  of  Deerfield, 
and,  with  a  colony  of  Eastern  people,  com- 
prising members  of  the  Maynard,  Choat,  and 
Parsons  families,  migrated  to  Schoharie 
County,  New  York,  late  in  last  century,  set- 
tling in  that  part  of  Blenheim  now  called 
Gilboa.  They  came  as  far  as  Newburg, 
N.Y.,  by  water,  and  then  were  conveyed  by 
ox  carts  to  Blenheim,  where  they  built  their 
log  cabins  on  the  highest  hills  they  could 
find.  Here  they  lived  a  most  primitive  life, 
depending  mainly  upon  the  game,  deer,  and 
fish  for  their  daily  food.  They  built  strong- 
enclosures  for  their  sheep  and  cattle  as  protec- 
tion against  the  wolves,  panthers,  and  bears, 
which  were  abundant.  The  women  spun, 
carded,  and  wove  the  wool  and  flax,  and  manu- 
factured all  the  garments  worn  by  the  family. 
Elizabeth,  the  wife  of  Thomas  Maynard,  was 
a  descendant  of  the  Choat  family  of  Massachu- 
setts, her  father  having  a  family  of  thirteen 
children,  nine  of  whom  lived  to  be  over  eighty 
years  of  age.  He  himself  died  after  more 
than  fourscore  years,  and  was  buried  on  the 
Choat  farm  in  Gilboa,  having  with  his  wife 
been  a  faithful  member  of  the  Baptist  church. 

A.  S.  Maynard,  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
biography,  was  educated  in  his  native  town, 
and  assisted  his  parents  on  the  home  farm 
until  he  became  of  age.  He  married  Ophelia 
Reekie,  daughter  of  Andrew  Reekie,  of  Stam- 
ford, Delaware  County.  Her  father  was  a 
supporter  of  the  last  Stuart  pretender  to  the 
British  crown,  and  came  to  this  coimtry  as  a 
political  refugee  with  a  price  upon  his  head. 
He  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  War, 
and  first  met  at  Newburg,  after  Burgoyne's 
surrender,  the  lady  who  became  his  wife.  He 
served  until  the  close  of  the  war,  then  married 
and  settled  in  Stamford,  where  he  resided 
until  his  death,  at  the  age  of  ninety-four 
years.  His  wife  survived  him  ten  years. 
A.  S.  Maynard  was  the  father  of  eleven  chil- 
dren, seven  of  whom  grew  to  manhood  and 
womanliood.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church,  and  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy-six. 

Milton  H.  Maynard  was  educated  in  the 
Stamford  Academy,  and  then  went  to  Frank- 


Milton  H.  Maynard 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


'SO 


lin,  after  wliicli  he  l)ei;an  llic  study  ol  nicli- 
ciiie,  but  soon  jjavo  lliat  up  and  tauglit  school 
for  a  number  of  terms.  About  the  year  1853, 
in  company  with  .A.  15.  Stimpson,  he  started 
a  store,  whicli  he  sold  to  his  partner  in  1857; 
and  he  has  since  been  engaged  in  the  lumber- 
ing business. 

His  first  marriage  was  in  1854  to  Marie  A. 
Fletcher,  of  Davenport,  by  whom  he  had  four 
children,  namely:  Augustus,  now  a  resident 
of  Hancock  village;  Lasael  A.,  etlitor  of  the 
Cliristian  at  Work,  a  paper  edited  in  the  inter- 
est of  the  Christian  religion  in  New  York 
City;  Ida  P.,  wife  of  James  M.  Driver,  of 
Narrowsburg,  Sullivan  Count\",  who  died  in 
July,  1894;  Dewhurst  !■".,  who  died  in  1874, 
when  seventeen  years  okl.  The  mother  of 
these  children  died  in  1863;  and  Mr.  Maynard 
afterward  married  IClizabeth  ¥ .  Sparks,  (.laugh- 
ter of  Robert  and  I'lleanor  (.Sniffin)  .S|)arks,  of 
Fremont,  Sullivan  County.  Mrs.  Maynard 
is  the  mother  of  four  sons  —  lulwin  I,., 
Arthur  II.,  Carlisle  M.,  Manton  II.  -  all  .)f 
whom  live  at  home  and  assist  in  the  manage- 
ment of  their  father's  farm. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Maynard  are  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  at  P'ish's  Eddy, 
and  politically  lie  is  a  Democrat.  He  has 
been  a  Justice  of  Peace  since  1858,  ami  has 
been  Justice  of  .Sessions  for  two  terms,  still 
holding  the  position.  A  [jortrait  of  this  use- 
ful and  honored  citizen,  who  is  well  known  as 
a  man  of  good  business  ability  and  of  u])right 
life,  graces  an  adjoining  page. 


■UHX  H.  BAUMI-.S,  one  of  Delaware 
County's  enterprising  farmers,  [jropric- 
tor  and  manager  for  several  years  of 
the  first  steam  saw-mill  in  Masonvillc, 
was  born  in  Bethlehem,  Albany  County, 
N.Y.,  May  24,  1835,  son  of  David  and  Maria 
(McKnab)  Baumes.  His  parents  were  both 
natives  of  the  county,  where  they  began  life 
almost  with  the  close  of  that  century,  the  date 
of  his  father's  birth  being  I'ebruary  22,  1799, 
anil  of  his  mother  January  3,   1800. 

John  Baumes,  father  of  David,  was  of  Ger- 
man descent,  but  was  born  in  New  York 
State.  In  early  manhood  he  owned  land  in 
Albanv   Countv,  atid   was  engaged    in    its  cul- 


tivation. Later  he  removed  to  .Schoharie 
County,  where  he  dii'd  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
two  years.  Mr.  John  Baumes  was  industrious 
and  thrifty,  and  was  a  man  of  substance.  In 
])olitics  he  was  a  Democrat,  or  .States'  Rights 
man.  He  and  his  wife,  Hannah  Moshier, 
who  livetl  to  be  of  middle  age,  had  a  large 
family  of  children,  some  of  whom  died  when 
young;  but  eight  studious  sons  grew  to  man- 
hood, and  married  before  the\  went  the  wa\- 
of  all  the  earth. 

One  of  these,  David,  named  above,  learned 
the  carpenter's  trade,  and  was  a  contractor  and 
builder  in  the  city  of  Albany  for  a  number  of 
years.  He  afterward  spent  a  year  or  two  in 
Cayuga  County,  and  about  five  years  in  Scho- 
harie County,  when  in  1848  he.  removed  to 
Masonvillc,  where  he  bought  land  and  carried 
on  geni'ral  farming.  In  1S56  he  and  his  son, 
Jolm  11.,  who  was  then  twenty-one  \ears  of 
age,  bought  the  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty  acres  where  the  latter  now  li\-es;  and 
here  he  made  his  home  during  the  latter  part 
of  his  life.  He  died,  Iiowever,  during  a  visit 
to  Schoharie  County,  March  8,  1867,  his  wife 
having  died  the  previous  year,  on  I'ebruary 
19,  1S66.  She  was  a  Methodist,  and  he  a 
liberal  in  religion.  In  p(ditics,  like  his 
father,  he  was  a  Demdcrat.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
David  Baumes  had  eight  chiklren,  six  of 
whom  grew  to  maturity.  I'ive  are  now  liv- 
ing, as  follows:  Margaret  .Seel)',  residing  in 
.Sitlney;  Angelina  Bowman,  in  Mason\-ille: 
Louise  .Smith,  in  Hamilton.  Madison  County: 
John  IL,  in  Masonvillc:  and  James  R. 
Baumes,    a   former  Judge,    in    .Sidney. 

John  H.  Baumes  received  most  of  his 
schooling  in  .Schoharie  Countw  but  had  also 
the  ach-antage  of  one  term  in  Hamilton  Acad- 
emy. He  was  thirteen  3-ears  old  when  thi.- 
famil\-  removed  tn  Mason\i  lie :  an<l  he  con- 
tinued to  li\e  with  his  ])arents  and  work  for 
his  father  till  he  attained  his  majnritv,  when 
he  began  farming  for  himself  on  the  land  of 
which  he  was  part  owner.  After  the  death  of 
his  fatluT  he  bought  out  the  other  heirs,  and 
thus  acijuired  sole  possession  of  his  present 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  acres.  W'hen 
he  fh'st  began  to  work  (ju  the  land,  all  but 
about  five  acres  was  covered  with  woods.  To 
the  task  of  clearing  and  improving   he  devoted 


i6o 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


himself  with  energy,  sagacity,  and  success. 
Instead  of  preparing  his  land  for  the  plough 
and  his  timber  for  market  by  the  wasteful 
process  of  reducing  the  trees  to  ashes,  he 
built  a  steam  saw-mill;  and  he  and  his 
brother,  buying  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres 
more  of  woodland  in  the  vicinity,  were  en- 
gaged profitably  for  about  fifteen  years  in  the 
manufacture  of  lumber,  in  which  they  did  a 
more  extensive  business  than  any  other  men 
in  the  town,  the  product  of  the  mill  being  ^ 
over  three  hundred  thousand  feet  hemlock,  j 
Having  since  disposed  of  both  the  mill  and 
the  land,  he  now  devotes  himself  to  the  care 
of  his  original  homestead,  where  he  car- 
ries on  general  husbandry  and  dairying.  He 
keeps  twenty  cows,  grade  Ayrshires,  and  has 
an  average  of  twelve  thousand  pounds  of  milk 
a  month  for  eight  months  of  the  year.  He 
has  a  good  farm,  which  is  well  managed  and 
productive. 

On  New  Year's  Day,  1867,  Mr.  Baumes 
married  Mary  Burnside,  who  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Butternuts,  Otsego  County,  January 
13,  1847,  daughter  of  James  and  Louise  Burn- 
side.  Her  father  was  a  farmer.  He  died  at 
the  age  of  seventy-two,  and  her  mother  at 
forty-seven  years  of  age.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Baumes  have  one  child,  a  daughter,  Nellie 
Baumes,  who  was  born  March  6,  1868,  and  is 
a  cultivated  and  accomplished  young  lady,  a 
graduate  of  O.xford  Academy  in  the  class  of 
1888.  Miss  Baumes  has  already  taught  fifteen 
terms  of  school,  including  one  year  in  the 
high   school. 

Mr.  John  H.  Baumes  inclines  to  liberalism 
in  religion,  and  is  a  Democrat  in  politics. 
He  has  served  as  Highway  Commissioner  one 
year  and  as  Assessor  five  years,  being  a  man 
of  unquestioned  integrity  and  sound  judg- 
ment in  regard  to  property  values.  He  is  a 
Mason,  being  a  member  of  Lodge  No.  606, 
A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  of  Deposit  Chapter,  No. 
283.  Although  only  in  his  sixtieth  year,  Mr. 
Baumes  is  one  of  the  oldest  settlers  in  this 
part  of  the  town  of  Masonville,  which  by  his 
untiring  enterprise  he  has  done  much  to  build 
up  and  improve.  Diligent  in  business,  self- 
respecting  and  respected,  he  lives  not  for 
himself  alone,  but  as  a  useful  member  of  so- 
ciety, a  valued  citizen  of  the  great  republic. 


Ji 


R.    MARCUS     O.    LANDON,    den- 
tist, whose  office  is  on  Main  Street, 
Delhi,   posses.scs  great  professional 
knowledge  and  skill,  and  occupies  a 
leading  position  among  the  prominent  dentists 
of  this  part  of  the  State.     He  is  a  native  of 
this  place,   where  he  first   opened  his   eyes   to 
the  light  on   March    15,  1859,  being  a  son  of 
David   G.    Landon,    one  of   Delhi's   most   re- 
spected citizens,  and  a  descendant   of  an  hon- 
ored   pioneer.     Asa     Landon,    the    father    of 
David,  was   born    in    New   England,  and  there 
spent  several  years  of  his  early  life.     Accom- 
panied by  two  of  his  brothers,  he  migrated  to 
this  part  of  New  York  when  the  intervening 
country  was  little  more  than  a  wilderness,  and 
leased  a  tract  of  wild  land  in  Delhi,  and  after- 
ward   reclaimed    from    the    forest    a    valuable 
homestead.     His    brothers    were  equally  suc- 
cessful  in  their  pioneer  labors,  and  the  trio 
spent  their   remaining  years   in   this  locality. 
David  G.  Landon,  son  of  Asa,    was  reared 
on  the  parental  homestead,  receiving  as  good 
educational  advantages  as  the  schools  of  his 
time  afforded.     He  was  a  very  active,  enter- 
prising youth,  and  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years 
began    clearing    a    tract    of    land    in    Delhi. 
When  at  a  suitable  age  to  assume  the  respon- 
sibilities of  a  benedict,  he  married   Mary  Ann 
Dibble,   the  daughter  of  Cornelius  Dibble,  a 
prosperous  farmer  of  Bovina;  and  they  com- 
menced  housekeeping  in  the   log   cabin  which 
he  had  previously  erected  on  his  land.     He 
worked  with   untiring   industry,    and,  as   time 
progressed,  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the 
once  heavily  timbered   land   covered  with  wav- 
ing fields  of  grain,  and  the  log  cabin,  in  which 
the  older  children  of  his  household  were  born, 
replaced   by  a   substantial    frame    house.      He 
subsequently  sold  that   farm,    and   bought   the 
one  where   he   now   lives,  and   has   since  con- 
tinued his  agricultural   pursuits.     To  him  and 
his    wife    four    children    were    born,    namely: 
Amelia,    who  died  when  young;  George  A.; 
Cornelius   F. ;  and  Marcus  O. 

Marcus  O.  Landon  spent  his  boyhood  days 
in  this  town,  acquiring  the  rudiments  of  his 
education  in  the  district  school,  and  afterward 
attending  the  academy.  In  1876  he  removed 
to  Cobleskill,  where  he  began  the  work  of  his 
profession,  remaining  there  four  and  one-half 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RF:V1E\V 


i6i 


years  in  active  employ.  In  1881  Dr.  Landon 
returned  to  the  place  of  his  nativity,  and  was 
very  soon  in  the  possession  of  an  excellent 
and  lucrative  practice.  He  has  now,  with- 
out doubt,  llie  largest  business  in  dcntistr\'  in 
Delaware  County,  and  is  reputed  to  be  one  of 
the  leading  men  in  his  profession  in  the  State. 
The  nuptials  of  Dr.  Lanilon  and  Emma  15. 
Browne  were  solemnized  on  August  6,  1885. 
Mrs.  Landon  is  the  daughter  of  the  Rev. 
George  Browne,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  of  llamden,  and  his  wife,  Maria  (Mc- 
Laren) Browne.  Religiously,  the  Doctor  and 
his  wife  are  esteemed  members  of  the  Iqiisco- 
pal  church  of  Delhi,  in  which  he  is  a  Vestry- 
man. In  jKilitics  he  is  identified  with  the  Re- 
publican party;  and  socially  he  is  prominent 
in  the  Masonic  fraternity,  having  belonged  to 
Delhi  Lodge,  No.  439,  'a.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of 
which  he  is  Past  Master.  He  is  also  a  mendier 
of  Delhi  Chapter,  No.  249,  of  Norwich  Com- 
mandery,  No.  46,  and  of  the  Scottish  Rite. 


kARTlN  CHURCH,  wagon-maker, 
residing  in  Sidney,  is  a  hearty  and 
vigorous  man  of  seventy-seven 
vears.  still  an  active  worker  ;it 
his  trade.  His  grandparents,  James  and  Lois 
(Dart)  Church,  were  born  in  Connecticut,  and 
were  there  married.  They  reared  a  family  of 
six  children,  all  of  whom  were  married  ex- 
cepting one  daughter,  Nancy,  who  died  in 
Otego,  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy-two 
years.  Other  children  were  born  to  them, 
but  were  called  to  their  heavenly  home  when 
young.  In  1806  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Church 
migrated  from  their  New  PZngland  home  to 
the  wilds  of  Otsego  County,  starting  in  the 
month  of  February  or  March,  making  the 
journey  in  an  old-fashioned  cart,  drawn  by  a 
jjair  of  o.xen.  On  their  way  through  the  Cat- 
skill  Mountains  they  were  snowed  in,  and  had 
to  exchange  their  wheels  for  runners,  fitting 
up  a  sled,  in  which  they  completed  their  tri]). 
They  settled  in  the  town  of  Butternuts,  Ot- 
sego Count)',  where  their  children  grew  to 
maturity,  and  where  they  spent  their  remain- 
ing years,  Grandfather  Church  li\-ing  to  Ihe 
venerable  age  of  ninety-tliree  years,  departing 
this  life  in  1857. 


The  parents  ot  Martin,  i':bene/.er,  and  Char- 
ity (ICmmons)  Church  were  natives  of  Con- 
necticut, and  were  both  born  in  tiie  year  1790. 
Their  union  was  celebrated  in  the  town  of 
Butternuts,  where  they  afterward  lived  and 
labored  as  long  as  their  lives  were  sjjared,  the 
mother  dying  in  1871.  and  the  father  some 
seven  years  later.  Of  their  four  children  one, 
Julia,  the  eldest  born,  died  at  the  age  of 
twelve  years.  Levi  B.  died  at  Butternuts  in 
1866,  leaving  one  son  and  four  daughters. 
Isaac,  a  wagon-maker  and  a  farmer,  is  a  re- 
spected resident  t)f  the  town  of  Butternuts. 
The  other,  Martin,  as  above  mentioned,  lives 
in  .Si(hie_\-. 

Martin  Church  was  born  in  Butternuts  in 
1817.  He  received  a  limited  amount  of 
schooling  in  his  youth,  and  at  the  age  of  four- 
teen years  began  working  at  the  carpenter's 
trade  with  his  father,  continuing  in  that  occu- 
pation for  several  years,  having  inherited  in  a 
large  degree  the  mechanical  ingenuity  of  his 
father  and  grandfather.  In  1852  he  began 
the  trade  of  wagon-making,  without,  however, 
having  served  any  apprenticeship.  In  com- 
I  pany  with  his  brother  Isaac,  he  opened  a  shoj.) 
in  the  village  of  Gilbertsville:  and  this  they 
operated  in  partnership  until  1867.  when  they 
dissolved  by  mutual  agreement.  In  1870  .Mr. 
Church  established  his  Inisiness  in  Sidney, 
meeting  with  such  encouraging  success  in  the 
first  year  that  he  resolved  to  make  this  his 
permanent  abiding-place.  He  accordingly 
built  his  comfortable  residence  at  No.  24 
Main  -Street,  and  the  sliop  where  he  is  work- 
I  ing  he  erected  in  18S9.  He  is  a  thorough- 
going business  man,  prospering  well  in  his 
labors,  and  a  valued  and  esteemed  citizen  of 
tile  \-illage. 

Tiie  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  Mr. 
Church,  to  whom  he  was  united  in  184 1,  was 
Huldah  Ann  Fairchild.  She  was  a  native  of 
Otsego  County,  having  been  born  in  the  town 
of  New  Lisbon,  in  1820,  being  the  descendant 
of  a  pioneer  family  of  that  place.  She  bore 
her  husband  six  children,  two  of  whom  dietl 
in  infancy,  and  one  daughter,  Marv,  when 
only  six  years  of  age.  Of  the  three  children 
now  living  William  D.,  now  fifty-one  years  of 
age,  is  a  printer  by  trade,  and  has  a  wife  and 
one  son,  Daniel:  Sanford  E.,  who  was  named 


l62 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


for  the  governor  of  that  period,  a  cousin  of 
his  father,  is  a  railway  man,  and  is  married, 
but  has  no  children;  and  Emma,  the  wife  of 
Willard  B.  Ruland,  has  eight  children. 

Mrs.  Church,  who  was  a  most  worthy 
woman,  and  trained  her  children  to  habits  of 
industry  and  virtue,  passed  on  to  the  higher 
life  in  1878.  In  politics  Mr.  Church  is  a 
stanch  Republican,  having  been  identified 
with  that  party  since  the  time  of  John  C. 
Fremont,  and,  although  interested  in  the  wel- 
fare of  his  town,  has  never  held  any  oiifice,  ex- 
cepting that  of  Town  Collector  for  a  while  in 
Butternuts. 


1\(*AJ/ILLIAM  R.  SW7\RT  was  born  on 
Beeman  Hill,  town  of  Middletown, 
Delaware  County,  on  the  thirtieth 
day  of  January,  1821.  His  grandfather, 
Tunis  Swart,  was  a  farmer  at  Esopus,  on  the 
Hudson  River,  and  had  accumulated  quite  a 
competence  when  his  possessions  were  sud- 
denly lost  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  at 
the  time  that  the  village  of  Kingston  was 
burned.  Having  lost  his  property  in  the  pa- 
triotic cause,  he  received  afterward  a  lot  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  acres  from  the  Livingston 
tract  in  Delaware  County,  at  what  is  now 
known  as  New  Kingston.  His  father  gave 
him  a  team  and  lumber  wagon,  also  some 
farming  implements,  with  which  to  begin  life; 
and  he  bravely  set  forth  upon  the  way,  but, 
when  he  reached  Delaware  County,  found  it 
impossible  to  go  farther  until  a  road  was 
opened  from  Margarettville,  and  here  re- 
mained until  a  way  was  cut  through  the  un- 
cleared country.  When  at  last,  after  a  long 
delay,  he  arrived  at  his  destination,  he  cut 
timber,  and  built  a  log  house,  and  commenced 
the  improvenient  of  the  land.  Later  he 
leased  a  lot  on  Beeman  Hill,  from  which 
place  he  finally  moved  to  the  town  of  Ham- 
den,  where  he  remained  until  his  death.  He 
reared  the  following-named  children:  John, 
.Samuel,  William,  Richard,  Abraham,  Anna, 
Electra,    Attie,    and   Mary. 

Samuel  Swart  was  born  in  Esopus,  and 
came  to  Delaware  County  in  his  youth.  Here 
he  married  Anna  Beeman,  a  daughter  of  Sol- 
omon   and    Deborah    Beeman.      He    bought   a 


tract  of  eighty  acres  of  land,  doubling  it  by  a 
later  purchase,  and  here  reared  the  following- 
named  family:  Solomon,  who  married  Miss 
Mary  J.  Akerly,  and  had  two  children;  Will- 
iam R.  of  this  notice;  Peter  F.,  who  married 
a  Miss  Drummond,  and  died,  leaving  five 
children;  Attie,  who  married  E.  J.  Faulkner, 
and  became  the  mother  of  one  child;  Charles, 
deceased ;  Mary,  who  married  Peter  Dela- 
mater,  and  died,  leaving  two  children;  Orson, 
who  married  Miss  Gussie  Decker,  and  had 
three  children.  Samuel  Swart  afterward 
moved  to  Margarettville,  residing  there  until 
his  death.  He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-two 
years,  having  served  in  the  War  of  1812,  been 
a  faithful  Democrat,  and  a  conscientious 
member  of  the  old-school  Baptist  church. 

William  R.  Swart  passed  his  boyhood  at 
Beeman  Hill,  receiving  an  education  at  an  old 
log  school-house  on  Hubble  Hill.  LTpon  at- 
taining his  majority  he  began  farming,  and  a 
year  later  learned  the  trade  of  carpenter, 
which  for  some  years  he  plied  through  the 
long  winters,  driving  stock  and  doing  farm 
work  during  the  summer  seasons.  Gradually, 
by  industr)',  he  accumulated  enough  capital  to 
invest  in  a  store  at  New  Kingston,  and  en- 
tered into  a  partnership  with  Isaac  Birdsell, 
this  being  the  first  store  of  general  merchan- 
dise established  in  that  village.  This  enter- 
prise was  sold  out,  however,  and  a  similar  one 
started  in  Margarettville,  Mr.  Swart  engaging 
in  business  with  his  brother.  Six  years  later 
he  bought  the  old  Drummond  farm,  which  he 
finally  sold,  and  purchased  a  dwelling  in 
Margarettville.  Having  been  successful  in 
these  various  enterprises,  he  has  retired  from 
active  business,  although  his  services  as  a 
veterinary  surgeon  are  still  in  demand.  He  is 
the  owner  of  the  handsome  stallion,  Pride  of 
Dutchess. 

In  1842  Mr.  Swart  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Elizabeth  Drummond.  Her  father  was  a 
progressive  farmer  in  New  Kingston,  and 
lived  to  attain  the  age  of  eighty-four  years. 
Mrs.  Swart  had  one  sister,  Mrs.  Henry  Rey- 
nojds,  of  New  Kingston;  but  both  are  now 
deceased.  For  his  second  wife  Mr.  Swart 
married  Mrs.  Julia  E.  Carpenter,  widow  of 
Richard  Carpenter,  and  daughter  of  Abram 
Akerly,  who  served    in   the  War  of    1812,  and 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RF.VIKAV 


163 


died  at  the  a_<;e  of  ninety-eight.      Mr.  Caipeii- 
ter  passed  away  at  the  age  of  eighty-fdur. 

Mr.  Swart  is  a  stanch  adherent  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic part}',  lie  has  i)een  an  active  and 
useful  citizen,  has  held  various  local  offices, 
for  two  terms  having  been  President  of  the 
village,  anil  has  taken  great  interest  in  educa- 
tional matters,  at  tlie  present  time  being  a 
member   of   the   Board   ()f   Education. 


Al.l.M/W  C.  BOOKHOL'T.  In  the 
annals  of  Delaware  County  the  name  of 
Bookhout  is  of  frequent  and  honorable 
mention,  and  the  gentleman  whose  name  a])- 
pears  at  the  head  of  this  sketch  is  a  worth)' 
representative  of  the  first  of  that  family  to 
settle  in  this  section  of  New  York.  Mr. 
Bookhout  is  a  native  of  this  county,  and  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Roxbury,  November  24, 
1 84 1.  I'or  many  years  he  was  identified  with 
the  agricultural  element  of  Walton,  and  in 
the  pursuit  of  his  chosen  occupatit)n  amasseti 
a  competence.  He  is  a  man  of  great  energy, 
eiiterprise,  and  financial  ability,  and  occupies 
an  important  positioir  among  the  successful 
and  influential  business  men  of  Walton.  He 
is  of  German  origin,  and  is  a  grantlson  of  John 
Bookhout,  a  pioneer  of  the  countv. 

John  ]5ookhout  was  born  in  Krakow,  (ier- 
many,  and  emigrated  to  America  prior  to  the 
Revolution,  settling  in  the  Dutch  settlement 
then  called  New  Amsterdam,  now  New  \'ork. 
At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolutionary  W'ar 
he  enlisted  in  the  service  of  his  adopted  coim- 
try.  serving  seven  vears ;  and  the  niusket 
which  he  carried  during  that  time  is  still  in 
the  possession  of  one  of  his  descendants. 
After  the  close  of  the  war  he  married  Nancv 
Smart,  and  the  first  decade  of  their  wedded 
life  they  spent  in  Dover,  Westchester  County. 
Following  the  tide  of  emigration  to  Delaware 
Countv,  they  located  in  the  town  of  Roxbury, 
where  he  was  one  of  the  first  settlers.  He  se- 
cured a  tract  of  timbered  land,  on  which  the 
family  camiied  until  the  customary  log  cabin 
was  raised,  and  for  a  short  tinie  one  end  of 
that  was  used  for  a  stable.  .Standing  at  his 
cabin  door,  rifie  in  hand,  iie  had  no  trouble  iii 
shooting  sufficient  game  to  fLu'nish  himself 
and   familv  with   a  dinner  at   any  time.      The 


nearest  grist-mill  was  tweue  miio  (U.^taiU, 
and  lie  frec|uently  carried  liis  grist  to  and  fro 
on  his  l)ack.  He  and  his  faitiifii!  wife  lived 
together  for  upward  of  sixty  years;  and  both 
died  in  tlie  town  of  Roxljury.  he  passing  awa)' 
at  the  age  ol  eighty-twu,  while  liis  widow  sur- 
vived him,  li\ing  imtil  the  venirable  age  of 
ninety-four  xears.  The)'  were  tiie  parents  of 
nine  childreri.  Both  were  religious  people, 
and  were  charter  members  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church  of  Roxbur)',  of  wiiich  the  father 
was  Deacon  for  many  years. 

William  Bookhout,  the  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  the  oldest  son  of  his  par- 
I'lits,  and  was  born  on  the  farm  in  Roxbury. 
He  was  a  farmer  by  occuiiation,  and  in  early 
manhood  married  Caroline  Hull,  a  native  of 
Connecticut,  a  ckiughter  of  William  Hull,  and 
a  niece  nt  the  world-renowned  Conunodore  . 
Isaac  II  id  I.  They  became  the  parents  of  a 
large  famil)',  as  follows:  Nancy  married 
I'rion  McKay,  and  settled  in  Lenawee 
Count)',  Mich.,  where  both  died.  Sabra  is 
the  wife  of  I'rancis  O'Connor,  of  Delaware 
Count)'.  lilizabeth  is  the  widow  of  G.  W. 
Plough,  and  lives  at  Roxbury.  Isaac  married 
L'seba  Craft,  and  they  are  residents  of  Rox- 
hiu')'.  Marv,  the  widow  of  I'rinn  .McKay, 
also  lives  in  Roxbur)'.  Tallman  C.  is  our 
subject.  Margaret  died  at  the  age  of  four 
years,  (ieorge  W.,  a  resident  of  Roxburv, 
married  /Xtlelia  Bouton.  John  resides  in 
Dallas,  Tex.  Rose  died,  unmarried,  in 
Michigan.  James,  who  resides  in  the  town  of 
P'ranklin,  married  Knmia  Hall,  of  Walton. 
The  father  was  a  life- long  and  much  esteemed 
resident  of  Roxbury,  and  in  his  political 
views  was  a  Jacksonian  Democrat.  The 
iTiother  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  seventy- 
two  years,  dying  on  the  old  homestead  in 
Roxbury.  .She  was  a  woman  of  superior  char- 
acter, and  a  de\'oted  member  of  the  Methodist 
Lliiscojia]  church. 

TalliTian  C.  Bookhout  assisted  his  brother 
Jolin  to  obtain  an  education.  The  latter  went 
to  Texas,  where  in  course  of  time  he  became 
wealthv,  and  paid  his  brother  all  he  had  ex- 
[)ended  for  him.  He  was  afterward  unfort- 
unate, and  lost  his  all  through  the  failure  of  a 
bank.  He  was  fortunate,  however,  in  having 
friends    in    the    North    who   had    confidence   in 


164 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


him,  and  loaned  him  a  few  hundred  dollars. 
With  this  money  he  purchased  the  site  upon 
which  the  city  of  Dallas  now  stands.  In  the 
boom  which  afterward  followed  he  made  a  vast 
amount  of  money,  and  is  now  one  of  the 
wealthiest  men  in  the  State.  He  married 
I-:ila  Randall,  of  Dallas,  where  they  now  re- 
side, and  of  which  city  he  has  been  Mayor. 

Tallman  C.  Bookhout,  to  whom  we  refer  in 
this  brief  sketch,  was  reared  to  man's  estate 
in  the  town  of  Roxbury,  and  received  a  liberal 
education.  At  the  first  call  for  troops  he 
enlisted  in  defence  of  his  country  in  Company 
I,  Seventy-second  New  York  Volunteer  Infan- 
try, being  the  first  volunteer  from  his  town. 
With  his  regiment  he  served  in  Sickles's  Bri- 
gade, and  was  an  active  and  courageous  par- 
ticipant in  many  of  the  most  important  and 
decisive  engagements  of  the  Rebellion,  among 
the  earlier  ones  being  the  siege  of  Yorktown, 
battles  of  Williamsburg,  Fair  Oaks,  Seven 
Pines,  and  the  Peninsular  Campaign.  He 
was  stricken  with  fever,  and  sent  to  the  David 
Island  Hospital,  New  York,  where  he  re- 
mained five  months.  He  rejoined  his  regi- 
ment at  Brandy  Station,  Va.,  and  was  attached 
to  General  Hancock's  corps  at  the  battle 
of  the  Wilderness,  but  during  the  second 
day's  fight  was  wounded  and  left  for  dead 
on  the  field  of  battle,  which,  says  Draper, 
"was  throbbing  with  the  wounded."  He  was 
wounded  in  the  left  shoulder  and  left  eye,  the 
ball  striking  his  gun  and  being  shattered, 
three  pieces   entering   his  body. 

Mr.  Bookhout  was  a  very  courageous  soldier 
and  an  expert  marksman,  and  in  relating  the 
history  of  his  army  life  often  says  that,  if 
every  Union  man  had  killed  as  many  of  his 
adversaries  as  he  did,  there  would  not  have 
been  a  rebel  left  to  tell  his  side  of  the  con- 
flict. Among  his  victims  was  the  rebel  who 
killed  the  Major  of  his  regiment,  Mr.  Book- 
hout shooting  at  him  six  times  before  killing 
him,  and  being  shot  at  the  same  number  of 
times  by  his  opponent.  He  was  subsequently 
sent  to  the  hospital  at  Fredericksburg,  nar- 
rowly escaping  capture  on  the  way  thither. 
This  was  within  fifteen  days  of  the  time  for 
the  expiration  of  his  term  of  enlistment,  and 
he  was  offered  a  furlough.  He  proceeded  as 
far  as  Washington    on   his  way  liome:  but   his 


patriotic  impulses  were  in  the  ascendant,  and 
he  returned  to  Fredericksburg,  starting  from 
there  on  foot,  with  the  hope  of  striking  a 
train.  Arriving  at  Fredericksburg,  he  found 
himself  in  the  rear  of  Grant's  army,  and  fol- 
lowed with  his  own  regiment,  which  he  joined 
at  Cold  Harbor.  He  went  into  the  midst  of 
the  fray  at  that  place  with  his  arm  in  a  sling, 
and  without  fire-arms,  but  soon  procured  the 
latter  from  the  body  of  a  dead  comrade.  He 
did  heroic  duty  with  his  uninjured  arm,  prob- 
ably firing  as  many  effective  shots  as  others 
with  the  use  of  both.  He  next  went  with 
his  company  to  Ream's  Station,  at  Bermuda 
Hundred,  and  was  subsequently  at  the  siege 
of  Petersburg,  this  being  after  his  term  of  ser- 
vice had  expired.  He  was  also  in  the  engage- 
ment at  Weldon  Railroad,  afterward  retiring 
from  active  duty,  and  returning  home  the  8th 
of  July,  1864.  His  wound  was  very  painful, 
and  gave  him  much  trouble,  not  healing  for 
more  than  a  year,  and  costing  him  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

In  the  spring  of  1866  Mr.  Bookhout  was 
united  in  the  holy  bonds  of  matrimony  with 
Miss  Ellen  Ferris,  of  Ashland,  Greene  County, 
N.Y.  Three  children  have  been  born  of  this 
union:  Carrie  is  the  wife  of  Lewis  Benedict, 
of  Walton,  Alden  is  a  student  in  Union  Col- 
lege, and  Sarah  lives  at  home.  In  1893  Mr. 
Bookhout  retired  from  his  farm  labors,  and 
removed  into  the  village  of  Walton,  where  he 
is  enjoying  the  pleasant  leisure  to  which  his 
previous  years  of  toil  entitle  him.  In  politics 
he  is  a  firm  adherent  of  the  Republican  party, 
and,  although  not  a  politician,  is  deeply  in- 
terested in  local  and  national  matters.  Fra- 
ternally, he  belongs  to  Ben  Marvin  Post,  No. 
209,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  is 
prominent   in   Masonic  circles. 


/^X, 


ARDNER  L.  RIDER,  who  died  at 
Vt^^T  ^"^  lio'iit-'  in  Masonville,  N.Y.,  Au- 
^ — ^  gust  12,  1894,  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Sidney,  January  8,  1828.  son  of  John  and 
Charlotte  (Smith)  Rider,  the  father  being  a 
native  of  Vermont,  and  the  mother  of  Otego, 
Otsego  County,  N.Y.  The  grandfather,  Gil- 
ead  Rider,  was  a  resident  of  Vermont,  little 
being  known  of  his  antecedents. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RF.VIEW 


'6s 


Jolm  RiiliT  settled  in  Otsego  Cdimty  when 
a  young  man,  and  there  followed  the  trade  of 
a  blacksmith,  his  specialty  being  the  manu- 
facture of  a  high  grade  of  scythes.  He  after- 
ward moved  to  the  town  of  Sidney,  where  he 
purchased  a  farm  of  one  hundred  acres.  This, 
however,  he  soon  disposed  of,  and  bi)Ught  an- 
other farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
acres  in  the  same  town.  He  thenceforth 
turnetl  his  attention  e.vclusively  to  farming, 
antl  was  a  hard-working  and  successful  man  of 
his  day.  In  politics  he  was  a  Democrat,  but 
never  aspireil  to  any  public  office.  He  was 
married  to  Miss  Charlotte  Smith,  by  whom  lie 
had  the  following  children:  John  G.,  residing 
on  the  old  homestead  in  Sidney;  Gilead,  a 
farmer  of  Sidney ;  Hannah,  wife  of  Olmstead 
Flint,  of  Otego;  Ilattie  Rider,  of  Unadilla; 
lilvira,  wife  of  Adelbert  Houston,  of  Otego: 
Gardner  L. ;  and  Charlotte,  who  died  _\-oung. 
Mrs.  Charlotte  Rider  dietl  aged  sixty-five, 
and   her   husband  at   the  age   of   eight}'-seven. 

Gardner  L.  Rider  was  eclucated  in  the  town 
of  Sidney.  He  lived  at  home  until  he  was 
twenty-one;  and  after  that  he  worked  out  by 
the  month  for  four  years  for  one  man,  making 
good  wages,  but  unfortunately  losing  over  four 
hundred  dollars  of  his  savings  bv  the  failure 
of  his  employer.  In  185S  Mr.  Rider  settletl 
in  the  town  of  Masoiiville,  buying  at  first 
sevent)'-fi\-e  acres  of  land  and  adding  to  it 
until  he  had  a  fine  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty-three  acres,  and  carried  on  a  large  dair\' 
business,  keeping  about  thiriv  head  of  nati\e 
cattle. 

Mr.  Rider  was  married,  April  8,  1858,  to 
Sarah  E.  Thom])son,  who  was  born  November 
II,  1837,  in  Masonville,  daughter  of  Rufus 
A.  Thompson  and  Prudence  T^.  Wells.  Mr. 
Thompson  was  born  in  Otsego  County,  and 
his  wife  in  Masonville,  the  Wells  family 
being  among  the  early  settlers  of  the  town. 
Mr.  Thonii)son  was  a  tanner  in  early  life,  his 
latter  years  being  dexoteti  to  farming.  He 
died  in  the  village  of  .Sidney,  April  iS,  1890, 
aged  eighty-six:  his  wife  died  November  3, 
1840,  aged  thirty-one.  Mr.  Thompson,  who 
was  twice  married,  had  three  children  by  his 
first  wife  and  four  by  his  second.  Four  chil- 
dren survive  him.  namely:  Foster  W.  Thoni])- 
son.  a  farmer   of    I'.ast    Sidnev:    Sarah,  wife  of 


Gardner  I..  Rider;  Rufus  ,\..  a  ])ractisin"- 
physician  of  Norwich;  and  Mis.  Fllen  Fin- 
der, now  residing  in  California.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Rider  had  two  children.  Their  daughter. 
ICdith  L.,  wife  of  Orville  Dean,  a  farmer  of 
East  .Masonville,  has  four  children  -Jessie, 
Leslie,  iMank,  and  Ival[ih.  I'rank  Rider,  the 
only  son,  resides  at  home  with  his  mother. 
He  married  Alice  Robertson,  and  has  one  son, 
Foster  Thomas  Riiler. 

Mr.  Rider,  like  his  wife,  was  liberal  in  his 
religious  views,  and  in  politics  was  allied 
with  the  Democratic  jiarty.  He  possessed 
one  of  the  best-kept  farms  in  Mason\-ilIe. 
He  was  distinctly  the  architect  of  his  own 
fortune,  having  by  diligent  ai)])lication,  good 
jutlgment,  and  economy  acquired  the  compe- 
tency which  he  enjo\'ed  in  his  declining 
N'cai's. 


DMUND  A.  IIO\VI':S,  a  worthy  citi/en 
of  Tompkins,  was  born  in  this  town 
February  27,  1857.  The  Howes 
family,  which  is  of  iMiglish  ancestr}-,  came  to 
New  York  from  Cape  Coil.  Edmund  Howes, 
grandfather  of  lulmund  A.,  was  engaged  in 
farming  and  lumbering  in  the  town  of  Thomp- 
son, Sulli\an  County,  where  he  erected  a 
house,  which  still  stands.  His  wife  was  I'olly 
Fields;  ami  they  had  the  following  family: 
George,  Hen  jam  in,  Jesse,  Samuel,  Eilmund, 
Deborah,  lunily,  Ivlizafieth,  and  Jane.  lul- 
mund  Howes  died  in  1838,  having  ])assed  the 
greater  part  of  his  life  in  Thompson,  whei'e 
he  was  buried. 

Jesse,  the  third  son,  was  born  in  Hridge- 
ville,  and  spent  his  boyhood  on  the  hume 
farm.  When  about  twenty-one,  he  started  out 
for  himself  as  a  car])enter  and  joiner,  follow- 
ing that  occupation  until  1850,  when,  in  com- 
])anv  with  his  brother  George,  he  |)urchased  a 
tract  of  land  on  the  Delaware  River  near 
Long  luldy,  and  here  engageil  in  shipi)ing 
lumber  to  I'hiladel]:ihia.  He  was  an  excellent 
swimmer  and  an  ex].)eit  hunter,  the  hero  of 
manv  thrilling  adventures.  .After  about  eight 
years  he  sold  his  interest  to  his  brother,  and 
in  1855  inirchased  a  tract  of  one  hundred  acres 
of  timbered  land  on  Bullock  Hill,  where  he 
erected    a    log    cabin,    and    liegan    to   fell    the 


i66 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


trees.  He  later  built  a  frame  house  on  the 
same  site,  and  engaged  in  farming  and  dairy- 
ing. He  married  Susan  Jenkins,  daughter 
of  Horace  and  Anna  (Vermilyea)  Jenkins, 
of  Roxbury,  N.Y.  She  is  still  living, 
and  is  greatly  esteemed  by  all.  Her  father 
was  in  his  younger  days  one  of  the  most 
prominent  men  of  his  town;  he  now  spends 
much  of  his  time  with  his  grand-daughter, 
Mrs.  Howes. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jesse  Howes  were  the  parents 
of  twelve  children,  namely:  Anna  F.,  widow 
of  Charles  Drake,  a  farmer  of  Tompkins,  who 
died  in  1881,  and  is  buried  on  Knickerbocker 
Hill;  Loomis;  Horace  J.,  who  married  Ella 
A.  Drake,  a  sister  of  Charles  Drake;  Eva  A., 
who  married  S.  L.  Niles,  of  Tompkins; 
Hiram  J.,  a  school-teacher;  Edmund  A., 
whose  name  heads  this  sketch;  Annetta,  who 
married  Jesse  Gardner,  a  physician  in  Anem- 
deta,  Ohio;  Emily  J.,  the  wife  of  Frank 
Clark,  a  butcher  of  Walton,  of  the  firm  of 
Clark  &  Webster;  Samuel,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  two  years:  Mary  E.,  who  teaches 
school  on  Knickerbocker  Hill;  Arthur  R., 
who  follows  the  occupation  of  a  butcher; 
Helen  M.,  wife  of  Frank  Wells,  of  Mason- 
ville;  Frank  C,  who  lives  on  the  old  home- 
stead and   carries   on  the  farm. 

Edmund  A.  Howes  was  educated  in  the  dis- 
trict schools  of  his  native  town,  and  when 
eighteen  began  to  teach  in  Peasetown,  Broome 
County.  He  afterward  taught  at  Bennetts- 
villc,  Chenango  County,  and  later  five  terms 
in  Masonville,  teaching  sixteen  terms  alto- 
gether. January  i,  1883,  he  married  Maggie 
E.  Finch,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Mary  Jane 
(Carroll)  Finch,  of  Sidney.  The  grandfather 
of  Mrs.  Jonas  Finch  was  born  in  Cairo, 
Greene  County,  son  of  Amos  and  Martha 
(Parks)  F"inch.  Amos  Finch  was  a  Revolu- 
tionary soldier,  and  engaged  in  farming  in 
Dutchess  County.  Jonas  married  Henrietta 
Lennon,  who  lived  to  be  eighty-seven  years 
old,  and  died  in  1874.  His  son,  Henry 
Finch,  father  of  Mrs.  Howes,  was  born  June 
22,  1823,  was  a  farmer  in  Masonville,  but 
later  bought  land  in  Williamsport,  Pa.  In 
1862  he  enlisted  in  the  war,  in  which  he 
served  ten  months,  returning  to  Pennsylvania 
after    peace   was    declared.      He   now   resides, 


retired  from  active  work,  in  Sidney.  His 
wife  was  Mary  J.  Carroll,  daughter  of  Samuel 
Carroll,  of  Tompkins;  and  she  was  the  mother 
of  twelve  children:  Zaccheus,  who  married 
Rosetta  Teed,  of  Sidney;  Sarah,  wife  of 
Edgar  Teed,  of  Stevensport,  Pa. ;  Henrietta, 
who  married  Dua'ne  Hand,  a  farmer  in  Morris, 
Ontario  County;  Louisa,  wife  of  Robert  Stew- 
art, of  Sidney,  who  died  in  1894;  Anna,  who 
married  Warren  Hodges,  a  farmer  of  Sidney; 
Maggie;  Henry,  who  married  Mary  Bradley, 
of  Tompkins:  Emeline,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  sixteen;  Almetta,  who  married  James 
Hodges,  of  Sidney;  Nora,  the  wife  of  Edwin 
Wheat,  a  carpenter  of  Sidney;  Norman,  who 
married  Bertha  Gaylord,  and  is  engaged  in 
farming  in   Sidney;  and  James. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Howes  have  one  son,  Fred 
E.,  born  June  10,  1885,  who  now  attends 
school  in  District  No.  7.  Mr.  Howes  is  very 
prominent  in  town  affairs,  and  has  held  vari- 
ous offices  of  trust.  He  is  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  has  been  Inspector  and  Auditor,  and 
was  a  member  of  the  Republican  County  Com- 
mittee during  the  years  of  1881  and  1882. 
He  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  is  widely 
known  and  esteemed. 


tembt 


,RS.       JANETTE       (GOODRICH) 

STODDART,   widow  of  James  .S. 

Stoddart,    who    died    at    his    late 

home  in  the  town  of  Croton,  Sep- 

13,  1890,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four 
years,  is  an  intelligent  and  cultured  lady, 
universally  respected  for  her  nobility  of  char- 
acter and  kindness  of  heart.  She  is  a  native 
of  Delaware  County,  and  a  daughter  of  Rich- 
ard M.  Goodrich,  who  was  born  June  16, 
1786.  He  was  educated  for  a  professional 
life,  and  at  an  early  age  began  his  career  as 
a  physician,  being  for  many  years  the  most 
successful  and  popular  practitioner  of  this  sec- 
tion of  the  county,  having  an  extensive  prac- 
tice in  the  towns  of  Hamden  and  Middletown. 
He  was  married  December  28,  181 2,  to  Jane 
J.  Sands,  who  bore  him  six  children,  as  fol- 
lows: Antoinette,  the  wife  of  Benjamin  Mc- 
Call ;  Henrietta,  now  seventy-seven  years  of 
age,  and  a  resident  of  Delhi ;  Janette,  Mrs. 
Stoddart:  Juliet,  the  wife  of  Alexander  Shaw, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


■  67 


of  Delhi;  Harriot,  the  widow  of  William 
Ikirgcss,  of  St.  John,  Now  linmswick;  ami 
Gcorgo,    a  resident   of   Delhi. 

Mrs.  Stoddart  received  a  careful  home 
training  and  an  excellent  education,  being 
fitted  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years  for  a  teacher, 
anil  for  four  terms  was  an  -instructor  in  the 
public  schools.  On  the  3d  of  April,  1S39, 
being  then  a  maiden  of  eighteen  years,  she 
became  the  bride  of  James  S.  .Stoddart,  an 
industrious  and  enterprising  farmer,  and  a 
young  man  of  great  promise.  They  settled  on 
a  farm  of  their  own  in  the  town  of  Hamden, 
where  they  lived  several  years,  prosperously 
engaged  in  tilling  the  soil.  Selling  that 
property  at  an  advantage,  they  bought  another 
farm  in  Walton,  and  managed  this  with  the 
same  untiring  industry  that  had  heretofore 
characterized  their  labors,  and  in  the  course 
of  time  amassed  a  comfortable  competence. 
Mr.  Stoddart  was  a  man  of  great  force  of 
character.  Possessing  more  than  ordinary 
business  ability,  he  carried  on  his  farming 
operations  in  an  able  and  scientific  way,  and 
was  numbered  among  the  most  progressive 
agriculturists  of  liis  neighborhood.  About  i 
eighteen  years  ago  he  and  his  wife  removed  to 
the  present  fine  home  of  Mrs.  .Stoddart  in 
Croton,  where  he  lived  retired  until  called  to 
his  eternal  home.  He  was  a  most  e\emplar\' 
and  highly  esteemed  citizen,  and  in  every 
condition  of  life  performed  whatever  he  untier-  j 
took  conscientiously,  and  as  became  a  man 
having  the  best  interests  of  his  town  and 
county  at  heart.  He  was  an  active  worker  in 
religious  circles,  and  a  dcN'oted  member  of  the 
I'resbyterian  church. 

Mr.  Stoddart  was  of  good  .Scotch  ancestry, 
his  father,  William  Stodtlart,  having  been 
born  and  reared  in  Scotland.  When  a  young- 
man,  he  emigrated  to  America,  and  settled  in 
Delaware  County,  where  he  was  married  May 
4,  181 5,  to  Phoebe  Churchill,  who  was  born 
in  the  same  year  as  himself,  1784.  He  was  a 
farmer  by  occupation,  and  owned  a  farm  on 
.Scotch  Mountain,  where,  by  industry,  thrift 
and  strict  economy,  he  accpiiretl  a  substantial 
property.  During  the  last  years  of  his  life  he 
lived  retired  in  T^elhi.  His  wife  survived 
him  many  years,  and  died  at  her  home  in 
Delhi,    June    14,     1S57.      Four   children,    two 


sons  and  two  daughters,  were  boin  to  them; 
but  of  these  only  one  is  now  living,  lilsther, 
the  widow  of  Tracey  G.  Rich,  of  Hingiiam- 
ton,  N.Y. 

The  union  of  Mr.  and  .Mrs.  Stoddart  was 
blessed  by  the  birth  of  five  children:  Will- 
iam G.,  born  Januar\'  11,  1S40,  married  Es- 
tella  Rowe,  and  lives  in  Croton.  Jane  K., 
formerly  a  successful  teacher,  was  born  Janu- 
ary 29.  1843.  and  is  now  the  widow  of  Samuel 
Holmes,  of  Walton.  Sarah  B.,  born  in  1845, 
is  the  wife  of  Joshua  Seaman,  a  farmer  resid- 
ing in  Meredith,  and  has  two  children. 
Charles  A.,  born  January  22,  1849,  now  a 
resident  of  Walton,  is  a  widower  with  three 
children.  Ann  JCliza,  born  Ma\-  8,  185 1, 
married  Leroy  Smith,  of  I'ranklin;  and  they 
are   the   jiarents   of  three   children. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stoddart  were  for  many  years 
among  the  most  extensive  and  prosperous 
land-holders  of  the  county,  and  owned  several 
farms,  their  acreage  aggregating  some  five 
hundred  acres,  this  large  propert)-  being  ac- 
quired mainly  by  their  own  efforts  and  good 
management. 


^  li:Rr<IT    S.    ROHfvRT.S,   one   of  the 
most     prominent     and      successful 

li  %  larniers  of  the  town  of  Kortright, 
was  born  in  that  t(nvn,  October  7, 
1829,  and  is  the  son  of  Joseph  W.  and  Mary 
(Seel_\-)  Roberts,  the  former  a  nati\'e  of  Kort- 
right, and  the  latter  of  Westchester  County. 
The  grandfather,  VA\  Roberts,  was  born  in 
Westchester  County,  but  settled  in  Kortright 
in  1780,  being  one  of  the  first  pioneers  of  the 
town.  He  owned  one  of  the  largest  farms  in 
the  vicinity,  remaining  in  active  charge  of  the 
same  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
nine.  Joseph  W.  Roberts  was  brought  up  as 
a  farmer  and  lumberman,  and  purchased  a 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  twentv-five  acres, 
the  greater  portion  of  it  having  to  be  cleared. 
He  died  on  his  farm  at  the  age  of  seventy-six, 
his  wife  being  eight\-eight  at  the  time  of  her 
death.  The  latter  was  a  member  of  the  Bap- 
tist church. 

Merrit  .S.  Roberts  was  educated  at  the  dis- 
trict school  and  the  academy.  He  turned  his 
attention    to  agricultural    pursuits,    managing 


1 68 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


his  father's  farm,  and  looking  after  his  par- 
ents during  their  last  years.  He  has  added 
considerably  to  the  farm  since  it  came  into 
his  possession,  now  having  three  hundred  and 
eighty  acres  under  cultivation.  He  has  built  a 
halidsome  residence,  and  his  farm  is  conducted 
on  model  and  practical  lines.  His  son  is  as- 
sociated with  him  in  its  mangement,  the  firm 
name  being  M.  S.  Roberts  &  Son. 

Mr.  Roberts  was  married  October  20,  1852, 
to  Adelia  A.  Brovvnell,  a  daughter  of  Isaac 
and  Lucy  Brownell,  of  Kortright.  Mr.  Brown- 
ell  was  a  well-known  and  influential  farmer  of 
this  town,  and  lived  to  a  ripe  age,  being 
eighty  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roberts  have  two  children: 
Maud,  who  was  married  in  April,  1884,  to 
George  E.  Moore,  a  prominent  druggist  of 
Oneonta,  and  has  one  child,  Leona;  Joseph 
I.,  who  was  married  January  18,  1892,  to 
Miss  Grace  Van  Vechten,  of  Rensselaer 
County,  and  is  one  of  the  rising  young  farmers 
of  the  town.  He  was  elected  to  the  office  of 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  which  position  he  now 
holds,  and  is  a  member  of  Lodge  No.  466, 
A.  F.  &  A.  M.  Li  politics,  like  his  father, 
he  is  a  Democrat. 

Mr.  Roberts  has  been  Supervisor  of  the 
town  for  two  years,  and  has  also  filled  minor 
town  offices.  '  He  is  a  member  of  Lodge  No. 
466,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Oneonta,  and  is  also 
a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  belonging  to  Delhi 
Chapter,  No.  249.  Mr.  Roberts  is  one  of  the 
most  respected  farmers  in  Delaware  County. 
He  is  a  man  of  sterling  worth,  giving  life  and 
spirit  to  the  town  of  his  nativity,  and  taking 
a  deep  interest  in  all  enterprises  which  tend 
to  promote  its  welfare. 


RTHUR  H.  ST.  JOHN,  M.D.,  repre- 
sents in  a  worthy  manner  the  medical 
profession  of  Walton,  one  of  the 
most  prosperous  and  thriving  towns 
of  Delaware  County,  and  socially  is  regarded 
as  one  of  its  most  valued  citizens.  His  na- 
tive place  was  at  Cranbury,  N.J.,  the  date  of 
his  birth  being  May  8,  1856.  He  is  a  son  of 
Isaac  J.  and  l^lizabeth  P.  (Hanford)  St.  John, 
both  of  whom  were  natives  of  Delaware 
County. 


The  subject  of  this  sketch  grew  to  manhood 
in  the  town  of  Walton,  whither  his  parents 
had  returned  shortly  after  his  birth.  Soon 
after  his  graduation  from  the  Walton  High 
School  he  entered  into  mercantile  business, 
and  was  subsequently  employed  as  an  agent 
for  the  American  Express  Company,  running 
between  Oswego  and  New  York.  From  his 
boyhood,  however,  he  had  intended  to  become 
a  physician,  and,  with  this  end  in  view,  en- 
tered the  office  of  Dr.  J.  H.  Keeney,  of  Os- 
wego, N.Y.,  with  whom  he  read  medicine, 
going  thence  to  the  New  York  Homoeopathic 
Medical  College,  from  which  he  was  grad- 
uated with  the  class  of  1892.  The  subsequent 
year  Dr.  St.  John  was  one  of  the  staff  of  phy- 
sicians connected  with  the  Flower  Hospital, 
and  was  afterward  on  the  staff  of  the  Hahne- 
mann Hospital.  After  spending  some  time  in 
private  practice  in  New  York  City,  the  Doc- 
tor located  in  Walton,  opening  his  office  here 
in  April,  1893,  and  since  that  time  has  been 
in  the  receipt  of  a  substantial  practice.  He  is 
a  close  and  thoughtful  student,  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  his  patients,  and  is  held  in  high 
respect  both  as  a  man  and  as  a  practitioner. 
He  has  more  than  an  average  share  of  the  pat- 
ronage of  the  best  people  of  the  community,  and 
his  prospects  for  winning  a  position  among 
the  leading  physicians  and  surgeons  of  this 
part  of  Delaware  County  are  exceedingly  good. 

The  marriage  of  Dr.  St.  John  and  Miss 
Belle  M.  Snow,  a  daughter  of  Garrett  Snow, 
was  solemnized  at  Caroline  Centre,  Tompkins 
County,  in  1876;  and  the  young  couple  began 
their  wedded  life  in  Walton,  which  is  the 
natal  place  of  their  only  child,  Nellietta,  who 
was  born  in  1877. 


,ARL  HERRMANN  is  one  of  the 
leading  cottagers  in  the  charming 
rural  resort  known  as  Fleisch- 
manns,  situated  in  the  mountainous 
uplands  of  Delaware  County,  the  summer 
residence  of  a  small  number  of  select  families 
well  known  in  metropolitan  life.  Some  years 
ago  several  members  of  the  Flcischmann  fam- 
ily, in  seaixh  of  rural  (piiet  and  picturesque 
scenery,  visited  this  retired  neighborhood, 
and,   charmed  with  its  pure  air,   breezy  soli- 


Samuel   W.   Niles. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


171 


tiuU-s,  and  carc-l)ani.sliing  inllucnccs,  resolved 
that  their  first  visit  should  by  no  means  be 
their  last.  Accordingly,  about  18S2,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Louis  Fleischmann  and  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Leopold  Bleicr  came  to  the  locality,  and  pur- 
chased a  part  of  the  old  farm  then  owned  by 
John  M.  lilish,  Iniilding  pleasant  summer  cot- 
tages, well  adajitcd  to  the  requirements  of 
health  and  pleasure  seekers.  'I'hev  were  soon 
joined  by  others,  among  them  Charles 
I-'leischmann,  Carl  h'delheim,  Mrs.  Max 
I'^leischmann,  Anton  Seidl,  Louis  Josephthal, 
and  Carl  Herrmann.  Bernard  Ullman  and 
Henry  Mierlander  added  to  the  architectural 
beauties  of  the  place  by  establishing  spacious 
and  picturescpie  homes  on  the  mountain  side, 
Mr.  Charles  Fleischmann  building  three  more 
large  and  tasteful  dwellings. 

The  grounds  surrounding  these  attractive 
residences  are  exquisitely  laid  out,  teeming 
with  flowers  and  shrubbery,  and  bnjken  here 
and  there  with  convenient  walks  anti  well- 
graded  carriage  drives.  A  large  deer  paik,  in 
which  ramble  at  will  some  choice  specimens 
of  their  kind,  adds  greatly  to  the  interest  of 
the  landscape.  Swinmiing  Pond,  sup]:)licd 
with  ]iure  mountain  spring  water,  is  a  con- 
venience that  has  not  been  forgotten ;  neither 
have  commodious  stables  and  carriage  houses. 
Another  most  interesting  and  luxurious  feat- 
ure of  tills  realm  of  ])Ieasance  is  a  fine  riding- 
school  in  a  magnificently  equipped  hall,  with 
a  commodious  gallery,  in  which  the  friends 
of  the  riders  can  sit  and  watch  their  grace- 
lul  evolutions.  There  are  costly  paintings  on 
the  walls,  which  are  elsewhere  tastefully 
draped  with  rich  bunting;  and  four  large 
chandeliers  jirovide  brilliant  illumination  for 
evening  pleasures.  A  portable  floor  has  also 
been  provided  for  dancing,  and  an  orchestra  of 
skilled  musicians  from  New  York  is  kept  in 
good  practice  throughout  the  season.  The 
railroad  station,  a  tasteful  structure,  erected 
by  the  liberality  of  the  Fleischmanns,  invites 
the  attention  of  the  passing  traveller.  The 
surrounding  grountls  attest  the  work  (jf  an 
artist    in    landscape   gardening. 

This  charming  spot,  whose  natural  beauties 
have  been  so  enhanced  by  a  boundless  liberal- 
ity, directed  by  cultivated  taste,  is  yet  '  ut  in 
embryo.     The   plans   for   the  future  are  w^ell 


calculated  to  dwarf  the  acliievements  of  llie 
past;  and  in  the  choice  and  secluded  settle- 
ment of  ■■  l-'leischmamis,"'  nestling  in  the 
shadow  of  the  romantic  Catskills,  redolent  of 
health,  innocent  gaiety,  and  cultured  ease,  we 
may  view  a  jilace  where  sorditi  cares  are  ex- 
cluded and  the  rude  turmoil  of  life's  battle 
stilled,  its  faint  echoes  only  touching  the 
chord  of  remembrance,  as  the  reverberations 
of  the  swift  express,  with  its  varied  freight  of 
human  interests,  hopes,  and  passions,  break 
softly  on  the  air  and  lose  themselves  in  the 
I'ural    solitudes. 


AMUF.L  \V.  NILES,  a  retired  farmer 
of  .Sidney,  was  born  in  that  town, 
August  23,  1816,  and  is  the  son  of 
Joseph  and  Sally  (Barstow)  \iles. 
His  grandfather,  Ambrose  Niles,  a  native  of 
Connecticut,  was  a  veteran  of  the  War  (jf  the 
Revolution,  and  was  draftetl  in  the  War  of 
i8[2,  but  hired  a  substitute.  He  came  to 
Delaware  County  in  iSio  with  his  wife  and 
two  children,  and,  settling  in  the  town  of 
Sidne\-,  look  u|)  a  lot  of  land  consisting  of 
about  one  hundred  and  seventy-seven  acres, 
ujjon  which  he  built  a  log  house,  and  later 
built  the  second  frame  barn  that  was  erected 
in  that  [lart  of  the  town. 

Joseph  Xiles,  son  of  Ambrose,  was  born  in 
Connecticut,  and  taught  school  in  that  .State 
before  coming  to  Delaware  County  with  his 
f:ither  when  a  young  man.  He  here  f(dliiwed 
the  occupation  of  a  farnur,  and  filled  several 
local  (jffices,  being  Justice  of  the  Peace  for 
some  years,  well  known  as  ""  .Squire  Niles."' 
hokling  his  court  in  an  old  lug  house,  many 
of  the  lawyers  coming  to  court  on  horseback, 
with  their  clients  behind  them.  He  and  his 
wife  were  the  parents  of  the  following  chil- 
dren: -Samuel  W.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch: 
Clarinda.  wife  ot  Addison  Nowland,  of  Chi- 
cago, 111.;  Lucina,  who  became  the  wife  of 
Joseph  Miller,  and  die<l  at  the  age  of  fiftv-si\: 
.Mary,  wife  of  Norval  Barstow;  Celinda,  wife 
of  C\renus  Schofield :  .Sarah,  wife  of  Henrv 
l-"letcher:  and  Hubbard  Nilos,  who  died  aged 
eighty-one.  Joseph  Niles  died  in  1850,  aged 
sevent)--one,  his  wife  surviving  him  thirty 
years. 


172 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Samuel  W.  Niles  was  reared  on  the  old 
farm,  a  short  distance  from  where  Sidney 
Centre  now  stands,  receiving  his  education  at 
the  district  school,  which  was  on  the  farm, 
Gardner  Olmstead  being  his  first  teacher. 
The  school-house  was  of  logs,  and  heated  by 
fireplaces,  the  seats  being  made  of  slabs  with 
pegs  put  in  for  legs.  Mr.  Niles  had  but  a 
meagre  chance  of  attending  school,  as  most  of 
his  time  was  given  to  work  on  the  farm.  He 
remained  at  home  until  he  was  twenty-one, 
when  he  hired  himself  out  to  his  father,  re- 
ceiving one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  a  year 
and  his  clothes  and  board.  He  was  twenty- 
five  when  he  bought  a  farm  in  Otsego 
County,  on  which  he  lived  about  four  years, 
and  then  sold  it  and  moved  back  to  the  old 
farm,  purchasing  that  after  his  father's  death. 
In  1874  he  moved  to  his  present  residence  at 
Sidney  Centre. 

Mr.  Niles  was  married   October  22,    1840, 
to  Susan  C.  Mack,  who   was   born  January  20, 
1820,   at  Harpersfield,   a  daughter   of    Abner 
Mack,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Delaware 
County.     By  this  union   Mr.    Niles  had  four 
children  —  Sarah,     Edson,     George     B.,     and 
Charles.     Sarah,  born   December  12,  1850,  is 
the  wife  of   Frederick   Shaw,  of   Binghamton. 
Edson   Niles,  burn   September    10,    1854,    one 
of   the   leading   merchants    in    Sidney   Centre, 
married  in  1880  Addie  M.  Baker,  who  died  in 
1888,  leaving  two  children  —  Ethel   May    and 
Robert.     Mr.    Edson    Niles  married    in    1890 
Miss   Cora  A.  Travis,    by   whom   he  has   also 
two  children  —  Susan  E.  and    Harry.      George 
B.    Niles  was    born    September  4,    1846,    and 
died     June     2,      1877.      Charles     Niles,     born 
April    16,     1844,    died    December    23,     1888. 
Mrs.  Susan  C.    Niles  died  August  25,   1884. 
On   January  13,   1886,  Mr.    Niles   married   for 
his  second  wife  Mrs.  Sally  Davis,  a  daughter 
of   Israel  and  Susanna  Kneeland.     Her  father 
was  a  native  of  Delaware  County,  and  was  a 
wheelwright   by  trade;  but  the   latter  years  of 
his  life  were  devoted  to  farming.      He   died  at 
the  early  age  of  forty  years,  his  wife,  a  native 
of    Chenango    County,   surviving    him   thirty- 
four  years,  dying  at  the  age  of  seventy-four. 
They  had  four  children,  two  of  whom  are  now 
living  —  Mrs.  Niles  and   Mrs.    Louisa  Davis, 
the  latter  living  in  Masonville.      Her  mother 


having  been  twice  married,  Mrs.  Niles  has 
also  k  half-brother,  Austin  L.  Welch,  who 
resides  in  Texas. 

Mrs.  Niles  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church,  and  her  husband  is  a  Congregation- 
alist.  In  politics  he  is  a  strong  advocate  of 
the  Prohibition  party.  He  has  been  Assessor 
and  Inspector  of  Elections,  besides  holding 
several  other  public  offices,  all  of  which  he 
has  filled  most  acceptably.  Mr.  Niles  bears 
a  high  reputation  for  honesty  and  integrity, 
and  both  in  private  and  public  life  has  always 
retained  the  respect  and  esteem  of  his  fellows. 
An  excellent  portrait  of  this  representative 
citizen  of  Delaware  County  may  be  seen  on 
another  page  of  the   "Review." 


OHN  BECKWITH,  a  retired  farmer, 
owning  and  occupying  a  pleasant  home 
at  DeLancey  Station,  was  reared  to 
agricultural  pursuits,  and  has  followed 
this  calling  with  more  than  average  success. 
His  present  possessions  are  the  result  of  his 
own  industry,  while  his  integrity  and  honesty 
have  served  to  establish  him  in  the  confidence 
and  esteem  of  his  fellow-men.  He  is  a  native 
of  this  great  commonwealth,  having  been  born 
in  Ulster  County  in  1829. 

Joseph  Beckwith,  the  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Newbern,  N.C.,  in 
1 801,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  removed  to 
this  State,  becoming  a  resident  of  Ulster 
County.  He  was  left  an  orphan,  without 
means,  when  quite  young,  and  consequently 
was  obliged  to  seek  his  own  living.  He 
worked  out  by  the  month  at  farm  labor  for 
several  years,  and  by  steady  industry  and 
strict  economy  saved  some  money.  With  this 
to  start  upon,  he  wedded  the  lady  of  his 
choice,  Anna  Ostrander,  a  native  of  Ulster 
County,  their  nuptials  being  celebrated  in 
1826.  In  1839,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and 
four  children,  he  came  to  this  county,  settling 
in  the  town  of  Andes,  where  he  purchased  a 
farm,  on  which  he  afterward  lived  and  labored 
until  his  death  in  1865.  He  was  a  man  of 
enterprise  and  energy,  meeting  with  prosper- 
ity in  his  farming  operations,  and  leaving  his 
family  a  good  estate.  His  widow  survived 
him  several  years,  living  to  the  ripe  old  age 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


'73 


of  ninety  years.  Both  were  iIlmhii  mem- 
bers of  the  United  l'resb_vterian  cluirch,  and 
highly  esteemed  members  of  the  eonnnunit)' 
where  they  had  for  so  many  years  made  tlieir 
home.  The  record  of  the  ciiiUhen  i)i>rn  to 
them  is  as  follows:  Maria,  who  is  the  widow 
of  John  Fowler;  John,  of  whom  we  write; 
Margaret,  who  died  in  tlie  ]:>rinie  of  life; 
Cornelius,  a  carpenter,  who  lives  in  L'lster 
County. 

John  Heckwith  was  the  second  child  of  the 
parental  household.  He  was  reared  on  the 
farm,  attended  the  district  schools,  and  as- 
sisted his  father  until  his  marriage.  He  then 
became  a  farmer  on  his  own  account,  carrying- 
on  his  labors  in  such  a  thorougli  and  skilful 
manner  that  his  farm  ])ropeity  in  the  town  of 
Andes  was  among  the  finest,  in  regard  to 
improvements  and  cultivation,  of  any  in  the 
vicinity.  This  farm  Mr.  Heckwith  recently 
sold  for  three  thousaml  dollars,  and  invested 
one  thousand  six  hundred  dollars  of  tiiis 
money  in  his  present  home  in  DeLancey. 
It  contains  an  acre  of  land,  sufficient  to 
keep  a  cow  and  a  horse,  and  requiring  just 
enough  care  and  labor  to  keep  him  healthy 
and  happy;  and,  with  two  daughters  to  keep 
house  for  him,  he  is  living  in  comtnrt  antl 
ease. 

On  the  1st  of  January,  NS57,  Mr.  Heckwith 
married  IClizabeth  Nichols,  who  was  born  in 
Scotland  in  1827.  Her  parents,  Andrew  and 
Margaret  (George)  Nichols,  were  farmers  by 
occupation,  and  emigrated  to  this  country 
with  their  family  in  1839.  Mrs.  Heckwitli 
was  endowed  with  true  .Scotch  habits  of  in- 
dustry and  thrift,  and  ])roved  herself  a  most 
admirable  wife  and  conijianion.  .She  jiassed 
from  earth  to  the  spirit  world,  January  23, 
1893,  leaving  her  devoteil  husl^and  and  seven 
children  to  mourn  their  loss.  (3f  this  family, 
to  whom  she  was  ever  a  wise  counsellor  and  a 
loving  mother,  we  record  the  following:  ;\nna 
M.,  a  successful  teacher,  lives  at  home.  Hat- 
tie  M.,  the  wife  of  A.  K.  Worden,  a  farmer  of 
Andes,  has  four  children.  Joseph,  an  insur- 
ance and  real  estate  dealer  in  Walton,  has  had 
the  misfortune  to  break  i)nc  of  his  legs  three 
times;  but,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  he 
is  lame,  and  not  in  particularly  good  health, 
he    is   managing    a    very  successful    business. 


David  A.,  a  resident  ni  Inw.i,  wjhm-  ne 
is  in  the  employ  of  a  railway  compan\',  is 
married  and  has  a  son  and  daughter.  Cor- 
nelius, a  carjienter.  lives  in  Missouri.  Jane 
lives  at  home.  William,  also  a  carpenter, 
is  in  Missouri  with  his  brother  Cornelius, 
where  both  are  working  prosperously  at  their 
trade. 

Mr.  Heckwith  is  a  sound  J-iepublican  in 
his  political  views.  The  United  Presbyterian 
church  finds  in  him  a  consistent  member. 


[t)f^  R  rilUR  J.  GANOUNG,  a  substantial 
iti/.en  of  his  native  town,  R".\bur)', 
where  he  was  born  I'ebruary  2, 
1864,  is  of  h'rench  descent  and  ]ia- 
triotic  ancestrv.  His  paternal  grandfather, 
James  Ganoung,  who  was  born  in  Putnam 
County,  New  York,  came  to  Butternuts  in 
Delaware  Count}'  while  in  the  first  vigor  of 
maidiood.  Here  he  tried  to  settle,  and  clear 
up  a  tract  of  land  that  was,  like  a  great  deal 
ot  the  suri'ounding  country,  almost  a  wilder- 
ness. Hut  the  Tories,  who  were  jealous  of 
the  prosperit\'  and  increasing  strength  of  the 
rebel  element,  dro\e  him  from  his  humble  ami 
toil-won  home;  and  the  young  pioneer  re- 
turned to  Putnam  County.  Both  lie  and  his 
brothel-  John  served  in  the  Re\-oIutionary  War 
as  minute-n-ien. 

Afti'i-  the  war  the  two  brothers  were  olfered 
a  tract  of  two  hundred  acres  of  huul  at  Batavia 
Kill,  as  an  incentive  to  settle  there  and  farm 
the  wild  and  uncu.ltivated  land  of  that  section. 
This  offer  was  ;iccej)ted;  and  tlie  brothers  had 
soon  erected  a  log  cabin,  and  were  making- 
brave  efforts  to  establish  a  home,  though  the 
danger  from  the  wild  animals  of  the  forest, 
the  discomforts  of  the  necessarily  jjriniitive 
mode  of  existence,  the  long  winters,  and 
extreme  isolation  made  the  life  very  hard, 
almost  impossible.  Here  James  Ganoung 
n-iet  and  married  Miss  Deborah  Jenkins, 
the  daughter  of  one  of  the  early  settlers: 
and  here  they  lived  the  first  years  of  their 
married  life.  As  old  age  approached,  they 
considered  it  wise  to  change  their  location; 
so  the  farm  w-as  sold,  and  a  new  home  was 
established  in  Roxbury.  They  became  the  par- 
ents  of   eight  children;   namely,  Jason,    Isaac, 


174 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Arion,  Smith,  Abraham,  Charles,  Rachel,  and 
Polly. 

Arion,  the  thinl  son  of  James  and  Deborah 
Ganoung,  was  educated  at  the  district  school. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-six  he  bought  a  farm, 
owned  now  by  Holsight.  .  He  was  married  in 
the  following  year  to  Priscilla  Redmond, 
daughter  of  John  and  Martha  (Powell)  Red- 
mond. Her  father,  who  lived  on  a  farm  near 
Griffin's  Corners,  was  a  member  of  the  Bap- 
tist church,  and  was  a  loyal  Democrat 
throughout  the  varying  vicissitudes  of  his  life 
of  eighty  years.  Arion  Ganoung  was  also  a 
Democrat  in  politics.  He  had  the  confidence 
of  the  community,  and  held  the  office  of  As- 
sessor in  the  town  of  Roxbury. 

Arthur  J.  Ganoung,  son  of  Arion  and  Pris- 
cilla, was  educated  at  Roxbury  College,  and 
at  eighteen  made  himself  a  master  of  teleg- 
raphy, which  he  followed  as  a  vocation  for 
several  years  in  different  places,  returning  in 
September,  iSgo,  to  Roxbury,  where  he  has 
since  been  employed  as  freight  and  express 
agent.  His  home  is  near  the  railway  station. 
Mr.  Ganoung  married  Libbie  Richtmeyer, 
daughter  of  Jacob  Richtmeyer,  a  carpenter  and 
contractor  of  Middlctown.  Mrs.  Ganoung  is 
a  member  of  the  Lutheran  church.  Like  his 
father,  Mr.  Ganoung  affiliates  with  the  Demo- 
cratic party. 


and. 


[OHN  KLING,  agent  and  manager  of 
the  branch  dry-goods  store  -of  Frank 
Barclay,  of  Amsterdam,  N.Y.,  is  a 
wide-awake,  energetic  business  man, 
although  young  in  years,  has  already 
obtained  a  good  start  in  life,  and  is  numbered 
among  the  rising  young  men  of  the  village  of 
Walton.  He  comes  of  excellent  Holland  an- 
cestry, and  was  born  in  the  town  of  Perth, 
Fulton  County,  N.Y.,  April  8,  1869,  being  a 
son  of  Peter  A.  and  Phyllis  Ann  (Banker) 
Kling,  the  former  a  well-known  contractor 
and  builder  of  Amsterdam.  The  parents  are 
both  members  of  the  Baptist  church,  and  po- 
litically Mr.  Kling  casts  his  vote  with  the 
Republican   parly. 

The  subject  of  this  brief  biographical 
record  received  the  elements  of  a  good  educa- 
tion in  the  TTnirtn  School   at  Amsterdam,  and, 


being  remarkably  ambitious  and  industrious, 
secured  employment  as  a  clerk  in  a  dry-goods 
store,  thus  spending  his  evenings  and  vaca- 
tions from  the  time  he  was  seventeen  years 
old  until  nineteen  years  of  age.  He  has 
since  then  continued  his  mercantile  career, 
and  during  the  past  two  years  has  been  em- 
ployed by  Frank  Barclay,  as  before  mentioned. 
In  January,  1894,  Mr.  Kling  opened  the 
branch  store  in  Walton,  and  in  this  new 
enterprise  has  met  with  encouraging  success, 
his  honorable  and  upright  dealings,  his  fidel- 
ity to  the  interests  of  his  employers,  and  his 
genial  and  courteous  manners  securing  for 
him  a  good  patronage. 

April  28,  1892,  Mr.  Kling  was  united  in 
the  holy  bonds  of  matrimony  with  Miss  Jennie 
Cramer,  of  Amsterdam,  a  daughter  of  William 
and  Emma  (McConnell)  Cramer.  On  the 
maternal  side  Mrs.  Kling  is  of  Scotch  ex- 
traction, her  grandparents  having  been  born, 
reared,  and  married  in  Scotland.  They  after- 
ward emigrated  to  this  country,  stopping 
awhile  in  Albany,  and  going  thence  to  Can- 
ada, where  the  grandfather  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  trade  as  a  tobacconist.  In  Canada, 
near  the  town  of  Coburg,  occurred  the  birth 
of  their  daughter  Emma,  the  mother  of  Mrs. 
Kling.  On  the  paternal  side  Mrs.  Kling  is 
of  German  descent,  her  great-grandfather  hav- 
ing been  a  native  of  Germany,  and  her  grand- 
father, Henry  Cramer,  a  native  of  the  Empire 
State.  Her  parents  are  esteemed  residents  of 
Amsterdam,  where  they  are  living  retired  from 
active  labor.  They  have  a  family  of  three 
children:  William  H.,  who  is  engaged  in  the 
grocery  business,  lives  in  Amsterdam;  Emma, 
who  is  an  able  instructor  in  the  public 
schools;  Jennie,  Mrs.  Kling,  who  has  been 
engaged  in  the  millinery  business  for  some 
years,  and  since  coming  to  Walton  has  con- 
tinued her  occupation,  her  millinery  parlors 
being  in  the  store  with  her  husband.  She 
has  a  well-supplied  stock,  and  displays  much 
artistic  ability,  her  talent  being  recognized  by 
her  large  number  of  patrons. 

In  religious  matters  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kling  are 
not  entirely  of  one  mind,  he  being  a  member  of 
the  Baptist  church,  in  which  faith  he  was  reared, 
while  Mrs.  Kling  worships  at  the  Presbyterian 
church,  of  which  she  is  a  valued  member. 


mOGRAl'lIICAL    REVIKW 


17s 


|;R0MK  WHIPPLE,  a  successful  farmer 
and  dairyman  of  Kortri^ht,  Delaware 
1<JJI  County,  of  which  town  he  has  lon^' 
been  a  jirominent  citizen,  was  born  in 
Roxbury,  March  17,  1853.  His  grandfather, 
Abram  Wliipple,  was  a  native  of  Vermont, 
where  lie  followed  the  tiade  of  blacksmith. 
He  was  a  pioneer  of  Ro.\bur\',  Delaware 
County,  and  there  resided  until  his  death, 
which  took  place'  wlu-n  he  was  eighty  }'eai's 
old.  He  was  a  liberal-minded  man,  a  Repub- 
lican, and  was  the  father  of  se\en  children. 

His  son  Daniel,  the  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  was  born  in  X'ermont,  but  grew  to 
manhootl  in  the  town  of  Ro\bur\',  wiiere  he 
engaged  in  farming.  In  1S65,  tlisposing  of 
his  farm  of  one  lunulred  acres  there,  he  re- 
moved to  Kortright,  and  purchased  the  farm 
of  three  hundred  and  twentv-two  acres  which 
is  now  occujiied  by  his  son  Jerome.  Daniel 
Whipple  was  a  hai'd  worker  and  progressive 
farmer,  and  resided  on  the  farm  at  Kortright 
until  his  tleath,  at  eigiit)-seven  vears  of  age, 
his  wife,  Maria  Chandjcrlin  Whi]i])le,  dying 
at  the  age  of  sixtN-five  years.  He  was  a  Re- 
publican in  [wditics,  aiul  both  he  antl  his  wife 
were  devoti'd  members  of  the  iMethodist  Epis- 
copal church.  They  were  the  parents  of  eight 
children,  all  of  whom  are  living:  Mrs.  Jane 
Nesbitt,  of  .Stamford;  Jerome;  Mrs.  Emma 
Goodsell,  of  Meredith;  George,  living  at 
Rose's  Brook;  Mrs.  Anna  Lamport,  of  .Stam- 
ford; Abram,  of  ]'"ergusonville,  Delaware 
County;  Libbie,  who  lives  at  home;  and  Mrs. 
Sarah  Nesbitt,  of  Ferguson vi He. 

Jerome  Whijjple  rt'moved  to  Kortright  with 
his  parents  when  but  twelve  years  okl,  and, 
after  receiving  the  education  afforded  by  the 
district  school,  gave  his  attention  to  farming, 
always  living  at  home,  where  he  took  charge 
of  the  farm,  and  ministered  to  his  ]>arents  in 
their  old  age.  On  December  5,  1S8S,  he 
married  Miss  Mary  Mehaffy,  a  natix'e  of  Kort- 
right, and  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Mary  IC. 
(Storie)  Mehaffy,  the  former  of  whom  is  a 
farmer,  now  residing  in  Iowa.  The  latter 
died  in  the  prime  of  life.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Whipple  have  one  child,  Blanche  M.,  who 
was   born    March    22,    1890. 

Just  before  his  marriage  .Mr.  Wiiipple  |)ur- 
chased   the   old  homestead  consisting  of  three 


hundred  and  tweiii_\ -twn  .u  u  s.  jim  utiw  h.in 
under  his  control  four  hundred  and  ninety-fu'e 
acres,  part  of  which  he  ri-nts.  His  farm  is 
under  excellent  cultivation,  and  tiie  ilair\'  is  a 
very  extensive  and  joroductive  one,  comprising 
sixty-five  milch  cows  of  finest  Jersey  breed. 
.Mr.  Whipple  has  in  all  one  hundred  head  of 
stock,  employing  two  men  throughout  the 
year.  His  home  is  a  most  coirifortable  one, 
situated  in  the  Delaware  River  Valley  among 
the  Catskill  Mountains.  The  family  attend 
tile  Uniteii  Presbyterian  church.  .Mr.  Whi])- 
])le  is  a  stanch  Republican.  He  is  an  indus- 
trious man,  with  remarkahic  l)usiness  cpial- 
itications,  am!  is  emineiUl}'  successful  in 
whatever   enterprises   he    undertakes. 


ICTOR  FINCH,  a  jirominent  citizen  of 
Tom[ikins,  Delaware  County,  N.V., 
was  born  September  12,  1820,  in 
Lexington,  Greene  Countv.  The  ancestors  of 
Mr.  I'^incli  came  from  Holland  to  America 
with  the  early  settlers  of  this  countr_\-,  and  the 
family  has  been  known  in  its  history  since 
that    time. 

Amos  I'inch,  laliier  of  \'ictor,  was  born  in 
Lexington  in  1794,  and  died  in  1868.  After 
engaging  in  farming  in  his  native  town  for 
many  years,  he  disposed  of  his  [iroperty  there, 
and  purtdiased  a  tarm  in  Maryland,  Otsego 
Count\-,  where  he  lived  for  some  time,  subse- 
c]uently  rt'moving  to  a  farm  that  he  bought  in 
Tijmpkins.  After  the  death  of  his  wife  his 
evesight  tailed;  and  he  gave  his  ])roi)ert\' to 
his  sons,  passing  his  last  days  at  the  liome  of 
his  son  Victor,  where  he  died  November  16. 
1868,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four  vears.  He 
was  buried  in  tiie  cemeterv  at  Trout  Creek. 
His  wife  was  Polly  Merwin,  also  a  native  of 
Lexington;  and  she  was  the  mother  of  six 
children  —  Lura,  \'ictor,  .Sanuiel,  I-anmeline, 
Debias,  and  Wilson.  Mrs.  Polly  M.  ITnch 
was  herself  the  eldest  of  a  family  of  fourteen 
children,  of  whom  her  brother,  David  Merwin, 
of  Ilensonville,  now  in  his  sevent}'-ninth  \'ear. 
is  the  only  survivor.  His  eaidiest  ancestors 
in  this  countrv  came  from  W'ales.  His  pa- 
ternal grandfather,  his  father,  and  his  uncle, 
Daniel  .Merwin,  came  to  New  'S'ork  from  Wal- 
lingford.    Conn.,    soon    after    the    Revolution. 


>76 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


crossing  the  Hudson  on  a  raft  of  their  own 
construction,  and  travelling  thirty  miles, 
mostly  by  blazed  trees,  through  a  howling 
wilderness.  They  took  up  a  tract  of  land  in 
Greene  County,  where  the  father  of  Mrs. 
Finch  cleared  a  small  piece  of  land,  sowed  it 
with  wheat,  built  a  log  house,  and  then  went 
back  to  Connecticut,  and  married  Thankful 
Parker,  who  returned  with  him  to  the  new 
home,    where  their   children   were  born. 

Victor  Finch  passed  his  boyhood  in  Tomp- 
kins, attending  the  district  school,  and  help- 
ing with  the  farm  work.  When  seventeen  he 
went  to  work  for  a  Mr.  Palmer,  learning  the 
carpenter's  trade,  and  at  twenty-one  started 
out  in  life  for  himself,  engaging  in  lumbering 
and  farming.  When  he  was  thirty-five  years 
of  age,  he  purchased  a  farm  in  Manchester, 
Wayne  County,  Pa.,  where  for  fourteen  years 
he  engaged  extensively  in  his  old  occupation 
of  farming  and  lumbering.  Selling  his  prop- 
erty there,  he  purchased  in  1856  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides,  comprising  one  hundred 
and  eighty-six  acres.  Besides  raising  crops 
and  making  maple  sugar,  he  also  operates  a 
large  dairy,  keeping  forty-five  cows,  doing 
much  of  the  work  of  the  place  himself.  He  is 
strong  and  hearty,  was  never  known  to  be  ill 
in  all  his  life,  and,  although  seventy-four 
years  of  age,  is  as  active  and  energetic  as 
when  much  younger. 

January  30,  1855,  Mr.  Finch  married  Sarah 
E.  Taylor,  daughter  of  James  and  Clementina 
(Harse)  Taylor.  Both  of  Mrs.  Finch's  par- 
ents were  born  in  Winford,  Somersetshire, 
England,  where  they  were  married,  four  chil- 
dren being  born  in  England,  two  of  whom 
died  in  that  countr}-.  In  1828  they  sailed  for 
America  with  their  two  children  in  the  ship 
"Cosmo,"  the  voyage  occupying  sixteen  weeks 
and  four  days.  The  passage  was  an  unusually 
rough  one,  the  good  ship  being  twice  blown 
off  the  coast ;  but.  after  much  suffering  and 
narrow  escape  from  shipwreck,  .the  family 
reached  New  York  City  and  settled  on  a  small 
farm  where  Jersey  City  is  now  situated.  For 
three  years  they  lived  there,  and  then  moved 
to  Honesdale,  Pa.,  which  contained  at  that 
time  but  one  log  house.  The  journey  from 
the  old  home  to  Honesdale  was  made  on  foot 
with  the  children  on  their  backs,  a  man   driv- 


ing an  ox  team  containing  all  their  worldly 
goods.  The  country  to  which  they  immi- 
grated was  a  barren  wilderness,  abounding  in 
wild  animals,  and  was  not  particularly  pleas- 
ing to  Mr.  Taylor.  He  accordingly  removed 
to  a  tract  called  the  French  Woods,  in 
Delaware  County,  N.Y.,  and  here  erected  a 
bark  cabin,  in  which  he  lived  until  able  to 
build  a  log  house.  He  proceeded  to  clear 
land  on  what  is  now  called  the  Rolland 
farm,  near  Sand  Pond,  which  is  one  of  the 
largest  in  French  Woods.  Several  years  later 
he  sold  this  property,  and  went  to  Bouchon- 
ville  in  the  same  county,  where  he  carried  on 
a  hotel,  which  he  afterward  sold  to  purchase  a 
farm  in  Manchester,  Wayne  Count}',  Pa.  Ten 
years  later  he  disposed  of  this,  and  bought  a 
farm  near  Lordville,  Delaware  County,  consist- 
ing of  one  hundred  and  three  acres;  and  here 
he  lived  until  his  death,  which  occurred  Jan- 
uary 14,  1871,  the  result  of  injuries  received 
by  being  struck  by  the  cars  near  his  home. 
His  wife  died  one  year  later,  in  1872,  and 
they  sleep  side  by  side  in  the  cemetery  at 
Lordville. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taylor  were  the  parents  of 
ten  children:  John  and  Michael,  born  in  Eng- 
land; Mary  Ann,  Nathaniel,  Sarah  E., 
Henry,  and  William,  born  in  French  Woods; 
Bessie,  born  in  Bouchonville;  and  two  others,' 
who  died  in  England.  In  1848  Mr.  Taylor 
again  crossed  the  ocean,  the  death  of  his 
father,  without  a  will,  making  his  presence 
necessary  in  the  settlement  of  the  property. 
The  passage  over  occupied  three  weeks;  and 
the  return  trip,  being  very  stormy,  occupied 
seventeen  weeks,  both  voyages  being  made 
in  the  ship  "Rappahannock,"  of  Liverpool. 
Mr.  Taylor  being  the  eldest  son,  and  his 
father  a  wealthy  farmer,  his  portion  of  the 
estate  amounted  to  a  comfortable  fortune. 
His  daughter,  Mrs.  Finch,  was  born  July  14, 
1837,  in  French  Woods,  and  passed  the  early 
part  of  her  life  in  Lordville,  attending  the 
district  school,  and  residing  with  her  parents 
until  her  marriage. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Finch  are  the  parents  of  three 
children:  Alva  Wilson,  born  October  16, 
1856;  William  L.,  born  May  4,  i860;  Elmer 
E.,  born  February  6,  1S63.  All  are  natives 
of  Manchester,   Wayne    County,    Pa.,   and  at- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


'7; 


tcndetl  tlic  district  sciioul  on  Knickcrboci<cr 
Hill,  assistiiii;-  their  parents  on  the  liomc 
farm.  Tlie  son,  A.  Wilson,  married  Susan 
Brown  of  Tompkins;  and  they  have  one  cliild, 
Ava,  born  January  30,  IcSqi.  William  L. 
Finch  died  July  19,  1862,  at  the  age  of  two 
years;  and  Elmer  works  on  the  old  home  farm 
with  his  father  and  brother.  Mr.  Finch  is 
profoundly  respected  for  his  upright  character 
and  honorable  dealinsrs. 


ROFESSOR  WILLIS  I).  GRAVES. 
Delaware  Academy,  located  in  Delhi. 
[19  is  fortunate  in  havijig  for  its  princi- 
pal Willis  D.  Graves,  a  man  of  lib- 
eral culture  and  great  executive  ability. 
Under  his  wise  regime  of  the  past  ten  years 
the  number  of  students  has  increased,  the 
standard  of  scholarship  greatly  ach'anced,  and 
many  beneficial  changes  and  improvements 
been  made.  Delaware  Academy  since  its  in- 
ception has  been  regarded  as  the  leatling  in- 
stitution of  its  kind  in  this  section  of  the 
State,  and  its  high  rei)utation  and  usefulness 
as  a  classical  institute  grow  steadih' from  year 
to  year.  It  was  established  in  pursuance  oi 
an  act  of  the  legislature  passed  Ajiril  12,  i8ig, 
which  appropriated  six  thousand  dollars,  the 
proceeds  of  a  Tory  estate,  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  an  academy  in  Delaware  County. 
The  academy  was  incorporated  by  the  regents 
of  the  universit\',  I'ebruary  12,  1820;  and  the 
first  building  was  erected  upon  lands  given 
by  (ieneral  ICrastus  Root,  who  had  been  in- 
strumental in  obtaining  the  appropriation. 
Judge  Ebenezer  Foote  was  President  of  the 
first  Board  of  Trustees,  Colonel  Amasa  Parker 
the  first  Secretar}-,  ancl  John  A.  Savage  the 
first    Principal    of   the   academv. 

I-"rom  the  start  this  school  hatl  a  successful 
career;  and,  having  outgrown  its  accommotla- 
tions,  in  1856  a  new  academy  and  twf)  board- 
ing halls  were  built.  Recenth-  the  boarding 
deiiartment  has  been  enlarged,  but  is  yet  too 
small  to  accommodate  all  applicants.  In 
1S93  the  number  of  stutlents  registered 
reached  two  hundred  and  twenty-three,  and 
the  representation  of  the  school  greatly  ex- 
tended, the  non-resident  attenilancc  number- 
ing  one   hundred    and    twenty-six.      No  other 


academic  school  in  this  section  of  the  .State 
approaches  such  an  attendance  of  pupils  from 
a  distance,  and  few  similar  schools  in  the  en- 
tire State  of  New  York  report  such  a  non- 
resident attendance.  During  the  past  decade 
o\er  ten  thousand  dollars  has  been  expended 
in  beautifying  the  grounds  and  in  adding  to 
the  comfort  and  equipment  of  the  buildings. 
Among  the  valuable  accessories  of  the  school 
is  a  library  of  two  thousand  \-olumes,  an  ex- 
tensive collection  of  apparatus,  a  thoroughly 
furnished  gymnasium,  and  every  convenience 
for  efficient  work.  The  work  of  the  school  is 
mostly  academic,  although  both  a  preparatory 
and  primary  department  are  sustained.  The 
regents'  courses  of  study,  the  only  recognized 
courses  for  graduation,  are  lil)eral  and  progres- 
sive, fitting  the  students  in  the  most  thorough 
manner  for  Princeton,  Yale,  Vassar,  and  other 
colleges,  and  for  life  work. 

The  faculty  of  this  academy  consists  of  a 
cor]>s  of  thorough  educators,  who  devote  their 
entire  attention  to  the  best  interests  of  the 
school.  Lender  their  tuition  students  who 
have  matriculated  at  various  colleges  have  be- 
come distinguished  scholars.  One  of  the  stu- 
dents of  the  academy  recently  won  a  three 
years"  fellowship  at  Yale  College,  and  re- 
ceived the  degree  of  Ph.D.  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years.  Another  obtained  the 
Mental  .Science  fellowship  of  six  hundred 
dollars  at  Princeton  College.  One  is  instruc- 
tor of  Latin  in  the  Hartford  High  School,  and 
another  holds  the  Chair  of  Oratorv  in  Cornell 
Lhiiversity.  Rei)orts  ha\c  come  back  from 
the  following-named  colleges  wherein  iJclhi 
Academy  students  have  distinguished  them- 
selves, testifying  to  the  thorough  preparation 
received  in  this  school:  Yale,  Cornell, 
Princeton.  \'assar.  Wellesley,  Hamilton. 
Aliddlebury,  Westminster,  and  I-'lmira  Female 
College,  besides  from  the  law,  medical,  and 
normal  schools  of  the  State.  Aside  from  the 
academic  course,  Professor  Gra\es  has  main- 
tained a  kindergarten  course,  in  which  about 
twenty  children  are  taught:  and  a  practical 
course  in  book-keeping  is  included  within  the 
regular  course.  Special  courses  are  given  in 
music,  drawing,  and  painting,  these  special 
studies  being  under  the  supervision  of  thor- 
ough  and  accomplished   instructors. 


'78 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Professor  Graves  is  a  native  of  the  Empire 
State,  having  been  born  in  Bainbridge,  Che- 
nango County,  August  i8,  1S56,  the  eldest  of 
four  children  born  to  Gaylord  S.  and  Harriet 
E.  (Pettys)  Graves.  His  father  was  a  suc- 
cessful business  man,  who,  having  amassed  a 
competence  during  forty  years  in  which  he 
was  engaged  in  the  furniture  business,  is  now 
enjoying  well-earned  leisure  from  the  active 
pursuits  of  life.  Professor  Graves  as  a  boy 
was  an  ambitious  student,  and,  after  leaving 
the  public  school,  attended  the  academies  of 
Afton  and  Bainbridge.  He  subsequently 
spent  four  years  as  a  teacher  in  the  schools  of 
Chenango  and  Broome  Counties,  afterward 
taking  a  full  course  of  study  at  the  normal 
school  in  Albany,  from  which  he  was  grad- 
uated in  1879.  In  August  of  the  same  year 
he  accepted  the  principalship  of  the  Bain- 
bridge Union  School  and  Academy,  a  position 
which  he  retained  six  years,  winning  in  the 
mean  time  a  reputation  as  an  instructor  of  rare 
ability  and  merit.  In  1885  he  leased  the 
Delaware  Academy  at  Delhi,  which  under  his 
efficient  administration  occupies  a  front  rank 
among  similar  institutions  of  the  kind  in  the 
State. 

Professor  Graves  was  united  in  marriage  in 
1880  to  Miss  Elizabeth  M.  Rexford,  an  ac- 
complished young  woman  of  superior  mental 
attainments,  who  was  graduated  from  Vassar 
College  with  the  class  of  1877,  receiving  the 
degree  of  A.B.  She  is  a  member  of  the  fac- 
ulty of  the  academy,  being  the  instructor  in 
Latin  and  German.  Professor  and  Mrs. 
Graves  are  both  members  of  the  Second  Pres- 
byterian Church,  and  active  laborers  in  de- 
nominational work. 


|ZRA  H.  HAIT,  an  estimable  citizen  of 
Stamford,  N.Y.,  was  born  in  this  town, 
on  Rose  Brook,  December  26,  1823, 
son  of  Stephen  and  Betsy  (Lyon)  Halt. 
Stephen  Hait  was  born  in  South  Kortright  in 
the  town  of  Stamford,  and  his  wife  was  born 
on  Rose  Brook  in  the  same  town.  His  father, 
lizra  Hait,  who  was  born  in  Connecticut,  in 
1790  moved  to  this  county,  and  settled  in 
Stamford  in  the  Delaware  River  Valley.  He 
bought  a  tract  of  wild  land,  built  a  log  cabin, 


and  then,  returning  to  his  native  State,  was 
there  married.  As  soon  as  practicable  he 
took  his  wife  to  their  new  home.  The  jour- 
ney was  made  on  horseback,  which  was  then 
about  the  only  way  of  travelling;  and  a  hard 
and  somewhat  perilous  trip  it  must  have  been, 
for  wild  animals,  which  are  now  seldom 
found,    then  abounded   in   the   country. 

Catskill  was  the  main  market  for  the  wheat 
crop,  and  four  days  were  consumed  in  going 
thither  and  coming  back.  The  grist  had  to 
be  taken  to  Schoharie  to  be  ground.  It  must 
have  required  great  courage  and  fortitude  to 
live  under  these  discouraging  conditions.  To 
be  sure,  deer,  bears,  and  smaller  game 
abounded  in  the  forests,  but  so  did  prowling 
panthers  and  wolves;  and,  had  not  the  pio- 
neers been  men  and  women  of  dauntless  dar- 
ing as  well  as  sturdy  workers,  their  hearts' 
must  have  failed  them.  Mr.  Hait  owned  a 
good  farm,  raised  flax,  and  kept  sheep,  so  that 
the  family  spun  and  wove  their  own  linen  and 
wool  and  dressed  in  this  homespun  cloth, 
which  is  now  seldom  if  ever  seen.  He 
bought  in  the  first  place  one  hundred  and  fifty 
acres,  but  added  to  it  till  at  one  time  he 
owned  about  four  hundred  acres.  He  was  one 
of  the  well-to-do  men  of  the  town,  and  was  a 
Presbyterian  in  religious  views.  He  died  on 
the  old  homestead,  March  11,  1849,  at  eighty- 
nine  years  of  age,  and  his  wife,  April  16, 
1839,' when  sixty-three  years  of  age.  They 
had  five  children,  all  of  whom  grew  to  matu- 
rity; but  none  are  now  living.  Their  names 
were  Lydia,  Betsey,  Patty,  Stephen,  and 
Daniel. 

Stephen  Plait,  the  elder  of  the  two  sons 
of  Ezra,  grew  to  manhood  in  the  town  of 
Stamford,  and  there  resided  throughout  his 
life.  He  was  well  known  as  Captain  Stephen 
Hait,  was  a  farmer  owning  a  good  farm  at 
Rose  Brook,  and  was  a  practical  and  success- 
ful man  in  business.  In  1820  he  married, 
and  moved  in  that  same  year  on  to  his  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  acres,  the 
greater  part  of  which  he  had  to  clear  himself; 
and  here  he  lived  until  his  death.  His  first 
wife  died  August  3,  1837;  and  he  was  again 
married  to  Betsy  Patterson.  They  were  both 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church;  and  he 
was  a  Whig  in  politics,  and  was  Collector  of 


I5IOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


■79 


his  town.  They  both  lived  to  a  good  old  age. 
He  diet!  when  about  eighty  years  old.  The 
three  children  by  the  first  marriage  were  the 
following:  ICzra  II.,  tlie  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Mrs.  Mary  L.  Ryer,  widow  of  the 
late  George  W.  Ryer,  a  farmer;  Mrs.  Louisa 
li.  W'akeman,  who  was  born  in  1829,  ami  died 
in  i860.  The  tliree  by  tiie  second  marriage 
were:  I.ydia  E.  Scott,,  wlio  resides  in  North 
Kortright;  Isaac  Menry,  wiio  resides  on  Rose 
Brook;  and  .Martin  K.,  who  lives  on  the  old 
homestead. 

Ezra  II.  Ilait  grew  to  manhooil  in  the  town 
of  Stamford,  and  receiveil  his  education  in  the 
district  schools  of  that  town.  He  lived  umler 
the  parental  roof  until  aliout  thirty-six  \ears 
of  age,  and  assisted  in  carrying  on  the  work  of 
the  iiome  farm.  He  bought  liis  fust  land,  a 
tract  of  se\ent\-five  acres,  in  tJie  Delaware 
Valley:  and  this  he  still  holds.  About 
thirty-four  years  ago  he  bought  the  land  where 
he  now  resides,  being  one  of  the  oldest  set- 
tlers in  this  part  of  the  town.  All  inijirove- 
ments  and  additions  have  been  made  by  him. 
and  he  now  lias  one  of  tlie  best  farms  in  the 
valley.  He  is  a  practical  farmer,  and  suc- 
cessfully carries  on  a  dair}'  of  twenty  head  of 
Jerseys.  He  has  in  all  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  acres  of  land,  good  farm  buildings, 
and  a  fine  dwelling.  He  also  owns  real  estate 
in  Alnieda,  and  was  one  of  the  ]nime  movers 
in  having  the  .South  Kortright  railway  station 
established.  His  wife  was  a  member  of 
the  United  Trcsbyterian  churcli,  and  he  is 
liberal  in  religious  views  and  politically  a 
Democrat. 

On  May  18,  1859,  he  married  Nancy  Nes- 
bitt,  daughter  of  George  Nesbitt.  -She  was 
born  December  28,  1829,  in  the  town  of 
Stamford,  on  Rose  Brook.  Mrs.  Halt  died 
when  si.xty-one  years  of  age,  July  28,  1890. 
They  liad  one  son,  .Stephen,  born  October  12, 
1865,  wlio  now  resides  witii  his  father,  and  is 
practically  the  mainstay  of  the  i)lace,  having 
full  charge,  and  carrying  on  the  business. 
On  February  3,  1892,  he  married  Katie  Hilts, 
who  was  born  in  Sclioharie  County;  and  they 
have  one  son,  F,7.ra  Hilts  Halt,  born  October 
28,  1893.  Thev  are  both  members  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  church,  and  in  politics 
he   follows    the  principles  of   the  Democratic 


part)'.  He  is  om-  ni  im-  ii^m^  \<p\mi-  i.iniH-is 
of  the  town,  and,  like  liis  father,  lias  shown 
nnich  interest  in  public  affairs. 


];0RGE  I.  TRICVZ  is  known  to  every 
resident  of  Butternut  tJro\e  as  an 
enterprising  and  successful  mer- 
chant of  that  place,  doing  an  extensive  and 
varied  business.  He  is  the  son  of  Hein\-  and 
Louisa  (.Mall)  Trcyz,  antl  was  l)orn  in  Brook- 
lyn, N.Y.,  May  11,  1S65.  His  father  be- 
longs to  that  class  of  foreign-born  citizens 
who  are  in  the  front  rank  of  progress,  and  wlio 
have  the  highest  apiireciation  for  the  freedom 
and  institutions  of  our  country,  having  come 
here  to  share  its  privileges  and  help  to  mould 
its  destiny.  The  same  might  also  be  said  of 
his  maternal  gr.uidfather,  who  was  a  native  of 
France. 

Henry  Treyz  was  born  July  3,  1S42,  in 
Ulm.  (iermany,  and,  coming  to  this  country 
in  his  early  manhood,  worked  at  his  trade  of 
brewer  in  New  Jersey  and  other  places.  At 
length,  giving  up  that  occupation,  he  bought 
in  Fremont  Centre,  .Sullivan  County,  N.V.,  a 
farm  of  one  hundred  acres,  which  he  has  im- 
proved in  every  possible  way.  He  keeps  a 
choice  dairy  of  fifteen  Jersey  cows,  besides  a 
large  flock  of  sheep;  and  everything  about  the 
place  is  in  a  most  prosperous  condition,  the 
farm  being  finely  located  near  the  village. 
His  wife,  Louisa,  was  a  daughter  of  John  C. 
Mall,  who  was  born  in  I-" ranee,  and  was  son  of 
a  Protestant  minister,  the  Rev.  Christian 
Mall.  John  C.  Mall  raised  a  family  of  seven 
children  —  Louisa,  Lewis,  Caroline,  Gottfried, 
John,   Henry,  Maggie. 

Henry  and  Louisa  Treyz  are  also  the  par- 
ents of  seven  children,  of  whom  the  following 
may  be  recorded:  John,  born  February  26, 
1863,  married  Ro.sa  Holtzman,  and  has  three 
boys,  who  live  with  him  at  Peakville,  Dela- 
ware County.  George  I.  is  the  subject  of 
this  biography.  Gottleib  IL,  born  June  25, 
1867,  married  Lena  Bach,  has  three  bovs,  and 
also  lives  at  Peakville.  Lewis  A.,  born  Jul_\- 
2,  1869,  married  Agatha  Keen,  has  one  son, 
and  lives  at  Sherman,  Pa.  William  IL,  born 
July  12,  1S72,  lives  at  Butternut  Grove. 
August,    born    September   21,    1S74,    lives  at 


i8o 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Sherman,    Pa.      Maggie    L.,    born    September 
17,    1876,    is   still   at   the   parental   home. 

George  I.  Treyz,  when  but  eleven  years  old, 
was  obliged  to  leave  school   and  begin  to  earn 
his  own"  living.      He  was,   however,  so  eager 
to  be  more  than  a  mere  laborer  that  he  applied 
himself  to  his   studies  in  the  evenings   after 
his  daily  work   in  the  coal-yard  was  over,  and, 
with  a  determination  which  was  worthy  of  the 
object,    acquired     habits    of    application    and 
gained  knowledge  which   may  be  said   to  have 
been    the    foundation    of   his    future    success. 
Step  by  step  he  went  on  till  he  was  enabled  to 
start   in  business  at   Butternut   Grove  with  a 
little  store  in  one  room,  and  keeping  a   small 
line  of  groceries.     He  gradually  enlarged  his 
stock  until  now  he  has  the  extensive  business 
that  may  be  seen  to-day,  including  everything 
in  the  line  of  general  merchandise,  furniture, 
and  many  outside  branches.     He  also  handles 
all  the  coal  used  at  this  station,  besides  deal- 
ing largely  in  lumber  and   in  stone.      He  em- 
ploys four  clerks  in  his  retail   department  and 
several   other  men  outside.     William    Treyz, 
his  brother  and  his  chief  clerk  in  the  store,  is 
a  man  of  much  business  ability  and  tact,  and 
one  who  has  made  himself  a  great  favorite  by 
his  courteous  and  pleasing  address,  good  judg- 
ment, and   quick  appreciation  of  the  wants  of 
his   patrons.     Both   William  and    George  are 
Republicans    in    politics,   as  was  their  father 
before   them. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-seven  George  I.  Treyz 
was  married  to  Amanda,  daughter  of  David 
and  Sarah  (Frisbee)  Minkler.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Minkler  live  at  Fremont  Centre,  where  they 
have  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres. 
Besides  Mrs.  Vreyz  they  have  one  other  daugh- 
ter, Martha,  wife  of  Milton  Crandall,  and 
mother  of  two  sons.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Treyz 
have    one    child,    Frank    M.,    born    June    16, 

1893. 

Mr.  Treyz  is  a  tradesman  with  whom  his 
customers  are  glad  to  deal,  being  characterized 
by  uprightness  in  all  his  business  transac- 
tions, and  keeping  a  class  of  goods  that  give 
satisfaction.  He  is  a  self-made  man,  having 
since  his  early  youth  made  his  own  way  in 
the  world.  He  is  well  w^orthy  of  the  high 
esteem  in  which  he  is  held  by  his  fellow- 
citizens. 


SEANDER  H.  MAXWELL,  senior 
member  of  the  firm  of  Maxwell  & 
^  Son,  liverymen  of  Delhi,  is  notice- 
able for  his  business  capacity  and 
enterprise.  He  has  been  a  life-long  resident 
of  this  town,  where  his  birth  occurred  on  De- 
cember 17,  1837,  and  is  especially  worthy  of 
representation  in  this  biographical  work  as 
being  the  descendant  of  one  of  the  honored 
pioneers  of  the  place. 

His  grandfather,  Joshua  Maxwell,  emi- 
grated from  Connecticut  to  Delaware  County, 
and  was  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  Delhi. 
He  bought  a  tract  of  land;  and  amid  the 
giant  trees  of  the  forest  he  reared  his  humble 
log  cabin,  and  began  from  the  wilderness  to 
wrest  a  farm.  He  labored  untiringly,  being 
encouraged  and  assisted  by  his  brave  pioneer 
wife,  and  in  the  course  of  time  was  able  to 
harvest  fields  of  golden  grain.  A  few  years 
later  and  the  improvements  on  the  place  were 
still  more  marked,  the  log  cabin,  in  which 
many  of  his  children  were  born  and  reared, 
having  given  place  to  a  substantial  frame 
house,  flanked  by  a  capacious  barn  and  good 
out-buildings.  On  the  homestead  which  he 
cleared  he  spent  his  remaining  years;  and 
there  his  first  wife,  too,  closed  her  eyes  upon 
the  scenes  of  earthly  life.  Three  children 
were  born  of  his  first  union,  the  second  being 
a  son,  Gurdon  P.,  who  became  the  father  of 
the  subject  of  the  present  sketch.  His  sec- 
ond wife  bore  him  five  children. 

Gurdon  P.  Maxwell  was  born  in  Delhi,  and 
in  its  pioneer  schools  gleaned  his  early  knowl- 
edge of  books.  As  soon  as  he  was  old  enough 
to  handle  a  hoe  or  drive  oxen,  he  naturally 
found  plenty  of  work  on  the  home  farm,  where 
he  remained  until  of  age,  when,  following  the 
example  of  his  father,  he  bought  a  tract  of 
land  which  was  still  in  its  virgin  wildness. 
In  the  first  space  that  he  cleared  he  erected  a 
small  log  house,  and  in  this  began  his  married 
life.  As  time  sped  on,  he  became  the  owner 
of  a  well-cultivated  farm,  with  a  substantial 
set  of  frame  buildings,  and  had  a  fine  family 
of  girls  and  boys  growing  up  about  him.  On 
this  homestead  he  and  his  beloved  companion 
spent  their  many  years  of  wedded  life,  he 
passing  away  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years, 
and  she  at  seventy  years.      His  wife,  known 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


in  her  girlhood  days  as  Mlizabcth  Mall,  was  a 
native  of  the  Empire  State,  and  tlic  daughter 
of  Adam  Hail,  who  some  years  after  his  mar- 
riage became  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Delhi. 
Eight  chihlren  were  liorn  of  the  union  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Gurdon  1'.  Maxwell,  as  follows: 
Robert  C,  George  IE,  Eeander  IE,  Joshua 
G.,  William  IE,  Prudence  E.,  Aranetta,  and 
Hannah  M.  Both  parents  were  sincere  and 
faithful  members  of  the  Christian  church. 

Eeander  IE  Maxwell  was  born  and  leared 
on  the  parental  homestead,  and  in  the  schools 
of  his  neighborhood  received  a  practical  drill 
in  the  three  R's,  the  fundamental  studies.  lie 
afterward  worked  on  the  farm  with  his  father 
until  he  was  nearly  thirty  years  of  age,  then 
rented  a  farm,  which  he  carried  on  for  three 
years  with  excellent  results.  Not  making  up 
his  mind  to  follow  agricultural  work  for  life, 
he  then  went  to  work  for  Mr.  Roberts,  in  the 
village  of  Delhi,  as  foreman  in  a  livery  stable. 
In  1S70  Mr.  Maxwell  bought  his  present  liv- 
ery, boarding,  feeding,  and  sale  stable,  which 
he  has  since  managed  with  satisfactory  finan- 
cial success.  El  1890  he  admitted  his  son  to 
an  interest  in  the  establishment,  and  business 
is  now  carried  on  under  the  firm  name  of  Max- 
well &  Son. 

The  union  of  Mr.  Maxwell  and  Miss  Sarah 
Roberts  was  solemnized  in  1865.  Mrs.  Max- 
well is  a  native  of  Andes,  being  the  daughter 
of  William  Roberts,  who  came  from  England 
to  Andes,  where  he  carried  on  the  shoemaker's 
trade  for  many  years.  His  wife's  maiden 
name  was  Moss,  and  she  bore  him  three  chil- 
dren. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Maxwell  are  the  parents 
of  two  children,  I'anny  and  Clark.  I'^anny 
married  Albert  Robinson,  foreman  in  Ar- 
buckle's  mills;  and  they  have  one  child, 
Grace.  Clark,  who  is  now  in  partnership  with 
his  father,  was  educated  in  the  district  school 
and  academy,  and  began  his  business  career  as 
a  clerk  in  the  grocery  store  of  George  MclMur- 
ray,  remaining  in  his  emj^loy  about  a  year. 
He  then  began  working  for  his  father;  and  in 
1890  he  bought  an  interest  in  the  business. 
On  February  2S,  1S92,  he  was  united  in  the 
holy  bonds  of  matrimony  with  Carrie  Thom])- 
son,  the  daughter  of  William  and  Eydia 
Thompson.  Mr.  Thompson,  who  was  engaged 
in  business   in   Delhi  for  nearly  twenty  years, 


is  now  the  leailing  tailor  of  Walton,  where  his 
daughter  Carrie  was  born.  .She  is  p(jpular  in 
social  circles,  and  is  a  communicant  of  Saint 
John's  Ei^iscoi^al  Church. 

In  politics  both  the  father  and  son  are  zeal- 
ous advocates  of  the  i)rinciples  of  the  Repub- 
lican party.  Mrs.  Sarah  Maxwell  is  an 
earnest  Christian  woman  and  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Iqnscopal  church. 


,()EONEE    samiii:e    E.    .MIEEICR, 

who  died  on  .March  16,  1894,  at  his 
'Is  ^  home  in  Franklin,  was  born  on 
May  27,  1827,  on  the  same  farm 
which  has  been  in  the  family  for  many  years 
and  was  also  the  birlhijlace  of  his  father. 
The  Miller  family  came  from  Ivdst  Ham[)ton, 
E.E,  and  settled  in  this  part  of  the  .State 
whun  it  was  a  boundless  wilderness.  They 
owned  vast  tracts  of  unbroken  forest;  ajul  in 
the  days  of  William  Miller,  father  of  the  late 
Colonel,  their  estate  consisted  of  about  one 
thousand  acres  of  land,  and  included  several 
large  mills  for  the  manufacture  of  pine  lum- 
ber, which  business  increased  rajiidly,  and  is 
still  carried  on  by  the  family.  Much  of  the 
land  is  excellent  for  jiasturage,  keeping  about 
one  hundred  cows:  and  the  dairy  products  of 
the  Miller  farm  are  noted  throiighout  the  sur- 
rounding country.  .Some  mav  still  remember 
William  IMiller,  whose  commanding  figure  and 
])leasant  face  were  familiar  to  everyone  half 
a  century  ago. 

His  son  .Samuel  was  also  a  fine  repieserit- 
ative  of  an  old  and  noble  race.  He  was  the 
only  surviving  child  of  William  antl  Mary 
(^Ells)  Miller,  and  in  him  were  centred  all 
the  ho])es  of  the  family.  In  him  were  real- 
ized, too,  not  only  their  expectations,  but 
honor  and  distinction  far  beyond  their  fondest 
dreams.  After  graduating,  in  1S52,  from 
Hamilton  College,  he  returned  to  his  Alma 
Mater,  ami  studied  law  for  a  year,  when  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1853.  He  then 
engaged  in  business  with  his  father,  and 
under  their  united  efforts  the  farming  and 
lumbering  interests  grew  to  large  dimensions. 
In  1854  he  was  elected  to  the  New  York  leg- 
islature, and  in  1855  and  1856  was  .Supervisor 
of    the    town    of    Franklin.       His    service    in 


l82 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


these  capacities  proved  so  plainly  his  ability 
and  principles  that  he  was  sent  to  Congress  in 
1862.  This  was  the  noted  Congress  under 
Lincoln's  administration,  when  the  country 
was  in  a  state  of  turmoil,  and  those  who 
served  her  had  much  need  of  firm  hands  and 
earnest  hearts  to  rightly  administer  the  affairs 
of  the  nation. 

In  1867  Colonel  Miller  was  a  member  of 
the  Constitutional  Convention,  in  1869  a 
member  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities,  to 
which  position  he  was  reappointed  in  1873; 
in  i86g  he  was  Collector  of  Revenues,  resign- 
ing this  post  in  1873;  and  in  1874  he  was 
elected  Representative  to  the  Forty-fourth 
Congress.  Colonel  Miller  was  a  stanch  Re- 
publican, and  in  behalf  of  that  party  exerted 
a  strong  influence.  Although  a  man  of  mod- 
est bearing,  his  speeches  were  very  effective; 
and  his  voice  was  never  silent  when  he  saw 
that  by  speaking  he  might  serve  his  country 
and  his  cause.  Long  to  be  remembered  is  a 
speech  which  Mr.  Miller  delivered  at  the 
Constitutional  Convention,  when  he  was  dis- 
abled by  rheumatism,  and  was  obliged  to  seek 
the  platform  with  the  assistance  of  a  pair  of 
crutches.  Coming  slowly  forward  in  this 
manner,  he  faced  his  audience  and  expounded 
to  them  in  a  most  concise  and  masterly  way 
the  principles  for  which  he  stood. 

Colonel  Miller  was  twice  marrieil,  his  first 
wife  being  Miss  Laura  Cadwell,  who  died 
while  still  in  the  prime  of  life.  May  29,  1865. 
He  afterward  received  in  marriage  the  hand  of 
Maria  M.  Sherrill,  daughter  of  Lewis  and 
Clarissa  (Burgess)  Sherrill.  The  father  was 
a  native  of  East  Hampton,  and  the  mother  of 
Colchester;  and  they  were  among  the  early 
settlers  of  New  Hartford,  Oneida  County, 
N.Y.  Mr.  Sherrill  was  formerly  a  manufact- 
urer of  woollen  goods,  a  clothier,  as  he  was 
called  in  those  days,  and,  together  with  his 
brother,  carried  on  a  mill  on  the  Scquoit 
Creek.  Mrs.  Miller  was  one  of  four  children, 
two  girls  and  two  boys.  Her  father  died  in 
1871,  being  over  ninety  years  old;  and  after 
his  death  Mrs.  Sherrill  made  her  home  here 
with  her  daughter  until  the  time  of  her  death 
in  1 89 1,  when  she,  too,  had  reached  her  nine- 
tieth year. 

The  only  surviving  children  of  Mrs.  Miller 


are  Samuel  Jacob  and  William  Lewis  Miller, 
who  are  twins,  and  who  were  born  on  Septem- 
ber 28,  1870.  They  live  in  the  beautiful 
mansion  built  by  their  father  in  1875,  and  to- 
gether they  carry  on  the  long-established 
business  of  farming  and  lumbering.  They 
are  active  and  energetic  young  men,  using  the 
most  intelligent  methods  of  carrying  on  their 
business,  and  showing  in  all  their  undertak- 
ings the  characteristic  qualities  of  the  line 
from  which  they  have  descended. 

The  father  of  these  promising  young  men 
has  been  called  away  from  his  work  and  his 
life  on  this  side  of  the  unknown.  He  had 
done  his  duty  in  his  day  and  generation,  as  it 
is  not  the  privilege  of  all  men  to  do;  and, 
when  he  passed  hence,  it  was  amid  the  mourn- 
ing and  regrets  of  all  who  knew  him,  and 
whose  admiration  and  reverence  for  his  noble 
traits,  lofty  principles,  and  virtuous  deeds 
will  for  many  years  keep  his  memory  green. 


•OSEPH  HILLIS  is  one  of  the  most 
highly  esteemed  citizens  of  Stamford, 
of  which  town  he  is  an  industrious  and 
successful  farmer.  His  father,  Adam 
Hillis,  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  came  to 
America  when  twenty-five  years  of  age.  He 
had  received  a  very  good  education  in  his 
native  land,  and  had  taught  school  fourteen 
terms.  He  learned  the  trade  of  a  weaver,  but 
concluded  to  follow  agricultural  pursuits,  and 
purchased  an  improved  farm  of  ninety-six 
acres  in  Kortright,  Delaware  County,  to 
which  he  added  from  time  to  time  until  he  be- 
came the  possessor  of  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  acres.  A  hard  worker  and  good  man- 
ager, he  accumulated  a  comfortable  fortune, 
and  died  on  his  farm  at  the  age  of  seventy-six. 
His  wife  was  Elizabeth  McMurdy,  who  was 
born  in  Kortright,  a  daughter  of  an  old  pio- 
neer settler  of  that  town,  Benjamin  McMurdy, 
who  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  married 
Elizabeth  Shanks,  a  native  of  the  same  coun- 
try. Benjamin  McMurdy  was.  a  farmer  of 
progressive  habits  and  much  industry,  and 
succeeded  in  his  chosen  occupation,  residing 
on  his  farm  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
when  he  was  about  eighty  years  of  age.  He 
was  a  Whig,  and,  with  his  wife,  a  member  of 


niOORAPlIlCAI,    REVIEW 


the  I'rcsljytcrian  cluircli.  Thi,'}'  were  llic  par- 
ents of  three  chiUUen:  l)a\i(l,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  seventy-seven;  Jonathan,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-six;  and  Eli/.abetii,  who  passeil  away 
when  seventy-five  years  of  age.  I\[r.  and  Mrs. 
Adam  Hillis  were  devoted  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  at  South  Kortriglit.  He 
was  a  supporter  of  tlie  Democratic  ])arty. 
They  were  the  parents  of  ten  chihhvn,  ciglit 
of  whom  reached  maturity;  and  three  still 
survive,  as  fidlows:  Josc])!!,  of  whom  this 
sketch  is  wi'itten;  IJavid  B.,  a  stone-mason  in 
Stamford;  and  (k'orge  M.,  a  farmer  in  Daven- 
port. Jonathan,  William,  Uenjamin,  Clark. 
Sara  Jane,  IClleii,  and  ]'!lizabeth  have  passed 
away. 

Josc|)h  Hillis  was  born  in  Kortriglit,  May 
28.  1828,  and  was  educated  in  the  district 
school.  Until  he  was  twenty-five  years  of 
age  he  li\'ed  at  home,  but  worked  for  .Squire 
McGillavei")',  near  Bloomville,  receiving  for 
his  services  eight  dollars  per  month,  which 
monev  he  ga\X'  to  his  father.  January  12, 
1853,  he  married  i\Iiss  Margaret  D.  Jiarnett, 
who  was  born  in  l-loxbury,  May  6,  1826,  a 
daughter  of  John  and  ICleanor  (Voorhis)  Har- 
nett. John  liarnett  was  born  in  I.exington, 
Greene  County,  .September  22,  1786,  and,  re- 
moving to  Delaware  C"ountv,  located  in 
Stamford,  where  he  resided  throughout  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  He  died  Januar\'  5, 
1863.  He  was  a  supportei-  of  the  Republican 
party.  His  wife,  Eleanor  Voorhis,  was  born 
in  Schoharie  Coimt)',  January  8,  1793,  and 
died  June  1  T),  1879.  Both  were  faithful  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Hobart. 
They  were  the  ])arents  of  five  children,  two  of 
whom  —  Sarah  !\I.  McNaught,  widow  of  Will- 
iam McNaught,  and  Mrs.  Hillis  —  still  sm-- 
vive.  Those  who  passed  away  are  Christo- 
pher,   Charity,    and    David. 

After  marriage  Joseph  Hillis  purchased  his 
first  farm  in  -Stamford,  consisting  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-nine  acres:  ami  here  he  resided 
for  Sf)me  years,  then  sold,  and  in  i860  bfjught 
his  present  home,  removing  to  it  in  1865. 
This  farm  contains  two  liimdred  and  thirty 
acres.  It  has  been  cultivated  and  improved 
imder  Mr.  Hillis's  su])ervision,  and  is  now 
one  of  the  best  farms  in  the  vicinity.  l*"ive 
chiklren    ha\e    been    born    to    ]\Ir.    ami    ]\Irs. 


Hillis.  two  of  whom  are  living,  naniel)':  John 
().,  born  May  30,  1865,  who  is  a  farmer,  mak- 
ing his  home  with  his  parents,  and  who 
married  in  October,  1886,  Miss  Belle  Kil- 
l^atrick,  and  has  one  child,  lilanche  J.,  born 
.Sei)tember  15,  1S90:  Christo])her  J.,  a  ])hysi- 
cian  in  Kingston,  born  November  30.  1866, 
who  married  June  14,  1893,  Miss  ]'211a 
Meeker.  The  following  children  have  jxissed 
away:  Sarah  ]■".,  born  October  12,  1853,  died 
June  25,  1865;  l?arnett  .'\.,  born  A|u-il  3, 
1857,  died  July  6,  1865;  Ogden  15.,  born  Jan- 
u;n-\-  25,   1862,  died  .Sei:)tend)er  5,   1865. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hillis  are  meml)ers  of  the 
Preslnterian  church  at  Hol)art,  in  the  affairs 
of  which  they  take  a  prominent  i)art,  Mr. 
Hillis  holding  the  office  of  Trustee.  Politi- 
cally, he  is  a  Republican,  supporting  the 
princijjles   of   that   party. 


1^1^  I.b:XANDi:R  STORH':  was  born  on 
March  20,  1S14,  on  the  \-cry  farm  in 
Bovina  where  he  now  lives;  and  he 
is  rightly  regarded  as  its  foremost 
citizen,  as  well  as  one  of  its  highest  tax- 
])ayers.  His  parents  were  William  and  Mary 
(McCune)  .Storie.  The  father  was  born  in 
Roxbiu-ghshire,  Scotland,  and  the  mother  in 
Ireland. 

Coming  to  this  countr_\'  about  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  William  Storie 
settled  in  Bovina,  and  there  ].)in-sued  his  trade 
of  stone-mason  a  part  of  the  time.  In  1 802 
he  UKirried,  and  in  I S04  Ijought  the  sevenlv- 
seven  and  a  half  acres  of  land  miw  known  as 
the  Storie  homestead.  He  died  a  decade 
later,  in  18  15,  before  he  had  final!}'  passed  the 
noontide  of  life,  though  not  before  lie  had 
borne  the  heat  and  bmxlen  of  the  day,  and  left 
the  impress  of  his  imlustr\'  upon  the  little 
comnnmitv  surrounding  him.  His  wife  out- 
lived him  many  years,  not  breathing  her  last 
till  she  had  reached  her  ninety-first  year,  in 
the  old  homestead.  .She  came  from  the  old 
coimtry  when  only  fourteen  with  her  i)ai'ents. 
who  at  first  settled  in  Washington  Coimtv, 
but  came  later  to  Bovina,  and  bought  the  f.irm 
now  in  the  hands  of  Michael  Miller.  The 
Stories  wei'c  members  of  the  United  Pres- 
bxteiian    church    in    South     Kortright.       .Mr. 


i88 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Storie  was  a  Federalist  in  politics,  holding 
opinions  which  would  to-day  make  him  a  firm 
Republican.  Of  six  children  all  grew  to  ma- 
turity, and  two  are  now  living:  the  son  who 
bears  the  good  Scotch  ancestral  name  of  Alex- 
ander; and  his  elder  sister,  Mary  Ann,  who 
makes  her  home  in  Bovina  Centre.  Their 
sister,  Nellie  Storie,  married  George  Stott, 
and  lived  to  be  eighty-five;  while  Margaret 
Storie  married  Walter  Coulter,  and  died  at 
the  age  of  threescore.  Jane  Storie  became 
the  wife  of  Alexander  Brush,  a  son  of  the  sec- 
ond settler  of  the  town,  and  died  at  the  earlier 
age  of  fifty.  Their  brother,  Samuel  Storie, 
died   at   fifty-five,    on   the  home  farm. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  an  apt  pupil 
in  the  district  school,  where  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  he  became  himself  a  teacher,  a  post 
he  subsequently  held  many  terms.  The  earli- 
est school-house  was  a  frame  building,  with 
slab  benches  and  writing-desks  around  the 
sides  of  the  room,  heated  by  an  open  fire. 
His  mother  used  to  card  and  spin  the  wool, 
which  was  woven  among  the  neighbors;  and 
in  this  homespun  cloth  Alexander  was  clad 
till  he  reached  manhood.  The  family  boots 
and  shoes  were  made  by  a  journeyman  Crispin, 
who  came  that  way  two  or  three  times  a  year, 
and  whose  presence  afforded  the  youngsters 
the  greatest  delight.  The  chief  market  for 
the  farm  produce  was  seventy  miles  away 
among  the  Catskills,  and  the  trip  thither  re- 
quired several  days.  The  nearest  grist-mill 
was  at  Brushland.  People  carried  their 
luncheon  to  meeting  on  Sundays,  and  stayed 
through  both  the  long  services.  Father 
Storie  cleared  his  farm  slowly,  depending 
upon  his  boys  for  help.  Alexander  did  his 
part;  and  in  later  years,  after  he  bought  the 
old  place  from  the  other  heirs,  he  added  nearly 
two  hundred  acres  to  its  area.  Beginning  as 
a  poor  man,  he  has  become  by  hard  work  and 
frugality,  backed  by  the  natural  shrewdness 
inherited  from  his  progenitors,  one  of  the 
most  prosperous   in  town. 

He  was  not  married  till  January  23,  1851, 
when  he  was  thirty-seven  years  old,  and  Mil- 
lard Fillmore,  a  New  Yorker,  was  President 
of  the  United  States.  His  wife  was  Esther 
A.  Cowan,  born  in  Bovina,  November  i, 
1821,  the  daughter  of  James  and   Mariam   B. 


(Maynard)  Cowan.  Her  mother  was  born  on 
the  old  Maynard  farm  in  Bovina  in  1801,  and 
her  father  in  1794,  in  Roxburghshire,  Scot- 
land, the  birthplace  of  William  Storie.  Mr. 
Cowan  was  twenty-five  years  a  merchant  in 
Brushland  village,  but  afterward  owned  a 
farm  in  Cortland  County,  where  he  died  on 
January  6,  1876,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty-two.  His  wife  died  twenty  years  be- 
fore, April  14,  1856,  when  fifty-five  years  old. 
They  belonged  to  the  Stamford  Presbyterian 
Society,  and  had  eleven  children,  six  of  whom 
are  now  living.  Elizabeth  Cowan  still  lives 
at  the  old  Cortland  home.  Hannah  is  now  the 
widow  of  John  Greenman,  and  lives  in  Cortland 
village.  Rebecca  is  the  wife  of  Delos  Stevens, 
of  De  Ruyter,  Madison  County.  Nancy  is 
Mrs.  George  Stevens,  and  lives  on  the  old 
Cortland  farm.  Hector  Cowan  is  also  a  Cort- 
land farmer.  The  five  deceased  Cowan  children 
were  Mary,  William,  John,  Elisha,  and  Jane. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  Storie  are  among 
the  oldest  couples  in  their  part  of  the  town, 
and  have  had  five  children,  two  of  whom  have 
passed  from  earth.  James  C.  Storie,  the  eld- 
est now  living,  was  born  January  12,  1855, 
and  is  a  physician  in  Walton  village.  Alex- 
ander F.  Storie,  bearing  his  father's  name, 
was  born  November  28,  1856,  and  is  a  farmer 
in  Newburg,  Orange  County.  John  W. 
Storie,  born  December  2,  1863,  lives  on  the 
home  farm.  The  eldest,  Mariam  Elizabeth 
Storie,  was  born  December  12,  185  i,  and  died 
October  29,  1862,  in  childhood.  William 
Storie  was  born  on  Independence  Day,  1853, 
and  died  October  21,  1862,  a  week  before  the 
little  sister,  only  eighteen  months  his  elder. 

The  family  are  actively  connected  with  the 
United  Presbyterian  church  in  Bovina  Centre. 
Mr.  Storie  is  a  Republican,  and  has  always 
been  prominent  in  town  affairs.  When  a 
young  man,  he  was  Assessor  one  term,  and 
also  for  many  years  a  Supervisor.  Though 
now  withdrawn  from  office-holding,  he  never 
fails  to  be  at  the  polls  on  election  day,  nor 
has  he  ever  missed  but  one  town  meeting. 
With  the  assistance  of  his  son  John,  he  is 
still  able  to  carry  on  the  farm,  and  they  keep 
twenty  or  thirty  head  of  Jersey  cattle.  Not 
only  is  the  farm  the  best  in  the  neighborhood, 
but   both   the   house   and  out-buildings  are   in 


Hlexhnder   Storie. 


'                           1 

>^^ 

Mrs   Esther    R   Storie. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


189 


the  lincst  order.  .Mr.  .Storic  is  also  the  his- 
torian of  the  town,  and  takes  a  great  interest 
in  literary  work  of  this  deserijjtion,  feeling  the 
inherent  truth  of  President  GarfieUrs  sa\■i^f^ 
"The  world's  history  is  a  divine  poem,  of 
which  the  history  of  every  nation  is  a  canto, 
and  every  man  a  word." 

Turning  over  a  leaf  or  two,  the  reader  will 
be  gratified  to  see  the  portraits  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.    Storie. 


'I'lNRY  FINCH,  a  well-to-do,  retired 
farmer  of  Sidney,  Delaware  County, 
X.Y.,  was  born  in  Greene  County, 
June  22,  182,3,  son  of  Jonas  and 
Henrietta  (Leonard)  Finch.  His  father  was 
a  native  of  Greene  County,  and  his  mother  of 
Dutchess  County.  Amos  Finch,  father  of 
Jonas,  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Re\'olution; 
he  was  a  farmer,  and  lived  to  the  advanced  age 
of  ninety  years.  Jonas  Finch  was  brought  up 
in  the  county  of  his  birth,  whence  he  moved 
in  1833  to  Delaware  County,  and  took  up  one 
hundred  acres  of  land.  By  hard  work  and 
energy  he  added  to  this  until  he  had  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and  owned  one  of  the 
finest  farms  in  the  neighborhood.  He  was 
the  father  of  eleven  children,  of  whom  the 
following  survive:  Henrietta,  widow  of  Alex- 
ander Ikyan,  residing  in  East  Sidney;  Will- 
iam and  Jonas,  at  Masonville;  Henry,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch:  John,  located  in  Ten- 
nessee; and  Amos  in  Sidney  Centre.  Mr. 
Jonas  I'inch  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-three, 
and  his  wife  aged  eighty-one. 

Henry  Finch  was  educated  in  the  district 
schools  of  Sidney,  living  with  his  i)arents 
and  helping  on  the  farm  until  he  attained  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  when  he  hired  himself  out 
by  the  month.  He  followed  this  for  several 
years,  and,  being  of  a  frugal  turn  of  mind, 
saved  his  money,  which  enabled  him  to  buy 
his  first  land  in  the  town  of  Masonville,  a 
farm  of  fifty  acres.  He  lived  there  for  one 
year,  when  he  sold  out  and  movetl  to  Lycom- 
ing County,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  bought 
an  uncultivated  tract  of  land  of  about  one 
hundred  anil  fifty  acres,  which  he  occupied  for 
some  time,  bringing  it  into  a  good  state  of 
cultivation.      At    the    end    of    about    fourteen 


years  he  moved  to  Masonville,  ami  iliere  car- 
ried on  the  business  of  a  general  farmer  for 
twenty-two  years.  In  1 886  he  moved  to  Sid- 
ney village,  where  he  now  lives  retired.  Mr. 
Finch  is  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  War,  having 
enlisted  in  1862  in  the  One  Hundred  and 
Seventy-seventh  Pennsylvania  Volunteer  In- 
fantry, Company  A.  He  was  in  the  service 
ten  months,  when  his  health  gave  way,  and  he 
was  honorably  discharged  from  the  army  at 
Harrisburg,    Pa.,    August   5,    1S63. 

-Mr.  Iwnch  was  married  March  i,  1849,  to 
Mary  J.  Carr,  who  died  August,  1880,  aged 
fitty-one.  By  this  union  twelve  children  were 
born,  eleven  of  whom  are  living,  namely: 
Zaeuch,  a  farmer  of  Sidney;  Sarah,  wife  of 
E.  Teed,  of  Pennsylvania;  Henrietta,  wife  of 
Duaue  Hand,  of  Otsego  County;  Louisa,  wife 
of  Robert  Stewart,  of  Sidney:  Anna,  wife  of 
Warren  Hodge,  also  residing  in  Sidney; 
Maggie,  wife  of  lulward  House,  of  Tompkins; 
Henry  Finch,  of  I'ranklin;  Allie,  wife  of 
James  Hodge,  of  Sidney;  Xorman  and  James, 
residents  of  Sidney;  Nora,  wife  of  E.  Wheat, 
of  Sidney. 

On  I"\-bruary  7,  1883,  Mr.  Finch  married 
for  his  second  wife  Mrs.  Hannah  Croimse,  the 
widow  of  Abram  Crounse,  a  farmer  of  Albany 
County,  and  mother  of  one  child,  Mary,  wife 
of  John  Armstrong,  of  Fnadilla.  Mrs.' Finch 
was  born  in  (iuilford,  Chenango  County,  Oc- 
tober 20,  1827,  her  jKirents  being  James  and 
Catherine  Lewis.  They  reared  twelve  chil- 
dren, six  of  whom  are  now  living,  namely: 
Mrs.  l-'inch;  Ren.ssclaer  Lewis,  in  Pennsyl- 
vania; Joseph  Lewis,  in  Michigan;  Sally 
Ann,  wife  of  David  Loomis.  of  Sidney:  Abiel 
Lewis,  of  Pennsylvania:  Julia,  wife  of  Nor- 
man White,  of  Bradford  County.  Pennsylvania. 
Mr.  I-'inch  is  a  man  of  quiet  and  refined 
tastes,  and  in  his  idd  age  enjoys  a  mental 
vigor  which  years  have  not  impaired,  his  gen- 
erous, kindly  nature  endearing  him  to  neigh- 
bors and  friends. 


1S16. 


i:V.     WILLIAM    N.     ALLABEN,    a 

minister    and    dentist    in    Margarett- 
\ille,    was   born    in    Roxbnrv,    Dela- 
ware County,  on   the   20th  of  June, 
II is  grandparents,  Jonathan  and  Martha 


igo 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


(Bouton)  Allaben,  were  residents  of  Blue 
Point,  L.I-,  wlierc  tlie  grandfather  was 
drowned  in  1787.  He  was  long  survived  by 
his  wife,  who  died  in  1S28,  leaving  five  chil- 
dren—Sally,  Polly,  John,  James,  and  Esther. 
John,  the  first  son  of  Jonathan,  was  born  in 
Blue  Point.  He  married,  and  raised  a  family 
of  seven  children,  namely:  Orson,  a  physi- 
cian; William  N.;  Abigail;  James;  Sarah; 
Wilson;  and  Jonathan.  Besides  these  were 
two  who  died  in  infancy  and  Orpah  and  Nel- 
son, who  died  yonng. 

William  N.,  son  of  John  Allaben,  was  one 
of  a  family  who  seemed  to  drift  into  educa- 
tional work;  and  it  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that 
each  of  the  brothers  and  sisters  at  some 
period  of  his  or  her  life  was  a  teacher. 
William  was  a  teacher  at  eighteen;  and  Abi- 
gail at  the  early  age  of  fourteen  years,  herself 
a  mere  child,  taught  in  the  neighborhood. 
William,  who  was  of  a  studious  turn  of  mind, 
proved  the  theory  of  self-culture  by  practical 
demonstration  in  his  own  life;  for,  having  no 
advantages  besides  those  offered  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  his  native  village,  he  acquired 
a  good  education,  storing  his  mind  with  much 
general  information  by  studying  and  reading 
at  home.  After  some  years  he  took  up  the 
profession  of  dentistry,  which  he  practised  in 
West  Colesville,  Broome  County,  during  a 
period  of  eight  years.  Here  he  entered  the 
Baptist  ministry,  and  preached  for  six  years. 
His  next  charge  was  in  Windsor,  where  he 
was  pastor  for  three  years,  after  which,  com- 
ing to  Margarettville,  he  bought  property  and 
remained  for  eighteen  months.  He  then  took 
charge  of  the  Baptist  church  in  West  Kill, 
Greene  County,  for  eight  years.  A  longing 
to  return  to  his  place  in  Margarettville  now 
began  to  possess  him;  so  he  came  back  and 
built  a  church  in  this  town,  where  he  has 
since  continued  to  follow  jointly  his  two  pro- 
fessions. 

His  first  wife  was  a  Miss  Maben,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Benjamin  Maben,  of  Greene  County. 
She  died  in  her  youth,  leaving  two  sons, 
namely:  James  R.,  a  physician,  who  married 
Miss  Ilattic  Newton,  of  Greene  County;  and 
Hamblin  L.  Allaben,  a  clergyman,  who  mar- 
ried Hannah  Cave,  and  died  in  Lebanon, 
Madison    County,    being    the    pastor    of    the 


church  of  that  place.  The  second  wife  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Allaben  was  Miss  Martha  Todd,  a 
daughter  of  Isaac  Todd.  She  died,  leaving 
one  son,  who  bears  his  father's  name,  and  is 
a  farmer  in  Iowa.  William  N.  Allaben,  Jr., 
married  a  Miss  Redmond,  who  has  borne  him 
two  children.  Mr.  Allaben's  third  wife  was 
Josephine  Leora  DeWitt,  an  orphan  who  was 
adopted  by  Robert  Palmer,  a  kindly  farmer  of 
Sullivan  County.  Mr.  Palmer  was  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  his  section,  where  he  erected 
the  first  log  habitation. 

Mr.  Allaben  has  reached  an  age  when  it 
seems  desirable  to  live  a  quiet  life,  free  from 
the  demands  of  business  and  professional 
cares;  but,  being  of  an  active  mind  and 
strong  character,  he  still  shares  in  the  in- 
terests of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  attends 
somewhat  to  his  office  practice.  He  is  much 
beloved  and  respected. 


ELL  BROTHERS.  Edmund  Rob- 
erts Bell,  Dr.  Howard  Bell,  and 
Walter  Langdon  Bell,  of  Delhi, 
Delaware  County,  N.Y.,  are  sons  of 
the  late  Calvin  H.  Bell  and  his  wife,  F" ranees 
Lear  Roberts.  Their  grandfather,  Joseph 
Whiting  Bell,  emigrated  from  Connecticut, 
the  State  of  his  birth,  which  occurred  in  the 
town  of  Litchfield,  to  Delaware  County,  and 
was  among  the  early  pioneers  of  Harpersfield. 
He  took  up  a  tract  of  wild  land  situated  in 
the  heart  of  the  primeval  forest,  and,  building 
a  log  house,  improved  a  homestead,  in  which 
he  and  his  faithful  wife,  who  shared  with  him 
the  arduous  labors  of  life  in  the  new  country 
and  the  deprivation  of  their  earlier  comforts, 
spent  their  remaining  years.  They  reared  a 
large  family  of  children,  the  following  being 
their  names:  Louisa,  Charles,  Richard,  Cal- 
vin,   Lyman,    Roxey,    and   Altania. 

Calvin  H.  Bell,'  the  father  of  the  Bell 
brothers,  of  Delhi,  was  born  in  the  log  house 
in  Harpersfield,  and  assisted  on  the  home 
farm  until  fourteen  years  old;  but,  not  being 
sufficiently  strong  to  carry  on  the  labors  of  an 
agricultural  life,  and  being  a  bright  scholar 
with  an  ardent  desire  for  knowledge,  he  then 
left  Harpersfield  to  continue  his  studies  in 
Delaware   Academy.      He  subsequently  began 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIFAV 


191 


the  study  of  law  in  the  office  ot  Ihc  lion. 
Stcplicn  C.  Johnson,  of  this  town,  and,  heinn' 
admitted  to  tlie  bar,  afterward  practised  here 
for  a  time.  With  a  view  to  im]irovini;-  lioth 
his  fortune  and  his  health,  he  made  a  trip  to 
Missouri,  where  he  was  en<;aj;ed  foi'  a  while 
in  teachinn;  school.  When  the  California 
gold  excitement  broke  out,  lie  joineil  a  band 
of  Fort\'-niners  ant!  journeyed  to  that  .State  on 
foot,  a  distance  of  twenty-lour  hundred  miles, 
through  an  almost  im]xissable  wilderness. 
After  mining  for  gold  for  about  two  years, 
succeeding  onh'  in  a  measured  degree,  he 
returned  to  Delhi  and  resinneil  the  labors  of 
his  profession.  In  1S70  he  established  in 
connection  with  his  law  practice  a  banking 
business,  and  continued  it  until  the  time  of 
his  death,  which  occurred  in  1 890,  in  the 
sixty-si.xth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  a  very 
prominent  and  influential  man,  and  one  of  the 
best  known  citizens  in  Delaware  County.  In 
a  history  of  the  county  issued  in  i.SSo  an  ex- 
tended  sketch   of   his    life   may  be   found. 

Frances  Lear  Roberts,  wife  of  Cah'in  II. 
Bell,  was  the  youngest  daughter  of  iMlmund 
and  Catharine  Whipple  (l.angdon)  Roberts, 
of  l\)rtsmouth,  N.II.  Her  parents  reared  a 
large  family,  the  following  being  their  names: 
Catharine,  Sarah,  Mary  Ann,  Harriet,  Caro- 
line, Anna,  Maria,  and  I'rances.  Catharine 
married  the  Rev.  Di".  Andrew  P.  Peabody, 
late  of  Harvard  University.  .Sarah  marrietl 
Dr.  James  Boyle,  of  New  York  City.  Mary 
Ann  married  Charles  V..  Perry,  of  Delhi, 
N.Y.  Harriet  married  Judge  Amasa  J.  Par- 
ker, of  Albany,  N.^'.  Caroline  married  Rob- 
ert Parker,  a  lawyer  of  Delhi,  N.Y.  Anna 
married  Truman  II.  Wheeler,  a  lawyer,  also, 
of  Delhi.  Maria  joined  the  Sisterhood  of 
Saint  Marv,  of  New  York  Citv.  Frances 
married  Calvin  H.  Bell,  of  Delhi."  The  Rob- 
erts family  are  of  l-aiglish  ancestry  and  na- 
tives of  Portsmouth,  N.II.  Their  grandfather 
was  Captain  ICdmund  Roberts,  of  the  British 
navy;  and  their  father  was  Fdmund  Roberts, 
Envoy  ICxtraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipoten- 
tiary of  the  United  States  to  several  Asiatic 
courts.  He  died  at  Macao,  China,  June  \  2. 
1836,    and    was   buried    there. 

Calvin  H.  Bell  and  wife  reared  three  sons 
—  Edmund     Roberts,     Howard,     and     Walter 


Langdon  Hell.  I'idnunxl  K.  and  Waller  I,. 
Bell,  undei-  tiie  firm  name  of  E.  R.  iS:  W.  L. 
Bell,  bankers  and  real  estate  agents,  with  an 
office  in  Bell  Block,  nearly  op])osite  the 
Eilgerton  House,  Main  Street,  Delhi,  are 
among  the  foremost  business  men  of  tiie  town. 
They  were  educated  in  the  district  school  and 
at  Delaware  Academy,  and  have  passed  the 
larger  part  of  their  lives  in  Delhi.  Entering 
the  office  of  their  father  as  clerks,  the  broth.ers 
gained  a  jiractical  and  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  bvisiness;  and  after  the  death  of  their 
honored  sire  lliey  succeeded  to  its  manage- 
ment. Under  the  present  firm  name  the  repu- 
tation of  the  house  is  well  sustained  as  one  of 
the  most  substantial  and  reliable  in  the 
county.  The  firm  are  men  of  excellent  judg- 
ment, staiul  well  in  financial  circles  and  in 
the  social  world,  and  ha\e  a  fine  reputation 
for  using  systematic  methods  and  conducting 
their  affairs  on  sound  business  principles, 
lulmund  R.  Bell  takes  an  intelligent  inter- 
est in  the  welfare  of  his  native  town,  is  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  a  fire- 
man, and  also  manages  successfully  his  farm, 
situated  near  the  village  of  Dellii.  Walter 
E.  Bell  is  identified  with  the  Masons,  be- 
ing a  member  of  Delhi  Eodge.  No.  439,  and 
as  a  fireman  is  a  member  of  Active  Hose, 
No.  5. 

Dr.  Ilowart 
tioner,  whose 
Main  Street,  near  Court  .Street,  is  an  intelli- 
gent, finely  educated  man,  thoroughly  skilled 
in  the  science  of  medicine,  and  is  rapidly 
working  his  way  to  an  important  [losition 
among  tlu'  [irogressive  physicians  of  Delaware 
County.  He  spent  his  boyhood  days  in 
Delhi,  receiving  the  rudiments  of  his  liberal 
education  in  the  village  school  and  academy. 
He  afterward  entered  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians and  .Surgeons  in  New  \'ork  City,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  in  18S4,  subsequently 
receiving  a  diploma  from  the  University  Med- 
ical College  of  that  city,  located  on  Twenty- 
sixth  Street.  .So(m  after  his  graduation  Dr. 
Bell  started  westward  in  search  of  a  jiromis- 
iiig  location,  and  began  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession in  Albert  I.ea.  Minn.,  where  he  re- 
mained two  years.  Having  acquired  some 
valuable     experience,     he     then     returned     to 


Bell,  an  active  medical    practi- 
othee    is    i>leasantly   located    on 


192 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Delhi,  where  he  has  since  attended  to  the 
duties  of  his  profession.  He  has  steadily 
gained  the  confidence  of  the  people  in  this 
and  adjacent  localities,  and  has  a  large  prac- 
tice. Besides  being  a  physician  in  good  and 
regular  standing,  the  Doctor  also  holds  a  cer- 
tificate for  the  practice  of  dentistry,  to  which 
he  pays  some  attention,  although  making  no 
specialty  of  that  branch  of  the  business. 

Dr.  Bell  is  prominent  in  social  circles,  and 
is  a  member  of  the  Delaware  County  Medical 
Society.  He  likewise  belongs  to  the  Masonic 
fraternity,  and  is  Junior  Warden  of  Delhi 
Lodge,  No.  439,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  Knights  Templar  Norwich  Commandery, 
No.  46.  Politically,  he  uniformly  casts  his 
vote  with  the  Democratic  party.  The 
brothers  are  all  communicants  of  St.  John's 
Episcopal  Church,  as  their  parents  were  be- 
fore them,  the  same  pew  having  been  rented 
by  the  family  for  nearly  forty-four  years.  At 
the  present  time  (1894)  they  are  all  unmarried 
and  living  together,  keeping  old  bachelors' 
hall. 


RSON  JICNKINS,  farmer,  dairyman, 
and  carpenter  of  the  town  of  Tomp- 
kins, was  born  in  Roxbury,  Delaware 
County,  August  21,  1831.  Tradition 
says  that  his  great-grandfather,  Nathaniel 
Jenkins,  was  a  descendant  of  one  of  three 
brothers  who  came  to  America  from  Wales 
in  the  old  Colonial  days.  He  was  a  farmer, 
and  was  also  engaged  in  the  occupation  of 
a  cooper.  He  died  in  Roxbury  at  the  age  of 
ninety  years.  His  son,  Nathan  Jenkins,  was 
born  in  Roxbury,  and  there  throughout  a  long 
life  gave  attention  to  agricultural  pursuits, 
dying  when  eighty-five  years  of  age.  He 
married  Lydia  Morse,  who  passed  away  in 
her  eightieth  year.  Horace  Jenkins,  son  of 
Nathan  and  Lydia  and  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  biography,  was  also  born  in  Roxbury, 
wdrere  he  was  reared  to  farm  life,  removing 
in  1845  to  the  town  of  Tompkins.  Here  he 
purchased  a  farm,  where  he  still  resides,  hav- 
ing reached  the  age  of  eighty-seven  years. 
His  wife  was  Anna  Vermilya,  daughter  of 
Solomon  and  Susan  (Mulline)  Vermilya. 
She  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-four  years,  the 


mother   of    the    following   children  —  Susan, 
Orson,  William,  Hosea,  and  Irene. 

Orson  Jenkins  was  bred  to  farming,  but 
has  likewise  followed  mechanical  pursuits, 
for  which  he  has  a  natural  aptitude,  although 
he  never  served  an  apprenticeship.  For  five 
years  he  resided  in  Walton,  where  he  was  en- 
gasred  as  a  contractor  and  builder.  With  the 
exception  of  that  time,  his  life  has  been  spent 
on  the  farm ;  and  he  has  been  employed  to 
some  extent  in  the  carpenter's  and  cooper's 
trade.  In  1884  he  settled  on  the  farm  he  had 
purchased  some  time  previous,  and  here  he 
now  lives.  Mr.  Jenkins  is  a  reliable,  up- 
right man,  and  is  identified  with  all  the  good 
works  of  the  town  where  he  resides.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

He  married  Miss  Helen  Chandler,  who 
was  born  in  Clifford,  Susquehanna  County, 
Pa.  Mrs.  Jenkins's  grandfather,  Robert 
Chandler,  was  a  farmer  and  physician  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  served  in  the  Revolution- 
ary War.  He  was  one  of  the  first  of  his 
profession  to  settle  in  Susquehanna  County: 
and  his  practice  extended  for  many  miles, 
his  visits  being  made  on  horseback.  His  son 
John,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Jenkins,  engaged  in 
mercantile  business  in  Clifford  for  several 
years,  dealing  extensively  in  game  and  furs, 
wild  animals  being  abundant.  He  also  dealt 
in  farm  produce.  New  York  City  being  the 
market  in  which  he  sold  his  goods.  In  1841 
he  removed  to  Long  Eddy,  Delaware  County, 
where  he  purchased  a  mill  and  engaged  in  the 
lumber  business,  residing  there  until  his 
death  in  his  seventy-eighth  year.  His  wife, 
Catherine  Decker,  was  born  at  Port  Jervis, 
Orange  County,-  N.Y.,  daughter  of  Martin 
and  Huldah  Decker;  and  she  passed  away  in 
her  seventy-eighth  year. 

Mrs.  Jenkins  resided  with  her  parents 
until  her  marriage,  and  learned,  besides  the 
regular  duties  of  a  housewife  in  these  days, 
the  art  of  spinning.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jenkins 
have  one  son,  Frank  E.,  who  was  born  No- 
vember 26,  1854,  and,  after  attending  the 
Walton  Academy,  entered  Williams  College, 
from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1878.  He 
then  took  a  three  years'  course  at  the  Hart- 
ford Theological  Seminary  and  became  a 
Congregational  minister,  being  employed  for 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RKVIIOW 


'93 


some  time  as  a  missionary  iu  tiic  Sontli.  lie 
is  now  engaged  in  pastoral  labors  in  I'aimer, 
Mass.  He  has  been  twice  niarried.  his  first 
wife  being  Maria  Hucklin,  and  his  second 
Sarah  Stanley,  by  wlioni  he  had  one  daughter, 
Helen  C.  Jenkins. 


.\I.T1:R  SCOTT,  Kso..  an  able 
lawyer  of  Davenport,  N.V.,  whose 
qualities  of  mind  have  eminenth' 
fitted  him  for  the  bar,  is  a  man  of  superior 
culture  and  attainments.  Besides  being  well 
informed  on  general  subjects,  he  is  perhaps 
the  best  mathematician  in  the  county.  Mr. 
Scott  is  of  Xew  England  origin,  but  is  a  na- 
tive of  Delaware  County,  having  been  born  in 
the  town  of  Meredith,  November  ii,  1853. 
His  father,  Jesse  Scott,  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Franklin,  and  was  there  reared,  receiving 
a  good  education.  He  was  for  many  years  a 
noted  instructor  in  the  schools  of  Franklin 
and  Davenport,  and  subsec|uently  retired  to  a 
farm  in  the  tow-n  of  Meredith,  where,  before 
reaching  the  noon-tide  of  life,  he  passed  to 
the  worki  bcvond,  being  then  but  forty-three 
years  of  age. 

Walter  Scott  was  but  six  years  oUl  when 
the  death  of  his  father  occurred;  but,  al- 
though missing  the  care  and  influence  of  that 
parent,  he  received  a  judicious  training  from 
his  mother,  who  gave  him  the  benefits  of  a 
good  education,  fitting  him  for  a  teacher  in 
the  public  schools,  a  position  which  he  filled 
most  satisfactorily  for  several  years  in  his 
native  town,  also  teaching  one  term  in  Andes 
and  one  in  Maryland.  In  the  mean  time  Mr. 
Scott  had  continued  studying:  and,  desiring 
to  enter  the  legal  profession,  he  read  law 
with  Youmans  &  Xiles,  of  Delhi,  and  after- 
ward with  Edward  O'Connor,  of  Davenport. 
From  there  he  became  a  student  in  the  Al- 
bany Law  School,  from  which  he  was  grad- 
uated in  1883.  He  began  the  i)ractice  of  his 
]jrofession  in  Davenport,  where  he  has  since 
continued  in  active  work,  and  has  built  u])  a 
large  practice,  clients  being  attracted  by  the 
jirudence  of  his  counsel  more  than  by  the 
brilliancy   of   his   forensic   display. 

The  union  of  Mr.  Scott  and  ^liss  Flora 
l,i\iiiirston    was    celcbratetl     in     1S82.      Mrs. 


Scott  is  a  native  of  .Schenevus,  Otsego 
Count)-,  iieing  the  daughter  of  Jacoi)  Living- 
ston, a  farmer  of  that  ])lace.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Scott  are  tiie  parents  of  two  children,  I'.dith 
and  Hazel,  i)oth  bright  and  accomplished 
girls.  The  eldest,  Edith,  now  eight  years 
old,  has  already  made  a  reputation  as  an  elo- 
cutionist, and  is  ])robably  the  youngest  child 
who  ever  learned  tlic  art  of  stenography. 
The  Philadelphia  Stciiosrraphcr  for  I'ebruary, 
1894,  contains  a  fac-simile  of  a  letter  written 
by  her  in  shorthand  wlien  but  seven  years  of 
age.  She  has  never  attended  school,  but  is 
being  educated  by  her  parents  at  home.  Po- 
litical Iv,  Mr.  Scott  is  a  Democrat,  and  an  ear- 
nest supporter  <;f  tiie  ])rinciples  of  that  party. 
He  was  its  candidate  for  Member  of  Assembly 
in  1885,  and  ftu'  District  Attorney  in  1892. 


RED  P.  BEIvRS,  one  of  the  leading 
hardware  merchants  of  Delaware 
Count)',  an  influential  citizen  of 
Downsville,  was  l)()rn  in  the  village  of  Frank- 
lin, Delaware  County,  X.\'.,  September  24, 
1865,  son  of  A.  Nelson  and  l-llizabetli  (Par- 
ker) Beers.  A.  Nelson  Beers  was  a  native  of 
Otsego  Countv,  and  was  educated  in  the  dis- 
trict scliools.  lla\-ing  much  artistic  talent, 
he  was  early  led  to  undertake  ]^hotogra[)hy,  in 
those  days  an  art  less  commonly  ado|:)ted  than 
now;  ami  in  this  business  he  was  very  suc- 
cessful, doing  a  large  amount  of  work  in  both 
Delaware  and  Otsego  Counties.  He  died  in 
the  prime  of  life,  leaving  but  one  son,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  Mrs.  IClizabeth  P. 
Beers  has  since  married  Dr.  Bassett,  of 
Downsville,    wjiere   she   now   resides. 

Young  Fred  was  educated  in  the  Downs- 
ville and  Deposit  schools,  graduating  when 
very  young  and  going  into  mercantile  life  as  a 
clerk.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  started  a 
small  business  for  himself  in  Downsville, 
carrying  a  line  of  hartiware  ami  other  commod- 
ities. Sagacious  and  enterprisiTig,  Mr.  Beers 
extended  iiis  business  and  his  acquaintance 
with  every  branch  of  it,  by  careful  manage- 
ment establishing  a  large  trade,  and  soon  was 
enabled  to  build  the  commodious  store  which 
he  now  occupies,  and  which  stands  on  the 
corner  of   Main  Street  and  Maple  Avenue.      It 


'94 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


is  seventy-five  by  ninety  feet,  and  three  sto- 
ries in  height,  with  a  tower  forty  feet  high, 
and  is  to-day  the  largest  and  one  of  the  most 
sightly  buildings  in  Delaware  County,  and 
one  of  which  the  wide-awake  town  of  Downs- 
ville  is  justly  proud.  A  part  of  the  first  floor 
of  the  building  is  occupied  by  the  post-office 
and  F.  W.  Hartman's  law  office.  The  rest 
of  the  first  floor  is  improved  by  Mr.  Beers  for 
the  display  and  storage  of  his  goods,  which 
include  a  large  stock  of  hardware,  stoves, 
ranges,  tinware,  paints,  oils,  crockery,  agri- 
cultural implements,  and  wagons.  The  sec- 
onil  floor  contains  tenement  rooms  and  offices. 
On  the  third  floor  is  a  large  and  beautiful  hall 
having  a  seating  capacity  of  five  hundred.  It 
has  also  a  smaller  hall  occupied  by  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic  Post  and  a  photograph 
gallery. 

Mr.  Beers  is  young  and  unmarried.  He  is 
a  fine  amateur  musician,  and  it  goes  without 
saying  that  he  is  extremely  popular  in  so- 
ciety, and  is  often  called  to  exercise  his  tal- 
ents for  its  diversion.  He  is  a  member  of 
Downsville  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  No.  464, 
is  a  follower  of  the  Republican  party,  and  a 
member  and  officer  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Republican  town 
and  county  committees,  and  a  director  and 
stockholder  of  the  Delaware  Loan  &  Trust 
Company,  and  of  several  other  enterprises. 
Mr.  Beers  is  a  man  thoroughly  in  touch  with 
the  times,  able  in  business,  progressive  in 
policy,  and  a  man  known  throughout  the 
county  for  his  energy,  his  genial,  social  qual- 
ities, and  his  unsullied  probity. 


JEYMOUR  KNAPP,  a  representative 
citizen  of  North  Franklin,  and  a 
valued  member  of  the  community,  is 
pleasantly  located  in  joint  School 
District  No.  18,  of  Meredith  and  P'ranklin, 
where  he  has  spent  the  larger  part  of  his  long 
and  useful  life.  His  farm  comprises  some  of 
the  most  valuable  land  in  this  vicinity,  is 
under  good  cultivation,  and  is  supplied  with 
a  comfortable  set  of  frame  buildings. 

Mr.  Knapp  is  a  native  of  the  Empire  State, 
and  was  born  in  Hillsdale,  Columbia  County, 
January     20,     1825,    being  a  son    of    Alanson 


Knapp,  who  was  born  in  Westchester  County, 
New  York,  and  died  in  Corning,  Steuben 
County,  March  10,  1884,  at  the  ripe  old  age 
of  eighty-four  years.  His  widow,  now  an 
aged  woman  of  ninety-one  years,  is  a  resident 
of  Steuben  County.  They  reared  six  sons  and 
four  daughters,  all  of  whom  are  still  living, 
with  the  exception  of  two  daughters.  A 
cousin  of  Seymour  Knapp,  Martin  A.  Knapp, 
a  well-known  and  able  jurist  of  Syracuse,  was 
appointed  by  President  Benjamin  Harrison, 
one  of  the  Commissioners  of  Interstate  Com- 
merce, and  now  holds  that  office.  Alanson 
Knapp  was  a  skilful  mechanic  and  a  farmer, 
and  was  at  one  time  possessed  of  considerable 
means;  but,  having  lost  the  major  part  of  his 
property,  he  came  here  from  Columbia  County, 
arriving  in  Franklin,  May  9,  1835,  ^vi'^h  two 
teams,  a  pair  of  oxen,  and  a  pair  of  horses. 
He  bought  a  small  piece  of  land  at  first;  and, 
meeting  with  good  success  as  a  farmer,  he 
afterward  purchased  more  land  until  his  home- 
stead contained  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres,  a 
part  of  which  is  included  in  the  farm  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  His  father,  Josiah 
Knapp,  was  for  many  years  engaged  in  farm- 
ing near  Hudson,  and  from  there  to  the  vicin- 
ity of  Rochester,  where  he  lived  to  a  good  old 
age.  He  reared  a  family  of  nine  children, 
five  of  them  being  sons,  namely:  Josiah,  who 
was  for  many  years  a  judge  in  Columbia 
County;  Alanson;  Augustus;  Martin  E. ;  and 
Chauncey.  None  of  this  family  are  now  liv- 
ing, the  last  surviving  member  having  been 
one  of  the  daughters,   Waitey. 

Seymour  Knapp  was  ten  years  old  when  he 
came  here  with  his  parents,  with  whom  he 
resided  until  his  marriage.  In  his  boyhood 
he  used  to  work  on  the  farm  through  seed-time 
and  harvest,  and  attend  the  district  school  in 
the  winter  seasons.  Taking  upon  himself  the 
cares  and  responsibilities  of  married  life  ere 
he  attained  his  majority,  he  continued  to  work 
at  farming  as  his  means  of  earning  a  liveli- 
hood, and  subsequently  bought  a  tract  of  land 
in  the  town  of  Tompkins,  where  during  the 
winter  of  1852  and  1853  he  cleared  a  piece  of 
land  in  the  woods,  one  mile  from  any  dwell- 
ing. There  he  erected  a  log  house  for  him- 
self and  family,  and  in  the  course  of  the  next 
seven  years  by  unremitting  toil  he  placed  one 


1!I()(;rai'I1i(;al  kkvikw 


'95 


hundred  and  ton  acres  of  the  land  under  culti- 
vation. In  1864,  resohinj;-  to  assist  in  the 
preservation  of  the  I'nion,  Mr.  Knapp  sold 
this  farm  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  acres,  and 
on  January  i,  1864,  enlisted  for  three  years  as 
a  ]5rivate  in  Company  G,  Seconi!  New  York 
Artillery.  Happily,  after  he  had  served  a 
little  less  than  eij;htecn  months,  the  war 
closed;  and  he  was  honorahly  discharged, 
being  one  of  the  very  first  to  reach  h(}nie, 
arriving  on  May  19,   1865. 

On  December  31,  1845,  Mr.  Knapp  was 
united  in  wedlock  with  Jane  A.  (Ireene,  who 
was  born  March  11,  iHjt^,  in  the  town  of 
Franklin.  Her  ixarents,  Zadoc  and  Ruth 
(Dart)  Greene,  were  both  natives  of  this 
State,  the  former  having  been  born  in  Hoosick, 
Rensselaer  County,  and  the  latter  in  Harpers- 
fiekl.  They  were  worthy  farmers,  and  reared 
a  family  of  daugliters,  four  in  number,  three 
of  whom  are  now  living,  namely:  Mrs. 
Knapp;  ICmeliiie,  the  widow  of  Steplien  Brad- 
ley, of  I'ranklin;  and  ICliza,  the  wife  of  Leroy 
Lamphear.  Into  the  household  circle  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Knapp  four  girls  and  three  boys 
have  been  born,  as  fcdlows:  Eunice,  who  died 
at  the  age  of  ten  years;  Mary  Jane,  the  wife 
of  Franklin  Munson,  residing  on  a  farm  near 
here;  Harriet,  who  married  Henry  J.  Person, 
of  Susquehanna,  Pa.,  and  has  one  son  and  two 
daughters;  LeGrand,  a  farmer,  marrieil  and 
living  in  this  town:  Lavergc,  a  bright  and 
ambitious  student,  who  began  teaching  when 
quite  young,  and  afterward  entered  the  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan  at  Ann  Arbor,  where  he 
took  first  the  classical  and  then  the  medical 
course,  and  was  graduated  in  June,  1894,  with 
the  degree  of  M.D.;  I'dlis,  who  is  working  on 
the  home  farm,  who  married  Carrie  Wattles, 
of  Sidney  Centre,  and  has  two  children —  Ray 
and  Marion;  and  Cora,  who  married  Kmmet 
C.  Fisher,  owner  of  the  adjoining  farm,  and 
has  three  children. 

In  pf)litics  Mr.  KiKqjp  was  a  Democrat  until 
the  formation  of  the  Republican  party,  when 
he  joined  its  ranks  and  has  ne\'er  since  swerved 
in  his  allegiance.  He  has  served  as  Inspector 
of  PHections,  and  is  now  filling  the  office  of 
Town  Assessor,  this  being  his  twenty-seventli 
consecutive  year.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Grand    Army  of    the    Reimblic,    belonging    to 


Post  Xo.  132;  ant!  religiously  he  and  his  wife 
have  been  for  about  forty-seven  years  meml)ers 
of  the  Methodist  Iipiscopal  ciiurch,  in  which 
during  the  most  of  that  lime  he  has  been  an 
officer. 


s 


.  11.  WARD  K]:A'1"()R,  a  youth- 
ful, but  already  brilliantly  success- 
ful physician  of  (iriffin's  Corners, 
in  Middlctown,  N.V.,  was  born  in 
the  atljoining  town  of  Roxbury,  December  13, 
1870,  and  is  the  son  of  Henry  M.  and  Anna 
(Shoemaker)  Keator.  (Jreat-grandfather  Isaac 
Keator,  who  married  I'.sther  White,  was  one 
of  the  early  settlers  in  Ro.xbury,  to  which 
place  he  came  from  Dutchess  Count)'.  He 
])urchased  a  small  estate  near  the  present  vil- 
lage of  Roxbury,  which  was  a  mere  hamlet  at 
that  time:  and  here  he  reared  a  family  of  six 
children,-  namely,  Jacob,  David,  Harmon, 
Heers,  Caroline,  and  Jason.  Harmon,  the 
third  son,  was  born  August  20,  I  817,  and  was 
by  occupation  a  farmer.  He  married  Sarah, 
a  daughter  of  B.  J.  Cross,  one  of  the  first  set- 
tlers of  West  Kill,  Greene  County,  and  died 
on  the  8th  of  April,  1852,  leaving  four  chil- 
dren—  George  \V.,  Plomer  B.,  P'lizabeth, 
and   Henry   ;\1. 

Henry  M.  Keator  displayed  at  an  unusually 
early  age  that  energy  and  courage  which  are 
almost  always  marked  characteristics  in  the 
li\'es  of  those  men  who  win  success  in  their 
chosen  occupations.  At  fourteen  he  began  to 
earn  his  own  living,  driving  teams  for  the 
farmers  in  the  neigliborhooil ;  but,  with  the 
wise  precaution  which  was  one  of  nature's 
gifts,  he  set  himself  steadily  to  work  to  master 
the  carpenter's  trade.  By  industrious  effort 
and  close  economy  amassing  enough  money  to 
bu\-  a  lot,  he  erected  a  house  in  Roxbury  in 
1874,  where  he  has  since  lived.  He  married 
Miss  Anna  Shoemaker,  a  daughter  of  Martin 
and  Louisa  ( Rifenburg)  Shoemaker.  The 
father  of  Mrs.  Keator  was  a  progressive  farmer 
of  Ashland,  Greene  County,  who  went  West 
in  his  ok!  age,  and  died  in  Nebraska.  Henry 
M.  Keator  is  a  member  of  the  Reformed 
church,  ami  also  a  member  of  the  Roxbury 
Cieur  de  Lion  Lodge  of  Masons,  Xo.  571. 
Dr.  II.  Ward  Keator.  the  son  of   llenrv  and 


196 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Anna  (Shoemaker)  Keator,  and  the  original 
of  this  brief  memoir,  received  a  plain  educa- 
tion in  the  schools  of  Roxbury,  and  acquired  a 
knowledge  of  his  profession  at  the  Baltimore, 
Md.,  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons, 
where  he  took  his  degree  on  the  i  sth  of 
April,  1892.  He  immediately  began  to  prac- 
tise medicine  at  Port  Allegany,  Pa.,  and 
in  the  course  of  two  years  had  established 
himself  as  a  successful   physician. 

At  this  time  the  death  of  Dr.  Patterson,  a 
noted  medical  practitioner  at  Griffin's  Cor- 
ners, left  a  fine  opening  in  that  community 
for  an  intelligent  and  competent  physician 
and  surgeon ;  and  so  it  came  about  that  Dr. 
H.  Ward  Keator  found  himself  following  his 
profession  in  the  familiar  haunts  of  his  child- 
hood, surrounded  by  old  friends  and  home 
associations.  As  regards  his  religious  con- 
victions, he  is  a  member  of  the  Reformed 
church;  and  taking  an  interest  in  politics, 
as  all  American  citizens  should,  his  political 
proclivities  are  toward  the   Republican   party. 


living  in  ease  and  retirement  in  his 
pleasant  home  at  No.  13  Griswold  Street,  in 
the  village  of  Walton,  caring  as  best  he  may 
for  his  physical  health,  which  has  been  im- 
paired for  many  years.  He  is  of  New  Eng- 
land birth.  New  Canaan,  Conn.,  being  the 
place  of  his  nativity,  and  March  15,  1834,  the 
date  of  his  entrance  into  this  world.  His 
paternal  grandfather,  John  Bartow,  was  a  pio- 
neer farmer  of  North  Walton.  He  reared 
seven  children;  namely,  Stephen,  John, 
Lewis,  Chaunccy,  Jonah,  Reuben,  and  Polly 
—  all  of  whom  married,  with  the  exception  of 
the  daughter.  None  of  this  family  are  now 
living,  the  last  survivor  having  been  the  son 
Reuben,  who  departed  this  life  in  1890,  hav- 
ing nearly  reached  his  eightieth  milestone. 
His   widow  resides   in   Oneonta. 

Stephen  Bartow,  the  father  of  Andrew 
Peck,  was  born  in  New  Canaan,  Conn.,  April 
I,  1794,  and  was  a  life-long  resident  of  that 
State,  dying  there  in  1878.  He  married 
Sally  Clinton,  who  was  born   in   New  Canaan, 


September   i,  1793,  and  during  her  long  life 
of    nearly   eighty-three    years    never    left    the 
State  of  her  nativity.     She  was  the  only  child 
of    her   parents,    Allen    and    Sarah    (Keeler) 
Clinton.      Her  father  and   an    uncle.    General 
Clinton,    served    in    the    Revolutionary    War, 
wherein  they  won  renown  for  their  bravery  and 
efficient   service,    her    father  afterward    draw- 
ing a  pension  from  the  government.      He  was 
of  most  commanding  appearance,  standing  six 
feet   two  inches   in  height,   very  straight  and 
erect,  and  weighing  over  two  hundred  pounds. 
His   teeth,    both   upper   and    under,    were    all 
double,    and    he   could    bite  a  goose  quill    in 
two.     He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation.     Both 
he  and  his  wife  were  sincere  Christian  people, 
and   belonged  to   the  Congregational   church. 
Mr.    and    Mrs.    Stephen    Bartow    reared    nine 
children,    five    sons    and    four    daughters,    of 
whom  the  following   are    living:  Lucy  Ann, 
the  widow  of  George  Whitney,  lives  in  New 
Canaan;  Anson  is  a  farmer  in  Walton;  Philo 
recently  moved  from  Walton  to  Connecticut; 
Andrew   P.  lives   in  Walton;   Charles   L.  is  a 
farmer  and   stone-mason   in   New  Canaan;    A 
daughter,  Roxie,  died  at  the  age  of  six  years. 
Catherine    died    in    infancy.      Sophronia,   the 
wife   of    Henry   M.    Webb,    died    in    1862,    at 
the    age    of    thirty-eight    years,    leaving    one 
daughter. 

Andrew  P.  Bartow  was  reared   on   a  farm, 
and  received  a  good  common-school  education, 
among  other  studies  mastering  Dabol's  arith- 
metic, then  the  leading  text-book  in  that  sci- 
ence.    When  seventeen  years  old  he  learned 
the  shoemaker's  trade,  working  at   it   in   New 
Canaan,  both  before  and  after  the  beginning 
of  the  Civil  War.      Inspired  by  patriotic  mo- 
tives, he  was  anxious  to  enlist   in  defence  of 
his  country's  flag  during  the  late  Rebellion, 
and   in   August,   1863,  was  examined,  but  re- 
jected.     On    the    1 2th    of    September,     1863, 
however,   he  was   drafted,   and   mustered   into 
Company  A,  Sixth  Connecticut  Volunteer  In- 
fantry, and  served  in  the  ranks  until  January, 
1865,  when  he  was  discharged,  being  disabled 
by  paralysis  caused   by  overmarching  and  ex- 
posure.     He.  was   brought  very   low,    and  but 
little  hope  was  entertained    of   his  recovery, 
his    sufferings    being    so    intense    that    death 
seemed  to  him  the  most  desirable  thing  that 


HiRfljw  Montgomery. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


'99 


could  happen.  Ik-  returned  home,  expecting 
to  die  or  to  be  a  life-long  crpiple,  with  no 
use  of  his  left  arm  or  side.  In  1866  Mr.  Bar- 
tow removed  to  Walton,  where  he  opened  a 
store  for  the  sale  of  boots  and  shoes,  and  es- 
tablished a  pretty  good  trade.  Failing  health 
intluced  him  to  exchange  the  house  and  lot  he 
had  purchased  for  a  farm  of  sixty  acres  up  the 
river,  to  which  he  moved  in  1879.  Two  years 
later  Mr.  Bartow  traded  his  farm  for  a  house 
in  Walton;  and  recently  he  and  his  son 
George  have  bought  a  small  farm  of  fifty  acres 
in  this  locality,  where  the  latter  is  carrying 
on  general  husbandry  with  good  results.  Mr. 
Bartow  built  his  jjresent  residence  in  1884, 
and  it  is  a  model  of  comfort  and  good  taste. 
Mr.  Andrew  P.  Bartow  and  Miss  Sarah  A. 
Crabb  were  united  in  marriage  on  August  3, 
1858.  Mrs.  Bartow  was  born  in  Stamford, 
Conn.,  April  2S,  1833,  a  daughter  of  Jere- 
miah and  Ruth  ( Xorthrup)  Crabb.  George 
Bartow,  a  farmer,  the  eldest  of  the  four  chil- 
tlren  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bartow,  has  a  wife  and 
four  children.  Charles,  the  seconil,  a  manu- 
facturer and  dealer  in  furniture  at  No.  86 
Delaware  Street,  lias  a  wife  and  one  daughter. 
Harry  Kdson,  a  reed  W'orker  in  the  Novelty 
Works,  has  a  wife  and  one  son.  Jennie  Belle, 
the  only  daughter,  a  young  lady  of  eighteen, 
lives  with  her  parents.  ]\Ir.  Bartow  is  held 
in  much  esteem  by  his  friends  and  fellow- 
townsmen,  being"  a  man  of  strong  opinions  and 
sound  judgment,  and  one  whose  character  is 
above  reproach.  He  is  an  ardent  advocate  of 
the  principles  of  the  Republican  part)',  and  he 
has  served  his  town  as  Constable  and  Collec- 
tor. Socially,  he  is  a  Master  Mason,  and  an 
influential  member  of  the  Ben  Mar\'in  Post, 
No.  209,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  His 
religious  beliefs  coincide  with  the  doctrines 
of  the  Congregational  church;  while  his  wife, 
who  is  a  noble  type  of  the  worthy  Christian 
]ieople  of  this  vicinity,  is  a  member  of  the 
Methodist   church. 

Charles  A.  l^artow  was  born  in  New  Ca- 
naan, Conn.,  April  26,  1863.  He  completed 
his  education  in  the  Walton  Academy,  which 
he  left  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years  to  engage 
in  manual  labor.  On  the  1st  of  November, 
1882,  he  began  working  at  the  cabinet-maker's 
trade;  and,  having   become  proficient  in  every 


brancii  thereof,  he  established  liimself  in  busi- 
ness on  his  own  account  as  a  manufacturer 
and  dealer  in  furniture.  He  is  a  \oung  man 
of  enterprise  and  integrity,  and  a  valued  citi- 
zen. On  the  6th  of  October,  1889,  he  mar- 
ried Mary  K.  Wilson,  who  was  born  in 
Downsville,  a  daughter  of  George  S.  and 
Sarah  (Combes)  Wilson.  Mr.  Wilson  is  a 
carpenter  by  trade,  now  living  in  Walton  in 
order  to  give  his  youngest  daughter,  Jeanette, 
the  benefit  of  the  excellent  educational  advan- 
tages afforded  by  the  village  schools.  Ada, 
the  remaining  daughter  of  Mr.  and 'Mrs.  Wil- 
son, is  the  wife  of  I^.  R.  Johnson,  a  railroad 
man.  Mrs.  Mary  K.  Bartow  is  a  cultivated 
woman,  and  before  her  marriage  was  a  very 
successful  teacher,  her  mother  also  having 
been  early  engaged  in  this  calling.  Two 
children  have  been  born  to  Charles  A.  and 
Mary  ]i.  Bartow,  one  of  whom,  a  beautiful 
boy,  died  in  infancy.  Flossie  Combes,  the 
remaining  child,  is  now  three  years  of  age. 
Politically,  Mr.  Bartow  is  a  firm  and  uncom- 
promising Republican.  He  has  been  Com- 
mander of  the  order  of  the  Sons  of  Veterans 
of  George  Crawley  Camp,  No.  143,  Depart- 
ment of  New  York,  also  is  a  worthy  member 
of  Walton  Lodge,  No.  559,  of  Master  Masons, 
the  same  lodge  of  which  his  father  is  a 
member. 


/STkORGE  and  DAVH)  MONTGOM- 
\  •)  I  FRY,  sons  of  Hiram  .Montgomery, 
an  energetic  and  successful  pioneer 
farmer  of  Delaware  County,  seem  to  have  in- 
herited much  of  the  sagacity  of  their  fore- 
fathers, who  were  active  in  i)romoting  every 
enterjirise  that  tended  toward  the  advancement 
of  the  section  in  which  they  had  cast  their 
lots.  The  great-grandfather  of  the  brothers 
was  a  native  of  the  northern  jiart  of  Ireland, 
and  came  to  America  and  settled  in  Vermont. 
His  name  was  Robert  Montgomery,  and  he 
finally  moved  with  his  family  to  Salem, 
Washington  County,  N.Y.,  where  he  died  at 
the  age  of  sixty-five,  leaving  a  family  of 
seven  children  —  Robert,  William,  Martin, 
Alexander,  Hugh,  Polly,  and  Jane. 

W'illiam,    the    secontl    son    of     Robert    and 
Polly    Montgomery,    was    horn     in     Wrmont, 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


where  he  married   Sally  Conkee,  and  whence 
he  came  to  Delaware  in   1806,  settling  on  the 
estate  now  owned  by  Robert   Hastings.      Here 
he    built    a    log    house,    and    lived     with    his 
family    in    the    lonely   forest    depths.     Thir- 
teen  children   were   born  to  the  husband   and 
wife,  who  toiled  happily  and  ate  the  bread  of 
their  labor  in  peace  and  contentment.     Thir- 
teen small,   hungry  mouths  to  feed,   thirteen 
little   bodies  to  clothe  and  nourish  and  pro- 
tect,   thirteen    souls   and    active    brains   to   be 
guided  and  trained  and  moulded  into  useful, 
honorable,  patriotic  American  citizens!     The 
work  was  a  great  one;  but  William  and   Sally 
Montgomery   were    honest    and    capable    and 
strong.     The     "baker's    dozen"    of     offspring 
came  in  the  following  order:   William,  Hiram, 
De    Bois,     Richard,    Dewitt,    Betsey,     Lucy, 
Mary,    Angeline,     Sally,     Eleanor,     Harriet, 
and  Louisa.      The    tract    of   land   upon    which 
he   first   settled    was   afterward   sold,    and   one 
hundred    acres    were    leased,    just    above    the 
place    now    owned    by    the    two    descendants 
whose  names  form  the  headline  of  this  family 
chronicle.      This  he  cleared  and  put   into  cul- 
tivation,  building  another    habitation  for  his 
household.     Living  in  those    early  days  was 
no  easy  matter  to  those  who  had  only  their 
own   labor  to   depend    upon   for   support,    and 
so  William  had  to  work  other  men's  lands   in 
order  to  keep  his  own  and  support  the  family 
of  children  intrusted  to  his  keeping.     When 
the  War  of   181 2  broke  over  the  land,  he  was 
drafted,    but  drew  a  blank,  and  was  thus  en- 
abled   to    continue    working    the  virgin    soil, 
while  his  neighbors  went  to  fight  the  British- 
ers once  more.     He  was  Democratic    in    his 
political    views.      He    and    his    faithful    wife 
each  lived  to  be  about  seventy-nine  years  old, 
he  dying  in  1858,  and  she  ten  years  later. 

Hiram,  who  was  born  in  Roxbury,  No- 
vember I,  181 1,  received  a  rudimentary  edu- 
cation in  the  district  school,  but  read  and 
improved  himself  at  home  as  far  as  he  could. 
At  twenty-two  he  began  to  farm,  and  seven 
years  later,  in  1840,  bought  one  hundred 
acres  of  land  which  was  heavily  timbered 
with  hemlock.  The  trees  he  cut  down  and 
peeled,  selling  the  bark  at  such  advantageous 
terms  that  he  was  able  to  pay  for  the  land 
with  the  proceeds.     He  married,   at  the  age 


of  thirty-eight.  Miss  Rheuana  Peck,  born  June 
20,  1822,  a  daughter  of  Lucy  (Barnham)  and 
Oliver  Peck,  the  latter  a  cooper  and  farmer 
of  Connecticut,  who  lived  to  be  eighty-three 
and  left  these  children  —  Warden,  Smith,  Eli, 
Charles,  Rheuana,  Sarah,  and  Polly.  To 
Hiram  and  Rheuana  (Peck)  Montgomery  were 
born  nine  children  —  George,  Rheuana, 
Hiram,  Jr.,  David,  Otis,  Liberty,  Jenette, 
Emma,  and  Agnes.  Rheuana  married  Mr. 
Andrew  McCarrick,  and  lives  at  Caton  in 
Steuben  County.  She  has  one  child,  An- 
drew B.  Otis  married  Miss  Minerva  Van- 
Aiken.  They  live  at  North  Sanford,  Broome 
County.  Liberty  lives  at  home;  and  Hiram 
has  bought  the  farm  just  across  the  brook 
from  his  father's  old  homestead,  which  is  now 
conjointly  owned  by  David  and  George. 
Hiram,  Jr.,  married  Miss  Ella  Scudder;  and 
they  have  two  daughters  —  Nellie  and  Grace. 
Emma  married  Henry  Reed;  and  they  have 
two  children  —  Charles  and  Harry.  Jenette 
married  Otis  Tiffany,  and  has  two  children  — 
Cora  and  Hiram.  Agnes  is  single,  and  re- 
sides on  the  home  place.  George  is  a  Past 
Master  of  Cceur  de  Lion  (Masonic)  Lodge, 
also  a  member  of  Delta  Chapter,  No.  185, 
and  of  Rondout  Commandery,  No.  52,  Knights 
Templar. 

Hiram  Montgomery,  the  father  of  the 
family,  died  at  his  home  October  19,  1894, 
aged  eighty-three  years.  He  was  laid  to  rest 
with  Masonic  honors,  he  having  been  a 
Mason  for  many  years.  The  wife,  Rheuana 
(Peck)  Montgomery,  preceded  her  husband 
two  years,  having  died  September  23,   1892. 

On  the  site  where  now  stands  the  Montgom- 
ery mansion  five  gigantic  hemlocks  raised 
aloft  their  sombre  heads  toward  the  northern 
skies;  and  so  deeply  rooted  were  they  that 
Hiram  had  great  difficulty  in  digging  the 
.stumps  from  the  soil,  that  a  cellar  might  be 
dug  and  foundation  laid  for  the  house.  Many 
are  the  family  associations  gathered  about 
this  ancestral  home  of  the  Montgomerys. 
The  mountains  and  woods  that  covered  the 
old  place  were  literally  infested  with  deer  in 
the  early  days  of  the  settlement.  They  came 
in  such  herds,  indeed,  that  the  hounds  were 
in  danger  often  of  being  killed  by  the  valiant 
stags,  whose  sharp  antlers  sometimes  severed 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


the  clogs'  heails  from  tlioir  bodies.  Where  the 
deer  stalked  proudly  and  unmolested,  and  the 
howl  of  the  wolf  and  the  panther  sounded 
dismally  through  the  long  watches  of  the 
night  three-quarters  uf  a  century  ago,  a  mag- 
nificent orchard  of  fine  fiuit-trees  now  stands 
to  mark  the  energy,  industry,  and  foresigiit  of 
Hiram  Montgomery,  who  set  them  with  his 
own  hand,  and  watched  them  sprout  and  grow 
and  develop  into  maturity  and  bearing.  In 
all  the  neighborhood  there  is  not  an  estate 
in  a  more  highly  developed  state  of  cultiva- 
tion than  the  Montgomer)'  farm;  and  its 
owners,  George  and  David,  are  justl_\-  proud 
of  the  homestead  of  their  fathers. 

The  accompanying  portrait  of  lliram  Mont- 
gomery is  an  interesting  addition  to  the 
family  record,  and  an  ornament  to  this 
\'olume. 


^^''Al^  11.1,1AM  BROWN  HAXFORD,  the 
author  of  the  f(dlowing  reminis- 
cences of  the  Levi  Manford  branch 
of  the  Ilanford  family —  which  he  has  written 
expressly  for  this  "Review,"  only  a  small  jiart 
of  his  manuscript  ha\ing  previously  been  in 
print  —  early  in  the  present  year,  1894, 
passed  his  ninetieth  birthday,  in  Franklin 
\'illage,  N.Y.,  where  he  has  resided  since 
i860  in  retired  life.  He  was  born  in  New 
Canaan,  Conn.,  May  19,  1804,  and  removed 
with  his  parents  and  family  in  1808  to  Wal- 
ton, N.Y.,  where  he  passed  more  than  half  of 
a  century  on  the  ancestral  farm. 

This  branch  of  the  Ilanford  family  he  can 
trace  back  seven  generations  to  an  ancestral 
Hanford,  a  man  of  large  propert\-  and  respec- 
tability, whose  given  name  is  unknown,  but 
who  died  in  England  in  1596  or  1597.  He 
married  F.glin  .Sells,  a  widow.  Her  maiden 
name  was  Eglin  Ilatherly.  .She  had  by  her 
second  marriage  one  son,  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Hanford,  to  whom  all  the  Hanfords  of  this 
country  can  be  traced  back.  He  was  born  in 
England  in  1621,  and  was  early  sent  to  school 
and  college.  He  was  a  decided  Puritan  in 
]3rinciple,  and  opj^osed  to  the  tyranny  and  per- 
secution of  the  Ivstablished  Church  toward  all 
others.  For  that  reason  he  could  not  receive 
the    honors    due    to    his    college  attainments. 


Feeling  deeply  the  cruelty  and  injustice  that 
was  inflicted  on  him,  it  was  not  stran-e  tiiat 
in  1642  he  should  be  found  an  immigrant  to 
the  New  h'ngland  colonies.  In  1643  ^^e  find 
him  completing  his  education  with  the  Rev. 
Charles  Chauncy,  one  of  the  most  learned  and 
l)opular  Puritan  divines  of  that  day,  and  after- 
ward preaching  for  a  time  in  New  Haven, 
Conn.  From  there  he  went  into  Massachu- 
setts. On  May  22,  1650,  he  was  made  a  free- 
man of  the  colony.  In  1652  he  was  called 
to  the  iwstorate  of  the  church  of  Norwaik, 
Conn.  He  preached  there  for  forty  consecu- 
tive years.  He  married  Hannah  Newbury, 
daughter  of  Thomas  Newbury.  She  died 
shortly,  leaving  no  children;  and  on  July  22, 
1 66 1,  he  married  Mary  Ince,  widow  of  Jona- 
than Ince,  and  daughter  of  Richard  Miles. 
They  liad  a  family  of  ten  children,  as  follows: 
Theoi)hilus,  born  July  29,  1662,  who  died  un- 
married; Mary,  November  30,  1663;  Han- 
nah, Jmie  28,  1665;  IClizabeth,  July  9,  1666; 
Thomas,  July  18,  1668  (he  was  the  branch 
from  which  the  Levi  Ilanford  branch  of  the 
Hanford  family  sprung);  Eleazor,  September 
15,  1670;  Elnathan,  October  11,  1672;  Sam- 
uel, .'\pril  5,  1674;  luuiice,  Alareh,  1675; 
Sarah,  May.  1677.  'l''i<-'  Ke'v.  Thomas  Han- 
ford died  in  Norwaik,  in  1693,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two  years,  respected  and  highly  es- 
teemed. His  wife,  Mary  Miles  Hanford,' died 
September  12,  1730,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
one  hundretl  and  (']vc  years. 

In  1692  Thomas  Hanfortl,  second  son  of 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Hanford,  married  Hannah 
Burwell,  widow  of  John  Burwell,  and  daugh- 
ter of  Gershon  Lockwood.  The\-  had  a  family 
of  five  children:  Theophilus,  born  in  1693; 
Elnathan;  IClizabeth;  Catharine;  and  Hilary. 
The  gravestones  of  Thomas  Hanford  and  his 
wife  were  standing  at  their  graves  in  1893,  in 
good  preservation.  Theophilus  Hanford,  the 
writer's  great-grandfather,  bought  land,  and 
built  on  it  about  the  year  1718  or  1719,  the 
first  house  built  in  the  part  of  Norwaik  that 
became  New  Canaan.  Theophilus  and  his 
wife  Sarah  had  a  family  of  four  sons  and  two 
daughters,  namely:  Dinah,  bom  October  11, 
1720;  Theophilus,  April  26,  1724:  Levi, 
.March  4,  173 1,  died  May  21,  1796,  aged 
si.\ly-five  years;   Ebenczer,    born   October    14, 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


1733;  Abigail,  January  20,  1738;  Simeon, 
July  7,  1741-  Tlieophilus  Hanford,  Sr., 
built  a  house  for  his  son  Theophilus,  in  the 
hope  that  he  would  marry  and  settle  in  domes- 
tic life.  But  he,  being  of  a  roving,  restless 
disposition,  did  not  accept  his  father's  offer. 
The  house  was  afterward  given  to  his  second 
son,  Levi,  who  soon  after  married  Sarah  Eliza- 
beth Carter,  daughter  of  Ebenezer  Carter,  a 
well-to-do  farmer  noted  for  generous  hospital- 
ity, patriotism,  and  good  living.  She  was 
born  in  1731,  and  died  in  1776,  aged  forty- 
five  years.  He  was  a  man  of  good  mind, 
honest  and  upright  in  all  the  vocations  of 
life,  standing  high  in  the  esteem  of  all  that 
knew  him,  but  of  a  quiet,  unassuming,  domes- 
tic turn.  They  were  devout  and  respected 
members  of  the  Baptist  church.  He  was  a 
good  farmer  and  the  owner  of  mills. 

Levi  Hanford,  Sr.,  and  his  wife  passed 
their  lives  in  domestic  happiness  and  comfort. 
They  had  a  family  of  three  sons  and  two 
daughters,  whose  names,  dates  of  birth  and 
marriage  were  as  follows:  Ebenezer,  their 
first  child,  was  born  February  27,  1755,  and 
married  Hannah,  daughter  of  Thaddeus  Han- 
ford. He  had  poor  health,  was  a  well-edu- 
cated man,  a  farmer,  and  a  writer  for  papers 
and  books.  They  left  no  children.  He  died 
October  19,  iSs's,  aged  seventy-eight  years. 
Elizabeth,  the  eldest  daughter,  born  June  20, 
1757,  died  April  23,  1828,  being  burned  to 
death,  her  clothes  taking  fire  from  smoulder- 
ing coals  on  the  hearth,  while  engaged  in 
secret  prayer  early  in  the  morning.  She  was 
a  woman  of  strong  mind,  well  stored  with 
useful  knowledge.  She  married  Captain 
Isaac  Keeler,  who  was  an  officer  in  the  Con- 
tinental army  under  General  Washington,  and 
was  in  many  of  the  hardest-fought  battles  of 
the  Revolution.  He  with  his  company  passed 
that  terrible  winter  at  Valley  Forge,  in  tents 
all  winter.  After  the  war  was  closed,  he 
went  into  mercantile  business  for  some  year.?, 
during  which  time  he  married  the  before-men- 
tioned Elizabeth  Hanford.  He  eventually  re- 
ceived the  appointment  of  Police  Justice  in 
New  York  City;  and  after  several  years'  ser- 
vice in  that  office  he  was  appointed  to  a 
place  in  the  New  York  Custom-house,  which 
office  he  retained  till   his  death.      His  death 


was  caused  by  consumption,  the  result  of  a 
severe  cold  taken  during  the  War  of  181 2. 
In  that  war,  when  New  York  City  was  threat- 
ened with  an  attack  by  the  British,  and  troops 
were  called  in  protection,  many  of  the  vet- 
erans of  the  Revolution  volunteered  and 
formed  companies  to  assist  in  guarding  the 
city.  Keeler  was  one  of  them,  and  was  ap- 
pointed an  officer.  He  endeavored  to  show 
the  spirit  and  energy  of  his  former  years  of 
military  life,  and  took  without  hesitation  his 
part  in  the  hardships  and  exposures  of  the 
camp  with  the  best.  But  the  years  that  had 
been  added  to  his  life  had  unfitted  him  for 
such  hardships;  and  when  on  one  cold,  rainy 
night  he  was  out  on  guard  duty,  and  was  very 
much  chilled,  he  took  a  severe  cold  that  never 
left  him,  but  continued  until  it  culminated 
in  consumption  and  death.  They  left  no 
children. 

Levi,  the  second  son  of  Levi  Hanford,  Sr., 
was  born  September  19,  1759.  His  child- 
hood and  early  youth  were  passed  with  his 
parents  and  family  on  the  farm  till  1775, 
when  the  Revolutionary  War  broke  out,  and 
he  was  sixteen,  the  age  at  which  the  law  then 
held  them  liable  to  military  duty.  He  then 
enlisted  in  a  company  of  minute-men,  liable 
to  be  called  into  service  at  a  moment's  warn- 
ing for  short  periods  of  a  few  days,  weeks, 
or  months  at  a  time,  as  local  circumstances 
made  it  necessary.  The  manner  of  calling 
out  those  minute-men,  in  case  of  an  alarm, 
was  as  follows :  The  news  of  the  approach  of 
an  enemy  was  usually  heralded  by  an  express 
rider  in  haste  to  the  town  officer  authorized 
to  receive  the  news.  He  would  hasten  to  the 
meeting-house  hill,  and  there,  in  a  voice  as 
loud  as  he  could  make  it,  would  cry:  "Hear 
ye!  Hear  ye!  Hear  ye!"  three  times,  then 
proclaim  the  cause  of  the  alarm,  and  then  beat 
the  long  roll  on  the  drum.  The  minute-men 
first  hearing  the  alarm  would  mount  their 
horses,  and  ride  in  every  direction,  to  spread 
the  information.  When  the  men  were  assem- 
bled, the  officers  would  explain  the  cause  of 
the  alarm,  and  then  march  wherever  they  were 
needed.  If  the  alarm  was  an  important  one, 
a  cannon  was  fired,  that  denoted  danger  and  re- 
quired haste.  On  one  of  those  occasions  Levi 
Hanford,    Jr.,    was    called    to    New    York    for 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


I 


some  length  of  time.  W'liilc  there  he  was 
sent  with  a  dctaehment  of  men,  one  very  dark 
and  stormy  night,  to  Governor's  Island,  and 
broke  the  first  ground  ever  broken  for  a  forti- 
fication on  that  island.  The  British  Heet  was 
lying  at  anchor  in  the  lower  bay.  They  had 
placed  sentries  around  the  island.  The  Brit- 
ish, mistrusting  that  something  was  being 
done,  sent  up  boats  to  reconnoitre.  Tiiey 
would  row  u|)  as  near  as  they  dared;  the  sen- 
try would  hail  them,  and,  receiving  no  answer, 
would  fire.  They  would  haul  off,  to  come  up 
again  at  some  other  point.  This  continued 
through  the  night.  In  the  morning  the  men 
were  withdrawn,  to  be  replaced  at  evening. 
Levi  Hanford,  Jr.,  was  a  soldier  in  active 
service  during  the  war.  Again  he  was  called 
out,  and,  while  on  guard  duty,  was  surrounded 
by  British  and  Tories,  who  came  across  the 
Sound  in  whale-boats  antl  took  the  guaril, 
Hanford  among  the   rest. 

The  following  sketch  (.)f  Levi  Hanford,  Jr., 
and  the  old  Sugar  House  Prison  is  abbre- 
viated from  an  account  taken  down  in  his 
words  about  forty-six  years  ago,  and  pub- 
lished in  1S52,  in  which  year  he  was  pre- 
sented with  a  cane  made  by  David  Barker  from 
one  of  the  oak  beams  of  the  old  prison.  The 
veteran  was  then  in  his  ninety-third  \'ear, 
feeble  in  body,  but  still  able  to  walk,  atul 
still  retaining  his  faculties  in  a  remarkal^le 
degree,  and  the  memory  of  Revolutionary 
events  and  the  transactions  of  by-gone  days 
in  great  perfectness,  the  result,  no  doubt,  of 
habits  of  steady  industry,  temperance,  and 
morality,   joined   to  a  good   constitution: 

"In  March.  1777,  I  was  called  as  one  of 
a  guard  of  thirteen  men  on  the  coast  of  Long 
Island  Sound.  On  March  13,  1777,  a  very 
dark  and  stormy  night,  we  v.'cre  stationed 
as  a  guard  at  what  was  then  an  out-station 
called  Oldwell,  now  South  Norwalk.  Our 
officers  were  negligent:  and,  for  that  cause,  in 
the  night  the  guard  was  surrounded  by  Brit- 
ish and  Tories  from  Long  Island,  and  the 
guard  made  prisoners,  myself  among  the  rest, 
an  ignorant  boy  of  seventeen.  We  were  taken 
in  whale-boats  across  the  sound  to  Hunting- 
ton, L.I.,  from  there  to  Flushing,  and  then 
taken  from  there  to  New  York,  and  incarcer- 
ated   in   the   old    -Sugar    House   Prison  in  Lib- 


erty Street,  near  the  new  Dutch  Ciuuch,  at 
th;il  time  converted  into  a  riding-school  foi- 
British  light  horse,  and  afterward  into  the 
city  post-office.  The  old  prison,  now  t(jrn 
down,  was  a  stone  building  six  stories  iiigh; 
but  tlie  stories  were  very  low,  which  matle  it 
dark  and  confined.  It  was  built  for  a  sugar 
refinery,  and  its  apj^earancc  was  dark  and 
gloomy;  while  its  small  antl  dee])  windows 
gave  it  the  appearance  of  a  prison,  which  it 
really  was,  with  a  high  board  fence  enclosing 
a  small  yard.  We  found  at  that  time  about 
forty  or  fifty  prisoners,  in  an  emaciated,  starv- 
ing, and  wretched  condition.  Their  numbers 
were  continually  being  diminisheil  by  death, 
and  as  constantly  increased  by  the  accessions 
of  new  ])risoners  to  the  number  of  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  or  five  hunilred.  Our  allow- 
ance of  provision  was  pork  and  sea  biscuit;  it 
would  not  keep  a  well  man  in  strength.  The 
biscuit  was  such  as  had  been  wet  with  sea 
water  and  damaged,  and  was  full  of  worms 
and  mouldy.  It  was  our  common  practice  to 
put  water  into  our  camp  kettle,  then  break  the 
bread  into  it,  skim  off  the  worms,  put  in  tlie 
pork  and  boil  it,  if  we  had  fuel.  But  that 
was  allowed  us  only  a  i^art  of  the  time;  and. 
when  we  could  get  no  fuel,  we  had  to  eat  our 
meat  raw,  and  our  biscuit  (h-y.  Starved  as 
we  were,  there  was  nothing  in  the  shape  of 
food  that  was  rejected  or  was  unpalatable. 
Crowded  together  in  bad  air,  and  with  such 
diet,  it  was  not  strange  that  disease  and  pesti- 
lence should  prevail.  I  had  not  been  long 
there  before  I  was  taken  with  the  small-[)ox, 
and  taken  to  the  small-pox  hospital.  I  had  it 
light,  and  soon  returned  to  the  prison,  but  not 
till  I  had  seen  it  in  its  most  malignant  forms. 
Some  of  my  companions  died  in  that  hospital. 
I  remained  in  prison  for  a  time,  when,  from 
i)ad  air,  confinement,  and  bad  diet,  I  was  ■ 
taken  sick  and  conveyed  to  the  Uuaker  Meet- 
ing Ilosintal,  so  called  from  its  being  a 
Ouaker  church.  I  soon  became  insensible; 
and  the  time  passed  unconsciously  till  I 
began  slowly  to  recover  health  and  strength, 
and  I  again  quitted  those  scenes  of  disease 
and  death  for  the  prison.  On  my  return  1 
found  the  number  of  our  companions  still 
further  reduced  by  sickness  and  death.  Dur- 
ing  all    this   time  an  influence  was   being  ex- 


204 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


erted  to  induce  the  prisoners  to  enlist  into 
the  Tory  regiments.  Although  our  sufferings 
were  intolerable,  and  the  men  were  urged  by 
Tories  who  had  been  their  neighbors,  and  had 
enlisted  into  the  Tory  regiment,  yet  the  in- 
stances were  rare  that  they  could  be  influenced 
to  enlist.  So  wedded  were  they  to  their  prin- 
ciples that  they  chose  honorable  death  rather 
than  sacrifice  them. 

"I  remained  in  prison  till  October  28, 
when  the  names  of  a  company  of  prisoners 
were  taken  down,  and  mine  among  the  rest. 
It  was  told  us  that  we  were  going  home. 
We  drew  a  week's  provisions,  which  by  solic- 
itation we  cheerfully  divided  among  our  starv- 
ing associates,  whom  we  were  to  leave  in 
prison.  But  whether  it  was  to  torment  and 
aggravate  our  feelings  I  know  not;  but  this  I 
do  know,  that,  instead  of  going  home,  we 
were  taken  from  the  prison  and  put  on  board 
of  one  of  the  prison  ships  (the  'Good  Intent ') 
lying  in  the  North  River,  and  reported  there 
with  one  week's  provisions.  The  scene  of 
starvation  and  suffering  that  followed  cannot 
be  described.  Everything  was  eaten  that 
could  appease  appetite.  From  this  and  other 
causes,  and  crowded  as  we  were  with  over  two 
hundred  in  the  hold  of  one  ship,  enfeebled  as 
we  had  become,  and  now  reduced  by  famine, 
it  was  not  strange  that  pestilence  began  to 
sweep  us  down,  till  in  less  than  two  months 
we  were  reduced  to  scarcely  one  hundred.  In 
December,  when  the  river  began  to  freeze, 
our  ship  was  taken  around  into  the  Wallabout 
Bay,  where  lay  the  '  Old  Jersey '  and  other 
prison  ships  of  horrific  memory,  whose  rotted 
hulk  long  remained  to  mark  the  spot  where 
thousands  yielded  up  their  lives,  a  sacrifice  to 
British  cruelty.  The  dead  from  those  ships 
were  thrown  into  the  trenches  of  our  fortifica- 
tions; and  their  bones,  after  the  war,  were 
collected  and  decently  buried.  It  was  here 
that  Ethan  Allen  exhausted  his  fund  of  curses 
and  bitter  invectives  against  the  British,  as 
he  passed  among  the  prisoners  and  viewed 
their  loathsome  dens  of  suffering,  after  his 
return  from  his  shameful  imprisonment  in 
England. 

"The  day  before  New  Year's  the  sick  were 
placed  in  a  boat  for  the  city.  She  had  lost  a 
piece  of  a  plank  from  her  bottom;  but  it  was 


filled   with   ice,   and  we  were  taken   in   tow. 
The  boat  began  to  leak,  and,  before  we  had 
gone  far,  was  half  filled  with  water.     When 
the  boat  touched   the  dock,    she  struck   level 
with    the    water;  and    we    held    on    with    our 
hands  to  the  dock  and  a  small  boat  by  our  side 
to    keep  from    sinking.      The  sailors    reached 
down  from   the   dock,  took  hold  of  our  hands, 
and    drew    us    up.     I    remember    that     I    was 
drawn  up  with  such  violence  that  the  skin  was 
taken  from  my  chest  and  stomach.     We  were 
taken  to  the   hospital   in   Dr.   Rogers's  brick 
meeting-house  (as   it  was  then  called,   after- 
ward Dr.  Spring's  church,  and  now  the  Times 
building  occupies    the  same  ground).     From 
the  yard  I  carried   one  end  of    a   bunk,   from 
which  some  person  had  died,  into  the  church, 
and    got    into    it,    exhausted    and    overcome. 
The  head   nurse  made  me  some   tea,  and  piled 
blankets  on  me,  till  I  sweat  profusely  and  fell 
asleep.     When   I   awoke  in  the  morning,  they 
gave  me  some  mulled  wine  and  water.     Wine 
and    some  other  things   were  sent   in  by  our 
government  for  the  sick:  the  British  furnished 
nothing.      I   then    lay  perfectly   easy  and   free 
from  pain;  and  it  appeared  to  me  that  I  never 
was  so  happy  in  my  life,  and  yet  so  weak  that 
I  could  not  get  out  of  my  bunk  had   it   been  to 
save    the    Union.     The    doctor  (who   was    an 
American  surgeon  and   a  prisoner,   had  been 
taken  out  of  the  prison   to  serve  in   the  hos- 
pital) told    me    that    my  blood  was    breaking 
down  and  turning  to    water   from    the    effect 
of  small-pox.      He  said  I  must  have  some  bit- 
ters.     I   gave  him  what   money  I   had.  and  he 
prepared   some  for    me;  and,   when   that    was 
gone,  he  had  the  kindness  to  prepare  some  for 
me  at  his  own   expense.     I   began  slowly  to 
gain,     and     finally    to    walk    about.      While 
standing    one    day    in    March  by  the   side   of 
the  church  in  the  warm  sun,  my  toes  began  to 
sting    and     pain    me    excessively.      I    showed 
them  to  the  surgeon  when  he  came  in.     He 
laid  them  open.     They  had  been  frozen,  and 
the  flesh  had  wasted  till  little  more  than  the 
bone  and  tough  skin  remained.     I  had  now  to 
remain  here  for. a  long  time  on  account  of  my 
feet.     And  of  all  places  that  was  the  last  to 
be  coveted.     Disease  and  death   reigned  there 
in  all   their  terrors.     I  have  had  men  die  by 
the  side  of  me   in  the  night,  and  have  seen 


BIOGRArillCAI.    RF.VIFAV 


205 


fifteen  (lead  bodies  sewed  up  in  their  blankets, 
and  laid  in  the  coiner  of  tlie  yard  at  one  time. 
Every  morning  at  eight  o'clock  the  dead-cart 
came,  the  bodies  were  jnit  in,  the  men  tlrew 
their  rum,  and  the  carts  were  driven  off  to  the 
trenches  of  the  fortifications  that  our  people 
had  made.  Once  I  was  permitted  to  go  with 
the  guard  to  the  place  of  interment,  and  never 
shall  I  forget  the  scene  that  I  beheld.  They 
tumbled  the  bodies  into  the  ditch,  just  as  it 
happened,  threw  on  a  little  dirt,  and  then  ran 
away.  I  could  see  a  hand  or  a  head  washed 
bare  by  the  rains.  One  day,  about  the  first  of 
May,  two  officers  came  into  the  prison.  One 
of  them  was  a  sergeant  by  the  name  of  Wally, 
who  from  some  cause,  and  what  I  never  knew, 
had  taken  a  great  dislike  tome;  the  other,  an 
officer  by  the  name  of  Hlackgrove.  They  told 
us  there  was  to  be  an  exchange  of  the  oldest 
prisoners.  They  began  to  call  the  roll.  A 
great  many  names  were  called,  but  no  answer 
given :  they  had  been  exchanged  by  that 
Being  who  has  the  power  to  set  the  captive 
free.  Here  and  there  was  one  to  step  for- 
ward. At  last  my  name  was  called.  I  at- 
tempted to  ste]:)  forward  to  answer,  when 
Sergeant  Wally  turned  and  frow-ned  upon  me 
with  a  look  of  demoniacal  fury,  and  motioned 
me  back.  I  dared  not  answer.  All  was  still. 
Then  other  names  were  called.  I  felt  that, 
live  or  die,  that  was  the  time  to  speak.  I 
told  Officer  Blackgrove  that  there  were  but 
eleven  older  prisoners  than  myself.  lie 
looked  at  me,  and  asked  why  I  did  not  answer. 
I  told  him  I  attempted  to  answer,  but  Ser- 
geant Wally  stoppetl  me.  He  turned  and 
looked  at  him  with  contempt,  and  then  put 
my  name  down.  But  of  the  twelve  prisoners 
taken  with  me  only  two  now  remained:  my- 
self and  one  other  were  the  only  ones  to  be 
exchanged. 

"I  was  now  returned  to  the  prison;  and 
from  that  time  forward  I  enjoyed  comfortable 
health  to  the  close  of  my  imprisonment, 
which  took  place  in  the  May  following.  (_)ne 
day  I  was  standing  in  the  yard  near  the  high 
board  fence.  A  man  passed  in  the  street 
close  to  the  fence,  and,  without  stopping  or  I 
turning  his  head,  said  in  a  low  voice:  "(ien- 
cral  Burgoync  is  taken,  with  all  his  armv.  It 
is  a  truth,    you   may  depend    upon    it."      Shut 


out  from  all  information  as  we  had  been,  the 
news  was  grateful  indeed,  and  cheered  us  in 
our  wretched  prison.  Knowing  nothing  of 
what  was  taking  place  beyond  the  confines  of 
our  miserable  abode,  we  had  been  lelt  to  dark 
forebodings  and  fears  as  to  the  result  of  our 
cause  am!  the  probabilities  of  our  government 
being  able  to  exchange  or  release  us.  We 
knew  not  whether  our  cause  was  even  progress- 
ing or  whether  resistance  was  still  continued. 
On  May  8,  1778,  we  were  released  from  our 
vvretcheil  abode.  They,  as  if  to  torment  and 
trouble  us,  took  the  Southern  prisoners  off 
toward  Boston  to  be  discharged,  and  the  East- 
ern prisoners  were  taken  to  l^li/.abethtown, 
N.J.  From  there  we  went  to  Newark. 
There  everything  was  clad  in  the  beauty  of 
spring,  and  appeared  so  delightful  that  we 
could  not  forbear  going  out  and  rolling  on  the 
green  grass.  The  luxury  appeared  so  great, 
after  a  confinement  of  fourteen  months  in  a 
loathsome  prison,  clothed  in  rags  and  filth, 
and  with  associates  too  numerous  and  offen- 
sive to  admit  of  description. 

"From  here  we  travelled  as  fast  as  our  en- 
feebled powers  would  permit.  We  crossed 
the  Hudson  River  at  Dobb's  I'"erry.  Here  we 
began  to  separate,  each  for  his  own  home. 
The  officers  pressed  horses  and  went  on.  My 
companion  and  m\self  were  soon  wending  our 
way  slowly  and  alone.  As  we  ])assed  on,  we 
saw  in  the  distance  two  men  riding  toward  us 
with  each  a  led  horse.  It  did  not  take  me 
long  to  discover  the  man  on  a  well-known 
horse  to  be  my  father,  and  the  other  the  father 
of  my  comrade.  The  meeting  I  will  not  at- 
tempt to  describe  here:  but,  from  the  circum- 
stances and  the  nature  of  the  case,  you  mav 
imagine  it  was  an  affecting  one.  And  espe- 
cially so,  as  my  friends  had  been  informed 
some  time  before  that  I  had  died  in  prison. 
They  had  had  ijraxers  offered  up,  according  to 
the  custom  of  the  times,  and  the  family  had 
gone  into  mourning.  They  therefore  felt  as 
if  they  had  received  me  from  the  dead.  The 
otficers  had  carried  the  news  of  our  return, 
and  our  fathers  had  ridden  all  night  to  meet 
us.  We  proceeded  on  our  w^iy ;  and,  ere  the 
shades  of  evening  closed  around  us,  we  were 
once  more  in  the  bosom  of  friends  and  the 
enjoyment   of    the   society  of    those  we  loved 


2o6 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


and  the  sweets  of  home.  And  may  my  heart 
ever  rise  in  gratitude  to  that  Being  whose 
preserving  care  has  ever  been  over  me,  and 
has  never  forsaken  me." 

As   soon    as    he   had    regained    his    health, 
Levi  Hanford  again  took  his  position  in  Cap- 
tain   Seymour's    company,    and    continued    in 
active  performance  of  his  duty  to  the  termina- 
tion of  the  war.     He  was  present  at  the  tak- 
ing  and    burning    of    Norwalk,    Conn.,    and 
assisted    in    driving    the    British    and    Tories 
back  to   their  ships.      At  another  time  he  was 
one  of  a  body  of  troops  that  was  called  out 
to  repel  a  large  British  force  that  was  advanc- 
ing from  King's  Bridge,  foraging,  marauding, 
and    burning   everything   in   their    way.      The 
American  army  marched   in  two  divisions,  one 
taking  the  Post  road,  and    the    other  a  more 
circuitous    route,    and    coming   together  at    a 
designated  place  near  the  enemy.      The  night 
was   excessively  cold,  and    the  men  suffered. 
The  detachment   to  which    Hanford   belonged 
reached   first   their  place  of  destination,   and 
halted   near  a   public  house.      Hanford   and   a 
few  others  of  his  party  soon  entered  the  house 
and  found  their  way  to  a  fire.     While  they 
were    engaged     in    warming    themselves,    an 
officer,    whose    name    is  not  now  recollected, 
came  in,  chilled  and   shivering  with  the  cold, 
and  placed  his  hands  over  Hanford"s  shoulders 
to  warm.     While  thus  engaged,  he  and  Han- 
ford were  led  to  notice   each  other,  and  with 
a  mutual    half-recognition.      Soon   after  this 
Hanford  was  standing  at  an  outer  door  of  the 
house;    and,   while  there,   that  officer  walked 
past  him  several,  times,  each  time  eying  him 
closely.      Finally,  coming  up  to   Hanford,  he 
thus    addressed    him:    "Sir,    I    think    I   know 
you.      I   recognize  you   as  one   of  my   fellow- 
prisoners  of  the   old    Sugar   House   Prison    in 
New  York.     I   thought    I   knew  you  when   I 
first   saw  you.      I  was  with  you  for  a  while  in 
that  den  of  human  suffering."     After  a  mutual 
greeting  he  asked   Hanford  how  he  liked  his 
present   position,  to  which   the   latter  replied 
that  he  was  not   particularly  attached    to    it. 
The  officer  then  told  him  that  he  had   letters 
and  despatches  to   the   Secretary  of   State  at 
Hartford,   and   he  would    like    him   to   go  and 
deliver  them.     But  he  would  have  to  furnish 
his    own    horse,   pay  his  own   expenses,    and, 


when  he  had  performed  the  duty,  he  must 
make  his  report,  when  he  would  be  reim- 
bursed and  draw  his  money.  To  this  Han- 
ford readily  assented.  The  duty  was  accord- 
ingly performed  by  him  after  the  battle  and 
the  return  of  the  British. 

In   the   mean   time   the    troops    passed    on; 
and,    after   several    skirmishes  and   a   running 
fight,  the  British  were  finally  driven  back  over 
King's    Bridge.     About    that    time    another 
party  of  British  and  Hessians  commenced  the 
erection   of  a  redoubt   on  the   Harlem    River; 
and    a  body  of    men,    of    which    Hanford  was 
one,  was  sent  to  stop  their  operations.     The 
troops  marched   all   night,    intending  to   sur- 
prise the  enemy,  and  make  the  attack  at   early 
dawn.      They  reached  their  destination  before 
daylight,    unobserved,    and     took    a    position 
from  which  they  could  take  the  redoubt  with 
their  small  arms,  aided  by  one  piece  of  artil- 
lery, loaded  with  grape.      In  front  of  and  near 
the  redoubt   was   a  vessel    lying  at  the  dock, 
loaded    with   fascines  (fascines  were  bundles 
of  brushwood  bound  together,  like  sheaves  of 
grain,  with  their  ends  sharpened;   they  are  laid 
in,  in  the  building  of  breastworks,  with  their 
sharp  points  out),  a  portion   of  which  had  al- 
ready been  landed.     The  Americans  were  hid 
from  view  when   lying  down;  but,  when  they 
arose,  the  whole  scene  was  open  before  them. 
At  daylight   a  detachment   of   Hessians  made 
its  appearance,  and  soon  came  to  the  water  for 
fascines.     The  Americans  lay  perfectly  still 
until  each  Hessian  had  shouldered  his  bundle, 
and  was  about  to  return  to  the  fort,  when  the 
command  was  given  in  a  loud  tone  of  voice: 
"Attention,   men!      Ready  I      Aim!      Fire!" 
Quick  as  thought  each  man  sprung  to  his  feet; 
and  a  volley  of  musketry  and  a  discharge  of 
grape  was  poured   in  upon   the   enemy.     The 
scene  that  follow-ed  was  ludicrous  in  the  ex- 
treme.    The  enemy  were  taken  completely  by 
surprise    and    were    terribly    frightened.     In 
their   confusion   and   terror  they    threw    down 
their   bundles,   and   used   every   effort  to  run. 
Although  they  jumped  and  sprung,  and  swung 
their  arms,    and   made   desperate  strides,   yet 
for  a  time  they  seemed  to  have  lost  all  ability 
to  move  forward;  for,  when  one  leg  started  in 
one  direction,  the  other  went  off  in  an  exactly 
opposite    direction,    and    it    was   only   by   the 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


most  dcsporatc  effort  of  springing  and  jump- 
ing that  tlicy  effected  their  escape.  This 
they  were  enabled  to  do  at  last  liy  reason  of 
the  river  being  between  llieni  and  their  pur- 
suers. The  Americans,  however,  succeeded 
in  carrying  out  the  objects  of  the  expedition. 
They  destroyed  the  redoubt,  made  a  prize  of 
the  vessel  and  cargo,  and  captured  sonic 
jirisoners. 

On  another  occasion,  when  a  party  of  Brit- 
ish ant!  Tories  came  on  an  c.\])edition  of  plun- 
der and  destruction,  Hanford  was  again  called 
out,  with  others,  to  repel  them.  Thev  met 
the  enemy,  and  after  a  skirmish  succeeded 
in  driving  them  back.  The  Americans  pur- 
sued the  retreating  foe  until  the  engagement 
became  a  running  fight.  The  ]>ritish  finally 
made  a  stand  in  a  fa\orable  position;  and, 
when  their  pursuers  came  up,  they  found  a 
rising  ground  before  them,  partially  conceal- 
ing the  enemy  from  their  view.  The  division 
that  Hanford  was  in  had  to  pass  over  the 
ridge  amid  a  galling  fire,  antl  the  bullets 
flew  among  them  thick  and  fast.  Hanford 
found  shelter  behind  a  large  rock,  under  cover 
of  which  he  used  his  gun  for  some  time  for  a 
purpose,  till  finally,  in  attempting  to  reload 
it,  the  cartridge  stuck  in  the  barrel,  and.  in 
striving  to  force  it  down  with  his  rod,  he  in- 
advertently leaned  back  to  give  more  force  to 
the  rod,  in  doing  which  a  part  of  his  ]ierson 
became  exposed  to  view.  At  that  instant 
a  ball  whizzed  past,  just  missing  his  head: 
and,  looking  up,  he  perceived  a  British  soldier 
in  the  act  of  dodging  back  to  hisco\ert.  The 
Americans  firmly  maintained  their  ground, 
and  after  a  fearful  charge  repulsed  the 
enemy  and  drove  them  in  disorder  and  confu- 
sion within  the  British  lines,  and  bore  off  the 
honors  of  the  day. 

After  the  war  was  over,  Levi  Hanford 
bought  a  farm,  and  built  a  house,  and  in  1782 
married  Mary  Mead,  of  Horseneck,  in  Green- 
wich, Conn.,  the  daughter  of  General  John 
Mead,  an  officer  of  the  American  army.  His 
house  and  farm  were  between  the  American 
and  British  lines,  and  were  repeatedly  plun- 
dered, his  cattle  driven  off,  and  his  property 
damaged  by  British  and  Tories.  At  one  time 
the  house  was  surrountled  b\-  a  companv  of 
light  horse.      The  table  was  set  in  the  dinin<i- 


room  for  breakfast,  and  the  family  were  just 
going  to  sit  down  to  breakfast.  An  officer 
rode  into  the  house  and  into  the  dining-room 
by  the  side  of  the  table,  and,  'putting  his  foot 
under  the  leaf,  u]iset  the  talkie;  and  crockery, 
provisions,  and  all  went  to  the  floor  with  one 
general  crash.  He  then  with  his  sword  broke 
and  hacked  to  pieces  all  the  mirrors,  pictures, 
and  furniture  of  the  room  anil  all  over  the 
house.  The  sokiiers  rii)ped  open  feather- 
beds,  and  emptied  hives  of  hone\-,  bees  and 
all,  in  them,  and  rolled  them  all  up  together. 
They  destroyed  all  they  could  find  that  they 
could  not  carry  away.  At  another  time  when 
it  was  very  dry,  and  the  water  had  failed  at 
the  house,  they  had  to  go  to  a  spring  some 
I  distance  in  the  field  to  do  their  washing. 
One  morning  very  earlv  Mary  (afterward  the 
wife  of  Levi  Hanford)  went  to  that  spring  to 
rinse  some  clothes.  Her  brother  John,  who 
was  an  officer  in  the  American  army,  had  been 
taken  jirisoner,  and  jiaroled  and  exchanged. 
He  liad  returned  to  duty,  but  was  taken  sick 
and  sent  home  on  a  furlough.  While  Mary 
was  at  the  spring,  she  saw  her  brother  run 
from  a  back  door  of  the  house,  in  his  shirt- 
sleeves, and  run  through  an  orchard  and  to 
where  a  hollow  hickory-tree  had  been  cut,  and 
had  sprouted  from  the  roots  into  tall  brush. 
He  ran  into  that  thicket,  and  ran  his  white 
sleeves  into  the  hollow  stump.  Very  soon 
after  a  company  of  l^ritish  and  Tory  light 
horse  rode  up,  and  surroundetl  her;  an  officer 
presented  his  sword  to  her  breast,  and  de- 
manded where  her  biolher  was,  declaring  he 
would  take  her  life  in  an  instant  if  she  did 
not  tell.  She  said:  "■  How  can  I  tell?  I 
came  here  as  soon  as  it  was  light  enough 
to  sec,  and  before  the  family  were  any  of 
them  up,  and  have  not  been  from  here  since 
I  came.  Then  how  can  I  know?"  After 
many  more  questions  and  terrible  threaten- 
ings  he  became  satisfied  that  she  diil  not 
know,  and  they  all  withdrew.  By  her  cool 
firnuiess  and  intrepidity  she  saved  her  brother, 
though  his  place  of  concealment  was  plainly 
in  sight,  and  almost  within  the  sound  of  her 
voice.  After  many  such  scenes  of  excite- 
ment and  danger  the  family  found  a  home 
in  what  is  now  New  Canaan,  then  a  part  of 
Xorwalk. 


2oS 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


When  the  war  closed  and  the  family  re- 
turned to  their  former  home  and  farm,  they 
found  it  in  a  most  wretched  condition,  the 
house  torn  to  pieces,  partitions  torn  out  and 
walls  broken,  and  the  farm  fences  burned  for 
fuel.  The  State  of  Connecticut  made  General 
Mead  some  amends  for  his  losses  by  granting 
him  a  large  tract  of  land  in  what  was  then 
known  as  the  fire  land  of  Ohio.  It  was  not 
considered  of  great  value  in  those  early  days, 
but  since  has  become  the  richest  part  of 
Ohio.  General  Mead  was  elected  to  the  State  i 
legislature  for  nineteen  consecutive  years. 
He  also  received  the  appointment  of  Judge  of 
the  Court  of  Probate,  and  was  acting  in  that 
office  when  he  died.  It  was  while  General 
Mead's  family  were  refugees  from  their  home, 
and  were  living  in  New  Canaan,  that  Levi 
Hanford  and  Mary  Mead  formed  their  first 
acquaintance.  He  bought  land  and  built  a 
house,  where  all  their  family  of  five  sons  and 
four  daughters  were  born.  After  a  residence 
of  about  twenty-five  years  in  that  place  he 
sold  his  farm  and  removed  with  his  whole 
family  to  Walton,  N.Y.,  where  he  purchased 
a  large  farm,  and  built  a  good  house.  They 
were  exemplary  members  of  the  Baptist 
church,  and  highly  respected  and  esteemed  as 
good  citizens  by  all  who  knew  them.  She 
was  born  in  Horseneck,  in  Greenwich,  Conn., 
December  ii,  1759,  was  married  in  1782,  and 
died  September  15,  1847,  in  Walton,  aged 
eighty-eight  years.  Hers  was  the  first  death 
in  that  family.  He  was  born  in  Norwalk, 
Conn.,  September  19,  1759,  ^"d  died  in  Wal- 
ton, October  19,  1854,  aged  ninety-five  years. 
He  was  a  pensioner  under  act  of  Congress, 
and  his  interment  was  in  the  family  cemetery 
in  Walton,  N.Y. 

John,  third  son  of  Levi  Hanford,  Sr.,  was 
born  in  Norwalk,  May  16,  1762.  His  early 
childhood  was  passed  with  his  parents.  At 
the  age  of  sixteen  he  enlisted  in  the  Conti- 
nental army,  and  served  to  the  end  of  the  war. 
He  was  a  good  soldier,  and  became  an  officer, 
and  saw  much  of  the  hardships  and  privations 
of  that  war,  and  participated  in  many  of  the 
hardest  battles  of  the  Revolution.  He  was  a 
man  of  unusual  cool  courage  and  perseverance. 
For  that  reason  he  was  always  one  selected 
when  anything  was   undertaken   that   required 


daring  firmness  and  resolution.  After  the 
close  of  the  war  he  returned  to  his  home,  pur- 
chased his  father's  farm,  and  soon  after  mar- 
ried Miss  Sally  Weed.  They  had  two 
daughters.  But  the  hardships  and  exposures 
of  the  war  had  broken  him  down,  and  his 
health  failed;  and  in  November,  1807,  he 
died  of  consumption.  Mary,  second  daughter 
of  Levi  and  Sarah  Elizabeth  Carter  Hanford, 
was  born  1767,  and  died  1776,  aged  nine 
years. 


RY  EUGENE  GANUNG,  now  a 
.'ery  prominent  citizen  and  trader  in 
Arkville,  in  Middletown,  was  born 
in  Roxbury  in  the  same  county, 
January  11,  1859.  His  great-grandfather  was 
John  Ganung,  and  his  grandmother  before 
marriage  was  Miss  Devough  Kniffin.  John 
Ganung  came  from  near  Croton  Falls,  Putnam 
County,  and  settled  at  Batavia  Kill,  a  pioneer 
in  that  section.  After  the  death  of  his  first 
wife  he  married  the  Widow  Sloat.  He  lived 
to  a  good  old  age,  and  finally  died  as  the  re- 
sult of  a  broken  arm.  His  children  were 
Harry,  Sniffin,  Devough,  Hannah,  Sally, 
Ebenezer,  Reuben.  Three  belonged  to  the 
first  wife,  and  the  others  to  the  second.  He 
was  a  committee-man  of  the  Revolutionary 
War. 

His  son  Devough,  the  grandfather  of  the 
special  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in 
Putnam  County,  whence  he  was  taken  to  Dela- 
ware County.  His  wife  was  Hattie  Gregory; 
and  they  raised  nine  children:  Hannah, 
Polly,  John,  Thomas,  Sally,  Sniffin,  Jane, 
Edward,  and  Julia.  It  is  Sniffin  Ganung 
who  is  connected  with  this  biography  by  his 
marriage  with  Electa  Kelly.  He  was  born  at 
Batavia  Kill.  After  working  with  his  father 
till  the  age  of  twenty-five,  he  began  business 
for  himself,  farming,  speculating  in  land,  and 
selling  the  timber  cut  therefrom.  In  1870  he 
made  a  change  of  base,  going  into  mercantile 
business  at  Roxbury,  where  his  marriage  took 
place.  His  wife  was  the  daughter  of  Hiram 
and  Sally  (Borden)  Kelly  and  the  grand- 
daughter of  David  and  Susan  (Baker)  Kelly, 
and  more  about  the  Kelly  family  may  be 
found    under    that    name.     David    Kelly    was 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


209 


born  in  Putnam  Count)-,  and  found  liis  way 
into  Delaware  County  by  following  the  blazed 
trees  in  the  forest.  He  decided  to  take  up 
land  in  what  is  now  Halcottville,  where  he 
lived  the  rest  of  his  days.  Besides  a  farm- 
house he  built  a  grist-mill,  lie  also  served 
in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  lived  to  be 
ninety-nine,  his  wife  dying  at  eighty-four. 
Their  children  were  Davit),  Norman,  Reuben, 
Hiram,  Elizabeth,  Susan,  iMarcia.  Hiram 
Kelly  was  born  in  Putnam  County,  but  came 
to  Delaware  County,  ant!  eventually  took  the 
homestead,  caring  for  the  farm  and  mill  as 
long  as  he  lived.  There  were  three  hundred 
acres  of  land,  whereon  his  ten  children  grew 
up  —  Judah,  Jane,  Caroline,  John,  Electa, 
Emeline,  Deborah,  Hiram  Jk)rden,  Norman, 
and  Lorenzo  Kelly.  Their  father  lived 
to  be  seventy,  and  his  wife  died  only  a 
year  younger.  He  was  a  Reiiublican  and  a 
Baptist. 

Snififin  Ganung  lived  to  be  seventy-five,  and 
was  an  old-line  Democrat.  At  his  death  he 
left  only  two  children.  The  elder,  Hogordis 
Ganung,  was  born  June  3,  [.S46.  He  married 
Josephine  Aken,  has  one  child,  and  carries 
on  a  saw  and  planing  mill  in  Roxbury.  In 
that  town  was  educated  the  other  son,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  Henry  Eugene  Ganung. 
He  remained  with  his  father  in  the  grocery 
till  1S87,  when  twenty-eight  years  old.  Then 
he  became  station  agent  on  the  I'lster  & 
Delaware  Railroad.  One  year  he  worked  at 
the  station  called  IVig  Indian  and  another  year 
in  Stamford.  Since  then  he  has  been  five 
years  at  the  Tannersville  station,  Kaaterskill 
Railroad,  and  has  also  spent  one  year  in  the 
general  office  of  the  New  Jcrsry  &  New  York 
Railroad.  Later  he  was  at  Eleischnianns  two 
years  and  three  years  at  Arkville.  While  a 
young  man,  he  had  learned  surveying,  and 
now  took  it  up  for  a  short  time  as  a  trade,  but 
soon  left  it  to  engage  in  general  merchandise 
in  a  store  on  Doctor  Street,  where  he  has  a 
fine  location.  In  1892  he  built  himself  a 
beautiful  home  near  .Main  Street,  leading  to 
Kelly's  Corner,  where  reside  so  many  of  his 
kinsfolk.  He  did  not  marry  till  1S90,  when 
thirty-one  years  old.  His  wife  was  I'.lla  Kil- 
quest,  the  daughter  of  John  D.  and  Hannah 
Kilquest.      Her  father   came  from    Sweden   to 


America,  settled  in  New  Jersey,  ano  ilien 
came  to  Ulster  County,  where  he  worked  in  a 
tannery.  Later  they  moved  to  Halcott,  in 
Greene  County,  then  to  IJeaver  Kill,  where 
they  bought  a  farm  now  numbering  a  hundred 
acres,  one  of  the  best  in  town.  The  Kil- 
quests  have  four  children, —  Ella,  Tilla,  limil, 
and  William.  I\Ir.  Kilquest  is  a  Republi- 
can, and  the  family  attend  the  Methodist 
church. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  luigenc  Ganung  have  only 
one  child,  a  daughter,  Nora,  born  July  24, 
1892.  He  is  a  Democrat,  and  has  held  the 
offices  of  Notary  Public  and  Pension  Agent. 
Masonically,  he  belongs  to  the  lodge  in  Mar- 
garettville;  and  he  is  also  a  Knight  of  Pythias. 
In  religion  he  holds  very  liberal  opinions. 
Active  in  temperament,  he  is  sure  to  become 
a  still  more  important  factor  in  the  commun- 
ity as  time  adds  to  his  experience  and  wisdom. 


I'.ORGl-:  1;.  SMITH.  M.D.,  the  lead- 
ing physician  of  MasonviJle,  was 
born  in  this  town,  December  28, 
1858.  son  of  Phineas  W.  and  Lucretia 
(Haight)  Smith.  His  father  was  born  in 
Massachusetts,  and  his  mother  in  the  town  of 
Tomjikins,  Delaware  County.  The  Doctor's 
grandfather,  Darius  Smith,  was  from  New 
England,  and  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of 
Masonville.  He  was  engaged  extensively  in 
the  lumber  trade  for  many  years,  and  held 
several  public  offices  in  the  town.  He  died 
here  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety  years.  He 
had  six  children,  one  of  whom  is  now  living, 
Justine  M.  Smith,  of  Corning.  N.\'. 

Phineas  W.  Smith,  son  of  Darius,  was  edu- 
cated and  brought  up  in  Delaware  County. 
He  was  a  prominent  farmer,  owning  a  fine 
farm  of  one  hundretl  and  thirtv  acres,  and  was 
also  a  well-known  raiser  of  stock.  In  politics 
he  was  a  Republican,  and  held  the  office  of 
Justice  of  the  IVace.  He  reared  two  chil- 
dren, George  E.,  the  subject  of  this  l)iogra])h- 
ical  mention,  and  Calista.  who  died  at  the 
age  of  eighteen.  His  wife,  Lucretia,  died 
in  i860,  aged  thirty-two.  He  survived  her 
seventeen  years,  dying  in  1877,  aged  sixly- 
eisht. 


George     E 


Smith     attended     the     district 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


schools  of  Masonville,  afterwards  giving  his 
attention  to  the  study  of  medicine,  for  which 
he  showed  an  early  predilection.  When  about 
twenty  years  of  age,  he  studied  with  Dr.  I.  J. 
Whitney,  of  his  town,  remaining  with  him 
about  three  years.  He  attended  the  New 
York  Medical  College  for  two  years,  graduat- 
ing in  1882.  After  receiving  his  diploma,  he 
came  to  Masonville,  and  bought  out  the  prac- 
tice of  Dr.  Whitney.  He  then  went  to  New 
Berlin  for  two  years,  afterward  going  to  Val- 
entine, Neb.,  staying  there  one  year.  His 
next  location  was  at  Hornellsville,  N.Y., 
whence  in  1889  he  returned  to  Masonville, 
where  he  has  remained  ever  since,  and  has 
built  up  a  very  large  practice.  He  was  mar- 
ried September  12,  1882,  to  Miss  Betsey  A. 
McKinnon,  a  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Adeline 
S.  McKinnon,  of  this  town. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  have  no  children. 
Mrs.  Smith  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
church.  In  politics  the  Doctor  is  allied  with 
the  Republican  party,  and  is  not  one  who 
shirks  the  responsibilities  of  office.  He  was 
elected  Supervisor  in  1892,  and  re-elected  in 
1894.  He  is  a  member  of  Masonville  Lodge, 
No.  606,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  which  he  is 
Master.  Dr.  Smith  is  an  extremely  capable 
and  popular  man,  well  informed  and  practical, 
an  ornament  to  his  profession,  and  a  highly 
useful,  public-spirited  citizen. 


kRS.  ELIZABETH  W.  ALEXAN- 
DER, widow  of  the  late  Charles 
Alexander,  may  properly  be 
counted  among  the  most  es- 
teemed and  respected  women  of  Walton, 
where  she  is  well  known  as  a  devoted  mother, 
a  true  frienil,  and  a  genial  acquaintance. 
Her  father,  Malconi  Wright,  was  a  native  of 
Scotland,  where  he  was  born  in  1805.  \\'hen 
seventeen  years  of  age,  he  came  with  his  par- 
ents to  America,  and  settled  in  Delhi,  Dela- 
ware County,  N.Y.  Here  he  married  in  1828 
Margaret  Shaw,  and  commenced  life  as  a 
farmer,  being  possessor,  in  company  with  his 
two  brothers,  of  a  large  farm.  With  one  of 
these  brothers  he  later  purchased  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  in  Walton,  about 
two  and  one-half  miles  above  the  village;  and 


it  was  on  this  estate  that  Malcom  and  Mar- 
garet Wright  lived  for  many  years,  and  reared 
a  family  of  six  daughters  and  three  sons. 

Seven  of  these  children  are  still  living, 
and,  with  one  exception,  all  are  residents  of 
the  town  of  Walton.  John  Wright,  the  only 
member  of  the  family  who  has  forsaken  the 
town  of  his  birth,  is  now  a  resident  of  Cali- 
fornia, the  Golden  State  and  Italy  of  Amer- 
ica. After  a  long  period  of  faithful  labor  in 
his  adopted  home  Malcom  Wright  died  in  1877, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years;  and  thirteen 
years  later  his  wife,  having  reached  the  good 
old  age  of  eighty-three  years,  passed  away, 
their  bodies  now  resting  side  by  side  in  the 
Walton  cemetery,  where  a  fitting  monument 
marks  the  graves  of  the  beloved  husband  and 
wife. 

Elizabeth  W.  Wright,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  married  October  19,  1854,  to 
Charles  Alexander,  who  was  born  in  Pound 
Ridge,  Conn.,  in  1S33,  son  of  John  and  Susan 
CKnapp)  Alexander.  When  Charles  Alex- 
ander was  a  small  boy,  his  parents  moved  to 
New  York,  settling  at  Unadilla,  and  a  few 
years  later  removed  to  Walton,  where  they 
became  the  possessors  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  fine  farm  land.  Of  the  four 
sons  and  one  daughter  born  to  them  here  two 
of  the  sons,  Charles  and  Albert,  and  the 
daughter,  Mrs.  William  Townsend,  are  still 
living,  and  occupy  their  pleasant  homes  in 
Walton. 

For  fifteen  years  after  their  marriage  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Charles  Alexander  operated  their 
farm  with  great  success,  but  at  length  bought 
a  small  piece  of  land  near  the  village,  and  a 
few  years  ago  erected  a  fine,  pleasant  home  at 
94  North  Street.  Here  Mr.  Alexander  died 
September  15,  1888,  having  reached  the  age 
of  fifty-six  years.  By  his  unbounded  industry 
and  patience  he  had  accumulated  a  goodly 
amount  of  worldly  possessions,  which  at  his 
death  became  the  property  of  his  widow  and 
four  daughters.  One  of  these  daughters, 
Elma  S.,  wife  of  Charles  Pierson,  died  June 
17,  1 89 1,  aged  thirty-five  years,  leaving  one 
child,    Nellie  M.    Pierson. 

Mrs.  Pierson  had  been  a  teacher  in  the  pub- 
lic schools,  where  she  was  greatly  beloved; 
and   her  family  has  the  most   profound   sym- 


iUOGRAPH  ICAL    R  KV I  KW 


pathy  of  a  liost  of  friciuls  in  tlicir  i^rcat  hc- 
rcavcment.  Tlic  sur\'iving  dauglUcrs  of  .Mr. 
antl  Mrs.  .AK-xamlcr  are:  Jennie,  wife  of 
Welles  L.  Baker,  of  New  York  City:  Mary 
and  Martha,  twin  sisters,  who  reside  witli 
their  mother  at  Walton,  the  former  beini;'  a 
musician  of  some  distinction.  Mrs.  Alexan- 
der and  her  daiii^hters  are  members  of  the 
Congregational  chinch  of  Walton,  and  take  an 
active  part  in  all  the  good  work  of  this 
society,  whereby  the  ])ublic  is  benefited  and 
men  and  women  are  encouraged  to  lead  nobler 
and  better  lives. 


b]:xi:/.i:r  w.   i.indsley,  a  fiighiy 

respected  citizen  of  Downsville,  was 
born  December  12,  1S26,  in  .Sulli- 
van Countv,  son  of  Samuel  C.  ami  Sebiah 
(^Worden)  Lindslev.  .Samuel  C.  was  born 
May  16,  179S,  and  was  the  son  of  Nehemiah 
and  Mary  ((iuildersleeve)  Lindsley,  the  for- 
mer of  whom  was  horn  December  31,  i /fig, 
.son  of  Joniah  and  Hannah  C.  Lindsley,  who 
were  of  luiglish  descent. 

Nehemiah  came  to  Delaware  Connty  shortly 
before  1798,  and  during  the  first  three  }'cars 
assisted  Rlr.  .Stone,  a  merchant  on  tlie  Pine 
place,  acting  as  clerk  and  shoemaking,  and 
adapting  himself  generally  to  the  work  at 
hand.  Mr.  Stone,  thinking  him  lonely  with 
his  family  so  far  away,  sent  for  Mrs.  I.indsley 
and  the  children;  but,  contrary  to  exjiecta- 
tion,  this  displeased  Mr.  Lindsley  to  such  an 
extent  that  he  wished  them  to  return  imme- 
diately. As  the  team  with  which  the  journey 
had  been  made  had  given  out,  tliey  were 
obliged  to  stay.  Some  time  after  this  Mr. 
Lindsley  left  Mr.  Stone's  employ,  and  settled 
in  Lindsley  Ilollow,  buying  a  farm  of  several 
hundred  acres.  He  was  for  a  short  time  with 
Mr.  Wilson  in  the  tanning  business,  in 
Lindsley  Hollow,  where  lie  erected  a  house, 
barns,  and  out-buildings :  and  there  is  stand- 
ing to-day  a  barn  built  by  him  in  1S09. 
.Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nehemiah  Lindsley  had  these 
children  —  David,  Ira,  .Samuel  C,  Ezra,  Han- 
nah, Agar,  Rachel,  .-Xbigail,  Cyrus  G.,  and 
Sarah  M.  Hotlv  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lindsle)-  were 
Presbyterians,  and  the  church  lost  a  faithful 
worker  when    he   died.  /\ugust   8,    1835.      ■"'s 


wife    suivived     him     seveial     \eais,     and    died 
December   30,    1850. 

.Samuel  C.  Lindsley.  the  third  son  of  Ne- 
hemiah, was  born  in  New  Jersey,  but  was 
brought  in  his  infancy  to  Delaware  County, 
where  he  continued  to  live  until  after  his 
marriage.  He  took  up  surveying,  and  suc- 
cessfulh'  followed  this  throughout  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life.  He  taught  common 
schools  a  long  time,  beginning  when  he  was 
sixteen.  In  .September,  1824,  he  married 
Sebiah  Worden,  daughter  of  Pardon  and  Mary 
(Haines)  Worden.  She  was  born  May  8, 
1794,  and  died  in  May,  1864.  They  raised  a 
famih'  of  four  chiklren,  namely:  Pluebc  Ca- 
lista,  who  died  when  young;  I^benezer  W., 
the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Ira  D.,  born  .\pril 
30,  1828;  and  F.meline  Adelia,  born  Novem- 
ber 29,  1829.  who  married  John  Haei',  and 
now  lives  in  Walton.  .After  his  marriage 
.Samuel  C-.  bought  two  hundred  acres  of  his 
father's  farm,  erected  a  house  and  barn,  lived 
here  about  twenty-nine  years,  and  then  sold 
out  and  Went  to  Walton.  A  little  later  he 
went  to  Downsville,  where  his  wife  died,  and 
then  to  .Sand  Pond  to  li\e  with  his  daughter, 
but  finally  came  back  to  Downsville,  and  here 
died  March  6,  1878.  Mr.  S.  C.  Lindsley  was 
a  strong  Democrat,  and  was  greatlv  interested 
in  all  that  concerned  the  town  and  the  i")eo|ile. 
He  held  several  public  offices,  among  them 
being  that  of  Assessor  and  Commissioner  of 
Highwa\'s.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Paptist 
church,  as  was  also  his  wife. 

l-^benezer  W.  Lindslev.  who  was  Ikmii  in 
Sullivan  County,  came  to  Downsville  when  a 
boy  seven  vears  (jf  age,  and  was  here  reared  to 
manhood.  Deciding  to  follow  his  father's 
profession,  he  took  up  the  stud\-  of  surveying, 
and  by  diligent  application,  together  with  his 
father's  assistance,  he  soon  mastered  this  use- 
ful branch  of  mathematics,  becoming  in  time 
one  of  tlie  best  and  most  [latronized  of  Col- 
chester's surveyors,  his  practice  extending  to 
the  neighl)oring  towns  and  counties.  His 
first  work  in  this  line  was  done  in  1849,  when 
he  surveyed  the  old  Wilson  jiroperty ;  and 
shortly  after  he  corrected  the  lines  of  the  Bax- 
ter farm  on  Baxter  RIountain.  April  15, 
1S51,  he  entered  the  store  of  Downs  &  I'.l- 
wood  (located   where   F.  B.  Bear's  block   now 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


stands)  as  clerk,  and  in  May,  1855,  was  taken 
as  a  partner  in  the  firm,  continuing  in  this 
but  three  years.  In  May,  1858,  he  sold  out 
and  went  West,  seeking  for  a  good  location  in 
which  to  establish  himself,  and  during  this 
time  visited  Wisconsin  and  Kansas.  But, 
meeting  with  little  success  in  this  quest,  he 
finally  came  back  to  the  town  where  he  had 
started  in  life,  and  on  February  i,  1859, 
bought  his  old  stand,  and  carried  on  a  general 
store  for  about  ten  years,  when  he  sold  out, 
and  then  gave  his  whole  attention  to  sur- 
veying. 

On  October  10,  1855,  Ebenezer  W.  Linds- 
ley  married  Mary  A.  Finch,  born  May  7, 
1826,  the  daughter  of  Jesse  and  Hulda  (Mal- 
lory)  Finch.  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Lindsley  died 
May  21,  1857,  leaving  one  child,  Lilian  E., 
born  October  3,  1856,  who  is  now  married  to 
Henry  Bates,  lives  in  Walton,  and  has  a  fam- 
ily of  three  children.  On  April  23,  i860, 
Mr.  Lindsley  married  for  his  second  wife 
Julia  Ann  Shaffer,  born  August  20,  1821, 
daughter  of  Colonel  Adam  and  Helena 
(Yeaples)  Shaffer,  and  by  this  second  mar- 
riage has  one  child,  Mary  Emma,  born  Au- 
gust 23,  1S63,  who  resides  at  home,  and  is 
a  teacher  of  music.  Three  brothers,  Jacob, 
Adam,  and  Philip  Shaffer,  came  to  Delaware 
County,  and  settled.  Adam,  the  eldest  son  of 
Philip  Shaffer,  raised  a  family  of  twelve  chil- 
dren, namely:  Sally;  Daniel  B. ;  Aaron  P.; 
Deborah  A. ;  Jane  C. ;  Asa  G. ;  Julia  A. ; 
Nicholas  Y. ;  Adeline;  La  Fayette;  Morgan 
S. ;  and  Helena,  Mrs.  Lindsley.  Colonel  and 
Mrs.  Shaffer  were  members  of 
church,  and  died  many  years  ago, 
1831,  and  he  in  June,   1854. 

Mr.  Lindsley  is  an  honored  and  trusted 
member  of  the  community  in  which  he  lives, 
was  executor  of  the  estate  of  G.  W.  Downs, 
son  of  Abel  Downs,  who  started  a  small  store 
in  Downsville  in  1798,  was  administrator  of 
the  R.  W.  Elwood  estate,  and  has  held  several 
town  offices,  such  as  Clerk  and  Assessor, 
where  he  has  faithfully  performed  the  work 
assigned  him.  He  is  a  Prohibitionist,  and 
what  better  thing  could  be  said  of  a  man  than' 
that   he  is  a  worker  for  the   cause   of   temper- 


the    Baptist 
she  in  June, 


ance?     He  has  been   Notary  Public  continu- 
ously  since   April    i,    1867. 


YROX  HILL,  a  wealthy  farmer  of 
Kortright,  was  born  in  that  town 
January  18,  1824,  and  is  a  son  of 
Cyrus  and  Abigail  (Burdict) 
Hill.  His  grandfather,  John  Hill,  was  one 
of  the  first  settlers  of  Kortright,  and  a  shoe- 
maker by  trade.  He  was  a  local  preacher  of 
the  Methodist  faith,  and  spent  the  last  days  of 
his  life  in  Livingston  County,  where  he  died 
at  the  age  of  eighty  years.  His  wife,  Phcebe 
Smith  Hill,  was  also  an  octogenarian,  and 
was  the  mother  of  a  large  family,  of  which 
Benjamin  Hill,  of  Livingston  County,  is  the 
sole  survivor. 

Cyrus  Hill  was  born  in  Kortright,  Septem- 
ber 18,  1794,  and  died  in  1834,  at  Bloomville. 
He  was  a  hard-working  farmer,  and  by  his  in- 
dustry and  honorable  dealing  made  a  comfort- 
able fortune.  Politically,  he  was  a  Democrat. 
The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  found  in  him 
a  consistent  member.  His  wife  was  Abigail 
Burdict,  born  April  27,  1794,  in  Kortright,  a 
daughter  of  Alden  Burdict,  a  pioneer  of  that 
town.  She  lived  to  be  seventy-eight  years 
old,  and  was  the  mother  of  five  children,  four 
of  whom  are  living,  namely:  Alden  A.,  of 
Stamford;  Myron,  of  whom  we  write;  Eliza- 
beth, the  wife  of  Lewis  Avery,  of  Kortright; 
and  Freelove  Jane,  residing  with  her  brother 
Myron.  A  daughter,  Louisa,  died  at  the  age 
of  sixty-five  years.  Mrs.  Abigail  Hill  was  an 
adherent  of  the  Baptist  church. 

Myron  Hill  \^as  educated  in  the  district 
school  until  fourteen  years  of  age,  when  he 
started  out  in  life  for  himself,  working  on  the 
farm  of  John  Avery,  and  receiving  ten  dollars 
per  month.  In  1859  he  assumed  the  control 
of  his  grandfather  Burdict's  farm,  agreeing  to 
pay  off  the  debts  and  support  the  aged  couple 
for  life.  In  this  undertaking  he  was  emi- 
nently successful.  The  present  farm  contains 
four  hundred  acres,  the  original  purchase  con- 
sisting of  sixty-nine  acres.  Mr.  Hill  is  in- 
dustrious and  thrifty,  and  by  his  untiring 
efforts  and  indomitable  perseverance  has  in- 
creased his  farm  to  its  present  large  propor- 
tions. He  leases  about  two  hundred  acres, 
and  cultivates  the  rest  himself,  devoting  his 
time  to  stock-raising  and  dairying.  He  has 
never  married,  his  sister  living  with  him  and 
taking  charge  of  the  household  affairs.     Mr. 


W"'' 


moCRAl'lllCAL    KKVIKW  ji^^ 

Hill    is    lilxral    in    his   religious  views,  and  a  an    early    settler   on    the    farm    adjnjning    tiie 

Democrat    in  politics,  eminenth'  successful  in  one  where  Ilirani  I..  Ktllynow  li\es.      Hiram 

his  occupation,  and    respected   throughout   the  and    Sall\-    Kell\'    iiad    ten    chiklren:     Judah, 

town  where  he  resides.  born  January  ::i,   i8og;  Jane  Ann,  born  March 

17,  181J;  Carcdine,  l^orn  l-'ebruary  S,  1S15; 
""  Jolin,  born  Januarv  20,  1 8 1  .S :  J'.lecta,  born 
ORKNZO  \).  Kl'.LLV  is  a  prominent  October  jo.  1819;  Kmcline,  born  September 
resident  at  Kell\"s  Corners  in  the  24,  1822:  Deborah,  born  \o\end)er  4,  1824; 
j|^'  ^  town  oi  Middletown,  Delaware  Hiram  B.,  born  Jul\-  16,  1827:  Xorman,  born 
Count)',  but  was  born  in  Halcotts-  on  the  last  day  of  June,  1829;  Lorenzo  D., 
ville,  in  the  same  count)',  September  29,  boin  September  29,  1831,  and  named  doubt- 
1831,  the  son  of  Hiram  Kell)',  who  was  born  less  for  the  eccentric  but  large-iiearted  Chris- 
August  8,  1784,  in  Putnam  County,  Xew  tian  who  in  those  da)s  went  from  hamlet  to 
York,  and  his  wife,  Sail)-  Borden,  whose  birth  iiamlet  throughout  the  States,  preaching  the 
was  on  January  15,  1784.  His  paternal  gos])el  with  ter\or.  On  this  farm  Hiiani 
grandparents  were  David  anil  Susan  (Jones)  Kelly  continued  to  live  until  his  death,  at 
Kell\-.  David  Kell)-  was  born  in  Putnam  threescore  and  ten,  his  wife  living  to  be  seven 
Count)-,  and  came  to  Delaware  County  as  a  )-ears  okkr.  Mrs.  Kelly  was  a  member  of  the 
pioneer  farnier  in  1802,  taking  up  land  in  15a|)tist  church.  In  inditics  he  was  first  a 
Halcottsville,  now  ownctl  b)-  the  Kelh'  Whig  and  afterward  a  Republican,  and  re- 
brothers.  His  one  hundred  and  thirty  acres  joicetl  at  the  national  triumijh  of  the  Rejiubli- 
were  part  of  the  wilderness.  Yet.  when  the  can  part)-  during  the  year  preceding  his  death, 
family  came  thither,  they  brought  all    but  one  in  1861. 

child,  the  journey  being  accomplished  in  \Vhate\-er  education  the  youngest  son  re- 
wagons.  Of  their  seven  children  five  grew  up  ceived  was  in  the  district  schools.  In  1853, 
to  adult  age  —  Susan,  Reuben,  Phineas,  Nor-  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  Lorenzo  began  farm- 
man,  and  Hiram  Kelly.  The  little  hut  which  ing  at  Bragg  Hollow,  where  he  bought  one 
already  stood  on  the  jjlace  eventually  becan-ie  hundred  ami  lift)-  acres,  and  married  -Sarah 
but  a  central  [loint  surrounded  b)-  houses,  Ann  Smith,  daughter  of  Hiram  and  Susan 
barns,  ami  a  grist-mill;  and  there  l)a\-id  (Chase)  Smith.  Father  .Smith  was  the  son  of 
Kelly  lived  till  he  lacked  only  four  years  of  a  Edward  Smith,  a  native  of  Kent,  Putnarn 
complete  century.  His  wife  did  not  live  so  Count)-,  where  he  not  only  cai-ried  on  a  farm, 
long  by  si.xtecn  \-ears,  but  eight)-  may  be  con-  init  was  County  Jutlgc.  He  lived  to  be  four- 
sidered  a  reasonably  good  old  age.  In  relig-  score,  was  a  Democrat,  and  left  six  children 
ion  thc\-  were  stanch  Presbyterians,  and  the  — Poll)-,  Hiram,  Plvcbe,  Clara,  James  lul- 
grandfatlier  was  a  private  in  the  Revolutionary  ward,  and  Joseiih  .Sinith.  Iliraui  .Smith  was 
War.  He  was  the  iiiore  prosperous  in  jiis  a  fari-ner  in  Putnam  County  till  his  death,  at 
undertakings  because  he  owned  the  only  niill  the  age  of  forty.  His  wife  died  at  thirty-si.x; 
in  this  section  of  the  country.  and  they  left  two  children,  Xaomi  and  Sarah 
The  birthi)lace  of  his  son,  Hiram  Kelly,  Ann  Smith,  the  latter  becoming  the  wife  of 
was  in  the  south-east  part  of  Putnam  County,  Loi-erizo  Kelly.  She  was  born  October  19, 
near  what  is  now  called  Dykcman  Station,  but  1831.  a  month  after  her  husband.  Mr.  and 
was  then  called  Bullet  Hole.  After  the  re-  Mrs.  Kelly  lived  in  Biagg  Hollow  six  years, 
moval,  which  took  place  when  he  was  eigh-  and  tlien  sold  their  farm  and  rei-noved  to  Prink 
teen  vcars  old,  Hiram  assisted  his  father  on  Street,  where  thev  be)ught  two  hundred  and 
the  new  farm  and  in  the  mill.  In  later  years  six  acres,  and  lived  for  another  six  years.  In 
he  canic  into  possession  of  the  homestead,  1864  they  again  sold  out,  and  bought  their 
adding  thereto  sorrie  two  hundred  and  fifty  present  estate  of  the  same  size,  two  hundred 
acres  more  land,  besides  enlarging  and  re-  and  sixty  acres,  in  the  village  now  narned 
modelling  all  the  buildings.  His  wife,  Sally  Kelly's  Corners,  after  Mr.  Ketly  himself. 
Borden,  was  the  daughter  of   Jose])h   Borden.  .About  twenty  years  later,  in  1886,  he   built   a 


214 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


fine  large  dwelling-house,  besides  new  farm 
buildings,  barns,  and  a  house  to  let.  There 
he  leads  at  present  a  comparatively  retired 
life.  He  and  his  wife  have  four  children: 
Emma  F.  Kelly  was  born  August  26,  1859, 
and  is  married  to  A.  F.  Sweet,  a  wagon- 
maker  in  the  village.  Edward  Kelly  was 
born  December  13,  1855,  and  died,  greatly 
lamented,  on  June  13,  1871,  before  he  was 
sixteen  years  old.  Clara  J.  Kelly  was  born 
December  15,  1862,  and  died  July  21,  1S84, 
at  twenty-two,  the  beloved  wife  of  B.  L. 
Searl,  of  Margarettville.  W.  Grant  Kelly 
was  born  September  i,  1870,  and  is  still  at 
home,  helping  his  father. 

Mr.  Kelly  is  a  Republican.  The  family 
attend  the  New-school  13aptist  church.  Their 
residence  is  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware 
River,  where  in  summer  twenty  or  thirty 
boarders  from  the  city  find  a  most  attractive 
home.  In  every  nook  of  the  village  is  felt 
the  influence  of  Mr.  Kelly,  easily  its  first 
citizen  in  progress  and  public  enterprise. 


T^HARLES  GILBERT  HOUCK,  car- 
I  St-^  penter,  contractor,  and  builder,  re- 
^^lis  siding    in    Walton,    is   conducting  a 

successful  and  well-established  busi- 
ness, which  occupies  an  important  position 
among  the  various  industries  of  this  flourish- 
ing town.  Reed's  Creek,  in  the  town  of 
Hancock,  was  the  place  of  his  birth,  which 
occurred  on  December  11,  1858.  His  father, 
Levi  T.  Houck,  one  of  Walton's  valued  citi- 
zens, a  son  of  the  late  Rufus  Houck,  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Franklin,  November  4,  1838. 
Rufus  Houck,  who  was  presumably  of  New 
England  parentage,  was  born  in  Dutchess 
County  in  the  year  1808,  and  departed  this 
life  in  Delaware  County  about  the  year  1875. 
He  was  three  times  married.  His  first  wife 
lived  but  a  few  months  after  marriage.  By 
his  second  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Rhoda  Whaley,  and  who  was  a  native  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, he  had  seven  children,  namely: 
Rufus,  a  farmer,  residing  on  Beer's  Brook  in 
Walton;  Edwin,  also  a  farmer,  a  resident  of 
Reed's  Creek  in  Hancock;  Cordelia,  the 
widow  of  Jonathan  Bolton,  of  Harvard;  Levi 
T.,     of    Walton ;     Maria,     who    married    her 


cousin,  Abram  Houck,  residing  in  Mason- 
ville;  Mariette,  the  widow  of  Edwin  Denio, 
step-son  of  Rufus  Houck,  living  in  Hancock; 
and  LeGrand,  a  resident  of  Walton.  After 
the  death  of  the  mother  of  these  children 
Rufus  Houck  married  Phoebe  (Lewis)  Denio, 
the  widow  of  Joseph  Denio,  and  the  daughter 
of  Henry  and  Mercy  (Holly)  Lewis.  She  is 
now  deceased,  the  only  surviving  member  of 
the  family  of  her  parents  being  Mr.  Joseph 
Lewis,  an  aged  farmer  of  Shelby  County, 
Iowa.  Of  this  union  one  child  was  born, 
Zeliaette,  the  wife  of  Dwight  Curtis,  of  Wal- 
ton, both  of  whom  are  deceased. 

Levi  T.  Houck  was  reared  among  the  rural 
pioneer  scenes  of  earlier  years,  and  educated 
in  the  old  log  school-house  on  Reed's  Brook, 
which  had  the  customary  puncheon  floor  and 
old-fashioned  open  fireplace.  He  remained  at 
home  assisting  his  father  in  clearing  the  farm 
until  his  marriage,  when  he  began  life  on  his 
own  account.  He  married  Jerusha  Denio,  the 
daughter  of  his  step-mother  and  a  sister  of 
Edwin  Denio,  the  husband  of  his  sister  Mari- 
ette. Besides  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  four 
sons  and  one  daughter  were  born  of  their  mar- 
riage, the  others  being  as  follows:  Julius,  a 
farmer  at  Carpenter's  Eddy;  Erkson,  a  real 
estate  dealer  in  Antigo,  Wis. ;  Sylvester,  a 
resident  of  Rock  Rift;  Hattie  M.,  a  dress- 
maker, living  at  home;  and  Abram,  a  farmer, 
on  Baxter  Brook. 

Charles  G.  Houck,  the  eldest  son  of  Levi, 
was  brought  up  on  the  home  farm,  and  had  a 
common-school  education.  Possessing  a  good 
deal  of  mechanical  ingenuity  and  little  taste 
for  a  farmer's  life,  he  began  when  about  eigh- 
teen to  learn  the  carpenter's  trade,  which  he 
has  continued  to  follow;  and  as  contractor  and 
builder,  as  well  as  carpenter,  he  has  met  with 
excellent  success.  He  is  an  energetic,  active 
citizen,  whose  public-spiritedness  is  unques- 
tioned, and  is  a  warm  supporter  of  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Republican  party.  He  is  warmly 
interested  in  the  American  Protective  Asso- 
ciation, of  which  he  is  a  member,  and  is  also 
influential  in  the  wigwams  of  the  Red  Men, 
having  passed  the  chairs. 

Mr.  Houck  was  united  in  wedlock  Septem- 
ber 23,  1885,  to  Miss  Jennie  H.  Hovvland,  a 
native  of  Walton,  daughter  of  Mr.  and   Mrs. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


William  P.  Ifowiaiul,  the  latter  of  whuni  died 
in  1879,  loaviiii;  her  widowed  husband  and 
four  children  to  mourn  her  loss.  Mr.  and 
.Mrs.  Houck  have  no  children  of  their  own; 
hut  they  have  an  a(lo[5ted  son,  I'hilo  C. 
Houck,  the  son  of  S_\lvester  llouck.  He  is 
an  active  little  lad,  ei,i;ht  years  old,  quick  at 
his  studies,  and  already  showin^'  a  good  deal 
of  mechanical  genius.  The  coscy  and  com- 
fortable home  of  this  famil}',  into  which  they 
nio\'cd  in  1S91,  is  pleasantl}-  located  on  St. 
John's  -Street,  and  is  made  very  attractive  to 
their  many  friends.  In  religion  both  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Houck  are  worthy  and  active  members  of 
the  !\Icthodist  i'.piscopal  church. 


B 


R.  IH:XRV  a.  gates,  one  of  the 
leading  ph\-sicians  of  Delhi,  was 
burn  in  Franklin,  Delaware  County, 
X.V..  December  9,  1S49,  and  is  a 
son  of  \\'illiam  H.  and  Marietta  (.Strong) 
Gates.  William  (kites,  the  grandfather,  was 
an  earl\-  settler  in  the  town  of  Franklin,  be- 
ginning life  there  in  a  log  calnn,  but,  as  his 
means  increased,  built  a  fine  frame  house  and 
out-buildings.  He  spent  his  life  on  the  farm, 
which  was  brought  liy  his  energy  and  care 
to  a  high  state  of  culti\ation.  He  was  the 
father  of  three  children — James,  Herman, 
and    William. 

William  H.  Gates,  the  father  of  Henry  A., 
was  educatetl  in  the  district  schools  of  Frank- 
lin, and,  as  was  the  custom  in  those  da_\'s, 
went  to  school  in  the  winter  and  assisted  his 
lather  on  the  farm  during  the  summer. 
Upon  reaching  his  majorit)'  he  purchased  a 
farm  of  his  own,  upon  wliich  he  and  his  help- 
mate quietly  passed  their  days.  He  married 
Miss  Marietta  .Strong,  a  daughter  of  William 
.Strong,  of  Meredith,  and  their  union  was 
blessed  by  the  birth  of  four  children  — 
Henry  A.,  Clifford  J.,  Julia  A.  (the  widow 
of  .Samuel  J.  Donnelly),  and  William  H. 

Dr.  Henry  A.  Gates  received  his  earl)- 
education  at  the  district  schools  of  Franklin 
and  at  the  F'ranklin  Literary  Institute,  where 
he  remained  for  two  years.  He  then  began 
the  study  of  medicine  wMth  Dr.  Ira  Wilcox, 
of  F'ranklin,  with  w'hom  lie  |)repared  for  col- 
lege.     In    1S74   he   entered   Bcllevue  College, 


being  graduated  with  high  honors  in  1.S77. 
Upon  the  completion  of  his  college  career, 
he  commenced  practice  in  Delhi,  and  has  con- 
tinued here  ever  since.  He  makes  a  specialty 
ol  diseases  of  the  eye  and  ear,  i)eing  well 
known  in  this  branch  of  the  jirofession 
throughout  the  county.  He  is  a  prominent 
member  of  both  the  .State  and  county  medical 
societies. 

Dr.  Gates  was  married  in  i8,So  to  Miss 
Jeanette  C.  Hudson,  daughter  of  Mrs.  M.  D. 
Hudson,  a  rejiresentative  of  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  prominent  families  in  Delhi.  In 
politics  he  is  a  stanch  supporter  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  but  has  never  sought  any 
public  office.  He  is  a  member  and  Trustee  of 
the  I'irst  Presbyterian  Church,  in  which  he 
takes  a  deep  interest,  and  is  also  a  Trustee 
of  the  Delaware  Academy.  The  genial  man- 
ners and  kindly  disposition  of  Dr.  Gates  have 
made  him  esteemed  by  all  classes:  and,  as  he 
is  still  in  the  prime  of  vigor  and  manhood,  he 
has  the  promise  of  many  years  of  usefulness 
in  the  pursuit  of  liis  profession,  of  which  he 
is  a  distinguished  member. 


I).  WOOD,  one  of  the  most  popu- 
lar station  agents  on  the  L'lster  & 
Delaware  Railroad,  was  born  AjmII 
12,  \'S()2.  His  grandfather,  David 
Wood,  was  l)orn  in  Connecticut,  and  removed 
to  Delaware  County,  where  he  engaged  in 
farming,  living  to  a  good  old  age.  William 
Wood,  son  of  David  and  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  boi'n  in  Connecticut,  No- 
vember 11,  1824.  Fie  received  a  good  dis- 
trict-school education,  and  at  an  early  age 
began  to  work  on  a  farm.  He  had  the  mis- 
fortune to  break  his  arm;  and,  as  tliere  were 
no  skilled  surgeons  in  Iiis  vicinity  at  that 
time,  it  was  not  properly  set,  and  troubled 
him  for  the  remainder  of  his  life  He 
learneil  the  shoemaker's  trade,  and  first 
worked  at  Grand  Gorge.  He  married  .Sarah 
M.  F'redenburgh,  who  was  born  Mav  10, 
1830,  the  daughter  of  John  and  F'anny  (May- 
[)ie)  I'redenburgh.  The  latter  was  born  in 
.Schoiiarie  County,  and  was  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Gilboa,  buying  one  hundred  and 
fifty-si.\  acres  of  land  at  Grand  Gorge,  where 


2l6 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


he  was  very  prosperous  as  a  farmer.  He  had 
a  family  of  sixteen  children.  He  was  a  Re- 
publican in  politics,  and  was  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  I'.piscopal  church.  Fanny 
Maybie  was  a  daughter  of  John  Maybie,  a 
farmer  and  one  of  the  early  settlers,  who 
raised  si.x  children.  William  Wood  had  six 
children,  namely:  Fanny  J.,  who  was  born 
December  24,  1856,  and  died  October  15, 
1861;  Malinda  A.  Wood,  who  was  born  De- 
cember 16,  1859,  and  died  October  14,  1861; 
O.  D.,  the  subject  of  this  biography;  Fanny 
E.,  who  was  born  August  29,  1864,  and  mar- 
ried Charles  G.  Keator,  a  farmer  of  Grand 
Gorge,  and  has  one  child;  Alfred  L.,  who  was 
born  August  28,  1 870,  and  now  lives  with  his 
brother,  O.  D.  Wood;  Albert,  the  twin 
brother  of  Alfred,   died    September  9,    1871. 

O.  D.  Wood  lived  at  the  home  of  his  par- 
ents, and  was  educated  in  the  district  schools. 
At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  entered  the  store 
of  W.  P.  More  as  clerk,  and  there  remained 
for  two  years.  He  then  learned  telegraphing, 
remaining  in  his  first  position  two  years. 
For  one  season  after  that  he  took  charge  of 
the  station  at  Tannersville,  Greene  County,  on 
the  Kaaterskill  Railroad,  going  from  there  to 
Pine  Hill,  where  he  stayed  one  year.  May  i, 
1886,  he  was  appointed  station  agent  at  Grand 
Gorge,  and  has  since  remained  here. 

Mr.  Wood  married  Ellen  J.  Bunt,  daughter 
of  Ann  M.  (Wase)  and  William  Bunt,  a 
farmer  of  Tannersville.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bunt 
have  eight  children  —  Ellen,  Emma,  Bertha, 
Edith,  Edward,  George,  Lillian,  and  Frank. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wood  have  one  child,  Sophie 
Marguerite. 

Mr.  Wood  is  a  Republican  in  politics  and 
an  esteemed  member  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal church.  In  his  work  as  station  agent  he 
has  come  in  contact  with  many  people,  all  of 
whom  speak  of  him  in  the  highest  terms.  He 
is  always  kind  and  thoughtful  of  others,  thus 
making  many  friends. 


r^c 


i:ORGE    W.  FITCH,  ex-President   of 
\   '*)  I       the  Delaware  County  Bank,  and   now 

—  Treasiirer  of  the  Delaware  Loan  and 
Trust  Company,  one  of  the  most  promineiit 
merchants   of   Walton,  N.Y.,  was  born  in  this 


town  on  December  10,  1837.  His  parents 
were  Nathaniel  and  Sally  (Benedict)  Fitch. 
His  grandfather,  Nathaniel  Fitch,  was  born 
in  New  Canaan,  Conn.,  January  8,  1770,  and 
was  married  to  Anna  Smith,  born  May  i, 
1767.  About  1 8 10  the  family  came  to  Wal- 
ton and  settled,  the  country  being  then  a  com- 
parative wilderness;  and  here  Mr.  Fitch  took 
up  an  extensive  tract  of  land,  which  was  soon 
cleared  and  brought  under  cultivation.  He 
and  his  wife  were  the  parents  of  six  children, 
all  of  whom  have  passed  away  from  earthly 
scenes.  The  eldest,  Polly,  born  December 
27,  1792,  married  Simms  Hanford,  died 
in  Delaware  County.  Anna,  born  July  15, 
1795,  married  Anson  White,  and  lived  in 
North  Walton.  Nathaniel,  born  June  i, 
1797,  married  on  October  2,  1817,  Sally 
Benedict.  Esther,  born  May  23,  1799,  died 
single  in  Walton.  Eliza,  born  December  2, 
1809,  died  in  1837.  Charles  S.,  born  May 
31,    1812,    died    May    14,    1893. 

Nathaniel,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  a  man  of  sterling  worth  and  in- 
tegrity, and  was  highly  respected  for  his 
many  good  qualities.  He  was  engaged  in 
mercantile  pursuits  up  to  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  took  place  August  12,  1872,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-five.  His  widow,  Mrs. 
Sally  B.  Fitch,  died  February  17,  1879. 
They  were  the  parents  of  ten  children :  George 
N.,  born  August  10,  1S18,  died  December 
30,  1837.  Sarah,  born  June  24,  1822,  is  the 
wife  of  Dr.  A.  E.  Sullard,  a  representative  of 
his  district  in  the  Assembly.  Maria  died  in 
infancy.  William,  born  October  23,  1827, 
died  May  20,  1836.  Mary  E.  died  in  in- 
fancy. Julia  A.,  born  December  24,  1831, 
married  the  Hon.  N.  C.  Marvin,  of  Walton. 
Lyman  M.,  born  March  10,  1835,  married 
Elizabeth   N.    Green,    in  September,    1859. 

George  W.  Fitch,  the  eighth  child  of  Na- 
thaniel and  Sally  P'itch,  has  been  for  many 
years  one  of  the  representative  business  men 
of  Walton.  He  was  taken  into  partnership 
by  his  father  in  1859;  and  in  1866  his  brother 
was  also  admitted  to  the  firm,  which  was 
known  as  N.  Fitch  &  Sons.  The  firm  is  now 
I'itch  Brothers  &  Sceley. 

Mr.  P'itch  was  marrieil  May  30,  1S61,  to 
Miss    Harriet    .Sinclair,    born    December    27, 


George  W.  Fitch. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


2  ig 


1S39,  ill  Stamford,  in  Ihc  eastern  i):irt  of  tlie 
county.  By  this  union  there  were  \]\c  cliii- 
dren,  of  whom  the  elticst,  Maria  i\I.,  horn 
January  23,  1.S63,  died  June  26,  1882.  lul- 
ward,  born  May  27,  1864,  is  Assistant  Profes- 
sor of  Greek  at  Hamilton  College,  of  which 
he  was  a  graduate  in  the  class  of  1886.  He 
took  a  position  at  Park  College  fiu'  three 
years,  when  he  was  called  back  to  Hamilton. 
He  is  in  Germany  at  the  present  time,  ]K'r- 
fecting  his  studies.  George  S.,  born  May 
12,  1866,  has  held  the  position  of  cashier  of 
the  Delaware  County  liank,  and  is  now  cashier 
of  the  Bank  of  Auburn.  Roderick,  born  No- 
vember 3,  1S67,  married  Miss  Adelaide  Haw- 
ley,  a  daughter  of  John  H.  Hawle\'.  Anna  S., 
the  only  daughter  now  li\-ing,  was  born  Au- 
gust 22.   i86g,  and  resitles  with  her  ]iarents. 

Mr.  I-'itch  is  a  member  of  the  Reijublican 
party,  but  is  not  an  ardent  politician.  He 
has  been  Town  Clerk  for  one  term,  and  was 
also  a  member  of  the  school  committee.  He 
has  been  eminently  successful  as  a  merchant, 
possessing  industr)-,  integrity,  and  good  judg- 
ment, and  is  one  of  thcjsc  enterprising  men 
who  give  life  and  spirit  to  a  town,  promoting 
its  steady  growth,  and  whose  inHucnce  is  sure 
to  be  felt  after  they  shall  ha\-e  departeti. 

The  accompanying  portrait  of  Mr.  Fitch  is 
doubly  interesting  as  being  a  very  good  like- 
ness of  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Walton, 
and  as  representing  a  descendant  of  two  promi- 
nent pioneer  families  of  Delaware  County, 
who  came  here  from  Connecticut,  Fitch  and 
lienedict. 


J~X  L'DLEY  BALDWIN  DICAN,  one  of 
=1  the  leading  farmers  of  Masonville, 
2y  Delaware  County,  N.Y.,  was  born 
in  that  town,  December  13,  1828, 
his  parents  being  Reuben  Dean,  who  was 
born  in  Connecticut,  June  10,  1797,  and  Abi- 
gail Gould  Dean,  born  in  Saratoga  County, 
New  York,  October  30,   1804. 

Reuben  Dean  began  life's  battle  for  him- 
self at  the  early  age  of  eleven  years,  hiring 
himself  out  to  farmers  b}'  the  month,  and 
moving  from  one  jjlace  to  anotiier.  In  18 14 
he  came  to  Masonville,  and  worked  for  a  Mr. 
Smith,  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  remaining  with 


him  for  six  years.  Being  diligent  and  saving, 
he  accumulated  enough  money  to  buv  a  small 
farm  of  his  own,  purchasing  the  one  now 
occupied  by  his  son,  Milton  P.  Dean.  He 
resided  on  the  farm  until  his  death,  which 
took  ])lace  when  he  was  sixty-seven  years  of 
age.  Mrs.  Dean  is  living  at  the  present  day, 
having  arrived  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety 
years.  Twelve  children  were  born  to  them, 
ten  of  whom  are  still  living,  namely:  Airs. 
Mary  A.  Colby,  of  Saratoga  County;  Gustavus 
Dean,  of  Sidney;  Dudley  jialdwin  Dean, 
Mrs.  Jane  E.  Smith,  Milton  P.  Dean,  Mrs. 
Julia  A.  Donohue,  all  of  Masonville:  Mrs. 
Adelaide  Sherman,  of  Ballston,  Saratoga 
County;  Mrs.  Orline  Seeley,  of  Iowa;  Reu- 
ben Dean,  of  Saratoga  County;  and  Orville 
Dean,  of  Masonville. 

Dudley  B.  Dean  was  echicated  in  the  dis- 
trict schofds  of  Masonville,  living  at  home 
and  helping  on  the  farm  until  he  was  of  age, 
when  he  worked  out  and  managed  to  save 
money  out  of  his  wages  of  twelve  dollars  a 
month.  In  1851  he  bought  the  farm  where 
he  now  lives,  on  which  were  then  no  improve- 
ments. He  set  to  work  and  erected  a  small 
house  sixteen  feet  by  twenty,  where  he  kept 
bachelor  hall  for  three  years.  His  first  pur- 
chase of  land  comprised  sixty-seven  acres:  but 
he  has  added  to  it  from  time  to  time,  until 
he  now  owns  four  hundred  and  ten  acres  of 
the  finest  farming  land  in  the  county,  which 
has   been   gained  by  his  own  hard,  honest  toil. 

Mr.  Dean  has  a  fine  dairy,  keeping  forty- 
nine  head  of  cattle,  besides  other  stock.  He 
has  filled  the  jiosition  of  Poor  Master  for  two 
years,  and  at  the  present  time  is  p:.xcise  Com- 
missioner. In  i)olitics  he  is  a  Democrat,  and 
both  lie  and  his  wife  are  member.s  of  the  Baj)- 
tist  chui-cii. 

.Mr.  Dean  was  married,  September  30, 
1854,  to  Matilda  Clarissa  Hill,  a  native  of 
the  ailjoining  town  of  Toinjikins.  By  this 
union  he  has  had  seven  children,  all  of  whom 
are  living,  namely:  Royal  1).  Dean,  a  farmer 
of  M;isoiiville;  Mrs.  Abigail  Jackson,  of 
Mason\ille;  Uriah  P.  Dean,  a  farmer  of 
Tomjikins:  Gould  Dean,  a  farmer  in  Mason- 
ville; .Mrs.  Mary  J.  Blencoe,  of  Unadilla; 
Dudley  B.  Dean,  residing  at  home;  and  iMrs. 
Clarissa  M.  Webb,  of  Unadilla. 


2  20 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Mr.  Dean  is  known  as  one  of  the  most  pros- 
perous and  substantial  farmers  of  Mason vi lie. 
Both  his  public  and  private  life  have  been 
above  reproach;  and,  filling  the  important 
positions  to  which  he  has  been  elected  with 
dignity  and  credit,  he  has  always  given  his 
time  and  influence  to  the  advancement  of  his 
native  town. 


,LARK  A.  GOULD,  a  retired  mer- 
chant of  Walton,  was  born  in  this 
town  on  November  12,  1841,  of  old 
pioneer  ancestry.  His  grandfather, 
Luther  Gould,  was  a  native  of  Connecticut, 
whence  he  removed  to  Delaware  County,  New 
York,  and  settled  among  the  few  inhabitants 
here  at  the  beginning  of  the  century.  Luther 
Gould's  wife  was  Abigail  Beers;  and  they 
were  the  parents  of  four  children,  namely: 
Anna;  Luther,  the  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch;  John;  and  Harry.  Grandfather 
Gould  died  when  about  fifty  years  of  age;  but 
his  widow  lived  to  reach  the  good  old  age  of 
seventy-eight  years,  dying  in  1853.  They 
had  been  farmers  from  pioneer  times,  who  by 
their  earnest  daily  toil  and  strict  economy 
succeeded  in  keeping  the  wolf  from  the  door 
and  living  in  comparative  comfort. 

Much  trouble  was  experienced  in  getting 
valid  title  to  the  land,  as,  after  improvements 
had  been  made,  new  claimants  would  appear 
with  claims  originating  with  some  old  Eng- 
lish grants;  and  to  avoid  litigation,  with 
possible  defeat  at  the  end,  the  farm  would  be 
rebought  at  the  expense  of  every  dollar  which 
had  been  saved,  and  notes  given  for  the 
amount  lacking.  It  was  only  after  the  farm 
was  allowed  to  be  sold  for  taxes  and  redeemed 
with  title  from  the  State  that  these  persecu- 
tions ceased. 

Young  Luther  was  born  on  the  old  home- 
stead in  1806,  and  died  there  in  1861.  On 
June  2,  1839,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary 
M.  E.  Alverson,  who  was  born  in  Tompkins 
in  1807,  and  died  in  1873,  leaving  two  chil- 
dren: the  subject  of  this  sketch;  and  his 
sister  Harriet,  wife  of  Jared  Chase,  of  Rock 
Rift. 

Clark  A.  Gould  was  reared  in  the  home  of 
his  birth;  and  there  he  became  instructed  in 


primitive  methods  of  farming,  at  the  same 
time  attending  the  district  school,  where  he 
succeeded  in  conquering  the  three  R"s  —  Read- 
ing, 'Riting,  and  'Rithmetic.  His  studies, 
however,  were  abruptly  terminated  by  the  ill- 
ness of  his  father,  which  made  it  necessary 
that  young  Clark  leave  school,  and  attend  to 
the  management  of  the  farm.  When  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  his  father  having  died,  leav- 
ing the  farm  encumbered  with  debts,  he  sold 
the  farm,  and  began  business  as  proprietor  of 
the  general  store  at  Rock  Rift,  where  he  re- 
mained for  twenty-five  years,  leaving  that 
place  then  to  take  up  his  residence  in  Walton. 
He  purchased  his  present  house  in  1889. 

His  first  wife,  Mary  Chase,  a  daughter  of 
Augustus  B.  Chase,  became  the  mother  of  one 
son,  Bertis  M.  Gould,  who  received  his  educa- 
tion and  was  graduated  at  the  high  school  in 
the  town  of  Walton,  and  is  now  a  salesman  in 
a  dry-goods  store.  Mrs.  Gould  died  in  1871, 
when  but  twenty-seven  years  old.  Mr.  Gould 
was  again  married  on  September  3,  1873,  to 
Miss  Maggie  Wilson,  of  Downsville,  daugh- 
ter of  Charles  and  Rachel  (Van  De  Bogart) 
Wilson.  Her  father  died  November  7,  1894, 
nearly  ninety-two  years  of  age.  Her  mother 
is  still  living,  aged  seventy-eight.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Gould  have  had  three  children,  as  fol- 
lows: Luther,  who  died  when  a  child  of  nine- 
teen months;  Vernon,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
seven  months;  and  Clark  Sumner,  who  was 
born  May  27,    1880. 

Mr.  Gould  is  a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  and  a 
consistent  Republican.  He  has  held  the 
position  of  Postmaster  and  Justice  of  the 
Peace  many  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gould  at- 
tend the  L'nited  Presbyterian  Church  of  Wal- 
ton, of  which  Mrs.  Gould  is  a  member.  Mr. 
Gould  is  a  man  of  genial  disposition  and  en- 
gaging manner,  an  example  of  nobility  of 
character,  firmness  of  principle,  and  uncom- 
mon business  capabilities,  one  whom  his  fel- 
low-citizens regard  with  much  respect  and 
deference. 


ILLIAM    E.    HOLMES,   one  of    the 
most    successful     and     best-known 
business  men  of  Downsville,  in  the 
town    of    Colchester,    was    born    in    Hamden, 


BIOGRAl'IllCAL    REVIEW 


September  z"],  1836,  a  son  oi  John  A.  ami 
Rachel  B.  (^Lindsley)  Holmes.  He  is  one  of 
a  family  of  fourteen  ehiklren,  eleven  of 
whom  reached  maturity  —  Orpah,  James  W., 
Ephraim  L.,  Sarah  A.,  Samuel  O.,  William 
E.,  Mary  A.,  Jonathan  A.,  John  N.,  \'iola 
A.,  and  Ellen. 

John  A.  Holmes  was  born  in  1S03,  and 
grew  to  manhood  without  the  usual  advantages 
of  education.  He  learned  the  shoemaker's 
trade;  but,  hu\'ing  an  active  mind  and  a 
desire  to  improve  his  circumstances,  he  de- 
voted his  evenings  to  stuily  and  reading  until 
he  felt  qualified  to  enter  mercantile  life.  He 
began  in  the  lumber  business  and  farming, 
and  soon  became  one  of  the  largest  lumber 
dealers  of  Delaware  County,  Ijeing  a  solf-mmle 
man  with  a  clear  head,  good  judgment,  and 
remarkable  business  qualifications.  He  ac- 
cumulated a  comfortable  fortune,  owning  at 
one  time  over  eight  hundretl  acres.  He  pur- 
chased of  Jackson  Merrill  the  farm  now 
known  as  the  Hawley  place:  and  here  he 
li\-ed  with  his  wife,  Rachel  Lindsley,  a 
daughter  of  Nehemiah  and  Mary  (Guilder- 
sleeve)  Lindsley.  Nehemiah  Lindsley  moved 
to  Delaware  County  in  179",  and  operated  a 
tannery  in  company  with  Isaac  Wilson,  be- 
coming the  possessor  of  about  six  hundi'ed 
acres  of  land  in  Lindsley  Hollow,  where  he 
was  an  industrious  and  successful  farmer. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lindsley  were  the  parents  i>f 
ten  children  —  David,  Ira,  Samuel,  Ezra, 
Hannah,  Agar,  Rachel,  Abigail,  Cyrus  G., 
and  Sarah  —  all  of  whom  have  passed  away. 
The  father  of  this  family  died  August  8, 
1835;  and  his  wife's  death  occurred  Decem- 
ber 30,  1850.  Mr.  Lindsley  was  a  Whig, 
and  both  he  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  church.  The  family  of  .i\Ir. 
Holmes  lived  on  the  farm  until  his  death, 
January  25,  1865.  He  was  a  Republican, 
and  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 
William  IC.  Holmes  grew  up  on  his  father's 
farm,  and  was  educated  at  the  Eranklin  Lit- 
erary Institute.  He  adopted  the  vocation  of 
a  teacher,  receiving  the  first  term  twenty-five 
dollars  a  month  and  board.  The  fourth  year 
his  salary  had  been  increased  to  fifty  dollars  a 
month  and  exi^enses.  At  the  close  of  that 
time   he   enlisted    in   Company    K,   One    Hun- 


dred and  l"ort\-fointh  New  N'ork  \'idunteers, 
and  was  discharged  in  March,  1S63,  re-enlist- 
ing in  September,  1864,  and  serving  until 
the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  I'"irst  Lieuten- 
ant in  the  Eirst  New  York  \'ohmteers,  ami 
took  part  in  the  engagements  at  Honey  Hill 
and  Hull's  Bay.  On  returning  home  Mr. 
Holmes  entered  mercantile  life  in  Downsville 
o])posite  the  present  Presbyterian  church.  In 
1 868  he  erected  a  store  on  the  site  now  occu- 
pied by  him,  and  started  a  general  store, 
which  he  enlarged  in  1S90,  making  it  fifty  by 
seventy  feet,  three  stories  high.  He  and  his 
two  sons,  Augustus  B.  and  Charles  J.,  now 
compose  the  firm,  which  carries  a  large  stock 
of  groceries,  dry  goods,  furnishing  goods, 
and  agricultural  implements.  The  business 
of  this  enterprising  firm  is  constantly  increas- 
ing. The  third  floor  of  the  buikling  is  rented 
to  the  Masons  and  other  societies. 

January  9,  1866,  Mr.  Holmes  married  Miss 
Erances  D.  Bassett,  a  daughter  of  Philip  and 
Margaret  (Hitt)  Bassett.  Philip  Bassett 
was  born  January  7,  1804,  and  died  July  ij, 
1866.  Eebruary  25.  1835,  'i'^  married  Mar- 
garet Hitt,  born  December  16,  1802,  and 
died  November  9,  1849.  They  were  the  |)ar- 
ents  of  two  children:  Erances  D.,  born  Octo- 
ber 25,  1842;  and  George  P.  After  the 
death  of  his  first  wife  Philip  Bassett  married 
Maria  L.  Barbour,  December  24,  1851.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  William  Holmes  have  had  four 
children:  Augustus  B.,  born  December  28, 
1868;  Cliarles  J.,  born  December  9,  1870: 
William  IC,  born  Januar)'  13,  1876,  and  died 
P'ebruary  16,  1879;  George  S.,  born  I-'ebruarx- 
14,  1S81.  Charles  J.  married  Lina  M.  War- 
ren, June  20,  1894,  and  still  resides  with  his 
parents.  Mr.  Holmes  is  the  owner  of  the 
saw-mill  and  the  adjoining  land,  known  as 
the  Downs  tannery  site,  and,  in  comixuiy 
with  his  son  George,  engages  extensively  in 
the  manufacture  of  shingles,  laths,  and  other 
lumber.  He  also  possesses  five  hundred  acres 
of  land  in  ditferent  parts  of  Colchester.  He 
rents  his  farms,  and  operates  four  dairies, 
owning  one  hundred  cows  and  fifteen  teams. 
Each  and  every  part  of  his  various  enterprises 
receives  his  ])ersonal  attention,  and  it  is  by 
this  means  that  his  success  has  been  so  re- 
markable. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


The  residence  of  Mr.  Holmes  in  Downsville 
is  one  of  the  finest  in  the  town,  and  here  his 
many  friends  ever  receive  a  gracious  welcome. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Downsville  Lodge,  No. 
464,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  a  member  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows  Lodge;  and  he 
and  his  wife  are  attendants  of  the  IVesby- 
terian  church.  Mr.  Holmes  is  an  active, 
energetic  business  man;  and  he  and  his  sons 
deserve  great  praise  for  their  enterprise  and 
progressive  ability. 


'AMES  W.  KELSO,  a  highly  respected 
and  well-known  farmer  of  the  town  of 
Kortright,  was  born  in  Davenport, 
Delaware  County,  N.Y.,  April  2, 
1825,  and  is  a  son  of  Seth  and  Ann  (Fergu- 
son) Kelso,  the  former  a  native  of  Orange 
County,  and  the  latter  of  Kortright.  The 
grandfather,  Robert  Kelso,  and  his  father, 
John,  were  natives  of  Londonderry,  Ireland, 
both  of  whom  came  to  America,  and  located 
in  Orange  County,  New  York,  afterward 
coming  to  Kortright,  settling  here  about 
1798.  John  Kelso  lived  to  the  advanced  age 
of  one  hundred  and  six  years,  and  was  buried 
at  Kortright  Centre.  Robert  Kelso  followed 
the  occupation  of  a  farmer,  leasing  the  land 
which  he  occupied  under  the  old  lease  system. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  sixty,  leaving  four  sons 
and  two  daughters,  all  of  whom  are  now  de- 
ceased. 

Seth  Kelso,  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  brought  up  as  a  farmer,  working 
hard  but  successfully.  About  1828  he  settled 
on  the  farm  now  owned  by  his  son  James, 
erected  a  fine  frame  house,  and  added  to  his 
property  until  at  the  time  of  his  death  he 
owned  two  hundred  and  fifty-seven  acres.  He 
was  the  father  of  two  children:  Elizabeth, 
the  wife  of  Nicholas  Feak,  of  this  county; 
and  James  W.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kelso  were 
both  members  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
church  of  Kortright.  Mr.  Kelso  died  at  the 
age  of  seventy-eight,  and  his  wife  at  the  age 
of  seventy-five. 

James  W.  Kelso  received  his  education  at 
the  district  schools.  He  purchased  the  old 
homestead,  and  during  his  entire  life  has  de- 
voted his  attention    to   farming.     Mr.    Kelso 


possesses  untiring  energy  and  perseverance, 
and  has  made  many  improvements  on  his 
farm,  which  is  a  model  one.  He  can  justly 
look  with  pride  upon  the  fine  home  which  he 
owns,  as  being  the  result  of  his  unaided 
efforts.  He  married  October  10,  1871,  Eliz- 
abeth Ballantine,  of  Davenport,  becoming  his 
wife.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Robert  and  Mary 
Ballantine,  both  of  whom  are  deceased.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Kelso  have  had  five  children,  three 
of  whom  are  living,  namely:  Mary  E.,  born 
July  24,  1874;  James  H.,  born  May  29,  1878; 
and  John  E.,  December  25,  1879.  Ann- 
bell,  born  May  19,  1876,  died  October  25, 
1879;   Seth,  born    March    15,    1873,  died   May 

I,  1873- 

The  family  are  members  of  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  church  at  Kortright,  Mr.  Kelso 
being  an  Elder  and  an  active  worker  in  all 
church  matters.  In  politics  he  is  a  Prohibi- 
tionist. 


r3RGE  O.  MEAD  is  a  gentleman 
whose  reputation  as  a  man  of  affairs 
and  business  ability  extends  beyond 
the  limits  of  his  native  State,  and  his  name  is 
known  in  connection  with  some  of  the  most 
important  transactions  in  his  county.  The 
ancestors  of  Mr.  Mead  were  among  the  earli- 
est settlers  of  Greenwich,  Conn.,  where  in 
1725  was  born  General  John  Mead,  son  of 
John  and   Elizabeth   Lockwood   Mead. 

General  John  Mead  was  a  noted  character; 
and  stories  of  him  still  abound  in  the  tradi- 
tions of  his  native  town,  where  his  short,  stout 
figure  and  jovial  face  were  familiar  to  all.  In 
the  early  days  of  the  Revolution,  he  was 
tendered  a  captain's  commission  by  King 
George  HI.,  but  declined,  and  joined  the 
American  forces,  three  weeks  later  becoming 
Colonel  in  the  patriot  army,  and  afterward 
General.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the  Con- 
necticut legislature  before  the  war;  and, 
when  trouble  began,  his  beautiful  home  and 
fine  farm  at  Horseneck  was  an  excellent  point 
of  attack  and  a  rich  field  of  pillage  for  the 
British  troops.  The  redcoats  saw  every  ad- 
vantage here,  and  made  short  work  of  ransack- 
ing his  house  and  driving  his  cattle  away  for 
their   own    use.      His    family   were    in    great 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


clangor  for  a  loiii;'  time,  but  escaped,  as  did 
the  General  himself,  altiiough  at  one  time  he 
was  in  imminent  ilanger  of  being  discovered 
by  his  enemies.  The  wife  of  this  famous 
soldier  was  Mary  Brush,  who  was  of  Scotch 
descent.  They  had  nine  children,  live  sons 
and  four  daughters;  and  it  is  through  their 
second  son  and  sixth  child,  Allen,  that 
George   (3.    Mead    is   descended. 

Allen  Mead,  grandfather  of  (ieorge  (_).,  was 
born  October  24,  1774,  and  came  to  Walton 
from  Connecticut  about  1800,  Walton  at  that 
time  being  scarcely  large  enough  to  be  called 
a  village.  Here  Aflen  iviead  settled,  and  built 
a  tannery  on  Monnt  Pleasant,  afterward  re- 
moving it  to  East  Brook.  In  1800  he  mar- 
ried Mary  Smith,  who  was  born  in  New 
Canaan,  Conn.,  in  1781;  and  to  tliem  were 
born  nine  children,  all  but  two  of  whom  mar- 
ried. Tlu'y  were  as  follows:  Abigail,  the 
wife  of  Phitt  Townsend,  who  died  at  Dixon, 
111.,  at  an  atlvanced  age,  was  the  mother  of 
three  daughters;  John  Mead  married  Sophia 
Griswold,  of  Delhi,  and  hail  two  chiklren  — 
Henry,  of  Atlanta,  Ga.,  and  Charlotte,  who 
was  the  wife  of  George  Colton,  of  Walton, 
and  died  leaving  four  children  (John  Mead's 
second  wife  was  Matilda  North);  Mary  Ann, 
the  wife  of  Sylvester  ]?risack,  died  March  5, 
1886,  when  seventy-nine  years  of  age,  leaving 
three  daughters;  Gabriel  IMead,  the  father 
of  George  O.  ;  Elizabeth,  the  wife  of  Dr. 
James  Mcl.aury,  who  died  at  Yonkers,  N.V., 
leaving  two  sons  and  three  daughters;  An- 
drew J.  is  unmarried,  and  living  in  New 
York,  a  well-to-do  and  remarkablv  bright  and 
intellectual  man;  Adeline,  unmarried,  died 
in  Binghamton,  June  21,  1892,  when  seventv- 
four  years  of  age;  Edward  B.  Mead  died  in 
]?rooklyn  in  1889  —  his  wife  was  Charlotte 
Wood,  of  Goshen;  Frances,  the  wife  of  G.  -S. 
North,  of  l^inghamton.  Gabriel  Mead  mar- 
ried ICliza  Ann  Ogdcn,  of  Walton,  daughter 
of  Daniel  and  Phebe  (Lindsley)  Ogden.  Ik- 
was  an  important  man  in  tlie  town  for  many 
years,  and  at  one  time  was  Sheriff  of  the 
county. 

George  O.  Mead  was  born  in  Walton  in 
1842,  and  was  an  only  child.  He  .received 
his  education  at  the  Walton  Academy,  and 
then  for  five  vears   served   as   clerk    in    several 


stores  of  the  town.  In  1 862  he  went  to 
Delhi,  being  in  the  employ  of  Robert  Doug- 
lass for  one  year,  when  he  returned  to  Wal- 
ton, and  engaged  in  lousiness  with  Nortli  & 
I'A-lls.  In  1864  Mr.  Mead  enlisted,  and  was 
assigned  to  Company  G  of  the  One  Hundred 
and  i'orty-fourth  New  Yuvk  Volunteers,  in 
W+ritiUhc  served  until  the  close  of  the  war. 
In  1 869i-ie  started  in  business  for  himself  in 
his  native  town,  taking  as  a  partner  William 
Telford,  and  locating  on  the  corner  where  he 
has  since  remained.  In  1874  Mr.  Telfortl  re- 
tired from  the  firm,  and  Mr.  Eel  Is  became  a 
[xirtner;  but  about  three  years  ago  Mr.  Mead 
became  sole  proprietor  of  the  business.  He 
carries  a  large  line  of  boots  and  shoes,  crock- 
ery, dry  goods,  and  groceries,  a  specialty  being 
made  of  the  last  named,  and  a  most  excellent 
line  of  goods  always  kept  on  hand.  The  busi- 
ness has  so  increased  of  late  that  ii  now  occu- 
pies two  floors  of  the  large  corner  store. 

Mr.  Mead  has  held  several  jniblic  offices, 
having  f(n-  thirteen  years,  1877-90,  been  Su- 
])ervisor.  In  18S9  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Assembly,  and  served  on  the  Committee  on 
Banks,  Canals,  and  (leueral  Eaws ;  also  on 
the  committee  to  arrange  a  memorial  t(;  Gen- 
eral Sheridan;  he  has  also  been  a  delegate  to 
several  political  conventions.  As  chairman 
III  the  Hoard  of  Sujiervisors  he  was  able  bv 
his  ability  to  see  and  act  upon  the  financial 
ailvantages  of  the  occasion,  and  thus  saved  the 
count}-  between  six  and  seven  thousand  dol- 
lars. .Since  the  organization  of  the  Walton 
Water  Company,  Mr.  Mead  has  been  its  Treas- 
urer, at  the  present  time  being  also  President. 
I'"or  many  years  he  has  been  .School  Trustee. 
His  busirjess  integrity  has  led  to  his  selec- 
tion as  executor  of  many  estates,  not  only  in 
this  county,  hut  in  other  places,  one  which 
came  under  his  authority  in  Chicago  involving 
some  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  In  Au- 
gust, 1890,  he  was  sent  as  delegate  to  the  Na- 
tional ICncampment  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic  at  Boston.  In  1S67  and  1868  he 
ser\ed  as  Brigade  Inspector  of  the  old  State 
militia.  I'or  many  yeai's  Mr.  Mead  has  been 
a  ])rominent  man  in  politics. 

But  the  capacity  in  which  Mr.  Mead  is  per- 
ha]xs  best  known  is  as  President  of  the  First 
National    Bank    of   Walton.      From   his  j'outh 


224 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


he  developed  great  ability  in  financial  affairs, 
and  in  1874  became  interested  in  the  State 
bank  at  Walton,  known  as  the  Delaware 
County  Bank,  being  elected  its  Vice-Presi- 
dent. On  the  14th  of  January,  1891,  the 
First  National  Bank  of  Walton  was  organ- 
ized; and  he  became  its  President,  Samuel  H. 
Fancher  being  Vice-President,  and  John  Olm- 
stead  Cashier.  This  bank  has  a  capital  of 
fifty  thousand  dollars,  with  an  ample  surplus. 
The  vault  is  constructed  of  brick ;  and  in  it  is 
one  of  Herring's  best  safes,  with  a  triple  time 
lock  and  all  the  latest  improvements  for  the 
safety  of  deposits.  Everything  in  connection 
with  the  bank  is  done  in  the  best  way  and 
according  to  the  most  approved  methods;  and 
the  institution  is  constantly  gaining  in  public 
favor,  in  the  few  years  that  it  has  been  in 
operation  having  done  an  immense  amount  of 
business. 

Mr.  Mead  was  married  to  Frances  Pattin- 
gill.  daughter  of  the  Rev.  J.  S.  Pattingill, 
of  Walton,  Delaware  County,  N.Y.  Of  this 
union  there  were  two  daughters,  one  of  whom, 
Florence  Ogden,  died  July  9,  1884,  at  the 
age  of  fourteen  years.  Lillian  is  the  wife 
of  Professor  F.  A.  Porter,  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Conservatory  of  Music  in  Boston.  While 
studying  at  that  institution  she  was  a  pupil 
of  Professor  Porter,  and  later  became  his 
wife.  They  are  now  in  Leipsic,  Germany, 
continuing  their  study  of  that  most  de- 
lightful art,  which  they  have  chosen  as  a 
profession. 

In  1890  the  house  of  Allen  Mead,  on  North 
Street,  came  into  possession  of  Mr.  Mead; 
and  he  has  had  it  thoroughly  renovated  and 
remodelled,  so  that  it  is  now  one  of  the  larg- 
est and  most  beautiful  residences  in  the 
town,  presenting  to  the  beholder  the  effect  of 
the  stability  and  dignity  of  the  old  manor 
house  united  with  the  beauty  and  delicacy  of 
modern  decoration.  Mr.  Mead  has  always 
been  deeply  interested  in  religious  matters, 
and  for  twenty  years  has  been  connected  wih 
Sunday-school  work,  having  had  a  class  for 
that  length  of  time.  He  is  a  man  of  spotless 
integrity  —  one  who  has  shown  himself  honest 
to  the  letter,  and  just  to  his  fellow-men.  In 
all  his  transactions  he  has  shown  an  astuteness 
which    few  possess,    combined   with   disinter- 


estedness and  unselfishness  of  purpose,  which 
are  fully  appreciated  by  his  fellow-townsmen 
and  the  many  friends  who  have  reaped  the 
benefit   of    his   noble    qualities   and   abilities. 


FAMES    R.    FRAZIER,    pastor    of    the 
United  Presbyterian  church  at  Daven- 


554,    in 

being 

family 

grand- 


port,  was  born  August  27,  il 
West  Virginia,  his  parents 
James  and  Mary  (Orr)  Frazier.  The 
originally  came  from  Scotland,  the 
father,  Samuel  Frazier,  emigrating  to  Ohio 
County,  West  Virginia,  where  he  purchased  a 
farm.  He  reared  the  following  children: 
Samuel,  William,  Andrew,  James,  Robert, 
Robinson,    Hamilton,     Rosanna,    Betsy,    and 

Peggy.  ,    .        , 

James  Frazier,  Sr.,  was  educated  in  the 
district  schools,  and  brought  up  to  agricult- 
ural pursuits.  In  1855  he  went  to  Ohio, 
where  he  purchased  a  farm,  residing  there, 
with  the  exception  of  two  years,  until  his 
death,  in  1889,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years. 
He  was  twice  married,  his  second  wife  being 
Miss  Mary  Orr,  daughter  of  Hugh  Orr,  a  na- 
tive of  Ohio.  Mrs.  Frazier  reared  seven  chil- 
dren; namely,  James  R.,  Mary,  Rosanna, 
Hamilton,  William,  Emma,  and  Callie. 
Mrs.  Frazier  is  still  living,  at  the  advanced 
age  of  seventy-eight,  and  makes  her  home  in 
Ohio. 

James  R.  I'razier  resided  in  Ohio  until  his 
twenty-fifth  year.  He  was  educated  in  the 
district  schools,  the  graded  school  at  St. 
Clairsville,  and  later  attended  Franklin  Col- 
lege, Ohio,  and  the  Theological  College  at 
Allegheny,  Pa.  After  graduation  he  accepted 
his  present  charge  at  Davenport,  and  has  re- 
sided here  since  1879. 

Mr.  Frazier  was  married  October  7,  1886, 
to  Miss  Ella  Adee,  a  daughter  of  Augustus 
W.  Adee,  of  Bovina;  and  their  union  has 
been  blessed  with  four  children — James  S., 
Mary  D.,  Earle  J.,  and  Harold  S.  In  poli- 
tics Mr.  Frazier  joins  issue  with  the  Republi- 
can party.  During  his  residence  in  Davenport 
he  has  made  many  friends.  He  is  a  gifted 
and  talented  preacher,  a  man  of  generous  im- 
pulses, and  thoroughly  earnest  and  painstak- 
ing in  his  work ;  and  under  his  pastorate  the 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


22S 


mcmbcishi])    of    his    church    lias    steadily    in- 
creased. 


[OHN  H.  iMAIJLE,  of  Plamden,  pre- 
sents a  type  of  upright,  conscientious 
manhood,  unobtrusive  in  iirosperit)', 
cheerful  and  resigneil  in  adversity, 
universall}-  respected  and  beloved  by  his 
to\vns])eople  and  friends.  His  great-grand- 
father, Robert  Rlable,  was  a  shepherd  in  the 
highlands  of  bonnie  Scotland,  living  that 
jjoetic  life  extolled  in  verse  and  song,  where 
one  holds  close  communion  with  the  wonders 
and  glories  of  nature,  a  rugged  life,  too,  of 
stern  and  uncomfortable  realities.  The  wife 
of  this  sturdy  shepherd  was  Janette  Bell,  and 
together  they  reared  five  children. 

One  of  these,  named  John,  who  was  born 
in  1762,  and  brought  up  to  follow  his  father's 
occupation,  married  Agnes  .Stevenson;  and  in 
1820,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  five  chil- 
dren, he  left  the  old  home  in  Scotland,  and 
sailed  for  America.  Here  the  family  became 
scattered,  the  eldest  son,  Robert,  who  was 
born  in  1803,  married  and  settled  in  Georgia 
about  1 83 1.  His  plantation  was  thirteen 
miles  from  Atlanta;  and  here  he  accumulated 
great  wealth,  having  slaves,  who  had  become 
his  property  on  his  marriage,  being  part  of 
his  wife's  dowry.  Si.xteen  of  these  slaves 
were  freed  by  the  war;  and  it  is  a  curious  fact 
that  at  the  expiration  of  eight  months  one- 
half  of  them  had  died.  Mr.  Mable  was  not 
favorably  disposed  toward  the  war;  but  three 
of  his  sons  were  obliged  to  serve  in  the  rebel 
army,  although  they  withstood  the  demand  as 
long  as  possible.  However,  all  three  sur- 
vived the  terrible  struggle,  aiul  are  now  resi- 
dents of  Georgia  or  Alabama.  Mr.  Mable's 
home  was  in  the  path  of  General  .Sherman  in 
his  famous  march  to  the  sea;  and,  conse- 
quently, at  the  close  of  the  war  little  re- 
mained of  the  beautiful  place  but  devastation 
and  ruin.  The  house  had  been  used  as  a  field 
hospital,  and  great  was  the  destruction  made 
of  it  by  shot  and  shell.  The  fences  were  en- 
tirely ilemolished,  and  for  many  years  bullets 
were  frequently  found  on  and  about  the 
grounds.  Although  he  had  sustained  a  tre- 
mendous   loss   bv  the  war,  Robert  Mable  went 


to  work  with  a  will,  and  before  iiis  death  in 
1888  had  managed  in  a  great  nieasme  to  re- 
establish his  fallen  fortunes. 

Mary  Mable,  a  sister  of  the  younger  Rob- 
ert, became  the  wife  of  James  N.  .Scott,  a 
farmer  and  speculator  of  Andes,  N.Y.,  in 
which  town  she  died,  in  July,  1 S69,  tlie 
mother  of  five  children.  Another  sister,  Ja- 
nette, married  James  Oliver,  and  passed  awav 
in  1874,  leaving  three  children.  The  fifth 
child  was  James  Mable,  now  living  in  Delhi, 
old  in  years,  but  with  a  heart  yet  young  and 
fresh.  .Alexander,  the  fourth  child  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  John  Mable,  was  born  in  Roxburgh, 
Scotland,  in  1810.  In  1840  he  married 
Rachel  Brown,  of  Bovina,  daughter  of  James 
and  Isabella  (Forsyth)  Brown.  One  son, 
whose  life  is  narrated  in  this  sketch,  was  the 
result  of  their  union,  Mrs.  Mable  dying  at  the 
age  of  twenty-seven,  soon  after  his  birth. 
The  second  wife  of  Alexander  Mable  was 
Elizabeth  Middleniast,  who  died  in  1890,  the 
mother  of  three  sons  and  three  daughters. 
He  died  March  9,  1893,  after  an  eventful, 
upright  life,  having  held  several  offices, 
among  which  were  those  of  .Suj^ervisor  and 
Assessor.  He  was  a  stanch  Republican,  and 
an  active  member  of  the  .Scotch  I'resb_\'terian 
church. 

John  B.  Mable  was  bcirn  in  the  town  of 
Delhi  in  1841,  and  was  brought  up  to  farm 
life  in  his  father's  home.  He  attended  the 
district  school,  and  later  the  Delhi  Academy. 
At  twenty-one  years  of  age  he  first  engaged  in 
teaching  school,  and  taught  for  eleven  terms 
in  this  county  and  in  Long  Island,  Michigan, 
and  Iowa.  On  January  5,  1870,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Mary  A.  Davidson,  of  Delhi,  daughter 
of  George  and  Margaret  (Dunn)  Davidson. 

Mrs.  Mable's  father  died  in  .September, 
1887,  in  his  eighty-fourth  year,  leaving  a 
widow  and  nine  children.  Two  of  his  sons 
were  volunteers  in  the  Civil  War,  John  David- 
son having  enlisted  in  the  Eighty-ninth  New- 
York  Infantry,  where  he  served  for  three 
years,  and  was  shot  in  a  skirmish  near  Nor- 
folk. He  died  eleven  months  later;  and  his 
brotiier  'i'homas,  who  had  enlisted  when  but 
eighteen  years  of  age  in  the  One  Hundred 
and  I'orty-fourth  Regiment,  was  killed  in  the 
battle    of    Honey    Hill.      Mrs.    Davidson    was 


226 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


born  in  1807,  in  Rochester,  Northumberland 
County,  in  the  north  of  England,  a  daughter 
of  John  and  Margaret  Uunn,  and  came  to  this 
country  in  1831  with  her  husband,  George 
Davidson,  and  her  two  children,  being  on  the 
ocean  for  seven  weeks  in  the  good  ship 
"Delta,"  Captain  James  Wood.  Mr.  David- 
son was  a  native  of  the  same  county  as  his 
wife,  and  was  born  in  1803.  The  family  set- 
tled in  West  Delhi  in  a  small  clearing  in  the 
midst  of  the  forest,  where  they  built  a  rough 
frame  house.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  David- 
son the  family  removed  to  Hamden,  and  took 
up  their  residence  with  the  youngest  daugh- 
ter. Mr.  and  Mr.  Davidson  were  the  parents 
of  fourteen  children,  six  sons  and  five  daugh- 
ters growing  to  maturity  and  marrying.  Four 
sons  and  four  daughters  are  still  living,  all  in 
this  county  with  the  exception  of  Allan,  who 
is  a  farmer  in  California.  Although  Mrs. 
Davidson  has  been  confined  to  her  bed  for  two 
years,  she  still  retains  her  mental  faculties, 
and  is  able  to  read  and  write  without  glasses. 
She  has  a  wonderfully  strong  constitution, 
and  has  passed  through  many  hardships  which 
she  has  met  with  patience  and  fortitude. 
Though  receiving  only  a  limited  education  in 
her  childhood,  she  has  done  much  toward  self- 
improvement,  and  is  now  a  most  interesting 
and   well-informed   woman. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mable  have  been  called  upon 
to  part  with  both  their  beloved  children, 
whose  death  made  a  sad  break  in  the  happy 
household.  Their  son,  George  D.  Mable, 
died  at  nine  years  of  age,  March  i,  1881,  of 
scarlet  fever,  after  a  short  illness  of  twenty- 
eight  hours.  Their  daughter,  M.  Ray,  a 
beautiful  young  girl,  was  taken  away  at  the 
age  of  eighteen,  in  July,  1891.  In  their 
double  sorrow  the  bereaved  parents  have  had 
the  heartfelt  sympathy  of  a  host  of  friends. 
Soon  after  their  marriage  in  1870,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Mable  removed  to  Charles  City,  Iowa, 
but  returned  to  this  State  in  1876,  and  in 
1886  occupied  their  present  place,  where  they 
have  a  pleasant  cottage  and  a  small  farm  of 
forty-four  acres.  Here  they  keep  a  horse  and 
twenty  head  of  cattle,  grade  Jerseys,  and  fur- 
nish dairy  products  for  the  New  York  market. 
In  July,  1893,  three  of  these  choice  cows, 
including    one    whose    yield    was  about    four 


hundred  pounds  of  butter  yearly,  were  killed 
by  lightning. 

Mr.  Mable  is  a  representative  Republican, 
is  Overseer  of  the  Poor,  and  has  been  Secre- 
tary of  the  Hamden  Insurance  Company  for 
several  years.  Both  he  and  his  wife  are  de- 
voted and  deeply  respected  members  of  the 
Presbyterian    church   at   DeLancey. 


/§> 


EORGE  BIEHLER,  a  respected  citi- 
\  '•)  I  zen  of  Arkville,  is  a  wagon-maker, 
and  carries  on  a  thriving  business 
near  the  railway  station.  He  is  the  son  of 
Christjahn  and  Mary  (Cunnerlin)  Biehler,  and 
was  born  in  Germany,  October  30,  1S24. 
His  mother,  Mary  (Cunnerlin)  Biehler,  was 
the  daughter  of  Michael  Cunnerlin,  a  farmer 
in  Germany.  His  father,  Christjahn  Biehler, 
was  also  a  farmer  in  Germany.  Both  parents 
died  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight. 

George  Biehler,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
received  his  education  in  Germany;  and  at 
the  age  of  fifteen  he  began  to  learn  the  trade 
of  wagon-making.  When  quite  a  young  man, 
he  went  to  Switzerland,  where  he  remained 
two  years,  coming  from  there  to  America  in 
1848.  After  a  long  and  stormy  passage  of 
fourteen  weeks,  he  landed  in  New  York  City 
on  New  Year's  Day,  and,  coming  to  Dela- 
ware County,  tarried  first  in  Roxbury,  and 
from  there  went  to  Andes,  where  he  lived 
three  years.  He  then  went  to  Margarettville, 
and  started  in  the  wagon-making  business. 
During  the  first  year  of  his  residence  here  he 
married  Rebecca  Warden,  daughter  of  Ira 
Warden,  a  well-known  farmer  of  Andes.  Mr. 
Biehler  remained  in  business  at  Margarettville 
for  sixteen  years,  after  which  he  sold  out  and 
bought  a  farm,  on  which  he  lived  for  fifteen 
years.  Selling  the  farm,  he  next  moved  to 
Arkville,  where  he  worked  at  farming  five 
years,  and  then  bought  the  house  in  which  he 
lives  at  the  present  time,  having  in  the  lot 
adjoining  the  house  a  shop,  in  which,  al- 
though quite  an  old  man,  he  still  does  a  good 
business. 

Mr.  Biehler  has  eight  children:  Edward 
R.,  a  furniture  dealer  in  New  York,  married 
Ella  Chapman,  and  has  two  children.  Mar- 
ion  O.,    married,   is  a   railroad   conductor   in 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


227 


Idaho.  Willard  W.,  a  brakeman,  lives  at 
Union  llill,  N.V.:  lie  marricil  Sadie  I'eets, 
and  has  one  child.  Myra  C.  married  William 
Steinhauf,  of  Vermilion,  Kan.  Chancy  H. 
lives  at  home,  lunma  married  J.  Van  Hcn- 
scotten,  of  New  Kingston.  Cora,  wife  of 
H.  M.  Todd,  has  two  children.  ICffie  A.  lives 
at  home.  His  eldest  son,  Ira  G.  15iehler,  was 
for  twenty  years  engaged  in  the  service  of  the 
Ulster  &  Delaware  Railroad  Coni]iany,  work- 
ing his  way  iij)  by  his  indefatigable  energy 
and  push  to  tlie  position  of  agent  of  one  of 
the  most  imijortant  stations  on  the  road.  He 
was  industrious  and  i)ainstaking;  and,  no 
matter  how  great  the  rusli  of  i)usiness,  he  had 
always  a  pleasant  word  for  every  one.  His 
strict  attention  to  business  and  his  courteous 
demeanor  won  him  a  host  of  frientls.  He  had 
scarcely  reacheti  middle  life  when  lie  was 
stricken  down  with  an  inflammator)-  tlisease 
which  ballled  tiie  skill  of  the  best  medical  atl- 
visers  in  this  part  of  the  countr\'.  He  died 
at  his  home  in  Arkville,  on  August  25,  1888, 
aged  thirty-seven  years.  Being  a  Mason,  and 
at  the  time  of  his  deatli  Master  of  the  Mar- 
garettville  Loilge,  No.  389,  he  was  buried 
with  Masonic  rites,  the  funeral  being  one  of 
the  largest  ever  held  here.  His  brothers  are 
members   of   the   same    lodge. 

A  few  years  ago  Marion  O.  Biehler,  who  is 
now  in  the  Far  West,  went  to  South  America. 
The  following  extract  from  a  letter  written  by 
him  to  his  father  and  mother  shows  the  jour- 
ney to  have  been  one  of  hardship  and  ])eril 
rather  than  of  pleasure.  It  was  dated  Ouibdo, 
Colombia,  November  26,  1886,  two  months 
and  four  days  after  he  left  New  York  City. 
The  writer  then  felt  that,  if  he  had  known 
beforehand  the  dangers  and  hairbreadth  es- 
capes he  was  to  meet  with,  not  all  the  gold  in 
South  .America  would  have  teni]'te(l  him  to 
leave  Arkville.  He  says:  "We  arrived  at 
As[)inwall,  October  i,  were  detained  there 
four  days,  transferring  our  provisions,  arms, 
and  baggage,  and  trving  to  get  papers  from 
the  authorities  to  insure  safe  ])assage  along 
the  coast.  They  would  not  grant  them;  but 
.  by  good  luck  we  got  along  just  as  well  with- 
out them.  The  first  day  after  leaving  .Aspin- 
wall  our  vessel  was  nearly  swamjied  several 
times.      But  we  had  no  desire  to  become  food 


for  fishes;  and  we  worked  heroicall)'  tiirough 
the  day,  and  at  night  landed  at  I'orto  ]5elIo. 
The  third  ilay  we  succeeded  in  ])rocuring  a 
pilot  who  was  perfectly  acquainted  with  every 
mile  of  the  coast,  l-'irst  day  from  there  had 
good  wintis,  tiien  it  turned  dead  against  us; 
have  pulled  four  hours  at  a  time,  and  not 
gained  more  than  one  mile.  On  the  19th  we 
came  to  the  mouth  of  the  .Vtrato.  This  river 
rises  and  falls  with  fearful  rapidity.  Have 
known  it,  farther  up  stream,  to  fall  fifteen 
feet  in  one  day.  also  to  rise  ten  feet  in  one 
day.    .    .    . 

"We  crossed  the  (iulf  of  Uarien  to  get  men 
to  pole  us  up  the  river.  It  would  iiave  taken 
eight  men  to  pull  against  the  current,  but  two 
natives  can  pole  it.  They  have  j)oles  ten 
feet  long,  stand  on  forward  end-  of  boat,  place 
the  pole  against  a  tree  on  the  bank,  walk  the 
length  of  the  boat,  ])ushing  the  boat  forward. 
It  was  necessary  to  keej)  close  to  the  hank, 
and  pass  under  large  bushes  that  hang  over 
the  water.  We  would  hear  from  a  native, 
"Coolavery,  coolaveryl"  anil,  looking  up, 
would  behold  a  monstrous  snake  directly  over 
our  heatls.  They  are  hideous-looking  mon- 
sters, and  very  deadly.  We  shot  fifteen,  antl 
some  of  them  were  over  ten  feet  in  length. 
We  were  over  a  month  in  making  the  river, 
surrounded  by  dangers  on  every  hand,  and  did 
not  meet  with  a  person  who  could  understand 
a  word  of  English.  But  I  found  some  breth- 
ren of  our  noble  fiaternity  at  one  town  where 
we  were  oliliged  to  anchor  —  two  Master 
Masons;  anrl,  although  neither  of  us  could 
interpret  a  word  the  other  said,  1  was  as 
warmly  welcomed  as  I  could  have  been  in  my 
native  .State.  They  insisted  that  my  friend, 
J.  D.  Vermilya,  and  I  should  accompany  them 
to  one  of  their  homes  to  dinner.  At  Ouibdo 
we  were  kindly  received  by  Mr.  I'rindle's 
brt;ther,  who  was  watching  for  our  arrival. 
.  .  .  We  still  have  one  week's  journey  before 
us,  to  reach  the  gold  regions."' 

In  politics  Mr.  Biehler  is  a  stanch  Demo- 
crat, and  always  takes  an  active  interest  in 
local  affairs.  He  is  an  honored  member  of 
the  Lutheran  clnirch,  and  has  ever  exemplified 
in  his  life  what  a  true  Christian  should  be. 
Upright  in  his  dealings,  he  enjoys  the  respect 
of  all  who  know  him. 


228 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ILLIAM  A.  HULL  is  a  native  resi- 
dent of  Andes,  Delaware  County, 
N.Y.,  who  has  been  closely  identi- 
fied with  the  local  affairs  of  the  town  since 
his  early  manhood.  His  parents,  Ira  and 
Elizabeth  Hull,  dwelt  on  the  old  homestead 
which  he  now  occupies.  Ira's  father  was 
Ebenezer  Hull,  and  his  mother's  maiden  name 
was  Summers.  They  came  from  Connecticut, 
and  settled  first  on  Hubble  Hill,  and  afterward 
on  Trempers  Kill.  Having  lived  to  a  very  ad- 
vanced age,  they  died  at  the  home  of  their  son 
Ira.  Their  family  consisted  of  two  sons  and 
three  daughters  —  Eri,  Ira,  Rebecca,  Phebe, 
and  Arluna  —  all  of  whom  are  deceased. 

Ira  Hull  was  born  on  Hubble  Hill,  April 
5,  1798,  and  received  a  common-school  educa- 
tion near  his  home.  He  married  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  William  Ackerley,  who  resided 
on  the  Slade  farm.  Mr.  Ackerley  had  the 
following  family:  William,  Jonathan,  Nich- 
olas, Elizabeth,  Laura,  Polly,  Susan,  not  any 
of  whom  are  now  living.  The  father  was  an 
industrious  farmer  of  high  repute  and  a  leader 
among  the  Baptist  brethren  of  this  vicinity, 
holding  the  meetings  at  his  own  house  before 
the  church  was  built.  Ira,  after  living  en  his 
father's  farm,  bought  the  one  now  occupied 
by  the  family,  consisting  of  three  hundred 
acres  of  land  and  fine  buildings.  He  was 
industrious  and  prosperous,  and  was  father  of 
five  children,  as  follows:  Alanson,  who  mar- 
ried Ann  Felton,  of  Andes,  and  is  a  farmer; 
Henrietta,  widow  of  Frank  C.  Reside,  who 
lives  at  Union  Grove;  William  A.;  Stephen, 
deceased;  Calvin,  who  married  Josephine 
Bussy,  and  is  a  lawyer.  In  politics  Mr.  Ira 
Hull  was  a  Democrat.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Hull 
was  a  Baptist  in  her  religious  iaith.  She 
lived   to   be   nearly   eighty   years  of  age. 

William  A.  Hull  was  born  on  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides,  and  received  his  educa- 
tion from  the  district  school.  In  1865  he 
married  Fannie  D.  Hitt,  daughter  of  John 
Hitt,  a  farmer  of  Downsville,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  forty-four  years,  leaving  his  widow  the 
care  and  responsibility  of  bringing  up  their 
family  alone.  The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hitt  were:  William,  living  in  Downsville; 
Charles,  a  resident  of  Colchester;  Fannie, 
wife     of     Mr.      Hull;      Maggie,      widow     of 


George  Warren.  Mrs.  Hitt  was  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  Mr.  Hitt 
erected  a  hotel  in  Downsville,  but  at  its  com- 
pletion sold  it  and  engaged  in  carpentering. 

William  Hull  first  started  a  farm,  bought 
of  D.  Palmateer  and  of  his  brother,  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  all  together.  This  farm 
includes  part  of  the  picturesque  sheet  of  water 
called  Perch  Lake;  and  here  he  has  laid  out 
delightful  picnic  grounds  furnished  with  a 
cottage,  tables,  boats,  and  other  conveniences 
that  minister  to  the  comfort  and  gratification 
of  his  guests.  This  is  considered  one  of  the 
finest  places  for  fishing  in  Delaware  County, 
and  here  Mr.  Hull  accommodates  large  num- 
bers of  lovers  of  sport  during  the  season. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hull  have  reared  two  chil- 
dren: Sarah,  who  is  the  wife  of  Lee  J.  Fris- 
bee,  and  has  two  children  —  Willard  and  a 
daughter  not  yet  named;  Lillie,  who  is  still 
at  home.  This  farm  is  one  of  the  best  in  the 
section,  having  upon  it  a  comfortable  house, 
built  in  1871,  and  commodious  barns,  new  in 
1874.  Mr.  Hull  keeps  twenty-five  Alderney 
cows  of  the  finest  stock,  and  yielding  yearly 
a  handsome  profit.  In  politics  Mr.  Hull  is  a 
Democrat,  and  has  been  Excise  Commissioner 
for  many  years.  His  wife  is  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church.  Mr.  Hull  is  much  re- 
spected for  his  strict  integrity,  his  high  moral 
character,  and  his  business  ability. 


HARLES    KNIGHT,   a  highly  intelli- 
I  gent   and    influential   citizen   of   Han- 

is  ,  cock,  Delaware  County,  was  born 
April  8,  1826.  His  father,  John 
Knight,  was  born  in  1780,  in  Philadelphia; 
and  his  grandfather,  who  was  also  John 
Knight,  was  born  in  the  same  city  in  1750. 
The  Knight  family  are  of  English  descent, 
having  probably  come  to  this  country  with 
William  Penn,  and  have  long  been  promi- 
nently identified  with  the  affairs  of  the 
Quaker  city.  The  records  of  the  family  may 
be  found  on  the  books  of  Christ's  (Episcopal) 
Church,  on  Second  Street.  Henry  Knight, 
great-grandfather  of  Charles,  was  born  on 
June  10,  1726.  He  married  Elizabeth  Har- 
din, who  was  also  of  Philadelphia;  and  they 
raised  a   large  family.     Their  son  John  was  a 


IfH'.R  AIMIICAI, 


■AMKW 


:;0 


si)ldier  in  the  Revolutioiiar\-  War,  and  was  at 
the  battle  of  Aronnioutli,  alter  which  he  lay  on 
the  field  all  night,  contracting  a  disease  from 
which  he  ne\er  reco\-ered.  lie  died  in  17X6, 
when  but  thirty-six  years  old.  His  wife  w,is 
Mary  Coran,  a  native  of  the  (Juakcr  city:  and 
they  had  three  children,  two  of  whom,  Will- 
iam and  John,  Jr.,  grew  to  manhood. 

William  Knight  was  a  sailing-master  in 
the  United  States  na\-y.  His  commission  is 
now  in  the  possession  of  his  nephew  Charles, 
who  is  justly  proud  of  such  an  uncle.  It 
reads  as  follows:  — 

"'rhomas  Jefferson.  President  of  the  L'nited 
States,  to  all  who  shall  see  these  presents, 
greeting:  Know  ye  that,  reposing  si:)ecial 
trust  and  confifk'nce  in  tln'  valor,  fidelity,  and 
abilities  of  William  Knight.  I  do  appoint  him 
.Sailing  Master  in  the  Na\y  of  the  L'nited 
.States.  He  is  therefore  carefully  and  dili- 
gentl}-  to  discharge  the  duty  of  a  .Sailing 
Master  by  doing  and  performing  all  manner 
of  things  thereunto  belonging.  .And  I  do 
strictly  charge  and  require  all  officers,  sea- 
men, and  others  under  his  command  to  be 
obedient  to  his  orders  as  a  Sailing  Master 
and  he  is  to  oljserve  and  follow  such  orders 
and  directions  from  time  to  time  as  he  shall 
receive  from  me  or  the  future  President  of  the 
l'nited  .States  of  America,  or  the  superior 
officer  set  over  him  according  to  the  rules 
and  discijiline  of  the  Navv.  This  warrant  to 
continue  in  force  during  the  pleasure  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States  for  the  time 
being.  To  t:ike  rank  from  the  .Secontl  of 
October,  1/99-  Given  under  mv  hand  at  the 
city  of  Washington,  the  twenty-seventh  day  of 
December,  1S02,  and  the  twenty-seventh  year 
of  the  independence  of  the  L'nited  .States. 

■■(.Signed)  TiiM\iA>  Ji.ii-eksox. 

'■By    command     of     the     President    of     the 

Unitetl  States,  .  t-,     .- 

R.   Smith. 

"Registered  in  the  Navy  Office, 

"'.S.\Mri;i.   T.    .AxDKKSoN." 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  an  in- 
teresting letter  written  by  William  Knight 
to  his  mother  while  he  was  on  board  the 
l'nited    .States    steamship    "Macedonian'"    at 


New  London,  Conn.,  then  blockaded  by  the 
British,  and  is  dated  .August  r,  1S14,  tiiat 
being  the  anniversary  of  his  birth:   - 

■'On  Montlay  last  we  fitted  out  an  expedi- 
tion, consisting  of  four  whale  boats,  eight 
officers,  and  twenty  men.  We  lost  one  boat, 
and  captureil  three  ofliccrs  and  five  men,  no 
lives  being  lost  on  either  side.  The  boats 
returned  on  I'riday,  the  one  that  was  lost 
being  from  this  ship.  On  Tuesday,  early  in 
J  the  morning,  it  being  very  foggy  weather, 
our  boat  lost  sight  of  the  other  three;  and  the 
officer  in  charge  ordered  our  men  to  pull  in 
for  the  westward.  In  so  doing  they  came  in 
sight  of  a  seventy-four,  and  they  immediately 
pulled  the  other  way;  and,  seeing  a  light- 
house, they  used  every  exertion  to  get  be- 
tween the  ships  and  the  shore.  They  pro- 
ceeded (jii  for  some  time;  but  the  men 
became  weary,  having  [julled  all  night,  and 
the  officer  thought  it  jM-udent  to  pull  to  the 
shore  and  haul  the  boat  ujx  which  they  did. 
At  daybreak  they  found  themselves  within 
gunshot  of  several  ships  of  war,  and,  aban- 
doning the  boat,  took  to  the  woods.  Soon 
after -they  saw  a  boat  pull  off  from  one  of  the 
ships  and  land  three  officers,  who  went  to  the 
house  of  Mr.  Gartlner,  to  whom  the  island 
belongs.  Our  officer,  seeing  this,  immediately 
made  for  the  boat,  where  he  captured  five 
men,  and  then  went  to  the  house,  where  he 
look  Lieutenants  Dance  and  Hoi)e  and  one 
midshi])nian.  We  had  tw^o  midshipmen  and 
six  men.  After  taking  the  eight  l-'nglish 
men,  our  officer  found  himself  in  a  dis- 
agreeable position,  without  a  boat  and  on  an 
island.  The  l:^nglishmen  were  ignorant  of 
this,  .md  our  officer  ordered  them  to  sign 
their  parole  cjr  go  with  him  to  Long  Island. 
They  hesitated  some  time,  for  to  be  taken 
prisoners  by  equal  numbers  would  not  do; 
but  after  serious  consultation,  and  rather 
than  go  to  Long  Island,  they  signed  their 
jKirole.  The  next  business  for  our  men  was 
to  look  out  for  a  boat.  The  ship  saw  their 
boat  was  taken,  and  manned  five  boats,  which 
they  sent  toward  the  shore.  H\-  Mr.  Gard- 
ner's house  we  found  a  boat  hauled  on  the 
land,  which  we  quickly  launched,  and  made 
our  escape  to  .S.ag  Harbor,  being  joined  bv 
the   three    American    boats,    w'ho  also    arrived 


230 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


at  the  harbor.  The  commancling  officer  then 
was  a  lieutenant,  who  brought  another  whale 
boat  for  our  use,  and  hauled  the  boats  across 
a  neck  of  land  about  six  miles  westward  of 
the  English  ships,  and  on  Friday  arrived  here 
all  right." 

William  Knight  was  aboard  the  United 
States  frigate  "Philadelphia"  when  she  ran 
aground  and  was  lost  in  the  Bay  of  Tripoli. 
There  were  three  hundred  and  eleven  souls  on 
board  the  frigate^  and  they  were  taken  on 
shore,  and  put  in  a  building  formerly  occu- 
pied by  a  United  States  consul.  They  were 
kept  as  slaves  for  two  years  by  the  bashaw 
of  Tripoli,  and  then  redeemed  for  sixty  thou- 
sand dollars  by  the  United  States  government. 
A  part  of  the  ransom  was  paid  in  pine  timber 
cut  on  the  Preston  property  at  Stockport,  run 
to  Philadelphia,  and  shipped  to  Tripoli. 
After  a  long,  useful,  and  eventful  sea  life, 
Mr.  Knight  was  transferred  to  the  navy  yard 
in  Philadelphia,  where  he  died  in  1834,  aged 
fifty-nine. 

John  Knight,  Jr.,  the  father  of  Charles, 
was  about  eleven  years  of  age  when  he  came 
to  Delaware  County  from  Philadelphia,  and 
settled  on  the  farm  of  Judge  Preston.  He 
could  remember  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis, 
and  had  seen  Washington.  He  was  one  of 
the  first  settlers  of  the  Delaware  Valley,  and 
always  followed  the  river  as  a  lumberman, 
being  also  a  farmer.  His  first  wife  was  Re- 
becca Jenkins,  a  sister  of  Judge  Preston's 
wife;  and  by  her  he  had  two  children  — W^ill- 
iam  and  Daniel.  She  died  in  1804;  and  in 
1806  he  married  Esther  G.  Sands,  daughter 
of  Benjamin  and  Hannah  Sands.  They  were 
the  parents  of  ten  children,  seven  of  whom 
grew  to  maturity,  namely:  John;  Richard; 
Edward,  who  was  lost  in  the  woods  at  the  age 
of  four  years,  his  remains  not  being  discov- 
ered until  the  next  summer;  Mary;  Hannah; 
George;  Henry;  Rebecca;  Elizabeth;  and 
Charles.  Mary  died  at  the  age  of  fourteen, 
and  three  others  died  within  a  few  days  of  one 
another,  of  a  prevalent  disease.  John  Knight, 
Jr.,  was  the  first  Supervisor  of  Hancock,  and 
held  the  respect  of  his  townsmen  throughout 
his  life.  He  was  a  Whig,  and  both  he  and 
his  wife  were  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal  church.     He  died   of   a  fever,  April  9, 


1843,  at  the  age  of  si.\ty-two;  and  his  wife 
survived  him  nineteen  years,  dying  November 
7,  1862. 

Charles   Knight   was   born  on   the   farm  he 
now  occupies,    and    where    he    has    spent    the 
greater  part  of  his   life.     At  the  time  of  his 
birth    the    family    occupied    the    log    cabin 
erected   by  his  father  when   he   came   on   the 
land   in    18 10.      He  was  educated   in  the  dis- 
trict school  in  the  town  of  Hancock,  and  when 
but  seventeen  years  old    was   left   fatherless, 
since  which  time  he  has  depended  on  his  own 
exertions.      December    3,     1856,    Mr.    Knight 
married   Rachel  C.  Calder,  daughter  of   Alex- 
ander and  Affa  (Waldron)  Calder,  of  Greene 
County,  New  York.     They  have  six  children, 
namely:   W.    De   Milt,    a   resident   of   Pueblo, 
Col.,  who  has  two  children;  Efifie  M.,  wife  of 
L.   B.   Dole,   of   Hancock,   who  has  five  chil- 
dren; Cora  A.,  who  was  the  wife  of  the  Rev. 
Francis    M.    Turrentine,    and    died    in    May, 
1889,  leaving   one  child;   Alma   E.,  living  at 
home  with   her  father;  Charles  C,  a  resident 
of  Pueblo,  Col.;  and   Ida  M.,  wife  of  Julian 
W.  Gould,  of   Hancock.      Charles  C.  is  a  sur- 
veyor  and    civil    engineer.      He    was    on    the 
Denver  &   Rio  Grande  and  Mexican  Southern 
Railways,   and    was    highly   recommended    by 
the    division    engineer    for   roads    of    difficult 
construction.      Mrs.    Knight     died    December 
8,    1887,   having   been    throughout    her   life  a 
faithful   member  of   the    Methodist    Episcopal 
church. 

Mr.  Knight  has  been  School  Trustee  for 
thirty  consecutive  years,  and  was  Road  Com- 
missioner for  a  long  while.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Good  Templars  Lodge,  and  a  man  of 
high  standing  in  the  esteem  of  his  fellow- 
townsmen,  being  upright    in  all   his   dealings. 


ILLIAM  B.  MORROW,  M.D.,  one 
of  the  most  talented  physicians  and 
surgeons  of  Walton,  Delaware 
County,  N.Y.,  was  born  at  Knoxboro,  Oneida 
County,  January  17,  1858,  and  is  the  son  of 
James  E.  and  Lura  A.  (Beach)  Morrow.  On 
the  paternal  side  he  is  of  Scotch-Irish  de- 
scent. His  grandfather  came  to  this  country 
from  the  north  of  Ireland,  and,  settling  in 
Georgetown,  N.Y.,  married  a  Miss  Butler,  by 


William   B,   Morrow. 


BIOGRAl'inCyVL    REVIEW 


\^3 


\vh(ini  he  had  c\'j,h\.  chihhx'n,  of  whom  tlic  tol- 
h)\ving  is  a  brief  mention:  Mli/nheth  manieci 
Wiley  Hamilton,  and  settled  in  Ca/.eno\ia, 
N.\'.,  where  they  holh  died.  William  died 
in  early  manhood.  i'"rank  married  a  I\Ir. 
Sturdevant,  antl  settled  in  Oneida  Countv. 
John  H.  also  settled  in  Oneitla  ("oimty. 
Mary,  widow  of  Mr.  Hall,  resides  in  (ieori^e- 
town,  Oneida  County.  Antoinette  married 
John  I'isk,  of  Lebanon.  Jane  married  No\-es 
Hosworth.  The  other  son,  James  J'].,  the 
father  of  Dr.  Morrow,  was  born  in  (ienr_i;e- 
town,  (.)neida  C'ounty.  about  1833.  He  re- 
ceived a  liberal  education,  and,  as  he  grew  to 
manhood,  engaged  in  farming.  He  married 
Lura  A.  Beach,  a  daughter  of  Jacob  and  I.ura 
A.  (Doolittle)  Beach,  who  was  born  in 
Greene  County,  New  York,  in  iiS32.  Mr. 
anil  Mrs.  Morrow  settled  at  Knoxboro,  where 
by  dint  of  economy  and  industry  they  ac- 
cumulated a  competenc}'.  Two  of  their  four 
children  are  now-  living;,  namel\':  Cora  A., 
wife  of  John  Hepwell,  a  prominent  farmer  of 
Oneida  County:  and  Dr.  Morrow,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch. 

William  1^.  Morrow  w^as  brought  up  u])on 
his  father's  farm,  receiving  his  early  educa- 
tion at  the  district  schools.  He  afterward 
attended  the  Whitestown  Seminary  for  two 
vears,  and  then  entered  Hamilton  College  at 
Clinton,  where  he  passed  his  Sophomore 
years.  He  studied  medicine  for  one  year  in 
the  office  of  Dr.  Charles  Munger,  of  Knox- 
boro, and  thence  went  to  Bcllevue  IMedical 
College,  where  he  was  graduated  March  10. 
1 88 1.  Soon  after  his  graduation  he  settleil 
in  Walton,  w'here  he  has  since  followed  his 
profession,  and  has  built  up  a  practice  second 
to  none  in  the  town. 

Dr.  Morrow  was  united  in  marriage,  Octo- 
ber 12,  1 88 1,  to  Miss  Ida  M.  Strong,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Warren  G.  and  I'"annie  (Smith)  .Strong, 
of  Knoxboro.  Mr.  .Strong  is  I'resident  of  the 
First  National  Hank  of  X'ernon,  N.Y..  and  is 
a  prominent  business  man  of  his  county.  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Morrow  have  had  two  children,  onlv 
one  of  whf)m  is  now  living.  The  ehlest,  Her- 
bert S.,  born  July  26.  1882,  w\as  drowned  on 
April  13,  1893.  ]\ay  W.  Morrow  was  born 
February  6,   1889. 

Dr.  Morrf)w  is  a  member  of   several    promi- 


nent medical  scjcieties,  including  the  New 
York  .State  Medical  Association,  the  Dela- 
ware County  Meilical  Societ)-,  the  Natif)nal 
.Association  u[  Railway  .Surge(jns,  the  .New 
\'ork  Slate  Association  of  Railroad  .Surgeons, 
also  the  Medico-legal  .Society.  He  is  surgeon 
to  the  O.  &  W.  and  Delhi  Branch  Railroads, 
and  is  also  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Pension 
Fxaminers.  He  takes  an  active  interest  in 
educational  matters  of  the  town,  and  is  one  of 
the  schoid  trustees.  The  genial  Doctor  is 
likewise  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity, 
belonging  to  Walton  Lodge,  .\o.  559.  and  to 
Walton  Chapter. 

The  town  of  Walton  has  had  many  physi- 
cians of  learning  and  skill  domiciled  within 
her  borders;  but  none  of  them  have  exceeded 
in  promise  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  who  has 
gaineil  for  himself  in  the  few  years  he  has 
been  a  resident  a  name  to  be  proud  of.  While 
he  is  a  close  student  and  devoted  to  the  ])ursuit 
of  ills  profession,  he  yet  finds  time  to  further 
the  best  interests  of  the  town  both  by  w^ord 
and  deed,  the  steady  light  of  his  broad  phi- 
lanthrojiy  shining   in    no  dim,  uncertain   way. 

A  welcome  accompaniment  to  this  brief 
record  of  the  Morrow  family  is  the  por- 
trait of  the  Doctor  on  another  page  of  the 
■■  Review." 


-rf^t'HI'^lvT  S.  RICH,  one  of  the  oldest 
IK^  business  men  of  this  section  of  Dela- 
Jjs\  ware   County,  is  carrying  on  a  prof- 

^"^  itable  trade  in  general  merchandise 
in  the  village  of  Hobart,  w-here  he  has  been 
located  for  twoscore  years.  During  this 
length  of  time  the  sterling  traits  of  his  char- 
acter have  become  thoroughly  known  to  his 
fellow-citizens,  by  whom  he  is  held  in  high 
esteem.  Mr.  Rich  was  born  in  the  town  of 
.Stamford  on  i\Iarch  7,  1823,  son  of  James  and 
Helen  (Marshall)  Rich.  ( I-'or  further  ances- 
tral history  see  the  sketch  of  Mrs.  Sarah 
Rich,  which  appears  on  another  |)age  of  this 
work.) 

-Vfter  lea\ing  the  tlistrict  school  he  con- 
tinued his  education  in  New  York  City. 
When  eighteen  years  old,  he  secured  a  posi- 
tion as  clerk  in  Hall's  retail  dry-goods  store, 
where   he   remained    five   vears,  faithfullv   ful- 


234 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


filling  his  duties,  and  at  the  same  time  ac- 
quiring a  good  insight  into  the  husiness.  At 
the  expiration  of  that  time  Mr.  Rich,  in  com- 
pany with  an  associate,  opened  a  store  for  the 
sale  of  dry  goods;  and  for  five  years  they  car- 
ried on  a  successful  business  under  the  firm 
name  of  Rich  &  Hlish.  The  firm  being  then 
dissolved,  the  senior  partner  came  to  Hobart, 
where  in  1855  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
John  F.  Grant,  and,  buying  out  the  general 
merchandise  establishment  of  Dr.  McNaught, 
continued  in  trade,  the  firm  of  Rich  &  Grant 
being  for  a  number  of  years  one  of  the  most 
active  and  thriving  in  the  village.  Mr.  Rich 
subsequently  bought  the  interest  of  his  part- 
ner, and  has  since  conducted  the  business  by 
himself.  He  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  best- 
known  merchants  of  Hobart,  a  man  of  excel- 
lent capacity  and  business  talent;  and  his 
honest  dealings  and  uniform  courtesy  have 
secured  him  the  general  respect  and  good 
will   of  the  community. 

On  April  25,  1850,  Mr.  Rich  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Caroline  D.  Blish,  a  native  of 
Stamford,  and  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  old- 
est families  of  the  county,  being  the  daughter 
of  Aristarchus  and  Nancy  Merriam  Blish,  for- 
merly prosperous  members  of  the  farming 
comrnunity  of  Stamford.  Two  sons  and  two 
daughters  have  been  born  of  their  union,  the 
family  record  being  as  follows:  James  B.,  a 
single  man,  is  a  partner  in  his  father's  busi- 
ness. Caroline  M.,  the  wife  of  I..  E.  Hig- 
ley,  resides  in  North  Adams,  Mass.  Stephen 
W.,  a  farmer,  lives  in  Stamford.  Bertha  E. 
lives  with  her  parents.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rich 
are  members  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at 
Hobart,  and  contribute  liberally  and  cheer- 
fully toward  its  support.  Politically,  Mr. 
Rich  is  a  steadfast  Republican,  and  is  a  man 
of  decided  views,  although  quiet  and  unobtru- 
sive in  his  manner.  His  influence  has  always 
been  strongly  in  favor  of  the  maintenance  of 
schools  and  churches,  and  whatever  else  is 
calculated  to  benefit  the  community. 


/^^TTToRGE    A.    FISHER,    a  well-known 

V    •)  I       lawyer  of  Delhi,  was  born  in  Frank- 

^ —         lin.  May  27,    1850,   and   is   a  son  of 

Enos  B.  and   Hannah   M.  Fisher.     His  father 


and  grandfather  were  both  natives  of  this 
town,  the  great-grandfather,  George  Fisher, 
coming  to  America  with  the  Hessian  army  in 
Revolutionary  times.  He  took  up  a  tract  of 
timbered  land  near  the  present  site  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Delhi,  and,  clearing  the  .same,  built  a 
log  cabin  and  engaged  in  farming.  His  son 
John,  grandfather  of  George  A.,  improved  the 
land  which  came  into  his  possession  on  the 
death  of  his  father,  and  built  the  first  frame 
house  in  Delhi.  He  reared  a  family  of  three 
sons,  namely:  George  J.,  who  .still  lives  on 
the  old  homestead;  Enos  B. ;  and  Austin  B., 
who  is  a  resident  of  Brooklyn,  N.Y. 

Enos  B.  Fisher  received  his  education  at 
the  district  schools,  and  resided  with  his 
father  until  he  was  about  twenty,  when  he  mar- 
ried, and  purchased  a  small  farm  of  his  own, 
also  working  at  carpentry.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-four  he  removed  to  Franklin,  where  he 
resided  several  years,  afterward  going  to  Sid- 
ney, and  remaining  there  until  1875,  when  he 
leased  his  farm  and  returned  to  F"ranklin. 
His  last  years  were  spent  at  Unadilla,  Otsego 
County.  He  was  an  extremely  active  man  in 
all  matters  pertaining  to  the  good  of  the  town. 
He  held  the  position  of  County  Superintend- 
ent of  the  Poor  tor  three  years,  and  was  also 
one  of  the  members  and  organizers  of  the  Bap- 
tist church  in  Delhi,  being  deeply  interested 
in  all  matters  ])crtaining  to  church  work,  and 
holding  many  offices  connected  therewith. 
He  was  Superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school 
at  Sidney  for  many  years.  He  married  Miss 
Hannah  M.  Sloat,  a  daughter  of  William  and 
Joanna  (Bunce)  Sloat,  and  one  of  a  family  of 
eight  children.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fisher  reared 
nine  children:  John  H.:  Julia  E. ;  Austin 
E. ;  Joanna  P.,  the  wife  of  William  R.  Flint, 
of  Sidney;  James  W. ;  George  A.;  Edward 
R.;  Nancy  E. ;  and  Willis  H.  Mr.  Fisher 
died  April  4,  1894,  aged  seventy-five,  his 
wife  having  died  about  two  weeks  previous, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-four. 

George  A.  Fisher  received  most  of  his  early 
education  in  the  district  school  at  Sidney,  but 
later  attended  the  Delaware  Literary  Institute 
at  Franklin.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he 
went  to  Kansas,  where  he  engaged  in  teaching 
for  a  period  of  five  months,  and  then  came 
bagk    to    York    State,    locating    in    Sherman, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


23s 


Chautauqua  County,  where  lie  was  emploved 
in  a  hardware  store.  He  afterward  returned 
to  Sidney,  and  assisted  his  father  on  the  farm 
for  a  short  time.  lie  then  l)e<;an  the  study  of 
hiw  with  the  Hon.  IC.  I).  Wagner,  then 
County  Judge  and  Surrogate  of  Dehiware 
('ounty,  at  Delhi,  N.Y.  He  was  appointed 
Clerk  to  the  -Surrogate's  Court,  holding  this 
office  until  the  latter's  term  e.\])ired.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1876,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at 
Saratoga,  and  began  practice  in  Delhi.  In 
1890  he  formed  a  copartnership  with  ex- 
Judge  Wagner,  and  has  continued  with  him 
ever  since,  doing  a  general  law  business,  tliey 
probably  having  the  largest  practice  of  any 
law   firm   in  the  county. 

Mr.  I'isher  was  married  in  1878  to  Miss 
Annie  Williamson,  a  native  of  I3elhi,  and  a 
daughter  of  Robert  and  Sarah  K.  (Knapp) 
Williamson.  Of  this  union  there  are  three 
children— May  W.,  Hertha  W.,  and  Sarah  — 
the  two  first-named  being  students  at  the 
academy.  The  family  are  members  of  the 
.Second  I'resbyterian  Church.  Mr.  I-'isher  is 
a  member  of  the  Zeta  Phi  .Society  of  Dellii. 
In  politics  he  supports  the  Republican  party. 
He  is  a  man  of  liberal  views  and  varied  ac- 
ciuiremcnts,  having  a  high  rejMitation  as  an 
intelligent  and  honorable  lawyer,  and  taking 
a  deep  interest  in  all  enterprises  that  tend  to 
])romote  the  welfare  of  the  town. 


tLV.  SAMUEL  G.  SHAW,  Ph.D., 
pastor  of  the'  Reformed  Presbyterian 
church  at  Walton,  N.Y.,  was  born 
""^  in  Orange  County,  November  20, 
1854.  His  father,  the  Rev.  James  W.  Shaw, 
a  native  of  Ireland,  and  grandfather  William, 
who  was  originally  a  weaver  in  .Scotland, 
came  to  this  country  in  1824.  William  Shaw 
piuxhased  a  tract  of  ])artially  cleared  land  in 
Washington  Count}',  upon  which  he  built  a 
log  house,  the  same  standing  to  this  day.  He 
moved  later  to  Orange  County,  where  he 
s])ent  his  declining  years.  His  son,  James 
W.,  was  born  in  1S12.  He  was  educated  in 
the  district  schools,  and  for  S(mie  time  taught 
school,  afterward  entering  Lafayette  College, 
paying  for  his  tuition  by  the  aid  of  teaching. 
He  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  anil  received 


his  first  charge  in  1844,  settling  near  Xew- 
burg  on  the  Hudson,  where  he  preached  for 
some  forty  years,  when  he  resigned,  making 
his  home  there,  and  preaching  occasionally 
u])  to  the  time  of  his  death.  He  was  married 
to  h'.lizabeth  McLaury  I'"iiilcy,  six  children 
being  born  to  them  Martha,  William  J., 
Charles  !■".,  Margaret  !■".,  M.  h'rances,  and 
.Samuel    ('•. 

The  youngest  son,  bearing  the  ex|)ressive 
Hebrew  name  Samuel,  as  if  to  mark  him  as 
set  ai)art  for  a  divine  calling,  was  educated  in 
the  district  schools,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
began  teaching.  This,  however,  was  but  a 
stej)  toward  a  higher  learning,  to  compass 
which  he  shortly  entered  the  Xewburg  Insti- 
tute, and  there  prepared  for  college.  Later 
he  matriculated  at  Columbia  College,  New 
York  City,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1880 
with  high  honors,  and  then  pursued  his  theo- 
logical studies  at  the  .Allegheny  City  .Semi- 
nary, graduating  from  that  institution  in 
1884.  Previous  to  this  time,  while  he  was 
yet  a  student  at  the  seminary,  he  had  received 
three  calls.  After  careful  consideration  he 
decided  to  accept  the  call  from  Walton,  and 
for  ten  years  has  remained  at  that  charge, 
where  in  addition  to  his  ministerial  duties 
he  is   prominent  in  the  affairs   of  the   village. 

The  Rev.  .Samuel  C. '.Shaw  was  married  in 
1885  to  Miss  Sarah  J.,  the  daughter  of  Will- 
iam and  I-lUcn  ( I.awson)  Jliiton.  Mrs. 
.Shaw's  father  was  a  iirominent  builder  and 
contractor  of  Newburg,  where  he  conducted 
a  successful  business  for  nearly  half  a  century. 
He  died  in  1890,  aged  seventy-four.  Mrs. 
.Shaw  has  the  following  brothers  and  sisters: 
William  IL.  Robert  J.,  Anna  I'..  Samuel  J., 
Mary  IC.  Minnie  I-\.  Ida  L.,  Clara,  Edith. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shaw  have  three  children  — 
Hazel    II.,  William    H.,  and    Percy    L.   Shaw. 

The  Rev.  .Samuel  G.  Shaw  is  a  man  of 
rare  personal  and  mental  qualifications. 
Through  his  kindly  instrumentality  several 
young  men  have  been  fitted  for  college.  Dur- 
ing his  own  student  life  he  had  a  distin- 
guished career.  He  has  received  the  degree 
of  M.A.,  and  in  1894  the  degree  of  Ph.D., 
from  the  L'niversity  of  Wooster.  He  is  an 
earnest  and  sincere  Christian,  a  man  of  that 
superior  type  who  may  be  said   to  add   dignitv 


236 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


lo  the  human  race  by  belonging  to  it,  a  man 
whose  influence  is  faithfully  exerted  in  behalf 
of  things  that  are  true,  honest,  just,  lovely, 
and   of  good   report. 


Charles  lawson  crushv,  now 

a  prominent  resident  of  (iriffin"s 
Corners,  Middletown,  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Halcott,  Greene  ■ 
County,  on  September  16,  1873.  His  father 
was  Emerson  M.  Crosby,  who  married  Mary 
Lawson,  daughter  of  Joseph  Lawson,  a  pros- 
perous farmer  in  Olive,  Ulster  County.  Ben- 
jamin L.  Crosby,  the  father  of  Emerson  M., 
was  born  at  Kelly's  Corner  on  December  8, 
1797,  and  married  Huldah  Hull.  Their 
wedding  took  place  in  1819,  and  she  died  in 
1843. 

The  children   of   this  true  and   happy  union 
were    as    follows:    Lavinia    Crosby   was    born 
October    18,    1820,    and   is   now  a   resident   of 
Margarettville.      Thomas     Crosby,     who     first 
saw   the   light   of   day  on  September  29,   1822, 
is    at    present    living    in    the    West.      Edward 
Crosby    was    born     September     2,     1824,    and 
makes   his   home  in  Kingston,  being  a  retired 
merchant,    and    the   father   of    nine    children. 
l-:ii    Crosby,    born    in    April,     1826,    married 
Deborah    Kelley,    and    died    in    1873,    leaving 
seven   children;  and   his   widow   now   lives   in 
Halcott.      David    Crosby   was   born    two  years 
later,   on    Independence    Day,     1828,    married 
Bethia   Brown,    has   three   children,    and    lives 
on     the    old     homestead     at     Halcott.      Sally 
Crosby,    whose   birth   was   on   the   last   day   of 
September,   1830,  is   living  in  Shelby  County, 
Iowa,  having  married  John  Vanderburg  of  that 
town.     Ann  Eliza  Crosby,  born  May  2,  1832, 
became    the    beloved    wife    of    Allen    Lasher. 
Emerson    M.    Crosby   was   born    on    March    9, 
1834.      Mary   A.    Crosby,    now    the  widow   of 
Mr.  Kelley,  was  born  September  2,   1836,  and 
continues  to  live  at  Griffin's   Corners  with  her 
two  sons.      Esther  H.  Crosby,  the  youngest  of 
this   well-known    family,   was   born    March  8, 
1839,    and    is  the  wife   of    W.   H.    Blish,   of 
Griffin's  Corners.     After  the  death  of  his  first 
wife    Benjamin    L.   Crosby  married   Elizabeth 
Dickson,  and   was  again    made  a  widower  in 
April,    1887.      Until   his    death,    on   the   first 


day    of    April,    1893,    he    then    being    in    his 
ninety-sixth    year.    Grandfather    Crosby    con- 
tinued to  live  in  Halcott,  where  he  will  long 
be  remembered,  not  only  as  a  reliable  Justice 
of    Peace,    but    as    a    man    of    unimpeachable 
integrity- 
Emerson    M.    Crosby  was   born   on    the    old 
homestead,  and  grew  to  manhood  there,  being 
educated   in   the   district  school,  and  finishing 
at  the  Delhi   Academy.      He  commenced  his 
business    career  as  a  clerk   for   a   well-known 
firm    in    Kingston,    but    left   them   to   join   his 
brother,    Edward    Crosby,    in    his    store.     A 
little  later,  however,  when  the  old  firm  started 
a    branch    store   at    Griffin"s    Corners,    he   ac- 
cepted  a   desirable   offer,  and    once    more   be- 
came a  clerk   in  their  employ.      It  was  not  till 
after  his  marriage  with  Mary  Lawson  that  he 
went   to    Halcott,   where   was   born   their  son 
Charles.      Mrs.  Mary   Crosby   lived   but   three 
years  after  marriage.      When   she   had   passed 
away,  Emerson  returned  to  Griffin's  Corners, 
where   he  took  his  old  position,  and  remained 
in  charge   of  the   branch   store  until   death,  at 
the  age  of  fifty-nine  years,  nine   months,  and 
fourteen  days.     Sorrow  most  genuine  was  felt 
at  his  decease;  for  the  town  had  lost  a  friend, 
as  well  as  a  respected  gentleman  and  enter- 
prising    citizen.      Emerson     M.     Crosby    was 
President  of  the  Griffin's  Corners  Water  Com- 
pany, and   was  leader  in  the  effort  to  establish 
this  village  aqueduct.      In    1880   he   built   the 
store    now   occupied    by    his    son,    a   structure 
four  stories   high,  and   fifty  by  sixty-four  feet 
in  area,  the  upper  part   being  used  as  a  dwell- 
ing.     He  owned    the    flats    between    the    two 
creeks,  was  a  dealer   in   timber   land,  and   the 
first  subscriber  for   the   Episcopal   church,  for 
which  he  furnished  the  lumber. 

Emerson  M.  Crosby  returned  to  Griffin's 
Corners  when  Charles  was  a  babe  of  fourteen 
months;  and  the  child's  home  was  thenceforth 
with  his  aunt,  Mrs.  W.  H.  Blish.  At  the 
age  of  thirteen  Charlie  became  a  student  at 
the  Delaware  Academy  in  Delhi,  but  finished 
his  education  at  the  Rochester  Business  Uni- 
versity. He  came  home  in  1890  for  a  stay  of 
six  months;  and  then  he  went  to  Georgia, 
where  he  remained  a  year.  On  his  return  to 
Griffin's  Corners  he  obtained  the  position, 
which  he  now  holds,  of  clerk  with  Faulkner  & 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


-37 


Laurence,  who  occupy  Mr.  Crosby's  buildinf; 
for  general  trade.  In  adilition  to  this  and  his 
inherited  real  estate,  .Mr.  Charles  L.  Crosby 
is  connected  with  the  water  company,  has 
stock  in  the  Griffin's  and  I'"leischnianns  }hi- 
ald,  and  in  the  Ilalcott  Teleijhone  Company. 
As  the  only  child  and  representative  of  his 
father,  he  has  proved  himself  a  man  of  excel- 
lent capacity.  He  is  the  owner  of  fine  tim- 
ber land,  and  has  sold  the  largest  tract  of 
hemlock  in  the  county.  Like  his  father  and 
grandfather,  he  is  a  Democrat,  and  verv  lib- 
eral in  his  religious  views.  Though  he  has 
not  yet  entered  the  bonds  of  matrimonv,  we 
may  be  sure,  if  his  life  is  spared,  that  Charles 
L.  Crosby  will  not  allow  the  family  tree  to 
perish  for  want  of  fruit  and  culture.  Well 
said  an  ancient  Greek  philosopher, — 

"It  is  with  youth  as  with  plants:  from  the 
first  fruits  they  bear  we  learn  what  may  be 
expected   in  future." 


JB':- 


,NIEL  E.  McLEAX,  a  veteran  of 
le  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
esteemed  citizen  of  Walton, 
X.Y..  was  born  in  this  town  Decem- 
ber 18,  1840,  son  of  John  and  Olive  (Will- 
iams) McLean.  He  is  of  Scotch  origin,  his 
great-grandfather,  John  McLean,  having  emi- 
grated from  Scotland  prior  to  the  Revolution- 
ary War.  He  was  commissioned  Captain  in 
the  American  army  during  the  war,  and 
served  in  that  capacity  until  its  conclusion. 
He  settled  in  Schoharie  County,  New  York, 
where  he  raised  two  children,  John  and  Re- 
becca. John  McLean,  Jr.,  married  a  Miss 
Mudge,  by  which  union  he  had  a  family  of 
four  sons  and  three  daughters.  Polly  married 
Gordon  Basto.  settled  in  Walton,  and  died  at 
Llale's  Eddy.  Dolly  married  l-"erdinand  Thur- 
ber.  John,  the  third  of  the  name,  born  in 
1803,  married  Miss  Olive  Williams  of  Con- 
necticut. He  was  by  trade  a  millwright, 
also  engaging  in  farming.  He  was  a  man  of 
high  order  of  intelligence,  and  was  well 
posted  in  State  and  county  affairs.  His  fam- 
ily   consisted    of    five    children:    James,    born 


IS; 


married    Catherine    I-'rance,    settling  at 


Rock    Rift;    Alexander,    born    1834,    married 
Alvira    Skinner,    died    in    1862:   William    A., 


born  1836,  married  Miss  ]5ush,  enlisted  Au- 
gust, 1862,  in  Company  B,  One  Hundred  and 
l'"orty-fourth  Xew^  York  Volunteer  Infantry, 
serving  with  his  regiment  throughout  the  war; 
Dolly  McLean,  born  1838;  and  Daniel  I'!., 
1840.  l\Ir.  McLean  died  in  1870,  his  wife 
surviving   him    ten    \ears. 

Daniel  V..,  the  youngest  child  of  John  and 
Olive  McLean,  was  educated  in  the  district 
schools  of  Walton,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
was  an  apprentice  in  a  tannery,  remaining 
there  until  he  was  nineteen,  when  he  entered 
into  i)artncrship  with  Marcus  L.  Sloat  in  the 
wagon-makmg  business,  which  he  continued 
until  June,  1861.  Upon  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Civil  War  in  1861.  he  offered  himself  as 
a  volunteer,  enlisting  in  Company  I,  Seventy- 
second  New  York  Volunteer  Infantry.  The 
regiment  was  mustered  in  at  Staten'  Island, 
where  they  remained  until  Julv  21,  the  dav 
niaile  memorable  by  the  battle  'of  Bull  Run. 
when  they  started  for  Washington,  remaining 
there  imtil  September,  wintering  at  Camp 
Scott.  After  breaking  camji,  they  joined  Mc- 
C  lei  Ian  "s  army  in  front  of  Yorktown,  and 
engaged  in  the  fight  at  Williamsburg,  where 
the  Seventy-second  bore  the  brunt  of  the 
battle,  every  fourth  man  JK-ing  either  killed 
or  wounded. 

On  June  .'5  Mr.  McLean  was  wounded  by 
a  minie  ball,  which  struck  his  left  shoulder- 
blade,  taking  in  its  passage  a  piece  of  the 
spine,  and  embedding  itself  in  the  right 
shoulder.  He  was  sent  to  Bedloe's  Island, 
N.\'.,  receiving  a  furlough  home,  after  which 
he  returned  to  Fort  Hamilton,  where  he  re- 
mained until  March  i,  1863,  being  then  sent 
to  the  convalescent  cam[)  near  Alexandria, 
when  he  was  honorably  discharged  from  the 
army  on  account  of  a  gunshot  wound.  Mr. 
McLean  returned  to  his  native  town,  remain- 
ing there  until  October  13,  when  he  re- 
enlisted  at  Hancock  in  Companv  .A.  Twenty- 
fifth  New  York  Cavalry,  known  as  Sickles's 
Cavalry.  On  July  lo,  1864.  they  were  or- 
dered out  to  meet  General  I-larly,  who  was  ad- 
vancing on  the  city  of  Washington.  On  the 
nth,  at  ten  o'clock,  they  were  ordered  to 
dejiloy  in  front  of  Voxi  Stevens,  and  advance 
on  the  enemy's  line.  Marching  two  hundred 
yards    through    an    open    fieUl,    thev   held    the 


238 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


enemy  in  check  until  lialf-past  three,  when 
they  were  relieved  from  their  perilous  posi- 
tion. Mr.  McLean  was  promoted  on  the  field 
to  First  Sergeant,  and  took  command  of  his 
company.  They  were  afterward  sent  to  join 
the  army  of  the  -Shenandoah  in  General  Cus- 
ter's division.  Mr.  McLean  was  taken  pris- 
oner, September  3,  1864,  and  sent  to 
Richmond,  being  paroled  February  2,  1865. 
He  again  joined  his  regiment  at  Harper's 
Ferry,  and  was  mustered  out  of  service  on 
July  14.  Upon  his  return  to  Walton  Mr. 
McLean  occupied  himself  in  farming.  Since 
1887  he  has  followed  the  business  of  Pension 
Agent.  In  February  of  that  year  he  was 
elected  Poor  Commissioner,  serving  three 
terms. 

Mr.  McLean  was  married  December  17, 
1868,  to  Miss  Addie  Bradley,  a  daughter  of 
Hull  and  Sylvia  (Gould)  Bradley.  By  this 
union  there  were  four  children:  Luella,  born 
July  6,  1875;  Lizzie,  born  February  11, 
1877;  Ralph  C,  born  December  21,  1882; 
Floyd  S.,  born  August  28,  1886.  Mrs.  Mc- 
Lean, who  was  a  most  estimable  wife  and 
mother,  died  December  28,  1887.  On  Octo- 
ber I,  1890,  Mr.  McLean  married  for  his  sec- 
ond wife  Miss  Lizzie  Marvin,  and  by  this 
union  has  one  child,  Mildred  E.,  born  Sep- 
tember 3,    I  89 1. 

Mr.  McLean  is  a  charter  niember  of  Ben 
Marvin  Post,  No.  209,  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic,  of  Walton,  at  the  present  time  fill- 
ing the  position  of  Aide  on  the  staff  of  the 
Commander-in-chief.  He  is  also  a  member  of 
Walton  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  No.  559.  In 
politics  Mr.  McLean  is  a  Republican,  and  has 
filled  several  important  local  offices  of  trust. 
He  has  always  enjoyed  a  high  reputation  as 
an  honorable  and  upright  citizen,  his  record 
in  civil  life  being  as  pure  and  spotless  as  his 
militarv  life  was  brave  and  faithful. 


NDRFW  JACKSON  STOUTEN- 
BUKGH,  deceased,  a  late  resident 
of  Kortright,  was  a  descendant  of 
the  old  Dutch  family  of  that  name, 
which  was  one  of  the  first  to  settle  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  and  at  one  time  possessed 
much  of  the  land  now  occupied  by  New  York 


City.  His  grandfather,  Tobias  Stoutenburgh, 
was  a  farmer  of  Dutchess  County,  owning  a 
productive  farm  in  Milan,  where  he  died  at 
the  age  of  eighty- five  years,  his  wife  Susan 
also  living  to  be  over  eighty  years  of  age. 
They  were  the  parents  of  five  children,  all  of 
whom  have  passed  away. 

Peter  Stoutenburgh,  the  father  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Dutchess 
County,  where  he  grew  to  manhood  and  mar- 
ried. About  1S14  he  removed  to  Kortright, 
and  made  his  home  on  the  land  afterward  oc- 
cupied by  his  son  Andrew  J.,  the  tract  at  that 
time  being  a  dense  forest  containing  seventy- 
five  acres.  This  he  cleared,  building  a  log 
house,  and,  as  the  result  of  unceasing  labor, 
after  some  years  was  able  to  buy  seventy-five 
acres  in  addition  to  his  original  purchase. 
He  passed  the  latter  part  of  his  life  in  Har- 
persfield,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
four  years.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Christian 
church.  Politically,  he  was  a  Democrat. 
His  wife,  Lydia  (Borden)  Stoutenburgh,  was 
a  native  of  Dutchess  County.  She  was  also  a 
member  of  the  Christian  church.  She  died  at 
the  age  of  seventy-six  years.  Her  eleven 
children  were  as  follows:  William,  who  lives 
in  Delhi;  Eliza  Avery,  of  Bloomville;  To- 
bias, a  resident  of  Fergusonville:  Maria,  who 
was  the  wife  of  Asa  Warner,  and  died  at  the 
age  of  sixty  years;  Catherine,  who  passed 
away  when  thirty  years  old,  the  wife  of  Arch- 
ibald Freeman,  of  Stamford ;  Ann,  who  was 
married,  and  died  at  the  age  of  about  sixty; 
Charles,  who  died  when  thirty  years  of  age; 
Andrew  Jackson,  of  whom  this  biography  is 
written;  Edward,  of  Harpersfield;  Alfred,  a 
resident  of  Penn  Yan,  N.Y.;  and  Sarah,  the 
wife  of  Henry  Joslyn,  of  Harpersfield. 

Andrew  Jackson  Stoutenburgh  was  born  in 
Kortright,  January  23,  1824,  and  was  edu- 
cated in  the  district  schools.  He  learned  the 
trade  of  carpenter,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
four  started  out  for  himself.  Three  years 
later  he  married  Mi.ss  Cordelia  Gregory,  who 
was  born  within  sight  of  the  home  of  her  mar- 
ried life.  For  fifteen  years  Mr.  Stoutenburgh 
followed  his  trade,  and  then  engaged  in  farm- 
ing, purchasing  the  land  which  is  now  occu- 
]Med  by  Mr.  James  May.  Here  he  resided  for 
two  years,  and  in  1854  bought  the  farm  which 


BIOGRAl'IlICAL    REVIEW 


2.39 


he  occupied  until  his  death,  which  took  phicc 
Novonihcr  i  i.  1894.  This  contains  onr  hun- 
dred and  twcnty-cin'ht  acres,  and  has  been 
inijirovcd  in  a  reniari<able  liegree  luidcr  Mr. 
St(niteni)urj;h"s  supervision.  A  lar!;e  barn 
has  been  erected,  and  an  e.\tensi\-e  dairv  is 
now  o])erated. 

Ot  tile  union  of  i\Ir.  .Stoutenl)ur;;li  and 
Miss  Gregory  was  born  one  son,  Tlieron  1'., 
the  ilate  of  his  birtli  being  March  9,  1859. 
He  is  married,  and  a  jeweller  by  trade,  but 
now  tlevotes  his  lime  to  agricultural  pursuits, 
residing  on  the  home  farm.  Mrs.  .Stouten- 
burgh  passed  from  earth  a  short  time  before 
her  husband,  at  the  age  nl  si.Kty-si.\  years, 
sadly  mourned  by  a  wide  circle  of  friends. 
Mr.  Stoutenburgh  was  a  liberal-miniled  man, 
anil  a  Democrat  in  jjolitics.  lie  was  highly 
respected  by  all  who  knew  him. 


-AMES  W.  YOL'N(;,  of  the  town  of 
.Si(lne\',  Delaware  Comity,  son  of  Will- 
iam J.  and  Mary  J.  (Snyder")  Young, 
was  b(U"ii  February  16,  1863,  on  the 
farm  where  he  now  resides.  Intelligent,  en- 
terprising, and  versatile,  in  the  full  \'igor  of 
early  manhood,  lie  not  only  cultivates  his  an- 
cestral acres,  conducts  a  dairy,  and  keejis 
bees,  but  also  I'uns  a  Job  i)rinting-oftice.  II is 
father  was  born  in  the  town  of  ()tego,  Otsego 
County,  November  11,  1821,  and  his  mother 
in  the  town  of  Davenport.  Delaware  County, 
August  14,   1832. 

His  great-grandparents,  Joseph  and  I'"li/,a- 
beth  (Peck)  \'oung,  lived  all  their  lives  upon 
a  farm,  he  d\-ing  at  tlie  age  of  eighty-two  and 
she  at  fiftv-seven.  Tlu'y  were  natives  of 
Connecticut,  and  of  New  Ivngland  ancestry. 
A  few  years  aftei"  their  marriage  they  moved 
to  the  Mohawk  Valley,  and  thence  to  Otsego 
County,  in  the  early  part  of  the  present  cen- 
tury. They  had  the  severe  experiences  of 
]iioneer  life  in  tlie  woods  remote  from  neigh- 
bors, mills,  and  markets.  Healthful  and 
hardy,  they  toiled  resolutely,  cheerfully,  and 
to  good  inirjiose,  dealing  a  farm  upon  wliich 
after  a  well -spent  life  they  died.  The  par- 
ents of  Joseph  \'oimg  were  Clemens  ami 
Lydia  Young,  natives  of  Connecticut,  in 
which    State    they    spent    their    entire     lives. 


dying  at  c|uite  an  aiKanced  age.  Joseph 
Yoimg  and  liis  wife  were  the  parents  of  si.\- 
teen  cliildi'en,  most  of  whom  lived  to  mature 
years    and    married.       Tliey    are    all    now    de- 

j  ceased.  One  of  the  sons,  John,  served  in  the 
War  of  18  I  2.  Another  son,  James  C,  grand- 
father ol  Janus  W.  \'oung,  married  Mlizabeth 
-Snyder,  a  native  of  New  \'ork  Stale;  and 
they  lived  upon  ;i  farm  from  their  marriage 
until  their  death.  They  rearetl  a  family  of 
si.\  children,  two  sons  anrl  four  daughters,  of 
whom  the  three  following  are  now  living: 
Mrs.  Diana  Stenson,  in  L'nadilla,  Otsego 
County;  Mrs.  Catharine  llalhawa)-.  in  Lau- 
rens: ;ui(l  Norman  D.  \'oung,  occupying  ihi- 
old  homestead  in  Otego.  Ciandfalher  N'oung 
was  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  he  and  his 
wife  were  both  consistent  members  of  the 
rroteslanl  I^piscopal  church.  He  died  when 
eighty-nine  years  of  agi-,  and  liis  wife  at  the 
age  of  seveiitv-nine. 

William  J.  \'oung  grew  to  manhood  in  his 
native  town,  Otego,  and  received  an  education 
cpialifying  him  to  teach  school.  Beginning 
the  work  of  life  at  si.xteen  years  of  age,  he 
taught  school  several  years,  aftei'ward  devot- 
ing himself  to  farming  in  Delaware  Count)-. 
He  first  settled  on  a  farm  in  Sidney,  now  oc- 
cupied  by  Mrs.  Hetsy  Butts;   and,  after  living 

I  on  that  farm  several  years,  he  sold  it,  :uid  re- 
mo\'ed  to  the  homesteatl  now  owneil  by  his 
son.  He  had  a  good  farm  of  one  hundred 
acres.  Besides  managing  that,  he  was  en- 
gaged in  mercantile  business  at  the  railroad 
station  known  as  \'oung"s,  in  the  establish- 
ment of  which  he  was  the  |)rinie  mox'er.  He 
was  a  Democrat,  an  intluential  citizen,  and 
held  sewial  offices  in  the  town.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  h',])iscopal  church, 
and  often  filled  the  ]nilpit  as  a  local  preacher, 
lie  was  also  a  great  lover  of  books,  and  he 
had  a  large  librarv.  He  dii-d  March  11, 
1883.  .Mr.  N'ouiig  had  two  wi\es.  His  first 
wife.  I'olly  J.  Ta\lor.  to  whom  he  was  mar- 
ried (October  20.  1843,  was  born  September 
15,  1827,  and  died  November  24,  1859.  His 
second  wife.  Mar\'  J.  .Snytler,  to  whom  he  was 
married  March  2,  1 S60,  was  born  .August  14. 
1832,  and  die'd  on  June  3.  1891.  His  chil- 
dren b\-  the  first  marriage  were:  I'amelia, 
born     Novemljer     15.     1S47,    died     March     9, 


240 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


1849;  Cordelia,  born  July  5,  1849,  died  the 
same  day;  Ella  J.,  born  January  28,  1851, 
died  March  29,  1890;  Mary  J.,  born  April 
24,  1S53,  died  November  2,  1873.  The 
children  of  the  second  marriage  were:  James 
W. ;  and  Sarah  A.,  who  was  born  November 
8,  1867,  and  died  December  4,  1880. 

James  VV.  Young  has  spent  most  of  his  life 
on  the  old  farm  where  he  first  drew  breath. 
Fond  of  his  books,  he  acquitted  himself  well 
in  the  district  school  and  at  the  Walton  Acad- 
emy, whither  he  was  sent  at  an  early  age. 
When  about  fourteen,  he  set  himself  to  learn 
the  printer's  trade  at  home,  where  he  still 
does  a  job  printing  business.  He  owns  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  acres  of  good  land, 
and  carries  on  general  husbandry,  besides 
keeping  a  dairy  of  twenty  head  of  fine  Ayr- 
shire cattle  and  fifty  stands  of  bees,  Italian 
and  other  kinds. 

Mr.  Young  was  married  on  October  8, 
1879,  to  Essie  M.  Dicks,  who  was  born  June 
3,  1861,  in  the  neighboring  town  of  Walton, 
and  died  May  11,  1881.  He  was  again  mar- 
ried, on  Christmas  Day,  1884,  to  Sarah  A. 
Honeyvvellj  who  was  born  in  Sidney,  January 
"fg^  1 86 1,  a  daughter  of  Legrand  and  Catha- 
rine M.  Honeywell.  Her  father,  now  de- 
ceased, was  a  worthy  farmer  and  an  early 
settler  in  these  parts.  Her  mother,  Mrs. 
Catharine  M.  Honeywell,  lives  at  the  Honey- 
well homestead  adjoining  the  Young  estate. 
Mr.  Young  has  one  son  by  his  first  wife, 
William  J.,  born  August  19,  1880.  Mrs. 
Young  is  a  Methodist,  while  Mr.  Young  is  a 
liberal  in  his  religious  views.  He  is  a 
Notary  Public,  and  has  held  other  local 
offices,  being  a  useful  and  valued  citizen. 
The  family  have  a  pleasant  home  in  the  com- 
modious and  tasteful  dwelling  erected  by  Mr. 
Young's  father.  Everything  about  the  place 
is  neatly  kept,  and  betokens  good  manage- 
ment,  prosperity,    and  comfort. 


"OSEPII  h'A'lCLAND  was  born  in  Rox- 
bury,  Delaware  County,  N.Y.,  Decem- 
ber 12,  1844,  of  German  parentage, 
and  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  of  the  county.  He  began  to  learn 
the  art  of  printing  in  1862,  in  the  office  of  the 


Franklin  I'isitor,  owned  by  G.  W.  Reynolds. 
In  1864  he  entered  the  army,  enlisting  at 
Delhi,  N.Y.,  in  Company  D,  One  Hundred 
and  F'orty-fourth  Regiment,  New  York  Vol- 
unteers. After  his  military  experiences  he 
entered  the  employ  of  Sturtevant  &  Mcintosh 
in  the  office  of  the  Delaware  Republican^  and 
in  1867  purchased  the  interest  of  Alvin  Stur- 
tevant in  that  paper.  In  1869  he  sold  his 
interest  to  Mr.  Mcintosh,  and  went  to  Am- 
herst, Va.,  where  he  started  and  for  several 
years  published  the  Amherst  Enterprise,  in 
connection  with  the  Hon.  Thomas  Whitehead. 
He  returned  to  the  North  in  the  spring 
of  1879,  ^""-1  purchased  the  Franklin  Register 
of  Nathan  L.  Lyon.  In  1881  he  was  ap- 
pointed Postmaster  of  Franklin,  succeeding 
Egbert  Chamberlin,  and  served  four  years. 
In  1883  he  changed  the  name  of  the  Franklin 
Register  to  the  Dairyman,  enlarged  the  paper, 
changed  its  form,  and  greatly  extended  its 
circulation.  He  has  since  added  many  im- 
provements, and  is  now  possessed  of  most 
modern  facilities  for  conducting  the  en- 
terprise. 

In  1869  Mr.  Eveland  married  Josephine 
Liljegren;  and  from  this  union  six  children 
were  born,  three  sons  and  three  daughters. 
The  eldest,  George  T.  Eveland,  is  at  this 
time  associated  with  his  father  in  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Dairyman,  and  is  also  serving  as 
Town  Clerk  of  Franklin. 


OHN  E.  POWELL,  one  of  the  most 
honored  citizens  and  thriving  business 
men  of  Bloomville,  was  born  July  7. 
1842,  in  the  town  of  Roxbury,  and  was 
the  son  of  Hiram  and  Fanny  (Eaton)  Powell. 
Hiram  was  born  in  Dutchess  County,  New 
York;  and  his  wife  was  born  in  Connecticut. 
Reuben  Powell,  the  father  of  Hiram,  was  an 
early  settler  of  Dutchess  County,  and  from 
there  moved  to  Delaware  County,  spending 
his   last  days   in   Middletown. 

The  father  of  John  E.  Powell  was  a  mason 
by  trade,  engaging  in  this  business  during  his 
early  life,  but  later  buying  a  large  farm  of 
two  hundred  acres  in  the  town  of  Roxbury. 
He  was  one  of  the  leading  farmers  of  that  vi- 
cinity, his  success  being  due  in  a  great  meas- 


HIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


241 


lire  to  his  energy  and  patient  toil;  and  nnieii 
praise  should  be  awarded  iiini.  Both  he  and 
his  wife  were  prominent  members  of  the  Ba|)- 
tist  chureh  at  Roxbury,  and  he  was  in  polities 
a  Democrat.  They  died  at  the  home  of  their 
daughter,  Mrs.  Cordelia  Rightmyer,  he  at  the 
age  of  eighty  and  she  at  seventy  years,  leaving 
six  children,  all  of  whom  are  now  living, 
namely:  William  D.  Powell,  a  village  black- 
smith in  Roxbury;  John  K.,  of  whom  this 
sketch  is  written;  Cynthia  Preston,  wife  of 
George  C.  Preston,  who  resides  in  the  city  of 
Kingston;  Charles  H.  Powell,  of  Whatcom, 
Wash.;  Cordelia  Rightmyer,  who  resides  in 
Kingston;  and  Myron  C.,  whose  home  is  near 
Whatcom,  Wash. 

John  K.  grew  to  manhood  in  Roxbury.  re- 
ceiving his  education  at  tin-  academv  there. 
He  engaged  in  farming  in  Lexington,  Greene 
County,  owning  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
seven  acres  near  the  village,  where  he  lived 
for  nine  years.  In  1S76  he  moved  from  Lex- 
ington, where  he  had  been  in  the  hardware 
and  tin  business,  and  established  in  Bloom- 
ville  the  first  store  of  that  kind.  He  now  has 
an  extensive  business,  keeping  a  general  hard- 
ware store,  and  carrying  a  full  line  of  machin- 
ery and  farm  implements.  His  stock  is 
valued  at  five  thousand  dollars;  and  he  has 
built  up  an  excellent  trade,  giving  his  undi- 
vided attention  to  his  business. 

On  May  10,  1S65,  .Mr.  Powell  married  Miss 
Mary  A.  Burnside,  of  liloomville.  who  was 
born  in  1847.  the  daughter  of  John  Burnside. 
Her  father  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of 
this  village,  and  tlied  there  in  1853  at  the 
age  of  forty-three.  Mr.  and  IMrs.  Powell 
have  three  children:  Eugene  M.,  who  was 
born  in  1S67,  is  married,  and  a  j)artner  in  his  ! 
father's  business;  William  IC,  a  speculator,  | 
who  resides  at  home;  and  l-^mma  ^L,  also  at 
home. 

John  E.  Powell    and   his    wife  are  liberal  in   j 
their    religious    views,    and    he    supports    the 
Democratic    political    party.      He    has    been  a 
Justice    of    the    Peace    for    fifteen    years,    has 
always  taken  an  active   part    in    the  'welfare  of 
the   town,    and    is    among   the   men    who  have  | 
been  instrumental   in  accomplishing  much  fm-  ' 
this  thriving  village,  having  built  three  build- 
ings, two  stores  and  one  residence. 


DW.AkD  H()\"r,  a  prominent  farmer 
residing  four  miles  north  of  the  village 
)f  Walton,  was  born  on  the  farm 
adjoining  the  one  where  he  now  lives,  January 
20,  1S27.  On  it  his  father,  Amasa  Hoyt', 
was  also  born.  The  grandfather,  Thaddeus 
Hoyt,  was  born  in  .New  (Janaan,  Conn.,  com- 
ing to  New  York  State  in  17S9,  in  com|jany 
with  four  other  hardy  pioneers.  Thev  made  a 
clearing  near  the  present  farm  of  .Mr.  Hoyt, 
{  working  all  that  summer,  and  returning  in  the 
I  s])ring  of  1790  with  their  several  families,  as 
follows:  Thaddeus  Hoyt,  Malthue  and  .Silas 
Benedicl,  Lindel  and  Seymour  Fitch.  The 
families  all  settled  within  a  radius  of  half  a 
mile,  erecting  log  cabins  and  clearing  their 
huui. 

Thaddeus  Hoyt  married  Jemima  Benedict, 
four  sons  being  born  to  them  ;  namely,  Thad- 
deus, Amasa,  John,  and  Chainicey.  The  fam- 
ily was  always  prominent  in  church  work. 
One  ot  the  sons  was  a  minister,  and  the  others 
were  deacons.  At  the  time  of  their  advent, 
in  1790,  there  was  no  church  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Walton;  and  they  had,  therefore,  re- 
course to  prayer-meetings,  which  were  held 
every  Wednesday  evening,  a  custom  which 
has  been  kept  up  in  the  several  families  to 
the  present  day,  a  period  of  over  one  hundred 
N'ears. 

.Amasa  Hoyt  was  brought  up  to  agricultural 
piu'suits.  He  was  married  in  1814  to  JCIi/a- 
beth,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Samuel  Seymour, 
and  one  of  the  fol  lowing  family :  Samuel  .A., 
Smith,  John,  Stephen,  Sadie,  Anna,  I''.liza- 
beth.  Mary,  Fannie,  and  lunma.  Mrs.  H"vt 
was  a  native  of  Walton,  Delaware  Countv.  her 
father  being  a  wel  1-to-do  farmer.  .She  reared 
the  following  family:  Gabriel  A.,  deceased; 
.Amasa  L. ;  Thaddeus;  l-'rederick  ;  Edward; 
ICdwin.  deceased;  William  S.  ;  Julia;  and 
Whitney.  Mrs.  Ho\t  died  in  1874,  aged 
seventy-six.  and  Mr.  Hoyt  in  1872,  aged 
seventy-six. 

lulward  Ho\t  was  educated  in  the  district 
schools,  and  worked  with  his  father  on  the 
farm  until  he  was  thirty  years  of  age,  at 
which  lime  he  ])urchase(l  a  portion  of  the  old 
homestead.  He  was  married  Januarv  19, 
1856,  to  Miss  Helen  Benedict,  a  daughter  of 
Ira    Benedict,    a   farmer   of    this    town,    and  a 


242 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


representative  of  an  old  Connecticut  family 
previously  mentioned.  Three  children  blessed 
this  union,  namely:  Fanny  K. ;  Ira  E.,  who 
married  Margaret,  a  daughter  of  Charles  Pine, 
a  neighboring  farmer;  and  Helen  E.  Mrs. 
Hoyt  died  April  8,  1885.  She  was  a  stanch 
member  of  the  Congregational  church,  in 
which  Mr.  Hoyt  has  been  a  Deacon  many 
years. 

On  the  22d  of  August,  1862,  Mr.  Hoyt 
enlisted  in  Company  B,  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-fourth  New  York  Volunteer  Infantry, 
under  Colonel  Robert  S.  Hughston,  and  was 
sent  with  his  regiment  to  join  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac.  He  was  wounded  December  9, 
1864,  and  was  confined  in  the  hospital  until 
April  28,  1865,  when  he  was  honorably  dis- 
charged from  the  service  on  account  of  disabil- 
ity. Mr.  Hoyt  is  a  member  of  Post  No.  209, 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  of  Walton.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Republican,  but  has  never 
been  an  aspirant  for  office.  His  elder  daugh- 
ter keeps  house  for  him.  The  younger  is  a 
graduate  of  the  State  normal  school  of  Os- 
wego, and  is  now  engaged  in  teaching  on 
Long   Island. 

The  genealogical  tree  of  the  Hoyt  family  is 
as  follows:  Daniel  B.,  born  in  1681,  married 
Sarah  Starr,  of  Danbury,  and  died  at  Nor- 
walk,  Conn.,  in  1764,  leaving  the  following 
children:  Abel;  Ezra,  great-great-grandfather 
of  the  subject  of  this  notice;  Abigail;  Dan- 
iel; Abner;  John;  Nathan;  Mary;  and  Abra- 
ham. Ezra,  born  April  23,  1707,  married 
Phoebe  Benedict,  April  4,  1731,  and  had  the 
following  children:  Anna;  Ezra;  Thaddeus; 
Lydia;  Mathew,  the  great-grandfather;  Mar- 
tha; Elizabeth;  John;  Jonathan;  and  Phcebe. 
Mathew,  horn  May  6,  1741,  married  first 
Mary  Lock  wood,  January  21,  1761,  and  for 
his  second  wife  the  widow  Mercy  Hayes.  He 
had  the  following  children :  Anna;  Ephraim; 
Thaddeus,  the  grandfather;  Mary;  Thankfull; 
Mercy;  Mathew;  Phoebe;  Ephraim;  Esther; 
Liffe;  and   Samuel. 

Mr.  Hoyt  is  hale  and  hearty,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-seven,  being  remarkably  active  both 
mentally  and  physically.  During  his  long 
and  eventful  life  he  has  kept  a  diary,  in  which 
he  has  daily  recorded  the  most  important 
events  of  the  times.     It    consists    of    several 


hundred  pages;  and  the  local  matter  is  so 
interesting  and  authentic  that  it  is  being  pub- 
lished by  the  Walton  Tivus,  one  of  the  most 
progressive  papers  in  the  county.  Mr.  Hoyt 
is  a  most  entertaining  and  agreeable  com- 
panion, and  has  always  been  held  in  the  high- 
est esteem. 


APTAIN    PALMER    L.    BURROWS, 
whose  lamented  death  occurred  at   his 
home    in    Deposit    in    the    town    of 
Tompkins,      N.Y.,      scarcely      two 
months  ago,  on  November  16,   1894,  was   born 
here,  on   the   same  farm,  on   January  8,   1S14. 
His  grandfather,  John   Burrows,  was  a  promi- 
nent farmer  in  Groton,  New  London  County, 
Conn.,  where  he  became  a  victim  of  the  Gro- 
ton massacre.      Peris  Burrows,  a  son  of  John, 
was  born  in  Groton,  and  was  reared   and   mar- 
ried   in    his    native    State,   where   he   resided 
until    1 80 1,  after  which  he  emigrated  with  his 
wife  and  child  to  the  State  of  New  York,  re- 
moving his  stock  to   Catskill  by  way  of   Long 
Island   Sound   and   the   Hudson  River.      From 
Catskill  he  continued  the  journey  by  means  of 
ox  teams,  and  after  his  arrival   at  his  destina- 
tion   purchased    a   tract  of    heavily    timbered 
land,    part    of   which   after  his   demise   passed 
into  the  hands  of  his  son,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.      In    those   early   days  the   people  de- 
pended  entirely  on  the  products   of  their  land 
for  their  maintenance,  nearly  all   the  pioneers 
being   more    or    less  engaged    in .  the    lumber 
business,    in  which    Peris    Burrows    employed 
himself.      He  served  in  the  War  of   181 2,  and 
resided  in  Tompkins  until  his  death,  at   sixty- 
one  years   of   age.        The   wife   of   Peris   Bur- 
rows was   Deborah   Wightman,   who  was  born 
in    Groton,    Conn.,    daughter  of   John    Wight- 
man,  of  that  town.     She  died    in  her  eighty- 
sixth  year,  the  mother  of  ten  children. 

Palmer  L.,  son  of  Peris  and  Deborah  Bur- 
rows, was  reared  and  educated  in  his  native 
town,  succeeding  his  father  in  the  ownership 
of  the  old  home  farm.  In  1845  he  started 
out  to  seek  his  fortune,  journeying  by  team 
to  Otsego,  thence  by  horse  railroad  to  Ithaca, 
and  from  there  to  Montezuma  by  boat.  By 
means  of  the  canal  he  reached  Buffalo;  and 
thither  he  departed  over  the  lakes  to  Chicago, 


CflPT,  PfiLftER  L.  Burrows, 


Mrs  Sophronia   M.  Burrows. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


247 


which  was  at  that  time  but  an  infant  city. 
From  Chicago  he  travelled  westward  to 
Dixon.  111.,  thence  down  the  Rock  River  to  1 
Rock  Island,  and  tlien  crossed  the  Mississippi  j 
to  Davenport,  la.  Here  he  jiurchased  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  government  land  at 
one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per  acre,  and 
then  returned  to  his  farm  in  Tompkins  in 
time  to  finish  the  haying,  but  soon  left  it 
again  to  participate  in  the  anti-rent  war, 
being  absent  about  four  months.  Me  then  re- 
sumed his  former  occupation  of  farming  and 
lumbering,  acting  as  pilot  on  the  Delaware 
River  for  over  fifty  years.  In  1862  Mr.  Bur- 
rows was  instrumental  in  the  organization  of 
Company  A,  One  Hundred  and  I'^irt^-fourth 
New  York  Volunteer  Infantry,  of  which  he 
was  elected  Captain,  holding  this  position  for 
eight  months.  Being  obliged  by  illness  con- 
tracted while  on  duty  to  resign  and  return 
home,  he  again  engaged  in  farming  and  lum- 
bering. 

lanuar)-  2.  1838,  Palmer  1..  Bunows  mar- 
ried Miss  Sophronia  M.  Shaw,  who  was  born 
in  Delhi,  Delaware  County,  April  27,  1815. 
Her  father  was  Ansel  Shaw,  a  native  of  I'lain- 
fiekl,  Mass.,  a  son  of  Josiah  Shaw,  who  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Re\olution  for  seven  years,  and 
removed  to  Delhi  in  iSoij,  one  of  the  pio- 
neers of  that  town,  living  there  with  iiis  wife 
Nancy  during  the  latter  part  of  his  life. 
Ansel  Shaw  was  educated  and  grew  to  man- 
hood in  his  native  .State,  and  removed  to 
Delhi  with  his  parents,  the  journey  being 
made  in  teams.  He  made  hinisidf  possessor 
of  a  tract  of  timbered  land  in  Delhi,  which  he 
cleared  for  his  farm,  residing  tliere  for  many 
years,  afterward  taking  up  his  residence  with 
his  daughter,  Mrs.  Burrows,  in  Deposit, 
where  he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven 
years.  His  wife  was  Lavina  Phillips,  bora  at 
Hartford,  Conn.,  a  daughter  of  John  Philli])s, 
who  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier.  She  died 
when  sixty-seven  years  old.  Mrs.  Burrows 
began  teaching  when  but  sixteen,  and  taught 
both  summer  and  winter  terms  until  her 
marriage. 

Captain  Burrows  and  his  wife  were  the  par- 
ents of  six  chiUlren,  who  are  now  living.  A 
brief  record  of  the  family  is  as  follows:  Char- 
lotte   L.,     who    married     John     Sumner,     of 


Thompson,  Pa.,  and  has  fi\'e  children; 
namely,  Carrie  (Mrs.  Dwight  P'reeman,  who 
has  one  child,  P^arl  .S. ),  Laura,  Oseanna, 
Mary,  and  Charles  \V.  ;  .Samuel  U'.,  who  mar- 
ried Jennie  Rhodes,  of  Aknjn,  Ohio,  and  lias 
four  children —- P'rederick,  Lewis,  IMary,  and 
Carl;  Linus  P.,  who  married  Isabella  Mc- 
Glynn,  of  New  York,  and  has  four  children  — 
Anna,  William,  Gertrutle.  ami  a  babe  un- 
named; Anna,  the  wife  of  liarl  Smith,  of  De- 
posit; James  I".,  who  married  Lulu  Hanford, 
of  Walton;  Orrin,  the  husband  of  Alice 
-Smith,  of  Paterson,  N.J.,  and  father  of  three 
chiklren  — Leah  B.,  James,  and  Oseanna.  On 
January  2,  1894,  Captain  and  Mrs.  Burrows 
celebrated  the  fifty-sixth  anniversary  of  their 
wedding,  receiving  on  that  occasion  the  con- 
gratulations of  many  friends.  In  ])oIitics  he 
was  a  Re])ublican,  and,  like  his  wife,  was  a 
member  of  the  i'resbyterian  church. 

The  death  of  this  jjatriotic  and  valued  citi- 
zen called  forth  many  exjiressions  of  high 
regard.  Said  one  who  knew  him  well:  "Mr. 
Burrows  was  a  noble,  bra\'e,  and  true  man, 
greatly  endeared  to  all  his  friends.  When 
the  One  Hundred  and  I'orty-fourth  Regiment 
was  raised,  no  man  was  more  active,  earnest, 
or  influential  in  procuring  volunteei's  than  he 
was,  or  more  heartily  abused  by  the  enemies 
of  the  War  for  tire  I'nion."  .At  the  memorial 
services  in  the  Presbyterian  church  Dr.  O.  T. 
Bundy  sj^oke  eloquently  of  his  militar\-  ser- 
vices: "It  had  been  difficult  up  to  this  time 
for  any  companv  of  men  that  enlisted  as  a 
company  to  be  suited  as  to  its  officers;  and 
comjianies  were  disbanded  after  going  to  the 
place  of  rendezvous,  when  they  found  that 
strangers  were  to  commantl  them.  So  the 
task  of  officering  a  regiment  of  one  thousanil 
raw  recruits  safely  was  the  problem  to  be 
worked  out.  .'\side  from  tiie  colonel,  the 
office  of  captain  of  a  company  was  the  most 
res]ionsible  of  any  on  the  arm)'.  On  him, 
more  than  on  an\'  one  else,  dej^ended  the  care 
of  the  men  while  in  camp,  their  efficiency 
while  on  jiarade  or  inspection,  and  their  safety 
while  in  battle.  He,  too,  was  to  set  the  ex- 
ample of  industry  and  courage,  and  to  inspire 
his  men  with  an  equal  amount." 

After  Company  A,  One  Hundred  and  Forty- 
fourth    Regiment,  New   York  \'olunteers,  was 


248 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


mustered  for  the  war,  it  was  the  universal 
sentiment  that  the  man  had  been  found  who 
could  be  safely  trusted  to  fill  this  position, 
when  Captain  Palmer  L.  Burrows  consented  to 
assume  the  responsibility  this  rank  had  con- 
ferred upon  him.  Beyond  the  age  in  years 
when  he  might  be  called  upon  to  go,  already 
having  furnished  two  sons  who  could  and  did 
represent  him  fully,  leaving  a  large  family 
behind  him  dependent  upon  his  care,  he  took 
up  the  burden  placed  upon  him  by  the  uni- 
versal choice  of  the  men  who  composed  this 
company.  If  the  name  of  patriot  cannot  be 
written  upon  his  tomb,  there  is  no  place 
for  it  anywhere.  Stricken  by  disease  after 
but  a  few  months  of  service,  he  was  pro- 
nounced by  a  board  of  surgeons  physically 
disabled  for  further  serv-ice:  and  he  reluc- 
tantly gave  up  the  trust  he  had  heroically  as- 
sumed. Of  his  army  life  it  can  be  said  that 
no  duty  was  ever  so  laborious  or  danger  ever 
so  great  but  that  he  obeyed  the  order,  and  he 
carried  to  his  death  the  scars  received  in  the 
campaign  where  he  fought  for  the  Union. 

The  interest  and  value  of  this  biographical 
sketch  are  greatly  enhanced  by  the  accompany- 
ing portraits  of  Captain  Burrows  and  his 
widowed  wife,  the  faithful  sharer  of  his  joys 
and  sorrows  for  more  than  a  half-centurv. 


I^AMUEL  JESSUP  WHITE,  M.D., 
a  successful  physician  of  Franklin, 
although  still  a  comparatively  young 
man,  has  already  achieved  an  hon- 
ored position  among  his  professional  brethren, 
and  built  up  a  good  practice  in  this  locality. 
He  was  born  on  August  12,  1862,  in  Gilberts- 
ville,  Otsego  County.  His  father,  the  Rev. 
Samuel  J.  White,  D.D.,  now  a  resident  of 
Walton,  was  born  in  Durham,  Greene  County, 
in  February,  18 14,  was  graduated  from  Will- 
iams College  in  1839,  and  studied  theology  at 
the  Union  Theological  Seminary  in  New 
York  City.  His  first  settled  pastorate  was 
over  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Franklin, 
where  he  presided  from  1844  until  1852.  In 
the  mean  time  he  was  united  in  marriage  in 
1846  with  Mary  A.  P'inch.  Their  family 
circle  was  completed  by  the  birth  of  six  chil- 
dren,    one     of     whom,     a     daughter     named 


Frances,  died  at  the  age  of  six  years.  The 
record  of  the  living  children  is  as  follows: 
Mary,  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  T.  D.  Barclay, 
resides  in  Kent,  Conn.  William  F.,  a  lead- 
ing light  of  the  legal  fraternity,  and  junior 
member  of  the  firm  of  P'ancher  &  White,  of 
Walton,  is  District  Attorney.  Elizabeth  M., 
the  wife  of  Charles  S.  Hitchcock,  lives  in 
Fruitland,  Fla.  Sarah  F.,  the  wife  of  Will- 
iam R.  North,  is  a  resident  of  Goshen,  Conn. 
Samuel  J.  is  the  subject  of  further  mention 
below. 

Samuel  J.  White  acquired  iiis  elementaiv 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Walton, 
going  from  there  to  Claverack  Institute,  and 
afterward  fitting  for  college  at  Kent,  Conn. 
After  pursuing  the  course  of  study  at  Will- 
iams College,  .he  entered  the  Medical  Uni- 
versity of  New  York  City,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  with  an  honorable  record  in  1888. 
The  following  year  and  a  half  Dr.  White  had 
a  valuable  experience  as  physician  in  the 
Bellevue  Hospital.  In  November,  1889,  he 
opened  an  office  in  the  village  of  Franklin, 
and  since  that  time  has  devoted  his  entire 
attention  to  the  active  labors  of  his  profession 
with  most  satisfactory  results  to  both  himself 
and  his  patrons.  On  the  1st  of  January, 
1894,  prior  to  going  South  with  his  wife,  who 
was  out  of  health.  Dr.  White  took  as  partner 
George  H.  Brinkman,  M.D. 

The  union  of  Dr.  White  and  Mary  I.  Hoag 
was  solemnized  on  August  5,  1891.  Mrs. 
White  is  a  daughter  of  ]\Irs.  Julia  Hoag, 
of  Franklin;  and  she  has  but  one  brother, 
Frank  Hoag,  of  Franklin.  Mrs.  Hoag  is  the 
daughter  of  David  and  Isabel  (Hotchkiss) 
Penfield,  both  of  whom  were  born  in  the  town 
of  Harpersfield,  this  county,  but  settled  in 
1841,  after  marriage,  on  a  farm  in  Ridgeville, 
and  lived  there  seven  years.  Returning  to  the 
scenes  of  their  youthful  days,  they  bought  a 
farm  in  Harpersfield:  and  on  that  they  labored 
successfully  until  1862,  when  the)'  disposed 
of  that  property  and  jnirchased  another  farm, 
situated  about  two  miles  from  Franklin. 
They  were  the  parents  of  five  children,  one 
boy  and  four  girls,  namely:  Julia,  the  mother 
of  Mrs.  White;  Fannie  Maria,  a  resident  of 
Franklin,  and  the  widow  of  A.  W.  Metcalf, 
who  died    in    Otsego    County  in    1889:  Mary 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


249 


M.,  the  wife  of  David  C.  Shaw:  Oiriii  I..,  a 
farmer,  who  resiiles  on  the  old  home  farm ; 
Ida   Isabel,    the   wife   of   Alfred    Ogden. 

In  politics  the  Doctor  cordially  indorses  the 
princijiles  of  the  Republican  partv.  Relig- 
iously, both  he  and  his  estimable  wife  are 
consistent  members  ot  the  Congregational 
church.  With  his  other  attainments,  Dr. 
White  is  a  fine  musician,  and  with  liis  cornet 
adds  to  the  music  of  the  best  choir  in  the 
town   of    Franklin. 


ILLIAM  ORR,  a  most  successful 
farmer  and  dairyman  of  the  village 
of  Almcda,  town  of  Kortright, 
Delaware  County,  N.\'.,  was  born  on  I^'ebru- 
ary  18,  1S37.  on  the  farm  where  he  now 
resides,  fie  is  a  son  of  Da\id  and  Nancy 
(Spence)  Orr,  whose  history  may  be  found  in 
the  sketch  of  the  (Jrr  family  in  this  volume. 
He  was  educated  at  the  district  schools  of  the 
town,  and  then  gave  his  attention  to  farming, 
always  living  at  the  old  home. 

On  January  4,  1865,  Mr.  Orr  married  Mary 
Knight,  who  was  born  in  Broome  County, 
September  24,  1839,  a  daughter  of  .Stejihen 
Knight.  His  wife  Mary  died  March  11, 
1867:  and  four  years  later,  on  May  30,  1871, 
Mr.  Orr  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Kate 
I-^vertson,  a  nati\e  of  Troy.  Her  ]jarents 
were  John  H.  and  Finetta  (Sipj^erly)  l-Ivert- 
son,  both  of  whom  have  passed  away.  In 
1872  Mr.  Orr  purchased  the  old  homestead  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty-one  acres,  where  he  now 
resides,  and  is  employed  in  farming  and 
dairying,  keeping  thirty  head  of  cattle  and 
manufacturing  butter  of  superior  quality.  He 
is  a  hard  worker  and  good  manager,  and  his 
evident  success  in  life  is  due  to  his  own  un- 
tiring efforts.  His  farm  is  one  of  the  best  on 
the  Betty  Brook  Road,  where  he  erected  a  fine 
residence  in  1880. 

Mr.  Orr  has  lost  two  children,  but  is  the 
father  of  five  who  still  live,  namely:  Leonard 
K.  Orr,  a  wagon-maker,  dealer  in  hardware, 
and  the  Postmaster  at  Almeda;  Mary  F.,  who 
is  unmarried,  and  lives  with  her  paients; 
Agnes  A.,  William  l-!.,  and  John  H..  the 
three  last-named  also  residing  at  home.  Mr. 
Orr  is  a  Republican  and  a  representative  man 


of  his  town.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Kort- 
right Insurance  Comi)any.  anil,  with  his  wife, 
is  a  regular  attendant  at  the  Reformed  i'res- 
byterian  church.  A  man  of  good  moral  ])rin- 
ciples  and  sound  judgment,  Mr.  ( )rr  ludds  an 
en\'iable  ])osition  in  the  hi'arts  of  his  many 
friends. 


OIIX  M.  I. VON.  contractor  and 
builder,  is  one  of  the  best-known 
^IJ  and  thoroughly  successful  business 
men  of  W'alton,  having  gained  a  wide 
reputation  for  his  well-iilanned  and  well- 
finished  work,  t)f  which  many  buiklings  in 
this  \illage  and  elsewhere  are  illustrations. 
He  was  one  of  seven  children,  five  of  whom 
are  still  li\-ing.  Three  of  his  brothers 
fought  in  the  Civil  War,  namely:  Flijah, 
who  died  of  fever  while  in  the  army  in  the 
prime  of  life;  another,  William,  who  was  in 
his  countrv's  service  for  one  year,  and  was 
wounded  in  the  battle  of  Honey  Hill;  Giles. 
who  died  in  KS94,  his  death  being  caused  bv 
a  fall. 

|ohn  M.  Lyon  was  born  in  Andes,  Dela- 
ware County,  October  30,  1826.  In  his  boy- 
hootl  he  worked  on  his  father's  farm,  and 
attended  school  until  he  reached  his  twen- 
tieth vear.  He  then  taught  school  one 
winter  term.  Init  when  twenty-one  adopted 
the  carpenter's  trade,  and,  being  a  natural 
mechanic,  was  not  obliged  to  serve  the  re- 
i|uiied  ti-rin  as  an  apjirentice.  In  1858,  in 
company  with  two  brothers,  he  purchased  a 
planing-mill  and  a  sash  and  blind  factory, 
which  they  operate  in  connection  with  their 
business  as  contractors  and  builders.  They 
have  been  the  contractors  for  seven  churches, 
auKMig  them  the  Baptist  church  in  Walton, 
the  others  being  fine  structures  in  some  of  the 
surrounding  towns.  In  1883  this  firm  con- 
structed the  city  hall,  a  building  of  fine  pro- 
portions and  unquestionable  beauty,  which  the 
citizens  of  the  town  are  proud  to  exhibit  to 
strangers  as  a  sample  of  the  work  accomi)lished 
bv  the  firm  of  which  Mr.  Lyon    is   a   member. 

Septend)er  17,  1856,  Mr.  Lyon  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Julia  Kells,  a  native  of  this 
county  and  daughter  of  Mead  and  Philena 
(^Johnson)  Eells.      Mrs.  Lyon  was  the  young- 


250 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


est  of  a  large  family  of  children,  six  of  whom 
lived  to  reach  maturity.  She  died  March 
II,  1873,  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven  years, 
leaving  one  son  and  four  daughters:  George 
Lyon,  a  contractor  and  builder  of  Denver, 
Col.,  who  is  married  and  has  a  home  in  that 
city;  Jessie,  who  was  a  photographer  and  re- 
toucher, now  the  wife  of  Van  D.  Case,  of 
Walton,  and  mother  of  one  daughter;  Jennie 
F.,  who  resides  with  her  father,  and  is  a 
compositor  on  the  Chronicle;  Julia  E.,  a 
teacher  at  Babylon,  L.I.,  who  is  a  graduate 
of  the  Walton  schools  and  of  the  Oswego 
Normal  School;  and  Mattie  A.,  who  is  a 
stenographer,  having  received  her  instruction 
luider  Graham  in  New  York,  N.Y. 

Mr.  Lyon  is  a  Chapter  Mason  and  a  stanch 
Republican.  He  has  been  Justice  of  the  Ses- 
sion, and  has  held  the  office  of  Justice  of  the 
Peace  for  thirty  years.  In  religion  he  is  a 
conscientious  Congregationalist,  in  which 
denomination  he  has  ever  been  a  faithful 
worshipper.  He  built  his  present  dwelling 
in  1868,  having  previously  disposed  of  two 
residences  which  had  been  built  under  his 
supervision.  In  this  pleasant  home  Mr.  Lyon 
now  lives  with  his  daughters,  a  much  beloved 
father,  and  highly  respected  friend  and  citi- 
zen. Of  greatest  integrity  and  noble  prin- 
ciples, he  is  a  man  whose  friendship  is  jirized 
by  all  who  are  fortunate  enough  to  be  num- 
bered among  his  associates. 


(^TOIIN  S.  HOBBIl':,  one  of  the  leading 
dairymen  of  Bovina,  was  born  on  the 
26th  of  November,  1838.  His  pater- 
nal grandfather,  Ebenezer  Hobbie,  was 
a  native  of  Dutchess  County,  who  came  to 
Delaware  County,  and  bought  land  near 
Bovina,  the  deed  for  which  bears  the  date  of 
1794.  In  those  early  days  of  the  settlement 
the  nearest  market  was  Catskill,  so  a  farmer's 
life  was  necessarily  a  hard  one.  The  wife  of 
Ebenezer  Hobbie  was  Lydia  Halt,  and  to 
them  were  born  five  children,  all  of  whom  are 
now  dead.  Grandfather  Hobbie  was  a  Bap- 
tist in  religious  faith  and  a  Democrat  in 
politics. 

Joshua  of  the  second  generation  was  also  a 
farmer,  and  lived  and  died  on  the  farm  where 


he  was  born.  He  was  a  teacher  and  for  many 
years  a  clerk  of  the  district  school,  although 
these  avocations  did  not  interfere  with  his 
chief  occupation,  which  was  farming.  He 
married  Rliss  Sally  Reynolds  of  Bovina. 
Both  were  church  members,  though  differing 
in  creed,  the  husband  being  a  Baptist,  while 
she  was  in  the  conmiunion  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church.  Their  seven  children,  of 
whom  six  are  now  living,  were  the  follow- 
ing: Orman  E.,  a  grocer  in  Illinois;  .Selah 
R.,  a  farmer  in  Nebraska;  John  S.,  of  this 
memoir;  Joshua  K.,  on  the  old  homestead: 
Addie,  the  wife  of  Mr.  Byron  Frisbee,  of 
Delhi;  Stephen,  a  resident  of  Kansas;  and 
Augusta,  who  died  on  the  threshold  of  maid- 
enhood, at  the  age  of  fourteen  years. 

As  a  natural  result  of  training  and  home 
environment  John  S.  Hobbie  followed  in  the 
footsteps  of  father  and  grandfather,  and  turned 
his  attention  toward  practical  farming  and 
breeding  dairy  stock.  As  a  youth  he  worked 
out  for  seven  years,  and,  being  of  an  economi- 
cal turn  of  mind,  was  able  to  save  something 
each  year  from  his  paltry  wages,  which  for  the 
first  year  only  amounted  to  a  hundred  dollars. 
In  these  days,  when  such  labor  brings  a  much 
greater  reward,  it  seems  almost  incredible  that 
the  hard  toil  of  twelve  months  should  have 
brought  an  able-bodied  adult  man  a  sum  so 
inadequate  for  the  common  needs  of  life. 
But  self-denial  and  determination  are  strong 
forces;  and  in  the  year  1855  John  S.  Hobbie 
purchased  a  farm  of  two  hundred  and  three 
acres  of   land,    upon  which   he  now  resides. 

At  twenty-five  years  of  age  he  married  Miss 
Emily  J.  Reynolds,  a  girl  who  did  not  dread 
the  prospect  of  a  life  of  honest  labor  and  care, 
such  as  a  woman  who  marries  a  working 
farmer  must  expect.  Miss  Reynolds  was  a 
daughter  of  Morris  S.  Reynolds,  a  farmer  of 
Bovina.  Both  of  her  parents  are  dead.  With 
the  aid  that  wifely  encouragement  and  sym- 
pathy brings,  Mr.  Hobbie  has  been  able  to 
steadily  accumulate  property  about  him,  and 
to-day  owns  a  very  fine  dairy,  supplied  by  a 
herd  of  thirty  sleek,  well-kept  cows,  grade 
Jerseys. 

A  comfortable  residence  was  completed  in 
1889,  in  which  he  now  resides.  The  sweet 
influence  and  central   figure   of  the   home  fire- 


niOORAI'HICAI,    RKVIKW 


sitlc  is  lacking  in  tlic  new  abode,  ho\\c\XT, 
Mrs.  ITobbie  having  ilieii  in  1881.  Mr.  Hob- 
ble has  been  faithful  to  the  memory  of  the 
wife  of  his  youth,  and  lives  (|uietly  with  his 
twin  daughters,  who  have  liie  charge  of  the 
affairs  of  the  houseiiold.  His  only  son, 
Charles  W.  Ilobbic,  is  a  real  estate  dealei' 
in  Ringhamton.  'I'he  daughters,  .Sarah  and 
Mary,  have  done  much  tf)  cheer  and  brighten 
their  father's  life  since  his  bereavement,  and 
ha\e  displayed  much  i-\eeuti\'e  abilit\'  in  their 
management  of  his  domestic  concerns.  Mr. 
1-It)bbie  devotes  himself  almost  e\clusi\el\-  to 
Iiis  dairy,  in  which  he  takes  |)leasurable  pride, 
although  he  dt)es  not  neglect  the  duties  ol 
citizen  and  neighbor.  lie  is  atfiliated  with 
the  I'nited  Presbyterian  church,  and  holds 
Democrat  it"    |)rinciples. 


MUS  PIIIXE.A.S  WOOD,  Postmaster 
at  North  Ilamden,  N.V.,  receiwd  the 
ba|)tismal  names  of  his  tun  grancl- 
fathers,  Amos  Wood  and  Phineas 
llowland,  the  latter  of  whom  was  Captain  of 
a  militia  company,  and  in  his  younger  da\s 
was  a  famous  siiortsman  and  an  expert  deer 
hmitt'r.  Mr.  Wood  is  a  skilled  mechanic, 
and  an  able  and  experienced  farmer.  He  is  a 
nati\-e-born  citi/en  of  the  town,  and  first 
opened  his  e}'es  to  the  light  on  (  Jctolier  K), 
1  84 1 . 

His  father,  Ira  Pentield  Wood,  was  born  in 
Massachusetts  in  1814.  He  lived  there,  how- 
ever, but  a  few  months,  his  ]iarents,  Amos 
and  .So|)hia  (Kilbouru)  Wood,  removing  from 
the  okl  Bay  State  to  this  county  in  1814,  the 
vear  following  their  marriage.  He  was  a 
man  of  great  mechanical  genius,  working  in 
either  iron  or  wood;  and  after  his  arrival  in 
this  countv  he  erected  several  saw  and  grist 
mills  ahmg  the  rivt'r.  but,  though  a  verv 
industrious  man.  never  accumulated  much 
projierty.  His  wife  died  in  1843,  somewhat 
past  middle  age;  and  In-  survix'ed  her  but  a 
few  years.  Of  their  six  children,  four  daugh- 
ters and  two  sons,  all  grew  to  adult  life,  mar- 
ried, and  reared  families.  One  daughter, 
Pamelia,  tin;  widow  of  John  Roff,  resides  in 
Washington,  D.C..  being  an  active  and  intel- 
ligent woman  of  seventy-five  years. 


Ira  P.  Wooti  was  married  on  the  1st  of  Jan- 
uary, 1834,  to  .Sally  Howland.  tlu'  daughter  of 
Cajitain  Phineas  Howland.  an<l  the  grand- 
daughter of  one  (jershom  Howland,  who  came 
to  the  town  of  Hamden  from  Rhotle  Island,  in 
1796.  bringing  with  him  liis  wife  and  four 
sons  —  Joseph,  Job,  Phineas.  and  Gershom. 
These  sons  all  married  and  reared  children, 
many  of  whom  are  settled  in  this  part  of 
Delaware  County.  The  Howland  family  ;ne 
lineallv  descended  Irom  Henry  Howland,  who 
w;is  one  ot  three  brothers  that  were  living 
in  Plymouth,  Mass.,  in  1625.  The  (jther 
brothers  were  .Arthur  and  John  Howland,  the 
hitter  of  whom  crossed  the  ocean  in  the  "  .Ma_v- 
tlower ""  in  1620.  Henry  Howland  subse- 
i|uentl\'  settled  in  Dnxbur_\'.  Mass..  being  one 
of  the  pioneers  o(  that  |)lace.  .After  their 
marriage  Ira  P.  Wood  and  his  wife  li\'ed  one 
year  in  Delhi,  then  came  to  Ihmiden,  where 
they  bought  a  tract  of  wild  land,  fift)-  acres, 
])aying  for  it  one  hundred  and  seventy  dollars. 
This  huid  had  been  obtained  from  the  <:ovcrn- 
ment  ]))■  Mrs.  W^iod's  father  the  previous 
year,  he  having  paid  (uie  dollai"  and  fifty  cents 
per  acre.  Renting  a  small  log  house  for 
tliree  months,  they  proceeded  to  build  a  cabin 
ot  their  own.  Having  cut  down  the  trees, 
Mr.  Wood  hewetl  out  the  rafters  himself,  and 
ei'ected  a  comfortable  house,  consisting  of  two 
lixing-rooms  and  a  bedroom.  ^irs.  Wood  did 
many  a  baking  in  the  old-fashioned  tin  o\-en, 
before  a  stump  tire. 

In  this  log  house  were  h<jrn  liieir  two  chil- 
dren, Willard  .Samuel  and  Amos  Phineas,  the 
latter  being  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  The 
elder  son  was  born  in  1837,  and  was  reared  on 
the  home  tarm,  receiving  a  better  education 
than  many  of  the  pioneers'  sons,  attending 
the  seniinar\'  after  leaving  the  district  school, 
and  began  a  i)rofessional  career  ;is  a  tejicher, 
following  that  vocation  in  New  Jersey.  .At 
the  breaking  out  of  the  late  Civil  War,  he 
enlisted  in  the  I-"irst  New  Jersey  N'olunteer 
Infantrv,  going  to  the  front  as  I'irst  .Sergeant 
in  Compan\'  D.  He  was  an  active  i)artici- 
pant  in  many  engagements;  and  on  May  11, 
1864,  at  the  battle  of  .Sjiottsylvania.  he  was 
made  prisoner.  He  was  first  confined  at 
Dans\ille,  and  afterward  taken  to  .Anderson- 
ville,  and  thence  to  Florence.  S.C.,  where  he 


252 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


died  of  starvation,  leaving  a  widow,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Orpah   Wilson. 

Amos  P.  Wood  was  reared  to  the  occupiition 
of  a  farmer,  and  since  he  was  old  enough  to 
assume  the  responsibility  has  had  charge  of 
the  paternal  homestead.  He  inherited  in  a 
large  degree  the  mechanical  ability  of  his 
father,  who  was  equally  competent  to  clean  a 
clock  or  build  a  mill;  and  at  the  age  of 
twenty-four  years  he  learned  of  A.  D.  Bishop, 
at  Decatur,  Otsego  County,  the  trade  of  a 
gunsmith,  working  for  him  a  year.  He 
opened  his  present  shop  in  1866.  In  addition 
to  this  handicraft,  Mr.  Wood  also  carries  on 
general  farming  and  dairying,  making  butter 
from  his  eighteen  grade  Jersey  cows.  His 
farm  is  well  improved,  and  his  buildings  kept 
in  good  repair,  everything  about  the  premises 
indicating  the  careful  supervision  of  an  intel- 
ligent proprietor.  In  1894  he  built  an  exten- 
sion to  his  barn,  which  is  now  thirty  feet  by 
eighty  feet,  and  in  the  basement  has  room  for 
thirty  cows  and  two  or  more  horses.  An  in- 
valuable luxury  of  his  farm  is  a  spring  of 
pure,  cold  water,  which  is  carried  to  the  house 
from  a  distance  of  seventeen  rods. 

Mr.  Wood  was  married  in  1868  to  Sally  M. 
Howland,  a  cousin,  and  the  daughter  of  Will- 
iam Howland.  ■  Of  this  congenial  union  three 
children  have  been  born,  one  of  whom,  Min- 
nie, a  beautiful  girl  of  thirteen  years,  died  in 
1880.  The  living  children  are:  Ira  P.,  born 
July  16,  1877:  and  Ivlla  Mabel,  born  August 
15,  1886.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wood  are  worthy 
and  valued  members  of  the  Christian  church, 
to  which  his  parents  also  belonged.  In  poli- 
tics he  follows  in  the  footsteps  of  his  father, 
and  is  a  stanch  supporter  of  the  principles  of 
the  Republican  party. 


fOIIN  B.  BONNEFOND,  who  was  for 
some  time  a  resident  of  the  town  of 
Hancock,  was  a  native  of  France,  hav- 
ing been  born  in  that  country,  in  the 
department  of  Saone  and  Loire.  In  his  early 
manhood  he  was  a  popular  restaurant-keeper 
in  Paris;  but  on  account  of  his  Republican 
sentiments  he  fell  under  the  displeasure  of 
the  government  of  Louis  Philippe.  He  was 
repeatedly  ^arrested    and    confined    without    a 


charge  being  made  against  him,  although  he 
constantly  demanded  to  be  brought  to  trial. 
In  the  revolutionary  movement  of  May,  1839, 
he  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  his  party  in 
Paris,  at  the  barricades,  where  they  fought 
and  repeatedly  repulsed  the  government 
troops;  but,  the  barricades  being  taken,  he 
was  obliged  to  roam  over  the  country  in  dis- 
guise, being  kept  in  hiding  by  his  comj^atriots 
until  a  passport  could  be  obtained  for  him. 
This  was  secured  by  a  friend  who  was  high  in 
office,  and  who  gave  him  also  a  letter  of 
recommendation  to  an  old  acquaintance  in 
Chili.  But,  knowing  Chili  to  be  a  republic 
in  name  only,  when  he  arrived  at  Havre,  and 
saw  the  stars  and  stripes,  he  said  to  himself, 
"I  will  go  to  the  country  which  represents 
the  government  I  wish  to  see  established  in 
my  own."  He  took  passage  to  New  York 
City,  leaving  his  wife  and  two  children  be- 
hind till  he  could  make  a  home  for  them  in 
the  country  of  his  adoption.  He  arrived  in 
New  York  City,  August  21,  1839.  Declaring 
his  intentions,  he  took  out  first  papers,  and 
became  an  American  citizen  in  1844.  Meet- 
ing with  an  old  friend,  who  owned  thousands 
of  acres  in  Hancock,  and  had  established  there 
the  French  colony  known  as  French  Woods, 
Mr.  Bonnefond  came  to  this  place,  and  pur- 
chased one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  timbered 
land  on  the  border  of  the  beautiful  Sands 
Pond,  then  in  a  state  of  wild  beauty,  where 
the  deer  roamed  at  will  and  all  kinds  of  game 
and  fish  abounded. 

The  wife  of  Mr.  Bonnefond  was  Annette 
Marigny,  of  Cote  d"Or,  Burgundy.  When 
her  husband  was  obliged  to  flee  the  country 
and  leave  his  extensive  and  lucrative  restau- 
rant business  in  Paris,  representing  about  ten 
thousand  dollars,  Mrs.  Bonnefond  was  unable 
to  save  any  of  the  property ;  and  it  was  con- 
fiscated by  the  government.  She  came  to 
America  with  her  daughter  Octavia,  leaving 
her  son  Octave  at  school  in  Paris,  where  he 
remained  for  two  years,  and,  when  eleven 
years  old,  followed  his  parents  to  their  new 
home. 

John  B.  Bonnefond  was  an  upright  man  of 
good  education  and  pleasing  address,  and 
counted  among  his  friends  scmie  of  the  best 
and  most  influential   men    in  the  county.     In 


r 


niOORAIMIICAT,    KKVIKW  -'S,'. 

1848,  after  the  revolution   of   that  year,  here-  ami    Hannah    (Mason)   Hunter,  nl    Colchester, 

turned   to    France   to   see    if   he   could    not    re-  Delaware   County.      Hannah    Mason  was  a  na- 

cover  some   of   his  i)roperty,  hut  was  unable  to  tive    of    Hamden,    Delaware   County;  and   her 

do  so,  and  received  no  recompense  for  his  loss  father  was  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers   of   Col- 

and  suffering.      On    the   outbreak   of   the    -old  Chester.      Mr.    and    Mrs.    Aristias    H.    l^onne- 

fever   in    1849,  he   made   his   way  overlaiul    to  fond  are  the   parents   of   tive  children :    JMank, 

California,  and  was  successful  in  findint;  some  born    May    19,    1866;   Helen,  born    March    j;, 

-oil,  which   he  is  said  to  have  sent  home,  hut  1869;   Annette,    born    March    28,    1875:    .Mar- 

which  never  reached  its  destination.      He  died  .t;aret    A.,  born   January  6,    1879:    .Alice,  bcirn 

of   fever   in    Au<;ust,   1849,  and   was   buried  in  .September   29,    1881.      l^ank    married    Kmily 

his  cloak,  far  from  his  friends  and  family.  Dirnier,    daughter   of  John    Dirnier,    of    Han- 

His    wife    survived    him    many  years.      Dur-  cock:   and    they    have    three    children  -  Mary 

ing   the    life   of   her   husband,  by  the   exercise  Caroline.   luigene,    and    George.      Helen    mar- 

of^her  skill    as  a  cook    she    had' done  much  to  ried  Arthur    Denio,  of    Hancock,  and    has   one 

assist   him  in  the  supix.rt    of   the   family;   and  child,     I^rnest.      Aristias    H.    Honnefond    has 

after  his  death  she  so  ably  managed  her'affairs  been    well    known    in   the  affairs   of   the  town, 

as  to  pay  off  the    indebtedness  on  the  home  in  among  the  offices  he  has  held   being    Highway 

Hancock.       Besides     the     children     born     in  Commissioner,    in    which    capacity  he    served 

l*"rance   they  had  two  sons  born  in   America  —  four   years. 
Aristias  H.' and  Francis.  I-'rancis     lionnefond,    the    youngest    son    of 

Octave,    the    eldest    son    of    Mr.   and    Mrs.  John    B.    Bonnefond,    was    born    in    the    town 

lohn    B.  'l^(mnefond,    married.    June    3.    1857,  of    Hancock,  and  was  educated  in   the  .schools 

Mary  IC.    Lakin,  daughter   of    lonas    Lakin,  of  of    the    French   Woods  district.      When   about 

Hancock.      .She    was'  etlucated"   in    her    native  twenty   years   old,    following    the    example   of 

town    of    Hancock  and    in    the    Franklin  Insti-  most    of    the    young    men    of    the   district,  he 

tnte,   and    lived    with    her    parents    until    her  started   to   follow    the  river  as   a   lumberman, 

marriage.      Mr.    and    Mrs.    Octave    Bonnefond  On    November  19,   1879,  he  married   ICllen  G. 

had    ten    children:    Kdgar    B. :    John    B.  :    Ho-  Thomas,     daughter     of     Moses     and     Eunice 

ratio   .Seymour;    Leoni'e:    I.ucien ;   Louis    and  (Biggs)    Thomas,    of    Hancock.      Mr.    Ihomas 

Louise,  who  were   twins:  and   three  who  died  was    a    native  of    Fremont.  Sullivan   County, 

in  infancy.      Leonie  married  S.  M.  Bouchoux.  and  now,  with   his   wife,    is   enjoying    a    good 

a  farmer 'in    Hancock,  and   has   three  children  <dd   age    on    the    farm   he   has    occupied   since 

—  Seymour!.,   lohn    Batiste,  and    Eugenie  A.  his  marriage.      Mr.  and   Mrs.    Francis  B(mne- 

Horatio   Sevmour  was  killed    bv  a  falling  tree  fond    have    three    children:     Montcelle,    born 

in    1879.      'Louise     lives    at     home    with    her  November  19,  1880:  June,  born  June  7,  1 885 : 

parents.      Edgar  B.  married  IClizabeth  Miller.  and   ICthel.  born  July  3  i.   1889.      He  has  been 

of    Hancock,  \nd   has    one    child,    a    daughter  Collector    of     Taxes,    Excise     C.mimissioner, 

Lena.      John    B.    Bonnefond,    son    of    OcUive,  Constable,    and  Asses.sor  for  two  terms.      .M 


married 'jenny  ^L  liaxter,  of  Hancock.      They  and    Mrs.     Bonnefond    are     members     of     the 

have  two  children—  lohn  AL  and    Octavia    L.  Methodist  Episcopal  church  at  Harvard. 

Bonnefon.l.       Octave"     Bonnefond     has     been  Octavia,    the    only    daughter    of    John     15. 

prominent    in    town    affairs,    having    for  nine  Bonnefond,  was   born    in    Pans,  and   accompa- 

vears    served   as    Commissioner  of    Highwavs,  nied  her  mother  to  this  country.     She  was  edu- 

bein-    also    ICxcise    Conmiissioner.      He    is   a  cated    in    New   York    City  and  at  Georgetown, 

Democrat.  \>.C..  and  married  John  Livingston,  of  Camp- 

Arist'ias  H.  Bonnefond  was  born  March    16,  viUe.  Tioga   County.  N.V.      He  was  an   emi- 

1845,    and    received    the   education   which    the  nent    lawyer    and     writer,    among    his    works 

farmers-  sons  of  that  time  were  able  to  obtain.  being  the  ■■  Lawyer's  Mimun]      and    "  luninent 

I-;arly  in  life  he  started   to   follow  the  river  as  ^[en    of     America."    a    biographical    work    of 

a   steersman   and    lumberman.      July   4,    1864,  large  circulation.      He   died    m    March,   1893, 

he  married  Marv  Hunter,  daughter  of  Richard  leaving  seven  children. 


254 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


The  Bonnefond  family  have  been  important 
members  of  the  community  in  which  they 
have  lived;  and  in  the  early  days  of  the  settle- 
ment, as  well  as  in  later  years,  their  integ- 
rity, good  judgment,  and  ability  in  the  man- 
agement of  affairs  have  been  of  great  use  to 
their  fellow-townsmen. 


iHARLES  GORSCH,  a  native  of  Neu- 
enburg,  West  Prussia,  and  the  son  of 
Ludwig  Gorsch,  whose  wife  was 
Florentine  Dangers,  came  to  Amer- 
ica in  1854,  after  a  voyage  of  six  weeks  land- 
ing at  New  York,  where  he  earned  his  living 
as  a  cabinet-maker.  In  1857  he  came  to 
Andes,  where  he  was  employed  by  Mr.  Will- 
iam Oliver,  of  that  town,  for  three  years. 
After  that  he  came  to  Margarettville,  and 
here  purchased  a  lot,  upon  which  from  time  to 
time,  as  his  prospects  enlarged  and  bright- 
ened, he  erected  buildings.  During  the  Civil 
War  of  1861-65  Mr.  Gorsch  joined  the  Union 
army,  enlisting  in  Company  B  of  the  Nine- 
tieth Regiment,  Nineteenth  Corps,  under 
Captain  Lamb,  serving  during  the  campaign 
in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  under  General 
Sheridan,  and  took  part  with  his  regiment  in 
that  memorable  battle  of  Cedar  Creek.  In 
1865  he  returned  to  Margarettville,  where  he 
applied  himself  so  assiduously  to  business 
that  in  ten  years  he  was  able  to  purchase  the 
largest  and  oldest  mercantile  building  in  the 
village. 

Three  years  after  coming  here  Mr.  Gorsch 
was  the  accepted  suitor  of  Miss  Jennie  Bailey, 
whom  he  married  in  1868.  Miss  Bailey  was 
one  of  the  si.x  children  of  John  L.  and  Deb- 
orah (Bush)  Bailey,  of  Margarettville.  Seven 
children,  a  mystic  number,  completed  the 
family  circle  of  Charles  and  Jennie  Gorsch,  to 
whom  were  born  six  sons  and  one  daughter. 
Charles,  the  first-born  and  bearer  of  his 
father's  name,  blessed  the  marriage  of  his 
parents  on  the  28th  of  November,  1869.  He 
grew  up  and  married  Hattie  Stinson,  of  Rox- 
bury,  and  has  one  child.  He  is  an  undertaker 
and  furniture  dealer  in  the  town  of  Roxbury. 
Hugo,  the  second  child,  was  born  June  7, 
1 87 1.  The  third,  Wilson,  born  September 
2]^  1872,   is  employed   in  a  large  storehouse 


in  New  York.  The  others  are:  Nellie,  who 
lives  at  home,  and  is  unmarried;  Marvin  and 
Melvin,  who  are  twins;  and  Arthur,  whose 
birth   date    is   the   27th   of  June,    1880. 

In  politics  Mr.  Gorsch  is  a  Republican. 
Though  of  foreign  birth  and  training,  he  has 
thoroughly  assimilated  the  American  modes  of 
thought  and  habit,  and  is  entirely  loyal  to  the 
ensign  of  the  "stars  and  stripes."  He  has 
held  several  small  offices,  proving  his  own 
efficiency  and  his  neighbors'  judicious  be- 
stowal of  confidence.  He  is  also  a  member  of 
the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 


OSEPH  S.  McMURDY,  a  breeder  of 
and  dealer  in  Jersey  cattle,  who  owns 
and  occupies  a  fine  farm  on  Glen  Ben- 
nie,  so  called  from  a  locality  of  the 
same  name  in  Scotland,  is  a  prosperous  and 
industrious  agriculturist,  a  most  capable  busi- 
ness man,  and  a  citizen  of  high  repute  in  the 
community  where  he  has  spent  many  years  of 
his  life.  A  native  of  the  Empire  State,  he 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Kortright,  October 
17,  1852;  and  that  town  was  also  the  place 
of  nativity  of  his  father,  William  McMurdy. 
He  is  of  excellent  Scotch  ancestry,  his  grand- 
father, George  McMurdy,  having  been  born 
and  reared  in  Scotland,  but,  after  reaching 
manhood,  emigrated  to  this  country,  settling 
in  Kortright  at  an  early  period,  and  clearing 
a  homestead,  on  which  he  and  his  wife  spent 
their  remaining  years. 

William  McMurdy  was  one  of  seven  chil- 
dren born  to  his  parents,  and,  in  common 
with  the  others,  attended  the  district  school, 
and  assisted  on  the  farm  during  his  boyhood. 
When  he  was  only  sixteen  years  old,  his  father 
died,  and  from  that  time  he  and  his  elder 
brother  worked  early  and  late  to  assist  their 
mother  in  her  efforts  to  clothe  and  educate  the 
younger  children.  William  remained  at  home 
until  his  marriage,  when  he  bought  a  farm 
near  the  paternal  homestead,  which  he  carried 
on  for  sixteen  years.  Selling  that,  he  came 
to  Delhi;  and,  purchasing  the  farm  now 
owned  by  his  son  Joseph,  of  whom  we  write, 
he  continued  the  improvements  already  insti- 
tuted, repairing  the  old  buildings,  and  put- 
ting up  new,  and  each  year  placing  more  of 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


the  land  in  a  tillable  condition,  lie  exer- 
cised much  judgment  and  skill  in  his  opera- 
tions, and  met  with  assured  success  in  all  of 
his  undertakings.  In  1890.  having  carneil  a 
well-deserved  rest,  he  sold  his  farm  to  his 
son,  and  is  now  spending  his  declining  years 
with  his  children  in  the  village,  retired  from 
active  pursuits,  and  enjoying  to  the  utmost 
his  pleasant  leisure.  The  maiden  name  of 
his  wife,  who  departed  this  life  .March  ^r. 
18S3,  in  her  si.\ty-eighth  year,  was  Jennet  11. 
-Smith.  -She  was  a  nati\e  of  Delhi,  where  her 
parents  spent  their  last  years.  .She  bore  her 
husband  five  children,  the  following  being 
their  record:  Mary  Ann,  the  wife  of  John  .A. 
Hutson,  of  Delhi ;  Sarah  M.,  who  married 
John  M.  Gorden,  L'nder-sheriff  of  Delaware 
County;  David  B.,  a  graduate  of  Princeton 
College,  who  is  pastor  of  a  Presbyterian 
church  in  Lynn.  Mass.;  Joseph  .S. :  and  Will- 
iam S.,  who  is  a  physician,  and  resitles  in 
New  York  City.  Both  parents  united  with 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church  many  \ears 
ago,  and  the  father  is  now  serving  as  Elder. 
He  has  attained  the  ripe  age  of  eight\-fi\'e. 

The  first  year  of  the  life  of  Joseph  .S.  .Mc- 
Murdy  was  spent  on  the  Kortright  farm, 
which  his  father  then  owned.  Coming  then 
to  Delhi,  he  was  here  reared  and  educated, 
attending  the  district  schools  and  Delaware 
Academy.  He  then  spent  some  lime  as  a 
commercial  traveller,  but,  not  liking  that 
work  as  a  steady  occupation,  returned  to  the 
paternal  homestead.  He  subsequently  en- 
gaged in  teaching  for  several  seasons,  meeting 
with  excellent  success,  and  also  assisted  his 
father  in  the  management  of  the  home  farm. 
In  1890  he  bought  the  entire  property,  con- 
sisting of  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  acres  of 
well-improved  land,  and  is  carrying  on  the 
work  his  father  so  successfuU}'  inaugurated. 
The  rich  and  fertile  soil  is  well  adapted  to 
the  raising  of  all  the  cereals  common  to  this 
section  of  the  State;  and  in  addition  thereto 
Mr.  McMurdy  breeds  Jersey  cattle,  St.  Ber- 
nard dogs,  Berkshire  hogs,  and  sheep.  He  is 
also  a  poultry  fancier,  breeding  many  varie- 
ties of  land  and  water  fowl.  His  dair\'  con- 
tains twenty-two  Jersey  cows;  and  he  makes  a 
fine  quality  of  butter,  shipping  it  to  New 
York. 


A  most  i)leasant  step  in  tht-  laieii  ui  mc 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  his  union  with  Mar- 
garet J.  Middlemas,  which  was  sokmni/ed 
in  1882.  She  is  a  native  of  Delhi,  and  a 
daughter  of  Thomas  Mitldlemas,  ai  whom  :i 
sketch  may  be  lound  on  another  page  of  this 
work.  Into  the  happy  household  thus  estab- 
lished three  bright  and  active  children 
Nellie  J.,  Jennie  D.,  and  Harold  -  have 
made  their  advent.  Mr.  McMurdv  takes  an 
active  ])art  in  evei\-  enterprise  tending  lo  pro- 
mote the  welfare  of  his  community.  He  is  a 
zealous  supporter  of  the  princi|)les  of  the  Re- 
publican ];)arty,  and  has  filled  several  l<iwn 
offices.  Fraternally,  he  is  a  member  of  the 
A.  F.  &  .A.  M.,  belonging  to  Delhi  Lodge, 
No.  249.  In  his  religious  views  he  coincides 
i  with  the  doctrines  of  the  Presbyterian  church, 
he  and  his  wife  being  members  of  the  l-"irst 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Delhi. 


01 IX  lllLSON,  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cesslul  business  men  of  Bo\ina  Cen- 
tre, was  born  in  .Scotland,  on  Ma}'  25, 
1827,  son  of  .Alexaiuler  and  Lli/.abeth 
(Nesbit)  Ililson.  His  mother  was  a  daughter 
of  William  Nesbit,  who  died  in  .Scotland  at  a 
very  advanced  age.  Alexander  Hilson  was  a 
plasterer  by  trade,  and  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church:  and  he  lived  to  be  sixty 
years  old.  His  wife  ivlizabeth  outlived  him, 
dying  in  her  seventy-sixth  year.  .She  was  the 
mother  of  eight  children,  onl)'  two  of  whom 
survi\-e,  namely:  Alexander  Hilsoti,  |r.,  a 
retired  farmer,  living  in  Scotland:  and  John 
Hilson,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

John  lived  at  home  with  his  jiarents  until 
his  twenty-third  year,  being  educated  in  Scot- 
land, and  learning  the  plasterer's  trade  of  his 
father.  In  1850,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three, 
he  came  to  America,  landing  in  New  \'ork 
after  a  pleasant  \-o\age  of  only  thirty  da\'s  in 
a  sailing-ship.  He  came  directly  to  Delaware 
County,  and  settled  in  Bovina,  where  he  fol- 
lowed his  trade  for  more  than  four  vears.  In 
1855,  the  year  after  his  marriage,  Mr.  Hilson 
bought  a  farm  of  a  hundred  acres,  where  he 
started  a  dairy,  having  fifteen  cows  to  com- 
mence with,  and  increasing  the  number  to 
twenty-five    during    his    seventeen     years    of 


2s6 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


larminj;.  lie  has  owned  three  different  farms 
in  liovina,  and  now  has  a  splendid  one  of  two 
hundred  and  six  acres,  besides  his  residence 
in  Bovina  Centre. 

In  1854  he  married  Hannah  S.  Hamilton,  a 
daughter  of  Robert  Hamilton,  one  of  Bovina"s 
hardy  pioneers.  He  started  a  large  general 
store  in  1867;  and,  before  retiring  from  busi- 
ness, in  1889,  to  return  to  Scotland  for  a 
summer's  visit,  he  had  built  up  a  very  good 
trade.  Since  his  return  Mr.  Hilson  has  spec- 
ulated somewhat  in  butter,  but  has  engaged 
in  no  active  work,  leaving  his  son  Alexander 
to  take  charge  of  the  -  store,  in  partnership 
with  Mr.  Blair.  Alexander  Hilson,  born  in 
1855,  is  the  only  child  of  his  parents.  He 
was  married  in  1880  to  Isabell  Archibald; 
and  they  have  two  children,  John  and  Jane 
Hilson,    born    in    1881    and    1885. 

John  Hilson  has  a  large  circle  of  friends, 
he  and  his  wife  being  members  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  church,  wherein  he  has  held  the 
position  of  Trustee  for  a  number  of  years. 
He  has  also  been  Town  Clerk  ten  years,  and 
County  Superintendent  of  the  Poor  three 
years,  and  now  holds  the  office  of  Notary  Pub- 
lic. The  Hilsons  have  always  been  identified 
with  the  interests  of  the  town,  and  are  es- 
teemed by  all  who  know  them.  Well  has  it 
been  said  by  a  poetic  philosopher  of  our  own 
day,  Dr.  J.  G.  Holland:  — 

"God  gives  every  bird  its  food,  but  he  does 
not  throw  it  into  the  nest.  He  iloes  not  un- 
earth the  good  that  the  earth  contains;  but  he 
]nits  it  in  our  way,  and  gives  us  the  means  of 
getting  it  ourselves." 


()B1-:RT  north,  Sk.,  was  b(jrn  at 
Newton,  L.I.,  January  5,  1759,  ^^^ 
married  to  Elizabeth  Carter  in 
1783,  and  in  1785  emigrated  to 
Walton,  where  he  cleared  the  farm  upon 
which  he  lived  for  more  than  half  a  century. 
He  held  the  office  of  Town  Clerk  for  about 
forty  years,  and,  being  also  elected  Supervisor 
and  Surrogate  of  the  county,  ably  discharged 
his  trusts  until  failing  health  compelled  his 
retirement  from  public  life.  Always  inter- 
ested in  and  supporting  the  religious  growth 
of  the  town,  he  was  in  1830  one  of  the  organ- 


izers of  the  Episcopal  church  in  Walton,  for 
several  years  its  .Senior  Warden,  and  an  exem- 
plary communicant  until  his  death. 

Elizabeth  Carter,  whom  he  married,  was  a 
typical  woman  of  the  Revolutionary  times. 
Possessing  great  strength  of  character,  an 
energetic  will,  and  many  social  attractions, 
she  was  in  every  sense  the  helpmate  of  her 
husband,  bearing  with  him  every  burden, 
encouraging  every  effort,  and  sharing  all  his 
pleasures.  .She  was  the  mother  of  eight  chil- 
dren, one  of  whom  died  in  infancy,  five  in 
early  manhood  and  womanhood,  and  only  two 
of  whom  survived  her. 

Benjamin,  her  eldest-born,  married  Eleanor 
Heath,  and  ^vas  the  father  of  Colonel  Samuel 
North,  whose  home  was  at  Unadilla,  N.Y., 
where  he  died  on  September  15,  1894. 
Samuel,  the  second  son,  born  P'ebruary  9, 
1787,  the  first  child  born  in  the  new  settle- 
ment, lived  with  his  parents  until  the  age  of 
fourteen,  when  he  accompanied  his  father  to 
Albany,  and  was  apprenticed  to  Solomon 
Smithwick  in  the  office  of  the  Albany  Re^is- 
U-r,  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  printer.  Acquir- 
ing by  industry  and  perseverance  a  fair  educa- 
tion, he  became  after  several  years  a  student 
of  law  in  the  office  of  Elijah  Thomas,  Esq., 
a  gentleman  whose  example  alone  was  suffi- 
cient to  inspire  a  young  man  with  the  purest 
and  noblest  ambition.  On  the  mind  of  the 
student  so  fair  an  example  produced  all  the 
effect  his  best  friends  could  wish,  and  his 
zeal  to  acquire  knowledge  was  only  equalled 
by  his  success  in  the  acquisition.  In  the 
May  term  of  18 10,  he  was  admitted  as  an 
attorney  in  the  Supreme  Court,  and  began  the 
practice  of  law  in  the  city  of  Albany  under 
the  most  favorable  auspices.  In  the  follow- 
ing winter  he  was  appointed  Clerk  in  the 
House  of  Assembly,  and  filled  the  office  hon- 
orably. He  was  considered  a  young  man  of 
superior  talent,  and  his  friends  predicted  for 
him  a  brilliant  career;  but  about  this  ]ieriod 
his  health  began  to  decline,  and  a  year  or  two 
later  he  returned  home,  where  he  died  of  con- 
sumption, January  16,   1813. 

His  death  was  followed  seven  years  later  by 
that  of  his  brother  Cyrus,  who  was  born  on 
December  22,  1793.  Although  afflicted  with 
blindnes.s,  having  lost  his  eyesight  when  only 


Robert  North,  Jr. 


Mrs  Mary  P.  North. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


2f>\ 


two  years  old,  he  grow  ti)  manhood  with  rare 
intelligence  and  a  most  attractive  character. 
He  was  a  lover  of  books,  music,  and  every- 
thing that  tended  toward  refined  culture.  To 
him  perhaps  as  much  as  to  any  other  was  (hie 
that  love  of  literary  jiursuils  that  marked  an 
early  era  in  Walton  societ\-,  and  sent  out  in- 
telligent men  and  wcnnen  to  dist  in^;uisli 
themselves   in   broader   fields. 

Sarah  North  was  hoin  on  September  29, 
1805,  and  dieil  on  l'"ebruary  _'4,  1829.  Han- 
nah, born  March  17,  1803,  died  January  4, 
1836.  Elizabeth,  born  November  29,  1800, 
died  August  16,  1830.  Mary  N.  15artlett, 
eldest  daughter  of  Robert  and  I'.lizabeth 
North,  and  wife  of  the  lion.  Henry  !•;.  Hart- 
iett,  was  born  June  20,  1796,  and  died 
October  15,  1870.  Her  first  husband  was 
Roswell  Wright,  of  Unadilla,  by  whom  she 
had  two  children,  namely:  Henry,  born  Sep- 
tember 30,  1821;  and  iClizabeth,  born  July 
10,  1823,  who  married  Benjamin  R.  Roljson, 
and  died  at  Litchfield,  Conn.,  August  i, 
1S47,  leaving  one  child,  Benjamin  W.,  now 
living  in  Portland,  Ore.  Henry  married 
Caroline  A.  Austin,  of  Otego,  N.Y.,  who 
died  January  g,  1856,  leaving  two  children: 
George  A.,  well  known  as  a  civil  engineer: 
and  Mary,  wife  of  the  Hon.  A.  H.  .Sewell, 
Judge  and  Surrogate  of  Delaware  County. 

During  the  whole  period  of  the  life  of 
Robert  North  his  character  and  course  were 
entirely  above  reproach,  his  excellence  of 
heart  and  breadth  of  intelligence  securing 
the  respect  and  esteem  of  the  community 
that  grew  up  around  him.  Dignity,  cour- 
tesy, and  philanthropic  feeling  distinguished 
him  as  a  man;  earnestness,  sincerity,  and 
devotion,  as  a  Christian. 


Tr^VOliERT    NORTH,   Ji<.,    was    born    on 

INv'      April    7,   1792,    in    Walton,   N.V.,  on 

JLbV^^  the  paternal  farm,  to   whose   posses 

sion    he    succeeded,    and    wliere    he 

his     whole     life.      He     inherited     the 

;    principles,    traditions,    and    faitii    of 

his    ancestor-s,    antl,    spending    the     iirime    of 

life    in   active,    useful    labors,    enjoyed    in    old 

age  well-earned  repose   and   tranquillity.      He 

engaged    for    a   time    in    mercantile    business, 


passed 
sterliiu 


was  appointed  Deputy  Sheriff,  ami  filled  sev- 
eral other  positions  of  trust.  Interested  in 
pcditical  and  social  subjects,  and  entering 
warmly  into  the  discussions  of  the  day,  he- 
was  an  ardent  admirer  of  Clay  and  Webster, 
and  the  personal  friend  of  i^rastiis  Root  and 
Aaron  Clark,  i)oth  members  of  the  old  Whig 
party.  Not  easily  swayed  by  [)opular  favor, 
he  was  strong  in  his  partisanship  and  fear- 
less in  defending  his  principles.  Born  amid 
primeval  forest  grandeur,  this  indej)endence 
and  freeck)m  of  soul  was  doubtless  fostered  by 
his  contact  with  the  wildness  and  stern  beauty 
ol  nature,  whose  infiuence  was  felt  in  his 
moral    and   religious   development. 

With  his  father,  he  was  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  ICpiscopal  church  in  Walton,  ratifying 
his  baptismal  vows  at  the  first  visitation  of 
Bishop  Onderdonk,  and   continuing   in  dutiful 

,  and  loving  service  until  the  close'of   his   life. 

j  Having  been  chosen  to  succeed  his  father  in 
the  office  of  Senior  Warden,  he  was  rr- 
elected   through    many   successive  years,    until 

1  bodily  infirmities  impelled  him  'to  seek  a 
release.  As  in  other  departments  of  thought 
h('  reined  in  any  e.vtravagance  of  sentiment. 
so  in  the  domain  of  religion  he  aimed  to  blend 
and  soften  the  contrasting  shades  of  feeling 
into  one  haniKmious  whole.  He  died  August 
15,    1873,    age<l    eighty-one    years.      His    wife 

I   Mary,  to  whom  he  was  married    on    the   6th  of 

1  September,  1820,  was  the  daughter  of  Joshua 
I'ineand  Margaret  Remsen.  and  sister  of  the 
late  Joshua  Pine,  Jr.  She  was  born  in  Wal- 
ton on  I'^ebruary  15,  1797,  educated  at  the  ohi 
Kingston  Academy,  Kingston,  N.^'..  and  was 
a  refined,  intelligent  woman.  Having  jiassed 
most  of  her  life  in  Walton,  she  was  interested 
in  its  growth  and  improvement,  and  was  well 
versed  in  its  early  history.  She  lived  to  the 
age  of  eighty-four,  and  died  on  blaster  morn- 
ing, April   17,    1 88  I. 

Her  children  were  Joshua  I'.,  born  Xovem- 
berii,  1821:  Robert  Bruce:  Margaret;  Mary: 
Cieorge;  Saiah:  Mmma;  and  Martha.  foshiia 
died  December  4,  1827,  aged  si.x  years;  Rob- 
ert Bruce,  in  the  |)rime  of  manhood,  Novem- 
ber 14,  1865;  Martha,  while  yet  an  infant, 
October  10,  1845:  and  l-jrima.  on  July  23, 
I  88  I.  Margaret,  Mary,  and  Sarah  are  living 
on    the   old    North    homestead,    where    the   an- 


262 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


cicnt  humble  structarc  has  given  place  to  a 
modern  dwelling.  The  surrounding  lands  are 
the  same  that  have  been  in  possession  of  their 
family  for  more  than  a  century;  but  a  portion 
of  their  farm  has  been  surrendered  to  the 
growth  of  the  village,  and  is  the  site  of  hand- 
some dwelling-houses.  George  North  has 
been  a  resident  of  California  since  1852,  and 
has  a  home  in  Winters,  Yolo  County.  He 
married  in  January,  1867,  Jennie  E.,  daugh- 
ter of  Thomas  Hart  Hyatt,  of  Lockport, 
N.Y.,  and  has  had  five  children,  only  three 
of  whom  are  living:  Robert  H.,  born  Decem- 
ber II,  1867,  died  April  15,  1868:  George 
B.,  born  June  24,  1869,  died  December  9, 
1876;  Hart  H.,  born  July  12,  1871,  is  prac- 
tising law  in  San  Francisco  with  the  promise 
of  a  successful  career:  Maude  I..,  the  only 
daughter,  was  born  October  15,  1872:  the 
youngest  son,  Arthur  Walbridge,  born  Octo- 
ber 26,  1874,  is  a  student  in  Berkeley  Uni- 
versity, California. 

The  accom])anying  portraits  of  Robert 
North,  Jr.,  and  his  wife,  Marv  Pine  North, 
are  of  unusual  interest.  Of  such  as  they  was 
it  said  of  old,  "There  be  some  who  have  left 
a  name  behind  them,  whose  remembrance  is 
sweet   as   honey    in   all    mouths." 


d^' 


ABRIHL  AM.  ROBERT  NORTH, 
%  •)  I  brothers,  were  at  the  beginning  of 
^ — ^  the  War  of  the  Revolution  living  in 
the  i)lace  of  their  nativity,  Newtown,  L.I. 
Descended  from  an  honorable  line  of  English 
ancestry,  they  both  enlisted  in  the  Conti- 
nental service,  and  gave  up  homes  and  prop- 
erty to  join  in  the  struggle  for  American 
independence.  After  the  close  of  the  war 
they  lived  for  a  time  in  New  Canaan,  Conn., 
where  they  married  sisters,  Deborah  and 
Elizabeth  Carter,  daughters  of  Captain  Eben- 
ezer  Carter  of  that  town,  and  in  1786  moved 
with  their  families  to  the  valley  of  the  Co- 
quago,  or  western  branch  of  the  Delaware 
River. 

Taking  up  their  abode  upon  what  was 
known  as  the  Walton  Patent,  they  gave  this 
name  to  the  new  settlement,  and  were  honored 
members  of  the  little  band  who  founded  the 
village  of  Walton.     The  difficulties  of  trans- 


portation were  great  in  those  days,  and  many 
are  the  stories  recorded  of  hardship  and  peril 
during  the  earlier  years  of  this  frontier  life. 
The  five  original  settlers  —  Townsend,  Pine, 
Furman,  and  the  Norths  —  were  connected  by 
family  ties  as  well  as  those  of  friendshi|), 
and  were  all  men  of  more  than  ordinary  char- 
acter and  intelligence,  bringing  with  them 
the  unshrinking  courage,  patience,  and  ad- 
venturous s])irit  transmitted  by  the  New  Eng- 
land Pilgrims  to  their  descendants.  They 
with  their  wives  and  infant  children  endured 
many  privations,  and  underwent  many  thrill- 
ing experiences. 

The  settlement  grew,  and  was  organized 
into  a  town  in  1789.  Gabriel  North  and  his 
brother  purchased  adjoining  farms,  built 
houses,  and  reared  families,  who,  growing  up 
in  friendly  intimacy  with  others  of  their  gen- 
eration, formed  the  nucleus  of  an  intelligent 
and  prosperous  community.  The  following- 
letter,  written  during  the  first  year  of  this 
wilderness  life,  will  show  what  had  been  ac- 
complished toward  the  establishment  of  future 
homes :  — 

•■Walton.  Xovember  14.  17S5. 
'■  Dear  Brother  : 

"I  am  happy  to  welcome  this  opportunity 
to  write,  it  being  the  first  I  have  had  since 
we  came  down  in  this  wilderness.  I  would 
impose  on  you  we  arc  all  in  perfect  health,  for 

which   blessing    I  •  to    be    truly   thankful. 

and  hope  this  may  find  you  and  yours  enjoy- 
ing the  same;  would  inform  vou  I  have  built 
a  house,  and  ha\'e  a  grand  winter  store  laid 
in.  I  have  a  very  pleasant  situation  on  the 
site  of  Pine  Hill;  the  Delaware  River  runs 
immediatelv  on  the  south  side  of  my  house. 
I  think  I  have  laid  a  foundation  for  all  the 
happiness  this  world  can  afford.  It  has  been 
very  expensive  moving  to  this  new  country, 
and  expensive  ant!  difficult  getting  provision. 
However,  I  hope  the  worst  is  over.  We  have 
got  four  acres  of  wheat,  half  an  acre  of  rye, 
and  one  of  timothy  sown.  I  think  I  could 
write  you  a  long  story  about  the  beauties  of 
this  place,  wild  and  romantic, —  fish  in  great 
abundance,  the  finest  trout  ever  was,  and 
pigeons  in  countless  numbers.  I  keep  little 
Joe  to  drive  them  from  the  grain  after  sowing, 
but  he  could  scarcely  scare  them  off.      Elk  and 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


j6.^ 


(leer  are  very  plenty.  I  saw  lourteeii  elk  in 
the  river  a  few  rods  l)el()\v  my  house  at  one 
time.  Wolves  are  very  plent)'  all  around  us, 
ami  would  frequenth'  eome  u[)  to  olu'  door  anil 
around  our  tents.  At  niyht  all  had  to  slee]i 
with  our  ehildrt.-n  between  us  to  prevent  them 
being  carried  off.  But  Prince,  king  of  dogs, 
has  killed  three  of  them;  and  the  rest  have 
become  more  shy.  I'rince  went  out  one  ila\- 
alone  on  Tine  Hill,  and  brought  home  a  beau- 
tiful fawn  in  his  mouth,  that  he  had  killed. 
The  meat  was  very  fine  and  cpiite  welcome. 
We  have  a  variety  of  wild  ap|)les.  and  man- 
drakes \ery  plentv  in  the  woods,  and  every 
kind   of   wild    berries,    etc. 

"  Vou  say  that  my  friends  have  e.\]iected 
letters  from  me.  I  am  sorry  to  disappoint 
them.  Tell  them  I  am  pcrfi'ctly  satisfied 
with  my  situation,  and  find  the  country  much 
better  than  I  expected.  We  expect  a  number 
of  settlers  out  in  the  spring.  We  shall  be 
glad  to  see  them,  although  we  are  quite  ha])]:))-. 
Brother  Robert  or  I  will  go  to  New  York  in 
the  spring,  antl  then  will  give  )ou  all  the  ])ar- 
ticulars  of  our  emigration  to  the  West. 

"Be  pleaseil  to  give  my  best  lo\e  to  all  my 
friends.  That  you  may  be  hajijjy  under  every 
circumstance  of  life  is  ever  the  one  wish  of 
your   loving   brother. 

■■(jAnKii'.r    Xniviii." 

'I'd  Mr.  r.i;N  lAMlN   NiilMii.   Now  Noik.  , 

Gabriel,  the  writer  of  this  letter,  filled 
many  town  offices,  and  became  Judge  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  his  county,  which 
he  also  twice  represented  in  the  House  of 
Assembly  at  y\lbany.  He  was  also  a  member 
of  the  Electoral  College  that  in  1816  gave 
the  vote  of  New  York  for  Presiilent  and  \'ice- 
I'resident  of  the  Union.  He  was  a  man  of 
ability,  genial  and  social  in  his  nature,  honor- 
able and  u]5right  in  character,  and  a  sincere 
Christian.  He  died  in  1S27  in  the  sevent}-- 
first  year  of  his  age.  His  wife  died  in  1837, 
and  only  one  out  of  se\'en  chihh'en  survived 
her. 

The  names  of  the  children  of  Judge  Gabriel 
and  Deborah  North  were  Hannah,  Deborah, 
Mary,  Gabriel,  Jr.,  Benjamin,  I-'meline,  and 
John.  Hannah  married  Lewis  Seymour,  and 
died   in    1802,    leaving  one  son,    William    N. 


.Seymour,  who  died  at  Brooklyn  in  i8,Sr. 
Deborah  married  Caleb  Benedict,  and  ha<l 
seven  children,  only  two  of  whom  are  now 
living,  namely:  Hannah  N.,  wife  of  William 
v..  White,  and  mother  of  John  N.,  ICdwin. 
and  Charles  White;  and  Charles  Benedict, 
residing  in  New  Canaan,  Conn.  (;;d)riel,  Jr., 
marrietl  Nancy  Townsend,  and  had  five  chil- 
dren -Maria,' Matilda,  William,  (iabriel  .S., 
and  llannali.  0\'  these  Gabriel  S.  North,  of 
Binghamton,  ^'.^■.,  is  sole  survivor.  Benja- 
min married  Hannah  Carter.  John  tlied 
unmarried. 


§OSlirA  PINK,  Jk.,  bearing  the  name 
of  his  father  and  grandfather,  was  born 
ill  Walton,  November  5,  i  79S,  and  was 
in  many  res])ects  a  remarkable  man. 
Although  reared  in  the  (juiel  round  of  farm 
life,  his  ;d)ilities  were  such  that  he  might 
have  won  distinction  in  almost  any  profession, 
had  he  so  chosen.  He  was  one  of  the  most 
intelligent  men  in  this  section,  and  few  had  a 
more  comi)rehensive  grasj)  of  .State  and  na- 
tional affairs  than  he.  He  was  also  tiie  ac- 
knowledged historical  auth.ority  of  the  town, 
his  marvellous  memory  being  a  rich  store- 
house of  information.  When  Ja\'  Gould  com- 
piled his  history  of  Delaware  County,  he 
obtained  many  of  his  facts  from  Mr.  Pine. 
In  affairs  of  local  ini])ortance  he  took  a  lively 
interest,  being  the  jiromoter  of  the  first  pub- 
lic library  in  Walton,  and  also  of  the  old 
militia  conqvany,  from  which  he  received  the 
title  of  Ca])tain.  In  educational  matters 
he  was  tlee]d_\-  interested,  taking  advanced 
ground  in  all  matters  ])ertaining  to  the  jiublic 
schools.  He  was  an  easv  and  tiioroughlv  in- 
teresting writer,  and  contributed  frequentlv  to 
the  l(K-al  ])ress  on  sid)jects  relating  to  the 
early  settlement  of  the  town.  He  was  not, 
however,  one  of  those  who  live  only  in  the 
past,  but,  with  advancing  years,  kept  up  with 
the  spirit  ot  the  age,  being  always  young  in 
his  sympathies,  and  in  every  relation  of  life 
ujiright  and  kindly. 

His  ancestor,  John  Pine,  came  from  Devon- 
shire, Kngland.  aliout  the  year  1640,  and  set- 
tled at  Hem])stead,  L.I.  He  had  one  son. 
James,  who  married   and   reared   a   son  James, 


264 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


whose  son  John  married  a  young  woman  of 
Welsh  descent,  named  Freelove  Carmen. 
They  had  ten  children,  one  of  whom,  Joshua, 
married  Sarah  DeMilt,  of  New  York  City,  in 
the  year  1750.  They  lived  in  Hempstead 
until  some  time  during  the  Revolutionary 
War,  when  they  were  driven  from  their  home 
by  the  British  soldiers,  who  took  possession 
of  their  house,  and  wantonly  destroyed  its 
contents. 

In  1785  Joshua  Pine  and  his  wife  Sarah 
came  to  Walton,  and  were  included  in  the  five 
families  who  formed  its  first  settlement. 
Four  of  their  children  had  died  in  infancy, 
and  one  in  his  early  manhood.  The  remain- 
ing five  —  John,  Mary,  Joshua,  Sarah,  and 
Daniel — came  with  them.  On  arriving  at 
the  settlement  they  found  less  land  than  had 
been  anticipated,  and  consequently  settled 
farther  down  the  river,  at  what  is  now  known 
as  Pinesville.  Here  Joshua  Pine,  the  elder, 
bought  a  large  tract  of  land,  which  he  after- 
ward divided  among  his  sons,  John,  Joshua, 
and  Daniel,  who  settled  upon  it.  John  mar- 
ried in  1781,  but  had  no  children.  Daniel 
married  Rachel  Robinson,  and  they  had  nine 
children.  He  built  the  house  now  owned  by 
Edmund  More;  and  three  of  his  grandsons, 
John,  Thomas,  and  Peter  Pine,  are  living  in 
Walton  at  the  present  time. 

Joshua  Pine,  second,  married  Margaret 
Remsen,  of  Newtown,  L.I.,  in  179S;  and 
they  had  seven  children  —  Mary,  Joshua, 
George  W.,  Charles,  Sarah,  Alfred,  and  Mar- 
garet, the  latter  of  whom  is  now  living,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-five  years,  in  Detroit,  Mich., 
the  last  survivor  of  her  family.  The  second 
Joshua  built  the  house  long  known  as  the  Pine 
homestead,  almost  the  counterpart,  it  is  said, 
of  the  old  North  home  at  Newtown.  He  en- 
gaged largely  in  business,  as  a  dealer  in  both 
lumber  and  merchandise,  going  frequently  to 
Philadelphia,  and  having  an  extensive  ac- 
quaintance throughout  the  country.  He  also 
filled  the  office  of  Judge  in  the  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas,  and  was  considered  a  man  of  more 
than  ordinary  integrity  and  business  ability. 
His  death  occurred  in  rSiS,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-seven  years:  and  he  was  succeeded  in  his 
home  by  his  son,  Joshua  Pine,  Jr.,  the  subject 
of    this    sketch.     The    latter    never    married; 


and  at  his  death,  in  1888,  the  property  was 
sold,  and  the  old  Pine  homestead  passed  out 
of  the   family. 


(g>rNDREW  J.  THOMSON,  a  progressive 
p\      young  farmer  of  Roxbury,  N.Y..  is  a 

/jl  \  grandson    of    John    Thomson,    who 

^~^  came  from  Scotland  in  1820,  with 
his  wife  and  two  children,  to  seek  a  new  home 
in  Western  wilds.  After  a  voyage  of  seven 
weeks  and  four  days  they  landed  in  New 
York,  and  thence  proceeded  up  the  Hudson 
on  a  sloop  to  Catskill,  and  from  there  came  in 
a  wagon  to  Bovina,  Delaware  County.  After 
staying  a  few  weeks  with  a  brother  who  had 
been  in  the  country  twenty  years,  Mr.  Thom- 
son put  up  a  log  cabin  about  two  rods  from 
where  the  present  house  stands.  He  had  pre- 
viously been  fully  bent  on  going  to  Ohio,  and 
he  afterward  thought  his  decision  to  stay  here 
was  providential.  It  was  all  a  wilderness  two 
miles  down  the  valley,  more  than  that  to  the 
east,  and  one  mile  and  a  half  to  the  west. 
An  Indian  and  his  wife  and  grand-daughter 
lived  there  during  the  winter  in  a  cabin  they 
had  built  in  the  woods,  and  made  baskets.  A 
spring  near  the  head  of  the  little  brook  on  the 
farm  was  much  frequented  by  deer,  and  men 
would  come  here  with  their  guns  and  wait  for 
them.  Finding  the  log  cabin  a  convenient 
resting-place,  they  named  it  the  "Hunter's 
Retreat." 

During  the  first  year  Mr.  Thomson  used  to 
bring  flour  and  other  things  for  his  family  on 
his  shoulders  four  miles.  Having  good  water- 
power  on  his  land,  he  built  a  mill,  which  was 
of  great  use  to  him  for  threshing,  grinding 
provender,  and  sawing  wood.  On  this  pioneer 
farm  Mr.  Thomson  and  his  wife,  Marion 
Boyle  Thomson,  settled  down  to  hard  work. 
The)'  had  a  daughter  Janet,  born  October  28, 
18 1 5,  and  a  son  James,  born  November  26, 
18 1 8.  Later  two  more  sons  were  added  to 
the  family:  Andrew  Y.,  born  May  26,  1822; 
and  John  B.,  March  17,  1824.  Janet  after- 
ward married  Robert  McFarland,  of  Bovina. 
The  three  sons  grew  up  manly  and  helpful; 
and  in  time  what  had  been  a  dark,  wooded 
wilderness  became  a  broad  tract  of  smiling 
farm   land,  open  to  the  sun  and  teeming  with 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


26; 


the  fruits  of  the  soil.  Thus  down  to  ripe  oUI 
age  lived  John  Thomson  and  his  wife  Marion. 

After  the  death  of  his  father,  James  H. 
Thomson  took  possession  of  the  farm,  and 
earried  it  on  in  the  same  wide-awat;e,  progres- 
sive manner.  Me  hronglit  the  remainder  of 
the  hind  under  cultivation,  and,  building 
large,  room\-  barns,  filled  them  with  good 
stock.  As  the  years  went  on,  his  dairy  be- 
came noted ;  for  he  turned  the  water  supply 
to  a  good  purpose  in  driving  churns,  as  well 
as  in  sawing  wt)od,  and  opened  a  good,  sub- 
stantial source  of  income  thereby.  ICarly  in 
life  he  planted  a  profusion  of  shade-trees 
about  the  grounds,  and  now  these  have  grown 
so  luxuriantly  that  they  make  the  place  very 
beautiful.  Here  Mr.  Thomson  lives  a  life  of 
quiet  retirement.  He  is  fond  of  reading,  and 
has  added  to  his  early  learning,  which  was 
very  limited,  schools  not  being  established 
here  till  1S33,  such  a  fund  of  valuable  infor- 
mation that  he  is  widely  known  as  a  "well- 
read  man."  He  is  a  leading  Prohibitionist, 
and  highl\-  respected  by  all  who  know  him. 
Mr.  Thomson's  wife,  Jane  Amos,  whom  he 
married  in  January,  1856,  was,  like  himself, 
born  in  Scotland.  Her  parents.  William  and 
Margaret  (Sinclair)  y\mos,  came  to  this  coun- 
try in  1830,  when  Jane  was  two  years  (dd, 
and  settled  at  Cabin  Hill  in  the  town  of 
.A^ndes  on  a  farm  now  ownetl  by  their  son, 
William  Amos,  Jr.  .Seven  of  the  eight  chil- 
dren of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  H.  Thonrson  are 
now  living,  namely:  John  .A.,  a  minister  at 
-Sjirakers,  on  the  Mohawk,  is  now  married, 
and  has  three  children.  William  .S.  has  no 
children  living.  Jacob  N.  married  Mary  IC. 
Scott,  also  Scotch.  They  live  on  an  adjoin- 
ing farm,  and  have  two  children,  one  having 
died.  .\mos  W.  is  a  physician,  practising 
his  profession  at  .Saratoga.  Margaret  Janet 
dii-d  young.  Annie  married  Thomas  Aichi- 
bald,  and  lives  in  Hovina.  She  had  three 
children,  but  one  of  these  died.  Marion  lives 
at  home. 

The  other  son  is  Andrew  J.  Thomson,  who 
was  born  November  26,  1864,  and  received 
his  education  at  the  district  school.  When 
he  came  of  age,  he  bought  his  farm  from  his 
father,  and  has  continued  and  enlarged  the 
dairy    business.      He     keeps    twenty-five    fine 


Jersey  milch  cows,  and  these  siippi\  tne 
cream  foi'  a  tine  grade  (if  choice  butter. 
There  are  also  twenty-five  sheep  on  the  i)lace, 
besides  horses.  ICverything  about  the  estate 
is  kept  in  i)erfect  order,  and  the  whole  farm 
is  in  a  flourishing  condition.  Mr.  Thomson 
married  Nettie  C.  Hewitt,  the  only  daughter 
of  John  15.  and  Marion  Hewitt.  John  Hewitt 
was  a  successful  farmer  of  New  Kingston. 
His  first  wife  died;  and  he  married  the  second 
time,  and  had  two  children  —  Leola  and  How- 
ard. Mr.  Hewitt  died  September  17,  18S7. 
Mr.    and    Mrs.    Thomson    have    a    little   child. 


born    M; 


1891,    Milton    A.      In    reli^ 


the  Thomson  family  are  L'nited  I'resbyterians. 


ri'R  VOL'XG,  who  owns  and  (occu- 
pies a  valuable  estate  of  three  hun- 
(£)  (bed  and  eighty-siv  acres,  finely 
located  in  District  No.  i  of  the 
town  of  Hamden,  is  one  of  the  most  energetic, 
self-reliant,  and  successful  farmers  of  this 
section  of  Delaware  County.  He  is  a  Scotch- 
man by  birth  and  parentage,  and  first  opened 
his  eyes  to  the  light  in  Roxburghshire.  .Scot- 
land, in  1854. 

His  father,  Tiiomas  Young,  was  born  in 
Dalkeith,  Scotland,  in  181  i,  and  died  in  the 
town  of  Hamden,  N.Y.,  in  1887.  He  was  a 
teamster  by  occujiation  while  in  his  native 
country,  where  more  than  one-half  of  his 
long  life  was  ])assed.  He  was  twice  married, 
and  leared  a  family  of  nine  children,  eight 
sons  and  one  daughter.  His  first  wife,  the 
mother  of  Peter,  his  second  son,  was  Margaret 
Simington,  who  died  in  Scotland,  at  the  age 
of  fiftv  years,  leaving  four  sons  and  one 
daughter.  The  remaining  children  (jf  tin- 
first  marriage  may  lure  lie  thus  briefly  men- 
tioned: Robert,  who  has  never  left  the  coun- 
try of  his  birth,  is  a  policeman  in  .Scotland, 
ha\ing  l)een  on  the  force  se\'en  years.  Will- 
iam, who  studied  law  with  the  late  Judge  Glea- 
son,  of  Delhi,  is  one  of  th(^-  lights  of  the  legal 
profession  in  Den\er,  Col.  Jane,  the  onlv 
daughter,  is  the  wife  of  Isaac  Miller,  of  Pe- 
]iacton,  N.Y.  The  father  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica in  1868,  bringing  with  him  all  of  his  famil\' 
with  the  exception  of  his  oldest  son.  and  was 
thereafter  a  respected   resident  of  this  county. 


266 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Peter  was  but  a  lad  of  fourteen  when  he  be- 
came a  resident  of  this  vicinity,  and  from  that 
time  until  he  was  married  and  had  a  home  of 
his  own  he  worked  out  by  the  month.  Ht- 
was  strongly  imbued  with  the  true  Scotch 
spirit  of  industry,  frugality,  and  thrift,  so 
that,  with  the  exercise  of  a  wise  discretion  in 
monetary  matters,  he  was  enabled  to  save  a 
part  of  his  yearly  wages,  which  never  exceeded 
three  hundred  dollars.  Mr.  Young's  first 
purchase  of  land  consisted  of  two  hundred  and 
eighty  acres  lying  about  two  miles  from 
Delhi,  for  which,  including  thirty  cows,  he 
paid  seven  thousand  dollars,  running  into  debt 
five  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  He 
labored  hard,  and  economized;  and  four  years 
later,  in  1888,  he  sold  that  farm,  and  bought 
his  present  property,  paying  ten  thousand  two 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  partly  in  cash,  and 
giving  a  mortgage  for  the  remaining  seven 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  His  place  in 
all  of  its  appointments  indicates  the  super- 
vision of  a  thorough  farmer  and  business  man, 
and  is  one  of  the  attractive  homesteads  in  this 
vicinity.  In  addition  to  mixed  husbandry, 
Mr.  Young  directs  much  of  his  attention  to 
dairying,  keeping  from  sixty-seven  to  seventy 
head  of  dehorned  milkers,  mostly  graded  Jer- 
seys, and  ships  his  milk  to  New  York  City. 
He  has  five  horses  and  a  fine  flock  of  Shrop- 
shire sheep,  and  in  the  rearing  of  stock  he  has 
excellent  success. 

On  the  25th  of  September,  1883,  Mr. 
Young  was  united  in  marriage  to  Anna  L. 
Halstead,  of  Ulster  County,  the  daughter  of 
Marcus  and  Maria  (Hill)  Halstead,  both  of 
whom  passed  to  the  higher  life  in  middle  age. 
They  were  the  parents  of  four  children,  three 
of  them  being  girls.  'J"he  harmonious  and 
])leasant  wedded  life  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Young 
has  been  brightened  by  the  birth  of  three 
children,  one  of  whom,  a  little  daughter,  died 
while  in  the  innocence  and  purity  of  infancy. 
Two  bright  and  wide-awake  boys  remain  to 
them,  namely:  James  H.,  ten  years  old;  and 
Robert  B.,  four  years  of  age.  Mr.  Young  and 
his  sons  all  celebrate  their  birthdays  in  the 
same  month,  each  having  entered  this  world 
in  July.  In  politics  Mr.  Young  casts  his 
vote  in  support  of  the  principles  of  the  Re- 
publican    party.       Religiously,     he     and     his 


excellent  wife  are  members  of  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church,  wherein  he  is  an  honored 
Elder.  He  has  been  prominently  identified 
with  the  agricultural  and  business  interests  of 
Hamden  ever  since  his  residence  in  the  town, 
and  is  greatly  esteemed  among  his  neighbors 
and  acquaintances. 


-fg)T ECTOR    COWAN,   who  died   on  July 

L^-l       4,   1878,  at  his  home  in  the  town  of 

II9  I  .Stamford,   N.Y.,  where   he  was   an 

^"^  influential  and   valued   citizen,  was 

born   here  on   October  2,    1824.      His  father, 

John   Cowan,   was  a  Scotchman,   born    in   the 

old  country  on  June  4,   1798;  and  his  mother, 

Helen  Grant  Cowan,  was  born  two  years  later, 

September  15,   1800,  in  Stamford. 

John  Cowan's  father,  whose  name  was  Hec- 
tor, came  to  America  with  his  wife  at  the 
beginning  of  the  century,  while  John  was 
only  two  years  old,  and  settled  in  Stamford, 
on  what  is  now  known  as  the  old  Cowan 
farm,  which  he  reclaimed  from  the  wilder- 
ness, building  a  frame  house,  wherein  he  re- 
sided till  his  death,  at  ninety-three  years  of 
age,  in  1843.  The  children  of  the  emigrant 
Hector  were  as  follows:  James  Cowan,  born 
June  29,  1794;  William,  on  Augu.st  3,  1796; 
John,  in  1798;  Isabella,  on  June  14,  1800  — 
all  before  the  emigration.  Afterward,  in 
Stamford,  came  Mary,  March  12,  1803: 
Agnes,  July  i,  1805;  Andrew,  December  13, 
1808.  Grandfather  Cowan  was  an  Elder  in 
the  Associate  Reformed  Presbyterian  church 
in  South  Kortright.  Politically,  he  was  a 
Whig.  He  lost  his  wife  when  she  was  sixty 
years  old,  nearlv  thirty  years  before  his  own 
demise. 

John  Cowan  grew  up  on  his  father's  farm, 
and  attended  the  district  school,  his  educa- 
tional opportunities  being,  however,  very 
meagre.  In  the  course  of  years  he  purchased 
the  homestead  from  the  other  heirs,  and  added 
thereto  so  largely  that  finally  he  owned  six 
hundred  acres,  and  stood  at  the  head  of  the 
agriculturists  of  this  neighborhood.  Not  only 
was  he  his  father's  successor  as  a  farmer,  but 
as  an  Elder  in  the  Kortright  Parish.  His 
marriage  to  Helen  Grant  took  place  on  New 
Year's   Day,    1824;    and    Grandfather    Hector 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


2r,7 


Cowan  was  greatly  pleased  the  next  aiitunin, 
when  they  named  their  first  child  after  him, 
Hector.  On  September  18,  1826,  came  a 
sister,  Ann  Eliza,  and  on  December  11,  1830, 
another  sister,  Marietta;  but  all  three  have 
joined  '"the  innumerable  caravan,"  Ann  I-'liza 
on  February  21,  1843,  the  same  year  with  her 
grandfather,  as  above  mentioned.  Hector 
died    in    1878,    and    Marietta   in    April,    1S93. 

Young  Hector  went  to  the  local  school,  like 
his  father  before  him,  and  likewise  worked  on 
the  home  farm,  devoting  himself  wholly  to 
agriculture.  In  1851,  November  5,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-se\en.  Hector  Cowan  married 
Helena  Jane  Rich,  who  was  born  on  the  Rich 
family  homestead  at  South  Kortright,  the 
daughter  of  James  and  Helena  (Marshall) 
Rich;  and  more  particulars  concerning  her 
family  may  be  found  in  the  sketch  in  this  vol- 
ume of  Mrs.  Sarah  Rich.  Like  his  [irogen- 
itors,  Mr.  Cowan  took  an  active  part  in  church 
affairs,  and  succeeded  them  as  an  office-bearer, 
holding  the  position  of  Ruling  Elder.  As 
they  had  been  Whigs,  so  was  he  in  senti- 
ment, and  cast  his  first  vote  for  Taylor  and 
Fillmore;  hut  a  few  years  later  the  Republi- 
can party  arose,  and  he  at  once  joined  its  fort- 
unes. He  was  also  influential  in  town  affairs. 
At  his  death  he  left  a  widow  and  eleven  chil- 
dren, eight  of  whom  are  still  li\ing. 

The  eldest  of  these,  John  A.  Cowan,  born 
ill  1854,  is  a  Stamford  farmer  and  an  IClder  in 
the  Presbyterian  church  uf  Hobart.  Helena 
Cowan,  born  in  1856,  married  Dr.  I~.  H.  Mc- 
Naught,  of  Denver,  Col.  Uf  James  Rich 
Cowan  more  will  be  said  presently.  Robert 
F.  Cowan,  born  in  i860,  is  a  Stamford 
farmer.  Hector  William  Cowan,  born  in 
1862,  amid  our  Civil  War,  and  named  for  his 
father  and  great-grandfather,  is  a  Presbyterian 
clergyman  in  Lawrence,  Kan.  Henry  Mar- 
shall Cowan,  born  in  1864,  resides  on  the  an- 
cestral acres.  Charles  Cowan  was  born  in 
1868,  and  lives  in  Stamford,  unmarried;  and 
so  does  Frank  R.  Cowan,  born  in  1870.  The 
children  no  longer  living  in  this  world  are: 
Thomas  Rich  Cowan,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
twelve;  Stephen,  at  seven:  Annie,  at  "four. 
Since  the  death  of  their  father  the  large  farm 
has  been  carried  on  by  his  widow,  who 
owns   it. 


Of  course  she  is  aided  by  her  efficient  sons, 
but  is  herself  a  very  capable  manager,  as  well 
as  a  bright  and  intelligent  woman.  She  is 
especially  proud  of  her  son,  the  Hon.  James 
Rich   Cowan,  who  bears  her  own  family  name. 

The  Hon.  James  R.  Cowan  was  b(;rii  on 
May  22,  1858.  He  was  educated  in  the  local 
school,  like  two  generations  of  his  ancestors, 
and  then  went  to  Stamford  .Seminary.  He 
lived  at  home  till  his  majority,  and  did  not 
give  up  farming  till  the  year  1891,  having  six 
hundred  acres  under  his  control.  Like  other 
farmers  in  this  region,  he  gave  special  atten- 
tion to  cattle,  having  from  seventy-five  to  one 
hundred.  In  politics  he  has  been  active, 
being  commissioned  a  Justice  of  Peace.  In 
1889  he  was  made  Town  Supervisor  by  the 
Republican  party,  holding  the  place  three 
years,  and  acting  as  chairman  of  the  board  the 
latter  part  of  the  time.  In  1891  he  was 
elected  to  the  .State  Assembly,  and  served  a 
term  at  Albany.  The  same  year  he  was 
chosen  President  of  the  National  Rank  of 
Hobart,  which  has  a  capital  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars;  and  this  place  he  still  fills,  the  Vice- 
President  being  Oscar  I.  Rennett.  and  the 
Cashier  J.  A.  Scott.  Mr.  Cowan  is  still  un- 
married, and  gives  his  main  time  and  atten- 
tion to  finance.  In  religion,  as  well  as 
l)olitics,  he  retreads  the  inherited  footsteps, 
and  is  a  member  of  the  I'nited  Presbyterian 
church  in  .South  Kortright.  The  Cowan  home- 
stead is  a  noble  old  place,  the  house  standing 
amid  fertile  fields  not  far  from  the  village  of 
Hobart. 


LON/O  A.  HAVERLV,  miller  and 
lumberman,  is  carrying  on  an  exten- 
sive business  in  the  town  of  Wal- 
ton, his  mills  being  located  near 
the  corporatiun  line.  He  made  his  appear- 
ance on  this  muiulane  sjjhere  in  the  year  1840. 
in  Middleburg.  Schoharie  County,  that  town 
being  likewise  the  native  place  of  his  father, 
Jacob  Havcrly.  whose  birth  occurred  in  1809. 
Jacob  was  a  son  of  Christopher  Haverly.  who 
was  born  in  Rerne,  Albany  Countv,  in  1783. 
Christopher  Haverly  married  a  ?ktiss  Haugh- 
strauser,  who  was  of  High  Dutch  ancestry; 
and  they  became  pioneer  settlers  of  Schoharie 


268 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


County,  taking  up  a  tract  of  wild  land  in  the 
town  of  Middleburg,  where  they  not  only 
improved  a  fine  homestead,  but  by  toilsome 
labor,  frugal  economy,  and  wise  management 
accumulated  property  valued  at  some  twenty 
thousand  dollars.  Life's  labors  over,  their 
bodies  were  laid  to  rest  in  the  family  grave- 
yard, on  the  farm  which  they  cleared  from  the 
forest.  They  reared  five  sons  and  five  daugh- 
ters, Jacob  being  the  eldest  child. 

Jacob  Haverly  was  reared  to  farming  indus- 
tries, and  after  his  marriage,  which  was  cele- 
brated in  1832,  he  being  then  united  to 
Catherine,  daughter  of  David  G.  and  Mar- 
garet (Nashaultz)  Rickard,  lived  for  a  few 
years  on  a  farm  near  his  father's.  In  1843 
they  settled  in  the  town  of  Wright,  where 
they  lived  on  rented  land  for  a  few  years, 
afterward  buying  land  and  improving  a  farm. 
To  this  he  added  from  time  to  time,  until  he 
had  three  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  as  fine 
farming  land  as  could  be  found  in  the  vicinity, 
which  he  carried  on  with  excellent  results 
until  his  removal  to  Gallupville,  where  he 
and  his  good  wife  lived,  retired,  until  his 
death,  in  1892.  His  widow,  now  several 
years  past  threescore  and  ten,  is  living  in  the 
same  town,  surrounded  by  all  the  comforts 
that  make  life  desirable.  Of  the  eleven  chil- 
dren born  to  her,  nine  grew  to  maturity, 
seven  boys  and  two  girls,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  being  the  third  son  and  the  fourth 
child. 

Alonzo  A.  Haverly  received  but  an  indiffer- 
ent education  in  the  public  schools  in  his  boy- 
hood, but  has  supplemented  it  with  after 
years  of  study.  When  he  was  growing  up, 
his  parents  being  in  rather  straitened  circum- 
stances, his  help  was  needed  on  the  farm, 
where  he  remained  until  twenty-seven  years 
old,  working  with  fidelity  and  diligence. 
He  then  pursued  his  studies  for  a  while  in  a 
select  school  in  Gallupville  for  two  terms, 
and  afterward  attended  the  .Schoharie  Acad- 
emy. The  following  five  winters  Mr. 
Haverly  was  engaged  in  teaching.  In  1880 
he  purchased  very  cheap,  at  a  foreclosure  sale, 
his  present  fine  mill  property  and  the  house 
in  which  he  lives.  He  has  rebuilt  and  im- 
proved the  buildings  at  quite  an  expenditure, 
his  <rrist-mill  now  having  three  sets  of  stones 


and  his  saw-mill  a  four-foot  circular  saw\ 
Both  of  the  mills  are  run  by  four  different 
kinds  of  wheels,  propelled  by  water  taken 
from  the  Delaware  River,  a  half  a  mile 
away.  The  improvements  are  many  and 
varied;  and  the  property  has  now  a  commer- 
cial value  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  a  great  in- 
crease since  the  first  establishment  of  the 
plant,   some  ninety  years  ago. 

In  July,  1873,  Mr.  Haverly  formed  a  mat- 
rimonial alliance  with  Betty  Sullivan,  a  na- 
tive of  Delaware  County.  She  lived  but 
two  years  after  their  marriage,  dying  in  1875, 
and  was  soon  followed  by  their  infant  daugh- 
ter. In  1877  Mr.  Haverly  married  Hattie 
Sullivan,  a  sister  of  his  first  wife.  Of  the 
four  children  born  of  this  union  two  died  in 
infancy;  and  one  daughter,  Mary,  a  capable 
girl  of  fifteen  years,  and  one  son,  Fred,  a 
bright  boy  of  thirteen,  are  both  attending 
school.  In  politics  Mr.  Haverly  is  a  straight- 
forward Democrat,  but  not  an  oflfice-seeker. 
Religiously,  he  is  a  believer  in  the  doctrines 
of  the  Lutheran  church,  but  with  his  family 
attends  the  Methodist  church.  He  is  a  man 
of  substantial  business  ability;  and,  being 
blessed  with  good  physical  as  well  as  mental 
ability,  he  carries  on  the  work  of  his  two 
mills  with  the  help  of  one  man  only.  In  con- 
nection with  this  he  also  deals  extensively 
in  flour  and  feed. 


^TT^TEPHEN  R.  and  ERASTUS  R. 
SEACORD  were  both  born  in  Bo- 
vina,  and  are  to-day  numbered 
among  the  most  prosperous  farmers 
of  the  town.  They  are  sons  of  James  C.  Sea- 
cord,  and  of  French  origin,  tracing  their  an- 
cestry back  to  their  great-grandfather,  Paul 
Seacord,  who  was  one  of  the  early  colonists. 
He  left  France  with  his  six  brothers,  on 
account  of  the  religious  persecutions  attend- 
ing the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 
He  had  a  son,  William  Seacord,  who  came 
from  Dutchess  County  to  Bovina  in  1789, 
early  in  Washington's  Presidency,  and  settled 
near  Bennett  Hill,  where  settlers  were  very 
few,  the  country  wild,  and  game  plentiful. 
Here  he  was  twice  married,  reared  fifteen 
children,    and    led    a    useful    and    happy    life. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


269 


He  was  a   Baptist,   and   died    on    his   farm  at 
seventy   years   of  age. 

Stejihen  R.  Seacord,  the  son  of  William 
and  the  ;;randfather  of  the  special  subjects  of 
this  sketch,  was  born  in  Hovina  in  1S05.  Fn 
1S27  he  bought  the  farm  of  a  hundred  acres 
where  his  grandsons  now  live,  on  which  al- 
ready stood  a  log  house  anil  barn  :  but  later  he 
bought  more  land,  so  that  before  his  death  he 
had  two  hundred  and  thirty  acres.  lie  was 
very  liberal  in  his  religious  views,  and  a 
Whig  in  politics,  though  he  joined  the  ranks 
of  the  Republican  party  at  its  formation. 
Stephen  Seacord  died  on  his  farm  at  fort)'- 
seven  years  of  age,  leaving  three  children  and 
a  widow,  who  outlived  him  twenty-three 
years.  One  of  the  two  daughters  is  Mary 
Ann  Seacord,  the  wife  of  George  liell,  a 
farmer  in  New  Lisbon,  Otsego  County. 
James  C.  Seacord  was  the  only  son.  Amanda 
Seacord,  the  other  daughter,  married  Momcr 
C.  Burgin,  and  is  no  longer  li\'ing.  1 

James  C.  Seacord  was  horn  Novend)er  21. 
1828,  and  lived  on  the  homestead  which  he 
inherited,  and  to  which  he  added.  On  h\b- 
ruary  3,  1S52,  he  married  h^sther  Close,  who 
was  born  October  8,  1S22,  and  was  a  daughter 
of  ¥Ai  and  Elizabeth  (Adee)  Close.  "^  Eli 
Close  was  born  in  Dutchess  County,  but  died  j 
in  Bovina,  at  sixty-five  years  of  age.  He  was 
a  shoemaker  as  well  as  a  farmer,  and  an  old- 
time    Whi 


c>* 


.Mrs.  Close  was  born  in  Lam 
County,  became  the  mother  of  ten  children, 
and  died  at  seventy-eight.  Live  of  these 
children  are  still  living  —  George.  Stephen, 
William,  Harriet,  and  Mrs.  Seacord.  James 
C.  Seacord  was  a  Democrat,  and  died  at  the 
homestead  on  Independence  Day,  1893.  He 
and  his  wife  were  members  of  tlie  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  and  were  the  parents  of  five 
children.  The  eldest,  Abigail  .Seacord,  was 
born  December  12,  1852,  and  is  now  Mrs. 
Thomas  Fuller,  a  resident  of  Bovina  Centre. 
The  second  child,  Stephen  R.  .Seacord.  the 
elder  of  the  Seacord  brothers,  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Bovina  on  August  5,  1856,  just  prior 
to  James  Buchanan's  Presidential  victory 
over   John    C.    h'remont :  and   on    New   Year's 


Day,     iSS- 


married     Annice    McDivitt. 


and  Elizabeth  (Kipp)  McDivitt.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  .McDivitt  are  members  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian church  in  .Andes  village,  where  they 
resiile.  Mr.  McDivitt  was  a  fiuiner  for  man\' 
years,  but  is  now  a  drover;  and  he  has  alwa\s 
been  a  stanch  Republican.  Mr.  and  .Mrs. 
.Stephen  R.  .Seacord  have  four  children: 
Mabel  ICsther  Seacord,  born  .\|)ril  6,  1884; 
S.  Edgar  .Seacord,  born  ]*"ebruary  23,  1886; 
iLlizabeth  C.  Seacord,  born  April  6,  1888; 
and  Anna  Myrtle  Seacord,  born  September 
20,  1893.  The  father  is  liberal  in  his  relig- 
ious views,  but  Mrs.  Seacord  belongs  to  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church.  The  third  child 
of  J.  C.  Seacord,  Erastus  R.  Seacord,  was 
born  on  January  28,  1859.  the  year  before 
Lincoln's  election.  He  has  never  married, 
but  makes  his  home  with  his  mother  and 
brother  at  the  old  farm.  His  second  sister, 
IClizabelh  Nancy  Seacord,  was  born  on  June 
25,  1862,  and  is  the  wife  of  H.  G.  Bramley, 
a  farmer  in  H(jvina.  Another  sister,  Mary 
.\nn  Seacord,  was  born  November  ly,  1865, 
and  died  January    31.    1872. 

Stephen  and  ICrastus  Seacord  were  educated 
in  the  district  schocds,  and  since  their  father's 
death  have  lived  in  partnership  on  the  old 
farm.  They  have  usetl  their  buildings  to  the 
very  best  advantage,  and  have  a  fine  dairv, 
owning  twenty-seven  grade  Jerse\-  cows.  For 
ten  months  of  the  year  1893  thev  averaged 
two  hundred  ami  Hfty  pounds  of  butter  per 
cow  for  the  market.  The  farm  would  afford 
support  for  as  many  as  forty  cattle;  and  there 
is  an  orchard  of  seven  acres,  stocked  with  the 
finest  fruit.  The  brothers  are  to  be  congratu- 
lateti  on  their  uniting  efforts  to  increase  the 
value  of  the  estate.  They  are  both  men  of 
superior  business  t[ualities  and  agricultin-al 
knowledge. 

"In  the  tieKI  of  destiny  we  reap  as  we  have 
sown." 


She  was  born  in  liovina  on   I'ebruarv  5,   1862, 
being  one  of  the  five  children   of   William  J. 


"ARl'hIR    B.   GAYLORD,   a  highly  es- 
teemed citizen  and  prosperous  voutig 
II9  t  farmer    in     Harpersheltl,     Delaware 

County,  is  a  desceiulant  and  name- 
sake of  the  founder  of  that  town.  He  is  the 
son  nf  Daniel  X.  and  Mary  (Stevens)  Gay- 
lord,    and    was    born    .March    19,     i860.      His 


270 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


great-grandfather,  Jedcdiah  Gaylord,  who  had 
been  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution,  came  from 
Connecticut,  and  settled  with  the  Harpers  and 
Roswell  Ilotchkiss  on  a  large  tract  of  land  in 
Harpersfield,  which  was  then  a  wilderness. 
His  children,  ten  in  number,  were  Jedcdiah, 
Horace,  Jdin,  Harry,  Daniel  N.,  Levi,  Ach- 
sah,  Lois,  Ruthala,  and  Mercy  Gaylord.  The 
father  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty-four  years, 
but   his   wife  died   at   threescore  and  ten. 

Daniel  N.  Gaylord,  the  fifth  son  named 
above,  was  born  in  Harpersfield,  January  6, 
1796;  and  when  but  a  boy  he  entered  service 
for  the  War  of  181 2.  When  manhood  was 
reached,  he  bought  a  small  tract  of  land, 
nearly  all  of  which  was  covered  with  forest, 
built  a  store  on  the  road  at  West  Harpersfield, 
and  married  Isabella  Hotchkiss;  but,  just  as  a 
happy  and  successful  life  seemed  opening  be- 
fore him,  he  was  stricken  down  with  a  fever, 
from  which  he  died  at  the  early  age  of  twenty- 
seven,  leaving  a  widow  and   a   baby  namesake. 

Isabella  Hotchkiss  was  a  daughter  of  Ros- 
well  and  Margaret  (Harper)  Hotchkiss,  whose 
marriage  took  place  May  16,  1786,  soon  after 
the  Revolution.  Mr.  Hotchkiss  built  a  dis- 
tillery, and  a  factory  where  nails  were  made 
by  hand,  near  West  Harpersfield.  On  the 
brook  he  put  up  mills,  where  he  did  all  the 
sawing  for  the  people  in  that  region:  and  he 
also  had  a  turning-lathe.  He  bought  and 
cleared  land  for  a  farm,  erected  buildings  on 
it,  was  an  active,  enterprising  man,  and  lived 
to  the  age  of  eighty-three  years  and  five 
months,  dying  December  28,  1845.  His  wife 
was  seventy-nine  at  the  time  of  her  death, 
January  22,  1845.  Their  children  were: 
John  Hotchkiss,  born  July  10,  1788;  Joseph 
Hotchkiss,  April  14,  1790;  Roswell  Hotch- 
kiss, Jr.,  April  4,  1792;  Isabella  Hotchkiss, 
August  6,  1795:  Russell  Hotchkiss,  July  12, 
1797;  Margaret  Hotchkiss,  March  4,  1800; 
Mary  Ann  Hotchkiss,  January  14,  1804;  and 
Sally  Hotchkiss,  January  7,  1806;  besides 
two   who   died    in    infancy. 

Margaret  Harper,  wife  of  Roswell  Hotch- 
kiss, was  a  daughter  of  John  and  Abigail 
(Montgomery)  Harper,  and  a  grand-daughter 
of  James  and  Jeanette  (Lues)  Harper,  who 
were  born  in  Ireland,  though  their  families 
are    traced    to    Germany  and    France.     James 


Harper  sailed  with  his  family  from  Derry, 
Ireland,  and  landed  at  Casco  Bay,  on  the  coast 
of  Maine,  in  October,  1720.  Here  they  set- 
tled ;  but  when  war  broke  out  with  the  Ind- 
ians they  moved,  with  the  exception  of  one 
son,  John,  to  Boston,  and  thenceforth  all 
traces  of  them  disappear.  John  remained  in 
Maine,  serving  in  the  army  three  years. 
Then  he  went  to  Boston,  and  thence  to  Hop- 
kinton,  Mass.,  where  he  married  Abigail 
Montgomery,  November  8,  1728.  After  a 
time  he  moved  to  Noddle's  Island,  now  East 
Boston,  Mass.,  thence  to  Windsor,  Conn.,  and 
thence  in  1754  to  Cherry  Valley,  Albany 
County,  now  Otsego  County,  New  York. 
Here  he  bought  a  tract  of  land,  and  began  to 
clear  and  cultivate  it;  but  after  a  few  years 
he  pulled  up  stakes,  and  came  to  Harpersfield, 
where  his  death  occurred  April  20,  1785. 
His  children  were:  William,  James,  Mary, 
Colonel  John,  Margaret,  Joseph,  Alexander, 
and    Abigail    Harper. 

John  Harper,  Jr.,  their  third  son,  was  the 
chief  founder  of  Harpersfield.  He  attended 
school  at  Lebanon,  and  there  became  ac- 
quainted with  a  young  Indian,  who  was  after- 
ward the  celebrated  chief,  Joseph  Brant. 
From  him  young  Harper  learned  much  con- 
cerning the  ways  of  the  red  man,  which  was 
of  service  to  him  in  after  years,  when  he  was 
a  soldier  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  and 
served  with  honor  and  distinction,  gaining 
the  rank  of  Colonel  by  his  bravery  and  sagac- 
ity. Often,  when  coming  in  contact  with  the 
Indians,  his  cool  courage,  combined  with  an 
unusual  knowledge  of  their  language  and 
habits,  was  the  means  of  saving  himself  antl 
others  from  destruction.  Colonel  John  Har- 
per married  Marion  Tompson,  and  four  chil- 
dren were  the  result  of  this  union.  They 
were  John,  Archibald,  Margaret,  and  Rutli 
Harper.  John  Harper,  the  third,  born  July 
10,  1774,  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  being  the 
first  white  child  born  in  Delaware  County. 

Prior  to  the  Revolution  the  Harpers,  find- 
ing that  the  Indians  possessed  territory  which 
they  were  willing  to  sell  between  the  Dela- 
ware and  Charlotte  Rivers,  determined  to 
buy,  and  to  found  a  settlement  of  their  own; 
but,  before  they  could  complete  the  purchase, 
they  were  obliged  to  have  a  license  from  the 


George  F.  Post. 


lUOGRAPHICAL    RKVIKW 


27.5 


gdvcrnmcnt.  This  they  iHdciuvW,  and  they 
boiij;'ht  t\V(.'nt\-t\vo  thousand  acres.  The  [xit- 
cnt  running  to  tlieni  was  from  Kin;;'  George 
III.  as  a  lease,  wliich  stipulated  that  a  vearly 
tax  he  paid  of  t\M>  shillings  and  sixpence  a 
hundred  acres  for  the  use  of  the  ground,  not 
going  over  one  foot  deep:  but  a  release  from 
this  obligation  was  given  by  the  State  of  \ew 
\'ork,  after  inde]iendetice  was  declared.  In- 
cluded in  this  grant  were  the  names  of  John 
Harper.  .Sr.,  William  IIarpei%  John  Harper, 
Jr.,  Joseph  Harjx'r,  and  Alexander  Harper. 
After  the  war  t'olonel  John  Harjier  tlid  much 
towarcl  founding  the  permanent  settlement  at 
Harpersfield.  building  mills  and  stores.  He 
died  November  20,  icSii,  his  wife  ha\ing  been 
ilead   since    1778. 

Daniel  X.  (iavlord.  Jr.,  son  of  Daniel  N. 
and  Isabella  (Hotchkiss)  Gavlord.  was  born 
near  where  he  now  lives,  in  Harpersfield,  and 
was  educated  at  the  district  school.  lie  be- 
came a  partner  in  the  firm  of  Peck  iK:  Harjier. 
but  soon  bought  them  out,  and  managed  the 
store  alone  for  several  years.  Then  he  gave 
up  mercantile  life  for  agricultm-al,  bu\ing  one 
farm  after  another  until  he  was  tlie  owner  of 
four  hundred  acres.  He  married  for  his  first 
wife  Mary  Stevens,  a  daughter  of  .Seely  .Ste- 
vens, who  was  one  of  the  earliest  hotel-keepers 
in  Delaware  County.  Mr.  Ste\-ens  was  the 
owner  and  manager  of  the  hotel  at  -Stamford, 
built  in  1807,  which  has  since  been  converted 
inln  a  dwelling-house,  and  is  now  owned  b\- 
-S.  B.  Champi'in.  The  children  of  Mr.  Gay- 
lord's  fiist  maiTiage  were:  h.dward.  .Sarah, 
and  John  Gavlord.  all  of  whom  died  \oung; 
and  Harper  H.  Gaylord,  whose  name  heads 
the  ])resent  sketch.  Mrs.  Mary  .Stevens  (iay- 
lord  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-three;  and  Mr. 
D.  N.  {ia\iord  has  since  married  Rose  X'^roo- 
man,  a  [laughter  of  Cornelius  X'rooman,  of 
Hlenheim,  bv  whom  he  has  one  child,  lulward 
(iaylord,  born  I'"ebruar_\-  15,  1882.  Mr.  Gas- 
lord  .stocked  his  store,  and  there  established 
his  son  Harper. 

On  account  of  jioor  health.  Harper  H.  Ga)-- 
loril,  like  his  father  before  him,  exchanged 
the  life  of  the  store  fur  the  freer  range  of  the 
farm,  settling  on  the  old  homestead.  (~)n 
March  15,  1880,  he  married  Hattie,  daughter 
of  Bennett  Graff,  who  came  from  Leipsic.  Ger- 


many, til  .\cw  \nik  Lily,  where  he  resided 
some  time.  l*"rom  there  lie  moved  to  Ilobart, 
Delaware  County,  and  thence  to  Kortriglu. 
where  he  is  a  ))ainter  an<l  cabinet-maker.  He 
married  Mary  J.  I'iidser,  daughter  of  Stephen 
Tinker,  and  hail  two  children  —  Hattie  and 
Wesle)-,  the  latter  of  whom  tlied  when  a  child. 
His  first  wite  dying  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight 
years,  Mr.  Graff  married  for  his  second  wife 
Hattie  Keeler,  of  Kortright,  by  whom  he  has 
one  son,  lulmund  L,  Graff. 

The  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harper  B.  (iay- 
lord is  blessed  with  two  children:  Koswell 
Ilolehkiss  (iaylord,  born  January  22,  1S81; 
and  Alice  Mary  Gaylord,  born  November  16, 
1889.  Their  father  and  his  father  arc  both 
Republican.s,  and  both  families  are  connected 
with  the  United  Presbyterian  church.  Mr. 
(iayloril  is  a  worthy  descendant  of  his  ])ioneer 
and  Revolutionary  ancestry,  and  is  highly  es- 
teemed in  the  tuwn  which  his  famih'  foundetl. 


|i;\".  Gl-:ORGl':  l'.  post,  a  retired 
P>aj)tist  minister,  living  at  Meredith. 
Delaware  Count}-,  X.V.,  was  born 
at  Bozrah,  Conn.,  .Se[)tember  24, 
18  I  3.  His  father,  Stephen  I'ost.  Jr.,  a  native 
of  the  same  town,  came  to  Meredith  in  1818, 
and,  taking  u])  a  tract  of  timbered  land, 
cleared  it,  and  g<it  it  into  a  state  of  cultiva- 
tion. A  fi'w  years  later  he  sold  this  prop- 
erty and  moved  to  West  Meix-dith,  living 
there  for  some  time,  afterward  returning  to 
Connecticut,  dying  there,  aged  sixty-three. 
Mrs.  Post,  wild  was  a  Miss  Amanda  .M. 
Burchard  before  marriage,  was  the  mother  of 
five  children:  (ieorge  V.\  Ira  Hill:  Charles 
B.,  a  missionary  in  California:  .Samuel  .A., 
deceased,  who  graduated  from  Vale  College, 
afterward  engaging  in  teaching:  and  Harriet 
Amanda,  wife  of  Nathan  Ayer,  a  graduate  of 
Troy,  and  teacher  in  a  female  C(dlege  in 
North   Carolina. 

(ieorge  1"".  Post  s]ient  his  earl\-  yeais  in 
Meredith,  and  at  the  early  age  of  thirteen 
worked  on  a  farm  by  the  montii,  continuing  at 
this  labor  until  he  was  twenty-one.  His 
schooling  was  obtained  during  the  winter 
months.  He  prepared  himself  for  college, 
entering     Hamilton,     graduating     from     there 


274 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


after  a  four  years'  course.  He  was  ordained 
in  Westford,  Otsego  County,  in  1838,  his  first 
charge  being  at  Leesvillc,  near  Sharon 
Springs,  where  he  preached  for  about  six 
years.  His  next  charge  was  at  New  Berlin, 
where  he  remained  for  six  years,  and  was  then 
called  to  the  home  of  his  childhood.  He  re- 
mained in  Meredith  about  three  years,  was  at 
Franklin  two  years,  and  again  returned  to 
Meredith  for  another  three  years.  His  next 
charge  was  at  Jersey  City;  and  he  went  from 
there  to  East  Lyme,  Conn.,  where  he  re- 
mained four  years.  He  was  once  more  re- 
called to  Meredith,  and  preached  here  until 
1882,  when  he  retired,  and  has  since  made 
his  home  with  Mr.  Ayer,  of  Camden,  N.J. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Post  was  married  in  1838  to 
Miss  Mercy  Gal  loop,  a  daughter  of  Thomas 
Galloup,  a  well-known  farmer  of  Cassville, 
Oneida  County.  Mr.  Galloup  and  his  wife 
were  originally  from  Connecticut,  but  for 
many  years  had  been  residents  of  Cassville. 
They  were  the  parents  of  seven  children. 
Elder  Post  has  always  been  an  earnest  worker 
in  the  temperance  movement,  and  early  joined 
the  ranks  of  the  Abolitionists.  During  his 
long  and  active  course,  which  in  every  sense 
has  been  that  of  a  noble  and  Christian  man, 
he  has  ever  lived  up  to  the  principles  he 
preached.  Always  first  and  foremost  in  every 
good  and  noble  work,  he  is  revered  and  re- 
spected throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  county,  the  serene  content  of  his  old  age 
being  the  result  of  a  godly,  useful,  and  unself- 
ish life. 

Probably  few  portraits  within  these  covers 
will  be  more  welcome  to  a  larger  circle  of 
friends  than  the  accompanying  likeness  of  this 
faithful  preacher  of  the  gospel  of  peace. 


Wi 


[LLIAM  G.  SMITH,  M.D.,  of  the 
firm  of  Smith  Brothers  of  Walton, 
N.Y.,  the  partners  of  the  firm  being 
William  G.  and  John  D.  Smith,  is  a  graduate 
of  Bellevue  Medical  College,  of  New  York 
City,  and  a  young  man  of  good  mental 
powers,  well  educated,  and  well  equipped  for 
the  battle  of  life,  having  before  him  the  pros- 
pect of  a  useful  and  honored  career.  He  was 
born    in    Walton  on  the  homestead  where  he 


now  resides,  on  October  1 1,  1866.  Mr.  Smith 
is  of  Scotch  antecedents,  his  great-grand- 
father, John  Smith,  having  emigrated  from 
Scotland  with  his  family  in  18 18,  becoming 
one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Delhi.  Buying  a 
tract  of  land,  which  was  mostly  covered  with 
timber,  he  cleared  a  small  farm,  and  made 
that  his  permanent  home.  This  farm  is  now 
owned  by  the  Howland  brothers,  and  adjoins 
the  farm  of  the  Smith  brothers. 

Robert  Smith,  son  of  John  the  emigrant, 
was  about  eighteen  years  of  age  when  he  left 
his  home  in  Scotland;  and  after  his  arrival 
in  this  country  he  assisted  his  father  in 
clearing  land  and  in  establishing  a  home  in 
the  wilderness,  remaining  at  home  until  his 
marriage  with  Christina  McFarlane.  He  then 
purchased  a  farm  on  Scotch  Mountain,  Delhi, 
where  he  lived  and  reared  a  family  of  ten 
children,  who  may  be  thus  briefly  designated: 
Jane  married  Alexander  Shaw,  of  Delhi. 
Nancy  married  Robert  Sloan,  of  Walton. 
John  W.  was  the  father  of  the  subject  of  the 
present  sketch.  Catherine  married  Robert 
Wight.  Robert  was  the  fifth  child.  Chris- 
tian married  John  Armstrong,  of  Salinas,  Cal. 
Janet  married  James  Miller,  of  Fresno,  Cal. 
Daniel  was  the  eighth,  and  Alexander  E.  the 
ninth  child.  Margaret,  the  youngest,  married 
Alexander  Tweedy,  of  Walton  village.  The 
parents  of  this  large  family  spent  'the  years  of 
their  wedded  life  on  their  homestead  in 
Delhi,  the  mother  passing  away  at  the  age  of 
forty-two  years,  ere  reaching  the  meridian  of 
life.  Her  husband  survived  her,  living  to  the 
advanced  age  of  seventy-seven  years. 

John  W.  Smith  was  born  and  bred  in  the 
town  of  Delhi,  attending  first  the  district 
schools,  and  later  the  high  school,  and,  after 
completing  his  education,  was  engaged  in 
teaching  school  in  the  winter  season,  and 
working  on  a  farm  in  the  summer.  In  1854 
he  came  to  Walton,  and,  purchasing  the  prop- 
erty where  his  sons  now  reside,  began  the 
improvement  of  a  farm.  He  placed  the  land 
under  good  cultivation,  erected  commodious 
buildings,  and  successfully  conducted  the 
business,  farming  until  the  time  of  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  August,  1882,  when  fifty- 
four  years  of  age.  He  married  Jane  Wight, 
daughter  of  George  and  Jane  (Little)  Wight, 


RIOCRAIMIICAI,    REVIEW 


-75 


fariiiors  ot  Delhi,  wluTo  llu)'  .s])t.'nt  tlicir  last 
years.  Mr.  aiui  Mrs.  \\'i!;ht  were  the  parents 
of  ten  ehiklren:  namely,  John,  Betsey,  Rob- 
ert, ICllen,  William,  Margaret  Ann,  Isabella, 
lane,  (leorge,  and  Thomas. 

[ohn  W'.  .Smith  and  his  wite  Jane  reared 
seven  ehildren,  five  sons  and  twn  daughters; 
nameh',  Robert,  Jane  V..,  (leorge  \\'..  John 
]).,  William  (1..  1-Jnma  C,  and  Alexander 
I-"..,  of  whom  only  three  are  now  living; 
namelv,  |ohn  1).,  William  Ci.,  and  h'.mm;i  C. 
Robert,  the  eldest,  died  ;it  the  age  of  twent\'- 
three,  at  the  elose  of  his  Junior  yeai'  in  Ham- 
ilton College.  The  remaining  three  died  in 
childhood.  John  I),  married  Mary  I'etrie. 
the  daughter  of  John  and  Margaret  (  I'dliott  ) 
I'etrie,  of  New  Kingston,  I)i,-laware  County; 
anil  their  imion  has  been  blessed  by  the  birth 
of   two  ehildren—  Margaret    I'^   and   John  W. 

William  C  .Smith,  being  a  studious,  ambi- 
tious youth,  reeeiei'd  e\eelK-nt  educational 
advantages,  and,  after  le;iving  the  district 
school,  pursued  a  course  of  study  at  the  Wal- 
ton Academy,  ami  latei'  took  a  business  course 
at  the  Albany  Commercial  College,  ;ilter- 
nately  working  on  the  farm  antl  attending 
school.  lie  subsequently  entered  Hellevue 
Medical  College,  from  which  he  was  gr:id- 
uated  in  1894,  anil  expects  in  the  near  future 
to  sever  his  connections  with  tlu'  faiaii  ;ind 
j)ractise  medicine  in  his  nali\e  town.  In 
their  political  affiliations  both  brothers  are 
inflexible  iidherents  to  the  pi'iiiciples  ot  the 
Republican  part}-,  and  John  is  ser\'ing  his 
fellow-townsmen  as  I'Lxcise  Commissioner. 
Both  are  members  of  the  L'nited  Presbyte- 
rian church,  of  which  theii'  f;ither  was  one  of 
the  founders,  and  in  which  he  seived  with 
tidelit\'   for   many   \'ears   as   an    bdder. 


.\  SF.ARI.b'.S.  a  successful  mer- 
chant tailor  of  Hancock.  X.^^,  was 
l)orn  in  Withiel,  Cornwall,  F.ngland, 
Ma\'  7,  1S37.  His  father,  who  was  born  in 
the  s;ime  town,  was  William  .Scarlcs,  a  black- 
smith bv  trade,  who  there  followed  his  occu- 
pation until  1848.  He  then  came  to 
America,  sailing  from  Padstow,  Cornwall,  in 
the  shi|)  "Belle,"  and  after  a  stormy  \'oyage 
of   six    weeks   and    three   da\s    landed  at   (  )ue- 


bec.  Going  from  there  to  Bethany,  Wayne 
County,  Pa.,  he  remained  about  ;i  \e;ir;  ;ind 
then,  moving  to  Cherry  Ridge,  Pa.,  he  en- 
gaged   in    the   blacksmith    business. 

Being  moderately  successful,  he  lived  in 
that  place  imtil  his  death  at  the  age  of 
seventy-five  years.  He  w.as  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  JCpiscopal  Church  at  Cherry  Ridge, 
and  with  his  wife,  who  was  Mary  Hlake,  of 
Withiel,  Cornwall,  and  survived  her  husband 
about  one  \'ear,   is  buried  at  Cherry  Ridge. 

rhe\-  had  a  family  of  nine  children,  namely: 
Reuben,  who  was  ;i  miller  by  trade,  and 
p:isseil  his  da\-s  in  his  native  town;  Jane,  who 
after  her  marriiige  to  Philip  W'illiams,  a 
wheelwright,  went  to  .Sydney,  Xew  .South 
Wales,  about  1845,  and  died  m  1S60;  Caro- 
line, who  went  to  -Australia  with  her  sister, 
Mrs.  Williams,  and,  ha\dng  married,  made 
that  phice  her  home;  Belinda,  who  ilieil  at 
Cherry  Ridge  when  ;d)out  seventeen  years  ol 
age:  \\'illiam,  a  f;nnier,  who  with  his  wife, 
Sarah  (Gregory)  Searles,  and  a  family  of 
seven  children,  lix'es  at  .Seelyville,  Wayne 
Count}-,  Pa.  :  Mary  Ann.  who  married  a  shoe- 
rnaker  of  Portland,  Conn.:  Henry  Dickerson, 
who  died  in  i88j;  P'elix,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch:  Thir/a,  who  m:irrieil  William  Ham, 
a  carpentei'  of  Hoiiesdale,  Pa.;  and  Andrew, 
a  farmer  near  Windsor,  Broome  Coui-ity,  X.Y., 
who  married  Jane  Bond,  of  Hoiiesdale. 

b'elix  at  the  age  of  fourteen  began  to  learn 
the  tailor's  trade  in  the  employ  of  William 
Parnienter,  ol  Honesikile,  Pa.,  where  he  re- 
i-nained  for  thiee  \ears.  He  there  worked  for 
Benjamin  .Sherwood  nine  years,  and,  going 
from  there  to  H.iwley,  Pa.,  started  in  business 
for  himself.  After  eight  years  he  left  Haw- 
ley, -and  in  1864  can-ie  to  the  thriving  town  of 
Hancock,  whei'e  he  has  since  been  engaged 
in  the  clothing  business.  He  carries  a  large 
stock  of  gentlernen"s  furnishing  goods  and 
ready-made  ehithing  in  connection  with  his 
merchant  tailoring,  and  counts  among  his  cus- 
tomers the  best  people  in  this  section. 

On  October  25,  i86g,  he  marrieil  :\Iary  A. 
Tarbox,  daughter  of  -Silas  and  -Ann  (Mat- 
thews) Tarbox,  of  Honesdale,  w-hose  ancestors 
were  soldiers  in  the  patriot  army  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary War.  The  Tarbox  family  came 
oriuinal'lv  from    l-'rance,   and    were   among  the 


276 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


early  colonists  of  the  United  States.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Searles  have  two  children:  Minnie 
A.,  who  was  born  May  23,  1871,  obtained 
her  education  at  the  Hancock  Academy,  and 
now  lives  at  home  with  her  parents;  Clarence 
Howard,  who  was  born  November  2,  1886, 
now   attends   the  academy   in    Hancock. 

Mr.  Searles  was  one  of  the  charter  members 
of  the  Knights  of  Honor  in  Hancock.  He  is 
a  well-known  and  popular  citizen;  and,  being 
upright  in  all  his  dealings,  he  has  gained 
much  respect   among  his  friends  and   patrons. 


ARVEY    B.    CRONK    is    one    of    the 
most      extensive      agriculturists      at 
Grand   Gorge,  in  the  town  of   Rox- 
bury,      Delaware     County,      N.Y., 
where    he    was    born    on   July  8,    1832.     The 
great-grandfather,  Lawrence  Cronk,  came  from 
Germany.      He  was  a   private    in   the   Revolu- 
tion, and  died   of   small-pox.  leaving  only  one 
child,  named  after  himself.      Lawrence  Cronk, 
Jr.,   was   born    in  Tarrytown,    on   the   Hudson 
River,  and  when   he  grew  up  learned  the  car- 
penter's trade.      After  attaining  his  majority, 
he  removed  to  Delaware  County,  where  he  at 
first   went   to   work   for   Captain    Hardenburgh 
in  Roxbury.      Then   he  bought  a  log  house  on 
the   turnpike,    and   kept   a    tavern    there  for  a 
couple  of  years,  also  working  more  or  less  at 
his    trade.      Later    he    bought    a   small    farm. 
He    lived   to    be   ninety-three  years  old.      In 
politics  he  was  an  old-time  Whig.      His  wife, 
whose   maiden   name   was   Nancy    Creary,  also 
lived  to  a  good  old  age;  and  they  brought  into 
the  world  ten  children — John,  Nathan,  Sally, 
Nathaniel,    Polly,    Hannah,     Betsey,    Phoebe, 
Edward,    and    Ro.setta  Cronk. 

Nathaniel  Cronk,  second  son  and  fourth 
child  of  Lawrence,  Jr.,  was  l)orn  on  the  farm 
in  Roxbury,  where  he  worked  many  years. 
His  wife  was  Abigail,  the  widow  of  Charles 
Harley.  They  bought  of  John  Powell  the 
farmof  two  hundred  acres  on  which  Nathaniel 
had  been  employed,  and  remained  there  till 
1840,  when  they  bought  another  place,  of  a 
hundred  and  fifty  acres,  on  the  Delaware 
River,  where  they  built  a  barn  and  a  large 
addition  to  the  house.  In  1845  they  sold 
this  estate  to  Mr.  Cronk's  brother  John,  and 


moved  back  to  Ferris  Hill,  where  they  lived 
some  years.  In  their  declining  days  they 
found  a  home  with  their  son  Harvey,  and  died 
in  the  Methodist  faith  in  which  they  had 
lived,  he  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven,  and  she  at 
eighty-two.  In  politics  Nathaniel  Cronk  was 
a  Whig  till  the  formation  of  the  Republican 
party,  which  he  a,t  once  joined.  Nathaniel 
and  Abigail  Cronk  had  seven  children,  of 
whom  the  eldest  is  Harvey  B.  The  others 
were:  Volney,  Laura,  Lyman,  Alva,  Debois, 
and  Martha  Cronk. 

Harvey  B.  Cronk  went  to  the  district 
school,  and  worked  on  the  home  farm  till  he 
was  twenty-two,  when  he  bought  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty-five  acres,  one  for  every  day  in 
the  year,  which  had  been  settled  by  the  Rev. 
James  Russell;  and  thereon  he  erected  the 
present  commodious  buildings.  The  next 
year,  1855,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  he 
married  Amanda  Moffatt,  of  whose  family  an 
account  may  be  found  in  another  sketch. 
She  died  in  1893,  aged  si.xty;  but  Mr.  Cronk 
is  still  an  active  man,  enjoying  the  confidence 
of  his  fellow-men.  Like  his  father,  he  be- 
longs to  the  Methodist  church;  but,  unlike 
his  father,  he  is  a  Democrat,  not  a  Republi- 
can. He  has  held  the  office  of  Town  Com- 
missioner over  twenty  years.  His  farm  now 
numbers  three  hundred  and  fifty  acres,  and 
supports  nearly  sixty  cows. 

His  daughter  Mattie  was  born  on  September 
II,  1857.  On  March  ig,  1876,  at  the  age  of 
nineteen,  she  became  the  wife  of  Everett 
Desilva.  He  was  born  in  Schoharie  County, 
near  the  town  of  Gilboa,  on  January  24, 
T856,  and  was  the  son  of  Ira  and  Sarah 
(Thomas)  Desilva,  and  a  grandson  of -Abner 
Desilva,  who  was  born  in  France.  When  not 
yet  ten  years  old,  Abncr  Desilva  was  kid- 
napped while  playing  on  a  wharf,  and 
brought  to  America.  He  was  kindly  cared 
for,  however,  and  lived  for  a  time  in  Gilboa, 
but  later  went  West.  His  children  were 
John,  Issachar,  Hiram,  and  Ira  Desilva.  Ira 
Desilva  was  born  in  Gilboa.  In  due  time  he 
bought  a  farm  of  two  hundred  acres,  and  then 
another  farm  adjoining  of  a  hundred  and  fifty 
acres,  putting  up  new  buildings,  and  also  a 
woollen-mill,  and  becoming  a  very  prosperous 
manufacturer.      His  wife  was  S^rah  Thomas, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


277 


a  (laughter  of  Martin  \'an  15incn  Tlionias,  a 
Gi,lboa  lawNcr.  Ira  and  Sarah  Dcsilva  had  a 
large  family  of  children:  Frances  Desilva,  the 
wife  of  ICdward  Carpenter;  Electa  Desilva, 
who  lives  at  Cohocs;  Laura,  who  married 
W.  II.  Heeker:  Josephine,  who  married  Will- 
iam Dudle)',  and  is  no  longer  living:  ivosa. 
the  wife  of  Frank  Simmons;  Andrew,  de- 
ceased; Homer,  who  married  Anna  h'.llen 
Searls;  Henry,  who  marrietl  Fmeline  Myres: 
Smith,  now  living  at  the  West;  John, 
Stcjihen,  anil  Judson,  all  deceased:  and  finalh' 
ICverett  Desilva.  Ira  Desilva  lived  to  he 
si.Kty-eight  and  his  wife  seventy-four  \ears. 
Both  were  members  of  the  Methodist  l''.])is- 
copal  church,  and  he  was  a  Democrat  in  po]- 
itics. 

Everett  Desiha  attended  the  ]5ui)lic  schools 
in  different  places  till  he  was  fourteen  years 
okl,  and  then  worked  on  a  farm  until  he 
married  Mattie  Cronk.  Two  of  their  children 
died  young,  but  they  ha\-e  two  living.  Leo 
Harvey  Desilva  was  born  March  30,  1S80, 
and  Iva  Alva  on  November  4,  1882.  l^verett 
Desilva  worked  for  his  father-in-law  two 
years  after  mairiage,  and  then  bought  a  farm 
near  by  of  a  hundred  and  thirty  acres,  which 
he  carried  on  in  partnership  with  Mr.  Cronk 
till  1 888.  Then  the  younger  gentleman 
bought  the  Moore  farm,  of  three  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  whereon  he  has  built  a  fine  house, 
measuring  forty-two  by  seventy-four  feet,  and 
supjjlied  with  all  modiMii  impnnements.  lie 
has  also  |)ut  up  a  largi-  barn,  affording  room 
for  sixty  head  of  cattle  and  four  horses.  Not 
only  does  he  raise  milk  for  the  New  \'ork 
market,  but  colts  also;  and  there  are  about  a 
hundred  and  fifty  sheep  on  the  place.  The 
family  attend  the  Methodist  church,  and  Mr. 
Desilva  is  a  strong  Prohibitionist.  Their 
place  is  onh'  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Crand 
Gorirc. 


'A.MUia.  M1<;L\  is  the  owner  of  a 
valuable  estate,  consisting  of  ime 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  well- 
cultivated  land,  with  good  buildings 
thereon,  in  the  town  of  llamden.  He  is  a 
native  of  Scotland,  and  was  born  in  Kirkcud- 
bright, July  9,   1 8 19. 


His  parents,  i\obert  and  Euphemia  (  Thomp- 
son )  Mein,  were  lile-long  residents  of  .Scot- 
land, the  fathei'  dying  there  in  1843,  aged 
sixty-two  years,  and  the  mother  in  1S45.  Of 
the  six  sons  and  three  daugliters  born  to  them 
four  sons  and  one  daughter  came  to  America. 
James  Mein,  the  eldest  son,  ciossed  the  ocean 
in  1831  :  and  two  years  later  his  brother  Rob- 
ert joined  him  in  New  ^'ork  L'ity.  They 
tollowetl  their  trade  of  stone-cutting  there 
for  eight  years  before  coming  to  Delaware 
County.  Putting  their  earnings  together, 
they  bought  a  farm  in  Delhi,  which  they  car- 
ried on  jointly  for  a  few  years;  and  then  each 
purchased  a  homestead.  Another  brother  and 
a  sister  came  from  .Scotland  to  this  part  of 
New  York  in  1839;  and  in  1841  their  brother 
Samuel,  of  whom  we  write,  came  alone,  taking- 
passage  in  a  sailing-vessel,  and  being  on  the 
water  thirty-two  days. 

Samuel  Mein  had  leai'ued  the  shoemaker's 
trade  in  his  native  land;  and  at  this  occupa- 
tion he  worked  t|uite  a  long  while  after  con>- 
ing  here,  being  enij)loye(l  the  first  winter  in 
the  town  of  Andes,  the  following  six  years  in 
Hovina,  and  the  lU'xt  three  years  in  Hamden. 
In  1 85 1  Mr.  Mein,  desirous  of  seeing  more 
of  his  adopti'd  lountrv,  made  a  trij.)  to  \'ir- 
ginia,  sojourning  for  a  short  time  in  one  of 
its  quaint  towns,  and  there  working  at  his 
trade.  He  subsetjuently  explored  a  large 
jiart  of  that  .Slate,  returning  to  Delhi  in 
October.  Alter  his  marriage  he  bought  a 
larm  in  the  town  of  Delhi,  and  lived  on  it 
seven  years,  exchanging  it  then  for  another  in 
the  same  town,  which  hi'  occu[)ie(l  for  fi\'e 
years.  In  1863  Mi-.  Mein  bought  his  present 
farm,  which  then  contained  one  hundred  and 
ninety-seven  acres,  for  the  moneved  considera- 
tion of  three  thousand  three  hundred  dollars, 
his  ])urchase  including  the  stock  on  the  farm. 
Small  jiarcels  of  this  land  he  has  sold  to  the 
villagers,  and  his  homestead  proj^erty  now 
contains  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres.  He 
keeps  twenty-nine  choice  milch  cows,  some  of 
them  being  grade  Jerseys;  and  from  this  val- 
uable dairy  he  gets  three  hundred  cpiarts  of 
rich  miik  twice  a  day.  In  its  a|)pointments 
and  improvements  the  farm  of  Mr.  .Mein  ranks 
with  the  best  in  the  locality,  being  a  credit  to 
his    industry  and   good    management.      He   re- 


278 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


cently  lost  a  good  barn  and  wagon-house  by 
fire;  and  the  substantial  barn  which  he  is  now 
erecting  in  place   of   the   old   one,  at  a  cost  of 
nearly  two  thousand,  is  very   commodious  and 
conveniently    arranged,   and  one  of  the  finest 
structures    of    its  kind   in   the  vicinity.      The 
stone  basement  is  nine  feet  high,  with  twenty- 
two-feet  posts  above;  and  the  timbers  are  of 
hemlock.       There    are    two    floors    above    the 
main  floor,  the  driveway  for  the  hay  being  on 
the  upper  floor;  and   the   hay    is   thrown   down 
into  two  immense  bays.      The  second,  or  mid- 
dle,   floor    contains    the    threshing-room,    and 
also  the  grain  and  feed  bins.     In  the  basement 
are  accommodations  for  forty-five  head  of  cattle 
and   from    five   to   seven   horses,  and    one  very 
important  feature  in  connection  with   this  fine 
building  is  its  excellent  system  of  ventilation. 
In  the  spring  of    1852  Mr.  Mein  was  united 
in   marriage   with    Maria   Lewis,  the   daughter 
of  the  late  John  Lewis  and  his  estimable  wife, 
Anna  Wakeley  Lewis.      Mr.  Lewis  was  a  vet- 
eran  of   the  Revolutionary  War,  and  for  many 
years  received   a  pension.      He  settled    in   the 
town  of   Delhi,  where  he  carried  on  a  success- 
ful  business  as  a   miller.      Of   his  seven  chil- 
dren   three   daughters   and    two   sons   are   now- 
living.      Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mein   have   buried   one 
infant    daughter.      Three    daughters    and    one 
.son   still    remain    to   them,    who   may  here  be 
briefly     named:      Mary,     who     married     John 
Young,    a   farmer   in    Franklin,    has    one    son: 
Euphemia,     a     well-known      and      successful 
teacher,  began   her  professional   career  at  the 
early    age    of    sixteen    years;   Jessie    lives    at 
home;   Robert   L.,  who  lives  with  his  parents, 
has  operated   and   managed   the  home  farm  for 
the  past   nine  years,  continuing   the    imjirove- 
ments     already     begun,     and     meeting     with 
unquestioned   prosperity  in  his  various   under- 
takings.     He   is  a   thorough-going   agricultu- 
rist,  and    inherits   in   a  marked   degree  those 
sterling  qualities  of  character  that  constitute 
a  good  and    loyal  citizen.      He  is  a  strong  Re- 
publican   in   politics,  and   lakes  a  warm   inter- 
est   in   the   common  weal.      He  is  now  serving 
his   second    term   as   Assessor.      He   has   also 
filled   many  of   the   minor  offices   of  the  town. 
Mr.  Mein  and  his  family  are  people  of  strong 
religious  convictions,  and   worthy  members  of 
the  Reformed  Presbyterian  church.      Like   his 


son,  he  is  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  Republi- 
can party,  and  forwards  to  the  best  of  his 
abilitv   the    interests   of   the   town. 


TXJf  ll.LIAM  LEONARD  RUFF,  a  well- 
known  farmer  and  the  leading  cat- 
tle breeder  in  Bovina,  Delaware 
County,  was  born  in  the  adjoining  town  of 
Roxbury  on  F"ebruary  21,  1855.  His  father, 
John  Gottlieb  Ruff,  was  born  in  Germany, 
and  married  Rosa  Leonard  before  emigrating 
to  America  in  1853.  He  belonged  to  an  old 
and  rich  family,  had  been  trained  a  farmer, 
and  was  far  from  penniless  when  he  crossed 
the  seas.  For  a  year  the  new-comers  stayed 
in  New  York  City,  and  then  went  to  Greene 
County,  where  they  hired  a  farm  in  Pratts- 
ville.  Not  feeling  satisfied  there,  they  left 
the  place  before  the  birth  of  their  second 
child,  William  L.,  and  settled  in  Roxbury, 
where  they  purchased  two  hundred  acres, 
whereon  they  remained  till  recently,  when 
they  moved  into  the  village,  in  retirement 
from  hard-  work,  and  where  they  arc  now  in 
the  enjoyment  of  comfort  and  good  health,  and 
of  religion,  also,  as  members  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  church.  .Mr.  Ruff  is  especially 
active  in  religious  matters,  and  is  a  Republi- 
can in  politics.  There  were  born  into  the 
homestead  seven  children,  all  now  living  and 
thriving.  John  Ruff,  the  eldest,  born  in 
1853,  is  a  farmer  in  Andes.  Next  comes 
William  L.  Ruff,  of  Bovina.  The  eldest 
daughter,  Kate,  born  in  1858,  is  now  the  wife 
of  Lewis  Van  Aken,  a  Roxbury  farmer.  Car- 
rie Ruff,  born  in  1868,  married  Albert  Craft, 
of  Roxbury.  George  Howard  and  Edward 
Ruff,  born  in  1863  and  1867,  live  in  the  same 
county,  the  former  in  Stamford  and  the  latter 
in  Middletown.  Henry  Ruff,  born  in  1871, 
remains  on  the  parental  estate,  and  is  largely 
engaged  in  land  speculation. 

William  L.  Ruff  grew  to  manhood  in  the 
usual  way  of  a  farmer's  son,  working  on  the 
land  and  attending  the  district  school.  In 
1872,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  started  for 
himself,  and  for  nine  years  worked  on  other 
farms  for  about  fifteen  dollars  a  month.  By 
this  time  he  was  twenty-six;  and,  being  very 
economical  in  disposition,  he  had  accumulated 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


279 


a  gjoodly  sum  of  money.  He  therefore  felt 
justified,  on  ]\Iarch  10,  1881,  in  marrying 
Anna  Melissa  White,  daugliter  of  Joim  W'liite, 
an  early  settler  in  Kortright,  where  he  still 
li\es,  a  representative  farmer,  an  earnest 
Democrat,  and  in  sympathy  with  the  religious 
opinions  of  his  wife,  who  belongs  to  the 
Methodist   society    in    Hobart. 

After  his  marriage  William  I-.  Ruff  bought 
the  Rutherford  farm,  of  three  hundred  acres,  in 
Bovina,  where  he  has  continued  to  live  and 
work  hard  ever  since.  Of  course,  he  has  to 
engage  more  or  less  in  general  agriculture, 
but  gives  his  special  attention  to  his  dairy 
and  to  cattle  breeding,  keeping  seventy-one 
cows,  including  the  young  stock.  His  milch 
cows  yield  each  two  hundred  and  eighty-five 
pounds  of  butter  yearly  for  market,  and  the 
average  has  sometimes  reached  three  hundred 
jiounds  a  head.  He  is  justly  proud  of  his 
high  breed  of  cattle,  registered,  full-blooded 
Jerseys.  If  you  wish  to  see  it,  he  will  show 
you  a  neatly  printed  chart,  giving  the  pedigree 
of  the  head  of  the  herd,  Ida  \Ieridale's  Angelo, 
No.  28,013,  dropped  March  2^,  i8yi,  and 
described  as  having  a  solid  color,  black  t(jngue 
and  switch.  This  superb  creature  he  bought 
of  the  Meridale  farm  at  ^Meredith,  A_\er  & 
McKinney  proprietors,  for  a  hundred  and 
twenty-five  dollars,  when  the  beast  was  only 
three  months  old.  His  majest_\  can  be  traced 
back  four  generations,  through  Ida  of  St. 
Lambert's  bull,  19,169,  and  Angela  Grande, 
32,607.  Among  his  progenitors  were  the 
famous  imported  Stoke  Pogis,  1,259.  '^"'' 
Michael  Angelo,  10,116,  the  latter  soltl  to 
Miller  &  Sibley  for  twelve  thousand  five  hun- 
dred dollars  each,  when  only  a  calf  six  months 
old.  The  cattle  raised  on  Mr.  Ruffs  farm 
are  sold  into  Kentucky.  Pennsylvania,  Ohio, 
and  especially  into  Wayne  and  the  adjacent 
counties,  the  calves  always  commanding  two 
hundred  dollars  apiece,  and  sometimes  twice 
that  sum.  I'or  ten  calves,  now  grown  into 
cows,  he  refused  two  thousand  dollars.  AH 
this  successful  work  has  not  been  carried  on 
in  the  old  buildings  which  were  on  the  place 
when  Mr.  Ruff  bought  it  of  W.  L.  Ruther- 
fortl.  There  is  a  new  barn,  measuring  eighty 
by  fifty-six  feet.  The  other  structures  have 
all    been    remodelled,    and    thoroughly    [liped 


I 


with  water.  There  is  stabling  for  some 
eighty  cattle,  and  the  1-iuckley  water  device  is 
used  in  the  dairy  process.  The  Ruff  farm  is 
anything  but  a  /vw;'-//  farm,  being  under  fertiit- 
culti\ation.  The  proprietor  gives  himself 
strictl}-  to  business,  and  keeps  two  or  three 
men   constantly   emiiloyed   over   his   stock. 

Two  children  have  blessed  the  family  board 
—  Minnie  Bell  and  Lula  May,  born  resjjec- 
tively  in  1883  and  1886,  and  both  gracing  the 
home  with    the    promise    of    fair  womanhooil. 

Mrs.  Ruff  is  a  memiier  of  the  .Methodist 
society  in  Bovina  Centre;  but  her  husband 
belongs  to  the  United  Presbyterian  church  in 
New  Kingston,  both  following  the  parental 
lead.  He  is  a  Repul)lican,  but  is  best  known 
as  the  leading  cattle  breeder  of  the  vicinity. 

Though  barely  forty  years  of  age,  Mr.  Ruff 
is  a  hustler;  yet  he  has  won  his  way  by  strict 
integritv.  The  home  is  provided  with  everv 
modern    attachment    for    healtii    and    comfort. 


TTAllARLKS  C.  TOBKV,  one  of  the 
I  v-^  most  enterprising  i-e[jresentatives  of 
^is^  the  industrial  interests  of  Delaware 
County,  is,  with  his  partner,  J.  A. 
Warner,  carrying  on  a  substantial  business  as 
a  tanner  in  the  town  of  Walton.  He  comes 
of  excellent  New  luigland  ancestry,  and  is 
himself  a  native  of  the  old  Bay  State,  having 
been  born  in  the  town  of  Monson,  Hampden 
County,  December  31,  1831.  His  father, 
Stephen  Tobey,  was  born  in  Tolland  County, 
Conn.,  where,  after  completing  his  school 
life,  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  tanner  and  cur- 
rier, continuing  in  business  some  years.  He 
subsequently  removed  to  Monson.  Mass., 
where  he  erected  a  tannery,  one  of  the  largest 
in  the  vicinity,  ami  there  carried  on  an  ex- 
tensive business.  Later  in  life,  in  addition 
to  that  industr}-.  he  also  established  a  coun- 
tr)'  store,  which  he  conducted  with  profit  until 
his  death,  at  the  ripe  age  of  seventv-eighl 
years.  He  married  Rebekah  Fenton,  of  Will- 
ington.  Conn.,  who  bore  hiiu  the  following- 
named  children;  Warren,  a  tanner,  residing 
in  Canada;  Anna  V.,  the  wife  of  Rufus  Chand- 
ler, of  Monson;  S.  H.,  who  graduated  from 
Yale  College  in  the  class  of  1853.  and  is  now 
a  broker  in  New  York  Citv,  doing  business  at 


28o 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


No.  4  Broad  Street;  Charles  C. ;  and  Mary 
E.,  the  wife  of  H.  F.  Wing,  of  Grafton, 
Mass.  The  mother  spent  the  declining  years 
of  her  life  in  Monson,  i)assing  away  at  the 
venerable  age  of  eighty-five  years.  She  was  a 
sincere  Christian,  pine  in  heart  and  spirit, 
and  a  faithful  member  uf  the  Congregational 
church. 

Charles  C.  Tobey  was  educated  in  the 
schools  of  his  New  England  home,  first  at- 
tending the  district  schools  of  Monson,  and 
subsequently  taking  a  thorough  course  of 
study  in  Monson  Academy,  an  institution  of 
learning  that  ranked  among  the  best  of  any 
in  New  England.  He  later  worked  in  his 
father's  tannery,  learning  the  trade  of  a  tan- 
ner and  currier,  and,  after  becoming  of  age, 
went  into  business  with  his  eldest  brother, 
who  had  purchased  his  father's  interest  in  the 
tannery.  In  1857,  his  brother  deciding  to  re- 
move to  Canada,  Mr.  Tobey,  in  company  with 
R.  O.  Eentoii,  purchased  his  interest  in  the 
tannerv;  and  they  carried  on  a  successful 
business  for  two  years.  In  1859,  buying  out 
his  partner,  Mr.  Tobey  carried  on  the  busi- 
ness alone,  continuing  until  1871,  when  he 
closed  out  there,  and  came  to  Walton.  Pur- 
chasing the  plant  of  Mead,  North  &  Co.,  he 
formed  a  copartnership  with  J.  A.  Warner, 
his  present  partner:  and  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century  they  have  conducted  a  flourishing 
trade,  their  upright  and  honorable  methods 
winning  for  them  the  esteem  and  confidence 
of   all    with    whom    they   come    in    contact. 

Mr.  Tobey  was  united  in  marriage  in  1858 
to  Maria  H.  Barrows,  a  native  of  Willimantic, 
Conn.,  and  one  of  five  children  born  to  Will- 
iam and  Betsey  Barrows,  the  others  being: 
Julia,  who  married  John  Atvvood ;  Dwight; 
jane;  and  Charles  II.  By  this  marriage 
there  have  been  born  six  children,  the  follow- 
ing being  their  record:  Henry  C,  who  is  in 
the  grocery  busines.s,  and  who  married  Hattie 
Guild,  a  daughter  of  Truman  Guild,  of  the 
firm  of  Guild  &  Son,  druggists,  of  Walton, 
and  has  three  children  —  Anna,  Martha,  and 
Trum;  n :  Herbert  E.,  who  is  engaged  as  a 
dealer  in  coal  ami  lumber  in  Walton,  and 
married  May  Dayton,  of  .Stamford,  this 
county;  ^'rod  S.,  who  is  a  hardware  merchant 
in    Sherbi'rne,    Chenango    County,    and    who 


married  Ada  Berry,  of  that  place,  they  having 
one  child,  Marjorie;  Frank  W.,  a  twin 
brother  of  Fred  S.,  and  in  the  coal  business 
with  his  brother  Herbert,  who  married  Linda 
Holmes,  a  daughter  of  I'Lphraim  Holmes; 
Carrie  M.,  a  graduate  of  Walton  Academy,  in 
the  class  of  1893;  and  Emma  L.  l-'rank 
Tobey  was  also  graduated  from  Walton  Acad- 
emy, and  later  from  the  New  York  School  of 
Pharmacy,  being  the  third  in  rank  in  a  cla.ss 
of  one  hundred  and  thirty.  He  practised 
pharmacy  two  years,  being  with  Imgarde  & 
Co.,  of  New  York  City,  and  was  later  em- 
ployed for  a  year  in  a  drug  store  in  Erie. 
Politically,  Mr.  Tobey  affiliates  with  the 
Republican  party.  He  takes  a  deep  interest 
in  local  affairs,  and  is  a  strong  and  earnest 
advocate  of  all  enterprises  tending  toward  the 
advancement  of  his  adopted  town  and  county. 
For  three  years  he  has  been  President  of  the 
Board  of  Education.  He  and  his  family  are 
devout  members  of  the  Congregational  church, 
of  which  he  has  been  chorister  for  many  years. 
Mrs.  Tobey,  who  is  an  active  worker  in  the 
church,  is  also  a  teacher  in  the  Sunday- 
school,  and  I'resident  of  the  Missionary 
Society. 


AMUEE   DECKER,   M.D.,  is  a  phy- 
sician   in    the    village    of    Griffin's 


Corners  in  Middletown,  w-here  he 
has  a  large  practice.  He  was  born 
in  Schoharie  County  on  July  21,  1839,  son  of 
Cornelius  and  Sally  (  Hallock  )  Decker.  His 
grandfather,  John  C.  Decker,  son  of  Corne- 
lius, of  Columbia  County,  went  to  school  and 
worked  on  a  farm  in  youth;  but,  arriving  at 
manhood,  he  bought  eighty  acres  in  Broome, 
Schoharie  County,  whither  he  had  to  journey 
afoot.  A  log  house  and  barn  soon  made  the 
new  country  seem  more  like  home,  and  the 
w^ilderness  began  to  blossom  like  the  rose. 
Grandfather  Decker  was  a  Democrat  and  a 
Methodist.  He  was  the  father  of  four  chil- 
dren, two  by  each  wife;  for  he  married  two 
Shaver  sisters.  The  first  wife  died  young, 
leaving  a  boy  and  a  girl  —  Cornelius  and  Mar- 
garet. This  daughter  married  p-reeman  Whit- 
beck,  and  now  resides  in  Rensselaer,  Albany 
County.     Of  the  second  wife's  two  children, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


one  ilicd  in  niiildlc  a<^c,  and  tlic-  other,  Da\id 
Uecker,  lives  in  Bingiianiton.  The  grand- 
father died   at   the  age  of   sevcnty-ti\e. 

His  son  Cornelius,  father  of  the  Doctor,  was 
born  in  1808,  and  grew  up  a  farmer  and 
cooper.  He  married  Sail}'  Hallock,  daughter 
of  Samuel  Hallock,  whose  wife  died  young, 
but  not  before  she  had  borne  four  girls  and 
three  boys  —Sally,  Betsy,  Nancy,  John, 
Cornelius,  Samuel,  and  Deborali  Hallock. 
Cornelius  Decker  leased  eighty  acres  in  Scho- 
harie County,  where  he  passed  his  life.  He 
was  a  Democrat,  ami  held  the  office  for  some 
time  of  Highway  ("ommissioner;  and  he  won- 
derfully improved  liis  land.  He  died  at  the 
age  of  seventy,  and  his  wife  at  si.xty-eight. 
They  had  five  children.  'I'iie  eldest,  Wesley 
Decker,  died  in  i860,  just  before  the  t'ivil 
War.  The  second  chiltl,  Samuel  Decke'r,  is 
the  special  subject  of  this  sketch.  Levi 
Decker  niarrietl  Mary  \'aughn,  lives  in  -South 
Dakota,  and  has  one  child.  Daniel  Decker 
married  I'Aa  Case,  and  dietl  in  Mackew 
Mar\-  Decker  became  Mrs.  Miniu"  Hagerdorn, 
of  Middleburg,  and  has  one  child. 

Sanuiel  Decker  went  to  the  district  school. 
Besiiles  working  on  the  farm  in  his  early  man- 
hood, he  taught  school  till  he  was  twenty- 
four.  Then  he  stutlietl  medicine,  graduating 
in  1867,  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight,  from  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  in  New 
\'ork  City.  He  at  once  began  practice  at 
Griffin's  Corners,  where  he  still  continues. 
He  did  not  marry  til!  he  had  been  nearly  a 
decade  in  practice:  but  in  the  centennial  year 
he  became  the  husband  of  Mary  Lasher,  be- 
longing to  a  family  of  which  more  is  recorded 
under  the  proper  heading.  .She  was  born 
October  3,  1857,  was  the  daughter  of  Allen 
and  Lliza  (Crosby)  Lasher,  and  the  grand- 
daughter of  Conrad  and  Anna  C.  (Sagendorf ) 
Lasher.  Grandfather  Lasher  was  born  in 
Columbia  County,  and  was  reared  a  farmer. 
He  came  to  Delaware  County,  and  lived  here 
till  the  great  age  of  ninety;  but  his  wife  tiled 
young,  though  the  mother  of  the  following 
children:  Robert,  Frederick,  L^dward,  Abra- 
ham, Allen,  Ik'tsey,  Marietta,  Catherine, 
none   of   whom   are   now    living. 

The  fifth  child,  Allen  Lasher,  was  born  in 
Columbia  County,  and   came  with   the  others 


to  rxdaware  Count).  .At  fust  he  did  business 
as  an  insurance  agent,  an<l  then  bought  a 
farm,  turning  his  atention  especially  to  lum- 
ber. By  degiees  he  became  an  extensive 
speculator  in  real  estate,  buying  and  selling 
constantly.  He  had  st-ven  children.  b'.dward 
C.  Lasher  married  tirst  Henrietta  Kelley,  and 
second  Jennie  I-'erow.  He  lives  at  the  hotel 
in  L'leischmanns  village,  and  has  one  child, 
lunmt-t  Lasher  married  Allison  \'andermark, 
and  lives  on  the  farm  belonging  to  her  fam- 
ily, in  the  same  \illage,  and  has  one  child. 
Mary  ]{li/.a  Lasher  became  Dr.  Decker's  wife. 
\'iola  Lasher  married  T.  B.  I-'loyd,  an  insur- 
ance agent  in  .Syracuse.  Huldali  Lasher 
married  William  Whis])well,  a  New  York 
salesman,  and  has  two  children,  another  hav- 
ing died  young.  Charles  Lasher  also  lives  in 
New  York  City.  James  Lasher  is  a  student 
at  the  Aimandale  College  on  the  Hudson 
River.  Their  father  died  at  Griffin's  Corners, 
aged  sixty-nine,  and  tlieir  motiier  at  sixty-two. 
In  religion  they  were  Methodists;  and  he  was 
a  Democrat,  holding  three  terms  the  office  of 
Assessor. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Decker  have  three  children, 
all  living  at  home  in  the  pleasant  house  which 
their  fathei'  built  in  1879.  Lucy  Maud  was 
born  on  the  first  day  of  .August,  1877.  Mary 
Ldith  was  born  March  26,  1S80.  Harvey  was 
born  August  24,  1887.  The  Doctor  is.  like 
his  progenitors,  a  Demociat,  and  h.is  held 
several  offices.  In  ndigion  he  holds  verv 
liberal  opinions,  and  would  say,  with  a  man 
wiiom  he  admires  as  did  his  grandfather, 
who  supjjorted  that  man  for  I'resuleiit  — 
Thomas   Jefferson, 

■■  Lrror  ot  opinion  ma\'  bo  tolerated  where 
reason  is  left  free  to  combat  it." 


(^()11\  C.  CI1A.MB1;RLIN.  a  highly  in- 
telligent resident  of  Tompkins,  comes 
ol  good  aiicestrv  on  both  his  father's 
and  mother's  side.  His  great-grand- 
father Chamberlin.  who.  with  three  brothers, 
wa.s  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  fought  at  the 
battle  of  Bennington.  Wlien  ]>eace  was  de- 
clared, he  returned  to  his  home  at  Brattle- 
boro,  \'t.,  and  resumed  a  farmer's  life, 
rernaining  there  until  his  lieatli.      I-'our  of  his 


282 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


sons  settled  in  New  York  State  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  last  century.  One  of  them,  Calven 
Chamber! in,  born  at  Brattleboro  in  February, 
1773,  made  the  journey  on  horseback,  carry- 
ing all  his  earthly  possessions  on  pack  horses. 
He  built  a  log  cabin,  and  for  six  years  em- 
ployed himself  in  lumbering  and  rafting.  In 
June,  1799,  he  bought  one  hundred  and  thirty 
acres  of  land  in  Rapalyee's  Patent,  which  is 
still  in  possession  of  the  family,  and  on 
which  he  built  the  second  frame  house  in  the 
town.  February  7,  1805,  he  married  Polly 
M.  Clune,  whose  one  child,  Mary,  married 
and  moved  to  Connecticut.  Calven  Cham- 
berlin's  second  wife  was  Bersheba  Judd, 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Judd,  of  Penn 
Yan ;  and  she  became  the  mother  of  these 
children  —  Eliza  M.,  Benjamin  J.,  Nancy 
Ann,  Harriet,  Nelson,  Daniel  D.,  Emeline, 
and  James.  After  a  long  and  useful  life,  the 
father  died  in  January,  1853,  aged  eighty 
years,  at  the  home  of  his  son  Daniel,  which  is 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  that  section  of 
the  countr\'. 

Daniel  D.  Chamberlin,  son  of  Calven,  and 
the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  biography, 
was  born  on  the  old  homestead,  April  23, 
1819,  and,  after  attending  the  district  school, 
entered  the  Franklin  Academy,  receiving  an 
education  far  superior  to  that  usually  consid- 
ered sufficient  for  a  farmer's  son  of  that  time. 
Upon  leaving  school,  he  engaged  extensively 
in  farming,  lumbering,  and  operating  a  dairy, 
and  for  a  time  was  a  steersman  on  the  river. 
For  some  years  he  was  associated  in  business 
witii  William  B.  Ogden,  the  Chicago  million- 
aire, who  endeavored  to  persuade  him  to  enter 
the  Western  speculations  in  which  Mr.  Ogden 
later  made  his  fortune.  However,  his  love 
for  his  native  State  and  his  many  business 
interests  prevented  liim  from  adopting  any 
Western  ventures.  He  built  the  residence 
now  occupied"  by  his  son,  John  C.  He  died 
March  29,  1881.  Mr.  Chamberlin  married 
November  16,  1853,  Miss  Elizabeth  Foulds, 
daughter  of  John  S.  ;ind  IClizabeth  (Wheaton) 
Foulds. 

John  S.  P'oulds  was  a  native  of  Scotland, 
i)eing  born  in  Greenock  on  the  Clyde.  At 
the  age  of  eleven  he  ran  away  from  home  to 
go  to  sea,  and  was  taken  on   board  the  clip- 


per "Fannie,"  which  was  commanded  by  his 
brother-in-law,  Captain  Black,  and  was  said 
to  be  the  fastest  ship  then  afloat.  His  first 
voyage  was  to  New  York;  and  he  later  sailed 
to  the  West  Indies,  returning  home  at  the  age 
of  sixteen,  when  he  was  pressed  into  the  Eng- 
lish navy.  He  participated  in  three  naval 
engagements  with  the  French,  and  carried 
away  the  scars  of  the  wounds  made  by  pike 
and  cutlass  on  his  face  and  body.  For 
twenty-eight  months  this  poor  boy  served  his 
country  without  pay,  throughout  all  that  time 
never  being  allowed  to  land.  Is  it  to  be 
wondered  at  that  he  imbibed  a  hatred  for  the 
English  which  he  could  never  overcome?  He 
finally  made  his  escape  from  the  English  ship 
while  she  lay  off  the  island  of  Barbadoes,  by 
dropping  overboard,  and  swimming  a  mile 
through  water  notoriously  infested  with  man- 
eating  sharks.  After  reaching  the  shore,  he 
lay  in  hiding  for  a  time,  and  then  secured 
passage  back  to  Scotland  in  a  ship  commanded 
by  an  old  acquaintance.  Upon  landing  once 
more  on  his  native  shore,  he  hid  himself  for 
three  days,  fearing  discovery,  as  the  govern- 
ment had  offered  five  pounds  as  a  reward  for 
information  of  deserters.  Poor,  unfortunate 
John  Foulds  was  then  placed  in  a  hogshead, 
which  was  headed  up  and  sent  on  board  his 
old  ship  "Fannie,"  still  in  command  of  his 
brother-in-law.  Captain  Black;  and  for  three 
days  food  and  water  were  passed  to  him  in  his 
hogshead  in  the  hold,  as  he  did  not  dare  to  be 
seen  till  well  out  at  sea.  On  his  arrival  in 
America,  being  an  expert  machinist,  he  went 
to  New  London,  Conn.,  and  engaged  in  the 
cotton  manufacture.  Later  he  moved  to  New 
Berlin,  and  there  engaged,  as  one  of  the  first 
manufacturers  of  cotton  print  in  this  country, 
with  Colonel  Williams,  President  of  the 
Canal  Bank  of  Albany.  On  the  death  of  his 
wife  he  went  to  the  northern  part  of  Illinois, 
where  he  lived  for  a  time,  but  returned  to 
Cannonsville,  and  took  up  his  residence  witli 
his  son-in-law,  dying  there  of  pneumonia  in 
1 88 1,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven.  John  S. 
Foulds  was  a  Democrat  until  1846,  when  he 
joined  the  Whigs,  and  later  the  Republicans. 
He  fought  in  the  War  of  18 12,  taking  part 
under  General  Scott  in  the  battles  at  Lundy's 
Lane  and  Sackett"s   Harbor.      He  stood  hijih 


Whrren  G.  Willis. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


^8S 


amons  the  Masons,  bciiii;  a  mcnuKr  oi  lii,- 
Royal  Arch  Giaiul  I.()il,t;o.  During;-  the  (a- 
nious  Morgan  trial  he  was  askcil  by  the  iiulgc 
when  he  hist  saw  Morgan,  and  re|)lie(l,  "I  hist 
saw  Morgan  sailing  down  L'nadilla  j'iiver  in  a 
potash  kettle,  with  a  crowbar  for  a  paddle"; 
and  this  witty  answer  is  still  quoted  in  that 
section  of  the  countrv.  Tiiroughout  his  life 
he  was  a  firm  friend  of  the  negro,  often  at- 
tacking roughs  whom  he  saw  abusing  them. 

John  C.  Chamberlin,  son  of  Daniel  and 
Elizabeth  (Foulds)  ('hamberlin,  was  born  Au- 
gust 19,  1859,  on  the  old  homestead  at  Tomp- 
kins. He  attended  the  district  school,  and  at 
the  age  of  thirteen  entered  the  Walton  Acail- 
emy,  from  which  he  went  to  Cornell  L'niver- 
sity  as  a  member  of  the  class  of  iScSo.  When 
he  was  twenty-one,  his  father  died,  leaving  in 
his  care  his  invalid  mother,  wiio  died  January 
27,  1887,  and  the  management  of  the  estate. 
In  the  discharge  of  the  duties  which  de\olved 
upon  him  he  [iroved  thoroughly  conscientious 
and  competent.  He  now  ludds  tlie  position 
as  Railway  Postal  Clerk  on  the  ^■.^'..  (J. 
&  W.  R.R.  Mr.  Chamberlin  is  \ery  popular 
in  his  native  town,  possessing  the  admiration 
and  ri'sjiect  of  a  host  of  friends,  and  has 
served   in  several   [josilions  of  trust. 


was 
1827 
—  or 


ARRh;X  GALl.CI'  Wll.I.I.S,  a 
wealth\'  lantl-owner  and  attorney, 
residing  in  the  town  of  Masonville, 
)orn  in  the  same  place  on  March  i  i. 
His  grandfather,  .Solomon  Willis 
Wvllvs,  and  then  Wyllis,  as  it  was  tor- 
merly  spelled  —  was  born  in  Connecticut:  and 
the  grandmother's  maiden  name  was  Betsey 
Lathrop.  Solomon  Willis  was  old  enough  to 
fight  in  the  I*"rench  ami  Indian  wars:  and  his 
commission  fmni  (ieorge  11.,  dat(.'<l  .March  ^1. 
175S,  is  still  in  the  possession  of  the  family. 
and  highly  prized.  He  was  an  Mnsign,  and 
served  in  the  comjjany  of  which  I'hineas 
Lyman    was   tiie   Captain. 

When  the  Revolution  broke  out,  luisign 
Willis  enlisted  for  the  entire  war,  and  was  on 
duty  seven  years,  serving  first  as  Captain. 
Being  the  oldest  officer  in  the  regiment,  he 
was  raised  to  the  rank  of  Colonel  at  the  battle 
of     Bunker     Hill,     and      held     his     regiment 


through  the  hard-fought  battle  ot  i.ong  Ishuul. 
.•\ugusl  zj^  ^77^'>-  He  was  soon  after  sent  on 
tlie  expedition  ag;iins(  Canada,  in  whicli  he 
and  his  men  suffered  severely  in  battle  ;in(i 
from  the  |)rivations  and  hardships  incitient  to 
that  ill-fated  invasion.  He  always  cherished 
a  great  admiration  for  the  bravery  of  Benedict 
Arutdd,  under  whom  he  siMved  in  the  arduous 
march  to  ( juebec,  and  in  tlie  liemic  fights 
there  in  1775  76,  exjiloits  which  won  f.)r 
Arnold  the  rank  of  Brigatlier-general.  Colo- 
nel W'illis  was  fortunate  in  never  receiving  a 
single  wound.  Before  the  wars  he  had  owned 
considerable  projiertN',  but  came  ]jenniless  out 
of  the  Revolution.  The  pav  due  from  the 
British  government  for  the  earlier  contest 
was  never  |)aid,  because  h'.nsign  Willis  was 
riglitly  suspected  of  rebellious  sym|iathies: 
and  the  Continental  currency  received  from 
the  Colonial  Congress  sank  in  value  till  it 
was  practically  worthless.  After  the  war  was 
over  Colonel  Willis  returned  to  Connecti- 
cut, where  he  died  at  the  age  of  fourscore, 
firm  in  the  Presbyterian  faith,  having  reared 
nine  children,  who  have  long  since  i)assed 
away. 

Among  the  veti-ran's  sons  was  Wearam  Wil- 
lis, who  was  born  in  I'ldland.  Conn.,  on  July 
27,   1780.  while  his  father  was  still  serving  in 


1  the  patriotic  contest;  and  he  marrieil  Hannah 
Galluji,  of  Stonington,  who  was  born  July  17, 
1790.  Wearam  grew  uj)  on  the  home  farm, 
and  receiveti  a  fair  education  at  the  district 
scho(d.  Arri\eil  at  his  freedom  age,  he  went 
to  Alban)-  as  clerk,  but  in  1808  came  to 
Masonville,  where  he  bought  sixty  acres  of 
land.  After  ;i  short  time,  in  iSlo.  he  sold 
this  farm,  and  bought  two  hundred  and  thir- 
teen acres  of  forest  land,  wherefrom  he  cut 
the  first  tree  and  built  the  first  frame  house  in 
the  region  the  place  now  known  as  the  old 
Willis  homesteiul.  Deer  ;d)ounded,  wolves 
could  be  heard  howling  at  night,  so  that  the 
live  stock  had  to  l)e  sedulously  protected,  and 
bears  made  occasional  visits.  While  build- 
ing his  house,  Mr.  Willis  saw  one  jirowling 
near,  and  walked  t<nv;ird  him.  thinking  the 
animal  would  be  frightened  away:  but  Bruin 
stood  on  his  hind  legs  for  a  tussle,  and  then 
the  settler  was  the  more  frightened  of  the 
two.   and    was    relieved    when    at    last  the  grim 


286 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


intruder  conclutled  to  sidle  away.     The  near- 
est   market    was   sixty   miles   off,    among    the 
Catskills,  though   later  Utica  grew  to  be  an 
important  centre.      Father  Willis  was  a  hard- 
working and   ])rogressive   farmer,   acquiring  a  . 
large  property  for  those  days.     He  was  Super- 
visor, held  other  town  offices,  and  was  practi- 
cally,   as   well   as   theoretically,    interested   in 
the  welfare  of  the  town.     Though   not  a  pro- 
fessor of    religion,    he  was  a  Trustee   in  the 
local  Presbyterian  society,  which  he  helped  to 
organize.      In  politics  he  was  a  Whig,  till  the 
Whig   party  vanished    and    Republicans  came 
into  power.      He  was  the  father   of   nine  chil- 
dren.    The    first    died    in    infancy,    unnamed. 
Hannah     Willis    died    at    fourteen.     George 
Wearam    Washington    Willis    lived     to     be 
seventy-six.      Melissent    Emeline   Willis  mar- 
ried     Lyman      Witter,     and     died     in     1866. 
Nancy  R.  Willis  died  unmarried,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-four.     Deidamia  D.  Willis  became 
the  wife   of    Stephen    Thatcher,    and    died    at 
seventy-two.      Joshua   S.    S.   Willis  was    born 
April   20,   1822,  and    is  a   Masonville  farmer. 
John  M.  Willis  lived   to   be  sixty-three.      The 
youngest   of   the   nine   is   the   subject    of    this 
sketch.      Their    father    died    April     6,     i860, 
aged    fourscore,    and    the    mother    four    years 
earlier,  on   the   last   day   of   November,    1856. 
Warren    G.    Willis   grew    up   on    the   farm, 
went    to    the   district    school    and    to  a   select 
school  in  the  same  town,  and  then  studied  two 
years    in    the     Delaware     Literary    Institute, 
after  which  he  taught  school  in  this  and  other 
counties.      As   the   youngest   son,  he   then   re- 
turned   to    the    homestead,    which    he    finally 
owned,  adding  thereto,  till   at   one   period   he 
had    over    seven    hundred    acres,    the     largest 
farm  in  the  town,  devoted  to  general  agricult- 
ure   and     especially     to     dairy    products.      In 
1850,   when   only  twenty-three  years  old,  Mr. 
Willis  went  to  California.      Being  detained  on 
the  Isthmus  seven  or  eight  weeks,  the  expos- 
ure deprived  him   of   his   good   health   to  such 
an  extent   that  he  was  unable  to  remain  in  the 
diggings    over    four   months,    though    he    still 
has  one  of  the  golden  nuggets   he  dug  straight 
from    the    earth.      On   his   return   he   went    to 
farming   until    1874.      In  1877   he  removed  to 
Albany,  in   order  to   study  at   the   law  school. 
He    was    graduated,     receiving    his     diploma 


from  Union  University  in  1878.  Returning 
to  Masonville,  he  remained  here  till  1882, 
when  he  once  more  went  to  Albany  for  a  year. 
Then  he  tried  Minnesota  for  four  years,  on 
land  still  belonging  to  him;  but  in  1887  he 
came  back  to  Masonville,  where  he  continues 
to  reside,  practising  law  and  caring  for  his 
real  estate  both  in  this  town  and  in  Albany. 
He  has  not  remained  on  the  homestead,  how- 
ever, having  sold  it  in  1880. 

His  marriage  took  place  September  2,  1856. 
His  wife,  Mary  Parker,  was  born  in  Mason- 
ville, August  15,  1835,  and  is  therefore  eight 
years  his  junior.  She  was  the  daughter  of 
Erasmus  and  Matilda  (Humphrey)  Parker. 
Her  father  was  born  in  North  Brookfield, 
Mass.,  on  June  4,  1808,  and  her  mother  in 
1806,  two  years  earlier,  in  Duanesburg,  not 
far  from  Albany.  Mr.  Parker  was  a  farmer 
for  a  few  years  in  Masonville  and  Bainbridge, 
and  then  went  to  Minnesota,  where  he  died 
August  17,  1 87 1.  His  wife  died  in  Bain- 
bridge, Chenango  County,  June  24,  1857. 
They  were  Presbyterians,  and  reared  seven 
children,  of  whom  five  survive.  Alexander 
Parker  died  when  only  two  years  old.  Mary 
Parker  married  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
William  Haskell  Parker,  born  in  1840,  now 
resides  in  Otego,  Otsego  County.  Ruth  M. 
Parker  married  Hunttress  Ross,  and  lives  in 
Florida.  Elizabeth  Parker  married  James  N. 
Crandall,  and  died  at  the  age  of  forty-six  in 
her  Chicago  home.  George  H.  Parker  and 
Sarah   Newliart    Parker   reside    in    Minnesota. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Warren  G.  Willis  are  among 
the  most  respected  people  of  the  town,  have  a 
lovely  home,  and  are  surrounded  by  troops  of 
friends,  but  have  no  children.  Mr.  Willis  is 
an  active  Republican,  and  helped  organize 
that  party.  He  was  nine  years  Justice  of 
Peace  and  three  terms  Supervisor,  and  in  1875 
was  sent  to  the  State  Assembly  at  Albany. 
Like  his  father,  he  is  thoroughly  alive  to 
whatever  concerns  the  town's  welfare,  and  is 
a  Trustee  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  which 
the  family  attend.  It  has  been  said  by 
Horace  Greeley,  a  publicist  whom  Mr.  Willis 
always  admired,  that  "men  who  have  great 
riches  and  little  culture  rush  into  business, 
because  they  are  weary  of  themselves."  Mr. 
Willis,  however,    is  not   open   to  this   implied 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


287 


blame;  for  he  believes  in  culture,  and  has 
pursued   it. 

While  in  Minnesota,  lie  and  liis  wife  joined 
the  Chautauqua  Literary  and  Scientific  Circle, 
and  successfully  pursued  a  four  years'  course, 
graduating  and  receiving  their  diplomas  from 
Dr.  Vincent  at  Chautauqua   August    15,   1887. 

This  interesting  biographical  sketch,  which 
is  accompanied  by  a  portrait  of  its  principal 
subject,  brings  to  remembrance  the  saying  of 
a  wise  essayist :  — 

"Wealth  brings  noble  opportunities,  and 
competence  is  a  proper  object  of  pursuit; 
but  wealth,  and  even  competence,  may  be 
bought  at  too  high  a  price.  Wealth  itself 
has  no  moral  attribute.  It  is  not  money,  but 
love  of  money,  which  is  the  root  of  all  evil. 
It  is  the  relation  betw-een  wealth  and  the 
mind  and  the  character  of  its  possessor 
which  is  the   essential  thins.'" 


XDRKW  THOMAS  DOIG,  a  promi- 
nent citizen  of  Bovina,  was  born  in 
'=JLV  ^^'^  same  town  on  May  10,  1867, 
his  father  being  Walter  L.  Doig, 
a  son  of  William  Doig,  and  a  grandson  of 
Walter  Andrew  Doig,  whose  history  will  be 
found  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

William  Doig,  the  grandfather  of  Andrew 
Thomas,  was  born  in  Bovina.  and  owned  the 
Doig  homestead  of  a  hundred  and  eighty-fi\-e 
acres,  where  he  lived  for  many  years,  a  most 
prosperous  and  energetic  farmer.  He  mar- 
ried Jane  Forest,  who  was  born  in  Scotland 
in  181 1  or  1812,  and  spent  the  last  of  his  life 
in  Hovina  Centre,  where  his  familv  attended 
the  United  Presbyterian  church.  He  died 
on  April  7,  1871,  at  sixty-three  years  of 
age.  His  son,  Walter  L.  Doig,  was  born  on 
March  26,  1837.  Growing  to  manhood,  he 
continued  the  cultivation  of  the  old  farm,  and 
was  considered  one  of  the  most  practical  men 
in  the  vicinity.  His  wife  was  Jane  McNair, 
who  was  born  in  the  town  of  Andes,  August 
20,  1839,  a  daughter  of  Archibald  and  Martha 
McXair.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walter  L.  Doig 
were  both  members  of  tlie  United  Presby- 
terian church.  He  held  several  public 
offices,  was  a  Republican  and  an  active  poli- 
tician.     He   died    at   the  age  of  fifty-seven  at 


the  old  home  where  he  was  born,  and  where 
his  widow  is  still  living.  They  had  four 
sons:  William  James,  Archibald,  Andrew'!'., 
and  Milton  A.  Doig.  William  James  Doig 
was  born  December  19,  1862,  was  educated 
in  the  district  schools,  and  is  still  living  on 
the  homestead,  having  married  on  January 
27,  1890,  Clara  M.  Sloan,  who  was  born  Oc- 
tober 4,  1868,  at  Bovina  Centre.  Her  par- 
ents were  David  Sloan,  now  living  in 
Colorado,  and  Margaret  (Hillson)  Sloan,  who 
died  in  her  thirtieth  year.  Archibald  M. 
Doig  was  born  on  March  16,  1865,  and  died 
February  5,  1894.  Milton  A.  Doig  was  born 
December  12,  1871,  and  resides  in  Bovina 
Centre,  where  he  is  a  clerk  in  his  brother 
Andrew's   store. 

Andrew  T.  Doig,  the  third  son  of  Walter 
L.,  was  educated  in  the  district  schools,  and 
lived  on  the  old  homestead  until  1893,  when 
he  opened  a  store  at  Bovina  Centre.  His 
stock  is  estimated  as  worth  about  seven  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  includes  a  large  assortment 
of  goods;  for  Mr.  Doig  aims  to  give  his  cus- 
tomers the  best  articles  at  the  lowest  prices, 
and  he  has  built  up  a  large  trade.  Strict 
attention  to  business  and  his  good  reputation 
make  him  one  of  the  rising  young  men  of  the 
town.  He  is  a  Republican,  and  a  member  of 
the  United  Presbyterian  church  at  Bovina. 
On  June  20,  1894,  he  married  Carrie  E. 
Thompson,  a  daughter  of  Andrew  and  Mar- 
garet (Scott)  Thompson.  Mrs.  Doig  is  a 
member  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  church, 
and  a  further  account  of  the  family  may  be 
found  in  the  sketch  of  William  S.  Thompson. 
Andrew  T.  Doig  has  won  the  admiration  of 
his  townsmen,  not  only  as  a  man  of  intrinsic 
worth  and  social  tact,  but  as  one  who,  in  the 
words  of  the  poet  Saxe,  is  "always  doing  his 
very  best." 


R.  HARKNFSS,  junior  member  of  the 
firm  of  Oliver  &  Ilarkness.  dealers  in 
staple  and  fancy  groceries,  provi- 
sions, canned  goods,  and  crockery,  is  a  man  of 
superior  business  ability,  and  an  influential 
citizen  of  Delhi.  He  was  born  in  Kortright 
on  August  27,  1845.  He  is  descended  from 
good   old   pioneer   stock,    and    is    of    excellent 


288 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Irish  extraction,  the  Harkness  family  having 
originated  in  Ireland,  whence  they  emigrated 
to  the  United  States,  settling  in  Kortright 
about  the  year  1800,  being  among  the  original 
settlers  of  that  town.  His  parents,  though 
both  bearing  the  surname  of  Harkness,  were 
not  related  by  ties  of  blood.  His  father, 
James  Harkness,  married  Lettie  Harkness, 
and  was  for  many  years  one  of  the  most  ex- 
tensive land-owners  of  Delaware  County,  hav- 
ing a  good  farm  in  Kortright,  and  another  in 
the  town  of  Davenport.  He  was  very  suc- 
cessful, financially  and  otherwise,  and  a  man 
much  respected  by  all.  He  was  born  in  Kort- 
right in  1800,  and  his  eighty-five  years  of  life 
were  years  of  activity  and  usefulness.  Of  the 
twelve  children  born  to  him  and  his  wife, 
seven  are  now  living;  namely,  Charles,  James, 
George,  Ebenezer  R.,  Margaret,  Eliza,  and 
Frances. 

Ebenezer  R.  Harkness,  fourth  son  of  James, 
was  reared  to  manhood  beneath  the  parental 
roof,  the  major  part  of  the  time  being  spent 
on  the  Davenport  farm.  He  was  graduated 
from  the  Franklin  Literary  Institute  when 
quite  young,  and  then  engaged  in  teaching, 
beginning  in  New  Jersey,  where  he  taught 
school  for  a  year.  The  following  two  years 
Mr.  Harkness  taught  in  the  town  of  Daven- 
port, coming  from  there  to  Delhi,  and  for  four 
years  thereafter  being  one  of  its  most  success- 
ful teachers.  He  relinquished  his  position  as 
instructor  in  the  public  schools  to  accept  that 
of  School  Commissioner  of  the  Second  Dis- 
trict, Delaware  County,  an  office  to  which  he 
was  elected  for  a  term  of  three  years.  The 
duties  of  that  responsible  position  were  ful- 
filled so  satisfactorily  that  he  was  subse- 
quently re-elected  to  that  office  for  another 
three  years"  term.  The  succeeding  year  Mr. 
Harkness  was  special  State  agent  for  the 
Equitable  Fife  Insurance  Company,  the 
agency  of  which  he  resigned  to  embark  in  a 
mercantile  career,  forming  a  partnership  with 
Mr.  Oliver.  The  firm  have  since  carried  on 
an  extensive  and  lucrative  trade,  their  stock 
being  one  of  the  most  complete  in  every  de- 
partment of  any  similar  store  in  the  county. 

A  man  of  Mr.  Harkness's  intelligence  and 
push  necessarily  occupies  an  important  place 
among  the  citizens   of  any  community,  and  is 


often  called  to  jjositions  of  trust.  Thus  he 
was  elected  Supervisor  of  the  town  of  Delhi 
in  1892,  and  re-elected  to  the  same  office  in 
1893.  He  is  a  man  of  good  judgment  and 
strong  convictions,  never  hesitating  to  express 
them  freely  and  frankly,  and  with  all  the 
vigor  he  can  ccHnmand;  and,  whatever  course 
he  pursues  in  business  or  political  matters,  he 
is  actuated  by  conscientious  motives.  When, 
after  mature  deliberation,  he  has  found  it  to 
be  his  duty  to  do  or  refrain  from  doing  a 
certain  thing  for  the  benefit  of  his  constitu- 
ents, he  has  never  swerved  from  his  chosen 
path,  as  was  clearly  shown  in  the  recent  con- 
test for  a  new  court-house  in  Delhi.  Know- 
ing that  his  people  were  already  laboring 
under  the  weight  of  a  heavy  railway  tax,  and 
that  there  was  then  no  imperative  need  for  a 
new  building,  he  would  not  impose  on  them  a 
further  burden.  Mr.  Harkness  was  somewhat 
severely  criticised  at  the  time  for  not  voting 
in  favor  of  said  new  court-house;  but  that  the 
soundness  of  his  judgment  and  the  wisdom  of 
his  action  have  since  been  admitted  is  shown 
by  the  outspoken  expressions  of  many  of  his 
constituents.  That  he  is  a  loyal  citizen,  of 
true  public  spirit,  is  never  doubted.  These 
strong  points  in  his  character,  combined  with 
his  many  allied  commendable  qualities,  have 
rendered  him  very  popular  and  successful  in 
all  circles  of  life,  either  business,  social,  or 
political. 

Mr.  Harkness  was  united  in  marriage  in 
1876  to  Miss  Libbie  Sexsmith,  of  Kortright 
Centre,  who  is  the  presiding  genius  of  his 
hospitable  home.  Both  are  consistent  and 
valued  members  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Delhi,  wherein  Mr.  Harkness  has 
served  for  many  years  as  Elder. 


B 


AMUEL  I.  BROWN,  an  enterprising 
resident  of  Stamford,  was  born  in 
this  town  on  September  i,  1850,  son 
of  James  J.  and  Lucina  (Warren) 
His  grandfather,  Samuel  I.  Brown, 
for  whom  he  was  named,  was  born  July  28, 
1788,  and  married  Mary  Hair,  who  was  born 
in  Rhode  Island,  March  7,  1792.  Her  family 
came  by  boat  up  the  Hudson  River  to  Albany, 
and   then  by  ox  team   through   the  forest,  cut- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


289 


ting  their  way  part  of  the  distance.  She  was 
married  to  Mr.  15rown  on  October  23,  1806, 
when  he  w-as  only  eighteen  and  .slie  fourteen; 
and  they  lived  awhile  in  the  hopeful  town  of 
lispcraiice,  in  Schoharie  County-  The  hus- 
band held  a  commission  in  tlie  War  of  1812, 
which  came  when  lie  was  about  twenty-five 
years  old.  He  did  not  survi\-e  it  many 
years,  but  ilied  on  June  17,  1819.  I  lis  wife 
lived  over  fifty  years  longer,  till  December 
18,  1870.  They  had  five  children:  Bet- 
sey Brown,  born  February  20,  1808:  Dorcas 
Brown,  born  December  14,  18 10;  James  J. 
Brown,  born  January  29,  1813;  Mary  Brown, 
born  July  24,  181 5;  Nancy  I''.lizabeth  Brown, 
who  dill  not  come  into  the  world  till  Septem- 
ber 20,  1 8 19,  when  her  mother  had  been  three 
months  a  sad  widow. 

James  J.  lirown's  birlhi)Iace  was  .Salone- 
ville,  .Schoharie  County.  Being  only  si.x 
when  his  father  died,  the  child  was  bound  out 
as  an  apprentice  when  only  nine,  to  learn  the 
trade  of  w'ool  carding  and  dressing,  his  master 
being  Mr.  Harrington,  of  the  town  of  Bethle- 
hem, on  Norman's  Kill,  in  Albany  County- 
With  Mr.  Harrington  tiie  boy  remained  till 
he  was  a  man  of  twenty-one,  in  1S34.  He 
worked  in  the  same  place  at  his  trade  eight 
years  longer,  till  1842,  when  he  moved  to 
Stamford,  and  took  charge  of  the  clothing 
works.  His  next  change  was  to  Hobart,  as 
superintendent  in  a  cashmere  factory;  but 
after  some  years  he  went  to  I'rattsville,  where 
he  held  a  similar  position  for  some  years. 
Coming  to  Stamford,  he  bought  a  factory, 
which  he  carried  on  three  years,  and  then 
sold,  in  order  to  take  up  farming.  But  his 
attachment  to  his  old  trade  was  too  strong  for 
him  to  enjoy  being  out  of  it;  and  in  1857, 
when  nearly  forty-five,  he  bought  land  on 
River  Street,  where  he  erecteil  what  is  known 
as  Brown's  mills.  This  was  his  last  business 
change.  He  was  an  Odtl  I'"ellow,  belonging 
to  Hobart  Lodge;  and  in  politics  he  was  a 
Republican.  His  death  took  place  on  New 
Year's  Day,  1875,  when  he  was  si.\ty-two; 
but  he  had  already  been  a  wiilowcr  eighteen 
years,  his  wife,  Lucina  Warren  ]3rown,  ilying 
August  14,  1857.  They  had  four  children: 
Maria  Brown  married  Mr.  Merrill  for  her  first 
husbantl,   and  Charles  I'arridie  for  her  second. 


and  has  borne  six  children,  of  wiioni  four  are 
living.  Tile  second  is  .Samuel  I.,  of  this 
sketch.  The  third,  .Adam  G.  Brown,  married 
Adeline  .Smith,  now  deceased,  and  lives  in 
Detroit  with  his  one  child.  The  other  child 
of   James   J.    Brown   died    in   bab\hood. 

Samuel  I.  Brown  was  educated  in  .Stamfori! 
Seminary,  but  began  learning  the  trade  of  a 
clothier  when  only  ten  years  old.  At  sixteen 
he  decided  to  do  farm  work.  Three  years 
later,  in  1869,  he  became  clerk  in  a  dry-goods 
store  in  .Stamford,  where  he  remained  till 
1874,  when  he  bought  a  woollen  factory  near 
his  father's,  which  he  conducted  till  1881, 
seven  years.  His  next  change  was  into  a 
])artnership  with  H.  S.  Preston,  keeping  a 
provision  market  in  -Stamford.  In  1883  he 
bought  out  his  [Kirtner's  interest,  and  began 
running  the  business  on  his  own  account, 
meanwhile  moving  his  family  into  the  semi- 
nary building,  where  he  conducted  the 
boarding  dejiartnient  for  seven  years.  Sub- 
sequently, he  bought  the  Presbyterian  church 
l)roperty,  and  remodelled  the  building  into  a 
tenement  house  and  a  meat  market.  In  1890 
he  bought  the  Widow  I'oote  estate,  and  there 
built  a  large  boarding-house,  called  Grey- 
court,  a  building  measuiing  thirty-six  feet  by 
eightv,  t'nx-  stories  high,  with  accommodations 
for  seventy-five  boarders. 

In  1876,  the  centennial  year,  Mr.  Brown 
married  Mary  Mackey,  of  -Stamford,  of  whose 
family  a  few  particulars  should  be  here  set 
down.  -She  was  born  in  Denning,  Ulster 
Count\',  but  brought  up  in  Gilboa,  .Albany 
County.  Her  parents  were  Albert  and  .Sarah 
(Kingsley)  .Mackey.  -Albert  Mackev  was 
born  the  first  day  of  July,  1824,  and  was  the 
son  of  Daniel  Mackey  and  Mary  Wicks. 
Daniel  Mackey  was  bred  a  farmer  in  Albany 
County,  and  continued  in  that  pursuit  all  his 
life,  fie  li\'ed  to  be  seventy-eight,  and  his 
W'ife  seventy-five.  They  reared  six  children 
—  Marilla,  Grin,  Elizabeth,  Albert  Aaron, 
Nancy  Elizabeth,  and  Louisa  Mackey,  of 
whom  fi\e  survive.  Albert  Mackey,  the  sec- 
ond son  and  third  child,  was  born  in  Albany 
CoLHity,  like  his  father,  and  has  followed  agri- 
culture in  that  county,  and  also  in  .Schoharie 
and  Ulster  Counties,  though  at  present  he 
lives   with    his  wife    in    Stamford.      Of    their 


290 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


three  children,  J.  Irwin  Maclvcy  lives  in 
Maine,  Emily  Mackey,  wife  of  Orin  Edwards, 
lives  in  Massachusetts,  and  Mary  Mackey  is 
Mrs.  Samuel  I.  Brown. 

From  this  union  have  come  two  children: 
M.  Louise  Brown,  born  October  3,  1877;  and 
Roy  S.  Brown,  on  November  21,  1884.  The 
father  is  a  Republican,  holding  for  several 
years  a  place  on  the  local  Board  of  Education; 
and  he  and  his  wife  belong  to  the  Baptist 
church,  though  the  daughter  Louise  is  a  Pres- 
byterian. Mr.  Brown  has  a  large  business 
patronage,  both  from  city  boarders  and  provi- 
sion customers,  his  market  being  the  largest 
in  Stamford.  It  is  such  men  as  Mr.  Brown 
who  can  say,    with   Oliver  Goldsmith, — 

"The  fortunate  circumstances  of  our  lives 
are  generally  found  at  last  to  be  of  our  own 
producing." 


'AMUEL  CURTIS  PETTINGILL, 
M.D.,  is  a  retired  physician  of 
Hancock,  Delaware  County.  His 
grandfather,  Edmund  Pettingill, 
was  born  in  Massachusetts,  of  old  Puritan  an- 
cestry, and  fought  in  the  Revolution,  after 
which  he  resumed  the  occupation  of  farming, 
and  about  1785  moved  to  Butternuts,  Otsego 
County,  N.Y.  A  pioneer  settler  there,  he 
cleared  the  land  and  erected  buildings.  He 
married  a  Miss  Curtis,  of  Massachusetts,  and 
both  lived  to  be  over  ninety  years  of  age. 
Their  mortal  remains  were  laid  to  rest  in 
the  old  burial-ground  at  Butternuts.  They 
were  the  parents  of  six  children,  their  two 
sons,  Edmund  and  Josiah,  being  born  before 
the  family  moved  to  New  York. 

Josiah  Pettingill  was  educated  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  after  the  removal  of  the  family 
from  that  State  assisted  his  father  on  the 
home  farm.  Starting  out  in  life  for  himself, 
he  purchased  land  in  Butternuts,  which  he 
cleared,  and  there  built  his  home.  His  wife 
was  Lydia  Hawkins,  of  Rhode  Island;  and 
she  became  the  mother  of  eleven  children, 
namely:  Fanny,  who  married  Guile  Bump,  of 
Otsego  County;  Abigail,  who  married  Jacob 
Bump,  a  brother  of  Guile;  Lyman,  whose 
wife  was  Phoebe  Morgan,  of  Bennington,  Vt. ; 
Alanson,  who  married  Almira  Sawyer,  of  But- 


ternuts; Alonzo,  who  became  the  husband  of 
Lucy  Davis,  of  Butternuts;  Josiah,  who  died 
in  childhood;  Josiah,  the  second;  lulmund; 
Samuel;  Lydia,  wife  of  Lewis  Millard,  of 
Butternuts;  Sarah,  who  married  and  settled 
in  Ohio.  About  1835  the  family  moved  to 
Ohio  in  teams  overlantl,  and  settled  in  Kirt- 
land.  Lake  County;  and  there  the  venerable 
jiarents  of  this  large  family  passed  the  even- 
ing of  their  lives,  dying  at  an  advanced  age. 

Samuel  Curtis  Pettingill  was  born  May  18, 
181 1,  at  Butternuts,  and  received  his  early 
education  at  the  district  school,  later  at- 
tending the  Gilbertsville  Academy.  Lentil 
twenty-three  years  of  age  he  remained  at 
home,  and  assisted  about  the  farm  work.  He 
commenced  to  practise  as  a  physician  in 
Masonville,  where  he  lived  for  four  years,  and 
then  located  his  office  in  Hancock.  The 
country  there  being  almost  unsettled  at  that 
time,  the  roads  were  little  better  than  deer 
paths,  and  accordingly  the  Doctor  was  obliged 
to  make  his  visits  on  horseback,  by  canoe,  or 
on  foot.  The  town  of  Hancock  then  boasted 
of  but  one  store,  a  hotel,  a  grist-mill,  and  a 
few  scattered  houses,  whose  inhabitants  de- 
pended on  the  products  of  the  land  and  the 
little  money  they  could  get  from  their  lumber, 
which  they  rafted  down  the  river  to  Phila- 
delphia,   returning  on   foot. 

October  14,  1840,  Dr.  Pettingill  married 
Miss  Salome  Hoag,  daughter  of  Ezra  and 
Charlotte  (White)  Hoag,  of  Massachusetts. 
They  were  married  in  Cannonsville,  and  had 
four  children:  Lucius  L.,  born  July  26,  1842; 
Edmund  L. ;  Samuel  C,  Jr.;  and  Warner, 
who  was  born  November  19,  1846,  and  died 
May  22,  1853.  Lucius  L.  married  Fanny  D. 
F"razier,  and  had  four  children:  Alonzo,  born 
November  29,  1868;  Jennie  L.,  born  August 
19,  1870;  Alice  Edna,  born  January  4,  1873; 
and  Samuel  C,  born  December  31,  1874. 
He  established  himself  in  Hancock  in  a  drug 
store,  where  he  remained  until  his  death, 
February  8,  1882.  He  is  buried  at  River- 
view.  His  brother  Edmund  was  a  physician, 
a  graduate  of  Yale  in  the  year  of  1871,  and 
located  his  office  in  Hancock,  marrying  Miss 
Ida  Allison,  of  that  town.  He  died  August 
16,  1881,  aged  thirty-one  years,  and  is  buried 
at  Riverview. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


701 


Dr.  Pettingill  is  ;i  nicnibor  of  the  Indepen- 
dent Order  of  Odd  I'\MIo\vs,  and  of  the  Free 
Masons.  He  lias  been  on  the  Hoard  of  Edu- 
cation, and  has  also  served  as  Justice  of  the 
Peace.  .About  1S92  he  retired  from  acti\e 
practice,  having  been  an  energetic  and  faith- 
ful worker  in  liis  time;  and  now,  lionored  and 
respected,  lie  enjoys  the  comfort  and  peace 
deserved  b\-  ;i  man  who  has  spent  so  many 
vears    in    usetnl    service    to    his  fellow-beiiiLrs. 


AMluS  TOW.VSICND  is  an  influential 
resident  of  i\IiddIetown.  Delaware 
Count)-,  X.Y..  thougii  his  [jost-office 
address  is  Pine  Hill,  L'lster  County. 
A  projier  sketch  of  this  gentleman  involves 
the  history  of  the  Townsend  family,  so  we 
may  begin  with  James's  great-grandfather, 
Robert,  who  married  Sarah  Morehouse.  Rob- 
ert Townsend  was  born  in  Hritlgeport,  Conn., 
whence  he  came  to  Middletown  in  1817. 
Here  Mr.  Townsend  bought  a  grist-mill 
where  the  one  now  owned  bv  Mr.  Doolittle 
stands.  I-'or  this  lie  ]iaid  eight  hundred  d<d- 
lars  in  gold;  but,  as  the  |iroperty  was  under 
the  cloud  ol  a  small  mortgage,  the  new  pur- 
chaser lost  it  by  foreclosure.  Then  h^-  went 
into  the  mountains,  and  bought  a  hundred  and 
thirt\-  acres  in  the  valle\'  ever  since  known 
as  TownseiuPs  Hollow,  where  he  cleared 
land,  at  once  cutting  enough  timber  for  a  log 
liousc.  Tiiere  were  wild  animals  to  be  faced, 
as  well  as  domestic  hardships.  Careful  watch 
had  to  be  kept  o\-er  the  stock  by  night  as  well 
as  day,  to  guard  from  prowlers  both  two- 
legged  and  four-legged.  Nevertheless,  pluck 
and  perseverance  overcame  all  obstacles;  and 
I'ioneer  Townsend  established  a  reputation 
not  to  be  forgotten  in  many  generations.  He 
raised  three  boys  and  a  girl.  Morris  Town- 
send  married  .Anna  Johnson.  Alfred  Town- 
send  married  Kattie  Hlish.  and  with  this  line 
we  are  more  especiallv  concerned.  .Seth 
Townsend  married  Hannah  Johnson,  a  sister 
of  his  brother  Morris's  wife.  Their  sister, 
Abbie  Townsend,  marrietl  I'"loyd  .Smith. 
Their  father  died  at  fourscore,  and  so  did  his 
wife,  dying,  as  they  had  lived,  in  the  Metho- 
dist faith.  I'olitically,  Mr.  Townsend  grew 
up   a    Democrat;   but   he   lived  to  see   the  rise  • 


and   growth    of    the    Rejiublican    party,    whose 
ranks    he   joined    in    his    latter  years. 

Robert  Townsend's  son  Alfred  was  born 
in  Connecticut  in  1805,  eleven  years  before 
the  removal  of  the  Townsends  to  Delaware 
County.  On  attaining  his  majority,  he 
bought  the  paternal  farm  from  the  other  heirs; 
and  he  added  more  land  thereto,  till  he  owned 
some  si.\  hundred  acres.  Of  course,  the  new 
land  had  to  be  cleared,  au'l  this  involved 
l)lenty  of  hard  work:  and  he  also  gave  much 
attention  to  pulling  bark,  an  article  greatly  in 
demand  for  use  in  tanneries,  as  well  as  for 
other  jiurposes.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of 
Silas  Hlish,  and  they  raised  four  chil(h-en. 
Sylvanus  Townsend  married  Jane  Barrett,  and 
had  five  children.  ilis  widow  now  lives  on 
Pine  Hill.  Of  Isaac  Townsend  more  will 
present  1\-  be  recorded.  Jane  Townsend  mar- 
ried Philij)  Lasher,  whose  famil)-  descent  is 
elsewheie  sketched  in  another  volume:  and 
one  of  his  three  children  is  still  on  the  earth, 
(iiandfather  Alfred  Townsend  lived  to  be 
seventy-eight,  and  the  grandmother  seventy- 
six,  l^oth  were  Methodists,  and  the  husband 
was  a  Democrat.  'Phey  continued  on  the  farm 
till  the  end,  though  during  the  last  nine  years 
it  was  in  tiie  hands  of  their  son  Isaac. 

Isaac  'Pownsend  was  born  in  (ireene  County 
on  September  13.  1S36.  and  went  to  school  in 
a  log  cabin.  At  twenty-two  he  married  Han- 
nah Wocdheater,  the  sixth  child  and  third 
daugliter  of  Iv.ekiel  and  Het.sey  (Averv)  Wool- 
heater.  Phe  Woollieaters  were  among  the 
early  settlers,  and  l'"ather  W'oolheater  was  a 
very  enterprising  man.  He  and  his  wife 
reared  eight  children  -  Margaret,  John,  Cath- 
erine, James,  Noah,  Hannah.  Orrison,  and 
Anthony  Woolheater.  Their  father  lived  to 
be  eight}',  and  their  mother  seventy-five:  and 
they  both  were  adhei'ents  of  tlie  Haptist 
church.  Only  one  child  has  come  to  Mr.  and 
.Mrs.  Isaac  Townsend.  'Phis  son,  James 
Pownsend,  was  born  June  13,  1S59,  and  on 
November  29,  1879,  married  Alice  Wiuchell, 
daughter  of  John  L.  anrl  Rebecca  A.  Win- 
chell,  of  Hrown  .Station,  l'lster  County;  and 
they  ha\'e  four  children,  as  follows:  Henrv 
.■\..    riranville.    W'illobell,    Rebecca   A. 

On    coming    into   possession    of   the  home- 
stead, Mr.    Isaac    Pownsend   greatly   improved 


292 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


it,  putting  up  new  buildings;  and  he  and  his 
son  James  have  room  for  twenty-five  city 
boarders  in  their  s])acious  residence,  known 
far  and  wide  as  the  Townsend  Farmhouse. 
Father  and  son  own  twin  farms,  about  a  quar- 
ter of  a  mile  apart.  On  one  are  kept  as  many 
cows  as  there  arc  boarders,  twenty-five;  and 
on  the  other  there  are  the  same  number  of 
sheep,  but  only  ten  cows.  Both  father  and 
son  follow  Grandfather  Alfred  Townsend  in 
their  Democratic  politics,  but  in  religion  they 
pride  themselves  on  their  liberality.  Both 
belong  to  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  Lodge  No. 
233,  and  also  to  the  Masonic  lodge  in  Marga- 
rettville,  No.  389.  In  fact  they  are  one  in 
sentiment  and  social  tastes,  more  like  brothers 
than  like  father  and  son.  Their  estates  are 
in  first-class  condition,  and  are  situated  three 
miles  from  Pine  Hill,  and  a  half-mile  farther 
from  Griffin's  Corners.  It  is  delightful  to  be 
in  such  a  home  as  the  one  here  noted. 


iRS.  AMELIA  (BUELL)  CHAM- 
BERLAIN, widow  of  Elijah  B. 
Chamberlain,  has  resided  in  her 
present  home  for  upward  of  forty 
years,  and  has  performed  with  fidelity  her 
duties  as  wife,  mother,  neighbor,  and  friend, 
winning  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  all 
with  whom  she  comes  in  contact.  Since 
her  marriage  to  Mr.  Chamberlain,  which  was 
celebrated  in  1850,  she  has  led  a  domestic 
life,  attending  to  the  duties  involved  in  the 
care  of  home  and  children,  and  proved  her- 
self an  able  coadjutor  of  her  husband  in  his 
efforts  to  secure  a  home. 

In  1852  Mr.  Chamberlain  bought  two  hun- 
dred acres  of  the  present  home  farm,  paying 
three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  for  it,  but 
being  obliged  to  run  in  debt  two  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars.  He  was  eminently  skilful 
and  shrewd  as  a  farmer  and  as  a  business  man, 
and,  after  freeing  himself  from  his  indebted- 
ness, bought  eighty-five  acres  of  adjoining 
land,  and  continued  his  profitable  labors  in 
general  farming  and  dairying.  He  placed  his 
land  under  an  excellent  state  of  cultivation, 
and  further  improved  it  by  the  erection  of  the 
necessary  buildings,  and  in  1878  built  the 
fine    barn    which    ornaments    the    place.     He 


usually  kept  from  twenty  to  thirty  cows,  and 
manufactured  butter,  selling  it  during  the 
first  year  for  thirteen  cents  per  pound.  His 
son-in-law  now  owns  and  manages  the  farm, 
and  has  enlarged  the  dairy  to  forty  cows,  but, 
instead  of  making  butter,  sends  his  milk  to 
the  creamery. 

Mr.  Chamberlain  was  a  native-born  citizen, 
his  birth  occurring  in  1822;  and  his  life  of 
sixty-seven  years  was  spent  within  the  limits 
of  the  town  of  Franklin,  the  date  of  his  death 
being  December  28,  1889.  His  parents, 
William  and  Sally  (Bemis)  Chamberlain, 
were  of  Connecticut  birth,  and  after  their 
marriage  migrated  to  this  county,  where  the 
father  worked  at  the  trade  of  carpenter  until 
disabled  by  rheumatism.  The  mother  died 
when  a  little  over  threescore  years  of  age,  the 
father  surviving  her,  and  dying  at  the  home  of 
his  son  Elijah  in  1864,  in  the  seventy-ninth 
year  of  his  age.  They  reared  five  sons,  only 
two  of  whom  are  now  living.  Enos  and  Re- 
becca (Chamberlain)  Bemis,  the  maternal 
grandparents  of  Mr.  Chamberlain,  were  na- 
tives of  Connecticut;  and  both  lived  beyond 
the  allotted  threescore  and  ten  years,  he  de- 
parting this  life  in  1848,  and  she  passing  to 
the  better  world  September  3,  1853. 

The  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chamberlain  Avas 
brightened  by  the  birth  of  seven  children,  one 
of  whom,  Mariette,  died  June  6,  1854,  at  the 
tender  age  of  three  years.  The  record  of  the 
remaining  children  is  as  follows:  Alice  Maria 
is  the  wife  of  Charles  Eveland,  a  farmer  in 
the  town  of  I'ranklin.  William  Henry,  a 
widower,  resides  in  Binghamton.  Clarence 
Augustus,  a  farmer  residing  in  Franklin,  has 
a  wife  and  three  daughters.  Mary,  the  wife 
of  George  Sanley,  the  owner  of  the  homestead 
property,  has  two  children:  Grace,  four  years 
old;  and  Dwight,  a  little  boy  of  three  years. 
Minnie,  the  wife  of  Morris  Hallock,  of  Mer- 
rickville,  has  two  sons.  Charles  E.,  a  farmer 
living  in  Franklin,  has  two  children,  a  son 
and   daughter. 

Mr.  Sanley  has  continued  the  improvements 
already  begun  on  the  home  farm,  and  in  1891 
built  a  new  wagon-house.  He  keeps  a  winter 
dairy,  having  from  fifty  to  sixty  head  of  de- 
horned cattle,  grade  Jerseys,  Holsteins,  and 
some  pure  bloods,  and   feeds  them  on  ensilage 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


:<)3 


from  his  large  silo.  lie  is  an  cntcriirising 
and  cneri;ctic  farmer,  carryinj;  on  his  aj^ricuit- 
ural  labors  with  an  enthusiasm  ami  earnest- 
ness liiat  insure  his  uncjucstioned  success. 
Mrs.  Chamberlain  is  a  x'alued  member  of  the 
Congregational  church,  of  which  her  husband 
was  a   Trustee. 


1 1. LI  AM  COHHIC,  one  of  Delaware 
County's  energetic  and  exceedingly 
prosperous  farmers,  is  the  owner  of 
a  finel}-  improved  estate  in  the  town  of  flam- 
den.  The  worldly  goods  of  which  he  is  jjos- 
sessed  have  bcL-n  accumulated  by  the  work  of 
his  hands  and  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  and  the 
confidence  and  esteem  in  which  he  is  held  by 
his  neighbors  are  the  result  of  his  upright 
course  in  life.  He  was  born  in  King's  Count\', 
Ireland,  in  1839,  being  the  son  of  Joseph 
Cobbe,  who  w-as  a  native  of  (Jueen's  County, 
and  a  life-long  resident  of  the  ICmerald  Isle, 
dying  there  in  1887,  aged  eighty-three  years. 
Jose])h  was  three  times  married,  and  had  eight 
children  by  his  first  wife,  Mary  Short,  the 
mother  of  William,  three  by  his  second  wife, 
and  foiuteen  children  by  his  third  wife. 

Maria,  a  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Mary 
Cobbe,  was  the  first  of  the  family  to  come  to 
America.  .She  emigrated  with  her  huslxtnd 
in  1S47,  ami  settled  in  Ulster  County,  New 
York.  When  her  brother,  William  Cobbe, 
was  twenty  years  old,  resolving  to  seek  his 
fortune  in  the  Xew  World,  he  took  jiassage  in 
a  sailing-vessel,  ant!  for  seven  dreary  weeks 
was  tossed  on  the  broad  Atlantic.  fie  had 
barely  enough  money  to  pay  his  fare  to  New 
York,  and  long  ere  reaching  his  sister's  home 
in  West  Hurley  ran  out  of  funds.  He  was 
fortunate  enough  to  find  kind  friends,  how- 
ever; and,  after  reaching  his  destination,  he 
secured  work  in  a  stone  i|uarry.  where  he  re- 
mained two  years.  He  next  hired  himself 
out  on  a  farm,  receiving  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  dollars  for  his  first  year's  work. 
Mr.  Cobbe  was  a  very  industrious,  steady 
young  man,  ami  continued  to  work  out  for 
eight  years,  his  wages  being  increased  from 
time  to  time,  until  they  amounted  to  four 
hundred  dollars  annually.  On  January  26, 
1864,    Mr.    Cobbe  was  united   in   marriage    to 


Miss  Harriet  (ioodenough,  who  was  born  in 
the  Hlack  River  country,  in  the  town  of  I.ow- 
\ille,  being  a  daughter  of  William  and  .Maria 
(Martin)  Goodenough,  both  natives  of  \cw 
\'ork.  Mrs.  (ioodenough,  now  an  aged 
woman,  having  li\ed  nearl\-  eighty-four  years 
on  this  earth,  is  a  resident  of  Oneonta,  and 
has  been  a  widow  for  ten  years,  her  husband 
having  died  in  1884,  at  the  age  of  fourscore 
and  three  years.  They  reared  a  family  of 
three  sons  and  eight  ilaughters,  and  of  these 
children  seven  are  now  living. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  (.'obl)e  began  their  wedded 
lifi'  in  a  humble  way,  hiring  a  small  house,  in 
which  they  lived  for  some  years,  both  laboring 
diligently.  In  1870  Mr.  Cobbe  made  his 
first  ])urchasc  of  land,  buying  one  himdied 
acres,  for  which  he  paid  four  thousand  dol- 
lars, going  into  debt  to  the  extent  of  three 
thousand  five  hundred  (hilars  on  his  farm  and 
the  stock  which  he  ])ut  on  it.  He  labored 
with  heroic  toil  in  his  endeavors  to  meet  his 
ex])cnses,  ami  his  efforts  were  crowned  with 
success.  Four  years  later  he  bought  another 
tract  of  one  hundred  acres,  j^aying  for  it 
three  thousand  two  hundred  dollars;  and  in 
1882  he  bought  still  aiujther  one  humlied 
acres,  for  which  he  gave  one  thousand  two 
hundred  and  fifty  tlollars.  On  this  valuable 
estate  of  three  hundred  acres  he  has  placed 
many  important  imjjrovements.  The  large 
barn  which  he  built  in  1887,  at  a  cost  of  three 
thousand  dollars,  is  a  handsome  and  con\en- 
iently  arrangetl  structure,  eighty  feet  b\-  forty 
feet,  with  a  w^ng  forty  feet  by  twenty-six  feel, 
and  a  basement,  with  twenty-four-feet  posts 
abo\e.  It  has  accommodations  for  seventy 
head  of  cattle  and  seven  horses,  and  space  for 
one  hundred  and  fifty  tons  of  hay.  Not  hav- 
ing sufficient  room  for  all  of  his  cattle.  Mr. 
Cobbe  built  another  stock  barn  in  1894,  and 
now  keeps  on  his  farm  eighty  head  of  de- 
horned cattle  and  grade  Jerseys,  and  milks 
from  forty-eight  to  fifty  cows,  manufacturing 
a  su]ierior  qualit)-  of  butter,  which  he  sells  in 
New  York.  He  cuts  about  two  hundred  tons 
of  hay  each  year  on  this  farm,  which,  when 
he  bought  it,  would  not  yiekl  sufficient  hay 
to  keeiJ  twenty  cows. 

.Six   children   have   been   born  of  the  union 
of   Mr.  and   Mrs.    Cobbe.  two  of  whom,  a  son 


294 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


and  a  daughter,  died  in  infancy.  Four  grew 
to  mature  life,  as  follows:  Justus,  a  farm 
laborer,  lives  near  Delhi.  Willie  died  in 
1890,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  years. 
Charles  and  John  are  both  living  with  their 
parents,  and  assist  in  the  care  of  the  home 
farm.  In  his  political  views  Mr.  Cobbe  is  a 
decided  Democrat,  and  religiously  both  he 
and  his  excellent  wife  are  valued  members  of 
the  United  Presbyterian  church  at  Mundale. 


■fT^TlRAM    McFARLAND   belongs  to  the 
l^J       well-known   agricultural   firm    of    Mc- 
JL^l  Farland       Brothers,      of       Bovina, 

^— ^  Delaware  County,  N.Y.,  where 
several  members  of  the  family  reside  on  the 
old  McFarland  estate.  Their  grandparents 
were  Thomas  and  Elizabeth  (Thompson)  Mc- 
Farland.  Thomas  McFarland  was  born  in 
1769,  six  years  before  the  commencement  of 
the  war  which  emancipated  the  American 
colonies  from  British  tyranny;  but  probably 
the  McFarland  family  were  not  interested  in 
this  event,  for  they  lived  in  Ireland,  and 
Thomas  did  not  come  to  America  till  1785, 
when  he  was  sixteen  years  old.  Though  a 
weaver  by  trade,  he  did  not  pursue  the  craft 
in  this  country.  He  married  a  Pennsylvania 
lady;  and  about  the  beginning  of  this  century 
he  came  to  that  part  of  Delaware  County  now 
known  as  Bovina,  and  bought  eighty-five 
acres  of  land,  in  the  midst  of  which  was  a 
small  clearing  for  a  log  house.  The  rest  of 
the  ground  he  had  to  clear  for  himself. 
Being  a  man  of  good  education,  he  became 
one  of  the  earliest  school-masters  in  this 
region;  but  his  chief  attention  was  given  to 
his  land.  He  belonged  to  the  Presbyterian 
church  in  South  Kortright,  was  a  Jeffersonian 
Democrat,  lived  to  be  nearly  ninety  years  old, 
and  died  on  April  11,  1858.  He  had  ten 
children,  of  whom  two  only  survive;  namely, 
Mrs.  Martha  Boylan  and  Mrs.  Rebecca  Ormis- 
ton,  both  widows,  one  living  in  the  State  of 
Iowa,  and  the  other  in  the  town  of  Delhi. 

Thomas  McFarland's  son,  Andrew  T.,  was 
born  on  the  homestead,  November  15,  1805. 
He  grew  up  on  the  farm,  which  he  subse- 
quently inherited;  and  on  January  19,  1832, 
was  married  to  Jane  Russell,    who  was  born 


April  19,  1806,  and  was  the  daughter  of 
James  Russell,  one  of  the  earliest  Bovina  pio- 
neers, whose  marriage  to  Nancy  Ritchie,  in 
1799,  was  the  first  in  the  new  settlement. 
Mr.  Russell  was  a  stone-mason  as  well  as  a 
farmer,  occupied  the  land  where  Archibald 
Erkson  now  lives,  was  a  sturdy  Democrat  and 
an  Elder  in  the  Bovina  Presbyterian  church, 
and  died  in  Delhi  at  fourscore  years  of  age. 
Of  his  ten  children  the  only  one  now  living  is 
Mrs.  Helen  Murray,  of  Hamden.  Their 
mother  died  in  our  centennial  year,  having 
reached   her  threescore   and   ten. 

After  his  marriage  Andrew  T.  McF"arland 
continued  to  live  on  the  homestead,  which 
grew  under  his  fostering  care  till  he  owned 
nearly  a  hundred  and  eighty  acres.  He  was 
active  in  town  affairs,  was  Supervisor  for  two 
terms,  and  held  minor  ofifices.  Like  his 
father-in-law  Russell,  he  was  an  elder  in  the 
United  Presbyterian  church  at  Bovina.  In 
early  life  he  was  a  Democrat,  but  joined  the 
Republicans  when  he  believed  his  old  party 
faithless  to  solid  Jeffersonian  antislavery 
principles.  In  1881  he  passed  away  on  Feb- 
ruary 27,  aged  seventy-six;  but  his  widow 
lingered  till  the  first  day  of  August,  1889, 
when  she  was  eighty-three.  Of  their  four 
boys  and  as  many  girls  six  survive. 

Hiram  McFarland  is  the  oldest  son,  and 
was  born  March  5,  1833.  He  was  educated 
in  the  district  school  and  worked  at  home, 
finally  obtaining  a  joint  proprietorship  in  the 
homestead  where  he  still  lives.  When  nearly 
forty,  on  October  5,  1871,  he  married  Rachel 
Winter,  who  was  somewhat  his  senior,  having 
been  born  in  Middletown,  February  24,  1827. 
She  died  December  29,  1891,  aged  sixty-four, 
leaving  no  children,  though  they  had  adopted 
a  son,  Chauncy  McFarland.  Hiram  McFar- 
land is  like  his  father  both  in  religion  and 
politics,  being  a  Presbyterian  and  a  Republi- 
can. His  sister,  Emily  Jane  McFarland, 
born  October  14,  1836,  is  now  Mrs.  William 
Burns,  of  Delhi.  The  next  son,  Madison  Mc- 
Farland, born  October  2,  1839,  is  a  carpenter 
and  a  Republican,  and  resides  in  Kansas 
City,  Mo.  Louisa  McFarland  was  born 
March  21,  1841,  and  is  still  gracing  the 
home,  of  which  she  is  the  attractive  centre, 
having  a  proprietary  interest  in  the  homestead 


Erastus  D.  Doolittle. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


297 


and  a  religious  interest  in  tlie  family  church. 
Andrew  McFarland  was  nameti  for  his  father, 
and  horn  December  12,  1842.  He  is  a  Re- 
publican in  politics,  but  is  lii)eral  in  his  re- 
ligious views.  In  his  name  the  agricultural 
business  is  carried  on:  for  he  remains  on  the 
old  home  farm,  and  is  unmarried.  Thomas 
Russell  McFarland,  who  was  born  March  25, 
1845,  'il^o  retains  an  interest  in  the  home- 
stead, and  is  like  his  brother  Andrew  in  po- 
litical and  religious  opinions;  but  he  is  a 
jeweller  by  trade.  Two  (laughters  have 
passed  away.  IClizabeth  Mci'"arland,  l)orn 
September  11,  1834,  died  on  the  last  elay  of 
May,  1S82,  on  the  homestead  aiul  unmarried. 
Indeed,  it  can  hardly  be  said  the  McFarlands 
are  given  to  marrying;  for  her  sister  Anna 
Maria,  born  December  9,  1847,  died  single,  in 
Missouri,  on  February  15,   1890. 

The  McF'arland  brothers  have  a  large  dairy, 
owning  twenty-six  cows,  besides  attending  to 
general  farming.  They  have  a  good  hertl  of 
full-blooded  and  grade  Jerseys,  with  a  capital 
pedigree  and  record  for  milk  production.  For 
many  years  the  okl  farm-house  has  servetl  its 
purpose,  but  now  a  more  modern  and  showy 
residence  is  in  process  of  construction.  In 
reading  the  records  of  such  a  family  as  the 
McFarlands  one  is  impressed  with  the  pros- 
perous diversities  of  American  life. 


RASTUS    DODGE    DOOLITTLE    is   a 

sagacious  and  enterprising  miller  in 
F"leischmanns  village,  in  Middle- 
town,  Delaware  County,  and  was  born  in  the 
same  town  in  the  village  of  Clovesville,  Janu- 
ary 10,  1847.  His  grandparents  were  Joseph 
and  Lorena  (Dunham)  Doolittle.  He  was 
born  in  Connecticut,  and  was  trained  a  miller 
there,  but  in  March,  1824,  at  the  age  of 
thirty-three,  brought  his  knowledge  to  Dela- 
ware County,  where  first  he  ran  a  mill  at  Rose 
Hrook.  The  country  being  newly  opened  and 
Mr.  Doolittle  being  a  man  of  ex])erience  as  a 
millwright,  he  was  sumniDned  to  many  places 
to  assist  in  building  and  starting  mills. 
Among  others  he  built  the  mill  at  Meisch- 
nianns  village,  now  carried  on  by  his  grand- 
son Erastus,  though  it  was  put  up  for  Noah 
Ellis.      Grandfather    Doolittle  also    houtrht    a 


carding-mill  at  Clovesville,  which  he  man- 
aged for  nineteen  years;  and  in  that  village 
he  died,  on  October  8,  1859,  not  long  before 
the  Civil  War.  He  was  then  sixty-eight 
years  old,  having  been  born  in  1791,  during 
Washington's  first  I'residential  term.  He 
was  politically  a  Democrat.  His  wife  lived 
to  be  fight3'-five,  and  both  were  Methodists. 
They  brought  into  the  world  six  children, 
namely:  Allen  Doolittle,  who  died  young; 
(ieorge,  of  whom  more  is  presently  to  be  writ- 
ten; Mary  Docdittle,  no  longer  li\ing: 
Martha  Doolittle,  who  came  next  in  order; 
then  William  Dunham  and  Allen  Cook  Doo- 
little, the  latter  living  in  Massachusetts. 

The  father  of  the  special  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  George  Washington  Doolittle,  who 
was  born  in  Burlington,  Conn.,  before  his 
father's  remo\al  to  the  Empire  State,  and  at 
the  age  of  twelve  was  bound  out  as  apprentice 
to  a  wool  s|)inncr  and  dyer,  Charles  W. 
Booth,  in  Ilobarl,  Delaware  County.  At 
twenty  he  was  able  to  work  for  himself  in  the 
town  of  Walpole,  Norfolk  County,  Mass.;  but 
after  a  time  he  came  to  Grififin's  Corners,  to 
be  in  business  with  his  father.  Here  he  re- 
mained till  his  retirement  from  active  life. 
In  1 84 1,  l'\'hruary  4,  he  was  married  to  Sally 
Jane,  the  daughter  of  an  enterprising  farmer, 
Joseph  Dodge,  whose  wife  was  .Sally  Burgin. 
George  and  Sally  J.  Doolittle  had  children, 
whose  record  in  brief  is  as  follows:  Mary 
Doolittle  married  Allen  1..  Myers,  agent  of  the 
Kingston  granite  ([uarry,  and  has  one  child. 
ICrastus  D.  is  the  miller  at  l'"leischmanns. 
Clara  Doolittle  is  the  wife  of  l'~letcher  Hill,  of 
I'rattville,  and  has  borne  seven  children,  of 
whom  four  are  living,  .'\llen  -Sanford  Doo- 
little li\es  at  Ciriffin's  Corners,  and  has  one 
child  by  his  wife,  Clara  Todd.  Loretta  Doo- 
little is  the  wife  of  C.  H.  X'ermilya,  sketched 
in  another  section,  the  station  agent  at  Grififin's 
Corners,  but  has  no  children.  Martha  l-' ranees 
and  Olive  Burgin  Doolittle  have  passed  into 
the  better  land.  Their  father  was  the  Republi- 
can Postmaster  in  Clovesville  fourteen  vears, 
and  in  religious  matters  was  a  free-thinker. 

Erastus  Dodge  Doolittle  bears  his  mother's 
family  name.  He  went  to  the  district  school 
awhile,  and  then  began  carving  out  his  own 
fortune.      In    1 871,  at  the  age  of   twenty-four. 


298 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


he  began  working  for  his  father  in  the  carding- 
mills.  Subsequently  he  purchased  of  John 
Vandermark  the  site  of  the  old  mill  which 
Grandfather  Doolittle  had  built  long  before; 
and  then  he  began  grinding  corn,  wheat, 
buckwheat,  and  fertilizers  on  his  own  account, 
besides  doing  a  great  deal  of  custom  work. 
The  protlucts  are  shijijied  to  many  places,  but 
mostly  to  Maryland  and  Washington.  In  the 
decade  from  1875  to  1885  Mr.  Doolittle  did 
an  immense  business,  and  is  still  shipping  a 
hundred  tons  of  buckwheat  flour  southward 
every  winter.  In  addition  to  his  mill  he 
owns  the  store  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
street,  and  a  blacksmithy  and  coojier's  shop 
near  by.  His  wife,  Elizabeth  Jane  Person, 
was  born  January  11,  1S4J.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  John  A.  and  Mary  (Osterhoudt) 
Person,  of  Clov-esville,  where  the  father,  a 
Democrat,  kept  a  store  and  hotel,  and  was 
foremost  in  all  local  affairs.  He  died  in  mid- 
dle life,  aged  forty-eight,  leaving  three  chil- 
dren—  Charles,  George,  and  Elizabeth.  His 
widow  was  married  the  second  time  to  Judge 
W.  A.  Ten  Broeck,  of  whom  a  separate  sketch 
mav  be  found  in  this  volume. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Erastus  D.  Doolittle  have 
been  blessed  with  nine  children,  of  whom  six 
are  still  on  the  earth.  George  Person  Doo- 
little was  born  February  29,  1870,  married 
Ada  Jenkins,  has  one  child,  and  has  lived  at 
Fleischmanns  and  in  Stamford.  Mary  Doo- 
little was  born  December  ig,  1S74:  Kate 
Doolittle  on  February  28,  187S;  Anna  on 
January  22,  1880;  Frank  on  April  9,  1882: 
Joseph  on  January  11,  1889.  Charles,  Allen, 
and  Freddy  died  in  childhood.  In  politics 
their  father  is  a  Republican,  and  his  religion 
is  practical  rather  than  theological. 

The  life-like  portrait  of  Mr.  Doolittle  on  a 
preceding  page  shows  a  vigorous  scion  of  good 
New  England  stock,  a  man  yet  in  the  prime 
of  life,  whose  career  has  been  characterized 
by    industry,    growth,    anil   prosperity. 


'AMUEL      TERRY,     a     substantial 
farmer  and  highly  respected  citizen 
of  Walton,  has  spent  the  major  part 
of  his  existence  within  the  limits  of 
that  town,  watching   the  growth   and   develop- 


ment of  this  section  of  the  county  with  a  deep 
and  personal  interest,  and  contributing  his 
share  toward  bringing  the  town  to  its  present 
prosperous  condition.  He  was  born  in  Terry 
Clove,  in  the  town  of  Hamden,  July  19, 
1829,  and  is  a  son  of  Samuel  Terry,  a  native 
of  the  same  place.  Mr.  Terry  is  of  New  Eng- 
land stock,  and  the  descendant  of  a  pioneer  of 
Delaware  County,  his  paternal  grandfather. 
Urbane  Terry,  having  removed  from  Connecti- 
cut, the  State  of  his  nativity,  to  Hamden, 
when  this  portion  of  the  county  was  in  its 
virgin  wildness.  He  was  accompanied  by 
Gilbert  Townsend,  and  each  took  up  a  tract  of 
land  in  that  part  of  the  town  afterward  known 
as  Terry  Clove.  There  he  built  a  log  house, 
into  which  he  moved  with  his  wife  and  two 
children,  and  in  which  the  remaining  children 
of  his  family  were  born.  In  the  course  of 
time  he  cleared  and  improved  a  farm  from  the 
forest,  remaining  there  until  his  death,-  in 
September,  184O,  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  four- 
score years.  At  the  time  of  his  settlement  in 
Hamden  his  nearest  neighbors  were  some  dis- 
tance away,  the  new  settlement  of  DeLancey 
being  five  miles  distant,  and  Pepacton  eight 
miles  in  another  direction.  He  married  Hul- 
dah  Tiff;  and  they  reared  eight  children  — 
Nathan,  Elihu,  Darius,  Samuel,  Bane, 
Ovanda,    Loretta,    and    Lucinda. 

Samuel  Terry,  Sr.,  was  reared  to  agricult- 
ural pursuits,  assisting  his  father  in  uproot- 
ing the  giant  trees  and  clearing  the  land  for 
tillage  purposes,  remaining  beneath  the  pa- 
rental roof  until  becoming  of  age.  He  then 
bought  a  tract  of  land,  and  for  many  years 
thereafter  worked  hard  to  improve  it.  He 
subsequently  sold  his  first  farm,  and,  buying 
another,  on  Mallory  Brook,  there  carried  on 
general  farming  for  some  time,  meeting  with 
varied  success  until  his  demise,  which  oc- 
curred when  he  was  fifty-six  years  old.  His 
wife  was  in  her  maiden  days  known  as  Abigail 
Signor,  being  a  daughter  of  Jacob  Signor. 
Her  parents  were  of  German  origin,  and  reared 
nine  children  —  Susan,  Catherine,  Albert, 
John,  Jane,  Thomas,  Mary,  Theodorus,  and 
Abigail.  Mr.  Signor  was-a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion, but  spent  the  last  years  of  his  life  retired, 
in  Terry  Clove.  The  parental  household  of 
our  subject  included  twelve  children  :   Abigail ; 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


299 


Jane;  Julia,  who  died  when  three  years  old; 
Theodore;  Catherine;  Dow;  Marcus;  Harri- 
son; Samuel;  Calder;  I'^Tris;  and  Wesley. 
The  mother  was  a  devoted  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church.  She  s[)cnt  her  declining 
years  in  Hamden,  living  in  ease  and  comfort, 
and  died  at  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-eight. 

Samuel  Terry  attended  the  district  school 
of  his  native  town,  and  in  common  with  other 
farmers'  sons  early  became  familiar  with  the 
general  labors  of  a  farm,  lie  assisted  his 
father  until  the  death  of  the  latter,  and  then 
went  to  Colchester,  where  he  engaged  in 
farming  for  nearly  twenty  years,  in  addition 
to  the  lumber  business.  On  April  5,  1869, 
Mr.  Terry  took  possession  of  his  present  farm, 
and  industriously  and  energetically  set  about 
its  improvement,  in  the  course  of  time  receiv- 
ing due  reward  for  his  labors.  He  rebuilt  the 
house,  erected  a  new  barn,  and  established  a 
fine  dairy,  which  now  consists  of  fort3'-nine 
Molstein  and  Jersey  cattle.  The  milk  is  sent 
to  the  creamery  at  Walton.- 

The  union  of  Mr.  Terry  with  Agues  C. 
Holmes  was'solemnized  April  9,  1863.  Mrs. 
Terry  is  of  Scotch  descent,  and  is  a  daughter 
of  Walter  and  Elizabeth  (Blair)  Holmes,  who 
were  prosperous  farmers  in  Delhi.  Walter 
Holmes  was  born  in  Paisley,  Scotland,  and  at 
the  age  of  seventeen  years  came  to  this  county 
with  his  father,  John  Holmes,  who,  bringing 
his  wife  and  two  children,  located  on  Scotch 
Mountain,  in  Delhi,  being  one  of  the  earliest 
settlers.  His  son  Walter  succeeded  him  in 
the  possession  of  the  homestead,  which  he 
improved,  there  spending  his  remaining  da}s. 
He  and  his  wife  reared  eight  children; 
namely,  Mary,  William,  Thomas,  John,  Eliza- 
beth, Archibald,  I'Ibenezer,  and  Agnes.  The 
union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Terry  has  been  bright- 
ened by  the  birth  of  three  children:  Lizzie 
Abbie,  who  married  W.  D.  Burns,  of  Walton, 
and  who  is  the  mother  of  two  children  — .Mil- 
dred and  Aubrey;  .Samuel  '1'..  formerlv  a 
clerk,  but  now  engaged  in  farming  on  the 
homestead;  Walter  I...  a  young  man  of  fine 
mental  ability,  is  taking  the  scientific  course 
at  Schenectady  College.  Before  her  mar- 
riage Mrs.  Burns  was  a  very  successful 
teacher   in   the   public   school. 

Mr.  Terrv,  who  is  warmlv  interested    in  the 


temperance    cause,    uniformly  casts    his    vote 

with   the    Prohibition   party.'  Religiously,   he 

is  a  very  active  and    esteemed  member   of   the 
Presbyterian  church. 


;j]Y'-*'JN  BKOWX,  an  Imnored  citizen  and 
successful  farmer,  was  born  in  Dum- 
Iriesshire,  Scotland,  Sejjtember  9. 
1832,  a  son  of  Robert  and  Agnes  (Me- 
Cheyne)  Brown,  both  natives  of  the  same  shire. 
Robert  Brown  came  to  America  in  1835.  and 
first  settled  in  Prattsville,  working  in  Colonel 
Pratt's  family.  He  lived  there  about  three 
years,  and  then  moved  to  Meredith,  where  he 
bought  a  farm  of  two  hundred  acres,  upon 
which  he  spent  the  last  years  of  his  life, 
dying  at  the  age  of  eighty-six  years.  His 
widow  died  November  24,  1894,  on  the  same 
farm,  at  the  age  of  ninety  years.  They  were 
both  members  of  the  L'nited  Presbyterian 
church,  and  he  was  a  Rejjublican  in  politics. 
Their  family  comprised  eight  children,  but 
lour  of  whom  are  now  living;  John,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch;  Marion,  the  wife  of  James 
Ainslee,  a  resident  of  the  town  of  Delhi; 
Jane,  the  wife  of  James  Murdock,  a  farmer 
residing  in  Kortright;  and  William  M. 
Brown,  who  resides  in  the  town  of  .Meredith, 
and  is  engaged  in  farming  on  the  old  home- 
stead. 

John  Brown  received  his  educati(jn  at  the 
district  schools  of  Meredith  and  Delhi.  He 
assisted  on  the  farm,  and  lived  at  home  until 
he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age.  December 
10,  1857,  he  married  Sarah  A.  Gritfin,  of 
Kortright,  a  daughter  of  William  Griffin,  who 
was  an  early  settler  of  the  town,  but  who  is 
now  deceased,  as  is  also  his  wife.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Brown  were  born  three  children; 
Martha  Jane,  who  died  when  six  years  old; 
Cora  A.,  the  wife  of  !■;.  M.  Powell,  a  hard- 
ware dealer  in  l^looniville ;  ami  Robert  Will- 
iam, who  is  a  farmer. 

Since  becoming  the  owner  of  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides.  Mr.  l^rown  has  added 
to  it,  and  made  extensive  improvements.  At 
first  there  were  but  one  hundred  and  sixteen 
acres;  but  he  has  purchased  land  until  he  now 
owns  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  acres.  The 
dairy  comprises   thirty  head   of  grade  Jersevs, 


300 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


and  averages  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
pounds  of  butter  per  head  per  year.  For  ten 
years  Mr.  Brown  lived  in  the  log  house  which 
was  on  the  phice  when  he  came,  but  by  en- 
ergy and  hard  work,  combined  with  skill  and 
foresight,  has  achieved  success,  and  has 
erected  all  the  buildings  and  his  spacious 
residence.  Both  he  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  at  Bloom- 
ville.  Politically,  he  is  a  stanch  adherent  of 
the  Republican  party. 


,ALEB  HRUNDEGK,  an  intelligent, 
.  practical  farmer,  proprietor  of  one 
'is  hundred  and  eighty  well-tilled  acres 
in  the  town  of  Tompkins,  N.Y., 
was  born  May  lO,  1842,  in  the  adjoining  town 
of  Masonville,  son  of  James  D.  Brundege, 
who  was  a  native  of  Saratoga,  N.Y.  The  first 
Brundege  in  this  country  came  from  Holland 
and  settled  on  Long  Island  before  the  Revolu- 
tionary War.  He  raised  a  family  of  thirteen 
sons.  One  of  his  descendants,  Daniel  Brun- 
dege, the  father  of  James  D.,  was  born  in 
Saratoga,  and  when  but  a  youth  engaged  in 
farming  in  that  town.  A  few  years  later  he 
bought  land  in  Coxsackie,  Greene  County, 
where  he  was  one  of  the  first  settlers,  and 
assisted  in  the  raising  of  the  first  frame  build- 
ing by  the  square  rule.  The  father  of  Daniel 
Brundege  was  a  stanch  patriot  at  the  time  of 
the  Revolution;  and  a  band  of  Indians  and 
Tories,  knowing  this,  came  and  plundered  his 
house  of  all  they  could  find,  the  family,  with 
the  exception  of  Daniel,  who  was  but  a  small 
boy,  and  his  little  sister,  having  fled  to  the 
mountains  to  hide  their  clothes  in  the  rocks. 
Mr.  Brundege  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty-four  years,  and  died  at  the  home  of  his 
son,  James  D.,  in  Masonville. 

James  D.  Brundege  came  when  a  boy  with 
his  parents  to  Coxsackie,  where  he  attended 
the  district  schools  of  the  town,  afterward 
assisting  his  parents  on  the  home  farm,  and  a 
few  years  later  working  in  the  grist-mill. 
When  twenty-two  years  of  age,  he  married 
Hannah  Pierce,  of  Coxsackie:  and  by  this 
marriage  there  were  eight  children,  namely: 
Mary,  who  married  Abraham  Teed,  of  Mason- 
\ille;    Levi,   who   married    Fayette   Dibble,  of 


Masonville;  Sarah  Jane,  who  married  Debias 
Finch,  of  Tompkins;  James  C,  who  died 
when  twenty-one  years  of  age;  Cordelia,  who 
married  Edward  Pierson,  of  Masonville; 
Caleb,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Perline, 
who  died  when  ten  years  of  age;  and  Fields, 
who  married  Abbie  Hoag,  of  Tompkins. 

Caleb  Brundege  received  an  education  such 
as  the  farmers'  sons  of  his  day  obtained  at  the 
district  schools  of  the  town,  and,  until  he 
started  in  life  for  himself,  assisted  his  father 
on  the  home  farm.  He  first  purchased  fifty 
acres  from  his  father;  and,  as  he  grew  in  ex- 
perience and  desired  a  wider  field  for  his 
labors,  he  sold  this  and  finally  bought  one 
hundred  and  eighty  acres  in  Tompkins,  where 
he  resides  at  the  present  day.  On  November 
26,  1855,  he  married  Helen  Sutton,  daughter 
of  Sherman  and  Laurana  (Folkerson)  Sutton, 
of  Hancock.  Sherman  Sutton's  father,  Caleb 
Sutton,  was  born  in  Westchester  County,  New 
York,  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  in  Han- 
cock, and  a  resident  and  respected  citizen  of 
that  town  until  his  death.  He  married  Sally 
Ann  Flatenburg,  a  descendant  of  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  of  New  York  State.  Sher- 
man Sutton  attended  the  district  school  of 
his  native  town,  and  started  for  himself  in 
farming  at  an  early  age.  He  married  Lau- 
rana Folkerson,  daughter  of  Joseph  Folker- 
son, in  the  town  of  Hancock;  and,  coming 
from  East  Branch  in  1845,  he.  bought  a  tract 
of  timber  land  in  Tompkins,  where  he  engaged 
in  the  timber  business  for  a  few  years,  and 
then  started  a  hotel  on  Trout  Creek  road. 
This  last  was  not  such  a  success  financially  as 
the  former  had  been;  and  in  a  short  time  he 
gave  it  up,  and  went  back  to  the  lumber  busi- 
ness. He  now  lives  at  the  home  of  his  son, 
Wallace  Sutton,  at  Cannonsville,  practically 
a  retired  lumber  dealer.  His  daughter  Helen 
was  educated  in  her  native  town,  and  resided 
with  her  parents  until  her  marriage. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brundege  have  four  children. 
The  eldest,  Watson  J.,  who  was  born  in  Ma- 
sonville, December  8,  1866,  married  Maggie 
J.  Peck,  of  Tompkins.  .Sherman,  born  in 
Masonville,  July  20,  1869,  married  Alice 
Scofield,  and  is  engaged  in  the  grocery  busi- 
ness at  Granton.  Lorena  M.,  their  only 
daughter,   was   born    in   Tompkins,   December 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


301 


5,  1875.  Jasper,  the  youngest  son,  who  lives 
at  home  with  his  parents,  was  born  in  Tomj)- 
kins  on  June  1,  1879.  Mr.  Biundegc  is  in- 
terested in  all  that  concerns  the  welfare  of 
the  town,  and  has  held  ofifices  of  trust.  Both 
he  and  his  estimable  wife  are  descended  from 
early  I3utch  settlers  of  New  York,  and,  like 
their  ancestors,  are  respected  and  honored 
members  of  the  community  in  which  they  live. 


RANK  II.  Me  I.]-:.AN.  son  of  John  and 
MleaiKir  (Hurr)  McLean,  is  a  note- 
worthy citizen  and  merchant  of  the 
village  of  Arena,  in  Middletown,  Delaware 
Comity,  N.Y.,  where  he  was  born  September 
13,  1857.  His  grandparents,  Alexander  and 
Christina  McLean,  were  .Scotch,  and  came  to 
America  in  1836,  being  eight  weeks  on  the 
voyage. 

.Soon  after  landing    in    New  \'ork  Citv,  Mr. 
Alexander    McLean   came    to    Arkville,    Dela- 
ware   County,    and    speedily   found    work   as   a 
blacksmith,    having    learned   the   trade   in   the 
old   countr)-.      .\fter  two  years   in   Arkville  he 
went  for  a  season  to  Clark"s  factory,  still  pur- 
suing  the   same   calling;  but    later  he  bought 
the    hundred  -  and  -  eighty  -  five  -  acre    farm    in 
Arena,    still    known   by  his   name.      There   he 
built    the    first    house  and    barn,    cleared    the 
land,    and   became  a    prosperous  agriculturist. 
In    politics    a    Democrat,    and    in    religion    a 
Presbyterian,     he    lived    to    the    good    age    of 
seventy-four,    his    wife    living   to   be  a  decade 
older.      Ten  children   blessed   their  ingleside: 
Alexander,    named    for    the    father:    Isabella; 
Jeannette;   Christina,  named   for   her   mother; 
John,    father  of    Frank    H.;    James;    Andrew; 
Mary;     David;    and    George.      From    farming 
John    McLean   naturally   drifted    into   lumber- 
ing, antl  for  thirty  years  has  been  tiie  superin- 
tendent of  the  saw-mills  near  Arena,  enabling 
him   to  thoroughly  jjrepare  the  lumber  he  pur- 
chases   for    the    market.      In    politics   he   is  a 
Democrat.       He     married      Ivleanor     Hurr,     a 
daughter  of   Cyrus    Rurr;   and   they  raised  two 
children,    of    whom    Frank    II.    McLean,    the 
subject   of   this   sketch,   is  the  elder,  the  other 
being     his    sister,     Mary    Christina    McLean, 
named  for  her  grandmother   McLean,  and  still 
living  at  home. 


Frank  H.  McLean  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools.  After  passing  his  majority,  he 
began  a  new  career  as  clerk  for  I-"letcher  & 
Burr,  general  merchants,  the  junior  member 
of  the  firm  being  his  cousin.  At  the  end  of  a 
coujile  of  years  Mr.  Fletcher  bought  Mr. 
Burr's  share  of  the  business,  and  for  five  years 
he  continued  in  the  employ  of  Mr.  h'letcher. 
Then  there  was  another  change,  and  for  two 
years  he  was  with  l-"letcher  &  Fllswortii.  lu 
1891  Mr.  .McLean  |)urchased  the  hardware 
store  ol  Mr.  I*";.  Burr,  and  has  since  conducted 
the  only  store  of  this  kind  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, dealing  in  agricultural  implements  and 
vehicles  of  every  de.scrii)tion.  With  the  store 
is  connected  a  tin  sho]),  where  the  trade  is 
daily  on  the  increase.  .As  an  energetic  and 
honorable  dealer  .Mr.  McLean  is  highly  re- 
spected in  the  community. 


I'lSSI-;  O.  BLRROWS  was  born  March 
29.  1830,  in  Deposit,  and  was  the  son 
of  Whitman  Burrows,  who  was  born  in 
the  same  town,  then  known  as  Tomp- 
kins, and  was  the  son  of  I'eris  Burrows. 
Whitman  Burrows,  the  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  received  liis  education  at  the  dis- 
trict schools  of  his  town,  and,  being  the  el- 
dest son  of  the  family,  assisted  his  father  on 
the  farm,  remaining  at  home  until  his  mar- 
riage with  Ph(tbe^\Vhitaker,  daughter  of  Jesse 
and  Chloe  (Hecock)  Whitaker.  He  then 
bought  a  ]K)rtion  of  his  father's  farm,  and 
there  carried  on  farming,  lumbering,  and 
dairying  very  extensively.  Mr.  and  .Mrs. 
Whitman  Burrows  had  five  children:  Jeanette, 
who  married  Abram  Cable,  of  Deposit;  Fd- 
wanl.  who  married  .Antoinette  Wiest,  and  set- 
tled in  Deposit;  Jesse  C). ;  Deborah;  and 
Sophrona,  who  married  Leonard  Walker,  of 
Deposit. 

Jesse  O.  Burrows  received  much  the  s:ime 
education  as  was  given  his  father,  attend- 
ing the  district  school,  and  helping  with  the 
work  on  the  farm  until  he  was  sixteen  years  of 
age.  Being  a  youth  of  great  ambition  and 
more  than  ordinary  ability,  he  then  started  in 
active  life  for  himself,  first  working  in  saw- 
mills for  daily  wages.  But  this  slow  progress 
did  not  long   satisfy  him.      He  saw  the  advan- 


302 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


tages  to  be  gained  in  lumbering  and  farming; 
and  in  1864,  having  amassed  sufficient  means, 
he  bought  the  farm  upon  which  he  now  re- 
sides, which  contains  a  homestead  lot  of  sixty- 
four  acres  of  highly  cultivated  land  and  a  hill 
farm  of  two  hundred  and  thirty-seven  acres. 

October  2,  1851,  Mr.  Burrows  married 
Frances  C.  Peters,  daughter  of  Henry  and 
Almira  (Hulce)  Peters.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bur- 
rows have  two  children  —  Cora  Belle  and  Arba 
G.  Cora  married  George  Chamberlin,  of 
Franklin,  where  they  now  reside  with  their 
three  children  —  Burr  B.,  Ross  B.,  and  Lynn. 
Arba  G.  married  Ouintilla  Apperson,  of  Mar- 
linton,  VV.  Va.,  a  furniture  manufacturer  and 
dealer,  a  prominent  man  in  the  affairs  of  the 
town;  they  have  one  child,  Jessie  J. 

The  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Jesse  O.  Burrows 
was  John  Peters,  who  married  Betsy  Smith, 
of  Bushkill,  Pa.,  and  removed  from  that  place 
to  Sanford,  Broome  County.  He  there  estab- 
lished a  grist-mill,  and  did  farming  and  lum- 
bering on  a  very  large  scale,  being  successful 
to  such  a  degree  that  he  retired  from  business 
life  several  years  before  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred in  Deposit  when  he  was  sixty-five  years 
of  age.  Henry  Peters,  son  of  John  and  the 
father  of  Mrs.  Burrows,  started  in  business 
life  when  a  very  young  man,  purchased  a  farm 
on  the  "Jersey  side"  of  the  Delaware  River 
in  Tompkins,  where  he  had  an  extensive  lum- 
ber business.  He  owned  his  saw-mill,  and 
transformed  the  lumber  into  boards,  which 
he  sent  to  the  Philadelphia  market.  Henry 
Peters  married  Almira  Hulce,  daughter  of 
Sylvester  and  Penninah  (Hotchkiss)  Hulce,  of 
the  town  of  Deposit. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burrows  are  members  of  the  j 
Presbyterian  church,  and  in  politics  he  is  a  ' 
firm  Republican.  Mr.  Burrows's  success  in 
life  has  been  due  to  his  own  hard  labor  and  the 
sound  sense  which  has  led  him  to  make  good  use 
of  his  opportunities,  to  work  and  not  dawdle, 
to   mind  his   own   business   and   do    it  well. 


iORNFLlUS       D.       REYNOLDS,      of 
Roxbury,    N.\'.,  belongs  to  a  family 
.which     came     originally     from     the 
Last,    and    has    since    become     well  | 
known    in    the    annals    of    Delaware    County. 


Martin  Reynolds  was  the  pioneer  of  the  fam- 
ily in  New  York.  He  secured  farming  lands 
in  Bovina,  and  there  lived  and  died.  His  life 
was  an  interesting  one,  full  of  those  incidents 
and  adventures  which  characterize  the  career 
of  a  pioneer  farmer.  William  Reynolds,  son 
of  Martin  Reynolds,  was  born  in  Bovina,  and 
lived  with  his  father  until  he  became  of  age, 
when  he  moved  away,  and  settled  for  a  time 
at  New  Kingston.  He  then  bought  an  unde- 
veloped farm  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  in 
Bovina,  and  immediately  set  to  work  to  bring 
out  the  resources  of  the  place.  He  put  up 
new  buildings,  cleared  the  land,  and  improved 
it  generally.  Then  he  sold  out,  and  moved 
to  Andes  and  bought  the  Warren  Weaver 
farm.  This  property  was  also  in  need  of  im- 
provement. During  the  twenty  years  that  he 
lived  here  he  made  the  estate  very  valuable  by 
his  well-directed  efforts  in  building  and  in 
working  on   the   land. 

Mr.  Reynolds  now  made  a  radical  change  in 
his  policy,  and  determined  to  move  out  West. 
He  accordingly  went  to  Michigan,  and  settled 
on  a  new-  and  very  fertile  farm  of  some  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres.  He  lived  in  this 
new  Michigan  home  till  his  death,  at  the  age 
of  sixty.  He  was  a  Republican,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  Early 
in  life  Mr.  Reynolds  had  married  Jane  De- 
mond,  daughter  of  Cornelius  and  Polly 
(Neapes)  Demond,  by  whom  he  had  ten  chil- 
dren:  Cornelius  D. ;  Mary  E. ;  Caleb  and 
Richard,  twins;  Julia;  Libbie;  John  W. ; 
George  W. ;  William;  and  Manerina.  Mrs. 
Jane  Demond  Reynolds  is  still  living  (1894) 
on  the  Michigan  farm,  being  now  eightv-five 
years  old. 

Mr.  Cornelius  D.,  son  of  William  and  Jane 
Reynolds,  was  born  in  Middleton,  New  Kings- 
ton, on  September  15,  1849.  He  received 
his  early  education  at  the  district  school  in 
Bovina.  At  the  age  of  twelve  young  Corne- 
lius went  to  live  with  his  grandfather  De- 
mond, for  whom  he  worked  nine  years,  until 
he  was  twenty-one,  and  then  stayed  three 
)ears  longer,  making  twelve  years  in  all.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-five  Cornelius  D.  Reynolds 
married  Mary  E.  Tyler,  a  daughter  of  Henry 
and  Deborah  Tyler,  who  lived  in  New  Kings- 
ton,   near    the    boundary    line     between     that 


BIOGRAPHICAI,    REVIEW 


,303 


villa;;c  and  Roxbury,  their  farm  hriiii;'  in  Rox- 
buiy.  Mr.  Tyler  was  a  Republican  in  poli- 
tics, a  Methodist  in  religimi;  and  he  lived 
to  the  aj;e  of  sevent\-five.  Mrs.  Reynolds 
had  nine  brothers  and  sisters. 

Mr.  Reynolds  after  his  marriage  bought 
the  \'an  Dyke  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  acres.  He  lived  on  this  estate 
and  worked  it  for  one  year,  and  then  sold  it 
and  bought  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  acres  in  Middletown,  just  alio\e  New 
Kingston.  lleie  he  lived  foui'  years,  and  so 
improved  the  place  that,  when  he  sold  it,  he 
was  enabled  to  buy  two  hundred  acres  of  live 
land  at  Manor  Kill  in  Schoharie  County. 
Here  Mr.  Reynolds  met  with  a  sad  loss,  for 
Mrs.  Reynolds  was  thiown  from  a  catriage 
while  riding,  and  died  trom  the  effects  of 
the  accident  in  the  thirtieth  year  of  her  age, 
leaving  one  son,  George  II.,  who  is  a  ]>hysi- 
cian  at  Delhi.  Mr.  Reynolds  remained  only 
four  months  at  Manor  Kill.  After  a  year  in 
Prattsville,  he  marrieti  for  his  second  wife 
Amanda  C.  Craft,  daughter  of  Captain  Will- 
iam II.  Ci'aft.  Mr.  Reynolds  afterward  pur- 
chased the  Bloomberg  farm  in  Johnson  Hol- 
low. This  he  kept  four  years,  anil  then  sold 
it.  By  his  second  marriage  he  has  two  sons, 
Charles  F.,  who  is  in  a  drug  store  at  Delhi, 
and  William  E.,  who  lives  at  iiome. 

The  farm  which  Mr.  Reynolds  now  owns  he 
bought  in  1874.  It  contains  two  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  acres  of  land,  antl  lies  about  two 
and  a  half  miles  from  Roxbur\',  near  Stratton 
Falls.  Mr.  Reynolds  has  put  upon  this  farm 
the  results  of  a  long  and  varied  experience  in 
agriculture,  and  in  consequence  has  one  of  the 
finest  estates  in  the  region.  He  keeps  forty 
cows  and  a  number  of  sheep.  Tlie  land, 
which  is  nearly  all  cleared  and  cultivated,  is 
in  first-class  condition.  In  j-jolitics  Mr.  Rey- 
nolds is  a  Democrat.  As  a  citizen  and  neigh- 
bor he  is  well  known  and  well  liked  in  Rox- 
burv  and  the  neighboring  countrv. 


[LLIAM  IIARING,  a  well-known 
carpenter  of  the  town  of  Xorth 
Walton,  Delaware  County,  N.^'.. 
was  born  in  New  \'ork  City,  December  25, 
1828,     his     parents     being    John     and     Mary 


(  Hall  )  Haring.  John  Haring  was  of  I^nglisli 
birth,  coming  to  this  country  when  quite  a 
young  man,  and  taking  up  liis  residence  in 
I'aterson,  .N'.J.,  where  he  followed  his  trade  of 
tinsmith  and  coppersmith.  He  continued  in 
business  for  himself  four  years,  during  which 
time  he  met  with  success.  Mr.  Haring  mar- 
ried i\Iiss  Mary  Hall,  a  daughter  of  Walter 
Hall,  of  Ivngland,  and  reared  tiie  following 
family:  Ann,  married  to  William  Odell,  of 
Jersey  City;  William,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  and  Mary  Jane,  the  wife  of  David 
Byard,  of  I'aterson,  N.J.  Mr.  Haring  ilied 
when  his  son  William  was  six  years  old. 
Mrs.  Haring  spent  her  last  years  in  I'aterson, 
where  she  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-five. 

At  the  age  of  ten  }ears  W'illiain  Haring 
went  to  resiile  in  the  town  of  Walton,  sjjend- 
ing  three  years  in  the  employ  of  Mr.  Weed, 
and  then  for  four  years  worked  foi-  Mr.  John 
Townsend.  He  afterward  went  to  I'aterson, 
N.J.,  where  he  worked  as  an  ap]irentice  at  the 
trade  ot  car])enter,  eventually  going  back  to 
Walton  and  then  to  Binghamton,  the  year 
1S58  finding  him  at  l-'ranklin,  Delaware 
County.  On  the  9th  of  August,  1862,  he 
enlisted  in  Company  K,  One  Hundred  antl 
Twenty-first  New  \'ork  X'olunteer  Infantrv, 
being  attached  to  the  Army  of  the  I'otomac, 
Second  Brigaile,  I'"irst  Division,  Sixth  Army 
Corps,  under  the  command  of  General  Sedg- 
wick. Mr.  Haring  was  in  some  of  the  most 
severe  engagements  of  the  war,  among  them 
being  the  first  battle  of  Cranton  Pass,  Antie- 
tam,  P'redericksburg,  Salem  Heights,  Salem 
Church,  Gettysburg,  Rai)pahannock  .Station. 
Locust  (jrove,  .Mine  Run,  Wilderness,  -Sjiott- 
sylvania,  Myers  Hill,  .North  .Anna,  Cold 
Harbor,  l'"isliers  Hill,  Petersburg,  and  the 
surrender  of  Lee  at  Apjiomattox.  In  all  the 
severe  fighting  in  which  he  took  jiart,  he  was 
only  woimded  once.  He  was  honorably  dis- 
charged from  the  army.  June  25,  1865,  at 
Paul's  Hill,  near  Washington,  D.C.,  retain- 
ing the  rank  in  which  he  had  entered  the 
ami}',  that  of  ]irivate.  Although  he  was  of- 
fered ])romotion  to  a  higher  grade,  he  refused 
to  acci'])t  it.  -At  the  conclusion  of  the  war, 
he  came  to  his  i)resent  home,  and  went  to 
work  at  his  original  trade  of  car]icntr\',  at 
which   he   continueil   for   nianv  vears,  or   imtil 


304 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


ill  health  compelled  him  to  retire  from  active 
life. 

Mr.  Ilaring  was  married  November  15, 
1849,  to  Nancy  M.  Wood,  a  daughter  of  Ben- 
jamin and  FAsey  (Hoyt)  Wood,  of  New 
Canaan.  Of  this  union  one  child  survives, 
Willis  II.,  who  married  Nellie  Rowley,  and 
has  two  children:  Maud  A.  and  Annie  M. 
Mr.  Haring  is  a  member  of  Warren  Post,  No. 
209,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  In  poli- 
tics he  is  a  strong  supporter  of  the  Republi- 
can party.  In  his  religious  views  he  is  a 
Congregationalist.  He  is  a  man  of  deep  pa- 
triotism and  of  unflinching  integrity,  having 
the  courage  of  a  man  blended  with  the  tender- 
ness of  a  child. 


kARTIN  FORSTER,  a  carpenter  of 
lancock,  and  a  veteran  of  the 
late  war,  was  born  in  Milford, 
.uzerne  County,  Pa.,  September 
16,  1 84 1.  His  father,  Christian  Forster,  came 
to  America  from  Germany  in  1839,  landing  in 
New  York  after  a  stormy  passage  of  seven 
weeks.  He  worked  in  that  city  at  his  trade 
as  a  baker  for  a  time,  and  later  went  to  Mil- 
ford,  Pa.  He  there  engaged  in  manufacturing 
umbrella  sticks,  the  wood  for  which  was  cut 
from  the  timber  near  the  town.  This  was 
worked  into  the  sticks  by  means  of  a  lathe 
which  was  operated  by  foot  power.  After  a 
while  he  returned  to  New  York,  whence  he 
moved  to  Honesdale,  Pa.,  where  he  died  at 
the  age  of  fifty- seven  years.  He  was  a  man 
of  upright  life,  beloved  and  respected  by  all 
who  knew  him.  His  wife,  Hannah  Sheble, 
was  also  a  native  of  Germany;  and  she  still 
survives,  residing  at  the  home  of  her  daugh- 
ter, Hannah  .Shafer,  in  Hancock.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Christian  Forster  were  the  parents  of 
seven  children  —  Martin,  John,  Catherine, 
Christian,  Clara,  Conrad,  Hannah  —  and  three 
others  who  died  in  infancy. 

Martin  Forster  spent  his  boyhood  in  Hones- 
dale,  Pa.,  where  he  attended  school,  and  as- 
sisted his  father  in  supporting  the  family. 
He  first  went  to  work  in  the  umbrella  factory, 
where  he  received  as  a  salary  fifty  cents  a  week. 
Inheriting  from  his  father  a  love  for  fishing, 
he  spent  all   his  leisure  at  this  sport,  selling 


his  fish,  and  thereby  increasing  considerably 
his  income.  In  1863,  when  the  three  months' 
men  were  called  out  to  repel  General  Lee's 
invasion  of  Pennsylvania,  he  volunteered  at 
Honesdale,  and  was  ordered  to  Harrisburg  on 
the  way  to  Gettysburg.  The  news  then  came 
that  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  had  been  fought, 
and  Lee  had  retreated;  and  accordingly  Mr. 
Forster  returned  with  his  regiment  to  his 
home,  without  participating  in  any  active 
fighting.  He  resumed  his  old  occupation, 
but  in  February,  1864,  enlisted  for  three  years 
in  the  One  Hundred  and  Twelfth  Regiment, 
Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  and  was  ordered 
with  them  to  Philadelphia,  where  they  were 
detained  in  crowded  barracks  without  exercise 
or  fresh  air,  and  with  but  little  food.  He  then 
joined  his  regiment  at  Washington,  D.C., 
and,  while  there  as  a  raw  recruit,  was  the 
victim  of  many  laughable  experiences.  His 
regiment,  being  overfilled,  was  divided,  the 
new  men  being  organized  into  a  section  called 
the  second  division  of  the  One  Hundred  and 
Twelfth  Regiment. 

Mr.  Forster  as  a  member  of  this  section 
was  ordered  with  his  comrades  to  Alexandria, 
Va.  This  regiment  first  engaged  in  active 
service  in  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness;  but 
owing  to  some  misunderstanding  its  men 
were  not  allowed  to  draw  rations  from  the 
government,  and  accordingly  suffered  untold 
privations.  They  were  obliged  to  raid  wagon 
trains  and  barnyards  to  obtain  enough  food  to 
barely  keep  them  alive.  F"rom  the  Wilder- 
ness they  were  ordered  to  Cold  Harbor,  where 
the  rebels  attacked  their  rear  guard,  which 
gallantly  defended  their  line  of  march.  Food 
was  so  scarce  that  twenty-five  cents  was 
offered  for  a  single  piece  of  hard  tack  and  five 
dollars  for  a  part  of  a  ham.  On  being  with- 
drawn from  Cold  Harbor,  the  company  was 
ordered  to  Petersburg,  Va.,  where  they  arrived 
in  time  to  take  part  in  the  assault  of  June  17. 
Here  they  were  fifth  in  line,  the  regiment  los- 
ing eight  hundred  men  in  five  minutes,  and 
also  their  colors,  which  they  fortunately  re- 
captured that  evening.  The  following  morn- 
ing they  were  complimented  by  General  Grant 
for  the  recovery  of  their  colors,  and  after  that 
they  were  allowed  to  draw  rations  from  the 
government.     Mr.    Forster  was  then  engaged 


WiLLiflffi   Fuller. 


Mrs    Elizabeth    Fuller. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


309 


on  picket  duty  and  in  jjuililing  breastworks 
until  July  30,  when  the  fortifications  were 
blown  up,  and  again  his  regiment  lost  heav- 
ily, there  being  no  officer  in  his  company  of 
higher  rank  than  a  sergeant  at  the  close  of  the 
engagement.  The  regiment  was  next  ordered 
to  Weldon  Railroad,  it  having  been  reduced 
from  seventeen  hundred  to  five  hundred  men; 
and  these  survivors  were  united  with  the  vet- 
eran One  Hundred  anil  Twelfth  Regiment. 
They  occupied  Butler's  Lookout  Station,  and 
thenceforth  participated  in  only  a  few  skir- 
mishes. After  the  close  of  the  war  the  com- 
panies were  distributed  through  the  lower 
counties  of  Virginia  to  maintain  order.  The 
regiment  was  mustered  out  of  service  in  Janu- 
ary, 1866,  and  the  men  were  dischargeti  at 
Philadelphia  in  February.  Alter  two  )-ears 
of  active  labor  in  his  country's  cause  Mr. 
I<"orster  then  returneil  home,  and  resumed  his 
former  occupation. 

November  17,  1866,  he  married  Barbra 
I""isc]ier,  daughter  of  P'rederick  I^'ischer,  of 
Te.xas  'I'ownship,  Pa.;  and  they  were  the  par- 
ents of  seven  children  —  Minnie,  Margaret, 
Clara,  Christian,  Dora,  Lena,  and  Louise. 
Mrs.  P^irster  passed  away  November  14,  1891, 
and  is  buried  in  Hancock.  Mr.  Forster  is  a 
cari)enter  by  trade,  and  has  followed  that  oc- 
cupation in  various  towns  in  the  vicinity  of 
Hancock.  His  faithful  service  in  the  war  has 
been  in  some  measure  rewarded  by  the  pension 
which  he  receives  from  the  government,  and 
as  a  man  and  a  soldier  he  has  ever  been  held 
in  highest  regard  and  esteem  by  his  comrades 
and  fellow-citizens. 


,\rA;/ll.LIAM  FCLLER,  one  of  the  lead- 
ing farmers  of  the  town  of  Mason- 
ville,  Delaware  County,  was  l)orn 
in  Sanford,  in  the  adjoining  county  of 
Hroome,  October  28,  1838,  son  of  Wilder  and 
Sylvia  (King)  Fuller.  His  |xUernal  grand- 
father, Simeon  Fuller,  who  was  born  in  the 
State  of  Connecticut,  and  was  a  soldier  in  the 
War  of  18 1 2,  settled  in  Harpersfield,  Dela- 
ware CoLUity,  in  the  early  days,  but  spent  a 
large  part  of  his  life  in  Hroome  County.  He 
was  a  farmer,  and  also  worked  at  the  trade  of 
a   carpenter,    and   was   successfid    in    his    pur- 


suits. He  spent  his  last  days  at  the  home  (jf 
his  son  Wililer,  where  he  died  when  about 
eighty  years  of  age.  He  married  Nancy  liird- 
sall,  a  native  of  Har|)erstield;  and  she  also 
lived  to  a  good  old  age.  They  reared  three 
sons  and  five  daughters,  all  of  whom  grew  to 
maturity,  and  were  married;  but  not  one  of 
them  is  now  living.  Mrs.  Simeon  Fuller 
was  a  Haptist  in  religion;  while  her  husband 
was  of  liberal  faith,  and  in  jxilitics  was  a 
Democrat. 

Wilder  I'uller  was  born  in  Harpersfield, 
August  19,  1809,  an:l  Ii\ed  at  home  with  his 
l)arents,  was  educated  in  the  tiistrict  schools, 
and  was  reared  to  habits  of  useful  industry. 
Me  continued  working  with  his  father  till  he 
attained  his  majority.  After  his  marriage  he 
bought  his  first  land  in  the  town  of  Sanford, 
Broome  County,  a  farm  of  sixty  acres,  which 
he  occupied  about  sixteen  years.  He  re- 
moved in  the  spring  of  1854  to  Masonville, 
and  bought  the  farm  on  which  liis  son  Will- 
iam now  lives.  It  then  consisted  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres,  about  one-half  wild 
and  unimproved,  and  but  poorly  furnished 
with  buildings.  He  set  to  work  with  a  reso- 
lute will,  and  by  dint  of  well-directed,  per- 
sistent Labor  developed  an  excellent  farm. 
At  the  time  of  , his  death,  July  22,  1892,  he 
owned  two  hundred  acres.  He  held  an  official 
position  in  the  ]5a])tist  church,  of  which  he 
was  an  earnest  and  lilieral  sup[)orter,  his  wife 
also  being  a  member.  In  politics  he  was  a 
Republican. 

Sylvia  King,  whom  he  married  December 
27,  1837,  was  born  in  Sanford,  Broome 
County,  April  8,  1817.  Mrs.  Fuller  survives 
her  husband,  and  resides  on  the  old  home 
farm.  They  reared  four  children,  two  of 
whom  are  now  living,  namely:  William  Ful- 
ler, in  Masonville;  and  the  Rev.  Andrew  K. 
Fuller,  a  Baptist  minister  in  Newburg,  N.V. 
A  daughter,  Clarissa  M.  Fuller,  died  at 
nearly  thirty  years  of  age,  and  a  son,  Jerome 
B.,  just  before  reaching  the  age  of  twenty- 
one. 

William  was  the  eldest  s<in  of  his  jjarents. 
He  spent  his  childhood  and  early  \'outh  in  his 
native  town,  Sanford,  there  receiving  his  ele- 
mentary education,  and  came  with  his  parents 
to    Masonville  at  fourteen  years  of  age.      Here 


3IO 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


he  had  a  little  more  schooling,  and  after  that 
worked  on  the  farm,  remainini(  at  home  till 
twenty-live  years  old. 

His  natural  aptitude  for  mechanics  found 
scope  at  this  juncture  in  the  carpenter's  trade, 
which  he  learned,  and  followed  for  some 
years,  giving  it  up  at  length,  except  the  work 
of  building  and  repairing  needed  on  his  own 
place.  After  his  marriage  he  bought  a  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  thirty  acres  in  Masonville, 
and  lived  on  it  two  years.  Selling  it  then, 
he  moved  into  the  village  of  Masonville,  and 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  builders'  mate- 
rials and  doing  contract  work.  After  carry- 
ing on  this  business  about  six  or  seven  years, 
he  disposed  of  his  property  in  the  village, 
and,  moving  back  on  the  old  home  farm,  took 
care  of  his  parents.  He  now  owns  the  old 
homestead,  and,  having  added  to  it  by  pur- 
chase of  adjoining  lands,  is  now  the  possessor 
of  three  hundred  and  thirty  acres,  one  of  the 
largest  farms  in  this  part  of  the  county.  He 
keeps  about  fifty  head  of  cattle,  including 
about  forty  cows.  Jerseys  and  Holsteins, 
yielding  an  average  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds  of  milk  a  day  through  the  year.  He 
is  building  a  large  barn  with  a  capacity  of 
seventy  head  of  cattle. 

Mr.  Fuller  has  been  twice  married.  His 
first  wife,  Emaline  Parker,  with  whom  he  was 
united  October  28,  1863,  died  March  6,  1882, 
leaving  four  children,  namely:  Anna,  born 
September  24,  1866,  now  wife  of  William 
Bogart,  of  Masonville;  Edmund  L.,  born  Jan- 
uary I,  1868,  who  died  February  28,  1872; 
Jerome  E.,  born  August  25,  1873;  and  Laura 
A.,  born  September  7,  1880,  both  living  at 
home.  Mr.  Fuller  was  married  the  second 
time,  on  October  16,  1884,  to  Elizabeth  Whit- 
man Darling,  who  was  born  in  Tompkins,  Dela- 
ware  County,  daughter  of   Jeremiah    Darling. 

Mrs.  Fuller  is  MethodLst  Episcopal  in  re- 
ligion, while  Mr.  Fuller  is  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  church.  He  is  a  Republican  in  poli- 
tics, and  has  served  acceptably  in  several 
town  offices,  having  been  Supervisor  of  the 
town  one  term,  and  Overseer  of  the  Poor  sev- 
eral years,  and  Road  Commissioner  two  terms. 
He  is  a  public-spirited,  enterprising,  useful, 
and  valued  citizen. 

Life-like  portraits  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William 


Fuller    will    be    found    near    by    on    opposite 
pages  of  this  volume. 


OBERT  A.  ERASER,  a  well-known 
lawyer  of  Delhi  village,  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Delhi,  January  30, 
1851.  His  father,  James  Eraser, 
married  Mary  A.,  a  daughter  of  Robert  Ar- 
buckle,  of  the  same  town;  and  both  parents 
are  still  living  in  this  town,  where  they  were 
born  and  where  they  have  always  made  their 
home.  The  grantifather,  Andrew  Eraser,  was 
born  in  Inverness,  Scotland,  came  to  New 
York  State  when  a  young  man,  and,  settling 
in  Delhi,  here  pursued  the  calling  of  a  farmer 
for  many  years. 

Robert  A.  Eraser  spent  his  early  years  on 
the  home  farm,  receiving  his  elementary  edu- 
cation at  the  district  schools,  afterward  sup- 
plementing it  by  a  course  at  the  Delhi  Acad- 
emy. He  then  studied  law  with  the  late 
Judge  Gleason,  of  Delhi,  and  later  with  Adec 
&  Shaw.  Being  admitted  to  practice  at  the  Al- 
bany general  term  in  1877,  he  opened  his  ofifice 
in  Delhi,  where  he   has  remained  ever  since. 

Mr.  Eraser  was  married  in  1880  to  Miss 
Mary  E.  Blair,  a  daughter  of  William  and 
Elizabeth  (Holmes)  Blair;  and  they  have  one 
child,  Edwin  B.  Eraser.  Mr.  Eraser  has  been 
Justice  of  the  Peace  in  the  town  of  Delhi  for 
twelve  years,  and  for  three  years  was  Clerk  of 
the  Board  of  Supervisors.  He  is  a  Free 
Mason,  a  member  of  Delhi  Lodge,  No.  439, 
and  in  politics  is  a  strong  upholder  of  the  Re- 
publican faith.  Mrs.  Eraser  is  a  member  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  he  is 
an  attendant. 


TT^HARLES  JAMES  DICKSON  lives 
I  \y  in  Margarettville,  in  Middletown, 
^1^  ,  where  he  carries  on  a  very  exten- 
sive business,  and  is  the  owner  of 
important  pieces  of  real  estate.  He  was  born 
November  25,  1852,  son  of  Peter  and  Eliza 
(Boak)  Dickson.  His  paternal  grandparents 
were  James  and  Jane  (Trotter)  Dickson. 
James  Dickson  came  to  America  in  18 16,  and 
was  a  carpenter;  but  he  took  up  a  farm  of  a 
hundred    and    forty    acres,    now    occupied    by 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


3" 


James  Armstrong,  in  Gladstone  Hollow,  town 
of  Andes,  and  put  up  a  log  house  and  barn. 
There  grew  up  liis  nine  eiiikh'en:  I'Tizal)eth 
Uiclvson  married  Joiiii  Hanker,  deceased. 
William  is  no  longer  on  earth.  Thomas  mar- 
ried Mary  Turnbull,  and  the  widow  lives  in 
Andes;  and  so  does  James  Dickson,  who  mar- 
ried I'Llizabeth  Davidson.  Mary  Dickson 
married  lulward  Turnbull,  a  brother  of  her 
brother  Thomas's  wife,  and  is  now  a  widow. 
John  married  first  Anna  Gladstone,  and  then 
Klizabeth  Oliver.  Peter,  the  fatlier  of  the 
special  subject  of  this  sketch,  marrieil  I'lliza 
Boak,  and  lives  in  New  Castle.  Henry,  now 
dead,  was  the  husbaiul  of  I'^sther  Gladstone,  a 
sister  of  his  brother  John's  wife.  Ellen 
Dickson  married  A.  l-'risljie,  and  lives  in 
Antics.  Grandfather  Dickson  and  wife  both 
lived  to  be  very  old,  and  were  earnest  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

Their  fifth  child,  Peter  Dickson,  was  born 
in  Amies,  where  he  received  the  usual  com- 
mon-school education,  ami  w(U'ked  on  the 
farm.  Having  accumulated  a  little  money  b\' 
dint  of  hard  work,  he  went  with  his  brother, 
William  Dickson,  to  New  Castle,  I'a.,  and 
opened  a  livery  stable.  Though  doing  well, 
Peter  sold  out  at  the  end  of  a  year,  and  came 
to  Andes,  Delaware  County,  and  began  a 
manufacturing  enterprise  in  a  building  now 
in  ruins  and  known  as  Dowie's  Mill.  He  ilid 
sawing  and  planing,  and  had  machinery  for 
turning  all  sorts  of  wood  work.  Later  he 
tradetl  this  [ilant  for  a  farm  near  tiie  village, 
now  called  the  Adam  Bassett  place.  There 
he  remained  ten  years,  and  tiien  exchanged 
the  farm  with  Thomas  Muir  for  village  prop- 
ert\',  covering  what  is  now  called  the  Dickson 
&  Armstrong  estate,  but  was  then  a  carding 
and  wool-S]5inning  factory,  erected  by  the 
Waterburys  about  the  year  ICS30.  Mr.  Dick- 
son remodelled  the  building,  added  a  grist- 
mill, and  for  six  years  did  a  large  business. 
Then  he  sold  out  to  his  nejjhew.  Henry  James 
Dickson,  and  went  again  t(j  New  Castle, 
where  he  became  a  successful  grocer.  This 
also  he  sold  out  after  a  few  years,  and  retired 
from  active  life. 

He  was  a  Methodist  in  faith,  and  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics.  His  wife  Eliza  was  the 
youngest  daughter  of  Charles  Boak,  who  even 


in  his  old  age  was  considered  one  of  the  best 
teachers  in  the  county.  He  was  a  farmer, 
owning  a  large  tract  of  land  in  Harlansburg, 
Lawrence  County,  P:i.,  where  he  raised  the 
fidlowing  chikiren:  Aaron,  Charles.  Wash- 
ington, Margaret,  Rebecca,  Sarah,  Martiia, 
Mary  Ann,  Eliza.  As  fast  as  they  grew  up, 
the  boys  did  the  farm  work,  while  the  father 
taught  school  here  and  there.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Boak  lived  to  be  foursct)re,  and  died  the  same 
)ear.  Peter  and  l''.liza  Dickson  reared  three 
childi'en,  the  eldest  being  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  Thomas  W.  Dickson  married  Anna 
Greene,  lives  in  New  Castle,  is  a  conmiercial 
traveller,  and  has  two  children.  Their  sister 
Carrie  died  at  the  lovely  age  of  eighteen. 

Charles  J.  Dickson  was  l)orn  in  New 
Castle,  while  his  father  was  keeping  the 
stable,  and  was  educatt'd,  not  only  in  the  dis- 
trict scho(d,  liut  in  the  Andes  Collegiate  In- 
stitute, besides  attending  for  one  term  the 
Delaware  Academy.  The  work  of  life  he 
began  on  his  father's  farm,  but  soon  gave  this 
up  for  a  clerkshiji  with  David  Ballantine. 
Desiring  to  see  more  of  the  world,  and  having 
kinsfolk  in  New  Castle,  he  went  thither  to  try 
his  hand  at  his  grandfather  Boak's  profession 
of  school-teaching.  In  two  years  he  came 
back  to  Andes,  and  for  another  lirace  of  years 
was  clerk  for  James  Ballantine,  a  brother  of 
liis  former  em|iloyer.  Next  he  tried  the  hard- 
ware traffic,  buying  out  the  interest  of  the 
junior  member  of  the  firm  of  C).  S.  &  C.  W. 
Nichols.  Five  years  later,  when  thirty  years 
i)ld,  he  sold  his  interest  in  the  store  to  his 
partner,  came  to  xMargarettville,  and  associated 
himself  with  W.  E.  Doolittle,  in  the  business 
alrea(l\'  learned.  Three  years  later  Mr.  Dick- 
son bought  out  Mr.  Doolittle.  .Since  then  he 
has  enlarged  the  store  from  time  to  time,  till 
now  he  has  one  of  the  largest  in  Delaware 
County,  and  sells  not  only  hardware  and 
groceries,  but  agricultural  implements,  lum- 
ber, and  all  other  goods  usually  sold  in  a 
country  store.  In  icS84  and  18S5  he  erected 
a  skating-rink,  which,  since  that  anuisement 
declined,  has  been  changed  into  the  only  hall 
in  the  village,  and  is  provided  with  a  stage 
for  various  literary,  musical,  and  dramatic 
performances.  Attached  to  this  building  is  a 
store  for  the  sale   of   tin  and    plumbing  goods. 


312 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


In  1879,  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  he 
married  Anna  S.  Boyes,  daughter  of  James 
and  Barbara  B.  (Gordon)  Boyes.  Mr.  Boyes 
was  the  son  of  the  senior  James  Boyes,  of 
Dumfries,  Scotland,  who  had  a  large  family. 
The  son  James  came  to  America  at  the  age 
of  twenty-two,  and  there  met  and  married 
Barbara  Gordon,  a  lady  of  Scottish  blood,  the 
daughter  of  James  and  Mary  (Hay)  Gordon. 
Their  children  were  Peter,  Jane  Ann,  Bar- 
bara, and  Jeanette  Gordon;  and  the  parents 
lived  to  a  good  old  age.  Mr.  Gordon  was  a 
storekeeper  in  various  places.  James  Boyes 
came  to  America  in  18 10,  locating  first  in 
Canada,  and  then  in  New  York,  working  at 
his  trade  of  horse-shoeing.  Next  he  came  to 
Delhi,  and  then  to  Andes,  finally  retiring  to 
Margarettville,  where  he  still  lives,  though  his 
wife  Barbara  has  passed  onward.  They  be- 
longed to  the  United  Presbyterian  church, 
and  reared  nine  children.  James  Boyes  mar- 
ried first  Miss  Josselyn,  and  afterward  Laura 
Caulkins,  and  has  two  children.  Mary  Boyes 
is  no  longer  living.  Peter  Boyes  married 
Mary  E.  Davis,  is  a  farmer,  and  has  one  son. 
Agnes  Boyes  married  Edwin  Shaver,  an  inn- 
keeper, and  has  two  children.  John  Boyes  is 
deceased.  Thomas  H.  Boyes  married  Maggie 
Bell,  lives  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  and  has  four 
children.  William  A.  Boyes  married  Anna 
Burhans,  is  a  Margarettville  gardener,  and  has 
four  children.  David  Boyes  lives  in  Michi- 
gan. Anna  Boyes,  Mrs.  Dickson,  is  the 
youngest.  Their  mother  died  December  20, 
1882,  firm  in  the  Presbyterian  religion. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  J.  Dickson  have  two 
children.  Irving  was  born  October  5,  1881, 
and  Irene  on  June  4,  1889.  Being  an  active, 
progressive,  and  obliging  merchant,  Mr. 
Dickson  is  not  only  rewarded  with  plenty  of 
business,  but  is  highly  respected  by  his  fel- 
low-citizens throughout  the  county.  As  a 
stanch  Republican  he  has  efficiently  filled 
several  offices.  He  has  belonged  to  the  fire 
department  ever  since  its  organization. 


rWTo 


I'XJRGP:   BKAZEE,    a  retired  resident 
\  [5T     of    the    village    of    Walton,    is    well 
—         known  in  the  vicinity  as  having  long 
been  an  active  man  of  business,  and  is  deeply 


reverenced  as  an  earnest  exhorter  and  preacher 
of  the  Methodist  faith.  The  early  ancestral 
home  of  the  family  was  in  Holland;  but  these 
records  go  back  only  to  Mr.  Brazee's  grand- 
father, Peter  Brazee,  who  with  his  family 
emigrated  from  Massachusetts  to  this  county 
and  settled  in  Wilson  Hollow. 

He  was  twice  married,  and  by  his  first  wife 
had  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  all  of 
whom  are  now  dead,  including  his  son  Tunis, 
born  about  1785,  who  was  a  young  man  when 
they  came  here.  Tunis  Brazee  married  Delia 
Cook,  of  Rockland,  in  this  county,  who  was 
born  about  1800,  and  after  eighty-one  years 
of  useful  life  died  in  the  town  of  Han- 
cock. She  was  the  mother  of  four  daughters 
and  five  sturdy  sons,  the  fourth  son  being 
George,  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Three 
other  sons  and  two  daughters  are  still  liv- 
ing, Robert  and  Peter  being  respectively  in 
Western  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  and 
Eben  in  Matteawan,  N.Y.  Rachel,  wife  of 
George  Babcock,  lives  in  Colchester,  N.Y. 
Ann  Eliza,  wife  of  George  Brooks,  lives  in 
the  West. 

George  Brazee  was  born  in  Colchester, 
September  11,  1827.  After  a  very  limited 
education  in  the  district  school  he  became  a 
pupil  in  that  larger  institution  of  learning, 
the  world.  Much  of  his  time  was  spent  in 
hard  work,  early  and  late,  on  the  farm  and  in 
the  woods,  where  the  stroke  of  his  a.xe  or  the 
call  to  the  oxen  awoke  echoes  through  the 
vast  forests.  In  those  sylvan  solitudes  was 
the  spirit  of  this  man  prepared  to  receive 
divine  instruction  and  to  experience  conver- 
sion from  the  ways  of  sin  to  the  paths  of  the 
godly.  The  change  in  his  spiritual  life  oc- 
curred in  the  town  of  Hancock  in  1852,  when 
he  was  twenty-five  years  old,  and  in  the  same 
house  in  which  the  lady  who  was  afterward 
his  wife  had  become  converted  eight  years 
before.  Through  him  were  his  parents  also 
brought  to  a  profession  of  faith ;  and  for  forty- 
two  years  has  this  earnest  Christian  worker, 
deeply  imbued  with  the  power  of  the  Spirit, 
labored  in  his  Master's  vineyard,  being  for 
many  years  a  local  preacher. 

Mr.  Brazee  began  life  with  but  little  capital 
except  a  ready  hand  and  a  willing  mind,  and 
by    his     industry    and    economy  has    accumu- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIKW 


3 '3 


IcUciI  a  coinpctoiicy.  Vt)V  fourteen  _\cars  he 
engageil  in  fainiiiii;-  and  liinibeiing  near  rrout 
Urook.  Here  lie  owned  a  saw-mill  and  some 
five  hunilred  acres  of  land,  all  of  which  he  has 
sold.  In  1864  he  enlisted  in  the  cause  of  tiie 
nation,  and  was  assigned  to  the  I-'irst  New 
York  ICnginecr  Corps  in  Company  C.  The 
war  being  over,  he  was  discharged  at  Hilton, 
July  4,  1865.  In  1872  he  came  to  the  village 
of  Walton,  and  bought  his  present  home  with 
twelve  acres  of  land,  on  which  he  has  alreatly 
built  two  dwelling-houses.  It  is  jjrobable 
that  within  a  very  few  years  the  entire  place 
will  be  in  great  demand  for  building-lots. 
Here  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hra/.ce  now  live,  con- 
tenteil  with  the  simple  ways  and  surroundings 
of  their  peaceful  home. 

Mr.  I5razee  married  Margaret  Weeks  Greg- 
ory, widow  of  Ezra  Gregor)'.  Her  first  hus- 
banil  tlied  in  the  prime  of  life,  leaving  her 
with  twin  sons,  one  of  whom  died  at  the  age  of 
two  years.  The  other  son,  .Scott  Gregorv,  is 
a  farmer  and  lumber  merchant  in  Harvard, 
Delaware  County,  and  has  a  family  of  four 
sons  and  one  daughter.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hrazee 
have  one  son,  James,  who  married  Jennie 
Ouinn,  of  Miildletown,  X.^'.,  where  they  now 
reside,  and  where  eigliteen  months  ago  a 
beautiful  little  daughter,  Edna  B.  Ijy  name, 
was  born  to  them.  James  Brazee  j.irotited  b\' 
the  e.Ncellcnt  educational  opportunities  given 
him  by  an  indulgent  father,  who  took  care 
that  he  should  have  the  advantages  of  early 
training  which  to  himself  had  been  denied. 
He  is  now  a  conductor  on  the  New  \'ork, 
Ontario  &  Western  Railroad. 

In  the  olden  times  a  Democrat,  when  the 
parties  changed  Mr.  Brazee  became  a  Reinibli- 
can,  from  the  ranks  of  which  party  he  has 
risen  to  the  acceptance  of  the  jirinciples  of 
the  Patriot  or  Prohibition  party.  Illustrating 
in  his  daily  life  the  Christian  principles  en- 
forced l)y  his  ilevout  utterances,  Mr.  Brazee  is 
deeply  loved  and  respected  by  his  neighbors 
in  Walton,  and  especial!)-  liy  those  of  the 
Methodist  faith,  in  behalf  of  whom  he  has 
labored  and  preached  for  nearly  half  a  cen- 
turv;  and  those  who  know  him  and  admire 
him  for  his  benignant  cpialities  wish  for  him 
all  that  he  constantly  prays  for  for  others,  ami 
hope   that  it  may  be  the   will    of   the   all-wise 


I'"atiier   to   spare  him  to  his  earthly  friends  for 
many  years  to  come. 


t^TON.  DAVID  LOW  THOMl'.SOX,  a 
Y^\  distinguished  resident  of  B(jvina, 
II9  I  Delaware  Comity,    N.Y.,   was  born 

in  this  town  on  the  first  day  of  Au- 
gust, 1831.  He  was  a  son  of  David  and  Jean- 
nette  (Low)  Thompson,  who  were  both  born 
in  Scotland:  and  he  was  a  grandson  of  Will- 
iam Thompson.  Little  is  known  of  Grand- 
father Thompson  except  that  he  lived  and  died 
in  the  old  country.  Da\-id  Low,  though  born 
in  Scotland,  was  among  the  earliest  settlers 
of  Schenectady,  X.V.  .At  that  time  the 
Indians  of  the  .Mohawk  \'alle}'  were  verv 
troublesome,  and  Mr.  Low  took  an  active  ])art 
in  the  battles  with  them.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Dutch  Reformed  church,  reared  two 
children,  Isabella  Lovett  an<l  Jeannette  Low 
Thompson,  anil  was  one  of  the  most  thriving 
farmers  of  his  da_\'. 

David  Thonipson  came  to  America  when  a 
young  man,  and  settled  in  the  town  of  Bovina 
at  the  time  of  the  famous  War  of  181 2.  This 
region  was  little  better  than  a  wilderness;  but 
lie  rented  land,  and  a  little  later  bought  a 
farm  of  three  hunilred  acres,  where  he  li\-ed 
until  his  death,  in  his  fifty-first  year.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  a 
Whig,  and  a  successful  man  financiallv.  His 
first  wife  was  a  Miss  Hume,  by  whom  he  had 
four  children,  two  of  whom  are  now  living; 
nanieh'.  William  1).  Thompson,  of  Bovina, 
and  James  Thonipson,  of  Walton,  both  of 
whom  are  retii'ed  farmers.  His  second  wife 
was  Jeannette  Low,  who  died  at  the  advanced 
age  of  eighty-two  years,  leaving  two  sons: 
Robert  F.  Thonipson,  a  Bovina  farmer,  and 
David  Low  Thonipson,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

Young  David  grew  to  manhood  in  Bovina, 
and,  after  graduating  at  the  district  sch(jol, 
continued  his  studies  at  Andes  .Acailemy, 
under  Professor  William  Stoddard,  fr(;m  Edin- 
burgh, .Scotland.  ^'oung  Tlioni|ison  was  of 
an  independent  turn  of  mind,  and  began 
teaching  in  the  district  schools  when  but  a 
bov  of  sixteen.  Later  in  life  he  became 
superintendent  of  schools,  and  represented  his 


314 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


town  as  Supervisor  for  two  terms.  Durin^; 
thirteen  years  he  was  Postmaster.  In  1854  he 
established  a  hardware  store,  in  which  busi- 
ness he  still  remains.  On  December  28  of 
the  same  year  he  married  Eliza  Murray, 
daughter  of  John  Murray,  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers of  Bovina.  Mrs.  Thompson  died  Sep- 
tember II,  1893,  leaving  three  children; 
namely,  Nettie,  the  widow  of  Dr.  Henry  Don- 
cUy,  residing  in  Davenport;  and  Annabell 
and  William  D.,  who  live  at  home,  the  latter 
being  in  the  hardware  business. 

Mr.  Thompson  is  an  Elder  in  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Bovina,  having  been 
thirty-two  years  superintendent  of  the  Sab- 
bath-school, which  was  organized  September 
15,  1856,  with  seventy-four  scholars.  He  is 
a  Republican,  and  has  always  supported  his 
party,  casting  his  first  vote  for  John  C. 
Fremont.  In  1887  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  State  Assembly,  and  served  one  term  at 
the  capitol.  He  is  a  forcible  speaker,  vigor- 
ous writer,  and  an  able  debater,  but  has  lat- 
terly retired  from  politics,  and  gives  his  time 
and  attention  wholly  to  business,  in  which  he 
is  reliable  and  high-minded.  Personally,  he 
is  very  intellectual  and  unassuming,  and  be- 
lieves, with  the  poet, 

'•True  worth  is  in  being,  not  seeming." 


/^3JeORGE  SMITH,  owner  and  manager 
\  5T  of  a  livery  stable  in  the  pleasant  vil- 
^ —  lage  of  Walton,  is  one  of  the  solid 
and  substantial  business  men  of  the  town,  and 
is  meeting  with  excellent  financial  success  in 
his  present  occupation.  He  is  a  native  of 
this  county  and  town,  his  birth  having  oc- 
curred June  30,  1822.  His  father,  Rufus 
Smith,  was  engaged  in  agriculture  in  this 
vicinity  for  many  years,  owning  different 
farms,  and  finally  becoming  proprietor  of  a 
hotel  known  as  Smith's  tavern,  which  he 
rented  in  1835,  and  subsequently  purchased. 
It  was  a  wooden  structure,  and  has  since  been 
rebuilt.  Some  of  the  hand-made  wrought 
nails  used  in  the  original  building  are  now  in 
the  possession  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
Rufus  Smith  remained  engaged  as  hotel- 
keeper  until   his  death,  in  1842,  while  yet   in 


the  prime  of  manly  vigor,  being  but  forty- 
five  years  old.  His  wife,  Sophia  St.  John, 
who  was  a  daughter  of  David  St.  John,  bore 
him  three  sons  and  two  daughters,  of  whom 
George,  the  second  child,  is  the  only  one  now 
living.  After  the  death  of  her  husband,  Mrs. 
Smith  with  the  assistance  of  her  children  con- 
tinued the  management  of  the  tavern  for  some 
twenty-five  years.  She  was  a  very  energetic, 
capable  woman,  and  lived  to  be  more  than 
seventy  years  of  age,  dying  in  1869.  Her 
father  was  one  of  the  conspicuous  figures  con- 
nected with  the  early  history  of  Walton;  and, 
in  all  enterprises  tending  to  elevate  the  edu- 
cational or  religious  status  of  the  place, 
David  St.  John  could  be  relied  upon  to  assist. 
He  was  one  of  thirteen  men  who  organized  the 
Congregational  church  and  society,  and  who 
built  the  log  house  that  was  for  several  years 
their  place  of  worship.  He  possessed  a  fac- 
simile of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  of 
the  thirteen  original  States,  dated  July,  1776, 
which  has  been  in  the  family  for  more  than  a 
century,  and  is  now  in  the  possession  of  his  son 
George.  Mr.  Smith  has  other  relics  of  value 
and  interest,  one  of  them  being  the  clarinet 
which  his  father  owned,  and  on  which  he 
used  to  play  on  public  occasions,  in  the  town 
band. 

In  common  with  the  boys  of  his  day,  George 
Smith  attended  the  district  school;  and  he 
afterward  spent  one  term  at  the  Delhi  Acad- 
emy. When  quite  young,  he  learned  the 
tailor's  trade,  which  he  followed  for  a  while 
in  Ithaca,  going  thence  to  Trumansburg  and 
subsequently  to  Binghamton,  where  he  was 
under  instructions  for  a  year,  and  was  then 
engaged  as  a  journeyman  tailor  for  a  number 
of  years.  Shortly  after  the  death  of  his 
father,  Mr.  Smith  returned  to  Walton;  and 
the  following  twelve  years  he  assisted  his 
mother  and  brother  in  the  management  of  the 
hotel,  and  took  an  active  part  in  local  affairs. 
It  was  during  this  period  that  the  anti-rent 
difficulty  occurred  in  this  State,  attracting 
wide  attention;  and  in  the  stirring  events 
which  occurred  Mr.  Smith  was  an  active  par- 
ticipant. He  was  one  of  the  sheriff's  posse 
of  one  hundred  men  who,  under  the  command 
of  Tim  Corbin,  were  called  to  the  Earls  farm, 
in   Delhi,    on    the    occasion    of    killing    cattle 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


.3 '5 


for  restrained  rent,  at  whicli  time  Mi-.  Steel 
was  killed.  Mr.  .Smith  lode  his  own  horse, 
as  did  most  of  the  otlu-r  membei's  of  that 
band.  Diificnlties  of  this  kind  were  effectu- 
ally settled  by  tlie  .State  ('onstitntion  of  1846, 
wdiich  abolished  all  feudal  tenures,  and  for- 
bade the  leasini;  of  all  ai;rieultnral  lands  for 
a  ]ieriod  exceeding  twelve  )'ears  In  1X57  I\Ir. 
-Smith  left  the  hotel,  and,  purchasing  a  small 
house  and  barn,  started  the  first  liver\-  busi- 
ness of  the  town.  In  1865  he  sold  out  his 
livery,  and  engaged  in  merchandising  and 
lumber  dealing,  erecting  a  feed-mill  and  a 
planing-mill,  carrying  on  a  successful  business 
imtil  1874,  when  the  mills  were  burned. 
Prior  to  tliis  time,  however,  Mr.  .Smith  was  in 
]iartnership  with  (iould  &  Truesdale;  and 
they  operated  two  dail_\'  stage  lines,  one  run- 
ning from  Walton  to  Delhi,  and  one  lo 
Oneonta.  Besides  earrving  passengers,  this 
enterprising  firm  secured  tlu'  contr.ut  Ironi 
the  jrovernment  to  carrv  the  mails  between 
these  places;  and  they  also  carried  on  a  heavy 
express  business,  paying  from  Jul\  to  (Octo- 
ber, 1865,  two  thousand  one  hundred  dollars, 
their  receipts  for  these  three  months  being- 
over  seven  thousand  fi\-e  hundred  df)llais. 
After  the  burning  of  his  mills,  Mr.  Smith,  in 
company  with  Messrs.  Jar\is  and  Truesdale, 
bought  the  street-car  line  in  Binghamton, 
which  the)'  o])erated  seven  years.  In  I  88  I  he 
returneil  to  \\'alt(m,  and  again  resumed  the 
livery  business,  beginning  with  tour  horses, 
and  tloing  his  own  work.  About  ten  years 
ago  he  and  his  son,  ("leorge  T.  .Smitli,  started 
a  li\'er\'  business  on  an  extensive  scale,  on  the 
property  of  the  old  mill  site,  which  he  had 
never  sold,  keeping  from  ten  to  twehe  horses. 
They  are  upright  and  obliging  business  men, 
and  have  won  hosts  of  friends  and  a  ver)-  large 
])atronage  bv  their  courtesy  and  honorable 
dealings. 

Mr.  .Smith  was  married  in  1854  to  .Sarah 
Baker,  of  Gilbertsville,  daughter  of  Lyman 
and  Ksther  Baker,  the  latter  of  whcnn  lived  to 
the  remarkable  age  of  ninety-si.x  years,  d)'ing 
in  July,  1892.  .She  retained  her  faculties  of 
both  body  aiul  mind  to  the  last,  being  a  very 
intelligent  and  pleasant  old  lady.  Of  the 
union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  .Smith  only  one  child 
has  been  born,  (Jeorge  T.  .Smith.      In  1878  ho 


married  Bessie  ludls,  a  daughlei'  of  J.  Baird 
l''.ells,  of  Walton.  They  are  the  parents  of 
thi-ee  chihiren:  Charles,  sixteen  years  old; 
I'rederic,  fourteen  years  of  age;  and  (irace,  a 
little  mi.ss  of  nine  years.  Mr.  -Smith  is  a 
man  who  thinks  for  himself  on  imjiortant 
t|uestions,  including  politics  and  religion, 
and  usually  casts  his  \'ote  for  the  candidate 
he  deems  best  fitted  for  the  (jf'fice,  although  he 
is  in  svmi)atli\'  with  the  Prohibitionists.  He 
is  a  tem|)erance  man  in  every  resiiect,  and  has 
never  used  liquor  or  tobacco.  Although  be- 
longing to  no  religious  organization,  he  gives 
freed)'  to  the  support  of  the  cluu'ches,  and 
leads   an   exemplary    life. 


1;NJAMIN  HATHAWAY,  one  of 
tlie  oldest  and  most  widely  known 
residents  of  the  town  of  Tomjikins, 
is  the  proud  possessor  ol  twenty-six 
grandchildren  and  twenty-fi\'e  great-grandchil- 
di'en.  His  father.  Jacob  Hathaway,  who  was 
a  native  of  New  Jersey,  emigrated  to  Dela- 
ware County  when  but  sixteen  years  of  age, 
accompan)ing  a  Mr.  Dixon,  by  whom  he  was 
employed  for  some  time.  He  then  purchased 
a  tract  of  land  in  the  valley  of  the  Delaware 
River,  and  there,  in  the  wilderness,  erected  a 
common  pi. ink  house  and  a  saw-mill,  and  en- 
gaged in  the  lumber  business,  sending  the 
logs  in  rafts  down  the  river  to  Philadelphia. 
Many  of  the  forest  giants  fell  by  the  blows  of 
his  axe;  and  in  a  short  time  he  had  cleared  a 
large  tract,  and  added  the  occupation  ol  tann- 
ing to  that  of  lumbering.  Hei'c  he  dwelt  and 
labored  until  his  death,  at  sixty  years  of  age. 
His  wife  was  I.ydia  Lowry,  a  nat  i\'e  of  Con- 
necticut, who  died  when  eighty-lour  years 
old,  having  been  the  mother  of  eleven  chil- 
dren; namely,  Nancy,  Robert,  .Sally,  Jacob, 
I.ydia,  Harriet,  Benjamin,  Josiah,  Abigail, 
b'.'lizabeth,  and  a  second  Robert.  The  first 
Robert  died  at  the  age  of  sixteen:  but  all  the 
others,  except  the  two  eldest  daughters,  who 
remained  single,  lived  to  marr\'  and  rear  fam- 
ilies of  their  own. 

l^enjamin  Hathaway  was  born  in  lomjikins, 
I-'ebruarx'  22,  iSiO,  and  receivetl  his  education 
in  the  schools  of  this  town,  at  the  same  time 
assisting    his    father   on   the   farm   and    in    the 


3i6 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


lumber  business.  Upon  reaching  his  major- 
ity, he  purchased  land  near  the  old  home  and 
began  life  for  himself,  adopting  his  father's 
occupations  of  farming  and  lumbering.  For 
thirty  years  after  this  he  was  a  pilot  on  the 
Delaware  River.  About  the  year  1850  he 
made  himself  possessor  of  the  farm  where  he 
now  resides,  which  at  one  time  contained 
nearly  seven  hundred  acres,  and  at  present 
embraces  within  its  limits  four  hundred  and 
thirty-five  acres. 

When  but  nineteen  years  of  age,  Mr.  Hatha- 
way married  Elizabeth  Case,  of  Tompkins,  a 
daughter  of  Phineas  and  Nancy  (Leonard) 
Case;  but  she  passed  away  when  fifty  years 
old,  leaving  the  following  children:  Harriet; 
Lydia;  Jennie;  Amasa  J.;  Robert  and  Ed- 
win, now  deceased.  His  second  marriage 
was  with  Sibyl  E.  Blake,  a  native  of  Che- 
nango County,  and  a  daughter  of  Ithuel 
Blake;  and  she  became  the  mother  of  one 
child,    John   M.   Hathaway. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hathaway  are  earnest,  active 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  in  which 
organization  their  influence  for  good  is  uni- 
versally felt.  Mr.  Hathaway  was  an  anti- 
slavery  man  and  coworker  with  Gerrit  Smith  ; 
and  he  now  votes  with  the  Prohibition  party, 
a  firm  supporter  of  its  platform,  and  an  ardent 
laborer  for  the  cause  of  temperance.  During 
his  long  residence  in  the  town  of  Tompkins 
Mr.  Hathaway  has  been  most  fortunate  in 
making  many  warm  friends,  whose  companion- 
ship is  one  of  the  chief  comforts  of  his  declin- 
ing years.  He  is  an  upright,  public-spirited 
man;  and  the  great  respect  in  which  he  is 
held  by  all  gives  testimony  of  his  strong  and 
noble  character. 


"ENRY  RICE.  Among  the  agricultu- 
rists of  this  county  who  have  at- 
tained financial  success  is  the 
gentleman  whose  name  stands  at 
the  head  of  this  sketch.  He  is  the  owner  of 
a  fine  farm,  and  is  known  as  one  of  the  most 
progressive  and  energetic  farmers  in  these 
parts  and  a  thorough  master  of  his  chosen 
calling.  He  was  born  in  the  town  of  Har- 
persfield,  Delaware  County,  November  9, 
1 83 1,  son  of  Samuel  Rice,  who  was  a  native 


of  this  county,  Stamford  being,  it   is  thought, 
the  town  of  his  birtli. 

Mr.  Rice  is  of  Irish  descent,  his  grand- 
father, Henry  A.  Rice,  having  been  born  and 
reared  in  the  Emerald  Isle.  Emigrating  from 
there  to  the  United  States,  he  settled  in  this 
county,  buying  a  tract  of  wooded  land  in  the 
town  of  Stamford.  He  cleared  a  portion  of 
his  purchase,  then  removed  to  Harpersfield, 
where  he  bought  a  partly  improved  farm, 
made  a  home  for  his  wife  and  family,  and 
there  lived  until  his  death.  Samuel  Rice  was 
the  fourth  in  number  of  the  five  children  of 
the  emigrant.  A  large  part  of  his  early  life 
was  spent  in  Harpersfield,  where  he  assisted 
his  parents  in  tilling  the  soil  and  improving 
their  farm.  On  becoming  of  age,  he  bought  a 
portion  of  the  old  homestead,  and  there  con- 
ducted the  general  work  of  a  farm.  He  died 
at  the  early  age  of  thirty-nine  years.  He 
married  Ann  Smith,  a  native  of  Schenectady, 
and  the  daughter  of  David  Smith.  Her  father 
was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Scotch  Moun- 
tain, where  he  and  his  wife  spent  many  years 
engaged  in  the  pioneer  labor  of  clearing  a 
farm. 

Henry  was  the  only  child  of  Samuel  and 
Ann  (Smith)  Rice,  and  was  but  six  years  old 
when  he  was  deprived  of  a  father's  care. 
Mrs.  Ann  S.  Rice,  surviving  her  husband  a 
full  half-century,  spent  the  latter  part  of  her 
life  at  the  home  of  her  son,  where  she  died  in 
1893,  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty-eight 
years.  She  was  a  sincere  member  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  to  which  her  husband 
also  belonged,  he  being  a  Covenanter.  After 
the  death  of  his  father,  Henry  found  a  home 
with  an  uncle  in  the  town  of  Delhi,  with 
whom  he  lived  several  years,  receiving  excel- 
lent care.  He  had  good  educational  advan- 
tages, attending  the  district  school  and  the 
village  academy,  and  for  many  seasons  there- 
after was  engaged  in  teaching.  Later  he  pur- 
chased a  farm  in  Delhi,  which  he  conducted 
for  eight  years,  and  then,  selling  it  at  a  good 
advantage,  bought  land  on  Hollister  Hill, 
where  he  resided  fourteen  years,  profitably 
employed  in  tilling  the  soil.  Finally,  dis- 
posing of  that  farm,  he  bought  the  one  which 
he  now  occupies,  containing  one  hundred  and 
fifty  acres  of  rich  and  productive  land,  lying 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


3'7 


in  a  beautiful  locality  on  the  river  road. 
Having  steadily  api)lied  himself  to  its  im- 
provement, he  now  lias  the  land  in  an  excel- 
lent state  of  culti\'ation,  well  stocked  and 
well  equipped  in  every  respect;  and  on  this 
valuable  homestead  he  is  carr)ing  on  an  ex- 
tensive dairy  business,  keeiiing  about  twenty- 
five  head  of  superior  Jersey  grade  cows,  and 
making  a  fine  quality  of  butter,  which  he  sells 
in  the  New  ^'ork  markets. 

Mr.  Rice  was  united  in  marriage  in  1S55  to 
Margaret  Arbucklc,  the  daughter  of  Natlianiel 
and  Agnes  (Blair)  Arbuckle,  who  were  among 
the  (ddest  and  most  prominent  residents  of 
Delhi.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rice  have  three  chil- 
dren, two  sons  and  a  daughter.  Samuel  S., 
the  elder  son,  is  foreman  in  a  lumber  )ard  in 
Newark,  N.J.  Mary,  the  daughter,  married 
Andrew  C.  Strangeway,  a  farmer  of  Meredith. 
Charles,  the  younger  son,  who  resides  on  the 
home  farm,  assisting  in  its  management,  mar- 
ried Emma,  daughter  of  William  Tuttle:  and 
they  have  one  child,  Albert.  In  politics  Mr. 
Rice  ardently  advocates  the  principles  of  the 
Republican  party,  and  takes  an  active  part  in 
the  local  campaigns  of  that  organization.  He 
has  served  his  town  acceptably  as  Assessor  for 
four  years.  Both  he  and  his  wife  are  influen- 
tial members  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Delhi,  where  he  has  filled  the  position  of 
Trustee  for  several  years,  and  in  the  Sunday- 
school  connected  with  it  has  been  one  of  its 
most  efficient  teachers. 


MBKOSK  B.  MOORK,  a  veteran  of 
the  late  war  and  a  resident  of  Tomp- 
kins, was  born  in  this  town,  No- 
vember 10,  1 84 1,  the  son  of  Asa 
and  Rachel  (Warner)  Moore.  Asa  Moore  was 
the  son  of  Zebulon  Moore,  who,  it  is  thought, 
was  born  in  New  England,  and  came  to  New 
^'ork  State  when  a  young  man,  being  num- 
bered among  the  sturdy  ]iioneers  of  Broome 
County.  In  1815  he  removed  to  the  village 
of  Rensselaer,  living  there  one  year  only, 
when  he  came  to  Delaware  County,  settling  in 
the  woods  at  the  place  now  known  as  Kelse\-, 
on  the  farm  now  in  possession  of  his  grand- 
son. This  land  was  covered  with  growing 
timber,   and    wholly  uncultivated;  and    a    log 


house,  which  was  erected  after  their  arrival, 
was  their  only  home  for  a  great  many  years. 
Zebulon  Moore  lived  to  l)e  over  eightv  \eais 
old.  1 1  is  wife,  Hannah  Hoag,  (lied  when 
eighty-one   years   old. 

Asa  Moore  was  a  ver\'  young  bo_\-  when  his 
parents  moved  to  Tompkins;  yet  he  remem- 
bers the  hardships  the}-  endured,  the  journey- 
made  on  horseback  and  in  covered  wagons, 
and  the  many  years  before  railroads  and  canals 
were  introduced  to  assist  in  their  labors.  lie 
helped  his  father  clear  the  land,  and,  when  old 
enough,  rafted  the  lumber  down  the  river  to 
Philadelphia,  n-iaking  the  return  trip  for  the 
greater  part  on  foot.  In  August,  1855,  he 
married  Rachel  Warner,  wlio  w-as  born  in 
Broome  County,  N.V.,  daughter  of  Moses  and 
Hannali  (Grodevant)  Warner.  By  tiiis  mar- 
riage there  were  nine  children,  six  of  whom 
are  now  living;  namely,  Persis  M.,  Ambrose 
B.,  Julia  A.,  Allen  I).,  Asa  N.,  and  Lu- 
cinda.  Abraham,  the  eldest  son,  w-ho  served 
in  the  Civil  War  in  Company  A,  One  Hun- 
tired  and  Forty-fourth  New  York  \'olunteer 
Infantry,  died  while  in  the  service  at  Fairfax 
Seminary,  March  6,  1863.  Nancv  died  in 
August,  1892,  aged  fifty-four  years;  and  Ar- 
nold died  February,   1893,  aged  forty-seven. 

Ambrose  B.  Moore  iluring  his  early  years 
assisted  his  father  in  the  farm  work,  attentling 
the  district  schocd  in  its  season  until  in 
1862  he  enlisted  in  Company  A,  One  Hun- 
dred and  b'orty-fourth  New  \'ork  X'olunteer 
Infantry,  and  went  South  with  the  regiment, 
which  was  stationed  in  \'irginia  until  1863. 
l"ron-i  \'irginia  they  went  to  Morris  Island, 
and  while  here  the  company  did  active  service 
in  tlie  siege  of  Charleston,  S.C.  In  March, 
1864,  they  left  the  islantl,  and  took  up  a  sta- 
tion in  Florida,  remaining  there  until  June, 
when  they  went  to  Hilton  Head,  from  which 
place  Mr.  Moore  received  an  honorable  dis- 
charge in  June,  1865.  For  a  time  he  made 
his  honie  in  Cannonsville,  and  afterward  man- 
aged a  farm  about  a  mile  from  there,  where  he 
lived  a  few  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he 
returned  to  his  old  home,  and  has  since  car- 
ried on  general  farming  and  dairying.  The 
farm  is  located  in  the  Sands  Creek  \'alley  in 
the  town  of  Tompkins,  is  well  watered,  and  has 
many  modern  improvements  and  conveniences. 


3i8 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


In  1859  Mr.  Moore  married  Gracie  Van 
Valkenburg,  who  was  born  in  Walton,  Dela- 
ware County,  the  daughter  of  John  Van  Val- 
kenburg. Her  father  wa.s  born  in  Schoharie 
County,  New  York,  and  spent  his  last  days  in 
Walton.  His  ancestors  were  among  the  early 
settlers  from  Holland.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moore 
have  si.\  children  —  Nettie  A.,  Kate,  Hor- 
ace v.,   Isa  G.,  Maude   E.,   and   Warner  Jay. 

For  many  years  Ambrose  B.  Moore  was  a 
Republican  ;  but  he  has  now  taken  up  the  cause 
of  temperance,  and  labors  in  the  wide  field  of 
the  Prohibitionists.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Moore  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal church,  and  the  former  is  a  member  of  the 
Flasket  Post,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 
He  commands  the  respect  of  his  fellow-men  as 
a  useful  citizen  of  tlie  republic,  one  whose 
patriotism  has  been  tried,  and  has  not  been 
found   wanting   either   in   peace  or   in   war. 


t^TON.  JOHN  S.  McNAUGHT,  M.D., 
Ir^  I  an  experienced  and  popular  physician 
I ',3  I  and  druggist   of  the  village  of  Ho- 

^~"^  bart,  was  born  September  5,  18 19, 
at  New  Kingston,  in  Middletown,  and  was 
the  son  of  Duncan  and  Elizabeth  (Scott)  Mc- 
Naught.  John  McNaught,  the  father  of  Dun- 
can, was  a  farmer,  and  came  to  America,  and 
took  u])  his  abode  in  the  town  of  Bovina,  and 
resided  there  during  the  remaining  part  of  his 
active  life.  His  early  years  were  not  spent  in 
idleness,  but  on  the  contrary  were  sedulously 
devoted  to  labor,  he  being  a  man  of  great 
physical  vigor  and  endurance;  and  so,  when  he 
grew  to  be  old,  he  was  able  to  live  in  comfort, 
a  retired  farmer  in  the  town  of  Midtlletown. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  Janet  lived  to  be  well 
advanced  in  years,  he  being  about  eighty  years 
of  age  when  he  died.  They  had  eight  chil- 
dren, two  of  whom  are  now  living,  namely: 
John  McNaught,  who  is  over  ninety  years  old, 
and  resides  in  the  town  of  Kortright ;  and 
Janet  Shaw,  also  over  ninety  years  (dd,  who 
resides  at  Hamden. 

Duncan  McNaught  was  born  in  Scotland, 
and  came  to  America  when  a  young  man.  He 
settled  in  the  town  of  Bovina,  where  he 
bought  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land, 
and   where  he  lived  the  rest  of  his   life,  his 


death  occurring  in  1847,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
five.  His  wife  was  a  native  of  Bovina,  and 
died  at  the  old  home,  also  aged  fifty-five. 
Duncan  McNaught  was  a  Presbyterian,  as  are 
most  of  the  Scotch  people,  and  a  Whig  in 
politics.  They  had  four  children,  but  two  of 
whom  are  now  living,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  being  the  eldest.  The  second  son, 
Robert  McNaught,  resides  in  Hobart.  The 
two  daughters  were  Mary  A.,  Mrs.  .Seymour 
Wilco.x,  who  died  when  about  forty  years  old: 
and  Mrs.  Isabella  Olmstead,  who  died  when 
thirty-five  years  of  age. 

John  S.  McNaught  grew  to  manhood  on  the 
old  farm  at  Bovina,  and  received  more  than 
the  ordinary  education  of  the  youth  of  his 
time.  He  first  attended  the  district  school, 
then  completed  the  course  at  Delhi  Academy, 
his  preceptor  being  Seymour  Wilcox,  of  Bo- 
vina. He  afterward  taught  five  terms,  which 
enabled  him  to  complete  his  education  at  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  New 
York  City,  from  which  institution  he  was 
graduated  in  1846.  Dr.  McNaught  then  went 
to  Hobart,  where  he  started  his  practice,  and 
has  remained  until  the  present  day,  being  one 
of  the  leading  physicians  of  the  village.  In 
1880,  in  connection  with  his  practice,  he 
started  a  drug  store,  where  he  carries  a  full 
line  of  drugs  and  stationery. 

In  1847  he  married  Helen  B.  Hoy,  of  Bo- 
vina, who  was  born  in  Washington  County, 
the  daughter  of  James  Hoy.  They  have  a 
family  of  two  sons  and  one  daughter.  One 
son,  Duncan  H.  McNaught,  is  married  and 
lives  at  Hobart.  The  other,  Frank  H.  Mc- 
Naught, is  a  doctor  in  Denver,  Col.  Libbie 
McNaught   lives  at  home. 

Mrs.  McNaught  is  a  Presbyterian;  and  the 
Doctor  is  a  liberal  in  religious  views,  and  is 
politically  a  Republican.  He  has  held  sev- 
eral public  offices,  having  been  Supervisor 
three  terms,  Railroad  Commissioner,  and  a 
member  of  the  legislature  for  one  year  in  1879. 
Many  minor  offices  have  also  been  held  by 
him.  He  is  a  Mason,  belonging  to  St.  An- 
drew's Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  a  member 
of  the  Delaware  County  Medical  Society. 
Dr.  McNaught  has  always  shown  great  inter- 
est in  the  welfare  of  the  community  in  which 
he  lives,  and   Hobart  has  no  citizen  more  de- 


\ 


John   S.  Mc  Naught. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


32' 


serving  of  honorable  niL-ntion.  His  portrait 
on  a  preceding  page  will  he  recognized  and 
highly  appreciated  by  man\-  friends. 


T^OL'IS  M.  WALSWXJRIII,  senior  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  Walsworth  &  Ileck- 
roth,  proprietors  of  a  general  store, 
located  on  the  corner  of  Main  and 
Division  Streets,  Delhi,  N.\'.,  ojiposite  tlie 
Kdgerton  House,  is  a  liberally  edncated  young 
man,  possessing  great  native  ability.  He  was 
born  at  Dobbs  I'erry,  X.Y.,  Nowmber  29, 
1871. 

His  father,  the  Rev.  Lyman  W'alswurth, 
was  a  native  of  Jefferson,  N.Y.,  born  in  iSji. 
When  he  was  about  eiglueen,  the  family, 
joining  a  party  of  emigrants,  remoxed  to 
Ohio,  making  the  journey  with  wagons  and 
oxen.  He  shortly  after  entered  the  Theologi- 
cal -Seminary  at  Oberlin,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  with  an  honorable  record.  He 
began  his  professional  career  as  [jastor  of  a 
Methodist  church  at  Hillsdale,  X.H.,  where 
he  was  located  for  some  time.  He  afterwartl 
labored  zealously  and  efficiently  in  the  State, 
preaching  successively  in  Newburg,  Dobbs 
Ferry,  and  Hancock,  whence  he  came  to 
Delhi.  His  last  pastorate  was  in  Sing-Sing, 
where  after  forty-five  years  of  faithful  service 
in  the  ministry  he  died  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
eight  years.  His  wife,  Anna  Bloom,  was  a 
native  of  .Stone  Ridge,  Ulster  County,  being 
the  daughter  of  Isaac  Bloom,  a  life-long  resi- 
dent of  that  county.  .She  was  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  church,  retaining  a  deep  inter- 
est in  religious  matters  until  the  time  of  her 
decease,  in  September,  1889.  Of  the  eight 
children  born  to  her  six  grew  to  maturitv, 
namcl)- :  Cornell  M.  :  Mar}-,  who  married 
James  R.  Honeywell,  a  merchant  of  Delh.i ; 
Warren  W. ;  Charles  L.,  who  tra\-elled  in 
I'-gypt  and  Palestine  while  pursuing  his 
studies  for  the  ministry,  and  is  now  ]jreaching 
in  Stone  Ridge,  X.\'.;  Luella  .M.,  who,  pos- 
sessing great  musical  talent,  is  devoting  her- 
self to  the  study  of  that  art  in  (iermanv;  and 
Lnuis  M.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Louis  M.  Walsworth  received  his  ])rimary 
etlucation  in  the  district  schools,  afterward 
entering   the    Mount    Pleasant    Militarv   .Acad- 


emy at  .Sing-Sing,  from  which  lie  was  grad- 
uated in  l88g.  He  subsequently  attended 
the  .Syracuse  L'niversity  two  years,  coming 
then  to  Delhi.  On  the  first  of  January,  1893, 
Mr.  Walsworth  formed  a  jjurtnership  with  Mr. 
Ileckroth;  and  they  ])urchased  their  present 
business  of  J.  R.  Honeywell,  of  whom  a 
sketch  is  given  on  another  jwge  of  this  bio- 
grajjhical  work.  Ih're  the  firm  is  carrving  on 
an  extensive  and  lucrative  trade,  having  one 
of  the  largest  and  most  conveniently  arranged 
stores  in  the  county,  and  keeping  a  full  stock 
of  dry  goods,  groceries,  crockery,  fruit,  vege- 
tai)les,  and  other  articles  of  merchandise. 

Mr.  Walsworth  was  united  in  marriage  in 
January,  1893,  to  Miss  lulith  .M.  Whitney, 
the  ilaughter  of  Wells  R.  and  Louise  (  Teller) 
Whitney.  Mr.  Whitney  is  employed  in  the 
office  of  the  County  Clerk.  In  polities  .Mr. 
Walsworth  is  a  stanch  advocate  of  the  [jrinci- 
ples  of  the  Republican  party;  and  it  may  be 
remarked  of  him  in  general  that  he  is  a  man 
of  quick  decision  an<l  well-defined  views,  and 
fearlessly  outspoken  on  all  questions  that  aj)- 
jjcal  tf)  his  juilgment. 


ALCOLM  CALHOCN,  a  success- 
ful and  progressive  farmer  in 
Andes,  Delaware  Comity,  w.is 
born  in  Dumbartonshire,  .Seot- 
land,  T'ebruary  JS,  1S31,  and  was  the  son  of 
Peter  Calhoun  and  his  wife,  T^lleii  Mc.Auslaii. 
Peter  Calhoun,  also  horn  in  Dumbarton- 
shire, came  to  America  with  his  family  in 
1835,  and  bought  two  hundred  and  nineteen 
acres  of  land  of  (',.  Raite  in  .Andes,  to  which 
he  alterwai'd  .added  eighty  more.  He  wa>  a 
very  intelligent  and  thrifty  farmer,  a  Republi- 
can in  politics  and  a  member  of  the  Cnited 
Presbyterian  chui-eh.  Mr.  Calhoun  lived  to 
the  unusual  age  of  eighty-five  years,  and  his 
wife  to  fourscore.  This  woithv  coui^le  was 
blessed  with  a  family  of  ten  children,  all  of 
whom  lived  to  maturity,  and  may  be  thus 
briefly  mentioned:  Dr.  John  Calhoun,  now 
deceased,  had  one  son  and  a  daughter:  Peter 
Calhoun,  a  farmer  in  Ilamden,  married  Marv 
McAuslan,  and  they  have  three  sons;  .Mary 
Calhoun  lives  in  Andes;  Jeannette  married 
William    Oliver,    and   died    leavini;-    one    son; 


322 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Archie  Calhoun  married  Allida  Rose,  has 
located  in  Sherman,  Chautauqua  County,  and 
they  have  five  children;  l'"llen  married  J.  II. 
Smith,  lives  in  Delhi,  and  they  have  three 
sons  and  two  daughters;  Malcolm  Calhoun, 
the  seventh  child,  is  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  James  Calhoun  married  I'hidelia 
Rose,  and  settled  in  Chautauqua  County,  and 
their  children  are  two  in  number;  Daniel 
Calhoun  married  Cornelia  McIIair,  and  they 
reside  in  l^ovina,  and  have  six  children: 
Maggie  Calhoun   lives   in   Andes. 

Malcolm  Calhoun  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools.  In  1854  he  went  to  Scot- 
land to  visit  his  grandparents,  whom  he  had 
left  in  his  infancy.  He  remained  in  the  land 
of  his  birth  until  1855,  when  he  returned  to 
America.  ^About  this  time  he  married  Jane 
George,  daughter  of  John  and  Jane  (Sinkler) 
George,  of  Cabin  Hill.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  George 
had  a  family  of  six  children,  two  sons  and 
four  daughters.  He  lived  to  be  eighty-five 
years  of  age,  and  she  died  at  threescore  and 
ten.  They  were  members  of  Cabin  Hill 
Presbyterian  Church.  Mr.  George  was  a  man 
of  ability,  and  filled  a  number  of  public 
offices,  such  as  Surveyor  and  Assessor. 
Malcolm  Calhoun  came  to  Bryant's  Hollow, 
and  bought  of  John  Whitson  a  hundred  and 
seventy  acres  of  land,  and  then  of  Peter  Cal- 
houn an  adjoining  farm  of  a  hundred  and 
seventy  more.  He  improved  his  property, 
remodelling  the  buildings  which  had  come 
into  his  possession,  and  making  a  comfortable 
and  attractive  home. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  MaU'(dm  Calhoun  have 
brought  up  a  family  of  five  children,  two  sons 
ant!  three  daughters.  George  P.  Calhoun  and 
James  Sinkler  Calhoun  are  both  living  at 
home.  Helen  married  John  T.  Rooney,  a 
farmer,  of  Lower  Andes ;  and  they  have  one 
child.  Aggie  Jane  Calhoun  and  Mary  Eliza- 
beth Calhoun  still  brighten  the  home  with 
their  presence.  Mr.  Calhoun  is  not  only  a 
general  farmer,  but  gives  especial  attention  to 
milk-producing.  He  has  a  herd  of  over  thirty 
beautiful  Jerseys,  and  employs  the  latest  and 
best  inventions  in  the  way  of  dairy  apjjliances. 
True  to  the  traditions  of  his  family  and  the 
land  of  his  nativity,  Mr.  Calhoun  is  a  Pres- 
byterian, a  communicant  of  the   United  Pres- 


byterian church  at  Andes.  He  is  a  good 
Republican,  a  worthy  citizen,  and  an  enter- 
prising and  successful  man,  devoted  to  a  use- 
ful calling. 


AllLON  McKINNEY  was  born  in 
Lackawaxen,  Pike  County,  Pa., 
\s  \  November  4,  1838.  His  great- 
great-grandfather  McKinney  came 
from  Ireland  early  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  settled  in  Pennsylvania.  Mahlon  Mc- 
Kinney, Sr.,  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  born  in  Lackawaxen,  and  spent 
his  whole  life  in  his  native  town.  He  was  a 
millwright  and  surveyor,  which  trades  he  fol- 
lowed throughout  his  life.  His  wife  was 
Catherine  Kittle,  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Mary 
Kittle,  of  Port  Jervis,  Orange  County,  N.Y., 
and  a  descendant  of  the  German  pioneer  set- 
tlers of  New  York  State.  She  was  the  mother 
of  eight  children,  namely:  Laney,  wife  of 
George  Youngs,  of  Berlin,  Pa.;  Jane  M.,  who 
was  twice  married,  first  to  Samuel  Smith,  and 
afterward  to  Smith  Wood,  of  Buckingham, 
Wayne  County,  Pa. ;  Ann  Eliza,  wife  of 
Hezekiah  Wood,  of  Berlin,  Pa.;  Nancy,  wife 
of  Charles  B.  Wheeling,  Lackawaxen,  Pa. ; 
George;   Samuel;    i\Iahlon;  and    Zenas. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  passed  his  early 
life  in  his  native  town  as  lumberman  and  con- 
tractor, and  in  1877  came  to  Delaware 
County,  anil  moved  on  to  the  farm  he  now 
occu]jies  in  the  town  of  Hancock.  He  has 
one  hundred  and  nine  acres,  more  than  half  of 
which  are  under  cultivation.  His  pleasant 
house  and  convenient  farm  buildings  and  the 
latest  improved  machinery  for  carrying  on  the 
place  show  the  thrift  and  good  judgment  of 
the  owner.  Mr.  McKinne)'  in  all  his  dealings 
shows  himself  to  be  upright  and  honest,  pro- 
gressive and  of  good  judgment,  a  man  to 
whom  is  justly  accorded  the  respect  of  his 
fellow-citizens. 

Mrs.  Mahlon  McKinney,  whose  name  be- 
fore marriage  was  Mary  E.  Daily,  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  the  late  William  Daily,  of  Tuscan, 
Sullivan  County,  N.Y.  The  father  of  Will- 
iam Daily  was  a  veteran  and  pensioner  of  the 
War  of  181  2,  and  he  lived  to  be  eighty-three 
years    old.      His    wife,    whose    maiden     name 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


323 


was  Margaret  l'"iiit;L'l(lcr,  sur\'ivcd  him  a 
nunibor  of  years,  dying  at  the  ago  of  nincty- 
sc\en.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  MeKinney  were  mar- 
ried January  31,  1857,  at  Iloneschile,  Wayne 
County,  I'a. ;  and  they  have  had  three  chil- 
th'en :  Mahlon,  the  eldest,  born  July  2,  i  S60, 
dietl  at  the  age  of  one  \'eai',  eight  months, 
anil  twenty-eight  days;  William  11.,  horn 
November  34,  1862,  now  engaged  in  business 
at  Long  ICddy,  married  Denas  Williams, 
daughter  of  Antonc  Williams,  of  Mancoek, 
and  they  have  two  children,  Minnie  M.  and 
Mary  Louise;  Samuel,  born  November  9, 
1865,  married  Mary  O.  J5oyd,  of  Tomjjkins, 
daughter  of  Henry  ]?oyil,  and  grand-daughter 
of  Canfield  15oyd,  of  that  town.  'I'he  Hoyds 
were  of  .Scotch  ancestiv.  They  came  to 
Delaware  County  from  the  ICastern  .States, 
ami  were  among  the  first  settlers  of  the 
valley,  several  of  them  being  soldiers  in  the 
Revolutionary  War.  .Samuel  works  the  home 
farm  with  his  father.  He  antl  his  wife  lia\-e 
had  three  chiUlren,  one  of  whom  died  in  in- 
fancy. The  others  are  Mahlon  Henr}-,  liorn 
August  30,  1S91,  and  Ida  McKinney,  born 
December  30,   1894. 


ILLIAM  AVI-:RV  fry  is  a  re- 
if£\l  tired  merchant  who.  after  having 
spent  many  years  of  his  manhood's 
prime  in  the  Far  South,  is  now  passing  the 
sunset  of  life  in  the  village  of  Sidne_\',  where 
he  was  born  on  July  22,  1S16.  He  comes  of 
good  stock,  and  is  one  of  the  oldest  as  well  as 
most  widely  kn;)wn  and  most  highly  respected 
residents  of  this  section  of  Delaware  County. 
The  l-"ry  lamily  of  England,  from  whnm  he  is 
desceniled,  were  people  of  importance  and 
wealth  in  their  native  land,  and,  besides  their 
city  home  in  London,  had  a  handsome  country 
estate  in  Bristol,  where  they  spent  a  part  of 
each  year.  Their  coat  of  arms  is  preserved 
by  their  American  descendants,  and  is  em- 
blazoned with  three  horses,  one  bridleil,  and 
two  running  at  large,  unbridled.  An  early 
ancestor,  Captain  John  Fry,  is  said  to  have 
gone  to  Lngland  from  .Switzerland,  under 
George  I.,  as  Captain  of  the  Swiss  Guartls. 
John  Fry,  Jr.,  the  fatlier  of  the  subject  of 
this   biographical   sketch,    was    born    in    Hart- 


fnnl.  Conn.,  in  March,  1792,  and  died  in 
Delaware  County,  Iowa,  in  1870.  He  was  a 
son  of  John  I^'ry,  a  native  of  liristol,  ICngiand, 
who  was  united  in  marriage  to  a  Miss  Aver\- 
in  Hartford,  and  there  engaged  in  his  occu])a- 
tion  of  gardener.  He  accumulated  Cjuite  a 
proi>erty,  all  of  which  he  converted  into  iMig- 
lish  money,  as  he  was  a  warm  advocate  (jf  the 
di\ine  right  of  kings.  Two  sons  and  one 
daughter  were  born  of  his  first  marriage, 
namely:  John,  Jr.,  the  eldest  child;  William, 
the  second  son;  and  .Sarah,  who  married  a  Mr. 
Bradley.  After  the  death  of  this  wife,  which 
occurred  in  Hartford,  he  was  three  times 
married. 

John  l-"ry,  Jr.,  was  a  farmer  b\-  (K-cu|Kition, 
and  also  an  extensive  tlealer  in  lumber.  He 
was  at  one  time  very  well-to-tio,  but  lost 
heavily  in  1824  by  the  failure  of  the  Cidumbia 
Bank  of  Baltimore,  he  ha\ing  taken  the  pay 
for  a  large  stock  of  hunber  in  bills  of  that 
bank  just  prior  to  its  failure,  and  in  conse- 
i|uence  lost  the  entire  amount  of  the  bill. 
He  married  I'hilomela  .Spencer,  wlio  was  born 
and  rearetl  in  LTnadilla,  Otsego  County,  N.Y. 
Her  father,  the  Rev.  Orange  Spencer,  was  a 
Baptist  clergyman,  and  a  veteran  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary War.  Her  grandfather,  Solomon 
.Spencei-,  was  one  of  tlie  very  earl)-  settlers  of 
the  town  111  I'nadilla,  coming  there  in  1745, 
and  being  iur  many  years  a  prominent  figure 
among  the  jjioneers  of  the  place.  Fleven 
children  were  born  to  John  anil  I'hilomela 
l'"ry,  two  of  whom  died  in  infancy;  and,  of  the 
three  sons  and  six  daughters  that  grew  to 
mature    life,    all    except    one   are    now    living. 

Willi;uii  A.  I'"ry  was  named  for  his  uncle 
William,  ab(i\-e  mentioned.  At  the  vouthful 
age  ol  eight  years  he  began  to  be  a  self-sup- 
porting member  of  the  comnuniity,  entering 
the  ser\ice  of  Judge  -Samuel  Rexford  as  a 
chcue  boy.  no  doubt  forming  habits  of  ajiplica- 
tion  that  pro\ed  the  foundation  for  his  subse- 
quetit  i)rosperit\-.  After  becoming  of  age,  he 
was  successfully  engaged  in  mercantile  busi- 
ness in  I'nadilla  Centre  until  obliged  by 
failing  health  to  abandcm  it.  He  removed  to 
(iilbertsville.  Butternuts,  Otsego  Countv. 
whence  in  1845,  in  the  ilesire  to  recuperate 
his  pliysical  vigoi',  he  started  for  South  Amer- 
ica.     He  sailed    from    New    York  Citv,   March 


324 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


25,  1845,  on  the  American  bark  "Rosalba," 
which  was  commanded  by  Ca])tain  Tilton,  a 
fine  sailor  and  a  noble  man.  They  sailed  for 
Montevideo,  and  were  seventy-five  days  out  of 
sight  of  land,  being  becalmed  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  equatorial  line.  After  making  one  or 
two  stops  on  the  Brazilian  coast,  Mr.  Fry 
arrived  in  Montevideo  in  July,  1845.  I^*-" 
returned  to  the  States  in  November,  1872, 
and  went  from  New  York  to  St.  Augustine, 
Fla.,  whence  he  came  back  to  Sidney  in  1879. 
While  sojourning  in  Montevideo,  Mr.  I"ry 
wooed  anil  won  as  his  bride  Jeannie  Wield 
15irrell,  their  nuptials  being  solemnized  May 
15,  1848.  Mrs.  Fry  was  born  in  Dumfries, 
Scotland,  May  6,  1821,  being  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Amelia  (Halley)  Birrell,  both  of 
whom  were  natives  of  Gretna  Green,  Scotland. 
Returning  to  Delaware  County,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Fry  settled  in  the  village  of  Sidney,  where 
they  are  living  in  comfort,  enjoying  the  es- 
teem and  friendship  of  a  large  circle  of  ac- 
quaintances. 


II.  LI  AM  H.  BARLOW,  a  prosper- 
i/^V  '"^'^  '^"^  intelligent  farmer  of  Dela- 
ware County,  was  born  May  7, 
1834,  in  Stamford,  where  his  grandfather, 
Fdmund  Barlow,  a  native  of  Fairfield,  Conn., 
was  an  early  settler.  He  was  interested  in 
various  occupations,  being  able  to  turn  his 
hand  to  almost  anything  with  gratifying  re- 
sults. He  died  January  18,  1825,  and  his 
wife  on  June  i  of  the  same  year.  Their  son 
Samuel,  the  father  of  William  H.,  was  born 
in  Stamford,  August  31,  1798,  and  was  twice 
married.  His  first  wife,  Maria  Squire,  had 
two  children,  Betsey  Louise  and  Ellen  Maria, 
both  of  whom  have  passed  away;  and  she 
died  January  17,  182S.  His  second  wife  was 
Jietsey  Rolins,  who  became  the  mother  of  four 
children,  namely:  Roswell,  born  March  10, 
1830,  and  died  May  18,  1833;  Abigail,  born 
March  30,  1832,  and  died  May  23,  1858; 
William  IL,  of  whom  this  sketch  is  written; 
Fdmund  W.,  born  December  16,  1837,  and 
died  September  12,  1857.  Samuel  Barlow 
was  a  successful  farmer,  owning  three  hun- 
dred acres  of  land  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
which     occurred     May    4,     1884.      He    was    a 


the    best 

schools, 

lived    at 

On  No- 


member  of  the  Episcopal  church  at  Hobart, 
and  politically  a  Democrat.  His  wife  died 
March    15,    1870. 

William  Barlow,  after  receiving 
education  afforded  by  the  district 
gave  his  attention  to  farming,  and 
home  until  the  death  of  his  parents, 
vember  29,  1859,  he  married  Miss  Sarah  E. 
Carroll,  who  was  born  in  Roxbury,  March  26, 
1840,  a  daughter  of  Enos  and  Anna  Carroll. 
Her  father  was  born  in  Dutchess  Count)'. 
Having  grown  to  manhood,  he  engaged  in 
farming  in  Ro.xbury,  where  he  was  married. 
He  died  December  11,  1874,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-six  years;  and  his  wife  passed  away 
May  30,  1893,  in  her  ninety-third  year. 
They  were  the  parents  of  five  children, 
namely:  John  Carroll,  of  Roxbury;  Angeline, 
also  of  Roxbury;  Sarah  E.,  wife  of  Mr.  Bar- 
low; Samuel  B.  and  Abbie,  both  of  whom  are 
dead. 

Mr.  Barlow  succeeded  to  the  ownership  of 
the  old  homestead,  where  he  resided  until 
1888,  when  he  moved  to  his  present  place  of 
two  hundred  and  sixty  acres.  Including  the 
old  farm,  he  is  now  the  possessor  of  five  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres.  His  time  is  devoted  to 
farming,  and  he  sells  the  milk  from  eighty 
cows.  He  is  the  father  of  six  children.  The 
eldest,  Annie  E.,  born  January  29,  1861,  is 
the  wife  of  William  B.  Smith,  of  Bovina. 
Ella  A.,  born  April  7,  1862,  is  the  wife  of 
Daniel  Craft,  of  Jefferson,  Schoharie  County. 
Ward  S.,  born  December  i,  1863,  is  married 
to  Lizzie  Puffer,  and  is  engaged  in  black- 
smithing  in  Hobart.  Frank  C,  born  May  12, 
1876,  Fred  W.,  born  December  12,  1877,  and 
Abbie  M.,  who  was  born  October  31,  18S0, 
reside  with  their  parents. 

Mr.  Barlow  is  one  of  the  most  extensive 
farmers  in  this  vicinity,  and  a  highly  re- 
spected citizen,  liberal  in  religious  views, 
and  in  politics  voting  with  the  Democratic 
party. 


TEPHFX     LYON,    a    retired    wagon 
manufacturer  of  the  town  of  Walton, 
Delaware   County,    N.^'.,   is   a  man 
who    has    by    his    own    unwearying 
efforts  succeeded   in  accumulating  a  comfort- 


RFOGRAPHICAI,    REVIEW 


325 


iihle    fortune,   ami,    what    is    still    more    com- 
mciulablc,  is  also  one  who  hears  an  untarnished 
reputation   as   a   thoroughly  conseiontious.  v.\)- 
rij;ht      eiti/.en.       Mr.      Lyon      was      horn      in 
Stamford,      X.Y.,    on     April     9,     1825.      His 
i^rantlfather,    Walter    Lyon,    was   horn    in   that 
town,  January  28,   1769,  son  of  Seth  and  ^Liry 
Lyon,    of    Connecticut,    and    died    March    19, 
1819.      Hurr    L\'on,  the   father  of   the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  one  of  the  nine  children  of 
Walter  Lyon,  and   was   born  in  Stamford,  De- 
cember 2,   1795,  and  died    in    Walton  in  1S67. 
He     married     Melinda     Churchill:    ant!     they 
were    the    parents  of    nine   children,    namely: 
Stephen:   John,  born  October  30,  1826:   Will- 
iam   S.,    born    October    5,    1S28:   Walter    J5., 
born   December  i.   1830;   Giles  W.,  born  Feb- 
ruary  II,   1S33,  a  carjjenter  by  trade,  who  died  ' 
in  Walton,  April   3,   1894,  leaviny  one  daugh- 
ter.   Cora;    Ann    Lliza.    born    ^hiy   23,    1835, 
widow   of    William    I'llijah,  who   died    October 
19,    1869:    Mary  M.,  born    May    i,     1840,    and 
died   October   3,    1881  ;   Geor,t;e    A.,  born   Jan-  , 
uary    i,    1844:  and    Ivlijah,    born   January    24, 
1838,  and  died  in   1862.      The  last-named    was 
one  of  the  first  volunteers  of  1861,  h;i\-int;-  en-  ! 
listed    in   the   One    Hundred  and   h'orty-fourth  i 
\'olunteer   Infantry,  where  he  iKid  reached   the 
rank    of    Sergeant,    with    every    indication    of  : 
future     promotion.      l^ut     he     died     at      [■"oily 
Island,    a   victim    to   typhoid   fever,  ;ind    there 
rests    in    a  soldier's  grave,    a  brave  man   who 
gave    his    life    in    the   service  of    his  countrv. 
His   death   cast   a  gloom  over  the  whole  com- 
munity, who   sympathized    with    his   family  in 
their  great  bereavement. 

.Stei)hen  Lyon  was  brought  u\>  on  his 
father's  farm,  and  attended  the  district  school, 
later  entering  the  high  school  of  Walton, 
where  he  remained  one  year.  After  this,  in 
1847,  he  started  out  in  life  on  his  own  respon- 
sibility, being  employed  by  contractors  in 
clearing  the  land  and  making  it  ready  for  cul-  j 
tivation.  After  his  marriage  he  settled  on  i 
his  tarm  of  two  hundred  ami  fortv  acres  in 
Broome  County,  where  he  remained  for  four- 
teen years,  when  he  came  to  his  jiresent  home, 
occupying  the  same  house  in  which  he  now 
lives.  For  twenty-three  years,  up  to  March, 
1894,  he  here  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
wagons,    in    which    occupation     he    was    emi-  ! 


nently  successful,  always  giving  s;ilisfaclion 
to  his   many    patrons. 

In  1854  Mr.  Lyon  married  Julia  Hoyt,  <jf 
Walliin,  who  became  the  mother  of  three'chil- 
dren,  two  of  whom,  a  son  and  a  daughter, 
lived  to  reach  maturity.  The  son,  Mclverii 
Lyon,  M.D.,  was  graduated  from  a  I'hiladel- 
l)hia  medical  school,  and  is  now  a  jjhysician 
;it  Absecon,  N.J.  Hy  his  wife,  Hannah 
Crosby,  he  has  had  two  sons,  only  one  of 
whom  is  now  living,  the  other  having  died  in 
infancy.  The  daughter,  Myrtie,  with  her 
husband.  Robert  Berray,  and  two  sons  Ken- 
neth, three  years  old,  and  I''redcrick,  a  young 
babe  —  resides  at  the  parental  home.  Mrs. 
Lyon  has  been  in  delicate  health  during  the 
last  tew  years,  and  is  now  visiting  her  son  in 
New  Jersi'y. 

Mr.  Lyon  is  a  consistent  Republican,  being 
an  ardent  supporter  ot  the  platform  of  that 
l)arty,  and  has  held  some  minor  offices  under 
that  organization.  He  and  his  wife  are  both 
devout  and  interested  members  of  the  Congre- 
gational church  of  Walton,  taking  an  active 
part  in  its  religious  and  social  affairs.  A 
just,  reliable,  nob!e-i)rinciple(l  man,  he  holds 
an  exalted  position  in  the  esteem  of  his  manv 
trientls,  and  is  reg;irded  b\  his  townsmen  ;is 
a  valuable  citizen,  who  is  ever  interested 
in  good  government  and  the  welfare  of  the 
]ieople. 


/  ^^n^JRCl-;  W.  .\LL1S().\.  a  carpenter 
V  f?  I  and  well-known  citizen  of  Cook's 
[•"alls,  Delaware  County,  was  born  ;it 
Liberty  l''alls,  Sullivan  County,  \.V.,  July 
21,  1830.  His  father,  J;imes  Allison,  who 
was  boin  in  Scotland,  and  was  a  carpenter  and 
millwright,  settled  in  the  town  of  Liberty, 
and  built  a  mill  on  Campbell  Brook.  He  also 
built  a  number  of  other  mills  in  .Sullivan 
County.  He  married  Lucinda  Divine,  to 
whom  four  boys  were  born,  namely:  I'hilo. 
who  died  in  the  late  war:  James,  Jr.,  who 
died  in  1869:  Bradly  IL,  who  married  C. 
Ba.xter,  ;ifter  whose  death  he  married  Juliet 
Cook,  ami  now  resides  in  Cook's  Falls,  Col- 
chester: and  George,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  Mr.  James  Allison  died  at  Liberty 
Falls,  December,    1830,  while  in  the  [irime  of 


326 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


life,  leaving  his  wife  and  four  children,  the 
youngest  of  whom,  George,  was  a  mere  infant. 
Mrs.  Lucinda  Allison  died  at  Colchester 
when  sixty-two  years  of  age.  She  was  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

George  W.  Allison  grew  to  manhood  in 
Liberty  Falls,  spending  his  time  working  on 
various  farms.  He  bought  property  in  Gra- 
hamsville,  .Sullivan  County,  and,  following  the 
carpenter's  trade,  lived  there  for  fifteen  years. 
He  then  purchased  a  farm  near  Cook's  Falls, 
and  engaged  in  its  cultivation,  also  spending 
some  time  at  his  trade.  His  ne.\t  move  was 
to  the  village  of  Cook's  Falls,  where  he  has 
since  resided. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-three  he  married  Jane 
M.,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Catherine  (Black) 
Porter,  who  lived  at  Grahamville,  Sullivan 
County.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry  Porter  had  a 
family  of  seven  children  —  Elizabeth,  Nancy, 
Abbie,  Gideon,  Jane  M.,  Jeanette,  and  Ira. 
Mr.  Porter  was  a  prosperous  farmer,  and  lived 
to  a  good  old  age.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allison 
have  four  children:  Ida,  born  September  23, 
1856,  who  married  Alexander  Sparks,  a  truck- 
man of  Middletown,  N.Y. ;  Emma  B.,  born  in 
October,  1S62,  who  married  Henry  Dekay, 
and  has  two  children:  Anna,  who  was  born 
April  14,  1866,  and  married  John  Healy, 
freight  agent  at  Middletown,  N.Y. ;  and  Clar- 
ence, born  August  17,  1870,  who  now  lives  in 
Rockland,  and  is  a  quarryman. 

Mr.  Allison  has  held  many  positions  of 
trust,  among  them  being  that  of  Justice  of 
Peace,  which  he  has  ably  filled  for  twelve 
years,  and  Justice  of  Sessions,  Commissioner 
of  Highways,  and  Postmaster,  which  latter 
office  he  has  held  since  February  3,  1894. 
He  is  at  i)resent  a  Notary  Public.  He  is  a 
Democrat  in  politics,  and  is  highly  respected 
by  all  his  fellow-citizens.  In  the  social  fra- 
ternities he  is  a  member  of  the  A.  F.  &  A.  M. 
and  I.  O.  R.  M. 


Th:PHKX  RUSSELL,  of  whom  this 
sketch  is  intended  to  be  a  brief  me- 
moir, was  born  to  his  parents  in  Bo- 
vina  on  the  twenty-sixth  day  of 
January  1824.  His  father,  James  Russell, 
was    born    in    Ayrshire,    Scotland,    in    1790; 


and  his  mother,  Margaret  (Brice)  Russell, 
was  also  a  native  of  Scotland.  The  grand- 
father of  Stephen  Russell,  and  the  founder  of 
this  branch  of  the  Russell  family  in  America, 
was  William  Russell,  a  Scotch  farmer  who 
came  to  America  in  1800,  and  settled  in  Bo- 
vina,  N.Y.,  where  a  grandson,  Andrew  T., 
brother  of   Stephen,    now   resides. 

The  two  hundred  acres  of  ground  purchased 
by  the  emigrant  was  forest  land;  and  the 
abundance  of  deer,  bears,  wolves,  and  small 
game  gave  food  to  the  settlers,  and  furnished 
skins  for  traffic  in  the  Catskill  market,  sixty- 
two  miles  distant.  The  nearest  mill  was  six 
miles  away  from  the  log  house  of  the  emi- 
grant, who  would  shoulder  the  grist,  and  walk 
the  distance  when  the  bread  supply  became 
nearly  exhausted  and  the  housewife  clamored 
for  flour.  Life  in  the  primitive  new  settle- 
ment, though  hard  and  rough,  was  healthful ; 
and  William  Russell  lived  to  be  ninety-five 
years  old.  The  husband  and  wife  followed 
the  faith  of  their  fathers,  and  lived  and  died 
in  the  faith  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 
Their  five  children   are   all   now  dead. 

James  Russell,  the  father  of  Stephen,  grew 
up  in  Bovina,  and  was  educated  in  the  primi- 
tive schools  of  that  early  period.  He  was  a 
successful  farmer,  a  prominent  man  among  his 
neighbors,  and  a  member  of  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  church.  Stephen  Russell  re- 
ceived his  education  from  the  masters  in  the 
district  school,  and  lived  on  his  father's  farm 
until  he  was  twenty-one  years  old.  He  then 
went  to  work  for  a  Mr.  William  Thompson, 
with  whom  he  remained  nearly  two  years. 
His  first  year's  earnings  netted  him  the 
meagre  sum  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  dol- 
lars. His  employer  raised  his  wages  during 
the  last  nine  months  of  his  service;  but 
Stephen  Russell  had  decided  to  learn  a  trade 
which  would  insure  him  a  competence,  and  so 
became  a  blacksmith  under  an  apprenticeship 
with  Andrew  Craig.  As  soon  as  he  felt  him- 
self sufficiently  well  skilled  in  his  craft,  he 
set  up  a  shop  for  himself  in  the  village. 
Here  the  stroke  of  his  anvil  sounded  through 
days  of  shine  and  storm;  for  the  smith  was  an 
industrious  man,  and  found  much  work  to  do. 
After  nine  years,  however,  he  sold  his  shop, 
and  bought  a  small  farm  of  sixty  acres,  which 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


327 


he  has  cnhirgcil  by  recent  additions  to  its 
present  proportions,  t\v(j  hundred  and  nine 
acres.  Here  he  has  establislietl  a  dairy  farm, 
and  keeps  a  herd  of  fifty-five  mili<  cows, 
whose  average  yearly  weight  of  butter  is  two 
hundred  and  seventy-five  pounds.  He  has  the 
latest  and  best  machinery  for  butter-making, 
and  takes  the  deepest  interest  in  his  dairy, 
which   is  one  of  the   largest    in    Hovina. 

On  November  11,  1S50,  he  was  united  in 
wedlock  to  Mary  Armstrong,  a  native  of  Bo- 
vina.  .Mrs.  Russell's  father  was  horn  in 
Washington  County,  New  York,  and  came  to 
Bovina  when  the  town  was  in  its  first  stage  of 
development.  The  mother  of  Mary  Arm- 
strong was  a  Scotch  woman.  The  Armstrongs 
were  members  of  the  L'nited  Presbyterian 
church,  and  certainly  fulfilled  the  Biblical  in- 
junction to  "multiply  and  replenish  the 
earth  '" ;  for  out  of  a  family  of  twelve  children 
ten  grew  to  maturity.  Six  of  them  are  now 
living,  namely:  John  Armstrong,  a  resident 
of  California;  Francis,  who  lives  at  the  old 
homestead  in  Bovina;  Elsie,  Mrs.  David 
Oliver;  Mrs.  Mary  Russell;  Margaret,  Mrs. 
Walter  A.  Doig;  and  Ellen  ].,  Mrs.  John  J. 
Foster,  the  latter  a  resident  of  Washington 
County. 

To  Stephen  and  Mar\'  Russell  seven  chil- 
dren have  been  born,  as  follows:  James,  born 
December  5,  1851;  John  A.,  born  June  19, 
1854;  Francis,  born  May  26,  1857;  Mar- 
garet, born  I'ebruary  6,  1861:  William  J., 
I"'ebruary  17,  1867;  Edwin  D.,  born  October 
26,  1869;  Henry  George,  born  May  15,  1872. 
The  ])arents  of  this  family  are  in  the  folds  of 
the  Christian  faith,  being  members  of  the 
Reformed  Presbyterian  church.  Mr.  Russell 
takes  no  part  in  politics,  but  gives  his  uiuli- 
vided  attention  to  his  work.  His  hospitality 
and  geniality  make  him  a  favorite  in  the 
locality  in  which  he  lives;  and  his  butter, 
cream,  and  milk  are  well  known  to  the  epi- 
cures of  Delaware  Countv. 


LEXANDER    McFARI,ANE    and    his 
brother,    Gilbert     Mcl-"arlane,    intelli- 
gent   and    thriving   farmers    of    the 
town  of    Hamden,  are  the  owners  of 
two   fine   and   well-appointed    farms,  aggregat- 


ing two  hundred  and  twelve  acres,  [)leasantly 
located  in  school  district  No.  12.  They 
live  together  on  the  old  homestead,  where 
Gilbert,  who  is  the  elder,  was  born  in  the 
year  1825,  and'  Alexander  on  .'August  7, 
1830.  These  brothers  are  of  pure  .Scotch 
blood,  being  sons  of  Malcom  and  Sarah 
(Crawford)  McP'arlane,  who  were  natives  of 
Scotland,  the  ilate  of  the  birth  of  the  father 
being  1790. 

Soon  after  their  marriage  this  couple  emi- 
grated to  the  United  States,  in  company  with 
the  bride's  parents,  Peter  and  Jennie  (Mc- 
Naught)  Crawford.  They  sailed  from  Glas- 
gow in  1820,  and  were  six  weeks  on  the  water 
before  reaching  New  York  City.  They  very 
soon  came  to  this  county,  settling  at  first  in 
Bovina,  and  afterward  removing  to  Hamden, 
where  Mr.  Crawford  bought  two  hundred  acres 
of  land.  .After  working  on  that  for  about 
three  years,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Md'arlane  bought 
one  hundred  acres  of  wild  land,  which  is  now 
included  in  the  ])roperty  of  their  sons.  Mr. 
Barrus,  an  early  settler,  had  here  built  a 
small  frame  or  board  house,  filled  in  with 
sticks  and  mud;  and  in  this  house,  to  which 
some  additions  were  made,  twelve  children 
were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alalconi  Md'ar- 
lane,  seven  sons  and  five  daughters.  Three 
sons  and  five  daughters  grew  to  adult  life,  and 
of  these  the  sons  and  three  of  the  daughters 
are  now  living.  Malcom,  the  third  son,  is  a 
resident  of  California,  whither  he  went  as 
soon  as  he  attained  his  majority,  in  1858, 
journeying  across  the  [ilains.  On  his  arrival 
there  he  engaged  in  mining  for  a  while,  but 
afterward  became  a  hotel-keeper.  One  of  the 
daughters.  Janet,  the  wife  of  Lewis  Launt,  a 
farmer,  lives  in  Hamden.  Rebecca,  the  wife 
of  Jeremiah  Wilson,  a  farmer,  lives  in  -Sulli- 
van County;  and  Isabelle,  the  widow  of  Will- 
iam H.  Beers,  resides  in  DeEancey.  Neither 
of  the  parents  is  now  living,  the  father  hav- 
ing departed  this  life  in  September,  1849,  '" 
the  sixtieth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  mother 
following  him  some  four  years  later.  They 
were  very  successful  in  their  agricultural  pur- 
suits, and,  in  addition  to  improving  their  first 
purchase,  bought  more  land.  At  the  time  of 
their  decease  the  homestead  property  con- 
tained two  hundred  and  ten  acres,  with  a  good 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


deal  of  standing  timber.  They  were  very  up- 
right and  religious  people,  although  members 
of  no  church,  and  observed  Saturday  as  a  day 
of  rest. 

The  maternal  grandparents  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  brief  record,  Peter  and  Jennie 
(^McNaught)  Crawford,  reared  three  sons  and 
three  daughters;  namely,  Daniel,  Gilbert, 
Peter,  Sarah,  Katie,  and  Jennie.  Daniel,  de- 
ceased, was  married,  and  his  widow  resides  in 
Hamden.  Gilbert  was  a  Presbyterian  minis- 
ter. Peter,  who  came  to  this  country  five 
years  after  the  arrival  of  his  parents,  walked 
from  Catskill  to  Delhi,  a  distance  of  si.xty- 
eight  miles,  in  one  day.  He  was  a  carpenter 
by  trade,  and  his  first  work  in  Delaware 
County  was  on  the  Delhi  court-house.  He 
next  pursued  his  vocation  in  the  city  of  Buf- 
falo, and  there  wooed  and  won  his  bride. 
After  living  there  about  fifteen  years,  he 
traded  his  Buffalo  property  for  five  hundred 
acres  of  wild  land  in  Hamden;  and  this  he 
sold  in  1837,  and  removed  to  Chicago.  He 
took  up  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  just  out- 
side the  city  limits;  and  during  his  residence 
there  he  acquired  a  large  property,  which  at 
the  time  of  his  decease  was  divided  among  his 
three  sons  and  one  daughter. 

Alexander  McFarlane  and  his  brother  Gil- 
bert are  as  skilful  and  scientific  farmers  as 
can  be  found  in  this  locality,  exercising  good 
judgment,  and  being  highly  prosperous  in  all 
their  undertakings.  Their  farm  is  divided 
into  fields  and  lots  by  about  one  thousand  rods 
of  substantial  stone  walls,  and  is  well  sup- 
plied with  all  the  modern  implements  and 
machinery  necessary  for  carrying  on  general 
husbandry.  Alexander  obtained  his  education 
in  the  district  school,  and  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years  hired  himself  out  as  a  farm 
laborer  at  thirteen  dollars  a  month,  working 
eight  months  in  the  year.  He  learned  the 
mason's  trade  soon  after  leaving  home,  and  has 
continued  to  follow  this  in  conjunction  with 
farming  ever  since.  He  helped  to  build  the 
Delhi  branch  of  the  New  York,  Ontario  & 
Western  Railway,  and  was  also  employed  on 
many  of  the  buildings  in  this  locality.  He 
began  early  as  a  steady  man  of  work,  and  is 
still  an  energetic  toiler,  both  he  and  his 
excellent  wife,  who  has  been  his  faithful  help- 


mate,   possessing    great    mental   and   physical 
vigor. 

On  October  14,  1852,  he  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Abby  J.  Launt,  who  was  born 
in  Hamden  in  1833.  .She  is  of  German  an- 
cestry, being  a  daughter  of  Philip  and  Almira 
(Reeves)  Launt,  the  former  of  whom  died 
April  30,  1880,  aged  seventy-four  years,  leav- 
ing a  widow  and  seven  children,  all  of  whom 
are  now  living,  Mrs.  McFarlane  being  the 
eldest  child.  Seven  sons  and  five  daughters 
have  been  born  of  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
McFarlane,  and  of  these  two  sons  and  two 
daughters  are  now  living.  Philip  M.,  a 
farmer  in  Hamden,  married  Anna  Seaman; 
and  they  have  one  daughter.  Jessie,  the  wife 
of  James  Wilson,  lives  in  DeLancey.  John, 
a  farmer,  married  Maggie  McLaury,  and  re- 
sides in  Hamden.  Almira,  a  young  lady  of 
eighteen  years,  lives  with  her  parents,  and, 
being  well  versed  in  the  domestic  arts,  is  her 
mother's  able  assistant.  Nettie,  who  married 
Wilbur  Coe,  died  in  1889,  aged  twenty-seven 
years,  leaving  one  son,  Alexander  Coe,  now 
tenderly  cared  for  by  his  grandparents. 

Mr.  McFarlane  and  his  family  are  members 
of  the  United  Presbyterian  church  at  De- 
Lancey. Politically,  both  he  and  his  brother 
Gilbert,  who  is  a  man  of  great  intelligence 
and  well  informed  on  all  current  topics,  are 
firm  Republicans.  Alexander  has  served  as 
Collector  two  years,  as  Assessor  three  years, 
and  as  Road  Commissioner  two  years.  Their 
brother  John,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  was 
Supervisor  of  the   town. 


RCHIBALD  FALCONER  MAY- 
NARD  is  a  wealthy  and  influential 
farmer  in  Bovina,  Delaware  County, 
and  belongs  to  a  family  absolutely 
identified  with  the  history  and  welfare  of  this 
gilt-edged  town.  Bovina  was  organized  on 
the  first  Tuesday  of  March,  1820,  the  earliest 
town-meeting  being  held  in  the  inn  kept  by 
John  Hastings,  two  miles  from  the  centre,  on 
land  still  known  as  the  Hastings  farm.  The 
first  town  Superintendents  and  Justices  were 
Elisha  B.  Maynard  and  Thomas  Landon. 
The  place  was  settled  chiefly  by  the  Scotch, 
thrifty,    industrious.   God-fearing    people,   de- 


fl.    F.    MaYNilRD. 


Mrs  cJennie  I.  Mrynrrd. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


333 


voted  to  the  I'rcsbyterian  cluircli,  United  or 
Reformed.  They  early  gave  their  chief  at- 
tention to  dairy  products,  in  whicli  they  now 
stand  at  the  head  of  the  county.  Indeed,  its 
very  name,  Bovina,  coming  from  the  Latin 
word  for  cow,  indicates  the  main  characteris- 
tics of  tlie  town  —  still  one  of  the  very  small- 
est in  the  county,  though  at  the  same  time  one 
of  the  richest.  Temperance  prevails,  and  not 
a  liquor  license  has  been  granted  for  a  long 
time.  Partly  as  a  result  of  this  policy,  there 
is  not  a  pauper  in  the  communit\-.  Tennis 
Lake  takes  its  name  from  the  friendly  Indian, 
who  lived  near  it  on  the  Doigfarm.  The  first 
mail  was  opened  on  Januar\'  2j,  1821,  on  the 
shore  of  Lake  Livingston,  and  the  office  was 
calleil  Fish  Lake.  Thomas  Landon  was  the 
first  Postmaster.  Of  course,  the  )dace  had 
been  settled  some  thirty  years  jnx'vious  to  its 
separation  into  a  township;  and  in  1796  the 
first  mill  was  erected  by  -Stephen  Palmer  for 
Governor  Morgan  Lewis,  who  was  interested 
in  the  settlement  of  the  vicinity.  The  first 
marriage  was  between  James  Russell  and 
Nancy  Richie.  The  first  Supervisor  was 
Thomas  Landon.  The  Hastings  family  in- 
troduced jersey  cattle,  now  to  be  found  on 
every  acre:  and  to  the  culture  of  this  breed 
special  attention  is  still  given  by  [.  K.  Hast- 
ings and  W.  L.  Ruff. 

The  IVIaynards  are  of  English  descent,  the 
first  immigrants  of  the  name  coming  to  Amer- 
ica about  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  settling  in  Westchester  County, 
New  York,  in  the  town  of  Rye.  The  grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  Elisha 
H.  Maynard,  who  came  to  this  region  between 
1790  and  1792.  with  two  yokes  of  oxen  and  a 
cart,  and  settled  on  Maynard  Brook.  The 
first  birth  in  the  settlement  was  that  of  one  of 
his  sons,  Elisha  H.  Maynard,  in  179.V  I'io- 
neer  Maynard  followed  the  Indian  trail,  set- 
tling in  this  valley  because  it  took  his  fancy, 
;uid  purchasing  the  hundred  and  fifty  acres 
still  constituting  the  Maynard  farm.  He 
built  his  log  cabin,  and  cleared  his  land, 
passing  his  life  in  liard  work,  active  in  every- 
thing pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the  town. 
In  this  homestead  were  born  most  of  his 
twelve  children,  five  boys  and  seven  girls,  all 
of    whom    have    passed   away.      The   patriarch 


was  very  liberal  in  his  religious  views,  and 
was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812.  In  his 
latter  years  he  niovetl  back  to  Westchester 
County  to  the  old  .Maynard  homestead,  where 
he  died  at  a  good  old  age. 

One  of  his  sons,  the  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  was  Isaac  Maynard.  He,  of 
course,  grew  up  on  tlie  farm,  and  went  to  the 
district  school.  Being  studious  by  nature, 
he  also  studied  by  himself,  giving  special  at- 
tention to  law,  so  that  he  was  abundantly  able 
to  fill  the  office  of  Justice  of  Peace  for  a 
(piarter- century,  though  his  life  business  was 
farming,  in  which  he  was  assisted  by  his 
sons.  His  marriage  took  place  on  January 
22,  1824:  and  his  wife  was  Jane  Falconer, 
born  September  9,  1797.  Through  her  the 
suljject  of  this  sketch  came  by  his  first  name, 
as  she  was  the  daughter  of  Archibald  Falconer, 
who  was  born  in  Scotland,  and  came  to  this 
country  in  1795.  For  a  while  Mr.  Falconer 
lived  in  New  York  City,  and  then  removed  to 
Stamford,  Delaware  County,  where  he  died 
in  1842.  Isaac  Maynard  and  his  wife  had  five 
children,  of  whom  four  are  now  living: 
Elisha  H.,  a  Bovina  farmer;  IClsprit  V.,  de- 
ceased, was  the  wife  of  .'\.  H.  Johnston,  now 
of  Hamden;  Archibald  I'alconer;  Esther,  the 
wife  of  luiward  Combs,  a  Delaware  farmer; 
and  Judge  Isaac  H.  Maynard,  a  resident  of 
Stamford,  who  has  an  office  in  Albany,  a  man 
whose  public  career  has  of  late  years  excited 
so  much  attention.  The  father  of  these  chil- 
dren lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-two, 
and  then  was  killed  by  a  runaway  horse.  In 
religious  views  he  was  liberal,  like  his  father, 
and  in  politics  he  was  a  Democrat;  his  wife 
who  died  at  the  age  of  seventy,  was  a  Pres- 
byterian. 

Archibald  F.  iMayn:inl  was  born  on  the 
homestead  where  he  still  lives,  on  Novendier 
14.  1829.  He  takes  i)ride  in  the  condition  ni 
this  ancestral  farm,  unchanged  in  area,  though 
it  has  kept  up  with  the  times  in  adopting  the 
latest  methods.  Archibald  attended  the  dis- 
trict school,  and  felt  it  a  duty  and  privilege 
to  remain  at  home  and  care  for  his  jwrents 
when  they  needed  his  help;  but  he  did  not 
m;irry  till  June  2,  1875,  when  over  forty-five 
years  of  age.  His  wife  was  Jennie  Isabel 
Cowan,    born    in    Stamford,  January   29,   1849. 


334 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Her  father,  Hector  Cowan,  was  also  born  in 
Stamford;  but  her  mother,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Esther  Nesbitt,  was  born  in  Bovina. 
Mr.  Cowan  was  a  mechanic,  and  died  before 
he  had  completed  his  half-century,  while  his 
widow  lived  to  be  seventy  years  old.  Both 
were  earnest  I'resbyterian  church  members  at 
South  Kortright;  and  they  had  seven  chil- 
dren, five  now  living.  Mary  Cowan  married 
John  N.  McCracken,  of  Oneonta,  Otsego 
County.  Jennie  Cowan  is  the  wife  of,  Mr. 
Maynard,  and  her  likeness  accompanies  that 
of  her  husband.  William  H.  Cowan  lives  in 
Montgomery,  Orange  County;  he  married 
Miss  Mary  Keesler,  of  Orange  County,  New 
York.  Nancy  Cowan  is  the  wife  of  William 
R.  Brock,  of  Stamford.  George  N.  Cowan 
resides  in  the  same  town;  his  wife  was 
Jessie  B.  Gillespie,  now  deceased. 

The  Maynard  estate   is   in  the  prime  of  cul- 
tivation.     Its  owner  maintains  that  every  farm 
should  produce  enough  feed  for  its   live  stock. 
Therefore  he  does  not  buy  grain,    like  many 
other  milk   farmers,    and   prefers   to   have   the 
creatures  at    pasture   in   the  summer.      Never- 
theless,  his   is  the   model  farm,   his   nineteen 
lersey    cows    and    heifers    yielding     in     1893 
about   four  thousand   one    hundred    pounds    of 
golden    butter,  besides   what   was  used    in   the 
family,  the   dairy  being  run   only  through  the 
summer  season.      The   farm    buildings   are   in 
the     finest     order.       The     family     residence, 
built   in    1887,    is   both    beautiful   and    costly, 
and    is  provided    with    every    modern    conven- 
ience.     Like    the    mansion,    the    grounds    are 
elaborately  arranged  and  decorated.     To  every 
detail   of  the  farm  work  the   owner  gives   his 
personal  attention.      In  every  local    enterprise 
he  is  thoroughly  interested,  like   his   progeni- 
tors.     Like  his   father    and    grandfather,    Mr. 
Maynard    is   a    Democrat,    and    has    been  four 
years  Justice  of   Peace.        The  family  attend 
the    United    Presbyterian    church     at     Bovina 
Centre.      There    is   one  son  only,  William    II. 
Maynard,  born   June  6,    1876,    in   the   centen- 
nial year.      In  the  class  of    1894  ho  graduated 
honorably  at  the  Delaware  Academy  in  Delhi. 
He    is    now  attending    Westminster    College, 
New   Wilmington,    Pa. 

As  the  reader  turns  to  view   the   portrait  of 
Mr.   Archibald   F.  Maynard  on  a  neighboring 


page,  opposite  that  of  Mrs.  Maynard,  he  may 
well  call  to  mind  the  words  of  that  enlight- 
ened Democratic  philosopher  and  president, 
Thomas  Jefferson,  "  Let  the  farmer  forever- 
more  be  honored  in  his  calling,  for  they  who 
labor  in  the  earth  are  the  chosen  people  of 
God." 


AMES  R.  HONEYWELL,  County 
Treasurer,  became  the  incumbent  of 
this  responsible  office  in  the  year  1886, 
and  since  that  period  has  faithfully 
and  efficiently  discharged  the  duties  connected 
with  it.  He  is  known  as  a  man  of  intelli- 
gence, honesty,  and  ability,  and  is  regarded 
as  a  good  authority  on  questions  of  finance. 
Having  by  close  attention  to  business  accumu- 
lated, while  yet  in  the  prime  of  life,  a  fair 
competence,  he  is  now  enabled  to  devote  his 
entire  time  to  the  large  interests  intrusted  to 
his  care.  Among  the  solid  and  substantial 
citizens  of  Delhi  he  holds  an  honored  posi- 
tion and  one  which  he  has  well  earned. 

Mr.  Honeywell  is  a  native  of  Delaware 
County,  having  been  born  December  i,  1842, 
in  the  town  of  Walton,  which  was  also  the 
birthplace  of  his  parents,  Alfred  and  Mar- 
garet (Russell)  Honeywell,  the  latter  being  of 
Scotch  parentage.  He  is  of  pioneer  ancestry, 
his  great-grandfather,  Matthias  Honeywell,  a 
Revolutionary  soldier,  having  been  an  early 
settler  of  Walton,  where  he  cleared  and  im- 
proved a  good  homestead.  The  grandfather, 
William  Honeywell,  was  a  soldier  in  the  War 
of  1 81 2,  and  after  its  close  carried  on  his 
trade  of  miller  in  the  town  of  Walton,  re- 
maining there  until   his  decease. 

Mr.  Honeywell  grew  to  man's  estate  in  the 
place  of  his  nativity,  receiving  the  common- 
school  advantages  to  which  every  child  was 
entitled.  Possessing  excellent  business  tact 
and  shrewdnes.s,  he  early  turned  his  attention 
toward  mercantile  pursuits,  and  in  1865  be- 
came a  resident  of  Delhi,  entering  the  em- 
ploy of  Henry  England  as  a  clerk  in  his  store. 
In  this  capacity  he  proved  himself  eminently 
trustworthy,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years 
became  thoroughly  conversant  with  the  mer- 
cantile business,  and  found  it  so  congenial  to 
his    tastes    that    in    1872    he    bought    out    the 


RIOORAPHICAI,    RF.VIF.W 


MS 


interest  of  Mr.  I'ji^iaiul  in  the  store,  ami  was 
for  several  years  one  of  the  leading  nierehants 
of  Delhi.  During  his  residenee  here  he  has 
aetjuired  a  re|)utation  for  financial  sagaeit\- 
and  executive  ability,  and  has  been  elected 
to  various  offices  of  trust.  He  is  at  jiresent 
one  of  the  tiustees  of  the  Delaware  Acadeinv. 
and  is  a  director  of  the  Delaware  Loan  & 
Trust  Company.  I'oliticall\',  Mr.  lIone\\vell 
is  an  uncompromising  Republican,  and  frater- 
nally is  prominent  in  masonic  circles,  being- 
Trustee  of  Delhi  Lodge,  King  of  Delhi  Chap- 
ter, and  belonging  to  Norwich  C^ommandery. 

The  imion  of  Mr.  IIone\well  and  .Miss 
Mary  W'alsworth,  of  Sing-Sing,  X.\'.,  was 
solemnized  some  ten  years  since;  and  two 
children,  Warren  and  Marguerite,  haw  come 
to  gladden  their  liearts  and  brighten  their 
tireside.  The\'  ha\'e  an  attractive  and  c()se\- 
residence  on  High  Street,  where  thev  liis- 
pense  a  generous  hospitality  to  their  numerous 
triends  and  acquaintances.  Both  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Honevwell  are  communicants  of  the 
Methodist  I'iliiscopal  church  and  active 
workers    in   the   Sunda\'-school. 


BADIAII  M.  NI-:FI-\  a  well-known 
farmer  and  dairyman  of  Deposit,  was 
born  in  Lawrence,  Otsego  County, 
July  I  V  iSj2,  son  of  Jacob  R.  and 
Xancy  (^Thayer)  Ncff.  The  father  of  Jacob 
H.  Xeff  was  a  inonecr  settler  in  the  eastern 
part  of  New  York,  and  dietl  in  early  manhood, 
leaving  his  widow  and  children  to  the  care  of 
his  son.  who  was  born  and  educated  in  Am- 
sterdam, Montgomerv  Countv,  and  there 
learned  the  trade  of  a  coojjer.  When  ijuite 
young,  Jacob  moved  with  the  family  to  Law- 
rence, where  he  purchased  a  tract  of  land,  and 
made  a  home  for  his  widowetl  mother  and  his 
brothers  and  sisters.  He  cleareil  the  land, 
erectetl  a  log  cabin,  and  worked  both  at  farm- 
ing and  at  his  trade  of  coojier.  His  mother 
carded,  wove,  and  spim  all  the  riax  and  wool 
used  for  the  clothes  of  her  family,  proving 
herself  an  exceptionalh'  capable  and  industri- 
ous woman. 

When  nineteen  years  of  age,  Jacob  B.  Xeff 
marrietl  Xancy  Thayer,  of  Otsego  Count\-,  a 
daughter   of   Asa  and  Lydia  Thayer,      In   1839 


he  disposed  (jf  his  [iroperty  in  Lawrence,  and 
moved  to  Tompkins,  Delaware  County,  in  the 
section  now  known  as  l)e]3osit.  He  pur- 
chased two  hundred  acres  of  i)artially  cleare<l 
land  in  Barbourville,  and  followed  the  occu- 
pations of  a  farmer  and  a  cooper,  at  which  he 
was  employed  until  his  death  at  eighty  years, 
his  wife  having  died  a  short  time  jirevious. 
They  had  eight  children;  n;niiely,  Obadiah, 
^Llrtha,  Asa,  Nancy,  Lucy,  Rebecca,  Will- 
iam, and  I'^sther.  .Mr.  Xeff  was  a  Democrat, 
and  both  he  and  his  wife  were  life-long  mem- 
beis  of  the  Christian  church. 

Obadiah  M.  Xeff  was  educated  in  Law- 
rence, and  learned  the  cooper's  trade,  doing 
to  work  by  the  month  when  seventeen,  he  was 
employed  in  that  way  until  he  started  out  for 
himself  at  the  age  of  tweuty-fou!-.  He  bought 
a  tract  of  timbered  laiul  in  Tom[)kins,  built 
him  a  frame  house,  and  engaged  in  Umibering 
and  farming.  On  T'ebruary  18,  1840,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  .\Liry  Ann  Culver,  daughter  of 
loshua  and  I'arlina  (Mills)  Culver,  of  .Mason- 
ville. 

Ichabotl  Culver,  the  father  of  Joshua,  came 
from  Dutchess  to  Delaware  County  before  the 
Revolutionary  War,  when  the  country  around 
there  was  a  desolate  wilderness;  and  he  was 
killed  at  the  raising  of  a  mill  buihiing.  In 
those  days  the  settlers  were  obliged  to  take 
their  live  stock  into  the  house  to  jjrotect  them 
from  the  wild  animals,  which  were  exceed- 
ingly abundant.  The  grandmother  of  Mrs. 
Neff  was  once  followed  by  a  panther,  and  was 
obliged  to  galIo|3  for  many  miles  before  she 
finally  reached  shelter  and  escaped  the  fero- 
cious beast.  Joshua  Cidver  was  a  farmer  ;m(l 
lumberman,  clearing  a  large  tract  of  land  in 
Barbourville;  and  his  wife  manufactured  all 
the  cloth  used  for  the  family.  .Six  of  their 
children  lived  to  reach  maturity;  namely, 
Thomas,  Mary  Ann.  Hannah.  Khdra,  Ange- 
line,  and  Cynthia.  Three  died  within  three 
weeks  of  one  another-  Betsey  Jane,  Alice, 
and  Henrietta. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Obadiah  XetT  have  t\vc  chil- 
dren now  living,  namelv:  Walter,  who  mar- 
ried \'ioletta  Knajjp,  and  has  two  children: 
Alice,  the  wife  of  \'aldermar  Mayo,  of  De- 
]5osit,  and  the  mother  of  five  children; 
I''rnest,  who  married  Xettie  Miles,  of  Deposit, 


336 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


and  has  one  child;  William;  and  Edmund. 
Three  of  their  children,  Amelia,  Alonzo,  and 
Joshua,  died  when  quite  young.  Mr.  Neff 
and  his  son  Walter  arc  engaged  in  farming  on 
the  old  homestead,  and  in  dairying,  in  which 
they  are  very  successful.  Mr.  Neff  is  as 
strong  and  active  as  in  former  years,  and  his 
genial  countenance  is  welcome  wherever  it  is 
seen. 


iHARLES  SMITH  ALLABEN, 
M.D.,  a  prominent  medical  practi- 
tioner of  Margarettville,  in  Middle- 
town,  Delaware  County,  N.Y.,  was 
born  in  Delhi  on  January  27,  1855.  His 
father,  James  R.  Allaben,  was  a  son  of  John 
Allaben,  and  a  grandson  of  Jonathan  Allaben. 
Jonathan  Allaben  was  born  in  Connecticut, 
but  went  to  Long  Island,  and  was  drowned  in 
Long  Island  Sound  not  many  years  after  the 
Revolution.  His  son,  John  Allaben,  was  born 
on  Long  Island,  and  married  Fezon  Mclntyre. 
He  removed  to  Delhi,  and  next  to  Roxbury, 
where  he  bought  a  farm,  and  remained  until 
death,  at  sixty-four  years  of  age.  He  had 
several  children,  seven  of  whom  grew  up. 
Orson  M.  Allaben,  M.D.,  married  Thankful 
Dimmick,  and  had  two  children,  both  dying 
young.  Wilson  Allaben,  M.D.,  by  his  wife 
Nancy  was  the  father  of  six  children.  Jona- 
than C.  Allaben,  M.D.,  married  Angelina 
Decker,  and  is  now  dead.  His  widow  sur- 
vives. They  were  the  parents  of  seven  chil- 
dren, four  of  whom  still  live.  The  Rev. 
William  N.  Allaben,  of  Margarettville,  is  the 
only  one  of  the  family  now  living.  He  is  in 
his  seventy-ninth  year,  and  has  been  married 
three  times.  He  had  five  children  by  his  first 
wife  and  two  by  the  second,  but  has  only  one 
now  living.  Abigail  Allaben  married.  She 
and  her  husband  are  both  deceased.  James 
R.  Allaben  is  the  subject  of  further  mention 
below.  Sarah  Antoinette  Allaben  married 
William  R.  Sanford,  and  died,  leaving  six 
children,    having  had   ten   or   twelve. 

James  R.  Allaben  was  born  in  Roxbury, 
October  20,  1823,  and  was  educated  in  the 
district  school  and  at  Delaware  Academy. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1848,  being 
one  of  the  first   lawyers  to  study  with  Judge 


Wheeler,  and  in  i860  served  as  one  of  the 
Presidential  electors  who  recorded  the  vote  of 
the  people  for  Abraham  Lincoln.  In  Jan- 
uary, 1853,  he  married  Ellen  P.  Smith,  of 
Delhi,  a  daughter  of  James  and  Eliza  M. 
Smith.  James  Smith  was  born  in  Andes,  but 
came  to  Delhi,  where  he  was  known  as  a  reli- 
able merchant.  His  children  were:  Amasa 
J.  Smith,  who  married  Eusebia  Faulkner; 
Charles  B.  Smith,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  or  nineteen;  Eliza  M.,  who  became 
the  wife  of  Henry  R.  Washbon ;  and  Ellen  P. 
Smith,  Mrs.  Allaben,  who  died  April  15, 
1874.  Her  husband,  James  R.  Allaben,  was 
appointed  United  States  Storekeeper  in  1861, 
and  went  to  Brooklyn,  where,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  three  years,  he  remained  until  death, 
on  September  14,  1893.  They  had  seven 
children.  William  H.  Allaben  married  in 
Brooklyn.  Charles  S.  Allaben  is  the  !\Iar- 
garettville  Doctor.  Eliza  M.  Allaben  mar- 
ried George  T.  Moore,  and  lives  in  Brooklyn. 
Orson  M.  Allaben,  second,  died  young. 
James  R.  Allaben,  Jr.,  married  Anna  Mc- 
Nitt,  and  died  F"ebruary  15,  1889,  leaving 
one  child,  Nelson  James  Allaben.  Two  other 
children,  John  and  Ellen  C.  Allaben,  did  not 
live  to  grow  up. 

Charles  S.  Allaben  was  educated  in  the 
Brooklyn  public  schools  and  the  Delaware 
Academy,  and  was  graduated  frcnn  the  New 
York  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  on 
May  16,  1882.  He  commenced  practising  in 
Brooklyn,  and  remained  there  a  year.  Then 
he  went  to  Otsego  County,  where  during  seven 
years  of  successful  practice  he  met  and  mar- 
ried on  March  28,  1883,  Mary  Electa  Moore, 
a  daughter  of  Albert  G.  and  Elizabeth  A. 
(Beardsley)  Moore.  Mr.  Moore  was  a  banker, 
and  had  a  family  of  three  children:  Mary  E. 
Moore,  born  July  9,  1862;  and  Anna  E.  and 
Jessie  B.  Moore,  both  dead.  Mr.  Moore  died 
in  his  forty-third  year;  but  his  widow  is  liv- 
ing now,  makes  her  home  in  Morris,  Otsego 
County,  and  is  sixty-one  years  old.  Dr. 
Allaben  has  one  son,  Charles  Moore  Allaben, 
born  October  15,  1885.  The  Doctor  is  one  of 
the  village  Trustees.  He  has  lived  on  Wal- 
nut Street  since  1890,  and,  being  a  kinsman 
of  the  late  noted  Dr.  Orson  M.  Allaben,  is 
rapidly  gaining  the  implicit  confidence  of  that 


BIOGRAl'lIICAL   REVIEW 


337 


gcntlciiKurs  I'riciuls.  Mai\L;ai'i.'ttviIlc  is  in- 
deed lortunale  in  secui'iiij;  sucii  a  citizen  to 
help   humanity. 

•■  ICiiiiiN'  iho  niikk-n  miin\L-iUs  ;i>  they  pass. 
Aiifl  '',un  now  strcnmh  lor  d.ws  that  arc  to  foiiK'." 


RS.  I.Al'RA  (ilLLETT.  one  nl' 
tlic  most  estinial)le  and  highly  I'e- 
spected  women  t)f  the  town  of 
l'"fanklin,  where  she  lias  long- 
been  a  prominent  resident,  is  the  widow  of 
the  late  Jacob  Gillett,  who  died  in  this  town 
on  the  farm  where  he  was  born,  JaiUKir\-  i. 
1893.  The  (iilletts  were  among  the  pioneer 
.settlers  of  Delaware  Cotmty.  Joel  Gillett, 
the    father    of     facob,    was    born    at    Hebron, 


Conn.,    February 


7y;^,   a    .son    of    Kzekiel 


Gillett,  a  well-to-do  farmer,  a  soklier  of  the 
Revolution,  who  died  in  Connecticut  in  kSk), 
at  seventy-six  years  of  age.  Joel  (jillett 
served  in  the  War  of  1812.  lie  married  Cla- 
rissa Carrier,  of  Connecticut;  and  she  in  1  8oj 
joined  her  husband  in  Franklin,  he  ha\-ing 
come  here  the  year  before  with  o.\en  and  cait 
to  make  a  new  home  for  himself  antl  tamil\'. 
It  was  a  dense  wilderness  that  this  energetic 
cou|")le  were  obliged  to  penetrate,  and  in  the 
midst  of  which  they  made  a  clearing  and  buili 
their  house,  having  purchased  the  land  from 
George  Gillett,  a  brother  of  Joel,  who  had 
come  in  1800,  and  bought  (Jiie  huntired  and 
eighty-seven   acres. 

Here  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joel  (iillelt  reared  their 
large  family  of  thirteen  children,  all  of  whom, 
with  the  e.Nception  of  one  son,  lived  to  reach 
maturity  with  families  of  their  own.  But 
three  of  these  children  still  stirvivi-,  namely: 
Joel,  Jr.,  who  resides  in  Afton  at  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  eighty-seven  years ;  Warren,  in 
Oneonta,  aged  seventy-seven;  Almira,  widow 
of  Reuben  -Stilson.  Joel  Gillett  died  in  his 
eightieth  year,  Api'il  25,  1853,  in  the  home 
which  he  had  built,  his  wife  living  to  be 
eighty-five  years  old.  Hoth  were  members  of 
the  Congregational  church,  in  which  faith  the\ 
died:  and  they  now  slee])  in  the  Ouleout  ceme- 
tery. Their  son  Jacob  was  liorn  in  1S20,  and 
on  Octoi)er  2  [ ,  1  847,  married  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  who  was  then   Miss   Laura  Cleveland. 

Mrs.  Laura   Gillett  was  born    in    Kortright, 


December  4,  18J3.  Her  parents,  Le\i  and 
Rebecca  (Dibble)  Cleveland,  were  both  of 
Kortright,  where  they  were  married  in  1820. 
They  reared  a  family  of  eight  children.  One 
son,  Curtis  Cleveland,  died  in  Tioga  County, 
Pennsylvania,  where  he  was  engaged  in  farm- 
ing, and  left  three  sons  and  one  (laughter.  A 
daughter,  I'olly  Clevclaiul,  wife  of  Da\id 
I"itcii,  passed  away  in  Sidney  in  1872,  being 
fifty-one  years  of  age.  The  si.\  children  now 
living  arc:  Mrs.  Gillett;  .Sarah,  widow  of 
.Seth  Hartlett,  in  .Sidney;  Amelia  Ann,  widow 
of  McNight  Hirdsall,  near  Unadilla;  Chester, 
in  .Sidney;  Noah,  who  ic.sicles  in  Crooker- 
ville:   and    David,    in    L'nadilla. 

Mrs.  Gillett  has  been  called  upon  to  [xirt 
with  two  sons:  Dax'id,  who  died  in  Marcli, 
1863,  in  his  fifteenth  year;  and  Joel,  a  rail- 
road employee,  who  passed  away  January  ji, 
1883,  being  twenty-eight  years  old.  On  Jan- 
tiary  1,  1893,  her  beloved  htisband  w-as  taken 
awa\' ;  :ind  she  and  her  children  were  left  to 
mourn  the  loss  of  one  who  had  been  the 
teniler,  faithftil  head  of  the  happy  household. 
Jacob  (lillett  was  an  intelligent,  high-minded, 
genial  man,  luiiformlv  courteous  and  kind, 
widelv  known  and  highly  respected  in  his  na- 
ti\e  town;  and  by  his  death  an  irreparable 
loss  was  sustained  by  the  whole  commiuiity 
as  well  as  the  bereaved  family.  lie  died  in 
the  house  where  he  had  been  born,  and  in 
which  the  family  at  present  reside,  it  still 
being  a  wel  l-])reserved  dwelling  of  modern 
appearance,  though  built  seventy-five  years 
ago,  having  been  at  all  times  kept  in  excellent 
repair.  The  fine  barn  was  built  bv  Mi'.  Ciil- 
lett  in   I  880. 

.Mrs.  Gillett  has  four  children  now  living, 
namely:  Urania,  wdfe  of  Charles  Wheaton, 
who  resides  near  the  old  home,  and  has  one 
daughter;  luneline,  wife  of  Manning  [•"leniing, 
a  farmer  in  I'ranklin,  with  two  daughters: 
I'lora,  wife  of  George  Stewart,  a  farmer  of 
Hainbritlge:  and  Levi,  who  married  Miss 
Carrie  Juild,  datighter  of  Ira  Judd,  ami  lives 
at  home,  assisting  his  mother  in  the  care  of 
tlie  farm.  He  and  his  wife  have  one  son,  an 
interesting  lad  of  nine  years.  In  ])olitics  Mr. 
Gillett  was  a  stanch  Republican.  Mrs.  Gil- 
lett is  a  warm-hearted,  religious  woman,  a 
faithful  member  of  the  Congregational  church. 


338 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


nr^AVID  MUIR,  an  industrious  and 
I  =1  prosperous  dairyman  and  farmer  of 
1^9/  Andes,  Delaware  County,  N.Y., 
was  born  at  the  homestead  where  he 
now  resides,  December  25,  1845.  His  grand- 
father, James  Muir,  was  a  native  of  Fifeshire, 
Scotland,  where  he  followed  the  occupation  of 
a  shepherd,  and  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  A 
son  of  James,  David  Muir,  Sr.,  the  father  of 
the  present  David  Muir,  of  Andes,  was  born 
in  Dundee,  and,  while  still  a  young  man,  came 
to  America,  landing  in  New  York  City.  He 
lived  there  for  seven  years,  being  mostly  em- 
ployed at  his  trade  of  stone-cutter.  He  then 
married  Miss  Charlotte  Turnbull,  who  was 
also  a  native  of  Scotland,  and,  removing  to 
Andes,  bought  the  farm  which  his  son  now 
occupies.  It  was  partially  improved;  and  a 
mill,  one  of  the  first  in  this  part  of  the  coun- 
try, was  situated  on  the  land. 

David  Muir  operated  the  mill  in  connection 
with  his  farm  for  many  years,  living  in  a  log 
house.  His  first  purchase  of  land  included 
two  hundred  acres,  to  which  he  added  from 
time  to  time  until  at  the  period  of  his  death, 
at  seventy-eight  years  of  age,  he  was  the 
possessor  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of 
land.  A  hard  worker,  efficient  manager,  and 
liberal-minded  man,  he  succeeded  in  accumu- 
lating a  comfortable  fortune,  and,  what  is  far 
more  important,  in  winning  for  himself  an 
enviable  position  in  the  hearts  of  his  towns- 
people. He  was  a  Republican  in  his  later 
years,  although  a  Jackson  Democrat  in  former 
times.  His  wife  died  when  seventy-two  years 
of  age,  the  mother  of  eight  children,  namely: 
James,  a  jeweller  and  lumberman  in  Andes; 
Thomas,  who  died  when  fifty  years  of  age; 
Alexander,  a  resident  of  Bradford  County, 
Pennsylvania;  Margaret,  wife  of  Alfred  Glen- 
denning,  of  Andes;  Mary,  who  lives  at  the 
old  home;  David,  of  whom  this  biography 
is  written;  Henry  D.,  of  Bradford  County, 
Pa. ;  and  John,   a  carpenter  at   Stamford. 

David  Muir  resided  with  his  parents  and 
grew  to  manhood  in  Andes,  attending  the  dis- 
trict schools  and  later  the  academy  of  the 
town.  Wisely  deciding  to  devote  himself  to 
agriculture  as  his  life  work,  he  at  length  pur- 
chased the  old  homestead  of  three  hundred 
and  fifty  acres,  and  is  now  the  owner  of  one  of 


the  largest  farms  in  this  neighborhood.  Mr. 
Muir  operates  a  large  dairy,  keeping  seventy 
Jersey  cows  and  dealing  in  blooded  stock. 
He  has  given  great  attention  to  this  industry, 
and  owns  a  superior  herd  of  cattle,  his  cows 
producing  an  average  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds  of  butter  per  head  in  the  year  1892  and 
1893.  The  buildings  on  his  farm  have  been 
recently  remodelled;  and  his  spacious  barn, 
which  was  erected  in  18S4,  can  accommodate 
seventy-two  head  of  cattle. 

On  January  14,  1885,  ]\Ir.  Muir  married 
Miss  Mary  Hyzer,  a  native  of  Andes,  and 
daughter  of  Ira  W.  and  Margaret  Hyzer.  Her 
father  was  an  early  settler  of  Andes,  and  died 
in  July,  1893,  being  survived  by  his  wife. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Muir  are  the  parents  of  two 
children:  Myrtle  M.,  born  July  4,  1887;  and 
David  Leslie,  born  June  9,  1889.  Mr.  Muir 
is  a  Republican;  and  he  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
at  Andes,  where  they  are  highly  respected. 
He  is  a  practical,  industrious  man,  who  has 
given  his  undivided  attention  to  the  best 
methods  of  farming  and  dairying,  and  has 
been  deservedly  successful  in  his  various 
undertakings. 


ICHARD    A.    ROGERS,   who    is   now 

living  in  the  town  of   Walton,  retired 

from    the    active    pursuits    of    life, 

has  spent  more  than  fourscore  years 

its   limits,  and   has   been  an  important 

in  promoting   its  growth  from  a  small 

a   thick  forest,  to  its 

populous    condition. 

New   England   stock, 


within 
factor 

hamlet,  surrounded  with 
present  flourishing  and 
He  comes  of  substantial 
but  is  a  native  of  this  State,  having  been  born 
in  the  town  of  Tompkins,  May  6,  1810.  His 
parents,  Asa  and  Catherine  (Hamilton) 
Rogers,  were  of  New  England  birth,  his 
father  having  been  born  in  Massachusetts  in 
1770,  and  his  mother  in  Connecticut  in  1775. 
In  1798  Asa  Rogers  and  his  wife  migrated 
to  this  State,  bringing  with  them  one  child, 
and  settling  in  Delaware  County,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Susquehanna  River,  where  he 
carried  on  his  trade  of  a  miller  for  a  time. 
Two  years  later  Mr.  Rogers  moved  to  Tomp- 
kins, where  he  engaged   in   the   lumber  busi- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


339 


ness  with  one  John  Carpenter,  remainin^^  in 
partnership  with  liim  until  \8\2,  when  he 
returnee]  to  Walton.  Here  he  hous^ht  one 
hundred  and  ei,i;hl  acres  of  wooded  land, 
mostly  hemlock  and  hard  timber,  and,  erect- 
inj;  a  log  cabin,  began  the  improvement  of  a 
farm.  By  his  skilful  management  ami  ener- 
getic toil  he  clearetl  and  improvetl  a  good 
homestead;  ami  before  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  1842,  he  hail  erected  a  substantial 
frame  house  and  the  necessary  barn  and  farm 
buildings,  and  had  increased  the  acreage  to 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres.  }lis  wife  out- 
lived him  several  years,  dying  in  1865.  They 
reared  a  family  of  three  children,  namel)- : 
Fanny;  William;  and  Richard  A.,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  l-'anny  niarrieti  Jared 
Marvin,  and  became  the  mother  of  five  sons 
and  three  daughters,  all  of  whom,  with  the 
exception  of  one  son,  grew  to  maturity,  four 
sons  and  one  daughter  being  yet  alive.  Mrs. 
Marvin  died  in  1873,  being  then  seventy-five 
years  old.  William,  who  succeeded  his  father 
in  the  ownership  of  the  old  homestead,  died 
there  in  1870,  aged  sixty-seven  \ears.  He 
married  Betsey  Felton,  of  Mamden ;  and  they 
became  the  parents  of  three  sons  and  five 
daughters,  of  whom  Edwaril,  who  lives  in 
Michigan,  and  Harriet,  a  resident  of  Scran- 
ton,    Pa.,    are   the   only   ones    now    living. 

Richard  A.,  the  youngest  son,  was  but  two 
years  old  when  his  parents  settled  on  their 
farm  in  this  town,  and  he  was  there  reared  to 
manhood.  Being  a  very  good  student,  he  ac- 
quired as  good  an  education  as  the  schools  of 
the  town  affortled,  and  was  employed  two  win- 
ters as  a  teacher  in  the  district  school.  He 
next  began  life  as  a  farmer  and  lumberman, 
and  for  ten  years  carried  on  general  farming 
on  the  mountain,  and  was  afterwartl  for  a 
space  of  thirty  years  employed  in  the  manu- 
facture of  lumber.  Mr.  Rogers  was  also  for 
many  years  a  prominent  carpenter  and  joiner, 
taking  contracts  for  several  substantial  build- 
ings. In  his  varietl  occupations  he  has  been 
remarkably  successful,  gaining  substantial 
pecuniary   rewards. 

(_)n  the  22(1  of  November,  1832,  he  w-as 
united  in  marriage  to  Harriet  Hanford,  a  na- 
tive of  Walton,  born  November  27,  1814, 
being  a  daughter  of  Stephen  and  Mary  (Hojt) 


llanloril.  1  wo  sons  were  born  to  ,Mr.  anti 
Mrs.  Rogers,  the  elder  of  whom,  Charles  B., 
born  I'ebruary  16,  183S,  died  November  2/, 
1853.  The  younger,  Williain  il..  who  was 
born  in  1840,  died  in  1S80,  leaving  .1  widow, 
formerly  Mary  I..  Crawley,  the  tiaughter  of 
.■\bner  and  Idiza  (Barstow)  Crawley,  and  two 
children:  .Anna  1'^,  a  young  lady  living  .it 
home;  and  Charles  .\.,  a  clerk  and  sales- 
man for  George  C).  Mead.  Tlu'se  two  chil- 
dren with  their  widowed  mother  are  beloved 
and  welcome  inmates  of  the  home  of  ]\Ir. 
Rogers;  and  since  the  tleath  of  his  estimable 
wife,  which  occurred  in  September,  1884, 
after  fifty-two  )'ears  of  happy  wedded  life, 
they  have  largely  contributeil  to  his  domestic 
comfort  and  enjojnient.  Politicall)-,  .Mr. 
Rogers  is  a  strong  Republican,  and  in  the 
years  of  his  activity  took  a  warm  interest  in 
local  and  public  affairs.  I'or  many  years  he 
was  Captain  of  an  independent  rifle  company 
in  Walton,  and  quite  familiar  with  mi!itar\- 
tactics.  Religiously,  he  is  a  valued  member 
of  the  Congregational  church,  in  which  he  has 
served  with  fidelity  as  Deacon  for  twenty-four 
years. 


Ijaper 


l.MUN  liOLlWAR  CHAAH'ION  is 
among  the  infiuential  inhabitants  of 
the  town  of  .Stamford,  where  he  is 
publisher  ol  the  leading  Democratic 
I  the  county.  He  is  i)robably  one  of 
the  oldest  editois  in  the  F.mpire  State:  for  he 
established  the  Mtrrvr  in  liloomviUe,  Dela- 
ware Count}-,  in  1851.  The  Champions  arc 
of  old  Connecticut  stock,  the  first  emigrant 
having  settk-d  in  Saybrook  in  1647,  though 
later  one  branch  of  the  family  removeii  to  Ot- 
sego County.  Henr}'  Champion,  who  came 
from  ]uigland  in  1645,  was  born  in  1620;  and 
succeeding  Champions,  through  whom  his 
blood  reaches  tnir  subject,  were  iiorn  res]iec- 
tively  in  1654,  1684,  1729,  1769.  They  were 
all  able  and  enlightened  men.  One  Henr\- 
Champion,  born  in  1729,  was  within  five 
years  of  his  half-century  when  the  Revolution 
broke  out;  but  he  joined  the  army  in  Mav, 
1776,  and  was  rapidly  |)romoted  from  oflfice  to 
ofTice,  till  he  became  Captain.  He  was  also 
connected  with    the   engineering  and   commis- 


340 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


sary  departments,  and  for  some  time  supplied 
Washington's  army  with  fat  cattle.  Aaron 
Champion,  born  August  5,  1794,  one  hundred 
years  ago,  was  a  millwright,  and  married  VA- 
mina  Brown,  of  Schenevus,  N.Y. 

Simon  B.  Champion,  son  of  Aaron  and  I£l- 
mina,  was  born  at  East  Worcester,  in  Otsego 
County,  September  7,  1825.  He  attended  the 
district  schools  till  September  7,  1840.  when 
he  was  fifteen,  and  then  went  to  Cooperstown, 
to  learn  the  printing  trade  with  the  Hon. 
J.  H.  Prentiss,  in  the  office  of  the  Fnciiian' s 
Journal.  In  1844,  during  the  Democratic 
campaign  which  elected  Polk  and  Dallas 
against  Clay  and  Frelinghuysen,  he  was  the 
Otsego  correspondent  of  the  Albany  Ari^ns^ 
furnishing  its  readers  with  full  reports  of  the 
Democratic  meetings  in  Otsego  County. 
After  six  years'  apprenticeship  in  the  Coop- 
erstown printing-ofifice,  he  became  foreman, 
and  worked  for  nine  months  as  a  journeyman 
printer.  In  1847  he  left  Cooperstown  for 
Prattsville  in  Greene  County,  where  he  en- 
tered into  partnership  with  John  L.  Hackstaff, 
in  the  publication  of  the  Prattsville  Advocate, 
a  Democratic  paper.  Among  other  new  de- 
partures he  placed  a  section  of  the  paper 
under  the  special  caption  of  "Home  Matters," 
and  was  perhaps  the  pioneer  in  this  method  of 
arranging  a  local  news  department.  After  a 
couple  of  successful  years  his  health  gave 
way,  and  he  moved  to  Bloomville,  and,  so  far 
as  strength  wouUl  allow,  worked  in  his 
father's  grist-mill.  As  he  grew  stronger, 
however,  his  first  love  returned,  and  he  estab- 
lished the  Minor  on  a  small  scale;  but  he 
soon  had  to  enlarge  it,  so  that  during  our  war 
he  had  thirty-six  hundred  subscribers,  a  large 
number  for  the  time  and  place.  There  were 
then  only  three  other  papers  in  the  county, 
and  at  this  date  there  are  about  twenty.  In 
1870  he  removed  the  J//;7'c;- from  Bloomville 
to  Stamford,  where  it  has  been  published  ever 
since,  and  is  one  of  the  best  country  papers  in 
this  part  of  the  State. 

While  no  office-seeker,  Mr.  Champion  has 
held  many  local  positions  of  trust,  never 
allowing  them  to  interfere  with  the  Mirror. 
In  1858  he  declined  a  nomination  to  the  State 
Assembly,  though  unanimously  made,  deem- 
ing this   for  the  best    interests  of   his  paper. 


In  i860  he  was  the  Democratic  candidate  for 
County  Treasurer,  and  ran  a  hundred  votes 
ahead  of  his  ticket,  but  was  defeated,  like 
almost  every  Democrat,  that  being  the  year  of 
the  Lincoln  axalanche.  The  same  year  he 
was  appointed  Assistant  Marshal  for  taking 
the  national  census,  having  special  charge  of 
the  towns  of  Kortright,  Meredith,  and  Daven- 
port. On  January  3,  1861,  he  was  one  of  the 
delegates  to  the  celebrated  Democratic  Peace 
Convention  at  Albany,  and  in  1868  was  one 
of  the  Presidential  Electors,  casting  his  vote 
with  the  New  York  delegation  for  Horatio 
Seymour  for  President  of  the  United  States, 
against  General  Grant.  Always  willing  to 
bear  his  share  of  any  duty,  he  has  frequently 
been  a  member  of  county  and  State  conven- 
tions, and  was  in  1856-57  Postmaster  at 
Bloomville,  and  in  1870-71-72  Deputy  Post- 
master at  Stamford.  He  has  been  Trustee  of 
village  schools,  a  member  of  the  Stamford 
Board  of  Education,  High-priest  of  Delta 
Chapter,  No.  185,  of  Royal  Arch  Masons,  etc. 

In  1857  Mr.  Champion  married  Mary  L. 
McCollum,  who  was  born  March  21,  1829,  a 
daughter  of  Reuben  McCollum,  of  Bloomville; 
and  they  have  reared  four  children,  two  sons 
and  two  daughters.  Amasa  Junius  Champion 
was  born  April  10,  1858,  and  married  Mary 
Rexford.  Elmina  Champion  was  born  July 
20,  i860,  and  is  the  wife  of  John  Dewitt 
Church.  Clifford  Champion  was  born  May  2, 
1864.  Lucy  Brown  Champion  was  born  on 
October  8,  1869,  and  died  December  31,  1873. 
Nellie  Champion  was  born  January  27,   1873. 

Amasa  J.  Champion  learned  the  printing 
business  in  his  father's  office.  After  grad- 
uating at  the  Stamford  Seminary  in  1885, 
he  published  the  Davenport  Transcri/'t.  In 
1 89 1  he  sold  the  plant  to  Walter  Scott. 
After  a  vacation  he  bought  the  Hobart  /luic- 
pcndcnt  at  Hobart,  published  a  year,  and  then 
disposed  of  his  interest  in  that  paper  to  a 
stock  company,  and  went  back  to  his  father's 
offices,  where  he  is  assistant  editor,  and  has  a 
stationery  and  book  store.  Mr.  Champion's 
youngest  son,  Clifford,  after  finishing  his 
studies  at  the  Stamford  Seminary,  learned 
the  printing  business  with  his  father,  and 
does  the  job  printing.  In  April,  1894,  he 
and   F.   G.    Hartwell    started    the    Prattsville 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


34» 


Aiivociitf  at  Prattsville,  drccnc  County,  a 
bright,  newsy  Democratic  sheet,  which  already 
has  a  circulation  of  nearly  a  thousand  copies 
[KM-  week.  For  a  short  time  he  was  a  Clerk 
in  the  Treasury  Department  at  Washington, 
bestowed  upon  him  in  part  because  of  devotion 
of  the  Champions  to  the  Democratic  party. 
A  famous  journalist  has  truly  said  —  and  the 
career  of  the  Champions  confirms  its  truth  - 
"Journalism  is  an  immense  power,  that 
threatens  soon  to  supersede  sermons,  lectures, 
and  books." 


ir\AVID      \\lLI.IAM.SON,      a      retired 

|f=H  merchant  of  the  town  of  Delhi, 
^—Jl^^  Delaware  County,  N.\'.,  was  born 
in  the  city  of  Aberdeen,  Scotland, 
December  17,  1819.  Mis  father  and  grand- 
father, John  and  James  Williamson,  were 
both  natives  of  Scotland  and  wea\ers  by 
trade.  John  Williamson  died  at  the  early 
age  of  forty,  leaving  a  widow  ant!  six  chil- 
dren, namely:  David;  Betsy,  the  wife  of 
Alexander  Low,  residing  in  Scotland;  John; 
Robert;  Ann,  married  to  Charles  Smith,  of 
Bovina,  N.V.;  and  Mary,  who  died  young. 
^Irs.  Williamson  came  to  this  country,  and 
here  spent  the  last  years  of  her  life,  dying  in 
the  town  of  Delhi  at  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty-eight. 

David  Williamson  spent  his  early  years  in 
Forfarshire,  Scotland,  attending  the  schools 
there,  and  obtaining  a  sound  common-school 
education,  after  which  he  learned  the  trade  of 
weaver.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  left  his 
native  land  tor  America,  coming  directly  to 
Delhi,  and  went  to  work  for  Mr.  Edwards, 
learning  the  trade  of  a  house  and  sign  painter. 
In  this  capacity  he  worketl  for  about  ten 
years,  and  then  opened  a  store  for  himself, 
dealing  in  all  kinds  of  paints  and  paper-hang- 
ings. He  continued  in  this  line  for  the 
])eriod  of  forty  years,  doing  a  successful  busi- 
ness, and  is  one  of  two  survivors  who  com-  j 
menced  business  in  Delhi  at  the  same  time, 
the  others  having  passed  away.  He  has  built 
for  himself  one  of  the  finest  residences  in 
town,  which  is  fitted  with  every  modern  con- 
venience. 

Mr.  Williamson   was  married  July  5,  1847, 


to  Miss  luiphemia  Damont,  a  native  of  Wal- 
ton, Delaware  County,  the  date  of  her  birth 
being  February  8,  iS.'cj.  Jk-r  lather  and 
mother  were  descendants  of  Scotch  High- 
landers, and  were  the  jiarents  of  four  chil- 
dren. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Williamson  have  two 
children.  .Mary  .\.,  born  April  2,  1848,  is 
the  wife  of  Alexander  Oliver,  of  Delhi,  and 
has  five  children  -^  Charles,  James,  Grace, 
I.izzie,  and  Mabel.  The  second  child,  John 
H..  was  born  September  5,  1850,  and  is  now 
a  resident  of  California.  He  married  Clara 
Belle  Peterson,  and  thev  have  two  sons — 
David    \'.    and    Charles   A. 

Mr.  Williamson  is  a  member  of  tiie  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Otld  Fellows,  and  is  al.so  a 
strong  sui)porter  of  the  Republican  party. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Sec- 
ond Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  for  ten 
years  he  was  Trustee,  at  the  ]iresent  time 
being  Treasurer.  He  is  self-made  in  the  true 
sense  of  the  term;  and  to  that  mixture  of  de- 
termination, energy,  and  honesty  peculiar  to 
the  Scottish  race  his  successful  business 
career  may  be  ascribed.  He  is  a  man  of  gen- 
erous impulses,  ever  ready  to  give  a  helping 
hand  or  word  of  ad\ice  to  thosewho  iiave  been 
less  successful  than  himself. 


HARLES  L.  AXDRUS,  an  eminent 
lawyer  of  Stamford,  Delaware  County, 
N.V.,  was  born  in  Roxbury,  which 
lies  south  of  Stamford,  on  Decem- 
ber 10,  1859.  He  received  his  education  in 
the  district  schools  of  Roxbury  and  in  Stam- 
ford Seminar}-,  where  lie  was'  graduated  in 
1877.  In  1878  he  began  the  study  of  law 
with  Judge  Maynard,  with  whom  he  remained 
till  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1881.  For 
three  years  he  was  Clerk  to  the  Surrogate's 
Court  for  Delaware  County  at  Delhi,  and  on 
January  i.  1885,  went  into  partnership  with 
Judge  Isaac  H.  Maynard.  They  settled  for 
practice  in  Stamford,  remaining  together  till 
1887,  when  Mr.  Andrus  opened"  an  "office  for 
himself.  He  was  alone  till  1890,  when  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  Judge  I-".  R.  Gil- 
bert, staying  with  him  for  about  three  years, 
and  since  that  time  has  carried  on  his 
profession  alone. 


342 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


At  the  age  of  twenty-seven  he  married 
Alice  Bowne,  whose  father,  Norwood  Bowne, 
was  for  a  number  of  years  editor  of  the  IJchi- 
ware  /{v/>irss  of  Delhi.  A  prominent,  well- 
known  citizen,  Mr.  Bowne  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy-four.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrus  have  two 
children:  Bessie  K..  who  was  born  April  lo, 
1889;  and  Mary  B.,  who  was  born  April  13, 
1891. 

Mr.  Andrus  is  a  Deniocrat.  and  a  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  church,  lie  belongs  to 
.St.  Andrew's  Lodge,  No.  289,  A.  I<".  &  A.  M., 
of  Hobart,  Delta  Chapter,  No.  185,  Royal 
Arch  Masons,  of  Stamford,  and  is  a  member  of 
Rondout  Comniandery,  No.  52,  Knights  Tem- 
plars, also  non-resident  member  of  the  Kings- 
ton Club  of  Kingston,  N.V.  He  has  an 
office  on  Main  Street,  and  a  very  pleasant 
residence  on  Delaware  Street,  which  was  built 
in  1886.  He  is  the  leading  lawyer  of  Stam- 
ford, having  a  very  large  practice,  and  is  con- 
sidered a  man  of  much  ability  and  greatly 
respected   among   his   clients   and   friends. 


LBERT  PAYNE,  a  clear-headed,  well- 
to-do  farmer  of  the  town  of  Franklin, 
Delaware  County,  is  descended 
from  an  old  English  family  which 
was  one  of  the  first  to  settle  in  the  State  of 
New  York.  His  father,  Isaac  Payne,  was  a 
native  of  l-'.ast  Hampton,  L.I.,  where  he  was 
born  in  1782.  His  trade  was  that  of  a  tanner 
and  shoemaker:  hut  later  he  adopted  the  life 
of  a  farmer,  in  which  he  was  very  successful. 
Isaac  Payne  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  18 12, 
manfully  doing  his  duty  in  his  country's  ser- 
vice. He  married  Lucretia  Barnes,  of  Ama- 
gansett,  L.I.,  and  soon  after  moved  to 
Franklin,  where  they  reared  seven  children, 
of  whom  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the 
youngest,  and  is  now  the  only  survivor,  al- 
though the  others  all  lived  to  reach  maturity, 
with  families  of  their  own.  Isaac  Payne  died 
in  Franklin  in  i860,  his  wife  living  four 
years  longer,  and  dying  when  eighty  years  of 
age. 

Albert  Payne  was  born  November  22,  1826, 
at  the  parental  home  near  the  village  of 
l-'ranklin,  and  grew  to  manhood  on  his  father's 
farm,    attending    the    di.strict    school,    and    re- 


ceiving the  best  instruction  that  could  be 
given  to  a  farmer's  son  of  those  days.  He 
later  taught  school  during  the  winter  term, 
but  when  seventeen  years  olil,  with  the  inde- 
pendence and  conficlence  characteristic  of  a 
young,  sturdy  farmer  just  starting  out  on 
life's  journey,  determined  to  set  forth  to  seek 
his  own  fortune.  He  was  offered  a  position 
on  a  neighboring  farm,  which  he  accepted  at 
the  small  remuneration  of  si.\  dollars  a  month. 
For  nine  years  he  was  employed  in  this  way, 
never  receiving  more  than  fifteen  dollars  a 
month.  Later,  after  taking  a  Western  trip  to 
Iowa  and  Wisconsin,  he  returned  to  P'ranklin, 
and  purchased  for  seven  thousand  dollars  his 
present  estate  of  two  hundred  acres,  including 
the  stock  and  farm  implements,  paying  six- 
teen hundred  dollars  in  cash,  this  amount 
being  all   he   possessed  at   that   time. 

In  April,  1S56,  he  married  .Miss  Helen  !•". 
Drake,  daughter  of  the  former  owner  of  his 
new  home,  where  they  began  domestic  life 
and   reared   a   large   family. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Payne  have  buried  four  chil- 
dren: Charles,  aged  one  year;  Howard,  who 
died  in  1886,  at  the  age  of  fifteen;  Luella, 
who  died  aged  one  year;  and  Eleanor,  aged 
nine  years.  Their  children  still  living  are 
the  following:  Louisa,  wife  of  Morton  L. 
Mills,  a  postal  mail  clerk  on  the  N.  Y.,  O. 
&  W.  Railroad,  they  having  one  son,  Albert 
P.,  a  bright,  manly  boy  of  thirteen  ;  Mary  E., 
wife  of  Henry  H.  Kerr,  of  Fort  Worth,  Te.\., 
and  mother  of  one  son,  Harry:  Arthur  Mel- 
vin,  a  graduate  of  Hamilton  College  at  Clin- 
ton, N.Y.,  in  the  class  of  1894,  who  was  vale- 
dictorian of  his  class  of  twenty-five,  having 
taken  many  prizes  in  oratory  as  well  as  other 
honors  during  his  college  career,  and  has 
now  adopted  the  law  as  his  chosen  profes- 
sion; Walter  Albert,  a  young  man  of  twenty- 
two,  who  lives  at  home  and  manages  the 
farm. 

^Ir.  Pavne  is  a  Republican,  and  has  ren- 
dered acceptable  service  as  Assessor  and  Su- 
pervisor. He  is  a  Trustee  of  the  Methodist 
church,  of  which  both  he  and  his  good  wife 
are  conscientious  members.  The  Payne  fam- 
ily live  in  the  house  which  was  built  by  Mrs. 
Payne's  father  over  si.xty  years  ago,  but  which 
has   been  remodelled  into   a  comfortable  mod- 


^ 


V 


•7 


Albert  Payne. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


.345 


(.Til  ilwcUiiiy;.  In  1S93  Mr.  I'aync  erected  his 
comniodiou.s  l)ai"n,  \vliere  lie  keeps  aliout 
thirty  grade  Jersey  cows  of  ciioice  lireed  he- 
■sides  liis  otlier  stock.  Near  l)y  is  his  larj;e 
timber  lot  of  tliiit\-  acres,  which  produces  a 
goodly  supjily  of  lumber  and  Inel. 

Mr.  I'ayne  is  the  possessor  of  a  rugged  con- 
stitution, and,  though  somewhat  ageil  with  the 
toils  and  cares  of  many  years,  is  well  pre- 
served, and  active  in  liis  tlail\  duties,  having 
at  all  times  given  careful  attention  to  his 
health,  ne\er  indulging  in  the  use  of  tobacco 
or  intoxicating  liquors  in  an}'  torm.  He  is  a 
man  of  unswerving  principles,  practical,  in- 
telligent, and  uiiright,  and  holds  a  high  |)osi- 
tion  in  the  esteem  of  all  who  know  him. 
Such  a  citizen  is  well  worthy  of  being  held  in 
remembrance  l)y  coming  generations;  and  the 
publishers  of  the  "  Hiograjihical  Review"  are 
hapi)y  to  present  a  very  good  likeness  of  Mr. 
I'ayne  in  connection  with  this  brii'l  sketch  ot 
himself  and  his  famih  . 


Ji 


.WID  JAMl'.S  MIl.I.l'K  is  among 
the  best-known  and  most  resjiected 
inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Bovina, 
where  he  has  his  home.  He  was 
born  June  26,  1858,  his  l)irth])lace  being  the 
very  farm  on  which  he  now  resides.  His  first 
name,  Davitl,  has  been  perpetuated  in  the 
Miller  famil\'  for  at  least  three  generations. 

(irandfather  David  came  from  .Scotland,  and 
was  in  his  younger  da\'s  a  cai'jjenter.  In 
Delaware  Count\'  he  became  an  agriculturist, 
settling  on  the  present  famih'  acres  between 
the  N'ears  1815  and  1820,  soon  after  the  differ- 
ences between  Great  Britain  and  the  I'nited 
States  were  fairly  adjusted.  Indeed,  it  was 
this  contest  which  brought  him  to  America. 
The  land  he  purchased  had  to  be  cleared  be- 
fore the  new  country  seemetl  like  home:  but 
the  sturdy  Scotchman  achieved  his  [.mri)ose, 
and  at  his  death  left  nearly  two  hundred  acres 
in  a  good  state  of  cultivation.  .At  this  tinie 
he  was  about  eighty  years  old,  and  had  reared 
seven  chikli'en,  four  of  whom  are  still  living. 
John  T.  Miller,  the  eldest,  lives  in  Delhi; 
and  so  does  the  next  son,  Daxid,  who  is  our 
special  subject's  father.  Their  sister  Isabell 
is  the  wife  of  John  R.  Ho)',  of  Bovina  Centre; 


and    the    unmarried    sister,    Jennie    l^lizabelh 
Millei',    also    lives   at    Bovina    Centre. 

The  second  David  Miller  was  biirn  in  1828, 
on  the  old  Bovina  farm,  where  he  grew  up, 
and  attended  the  district  school.  In  clue  time 
he  turned  his  atti'ntion  specially  to  agricult- 
ure, bought  the  grandfather's  old  place  of  the 
other  heirs,  and  niarried  Christina  P.  Ho)'. 
He  has  been  a  successful  dairy  farmer,  keep- 
ing about  a  score  of  milch  cows,  and  attaining 
the  success  which  is  the  legitimate  result  of 
sagacious  industry.  On  this  farm  he  resided 
till  1885,  and  then  mo\'ed  into  the  village  of 
Bovina  Centie:  but,  not  feeliiig  cpiite  c(m- 
tented  there,  he  soon  made  another  change  to 
the  village  of  Delhi,  where  he  still  lives  a 
retired  life,  though  not  without  a  dee|)  inter- 
est in  things  that  go  on  around  him,  espe- 
cially in  Republican  politics.  Both  Mr. 
Miller  and  his  wife  were  nieinbers  of  the 
Unitetl  Presbyterian  church  in  Bovina,  and  he 
now  maintains  the  same  relation  to  the  Delhi 
society:  but  she  die<l  on  the  second  day  of  tiie 
year  iSi)^.  at  the  age  of  sixty-four,  having 
been  born  .September  2(),  1828.  ()nl\'  two 
children  were  the  fruit  of  her  marriage,  which 
took  place  on  I'ebruarv'  23,  1853,  when  she 
was  twent\-tiye  years  old.  Of  these  the  el- 
tlest  is  David  James,  to  whom  this  biography 
specially  relates.  1 1  is  lirothcr,  William  Bor- 
lus  Miller,  was  boi'ii  two  \ears  later.  Jul\'  J-,, 
1 860,  just  before  the  election  of  I'resident 
Lincoln  filled  the  f;ither's  heart  with  mild  tri- 
umph. This  son  now  resides  in  Portland, 
(  )re  .  where  lie  is  the  honoreil  pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  church.  He  was  graduated  at 
Hamilton  (.'ollege,  was  married  in  1885  to 
Ada  ti.  Chipinan,  and  has  a  growing  faniily  of 
two  children. 

David  J.  Miller  grew  up  on  the  farm,  and 
attended  the  school  which  his  father  had  at- 
tended betore  hini,  and  which  his  grandfather 
had  assisted  in  establishing.  As  we  have 
already  seen,  lie  has  never  left  the  old  jilace, 
antl  is  now  its  owner,  having  bought  it  of  his 
lather  in  1885.  Nor  has  he  swerved  fi'om  his 
father's  methods,  except  to  ado|jt  the  latest 
modes  of  keeping  and  using  the  milk  from  his 
thirty  or  forty  grade  Jerseys,  which  yield  an 
average  of  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  three 
hundred   pounds   of   butter  per  head   annually. 


346 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


The  land  and  the  buildings  are  in  good  condi- 
tion. 

Mr.  Miller  was  married  on  November  28, 
1883,  at  the  age  of  t\venty-fi\-e;  and  the  bride 
was  Elizabeth  Nancy  Campbell,  the  daughter 
of  a  Scotch  pioneer,  Duncan  Campbell,  of 
whom  a  separate  sketch  has  its  place  in 
this  \olume.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  are  both 
Presbyterians,  but  belong  to  different  sections 
of  that  body,  he  to  the  United  society,  and 
she  to  the  Reformed.  With  his  antecedents 
Mr.  Miller  could  hardly  be  other  than  a 
stanch  Republican  in  his  politics.  Though  no 
children  have  blessed  their  marriage,  the  Mil- 
ler fireside  is  a  centre  of  wholesome  influence 
in  the  community.  On  all  sides  Mr.  Miller 
is  regarded  as  a  practical  man,  whose  agricult- 
ural opinions  are  worth  attention.  Well  has 
a  practical  writer  said,  "In  life,  as  in  chess, 
forethought  wins." 


IRA  BEACH,  a  highly  respected  farmer 
of  the  town  of  Masonville,  Delaware 
County,  N.Y.,  was  born  in  Litchfield 
County,  Connecticut,  February  19, 
1825.  His  parents  were  George  W.  Beach, 
who  was  born  October  26,  1804,  and  Lovisa 
Dorman  Beach,  born  March  3,  1805,  both  na- 
tives of  Litchfield  County,  Connecticut. 
The  grandfather,  Joshua  Beach,  moved  to 
Delaware  County  in  the  early  pioneer  days, 
settling  at  Masonville  on  the  farm  now  owned 
by  William  Birdsall,  which  was  then  in  a 
wild  and  uncultivated  state,  game  being  plen- 
tiful, and  the  nearest  market  town  being 
Unadilla.  Mr.  Beach  resided  on  this  farm 
until  his  deatli  in  1841,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
one.  He  reared  the  following  family,  all  of 
whom  have  passed  over  to  the  silent  majority 
—  Jeremiah,  Chester,  Marvin,  Harriet,  Nel- 
son, George  W.,  Luman  L.,  Miranda,  and 
Harlow. 

George  W.  Beach  settled  in  Masonville, 
December  28,  1828,  his  father  giving  him 
fifty  acres  of  land,  to  wliich  he  afterward 
added  thirty-five  acres  more.  He  was  a  hard- 
working and  successful  man,  and  resided  on 
this  farm  until  his  death,  F"ebruary  7,  1878, 
aged  seventy-three,  his  wife  having  died 
March  27,  1861,  aged  fifty-si.\  years.      Eleven 


children  were  born  to  them,  si.x  of  whom  grew 
to  maturity,  and  three  being  alive  at  the  pres- 
ent day,  namely:  Ira,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Avia  A.,  wife  of  Charles  L.  Rowell, 
of  Franklin;  George  J.  Beach,  of  East  Mason- 
ville. Emeline  died  young.  Marvin,  a  sol- 
dier in  Company  V,  Fifth  Michigan  Rifles, 
died  during  the  late  war.  l-'anny  A.  died 
September  12,  1865.  Curtis  H.,  a  soldier  of 
the  late  war,  died  in  front  of  Petersburg. 
Mary  L.  died  in  1839,  Francis  B.  in  1S40, 
and  two  infant  sons  died  at  birth. 

Ira  Beach  received  his  early  education,  a 
fair  one  for  those  days,  at  the  old  log  school- 
house  at  East  Masonville,  having  to  journey 
two  miles  through  the  woods  to  reach  the 
school-house.  He  lived  at  home,  assisting 
on  the  farm,  until  he  was  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  when  he  started  out  in  the  world  for  him- 
self, working  for  ten  dollars  a  month,  and 
managing  to  save  money  on  this  small  amount. 
It  was  when  he  was  in  the  heyday  of  his 
youth  that  he  took  a  trip  to  Connecticut  on 
foot,  walking  to  Hudson,  a  distance  of  one 
hundred  miles.  Upon  his  return  he  worked 
for  his  father  three  years,  afterward  receiving 
a  piece  of  land  consisting  of  one  hundred  and 
five  acres,  which  he  eventually  paid  for,  at 
that  time  not  having  sufficient  capital  to  pur- 
chase the  land  outright.  He  first  built  for 
himself  a  small  house,  in  after  years  adding 
to  it  considerably.  His  land  also  increased 
as  time  went  by,  until  at  one  time  it  amounted 
to  two  hundred  and  five  acres.  He  also  owns 
the  farm  upon  which  his  son  now  lives.  He 
conducted  a  dairy  for  many  years,  and  was 
noted  for  making  a  fine  grade  of  butter.  In 
1887  Mr.  Beach  had  a  remarkable  escape  from 
death  by  lightning,  his  son  Orlando  being 
killed  by  his  side,  and  he  himself  severely 
burned  from  the  shoulder  to  the  heel.  From 
this  shock,  however,  he  has  fully  recovered. 

Mr.  Beach  was  married  on  January  2,  1850, 
to  Abigail  Blowers,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
who  died  Februarys,  185  i.  Mr.  Beach  mar- 
ried for  his  second  wife  Priscilla  Blowers,  a 
sister  of  Abigail.  She  was  born  in  Sidney, 
November  28,  1833,  a  daughter  of  Hiram  and 
Persis  (Baker)  Blowers.  Mr.  Blowers,  who 
was  a  prominent  farmer  of  the  town  of  Sidney, 
died   in    March,    1872,    aged  seventy-one,    his 


RIOGRAPHICAL    RFLVIEW 


347 


wife  surviving  liiin  ten  \rais,  (i)ing  in  De- 
cember, 1882.  The)'  were  the  i)arents  of 
twelve  children,  fi\e  (if  wliom  are  now  living, 
namely:  Priseilla,  wife  of  Mr.  Heach ;  Mrs. 
Mercy  Fitch,  who  lives  in  .Sidney  Centre; 
Mrs.  Mary  A.  Taft,  who  resides  at  Afton : 
.Sidney  Blower,  a  resident  of  IJnadiUa:  and 
Amelia  Cunningham,  who  resides  at  Wells 
Bridge,    Sand    Hill,    Otsego   Count)-. 

Mr.  Beach  has  been  the  father  of  six  chil- 
dren, one  by  his  first  wife,  and  five  by  the 
present.  The  two  now  living  are:  Frances 
A.,  wife  of  Martin  Price,  born  January  21, 
1 85 1,  a  resident  of  Masonville;  and  Legrand 
I.  Beach,  born  August  26,  1855.  He  was 
educated  at  the  district  schools,  also  going 
for  one  term  to  the  I'nadilla  Academy,  and 
has  given  his  attention  to  farming,  living 
at  home  until  his  marriage,  Februar\-  5,  1890. 
His  wife,  Anna  Lewis  Beach,  was  born  in 
Rockdale,  May  28,  1870,  a  daughter  of  Jay 
and  Trsphenia  Lewis,  and  died  June  25. 
1892,    at   the   early   age  of   twent\--two. 

Mr.  Ira  Beach  is  a  Republican  in  politics, 
but  has  never  been  desirous  of  acce])ting  pub- 
lic office,  devoting  himself  entirely  to  his 
farming  pursuits,  in  which  he  has  been  emi- 
nently successful,  and  is  esteemed  as  a  man  of 
probitv  and  honor. 


.\PTAIX  WILLIAM  HVMl'.RS,  a 
practical    agriculturist    and    dairyman 

^is  ^  of  DeLancey,  in  the  town  of  Ham- 
den,  is  a  man  of  marked  intelli- 
gence and  a  prominent  granger.  He  is  a 
native  of  Delaware  County,  having  first  drawn 
the  breath  of  life  in  the  town  of  Meredith, 
Se])tember  1,  1827.  He  is  of  sturdy  Scotch 
ancestry,  his  father,  John  H)mers,  Jr.,  ha\'- 
ing  been  born  March  12,  1795,  in  Roxburg- 
shirc,  .Scotlanil,  being  a  son  of  John  Hymers, 
Sr.,  a  shepherd,  who  dieel  when  a  voung  man, 
from  exposure  and  exhaustion  during  a  great 
snow-storm. 

The  younger  Jcjhn  was  but  a  bov  when  his 
father  died,  leaving  a  widow  and  two  sons: 
and  he  was  reared  to  a  she])herd's  life  by  his 
grandfather,  Adam  Douglas,  who  was  a 
game-keejier  on  the  estate  of  the  Duke  of 
Roxburg.      In    1S18   he   left  the   home  of   his 


grandsire,  and  emigrated  to  .'\merica,  arri\ing 
here  in  March.  He  settled  in  this  county, 
and  here  formed  the  acquaintance  of  I^lizabeth 
Ormston,  who  afterward  became  his  wife. 
She  was  born  in  the  town  of  Bovina,  October 
6,  1802,  being  one  of  the  six  chiitiren  of 
William  and  Janette  ((iraham)  Ormston. 
Her  ])arents  were  both  natives  of  .Scotland, 
but  emigrated  early  ir.  lile.  and  were  married 
in  this  county  in  i8oi.  The  union  of  ICliza- 
beth  Ormston  and  John  Hymers  was  cele- 
brated January  9,  1823,  and  they  began  their 
wedded  life  on  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Mere- 
dith, where  the\-  reared  a  family  of  eleven 
children,  seven  girls  and  four  boys,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  being  the  second  son  and 
the  third  child  in  order  of  birth.  Two  of  the 
daugliters  have  died,  namely:  Mary,  who 
passed  away  May  29,  1S52,  aged  twenty-two 
years:  and  Janette.  the  wife  of  Lewis  B. 
-Strong,  who  died  in  1882,  leaving  three  sons. 
The  following  are  the  nine  living  children: 
A.  1).  Hymers  is  an  undertaker  anil  a  livery- 
man. Margaret  is  the  .wife  of  Andrew 
Oliver,  of  Oswego,  \.\".,  and  has  two  chil- 
dren. William,  a  farniei"  at  DeLance\',  is 
further  mentioned  below.  Thomas,  a  livery- 
man and  jiroprietor  of  a  boariling  and  sale 
stable  in  Reno,  \ev.,  is  married,  and  has  two 
children.  PMlen,  the  wife  of  Milan  Seeley, 
of  Harlwick,  Otsego  County,  has  two  chil- 
dren. l'",li/.abeth,  who  married  W.  H.  Max- 
field,  of  Croton,  has  two  children.  John,  a 
farmer,  residing  in  Reno,  Nev.,  has  two  chil- 
dren. \ancy,  the  wife  of  .S.  D.  Reynolds,  of 
I'ranklin  village,  has  two  children.  Lu- 
cretia.  the  wife  of  James  Brazer.  of  Oneonta, 
has  one  child.  The  mother  passed  to  her 
eternal  home  March  22,  1881,  and  the  father, 
August  2 J,  1883,  being  then  nearly  ninety 
vears  of  age.  They  were  active,  sincere 
Christians  thmughout  their  entire  lives:  and 
their  lioilies  were  laid  tn  rest  in  the  old  Mat 
churchyard  cemetery. 

William  Hymers  develo]3ed  into  manhood 
on  the  parental  homestead,  drinking  from  the 
fount  of  knnwU/dge  ;it  the  old  district  school, 
and.  when  a  vouth  of  twenty  _\ears.  taught  his 
first  and  last  term  of  school.  He  remained  at 
home  with  his  father,  assisting  in  carrving  on 
the    farm    until    his    marriage,    which     hajspy 


348 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


event  took  place  March  13,  1851,  the  bride  of 
his  choice  being  Miss  Margaret  Ann  Wight, 
of  Delhi,  the  daughter  of  George  and  Jane 
(Little)  Wight.  (For  further  parental  his- 
tory see  sketch  of  George  Wight,  a  brother  of 
Mrs.  Hymers.)  After  their  marriage  they 
lived  for  about  ten  years  on  a  farm  in  the 
town  of  Meredith.  Then,  selling  that  prop- 
erty, Captain  Hymers  bought  land  in  Frank- 
lin, where  from  1862  until  1886  he  carried 
on  general  farming,  with  good  results,  on  his 
three  hundred  and  twenty-five  acres,  keeping 
among  his  other  stock  a  fine  dairy  of  thirty- 
five  cows,  and  selling  his  butter  in  the  East- 
ern markets.  Disposing  of  his  Franklin 
estate,  he  came  to  DeLancey,  where  he  pur- 
chased his  present  sixty-five-acre  farm,  and 
has  continued  his  agricultural  labors,  now 
l)aying  special  attention  to  the  production  of 
winter  milk,  which  he  sells  in  New  York 
City.  For  ten  years  or  more  he  was  exten- 
sively engaged  in  buying  and  selling  stock, 
building  up  an  extensive  trade  with  Eastern 
dealers.  Seven  children  have  been  born  into 
the  household  of  Captain  and  Mrs.  Hymers, 
the  following  being  their  recoi-d :  Emily,  the 
wife  of  Royal  Culver,  resides  on  a  farm  in 
Franklin.  J.  K.  Hymers,  a  carpenter,  lives 
at  home.  Isabella  J.,  the  wife  of  Charles 
Haight,  a  resident  of  Sidney,  has  three  chil- 
dren. George  W.,  a  farmer  in  the  town  of 
Delhi,  is  married,  and  has  one  son.  William 
1).,  a  farmer  in  Deposit,  has  a  wife  and  two 
children.  Chauncey  Stewart,  a  farmer  in  De- 
Lancey, has  a  wife  and  two  daughters. 
Arthur  T.,  a  farmer,  lives  in  Franklin,  with 
his  wife  and  son. 

The  subject  of  tliis  sketcli  received  his  mil- 
itary title  as  a  member  of  the  New  York 
National  Guards,  which  he  joined  when 
twenty-three  years  old.  During  the  first  eight 
years  of  his  service  he  was  promoted  through 
the  various  grades  from  the  rank  of  Third 
Corporal  to  that  of  Captain  of  his  company. 
Captain  Hymers  has  been  assisted  and  encour- 
aged by  his  wife  in  all  <jf  his  labors,  and  they 
are  together  enjoying  the  fruits  of  their  many 
years  of  successful  toil  Both  are  members 
in  good  standing  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  of  which  the  Rev.  James  H.  Robin- 
son has  been  the  pastor  for  thirty  years.      Po- 


litically, Captain  Hymers  votes  the  straight 
Republican  ticket;  but,  with  the  exception 
of  having  been  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  nine 
years  when  he  was  a  young  man,  he  has  not 
been  the  incumbent  of  any  public  office.  So- 
cially, he  is  a  charter  member  of  the  Grange, 
wherein  he  is  Master,  and  also  a  lecturer  of 
the  subrjrdinate  lodges  and  Pomona. 


/^^TeORGE  a.  SIGNOR,  a  retired 
\  [5  I  farmer  living  just  outside  the  village 
^ —  of  Walton,  is  well  and  favorably 
known  throughout  this  section  of  Delaware 
County  as  a  worthy  representative  of  its  agri- 
cultural interests,  and  a  most  successful  busi- 
ness man.  He  is  a  native  of  this  county, 
and  was  born  in  the  town  of  Hamden  on  the 
third  day  of  April,  1830,  a  son  of  John  Sig- 
nor,  who  was  born  in  Connecticut  in  1790, 
and  passed  from  earth  in  1871,  in  the  town  of 
Hamden.  He  was  one  of  nine  children  born 
into  the  home  of  his  father,  Jacob  Signor,  a 
life-long  resident  of  Connecticut. 

The  father  of  tlie  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
three  times  married,  his  first  wife  having  been 
Loretta  Terry,  a  native  of  Hamden,  who  died 
while  in  the  prime  of  life,  leaving  him  with 
four  of  the  eight  children  who  had  been  born 
to  them,  one  of  whom  is  now  living,  David 
Signor,  a  prosperous  farmer  of  Hamden,  now 
seventy-five  years  old.  His  second  wife  was 
Lucy  Hotchkiss,  who  was  born  in  Connecti- 
cut, and  to  whom  he  was  united  in  the  year 
1826,  in  the  town  of  Beaver  Kill,  Sullivan 
County.  She  bore  him  eight  children,  four 
sons  and  an  ecjual  number  of  daughters,  of 
whom  the  following  are  living:  Loretta,  the 
wife  of  Allston  Hulbert,  a  retired  farmer,  and 
a  furniture  dealer  in  Hamden;  George  A.; 
Hannah,  the  widow  of  Horace  W.  Smith,  re- 
siding in  Walton;  Jonah,  a  farmer  residing 
in  Oregon;  and  .Albert,  at  present  a  music 
dealer  in  Owego.  One  son,  John,  Jr.,  gave 
his  life  in  defence  of  his  countr)'.  He  en- 
listed in  Colchester,  in  Company  B,  One 
Hundred  and  P'orty-fourth  New  York  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  as  a  private,  and  during  the  two 
years  of  his  service  took  part  in  several  en- 
gagements, but  owing  to  exposure  and  other 
causes     incidental    to    armv    life    became    af- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


349 


flictcd  with  chronic  diarrhcca,  from  whicli  he 
never  recovered,  dying  while  on  a  transport 
going-  from  Folly  Island  to  Beaufort,  N.C., 
being  then  but  twenty-seven  years  old.  The 
mother  of  these  chiklren  died  in  1842,  when 
thirty-nine  years  of  age,  antl  the  father  subse- 
(.[uently  married  again;  and  he  and  liis  wife 
residetl  in  Colchester  the  remainder  of  tlieir 
lives. 

George  A.  Signor  was  the  second  child  and 
the  first  son  born  to  his  parents,  and  during 
the  days  of  his  childhood  and  youth  attended 
the  pioneer  school  of  his  neigiiborhood,  and 
assisted  his  father  in  the  duties  about  the 
homestead.  When  fifteen  years  of  age,  he 
left  school,  antl  hired  out  at  nine  dollars  per 
month,  his  wages  afterward  being  increased  to 
eleven  dollars  j^er  month;  and  in  the  summer 
of  1848  he  brought  to  his  father  the  round 
sum  of  fifty  dollars.  Having  purchased  from 
his  father  a  land  warrant  which  the  latter  had 
received  for  services  during  the  War  of  1812, 
with  his  wife  and  one  child,  Lucy,  then  two 
and  one-half  years  old,  he  started  for  Wiscon- 
sin on  the  1st  of  March,  1855.  When  they 
left  Walton,  there  was  fine  sleighing,  but  on 
arriving  in  Wisconsin,  after  a  journey  of  two 
weeks,  they  found  the  prairies  on  fire.  The 
last  forty  miles  were  made  in  a  stage,  which 
had  the  spring  broken;  and,  the  roads  being  in 
a  terrible  condition,  the  men  often  had  to 
assist  in  prying  it  out  of  the  mire.  The  end 
of  the  journey  was  reached  when  they  arrived 
at  the  home  of  Mrs.  Signor's  brother,  four 
miles   west   of   Plainfield. 

The  land  which  Mr.  Signor  pre-empted  lay 
on  Ten  Mile  Creek;  and  there  we  find  the 
Signor  family  one  year  later,  it  having  been 
increased  by  the  birth  of  a  bright  boy,  whom 
they  named  Charley  Fremont.  The  Indians 
were  very  numerous,  but  there  was  never  any 
trouble  with  them.  They  would  take  flour  to 
Mrs.  Signor  for  her  to  make  into  bread  for 
them,  and  would  pick  berries  for  her  in  ex- 
change for  bread.  Sometimes  they  would 
give  her  venison;  and  she  often  gave  them 
bread  and  butter  and  also  milk.  At  one  time 
some  fifteen  or  twenty  Indians,  with  their 
squaws  and  pappooses,  camped  about  twenty 
rods  from  the  house,  but  were  peaceable, 
never  committing   any   depredations.      In    the 


summer  Mr.  .Signor  worked  clearing  iiis  land 
and  tilling  the  soil;  while  each  fall  he  went 
to  the  pineries  to  chop,  while  during  the 
s]iring  of  each  year  he  was  employed  in  raft- 
ing lumber  down  the  Wisconsin  and  Missis- 
sijjpi    Rivers. 

During  one  winter  of  their  residence  there 
Mrs.  Signor,  not  liking  to  stay  alone,  accom- 
panied her  husband  thirty  miles  into  the 
woods,  making  the  journey  for  ten  miles  over 
corduroy  roatls  and  in  a  lumber  wagon  drawn 
by  oxen.  At  the  end  of  this  wearisome  trip 
she  found  nothing  more  inviting  than  a  log 
cabin  of  one  room,  and  not  in  the  cleanest 
condition.  .She,  however,  bravely  set  to  work, 
and  made  it  habitable,  and  for  sixteen  weeks 
did  the  cooking  for  a  crew  of  thirteen  men, 
her  younger  child  being  then  but  eighteen 
months  old.  Mrs.  Signor,  however,  consid- 
ered this  life  preferable  to  living  alone  sur- 
rounded by  Indians.  When  her  son  Charley 
was  six  years  (dd,  another  boy  was  born  into 
the  housi.-hold,  but  only  lived  for  the  short 
space  of  one  month,  when  he  left  this  world 
for  a  fairer  one  on  high,  his  mortal  remains 
being  interred  in  Western  soil. 

In  1863,  after  nearly  eight  long  vears  of 
hardship,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Signor  with  their 
family  returned  to  Delaware  County;  and  in 
the  fall  of  the  following  year  Mr.  Signor  en- 
listed, serving  his  country  for  one  year,  and 
being  honorably  discharged  in  1865,  when  he 
returnefl  home.  lie  engaged  in  tilling  the 
soil,  and  bv  thrift  and  frugality  accumulated 
some  money,  with  which  he  bought  a  tract  of 
wild  land,  and  by  hard  labor  and  the  exercise 
of  good  management  fdund  himself  the  pos- 
sessor of  a  fine  farm  of  two  hundred  acres,  on 
which  he  and  his  family  lived  most  happily 
for  eighteen  years.  In  1889  he  gave  up  his 
farm  to  his  son-in-law.  Levi  C.  Russell;  and 
he  and  his  wife  have  since  occupied  their 
present  comfortable  home,  and  are  now  enjov- 
ing  the  leisure  to  which  their  earlier  vears  of 
toil  have  richly  entitled  them. 

Mr.  Signor  was  united  in  marriage  in  1852 
to  .Sarah  J.  Dann,  who  was  born  in  Colchester 
in  1832,  a  daughter  of  Lbenezer  and  Serepta 
(Goodrich)  Dann,  who  for  upward  of  fort\' 
years  were  extensive  farmers  of  Colchester, 
owning  and  occupying  a  farm   of   two   hundred 


35° 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


acres  adjoining  the  town  of  Walton,  where 
they  subsequently  moved.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Dann  reared  ten  children,  eight  of  whom  are 
living,  Mrs.  Signer  being  the  sixth.  When 
she  was  two  years  old,  her  mother  died,  and 
her  father  was  again  married,  Miss  Lydia  K. 
Hoyt,  of  Walton,  who  was  bridesmaid  at  his 
first  marriage,  becoming  his  wife.  She 
proved  a  very  kind  ste])-mother,  and  herself 
bore  him  three  children.  Mr.  Dann  was  of 
New  ICngland  descent,  his  grandfather,  Abra- 
ham Dann,  having  married  Rebecca  Reskey, 
who  was  born  and  reared  in  New  England. 
Mr.  Dann  himself  was  one  of  ten  children, 
his  mother  being  left  a  widow  when  they  were 
quite  young;  and  they  were  all  apprenticed  to 
some  trade,  Ebenezer,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Sig- 
ner, learning  the  trades  of  both  hatter  and 
tanner.  He  afterward  entered  the  employ  of 
Mr.  Downs,  of  Downsville,  for  whom  he 
clerked  in  the  early  days  of  the  settlement  of 
the  town,  their  store,  which  was  in  a  rough 
and  unfinished  building,  being  the  very  first 
in  the  place.  Dry  goods  and  groceries  were 
then  high  in  price,  calico  being  sold  at 
seventy-five  cents  a  yard.  His  mother  subse- 
quently became  the  wife  of  Isaac  Wilson, 
one  of" the  pioneer  settlers  of  this  section  of 
the  county.  Mrs.  Signor  was  brought  up  to 
habits  of  industry  and  early  initiated  into  the 
science  of  domestic  economy,  her  youthful 
training  well  preparing  her  for  the  position 
she  afterward  assumed  as  the  head  of  a  house- 
hold, and  which  she  has  so  nobly  filled.  She 
went  to  school  until  eight  years  old,  then  dur- 
ing the  winters  only  until  eighteen  years  of 
age,  when  she  began  teaching,  a  vocation 
which  she  resigned  after  two  terms  at  the  ear- 
nest solicitation  of  Mr.  Signor,  to  whom  she 
was  affianced. 

Of  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Signor  si.x 
children  have  been  born,  one  of  whom,  as 
above  mentioned,  died  in  infancy;  and  of  the 
five  living  the  following  is  recorded:  Lucy 
S.,  the  wife  of  Hanford  Bull,  a  prosperous 
farmer  of  Colchester,  where  he  has  a  fine  resi- 
dence, is  the  mother  of  one  child,  a  daughter. 
Charles  F.,  who  resides  in  the  town  of  Frank- 
lin, has  a  very  pleasant  home.  Ruby  E.  is 
the  wife  of  Levi  C.  Russell,  and  lives  on  the 
old  homestead.     Darius  D.,  who  lives  in  New 


York  City,  is  butler  in  the  home  of  J.  B. 
Lang,  a  railway  magnate.  Julia  A.,  a  cult- 
ured and  accomplished  young  lady  ot  twenty- 
three  years,  is  one  of  the  most  efficient 
teachers  in  this  part  of  the  State,  having  been 
engaged  in  this  noble  occupation  for  sixteen 
terms.  The  daughters  are  fine  musicians,  and 
doubtless  inherit  their  musical  talent  from 
their  father,  who  was  a  fine  tenor  singer  in 
the  days  of  his  youth.  Religiously,  Mr.  Sig- 
nor and  his  excellent  wife  are  devout  Chris- 
tians and,  with  most  of  their  children,  arc 
members  of  the  Methodist  church.  In  poli- 
tics he   is  a   Republican,   firm   and  true. 


AMES  WILLIAM  COULTER  is  a 
prominent  resident  of  Bovina,  having 
competent  charge  of  the  Robert  J. 
Livingston  estate  on  Lake  Delaware. 
This  property  has  been  in  the  possession  of  the 
Livingston  family  since  1707,  nearly  two  cen- 
turies, the  patent  coming  from  Queen  Anne. 
The  original  grant  was  for  land  a  mile  wide 
on  the  Hudson  River,  and  extending  back  to 
the  West  Branch  of  the  Delaware  River. 
From  time  to  time  various  sections  of  it  have 
been  sold;  but  even  now  the  estate  includes 
nearly  eight  hundred  acres,  and  is  the  largest 
owned  by  any  private  person  in  the  county. 
Mr.  Coulter  has  from  three  to  ten  men  work- 
ing under  him,  and  keeps  a  hundred  and 
fifty  acres  under  cultivation.  The  place  is 
chiefly  used  as  a  summer  resort  by  the  Living- 
ston family,  and  on  it  are  twenty  buildings, 
including  the  main  dwelling-house,  tenement 
houses,  boat-houses,  gate-house,  and  laundry. 
There  are  kept  twenty-five  or  thirty  full- 
blooded  Jerseys,  averaging  two  hundred  and 
seventy-five  pounds  of  butter  each  for  market 
every  year.  On  the  farm  is  a  lovely  sheet  of 
water,  named  Lake  Delaware,  two  hundred 
and  nineteen  rods  seventeen  links  long  by 
sixty-four  rods  wide  in  the  broadest  part,  and 
covering  about  sixtv  acres,  well  stocked  with 
California  salmon,  trout,  and  other  fish.  At 
the  outlet  of  this  lake  for  eighty-one  years 
stood  a  grist-mill.  The  first  mill,  built  by 
Stephen  Palmer  for  Governor  Morgan  Lewis 
in  1796,  was  burned,  and  a  new  one  was  built 
in    1823.      Mr.    Coulter  superintended   taking 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


35' 


clown  tho  latter  mill  in  1881.  Mr.  Robert  J. 
Livingston  died  in  Now  York  City  on  I'\-bru- 
ary  22,  1S91  ;  and  the  property  now  belongs 
to  his  daughter.  He  was  born  Deeember  11, 
181  I,  his  mother  being  the  only  daughter  of 
General  Morgan  Lewis,  of  Revolutionary 
fame.  Mr.  Livingston's  daughter,  Louise 
Morgan  Livingston,  is  now  the  wife  of  Com- 
modore Elbridge  T.  Gerry,  a  lawyer  residing 
in  New  York  City. 

Mr.  Coulter  was  born  in  l^ovina,  Janu- 
ary 19,  1837.  His  parents  were  James  and 
Nanc\'  D.  (Thompson)  Coulter,  both  natives 
of  Bovina.  The  grandfather  was  Francis 
Coulter,  born  in  .Scotland,  antl  an  earl) 
settler  in  Bovina,  a  town  full  of  .Scotch 
blooil.  James  W.  Coulter  grew  up  in  his 
native  place,  went  to  the  tlistrict  school,  and 
attended  the  Andes  Academy  a  couple  of 
terms.  Till  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  stayed 
at  home,  meanwhile  learning  the  trade  of  car- 
penter. Then  he  became  a  bridge-builder  for 
some  time.  Among  the  specimens  of  his 
work  are  the  large  bridges  at  Otego,  Cook's 
Falls,  and  Beaver  Kill,  besides  various 
smaller  structures.  P'rom  1859  to  1868  he 
engaged  in  general  carpentry,  taking  building 
contracts.  Next  he  bought  ninety-seven  acres 
near  Bovina  Centre,  and  devoted  himself 
chiefly  to  agriculture  till  1872,  when  he  was 
engaged  as  superintendent  of  the  Livingston 
farm.  He  was  married  on  a  patriotic  holiday, 
I'ebruary  22,  1866,  to  Elizabeth  Murdock 
Doig,  a  native  of  Bovina,  the  daughter  of 
William  and  Jane  Doig,  both  deceased,  she  at 
the  age  of  fifty-three,  and  he  at  sixty-two. 
They  belongetl  to  the  Bovina  Centre  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  had  ten  children,  of  whom 
two  survive.  Of  these  two  Mrs.  Coulter  is 
the  elder.  Her  sister,  liuphemia  Doig,  is 
now  Mrs.  W.  G.  McNee,  of  Bovina.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  J.  VV.  Coulter  both  belong  to  the  local 
Presbyterian  church,  wherein  he  is' a  Trustee. 
They  have  no  children,  and  he  is  a  Re])Ld5lican" 
in  politics. 

A  fuller  account  of  the  Coulter  ancestry 
may  be  found  in  the  sketch  of  James  Coulter, 
an;l  further  facts  concerning  Miss  Doig's 
family  are  recordeil  in  sketches  devoted  to  its 
members.  The  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Coulter 
was  Walter  Doig,  who  was  born   in  Scotland, 


came  to  this  country,  and  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in  W'ashington  County,  New  York. 
After  a  few  years  he  changed  his  home  to 
Delaware  County,  locating  himself  at  Bovina 
in  the  beginning  of  the  War  of  18 12,  on  a 
farm  still  in  the  family.  Land  was  hired  in 
those  days,  not  bought  outright;  and  it  was 
therefore  many  years  before  Mr.  Doig  was 
able  to  get  a  deed  of  his  estate.  Clearing  the 
forest  away  gradually,  he  put  uj)  a  log  house, 
finding  game  in  the  forest  and  fish  in  the 
streams,  and  now  antl  then  shooting  a  prowl- 
ing wolf.  Grandfather  Doig  was  very  in- 
dustrious, owned  in  all  two  hundred  acres, 
and  was  an  organizer  of  the  L'nited  Presby- 
terian church  in  Bovina.  liverybotly  in  the 
town,  not  to  say  the  county,  knew  Walter 
Doig.  The  nearest  mill  was  eight  miles  off, 
and  he  carried  the  grain  thither  in  a  bag  on 
his  back.  The  main  market  foi-  produce  was 
at  Catskill,  eighty  miles  away.  On  this  farm 
Mr.  Doig  lived  until  death  overtook  him;  but 
this  was  not  till  he  reached  the  age  of  four- 
score, his  wife  Elizabeth  dying  at  about  the 
same  age.  They  had  six  children,  all  of 
whom  grew  up,  but  are  no  longer  in  earth's 
shadows  —  Andrew,  IClizabeth,  William,  Mar- 
garet, James,  and  Jennie  Doig. 

On  November  6,  1851,  Walter  A.  Doig, 
son  of  Andrew  Doig,  was  married  to  Margaret 
G.  .Armstrong.  She  was  born  in  Bovina  on 
November  8,  1829,  the  daughter  of  John  and 
Isabelle  Coulter  Armstrong.  Mr.  Armstrong 
was  born  in  Washington  County,  New  York; 
but  his  wife  was  born  in  .Scotland.  He  be- 
came a  Bovina  farmer,  and  died  there  at  the 
age  of  sixty-six;  and  his  wife  lived  to  be 
eighty-one.  He  was  an  lilder  in  the  United 
Presbyterian  church ;  and  they  had  a  dozen 
children,  of  whom  ten  grew  to  mature  age, 
and  six  are  still  living.  Alice  Armstrong  is 
now  Mrs.  David  Olner,  of  I5ovina.  ^L^ry 
Armstrong  married  .Stephen  Russell,  ami 
lives  in  the  same  town.  Margaret  Armstrong 
became  Mrs.  W.  A.  Doig.  John  G.  Arm- 
strong is  in  California.  l*"rancis  Coulter 
Armstrong  is  in  Bovina.  Ellen  .Armstrong 
married  John  .S.  Foster,  and  their  home  is  in 
Washington  County. 

Whichever  way  we  glance  over  tin-  ances- 
try of  Mr.   and  Mrs.  J.   W.   Coulter,   we  find 


352 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


worthy  representatives  of  the  different  fami- 
lies, which  at  one  point  unite  in  a  single 
stream  with  many  branches.  Says  that  epi- 
grammatic writer,  George  Eliot,  "Breed  is 
stronger  than   pasture." 


OX.     DKWITT    GRIFFIN    is    a  very 
prominent   resident  of   Griffin's  Cor- 

is  I  ners,      in      Middletown,      Delaware 

County,  and  belongs  to  the  family 
which  gave  the  settlement  its  name.  By  pro- 
fession he  is  a  lawyer,  tried  and  true,  and  was 
named  for  a  family  which  has  been  very  con- 
spicuous in  the  annals  of  the  Empire  State, 
Governor  De  Witt  Clinton  having  died, 
greatly  respected,  only  a  few  years  before 
young  Griffin"s  birth,  on  March  27,  1836. 
His  father  was  Matthew  Grififin,  of  whom 
and  the  Griffin  ancestry  a  separate  sketch 
may  be  found  elsewhere  in  these  biographies; 
and  the  mother  was  Clarissa  Dodge.  After 
attending  the  district  school,  the  lad  went  to 
the  Albany  Normal  School,  and  then  studied 
law,  being  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1857,  when 
only  twenty-one.  He  at  once  began  practice 
in  his  native  village,  where  he  has  ever  since 
remained. 

Mr.  Griffin  was  married  at  the  age  of 
twenty-five,  in  1861,  to  a  distant  kinswoman, 
Mary  Stone,  daughter  of  Robert  and  Caroline 
(Griffin)  Stone.  Mr.  Stone  was  a  leading 
farmer  in  the  town,  and  one  of  its  first  set- 
tlers. He  died  at  fifty,  leaving  nine  children 
—  Augustus,  John  Francis,  William  Henry, 
George,  Rutson,  Margaret,  Hannah,  Susan, 
Josephine.  Their  mother  outlived  her  hus- 
band, not  dying  till  she  was  seventy-six. 
Mrs.  Griffin  was  born  November  20,  1838, 
and  was  therefore  twenty-three  at  the  time  of 
her  marriage ;  but  she  was  taken  away  from 
the  home  in  1870,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty- 
two,  after  only  nine  years  of  wedlock;  and 
her  only  babe,  Aurelia,  soon  after  followed 
the  mother's  heavenly  footsteps.  Mr.  Griffin 
subsequently  married  a  second  wife,  Viola 
Sharp,  the  daughter  of  Revilo  Sharp,  a  farmer 
and  trader  in  Ulster  County,  the  town  of 
Shandaken.  Mr.  Sharp's  wife  was  Ann 
l-Hi/.a  Milks;  and  they  had  several  children  — 
Horatio,   Jehial,   John,    Stanley,    Jane,   Julia, 


"Viola,  and  Lydia  Sharp.  By  this  marriage 
Mr.  Griffin  has  three  children.  Clinton,  the 
eldest,  bearing  a  grand  historic  and  political 
name,  was  born  September  22,  1882.  Mat- 
thew Griffin,  named  for  his  grandfather,  was 
born  on  Washington's  Birthday,  1886.  War- 
ner Griffin  was  born  November  19,   1889. 

Mr.  Griffin  is  a  Republican,  has  been  a 
representative  in  the  State  Assembly,  is  a 
Justice  of  Peace,  and  belongs  to  the  Metho- 
dist church.  Needless  to  say  that  the  Griffin 
family  hold  the  first  position  in  their  vicinity. 
Two  excellent  sentences  have  been  uttered 
about  the  law.  One  was  by  Sir  John  Powell, 
a  noted  jurist  of  two  centuries  ago,  who  said, 
"  Let  us  consider  the  leason  of  the  case,  for 
nothing  is  law  that  is  not  reason."  The  other 
was  a  toast  at  the  bar  dinner  at  Charleston, 
S.C.,  in  1847:  "The  law — it  has  honored 
us:    may  we   honor   it." 

Both  these  sentiments  would  be  indorsed  by 
so  sensible  a  lawyer  as  the  Hon.  Dewitt 
Griffin. 


ATTHEW  GRIFFIN  is  a  substan- 
tial real-estate  owner  and  saga- 
cious business  man  in  Griffin's 
Corners,  a  part  of  the  town  of 
Middletown,  which  owes  its  name,  if  not  its 
absolute  being,  to  his  enterprise.  His  gene- 
alogy is  worth  considering. 

His  great-grandfather,  William  Griffin, 
came  from  England  with  a  large  fortune,  and 
settled  on  Long  Island.  When  the  Revolu- 
tion broke  out,  he  refused  to  take  up  arms 
against  the  mother  country.  He^was  there- 
fore numbered  with  the  Tories,  and  his  estates 
confiscated  to  the  patriot  cause.  William 
Griffin  owned  some  very  fine  horses;  and  so 
his  son  John  took  the  most  valuable  of  the 
stallions,  and  rode  away  to  Delaware  County, 
whence  he  removed  to  Dutchess  County, 
where  he  settled  among  the  Fishkill  Moun- 
tains. After  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis 
and  the  declaration  of  peace,  William  Griffin 
went  to  W'est  Chester,  where  he  died,  leaving 
four  children,  all  born  on  Long  Island  — 
William,  Ezekiel,  Solomon,  John.  The  jun- 
ior William  Griffin  had  already  settled  in 
Middletown    in    1765,    a    decade    before    the 


RIOORAl'HICAL    REVIEW 


353 


Revolution  hej;aii,  on  a  farm  now  l)elonging  to 
Henry  Boughton ;  and  he  became  a  very  pros- 
perous man,  raising  a  large  family.  Solomon 
Griffin  took  up  his  residence  among  the  I-'ish- 
kill  Mountains,  and  so  did  his  hrothei' 
IC/.ekiel. 

Huying  a  large  farm,  hlzekiel  Griffin  became 
\ery  jjrosperous,  and  married  Charlotte  White 
(a  daughter  of  a  farmer  named  John  White). 
In  1833  he  sold  out  his  Fishkill  property,  and 
came  to  Delaware  County,  where  he  bought  a 
hundred  and  fifty  acres  now  belonging  to  the 
IkMijaniin  Crosby  estate.  Me  greatly  im- 
]')ro\-ed  the  place,  and  there  his  children  grew 
up.  His  son  V.W  married  I'lu-he  .Simmons; 
and  lioth  ai'e  dead,  leaving  foin"  children. 
Mary  (ierlrude  Griffin  married  Joshua  Hur- 
cham,  and  the\'  left  two  children.  [oseph 
GrilTin  married,  but  none  of  his  family  sur- 
\'ive.  John  Griffin  married  liannah  Miles, 
and  they  left  a  large  family.  Of  Matthew 
Griffin  a  longer  account  will  be  piesentlv  in 
order.  David  Griffin  married  Martha  Doo- 
little.  and  lives  at  West  Hurley,  L'lster 
Count}-,  the  mother  of  seven  children.  h'.li/a 
Griffin  married  Ebenezer  Griffcth,  of  the  Cor- 
ners, and  they  left  four  children.  I'amelia 
Griffin  married  Henry  Lee,  had  six  children, 
outlived  her  husband,  and  is  in  L'lster 
Count}'.  Alice  Griffin  was  the  wife  of  Heni'\' 
Walker;  and  they  left  one  chiki,  though  an- 
other died  in  early  life.  E/.ekiel  Griffin, 
their  father,  was  a  Methodist  and  a  Whig,  and 
lived  to  be  about  seventy-two;  but  his  wife 
iliecl  at  fifty-eight.  I">,ekiel  (ii-iffin  bore  an 
Old  Testament  name;  but  this  sketch  spe- 
cially interests  itself  in  the  son  who  bore  a 
New   Testament   name. 

Matthew  Griffin  was  born  in  Dutchess 
Count}-,  in  the  town  of  ]-"ishkill,  on  October 
22,  i.Sii.  lie  was  educated  in  the  district 
school,  ami  at  eighteen  was  employed  as  clerk 
by  Noah  ICllis,  the  chief  trader  in  Griffin's 
Corners.  After  working  there  a  couple  of 
years,  he  acce]3ted  a  place  as  general  manager 
of  a  tanner}-  belonging  to  Elijah  Isham.  In 
1S36,  when  twenty-five  years  (dd,  .Matthew 
Griffin  opened  a  store  on  the  site  now  oc- 
cupied by  Fleischman's  hotel.  V'lvc  years 
later,  in  1S41,  he  built  there  a  new  store.  Fn 
1848  he  procured  the  establishment    of   a   new  | 


post-office,  to  be  called,  after  him.  Griffin's 
Corners.  He  built  a  hotel,  also,  which  he 
carried  on  four  years  in  conjunction  with  his 
store;  for  he  owned  the  entire  property  since 
known  as  the  Corners.  When  the  anti-rent 
troubles  lu'gan,  he  decided  to  let  both  tavern 
and  store.  He  had  begun  reading  law  while 
a  young  man.  Perhaps  the  questions  arousetl 
by  the  rent  agitation  stimulated  him  to  finish 
studying  for  the  bar.  In  iSsr,  at  the  age  of 
forty,  he  was  admitted  at  Albany,  but  did  not 
change  his  residence;  for  he  immediately 
found  practice  enough  at  the  Corners,  where 
he  was  specially  successful  in  criminal  cases. 
Xot  tpiite  satisfied  with  this,  after  two  years 
he  went  to  Rondout,  in  L'lster  County,  and 
-started  a  store.  Two  years  later  he  engaged 
in  the  steamboat  business  there.  Thence 
he  went  to  New  ^'ork  City,  where  for  eight 
years  he  had  full  charge  of  an  express  busi- 
ness. Then  he  came  back  to  Delaware 
County,  and  kept  store,  attending  also  to 
much  law  business,  though,  since  reaching 
the  age  ot  threescore,  he  has  lived  in  com- 
jiarative  retirement  from  outside  activitv, 
sometimes,  however,  taking  up  one  of  the 
cases   urged    u|ion    him. 

Matthew  Griffin  was  married  as  far  back  as 
1833,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  to  Miss  Cla- 
rissa Dodge,  a  daughter  of  Jose])h  Dodge, 
whose  wife  was  Sally  Burgin.  Mr.  Dodge 
was  aniong  the  earliest  settlers  on  the  Little 
Delaware  River,  but  died  in  Owego,  at  four- 
score, his  wife  having  died  young,  after  bear- 
ing him  eight  children — William,  Erastus, 
Orin.  Clarissa,  Lorctta,  Electa,  Sally,  and 
Oliva  Dodge.  By  his  marriage  with  Cla- 
rissa. !\Litthew  Griffin  had  se\-en  children,  five 
living  to  adult  age.  A  brief  record  follows: 
Willian-i  Dodge  (Jriffin  first  married  Miss 
Aver}-,  and  second  Susie  Hoffmai-i,  and  then 
died,  leaving  two  children.  Of  the  seconil 
son,  Dewitt  Griffin,  there  is  a  separate  ac- 
coui-it  in  this  vidutne.  Mary  Griffin  n-iarried 
John  O'Neil,  and  died,  leaving  four  children. 
•Sally  Griffin  married  Williai-n  I",.  Hull;  and 
he  ilied,  leaving  her  w^ith  one  child.  Char- 
lotte (iriffin  married  William  Rickey,  who 
died,  leaving  four  children;  and  she  lives  in 
Kingston.  Mrs.  Griffin  died  in  1S77,  in  the 
Presbyterian  faith. 


354 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


As  a  Republican,  Mr.  GriflRn  has  been  Tax 
Collector,  and  from  1872  to  1874  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  State  Assembly.  Well  hath  Shak- 
spere  said, — 

divide    the    state  of    man  in 


■Therefore   doth    lieavcn 

divers  functions. 
Settins;  endeavor  in  continual  motion." 


This  disposition  belongs  especially  to  Mat- 
thew Griffin,  who  in  his  long  and  useful  life 
has  played  many  parts,  always  with  advantage 
to  the  community,  and  generally  to  himself. 


itlJ/lLLIAM  H.  METCALF,  the  oldest 
blacksmith  in  point  of  residence  in 
the  village  of  Walton,  is  the  pos- 
sessor of  great  mechanical  ability,  and  has  a 
very  large  and  profitable  trade,  his  upright 
and  honorable  methods  of  transacting  busi- 
ness and  his  reliability  securing  for  him  the 
respect  and  confidence  of  all  with  whom  he 
has  dealings.  His  record  during  the  time  of 
the  civil  strife  in  this  country  was  creditable 
to  him  and  an  honor  to  the  county  from  which 
he  enlisted. 

Mr.  Metcalf  is  a  native  of  this  county,  hav- 
ing been  born  in  Masonville,  March  7,  1841, 
and  is  a  descendant  of  worthy  New  England 
stock.  His  grandfather,  Eliphalet  Metcalf, 
was  born  in  New  England,  and  served  in  the 
War  of  1812.  He  subsequently  removed  to 
this  State,  and,  after  living  for  a  time  in  Ot- 
sego County,  came  to  this  locality,  settling  in 
the  town  of  Masonville.  He  married  Susan- 
nah Place;  and  they  reared  a  large  family  of 
children,  of  whom  one  only  is  now  living. 
The  following  is  recorded  of  a  part  of  the 
family:  Nancy  married  a  Mr.  Moore.  Sa- 
mantha  became  the  wife  of  W.  A.  White. 
Eliza  married  Linus  Weed,  of  Walton;  and 
both  are  now  deceased.  Harriet  married  the 
Rev.  Martin  B.  Cleveland.  Adeline  married 
Henry  Benedict,  of  North  Walton;  and  both 
are  deceased.  Julia  C.  became  Mrs.  Bigelow. 
Hubbard  was  the  father  of  William  H. 
Metcalf. 

Hubbard  Metcalf  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Masonville,  and  was  a  resident  of  that  place 
the  greater  part  of  his  life.  He  married  for 
bis  first    wife    Hannah  Ferry,  of  Masonville, 


the  children  of  this  union  being:  Hannah  O., 
now  a  resident  of  Stamford,  Conn.,  and  the 
widow  of  Charles  Knapp,  who  died  in  the 
Adirondacks;  and  William  H.,  of  whom  we 
write.  Mrs.  Hannah  Metcalf  died  in  the 
spring  of  1848,  in  Ulster  County,  New  York; 
and  Mr.  Metcalf  subsequently  married  Mrs. 
Mary  Bennett,  who  bore  him  one  child, 
George  E.,  now  a  resident  of  Jamestown, 
N.Y.  Mr.  Metcalf  spent  his  declining  years 
in  Walton,  dying  there  April  5,  1888.  He 
was  a  stanch  supporter  of  the  principles  of  the 
Republican  party. 

William  H.  Metcalf  was  reared  to  man's 
estate  in  the  town  of  his  birth,  and  there  ac- 
quired a  fair  common-school  education.  He 
remained  at  home  until  October,  1861,  when 
he  volunteered  as  a  soldier  in  the  army  of  the 
Union,  enlisting  in  the  Forty-second  New 
York  Volunteer  Infantry,  familiarly  known  as 
the  Tammany  Regiment  of  New  York  City, 
where  he  was  mustered  into  service.  He 
joined  the  army  at  camp  near  Poolesville, 
Md.,  and  on  the  2^st  of  October,  1861,  was  in 
the  battle  at  Ball's  Bluff,  where  Colonel 
Baker,  United  States  Senator  from  Oregon, 
was  killed,  and  the  brave  commander  of  his 
regiment.  Colonel  Cogswell,  was  taken  pris- 
oner. In  the  spring  of  1862  his  regiment  was 
sent  to  Washington  to  join  McClellan's  army, 
and  was  with  him  during  the  Peninsular  cam- 
paign. During  the  subsequent  months  he 
participated  with  his  regiment  in  many  hotly 
contested  battles.  By  an  act  of  Congress, 
passed  in  August,  1862,  all  regimental  bands 
were  discharged,  and  Mr.  Metcalf  returned  to 
Masonville,  but  on  the  4th  of  January,  1864, 
again  enlisted,  joining  the  Fifth  New  York 
Heavy  Artillery,  being  mustered  in  at  Fort 
Marshall,  Baltimore,  Md.,  where  he  spent  the 
winter.  In  the  spring  of  1864  the  regiment 
was  ordered  to  Harper's  Ferry,  W.  Va., 
where  it  remained  until  the  close  of  the  war. 
being  honorably  discharged  from  service  at 
that  place. 

The  union  of  Mr.  Metcalf  and  Miss  Frances 
A.  Evere-st,  a  resident  of  Harpersfield,  and  a 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  George  T.  Everest,  was 
solemnized  in  October,  1862;  and  to  them 
six  children  were  born  —  Martha  O.,  William 
A.,   Olive    C,   Mary  E.,   Georgiana    A.,   and 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


3SS 


IIcnr\'  I{.  Martha  niarrieii  W.  A.  Shciiard, 
of  W'alton;  and  Olive  C.  is  the  wife  of  lames 
M.  Ball,  of  West  Troy.  Mrs.  Metcalf  died 
in  1878:  and  Mr.  Metcalf  was  again  married, 
his  seconil  wife  being  Miss  I'Mizabeth  Keeler, 
who  lived  but  a  brief  time  aftei"  marriage. 
He  formed  a  third  matrimonial  alliance, 
marrving    Miss     I.i'ttic    I'.mbree.    of    Catskill, 

x.v: 

In  the  connnunit)'  where  he  has  so  long  i"e- 
sided  Mr.  Metcalf  is  held  in  high  esteem. 
He  is  infiuential  in  local  affairs,  promoting 
by  every  means  in  his  power  the  welfare  and 
ailvancement  of  the  town  and  county.  In 
politics  he  is  a  .stanch  Repuljlican.  and  cast 
his  first  Presidential  \'ote  for  Abraham  Lin- 
coln during  the  time  he  was  in  the  arm\ . 
Fraternally,  he  is  a  member  of  Ben  Marvin 
Post,  No.  209,  (irand  Army  of  the  Re]jublic, 
being  ex-Commander  and  Senior  \'ice-Com- 
mander,    .S.    M.    \'.    M. 


^5^.\.MI-:.S  (",.  BALL.XRD.  a  foremost  citi- 
zen of  Middletown,  Delaware  Count)-, 
now  resiiling  at  (irififin's  Corners,  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Roxbury,  near  by, 
March  12.  i8j8,  son  of  Jonathan  and  Roxy 
(Foster)  Ballard.  His  paternal  grandpai'ents 
were  James  and  Polly  (Stratton)  Ballard,  the 
former  of  whom  was  the  son  of  Peleg  and 
Martha  (Haines)  Ballard,  who  came  from  Put- 
nam Count\-  to  Delaware  (..'ounts',  and  were 
among  its  first  settlers.  Taking  up  a  farm  in 
the  location  known  as  Red  Hill,  Peleg  Bal- 
lard built  thereon  a  log  house,  partially  clear- 
ing the  lantl  and  raising  a  little  grain.  The 
nearest  mill  was  at  Kingston,  and  to  get  his 
grain  ground  Mr.  Ballard  was  obliged  to  make 
a  long  journey  through  the  forest.  Fhey 
were  very  poor  at  first,  but  gradually  accumu- 
lated a  little  nionev,  with  which  they  bought 
some  stock,  mostly  sheep.  To  protect  these 
from  wild  animals,  as  bears,  wolves,  and  pan- 
thers. Mr.  Ballard  l)uilt  high  log  pens,  a  most 
necessary  jirecaution.  A  family  of  six  chil- 
dren were  born  of  this  couple,  by  name  James, 
Judith  M.,  Asa,  Banager,  I^lizabeth,  and  Zil- 
lah.  Their  father,  Peleg,  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy;  but  the  mother  survived  to  the  re- 
markable age   of   one   hundred  and   two  vears. 


The  son  James  always  worked  on  the  home 
farm,  which,  after  it  became  his  property,  he 
coritinued  to  improve  b\'  clearing  the  land  and 
putting  up  new  buildings.  His  wife,  Poll\' 
-Stratton,  was  the  daughter  of  David  .Stratton, 
an  earlv  settler  of  Delaware  Comity.  A  fam- 
il)'  of  seven  children  were  born  to  them  — 
Jonathan,  Flizabeth,  Ik'njaniin,  Louisa,  John, 
Jessie,  and  Polly  Ann.  'Lhe  mother  died 
when  she  was  fifty  years  old ;  and  James  chose 
for  his  sec<:)nd  wife  a  widow,  Mrs.  .Sally 
(Chase)  Scudder.  Lie  lived  to  be  eighty 
vears   of   age. 

Jonatlxin  Ballard  was  born  on  the  old  home- 
stead, and  early  brought  up  t<>  farm  work. 
He  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife,  Roxy, 
was  the  tlaughter  of  (iilbcrt  and  Roxy  (Ellis) 
l-'oster.  Mr.  L'oster  was  a  mason  b\'  trade, 
and  a  native  of  Dutchess  County.  LI  is  wife 
Roxy  died  in  early  womanhood,  leaving  five 
children;  namely,  Roxy,  Jane,  Orville,  Ma- 
zill\',  and  Cloey.  After  her  death  Mr.  Foster 
was  married  again,  this  time  to  Anna  Hodge, 
by  whom  he  had  three  children  —  Eliza  A., 
Catharine,  and  Adaline.  Mis.  Roxy  (Foster^ 
Ballard,  like  her  mother,  dietl  in  early  life, 
leaving  four  children  — James,  Asa,  William, 
and  Orville  Ballard.  Jonathan  Ballard  mar- 
rietl  for  his  second  wife  Rosanna  King,  who 
raised  two  children  —  Polly  Ann  and  Ira  Llar- 
ris.  He  was  a  prominent  man  in  his  town, 
and  fid  lowed  agricultural  pursuits  to  the  close 
of  his  life.  His  death  occurred  on  the  same 
day  as  that  of  his  wife  Rosanna,  Ma\'  8,  1S93, 
their  son  Ira  having  died  a  week  jirevious. 

James  (i.  Ballard,  after  receiving  a  practi- 
cal eilucation,  went  to  Ilalcottsville.  and  en- 
gaged as  a  clerk  in  the  store  of  his  uncle, 
Orville  P^jster.  After  one  year  he  became  a 
partnei',  and  finally  bought  the  entire  busi- 
ness. Later  he  sold,  and  went  to  Batavia 
Hill,  where  he  invested  in  a  general  merchan- 
dise store,  and  remained  there  for  two  years. 
Disposing  of  his  store,  he  worked  for  his 
father  two  and  a  half  years,  and  then  bought 
one  hundred  and  fiftv  acres  of  land  in  Middle- 
town,  which  he  improved,  and  upon  which  he 
erected  good  buildings.  Mr.  Ballard  married 
Nancy  Travis,  who  was  born  in  1827,  a 
daughter  of  I^thele  and  Salacha  (Jenkins) 
Travis.      Her  father  was  a  progressive  farmer 


356 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


of  Delaware  County,  and  had  a  family  of 
eleven  children  —  Nathan,  Joseph,  Harvey, 
Lydia,  Eson,  Achsah,  Nancy,  Elsie,  Mar- 
garet, Anna,  and  Frances  M.  Travis.  He  was 
a  sturdy  Whig  in  politics,  and  a  man  much 
respected  by  his  neighbors.  He  lived  to  the 
age  of  sixty-seven  years;  and  his  wife,  who 
was  an  old-school  Baptist,  died  when  eighty- 
eight  years  old. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ballard  have  two  children. 
The  elder,  Roxylina,  born  1854,  married 
Ceily  Slason,  and  lives  on  the  old  Ballard 
homestead  in  Roxbury.  The  younger,  Ach- 
sah, born  in  1857,  became  the  wife  of  Andrew 
McNeil,  of  Griffin's  Corners,  and  died  in 
1889.  James  G.  Ballard  has  lived  on  his 
present  farm  for  thirty-eight  years,  and  is  in 
fine  physical  condition,  having  always  pos- 
sessed excellent  health.  He  takes  a  deep  in- 
terest in  the  cause  of  education,  and  holds  the 
responsible  offices  of  School  Trustee  and 
Overseer  of  the  Poor.  He  is  a  Democrat  in 
politics.  He  is  a  useful  man  in  the  commu- 
nity, and  does  all  in  his  power  to  promote 
every  good  cause,  thus  commanding  the  re- 
spect  of   his   fellow-townsmen. 


UREA  F.  GETTER,  a  well-known 
contractor  and  builder  of  Masonville, 
N.Y.,  where  he  is  a  large  land- 
owner, was  born  June  30,  1830,  in 
the  town  of  .Schoharie,  in  the  county  of  the 
.same  name.  His  father,  Christian  J.  Getter, 
was  born  in  Schoharie  County,  July  29,  1800; 
and  his  mother,  Maria  (Greene)  Getter,  was 
born  in  Rhode  Island,  November,  1798,  and 
was  a  relative  of  General  Nathaniel  Greene. 
.Stephen  Getter,  father  of  Christian,  was  born 
in  Germany,  and  came  to  this  country  with 
his  father,  William,  Sr.,  in  the  time  of  the 
Revolutionary  War.  William  Getter,  Sr., 
was  killed  in  the  battle  on  Long  Island. 
Stephen  came  to  Schoharie  County  when  but 
four  years  old;  and  his  brother,  William,  Jr., 
who  came  with  him,  was  but  six  years  old. 
William  became  a  gunsmith,  and  followed 
this   trade  through    life. 

Stephen  owned  land  in  Schoharie  County, 
and  was  one  of  the  sturdy  type  of  old  pio- 
neers.    He  settled    in   Masonville,    Delaware 


County,  in  1834,  having  made  the  removal 
with  teams,  camping  out  nights  while  on  the 
way.  He  bought  one  hundred  and  eleven  acres 
of  wild  land,  and  put  up  a  strong  double  log 
house.  In  those  days  a  man  did  not  stray  far 
from  his  home  without  a  gun  to  protect  him- 
self and  his  domestic  animals  from  the  assault 
of  wild  denizens  of  the  forests,  or  to  shoot 
deer  or  other  game  for  the  family  dinner. 
Grandfather  Getter  lived  on  this  farm  for 
about  twenty  years,  and  then  moved  to  an- 
other in  the  same  town,  now  owned  by  Will- 
iam Fuller,  where  he  died  at  ninety-six  years 
of  age.  When  in  middle  life,  he  had  a  com- 
fortable share  of  this  world's  goods;  but  by 
unfortunate  speculations  in  his  latter  years  he 
lost  the  greater  part  of  his  property.  He  and 
his  wife,  Lavina  (Schufeldt)  were  members  of 
the  Lutheran  church  in  their  earlier  years, 
but  before  their  death  belonged  to  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church.  He  was  a  Democrat. 
Mrs.  Getter  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-two 
years.  They  had  thirteen  children,  all  of 
whom  grew  to  maturity.  One  is  now  living; 
namely,  Mrs.  Svlvina  Deyo,  of  the  town  of 
Masonville. 

Christian  J.  Getter  grew  to  manhood  in 
Schoharie  County,  and  tliere  married.  He 
was  a  farmer  and  a  mechanic,  both  of  which 
callings  he  followed  through  life.  In  the 
spring  of  1837  he  came  to  Delaware  County, 
making  the  removal  with  a  team  and  lumber 
wagon,  being  four  days  on  the  way.  He 
bought  a  partly  improved  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty  acres,  which  he  occupied  and  con- 
tinued to  improve  till  1848,  when  he  traded  it 
for  a  smaller  one  of  sixty-seven  acres  about  a 
mile  distant,  still  owned  by  his  son,  the  sub- 
ject of  the  present  sketch.  Christian  J.  Get- 
ter was  strictly  temperate,  never  using  either 
tobacco  or  intoxicating  liquor,  and  was  scru- 
pulously honest  in  his  dealings,  but  in  finan- 
cial matters  was  never  quite  successful.  In 
size  and  strength  he  was  a  giant,  weighing 
two  hundred  pounds.  He  and  his  wife  were 
both  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.  In  his  early  manhood  he  was  a 
Jeffersonian  Democrat,  or  anti-Federalist. 
When,  later  in  life,  he  voted  the  Republican 
ticket,  he  used  to  say  that  the  party,  not  he, 
had  changed.      He  died  at  the  home  of  their 


AuREfl    F.  Getter, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


359 


sdii,  Aurca  !•".,  in  Miisonvillc,  November  9, 
1879,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine  years,  his 
wife,  in  November,  1885,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-seven  years.  Their  four  cliildren  all 
grew  to  maturity,  Init  Aurea  I'',  is  the  only 
survivor  at  this  (la_\'.  A  daughter,  Maria, 
wife  of  J.  H.  Couse,  died  at  forty-four  years 
of  age.  Elizabeth,  wife  of  John  Iloughta- 
ling,  died  at  twenty-two  years.  Ste])hen  T. 
married,  went  away,  and  has  not  bei'n  heard 
from  for  thirty-five  years,  supposed  to  be 
dead. 

.Aurea  1'.  was  the  youngest  ehild  of  his  pai- 
ents,  was  seven  years  old  when  they  moved 
to  Masonville.  He  received  a  good  practical 
education  in  the  public  schools,  and  at  sixteen 
years  was  allowed  to  start  in  life  for  himself. 
This  he  did  by  entering  the  employ  of  Garri- 
son Baldwin,  of  Middletown,  Conn.,  as  a 
salesman,  receiving  for  the  year  seventeen 
tlollars  a  month  and  board.  Not  ([uite  satis- 
fied with  his  work  there,  and  having  an 
inclination  for  mechanii's,  he  went  to  the 
town  of  Farmington,  Conn.,  and  learned  the 
trade  of  cabinet-making  under  Mr.  Henry 
Hitchcock,  who  carried  on  a  large  manufac- 
tory. He  began  by  working  as  errand  boy 
in  the  establishment,  but,  staying  there  four 
years,  mastered  the  trade,  and  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  time  received  high  wages.  Leav- 
ing Mr.  Hitchcock's  em))lo\',  he  ne.Nt  held 
the  position  of  foreman  in  the  large  pajjer 
mill  of  Messrs.  I'latner  &  Porter  in  the  same 
town.  After  remaining  with  tiiem  a  )'ear,  he 
returned  to  Masonville  in  1852,  antl,  buying 
a  farm  adjoining  the  old  homestead,  was  here 
engaged  in  farming  for  two  years.  Not  yet 
prepared  to  settle  down  to  the  monotony  of 
agricultural  pursuits  for  a  lifetime,  he  vent- 
ured upon  another  decided  change,  removing 
to  Windham,  Portage  County,  Ohio,  whei'e  he 
engaged  in  contracting  and  building,  having  a 
business  giving  employment  to  five  workmen 
the  year  round.  P'rom  Windham  he  removed 
to  Hiram,  also  in  Portage  County,  vvliere  he 
followed  the  same  business,  retaining  his 
residence  there  till  1866. 

The  military  achievements  of  Mr.  (jelter 
belong  to  this  period  of  his  life.  In  1856  he 
organized  a  company  known  as  the  (iarretts- 
ville   Rifles,   and  was  commissioned   Captain, 


the  company  belonging  to  the  .State  militia. 
And  on  July  29,  1S62,  when  he  enlisted  in 
Company  D  of  the  One  Hundred  and  P'ourth 
Ohio  Regiment,  under  Colonel  James  W. 
Reilly,  he  took  with  him  twi-nt}-two  of  liis 
former  men  to  help  fill  out  the  company. 
He  was  promised  the  l-'irst  Lieutenancy; 
but,  on  arriving  in  camp,  the  compan\'  being 
fully  officered,  he  shouldered  a  rille,  and  went 
into  the  ranks  as  a  private.  He  was  offered 
a  commission  as  l'"irst  Lieutenant  in  the  One 
Hundred  and  P'ifteenth  Regiment,  which  he 
did  not  accept;  and  after  six  months'  time 
he  was  given  the  command  of  the  comi)any. 
As  the  other  officers  were  captured,  he  filled 
their  places  from  time  to  time,  but  was  never 
a  regularly  commissioned  officer.  He  was 
wounded  in  the  battle  of  I'"ort  Mitchell,  near 
Cincinnati,  on  -September  10,  1862,  and  lost 
wholly  the  sight  of  his  right  eye.  His  regi- 
ment was  in  the  hiittles  of  ('imiljerland  (iap, 
Wataga  Bridge,  siege  of  Knoxville,  and 
Dean's  Station,  ;ind  started  from  Blue 
Springs  with  General  .Sherman  in  his  march 
to  the  sea,  and  entered  in  the  Atlanta  cam- 
paign, being  in  the  battles  of  Maple  Hill, 
Resaca,  Dallas,  Pine  Mountain,  Little  Kene- 
saw,  Chattahoochee  River,  Peach  Tree  Creek, 
Atlant;i,  Untio  Creek,  and  Jonesboro.  Colo- 
nel Reilly  was  then  made  Brigadier-general; 
and  the  regiment  went  with  General  Schofield 
to  Atlanta,  being  then  sent  to  i-e-enf<jrci.'  Gen- 
enil  Thomas  at  Nashville.  It  was  in  the 
Pulaski  skirmish,  took  |)art  in  the  night 
retreat  of  Spring  Hill,  and  passed  the  rebel 
camps  at  I'ranklin.  On  November  jo,  1864, 
was  fought  one  of  the  hottest  fights  in  which 
Com])any  P)  took  part,  in  support  of  the  -Sixth 
Ohio  liatterv.  'Phe  rebels  under  General 
Pat  Cleburn  made  five  assaults,  and  were  re- 
jjelled  with  a  loss  of  six  to  seven  thousand 
killed  and  wounded,  including  General  Cle- 
burn. The  Lnion  loss  was  two  to  tiiree  thou- 
sand killed  and  wounded.  On  P)ecember  15 
and  16  the  regiment  captured  two  guns,  with 
two  stands  of  colors,  and  on  January  16,  1865, 
started  for  Washington,  D.C.  Compan\'  D 
had  travelled  about  eight  thousand  miles, 
and  had  lost  two  hundred  men,  killed  and 
wounded,  and  had  captured  fifteen  rebel  flags 
and   six    cannon,      Mr.    Getter   was    honorablv 


360 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


discharged  in  June,  1865,  after  nearly  three 
years  of  hard  service,  his  health  being  much 
impaired. 

Returning  to  Masonvillc  in  1S65,  Mr. 
(ietter  bought  about  four  hundred  acres  of 
land;  and,  as  soon  as  he  had  sufficiently  re- 
covered his  health,  he  devoted  himself  to 
farming.  The  years  1872  and  1873  he  spent 
in  travelling,  visiting  five  States  west  of  the 
Mississippi  River.  He  has  travelled  quite 
extensively  in  North  America,  having  been  in 
twenty-nine  States  of  the  Union  and  in 
Canada.  From  1888  to  1890  he  was  in  the 
South,  and  was  largely  engaged  in  contract- 
ing and  building  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee, 
having  in  his  employ  some  of  the  time  as 
many  as  twenty-five  men.  He  erected  in 
Middletown,  Ky.,  two  large  brick  blocks, 
two  churches,  and  fifteen  dwellings,  all  in 
two  years,  being  very  successful  in  this  busi- 
ness. Since  1890  he  has  resided  in  Mason- 
ville.  He  leases  his  land,  and  is  himself 
engaged  in  contracting  and  building.  He 
married  Fcbruar\-  12,  1852,  Minerva  M.  Case, 
who  was  born  in  Hartford  County,  Connecti- 
cut, November  19,  1832,  daughter  of  Nelson 
and  Nelsea  (Brockway)  Case.  Her  parents 
were  both  natives  of  that  count}-,  and  her 
father  was  a  carpenter  and  joiner.  He  moved 
to  Windham,  Ohio,  in  1850,  and  died  at  the 
age  of  seventy-six  years,  and  his  wife  at  the 
age  of  seventy-two  years.  They  had  eight 
children,  seven  of  whom  are  now  living. 
Hosea  K.  Case  died  at  thirty  years  of  age. 
The  others  are:  Mrs.  Minerva  M.  Getter; 
Flora  R.,  wife  of  -Sherman  W.  I'uller,  of 
Portage  County,  Ohio;  Asa  N.  and  Charles 
R.  Case,  residing  in  Bavaria,  Kan.;  Mrs. 
Amelia  A.  Thayer,  residing  in  Garrettsville, 
I'ortage  County,  Ohio;  Fugene  F.  Case,  liv- 
ing in  Watervliet,  Mich.;  Mrs.  Lamira  C. 
Kleckler,  in  Fillmore  County,  Minn.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Case  were  liberal  in  religious  views. 
In  politics  he  was  a  Democrat. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Getter  have  one  chikl,  a 
daughter,  Mrs.  Rosa  M.  Gilbert,  born  August 
3,  i860,  wife  of  Fugene  A.  Gilbert.  Mr. 
(iilbert  was  born  May  2,  i860,  in  the  town  of 
.Sidney,  Delaware  County,  son  of  George  and 
Olive  (Olmsted)  Gilbert.  His  father  was  a 
soldier   in   the  late  war,    in   the    Eighty-si.xth 


Regiment,  New  York  Volunteers,  Company 
M,  and  died  from  disease  in  1861,  at  the  age 
of  thirty  years.  Mrs.  Olive  Gilbert  resides 
with  her  son  luigene,  who  is  a  member  of  the 
Sons  of  \^eterans  of  Unadilla,  One  Hundred 
and  Nineteenth  Thorne  Corps.  Mr.  (iilbert 
is  a   Republican    in   politics. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Getter  are  liberal  in  religion, 
and  politically  he  is  a  Republican.  He  is  a 
charter  member  of  the  Masonville  Lodge,  No. 
606,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Unadilla  Chapter, 
Norwich  Commandery,  No.  46,  Norwich  Con- 
sistory; also  of  Wells  Post,  No.  180,  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  of  which  he  was  the 
first  Commander,  holding  the  office  for  three 
years.  It  should  go  without  saying  that  Mr. 
Getter  is  a  popular  man  in  the  county,  widely 
known  as  a  kind  neighbor  and  a  good  citizen, 
a  man  of  excellent  understanding  and  general 
information,  and  one  who  has  a  host  of 
friends.  He  is  interested  in  e\erything 
which  is  for  the  benefit  of  the  community, 
and  may  be  counted  on  ever  to  lend  a  hand  to 
the  cause  which  is  right. 

The  publishers  of  the  "Review"  are  i:)leased 
to  present  a  portrait  of  Mr.  Getter,  a  very 
good  likeness  of  this  patriotic  and  eminently 
useful  citizen,  in  connection  with  this  brief 
sketch   of   his   personal   and   family   history. 


ORACl-:  M.  CO^^?S  was  born  in 
Hamden,  Delaware  County,  N.Y., 
January  8,  1821.  His  grandfather, 
'John  Combs,  was  born  in  Devon- 
.shire,  ICngland,  in  the  year  1757.  Being  the 
only  son  of  wealthy  parents,  he  was  gi\en  the 
opportunity  of  a  thorough  education;  but  at 
the  age  of  eighteen  years,  becoming  impatient 
of  the  restraints  of  school  life,  he  ran  away, 
and  enlisted  in  the  British  regulars,  suppos- 
ing he  was  going  to  Ireland.  But  that  was 
not  to  be  his  destiny;  for,  instead  of  being 
ordered  to  Ireland,  his  regiment  was  sent  to 
America.  During  his  service  in  the  British 
army  he  was  in  the  battles  of  Long  Island, 
Brandywine,  Germantown,  and  Monmouth, 
and  was  taken  prisoner  during  the  campaign 
of   Rhode   Island. 

After  he  was  paroled,  believing  the  Amer- 
icans were  fighting  in  a  just  cause,  he  went  to 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


3'''> 


Connecticut,    and    hired   himself    to  a   farmer,  Iloliow,  in   the  town  of   Colchester,  win  ix   m 

remaining   there   three  years;    and  during   the  built   a   saw-mill,    and    again    engaged    in    the 

time   he   married    Miss   Currance   Southworth.  lumber  business.     I  lere  he  remained  till   1S5S, 

After   his   marriage   he   took   his   wife  and  all  when  he  removed  to   Ohio,  thinking  a   ehan-'^e 

that    he    possessed    of    this   world's    goods  on  of    climate    might    restore   bis   failing   health, 

horseback,  and    "went    West."   and   settled    in  .\fter    his    return    to    New    \ork    in    1863    be 

the  town   of   l^roome,  Schoharie  County,  N.V.  made   his   home    with  his  son  Horace  until  bis 

Here   they  took   up  and   cleared  a  large  farm ;  death    in    1S64.      Joseph    Combs   was  a  stanch 

and   here  to  them  were  born  four  sons  and  two  Whig  until  the  Republican    party  was  formed, 

daughters,     whose     names     were     as     follows:  and  then  be  became  a  firm  adherent  to  Repub- 

PoUy,  John,  Seth,  Anson,  Josejib,  and  Electa.  lican    principles.      Hoth  be  and    his  wife  were 

Remaining  in  Schoharie  until   his  eldest  chil-  members  of  the  L'niversalist  church, 

drcn   were  grown   up,    he  again   moved    West,  Horace    M.  Combs,  whose   name   heails   this 

and   bought   the   farm  now  owned  by  Mr.  Rait  biography,    was    born    in    Hamden.     Delaware 

near   Hawley's   Station,  in    town    of    Hamden,  County,  '\.  W,  on    January   S,    1821.      He   oh- 

where  they  spent  the  remainder  of   their  lives,  tained   education  in  the  district  school,  and  at 

he   dying    in    1844.  'i^   the   age   of   eighty-one,  the  age  of  twenty-one  began  business  for  bim- 

she  in  1845,  at  the  age   of   eighty-four.      Hotb  self    by   purchasing    a    trad    of    two    hundred 

were  members  of  the  I'resbyterian  church.  acres   of    land,    whence   he   ])roceeded   to   clear 

Joseph   Combs,  the   father  of   Horace,  came  the   monarchs   of   the   forest,  the   migbtv  hem- 

with   his   father  from    Schoharie   in   his  child-  locks,    with    which    it    was   densely  "timbered, 

hood.      In    those    jirimitive    times   mail    came  and    manufacture   them  into  lumber  to   be  run 

but    once   a   week,  carried   on    horseback.      Jo-  down    the    Delaware   to    Philadelphia  in    rafts, 

seph    being   the  youngest   son,    it   became   bis  After  spending  about  a  year  and  a  half  in  this 

duty  to  cross  the  river  on   post   day  in  a  boat,  place,    he    sokl    out    and'  removed    to    Walton, 

and   go   after   the   newspaper,  which    was  then  where    he    learned    the  wagon-maker's    trade, 

quite  a  rarity,  and,  after   he   returned,  to   read  Having   followed    this    occupation    two   years, 

it  through  from  first  to  last  to  the   rest    of   the  be   returned    to    bis    native    town,    and    worked 

family,    with    bis    father   for   teacher.      Under  the  succeeding  fifteen  years  at   the  carpenter's 

his  father's  instruction  and  by  his  own  energy  trade.      Being    naturally    ingenious,    by    dili- 

he    became   noted    among  acquaintances    as   a  gence  and  close  attention  to'all  the   details  of 

reader,     debater,     and     teacher     of     common  bis     work     he     became    an    expert    and    noted 

schools,  and    held   the   office   of  Justice  of  the  mechanic.      In    1S56    Mr.    Combs   removed    to 
Peace    for    many    years.      He    married     Maria   '  Colchester,     where     he      purchased     sixty-five 

Brisack,  and   settled   down  on  a  farm  at   Haw-  acres   of   land,  partly  on    the    Delaware  River, 
ley"s    Station.      Their    marriage    was    blessed   j  and,    erecting    a     house    and    necessary    farm 

with   the  advent   of  these  children  —Charles,  buildings,  prejjared   for   liimsclf  and    family  a 
Elmira,     Horace   Marcus,    .Adeline,    .Seth,    and   |  permanent  home. 

Willard.  He    selected    Irrmi    among    his   schoolmates 

At  that  time   Delaware   Comity  was   a   great  Urpah    Holmes  to  be  his  partner   for   life,  and 

lumber    region,    immense    (juantities    of    pine  they     were     married      [ulv     8,      1S47.        Miss 
and   hemlock    lumber   being  manufactiu-ed  and   '   Holmes  was  born  .April    16,   1826,  and  was  the 

floated  down  the  Delaware  River   to    I'biladel-  daughter  of  John  A.  Holmes,  who  lived  in  the 

phia  in  rafts  during   the   si)ring   freshets.      Jo-  same   neighborhood.      Imvc  sons  were   born    to 
seph  became  a  prominent    lumberman,  anti  one  ,   Mr.  and    Mrs.    Combs,  as   follows:    Leslie   S.. 

of  the  most  expert  and  noted  steersmen    of   bis  born    .Ajiril    22,   184S;   Williard    F.,    I'ebruarv 
time.      It    is   a   very   remarkable    fact    that   be  i   5,    1853.    died    November   2.    18S2;    |ohn    A.', 

steered   down   the   river  the  second   voyage   be  March  5,   1855;   William   I'd Isworth,  February 

ever  made.  2,   1S61  ;    Newton    !•:.,  May   24,    1864.      Leslie 

In  1840  Mrs.  Combs   died,  and   Joseph   sold  j  S.  Combs  was  married  November  11,    1874,  to 

his  farm  at  Hawley's  and  removed   to   Gregory  Phebe    J.    Husted,    of    Bloomville,     Delaware 


362 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


County,  N.V.;  and  they  have  one  daughter, 
Minnie  E.,  born  March  22,  1878.  Williard 
F.  Combs  was  married  in  September,  1880,  to 
Angelina  Hofelc,  of  Colchester,  N.Y;  they 
had  one  daughter,  Mary  E.,  who  was  born 
October  22,  1881.  John  A.  Combs  was  mar- 
ried in  October,  1880,  to  Hattie  Shaver,  of 
Shavertown,  N.Y.,  and  four  children  have 
been  born  to  them;  namely,  Walter  H., 
Mabel  A.,  Celia,  Grace  L.  Combs.  Will- 
iam Ellsworth  Combs  was  married  October 
17,  1882,  to  Hettie  Dumond,  of  Walton,  N.Y. 
They  have  five  children  —  Marian  E.,  Edith 
S.,  Cecile  H.,  Hazel  O.,  Arras  P.  Combs. 
Leslie  is  a  teacher,  John  is  a  farmer  and  car- 
penter, William  Ellsworth  is  a  farmer  and 
manufacturer  of  lumber  and  various  articles  in 
that  line,  and  Newton  remains  with  his  father 
to  assist  him  in  his  declining  years. 

Land  brought  up  from  a  low  state  of  culti- 
vation to  the  production  of  bountiful  crops,  a 
beautiful  orchard  bearing  the  finest  of  fruit, 
and  comfortable  and  commodious  buildings 
are  evidence  of  the  untiring  energy  which  has 
ever  been  characteristic  of  Mr.  Combs.  In 
])olitics  he  is  a  firm  believer  in  the  ]5rinciples 
of  the  Republican  party.  He  holds  to  no  par- 
ticular religious  creed,  but  is  liberal  in  his 
views.  His  wife,  Mrs.  Orpah  Combs,  who 
died    May   6,    1882,,  was   a   Presbyterian. 


ILLIAM  A.  TEN  BROICCK  is  a 
}S'\  well-known  resident  of  the  village 
(if  Griffin's  Corners,  in  Middle- 
town,  Delaware  County,  where  since  1848  he 
has  prosperously  pursued  the  arduous  profes- 
sion of  law.  He  was  born  in  Columbia 
County,  November  20,  1823,  the  very  year 
when  President  Monroe  announceil  the  impor- 
tant view  in  regard  to  the  position  of  nation- 
alities in  North  America,  which  has  since 
been   known   as   the   Monroe   Doctrine. 

His  paternal  grandfather  was  Samuel  Ten 
Broeck ;  and  the  grandmother  belonged  to  tiie 
family  by  blood  as  well  as  law,  her  maiden 
name  being  Christina  Ten  Broeck.  They 
owned  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land  and 
a  beautiful  residence  in  Columbia  County, 
near  Mellenville:  and  thereon  Samuel  Ten 
Broeck    died    at    fourscore,    after   a    specially 


prosperous  life.  His  wife  lived  to  be  a  cen- 
tury old.  They  belonged  to  the  Dutch  Re- 
formed church,  and  had  only  two  children. 
Wessel  Ten  Broeck  married  into  the  Van 
Rensselaer  family,  and  lived  at  Claverack  in 
the  same  county,  but  died  young. 

The  other  son,  William,  was  born  on  the 
homestead,  where  he  grew  to  manhood.  He 
married  Margaret  Becker,  the  daughter  of  an 
enterprising  Columbia  County  farmer.  After 
their  marriage  they  took  the  homestead,  which 
they  greatly  improved;  and  there  they  raised 
a  family  of  six  boys,  whose  record  is  as  fol- 
lows: David  Samuel  Ten  Broeck,  now  de- 
ceased, married  Elida  Van  Deusen,  who  has 
five  children,  and  lives  in  Albany  County. 
Walter  Van  Ten  Broeck  married  Elizabeth 
Clum,  daughter  of  Philip  Clum;  and  both  are 
dead,  leaving  two  children,  well  endowed  by 
their  father's  successful  career.  Peter  Van 
Rensselaer  Ten  Broeck  also  died,  leaving  two 
children.  Jacob  L.  Ten  Broeck  married  Eliz- 
abeth Clum,  daughter  of  William  Clum;  and 
both  he  and  his  wife  are  deceased,  leaving  two 
children.  The  fifth  son  is  the  subject  of  the 
present  sketch.  The  youngest  boy,  Jeremiah 
Ten  Broeck,  married  Maria  Keifer,  is  a  Sau- 
gerties  farmer,  and  has  six  children.  The 
father  of  all  these  boys,  William  S.  Ten 
Broeck,  lived  to  be  only  thirty-five  years  old; 
but  his  wife  sin"vived  him  many  years,  living 
to  be  seventy-five.  Like  his  father,  he  be- 
longed to  the  historic  Dutch  Reformed 
church;  and  he  was  a  Democrat  in  political 
opinion. 

William  A.  Ten  Broeck  was  educated  at  the 
schools  in  Hudson,  N.Y.,  and  at  Lenox,  in 
the  western  part  of  Massachusetts.  Then  he 
entered  the  law  office  of  Monell  &  Hogeboom 
in  Hudson.  At  the  expiration  of  two  years 
he  changed  to  the  office  of  Adams  &  Watson 
in  Catskill,  where  he  finished  his  stuilies,  and 
met  his  matrimonial  fate.  On  October  19, 
1847,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  at  the  ses- 
sion of  the  court  in  Utica.  In  1846  he  came 
to  Griffin's  Corners,  where  he  has  ever  since 
remained,  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  both 
himself  and  the  town.  He  had  been  married 
one  year  before,  in  1845,  when  he  was  twenty- 
two  years  old,  to  a  lady  who  merited  her  name, 
Mary  Ann    Comfort,    the    eldest    daughter  of 


RIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


3C>3 


lliraiii  anil  Julia  (Luilinj;t()ii)  (."oiiifort,  of 
Catskill.  Mr.  Comfort  was  the  thriving 
owiuT  of  a  sash  and  blind  factory,  and  died 
wlun  onl\-  forty  years  of  age,  leaving  five 
girls,  almost  a  match  for  the  six  Ten  Broeck 
boys  already  mentioned.  These  girls  were: 
Mary,  who  became  Mrs.  Ten  13raeck;  Julia, 
named  for  hei-  mother;  Helen;  Charlotte; 
Caroline.  Their  mother  lived  to  be  sevent)-- 
three  years  old,  and  was  an  earnest  inemlier  of 
the  Episcopal  church,  as  was  also  her  much 
respected  husband. 

Mrs.  Ten  Broeck  died  in  iS66,  aged  thirt_\- 
seven,  though  she  had  already  jiassed  twenty- 
one  happy  Christmases  in  wedlock,  being 
manied  when  only  sixteen.  .She  left  three 
hoys  and  a  girl:  Charles  C.  I'en  Broeck,  born 
in  1846,  married  Martha  Godkins,  is  a  ilrug- 
gist  in  Kingston,  and  has  liuried  his  only 
child.  William  B.  Ten  Broeck,  born  in 
1848,  lives  in  Ctah,  where  he  owns  a  large 
ranch.  Helen  Ten  Broeck,  born  in  1S51,  be- 
came the  wife  of  \V.  H.  .Swart,  of  I'lster 
Count)',  New  \'ork,  and  died  in  1 S90,  leaving 
four  children,  who  are  with  their  father  in 
Saugerties.  Henry  H.  Ten  Broeck,  born 
in  1855,  married  Ella  Wilson,  who  died  in 
1893.  He  is  a  book-keeper  in  Lycoming 
Count}-,  with  one  child,  another  liaving  died 
yoimg.  In  i8»>7  Mr.  Ten  Broeck  was  again 
married,  this  time  to  Mrs.  Mary  Ann  Person, 
the  widow  of  Jolm  A.  I'erson,  and  the  eldest 
daughter  of  .Solomon  Osterhout  and  his  wife, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Bookhout.  Mr.  Os- 
terhout lived  at  Grififin's  Corners,  where  he 
was  an  early  settler,  carrieil  on  his  farm  in 
the  most  progressive  fashion,  and  lived  to  be 
eighty  years  old.  Politically  he  was  a  Demo- 
crat. Though  he  lost  his  wife  while  still  a 
young  woman,  she  left  nine  children:  Mary 
Ann,  afterward  Mrs.  Ten  l^roeck  :  Catherine; 
Elizabeth;  George;  William:  Chailes:  )ames; 
Augustus;  and  Nancy  Osterhout. 

Mr.  Ten  Broeck  is  a  Democrat,  and  has 
been  for  sixteen  years  a  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
and  for  a  dozen  years  has  been  Pension  No- 
tary. As  a  Eree  Mason,  he  belongs  to  Mar- 
garettville  Lodge,  No.  389,  and  is  a  member 
of  the  I'lpiscopal  church.  In  everything  of  a 
public  nature  taking  jdace  in  the  village,  he 
is  sure   to   have   a   prominent   part;   thougli   of 


course,  when  a  man  |)asses  the  milestone  of 
threescore  and  ten,  he  is  less  active  in  general 
al'fairs.  Mr.  l"cn  Broeck  rendered  valuable 
aid  in  tlu'  erection  of  the  two  churches  at 
(iriffin's  Corners,  one  Methoilist,  the  other 
]^)isco|)al.  Well  is  it  said  by  Lonl  Eldon, 
himself  a  distinguished  nu'niber  of  the  bar, 
"To  succeed  as  a  lawver  a  man  must  work 
like  a  horse  and  live  like  a  hermit."" 


ll.\RLl-;S  IE  (il'LkOMP:.  a  farmer  and 
marketman  of  the  town  of  .Sidnev, 
Delaware  County,  N.^'.,  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Kortright  in  this 
county,  March  i,  1850,  and  is  the  son  of  Jesse 
and  Eois  ( Ilobbs)  Gerome.  The  father  was 
born  July  13,  1803,  in  Kortright,  and  the 
mother  .August  13,  181  i,  in  the  town  of 
Andes. 

The  paternal  grandfather  of  Mr.  Gerome 
was  born  in  Dutchess  County,  of  Erench  par- 
entage. Removing  lo  Delaware  County  in 
its  early  and  primitive  days,  he  settled  in  the 
town  of  Kortright;  and,  building  a  rude  but 
comfortable  house,  he  engaged  in  clearing  up 
his  land.  He  reared  a  family  (}f  eight  chil- 
dren, five  sons  and  three  ilaughters,  five  of 
whom  are  still  living,  the  eldest,  Benjamin, 
now  residing  in  the  State  of  Delaware  in  his 
ninety-fifth  year.  The  grandfather  died  in 
Kortright  at  the  age  of  sixty  years,  but  the 
grandmother  lived  to  see  her  ninetieth  birthday. 

Jesse  Gerome  was  reared  in  the  town  of 
Kortright,  where  he  was  engaged  in  farming 
until  1854,  when  he  remo\ed  with  his  family 
to  the  town  of  Si<lne)-,  where  he  purchased  a 
farm,  and  loiitinued  farming  until  the  death 
of  liis  wife,  which  occurred  December  15, 
1862.  at  the  age  of  fifty-one  years.  He  was  a 
kind  husband  and  father,  ujiright  in  his  deal- 
ings with  all,  and  generous  even  to  a  fault. 
i-"or  a  niimlKr  of  years  before  his  lieath  he  was 
a  confinetl  invalid,  being  kindly  cared  for  at 
the  home  of  his  son  Horace,  where  he  died 
August  I,  1888,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five 
years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jesse  Gerome  had  seven 
children,  five  sons  and  two  daughters,  four  of 
whom  are  now  living.  Hiram,  the  eldest,  a 
farmer,  died  in  P'ebruary,  1883,  in  the  fifty- 
first  year  of   his  age;    he   left,  surviving  him. 


3'>4 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


two  chikiren  —  Seymour  H.  and  Susie  V. 
Horace  Geronie  is  a  farmer  now  residing  in 
Sidney  Centre.  Mary  E.,  wife  of  George  F. 
Rifenbark,  resides  at  Oneonta,  N.Y.  James 
died  December  2,  1864,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
two  years,  from  a  gunshot  wound  received 
while  making  a  charge  with  his  regiment, 
the  One  Hundred  and  Forty -fourth  New 
York  Volunteers,  at  the  battle  of  Honey  Hill. 
S.C.  Nancy  A.  resides  at  Sidney  Centre, 
N.Y.  Charles  H.  is  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  George  E.,  a  graduate  of  the  Dela- 
ware Literary  Institute  of  Franklin,  N.Y., 
was  afterward  a  teacher  for  .some  time  in  the 
same  institution.  During  President  Cleve- 
land's first  administration  he  received  the 
appointment  of  superintendent  of  an  Indian 
school  in  North  Dakota,  where  he  remained 
four  years.  Afterward  he  became  the  Prin- 
cipal of  the  Union  High  School  at  Davenport, 
Neb.,  which  position  he  held  when  he  died, 
May  30,    1893,   aged  forty-one  years. 

Charles  H.  Gerome  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools  of  the  town  of  Sidney  and 
the  Delaware  Literary  Institute  of  Franklin, 
N.Y.  He  was  at  an  early  age  impressed  with 
the  importance  of  self-reliance  and  indepen- 
dence, which  have  been  characteristic  of  him 
since.  He  gained  a  good  business  education, 
paying  for  his  own  tuition  while  at  school  by 
work  during  the  vacations  on  the  farm.  He 
engaged  in  farm  work  and  teaching  in  the 
winter  season  until  his  marriage,  which  took 
place  October  26,  1875,  to  Miss  Frances  L. 
Hess.  Mrs.  Gerome  was  born  in  Baraboo, 
Wis.,  September  4,  1856,  a  daughter  of  John 
and  Margaret  (Crawford)  Hess.  She  also  was 
a  teacher  in  the  common  schools  until  her 
marriage.  Mr.  Gerome  continued  farming  for 
a  number  of  years  after  his  marriage,  but 
finally  removed  from  the  farm  to  Sidney  Cen- 
tre, where  he  now  resides.  He  first  engaged 
in  the  mercantile  business  by  himself. 
Afterward,  taking  in  a  partner,  he  was  for 
three  years  a  senior  member  of  the  firm  of 
Gerome  &  Whitman.  At  length,  retiring 
from  the  firm,  he  engaged  in  general  specula- 
tion, also  conducting  a  meat  market,  which  he 
still  continues,  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
S.  L.  Bennett  &  Co.,  running  his  farm  in 
connection  with  his  business. 


Mr.  Gerome  has  always  taken  an  active  part 
in  politics,  and  in  1879  was  elected  Justice  of 
the  Peace  of  his  town,  serving  continuously 
until  1892,  during  which  time  he  served  as 
Justice  of  Sessions  of  the  county  three  terms. 
In  1886  he  was  elected  Supervisor,  serving  in 
that  capacity  until  1891.  While  in  office,  he 
refunded  the  public  debt  of  the  town  to  such 
an  advantage  that  the  interest  theretofore 
annually  paid  by  the  town  would  in  twenty 
years  pay  up  and  discharge  the  whole  in- 
debtedness, principal  and  interest.  He  was 
also  instrumental  in  settling  controversies 
concerning  the  old  bonds  and  their  validity, 
to  the  general  satisfaction  of  his  townsmen. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat,  believing  that 
the  principles  of  that  party  carried  out  would 
better  serve  the  masses  of  the  people  than  any 
other  —  that  a  low  tariff,  or  even  none  at  all, 
would  be  more  beneficial  than  an  unjust  and 
unnecessary  one  collected  from  the  people. 
He  does  not  believe  that  a  public  servant 
should  be  hampered  or  governed  by  any  law  or 
rule  of  action  in  the  appointment  to  positions 
of  trust,  but  that  such  should  be  given  to 
those  most  capable,  ahvays  keeping  in  view 
the  principle  that  "to  the  victor  belongs  the 
spoils":  and  therefore  he  is  not  an  admirer  of 
the  civil  service  law. 

In  religious  views  he  may  be  described  as 
liberal,  not  in  the  sense  of  believing  that  one 
will  not  be  held  accountable  for  his  life  and 
acts,  but  holding  that  all  will  receive  their 
reward  or  punishment  according  to  the  light 
and  understanding  given  them.  Mr.  Gerome 
has  two  children —  Margaret  L.,  born  Decem- 
ber 4.  1878;  and  J.  Clark,  born  December  22, 
1893.  He  is  one  of  the  active  and  progres- 
sive men  in  Sidney,  ever  filling  the  public 
positions  to  which  he  has  been  elected  with 
credit  to  himself  and  his  town. 


ENAS  FARRINGTON  is  a  prosper- 
ous and  practical  farmer  of  Delhi, 
, ranking  among  its  most  respected 
citizens.  The  homestead  which  he 
now  owns  and  occupies  is  the  place  of  his 
birth,  which  occurred  June  10,  183 1.  His 
grandfather,  March  Farrington,  who  was  of 
English  antecedents,   was  born   in  this  State 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


3f>S 


in  October,  1762.  Ik-  had  an  honorable 
record  as  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution  and 
the  War  of  1812.  and  as  a  pioneer  of  Dela- 
ware Connty.  On  first  arriving  in  this  re- 
gion, having  followed  a  route  marked  by 
blazed  trees,  he  located  his  home  in  tliat  part 
of  the  town  of  Meredith  now  known  as  !\Iere- 
tlith  Square:  antl,  when  he  built  his  hund)le 
log  cabin,  his  nearest  neighbor  was  in  Delhi, 
some  six  miles  away.  He  and  his  family 
subsisted  mainly  for  a  time  on  the  game  and 
fish  to  be  found  in  the  vicinity.  He  subse- 
ijuently  removeil  to  Delhi,  where  he  and  his 
cherished  wife  spent  their  declining  years, 
she  passing  to  her  eternal  rest  November  10, 
1841,  in  the  seventy-eighth  year  of  her  age. 
having  been  born  April  17,  1764,  and  he 
dying  April  i,  1849.  Her  maiden  name  was 
Betsey  Colton ;  and  by  her  and  her  husband 
five  children  were  leared  —  Morris  L..  Pau- 
lina,   Hetsy    Ann,    Florella,    and    I'olly. 

Morris  I,,  h'arrington  was  but  two  years 
old  when  he  came  with  his  parents  to  this 
county,  and  at  that  early  day  educational  ad- 
vantages were  here  very  limited.  He  began 
early  to  assist  in  the  labors  of  the  farm,  grow- 
ing more  and  more  useful  each  year,  remain- 
ing with  his  parents  until  he  attained  his 
majority,  and  afterward  taking  care  of  them  in 
their  latter  years.  In  i8:;o  he  bmight  the 
larm  which  is  now  included  in  the  homestead 
of  his  son  Zenas,  of  which  he  cleared  a  large 
portion,  further  improving  it  by  erecting  the 
jiresent  substantial  set  of  frame  buildings. 
Here  he  spent  a  long  period  of  useful  activity, 
living  to  the  venerable  age  of  ninety  years. 
He  was  a  very  intelligent  man,  taking  |5art  in 
the  management  of  local  affairs,  and  serving 
in  many  of  the  minor  olifices  of  the  town.  He 
married  Ruth  Frisbie,  the  daughter  ui  Judge 
Gideon  Frisbie,  one  of  the  original  settlers  of 
Delhi,  and  the  first  Judge  of  Delaware 
County,  the  first  circuit  of  tiie  county  being 
held  in  his  house.  Judge  I''risbie  came  h'ere 
on  horseback,  long  ere  the  time  of  public 
highways,  and  was  for  many  j'cars  one  of  the 
most  prominent  men  in  this  section  of  the 
county.  He  reared  a  family  of  six  children 
by  his  first  wife  —  namely.  Gideon,  Daniel, 
William,  I-"reelove,  Huldah,  and  Ruth:  and 
rive    by    his     second    wife  —  namely,    Milton, 


I'ortiu-,  i'hilliii,  Angeliiie,  and  Anzolette. 
Ruth,  who  married  Morris  !,.  Farrington,  was 
born  in  Delhi,  and  spent  her  declining  years 
at  the  home  of  her  son  Zenas,  dying  in  1876, 
at  the  age  <jf  seventy-eight  years.  She  bore 
her  husband  three  children;  namelv,  Anzo- 
letle.  Zenas,  and  Maurice. 

Zenas  l-'arrin-ton  remained  on  the  parental 
homestead  until  he  was  twimty-(jne  years  of 
age,  in  the  mean  time  receiving  a  good  prac- 
tical education  in  the  district  school  and  acad- 
emy. Desiring  to  become  better  acquainted 
with  his  native  country,  he  travelled  as  far 
West  as  Michigan,  where  he  worked  for  a  year 
as  a  farm  laborer.  Returning  to  Delhi,  he 
took  charge  of  the  liome  farm,  which  he 
bought  in  1865,  and  has  since  carried  on  a 
thriving  business  in  general  agriculture,  of 
late  years  making  a  s|)ecialty  of  dairying, 
kee|Mng  a  valuable  herd  of  Guernsey  cows, 
and  making  a  superior  article  of  butter,  which 
finds  a  ready  market  in  New  York  City. 

On  December  28,  1875.  Mr.  Farrington 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Marv  R.  F'itch,  a 
daughter  of  Dr.  Thomas  h'itch,  and  a  grand- 
daughter of  Dr.  Cornelius  R.  Fitch,  one  of 
the  first  practising  ])hysicians  in  Delhi.  Dr. 
Fitch  was  one  of  a  family  of  eight  children, 
being  the  third  son.  He  was  educated  in  the 
Delaware  Academy,  subsecjuently  attending 
Girard  College,  Philadelphia,  from  which  he 
was  graduated,  afterward  beginning  his  medi- 
cal career  in  Prattsville,  Greene  County.  He 
married  Sarah  J.  1,.  Beattie.  the  daughter  of 
Dr.  l'~ranc-is  S.  Beattie,  who  was  one  of  a  fam- 
ily of  seven  sons,  all  of  whom  settled  in 
Orange  County.  Dr.  P'rancis  Beattie  studied 
medicine,  and  began  practising  in  Philadel- 
])hia.  During  the  time  of  the  Seminole  War 
he  went  to  P  lorida  as  a  siu-geon  in  the  arm\', 
accomjianied  by  his  wife:  and  both  became 
\-ictims  of  the  yellow  fewr.  Their  daughter, 
Sarah  Beattie,  was  tht'ii  a  brilliant  young  lady 
of  sixteen  years,  highl\-  educated  and  accom- 
])lished,  ha\ing  studied  witli  a  governess ;  and 
she  was  subsequently  engaged  in  teaching  in 
Delhi,  making  a  specialty  of  the  French  lan- 
guage, in  which  she  was  |)roficient.  At  the 
age  of  nineteen  she  luarried  the  ])romising 
young  ph)sician.  Dr.  'Phomas  Fitch:  and  thev 
reared     five     children,     namely:     Walter     C. ; 


366 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Mary  R.,  Mrs.  Farrington;  Paulina;  William 
Beattic;  and  Anna.  Both  Dr.  Fitch  and  his 
wife  died  in  Prattsvillc,  where  he  had  had  an 
extensive  practice,  and  was  for  so  many  years 
its  most  prominent  physician.  They  were 
communicants  of  the  Episcopal  church. 

Of  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Farrington 
five  children  have  been  born,  namely:  Louisa 
Ruth,  Walter,  Paul,  and  March,  who  are  now 
living;  and  one,  Morris  L.,  who  passed  to  the 
life  beyond  when  an  infant  of  sixteen  months. 
In  his  political  views  Mr.  P"arrington  coin- 
cides with  the  Republican  party,  and  so- 
cially he  is  a  member  of  the  Grange.  Mr. 
Farrington  is  an  attendant  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  while  his  wife  is  an  Episcopalian. 
They  are  somewhat  related  by  ties  of  consan- 
guinity, having  had  one  common  ancestor  in 
the  person  of  March  Farrington,  who  was  the 
grandfather  of  Mr.  Farrington,  and  great- 
grandfather of  his  wife. 


J-X.\\TD  WOOSTER  STEARNS,  an 
— I  extensive  lumber  merchant  of  Han- 
9/  cock,  was  born  at  Mount  Pleasant, 
Wayne  County,  Pa.,  March  21, 
1826.  The  Stearns  family,  whose  ancestors 
came  over  in  the  same  ship  with  Governor 
Winthrop  in  1630,  and  settled  in  Massa- 
chusetts, are  of  English  descent.  Joseph 
Stearns,  the  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
biography,  was  born  at  Attleboro,  Mass.,  and 
from  there  moved  to  Connecticut.  He  was 
of  a  company  called  the  "Nine  Partners"  that 
intended  to  settle  in  Harford,  Susquehanna 
County,  Pa. ;  but  Joseph  came  only  as  far  as 
Mount  Pleasant,  where  he  cleared  a  tract  of 
land  and  cultivated  a  farm.  He  was  the 
father  of  nine  children  when  he  arrived  at 
Mount  Pleasant;  and  it  was  here  that  his  son, 
Jabez  Stearns,  was  born,  June  18,  1793.  The 
wife  of  Joseph  Stearns  was  Rhoda  Tingley,  a 
native  of  Attleboro,  Mass.,  whose  brothers 
were  early  settlers  in  Susquehanna  County, 
and  whose  descendants  are  still  very  numerous 
there.  Mrs."  Stearns  was  a  devout  member 
of  the  Baptist  church  at  Mount  Pleasant,  in 
which  town  Joseph  died,  June  2,  1829,  at  an 
advanced  age.  His  widow  survived  him  six 
years,  and  during  that  time  received  a  pension 


on  account  of  her  husband's  services  in  the 
Revolutionary  War.  They  left  ten  children, 
who  grew  to  manhood  and  womanhood. 

Jabez   Stearns  was  a  natural   mechanic,  and, 
besides  farming,  worked   at  other  trades.      He 
was  ambitious  to  secure  a  good  education,  in 
which  he  succeeded  by  dint  of  earnest  effort. 
He    married    Rowena    Wooster,    daughter    of 
David     and     Polly    (Church)    Wooster,     the 
former  of    whom  was    a    pioneer  of    Bradford 
County,  Pennsylvania,  and  a  nephew  of  Gen- 
eral David  Wooster,   of   Revolutionary  fame. 
Jabez  Stearns  had  six  children,  namely:   Har- 
riet   E.,    who    lives    in    Hancock,  and   was  for 
forty  years  a  school-teacher  in  Wayne  County, 
Pennsylvania;  David  Wooster;   Polly  Church, 
who  married   Ira  Steinback,   of    Gibson,    Sus- 
quehanna County;  Laura,  an  artist,  who  lived 
in   Scranton   for  a  number  of  years,  but  now 
resides    with    her    sister,    Harriet   E. ;    Irene, 
who    died    in    1872;      F" ranees,    who    married 
G.  S.  Ames,  of  Gibson,  Susquehanna  County, 
and     lived    only    a   year    or    two    thereafter. 
Jabez  Stearns  and  his  wife  moved  to  Damas- 
cus, Wayne  County,  Pa.,  in   November,   1838, 
and    lived   for  thirty-five  years    on    the   farm 
that    he    there    laid    out  and  cultivated.      He 
died    in   Damascus   in    1874,    two    years    after 
the  death  of  his  wife.      In  early  life  they  were 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
but  in  later  life  both  became  believers    in   the 
Universalist   faith;  and  he  w-as  a  strong  tem- 
perance  man,  having  a  rooted  aversion  to   in- 
toxicating liquors.      He  was  formerly  a  Whig 
and   later   a    Republican    in   politics,   and  was 
always  loyal  to  his  party. 

The  early  days  of  David  Wooster  Stearns 
were  passed  at  Mount  Pleasant,  his  native 
town;  and  there  he  received  his  education. 
From  there  he  moved  with  his  parents  to 
Damascus,  entering  upon  an  active  life  of 
farming  and  lumbering.  His  time  was  always 
utilized  to  the  best  advantage,  so  that  in  187 1 
he  sold  the  four  hundred  acres  gained  by  his 
own  industry,  and  came  to  Hancock,  where  he 
purchased  twenty-one  hundred  acres  of  land, 
and  engaged  in  an  extensive  lumbering  busi- 
ness, the  place  and  buildings  being  known  as 
Stearns's  Mills.  This  business  he  still  con- 
ducts, and  besides  this  he  carries  on  a  grocery 
and  dry-goods  store. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


3^'7 


l'"cbiuary  12,  1S66,  he  married  Gertriuk' 
Pratt,  of  Johnstown,  Ohio,  daughter  of  Dr. 
15.  W.  Pratt,  a  noteil  physician  of  liiat  Stale, 
wiio  went  tliere  from  Vermont  in  1840.  The 
children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stearns  are:  Ik-n- 
jamin  Walter,  a  physician  at  Long  luldy;  and 
David  Wooster,  Jr.,  now  manager  of  his 
father's  successful  lumber  business.  .Another 
child,  Laura  Maria,  cfied  in  infancy.  P'rederie 
Waters,  now  sixteen  years  of  age,  is  a  ])romis- 
ing  student.  Mrs.  Stearns  is  a  member  of 
the  J""piscopa!  church,  and  has  many  times 
lent  a  helping  hand  in  good  work.  Mr. 
Stearns  voted  with  the  Republican  party  till 
1874,  when  he  changed  his  views  to  some  ex- 
tent, and  has  since  voted  with  the  Prohibition 
part}'.  lie  has  iie\er  aspired  to  political 
honors,  being  fully  occupied  with  his  busi- 
ness, which  he  carries  on  with  marked  ability 
and  success.  He  is  rcgardeil  as  a  man  of 
good  business  cajjacily,  and  is  personally  pop- 
ular among  his  fellow-townsmen. 


/^VOIIN  S.  EICLLS  is  the  senior  member 
of  the  firm  of  Eells  &  Reynolds,  which 
ably  represents  the  liardware  interests 
of  Walton,  in  which  department  of 
business  they  are  the  leading  men.  lie  has 
not  yet  crossed  the  meridian  which  marks  the 
noontide  of  life,  having  been  born  December 
17,  1850,  in  the  town  of  Walton.  He  is  lin- 
eally descended  from  an  honored  family  of 
\ew  England,  his  great-grandfather,  John 
I'^ells,  having  been  a  native  of  Connecticut. 
John  ]-"ells  was  a  ])ioneer  of  Delaware  County, 
ha\'ing  journeyed  here  on  horseback  in  com- 
pany with  Samuel  Benjamin  and  John  Moroy. 
All  these  men  took  up  land  fron)  the  gov- 
ernment, and  erected  log  houses  for  them- 
s.dves  and  families.  John  Ivells,  the  emi- 
grant, had  a  son,  also  named  John  Eells,  who, 
after  living  in.  Walton  many  years,  removed 
t()  L'nadilla.      He  reared  fourteen  children. 

Henry  I'lells,  one  of  this  large  family,  was 
reared  and  educated  in  L^nadilla,  and  at  an 
early  age  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  his 
mother,  from  whom  he  had  inherited  so  many 
of  his  sterling  cpialities.  He  learned  the 
trade  of  tinsmith,  and  in  1840  came  to  the 
x'illage  of  Walton,   where  he  opened   a  stove 


and  tin  store.  1  le  sidisequeiii  1)'  worked  as  a 
journeyman  in  ]{lmira,  tiien  in  Little  l-'alls, 
from  there  coming  to  Walton,  where  he  en- 
tered into  business  with  Colonel  .Samuel 
North,  continuing  tiuis  for  a  while,  when  he 
purchased  the  Colonel's  interest,  and  con- 
ducted   the    business    alone    for  about    fifteen 

I  years.      Admitting   S.    H.    P'itch  as  a  ])artner, 
they  carried  on  a  thriving  trade  for  six   years, 

I  after  which  W.  S.  Hanford  became  a  partner, 
the  firm  name  being  changed  to  ICells,  Han- 
ford &  Fitch.  After  the 'death  of  Mr.  Han 
ford,  whose  interest  was  purchased  b\-  X.  C. 
Wood,  the  firm  was  known  as  liells,  P'itch  & 
Wood,  antl  then  as  I'.ells  tSj  Wood,  Mr.  Fitch 
retiring.  h'inallv,  Mr.  P'ells.  selling  out 
his  interest  to  his  S(in,  Jnhn  .S..  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  retired  from  the  active  cares  of 
business,  and  during  the  remainder  of  his  life 
enjoyed  the  leisure  to  which  his  many  years 
of  labor  entitled  him.  He  manied  Anna 
Gav,  one  of  four  children  born  to  William 
and  Anna  Ga\',  who  were  natives  of  Connect i- 
cutt,  and  pioneer  settlers  of  Walton.  'I'hev  be- 
came the  parents  of  three  children:  Herbert 
K.  resides  in  Philadelphia;  Henry  Gay  died 
in  1865;  and  John  S.  .Mrs.  Anna  liells  is 
still  living.  .She  is  a  consistent  and  sincere 
member  of  the  Congregational  church,  to 
which  her  husband  also  belonged,  and  is  ever 
active  in  the  good  works  of  that  denomination. 
Mr.  Henry  ICells  died  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
three  years,  and  his  loss  was  deei)l\'  deplored 
by  tlie  comminiity  in  which  he  had  so  long 
resided. 

John  .S.  I'lells  acquired  a  good  education  in 
the  district  schools  and  academy  of  Walton, 
and  then  began  his  business  career  with  his 
father,  learning  first  the  tinsnnth's  trade, 
finall}'  taking  his  father's  interest  in  the  firm 
of  ]''ells  &  Wood.  He  subsequently  disposed 
of  his  Inisiness,  selling  out  to  L.  S.  and 
J.  \V.  .St.  John,  and  was  for  several  years  there- 
after in  their  employ  as  a  clerk.  In  I'ebru- 
arv,  1 89 1,  he  purchased  an  interest  in  the 
business,  the  firm  then  being  changed  to  St. 
John,  I'.ells  i^  Reynolds.  Subsequently  the 
two  latter  mentioned  members  of  the  firm 
bought  out  the  interest  of  the  senior  partner, 
J.  W.  St.  John,  of  whom  an  extended  sketch 
nia\'  be  found  on  another  page  of  this  volume: 


368 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


and  the  new  firm,  Eolls  &  Reynolds,  are  now 
ably  conducting  the  business.  The  marriage 
of  Mr.  ]-:ells  and  Miss  Hettie  Wilson,  the 
daughter  of  Alanson  and  Elizabeth  (Duggan) 
Wilson,  formerly  of  Michigan,  was  solemnized 
December  lo,  1873.  Their  pleasant  union  has 
been  blessed  by  the  birth  of  three  children: 
Henry  Wilson,  Kate  Gay,  and  John  Dwight. 

Politically  Mr.  Hells  affiliates  with  the  Re- 
publican party,  giving  full  adherence  to  its 
principles,  and,  although  having  little  or  no 
aspirations  for  the  duties  and  emoluments  of 
public  office,  has  nevertheless  served  as  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Education  for  several 
years,  has  also  been  Clerk  of  the  Corporation, 
and  since  1877  has  filled  the  position  of  Town 
Clerk,  having  been  re-elected  to  the  office 
every  year  but  one.  He  and  his  family  are 
all  communicants  of  the  Episcopal  church,  of 
which  he  has  been  Vestryman  for  twenty 
years,  being  now  Clerk  of  the  Vestry;  and 
Mrs.  Eells,  who  is  active  in  church  work,  has 
been  for  many  years  a  teacher  in  the  Sunday- 
school. 


was 


-OHN  W.  WINTER,  of  Middletown,  is 
a  descendant  of  one  of  the  early  pio- 
neers of  this  part  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  His  grandfather,  John  Winter, 
born  in  England,  and  there  married. 
After  his  wife's  death  he  came  to  America 
with  three  of  his  children,  and  made  his  first 
abode  in  Bovina.  A  little  later  Mr.  Winter 
took  up  ninety-six  acres  of  land  in  the  New 
Kingston  Valley,  purchasing  a  squatter's 
claim.  His  tract  was  uncleared,  and  lay  in 
the  midst  of  dense  forest  land,  where  the  fero- 
cious wild  animals  had  full  sway,  and  the 
only  roads  were  a  few  paths  cleared  through 
the  woods  and  over  the  mountains  by  the  Ind- 
ians. To  place  a  family  in  such  a  home 
was  a  hazardous  undertaking,  as  the  howling 
wolves  and  blood-thirsty  panthers  were  ready 
to  fall  on  the  hapless  settler  or  his  children 
and  devour  them.  Yet,  undaunted,  he  erected 
a  log  cabin  for  a  temporary  dwelling,  and 
went  to  work  to  hew  down  the  forest  trees  and 
clear  the  thick  undergrowth,  that  the  land 
might  be  made  fit  for  cultivation. 

The   three   children  who   lived   on    the  farm 


and  assisted  so  materially  in  this  hard  labor 
were  Thomas,  Robert,  and  Margaret.  Their 
father  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-two  years. 
Mr.  Robert  Winter  bought  the  old  homestead, 
finished  the  task  of  clearing  and  breaking  the 
land,  and  put  up  substantial  buildings.  He 
stayed  on  the  farm,  developing  it  and  put- 
ting his  whole  interest  in  it,  until  he  was 
grown  to  manhood,  unlike  many  boys,  who 
leave  the  old  place  to  find  something  better, 
and  often  make  a  flat  failure.  At  this  time 
Robert  met  and  married  Sally  Dumond,  the 
daughter  of  Captain  William  Dumond,  one 
of  the  early  settlers  of  New  Kingston,  whose 
family  is  of  Dutch  extraction,  and  can  be 
traced  back  as  far  as  1661.  Robert  and  Sally 
(Dumond)  Winter  had  thirteen  children,  of 
whom  only  five  grew  up;  namely,  Rachel, 
John  W.,  William,  Thomas,  and  Jane.  They 
all  received  a  common-school  education,  and 
were  well  started  in  life  when  their  parents 
died.  Robert  lived  to  be  seventy-two  years 
old,  but  his  wife  reached  the  age  of  eighty- 
three. 

John  W.  Winter  was  born  on  the  old  home- 
stead, April  29,  1839.  He  worked  on  the 
place  until  he  was  thirty-one  years  of  age. 
When  he  was  married,  he  bought  a  farm  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  exchanged  it  for  the  olil 
homestead  where  he  now  lives.  He  put  great 
labor  into  the  further  improvement  of  his 
farm,  which,  as  a  result,  is  now  one  of  the 
best  in  the  neighborhood,  and  bears  the  marks 
of  sagacious  care  and  thrift.  It  is  situated 
about  three  miles  from  New  Kingston,  and 
eight  miles  from  Roxbury.  The  town  line 
between  Bovina  and  Middletown  runs  through 
it.  Mr.  Winter  enlarged  his  barn,  and  re- 
modelled it,  and  in  1886  built  a  fine  two-story 
house,  in  which  his  family  at  present  make 
their  home.  Mr.  Winter  married  Elizabeth 
Scott,  the  daughter  of  Adam  Scott,  and  a  de- 
scendant of  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of 
Bovina,  Delaware  County.  They  have  two 
children,  namely:  Robert  Winter,  who  lives 
at  home;  and  Nancy,  who  married  Mr.  H.  M. 
Colter,  a  furniture  dealer  of  Margarettville. 
Mr.  Winter  is  a  Republican,  and  both  he  and 
his  wife  are  members  of  the  United  Presbyte- 
rian-church. He  is  well  known  as  a  progres- 
sive farmer,  antl  a  good  neighbor  and  citizen. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


.V>9 


WIX  I..  II  ITT,  son  (if  the  late  Myers 
llitt,  was  horn  at  the  I'aniily  hinnestead 
in  the  town  of  Colcliester,  Dehiware 
County,  \.V.,  on  December  27,  1864,  and  is 
of  the  sixth  <;eneration  of  tlie  Ilitt  family  in 
America.  His  great-grandfather,  Jared  llitt, 
the  first  of  whom  reconl  is  here  given,  was  a 
native  of  Westchester  County,  New  York. 
He  married  Miss  Betsey  Harker  first;  ami, 
upon  being  left  a  widower,  he  married  iMiss 
Martha  Stevens,  and  raised  a  family  of  seven- 
teen children,  all  of  whom  ai'e  now  dead. 
These  children  were:  Oliver,  William,  I-^s- 
ther,     IClizabeth,     Samuel,     Hannah,    Henry, 

1'-, 
and 


Jane,  Ray,  Electa,  Ann  ¥A\y.a,  Richart 
Arvilla,  Catherine,  Leonard,  James, 
Hiram. 

Abijah  Hitt,  a  son  of  Jared  by  his  first 
marriage,  was  born  October  14,  1787.  He 
was  a  farmer,  and  twice  married,  first  to  Miss 
.Sally  Shaver,  wlio  died  June  20,  1821,  having 
been  the  mother  of  these  children  --  William, 
I'llizabeth,  George,  Leander,  hlleanor,  Kath- 
arine, and  Jared,  all  of  whom  are  now  dead. 
His  second  wife  was  Miss  Mary  Conklin,  born 
October  i,  1799.  married  January  31.  1822, 
to  whom  five  boys  were  liorn  ;  namely,  Rich- 
artl  K.,  Myers,  Elisha  C,  Charles  \\'.,  and 
Albert.  Mrs.  Mary  Hitt  died  May  11,  1878, 
after  a  long  and  painful  illness  caused  by  a 
broken  hip:  and  at  the  present  writing  only 
two  children  are  li\ing  —  Charles  W.  and  Al- 
bert. Abijah  Hitt  was  a  man  of  remarkable 
energy.  He  owned  four  farms,  all  of  which 
were  under  liis  own  jiersonal  control  and 
supervision.  He  was  drafted  for  the  War  of 
1S12,  but  sent  a  substitute.  He  and  his  wife 
left  behind  them  the  rec<uds  of  industrious, 
patient,  Christian  lives;  and  their  descend- 
ants may  well  be  proud  of  such  progenitors 
as   these. 

It  fell  to  the  lot  of  Myers,  the  second  son 
of  Abijah  and  Mary  (Conklin)  llitt,  to  begin 
at  an  early  age  to  earn  his  own  li\-ing,  us  he 
was  very  young  when  his  father  died,  and 
there  was  a  large  family  to  be  jjrovided  for. 
He  went  to  live  with  his  uncle,  Jolm  (ireg- 
ory,  a  farmer  at  Cnion  Grove,  N'.Y.  When- 
ever he  could  be  spared,  the  little  Myers  went 
to  school,  a  distance  of  about  three  miles; 
but     there    seems    always    something    for    the 


small  boy  on  a  faiin  to  do.  so  his  opportuni- 
ties for  eilucation  were  very  meagre.  Later 
on  he  began  lumbering  and  fanuing  in  ijartner- 
shij)  with  two  of  his  brothers,  Charles  W.  and 
.llbert.  In  1863  he  sold  out  his  share  to  his 
brothers,  and  bought  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  in  Telford  Hollow,  about 
three    miles  from    the   village  of    Downsville. 

In  1852  Myers  Hitt  married  Miss  Lavina 
A.  White,  a  daughter  of  Richard  L.  and 
Elizabeth  (Washburn)  White.  Her  grand- 
father, ]?enjamin  White,  who  served  in  tlie 
Revolutionary  War,  was  of  a  Welsh  family  on 
one  side.  mV.  and  Mrs.  Myers  Hitt  became 
the  parents  of  four  children  —  h:isie.  Kmn- 
genie,  Mary  !•:.,  and  lulwin  L.  Elsie,  born 
September  24,  1854,  is  now  the  wife  of 
Charles  S.  IClwood,  who  owns  an  acid  factory 
at  Hortou;  and  they  have  two  children  — 
h'rank  and  Walter.  ICmogenie,  born  {'"eb- 
ruary  25,  1856,  married  lulwin  A.  Iniller, 
carpenter  and  contractor  in  Scranlon,  I'a.,  and 
has  one  child,  Maude.  Mary  E.,  born  Janu- 
ary 8,   1859,  died  .September  29,   1861. 

Myers  Hitt  died  in  the  last  month  of  the 
year  that  has  just  drawn  to  a  close,  December 
19,  1894,  aged  si.\ty-nine  years,  nine  months, 
and  one  day,  after  an  illness  of  two  vears,  in 
which  he  had  been  a  patient  sufferer.'  Those 
who  lived  near  him  bear  testimony  to  his  worth 
as  a  man,  his  kindness  as  a  neighbor  ami 
friend. 

Edwin  L.  Hitt  lives  at  the  homesteatl  with 
his  motlier.  The  farm  is  one  of  the  finest 
grass  farms  in  this  region,  and  has  been  kept 
in  fine  condition,  being  well  equipped  wdth 
all  the  most  modern  implements  of  agricult- 
lu'e,  aiul  furnished  with  convenient  barns  and 
out-buildings,  neatly  kept. 


|RS.   JANE    E.    MERRICK,    who   is 

the  widow  of  Cornelius  J.  i\Ier- 
rick,  and  a  resident  of  the  town 
if  Erankliu,  where  she  is  well 
and  favorably  known,  is  the  daughter  of  John 
A.  and  Mary  (More)  (irant.  The  former  was 
a  native  of  .Stamford,  this  comity,  and  died  at 
his  farm  in  Gilboa,  Schoharie  County,  in 
1 86 1,  when  nearly  sixty-two  years  of  age. 
His  widow,  who  was  a  native  of  Roxburv,  was 


37° 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


left  with  five  chikliL'ii;  and  in  iS68,  at  the  age 
of  sixtv-scvcn,  she,  too,  passed  away.  Her 
children  were:  Jane  E. ;  Robert,  who  died  at 
St.  Augustine,  Fla.,  in  middle  life,  leaving 
three  children,  who  inherited  the  large  prop- 
erty he  had  amassed  in  the  South;  A.  H.,  who 
died  in  January,  1892,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
two  years,  leaving  a  widow  and  three  children; 
John  T.,  who  is  unmarried,  and  lives  with  his 
sister,  Mrs.  Merrick;  and  Cornelia,  who  is  the 
widow  of  Alfred  L.  Austin. 

After  receiving  a  liberal  education.  Miss 
Jane  K.  Grant  taught  school  for  some  six 
terms,  and  was  married  January  29,  1867,  to 
Cornelius  J.  Merrick,  a  son  of  Joseph  H. 
Merrick,  who  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of 
the  town.  Cornelius  Merrick  was  reared  on 
the  farm  where  the  family  had  dwelt  since  its 
first  settlement  in  the  State.  After  marriage 
he  carried  on  the  farm  for  about  two  years, 
and  then  removed  to  that  which  is  now  occu- 
pied by  the  family,  and  which  contains  about 
six  hundred  acres,  being  part  of  the  prop- 
erty which  he  had  inherited  from  his  father. 
Here  Mr.  Merrick  died  July  29,  1874,  at  the 
age  of  forty-two,  after  a  long  illness.  Since 
the  death  of  her  husband,  Mrs.  Merrick,  with 
the  assistance  of  her  brother  and  son,  has  con- 
ducted the  affairs  of  the  estate,  and,  besides 
making  other  improvements,  in  1886  built  a 
handsome   residence. 

Mrs.  Merrick  has  lost  one  daughter,  Lizzie 
f.,  who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty  months;  and 
wilJiin  a  year  a  dearly  loved  son,  Joseph  Has- 
well,  has  been  called  to  join  those  who  have 
passed  from  earth.  The  death  of  this  young 
man  cast  a  gloom  over  the  whole  community, 
in  which  he  was  much  beloved.  He  had  read 
law,  and  was  about  to  enter  upon  its  practice 
when  his  health  failed,  and  he  realized  that 
the  only  chance  of  regaining  his  lost  strength 
lay  in  the  clear  air  and  high  altitude  of  Den- 
ver, Col.  He  journeyed  thither;  but  disease 
had  made  too  great  inroads,  and  in  the  winter 
of  1893-94  his  mother  joined  him  in  his  West- 
ern home,  and  spent  with  him  the  last  days  of 
his  short  life.  He  died  March  II,  1894,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-four,  and  was  buried  in 
Ouleout  Valley  Cemetery.  Mrs.  Merrick  has 
one  child  living,  John  C,  a  young  man  of 
great  promise,  who  is  associated   in  the  man- 


agement of  the  estate,  and  during  the  winter 
carries  on  a  flourishing  .business  in  buying 
furs.  Mrs.  Merrick  is  a  woman  of  great  en- 
ergy and  ability,  and  is  respected  by  all  who 
know  her,  both  for  her  uprightness  of  char- 
acter and  business  tact. 


T.  GREGOllY,  a  representative  of 
one  of  tlie  earliest  families  that  set- 
tled in  the  Empire  State  west  of  the 
Hudson  River,  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Colchester,  Delaware  County,  N.Y.,  June 
17,  1824,  the  son  of  Josiah  and  Viletta  (Sut- 
ton) Gregory,  the  mother  being  the  daughter 
of  Caleb  and  Sally  Sutton,  of  Hancock. 

Josiah  Gregory  was  the  son  of  Josiah  Greg- 
ory, Sr.,  of  Colchester,  whose  father  came 
from  New  England  iji  1775,  and  was  num- 
bered among  the  first  settlers  of  Delaware 
County.  The  country  in  those  early  days  was 
a  perfect  wilderness;  and  the  immigrant,  with 
only  his  wife  for  company,  lived  there  two 
years,  until  at  the  uprising  of  the  Indians  he 
was  obliged  to  leave  his  home,  burning  his 
field  of  grain  that  it  might  not  be  of  benefit  to 
the  savage  foe.  He  and'his  wife,  with  what 
effects  they  could  carry  with  them,  left  the 
town  on  horseback,  that  being  the  only  means 
of  travel  in  those  early  days.  He  imme- 
diately engaged  in  the  Revolutionary  War, 
which  was  then  being  waged,  and  fought  until 
peace  was  declared,  when  he  returned  fo  Dela- 
ware County,  made  for  himself  a  comfortable 
home,  and  lived  here  until  his  death. 

Josiah  Gregory,  Sr.,  the  grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Colchester,  and  lived  at  the  home  of  his 
parents  during  his  younger  days.  Upon  at- 
taining man's  estate,  he  bought  a  tract  of  land 
known  as  Gregory  Town,  and  there  engaged 
in  farming.  He  married  Sally  Fuller,  of 
Colchester;  and  they  lived  on  this  farm  dur- 
ing the  remainder  of  their  lives. 

Josiah  Gregory,  Jr.,  the  father  of  J.  T. 
Gregory,  was  brought  up  on  his  father's  farm, 
and  throughout  his  life  gave  his  whole  atten- 
tion to  farming  and  lumbering.  In  those 
early  years  there  were  no  railroads  or  canals, 
and  very  little,  if  any,  communication  be- 
tween the  cities  and  towns.      The  people  lived 


J.  T.  Gregory. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIKW 


37? 


oil  tlic  piuilun  i,ii>c(_l  by  themselves  and  oii 
the  game,  incliKliny  bear  ami  deer,  \viiieh  at 
that  time  abounded  in  this  re_i;ion.  Air.  and 
Mrs.  (irL'j;nry  had  a  family  of  nine  ehiiih'en. 
In  1840  thev  removed  to  the  town  of  Tomp- 
kins, where  he  tlied  wiien  eiLjiity-nine  \ears 
old,  his  wife  beinn'  seventy-five  years  old 
when    she   passed   away. 

J.  T.  Gregory  came  with  his  parents  tn 
Tomjjkins,  and  resided  at  home  until  twenty- 
two  years  of  age,  tJien  taking  an  active  part 
in  business  life.  lie  erected  a  saw-mill, 
which  he  carried  t)n  for  one  year.  At  the 
end  of  that  time  he  rented  it,  anti  bought 
a  tract  of  land,  upon  which  he  engaged  in 
farming  and  lumbering,  sending  the  lumber 
down  the  Delaware  Ri\'er,  a  business  which 
he  continues  ti>   follow  at   the   present   dav. 

Mr.  Gregory  has  been  twice  married.  His 
first  wife,  b'.sther  Ah'erson,  who  was  born  in 
Tompkins,  anti  died  in  1883,  was  the  daughter 
of  John  and  Jenny  (Frazier)  Alverson.  lie 
has  by  his  first  marriage  one  child,  Lrxmiis, 
who  now  resides  in  Walton.  Mr.  (iregor)' 
married  for  his  second  wife  .Sally  (Durfee) 
Wakeman,  and  has  a  pleasant  home  in  the 
village.  Mr.  Gregory  is  a  Republican,  and 
has  served  eight  years  as  Poor  Master.  IK'  is 
also  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church.  A  por- 
trait of  this  enterprising  and  highly  rcsjiected 
citizen  enhances  the  interest  and  value  of  the 
foregoing  summary  of  his  personal  and  familv 
historv. 


-AMI'.S  WILLA.S  CTII.SIIOLM  resides 
in  the  village  of  New  Kingston,  in  the 
town  of  Middletown,  where  he  was 
born  June  26,  1859,  and  has  become  a 
very  influential  citizen.  His  isaternal  grand- 
father, Andrew  Chisholm,  was  owner  of  the 
Wanbenschoten  farm,  which  he  cleared,  erect- 
ing the  first  buildings  thereon.  There  he 
lived  till  his  death,  a  prosperous  farmer, 
Democratic  in  ])olitics,  and  Presbyterian  in 
religion,  raising  a  family  of  three  children  -- 
William,  James,  anil  Jane  Chisholm,  all  <>\ 
whom  grew  to  adult  life,  married,  and  had 
large  families.  James  ami  Jane  are  deceased. 
Grandfather  ("hisholiu  lived  to  the  ripe  age  of 
eight)--four. 


His  second  >c/n,  James  Chishulm,  was  born 
on  the  home  farm,  where  he  grew  up,  being 
educated  in  the  district  school.  In  due  time 
he  was  wedded  to  Rachel  Delameter,  daugli- 
ter  I  if  Abraham  IXlameter,  who  fought  in 
the  Revolutionary  War,  and  whose  wife  l)e- 
longeil  to  the  Brink  family.  In  comi)ensatii)n 
for  the  fiery  destruction,  by  the  Pirilish,  of  his 
house  and  barn  in  old  Kingston,  .Mr.  Dela- 
meter I'cceived  a  tract  of  land  in  New  Kings- 
ton, where  he  farmed  until  his  death,  at 
threescore  and  ten.  James  Ghisholm  bought 
this  farm  of  his  father-in-law,  and  there  were 
raised  the  four  children  which  adorned  the 
Chisholm  fireside.  Andrew  Chisholm  is  a 
Croton  farmer,  and  has  three  children.  .Sarah 
Chisholm  married  James  Archibald,  a  tarnu'i', 
and  has  one  ehiUl.  Margaret  Chisholm  mai'- 
ried  Robert  Winter,  and  the\-  li\'e  in  the  vil- 
lage with  their  three  children.  James  is  the 
special  subject  of  this  sketch.  Their  father 
lived    to   the   age   of   only    fifty-two. 

James  W.  Chisholm  grew  up  on  the  farm, 
where  he  remained  till  the  age  of  twenty- 
three,  when  he  married  1-21  la  J.  Dickson, 
j  daughter  of  Jolm  Dickson,  a  mechanic  in 
the  same  town,  whose  wile  was  Isabella 
h'razier.  V.vcn  after  the  niari'iage  the  Chis- 
holms  remained  a  year  on  the  home  farm,  till 
he  bought  the  wagon  antl  blacksmith  sliop  of 
Walter  A.  IClliott,  which  has  been  very  pros- 
percius.  Mr.  Chisholm  is  a  Republican,  and 
held  the  office  of  Postmaster  under  President 
Harrison,  between  1888  and  1S92.  His  wife 
is  a  member  of  the  I'nitetl  Presbyterian 
church.  Mrs.  Chi>holnrs  maternal  grand- 
father was  Alexantler  l-'razier,  and  the  grand- 
mother was  Christina  Cowan.  Mr.  I"razier"s 
father  was  Glerander  Frazier,  who  married 
Isabella  Colter.  The  old  man  was  a  .Scotch 
weaver,  and  taught  the  trade  to  his  son,  Alex- 
ander Frazier,  who  came  to  America  in  1820, 
and  settled  in  Roxburx'.  T^elaware  County. 
where  he  lived  to  be  seventy-seven  years  old. 
and  reareil  two  daughters -- I'.lizabeth  and 
ICllen.  Mrs.  Chisholm's  mother  was  the 
daughter  of  Gilbert  and  I-'llen  (Irving)  Dick- 
son. The  grandfather,  Gilbert  Dickson,  .Sr., 
came  from  .Scotland,  and  settled,  like  so  many 
of  his  compatriots,  in  Bovina,  where  he  raised 
six    bo\s    and    three    Liirls        Michael,     Mar\-, 


374 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Jennie,  John,  Isabella,  Walter,  Gilbert, 
Oliver,  and  Theodore  Dickson.  Their  father 
lived  to  be  over  fourscore,  but  their  grand- 
father Dickson  lived  to  be  eighty-nine.  In 
this  biography  the  repetition  of  Scottish 
names  is  most  noticeable.  They  belong  to  an 
admirable  class  of  people,  who  are  an  honor  to 
America;  and  to  them  might  be  applied  the 
pithy  words  of  the  essayist  Tuckerman, — 

"It  has  been  said  that  self-respect  is  the 
gate  of  Heaven  ;  and  the  most  cursory  observa- 
tion shows  that  a  degree  of  reserve  adds  vastly 
to  the  latent  force  of  character." 


/^TeORGE  H.  REYNOLDS,  M.D.,  is  a 
I  '*)  I  rising  young  physician  of  Delhi, 
^-— ^  whose  office  is  pleasantly  located  at 
No.  502  Main  Street,  nearly  opposite  the 
American  House.  He  has  received  a  thor- 
ough education,  and  is  already  well  and  favor- 
ably known  in  the  town  and  in  the  adjacent 
country,  and  is  fast  winning  his  way  to  a 
large  and  successful  practice.  He  is  a  native 
of  Delaware  County,  Roxbury  being  the  place 
of  his  birth,  which  occurred  June  21,  1865. 
His  father,  Cornelius  D.  Reynolds,  was  born 
in  this  county,  at  New  Kingston;  and  that 
village  was  also  the  birthplace  of  his  grand- 
father, James  Reynolds,  who  late  in  life  re- 
moved to  Michigan,  where  he  spent  his  last 
years. 

Cornelius  D.  Reynolds  was  bred  a  farmer, 
and  for  many  years  engaged  in  tilling  the  soil 
in  the  place  of  his  nativity.  Desiring  a 
change  of  location,  he  removed  to  Roxbury, 
where  he  purchased  a  farm,  which  he  is  still 
conducting  with  marked  success.  In  the  early 
years  of  his  life  he  married  Mary  Tyler,  who 
was  also  a  native  of  New  Kingston,  where  her 
parents  lived  for  many  years.  They  subse- 
quently removed  to  Plattsville,  where  they 
both  departed  this  life.  The  only  child  born 
to  Cornelius  D.  ami  Mary  Reynolds  was  a 
son,  George  H.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
The  mother  lived  but  a  few  years  after  her 
marriage,  d)ing  in  Plattsville,  at  the  early 
age  of  twenty-nine  years.  She  was  a  woman 
of  fine  character,  and,  like  her  husband,  a 
worthy  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.      After  her  death   Mr.  Reynolds  mar- 


ried Amanda  Craft,  of  Roxbury;  and  she 
has  borne  him  two  children  —  Charles  and 
William. 

George  H.  Reynolds  spent  the  first  years  of 
his  life  in  Roxbury  on  the  homestead  of  his 
father,  and,  after  attending  the  district  school, 
entered  the  Stamford  Seminary,  where  he  pur- 
sued his  studies  for  some  time.  Leaving  the 
seminary,  he  began  his  active  career  as  a 
teacher  in  the  district  school,  continuing  in 
the  pedagogical  profession  two  years.  He 
then  entered  upon  the  study  of  medicine  with 
Dr.  E.  W.  Gallup,  of  Stamford,  with  whom 
he  remained  one  year.  Going  thence  to  Al- 
bany, he  took  a  course  of  study  at  the  Medical 
College,  and  was  graduated  from  the  univer- 
sity in  1 89 1.  Having  secured  his  diploma. 
Dr.  Reynolds  began  the  practice  of  medicine 
at  Trout  Creek,  where  he  remained  two  years. 
Coming  thence  to  Delhi,  to  take  the  place  of 
Dr.  Thompson,  who  had  removed  to  Kings- 
ton, he  has  since  continued  in  the  arduous 
work  of  his  profession,  and  bids  fair  to  take  a 
position  among  the  leading  physicians  of  this 
vicinity.  The  Doctor  is  a  member  of  the 
Delaware  County  Medical  Society,  and  in  pol- 
itics is  a  steadfast  Republican.  He  is  an 
active  worker  in  the  Methodist  church,  of 
which   he    is   a   consistent   member. 


EREMIAH  A.  HARRINGTON,  a 
thriving  business  man  of  Colchester, 
the  well-known  proprietor  of  the  Har- 
rington House,  was  born  December  16, 
1870,  and  is  the  son  of  Cornelius  J.  and 
Elizabeth  (Gabon)  Harrington.  The  father 
of  Cornelius  J.  was  Cornelius  Harrington, 
who  was  born  in  Ireland,  but  came  to  Amer- 
ica when  a  young  man,  and  carried  on  for  a 
number  of  years  the  Exchange  Hotel  in  Du- 
shore,  Sullivan  County,  Pa.  He  afterward 
sold  out,  and  bought  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
acres  in  the  same  county,  near  Dushore, 
which  he  and  his  wife  enjoyed  in  their  old 
age.  They  reared  a  family  of  seven  children 
—  Elizabeth,  Mary  Ann,  Kate,  Emma,  Cor- 
nelius J.,  Joseph,  and  James.  Grandfather 
Harrington  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  that  sternly  waged  conflict  in 
which    our    country    won     her    independence. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RKVIKW 


375 


He  was  :i  IV'inocrat,  and  hold  to  his  principU's 
throughout  his  hmg  lil'c  of  over  scvcnty-cight 
years. 

Cornelius  J.  liarringlon  lived  with  his  par- 
ents luitil  okl  enough  to  go  out  intt)  the  world 
and  struggle  lor  himself.  He  first  engaged  in 
lumbering,  but  after  a  few  years  returned  to 
the  paternal  homestead  to  assist  his  father  on 
the  farm,  and  has  eontinued  to  li\e  <in  the  old 
place  until  the  pre.sent  day.  Here  he  has  a 
selecteil  stock  and  an  excellent  dairy,  and  has 
raised  some  fine  horses.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  J. 
Harrington  had  a  family  of  eight  children  — 
I'homas,  Jerome,  John,  Julia,  Alice,  Nora, 
leremiah,  and  Mary.  He  is  a  public-spirited 
man,  is  a  Democrat,  has  held  the  office  of 
Road  Commissioner,  antl  has  been  on  the 
school    committee. 

feremiah  A.  Harrington  was  born  on  the 
old  homestead  in  Sullivan  County,  i'a.,  and 
was  educated  in  the  town  of  his  birth.  IK' 
began  active  business  life  as  head  clerk  at  the 
Dushore  House,  and  continued  in  this  cajiac- 
ity  for  three  vears,  after  which  he  went  to 
Lestershire,  and  engaged  in  the  grocery  busi- 
ness with  J.  A.  l'"arrell,  where  he  remainetl 
for  one  year,  at  the  end  of  that  time  selling 
out  to  Mr.  Farrell.  He  then  went  to  Sidney, 
and  bought  a  billiard  parlor,  which  he  carried 
on  for  a  year  and  a  half,  but  ga\'e  it  up  for  his 
present  business  of  inn-keeping,  having  bought 
a  fine  hotel,  three  stories  high,  beautifully 
located  on  the  15eaver  Kill  in  Colchester. 
The  house  lias  accommodations  for  many 
guests.  It  has  fine  rooms  facing  the  wati'i', 
and  is  much  patronized  by  city  people.  The 
river  abounds  in  trout;  and  that  the  neighbor- 
hood is  a  fine  hunting-grouiul  is  evidenced 
by  the  fact  that  two  wild  bears  were  killed 
last  winter  in  sight  of  the  hottd,  which  is  only 
a  step  from  the  depot  on  the  O.  &  W.  R.R. 

On  March  31,  1894,  Mr.  Harrington  mar- 
ried Anna  W'alls,  daughter  of  Patrick  Walls, 
a  farmer  of  Sullivan  County,  Pennsylvania, 
and  the  father  of  two  children.  Mr.  J.  A. 
Harrington  is  a  free-thinker,  a  man  who  is 
not  hampered  by  traditions,  not  controlled  by 
political  bosses,  but  who  prefers  to  be  led  by 
his  own  reason  and  conscience.  I""rom  his 
varied  experience  he  has  a  good  knowledge  of 
business  and  business  men,  making  him  admi- 


rablv  lilted  for  his  present  woik.  He  is  a 
most  genial  host,  which  alone  is  enough  to 
insure   success    in   the   future. 


J-^  ji;r()M1-;  .man/i:r,  one  of  the 
=\  enterprising  firm  of  Manzer  ]5rothers, 
97 _  dealers  in  general  merchandise  in 
h'ranklin,  N.Y.,  is  recognized  as  one 
of  the  foremost  business  men  of  the  place, 
holding  an  enviable  position  in  the  esteem  of 
his  townspeople  as  one  w-jio  is  ever  ready  to 
jierform  a  generous  act,  and  who  has  the  wel- 
fare of  the  community  closely  at  heart.  Mr. 
Manzer's  grandfather,  Daniel  Manzer.  was  a 
i:)rosperous  farmer  of  Greene  County,  where  he 
died  at  an  advanced  age,  in  i860,  leaving  six 
children.  I'our  of  his  daughters  married:  but 
one,  Christina,  remained  in  single  blessed- 
ness, beloved  by  everybody;  and  all  still 
reside    in    (ireene    County. 

The  (Jills'  son  of  Daniel,  David  ^lanzer, 
was  born  in  1820,  in  Ashland,  (ireene 
County,  whei'e  he  adopted  a  farmer's  life,  and 
married  .Sarah  Christian,  of  Ashland,  who 
became  the  mother  of  seven  sons.  Two  of 
these  sons  received  the  name  Jerome,  the  first 
dying  when  an  infant;  the  second  is  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  The  other  children 
were:  Daniel,  who  died  in  infancy;  George 
I'"..,  at  present  a  merchant  at  Sidney  Centre; 
Sanford,  who  died  at  the  age  of  seven  years: 
h'rank  1'].,  the  owner  of  a  large  farm  and 
creamery  at  North  Norwich;  Hernard,  the 
able  |)artner  of  his  brother  Jerome  in  I'rank- 
lin.  David  Manzer  cnl isted  in  his  country's 
service  in  the  Civil  War,  served  for  seven 
months  as  a  private,  ami  died  while  in  the 
arm)',  though  he  was  never  called  u])on  to 
engage  in  active  battle.  He  was  a  man  of 
strong  Christian  faith,  and  an  active  member 
of  the  Methotlist  church.  It  was  in  cam])  at 
City  Point  in  1864  that  his  comrades  discov- 
ered him  one  morning  dead  in  his  bed,  he 
having  been  in  ]XM'fect  health  on  the  previous 
evening  when  he  attended  a  ])rayer-meetiiig. 
His  death  rt'sulted  from  heart  disease.  He 
had  lived  an  uiiright,  godly  life,  doing  the 
best  in  his  ])ower,  faithful  to  his  duty  to  the 
end.  His  widow,  Mrs.  Sarah  ^lanzer.  was 
married  a  second  time,  and   had   two  ciiililren: 


376 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Viola,  wife  of  Alfred  Sutton,   in  Otego;  and 
Henry  Christian,   of  Sidney,    N.Y. 

D.  Jerome  Manzer  was  born  at  Hancock, 
Delaware  County,  July  14,  1855,  and  grew  up 
on  the  farm  with  his  mother  until  his  seven- 
teenth year.  After  engaging  temporarily  in 
various  employments,  he  formed  a  partnership 
with  his  brother  Bernard,  and  in  1887  re- 
moved to  l'"ranklin,  where  they  made  them- 
selves possessors  of  a  provision  establishment, 
which  they  operated  successfully  for  two 
vears.  They  have  since  then  added  from  time 
to  time  groceries,  boots  and  shoes,  hats  and 
caps,  gentlemen's  furnishing  goods,  and, 
later,  ready-made  clothing,  to  their  former 
stock.  In  1890  this  prosperous  firm  pur- 
chased the  building  which  it  now  occupies,  in 
the  basement  being  the  market,  which  they 
disposed  of  in  1892,  Mr.  Root  being  the 
purchaser. 

The  Manzer  Brothers  carry  about  seven 
thousand  dollars"  worth  of  stock,  and  do  a 
strictly  cash  business,  this  latter  fact  being 
the  great  secret  of  their  success,  enabling 
them  to  buy  from  the  best  manufacturers  at 
the  lowest  possible  prices.  The  firm  is  a 
reliable  one,  prompt  and  honest  in  all  deal- 
ings, and  is  most  popular  among  the  residents 
of  F' rank) in.  Mr.  Bernard  Manzer  is  mar- 
ried, and  has  two  daughters  and  two  sons. 
Both  brothers  are  Democrats,  as  was  their 
father,  firmly  supporting  that  party's  prin- 
ciples and  platform.  Mr.  Manzer  is  a  con- 
scientious man,  who  has  won  for  himself  his 
present  position  by  his  good  business  ability 
and  earnest  endeavors  to  please  his  patrons, 
in  which  he  seldom  fails. 


(AJOR  GEORGE  C.  GIBBS,  a  suc- 
cessful builder  and  contractor  of 
.Stamford,  and  a  veteran  of  the 
late  war,  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Harpcrsfield,  January  6,  1832,  .son  of  John 
\V.  and  Dortha  L.  (Merriam)  Gibbs.  His 
great-grandfather,  Deacon  Caleb  Gibbs,  was 
born  in  Litchfield  County,  Connecticut,  en- 
tered the  medical  profession,  and  married 
Margary  Stewart,  removing  to  Delaware 
County,  New  York,  in  1783.  He  settled  in 
Harpcrsfield  on  what   is  now  known  as  Smith 


Street,  purchasing  from  his  brother-in-law. 
Colonel  Judd,  two  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
of  land  which  had  been  obtained  by  him  from 
the  Harper  family.  He  built  a  log  house  and 
cleared  part  of  his  land,  dying  in  1801  at  the 
age  of  seventy-two  years.  His  wife  passed 
away  in  her  seventy-fifth  year,  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  church.  Both  were  buried 
in  the  Harpcrsfield  Rural  Cemetery. 

Their  son,  Cyrenius  Gibbs,  grandfather  of 
the  subject  of  this  biography,  was  born  in 
Connecticut,  and  removed  with  his  father 
to  Delaware  County  when  nineteen  years 
of  age.  After  his  father's  death  he  man- 
aged the  farm,  and  married  Abigail  Hub- 
bard, daughter  of  Joel  and  Anna  (Clark) 
Hubbard.  Joel  Hubbard  was  born  in  Had- 
dam,  Conn.,  and  removed  to  Harpcrsfield  in 
the  early  days  of  this  century.  The  Hubbard 
family  is  descended  from  George  Hubbard, 
who  was  born  in  England  in  1595,  and  emi- 
grated to  America  early  in  the  seventeenth 
century. 

Cyrenius  Gibbs  was  a  progressive  farmer, 
and  cleared  many  acres  of  land.  He  was  a 
Whig  and  held  the  oflfice  of  Judge  of  Commis- 
sioners, was  County  Supervisor  for  ten  years. 
Clerk  of  Supervisors  for  five  years.  Justice  of 
the  Peace  for  fifteen  years,  and  was  a  promi- 
nent Methodist  and  Abolitionist. 

John  Wesley  Gibbs,  son  of  Cyrenius  and 
father  of  Major  Gibbs,  seems  in  his  early  life 
to  have  disliked  farming  pursuits.  He  ob- 
tained for  those  days  a  good  common-school 
education,  supplemented  by  about  two  terms 
at  the  Jefferson  Academy,  then  (1826  to  1828) 
one  of  the  best  educational  institutions  in 
Central  New  York,  taught  school  a  few  years, 
and  on  May  20,  1829,  married  Dortha  L. 
Merriam,  daughter  of  Peter  Merriam  and 
Roxanna  Dayton,  both  of  old  Puritan  stock, 
of  Watertown,  Conn.,  and  settled  down  in 
business  at  North  Harpcrsfield,  N.Y.,  then  as 
now  known  as  Middlebrook,  where  he  pur- 
sued the  business  of  wool-carding  and  cloth- 
dressing  and  land-surveying  until  the  spring 
of  1840,  when  he  removed  to  a  farm  in  the 
town  of  Jefferson,  Schoharie  County,  N.Y., 
where  he  remained  until  the  time  of  his 
death,  in  1871.  His  children  were  as  fol- 
lows: George  Clinton  Gibbs  (so  named  by  his 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


377 


grandfather  in  patriotic  remembrance  of  his 
intimate  friend  George  Clinton,  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  governor  of  New  York).  Cvrcnius 
A.,  Charles  \V.,  Asenath  M..  Albert  D..  and 
Richard  ^I.  Gibbs.  George  C,  Cyrenius  A., 
and  Richard  M.,  only,  are  now  living.  The 
•ithers,  as  also  the  father,  John  \V..  and 
Dortha  L.,  the  mother,  are  deceased.  Their 
mortal  remains  rest  in  tlie  Rural  Cemetery 
near  the  old  Baptist  church  site,  in  the  south- 
east part  of  the  town  of  Harpersfield  and  near 
the  old  Stoddarii  Stevens  Hotel. 

George  C.  Gibbs,  of  whom  this  sketch  is 
written,  spent  his  boyhood  in  Jefferson,  Scho- 
harie County,  and,  after  being  educated  in  the 
district  schools  and  the  old  Stamford  Acad- 
emy, taught  school  for  some  years  during  the 
winter  term,  assisting  on  the  farm  in  the  sum- 
mer. When  twenty-one.  he  was  ch-cted  super- 
intendent of  schools  in  Jefferson ;  but  he  later 
turned  his  attention  to  the  study  of  architect- 
ure, and  began  business  as  a  contractor  and 
builder  in  Stamford.  Delaware  County,  re- 
maining here  until  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 
He  enlisted  in  August.  1861,  accompanied  bv 
his  brother  Charles  and  six  other  young  men 
of  the  vicinity  of  Stamford,  in  Company  E, 
Third  New  York  Cavalry  \'olunteers,  raised 
by  Ferris  Jacobs,  Jr.;  and.  when  the  companv 
was  mustered  into  the  L'nited  States  service 
at  Elmira,  Mr.  Gibbs  was  chosen  Quarter- 
master Sergeant,  and  was  later  made  First 
Sergeant.  Early  in  1863  he  was  promoted  to 
the  position  of  First  Lieutenant,  the  regiment 
being  stationed  at  Xewbern,  X.C.  In  .Sep- 
tember and  Octohicr.  1S64,  he  served  as  Acting 
Assistant  Inspector,  general  on  the  staff  of 
Colonel  R.  M.  West,  commanding  the  Second 
Brigade  of  General  Kautz's  cavalr}"  division. 
In  the  following  January  he  was  made  a  Cap- 
tain, and  served  on  the  staff  of  Colonel  Geor":e 
W.  Lewis,  commanding  the  district  of  the 
Nansemond.  as  Inspector  until  the  Third 
Cavalry  was  consolidated  with  the  First  New 
York  ^lounted  Ritles.  thus  forming  the  Fourth 
Xew  York  Provisional  Cavalr}-.  He  was 
finally  mustered  out  near  Richmond,  Va., 
November  30,    1865. 

While  in  the  army,  he  participated  in  al- 
most every  battle  and  skirmish  in  which  his 
regiment  was  engaged  during  its  whole  period 


of    service.     On    all   the>;     ,,,..,.    ,,.     ,,. - 

haved  with  conspicuous  gallantry.  The  cour- 
age and  address  with  which  he  led  the 
into  the  entrenched  camp  of  the  rel, 
Kinston,  and  his  coolness  when,  under  the 
command  of  Major  Hall,  his  squadron  of  cav- 
alry covered  the  retreat  of  fieneral  Wil>on 
after  the  raid  upon  the  communications  nf 
General  Lee,  in  1864.  were  especially  ad- 
mired by  his  brother  officers.  On  the  latter 
occasion  the  whole  rebel  column  was  kejjt  at 
bay  for  ni<jre  than  an  hour,  until  the  bridge 
MVc-r  .Stony  Creek  was  burned,  and  our  cavalry 
finally  escaped  by  swimming  the  stream. 
Lieutenant  Gibbs  spurred  his  horse  off  a  high 
rock  into  the  river,  and  barely  escaped  in 
safety.  In  the  battle  of  Golds'boro  he  was 
slightly  wounded  by  a  musket  ball  in  the  arm 
and  side,  his  life  being  saved  by  a  package  of 
pajjcrs  in  his  coat  pocket;  and  in  an  engage- 
ment on  the  Darbytown  road,  before  Rich- 
mond, he  was  severely  wounded  through  the 
left  leg  by  a  m in ie  bail.  In  1866  he  received 
a  commission  as  Brevet  Major  of  the  New 
York  Yolunteers  for  "gallant  and  meritorious 
services  in  the  late  war,"  and  as  a  testimonial 
to  his  worth  and  fidelity  as  an  officer. 

In  1866  Major  Gibbs  was  nominated  f(jr 
member  of  Assembly  by  the  Re  ' 
party,  and  received  a  majority  of  two 
and  seventy-four  votes  over  his  competitor. 
When  the  Speaker  made  his  appointments,  he 
placed  Mr.  Gibbs  on  the  Committees  on  State 
Prisons  and  Charitable  and  Religious  Socie- 
ties. Major  Gibbs  is  a  successful  architect, 
and  has  constructed  some  of  the  finest  build- 
ings in  Stamford,  among  which  are  Churchill 
Hall.  New  Grant  House.  Gray  Court  Inn, 
Mountain  \'iew  House,  the  Prc'sbyterian  and 
Episcopal  churches,  and  the  Catholic  rectorv. 
He  also  built  the  sheriff's  residence  and  jail 
at   Delhi.  ••  rity  seat,  and   many  other   of 

the  best  1  _     of  his  village  and  vicinitv. 

In    1 87 1    he   Lfccted   his   own    beautiful    resi- 
dence on  Main  Street.     Abou'    :-'     '      ■      ■• 
a  temporary  tower  on  Mount   1 
Stamford.  '  'jy  Colonel  R.  w.  i;^.i;i -,,.,. 

which,    b'  vn   down,    h'-   lit^-r   -  r.lnccd 

by  a  still  more  attractive  ne. 

which   is  still  standir: 
the  highest  obser\'ato 


378 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Major  Gibbs  married  in  1871  Mrs.  I.aura 
Lockwood  Denne,  of  Franklin,  Ohio.  Her 
only  daughter,  Annie,  is  now  the  widow  of 
Willis  B.  Brownell,  of  Seneca,  Kan.  Mrs. 
Gibbs  is  the  daughter  of  Ransom  S.  Lock- 
wood,  who  was  born  at  Shaker  Village,  Ohio, 
February  13,  1810,  and  married  Hannah  M. 
Ross.  The  Lockwoods  trace  their  ancestry  to 
Robert  Lockwood,  who  came  from  England  to 
this  country  in  1630.  Major  and  Mrs.  Gibbs 
have  one  son,  Ransom  Lockwood  (iibbs,  who 
was  born  April  2,  1873,  at  Stamford,  N.Y. 
He  is  a  post-graduate  of  Stamford  Seminary, 
and  was  graduated  from  the  Cornell  Univer- 
sity School  of  Law,  class  of  1894,  receiving 
the  degree  of  LL.B.,  and  is  now  completing 
his  studies  with  Charles  L.  Andrus,  Esq.,  in 
Stamford. 

Major  Gibbs  is  a  member  of  St.  Andrew's 
Lodge,  No.  289,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Hobart, 
N.Y.,  and  for  many  years  has  been  High- 
priest  of  Delta  Chapter,  No.  185,  Royal  Arch 
Masons,  at  Stamford.  He  is  also  now  Justice 
of  the  Peace  of  Harpersfield,  the  town  in 
which  he  was  born,  and  a  Trustee  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Stamford,  in  which  he  now  resides. 
He  is  an  upright,  honorable,  and  respected 
citizen,  who  won  an  enviable  reputation  dur- 
ing his  service  in  the  Northern  cause, 
and  is  universally  esteemed  throughout  the 
community. 

Much  of  the  above  personal  history,  espe- 
cially that  part  relating  to  services  rendered 
during  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  is  taken  from 
"  Life  Sketches  of  the  Members  of  the  New 
V^ork  State  Assembly,"  compiled  and  pub- 
lished  by   Weed,    Parsons   &   Co.    in    1867. 


-r^TOX.  TIMOTHY  SANDERSON,  edi- 
l-^-l  tor  of  the  Walton  Cliroiiicle  of  Dela- 
[is  I  ware  County,  New  York,  was  born 

^"^  in  the  town  of  Meredith,  in  the 
year  1848,  and  is  of  excellent  Scotch-Irish 
ancestry.  He  is  a  man  of  marked  ability  and 
sterling  character,  impressing  his  individual- 
ity upon  all  with  whom  he  comes  in  contact. 
He  spent  his  early  days  on  the  farm  of  his 
father,  tilling  the  soil  in  season,  and  attend- 
ing the  district  school  when  it  was  in  session. 
He  subsequently  pursued   his  studies   at    the 


Delaware  and  Walton  Academies,  and  in  1868 
entered  Cornell  University,  being  a  member 
of  the  first  Freshman  class  of  that  now  famous 
institution  of  learning.  He  was  graduated 
from  Cornell  in  1872,  with  the  degree  of  A.B. 

During  the  following  two  years  he  was 
principal  of  the  Red  Creek  Union  School,  at 
Red  Creek,  Wayne  County,  going  thence  to 
Sag  Harbor,  Suffolk  County,  where  he  re- 
mained three  years  as  principal  of  the  union 
school  of  the  place.  Returning  to  Ithaca, 
N.Y.,  he  became  a  student  in  the  law  office  of 
Frank  E.  Tibbets,  and,  being  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1879,  very  soon  after  began  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession  at  Sidney  Centre  in  this 
county.  In  1883  he  was  elected  to  the  As- 
sembly from  Delaware  County,  and  served 
with  distinction  on  the  Judiciary  Commit- 
tee and  on  the  Committee  of  Public  Edu- 
cation. Mr.  Sanderson  has  ever  taken  an 
active  and  intelligent  part  in  politics,  and  has 
a  wide  reputation  as  a  public  orator.  During 
the  campaign  of  1892  he  spoke  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  State  committee,  giving  his 
hearers  the  benefit  of  his  study  of  the  politi- 
cal, social,  and  economic  problems  of  the  day, 
and  wielding  a  wide  influence  for  good 
throughout  this  section  of  the  State.  He  has 
made  the  tariff  question  the  subject  of  thor- 
ough investigation,  and  is  a  Protectionist  from 
conviction. 

In  1892  Mr.  Sanderson  was  called  to  the 
editorial  chair  of  the  Chronicle,  a  weekly 
paper  published  by  the  Chi  Ids  Association  at 
Walton,  a  position  which  he  accepted  and  has 
since  filled  with  signal  ability.  In  1894  he 
was  appointed,  by  the  Comptroller,  Attorney 
for  the  State  in  cases  pertaining  to  the  col- 
lateral inheritance  tax.  Mr.  Sanderson  is 
conversant  with  the  leading  questions  of  the 
times,  and  expresses  his  opinions,  which  are 
the  result  of  careful  inquiry,  in  a  forcible  and 
logical  manner. 


-OHN  MARTIN  CRONK  is  a  promi- 
nent citizen  of  Roxbury,  Delaware 
County,  N.Y.  His  birthjilace  was  on 
the  turnpike,  about  two  miles  from 
Grand  Gorge;  and  he  was  born  on  May-day, 
1847,  only  four  months  before  General   Win- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


379 


field    Scott   captured   tlic  city  of   Mexico;  and 
tiiere  lias  always  been  victory  in  his  bones. 

In  our  sketch  of  11.  H.  Cronk  may  be  found 
further  particulars  of  the  Cronk  ancestry. 
The  great-grandfather,  Lawrence  Cronk,  was 
iiorn  in  Germany,  but  early  emigrated  to 
America,  and  was  a  Revolutionary  pri\'ate, 
dying  with  small-pox  then  contracted.  Mis 
son,  Lawrence  Cronk,  who  grew  up  in  Tarry- 
town  on  the  Hudson,  in  early  manhood  came 
to  Delaware  Count}',  and  kept  a  hotel  in 
Roxbury.  Afterwanl  he  went  to  Dutchess 
County,  married  Nancy  Crar\-,  and  worked  a 
few  years  at  his  trade  of  carpentry,  which  he 
had  before  learned.  Coming  to  Roxbury 
again,  he  worked  for  J.  C.  Hardenburgh. 
Tlien  he  bought  the  farm  of  a  hundred  acres 
now  owned  by  IMerritt  Davis,  and,  devoting 
his  energies,  put  that  into  excellent  condition. 
Making  anotlu'r  move,  he  bought  the  farm 
still  known  by  his  name.  His  last  years  were 
spent  with  his  son,  Edwartl  Cronk.  He  was  a 
firm  ^^'hig,  though  he  lived  to  see  the  Repub- 
lican party  come  into  [lower;  for  he  was 
ninety-three  years  old  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  in  1863.  His  wife  also  lived  to  be 
very  old ;  and  they  had  ten  children  —  John, 
Sally,  Nathan.  Nathaniel,  Polly,  Hannah. 
Betsey,    Phebe,    Rosetta,    P^dward. 

Edward  Cronk  received  some  education  at 
the  district  school,  and  worked  both  on  his 
father's  farm  and  for  the  neighbors  till  he  was 
of  age.  Then  he  hired  a  farm  for  himself, 
and  at  the  age  of  twent)'-five,  in  1830,  mar- 
ried I'llizabetii  Haner,  the  daughter  of  Martin 
and  Elizabeth  (Shoemaker)  Haner.  Mr. 
Planer  was  l)orn  in  Dutchess  County,  but  be- 
came an  early  ]Moneer  in  Greene  County, 
clearing  an  estate  of  a  hundred  and  thirty 
acres,  where  he  spent  the  most  of  his  life. 
P'dward  Cronk  bought  a  farm  of  two  hundred 
acres,  which  had  been  settled  by  lulward 
Jump.  Thereon  he  built  a  new  wagon-house 
and  barns,  and  greatly  improved  the  place, 
keeping  at  one  time  twenty-five  cows.  Pie 
had  six  children — Sarah,  John  Martin,  Cor- 
nelia, Lawrence,  P'.lizabeth,  and  George 
Washington  Cronk.  Their  mother  died  in 
1887,  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven,  in  the  Presby- 
terian faith:  and  Mr.  Cronk  then  retired  to 
the  village   where,  in   his   declining   vears,  he 


quietly  enjoys  his  Republican  opinions,  and 
needs   no  glasses   to   read    the   jjapers. 

John  Martin  Cronk  worked  at  home,  and 
went  to  the  district  school  after  the  manner 
of  otiier  farmers'  sons;  but  in  1861,  just  at 
the  outbreak  of  our  Civil  War,  whei'.  he  was 
only  fourteen  years  idd,  he  went  to  work  as  a 
farm  hand  for  David  Smith,  from  whom  for 
half  a  )ear  he  received  as  wages  his  board 
and  four  dollars  a  month.  'Phereafter  he  kept 
on  in  the  same  line,  but  with  other  farmers, 
till  he  passed  his  niajorit}-.  In  1870,  at  the 
age  of  twent)'-three,  he  was  married  to  .Mary 
.Selieck,  daughter  of  Solomon  Selleck,  a  suc- 
cessful farmer  in  (jilboa,  Schoharie  Countv, 
who  married  Mercy  Richtmyre,  and  who  lives 
a  retiretl  life  in  the  same  town,  though  he  lost 
his  wife  when  she  was  fifty-eight.  They  had 
but  two  children.  One  was  Pratt  Selleck, 
who  first  married  Cora  Becker,  and  then  Anna 
Burhance,  and  is  a  Gilboa  farmer.  'Phe  other 
child,  Mary  .Selleck,  became  the  wife  of  the 
subject  of  this  biogra]ihy,  and  has  two  children 
—  Ina  and  Selleck  Cronk,  born  in  1873  and 
1S75,  and  both  still  gladdening  the  home. 

In  1887  Mr.  Cronk  bought  the  old  More 
place  of  two  hundred  acres;  and  here  in 
1 891  he  built  a  fine  new  mansion  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Grand  (iorge,  where  he  has  accommo- 
dation for  nearly  forty  city  boarders.  He 
attends  also  to  general  farming,  and  has  a 
dair\-  of  sixty  cows.  Besides  his  own  pro- 
(hiction,  Mr.  Cronk  bu^'s  the  milk  fi'om  fifteen 
other  farmers,  shipping  it  t"  New  York. 
This  business  he  has  personally  attended  to 
for  the  jxist  eight  years.  In  politics  lie  is  a 
Republican,  like  his  father,  and,  like  him  also, 
is  a  Presbyterian  in  his  religious  convictions. 
In  his  life  and  character  he  illustrates  what 
that  great  preacher,  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  once 
said, — 

"Vigilance  is  not  only  the  price  of  liberty, 
but  of  success  of  any  sort." 


^0SI:PII  M.  pi  1:RS0N,  son  of  Jeremiah 
i'ierson,  was  born  in  Saratoga  County, 
New  York,  August  29,  1821,  and  is 
now  living  in  the  village  of  Walton, 
from  active  pursuits,  enjoying  the  rich 
of  his  many  years  of  toil  and  enforced 


retiree 
re  war* 


38o 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


economy,  his  life  being  an  excellent  illustra- 
tion of  what  may  be  accomplished  in  this 
country  by  an  honest,  hartl-working,  and  en- 
terprising man. 

Jeremiah  Pierson,  whose  birth  occurred  in 
Saratoga  County,  March  22,  1784,  was  a 
blacksmith  by  trade,  and  gave  most  of  his  at- 
tention to  that  business  until  the  time  of  his 
decease,  in  the  year  1850.  He  was  twice 
married,  his  first  wife,  V.Wzii  Gilbert,  bearing 
him  nine  children,  of  whom  three  are  now  liv- 
ing, namely:  Charles  Pierson,  born  June  18, 
1807,  a  retired  mason  and  builder,  an  active 
and  hearty  man  of  eighty-seven  years ;  Thomas 
B.,  born  in  1823,  a  mason;  and  Joseph  M., 
the  subject  of  this  sketch.  The  mother  of 
these  children  died  September  23,  1834,  in 
the  fiftieth  year  of  her  age;  and  Jeremiah 
Pierson  subsequently  married  again,  his  sec- 
ond wife  bearing  him  three  children. 

Joseph  M.  Pierson  left  the  home  of  his  par- 
ents at  the  tender  age  of  seven  years  to  be- 
come an  inmate  of  the  household  of  his  uncle, 
Penjamin  Morehouse,  with  whom  he  lived 
until  attaining  his  majority.  He  received  a 
fair  education  in  the  district  schools,  and, 
after  leaving  his  uncle's,  attended  a  select 
school  at  Ballston  Springs.  He  began  his 
independent  career  as  a  farm  laborer,  having 
been  furnished  by  his  uncle  with  two  suits  of 
clothes  and  one  dollar;  and  in  the  first  year 
he  received  five  dollars  a  month  wages.  Dur- 
ing the  summer  of  1843  this  sum  was  in- 
creased to  eight  dollars  a  month,  which  was 
then  regarded  as  quite  munificent  pay.  The 
following  year  Mr.  Pierson  began  working  at 
the  mason's  trade,  and  during  the  time  he  was 
learning  he  received  but  five  dollars  a  month; 
but  even  with  that  small  sum  he  always 
dressed  respectably,  and  never  ran  in  debt. 
In  1850  he  came  to  Walton,  and,  purchasing 
a  farm  of  about  thirty  acres  within  the  corpo- 
ration, was  engaged  in  farming  and  masonry 
for  upward  of  tvvoscore  years,  accumulating 
in  the  mean  time  a  competency.  His  success 
has  been  entirely  due  to  his  own  thrift  and 
good  management ;  and,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  he  has  lost  about  one  thousand  five  hun- 
dred dollars,  he  can  look  the  world  fairly  in 
the  face,  for  he  owes  no  man  a  penny.  In 
i8S8  Mr.  Pierson  sold  his  farm;  and,  buying  i 


the  pleasant  house  at  No.  21  Union  Street,  he 
and  his  faithful  life  companion  have  since 
lived  here  as  happy  and  cosey  as  need  be. 

Probably  the  most  important  event  in  his 
life  occurred  on  the  2d  of  February,  1848, 
when  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Priscilla  R.  Lyon,  who  was  born  in  Stamford, 
Delaware  County,  in  1825.  Her  father,  Levi 
Lyon,  was  the  second  son  of  Walter  Lyon,  an 
early  settler  of  this  county,  who  died  in  Stam- 
ford in  1830.  Levi  Lyon  was  born  on  Rose 
Brook,  in  Stamford,  March  27,  1793,  and 
lived  to  be  almost  one  hundred  years  of  age, 
dying  in  the  town  of  his  birth.  May  25,  1890. 
He  married  Eleanor  Morehouse,  who  was  born 
in  Fairfield,  Conn.,  February  16,  1794,  the 
date  of  their  wedding  being  February  21, 
18 1 5,  the  ceremony  being  performed  at  Malta, 
Saratoga  County,  by  the  Rev.  T.  Swain. 
Mrs.  Lyon  died  September  4,  1866,  in  the 
seventy-third  year  of  her  age.  Four  children 
were  born  to  her  and  her  husband,  the  follow- 
ing being  their  record:  Mary  Ann,  who  mar- 
ried Byron  Burgin,  died  May  i,  1891,  about 
two  years  after  the  celebration  of  their  golden 
wedding  in  1889,  leaving  three  sons  and  two 
daughters ;  her  husband,  who  was  five  years 
her  senior,  and  was  a  very  tall  man,  being  six 
feet  and  four  inches  in  height,  and  well  pro- 
portioned, lived  until  October  3,  1893,  dying 
at  the  age  of  eighty-two  years.  Angeline, 
the  widow  of  Harry  Barlow,  who  died  in 
1881,  at  the  age  of  seventy-one  years,  lives  in 
the  town  of  Hobart,  and  is  a  smart  and  active 
woman  of  seventy-five  years.  George  B.,  a 
farmer,  owning  and  occupying  the  home 
farm,  which  contains  over  two  hundred  acres 
of  land,  was  married  in  1849  to  Sarah  Pa- 
melia  Peck.  Priscilla  R.,  the  youngest  child, 
is  the  wife  of  Mr.  Pierson.  Mrs.  Pierson  has 
among  her  possessions  a  sampler  which  she 
worked  in  her  tenth  year,  containing  the  let- 
ters of  the  alphabet  embroidered  in  various 
forms,  and  also  the  initials  of  her  parents  and 
grandparents.  This  sampler,  which  is  ten 
inches  by  twenty  inches,  is  made  from  linen 
which  was  spun  and  woven  by  her  mother  from 
flax  grown  on  their  own  farm.  She  has  also  a 
piece  of  home-made  linen  thread  lace,  which 
has  been  in  use  a  good  deal  of  the  time  the 
past  fifty  years. 


(JflMES    MC  DONHLD. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


.vS3 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  M.  I'icrson  aro  the 
parents  ot"  three  cliihhen:  l-Hlen  ]•;.,  the  only 
(laughter,  is  the  wife  of  lulson  Dann,  and  has 
two  children  :  George  J.,  a  student  in  Union 
College;  and  I""lorence  E.,  a  pupil  in  the 
Walton  High  School.  Charles  II.  Pierson,  a 
farmer,  living  near  Walton,  was  united  in 
marriage  Feljruary  14,  1S82,  to  Elma  S. 
Alexander,  who  died  in  1S91,  leaving  one 
daughter;  and  he  subsequently  marrieil  Cor- 
nelia Pi'oper.  George  J.  Pierson,  who  is  in 
the  Walton  Novelty  Works,  married  Rose 
Berry;  and  they  have  two  children —  Fred  R. 
and  lulith  R.  In  politics  Mr.  Joseph  M. 
Pierson  is  a  stanch  supporter  of  the  Republi- 
can party.  Religiously,  he  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  church,  of  which 
he  has  been  much  of  the  time  for  several  years 
a  Tinistee  and  .Steward. 


(^()S]-:PH  a.  S.Mirii,  a  well-known  and 
prominent  farmer  of  Holmes  Brook, 
was  born  in  Delhi,  Delaware  Count)', 
N.Y.,  December  27,  i860.  His  par- 
ents were  James  II.  and  Helen  (Calhoun) 
Smith,  residents  of  Delhi.  The  paternal 
grandfather,  James  Smith,  was  born  in  Ire- 
land, and,  coming  to  this  country  in  1820, 
[jurchased  a  farm  near  Delhi,  where  he  resided 
until  his  death.  He  reared  a  family  of  five 
children — -Joseph,  Mary  Ann,  Elizabeth, 
Belle,  and  James  H. 

James  H.  Smith  was  educated  at  the  dis- 
trict schools,  and  resided  with  his  father  until 
he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age,  when  he  de- 
parted for  the  gold-fields  of  California,  in 
which  locality  he  remained  four  years.  He 
afterward  returned  to  his  native  place,  and 
purchased  the  old  homestead,  taking  up  the 
pursuit  of  farming.  Mr.  .Smith  married  Miss 
Helen  Calhoun,  a  daughter  of  Peter  Calhoun, 
of  Bovina;  and  six  children  were  born  to 
them,  namely:  James  P.:  Joseph  A.:  Edwin 
C,  deceased:  Helen  M. :  .Malcolm  J.;  and 
.Margaret  E.  Mr.  Smith  died  T'ebruary  6, 
1S87,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six.  Mrs.  Smith 
makes  her  home  at  the  present  time  with  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  She  is  of  .Scotch  an- 
cestry, her  family  coming  from  the  town  of 
Helensburgh,    near    Glasgow.       Mr.    Calhoun 


came  to  ^Vmerica  in  1 S  54,  and  settled  in  J?o- 
vina.  His  family  consisted  of  ten  children: 
John,  who  was  a  practising  physician  in 
Delhi,  and  is  now  tleceased  ;  Peter;  Mar\-;  Jea- 
nette;  Archibald;  Helen:  Malcolm;  James; 
Daniel;  and  Margaret.  Mi',  and  Mrs.  Cal- 
houn died  at  Bovina.  ]\Ir.  Calhoun  was  an 
bolder  and  prominent  member  of  the  I'resbyte- 
rian  church,  with  which  his  family  were  also 
connected. 

Jose])h  A.  .Smith  was  educated  at  the  dis- 
trict schools,  and  at  Delaware  Academy  at 
Delhi.  During  his  father's  lifetime,  he  was 
of  material  assistance  to  him  on  the  farni,  and 
since  his  death  has  heliied  his  mother  on  the 
homestead.  Eike  his  father  before  him,  he 
supports  the  Republican  partv.  In  his  relig- 
ious views  he,  like  the  rest  of  the  family, 
affiliates  with  the  Presbyterian  church.  He 
has  never  aspiretl  to  any  public  office,  devot- 
ing his  whole  attention  to  the  farm  and  the 
care  of  his  mother,  a  most  estimable  l;ul\'.  of 
whom  her  son  nia}'  be  justlv  |jroud. 


'^AMES  McDonald,  a  highly  intelli- 
gent and  successful  farmer  and  dair\'- 
man  of  the  town  of  K<jrlright,  Dela- 
ware County,  was  born  Jul}'  24,  1826, 
on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides.  He  be- 
longs to  a  good  old  Scotch  family,  the  meni- 
bers  of  which  were  among  the  first  settlers  of 
Kortright,  where  they  have  always  been  re- 
sjx'cted  for  theii'  integrity  and  industry.  His 
grandfather,  John  McDonald,  was  a  native  of 
.Scotland.  He  canie  to  ^America  to  seek  a  fort- 
une, staying  at  first  for  a  while  in  New  York 
City,  and  niarrying  there  soon  after  his  ar- 
rival. About  the  year  1786  he  removed  to 
Delaware  County,  buying  a  tract  of  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  acres,  uncleared  and  unculti- 
vated. This  he  proceeded  to  clear;  and  here 
he  built  his  log  house,  making  his  home 
in  the  Delaware  \'alley  among  the  Catskill 
.Mountains.  Game  of  all  kinds,  large  and 
small,  was  plentiful;  and  niany  were  the  ad- 
\'entures  of  the  sturdy  pioneers  with  wolves 
and  inmthers.  The  nearest  market  was  at 
Catskill;  and  he  was  obliged  to  carry  his 
grist  on  horseback  into  Schoharie  County  to 
have   it   ground,  finding  his   way  bv  nieans   of 


384 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


the  marked  trees,  there  being  no  roads  in  that 
portion  of  the  country.  John  McDonald  was 
a  liberal-minded  man  and  a  Democrat.  He 
accumulated  a  comfortable  property,  possess- 
ing at  one  time  six  hundred  acres  of  land. 
He  was  the  father  of  seven  children,  all  of 
whom  lived  to  be  over  sixty  years  old.  John 
McDonald,  Jr.,  a  son  of  the  emigrant,  was 
born  May  23,  1794,  on  the  farm  adjoining  that 
on  which  the  subject  of  this  sketch  now  re- 
sides. In  1826  he  purchased  the  old  home- 
stead, which  contained  at  that  time  one 
hundred  and  forty-six  acres.  To  this  he 
added  fifty  acres  in  1832  and  ten  more  in 
1840.  He  was  energetic  and  industrious,  and 
died  February  16,  1870,  having  been  an  at- 
tendant at  the  Presbyterian  church,  of  which 
his  wife  Jane  was  a  member.  She  was  born  in 
Stamford,  December  26,  1794,  and  died  Sep- 
tember 9,  1887.  John  McDonald,  Jr.,  was  a 
Democrat,  and  represented  that  party  in  the 
legislature  in  1845,  serving  one  term.  He 
held  the  office  of  Supervisor  for  nearly  twenty 
years,  was  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  Assessor, 
and  Superintendent  of  the  Poor,  and  also 
occupied  other  minor  offices.  He  was  pro- 
foimdly  respected  and  honored  throughout  the 
town  where  he  resided,  and  for  the  welfare  of 
which  he  was  ever  ready  to  lend  a  helping 
hand.  Of  his  four  children  but  one  is  now 
living,  James,  the  subject  of  this  biography. 
Isabelle  Ann,  Mrs.  Daniel  Andrews,  died 
when  forty  years  of  age.  John  Grant  died  in 
New  York  City  at  the  age  of  fifty-three,  and 
Alexander  T.,  aged  thirty-three  years. 

James  McDonald  was  born  July  24,  1826, 
grew  up  to  farm  life,  attending  the  district 
school,  and  later  Hobart  Academy.  After 
his  education  was  completed,  he  took  up  his 
residence  with  his  parents,  for  whom  he  pro- 
vided in  their  declining  years.  He  is  now  the 
possessor  of  the  old  homestead,  which  he  has 
increased  by  fifty  acres,  it  now  containing  two 
hundred  and  sixty  acres. 

September  14,  1857,  Mr.  McDonald  mar- 
ried Miss  Mary  E.  Howard,  a  native  of  Gil- 
boa,  Schoharie  County,  where  she  was  born 
April  2,  1835.  Her  father  was  David  S. 
Howard,  a  hotel  proprietor  and  farmer,  who 
married  Miss  Sally  Knapp;  and  both  of  her 
parents  are  now  dead.     Mrs.  McDonald  died 


February  3,  1889;  and  Mr.  McDonald  was 
again  married  March  5,  1890,  to  Miss  Amy 
E.  Wilbur,  who  was  born  in  Unadilla,  Otsego 
County,  a  daughter  of  Marcus  and  Hannah 
(Sherwood)  Wilbur,  both  of  whom  have  passed 
away.  Mr.  McDonald  has  two  children: 
John  Grant  McDonald,  born  March  23,  1859, 
is  at  present  an  undertaker  and  furniture 
dealer  of  Owego,  Tioga  County.  James  How- 
ard McDonald,  who  was  born  August  6,  1868, 
is  unmarried  and  lives  at  home. 

Mr.  McDonald  is  a  member  of  the  Episco- 
pal church  at  Hobart,  and  his  wife  is  a 
Baptist.  Like  his  father,  he  supports  the 
Democratic  party,  and  has  served  as  Assessor 
for  several  years.  He  carries  on  a  most  pro- 
ductive farm,  keeping  forty  head  of  grade  cat- 
tle, disposing  of  the  milk  in  New  York  City. 
His  home  is  a  delightful  one,  and  is  sought 
by  many  who  claim  his  friendship. 

The  reader  will  turn  with  interest  to  the 
portrait  of  Mr.  McDonald,  who  is  a  true 
gentleman  of  the  old  school,  courteous,  intel- 
ligent, and  upright,  a  representative  citizen  of 
the  town  of  which  he  has  been  a  life-long 
resident,    and    where   he    is    highly   esteemed. 


ENRY  E.  BARTLETT,  M.D.,  was 
a  man  of  talent  and  great  executive 
ability,  who  not  only  did  much  to 
promote  the  prosperity  of  the  town 
of  Walton,  of  which  he  was  an  adopted  citi- 
zen, but  made  his  influence  felt  for  good 
throughout  the  county.  By  appointment  of 
President  Cleveland  he  held  here  for  some 
years  the  position  of  Medical  Examiner.  He 
died  on  January  3,   1892. 

Dr.  Bartlett  was  born  at  Northampton, 
Mass.,  June  11,  18.06.  He  took  his  college 
course  at  Amherst,  and  then  pursued  his 
medical  studies  as  he  had  opportunity,  teach- 
ing school  in  the  mean  time  to  defray  his 
expenses.  After  receiving  his  degree  in 
medicine,  he  was  induced  by  friends  to  settle 
in  Walton.  It  is  said  that  he  reached  this 
place  with  a  very  small  sum  in  his  pocket. 
He  was  received  with  the  utmost  friendliness, 
and  shortly  began  to  identify  himself  with  the 
interests  of  the  place.  The  following  para- 
graphs are  quoted  from   a  brief  sketch  of  his 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIFIW 


38s 


carcLT  tliat  appeared   some  time   since    in    llie 
local  ])ress :  — 

"In  five  years'  time  he  went  aj^ain  to  New 
York,  but  returned  to  Walton  in  1849.  At 
that  time  negotiations  were  on  foot  concerning 
the  I'.rie  Railroad,  ami  Dr.  Bartlett  was  in- 
vited to  confer  with  Governor  I"'illniore  and 
his  staff  at  Dunkirk  in  regard  to  the  proposed 
route.  It  was  decided  to  put  the  roail  through 
Hancock,  and  at  Dr.  Bartlett's  suggestion 
and  by  his  influence  a  provision  was  [ilaced 
in  the  charter  to  the  effect  that  all  trains 
should  stop  at  that  station.  He  was  clear- 
sighted enough  to  foresee  the  running  of  fast 
through  exiM-csses,  and  to  his  wisdom  we  owe 
tiie  conveniences  of  travel  on  the  Erie  which 
are  open  to  this  section  of  the  country. 

"The  ne.xt  project  of  interest  in  which  he 
engaged  was  the  building  of  the  plank  road 
from  Walton  to  Hancock,  tiiereby  making  a 
quick  and  easy  journey  to  the  railroad.  Of 
such  importance,  and  yet  of  such  difficulty, 
was  this  project  considered  that  John  Alver- 
son,  a  resident  of  Carpenter's  Eddy,  remarked 
that  he  thought  he  could  die  in  satisfaction  if 
the  plank  road  were  a  success.  Dr.  Bartlett 
was  the  heart  and  soul  of  the  movement;  and, 
when  the  interest  of  the  people  began  to  flag 
and  the  plan  seemed  likely  to  be  abandoned, 
he  conceived  the  idea  of  inviting  Horace 
Greeley  to  make  an  address  on  the  subject; 
and  at  the  same  time  he  himself  made  a 
speech  in  which  he  said,  if  God  would  bless 
him,  he  would  some  time  get  a  railroad 
through  Walton.  The  plank  road  was  a  suc- 
cess, and  to  Dr.  Bartlett  is  due  the  credit. 

"In  1852  he  was  elected  to  the  Senate,  re- 
ceiving the  entire  vote  of  this  town.  Eor 
some  years  he  had  been  greatly  interested  in 
.State  railroads,  and,  while  in  the  .Senate,  was 
made  Chairman  of  the  Railroad  Connnittee, 
and  was  appointed,  together  with  J.  W.  Mc- 
Alpine.  State  Engineer  and  .Surveyor,  to 
examine  all  the  railroads  in  New  York  State. 
Their  re])ort  w'as  so  able  and  so  complete  that 
the  London  Tunes  made  flattering  mention  of 
it.  In  addition  to  this,  it  was  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  his  committee  that  the  State  Board  of 
Railroad  Commissioners  was  createti. 

"It  is  said  that  the  busiest  people  have 
the  most  time,  and  it  has  certainlv  been   so  in 


Dr.  Bartlett's  case.  Along  with  his  railroad 
concerns,  he  served  as  one  of  the  committee  to 
locate  Central  Park  in  New  York,  and  was 
appointed  liy  Governor  Seymour  as  Health 
Officer  in  that  city  from  1854  tf)  1856.  Dur- 
ing these  years  he  had  never  lost  sight  of  his 
desire  to  have  a  railroad  through  this  town, 
and  he  was  at  the  outset  one  of  the  organizers 
of  the  New  York,  Ontario  &  Western.  His 
])ersonal  influence  and  the  money  he  invested 
were  the  means  of  putting  the  railroad  through 
Walton,  necessitating  the  zigzag,  instead  of 
through  Delhi,  where  no  such  arrangement 
was  neetled.  Thus  by  his  efforts  the  town 
entered  upmi  tlie  most  imixirtant  era  in  its 
history.  Dr.  Bartlett's  career  was  an  emi- 
nently useful  and  successful  one.  Not  only 
did  he  rank  high  in  his  [jrofession  of  medi- 
cine, but  his  talents  and  executive  ability 
placed  him  at  the  head  of  enterprises  whicli 
many  others,  as  well  as  the  town  of  Walton, 
will  always  hold  in  grateftd  acknowledg- 
ment." 


I.Bl-lRI'  II.  SblWI'J.L,  the  Judge  and 
.Surrogate  of  the  County  of  Delaware, 
was  born  in  Ilamden,  on  the  thir- 
tieth da)-  of  October,  1847.  He 
preixired  for  cnllege  at  the  Walton  Academy, 
and  went  to  L'nion  in  1867.  At  the  end  of 
his  first  year  he  entered  C^)rnell  University, 
and  graduated  in  the  class  of  1871.  In  1873 
he  graduated  at  the  Albany  Law  .School,  was 
admitted  to  the  l)ar,  and  entered  upon  the 
])ractice  of  his  profession  at  .Sidney  Centre, 
N.Y.  He  continued  to  be  so  engaged  until 
1S77,  when  he  was  elected  member  of  Assem- 
bly. At  the  end  of  his  term  he  returned  to 
Walton,  and  devoted  himself  closel)'  and  suc- 
cesslull}-  to  the  [iractice  of  law  until  1889, 
when  he  was  calleil  to  his  prese'ut  sphere  of 
honor  and  usefulness. 


OMER    CHANDLER    BURGIN    is    a 

highly  honored  citizen  of  the  town 
of  Bovina,  Delaware  Count\-,  X.\'.. 
and  (jue  of  the  few  old  residents 
who  remain  in  the  town  to  tell  the  tale  of 
early    ])rivations.      He    has   a    beautiful    home 


386 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


and  a  fine  farm,  and  is  all  together  a  ynod 
sj^ecimen  of  manhood.  He  was  born  in 
Andes  on  the  last  day  of  April,  iSiS,  when 
Monroe's  wise  Presidency  was  casting  oil 
upon  the  troubled  waters  of  political  strife. 
His  grandfather  Burgin,  after  having  fought 
in  the  Revolution,  became  a  pioneer  farmer 
in  Delhi,  but  did  not  live  long  to  occupy  his 
farm ;  for  he  died  at  the  age  of  fifty. 

He  had  a  son  named  Chandler  Burgin,  a 
Massachusetts-born  man,  who  married  Pru- 
dence Ilollister,  a  Connecticut  woman,  the 
daughter  of  David  Hollister,  who  also  was  a 
Revolutionary  soldier,  so  that  our  subject  can 
boast  of  two  grandfathers  who  took  part  in  the 
patriotic  struggle.  The  Hollisters  came  early 
to  Delaware  County,  settling  on  the  banks  of 
the  Little  Delaware  River.  Chandler  Burgin 
was  born  December  7,  1789,  when  Washing- 
ton was  beginning  his  Presidency;  and  his 
wife  was  three  years  his  senior,  having  been 
born  May  27,  1786,  before  any  President  had 
been  elected  or  the  thirteen  colonies  were 
fairly  organized  into  a  nation.  Chandler 
Burgin  came  to  Delaware  County  in  his  young 
manhood,  and  all  his  life  followed  his  trade 
as  a  carpenter  and  wheelwright  in  Andes;  but 
he  also  owned  a  small  farm.  Though  a  very 
industrious  man,  his  health  was  poor;  and  he 
could  never  acquire  riches.  He  and  his  wife 
reared  six  children,  of  whom  the  only  one 
now  living  is  Homer,  who  is  the  special  sub- 
ject of  this  biography.  The  father  died  De- 
cember 17,  1830,  aged  only  forty-one;  but 
the  mother  outlived  him  a  score  of  years,  not 
passing  away  till  1850,  October  13,  when  she 
was  sixty-four.  They  were  liberal  in  their 
religious  views,  sympathizing  with  free  theo- 
logical thought;  and  Mr.  Burgin  was  a  Demo- 
crat. Their  children  were  the  following: 
Bryan  Hollister  Burgin,  who  was  born  June 
4,  181  1,  died  in  October,  1893,  aged  eighty- 
two,  and  was  a  carpenter  and  millwright  in 
Andes,  like  his  father;  Mary  Ann  Burgin, 
who  was  born  May  21,  18 14,  married  Charles 
I..  Judsf)n,  and  died  March  26,  1883,  aged 
sixty-nine;  Laura  Olivia  Burgin,  who  was 
born  March  18,  18 16,  became  the  wife  of 
Lewis  Moore,  and  died  May  22,  1877,  aged 
sixty-one;  Homer  C.  Burgin,  who  was  the 
fourth   child;  Charles   Marcus   Burgin,  a  car- 


penter, who  was  born  August  19,  1820,  re- 
sided in  Delhi,  and  died  June  28,  1847,  'igec' 
only  twenty-seven ;  JCmily  Maria  ]?urgin,  who 
was  born  May  5,  1824,  and  died  single,  June 
22,  1887,  aged  sixty-three. 

Homer  C.  Burgin  grew  up,  as  might  be 
expected  from  his  environment,  working  hard 
and  attending  the  district  school  when  he 
could.  He  was  only  fourteen  when  he  began 
self-support.  The  first  year  he  earned  thirty 
dollars  at  farming,  but  proved  to  be  so  capable 
that  the  next  year  he  received  fifty  dollars. 
Then  he  went  to  Delhi,  where  he  learned 
blacksmithing  with  Charles  L.  Judson,  with 
whom  he  remained  a  year.  By  this  time  he 
was  seventeen,  and  went  to  Bovina  Centre  to 
work  at  his  trade,  remaining  there  another 
year,  after  which  he  tried  farming  again. 
Mr.  Burgin  had  less  than  ninety  acres  of  land 
at  the  outset,  but  now  has  a  hundred  and  five, 
which  afford  support  to  sixteen  cattle.  He 
can  remember  the  early  days,  when  his  father 
shot  three  deer  in  one  afternoon,  and  there 
was  plenty  of  game  to  be  had ;  and  he  can 
recall  the  erection  of  Landon's  mill,  one  of 
the  first  in  this  vicinity.  He  has  lived  to  see 
great  changes,  many  the  result  of  his  own 
efforts;  for  he  has  greatly  improved  his  place, 
and  can  spend  his  latter  days  in  well-merited 
retirement. 

In  1849,  on  February  5,  when  over  thirty 
years  old,  he  was  married  to  Amanda  Cornelia 
Seacord,  a  native  of  Bovina,  where  she  was 
born  April  4,  1831.  Three  years  later,  in 
1852,  he  bought  the  estate  where  he  has  ever 
since  resided.  His  wife  dying  on  March  3, 
1868,  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven,  Mr.  Burgin 
was  again  married,  in  1872,  April  10,  to 
Mary  S.  Seacord,  an  aunt  by  marriage  of  his 
first  wife;  but  she  only  lived  in  wedlock 
eleven  years,  dying  March  26,  1883.  P'urther 
records  of  the  Seacord  family  may  be  found 
under  the  proper  heading  in  other  sketches. 
Mr.  Burgin's  cliildrcn  were  borne  by  his  first 
wife.  The  eldest,  Olivia  Jane  Burgin,  born 
March  20,  1850,  is  now  Mrs.  Liddle,  and 
lives  in  Andes  village.  Charles  Edward  Bur- 
gin, born  on  the  last  day  of  September,  1859, 
lives  on  the  homestead.  Mary  Emily  Burgin, 
born  August  29,  1862,  married  Frank  Elliott, 
and  lives  in  the  town  of  Delhi. 


lUOGRAPHlCAL    REVIEW 


3S7 


Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  ]Uiri;iii  arc  nicinl)cis  of 
the  Mcthotlist  l^piscoi^al  (.lunch  in  IJovina 
Centre,  wlicrcof  he  has  liccn  a  Trustee  and 
Steward.  In  politics  Mr.  ]UiiL;in  is  a  decidcil 
Republican.  He  has  been  three  \ears  Asses- 
sor and  three  years  Hii^hway  Commissioner, 
and  for  twenty  year.s  has  held  the  honorable 
office  of  Justice  of  Peace.  In  ai^riculture  he 
has  been  very  successful,  esiiecially  in  his 
dairy,  his  cows  sometimes  averaging  three 
hundred  and  five  pounds  of  butter  per  head 
yearly,  besides  what  is  needed  for  family  use. 
Of  his  career  it  may  be  said  in  the  language 
of  the  luiglish  poet,  I'.dward  Young: — 

■■The  piirjjoso  tinii  is  L'(|ual  to  tlic  docd. 
Who  dot's  tlic  best  his  circumstance  allows 
Does  well,  acts  iioblv  ;   aiiiiels  could  do  no  more" 


K;.  \VI-:SLI-:Y  GOULD,  a  proml- 
lent  member  of  the  Delaware  County 
bai',  a  patriotic  and  influential  citi- 
zen of  the  town  of  Hancock,  was 
born  here  on  August  25,  i  <S44,  son  (if  John 
and  Mary  (Gillard)  (ioukl.  John  (iould  was 
a  native  of  Devonshire,  Dngland,  and  with 
his  wife  and  three  children  came  to  this  coun- 
try about  1S34.  He  was  a  stone-mason,  and 
worked  at  his  trade  for  some  time  at  New- 
burg  on  the  Hudson,  whence,  in  1S4J,  In- 
removed  to  Hancock,  having  exchanged  his 
Xewbiu'g  property  for  a  large  tract  in  this 
new  settlement.  The  journey  was  matle  over- 
land on  an  o.\  sled,  and  the  nights  were  passed 
in  the  woods.  This  was  severe  ex|)erience, 
especially  as  he  had  his  family  with  him. 
including  a  three-months-old  bah_\'.  .After 
reaching  his  destination,  he  began  his  |)ionecr 
life  by  erecting  a  log  cabin,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  clear  the  land.  Mr.  Gould  also 
found  op])orlunity  for  the  exercise  of  his 
trade,  being  emplo)ed  on  tin.'  stone-work  of 
the  liric  Railroad  bridges,  and  also  at  Lacka- 
waxen.  He  was  killed  b\-  a  log  while  at 
work  in  a  saw-mill,  and  died  Januar)-  20, 
1S52,  at  the  age  of  forty-eight,  when  he  was 
just  rising  into  jiromiiience  in  his  business, 
and  had  been  found  to  be  a  most  useful  man 
in   the  community. 

The    part   of    the    town    in    which    he    li\ed 
has  been  alwavs   known   as   the   Gould  -Settle- 


ment. He  and  his  wife  were  among  the 
leading  members  of  the  Methodist  I-4)iscoj)al 
church.  Mrs.  Gould  died  six  years  later  than 
her  husband,  leaving  the  ftd lowing  famil)': 
John  \\'.,  a  farmer  anil  lumberman  in  Han- 
cock; George,  an  extensive  hmiberman  and 
mill-owner  at  Long  luldy,  .Sullivan  Coimty; 
Hannah,  wife  of  Mar\'in  W.  Thomas,  a  farmer 
of  Hancock,  who  died  in  1888;  Jarnes,  a  lum- 
berman, fainter,  carpenter,  and  builder,  living 
tir)w  in  California;  William,  a  farmer  and  litm- 
ber  merchant  at  Gould  .Settlement;  Richard  a 
farmer  and  Itimberman,  also  at  (jould  .Setlle- 
metit ;  Henry,  a  iloctor,  who  died  of  apo])lexy; 
Charles  \\'.,  a  metnber  of  Com[xiny  I,  Third 
Regiment.  .Sickles's  Brigade,  who  dic-d  in  the 
army  at  Camp  Wool,  Md.,  in  1S62;  and  Wes- 
ley Gould,  the  subject  of  this  biography. 

Wesley  in  his  \'oung  days  attended  the  dis- 
trict school;  and  after  the  death  of  the  parents 
the  brothers  still  lived  on  in  the  old  home 
with  their  sister  as  housekeeper,  the  family 
remaitiitig  together  until  the  breaking  out  of 
the  war.  Then  all  the  brothers  enlisted  ex- 
ce])t  John,  who  b\'  nuitital  consent  was  ap- 
])ointed  to  sta\'  at  home  and  attend  to  the 
affairs  ot  the  place,  while  the  others  went 
forth  to  fight  for  their  coinitr)-.  At  this  time 
Weslev  Gotild  was  a  \outh  of  seventeen;  but 
he  look  his  place  in  the  ranks  of  the  brave 
bo\'s  in  blue,  and  was  engaged  in  some  of  the 
fiercest  fighting  and  suffered  sotiie  of  the  worst 
privations  of  the  four  years  that  followed,  try- 
ing to  the  utmost  the  mettle  and  endurance  of 
mature  nii'ii. 

He  enlisted  in  Se]itembcr,  1S61,  in  Cotn- 
pan\'  I',  ■■"ort\-fifth  l'enns\l\-ania  Volunteers, 
at  Harrisburg.  They  were  first  sent  to  I-"or- 
tress  Monroe,  and  then  to  Otter  Island,  where 
they  stayed  all  winter,  and  in  June,  1862, 
went  to  James  Island,  and  into  the  midst  of 
the  fighting.  Afterward  joining  the  Arm)-  of 
the  rotomac,  they  engaged  in  the  Maryland 
campiiign.  At  South  Mountain  .Mr.  Gould 
reeei\'ed  a  ginishnt  wotmd  in  his  arm,  btit  con- 
tinued with  his  regiment,  ami  with  them  went 
into  the  battle  of  Antietam,  where  he  was 
struck  by  a  shell.  With  admirable  fortitude 
he  still  bore  his  wotmds  without  corii])laint. 
and  engagetl  with  his  regiment  iti  the  battle 
at    I-"redericksburg,    December,     1862.       Thev 


388 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


were  besieged  at  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  and,  after 
much  hard  fighting  and  being  nearly  starved, 
repulsed  the  *'rebs, "  who  made  a  final  as- 
sault on  their  entrenchments.  The  brave 
Union  men  were  at  last  relieved  by  Sherman, 
and  went  into  camp  at  Blaine's  Crossroads, 
where  the  regiment  re-enlisted,  and,  as  a  regi- 
ment, came  home  on  furlough.  They  went 
back  into  the  Virginia  campaign  under 
Grant,  their  rendezvous  being  at  Annapolis, 
Md.,  where  the  regiment  was  recruited,  and 
went  through  the  campaign,  from  the  Wilder- 
ness to  Petersburg.  Mr.  Gould  worked  in  the 
tunnel  of  the  mine  in  front  of  Petersburg  and 
helped  to  lay  the  powder  to  blow  up  the 
works.  The  Forty-fifth  Regiment  was  already 
reduced  to  about  one  hundred  men ;  and  after 
the  battle,  wliich  was  a  hand-to-hand  fight,  only 
thirty-three  men  were  able  to  report  for  duty. 

In  the  company  to  which  Mr.  Gould  be- 
longed there  were  nine  men  who  went  into 
the  fight  in  front  of  Petersburg  at  the  spring- 
ing of  the  mine,  anil  all  were  killed  or 
wounded  except  two,  Mr.  Gould  being  one  of 
those  two  in  condition  to  go  on  duty.  On 
September  30,  1864,  Mr.  Gould  was  taken 
prisoner  at  Poi^lar  .Spring  Church,  and  for  a 
short  time  was  confined  in  Libby  Prison, 
whence  he  was  taken  to  -Saiisbur)',  N.C., 
where  he  was  detained  till  March,  1865.  In 
the  prison  cell  Mr.  Gould  underwent  the 
harshest  treatment,  often  being  three  or  four 
days  without  food  or  water,  and  seeing  his 
comrades  dying  about  him,  sometimes  seventy 
or  eighty  in  a  day;  and,  as  their  emaciated 
forms  were  carried  from  the  prison,  those  who 
were  left  felt  that  perhaps  the  sun,  which  was 
now  setting,  might  look  to-morrow  upon  their 
forms  enwrapped  in  a  last  sleep.  It  was  truly 
a  dreadful  life,  and  happy  were  the  survivors 
when  paroled  and  allowed  to  their  respective 
commands.  Mr.  Gould  was  at  that  time  Sec- 
ond Lieutenant;  and  his  four  years  of  hard 
service  for  his  countr)'  had  changed  the  boy 
into  a  man,  and  a  man  of  true  courage  and  of 
a  noble  character,  wrought  in  the  forge  of  a 
terrible  struggle  for  liberty. 

Mr.  Gould's  brother  Richard  was  in  Com- 
pany G,  One  Hundred  and  Forty-third  Regi- 
ment. James,  William,  George,  and  Henry 
were  in  Company  !•",  One  Hundred  and  Forty- 


fourth  Regiment.  Shortly  after  his  return 
from  the  war  Mr.  Gould  pursued  a  course  of 
study  at  Colgate  Institute,  whence  he  came 
back  to  Hancock,  and  for  a  while  carried  on 
lumbering  and  farming.  Having  decided  to 
adopt  the  legal  profession,  he  here  began  to 
read  law,  and  afterward  was  graduated  from 
the  law  department  of  Union  University, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1884.  Since 
that  time  he  has  practised  law  in  Hancock 
with  eminent  success.  On  August  25,  186S, 
Mr.  Gould  married  Pamelia  Brazie,  daughter 
of  Abram  and  Nancy  (Livingstone)  Brazie, 
now  of  Hancock,  but  formerly  of  Schoharie 
County.  They  have  two  children:  Cora  B., 
now  attending  Oneonta  Normal  School;  and 
Flora  B.,  a  teacher  in  Hancock  Union  School. 
Mr.  Gould  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  a 
man  of  strong  influence  in  his  party.  He  has 
been  Village  Clerk  and  corporation  attorney 
since  1888,  and  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Assembly  for  Delaware  County  in  1893  by  a 
plurality  of  one  thousand  five  hundred  and 
twelve,  running  sixty  ahead  of  his  ticket  in 
the  county,  and  over  one  hundred  ahead  in  his 
own  town.  All  the  family  are  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  as  were  their 
parents  before  them;  and  they  are  active  in 
all  that  concerns  the  welfare  of  the  parish. 
Mr.  Gould  is  a  man  of  high  moral  principle, 
a  well-read  lawyer,  a  citizen  of  good  judg- 
ment in  affairs,  well  adapted  to  fill  positions 
of  trust  and  responsibility,  as  true  a  patriot 
now  as  when  in  high-hearted  youthhood  he 
bravely  dared  the  dangers  of  battle  and  camp 
and  weary  march,  that  his  native  country 
might   be  preserved   as   the 

'■  Land  of  the  noble  free." 


ENRV      H.      HUME,     a     well-known 
farmer,    residing     on     Scotch     Moun- 
L9  I  tain,  near  Delhi,  Delaware  County, 

N.Y.,  was  born  on  the  high  seas 
off  the  coast  of  Newfoundland,  July  24,  1830, 
and  is  the  son  of  Adam  and  Jane  (Scott) 
Hume.  The  father  was  a  native  of  Scotland, 
where  he  was  brought  up  as  a  shepherd  boy, 
and  came  to  America  with  his  wife  and  three 
children,    Henry    being    born    on    the   voyage 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


.589 


out.  He  first  settled  at  I'lattckill  in  Miiiflle- 
town,  where  lie  took  up  a  tract  of  land,  but  left 
this  place  in  a  short  time  for  Delhi,  where  he 
ownei!  a  farm,  upon  which  he  lived  a  number 
of  years,  afterward  selling  it,  and  retiring  to 
15inghamton,  where  he  tlied  at  the  ai;e  ol 
ei,i;hty-si.\  years.  Mrs.  Hume  was  distantly 
related  to  (ieneral  Scott.  .She  was  the  mother 
of  five  children,  namel\-:  Walter:  Agnes,  the 
wife  of  John  Atkin,  a  farmer  of  Delhi;  Janet, 
the  wife  of  Geoi'ge  Laidlow,  also  a  farnu-r  of 
Delhi;  Henry  11. ;  and  Mary.  Mrs.  Hume 
resided  with  her  son  until  her  death,  which 
occurred  when  she  was  eighty-one  years  of  age. 

Henry  H.  Hume  spent  his  boyhood  da\s  in 
Delhi,  where  he  attended  the  district  schools. 
He  worked  on  a  farm  b\'  the  month,  and  at 
the  age  of  twenty-five  liired  a  farm  for  three 
years,  afterward  ]iurchasing  a  small  farm  on 
the  Little  Delaware.  He  |-emained  here  for 
eight  years,  meeting  with  gi'eat  success  in  his 
undertaking.  .At  the  end  of  this  period  he 
ptu'chased  his  ])resent  placi,'.  and  has  to-day  a 
fine  farm  of  two  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and 
a  dairy  of  some  fort\'  cows,  besides  a  large 
number  oi  shee]).  lie  makes  a  S])ecialty  of 
the  manufacture  of  line  battel',  with  which  he 
supplies  the  New  \'ork  ami  local  markets,  tLUMi- 
ing  out  about  three  hundred  [xiunds   per  week. 

Mr.  Hume  was  married  in  1S56  to  Eliza- 
beth Ann  Douglass,  a  daughter  of  William 
and  Margaret  (Robson)  Douglass.  Mr.  Doug- 
lass was  a  prominent  farmer  of  Meredith, 
where  he  resided  for  manv  }'ears.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Hume  have  five  children,  namely: 
William  ]).,  of  Box'ina;  llenr\'  .S.,  a  farmer: 
Robert  H..  a  car|ienler:  Walter  A.:  and 
James.  Mr.  Hume  is  a  member  of  the 
Grange  at  DeLance\-.  Jn  ])<ilitics  he  is  a 
Republican,  ami  cast  his  first  \'ote  for  (ieneral 
Scott  on  the  Whig  ticket.  Both  he  and  his 
wife  have  been  active  membei's  of  the  .Scotch 
Presb)terian  church  for  man\'  \'ears,  he  hav- 
ing been  a  Trustee  of  the  church,  antl  also 
one  of  the  lUiilding  C(mimittee  when  it  was 
erected.  He  is  one  of  the  most  successful 
farmers  in  the  county,  and  is  essentially  a 
self-maile  man,  whose  earnestness  of  purpose 
and  strict  integritv  have  jilaced  him  in  his 
present  position,  and  gained  liim  the  esteem 
and  respect  of  his  associates. 


RS.  SYLVIA  VAAZA  i'OOri;,  ,,t 
the  village  of  l-"ianklin,  \.Y.,  is 
the  estimable  widow  of  Russell 
I-'oote,  a  |)rominent  gentleman 
who  died  in  this  town,  January'  26,  1883,  at 
tile  age  of  se\ent\-two.  He  was  born  in  the 
same  town,  and  was  a  son  of  h^lias  i'oote,  who 
came  hither  from  Connecticut  with  his  bride, 
.Sally  'j'racey,  in  1806,  and  in  com])any,  also, 
with  his  bi'other,  Russell  ]'"oote.  Here  was 
born  their  son  in  1810,  and  named  after  his 
uncle  Russell;  but,  while  he  was  very  young, 
tlu'  family  removed  to  the  town  of  Otsego  in 
the  county  of  the  same  name.  Tiiey  had  four 
sons  ;nid  two  daughters,  as  follows,  the  hus- 
band of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the 
eldest.  David  Loote  lives  in  I'"ranklin,  as 
does  his  sistei',  l^sther  Foote.  Asa  l'"oote  is 
no  longer  living,  but  his  hrtjther  I",/ekiel  is  in 
North  I-'ranklin.  Jane  Sylvia  h'oote  and  her 
sister,  Lois  J.,  who  married  Jonathan  l-"itch, 
are  deceased.  The  father,  Llias  I'oote,  died 
in  North  h'ranklin,  in  1855,  at  the  ripe  age 
of  eighty-eight,  a  well-iireser\'ed  and  vigorous 
man;  atid  his  disconsolate  wife  followed  him 
\  in  eighteen  months,  ageil  seventy-six.  In  re- 
'  ligion  thev  were  consistent  I'^ree  Will  Hap- 
lists:  and  the\  were  worthx',  steadfast, 
laborious  ])ioneers  in  this  region,  where 
money    was   scant,    but    work    jilentiful. 

Tlu-  molher's  maiden  name  was  .Sylvia 
Lli/a  LnW'laiid.  .She  was  horn  in  i8jo,  in 
h'ranklin,  tlie  daughter  of  iiiaijamin  K.  and 
Clarissa  (MannJ  Lox'eland.  Mother  Loveland 
was  from  Connecticut;  but  I'"ather  Loveland 
was  born  in  l'"ranklin,  though  his  jiarents  also 
i-ame  from  Connecticut.  The  grandfather  w-as 
.AbnL'r  Loveland.  He  was  elected  one  of  the 
town  officers  at  the  second  town  meeting  ever 
held  in  the  place,  and  died  in  1799,  about  the 
same  time  as  the  Father  of  his  country.  His 
son,  Henjamin  K.,  Mrs.  F'oote's  father,  was 
born  in  1793,  and  dietl  in  1831,  aged  only 
thirty-eight.  His  widow  outlived  him  thirty- 
se\'en  }'ears,  (.lying  in  i868,  aged  seventv-six; 
and  they  both  rest  in  the  churchyard.  They 
had  one  son  and  four  daughters,  Mrs.  F'oote 
being  the  eltlest  of  the  girls.  Her  sister, 
Althea  Loveland,  died  in  her  _\-outh,  while  at 
the  norm:d  school  in  Albany.  Clarissa  was  ;i 
teacher,    and    died    in     1869,    in    middle    life. 


390 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Rachel  m;iiricd  S.  A.  Wheat,  and  lives  in 
Franklin.  Abner  B.  married  Rachel  A. 
Chambers,  and  both  are  deceased. 

Mrs.  Sylvia  E.  Foote  is  a  member  of  the 
Congregational  church,  to  which  her  husband 
also"  belonged.  They  lost  one  son,  Albert 
Loveland  Foote,  who  died  unmarried  on  Janu- 
ary 3,  1872,  in  early  manhood,  aged  only 
twenty-six,  having  been  a  farmer  and  school- 
master; for  the  art  of  teaching  seemed  to  run 
in  the  family.  Mrs.  Foote  has  two  daughters 
living.  Augusta  taught  school  before  her 
marriage,  but  is  now  the  widow  of  Marshville 
Gibbons,  of  Franklin,  and  has  a  boy  and  three 
girls.  The  other  daughter,  Frances  A.,  who 
married  Austin  Jacobs,  is  an  accomplished 
lady,  living  with  her  mother.  She  has  a  son 
eight  years  old,  who  lives  in  Trout  Creek.  A 
woman  so  bereaved  as  Mrs.  Foote  can  realize 
the  truth  of  what  was  said  by  old  Thomas 
Fuller:  — 

"The  good  widow's  sorrow  is  no  storm,  but 
a  still  rain.  Commonly  it  comes  to  pass  that 
that  grief  is  quickly  emptied  that  streameth 
out  at  so  large  a  vent,  whilst  their  tears  that 
but  drop  will  hold  running  a  long  time." 

Further  particulars  as  to  the  Foote  family 
may  be  found  in  the  sketch  of  Mr.  David 
Foote  in  this  volume. 


R.  EDWARD  C.  HUCHINS,  den- 
tist, one  of  Roxbury's  best-known 
citizens,  is  descended  from  an  old 
I'^nglish  family.  His  grandfather 
was  an  English  farmer,  who  came  to  this 
country  early  in  its  history  to  try  the  soil  of 
the  "new  West."  After  a  long  life  of  profit 
and  usefulness  he  passed  away,  and  was  laid 
to  rest  beneath  the  sod  of  his  adopted  country. 
His  wife  survived  him  and  lived  to  the  ex- 
traordinary age  of  one  hundred  and  four  years. 
At  the  age  of  seventy-five  she  was  stricken 
with  blindness,  and  for  nearly  thirty  years 
lived  shut  out  from  the  glories  of  the  outer 
world,  consoled  only  by  the  added  insight 
which  comes  in  such  cases  into  the  realms  of 
meditation.  But,  strange  to  say,  just  before 
her  death,  her  sight  returned;  and  she  was 
able  once  more  to  read.  The  closing  hours  of 
a  day  of  clouds  and  darkness  were  flooded  with 


sunset  glow,  a  beautiful  fulfilment  of  the 
prophecy,  "At  eventide  there  shall  be  light." 

Stephen  C.  Huchins,  father  of  the  Doctor, 
was  born  and  grew  up  in  Harpersfield,  Dela- 
ware County,  N.Y.  His  wife,  Martha  Rice, 
was  a  sister  of  John  Rice;  and  they  were 
grandchildren  of  Henry  and  Agnes  Harper, 
who  belonged  to  a  noted  family  of  early  set- 
tlers. Henry  Harper  died  at  the  age  of 
eighty-five  years.  Stephen  C.  Huchins  lived 
during  much  of  his  life  in  Otsego  County, 
where  he  followed  the  trade  of  carpenter. 
His  death  was  a  sad  and  tragic  one.  When 
sixty  years  old,  he  was  run  over  and  killed  by 
the  cars  at  Buffalo,  N.Y.  Mrs.  Martha 
Huchins  survived  her  husband  many  years, 
and  died  October  17,  1887,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-three,  having  lived  to  see  her  nine 
children  grown  up  and  well  settled.  Three  of 
these  —  Samuel,  William  Henry,  and  Charles 
—  she  sent  to  the  defence  of  the  Union  in  our 
late  war.  William  Henry  entered  the  army 
in  1862,  and  fought  well  until  the  battle  of 
the  Wilderness  in  1863,  when  he  was  taken 
prisoner  and  died  in  captivity.  Charles  was 
discharged  after  the  close  of  the  war.  Samuel 
served  until  1864.  He  lost  his  right  arm  in 
battle,  and  only  survived  the  storm  a  year  or 
two,  dying  in  1867. 

Edward  C.  Huchins  was  born  in  Davenport, 
Delaware  County,  September  29,  1834.  He 
received  his  early  education  in  the  district 
schools;  and,  when  thirteen  years  of  age,  he 
obtained  work  upon  a  farm.  He  was  not  a 
very  robust  lad,  and  of  course  not  able  to  do 
a  man's  work;  but  he  earned  three  dollars  a 
month  when  he  began,  and  soon  raised  that  to 
five  dollars,  large  pay  for  a  boy  in  those  days. 
Thus  he  spent  his  youth  and  young  manhood, 
learning  those  invaluable  lessons  which  the 
discipline  and  hardy  toil  of  farm  life  impart. 
After  nine  years,  desiring  a  change,  he  moved 
to  Hornellsville.  His  brother  Henry  was  a 
prosperous  contractor  and  builder  of  that 
town,  and  Edward  went  to  work  with  him  to 
learn  the  carpenter's  trade.  He  followed  this 
occupation  until  1851,  when  he  went  to 
Coopcrstown,  and  studied  dentistry.  After 
careful  preparation  at  that  place,  in  1858  he 
set  up  for  himself  in  Meredith.  He  had  a 
good    practice    there,   and  stayed    four   years. 


BlOGRArillCAL    REVIEW 


s'U 


Finally  ho  came  to  Ruxlniry,  and  on  April  j, 
1861,  opened  an  office  opposite  tiie  hotel. 
Here  his  courtesy  and  skill  soon  won  tor  him 
the  patronage  of  the  surrountliny;  country,  and 
built  up  a  profitable  Inisiness. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  Dr.  lluchins  met 
]\Iiss  Mary  McGarry,  daughter  of  Daniel  W. 
McGarry,  who  was  for  a  long  time  well  known 
in  Ro.xbury  as  a  tailor.  This  lady  he  mar- 
ried: and  they  had  two  children  —  Minnie 
and  l-"reddie.  Minnie  was  born  December  13, 
1864,  and  married  Andrew  Hess.  She  is  now 
living  in  Roxbury,  anti  has  two  children. 
Freddie,  a  lad  of  fifteen,  lives  at  home.  Mrs. 
Marv  Huchins  was  a  Methodist,  and  died  in 
that  faith,  June  19,  18S5.  The  Doctor  mar- 
ried for  liis  seconil  wife  Prudence  Thorpe, 
daughter  of  William  and  Mary  Thorpe,  who 
came  frt)m  Harpersfield.  Mr.  Thorpe  lived 
here  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of  seventy. 
His   wife   died    when   slu'   was   sixty-five. 

The  Doctor  still  continues  liis  office  busi- 
ness, though  he  has  for  the  last  few  years  put 
his  money  into  real  estate  investments  of  vari- 
ous kinds.  His  first  was  in  a  lot  of  land  on 
which  he  Iniilt  a  house,  and  sold  it  at  a  good 
profit.  Then  he  bought  a  marble  business, 
and,  after  carrying  it  on  for  some  time  with 
success,  sold  it  at  an  advance.  He  also 
bought  the  estate  of  Mr.  Mcdarry,  his  father- 
in-law,  and  has  remodelled  the  house  and 
made  general  improvements  so  that  to-da_\-  it 
is  one  of  Ro.xbury's  finest  residences.  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Huchins  live  on  Main  Street,  next 
to  the  post-office.  They  have  a  young  son, 
Charles  E.,  born  Seiitember  7,  i88c;.  Dr. 
Huchins  has  well  won  his  place  in  the  re- 
spect  and   admiration    of    his    fellow-citizens. 


r.  iRS.  HANNAH  ]•:.  HORTON, 
widow  of  Orin  O.  Horton,  whose 
death  occurred  on  his  farm  at 
Horton,  Delaware  County,  No- 
vember 3,  1886,  is  a  woman  of  superior  intel- 
ligence, ability,  and  worth.  She  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Liberty,  Sullivan  County,  in 
1838,  on  the  farm  of  her  parents.  The  birth- 
place of  her  father,  C.  M.  L.  Hardenburg, 
was  Marbletown,  Ulster  County,  where  he 
was  reared   to   maturitv.       He    married    IMary 


iMske,  a  native  of  X'ermnut;  and  in  course 
of  time  twelve  children  were  born  into  their 
household,  of  whom  four  suns  and  seven 
daughters  grew  to  years  of  discretion.  All  ol 
tiiese  are  now  living  except  one  son,  Jonathan 
liardenl)urg,  who  died  in  1890.  aged  forty 
years.  Mrs.  Hardenburg,  who  was  a  most 
comely  and  attractive  woman,  lived  but  a 
little  past  tifty  years,  passing  to  the  higher 
life  in  1863.  Her  widowed  husixind  survived 
her  more  than  a  c|uarter  of  a  century,  and  died 
at  Cook's  Falls  in  this  county,  in  1892,  of 
old  age,  having  lived  on  this  earth  eighty- 
seven  years.  Mrs.  Hardenburg  was  a  devoted 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  most 
of  her  children  have  espoused  the  faith  in 
which   they    were    reared. 

Hannah  1'..  Hardenlnirg  Horton,  being  one 
of  the  large  family  of  childiX'U  born  in  the 
farm-house  home,  was  necessarily  kept  busily 
employed  there  most  of  the  time  in  her  girl- 
hood, a  good  deal  of  Iier  attention  being  given 
to  the  care  of  the  younger  members  of  the 
family.  Her  parents  were  in  humble  circum- 
stances, unable  to  give  their  offspring  other 
educational  advantages  than  afforded  by  the 
district  scho(ds.  She  became  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  domestic  affairs,  anil  before 
the  time  of  her  marriage  fully  com[)etent  to 
discharge  the  duties  of  a  home-maker.  On 
December  12,  1862,  she  became  the  wife  of 
Orin  O.  Horton,  a  promising  young  agricult- 
urist, who  was  born  in  the  town  of  Hnrtnn 
in  1S34. 

David  Horton.  the  father  ot  Orin,  was  a 
native  of  Delaware  County,  born  in  the  year 
1796,  a  son  of  John  and  Sarah  (Hagar)  Hor- 
ton. David  Horton  was  twice  married,  his 
first  wife  bearing  him  but  one  child,  a  daugh- 
ter. His  second  wife  was  Ilulda  Rediker,  of 
Orange  County:  and  of  their  union  eleven 
chiUhen  were  born,  seven  sons  and  four 
daughters,  Orin  being  the  fifth  child.  His 
grandfather,  John  Horton,  reared  a  family  of 
eight  children,  five  sons  and  three  daughters, 
and,  dying  in  the  prime  of  life,  left  a  good 
record  as  a  useful  and  influential  citizen  and 
an  honest  man.  His  father,  the  great-grand- 
father ol  Orin  O.  Horton,  was  William  Hor- 
ton, who  will  long  be  remembered  as  the  first 
ludge  of    Delaware  County.      He  married  Liz- 


392 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


zie  Covert;  and,  after  spending  the  larger 
part  of  their  wedded  life  in  this  county,  they 
died  at  their  home  in  Downsville,  and  their 
remains  were  laid  side  by  side  in  the  rural 
cemetery  of  that  place. 

Orin  O.  Horton  was  a  brave  soldier   in   the 
late  Civil  War,  having  responded  to  his  coun- 
try's call  for  volunteers  in  1861,  going  to  the 
front  as  Sergeant  of  Company  L,  in  the  Fifty- 
sixth   Regiment  of  the   New   York  Volunteer 
Infantry.     One  year  later  he  was  discharged 
for  physical   disability,    and    returned    to    his 
home   in   Horton,  where  all  but  three  years  of 
his  married   life  were  spent.      In  addition  to 
general   farming,  Mr.  Horton  was  a  dealer  in 
lumber,  rafting  his  lumber  down   the  river  to 
the  most  desirable  markets.      At   his  death  he 
left   a  farm    of    one   hundred    acres;    but    his 
widow  subsequently  removed  to  the  village  of 
Walton   to   give  her  younger  children   better 
facilities  for  obtaining  an  education,    and   to 
make  a  home  for  her  older  children.      Of  the 
seven  children  living  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Hor- 
ton's  decease,  the  youngest  was  then  but  one 
year  old ;  and  to  the  welfare  of  these  sons  and 
daughters   Mrs.  Horton   has  faithfully  devoted 
herself.      One     son,     Linford,     preceded     his 
father  to  the  silent   land,  dying  at   the  age  of 
two  years.      The  record  of  the  remaining  chil- 
dren  is  as  follows:  Belle,  the  wife  of  Will- 
iam Couch,  of  Horton,  a  prosperous  merchant, 
has   two  children.      Fred,   a   resident   of   Mid- 
dletown.  Orange   County,  where   he   is    in    the 
employment    of    the    railway    company,    has   a 
wife  and  three  sons.      Alvin  and  Elvin,  twin 
brothers,  now  twenty-three  years  old,  arc  flag- 
men on  the  Midland  Railway.      H.  Millard,  a 
photographer,  lives  at  home.      Laura,  a  young 
lady  of  fourteen  years,  is  in  school,  and  has  a 
very  good   record  for  scholarship.      Orin    Ray- 
mond, now  in  his  ninth   year,  is   an  unusually 
bright  and   promising  student,  often  excelling 
liis  classmates. 


I'.RT  S.  SEWELL,  a  well-known 
and  highly  respected  lawyer  and 
real  estate  dealer,  residing  in  the 
village  of  Walton,  was  born  at 
Colchester,  Delaware  County,  N.Y.,  May  7, 
1852,  and    is  the  son   of   Daniel    R.  and   Jane 


(JohnsonJ)  Sewell.  The  former  was  a  carpen- 
ter and  builder  by  trade,  and  was  engaged  in 
the  erection  of  a  large  number  of  the  houses 
in  Colchester.  Later  in  life  he  moved  from 
Colchester  to  Sidney,  this  county,  where  he 
died  at  the  age  of  seventy-four.  Mrs.  Sewell 
was  the  daughter  of  Henry  Johnson,  a  native 
of  Ireland.  .She  was  born  in  America,  and 
lived  with  her  parents  at  Colchester,  they  set- 
tling there  during  its  infancy.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Johnson  were  the  parents  of  the  following- 
named  family:  Barney,  John,  Henry,  Ann, 
Catherine,  Abby,  Mary,  and  Jane.  With  the 
exception  of  Ann  and  Henry,  all  are  living  at 
the  present  time.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sewell  had 
six  children;  namely,  Anna,  Tryphenia, 
Cecil,    Maria,    Hubert   S.,   and   Henry. 

Hubert  S.  Sewell  spent  his  early  years  in 
the  town  of  Colchester,  where  he  attended  the 
high  school.  He  then  studied  law  with  Mr. 
W.  F.  White,  and  spent  one  year  at  the  Al- 
bany Law  School.  In  1880  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  at  Albany,  and  began  practice  at 
Sidney  Centre,  where  he  remained  for  two 
years,  and  then  came  to  Walton,  where  he 
does  a  large  and  successful  business  in  real 
estate,  besides  attending  to  his  law  practice. 
Mr.  Sewell  was  married  in  June,  1889,  to 
Miss  Ella  Bramley,  a  daughter  of  Miles  Bram- 
ley,  now  a  resident  of  Walton.  Mr.  Sewell 
is  a  member  of  Walton  Lodge,  No.  559, 
A.  V.  &  A.  M.  He  was  elected  Supervisor 
in  1893,  being  re-elected  in  1894,  and  has 
also  been  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  eight  years. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sewell  attend  the  Congrega- 
tional church  of  Walton.  Mr.  Sewell  is  in 
the  prime  and  vigor  of  manhood,  and  has  the 
promise  of  many  years  of  usefulness  in  the 
pursuit  of  his  profession,  of  which  he  is  a 
bright   and   shining    light. 


OHN  M.  BLISH,  Postmaster  at  Fleisch- 
manns,    in    Middletown,    and    a    large 
laud-owner  and  dealer  in  real   estate, 
was   born    in  this   town    on    March    i, 
son     of    Simon    and    Mary    (McKeel) 
His    great-grandfather     Blish    came 
P3ngland,    and     settled    permanently    in 
Connecticut. 

His   grandfather,  Silas   Blish, 


1S41, 
Blish 
from 


was   born    in 


cJoHN    M.    Blis:i. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


395 


Connecticut,  April  17,  1763,  :ind  there  mar- 
ried Hannnh  Blish,  a  native  of  the  same  State. 
He  came  on  horseback  io  Dehiware  County, 
and  bought  fifty  acres  of  wild  land.  After 
clearing  a  small  portion  of  it,  and  Iniilding  a 
log  cabin,  he  returned  to  Connecticut  for  his 
faniih',  and  brought  them  to  the  new  home 
\vliich  he  had  prepared.  This  estate  is  now- 
known  as  Fleischmanns;  antl,  where  Silas 
Hlish  looked  upon  his  fields  of  corn,  his  great- 
grandchildren now  behold  stately  residences 
-surrounded  by  well-kept  lawns.  Only  a  few- 
families  had  then  ventured  into  this  region, 
where  the  forest  prime\al  still  sheltered 
l)ears,  wolves,  panthers,  and  timid  deer.  Mr. 
Blish  built  his  log  cabin  and  barn  on  land 
which  is  now  just  iiv  front  of  the  John  M. 
Blish  house,  and  is  crossed  by  the  Ulster  & 
Delaware  Railroad.  The  chiklren  of  Silas 
and  Hannah  Blish  were  seven  :  Katie  Blish, 
born  -May  iS,  1784,  married  Alpha  Townsend. 
and  left  five  children,  only  one  of  whom  is 
living;  Nicholas  Blish,  born  .September  iS,- 
1789,  married  Charity  Ferguson,  and  left  four 
children;  John  ]51ish,  born  .August  17.  1792, 
married  Lucy  .-Vcklery,  and  left  five  children; 
James  Blish,  born  July  19,  1796,  married 
l-^sther  Croft,  and  left  three  children;  Asa 
Hlish,  born  May  19,  1799,  married  Katherine 
Kelly,  and  left  six  children;  Jane  Blish,  born 
June  2/.  1801,  married  Trowbridge  Mills,  ami 
left  two  children,  four  having  died;  Simon 
Blish,  born  March  22,  181 2,  was  the  father 
of  John  M.  .Silas  Blish  continued  to  clear 
his  land  and  work  faithfully  in  his  fields,  and, 
being  a  j^rogressive  man  for  his  time,  became 
l)r-asperous.  He  was  loyal  to  his  couiitry.  and 
served  as  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  181 2.  He 
lived  until  the  great  age  of  ninety-two  years; 
but  his  wife  was  taken  from  his  side  a  number 
of  years  earlier. 

Simon  Blish  was  born  on  his  father's  farm, 
and  was  educated  in  the  district  school.  On 
reaching  riianhood,  he  bought  a  farni  near 
Delhi,  and  married  Mary  A.,  daughter  of 
John  and  Xaircy  (Molineux)  McKei-1.  In  a 
short  tinie  he  sold  his  newer  farm  and  bought 
the  family  homestead.  He  purchased  more 
hind,  added  to  the  original  farm,  cleared  away 
more  of  the  forest,  and  in  place  of  the  log 
cabin     and     barn    erected     comfortable    frame 


l)uildings.  He  had  six  ciiildren.  tliree  ol 
whom  liveil  to  grew  up.  These  were:  Jolin 
M.  Blish,  of  Fleischmanns;  Katherine  Blish, 
born  in  1844,  who  married  (jeorge  Jones,  and 
is  now-  a  widow,  living  at  l-"leischmanns :  and 
William  Horace  Blish,  born  .August  21,  1847, 
who  married  Fsther  Crosby,  and  is  a  retired 
farmer  at  (iriffin"s  Corners.  .Simon  Blish 
liveil  to  be  sixty-three  years  old,  and  his  wife 
died  upwards  of  fifty.  He  was  in  politics  a 
Democrat. 

John  M.  Blish  was  educated  in  the  district 
school,  and  earl)'  began  to  work  on  his  father's 
farm.  When  a  young  man,  he  bouglit  a  neigh- 
boring estate;  but  he  soon  sold  this  property, 
and  returned  to  his  ancestral  acres,  which  he 
continued  to  improve.  He  married  f(jr  a  first 
wife  Jemima  Jones,  who  lived  but  a  short 
time,  and  left  one  child,  Willie  Blish.  who 
lived  to  be  but  seven  years  old.  His  second 
wife  was  Delia  Carrison,  daughter  of  Lewis 
and  Marv  ( .Scudder)  (iarrison.  Mr.  Garrison 
was  a  lilacksmith;  but  after  many  years  spent 
in  useful  activit)-,  being  now  over  eighty 
years  of  age,  he  is  enJMying  a  well-earned  rest 
at  his  home  in  Pennsylvania.  He  is  a  Demo- 
crat, and  a  devoted  meniber  of  the  Methodist 
Fpisco|)al  church.  His  wife  died  several 
years  ago.  Mrs.  Blish  has  one  brother, 
Charles,  and  three  sisters.  Charles  (iarrison 
marrieil  Charlotte  Woolhizer.  lives  in  Illi- 
nois, and  ihcv  have  one  child.  Harriet  (iar- 
rison married  I-"rank  Pierce,  has  one  ciiild, 
and  they  live  in  Pennsylvania,  retired  from 
active  business.  Libbie  (iarrison  married 
I'rank  Miller,  a  farm  -r  in  Penns}lvania,  and 
has  four  childien.  Lnima  (iarrison  married 
for  her  first  husband  (Oliver  Ingraham,  who 
died:  and  she  has  since  married  I->.ra  Baxter, 
and    li\-es    in    Pennsylvania,  having  one  child. 

After  a  time  Mr.  Blisii  began  to  sell  off 
portions  of  the  farm  in  five  and  ten  aci"e  lots. 
One  of  the  first  sales  was  to  Leopcdd  lilair,  of 
New  York  City,  who  built  a  beautiful  resi- 
dence, laid  out  tasteful  groimds,  and  then 
sold  the  estate  to  Lewis  P'leischmann.  The 
sales  have  continued;  and  the  work  of  im- 
provement has  gone  on  until  there  are  manv 
fine  estates  bordering  on  the  Ulster  &  Dela- 
ware Railroad,  on  what  used  to  be  the  fdd 
farm.      (See   sketch    headed    Carl    Herrmann.') 


39^ 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Mr.  Blish  has  bought  several  neighboring 
farms,  and  now  owns  over  two  hundred  acres 
of  land.  He  has  remodelled  the  homestead, 
converting  it  into  a  fine  and  spacious  resi- 
dence. The  model  stables  contain  valuable 
horses,  and  the  grounds  are  laid  out  with  taste 
and  elegance.  He  is  general  manager  for  the 
Fleischmann  owners,  having  charge  of  their 
property  and  directing  all  movements  for  im- 
proving and  beautifying  their  estates,  and  is 
a  man  of  much  executive  ability.  He  is  a 
Democrat  in  politics,  and  his  religious  views 
reflect  the  liberality  of  his  nature  and  the 
breadth  of  his  intellect.  On  a  neighboring 
page  is  a  portrait  of  this  well-known  and  en- 
terprising citizen,  who  is  highly  esteemed  in 
the  community  for  his  capabilities  and  worth. 


(5 1  fTEOPHH.US  B.  HIGBEE,  a  success- 
'  I  ful  farmer  and  dairyman  of  Stamford, 
-'-  is  of  the  sixth  generation  in  direct  de- 
scent from  Abram  Higbee  who  is  said  by 
tradition  to  have  emigrated  from  England 
with  two  brothers,  Charles  and  John,  probably 
about  two  hundred  years  ago,  settling  in  the 
south-eastern  part  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  becoming  the  founders  of  the  Higbee 
family  in  these  parts.  In  the  course  of  time 
their  posterity  became  numerous  on  Long 
Island,  Manhattan  Island,  and  in  Westchester 
County,  being  large  owners  of  real  estate. 
Abram  was  the  father  of  a  large  family.  One 
of  his  sons,  Anson,  the  next  in  the  line  now 
being  considered,  was  the  father  of  Edwin, 
(icorge,  William,  and  Abram  Higbee,  second, 
and  also  Edwin  and  Will- 
the  Revolutionary  War. 
second,  married  Abigail 
in  the  prime  of  life,  leaving 
small  sons,   Nathaniel,    Will- 


The    last  named, 
iam,     served     in 
Abram      Higbee, 
Dean,  and  died 
her  with   three 


iam,  and  Oliver,  and  one  daughter.  These 
children  had  some  half-brothers,  one  of  whom 
was  Jacob  Higbee. 

Nathaniel  Higbee,  son  of  Abram  Higbee, 
second,  and  his  wife  Abigail,  was  born  at  the 
home  of  his  parents  in  Westchester  County, 
New  York,  on  June  15,  1781.  He  was  about 
eight  years  old  when,  in  1789,  his  widowed 
mother,  who  was  a  woman  of  strong  character 
and    great    practical    ability,    emigrated    with 


her  children  to  Delaware  County,  and  settled 
in  Stamford,  one  of  its  very  earliest  pioneers. 
She  took  up  three  farms,  including  about 
eight  hundred  acres  of  land;  and  here  she 
lived  to  a  good  old  age.  The  land  in  this 
vicinity  was  owned  in  patents;  and  the  in- 
ducements to  settle  on  it  were  that  it  was 
offered  rent  free  for  seven  years,  and  then  at 
one  shilling  per  acre,  durable  lease.  Nathan- 
iel Higbee  went  back  to  Westchester  County 
in  his  early  teens:  and  there  he  became  ac- 
quainted with  Sarah  Brundage,  whom  he  mar- 
ried. He  returned  with  his  wife  to  Delaware 
County  in  1806,  settling  on  Rose  Brook.  A 
sturdy  woodsman,  weighing  over  two  hundred 
pounds,  he  cleared  a  large  farm.  He  was  a 
Whig  in  politics,  and  liberal  in  religious 
views.  His  four  children  were  as  follows: 
Charles  B.,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Thomas  Clapp  Higbee,  a  farmer  of 
Stamford,  who  died  when  seventy-six  years  of 
age;  John  Sherman  Higbee,  a  merchant  in 
New  York  City,  who  died  in  his  eightieth 
year;  Hannah  E.,  who  died  aged  eighty,  the 
wife  of  David  P.  Bailey.  Nathaniel  Higbee 
passed  away  on  his  farm  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
one  years,  his  wife  Sarah,  who  was  born  June 
14,  1781,  living  to  be  eighty-nine  years  old. 
She  was  an  orthodox  Quaker,  and  was  related 
to  the  Clapp  and  Carpenter  families. 

Charles  B.  Higbee  was  born  in  Westchester 
County,  March  18,  1803,  and  came  to  Stam- 
ford with  his  parents  when  but  five  years  of 
age.  Owning  a  portion  of  the  old  homestead, 
about  three  hundred  and  seventy  acres  of  land, 
he  gave  his  attention  to  farming,  and  was  one 
of  the  most  prosperous  men,  engaged  in  that 
occupation  at  Rose  Brook.  He  was  a  Repub- 
lican, and  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal church,  and  died  September  27,  1887. 
His  wife,  Mary  Palmer,  was  born  in  Middle- 
town,  March  4,  1806,  and  died  November  12, 
1884,  the  mother  of  five  children,  namely: 
Hiram  T.,  who  was  born  January  29,  1827, 
and  died  February  22,  1892,  a  mechanic  and 
resident  of  Stamford;  Sarah  E.,  born  May  28, 
1829,  and  a  resident  of  the  old  homestead; 
Theophilus  B. ;  Mrs.  Hannah  J.  Weed,  born 
March  27,  1836,  now  the  widow  of  Hoyt  Weed, 
of  Oswego  County;  Charles  S.,  who  was  born 
March  31,  1838,  and  died  in  1865  in  California. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


397 


Theophilus  Hiuinl;ii;o  Iligbee,  son  of 
Charles  B.  and  Mary  l*.  Higbcc,  was  horn  in 
Stamford,  April  19,  1831.  He  received  his 
eilucation  in  the  schools  of  his  district,  and 
remained  at  home,  assisting  on  the  farm,  until 
twenty-six  years  of  age.  In  1857  he  pur- 
chased the  farm  which  he  now  occupies,  it 
then  containing  one  hundred  and  ten  acres. 
To  this  he  has  added  from  time  to  time  by 
means  of  his  industry  and  perseverance,  and 
now  owns  two  hundred  and  eighty-five  acres. 
Here  he  is  engaged  in  general  farming  and 
dairying,  keeping  twenty  head  of  native  cat- 
tle, and  producing  superior  butter.  All  the 
farm  buildings  have  been  improved,  and  are 
kept  in  perfect  repair;  and  his  residence  is 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the  town.  It  is 
situated  at  the  head  of  a  branch  of  Rose 
Brook,  and  is  furnished  with  an  excellent 
water  system,  the  water  for  which  is  brought 
from  a  never-failing  spring  on  the  premises. 
^Ir.  Iligbee  also  has  on  his  grounds  a  private 
fish-pond,  where  may  be  found  some  fine  speci- 
mens of  the  s])cckletl  trout. 

January  5,  1857,  lie  married  Miss  Klizaheth 
McPherson,  who  was  born  in  Stamford,  Marcii 
17,  1 83 J,  a  daughter  of  James  and  Alary 
(Yeomans)  .McPherson.  James  McPherson 
was  born  in  New  York  City,  and  was  a  black- 
smith, working  at  that  trade  in  Delaware 
County  throughout  his  life.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Pres!:iyterian  church,  and  a  Whig. 
He  died  in  Kortright  at  the  age  of  se\ent)- 
threc  years.  His  wife,  who  was  a  native  of 
Delhi,  a  member  of  the  Alethodist  ICpiscopal 
church,  died  at  the  age  of  forty-four  years. 
They  were  the  parents  of  six  children, 
namely:  Matikia  and  Mary,  residents  of 
.Stamford:  l*"lizabetli,  Mrs.  Higbee:  ICzekiel, 
a  resident  of  Stamford:  Henrietta,  who  died 
aged  sixty  years,  the  wife  of  Jeremiah  Pnitts; 
Janet,  who  passed  away  at  the  age  of  fifty-two 
years,  the  wife  of  (jeorge  Hubbill. 

Mr.  and  .Mrs.  Theo[)hilus  B.  Higbee  have 
had  three  chiklren,  one  of  whom.  Mary  A., 
born  October  9.  1858,  died  November  i, 
18S5.  The  other  two  are:  I'lffie  E.,  who  was 
born  November  24,  1862,  and  resides  with  her 
parents:  and  P'annie  Y.,  who  was  born  .Au- 
gust 17,  1S65,  and  is  the  wife  of  Charles 
Policy,  residing  on  the  home  farm.      Mr.  and 


Mrs.  Higbee  are  liberal  in  religious  views, 
antl  he  is  a  Republican  in  politics.  IK-  is  a 
very  sociable,  genial  man,  who  has  met  with 
evident  success  in  life,  and  is  well  kninvn  and 
highly  esteemed  throughout  Delaware  County. 
.As  will  be  judged  from  this  sketch,  he  is 
interesteil  in  the  history  of  his  ancestors. 
He  indeed  comes  of  good  stock,  and  may  well 
revert  with  pleasure  to  the  fact  that  the  Hig- 
bees,  so  far  back  as  they  have  been  traced, 
ajipear  to  have  been  plain,  unassuming  people, 
strictly  honest  and  temperate,  with  never  one 
that  had  to  be  supported  by  charity,  and  none 
ever  known  to  solicit  an  office.  When  it  is 
added  that  they  are  truthful,  and  generally 
gooti-natured  and  obliging,  enough  has  been 
said  to  show  them  to  be  kind  neigiibors  and 
excellent   citizens. 


iOI.ONI".!.  GEORCK  D.  WIIEELICR, 
if  Laurel  Bank  Earm,  one  of  the 
%  ^.  leading  agriculturists  of  Delaware 
County,  witlcly  known  as  \'ice- 
President  of  the  Delaware  County  Dairymen's 
Association  and  Eirst  Vice-Presitient  of  the 
HoLstein  I-'riesian  Association  of  America, 
and  as  a  writer  for  the  papers,  is  a  popular 
and  influential  resident  of  Deposit,  where  he 
was  born  on  June  24,  1S18.  On  his  paternal 
side  he  is  of  Welsh  extraction.  His  grand- 
father. William  Wheeler,  with  two  brothers, 
James  and  Jolm,  lived  at  New  London, 
Conn.  :  and  their  father  was  a  native  of 
Wales.  The  Colonel's  father,  who  was  also 
named  William,  was  born  in  New  London, 
May  2.  1774.  He  married  P'leanor  Knox,  a 
native  of  Blandford,  Mass.,  born  in  1774.  a 
lady  possessing  many  excellent  qualities  of 
heart  and  mind.  William  Wheeler,  Jr., 
being  left  almost  without  a  home,  when  eight 
years  old.  by  the  death  of  his  fatlier,  went  to 
live  with  I'loger  Parks  at  lilandford,  where  he 
learned  the  clothier's  trade.  In  17*95  he  and 
his  brothers  came  to  Partridge  Island,  now  in 
the  town  of  Hancock,-  Delaware  Countv, 
N.\'.,  and  engaged  in  cutting  logs  and  rafting 
them  to  Philadelphia.  The  country  was  wild 
and  new;  but  these  men,  [lossessing  great 
physical  strength  and  endurance,  together 
with   a   determination   and   courage  that  knew 


398 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


no  such  word  as  fail,  cut  down  the  forests, 
subdued  the  wild  beasts,  and  overcame  every 
obstacle.  They  were  illustrious  examples  of 
a  hardy  race  of  pioneers,  and  seemed  to  pos- 
sess the  requirements  demanded  by  the  situa- 
tion. They  excelled  also  in  hunting,  and  it 
was  an  unlucky  day  for  any  ferocious  beasts 
or  game  when  coming  within  the  range  of 
their  guns.  Resides,  they  would  tackle 
single-handed,  with  club  or  axe,  whenever 
occasion  required,  either  bears  or  panthers. 
On  this  occasion,  having  collected  a  consider- 
able number  of  logs,  made  their  raft,  and 
started  it  on  its  journey,  they  began  to  figure 
the  probable  proceeds  to  be  secured  when  it 
should  arrive  at  the  Philadelphia  mills.  This 
proved  a  vain  calculation;  for  the  venture  was 
unfortunate,  the  raft  being  broken  up  and 
lost.  After  so  much  hard  work  amid  such 
surroundings  this  outcome  was  a  discourag- 
ing feature  of  the  undertaking,  and  with  men 
of  less  pluck  would  have  ended  the  effort ;  but 
these  men  were  not  easily  turned  from  their 
purpose.  They  went  to  work  with  renewed 
energy,  and  soon  had  another  raft  ready  for 
transportation,  which  was  safely  piloted  by 
William  to  its  destination  at  Philadelphia. 
Of  these  remarkable  brothers,  Ebenezer,  in 
point  of  strength  and  agility,  excelled,  and 
was  widely  known  as  a  great  wrestler  —  one 
who  never  found  his  equal  in  that  athletic 
sport.  William  Wheeler  continued  engaged 
in  rafting  and  lumbering  from  1795  until 
1804,  when  he  returned  to  Rlandford,  and 
soon  after  took  to  himself  a  wife,  as  before 
stated.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Captain  Will- 
iam Knox,  whose  father  emigrated  from  Bel- 
fast, Ireland,  in  1737.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Colonial  Assembly  of  Massachusetts,  and 
was  a  prominent  man  both  in  military  and 
civic  affairs  of  that  time.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Will- 
iam Wheeler  removed  to  Delaware  County, 
New  York,  in  1805.  They  became  the  par- 
ents of  seven  children,  namely:  Malina,  who 
became  the  wife  of  Elijah  S.  Knapp,  and  after 
his  death  was  married  to  Henry  Smith,  a  part- 
ner of  William  B.  Ogden,  of  Chicago — ^she 
died  in  Deposit  in  1892,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
eight  years;  Nelson  K.,  who  became  Judge  of 
Delaware  County,  and  served  two  terms  in  the 
Assembly  —  he  was  also  one  of  the  District 


Judges  in  New  York  City,  and  died  in  1880 
at  the  age  of  seventy-three  years;  Betsey,  un- 
married, who  resides  at  the  old  Wheeler 
homestead  at  Deposit,  well  advanced  in  years; 
William  French,  who  was  born  in  181 1,  and 
died  in  1892 — he  was  also  a  member  of  the 
Assembly;  Truman  Hubbell,  who  was  ap- 
pointed one  of  the  Judges  of  the  court  for 
Delaware  County  —  he  practised  law  in  Delhi 
and  in  Chicago,  111. —  he  married  Anna  Rob- 
erts, a  sister  of  the  wife  of  Judge  Amasa  J. 
Parker,  of  Alban}-,  and  died  in  1S60;  Addison 
Justin,  who  died  in  1892,  was  a  merchant 
and  lumberman,  and  was  also  engaged  in  the 
oil  business  in  Western  Pennsylvania  —  he 
died  in  1892,  leaving  one  son;  the  youngest 
of  these  children  is  the  one  whose  name  heads 
this  sketch.  Their  mother  lived  to  the  age 
of  eighty-eight  years.  Their  father  died 
when  seventy-seven  years  old.  He  was  a 
remarkable  man,  and  had  a  reputation  for 
honesty  and  integrity  wherever  he  was  known. 
He  was  a  Deacon  of  the  Presbyterian  church, 
and  one  of  the  original  members  of  that  or- 
ganization in  Deposit.  He  was  usually  known 
as  Captain  Wheeler,  having  his  title  from  his 
position  in  the  State  militia. 

The  birthplace  of  George  D.  Wheeler  was 
the  old  Wheeler  homestead  in  Deposit,  which 
at  that  time  contained  only  twenty-five  houses, 
so  that  he  has  witnessed  its  development  from 
a  very  small  beginning.  The  lad  attended 
the  district  school,  receiving  a  fair  education, 
which  was  supplemented  by  a  course  in  the 
Delaware  Academy  at  Delhi.  While  not  in 
school  during  the  years  of  his  boyhood,  he 
assisted  his  father  in  the  lumbering  business 
and  on  the  farm.  After  leaving  the  academy, 
he  engaged  with  his  brother,  Addison  J.,  in 
mercantile  business  at  Deposit,  the  style  of 
the  firm  being  A.  J.  &  G.  D.  Wheeler.  They 
dealt  in  dry  goods. and  general  supplies;  and 
Mr.  Wheeler  was  thus  engaged  in  trade  at 
the  time  of  the  building  of  the  Erie  Railway, 
and  was  present  to  see  the  first  shovelful  of 
earth  placed  which  initiated  that  great  enter- 
prise. Like  his  illustrious  ancestors,  he  has 
been  noted  for  his  agility,  strength,  and 
courage,  having  been  a  particularly  fine  horse- 
man, being  equally  at  home  whether  sitting, 
standing,    or    lying    down   on   the    back    of    a 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


399 


horso,  regardless  of  tlie  rate  of  speed.  In  his 
voumrer  days  he  eouUl  mount  a  horse  of  six- 
teen  hands  in  hei,i;lit  liy  merely  placiui;-  his 
left  hand  on  the  withers — -a  feat  which  he 
actuallv  accomplished  on  his  sixtv-first  hirtli- 
day. 

Colonel  Wheek'r  was  first  married  Septem- 
ber 17,  1S45,  to  Antoinette  Downs,  who  was 
born  in  Colchester,  Delaware  County,  ?ilay  4, 
1820.  By  this  union  there  was  one  dau.^hter, 
also  named  Antoinette,  who  is  the  wife  of 
Robert  M.  C'annon,  of  Buffalo,  and  the  mother 
of  four  children  —  Antoinette,  hlleanor, 
Bessie,  and  Mari;'aret.  Colonel  Wheeler's 
second  wife  was  ]\Iary  W'aterbury,  of  Middle- 
town,  Conn.,  a  daug'hter  of  the  Rev.  Daniel 
Watcrbiirx',  the  foundi-i-  nf  the  Delaware  In- 
stitute, and  a  graduate  of  Cnion  Collei;e  and 
of  I'rinceton  Theological  Seminary,  and  a 
sister  of  the  Hon.  Daniel  W'aterbury,  of  M.ir- 
garettville,  Delaware  County.  She  died, 
leaving  one  son,  Ceoi'ge  \V.,  who  married 
Marv  Fisher,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  James 
Fisher,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  ikuv  de- 
ceased. Mr.  and  Mrs.  (ieorge  W.  Wheeler 
have  tiiree  children  —  Francis  .Atklison, 
Eveline  V.,  and  Mary  h^>ster. 

The  Colonel  continued  in  business  with  his 
brother  for  alx.iut  six  years,  and  then  sold  out 
to  a  Mr.  l'"inch,  and  took  up  farming.  lie 
subsec|uently  went  to  Vermilion  County, 
Illinois,  and  engaged  in  coal-mining  at  that 
place,  remaining  two  years,  meanwhile  keep- 
ing up  his  farm  at  Deposit.  Returning  to 
this  place,  he  h;is  remained  here  since  that 
time.  He  now  owns  eight  hundred  acres,  and 
is  successfully  engaged  in  dairying  and  gen- 
eral farming.  The  principal  farm  is  now 
under  the  title  of  George  D.  Wheeler  &  S(.)n, 
and  is  called  the  "Laurel  Bank  I'arm." 
They  do  cpiite  a  business  shipping  their  milk 
to  New  York  City.  This  farm  has  something 
of  an  early  Indian  historw  It  is  said  to  have 
been  the  council  place  of  the  Lenni  Lenape 
tribe  of  Indians,  an!  was  their  camping,  danc- 
ing, and  feasting  ground  in  all  the  last  years 
of  their  stay  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware 
River.  'Lhe  settlement  of  the  Indians  in  this 
vicinit\'  was  called  by  them  "Kookose," 
which  name,  Anglicized,  became  "Conk 
House,"  the  original  name  of  Deposit. 


Cidonel  Wheeler  was  jjrominent  in  military 
circles  in  Broome  Count\'  and  throughout  the 
State,  having  a  fine  physique  and  attractive 
military  bearing.  He  joined  llie  .State  in- 
fantr)-  <if  the  .State  militia  under  the  appoint- 
ment of  C>uarterniaster  of  the  Two  Hundred 
antl  .Sixty-first  Regiment,  I)v(iovernor  Will- 
iam H.  Seward,  August  7,  1830-  He  was 
appointed  Adjutant  on  June  24,  i8.-).0,  In-  the 
same  Ciovernor,  who,  realizing  his  abilit)', 
commissioned  him  Lieutenant  Colonel  on 
April  10,  i8.}.i;  and  on  April  18,  1844,  he 
was  commissioned  Colonel  bv  (Governor  Will- 
iam C.  Bauck.  He  continued  as  Colonel  of 
that  regiment  until  the  militia  was  disbanded. 
He  was  active  in  raising  the  first  company  of 
till'  ()iie  Huiuh'ed  and  l'"ort)'-f(jurth  New  Vovk 
\'olunteer  Infantry,  which  was  the  first  com- 
pan}'  organized  in  Broome  and  Delaware  Coun- 
ties for  service  in  the  Civil  War  of  1861-65. 
He  h.is  lieen  .Supervisor  of  the  town  of  Tomp- 
kins lor  thi'ee  or  four  terms,  and  of  the  town 
ol  Deposit  once.  He  was  in  the  legislature 
in  1876,  and  silent  a  good  deal  of  time  on  the 
bill  relating  to  assessment  and  taxation,  which 
measure  he  championed  and  brought  to  the 
thii'd  reading,  although  finally  defeated.  He 
was  a  very  successful  legislator,  antl  worked 
hard  for  the  benefit  of  his  constituency.  He 
got  a  bill  through  from  Binghamton,  authoriz- 
ing the  ilischarge  of  an  inefficient  ;uul  irre- 
sjionsilde  county  of^cial  li\-  the  Fxecutive  of 
the  State,  antl  another  for  the  city  of  New 
York,  exempting  to  a  certain  extent  firemen 
from  taxali(ui.  He  has  been  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  church  since  he  was  sixteen 
years  (dd,  and  has  for  thirty-five  years  been 
Sunday-school  superintendent,  and  is  now  one 
of  the  most  competent  and  interesting  teacliers 
of  the  school.  Being  at  once  devout  and 
social,  and  of  a  genial  disposition,  he  is  hon- 
orcfl  and  respected  by  all.  He  is  a  life  mem- 
ber of  the  New  York  .State  Dairymen's 
Association,  and  has  been  a  frequent  and  able 
contributor  to  the  leading  agricultural  jour- 
nals, inclufling  the  .liiiiriran  Af^ricnltiirist, 
Coiiiitrv  (i'i-ii//ni/iti/,  Biri-tiirs^  (jir:i//i;  and 
Oniiii^L-  County  /'nnnir.  He  is  the  V^ice- 
Presideiit  of  the  Delaware  (.'ount\'  D.airymen's 
Association  and  the  First  \'ice-President  of 
the  Holstein  ITiesian  Association  of  America. 


400 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  Colonel  Wheeler  is 
a  man  of  excellent  endowments,  the  holder  of 
many  talents,  which  it  is  evident  that  he  has 
faithfully  improved. 


-AMKS  KNOX  POLK  JACKSON  is 
naturally  a  prominent  citizen  of  Mar- 
garetville  villa,<;e,  in  Middletown 
township,  Delaware  County,  being  a 
lawyer,  and  also  publisher  of  the  local  paper, 
the  Utilitarian  ;  but  he  is  a  gentleman  who 
would  be  a  marked  member  of  the  community, 
whatever  his  calling.  He  was  born  in  P^-ank- 
lin,  in  the  same  county,  on  January  lO,  1843, 
the  very  year  Daniel  Webster  concluded  the 
famous  Ashburton  Treaty,  and  resigned  his 
position  as  Secretary  of  State  in  President 
Tyler's  cabinet,  and  the  year  before  James  K. 
Polk  was  elected  Tyler's  successor. 

The  grandfather  was  Zerah  Jackson,  whose 
wife  was  Mary  Munger,  a  descendant,  on  the 
maternal  side,  of  the  Marcy  family,  being  a 
distant  relative  of  Governor  William  L. 
Marcy. 

Zerah  Jackson  was  born  in  Litchfield, 
Conn.,  but  located  in  Franklin,  Delaware 
County,  in  iSio,  during  Madison's  adminis- 
tration. His  farm  was  near  the  Meredith 
line,  one  mile  east  of  Croton;  and  thither 
came  he,  driving  an  ox  team  attached  to  the 
proverbial  wood-shod  sled. 

Three  brothers,  Eldad,  Medad,  and  Zerah, 
came  in  the  same  party  and  settled  near  each 
other.  Zerah  Jackson  became  a  fairly  suc- 
cessful farmer  for  those  days,  and  reared  a 
useful  and  persevering  cluster  of  seven  chil- 
dren—  Erastus,  Elias,  Amos,  James  Hervey, 
George  W.,  Aurelia,  and  Eliza  —  who  all 
lived  to  maturity.  Their  father  took  part  in 
the  War  of  1812  for  three  months,  and  lived 
to  be  sixty-six  years  old.  His  widow  outlived 
him  many  years,  and  reached  the  ripe  age  of 
eighty-four,  and  departed  this  life  confident  of 
the  saving  efficacy  of  her  Baptist  faith,  hav- 
ing been  a  real  mother  in  Israel  for  many 
years. 

Our  subject's  father,  James  H.  Jackson, 
was  born  May  8,  1812,  just  as  the  last  war 
with  the  mother  country  broke  out.  He  grew 
to    manhood    on    the    home    farm,    with    such 


school  advantages  as  the  old-time  district 
school  afforded.  Notwithstanding  his  meagre 
advantages,  his  retentive  memory,  inherited 
from  his  mother,  and  his  love  of  books,  which 
he  read  at  every  opportunity,  made  him  one  of 
the  best-informed  men  in  his  vicinity. 

Self-support  began  by  going  to  New  Jersey, 
and  engaging  as  a  notion  pedler  for  about  a 
year  successfully.  He  gave  up  this  occupa- 
tion at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  his  parents, 
who  needed  his  strong  right  arm  on  which  to 
lean,  and  so  induced  him  to  assume  charge 
of  the  old  homestead.  For  the  next  twenty 
years  he  was  a  successful  farmer  and  cattle- 
broker.  He  married  Annis  M.  Terry,  and 
had  a  patriarchal  brood  of  a  dozen  capable 
children,  minus  one,  all  but  two  reaching  use- 
ful maturity. 

Among  the  grandfather's  children  Bible 
names  abounded;  but  James  H.  Jackson's 
children  had  more  modern  titles,  though  not 
conferred  at  the  christening  font,  as  the  par- 
ents did  not  approve  of  infant  baptism. 
These  children  were:  Mary,  born  May  11, 
1841;  our  subject,  born  January  10,  1843; 
Huldah  C;  Francis:  Julia  M.;  Annis  A.; 
Linus  D. ;  Emily  A.;  Orle  V. ;  Amanda  E. ; 
and  Laura. 

In  1850  the  excitement  of  the  gold  discov- 
eries in  California  induced  James  H.  to  sell 
out  his  farm,  intending,  like  so  many  others 
of  that  day,  to  visit  the  gold  fields.  His  love 
of  home  and  family  finally  caused  him  to  re- 
linquish his  purpose,  and  he  resumed  his  old 
occupation  of  cattle  dealer  with  varying  suc- 
cess. Heavy  losses  caused  by  the  failure  of 
others  whom  he  trusted  took  away  the  savings 
of  a  life  of  toil,  and  his  declining  years  were 
spent  in  a  modest  home  provided  by  his  chil- 
dren. He  died  in  1891,  as  he  had  lived,  an 
honest  man,  a  kind  neighbor,  a  loving  hus- 
band and  father  —  aged  seventy-nine  years. 
His  widow  still  lives  in  Franklin.  His  polit- 
ical proclivities  are  shown  by  the  fact  that  he 
named  his  son  James  after  the  successful 
Presidential  opponent  of  Henry  Clay  in  the 
election  of  1844,  and  he  held  several  local 
offices  as  a  Democrat. 

At  an  exceedingly  early  period  of  his  youth 
J.  K.  P.  Jackson  began  to  be  the  architect  of 
his  own  fortunes.     Not   only  did   he  support 


BIOGRAIMIICAI.    RF.VIEW 


401 


himself,  bill  assisted  in  the  support  of  liis 
parents  and  younger  brothers  and  sisters,  and 
obtained  a  fair  edueation  in  the  district 
schools  and  at  the  Delaware  Literary  Insti- 
tute. In  school  he  always  stood  well  in  his 
classes,  and  was  never  known  to  fail  of  having 
his  lessons.  At  eight  years  of  age  he  began 
assisting  his  father  in  the  matter  of  driving 
stock,  and  at  twelve  years  of  age  also  assisted 
in  buying  and  selling.  A  portion  of  each 
year  was  devoted  to  this  business  until  the 
age  of  twenty-live  years. 
"  He  read  law  with  Robert  T.  Johnson,  ICsq., 
of  Franklin,  and  was  admitted  to  practice, 
after  eleven  months"  study,  in  June  of  1870. 
In  February  of  1870  he  bought  a  half-interest 
in  the  Franklin  /vixhnr  and  Walton  Lliion- 
iclc.  Later  he  disposed  of  his  interest  in  the 
C7iroii!c/<\  and  became  sole  proprietor  of  the 
Kc'i^^istrr.  in  the  fall  of  1871  he  established 
another  journal  in  Sidney,  called  by  the  very 
appropriate  name  oi  Jiickson' s  Democrat.  Re- 
moving to  Oneonta  in  the  fall  of  1872,  he 
published  the  Oneonta  Liberal  fi'cm  that  date 
to  1875  taking  a  very  active  part  in  the  (irant- 
Grceley  cami)aign.  In  1876,  during  the 
Haycs-Tilden  campaign,  he  published  a  cam- 
paign [laper  at  Oneonta,  and  stumped  Otsego 
County  for  Mr.  Tilden. 

In  1877  he  returned  to  I-'ranklin,  and  prac- 
tised law  until  the  fall  of  1879,  when  he 
removed  to  Margaretville,  and  bought  tJie 
I'tUitdi iivi,  a  weekly  pajier.  which  he  still 
controls,  though  he  is  an  active  and  success- 
ful lawyer  and  dealer  in  real  estate. 

In  1871.  (Ill  his  twenty-eighth  birthday,  he 
married  J.  Alice  (irant,  daughter  of  Alexan- 
der llaswell  Tirant,  of  Franklin,  who  married 
Julia  Merrick,  the  elilest  daughter  of  Joseph 
"H.  Merrick.  Mr.  (Irant  began  life  as  a 
clerk  while  still  a  young  lad,  and  continued 
in  mercantile  life  for  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
then,  like  Cincinnatus,  retired  to  the  quiet  of 
a  farm,  where  he  spent  his  declining  years  at 
active  labor  as  a  successful  tiller  of  the  soil. 
He  died  in  January,  1S9J.  His  widnw  is 
stili  a  resident  of  Franklin,  occupying  the  old 
homestead.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Grant  reared  three 
children.  The  eldest,  Julia  Alice,  became 
Mrs.  Jackson:  the  others  wore  Powell  M.  and 
Mary,  who  both  reside  in  Franklin. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  K.  I'.  Jackson  liave  tiiree 
living  children:  Alexander  (irant  Jackson 
was  born  in  Oneonta,  March  J,  1875,  and  now 
holds  a  position  in  the  custom  service  under 
the  appraiser  of  the  port  of  New  York. 
Marv  F.  |acks(jn  was  liorn  in  Oneonta,  Xo- 
vember  27,  1875.  I'anny  Myra  Jackson 
was  born  April  9,  1889,  in  Margaretville. 
Mr.  lackson  is  a  Democrat,  and  has  always 
taken  a  deep  interest  in  politics,  altliough 
never  an  office-seeker.  in  1871  he  was  the 
candidate  of  his  party  for  the  Assembly  in  the 
then  Second  Assembly  District  of  Delaware 
County,  but  placed  in  nomination  by  his  party 
to  complete  a  ticket,  and  lead  a  forlorn  hope 
in  a  district  always  Republican.  He  has  held 
the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  two  terms, 
and  serveil  one  term  as  Police  Justice  of  his 
village.  In  the  line  of  his  profession  he  is 
attorney  for  the  People's  Bank,  and  has  been 
since  the  organization  of  that  institution.  He 
is  an  easy,  lliient,  and  forciljle  speaker,  and 
has  taken  part,  from  the  platform,  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  political  questions  in  each  Presi- 
dential canii-iaign  beginning  with  that  of  1864. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Ivpisco- 
pal  church,  an  active  worker  in  the  Sunday- 
school,  and  has  been  a  church  Trustee. 

Mr.  lackson  was  one  of  the  first  advocates 
of  an  agricultural  society  for  his  locality,  and 
called  the  first  meeting  that  was  held  to 
organize  the  Calskill  Mountain  Agricultural 
Society,  was  elected  the  first  Secretary  of  that 
association,  and  is  now  its  President.  As  a 
militarv  man  he  heUl  the  office  of  Captain  in 
the  One  Hundredth  Regiment  of  Infantry  in 
the  Fighteenth  Brigade  nf  the  Fifth  Division 
of  the  National  Guard  of  the  State  ot  New 
York.  His  commission  was  signed  by  Gov- 
ernor   Reuben    1^.    Fenton. 

^Ir.  Jackson  cares  nothing  for  money  except 
to  use  for  the  advancement  of  some  laudable 
obiect  oY  the  comfort  of  his  family,  has  no 
priiie  so  far  as  dress  or  show  is  concerneil,  but 
onlv  in  his  integrity  and  his  family,  every 
mei'nber  of  which  is  more  dear  to  him  than  the 
apple  of  his  eye,  and  to  all  of  whom  he  has 
given  the  best  advantages  within  his  means. 
He  is  a  liberal  giver,  and  keeps  o|)en  house 
to  his  many  friends.  He  is  abstemious  in  his 
habits,  using  neither  tobacco  nor  liquor:  and. 


4°  2 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


while  he  enjoys  sitting  at  a  good  table,  he 
chooscth  only  the  plainest  of  food  for  his  own 
plate.  He  works  all  the  week-days  in  the 
year,  including  the  holidays.  While  so  many 
in  these  days  take  vacations  for  longer  or 
shorter  periods,  he  has  never  taken  a  full 
week  from  his  business  since  he  began  for 
himself.  Among  his  clients  are  many  quite 
poor;  but  their  cases  are  taken,  and  the  work 
performed  with  the  same  care  and  fidelity  as 
though  they  were  able  to  pay  large  fees.  Me 
has  probably  done  more  work  for  which  he  has 
received  no  pay,  during  the  past  ten  years, 
than  any  other  member  of  his  profession  in 
the  county  of  Delaware.  A  frequent  remark 
of  his,  showing  how  well  he  knows  himself, 
is,  "If  I  were  as  good  a  collector  for  myself 
as  for  my  clients,  I  should  have  been  rich  long 
ago."  Another  pet  expression  is,  "Having 
the  luck  to  be  born  poor,  I  have  escaped  those 
temptations  that  have  destroyed  many  who 
deemed  themselves  more  fortunate  than  I." 
Another,  and  the  key-note  to  his  character,  is, 
"I  never  deemed  myself  beneath  any  man 
because  of  his  wealth,  nor  above  any  because 
of  his  poverty." 


T^HARLES  E.  HITT,  a  well-known  en- 
I  vV  terprising  and  prosperous  merchant 
\rL-  of  the  village  of  Delhi,  Delaware 
County,  N.Y.,  was  born  in  Sullivan 
County,  February  22,  1841.  His  father,  Le- 
ander,  was  a  native  of  Colchester,  this  county. 
The  grandfather,  Abijah  Hitt,  came  from 
Devereux  County,  Pennsylvania,  and,  pur- 
chasing a  large  tract  of  timbered  land  near 
Colchester,  engaged  in  the  pursuits  of  farming 
and  lumbering.  He  was  the  father  of  seven 
children  by  his  first  wife,  of  whom  Leander 
was  the  youngest. 

After  being  educated  at  the  district  schools, 
Leander  Hitt  worked  for  his  father  until  he 
purchased  a  farm  of  his  own  in  Colchester. 
This  he  conducted  for  some  time,  and  then 
bought  a  hotel  in  the  same  town,  which  he 
managed  until  his  death  in  middle  life.  Mr. 
Hitt  was  married  to  Elizabeth  Ann  Wright, 
of  Colchester,  by  whom  he  had  five  children, 
only  four,  however,  arriving  at  maturity  — 
Charles  E.,  William  H.,  Myers,  and  Elbridge. 


Charles  E.  Hitt  was  educated  at  the  Eng- 
lish High  School  of  his  native  town,  and 
until  the  age  of  seventeen  assisted  his  father 
on  the  farm.  Not  being  desirous  of  leading 
the  life  of  an  agriculturist,  his  bent  being 
more  toward  mercantile  pursuits,  he  engaged 
as  a  clerk  in  a  hardware  store  in  Andes, 
where  he  remained  three  years.  He  then 
came  to  Delhi,  and  worked  in  a  large  general 
store  for  another  three  years.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-three  he  entered  into  partnership  with 
Mr.  J.  H.  Gould,  opening  a  genera!  dry-goods 
and  furnishing  store.  Having  continued  in 
this  connection  four  years,  Mr.  Hitt  sold  his 
interest  in  the  business,  and  went  to  Albany, 
where  he  was  employed  for  three  years  as 
salesman  for  Douglas,  Shepard  &  Co.  Again 
returning  to  Delhi,  he  associated  in  business 
with  Mr.  John  Russell  in  a  general  store. 
This  partnership  continued  four  years,  when 
it  was  dissolved;  and  Mr.  Hitt  has  continued 
in  business  alone  ever  since,  having  a  fine 
general  store  and  conducting  a  large  and  in- 
creasing trade.  Charles  E.  Hitt  was  married 
July  13,  1868,  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Elwood,  a 
daughter  of  James  and  Mary  J.  Johnson  El- 
wood, her  father  having  been  a  successful 
business  man  in  Delhi  for  many  years.  Two 
children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hitt,  only  one  of  whom  is  now  living  —  Irene 
Elwood  Hitt. 

Mr.  Hitt  is  a  member  of  the  Zeta  Phi,  a 
literary  society  of  Delhi.  He  has  also,  been 
Trustee  of  the  village,  and  for  many  years  was 
a  Trustee  of  the  Delhi  Academy.  In  politics 
he  is  a  strong  supporter  of  the  Democratic 
party.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hitt  are  communicants 
of  St.  John's  (Episcopal)  Church,  of  which 
Mr.  Hitt  is  Senior  Warden.  Mr.  Hitt  is  one 
of  the  most  successful  and  highly  respected 
merchants  in  Delhi,  his  genial  manners  and 
kindly  and  generous  impulses  making  him 
beloved  by  all. 


LIVER  E.  MINER  is  one  of  the  most 
industrious  and  progressive  farmers  of 
Andes,  Delaware  County,  N.Y.  His 
paternal  grandfather,  Jonathan  Miner, 
was  a  native  of  England  and  an  early  settler 
of  Connecticut,  where  he  was  employed  as  a 


HIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


103 


tarmcr  and    miller.      lie  was  a   Revolutionary 
soldier,    taking   part    in   the   battle   of   Hunker 
Hill,  and   haviui;-  his   house   destroyed   during 
the  war.      He  died    in  the  State  where  he  was 
born,  at  the  good  old  age  of  ninety-two  years. 
His   son,  Oliver,  the   father   of   the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  was  born  in  Connecticut   in   Janu- 
ary,   1780,  and   on   January    i,    1800,    married 
Miss  Amy  Bishop,  of  the  same  State,  who  was 
born      September      14,      1783.       Her     father, 
Thomas    l^ishop,  was  a   native   of   France,  but 
came    with    his    i)arents    to    Connecticut,    and 
fought  for  his   country's    freedom    at    Bunker 
Hill.      He  was  a  successful   farmer,  and    lived 
to  reach  his  ninety-fifth  year.      After  the  mar- 
riage  of   Mr.   and    Mrs.    Miner  they   lived   for 
some  years  in  Connecticut,  and   then  removed 
to  this  State  with    their  ten  children,  settling 
in  the  town  of   Antics  in    1826.      The   journey 
was  made  in  a  sloop  from  New  T.ondon  to  New 
York   City,    and    in    the   same   way   from    New 
York  to  Kingston    I'oint,  the  rest  of   the  dis- 
tance to   Pine  Hill   being  covered   in  wagons, 
the  whole  journey   occupying  ten   days.      Mr. 
Miner    here   iiurchased   two   hundred    acres   of 
woodland,   which    he    cleared,  and   then   built 
a  log  house  and    cultivated   his   farm,      (lame 
animals  abounded  in  this  country  at  that  tinic; 
and  this  furnished  the  greater  portion   of    the 
food   for  the  pioneer  settler  and   his  family,  as 
the  market  was  seldom  visited,  the  distance  to 
it   being   sixty  miles.      'l"he   nearest   mill    was 
at    Bovina,    where  they   carried  their  grist   by 
means    of    a    yoke    of    oxen  and    a    rude  dray 
which  was  fashioned  from   a   log   of   wood   and 
was  an  extremely  primiti\-e  contrivance. 

Oliver  Miner  was  a  very  industrious  man. 
and  lived  to  see  the  results  of  his  hard  work, 
his  last  cku's  being  spent  in  Colchester,  where 
he  ownetl  a  farm  of  two  hundred  acres,  which 
he  purchased  of  William  Downs,  having  sold 
his  other  two  farms  to  his  son.  His  death 
occurred  November  ro,  1846,  and  that  of  his 
wife  July  30,  1876,  she  being  ninety-three 
years  of  age.  He  was  a  Democrat ;  and  both 
were  devoted  members  of  the  Methotlist  I'^jis- 
copal  church,  and  were  highly  respected. 
They  were  the  parents  of  fourteen  children, 
ten  of  whom  were  born  in  Connecticut  and 
four  in  New  York.  Kleven  of  their  children 
urew  to  maturity:   and    five    are    now    li\ing. 


namely:  hJastus,  a  farmer  in  ('olchester; 
Harriet,  witlow  of  William  .Muipli)-,  ol  l-ied 
Oak,  la.;  Almavina,  widow  of  James  Lord,  a 
resident  of  Penns_\lvania ;  (Oliver  ]'..,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  biography;  Lorenzo  1).,  a  f;irmer 
and  CcU"penter  in  Colchester. 

Oliver    V..    Miner,   son   of   Oliver   and    Am\ 
(I)isho]))  Miner,  was  born    in    Montville,  New 
London    County,    Conn.,     February    3,     1S21, 
but  removed  with  his  parents  to  Andes,  where 
he   grew    to    m;inhood,    and    received    his   edu- 
cation   in    the    schools    of    the    town.       Until 
twenty-two  years  of   age  he  remained  at  home, 
and  assisted  his  father  in  the  care  of  the  farm. 
Mr.  Miner's  first  purchase  was  a  tract   of  wild 
land    in    Cidchester,    containing    f)ne    hundred 
acres;    and    here    he    l:)egan    to    build    his    log 
house    in   the   middle   of    I''ebruury,    when    the 
snow  covered  the  country  in  deej)  drifts.      He 
worked    on    his   house   by   day,    and    made    the 
shingles  b\'  night,  nio\ing  into  his   new   home 
in    April.      h'or    two    years    he    resided    there, 
and   then  in  1844  exchanged  it  for  his   present 
]iroperty,  which  was  at  that  time  a  large   tract 
of     woodland     containing    fifty    acres.      b'rom 
time  t<j  time  Mr.  Miner  purchased    land    until 
he  was  the  [possessor   of   eight    hundred   acres, 
part  of  which  he  sold,  but  now  owns  four  hun- 
:  dn'd   and   eighty   acres.      ]5esides   his   farm   in 
y\ndes  he  is  the   owner   of   a    fine  residence    in 
^Htklletown,    where    his    son    is    located.      He 
has  been  an  energetic  worker,  and  his  remark- 
able   success   is   due    to    his    ceaseless  efforts 
combined     with     jM-actical     business    ability. 
He  is  constantly  improving  his   jiroperty :  and 
!  his  farm  is  one  of   the  finest  in  the  town,  con- 
taining a  large  dairy,  which   he   carries  on  in 
connection    with    husbandry.      Mr.    Miner   has 
also  engaged   quite   extensively  in  the    lumber 
business,  having  built  at  different   times  three 
saw-mills,  one   of   which    is   now  in   operation 
on  his  farm.      Fie  deals  also    in    bark,  the  sale 
of   which    has   enabled   him  to  pay  for  his  val- 
uable property. 

October  27,  1S42,  he  was  married  l)y  the 
Rev.  James  T.  Bouton  to  Miss  Aflaline  .S. 
Farll,  who  was  born  in  Andes,  a  daughter  of 
John  and  IMuebe  (Washburn)  Farll,  early  set- 
tlers in  New  York  State.  Mr.  Miner  has 
been  called  upon  to  part  with  his  wife,  who 
died   January  7,    1S94,    aged   si.\ty-ninc  years. 


404 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


She  was  the  mother  of  six  children,  four  of 
whom  are  now  living:  Emily,  widow  of  Sam- 
uel Davis,  residing  with  her  father;  Ira  E.,  a 
farmer  in  Andes;  Colonel  E.  Miner,  of  Mid- 
dletown;  Marvin  L.  Miner,  a  farmer  in  his 
native  town.  Two  children  have  passed  away, 
namely:  an  infant;  and  a  son  John,  aged 
twenty -two. 

Mr.  Miner  is  a  Democrat  and  a  natural  pol- 
itician, both  his  grandfathers  and  his  uncle 
having  been  United  States  Senators.  He  has 
served  as  Notary  Public,  and  held  many  town 
offices,  taking  at  all  limes  an  active  part  in 
politics.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Delhi 
Lodge,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows, 
and  is  well  known  and  justly  popular  through- 
out the  county,  where  he  is  universally  re- 
spected for  his  industry,  honesty,  and  practical 
intelligence. 


LBERT  D.  l'b:AKE,  attorney-at-law, 
and  proprietor  of  the  Walton  Novelty 
Works  of  Walton,  Delaware  County, 
N.Y.,  was  born  in  Hamden,  this 
county,  on  November  17,  1846,  son  of  Ira  and 
Celinda  (Tiffany)  Peake.  The  family  are  of 
good  old  I^nglish  ancestry,  and  came  to  Amer- 
ica about  1700,  settling  in  Schenectady 
County,  N.Y. 

Roswell  Peake,  the  grandfather  of  Albert 
D.,  married  Miss  Mary  Mason,  by  whom  he 
had  twelve  children;  namely,  Matilda,  Maria, 
Sirissa,  Emeline,  Sibyl,  Julia,  Walter  C, 
Ira,  Cyrus,  Warren  L.,  Augustus,  and 
P^leazer.  Matilda  Peake  married  Daniel  Pat- 
terson, of  Hamden,  and  died  at  the  age  of 
twenty-seven,  leaving  two  sons  and  one  daugh- 
ter—  James,  Roswell,  and  Harriett.  James 
Patterson  married  Miss  Wakeman,  moved  to 
Wayne  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  after  her 
death  married  Miss  Stearns.  Roswell  Patter- 
son married  Miss  Angel ine  Woodbeck,  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  had  eight  children,  four 
sons  and  four  daughters.  Maria  Peake  mar- 
ried Amh'ew  Andrews,  of  Hamden;  and  they 
are  the  ])arents  of  six  children  —  Joseph, 
George,  Daniel,  Harriet,  Theodocia,  and 
Adclia.  Walter  C.  Peake  married  Hannah 
Tiffany,  settling  in  Hamden;  and  they  had 
the   following  children:   Ira,   Oliver,    Andrew 


Walter,  Lucinda,  Jane,  Julia,  Mary,  Celinda, 
Ellen,  and  Electa.  Sirissa  Peake  married 
Caleb  Chadwick,  of  Livingston  County,  both 
deceased.  They  had  three  children  —  Caleb, 
Walter,    and    Adelia. 

Warren  L.  Peake  married  Amy  Chace,  and 
died  at  his  home  in  Hamden,  leaving  four 
children  —  Eleazer,  Matilda,  George,  and 
Emma.  Cyrus  Peake  married  Louisa  War- 
dell;  and  both  died  at  Hancock,  leaving 
twelve  children  ^ — Walter,  William,  Henry, 
Cyrus,  Marcus,  Ursula,  Harriet,  Abby,  Re- 
becca, Emma,  Marcia,  Marion.  Emmeline 
Peake  married  Henry  Dart,  locating  first  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  later  in  California,  and  had 
the  following  children:  Albert  Cyrus,  of  the 
firm  of  Henry  Dart  &  Sons,  of  Rock  Island, 
III. ;  and  William  H.,  Stewart,  Roswell,  and 
Augusta,  who  settled  in  the  West.  Sybil 
Peake  married  Albert  Dart,  settled  in  Wayne 
County,  Pennsylvania,  and  later  in  Illinois, 
reared  two  children:  Frances,  who  married 
Frank  Morse,  of  Chicago;  and  Clayton,  now 
in  Minnesota.  Eleazer  Peake  married  Miss 
Mary  Holmes,  settling  in  Colchester;  and 
after  the  death  of  his  wife  he  moved  to  Ne- 
braska, where  he  died.  His  children  were: 
Augustus,  Amy,  William,  Mary,  and  Samuel. 
Julia  Peake  married  Alvin  Stearns,  and 
resides  at  Harford,  Susquehanna  County, 
Pennsylvania.  Three  children  were  born  to 
them  —  Charles,  Albert,  and  Alice. 

Ira,  the  father  of  Albert  D.  Peake,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Hamden, 
March  19,  1806,  and  died  in  1S85.  He  mar- 
ried in  1826  Celinda  Tiffany,  born  December 
2,  1807.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Samuel 
and  Mary  Tiffany,  of  Massachusetts,  and  of 
old  New  England  stock.  At  the  time  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Peake's  settlement  in  Hamden  they 
were  in  extremely  moderate  circumstances, 
and  bought  at  first  but  a  small  piece  of  land. 
P2nergetic  and  enterprising,  he  added  to  this 
until  at  last  he  owned  over  five  hundred  acres, 
and  became  one  of  the  largest  and  wealthiest 
farmers  in  the  county.  At  the  time  he  settled 
in  Hamden  his  nearest  trading-post  was  on 
the  Hudson  River,  where  he  hauled  his  prod- 
uce and  bought  his  stores.  Mr.  Peake  was  a 
man  of  more  than  ordinary  ability.  He  was  a 
close  friend  of   Henry  Clay,  voting  with  the 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


105 


old  \Nliii;'  l';iity,  and  was  one  of  the  first  to 
espouse  tlie  Republican  cause.  He  was  n 
strong  Abolitionist,  and  nuich  opposed  to  the 
traffic  and  use  of  liquor  in  any  form.  Ira  and 
Celinda  (Tiffan\')  I'eake  weie  the  parents  of 
the  following  children: 

Anna  ICliza  I'eake,  born  December  4,  1S27, 
married  E.  J.  I-'raser,  who  settled  first  at 
Delhi,  and  afterward  at  Hamden,  whcie  Mrs. 
l-'raser  died.  She  had  seven  children  —  I\Iary, 
Elizabeth  A.,  Celinda,  Jennie,  lunma,  Eben- 
ezer  B.,  and  lilla.  I-'rances  Peake,  born  Oc- 
tober 14,  1829,  married  James  II.  Arbnckle, 
and  settled  in  California.  They  had  one 
child,  w'ho  died  in  infancy.  Robert  B.  Peake, 
born  November  3,  1831,  settled  first  in  Cali- 
fornia, afterward  mo\ing  to  Washington.  lie 
married  l^mma  I. add,  by  whom  he  had  six  chil- 
dren. Warren  P.  Peake,  born  July  6,  1S33, 
settled  in  Nebraska,  and  is  supposed  to  have 
been  murdered.  He  married  luinice  Baglev, 
bv  wlioni  he  had  three  children:  \'iah  and 
Lillian,  lioth  tleceased :  and  Irving,  of  Rus- 
sell, Kan.  Roswell  I..  I'eake,  born  June  23, 
1S35,  settled  in  Hastings,  Minn.  He  mar- 
ried Adelia  Robinson,  and  had  the  following 
children:  .Millard  !•". ;  Ruberta;  Mary;  Cora; 
Kva;  Albert  IC. ;  Dewitt  and  Winifield  .S.,  de- 
ceased. Martha  A.  Peake,  born  .SciHember  20, 
1837,  married  Joshua  15.  Brandt,  of  Walton, 
and  had  four  children:  Douglas  D.  :  Joshua, 
deceased;  Herschel,  deceased;  and  Albert  P. 
Charlotte  Peake,  born  October  14,  1843,  mar- 
ried Daniel  Jirisack,  and  died  in  Walton, 
leaving  one  son,  Curtis.  Albert  D.  Peake 
was  the  lourth  son  of  his  parents.  His 
mother,  Mrs.  Celinda  'F.  Peake,  died  in  1866. 
Ira  Peake  married  for  his  second  wife  Miss 
•Vbigail  Law,  by  whom  he  had  fi\e  children  — 
Sheridan,  I'rancis,  Artlun-,  Herbert,  and  Lil- 
ian. Mrs.  Abigail  Peake  died  in  1S75;  and 
Mr.  Peake  married  for  his  third  wife  Miss 
Pauline  Law,  b}-  whom  he  had  two  childien  — 
Ida  and  Cliester. 

Albert  D.  Peake  received  his  preparatory 
education  at  tlie  district  schools  of  Hamden, 
and  at  the  Delhi  Academy,  and  was  graduated 
from  Union  C-ollege,  and  from  the  Albany 
Law  Sch(K)l  in  1873.  In  1870  he  was  Piin- 
cii^al  of  the  high  school  at  Schenectady,  and 
thence    went    to    Delhi,    where    he    embarked 


in  the  [)ractice  of  his  profession.  .Subse- 
C|uently,  in  1874,  he  came  to  Walton,  and 
here  continued  his  law  practice.  L'pon  the 
failure  of  the  Walton  Novelty  Works  in  1885, 
Mr.  Peake,  in  conjunction  with  J.  (J.  Barlow, 
jnn-chased  tlie  business,  wliich  was  contlucted 
on  those  lines  until  1890,  when  he  bought  out 
the  interest  of  Mr.  Barlow,  and  has  since  been 
the  sole  pro]irietor  of  the  works.  He  makes  a 
s[)ecialty  of  the  manufacture  of  baby-carriages, 
which  have  a  world-witle  reputation,  receiving 
onlers  from  .Australia  and  many  distant  ])arts. 
Mr.  I'eake  is  an  extremely  busy  man,  having 
two  branch  offices  in  New  York,  a  half-inter- 
est in  the  "New  York  Carriage  Company," 
and  being  sole  proprietor  of  the  business  of 
(icrbracht  &  Co.  of  New  York  City. 

Mr.  Peake  was  united  in  marriage  .Sejitem- 
ber  10,  1S74,  to  Miss  Martha  McLaury,  a 
daughter  of  Dr.  J.  S.  McLaury,  of  Walton. 
Mrs.  I'eake  was  born  in  Walton,  Marcli  11, 
1851.  receiving  her  education  at  the  Walton 
High  School  and  the  Normal  College  of  New 
York  City.  I'ive  chiUh-en  blessed  this  union, 
namely:  Lauri'us,  Ijorn  in  March.  1875,  died 
March  10,  1875;  James  McL.,  born  Decem- 
ber 29,  1876,  now  a  student  at  Williams 
College:  Albert  D.,  born  August  6,  1878, 
died  at  \'onkers  in  1881;  lilvelvn  M.,  born 
December  6,  [880;  and  Ldwin,  born  March 
3,  1882,  who  died  in  infancy.  Mis.  Martha 
i'eake  died  in  March,  1SS2:  and  Mr.  Peake 
married  for  his  second  wife,  in  April,  1883. 
Miss  Margaret  Thomson,  b\-  whom  he  has  one 
child.  Charles  N.,  born  July  29,   1889. 

Mr.  Peake's  jiolitical  creed  is  Republican. 
He  has  never  sought  any  office;  but  his  per- 
sonal ])oinilarit\-  was  such  tb.at  he  was  elected 
Supervisor  of  his  town  and  President  of 
the  Board  of  I'".ducation.  He  was  chairman  of 
the  Building  Connnittce  ha\-ing  in  charge 
the  erection  of  the  fine  school  building  which 
now  graces  the  town.  Mr.  Peake  has  been  an 
active  member  of  the  Methodist  I^piscopal 
church  at  Walton  for  many  vears.  and  has 
been  dec'ph'  interested  in  the  .Sundav-school, 
of  which  he  is  superintendent.  He  also 
served  as  President  of  the  Building  Commit- 
tee in  the  erection  of  the  church.  He  is  ;i 
man  of  rare  intelligence  and  sound  judgment, 
possessing   all    the    qualifications   for  a    large 


4o6 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


and  sucx^.^..,.  merchant.  He  is  still  in  the 
prime  of  vigorous  manhood,  and  promises 
many  \'ears  of  usefulness  in  the  community  of 
which  he  is  an  honored  citizen. 


'OHN  MEYER,  a  popular  citizen  of  the 
town  of  Hancock,  in  Delaware  County, 
was  born  in  Wiirtembcrg,  Germany, 
October  1 1,  1818.  His  father  was 
John  Meyer,  Sr.,  a  native  of  the  same  town, 
who  was  a  wheelwright  by  trade.  He  married 
Victoria  Ihle,  and  came  to  this  country  about 
1833,  accompanied  by  his  family.  They 
sailed  from  Rotterdam,  and  were  one  hundred 
and  one  days  on  the  water,  suffering  during 
this  long  passage  from  the  scarcity  of  provi- 
sions and  fuel.  This  was  due  to  the  careless- 
ness or  inhumanity  of  the  captain,  who  had 
overcrowded  his  vessel  with  passengers,  for 
which  offence  he  was  threatened  with  arrest 
upon  his  arrival  in  New  York.  After  reach- 
ing this  country,  Mr.  Meyer  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  paper  boxes,  being  prevented 
by  ill  health  from  following  his  trade  of 
wheelwright.  About  1842  he  purchased  one 
hundred  acres  of  land  from  P.  A.  Toupinard, 
an  extensive  land-owner  in  the  town  of  Han- 
cock, and,  removing  to  this  thickly  wooded, 
hilly  country,  proceeded  to  clear  his  farm  and 
erect  buildings.  Much  of  the  land  here  was  at 
that  time  a  virgin  forest,  and  he  was  the  first 
to  cut  a  stick  of  timber  in  preparing  his  new 
home.  He  lived  to  be  seventy-five  years  of 
age,  his  wife  surviving  him  a  number  of 
years.  They  were  the  parents  of  two  chil- 
dren, John  and  Francis,  both  of  whom  still 
reside  on   the  homestead   farm. 

John  Meyer,  the  subject  of  this  biography, 
was  educated  in  Germany:  and,  after  coming 
here,  he  served  his  time  as  an  apprentice  to  a 
cabinet-maker  in  New  York  City.  He  fol- 
lowed that  occupation  for  a  time,  and  then 
moved  with  his  parents  to  the  town  of  Han- 
cock, where  he  assisted  them  in  establishing 
the  new  home  near  French  Woods.  He  has 
increased  the  farm  to  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  acres,  nearly  all  of  which  is  under 
cultivation. 

He  married  Catherine  Bilger,  daughter  of 
Peter  Bilger,  of  New  York  City,  a  descendant 


of  a  German  family  of  that  name.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Meyer  have  had  nine  children,  namely: 
John;  Mary,  who  died  in  infancy;  Joseph; 
Charles;  George;  Frank;  Victoria;  Cather- 
ine; and  a  second  Mary.  George,  who  mar- 
ried Mary  Holman,  of  Brooklyn,  and  Joseph 
carry  on  the  home  farm,  the  father  having 
retired  from  active  life.  Charles  is  a  lumber- 
man in  Delaware  County.  Catherine,  who 
married  Henry  Peak,  a  farmer  and  proprietor 
of  a  saw-mill  in  the  town  of  Hancock,  died  in 
1893,  the  mother  of  ten  children  —  Victoria, 
Anastasia,  Eeo,  Lawrence,  Henry,  Walter, 
Lucian,  Katie,  and  two  others  who  died  in 
infancy.  Victoria  married  James  Sullivan,  of 
Bethel,  Sullivan  County,  and  since  her  hus- 
band's death  in  1883  has  resided  with  her 
father  in  the  town  of  Hancock.  Mary  also 
resides  with  her  father.  John,  who  is  a  car- 
penter, and  married  Miss  Near,  of  Eau 
Claire,  Wis.,  has  a  large  family.  Frank, 
who  married  Mary  Sullivan,  of  Bethel,  Sulli- 
van County,  N.Y.,  manages  a  store  at  Long 
Eddy,  Sullivan  County. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Meyer  and  their  family 
are  members  of  the  Catholic  church  at  French 
Woods.  Mr.  Meyer  is  politically  a  Demo- 
crat, and  has  held  many  offices  of  trust,  among 
them  being  that  of  Commissioner  of  High- 
ways, attending  to  its  duties  ably  and  faith- 
fully, always  favoring  everything  which  he 
thought  tended  toward  the  improvement  and 
progress   of  the   town. 


(sTr^I^^EW    THOMSON    RUSSELL,    a 
fcIA       Delaware   County  dairyman  of  Scotch 
yj]A  ancestry,  occupies  the  farm  in  Bo- 

^~^  vina  on  which  he  was  born,  and 
which  includes  the  tract  of  land  cleared  by  his 
paternal  grandfather,  William  Russell,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  century.  William  Russell 
was  born  near  Glasgow,  Scotland;  and  he  and 
his  wife,  who  was  also  Scotch,  emigrated  to 
America  in  1800,  and  settled  here  in  the 
primeval  forest.  His  first  work  was  to  cut 
down  the  trees,  whose  stout  trunks  were  to  be 
fashioned  into  a  rude  abode  for  his  wife  and 
children.  The  game  that  dwelt  about  the 
very  threshold  of  the  cabin  furnished  food  for 
the  hungrv  little  mouths.     There  were  at  the 


RIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


407 


time  110  roads  cut  tliroui^h  the  woods,  still 
haunted  by  wolves  and  bears;  and  the  journey 
to  tile  mill  at  South  Kortright,  now  l<nown 
as  Almeda,  a  distance  of  five  miles,  which 
the  sturdy  [iioneer  sometimes  made,  carr\  ing' 
the  grain  on  his  back,  the  path  being  indi- 
cated only  by  blazed  trees,  was  both  toilsome 
and  perilous.  William  Russell  died  here 
lune  j8,  1828,  aged  ninetv-tive  years  and 
four  months,  leaving  five  sons — John,  Stephen, 
James,  William,  Matthew  —  and  one  daughter. 
His  wife,  Janet  Pumphry,  was  Iiorn  in  1750, 
and  died  :\iay  ^O,   1837. 

lames  Russell,  the  thiril  of  this  goodly 
group,  was  born  in  Scotland  on  June  22,  1790, 
and  was  a  lad  of  ten  years  when  he  came  to 
this  countr\'  with  his  [)arents.  He  was  edu- 
cated in  the  district  schools  of  the  localit)-, 
and  came  into  possession  of  tlie  farm  at  his 
father's  death.  He  added  largely  to  tiic  es- 
tate, and  became  quite  a  man  of  property. 
He  married  Margaret  15r}ce,  who  was  born  in 
Scotland,  February  5,  1796,  a  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Janet  (Gil  more)  Br\xe,  the 
former  of  whom  died  February  25,  1S13,  anil 
the  latter,  a  daughter  of  John  Gilmore,  July 
II,  1829.  The  other  children  of  her  inirenls 
were  the  following:  Agnes,  born  March  19, 
1794;  Jean,  March  24,  1799:  Archibakl, 
August  25.  1801:  John,  January  26,  180.5; 
Flizabeth,  February  20,  1805  :  Matthew,  born 
January  28,  1807,  who  died  in  I.ibby  Prison 
during  the  Civil  War:  Mary,  September  2, 
1809:  Thomas  G.,  April  4,  18 12.  The  wife  of 
Mr.  Russell  sharetl  his  religious  faith  and 
creed,  both  being  members  of  the  Reformed 
Presb\terian  church.  He  had  no  interest  in 
the  political  situation  oi  his  time,  and  took  no 
part  in  national  or  local  issues.  His  reasons 
for  thus  disfranchising  himself,  as  it  were, 
arc  indicated  in  the  following  extract  from 
the  Synod's  Report  on  National  Reform  in 
1869:  "Because  this  nation  has  steadfastly 
refused  any  acknowledgment  of  the  authority 
of  (iod,  of  his  .Son.  or  uf  his  law,"  and  be- 
cause "A  Constitution  which  ignores  the 
foundations  oi  all  political  morality  cannot  be 
accepted  and  a])proved  by  any  Christian  people 
without  sin,"  and  because  he  holds  "it  to 
be  the  duty  of  every  citizen  of  this  nation 
to     maintain     an     active     dissent     bv     refus- 


ing   to    incorporate    with    a   go\cinnirnl    liuis 
constituted." 

James  Russell  died  August  4,  1851.  11  is 
wife  Margaret  survi\ed  him  man\-  \ears, 
dying  January  15,  1873.  Tweh'c  children,  all 
sons,  were  born  to  them,  eight  of  whom  grew 
up,  and  three  of  whom,  .Stei)hen,  John,  and 
Andrew,  are  now  li\ing.  The  record  is  ;is 
follows:  William,  born  December  19,  18 14, 
died  I'ebruary  2,  1892;  Thomas  H..  born 
■August  9,  1816,  died  April  18,  1881;  James 
G.,  born  Ajiril  21,  1818,  died  January  i, 
1891  ;  an  infant,  born  Ma\-  9,  1820,  tlied  un- 
named; Archibald  15.,  born  August  18,  1821, 
died  I'ebruary  18,  1868:  .Stephen,  born  Jan- 
uary 26,  1824;  John  G.,  born  Januar\-  16, 
1827:  an  infant,  born  and  diid  on  December 
13,  1829;  Matthew,  born  May  31,  1831,  died 
.SeiJtember  27,  1833:  l)a\i<l  B.,  born  August 
19,  1833,  died  February  28,  1892:  Andrew 
T.,  born  November  9,  1837:  ^latthew  H., 
born   June    17,    1840.    died   January    14,   1847. 

Antlrew  T.  Russell  worked  on  his  fathei's 
farm,  and  hired  himself  out  f<u"  several  N'ears 
during  his  \i)uth,  earning  t)ne  hundred  and 
fift\'-five  dollars  for  his  first  year's  wages, 
lie  alsii  workeil  at  the  carjjcnter's  trade  one 
year.  lie  was  married  January  12,  1865.  and 
bought  the  farm  in  the  spring  of  that  year. 
The  young  woman  who  linked  her  fate  with 
his  was  Miss  P'liza  Jane  Mcl.aurv,  who  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Daxenpnrt,  April  2^. 
1845,  a  daughter  of  (ieorge  II.  and  Nancy 
(Cobine)  McLaury.  George  H.  Mcl.aury  was 
a  native  of  Kortright.  and  .Mrs.  McLaury  of 
Franklin.  They  reared  a  famil_\'  of  seven 
children:  (ieorge,  a  farmer  in  Iowa:  Thomas. 
who  died  in  the  Civil  War;  David,  who  lives 
in  Delhi;  Mrs.  Russell;  John,  a  farmer  in 
South  Dakota;  Samuel,  also  in  South  Dakota; 
and  Mrs.  Sarah  A.  Terrell,  wife  of  Thomas 
Terrell,  a  liaggage-master  in  Oneonta,  N.\'. 
Andrew  T.  Russell  has  li\ed  at  the  home  f)f 
his  birth,  surrounded  by  all  the  ties  of  asso- 
ciation and  childhood  that  make  a  localit)- 
dear.  He  keeps  thirt\-  milch  cows,  and  ha> 
one  of  the  best  dairies  in  the  count)'.  The 
new  buildings  which  he  has  erected  h.ave 
greatl)-  enhanced  the  \alue  of  the  ])roperty : 
and  the  land  itself,  under  intelligent  tillage. 
has  been  vastly  improved. 


4o8 


BIOGRAPHICAL"  REVIEW 


Six  children  have  1)1lssih1  ihc  union  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Russell,  namely:  James  J.  K.,  born 
November  5,  1865,  who  married  Miss  Tina  L. 
Doig,  and  has  one  daughter,  Florence  Pearl; 
George  T.,  born  September  19,  1868;  Nettie 
A.,  born  October  18,  1870;  Andrew  G.,  born 
March  22,  1872;  Samuel  W.,  born  July  25, 
1873,  a  clerk  in  Oneonta;  Mary  Jane  Eliza, 
born  December  23,  1875,  now  at  the  Normal 
School  of  Oneonta. 

Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Russell  are  members  of 
the  Reformed  Presbyterian  church,  in  which 
the  former  has  been  an  Elder  for  twenty-one 
years.  He  is  also  the  superintendent  of  the 
Sabbath-school,  which  latter  office  he  has  held 
for  the  last  five  years.  Politics  seem  to  have 
little  or  no  interest  for  this  man,  who,  for  the 
same  reasons  stated  in  regard  to  his  father, 
serves  his  country  by  setting  an  example  of 
industry,  sobriety,  and  thrift,  rather  than  by 
taking  an  active  part  in  .State  or  national 
affairs. 


H.  PALMER  is  a  gentleman  well 
known  in  the  business,  social,  and 
political  circles  of  Deposit,  which 
is  the  place  of  his  residence.  His 
acquaintance  and  reputation  extend  far  beyond 
his  home;  for  since  1888  he  has  held  the  re- 
sponsible position  of  State  Dairy  Expert  —an 
office  requiring  more  than  ordinary  knowledge 
and  nicety  of  discernment.  His  work  in- 
cludes the  inspection  of  milk,  cream,  butter, 
lard,  oleo  oils,  stearine,  oleomargarine  and 
butterine,  and  vinegar.  There  are  but  few 
men  capable  of  performing  the  duties  assigned 
to  this  position,  and  among  these  few  Mr. 
Palmer  stands  in  the  front  rank.  In  his  work 
he  travels  over  eleven  counties  in  South-east- 
ern New  York.  He  is  greatly  interested  in 
the  work:  and  the  people  of  his  part  of  the 
State  of  New  York  are  well  protected  from 
"bogus  food,"  foreign  mixtures,  chemical 
preparations,  and  deceitful  and  alluring 
imitations. 

R.  H.  Palmer  was  born  in  Deposit,  Septem- 
ber 24,  1840.  His  father  is  Fletcher  Palmer, 
the  "Squire,"  a  lawyer  of  ability,  who  has 
already  spent  eighty-three  years  on  this  earth. 
His  mother,  whose  name  before  marriage  was 


Nancy  Peters,  was  a  native  of  Philadelphia. 
She  died  at  the  age  of  forty-four  years,  leav- 
ing six  children,  all  of  whom  are  living, 
namely:  R.  H.,  the  inspector;  Arthur  T., 
who  is  the  Assistant  Suj^erintendent  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad,  and  lives  at  Kansas 
City,  Mo. ;  James  K.  Polk,  a  passenger  con- 
ductor on  the  Erie  line,  with  headquarters  at 
Susquehanna;  -Smith,  the  station  agent  of  the 
Erie  Railroad  at  Hawley,  Pa. ;  John  P.,  a 
locomotive  engineer,  with  residence  at  De- 
posit; Emily,  the  wife  of  William  Carpenter, 
a  locomotive  engineer  of  the  Erie  Railroad, 
living  at  Binghamton.  The  father  was  mar- 
ried a  second  time,  from  which  union  was  one 
daughter,  Jessie,  who  is  attending  the  union 
school  of  Deposit. 

The  subject  of  this  .sketch  was  the  first-born 
of  these  children,  and  is  practically  a  self- 
made  man.  Having  had  but  limited  opportu- 
nity in  his  youth  for  obtaining  an  education 
in  the  schools,  he  has  made  the  most  of  his 
natural  abilities,  and  has  gathered  by  reading, 
observation,  and  intercourse  with  the  world  a 
large  fund  of  useful  information.  His  wide 
knowledge  of  material  things  and  acquaint- 
ance with  men  and  affairs  are  worth  vastly 
more  to  him  in  actual  business  than  the  high- 
■est  classical  lore  of  the  schools  would  be. 
He  was  engaged  for  a  number  of  years  in  the 
fur  business  in  the  counties  of  Broome  and 
Delaware,  and  next  was  in  the  meat  trade; 
and  from  that  he  embarked  in  the  coal  busi- 
ness, which  he  has  successfully  managed  for 
many  years.  He  built  his  present  residence 
on  Laurel  Bank  Avenue  in  1880.  He  was 
married  in  1S71  to  Chloe  J.  Merrill,  daugh- 
ter of  Henry  and  Mary  Merrill,  of  Deposit, 
both  of  whom  are  now  deceased.  They  were 
excellent  people,  much  respected,  and  quite 
active  in  church  work  and  in  all  things  hav- 
ing a  tendency  to  promote  the  industrial  and 
moral  improvement  of  the  community. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Palmer  have  one  child  —  a 
daughter,  Mary.  They  are  members  of  the 
Baptist  church,  and  contribute  of  their  means 
and  influence  to  the  support  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ  and  the  dissemination  of  the  principles 
of  religion  and  morality.  Mr.  Palmer  belongs 
to  the  Democratic  party,  and  has  served  on 
the  Central   Committee  of    Delaware    County 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RKVIKW 


.(O.J 


for  the  past  fifteen  years,  lie  lias  also  been 
a  delegate  to  several  Democrat ie  State  con- 
ventions, and  his  atlvice  and  counsel  are  mucii 
sought  in  every  campaign.  He  was  ajjpoinled 
to  his  present  position  by  (iovernor  Mill,  who 
deserves  credit  for  his  admirable  sidection, 
which  seems  to  meet  with  univcisal  a]ipi-o\a]. 
The  integritv  and  faithfulness  of  Mr.  I'almer 
are  not  qucstioneil;  and  it  is  unfortunate  foi- 
the  people  that  inspectors  of  similar  qualifica- 
tions cannot  always  l)e  appointed,  to  the  end 
that  there  might  be  more  efficient  service  in 
this  important  department.  What  a  happy 
thing  for  the  country  if  all  the  other  public  of- 
fices could  be  held  severallv  bv  the  fittest  men  ! 


rm^ 


EOliGK  II.  LASHER  is  a  prominent 
%  '•)  I  resident  and  inn-kee])er  at  firiffin"s 
— ^  Corners,  Miildletown,  Delawaie 
Comity.  He  was  born  at  Brush  Ridgi',  in 
the  same  town,  on  Ma}'  22,  1S53.  His 
grandfather  was  Conrad  Lasher,  who  mai'ried 
Anna  Maria  Sagendorf.  Tiiey  came  fi'om 
Dutchess  County  to  Delaware  County,  wlii're 
he  bought  a  farm  on  Hrusii  Ridge  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five  unreclaimed  acres.  On 
that  land  he  built  a  log  house  and  barn.  He 
died  at  the  age  of  eigiUy-eight,  in  the  town  ol 
Lexington,  Greene  County;  but  his  wife  dit.d 
at  eighty-three,  near  their  old  home.  Conrad 
Lasher  was  a  liberal  in  religion,  a  Democrat 
in  politics,  and  the  falJier  of  eight  cliildren  — 
Robert,  lulward,  b'rederick,  Catherine,  .-Xlira- 
iiam,   .-^llen.  Maria,  and  .Susan. 

His  son  I'rederick  was  born  in  Dutchess 
Countv  in  1816,  and  he  was  only  fourteen 
when  the  family  came  to  Delaware  County. 
He  married  Anna,  the  daughter  of  John  Rick- 
ert.  John  Rickert  and  wife  had  four  girls 
and  two  boys.  One  girl  died  in  babyliood ; 
but  John,  Cicorge,  Anna,  luneline,  and  Helen 
grew  up.  After  marriage  Frederick  and 
Anna  Lasher  lived  two  years  on  the  farm  of 
a  hundred  acres  across  the  road  from  the 
homestead  at  Hrush  Ridge,  in  an  old  log 
house;  but  subsequently  he  erected  new 
buildings.  In  politics  Mr.  Lasher  was  a  Re- 
publican. His  wife  died  when  she  was 
seventv,  and  he  died  at  sixty-seven.  The)' 
had    fourteen    children,    bi-ietl\'   nameil    Ik-Iow. 


Margaret  Lasher  married  Marchant  \'an  \'al- 
kenburg,  of  Ilalcotl,  (ireene  County,  and  bure 
three  children.  Cimrad.  named  f<u-  iiis  grand- 
father Lasher,  died  at  twenty-fnur.  Jane 
Laslier,  deceased,  was  tlie  wife  of  Ldward 
.Angle,  who  lives  at  Hrush  Ridge.  Their 
ffuntli  and  fifth  children  died  y<iung.  Philip 
Lasher,  a  Delhi  farmer,  married  Jane  Town- 
send,  wh(j  di(.'d,  leaving  one  son,  Isaac,  two 
children  having  died  previously.  John  Lasher 
married  Mar\-  Johnson,  is  a  Middletown 
farmer,  and  lias  six  children.  Anna  K. 
Lasher  is  tiie  wife  of  Avery  Houghton;  and 
thev  now  live  at  the  Mountain  Star  House, 
in  Ilalcott,  Greene  County.  Isabella  Lasher 
married  I'hilmore  Herger.  a  Rhinebeck  farmer 
in  Dutchess  Comity,  l-'rances  Lasher,  de- 
ceased, married  Francis  ICnist,  of  Olive, 
Ulster  Count)-,  and  had  a  ciiild.  no  longer 
living.  Of  the  eleventh  child,  (leorge 
Lasher,  more  will  be  said  Jiereafter.  Alber- 
tina  Lasher  married  James  Hicks,  a  black- 
smith at  l''leischmanns.  Henrietta  Lasher, 
deceased,  was  tlie  wife  of  Daniel  Houghton, 
a  farmer,  and  liad  one  child.  Jeannette 
Lasher  married  James  (iilj,  of  Margai-ettville, 
lias  three  eliihh-en ;  and  the)'  live  at  the  Hiid 
1  louse. 

(ieorge  II.  Lasher  went  to  the  district 
school,  and  worked  on  the  home  farm  till  he 
was  thirty-three  years  of  age.  Then  he  went 
til  Kingston,  where  he  lived  aw'hile,  and  after- 
ward came  to  Griffin's  Cornel's.  Here  he 
bnu^lil  the  old  hotel  of  his  uncle.  Allen 
I.ashi-i',  remodelled  the  house,  and  has  now 
liecome  the  i)i'incii).il  liotel-keejjer  in  this  re- 
gion, at  the  s.niie  time  owning  the  Hrush  Ridge 
homestead  of  one  hundred  and  twent)'-five 
acres  and  a  house  and  lot  across  the  creek  in 
l'"leischmanns.  In  1S.S3  George  Lasher  mar- 
ried. It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that  granil- 
father,  father,  and  son  should  all  three  marry 
wonuai  with  Anna  for  their  first  name.  I'^vi- 
dentlv  they  liked  it.  .Mrs.  George  Lasher 
w.as  Anna  Crawford,  daughter  of  Dr.  Craw- 
ford; and  thev  have  three  children  —  Her- 
bert, Rose,  and  Crawford,  the  latter,  of 
course,  bearing  his  mother's  famil)'  name. 
In  politics  Mr.  Lasher  is  a  Republican. 
Like  his  progenitors,  he  is  liberal  in  his 
religious   views. 


410 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


It  is  fitting  that  here  should  be  given  "some 
idea  of  the  family  to  which   Mrs.  Lasher  be- 
longs.    Dr.    W.    H.    Crawford    was    born    in 
Defhi,    N.Y.,    on    New    Years    Day,    1829. 
His  wife,    Margaret   Amos,    was   born  a  year 
earlier,  August  24,  1828.     The  Doctor's  par- 
ents   were     John     and     Mary    Ann    (Shaw) 
Crawford.     The    grandparents    were     Robert 
Crawford    and    Jeannette    Forsyth,    and    came 
from    Scotland,    after  they  were    married,   to 
Schoharie  County,  where   Robert  followed  his 
trade    as    a    miller,    but    died    young,   having 
three    children  —  John,    William,    and    Jean- 
nette   Crawford.     The    widow    then    married 
James   Brown,  of   Bovina,  and  at  her  death,  in 
1833,  left  three  children  by  this  second  mar- 
riage—  Andrew,  Thomas,  and  Isabelle  Brown. 
John    Crawford,   the   Doctor's   father,   worked 
on    the   farm    and    attended    school,  like  other 
boys.     Starting  at   last  for  himself,  he  went 
to   live  in   Bovina.     He  had  four  children  — 
William  Henry,    Isabella,  Robert,   Jeannette. 
John  Crawford   died   young,  only  thirty-three; 
but  his  widow,  Mary  A.  Crawford,  lived  to  be 
seventy-four.      Like    their    forefathers,     they 
were  Presbyterians  in  religion.     William   H. 
Crawford    was    only    eleven   wiieu    his    father 
died,     and     had     to     begin    self-support    very 
young;    but    he    worked     hard    summers,    and 
went  to  the  Delhi  Academy  in  the  winter,  and 
was  finally  able  to  graduate  at  the  New  York 
College  of  Physicians  and   Surgeons  in  1854. 
After  a  brief  practice  in  Meredith  he  came  to 
Griffin's  Corners,  where  he  obtained  a  large 
patronage    during    eight    years.     Thence    he 
went    to    Andes,    where    he   labored    to    great 
advantage  for  thirty-two  years  —  in  fact,  until 
his  death,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five.     The  Doc- 
tor was  Democratic   in  politics,    and   spent  a 
year  as  Army  Surgeon   during  the   Rebellion. 
His  wife  died    at  the   age    of   sixty,    leaving 
three    children:    Margaret    Anna,    now    Mrs. 
Lasher;  and   Mary   and   Jane,    both   living    in 
the  dear  Andes  home.     The  Crawfords,   like 
their    family    predecessors,    belonged    to    the 
Presbyterian  church;  and  in  this  respect  Mrs. 
Lasher  is  in  sympathy  with  her  sisters. 

To  both  the  special  subject  of  this  sketch 
and  to  his  father-in-law  might  be  applied  the 
words  of  that  distinguished  literary  son  of 
New   York,    Washington    Irving, — 


"  It  is  interesting  to  notice  how  some  minds 
seem  almost  to  create  themselves,  springing 
up  under  every  disadvantage,  and  working 
their  solitary  but  irresistible  way  through  a 
thousand   obstacles." 


UGH  ADAIR,  a  member  of  the 
School  Commission  for  the  Second 
District  of  Delaware  County,  New 
York,  was  born  in  Kortright,  De- 
cember 22,  1864,  a  son  of  William  M.  and 
Eliza  (Black)  Adair.  His  paternal  grand- 
father, James  Adair,  was  a  native  of  Scotland, 
where  he  spent  his  early  years,  afterward 
going  to  Ireland,  and  thence  to  America. 
He  was  by  trade  a  shoemaker,  but  upon  his 
arrival  in  this  country  followed  agricultural 
pursuits.  He  located  in  the  town  of  Kort- 
right, and  was  a  resident  here  until  his  death. 
He  reared  the  following  family:  William  M., 
Robert,  James,  Margaret,  Nancy,  Eliza, 
Mary,   and   Belle. 

William  M.  Adair  was  educated  at  the  dis- 
trict schools,  and  made  his  home  with  his 
father  until  he  was  twenty-nine,  when  he 
purchased  a  farm  of  his  own  adjoining  the  old 
homestead,  and  resided  there  until  1892,  then 
removed  to  Davenport,  where  he  now  lives, 
retired  from  active  pursuits.  His  wife  was 
the  daughter  of  William  Black,  and  was  born 
in  Ireland.  Her  parents  had  the  following- 
named  children:  William,  Robert,  Hugh, 
Mary  Jane,  Eliza,  and  Margaret.  The  chil- 
dren of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Adair  are  as  follows: 
James;  Elizabeth,  the  wife  of  J.  L.  Clark,  of 
New  York  City:  Margaret,  the  wife  of  James 
Henderson;  William;  Robert:  Hugh;  Ana- 
belle;  John;  and    Leonard. 

Hugh  Adair  was  educated  in  the  district 
schools  and  Delaware  Academy.  He  taught 
in  the  Bloomville  village  school  for  three 
years,  and  afterward  took  a  course  in  Cole- 
man's Business  College.  Upon  leaving  col- 
lege he  kept  books  for  Mr.  Cooper  for  about 
four  months,  and  then  returned  to  Davenport. 
He  was  elected  School  Commissioner  in  Sep- 
tember, 1893,  for  a  three  years  term.  He 
conducts  the  examination  of  applicants,  and  has 
the  appointment  of  about  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  teachers   in  Delaware  County,  and 


lUOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


('  ' 


is  eminently  fitted  f<ir  the  ])()sition,  being  an 
able,  courteous,  and  efficient  Dffieei-.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Republican  part)-,  and  also  of 
the  I'resbvterian  church  at  I\.ortiii;ht. 


,|l)\\l.\  II.  HEICRS,  a  well-known  citi- 
zen and  retired  business  man  of  Han- 
cock, was  horn  in  Walton.  N.V., 
Inne  20,  1826.  His  grandfather,  Ephraim 
Heers,  came  from  England  jirevious  to  the 
Revolutionarv  War,  and  settled  in  l-'airfield. 
Conn.,  where  the  family  lived  at  the  time  the 
town  was  burned  by  the  l^ritish.  After  the 
war,  in  1789,  he  moved  to  the  section  of 
Delaware  County  now  occupied  by  the  town 
of  Walton.  They  were  accompanied  by  three 
other  families,  and  made  the  journey  with  ox- 
teams,  the  |-)ath  being  marked  by  bla/.cd  trees. 
They  settled  on  a  tract  of  land  extending  from 
one  branch  of  the  Delaware  River  to  the 
other;  and  here  they  erected  log  cabins, 
(ianie  and  fish  were  abundant,  and  fur- 
nished the  greater  part  of  the  food  of  those 
early  jiioneers.  the  nearest  market  being  at 
ICaston,  Pa. 

Hczekiah  Beers,  son  of  I'.])hi-aim,  was  bori-i 
in  Fairfield,  Conii..  and  removed  witj-i  his  par- 
ents to  Walton  when  but  nine  years  of  age. 
He  earlv  began  to  work  on  the  farm,  and,  as 
soon  as  he  w-as  old  enough,  also  engaged  in 
lumbering,  helping  to  run  one  of  the  first 
rafts  ever  sent  from  Walton  to  I'hil.adelphia. 
The  return  joiu'ney  was  niade  on  foot  with 
their  jjurchases  strapped  to  tl-ieir  backs, 
and  occupied  three  or  four  days.  Hczekiah 
Heers  married  Cynthia  Goodrich,  daughter  of 
Michael  (loodrich,  of  Walton,  and,  disposing 
of  his  pro]K'rtv  near  the  river,  ])in-chased  a 
farm  on  Dunk  Hill  in  North  Walton,  where 
he  resided  for  a  time,  and  then  sold  out,  and 
removed  to  Otego,  Otsego  County.  He  died 
there  at  the  age  of  eighty-six  years,  having 
been  a  Democrat  throughout  his  life.  His 
wife  passed  away  one  year  later,  leaving  nine 
children:  l-"leanor,  wife  of  Morris  Gould,  a 
farmer  of  Bridgeport,  Conn.;  Clarissa,  who 
married  Caleb  Gosper,  a  farmer  of  .Southport, 
X.V.:  Wakem:in,  a  farmer  in  Bolivar,  Alle- 
gany County:  I'hilo  F..  a  resident  of  Hancock 
until     his     death:    Almeda,    wife     of     Darius 


Dann,  a  farmer  of  Walton:  Xelson.  a  tarnier 
in  Deposit;  Edwin  H..  subject  of  this  sketch; 
I'olly,  who  married  Peter  B.irlow,  a  larniei-  in 
Walton;  ;ind  George,  wh(.)  was  a  ci\il  engi- 
neer fif  St.  Eouis,  and  was  with  Geueial  l-'re- 
mont  for  a  time.  He  enlisted  in  the  Cnion 
army  fi-om  Illinois,  and  was  C.iptain  of  a  com- 
pany, being  shot  through  the  heart  w-hile 
leading  his  men  against  the  rebels  during 
-Sherman's   march   to   the   sea. 

Edwin  H.  P)eers  attended  the  district  schofd 
in  his  boyhood,  and  was  of  much  hel]3  to  his 
father  at  home.  Having  grown  to  manhood, 
he  worked  at  farming  in  Otego,  moving  to 
Hancock  in  Eebru;ny.  1.S61.  I'or  seven  years 
he  was  night  agent  at  the  railway  station 
there,  after  which  he  was  employed  in  various 
pursuits.  He  later  started  a  wagon-hub  fac- 
tory, which  he  continued  for  a  number  of 
)-ears,  ami  was  \-ei'\-  successful.  He  is  now 
li\-ing  practically  retired  from  active  busi- 
ness, and  enjoying  the  fruits  of  his  earlier 
labors     and     the    esteem    of     the    community. 

Januar\-  20,  185  >,  he  married  Betsey 
-Smith,  daughter  of  Ephr.iim  and  Betse_\-  (Kim- 
bell)  -Smith,  of  Unadilla.  (Otsego  Count}-, 
N.V.:  and  they  Ikuc  had  three  children: 
Emily,  who  died  in  infanc)-;  (ieorge  Iv. :  and 
Nettie  E.  George  IC,  who  was  born  in 
Otego,  July  4,  i860,  and  eilucated  in  Hancock 
.■\cadci-n\-,  learned  the  i)rinler's  trade,  but  en- 
tered the  furniture  business  in  June,  1890.  in 
which  he  is  still  engaged.  -August  3.  1892, 
he  married  Lillian  C.  Barlow,  daughter  of 
Peter  anti  Abigail  J.  (Beers)  Barlow,  of  ]5eer- 
ston,  in  the  town  ol  Walton.  Mr.  and  .Mrs. 
George  E.  Beers  have  one  daughter.  Ruth  G. 
Beers,  born  June  2,  1893.  Mrs.  (ieorge  E. 
Beers  graduated  from  the  .State  normal  school 
in  Oswego,  X.Y..  and  taught  one  year  in 
K;uisas  and  later  in  the  ICast  and  in  Hancock. 
-She  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  and  her  hus- 
band of  the  Methodist  church.  He  is  a  .Mas- 
ter Mason,  A.  E.  &  A.  M..  No.  52,  of  Han- 
cock, and  is  a  Re])ul)lican  in  politics.  Net- 
tie E.  lieers  was  born  July  2,  1863,  was  edu- 
cated in  Hancock  Ac--ideni\-.  and  lived  with 
her  parents  ur.lil  her  marriage.  November  2S, 
1883,  to  IE  W.  Wagner,  editor  of  the  Han- 
cock Ihrald.  -She  is  a  member  of  the  Metho- 
dist church. 


412 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


"URACK  H.  CRARY,  of  Binghamton,  1 
Broome  County,  N.Y.,  was  born 
August  29,  1824,  in  the  town  of 
Liberty,  Sullivan  County,  N.Y. 
On  the  paternal  side  he  is  of  Scotch  descent, 
his  ancestor,  Peter  Crary,  having  come  from 
Scotland  in  16S5,  and  settled  in  Groton, 
Conn.,  at  the  head  of  the  Mystic  River. 
Peter  Crary's  son  Peter  was  born  at  Groton  in 
i6yo;  and  his  grandson,  Nathan  Crary,  was 
born  October  13,  17 17,  and  married  Dorothy 
Wheeler,  November  2,  1742.  Their  son 
Thomas  was  born  October  i,  1744,  and  mar- 
ried Mehitable  Mason,  January  9,  1772. 
Both  the  Wheelers  and  the  Masons  are  well- 
known  families  in  Connecticut;  and  many  of 
their  descendants,  as  well  as  the  descendants 
of  the  Crary  family,  are  still  residents  of  that 
State,  some  of  them  being  located  near  the 
old  homestead,  some  at  the  village  of  Mystic, 
and  others  in  different  parts  of  the  State. 

Thomas  Crary,  H.  H.  Crary's  grandfather, 
was  born  January  11,  1775.  In  1797  he  mar- 
ried Polly  Holmes,  and  about  that  time 
migrated  to  Albany  County,  New  York,  and 
from  there  to  Chenango  County.  In  1800  he 
settled  near  the  village  of  Liberty,  in  what 
was  then  the  town  of  Lumberland,  in  the 
county  of  Leister,  but  is  now  in  the  town  of 
Liberty,  in  the  county  of  Sullivan.  Soon 
afterward  he  leased,  and  subsequently  bought, 
the  farm  about  two  miles  from  the  village  of 
Liberty,  upon  which  some  members  of  the 
family  have  ever  since  continued  to  reside, 
and  which  is  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Crary's 
brother  George.  Thomas  Crary  represented 
Sullivan  County  in  the  State  legislature  in 
the  year  1826,  and  was  at  one  time  chosen  one 
of  the  Associate  Judges  of  his  county. 

Calvert  Crary,  Horace  Crary's  father,  was 
.born  August  11,  1798,  and  spent  his  life, 
which  was  not  in  a  public  way  an  eventful 
one,  on  the  homestead  near  Liberty.  A  pros- 
perous farmer,  the  head  of  a  large  family,  his 
business  and  his  family  fully  occupied  his 
time  and  attention.  In  March,  1823,  he  mar- 
ried Eliza  Hill.  He  died  at  the  age  of 
eighty  years;  and  his  wife  Itliza  is  still  liv- 
ing, at  the  age  of  ninety.  Six  sons  and  two 
daughters  survive  him:  Horace  H.;  J.  M. 
Crary,    of    Jersey    City;    Thomas    Crary,     of 


Hancock,  N.Y.;  Mary  A.,  wife  of  J.  N. 
Young,  of  Liberty,  N.Y. ;  Dcnison  Crary, 
of  Vestal,  N.Y. ;  George  Crary,  of  Liberty, 
N.Y.;  Jerry  Crary,  of  Sheffield,  Pa.;  and 
Mrs.  Sarah  A.  Fisk,  of  Hancock.  The  aver- 
age weight  of  the  six  brothers  is  two  hundred 
and  twenty-four  pounds,  and  their  average 
height  six  feet  and  one  and  one-half  inches. 

The  early  opportunities  of  Horace  were  not 
great,    Sullivan  County  being  yet   largely  in 
the  backwoods,    with   only  small    settlements 
scattered   here  and   there   within    its    borders. 
Liberty  was  a  thriving  little  village.     l\Ionti- 
cello    was    twelve     miles    distant    from    Mr. 
Crary's  home;    and    the  nearest  point  of  any 
importance    was    Newburg,    more    than    fifty 
miles    away.      Horace    attended    the    district 
school  quite  regularly  from  the  time  he  was 
five  until  he  became  fifteen  years  of  age,  and 
from  that  time  until  he  was  twenty  attended 
the  district  school   in  the  winter,  when   there 
was  nothing  else  with  which  to  busy  himself. 
He  had  a  genius  for  figures,  and  early  became 
master   of   all    the    intricacies    of     "Daboll's 
Arithmetic."     As  a  trophy  of  his  school-days, 
he  still  has  a  l)ook  in  which  all  the  examples 
in  the  arithmetic  are  worked  out  in  full.      He 
was  standing  authority  on  these  questions  in 
the  school,  and  was  always  referred  to  when 
the  teacher  lacked  time  or  inclination  to  ex- 
plain.    Sullivan  County  at  that  time  abounded 
in  game  of  all  kinds.     Wolves  and  bears  were 
common    through    the    town   of    Liberty,    and 
deer  plentiful.     Wolves  came  out  sometimes 
at   night,    and   killed   whole   flocks    of  sheep. 
Foxes    were    also    numerous;  and  one  winter 
Mr.    Crary  broke  the  monotony  of  school  life 
by  catching  twenty-three  of  them,  and  a  large 
number  of  rabbits,  trapping  in  the  cold  sea- 
son being  both  sport  and  business.     He  was  a 
fleet-footed    lad,    and    often    recalls    one   fox- 
chase,  after  a  light  snow,  when  he  succeeded 
in  running  Reynard  down  and  capturing  him. 
In  the  summer   time   he  varied   working  on 
the  farm  with  cattle  droving,  speculating,  and 
selling  goods  by  auction  at  the  general  train- 
ings.    Sometimes  in  the  winter  he  sold  game 
and  poultry  in  the  markets  of  New  York  City. 
At  that  time  he  could  obtain  the  privilege  of 
standing    in    Washington   Market    during  the 
day  and  selling  his  goods,  on  the  payment  of 


f.^..  .f  ■. 


% 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


■I'S 


a  sixpence  for  his  stand.  ,\t  night  lie  could 
nail  his  j^roduCe  up  in  a  box,  and  le;i\e  it 
with  a  watchman,  who  took  charge  of  it  with- 
out extra  expense,  llis  business  of  huckster- 
ing at  the  trainings  commenced  wiien  he  was 
twelve  or  fourteen  years  old.  One  of  his 
early  speculations,  which  is  remembered  for  its 
disappointment  rather  than  for  its  ])rofit,  was 
the  purchase  of  a  t|uantity  of  maple  sugai-  in 
small  cakes  in  the  spring,  to  be  sold  at  the 
general  trainings  in  the  fall.  He  purchased 
eight  dollars"  worth,  at  an  expense  of  two 
cents  per  cake.  This,  he  estimated,  would  be 
worth  in  the  fall  four  cents  a  cake;  and  his 
profit  would  thus  be  eight  dollars.  One  day 
in  summer  he  pried  the  cover  from  the  box 
to  taste  the  sugar;  and  the  result  was  that 
before  training-time  the  sugar  was  all  gone, 
and  the  expected  profit  of  eight  dollars  re- 
sulted in  a  net  loss  of  eight  dollars,  or, 
rather,  in  an  investment  of  eight  dollars  for 
the  benefit  of  his  sugar  tooth.  These  sales  at 
general  trainings  he  was  accustomed  to  follow 
up  from  day  to  da\',  sometimes  driving  twentv 
miles  after  the  close  of  one  tlay's  work  to  be 
really  to  open  up  business  the  next  daw 

In  1846  the  general  trainings  c'ased ;  and 
from  that  time  until  i  S50  he  was  engaged  in 
the  butcher  business  and  in  droving,  buying 
cattle  and  sheep  in  Central  \ew  York,  aiul 
di"i\'ing  them  to  Sullivan  Countv,  and  buving 
horses  in  Ohio  and  Canada,  and  bringing 
them  East,  and  selling  them.  In  his  business 
transactions  he  early  learned  to  rel\'  upon  him- 
self. His  father's  name  was  good  in  the  sur- 
rounding country  for  a  considerable  amount, 
and  this  credit  was  loaned  to  Horace  Ijy  in- 
dorsement and  otherwise;  but  the  paper  was 
always  taken  care  of  by  Horace  as  faithfully 
as  if  it  were  the  indorsement  of  a  stranger, 
l-'urther  than  these  good  offices,  he  never  had 
any  assistance  from  home  or  elsewhere.  In 
1847,  in  Chenango,  Cortland,  and  some  other 
counties,  the  farmers,  tindiiig  no  market  foi- 
their  sheep,  killed  a  great  many  of  them  for 
their  hide  and  tallow.  The  pelt  was  worth 
about  forty  cents,  the  tallow  was  tried  out, 
the  rounds  were  salted  for  use,  and  the  rest 
fed  to  the  hogs.  Thousands  were  disposed  of 
in  this  way.  About  that  time  Mr.  Crary  pur- 
chased  four   hundred   sheep   a   few   miles  from 


Oxford,  at  seventy-five  cents  per  hc.io,  .mo 
was  allowed  to  take  his  pick  of  that  numhi'r 
from  a  fiock  of  seven  hundred  sheep.  This 
incident  shows  that  the  change  in  the  times 
and  the  additional  means  of  communication 
have  not  been  altogether  to  the  disadvantage 
of  the  Central  Xew  York  farmer.  Another 
incitlent  related  by  Mr.  Crary  gives  a  good 
idea  of  the  varying  value  or  purchasing  |)owcr 
ol  money.  On  returning  from  Ohio  with  a 
drove  of  horses,  he  went  ahead  to  find  enter- 
tainment for  the  night.  He  stopjjcd  at  a  good 
hotel:  ami  the  landlord  told  him  he  would 
charge  twelve  and  a  half  cents  each  for  horses 
and  men,  and,  as  there  were  twenty-two  horses 
and  three  boys,  he  would  throw  off  a  shil- 
ling, and  keep  the  whole  of  them,  giving 
the  horses  hay  and  oats  and  the  boys  supper, 
lodging,  and  breakfast,   for  three  dollars. 

In  1850  Mr.  Crary  was  elected  .Supervisor 
of  the  town  of  Liberty,  and  performed  the 
duties  of  the  office  for  the  year.  In  that  year, 
1850,  he  went  to  Hancock,  and,  together  with 
ICdson  Gregory,  John  Havidge,  Alva  Gregory, 
and  L.  H.  Allison,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Allison,  Gregory  &  Co.,  built  a  tannery  on 
Sand's  Creek,  about  two  miles  above  Hancock 
village,  afterward  known  as  the  Allisonville 
tannery.  Soon  after  tlie  commencement  of 
the  enterprise  Edson  Gregory  died,  Alva 
(Gregory  sold  out,  and  the  firm  name  was 
changed  to  Allison.  Davidge  &  Co.  The 
Erie  Railway  had  just  been  completed,  and 
had  opened  up  the  Delaware  \'allev  to  the  out- 
;  side  world.  Crary  was  now  about  twenty-six 
years  of  age.  He  felt  that  the  business  o'f  his 
life  had  opened  before  him,  and  took  hold  of  it 
with  a  pluck  and  energy  that  never  (lagged  or 
wa\-ered  until  many  years  afterward,  when  the 
partial  loss  of  his  sight  called  for  a  halt  in 
the  more  active  efforts  of  his  life.  In  the 
woods  where  the  bark  was  peeled,  about  the 
tannery,  and  everywhere  else  where  the  busi- 
ness interests  of  his  firm  called  him,  the 
effect  of  his  industry,  energy,  and  push  was 
felt;  and  the  business  of  the  firm  prospered. 
In  October,  1S53,  I\Ir.  Crary  was  married 
to  Polly  Pnirr,  of  Liberty.  Dame  Fortune 
smiled  on  Horace  Crary  at  various  times  dur- 
ing his  business  life  and  in  manv  ways,  but 
never    brighter  or  more   propitiouslv   than    in 


4i6 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


the  selection  of  his  companion  for  life.  For 
whatever  of  success  afterward  came  to  him, 
either  in  his  business  life  or  in  his  home  — 
and  great  success  did  indeed  come  —  his  com- 
panion is  certainly  entitled  to  her  fair  share 
of  the  credit.  The  home  built  by  Mr.  Crary, 
then  at  AUisonville,  was  occupied  by  him 
until   October,    1885. 

In  October,  1856,  John  Davidge  sold  his 
interest  in  the  firm  to  Walter  Horton;  and 
the  firm  was  then  reorganized,  under  the  name 
of  Allison,  Crary  &  Co.,  with  Mr.  Horton  as 
junior  partner.  Davidge  went  to  Lake  Como, 
Wayne  County,  Pa.,  and,  together  with  the 
new  firm  of  Allison,  Crary  &  Co.,  built  a  tan- 
nery there,  a  half-interest  in  which  was  owned 
by  the  firm  at  AUisonville.  Next  year  came 
the  panic  of  1857.  Few  men  who  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  business  matters  at  that  time 
will  ever  forget  it;  and  this  firm,  just  begin- 
ning to  realize  from  the  work  of  the  past  five 
years,  without  sufficient  capital  to  be  inde- 
pendent, and  with  its  indebtedness  largely 
increased  by  reason  of  the  building  of  the  new 
tannery  at  Como,  felt  the  full  force  of  the 
storm.  But  these  were  men  to  bow  before  the 
blast,  not  break.  They  were  just  the  men  to 
make  the  utmost  possible  out  of  the  means  at 
their  command.  Despite  the  shrinkage  in 
values  and  the  general  commercial  distrust 
throughout  the  country,  they  continued  to 
work  on,  accomplishing  what  they  could,  and 
hoping  for  better  times  in  the  near  future. 
As  if  to  try  their  mettle  to  the  utmost.  May 
10,  1862,  just  at  the  beginning  of  the  war, 
when  the  business  promise  of  the  country  was 
anything  but  bright,  the  tannery,  together 
with  a  large  stock  of  leather  and  bark,  caught 
from  a  woods'  fire,  and  was  totally  destroyed, 
the  insurance  covering  only  about  one-third 
of  the  loss.  To  add  to  the  discouragement 
and  further  embarrassment  of  the  affairs  of  the 
partnership,  about  this  time  L.  H.  Allison 
became  incapacitated  for  doing  business  by 
reason  of  an  attack  of  some  nervous  disease, 
of  which  he  shortly  afterward  died.  But  the 
insurance  money  was  paid,  the  leather  in  the 
vats  had  been  uninjured,  some  stock  left  in 
the  out-buildings  had  been  saved,  the  reputa- 
tion earned  by  the  firm  in  the  years  that  were 
past,    their    unquestioned    integrity,    business 


ability,  and  perseverance,  which  had  become 
widely  known,  won  for  them  friends;  and, 
with  the  considerate  and  generous  aid  of  Bul- 
lard  &  Co.,  of  New  York,  they  were  enabled 
to  go  on  with  their  business.  The  rapid  ad- 
vance in  prices  in  1863,  growing  out  of  the 
inflation  caused  by  the  war  and  the-  war 
methods  of  raising  money,  found  them  with 
their  tannery  full,  their  business  pressed  to 
its  utmost  capacity,  and  everything  in  hand  to 
reap  the  largest  advantage  from  the  propitious 
change  in  the  financial  condition  of  the  coun- 
try. They  were  thoroughly  prepared  for  the 
change  in  the  tide,  and  were  carried  by  the 
flood  to  a  financial  success  vi'hich,  so  far  as 
Mr.  Crary  is  concerned,  has  never  since  been 
weakened. 

In  1864  Mr.  Horton  sold  liis  interest  in  the 
firm  to  George  H.  Allison,  and  the  business 
was  then  continued  under  the  firm  name  of 
Allison  &  Crary.  Walter  Horton,  when  he 
left  the  firm  at  Hancock,  after  looking  about 
for  some  time,  accompanied  his  uncle,  Webb 
Horton,  of  Orange  County,  New  York,  to 
Shefifield,  Warren  County,  Pa.,  and  purchased 
several  thousand  acres  of  real  estate  in  War- 
ren, Forest,  and  McKean  Counties.  In  1866 
Mr.  Crary  purchased  a  one-third  interest  in 
these  lands;  and  on  November  i,  1866,  the 
firm  of  Horton,  Crary  &  Co.  was  organized,  to 
do  business  at  Sheffield,  Warren  County,  Pa. 
Next  year  they  built  the  Sheffield  tannery, 
and  were  actively  at  work.  This  venture 
proved  the  beginning  of  a  very  extensive  and 
successful  business,  which  has  since  grown  to 
be  one  of  the  most  prosperous  in  the  State. 
Mr.  Crary's  youngest  brother  Jerry,  who  had 
been  seriously  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Re- 
saca,  Ga.,  in  1864,  and  who  was  now  so  far 
recovered  as  to  be  able  to  do  some  work,  was 
soon  afterward  admitted  into  the  partnership. 
He  at  once  took  a  responsible  part  in  the 
management  of  the  growing  business  interest 
of  the  firm,  and  continued  to  be  one  of  its 
most  active  and   trusted   members. 

Horton,  Crary  &  Co.  bought  a  controlling 
interest  in  the  sole-leather  tannery  founded  at 
Sheffield  by  J.  F.  Schoellkopf,  of  Buffalo. 
With  this  gentleman  they  formed  an  indepen- 
dent partnership,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Schoellkopf,   Horton  &  Co.      Soon  after  Hor- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVfEVV 


■1'7 


ton,  Crary  &  Co.  associated  tlicmsolvos  witli 
John  McNair  and  C.  \V.  R.  Radikcr,  and 
lnii!t  what  was  called  the  Tionesta  tannery. 
I'iiey  also  bought  the  Hiookston  tanner\',  sit- 
uated eight  miles  from  .Sheffield,  and  started 
under  the  firm  name  of  the  I'orest  Tanning 
ConTjiany.  Later  they  purchased  the  Arroyo 
tannery,  at  Arroyo,  on  the  Clarion  ]\i\-er,  FAk 
County,  I'ennsyh'ania.  The  firm  built  the 
Tionesta  \'alley  Railroad,  which  oi^ened  uj) 
connection  with  the  I'ittsburg  &  Western 
Railroad.  Later  the  firm  bought  the  Chrriy 
Grove  &  Garfield  Railroad,  and  controlled  and 
operated  about  seventy-fi\'e  miles  of  roads  and 
switches,  of  special  service  to  its  own  busi- 
ness in  moving  lumber  and  bark,  and  of  great 
value  to  the  region  through  which  it  runs  for 
trans])orting  [lassengers  as  well  as  freight. 
In  1S75,  ujwn  the  death  of  .Mr.  McNair,  his 
interest  in  the  business  was  sold  to  Messrs. 
Isaac  Morton,  George  Horton,  and  (ieorge 
Dickenson.  In  1886  Mr.  Dickenson  sold  out 
his  interest  to  James  H.  Horton  and  Lane  H. 
Schofield. 

In  1875  II.  11.  Crary,  William  H.  Garrett, 
James  Horton,  and  b'dson  Davidgc,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Crar\-,' (iarrctt.  Horton  &  Co., 
bitilt  a  tannery  at  Westfield,  Tioga  County, 
La.  William  H.  Garrett  died  in  Kovemlier. 
1876.  The  firm  was  soon  after  reorganized 
under  the  firm  name  of  H.  H.  Crary  &  Co., 
W'altcr  Horton,  of  .Sheffield,  taking  an  inter- 
est. In  1 88  I  II.  H.  Crary  &  Co.,  associated 
with  Messrs.  W.  ("r.  Garrett  and  L.  R.  John- 
son, built  the  Harrison  \'alley  tannery  at 
Harrison  Valley,  La.,  taking  the  firm  name  of 
W'alter  Horton  &  Co.  Horton,  Crary  &  Co. 
started  a  leather  exporting  house  at  78  Gold 
-Street,  New-  ^'ork  Cit\';  and  afterward  Hor- 
ton, Crary  &  Co.,  11.  II.  Crary  &  Co.,  and 
Walter  Horton  &  Co.,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Walter  Horton  &  Co.,  opened  a  leather  house 
at  107  South  Street,  Hoston.  Mass.  In  i8SS 
Mr.  Crary,  in  connection  with  Walter  Hor- 
ton, James  Horton,  Walter  G.  Garrett,  li.  (i. 
Davidgc,  and  L.  R.  Johnson,  purchased  the 
tannerv  at  -Salamanca,  X.Y.,  and  organized 
voider  the  firm  name  of  James  Horton  &  Co. 
To  add  to  the  business  interests  at  Sheffield, 
about  1875  petroleum  was  found  in  large 
quantities    upon     the    premises;    and    the    oil  \ 


interest  became  one  of  tlie  business  matters 
1  of  the  firms.  About  the  time  of  the  discn\L-ry 
'  of  oil,  natiu'al  gas  was  fmind  in  ainindanee; 
and  all  the  light  and  he.it  necessarv  fnr  do- 
mestic and  mechanical  purposes  abunt  .Slief- 
field  and  its  \icinity  have  since  been  furnished 
b\-  the  gas  wells  located  upon  the  i)remises. 
15oth  oil  and  gas  have  added  largeh'  to  the 
tinancial  success  of  the  busiinss  at  .Sheffield. 
In  1873  II.  H.  Crary,  with  his  brother, 
Denison  Crar\',  and  Amos  L.  Hall,  built  the 
Hancock  mills,  near  Hancock  village,  Dela- 
ware Count)',  N.Y.,  and  run  them  under  the 
firm  name  of  Crary,  Hall  &  Co.  Hall  after- 
ward sold  out  to  the  other  partners,  and  the 
firm  name  then  became  Denison  Crary  li'  Co. 
In  ,\[)ril,  1881,  Denison  Crary  sold  out  to 
Denison  I'isk,  his  brother-in-law;  and  the 
lirm    name   was   changed   to    I'isk   &   Crai\'. 

X'arious  changes  have  occurred  in  the  firm 
at  .Allisonville.  Thomas  Crary  purchased  an 
interest  some  years  since:  and  then  William 
.•\.  llall  and  W.  I-".  .Stimpson  became  mem- 
bers <)!  the  firm.  Later  Roscoe  Crarv, 
Thomas  Crary's  son,  purchased  the  interest  of 
Denisciu  ('rary.  The  firm  sid5set|uentlv  be- 
came the  owners  of  the  grist-mills  at  Hancock 
village,  which  now  for  some  years  have  been 
run  b\-  the  same  men  who  ojjcrated  the  tan- 
nery, but  imder  the  name  of  Crary.  Hall  & 
Co.  The  business  at  Allisonville  has  been 
for  some  time  conducted  under  the  firm  name 
of  Crar\-  Hrotbei-s,  II.  H.  Crary  retaining  an 
interest  in  the  business  through  all  its 
changes. 

L'p  to  the  fall  of  1876  Mr.  Crary  was  one  of 
the  most  energetic  ami  active  Inisiness  men 
in  the  country.  His  hand  and  his  head  were 
felt  in  every  business  interest  with  which  he 
was  connected.  No  one  stirred  earlier,  no 
one  worked  later.  From  the  years  of  his  bo\'- 
hood  until  the  day  of  the  Presidential  election 
in  1876,  be  had  scarcely  known  what  it  was  to 
be  sick,  and  had  never  known  what  it  was  to 
be  incapacitated  for  business  for  anv  length  of 
time.  Returning  home  from  a  hard  dav's 
work  at  the  j'lolls,  his  eyes,  until  then  seem- 
ingly pc'rfect,  began  to  pain  him:  and  before 
the  beginning  of  the  new  year  he  was  threat- 
ened with  blindness.  Like  a  bolt  out  of  a 
clear  sk\-,  this  threatened  calamity  almost  im- 


4i8 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


nerved  him;  but  soon  the  old  will  got  the 
mastery,  and  he  resolved  to  make  the  best  of 
it,  as  he  must,  and  accomplish  what  he  might 
be  spared  to  do.  Consulting  the  best  oculists 
in  the  country,  he  was  informed  that  he  must 
break  loose  from  his  direct  and  active  connec- 
tion with  his  business  affairs,  and  that  to  do 
so  it  would  be  better  for  him  to  leave  home 
for  a  time.  After  passing  the  winter  of  1877 
and  1878  in  Florida,  in  May,  1878,  he,  to- 
gether with  his  wife  and  his  daughter  Emma, 
now  the  wife  of  J.  C.  Young,  of  Liberty, 
sailed  for  Europe,  where  they  spent  a  con- 
siderable part  of  the  year,  celebrating  the 
Fourth  of  July  at  Interlaken.  At  Mr.  Crary's 
suggestion  the  stars  and  stripes  were  hoisted 
above  all  other  flags,  and  during  that  anniver- 
sary day  floated  over  them  all.  The  next 
season  he  made  a  trip  to  California,  and  since 
then  has  been  quite  a  traveller.  In  1885  he 
removed  to  the  city  of  Ringhamton,  where  he 
continues  to  reside.  He  has  never  fully  re- 
covered his  sight,  and  for  that  reason  has  been 
unable  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  business 
of  the  several  firms  with  which  he  is  con- 
nected ;  but  he  has  never  ceased  to  be  a  coun- 
sellor, guide,  friend,  and  organizer,  and  there 
has  been  no  time  in  which  his  experience, 
ability,  and  energy  have  not  been  felt  in  the 
conduct  of  tlie  business. 

In  the  sjiring  of  1891  Mr.  Crary"s  son  Cal- 
vert, who  is  connected  with  the  leather  house 
at  107  South  Street,  Boston,  Roscoc  Crary, 
of  Hancock,  N.Y.,  a  nephew  of  H.  H.  Crary, 
J.  C.  Young,  of  Liberty,  N.Y.,  his  son-in- 
law,  and  several  other  parties,  purchased  about 
fifteen  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Wyoming  and 
Sullivan  Counties,  Pennsylvania,  with  the  in- 
tent to  open  up  another  large  tanning  and 
lumber  business.  While  H.  H.  Crary  had  no 
direct  interest  in  this  enterprise,  yet  in  the 
purchase  of  the  property  and  the  planning  for 
the  opening  up  of  the  business  both  his  ! 
counsel  and  his  capital  were  largely  relied  ' 
upon.  1 

In  the  autumn  of    1892    Mr.  Crary  was  asso-  j 
ciated  with  nine  tanning  firms  and  the  milling 
firm  at  Hancock.      The  out]iut  of  the  combined 
tannery  interest  was  about  four  thousand  sides  I 
of  sole   leather  daily,  requiring  two  thousand 
hides,  and  using  about   one  hundred   thousand  [ 


cords  of  bark  per  year.  The  firm  of  Horton, 
Crary  &  Co.  had  acquired  a  very  large  export 
trade,  which  in  1888,  to  Europe  alone,  com- 
prised twenty-four  and  three-fourths  per  cent, 
of  all  the  leather  which  went  out  of  the  port 
of  New  York.  In  the  winter  and  spring  of 
1893  a  great  change  took  place  in  the  tanning 
business.  The  greater  part  of  the  tanners  and 
leather  men  agreed  to  combine  their  interests, 
and  their  various  properties  were  conveyed  to 
several  corporations  by  which  the  business  is 
to  be  carried  on.  Mr.  Crary  and  his  asso- 
ciates took  an  active  part  in  bringing  about 
the  change,  and  all  of  their  properties  have 
been  conveyed  to  these  corporations.  The 
direct  personal  control  of  the  men  who  had 
organized  and  operated  these  vast  business  en- 
terprises has  ceased,  and  their  influence  and 
power  can  now  only  be  used  and  felt  as  the 
officers  of  a  corporation. 

During  his  business  life  Mr.  ("rary  has  been 
associated  with  about  twenty-five  partners, 
none  of  whom  have  ever  become  seriously  em- 
barrassed or  failed  to  pay  their  debts.  A 
large  number  of  these  partners,  including 
some  of  the  most  successful  ones,  have  been 
young  men  whose  early  business  training  has 
been  under  Mr.  Crary's  direct  influence. 
His  success  has  not  been  a  business  success 
alone,  but  his  influence  as  a  sober,  upright, 
and  industrious  business  man  has  been  felt  far 
and  near.  Over  the  young  men  connected 
with  him  in  business,  in  his  employ,  or  asso- 
ciated with  himself  and  family,  Mr.  Crary's 
influence  for  good  has  been  such  as  few  men 
have  been  able  to  exert.  The  success  which 
he  has  attained  as  a  business  man  has  imques- 
tionably  been  to  some  extent  the  result  of 
good  fortune;  but  its  real  secret  is  to  be 
found  in  himself  —  his  superior  qualifications 
for  conducting  vast  enterprises,  his  keen  in- 
telligence, energy,  and  close  application,  his 
combined  daring  and  prudence,  his  self-reli- 
ance and  power  of  organization  —  these,  with 
his  strict  sense  of  justice,  his  honorable 
methods   of  dealing. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Crary  have  had  five  children 
born  to  them,  all  of  whom  are  living.  The 
eldest  daughter,  Mrs.  J.  C.  Young,  resides  at 
Liberty,  N.Y.  The  eldest  son,  Thomas  B., 
and  two  daughters,  Grace  and  Mary,  live  with 


P.IOCK  A  PI  II  CM,    Rl'A'IFAV 


■119 


tlicir  parents  in  tlic  city  of  Hinghamton.  The 
olhoi  son,  Calvert,  wiio  prior  to  the  recent 
chani;c  was  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Walter 
Hortoii  &  Co.,  at  107  Soutli  Street,  Boston, 
Mass.,  is  still  connected  with  the  business 
there.  Mi".  C"rary  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  tlie  Methodist  I^jMscopal  church.  Their 
influence  and  their  means  have  been  widel\- 
felt  in  church  interests  and  charities,  both  at 
home  and  abroad;  while  their  home  itself  is 
an  inspiration  and  a  benediction  to  all  who 
may  be  so  hapjiy  as  to  fall  within  the  ciicle  of 
its  influence. 

The  excellent  steel-en^^raved  portrait  of  Mr. 
Crary  which  accompanies  this  sketch  and  adds 
to  its  interest  will  be  recop;nized  as  the  like- 
ness of  a  man  of  character  and  ability,  one 
who  has  done  well  by  his  fellow-men,  and 
whom   thev   delight    to   honor. 


-AMKS  S.  .McLAURV,  M.D.,  an  old 
settler  of  Walton,  Delaware  County, 
N.Y.,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Kort- 
light,  October  9,  181 5,  his  jxirenls 
being  Matthew  and  Margaret  (Riggs)  Mc- 
Laughry.  The  longer  s]xdling  of  the  name 
is  historically  correct,  having  been  used  by 
the  earlier  generations.  The  abbreviated 
form  was  adopted  by  the  Doctor's  father  late 
in  life.  The  home  of  the  McLaughrys  for 
many  generations  was  in  Scotland,  but  between 
1600  and  1630  some  of  the  family  emigrated 
to  Ireland.  Here  on  July  12,  1690,  an  ear- 
lier Matthew  I\IcLaughry,  the  Doctor's  great- 
great-grandfather,  took  part  under  the  banner 
of  King  William  in  the  decisive  battle  of  the 
Boyne.  Troublous  times  both  preceded  and 
followed  this  event;  and  at  length,  after  suf- 
fering innumerable  hardships,  these  Scottish 
colonists,  des[)airing  of  justice  from  the  gov- 
ernment, abandoned  the  country,  and  emi- 
grateil  In'  thousands  to  America,  eventually 
becoming  the  most  determined  enemies  of 
luiglanil  in  the  W'ar  of  the  Revolution. 

Matthew  McLanghry  decided  to  come  hither 
with  his  entire  family,  twenty-five  persons  in 
all,  including  children  and  grandchildren, 
and  with  a  large  number  of  his  friends  joine<l 
the  compaiu'  known  as  the  Clinton  colon)'. 
On    May    9,    1729,    they    left    their    home    in 


Longford;  and  on  the  iSlh  they  embarked  at 
Dublin  on  board  the  ship  named  the  "George 
and  Ann,"  the  infamous  Captain  Rymer  in 
command.  .Setting  sail  on  the  20th,  thev 
came  I'ound  on  the  north-east  coast  of  Ireland, 
and  on  the  24th  came  to  (jlen  Ann,  where 
Matthew  McLanghry  and  wife,  Margaret 
Parks,  on  account  of  the  infirmities  of  age 
and  ill  health,  decided  to  abandon  the  \'oy- 
age.  and  with  his  daughter  .Sarah  an<l 
youngest  son,  Thomas,  left  the  ship,  and  re- 
turned to  Longford.  Matthew,  buying  back 
from  his  brother-in-law,  Mattlu'W  Parks,  part 
of  his  old  liome,  resided  there  till  his  death. 
His  family  consisted  of  four  sons,  Andrew, 
.Matthew,  Jr.,  Joseph,  and  Thomas,  and  five 
daughters,  one  of  whom  married  a  McDowell. 
After  a  protracted  \'oyage  of  nearly  five 
nionths,  land  was  sighted  at  Cape  Cod,  Octo- 
ber 4,  when  the  wretched  survivors,  reduced 
to  almost  the  last  extremity  through  sickness 
and  star\'atioii.  obtained  of  the  captain  (a 
treacherous  villain,  as  they  believed)  per- 
mission to  land,  though  their  iritended 
destination  was  Philadelphia.  Matthew  Mc- 
Dowell, a  grandson,  who  becanie  the  ancestor 
of  the  McD(.well  family  in  Orange  County, 
New  York,  was  the  only  surxivor  of  the 
twentv-one  members  of  the  family  who  prose- 
cuted the  vovage;  and  there  were  in  all 
ninety-six  deaths  on  lioard  that  ill-fated  ship. 
.'\fter  spending  the  winter  at  Cape  Cod,  where 
a  number  more  were  added  during  the  winter 
to  the  list  of  the  dead,  the  siu'vivors  came  on 
to  New  \'ork,  and.  olitaining  land  at  and  near 
near  Little  Britain,  in  L'lster,  now  Orange. 
Count)',    the)'   settled    there    in    the    spring   of 

'731- 

Thomas  McLanghry,  the  youngest  son  of 
Mattlunv,  married  Margaret  .Swift;  and  in 
1765,  thirty-six  )'ears  after  his  j^revious  vent- 
ure, emigrated  with  his  family,  including  his 
wife,  foiu"  sons,  Matthew,  Richard,  Andrew, 
and  Thomas,  Jr.,  and  three  daughters,  Mary 
Ann  (Mrs.  lulward  Riggs),  Agnes  (Mrs.  John 
Watson),  'Tid  Margaret  (Mrs.  James   Savage). 

!  After  a  voxage  of  two  months  they  arrived  in 
New  York  on  November  13.  .At  this  time 
lulward    Riggs,    who    had    marrietl    the    eldest 

I  daughter,  Mar\'  Ann,  anil  had  crossed  the 
Atlantic  a  vear  or  two  before,  was  engaged  in 


42  0 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


teaching  a  classical  school  in  Esopus,  where 
his  wife  and  the  rest  of  the  family  joined 
him.  Their  father,  however,  and  his  eldest 
son,  Matthew,  on  their  way  up  the  river, 
stopped  off  from  the  sloop  at  New  Windsor, 
to  visit  the  father's  nephew  Matthew,  named 
above,  and  others  of  his  old  friends  belonging 
to  the  Clinton  colony.  In  the  spring  of 
1766,  after  spending  the  winter  in  Esopus, 
the  family  went  to  Little  Britain,  settling  on 
a  farm  belonging  to  John  Reid,  and  the  next 
year  removed  to  a  farm  near  the  Wallkill 
meeting-house,  belonging  to  George  Monell. 
In  the  spring  of  1768,  having  purchased  a  lot 
of  about  one  hundred  acres  of  new  land  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Battenkill,  near  Fitch's 
Point,  in  Salem,  Washington  County,  Thomas 
McLaughry,  with  his  family,  left  Wallkill  on 
May  17,  and,  after  a  tedious  journey  through 
an  almost  unbroken  wilderness,  reached  their 
forest  home,  where  he  spent  the  remaining 
years   of  his    life,    dying  about    1772. 

Andrew  McLaughry  married  Elizabeth  Har- 
sha;  and  his  brother,  Thomas,  Jr.,  married 
her  sister,  Agnes  Harsha.  These  ladies  were 
daughters  of  Elder  James  Harsha,  who  came 
from  Monaghan,  Ireland,  to  this  country  in 
1764,  with  the  large  number  of  emigrants  who 
accompanied  Dr.  Thomas  Clark,  father  of 
Judge  Ebenezer  Clark,  of  Argyle.  Thomas 
McLaughry,  Jr.,  settled  about  1784  in  Kort- 
right,  Delaware  County,  at  that  time  an  almost 
unbroken  forest.  For  a  part  of  the  distance 
they  were  obliged  to  clear  the  way  and  make 
a  road,  such  as  they  could,  through  the  woods 
to  their  isolated  and  lonely  dwelling-place. 
Few  in  these  (kiys  can  appreciate  the  toils 
and  trials  of  the  brave  pioneers  who  made 
their  homes  in  the  wilderness,  and  here  laid 
the  foundations  of  the  comforts  and  advantages 
enjoyed  by  their  descendants.  The  elder  Mc- 
Laughrys  did  no  small  part  of  the  work  in 
Kortright.  Richard  and  Andrew,  two  of  the 
other  bi'others,  came  on  a  few  years  after 
Thomas;  and  the  three  brothers  together, 
ha\'ing  large  families,  made  up  for  some  time 
a  large  part  of  the  population  of  the  town. 
Thomas  and  Agnes  McLaughry  were  the  par- 
ents of  the  following  children:  Joseph  and 
James  IL,  of  Kortright,  the  latter  born  in 
1777;  John  R.,  born  1779;   William    IL,  who 


died  at  Harpersiield  in  1874,  in  his  ninety- 
third  year;  Thomas  P.,  a  resident  of  Kort- 
right; Matthew,  born  1790,  died  in  Kortright 
in  1874;  Edward  R.,  born  in  1792;  Mary, 
who  married  Joseph  Douglas;  Martha,  wife  of 
John  Leal,  who  first  settled  in  Kortright,  and 
later  at  I'2ast  Meredith,  where  she  died; 
Sarah,    who  died   in   early  womanhood. 

Matthew  McLaury,  father  of  Dr.  James  S. 
McLaury,  of  Walton,  was  educated  at  the 
common  schools  of  Kortright,  his  native 
town.  He  was  a  man  of  much  ability  and  in- 
fluence, upright  and  honorable,  holding  vari- 
ous official  positions  which  he  filled  with 
credit,  being  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  many 
years,  and  also  Deputy  Sheriff  of  the  county. 
He  was  a  Deacon  and  Elder  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian church,  and  in  politics  he  was  a  Demo- 
crat. He  was  married  in  18 14  to  Miss 
Margaret  Riggs,  daughter  of  Erod  Riggs  and 
Mary  A.  (Savage)  Riggs,  of  Argyle,  Wash- 
ington County,  who  was  born  in  1792.  They 
became  the  parents  of  eleven  children,  the 
eldest  of  whom  is  James  S.,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.  The  second,  Thomas  S.  Mc- 
Laury, died  in  infancy.  Thomas  D.,  born 
1 8 19,  married  Margaret  Louden.  Edward  R. 
married  Sarah  Youngs,  and  both  died  in  Illi- 
nois. William  M.,  a  physician  in  New 
York,  married  Miss  Margaret  King.  John 
N.,  born  in  1833,  enlisted  in  the  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-fourth  New  York  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  and  died  from  fever  contracted 
in  the  service  at  Hilton  Head,  S.C.,  in  1864. 
Walter  T.  married  Caroline  Marvin,  and  re- 
sides at  the  old  homestead  at  Kortright. 
Two  other  sons  also  died  in  infancy.  Of  the 
daughters,  Martha  A.  died  at  the  age  of 
twenty -eight,  and  Mary  E.  married  James  D. 
McGillivrae,  of  Stamford,  and  died  near 
Bloomville   in    1885,    at  the  age  of  sixty. 

James  S.  McLaury  obtained  his  preparatory 
education  chiefly  in  the  common  schools  of  his 
native  town  and  in  select  schools  —  one 
taught  by  the  Rev.  Melancthon  B.  Williams, 
the  other  by  the  Rev.  William  McAvley. 
He  also  attended  the  Delaware  Academy  at 
Delhi.  In  1835  he  entered  Union  College, 
where  he  was  graduated  in  the  class  of  1838. 
He  began  the  study  of  medicine  the  same  year 
with   Dr.    Ezra  T.    Gibbs,   of    Kortright,    and 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


121 


alterwai'd  cntcrcil  tlic  office  of  Dr.  James  II. 
McLaury,  of  New  York  City,  and  vvliile  tliere 
took  a  cour.se  in  the  (."olle^je  of  I'hysicians  and 
Surgeons.  In  1842  he  came  to  \\'allon,  and 
formed  a  partnership  with  Ur.  T.  J.  Ogden 
for  one  year,  and  was  afterw.iid  at  Mast 
Worcester,  Otsego  County,  from  June,  184^ 
until  Novemlier,  1845,  when  lie  returned  Id 
Walton,  and  foUowetl  the  practice  of  his  pi'o- 
fession  in  this  town  until  r88o,  when  he  le- 
tired  from  active  practice  and  moved  to 
Vonkers,  where  he  li\'ed  until  his  wife's  death 
in  1S90,  since  which  time  he  has  resided  with 
his  children. 

Dr.  Mcl.aury  was  married  Septemher  5. 
1843,  to  .Miss  IClizaheth  II.  Mead,  a  daughter 
of  Allan  and  Mary  (Smith)  AK;ul.  15y  this 
imion  six  children  were  horn.  The  ekiest, 
William  I'.,  horn  March  15,  1845,  a  practis- 
ing physician  in  New  York  City,  a  graduate 
of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons, 
married  Theodora  J.  Ingersoll,  daughter  of 
Dr.  Leonard  and  Julia  (Day)  Ingersoll.  The 
second  son  was  horn  and  died  in  1846.  lul- 
ward,  born  June  18,  1854,  is  a  teller  in  the 
Chemical  National  Hank,  New  York.  Maria 
K.,  horn  Ai)ril  17,  1848,  married  the  Rev. 
Charles  V.  Janes,  a  rreshylerian  minister  re- 
siding at  Onondaga  \'alley.  Martha,  born  in 
1850,  became  the  wife  of  A.  D.  Pe:ike,  ami 
tiled  in  1883.  Sophia  C  born  April  S,  185J, 
married  Herbert  B.  (Gardner,  and  lives  in 
Minneapolis. 

Dr.  Mcl.aury  was  long  a  member  of  the 
Delaware  County  Medical  .Society,  and  has 
held  the  office  of  President  and  Secretarv,  ant! 
was  also  a  delegate  to  the  .State  Medical  .Soci- 
ety. He  has  also  taken  an  actiw  p;irl  in 
educational  matters,  having  been  for  se\eral 
years  superintendent  of  schools  in  Walton. 
He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Walton 
Academy,  and  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees. The  Di)ctor  was  one  of  the  organizers 
of  the  Reiiublican  parts'  in  1856,  but  has 
"lately  chosen,"  as  he  says,  "to  train  jjoliti- 
cally  with  the  slandered  Prohibitionists." 

Dr.  McLaury,  who  has  iidierited  from  his 
Scotch-Irish  ancestr\-  both  strong  ami  pleasing 
traits  of  character,  and  who  has  jxissed  manv 
years  of  his  life  in  the  active  ]jursuit  of  his 
profession,    is   a   man  of    interesting  pers^mal- 


it_\',  genial  and  companionable,  [lussessed  of 
excellent  conversational  powers,  and  is  iri  the 
full  enjoyment  of  a  physical  and  mental  vigor 
which  years  have  not  impaired. 


('^V01I^s  CILVPMAN,  a  prosperous  farmei 
of  Ci»lchester,  in  Delawaie  County, 
was  born  in  Fallsl)urg,  .Sullivan 
Count)-,  N.Y.,  July  22,  1829.  His 
fathei',  I'JKis  Cha]iman,  remox'ed  to  P'allsburg 
from  .Schoharie  County  when  he  was  twenl)' 
years  old,  and  engaged  in  farming  and  lum- 
bering. He  served  as  a  private  in  the  War 
of  1812.  He  married  Nancy  Joshlin,  daugh- 
ter i)f  David  Joshlin,  who  had  by  his  first 
wife  se\en  children  —  David,  Nelson,  Ceorge, 
Jones,  Joseph,   Nancy,  antl  Katie       and  by  his 

ildren  -  -  I  lenry      and 


second 


two 


Amanda.      On   the   banks 
as   the    Heaver    Kill,   Mr. 


of   the  river   known 
Joshlin   bought   one 


hundred  acres  of  lanti,  on  which  he  erected 
his  buildings,  and  was  \-ery  successful  as  a 
farmei'.  He  was  a  [irivate  in  the  Revolution- 
ary War,  and  when  he  returned  home  lived 
on  his  farm  till  his  death  at  the  age  of  eighty 
years.  Tn  Lnos  ami  Nancy  Chapman  were 
liorn  tlu'se  children,  namely:  Abigail,  who 
is  now  d(.';id :  Luc\',  who  married  J.  Reed,  a 
cabiiiet-makei  of  \\'esttield;  Katie,  who  mar- 
ried II.  Corgan,  a  farmer  of  Colchester; 
David,  who  marrietl  L.  Chapman,  and  is  now 
dead;  Harnett,  Jones,  Jane,  .Mahila  Ann, 
Rufus,  all  of  whiun  are  now  dead;  and  Ai-- 
nold,  a  farmer  of  Colchestei',  who  married  !■",. 
Robinson.  Paios  was  a  Whig  in  politics. 
He  li\e(l  u|)i)n  his  farm  in  I-'allsburg  the 
gieater  part  of  his  life,  but  tinall\'  sold  his 
homestead,  and  spent  the  rest  of  his  tlays  with 
his  son,  d_\ing  at  the  advanced  age  of  eightv 
years,  his  wife  surviving  him  a  short  time. 

John  Chapman  was  educated  and  grew  to 
manhood  in  his  native  town.  Leaving  iionie 
at  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  went  to  Merton 
Hill,  where  he  bought  one  hundred  and  fort\'- 
two  acres  of  new  land,  which  he  cleared,  and 
i>\\  which  lie  erected  buildings,  and  estab- 
lished his  home.  He  married  Mary,  daughter 
of  Matthew  and  Jean  (Camiibell)  Russell,  her 
father  being  a  jirosperous  farmer  ami  lumber- 
man   of    Colchester.      r^Ir.    and    Mrs.    Russell 


422 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


had  a  family  of  ten  children.  The  five  now 
living  are  Robert,  Matthew,  John,  Elizabeth, 
and  Mary.  The  five  deceased  are  William, 
Stephen,    Isabella,    Jennett,    and  James. 

John  Chapman  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and 
is  active  in  many  of  the  political  affairs  of  the 
town,  in  which  he  has  for  some  time  held  the 
position  of  Constable.  For  forty-two  years 
he  has  lived  upon  the  farm  which  he  first  pur- 
chased, conducting  a  large  dairy,  and  also 
keeping  sheep.  His  farm  is  situated  on  the 
mountain  side,  and  his  residence  commands  a 
beautiful  view  of  the  surrounding  country,  in- 
cluding hills  and  mountains  twenty  and  thirty 
miles  away.  The  place  is  much  admired  by 
visitors. 


'TEPHEN  J.  RIFENBARK  occu- 
pies the  farm  in  Sidney,  Delaware 
County,  to  which  he  removed  with 
his  father  when  but  a  lad  of  ten 
years,  in  1829,  and  may  therefore  be  consid- 
ered an  old  resident  of  the  town.  He  was 
born  in  Newark,  Wayne  County,  N.Y.,  on 
May  7,  1S19,  son  of  George  and  Catharine 
(Petti bone)  Rifenbark,  both  natives  of  Scho- 
harie County.  His  grandfather,  Adam  Rifen- 
bark, who  was  one  of  the  pioneer  farmers  of 
the  county,  living  there  for  several  years, 
died  at  a  good  old  age  in  Niagara  County. 
He  had  seven  children,  all  of  whom  grew  to 
maturity,  but  are  all  now  deceased. 

George  Rifenbark,  one  of  the  sons  of  Adam, 
and  father  of  Stephen  J.,  was  a  farmer,  and 
pursued  his  vocation  first  in  his  native 
county,  where  he  remained  some  years  after 
his  marriage,  and  then  successively  in  Dela- 
ware and  Wayne  Counties,  finally,  in  1829, 
removing  to  Sidney.  The  farm  which  he  here 
purchased  contained  a  log  house,  and  had 
been  partly  cleared,  but  was  still  mostly 
covered  with  timber,  and  some  deer  still 
remained  in  the  depths  of  the  forest.  Mr. 
Rifenbark  was  an  energetic  pioneer,  a  man  of 
high  moral  principles,  toiling  diligently  to 
reclaim  a  farm  from  the  wilderness,  and  doing 
his  best  to  uproot  noxious  practices  in  the 
community,  and  displant  seeds  of  error,  being 
strongly  opposed  to  the  use  of  intoxicating 
liquor,  and  an  active  temperance  worker.     In 


religion  he  was  a  Methodist,  and  in  politics  a 
Jacksonian  Democrat.  Being  early  called  to 
part  with  his  wife  Catharine,  who  died  when 
she  had  scarcely  reached  middle  life,  he  was 
married  again  to  Mrs.  Lucy  Rodgers,  and 
died  at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years,  survived 
by  his  second  wife  and  six  of  his  seven 
children. 

Stephen  J.,  the  fourth  son,  who  is  the  sub- 
ject of  the  present  sketch,  is  the  only  one  of 
the  family  now  living.  His  brothers  and 
sisters  were:  Adam,  Peter,  Jacob,  Polly, 
Sally,  and  Catharine.  His  opportunities  for 
education  in  the  district  schools  were  very 
meagre,  as  his  help  was  early  needed  on  the 
farm.  He  gave  his  time  to  his  father  until 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  after  that  con- 
tinued working  for  him  and  receiving  wages 
as  a  hired  laborer.  Coming  into  possession 
of  the  homestead  by  paying  off  the  other  heirs 
after  his  father's  death,  he  continued  its  man- 
agement, his  step-mother  keeping  house  for 
him  as  long  as  he  remained  single. 

Mr.  Rifenbark  has  been  twice  married. 
His  first  wife,  Hannah  A.  Mack,  of  Harpers- 
field,  with  whom  he  was  united  September 
15,  1850,  died  April  17,  1863.  He  was 
again  married,  September  18,  1867,  to  Mary 
J.  Thompson,  of  New  Berlin,  N.Y.,  who  was 
bcrn  August  16,  1840,  daughter  of  Asa  and 
Betsy  (Adams)  Thompson.  Her  father  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Butternuts,  Otsego 
County,  1808.  He  worked  at  the  trade  of 
tanner  and  shoemaker  in  Otsego  County,  and 
later  in  Cortland  County,  where  he  resided 
some  years,  whence  he  came  to  Delaware 
County,  and  was  for  several  years  engaged  in 
farming  in  Masonville.  He  went  from  there 
to  South  New  Berlin,  and  finally  removed 
thence  to  Virginia,  and  became  a  landed  pro- 
prietor in  the  State.  In  politics  he  was  a 
Democrat,  and  a  Baptist  in  religion.  He 
died  in  Virginia  in  1874.  His  first  wife, 
Betsy  Adams,  was  born  in  Cortland  County  in 
181 1,  and  died  in  1859,  leaving  six  children, 
namely:  Edward  Thompson,  who  resides  in 
Boston;  Frances,  Mrs.  John  Rider,  residing 
in  Sidney;  Harriet,  Mrs.  Mason  Boult,  living 
in  Steuben  County,  New  York;  Helen,  wife  of 
Phineas  Smith,  who  is  employed  in  the  Post- 
oflfice  Department  in  Washington,  D.C. ;  Mrs. 


RIOGRAPIIICAL    REVIEW 


^-^^^ 


Rifcnbark;  and  Almiia,  wife  of  Arthur  rayiic, 
of  Kingston,  Mich.  Hy  iiis  second  wife  ho 
had  one  daughter,  Jennie,  wife  of  Dr.  L.  K. 
Dickson,  of  South  Xew  Berlin.  B\-  his  first 
marriage  Mr.  Rifenbark  had  five  children, 
only  one  of  whom,  I-'retl  Rifenbark,  a  farmer 
in  Sidney,  who  was  born  in  1857,  is  now  liv- 
ing. B\'  his  last  marriage  he  has  one  daugh- 
ter, Etta,  born  June  6,   1873. 

Mr.  Rifenbark  owns  two  farms,  one  of  two 
hundred  acres,  which  is  occupied  by  his  son, 
and  the  homestead  of  ninety-six  acres,  on 
which  he  lives  in  a  commodious,  comely  resi- 
dence built  by  himself.  A  man  of  intlustri- 
ous  habit  ami  of  good,  practical  sense,  he  has 
earned  every  dollar's  worth  of  his  property, 
and  is  wiilely  known  as  a  clear-headetl  and 
successful  farmer,  a  citizen  of  integrity,  ca- 
pable, and  well  fitted  to  fill  the  important 
otTice  to  which  he  has  more  than  once  been 
called  —  that  of  Assessor.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Democrat.  He  and  his  wife  are  not  members 
of  any  chuirh,  but  are  liberal  in  their  relig- 
ious views,  and  exemplary  in  their  lives, 
practising  human  kindness  and  believing  in 
"love  eternal,  fixed  in  God's  unchanging 
will." 


ILLIAM  ?iIcDO\Al.l),  a  retired 
merchant,  was  foi-  upward  of 
twoscore  years  a  sustantial  and 
well-known  representative  of  the  mercantile 
interests  of  Delaware  County,  and  one  of  the 
most  honored  and  successful  business  men  of 
the  village  of  Davenport.  He  is  a  keen, 
practical  man,  gifted  with  mental  and  physi- 
cal vigor:  and  his  life  record,  in  home, 
social,  business,  and  political  circles,  has 
been  irre])roachable.  Mr.  McDonald  is  of 
Scotch  antecedents,  and  one  of  Delaware 
Count}"s  native  citizens,  having  been  born 
January  15,  1835,  in  the  town  of  Stamford, 
on  the  home  farm  of  his  parents,  Duncan  and 
Eada  (Wickham)  McDonald.  His  grand- 
father McDonald  came  to  this  country  at  an 
earl)'  j^eriod  of  its  settlement,  and.  taking  up 
a  tract  of  unini])roved  land  in  Stamford,  ener- 
getically began  the  work  of  preparing  it  for 
tillage.  After  living  there  a  few  years,  his 
improvements    ranked    with    the    best    in    the 


vicinity;  and  the  work  thus  l)e,:;un  he  con- 
tinued as  long  as  he  lived.  He  reared  three 
children  —  Angus,  Nancy,  and  Duncan. 

Duncan  McDonald  was  the  )'oungest  child 
of  the  i)arental  household,  of  which  he  re- 
mained a  member  until  attaining  his  majority, 
attending  the  district  school  in  the  winter 
season,  and  working  on  the  farm  at  other 
times.  He  subsequently  purchased  an  ad- 
joining farm,  on  which  he  and  his  good  wife 
spent  the  greater  part  of  their  remaining 
years.  They  were  both  members  of  the  I'res- 
byterian  church,  and  were  universally  re- 
spected. The\-  reared  the  following  children: 
Margery;  Angus;  John;  Dunbar;  Gideon; 
Duncan;  Andrew;  Nancy,  who  married  John 
Copley,  a  farmer  of  Davenport;  Hannah,  the 
wife  of  I'erry  Buts,  a  carriage  manufacturer  of 
Davenport;  and  William. 

So  well  did  William  McDonald  in  his  boy- 
hood improve  his  opportunities  for  study  in 
the  schools  of  Fergusonville  and  at  the  l-"rank- 
lin  .Seminary  that  at  the  early  age  of  sixteen 
years  he  was  well  titled  for  the  position  of 
teacher  in  the  district  school,  an  occupation 
in  which  he  was  engaged  until  twenty  years 
oUl.  In  1855  he  made  a  trip  to  California, 
anil  for  ten  years  thereafter  was  engaged  in 
mining  in  that  State.  The  major  part  of  that 
time  was  silent  in  Nevada  Count}',  where  he 
took  an  acli\'e  part  in  local  affairs,  serving  for 
some  time  as  Justice  fif  the  Peace.  Return- 
ing to  New  York,  Mr.  ^^cDonald  prepared 
himself  for  a  business  career  by  entering  the 
commercial  college  in  Albany,  from  which  he 
was  graduated  after  taking  the  full  course  of 
study.  Removing  to  Davenport,  he  then 
bought  the  store  of  Colonel  Goodrich,  which 
he  conducted  with  signal  ability  and  success 
for  many  years,  graduall}'  increasing  the  capac- 
ity of  the  store  and  enlarging  the  business, 
his  honest  methods  of  dealing  and  his  cordial 
and  friendly  wa_\'s  attracting  an  extensive 
patronage.  Owing  to  the  invalidism  of  his 
wife,  Mr.  McDonald  retired  from  active  busi- 
ness, and  has  since  lived  in  comparative  leis- 
ure in  the  beautiful  residence  which  he  built 
in  1883.  He  has,  however,  since  dealt  to  a 
considerable  extent  in  real  estate,  buying  and 
selling   village   property. 

^^r.  McDonald  was  married  in  1868  to  J\Iiss 


424 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Mima  Wickham,  the  daughter  of  John  Wick- 
ham,  of  Harpersficld,  a  prosperous  farmer, 
and  a  representative  of  one  of  the  old  Quaker 
families  of  that  town,  his  father  having  been 
a  noted  Quaker  preacher.  On  April  2,  1894, 
Mrs.  McDonald,  after  many  years  of  patient 
suffering,  passed  to  the  higher  life,  leaving  in 
the  hearts  of  her  friends  a  pleasant  memory  of 
her  cheerful  presence. 

Mr.  McDonald  is  a  prominent  member  of 
the  Masonic  fraternity,  being  a  Master 
Mason,  and  formerly  Master  of  Charlotte 
River  Lodge,  No.  593,  of  Davenport.  He  is 
a  stanch  Republican,  and  takes  an  active  part 
in  local  affairs,  having  served  as  Postmaster 
eighteen  years,  and  as  Supervisor  four  terms. 
Although  not  an  attendant  of  any  church,  he 
is  in  sympathy  with  the  religious  and  moral 
advancement  of  his  community,  and  contrib- 
utes liberally  to  the  support  of  all  the 
churches. 


POLLOCK  ROWLAND,  a  prominent 
representative  of  the  farming  and 
dairying  interests  of  the  town  of  Wal- 
ton, possesses  one  of  its  model  homesteads, 
which  is  pleasantly  situated  in  that  part  of 
the  town  called  East  Brook.  Here  he  has  an 
extensive  and  valuable  farm,  which  is  espe- 
cially adapted  to  the  raising  of  grain  and 
stock,  and  which  in  its  appointments  and 
improvements  will  compare  favorably  with 
any  in  its  vicinity,  being  a  credit  to  his 
industry  and  good  management,  and  a  pleas- 
ing feature  of  the  landscape.  Mr.  Howland 
is  one  of  the  most  promising  of  Walton's 
native-born  citizens,  and  has  resided  on  the 
farm  which  he  now  occupies  since  the  date  of 
his  birth,  April  9,  1861.  He  is  of  sturdy 
pioneer  ancestry,  his  great-grandfather,  Phin- 
eas  Howland,  who  was  a  native  of  Long 
Island,  having  come  to  Delaware  County  in 
the  early  days  of  its  settlement.  He  pur- 
chased a  tract  of  unimproved  land  in  the  town 
of  Hamden,  and  there  erected  a  log  house,  in 
which  he  and  his  family  lived  for  many  years. 
Elias  Butler  Howland,  son  of  Phincas,  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Hamden,  and  there  spent 
a  large  part  of  his  life.  He  remained  on  the 
parental  homestead   until   attaining  his  major- 


itv,  when  he  began  farming  on  his  own 
account.  He  afterward  bought  land,  and  en- 
gaged in  mixed  husbandry  until  his  decease. 
The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Fannie 
Mallory,  and  to  them  were  born  eight  chil- 
dren. 

The  date  of  the  birth  of  Edwin  R.  How- 
land, the  next  in  line,  was  1830.  He  was 
reared  on  the  farm  of  his  grandfather  How- 
land, educated  in  the  district  schools  of  Ham- 
den, and  at  an  early  age  began  life  for 
himself,  working  on  a  farm  by  the  month. 
Having  acquired  a  practical  knowledge  of 
agriculture,  he  rented  land  and  engaged  in 
farming  on  shares  for  a  year,  then  purchased 
the  farm  where  his  son  now  lives.  Prosper- 
ing in  his  labors  as  a  tiller  of  the  soil,  he 
bought  other  land,  and  erected  more  commo- 
dious and  convenient  buildings.  His  farm, 
three  and  one-half  miles  from  the  village  of 
Walton,  contained  three  hundred  acres  of 
fertile  land;  and  in  connection  with  its  man- 
agement he  operated  a  feed-mill  and  carried 
on  an  extensive  dairy  business. 

He  was  called  from  this  life  in  the  midst 
of  his  usefulness,  dying  in  1888,  at  the  age 
of  fifty-eight  years.  A  well-informed  man,  of 
sound  judgment,  he  took  an  active  interest  in 
local  affairs,  and  served  as  Road  Commis- 
sioner for  many  years.  He  married  Margaret 
A.  McDonald,  the  daughter  of  Archibald  R. 
and  Jeanette  (Smith)  McDonald,  the  former 
of  whom  was  killed  by  being  thrown  from  a 
wagon  one  Sunday,  while  going  to  church, 
and  the  latter  dying  at  the  home  of  his  son 
Roderick.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McDonald  reared  a 
family  of  seven  children,  as  follows:  Robert; 
Catherine;  Jane,  who  married  John  Hender- 
son; Mary,  who  married  Amos  Plnsign,  and 
is  now  deceased  ;  David  ;  Roderick  ;  and  Mar- 
garet. Of  the  union  of  Edwin  Howland  and 
Margaret  McDonald  six  children  were  born, 
namely:  Elias  B. ;  Fanny  J.;  T.  Pollock; 
Edgar  R. ;  Ella,  who  died  when  ten  years 
old;  and  Owen  L.  Mrs.  Howland  is  still 
living,  making  her  home  with  her  daughter  in 
the  village  of  Walton. 

T.  Pollock  Howland  received  a  common- 
school  education,  and  until  the  death  of  his 
father  assisted  him  in  the  care  of  the  home 
farm,    becoming   well    versed    in    agriculture. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


425 


He  has  since,  with  the  assistance  of  his 
brother  Owen,  tai^en  the  farm,  and,  assuming 
its  management,  has  continued  the  improve- 
ments and  enlarged  its  business.  He  makes 
a  specialty  of  dairying,  i<eeping  about  one 
hunch-ed  head  of  cattle  and  several  horses, 
cutting  sufficient  hay  for  their  use.  He  and 
his  brother  are  following  in  the  footsteps  of 
their  honored  sire,  and  have  already  acquired 
a  substantial  reputation  as  farmers  of  signal 
ability,  ever  ready  to  do  their  part  as  loyal 
and  worthv  citizens. 

In  1890  Mr.  Ilowland  was  unitetl  in  mar- 
riage with  Lydia  Patterson,  a  ilaughter  of 
James  and  Mary  (Neale)  Patterson;  and  they 
are  the  happy  parents  of  one  child,  a  son,  who 
was  born  on  November  17,  1894.  Mrs.  How- 
land's  father,  formerly  a  farmer,  is  now  liv- 
ing, retired  from  the  active  cares  of  life,  in 
Walton  village.  Politically,  Mr.  Ilowland 
takes  an  intelligent  interest  in  local  affairs, 
and  uniformly  votes  the  Republican  ticket. 
He  is  a  regular  attendant  of  the  United  Pres- 
byterian church,  of  which  his  wife  is  an  es- 
teemed member. 


(^OIIX  \V.  HRAMLEV  is  probably  the 
richest  citizen  of  Bovina,  where  he 
lias  an  excellent  home,  and  carries  on 
a  fine  farm,  the  outcome  of  his  per- 
sonal pluck  and  industry.  lie  was  born  in 
this  town  on  .September  27,  18  rS,  shortly 
after  his  parents,  Henry  and  Elizabeth 
(Wright)  Bramley,  returned  from  Ohio. 

William  Bramley,  father  of  Henry,  was 
born  in  England,  about  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  came  to  America 
when  a  boy.  He  fought  in  the  Revolution, 
and  subsequently  received  a  government  pen- 
sion for  his  military  service.  By  trade  he 
was  a  carpenter.  His  first  settlement  was  in 
-Schoharie  Count}-;  but  a  few  years  after  mar- 
riage he  moved  to  Delaware  County,  among 
the  first  settlers,  and  died  at  an  advanced  age 
in  the  town  of  Andes.  The  farm  he  pur- 
chased now  lielongs  to  Alonzo  Tuttle.  Mr. 
Bramley  was  politicall)'  a  Democrat.  Having 
been  brought  up  in  the  Church  of  1-JigIand, 
he  remained  faithful  to  its  I'itual,  and  in  this 
countrv    was     an    adherent    of     its    American 


daughter,  the  I-^piscopal  Church.  His  wife- 
was  a  native  of  this  State;  anil  her  maiden 
name  was  Kidney,  her  father  being  a  sea 
captain.  Their  seven  children  all  grew  to 
maturity,  though,  as  might  be  e.xpected, 
none  are  now  living.  The  eldest,  Elizabeth 
Bramley,  was  born  December  4.  1774,  only 
four  months  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Revo- 
lution; John  Bramley  was  born  Xovember 
I*'),  ^717  \  James  on  Xovember  4,  1779; 
Henry  on  November  13,  1782,  when  the  war 
was  nearly  over;  Gertrude  was  born  Xovem- 
ber 5,  1787;  Jane  on  January  4,  1786:  and 
Maria,  May  4,   1789. 

Henry  Bramley,  whose  birthplace  was  in 
Schoharie  County,  went  to  the  district  school, 
but  was  a  mere  boy  when  he  started  out  in 
life  for  himself,  working  on  a  farm  by  the 
month.  He  married  IClizabeth  Wright,'  who 
was  born  October  17,  1791.  By  carefully 
saving  what  he  earned  he  was  able  to  buy  a 
farm  in  Andes.  This  he  sidd  when  he  was 
thirty  years  old.  Eilled  with  the  venture- 
some pioneer  spirit,  he  then  went  to  Ohio, 
the  Ear  West  of  that  day,  making  the  journey 
with  a  wagon  train;  but  after  five  years"  ex- 
perience he  returned  to  Xew  \'ork,  which  in- 
volved a  similar  trip  to  the  first.  This  was 
in  1818,  when  Mr.  Bramley  was  thirty-six 
years  old.  The  family  tiien  settled  on  the 
Bovina  land  now  owned  and  occupied  bv  the 
son,  .S.  G.  Bramley.  l-"ew  acres  of  it  were 
then  cleared,  and  there  were  few  im|)rove- 
nieiits;  but  Mr.  iiramle)-  erected  a  small 
frame  house  with  some  of  the  lumber  which 
mostly  co\-ered  the  hundred  acres,  whereto  he 
soon  added  eighty  more.  Dike  his  father, 
IK'ury  Bramley  worked  iiard  and  successfully. 
The  nearest  market  was  at  the  mouth  of  Cats- 
kill  Creek:  and  the  grist-mill  was  at  Hobart, 
on  Rose  Brook.  Of  course,  the  wool-carding, 
spinning,  and  weaving  were  done  at  home  b_\' 
the  women,  and  everybody  wore  homespun. 
As  there  were  twelve  children  in  the  family, 
it  requires  no  stretch  of  the  imagination  to 
make  sure  that  Mrs.  Bramley  was  a  hard- 
working woman,  though  hai)pily  they  all  grew 
\\\)  to  be  pillars  of  strength  in  the  household, 
and  seven  are  still  living.  The  eldest  sur- 
vivor is  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  John  W. 
Bramlev.      His    sister,    Amanda    C.    I?ramlev, 


426 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


was  born  on  August  14,  1821,  and  now  lives 
in  Davenport  Centre,  the  widow  of  William 
Roberts.  The  next,  Susan  Bramley,  born 
August  II,  1826,  is  the  wife  of  John  Coulter, 
of  "the  same  town.  Their  brother,  Charles 
Bramley,  was  born  February  28,  1829,  and  is 
now  a  farmer  in  the  town  of  Andes.  Miles 
Bramley  was  born  December  19,  1831,  and 
now  resides  on  his  farm  in  Walton.  Alex- 
ander Bramley,  born  December  18,  1834,  is  a 
Methodist  Episcopal  clergyman,  now  in  Lewis 
County,  working  under  the  direction  of  the 
New  York  Conference.  Stephen  G.  Bramley 
was  born  April  16,  1838.  Mary  Ann  Bram- 
ley, the  eldest  child,  was  born  January  17, 
1 8 10,  and  died  unmarried,  March  16,  1886. 
Her  brother,  Sylvanus  W.  Bramley,  was  born 
September  16,  181 1,  and  died  July  27,  1865. 
A  sister,  Phoebe  Ann  Bramley,  was  born  Oc- 
tober 2,  1813,  and  "died  April  6,  1877,  the 
widow  of  Alexander  Dean.  William  Bramley, 
named  for  his  grandfather,  was  born  February 
3,  i8i6,  in  Ohio,  and  died  September  28, 
1874.  James  H.  Bramley  was  born  February 
2,  1824,  and  lived  till  the  last  day  of  March, 
1883.  The  parents  both  died  on  the  home- 
stead, which  belonged  to  them  by  right  of 
conquest  in  the  fight  with  nature,  he  on 
November  11,  1870,  and  she  on  March  11, 
1879.  ^'■^  religion  Mr.  Bramley  was  very  lib- 
eral. Politically,  he  was  a  Whig  till  the 
Republican  party  was  formed  and  he  joined 
its  ranks.  He  was  ever  a  good  citizen  and  a 
thriving  farmer. 

John  W.  Bramley  grew  to  manhood  on  the 
old  place,  and  attended  the  district  school. 
Till  the  age  of  twenty-seven  he  stayed  at 
home,  and  worked  hard  from  earliest  boyhood. 
On  January  7,  1847,  when  nearly  thirty  years 
old,  he  married  Margaret  McCune,  born  in 
Bovina,  February  17,  1825,  the  daughter  of 
John  McCune,  a  native  of  New  York  State, 
and  his  wife,  Catherine  McNaught,  a  Scotch 
immigrant.  Grandfather  Samuel  McCune  was 
a  pioneer  Bovina  farmer  and  blacksmith,  who 
died  there  in  middle  life.  John  McCune  died 
at  the  age  of  sixty,  but  his  wife  lived  to  be 
seventy-seven ;  and  both  were  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  church.  Mrs.  Bramley  was  the 
second  of  their  ten  children,  half  of  whom  are 
still    living.      Iler  brother,    Samuel    McCune, 


lives  in  Jefferson.  Jane  McCune  is  now  Mrs. 
Squires,  of  Nebraska.  Sally  Ann  McCune  is 
Mrs.  Miller,  and  lives  on  the  old  homestead. 
William  McCune  resides  in  Bovina  Centre. 
The  deceased  McCune  children  are:  Mary, 
John,    Gilbert,    Nancy,   and   Marie. 

About  the  time  of  his  marriage  John  W. 
Bramley  bought  a  farm  consisting  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  forest  land,  which  he 
has  since  increased  to  nearly  three  hundred, 
and  devoted  especially  to  dairy  products. 
Beginning  with  a  dozen  Aldern'ey  cattle,  he 
has  quadrupled  their  number,  and  his  full- 
blooded  and  graded  cows  average  each  three 
hundred  pounds  of  butter  annually.  He  also 
has  a  farm  in  Andes  of  a  hundred  and  six- 
teen acres,  and  devotes  himself  thoroughly 
to  his  work.  Whatever  he  owns  is  the  prod- 
uct of  his  own  indefatigable  industry  and 
frugality.  Of  his  eight  children  four  are  now 
living:  John  G.  Bramley,  born  in  1848,  is  a 
lawyer  in  Jordan,  Onondaga  County.  Will- 
iam Henry  Bramley,  born  in  1850,  is  a  cattle 
drover  and  speculator  in  Delhi.  Mary  FA'iza.- 
beth,  born  in  1852,  is  the  wife  of  Edward 
Dean,  of  Delhi,  who  is  in  partnership  with 
his  wife's  brother  William.  Frederick  H., 
born  in  1856,  still  lives  at  home.  Catherine 
Jane  Bramley,  born  in  1857,  died  at  the  age 
of  twenty-five.  Sarah  Cordelia,  Charles,  and 
Alexander  Bramley  all  died  in  infancy.  Like' 
his  father,  Mr.  Bramley  is  a  Republican  in 
politics,  and  a  free  thinker  in  religious  mat- 
ters; but  his  wife  belongs  to  the  local  Meth- 
odist society. 


TT^HARLES  E.  KIFF  is  a  member  of  the 
I  St-^  firm  of  Gleason  &  Kiff,  proprietors 
\rls^^  of  the  steam  flour  and  feed  mill 
in  Delhi,  and  extensive  dealers  in 
coal.  A  sketch  of  the  life  of  his  partner, 
Wallace  B.  Gleason,  may  be  found  in  another 
part  of  this  work.  Mr.  Kiff  is  an  active, 
wide-awake  young  man,  rapidly  winning  his 
way  to  an  important  position  among  the  influ- 
ential business  men  of  the  place.  He  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Kortright,  April  18, 
1862,  being  a  son  of  Richard  D.  W.  Kiff. 
Richard  D.  W.  Kiff  was  reared  to  agricult- 
ural  pursuits,   and   began   his  business  career 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


1-7 


lis  a  tiller  ot  the  soil,  carrxing  on  this  occupa- 
tion in  Kortii.nht  until  i  S69,  when  he  came 
to  the  \illa,ne  of  Delhi.  Here  he  established 
himself  in  an  entirely  different  line  of  luisi- 
ness,  buying  the  American  House  and  a  large 
livery  stable  adjoining,  and  comlucting  the 
business  of  both  several  years.  Later  he 
purchased  an  interest  in  the  present  business 
of  his  son  Charles,  but  continued  to  manage 
the  hotel  until  the  ist  of  January,  1893,  when 
he  rented  the  house,  preferring  to  give  his 
attention  to  his  liwry  stable  and  a  snial! 
farm  which  he  has  since  boLight  in  the  cor- 
poration of  Delhi.  When  a  young  man,  he 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Calista  Ritch- 
mever,  a  native  of  (rilboa,  Greene  Count\', 
being  one  of  eight  children  born  to  Martinus 
Kitchnieyer,  a  successful  farmer,  and  an  earh 
settler  of  that  locality.  Two  children  have 
been  born  of  their  union:  Charles  Everett, 
the  subject  ot  this  sketch:  and  .M.  Louise, 
who  married  William  (iemmel,  of  Svracuse. 
The  mother  is  a  woman  possessing  many 
Christian  virtues,  and  is  a  consistent  meml)er 
of  the  Presbyterian  chmx~h. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  lived  on  the  farm 
of  his  parents  in  Kortright  until  seven  vears 
old,  coming  then  to  Delhi,  and  thenceforward 
attending  school  until  old  enough  to  assist 
his  father  in  tiie  hotel,  and  during  the  ab- 
sence of  his  father  attending  to  the  interests 
of  the  house.  He  continued  thus  occujiied 
until  Januarv  I,  1882,  when  at  twenty  years 
of  age  he  bought  an  interest  with  his  father 
in  the  firm  of  Gleason  &  Kiff,  Wallace  H. 
(jleason  at  the  same  time  liecoming  a  j^ur- 
chaser;  and  the  business  was  carried  on  under 
the  superintendence  of  the  two  fathers  for  a 
time.  At  the  deatli  of  W'illiam  Gleason  the 
two  young  men  jnirchased  the  interests  (^f 
Messrs.  Gleason,  .Sr.,  and  Kiff,  Sr.,  and  ha\-e 
since  met  with  excellent  success  in  their 
operations. 

On  October  28.  1891,  Mr.  Charles  E.  Kiff 
wedded  Miss  !\Iabel  (jilfiilan,  youngest  daugh- 
ter of  James  Giltillan,  who  was  for  many  years 
Treasurer  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Gilfil- 
lan  is  a  resident  of  New  York  City.  In  early 
manhood  he  married  Miss  J.  E.  Thomas,  and 
to  them  were  born  four  daughters.  Politi- 
cally   Mr.    Kiff    is   a  stanch    adherent    of   the 


Kepublican  p.aty.  His  man\'  sterling  tpiali- 
ties  are  everywhere  recognized:  and  he  is 
held  in  high  esteem  by  the  citi/i-ns  (jf  Delhi, 
and  is  a  |)rominent  member  of  all  sf»ci;il 
organizations   of   the   town. 


(S^OIIX  CHICIIEST1:R,  ;i  respected  citi- 
zen of  .Stamford,  is  desci-nded  from 
some  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  New 
Voik  -State.  His  gramlfather,  James 
Chichester,  who  married  Lavinia  Huston, 
dwelt  for  many  years  at  Coxsackie  on  the 
Hudson,  and  thence  removed  to  the  town  of 
]5roome,  now  Gilboa,  Schoharie  County.  In 
the  wilderness  he  bought  a  small  farm,  which 
he  cleare<l  of  the  luxuriant  forest  growth  witli 
which  it  was  covered,  ;nid  there  li\ed  until 
seventy  \ears  of  age,  when  he  died.  lea\ing  :i 
family  of  six  children.  These  were:  .Stephen, 
Mace,  Joseph,  Lavinia,  Ephraim,  and  .Adi- 
nager.  Joseph,  the  father  of  the  sui)ject  of 
this  biography,  recei\'ed  his  e<luc;ition  at  the 
tlistrict  school  of  his  native  town,  and  then 
settled  near  Broome  Centre,  on  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  acres,  where  he  became  one  of  the 
most  progressive  farmers  of  tiie  vicinity.  He 
built  a  comfortable  house  and  good  barns, 
continuing  his  improvements  as  ojjportunitv 
offered  and  his  means  ])ermitted.  This  farm 
is  now  owned  by  his  )'oungesl  son,  George. 
Josejih  Chichester  li\'ed  to  be  ninet)'-eight 
years  of  age,  and  his  wife  was  seventv  at  the 
time  of  her  death.  They  were  members  of 
the  Baptist  church,  and  in  politics  he  was  a 
Republican.  Tluy  left  ten  children  —  Marv 
.Ann,  Eunice,  John,  Clarinda,  lletsey,  Louise, 
Theron,  David,  Caroline,  and  George. 

John  Chichester  was  the  eldest  son  of  Jo- 
seph, and  was  born  in  the  town  of  Broome  on 
April  13,  1827.  He  received  a  common- 
school  education,  and  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits  until  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
when  he  went  to  the  hotel  at  Gilboa,  and  was 
employeii  there  for  three  vears  as  clerk. 
.After  gi\ing  his  attention  to  different  lines  of 
business  for  several  years,  he  bought  a  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  (iilboa,  and 
four  years  later  sold  out,  and  bought  again 
ne;u'  Broome.  Having  occupied  the  Broome 
farm  five  \ears,  he  sold   it,  and  bought  one  of 


428 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


eighty  acres  in  Gilboa.  Finally,  after  a  short  i 
residence  in  that  place,  he  purchased  the  home- 
stead of  his  wife's  family,  a  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-six  acres,  which  he  has  vastly 
improved,  and  on  which  he  has  built  a  new 
house  and  farm  buildings.  He  keeps  a  large 
herd  of  cattle,  and  from  his  dairy  supplies 
much  milk  for  the  creamery. 

Mr.  Chichester  and  Sarah  M.  Simmonson 
were  married  on  March  i,  1854.  Mrs.  Chi- 
chester's parents  were  Tunis  R.  and  Sally 
(Cook)  Simmonson.  Tunis  Simmonson  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Ro.\bury,  N.Y.,  March 
16,  1800,  and  was  the  son  of  Cornelius  and 
Christine  (Rapelyea)  Simmonson.  Cornelius 
was  born  in  New  Jersey,  and  came  with  his 
father  to  Delaware  County,  where  each  of  the 
four  sons  received  a  farm,  that  of  Cornelius 
being  about  three  miles  from  Stamford  and 
near  the  old  Windham- turnpike.  Here  he 
brought  his  wife  and  family,  the  journey  from 
the  old  home  being  made  on  horseback,  and, 
after  clearing  the  land,  built  the  primitive 
abode  in  which  he  lived  to  be  seventy-eight 
years  old.  His  wife  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two.  They  were  both  members  of 
the  Presbyterian  church,  and  he  was  a  Demo- 
crat. They  had  nine  children;  namely, 
Anna,  Christopher,  Christina,  Gerrit,  Maria, 
Elizabeth,  Tunis,  Lydia,  and  Schemhern. 
Tunis  received  his  education  at  the  district 
school,  and  in  early  manhood  bought  a  farm, 
whereon  he  lived  throughout  the  remainder  of 
his  life.  He  and  his  wife  were  members  of 
the  Baptist  church,  and  the  parents  of  eight 
children  —  Eliza,  Delia  Ann,  Sarah,  Lucinda, 
Luman,  Augusta,  Omar,  and  William. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Chichester  have  four 
children:  Ella  A.,  born  July  2,  1858;  Irwin 
D.,  born  June  1,  i860,  who  married  Rhoda 
Maybee,  and  is  a  farmer;  William  O.,  born 
January  18,  1862,  who  married  Susan  Wal- 
lace, and  is  a  very  successful  merchant  in 
Stamford;  Adelbert  J.,  born  May  4,  1865, 
who  married  Nettie  Yoimg,  and  is  also  a  mer- 
chant in  Stamford.  The  two  younger  sons 
established  themselves  in  Stamford  in  1 890, 
and  by  good  management  have  built  up  a 
large  and  successful  business.  In  1892  they 
built  a  four-story  structure  on  Main  Street,  in 
which    thev    carry   on    their    trade    in    general 


merchandise.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chichester  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
and  in  politics  he  is  a  stanch  supporter  of  the 
Republican  party.  He  is  a  man  much  inter- 
ested in  all  that  concerns  the  welfare  of  his 
town,  and  his  hand  is  ever  ready  to  help  a 
friend    in    need. 


(sJYLLEN  Rj 
i^      ous    rep 

yJ^V^  eleme 


ANDALL  EEL.S,  a  prosper- 
ipresentative  of  the  industrial 
lement  of  the  town  of  Walton,  has 
successfully  followed  the  painters' 
trade  for  many  years,  and  has  had  his  full 
share  of  the  business  of  the  place.  He  has 
been  a  life-long  resident  of  the  Empire  State, 
and  has  lived  in  Walton  since  he  was  sixteen 
months  old,  having  been  brought  here  from 
Bainbridge,  Broome  County,  where  his  birth 
occurred  in  183 i. 

Mr.  Eels  is  the  scion  of  an  excellent  New 
England  family,  and  the  descendant  of  a  re- 
spected pioneer  of  this  section  of  Delaware 
County,  his  grandfather,  John  Eels,  having 
been  a  native'  of  Connecticut,  where  he  spent 
the  earlier  years  of  his  life.  He  married 
Anna  Mead,  a  native  of  the  same  State;  and 
after  the  birth  of  several  children  they  mi- 
grated to  this  State,  coming  to  this  county  in 
1799,  prior  to  the  time  of  public  highways, 
the  journey  hither  being  made  on  horseback. 
They  had  some  means,  and  bought  a  tract  of 
timbered  land  on  Mount  Pleasant,  and  for 
some  little  time  after  their  arrival  lived  in  a 
tent,  which  was  not  a  sure  protection  from  the 
wolves  which  roamed  through  the  woods,  as  it 
is  related  that  one  of  these  animals,  when 
making  his  nightly  prowls,  thrust  his  nose 
under  the  canvas  and  stole  one  of  the  chil- 
dren's shoes.  They  reared  six  sons  and  two 
daughters,  all  of  whom,  with  the  exception  of 
one  son,  Baird,  who  died  when  a  young  man, 
grew  to  maturity  and  married.  Mead  Eels, 
the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  and 
his  brother  Allen,  who  died  in  California, 
were  the  last  members  of  their  generation  of 
the  family. 

Mead  Eels,  who  was  named  for  his  mother's 
family,  was  born  in  New  Canaan,  Conn.,  in 
1793,  and  died  in  Marvin  Hollow,  two  miles 
from  Walton,   in  1S79,  after  a  long  and  Indus- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


A2<) 


trioiis  life  of  oighty-six  years.  Ik-  rctriiiiod 
his  niontal  and  physical  \-\'^or  in  a  romarkabic 
degree,  and  the  year  prior  to  his  iJeath,  to 
show  that  his  hand  had  not  forgotten  the  skill 
and  cunning  of  former  years,  did  a  good  day's 
work  scoring  timber.  He  was  an  active  sol- 
dier in  the  War  of  1812,  and  after  his  return 
from  the  field  of  battle,  in  1S13,  married  I'hi- 
lena  Johnson,  a  native  of  Vermont,  who  came 
here  with  her  parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dorman 
lohnson,  when  she  was  a  little  girl.  After 
their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  ICels  lived  for  a 
few  years  in  Masonville,  going  thence  to 
Bainbridge,  where  Mr.  ICels  engaged  in  gen- 
eral farming  for  a  time.  In  1833  he  returned 
to  Walton,  resuming  agricultural  labors,  to 
which  he  afterward  added  lumbering,  the 
home  being  in  Marvin  Hollow,  where  the 
death  of  Mrs.  Eels  occurred  some  five  years 
before  that  of  her  husband.  They  were  the 
parents  of  six  children,  namely:  Stephen  De- 
catur, of  whom  a  sketch  is  given  elsewhere  in 
this  volume:  .Silvia  Ann,  wlio  is  the  widow  of 
Robert  N.  Herry,  and  lives  in  Massachusetts; 
Hannah,  who  married  George  Marvin,  and 
died  in  Walton  in  1893,  at  the  age  of  seventy 
years,  leaving  a  son  and  daughter;  Allen 
Randall,  of  whom  we  write;  Mary,  who  is  the 
wife  of  the  Rev.  Charles  Marvin,  and  resides 
in  Minnesota;  and  Julia,  who  married  John 
M.  Lyon,  and  died  in  1878.  The  parents 
were  active  Christian  people,  and  members 
of  the  Congregational  church,  in  which  the 
father  was  an  officer  for  several  years.  He 
was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  i8ij,  having 
served   as    Jinsign. 

Allen  Randall  Eels,  tlie  subject  of  this 
!)rief  personal  record,  worked  with  his  father 
in  the  saw-mill  for  a  short  time  after  leaving 
school,  and  then  spent  a  few  years  in  farm 
labor.  This  pursuit  he  abandoned  to  learn 
the  painter's  trade,  working  at  it  for  some 
time  with  his  brother,  Stephen  Decatur  Eels. 
In  1864  he  enlisted  in  the  .service  of  his  coun- 
try as  a  private  in  the  One  Hundred  and 
I'orty-fourth  New  York  Volunteer  Infantry, 
and  was  detailed  as  drummer  in  the  regiment 
band,  serving  until  the  close  of  the  war.  On 
his  return  to  Walton  he  resumed  his  former 
occupation,  and  has  since  been  prosperously 
engaged,  having   earned   a   fine   reputation   for 


skilful  and  satisfactory  wiirkmanshi|).  lie 
finds  constant  employment,  and  is  ever  reach- 
to  put  forth  his  best  efforts  in  behalf  of  his 
numerous  patrons,  who  fully  appreciate  his 
promptness   and    trustworthiness. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Eels  to  Maria  Eels,  a 
distant  relative  of  his,  and  a  daughter  of  Hor- 
ace ICels,  was  celebrated  December  8,  1858. 
Their  pleasant  wedded  life  has  been  cheered 
by  the  birth  of  three  children:  Erank  M.  is 
the  wife  (if  J.  II.  H;ites,  and  has  one  child, 
Agnes,  a  bright  little  girl  of  five  years. 
Ered  M.,  a  painter  and  decorator,  residing  in 
Binghamton,  married  Delia  Demarell.  Julia 
is  the  wife  of  Stejihen  Woollett,  of  Bingham- 
ton, and  has  one  child,  a  daughter  seven  years 
of  age,  named  Edna. 

Mr.  I',els  is  a  firm  sujjporter  of  the  princi- 
ples promulgated  by  the  Republican  party. 
He  takes  an  active  interest  in  local  matters, 
and  has  served  as  Inspector  of  Elections  for 
many  years.  He  is  a  ]irominent  member  of 
the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  has 
been   Commander  and    Officer  of  the   Dav. 


Ji 


I':XNIS  W.  1:ARL,  a  merchant  in 
Griffin's  Corners,  and  a  man  of  good 
business  tact  and  energy,  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Ilalcott,  (ircene 
Countv,  (in  December  7,  1850.  The  name  of 
Earl  has  been  known  in  Delaware  County 
since  181 3,  when  David  K.  I-larl,  a  native 
of  Putnam  County,  who  married  Elizabeth 
Palmer,  came  thither,  bought  a  tract  of  the 
wild  waste  of  uncultivated  land  in  this  region, 
and  engaged  in  farming.  The  brave  young 
couple  made  a  home  for  themselves  and  their 
family;  anil,  as  they  grew  more  prosperous, 
they  added  to  their  earthly  store,  and  were 
happy  in  their  simple,  busy  lives.  Eleven 
childVen  were  born  to  tax  their  energy  and 
care,  yet  to  gladden  and  beautify  their  lives 
of  homelv  toil  —  Clarissa,  Esther,  Deborah, 
Orrie.  Dennis,  Susan.  Adelia,  .Mary.  Will- 
iam,   Matthew,    and    J-Lliza. 

Dennis  Earl,  the  fifth  child  named  above, 
was  horn  in  Putnam  County,  and  came  with 
his  parents  to  Delaware  County.  He  married 
Miss  Lydia  Todd,  and  settled  on  a  farm  at 
Batavia    Kill.      Th'\'  rii-^id    :i    familv   of   four 


43° 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


cliiUlrcn  —  Robert,  Wright,  I£lizu,  and  David. 
Mr.  Earl  was  a  member  of  the  old-school  Bap- 
tist church,  and  died  in  middle  age.  His 
widow  survived  him  for  many  years,  living  to 
be  seventy-four  years  of  age. 

David,  the  youngest  son  of  Dennis  and  ; 
Lydia  luui,  was  born  at  Batavia  Kill.  He 
began  farming  at  twenty-two  years  of  age  on 
an  estate  of  one  hundred  acres  in  the  town  of 
Halcott,  Greene  County.  In  1865  he  pur- 
chased of  Hezekiah  Van  Valkenburgh  an  ad- 
joining farm  of  two  hundred  acres,  which  by 
careful  management  and  judicious  expenditure 
in  various  improvements  became  one  of  the 
most  valuable  farms  in  the  neighborhood. 
He  married  Amelia  A.  Faulkner,  and  had  four 
children,  namely:  Dennis  W.,  of  Griffin's 
Corners;  William;  Luther;  and  Emma  J. 
William  married  Louisa  Valkenburgh.  Luther 
married  Ida  W.  Peck,  and,  being  left  a 
widower,  married  a  second  wife.  Miss  Almeda 
Low.  They  live  at  Halcott,  Greene  County, 
and  have  two  children.  Emma  J.  married  a 
Mr.  Eli  Meed,  and  has  two  children.  In 
1885  David  sold  the  farm  in  the  town  of  Hal- 
cott, and  moved  to  Griffin's  Corners,  where 
the  residue  of  his  life  was  spent  in  the  min- 
istry, he  being  an  old-school  Baptist,  and 
having  been   ordained   in   the  year    1880. 

Dennis  W.  Earl  received  a  plain  education 
in  the  district  school  of  Halcott;  and,  upon 
arriving  at  his  majority,  he  began  life  as  a 
farmer.  As  seems  usually  the  case  with  men 
who  follow  agricultural  pursuits,  he  married 
in  his  youth.  The  young  woman  who  joined 
her  life  and  fate  with  his  was  Miss  Emeline 
A.  Streeter,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Sarah 
A.  (Miller)  Streeter.  Her  paternal  grand- 
parents, John  and  Belinda  (Betts)  Streeter, 
were  among  the  early  settlers  of  Halcott. 
They  had  eiglit  children;  namely,  Thomas, 
Levi,  Nicholas,  Orlando,  William,  Romain, 
Alma,    and  Julia. 

Thomas  Streeter,  Mrs.  Earl's  father,  is  a 
most  successful  farmer  in  Halcott.  As  a 
young  man  he  went  to  California;  and,  al- 
though he  was  on  the  road  to  success  in  the 
"Land  of  the  Golden  Gate,"  he  eventually 
returned  to  his  native  State,  where  he  is  now 
living,  a  useful  and  prosperous  citizen.  He 
is    a    Democrat,    a   member  of    the  old-school 


Baptist  church,  and  holds  the  office  of  Over- 
seer of  the  Poor.  He  and  his  wife  are  the 
parents  of  three  children,  namely:  I'lmelinc, 
Mrs.  Earl;  Mary  E.,  the  wife  of  G.  A. 
Gordan,  now  a  widow  with  two  children;  and 
Charles  M.,  who  lives  in  Scranton,  Pa. 

Dennis  W.  Earl,  like  his  father,  sought 
other  fields  wherein  to  labor,  and,  selling  out 
his  interests  in  Halcott,  went  to  Catskill. 
He  remained  there  for  two  years,  and  then 
returned  to  Griffin's  Corners,  and  entered 
mercantile  life,  in  wliich  he  has  since  been 
engaged.  In  his  last  enterprise  there  is 
rather  a  wide  field  of  interests,  since  he  sells, 
besides  general  merchandise,  drugs,  agricult- 
ural implements,  and  patent  medicines.  In 
his  political  proclivities  Mr.  Earl  is  a  Demo- 
crat, and  in  his  religious  views  is  liberal, 
while  not  attached  to  any  of  the  sects  or 
churches.  He  has  earned  by  an  honorable 
and  upright  life  the  respect  of  his  contempo- 
raries, and  has  among  other  offices  held  that 
of  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  his  native  town. 
His  family  circle  is  as  yet  unbi-oken,  the 
three  sons  —  Wright,  William,  and  Herbert 
D. —  having  not  yet  left   the  paternal  shelter. 


ENRY  S.  EDWARDS  died  at  his 
beautiful  country  home,  near  his 
birthplace  in  the  town  of  Franklin, 
N.Y.,  on  October  10,  1894,  and 
was  buried  with  Masonic  honors  by  Franklin 
Lodge,  assisted  by  Oneonta  antl  Otego 
Lodges.  He  was  born  on  December  5,  181 5, 
and  was  the  son  of  Josiah  and  grandson  of 
Jonathan  Edwards.  The  family  is  of  English 
ancestry.  In  the  latter  half  of  last  century 
Jonathan  Edwards  was  an  able  farmer  in  his 
native  town,  East  Hampton,  on  Long  Island. 
He  and  his  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Miller,  reared  a  large  family,  three  daughters 
and  seven  sons,  all  of  whom  grew  to  maturity, 
and  had  families  'of  their  own,  and  lived  to  a 
good  old  age.  After  the  excitement  of  the 
Revolution  much  interest  began  to  be  taken 
in  the  wild  land  in  the  central  part  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  which  was  found  to  have 
such  excellent  advantages  for  farming  and  lum- 
bering that  many  of  the  younger  men  of  East 
Hampton   were   induced  to  migrate.     Among 


Henry  S.  Edwards. 


BIOGKAPHICAL   REVIEW 


433 


these  were  five  of  the  sturily  sons  of  Jonathan 
Mclwards,  who  came  hitlier  with  small  means, 
but  full  of  youthful  vi^or  and  a  determination 
which  forecast  success  to  their  venture. 
These  five  sons  were:  Jonathan,  a  farmer; 
Daniel,  a  carpenter  by  trade,  who  returned  to 
Long  Island,  and  went  to  coasting;  Thomas, 
a  shoemaker;  Josiah,  the  father  ot  the  sub- 
ject of  this  biography ;  and  Henry,  who  lived 
to  be  eighty-eight  years  old,  but  left  no  fam- 
ily. Thomas  and  Jonathan  came  about  1800, 
followed   by  the  others  four  or  five  )'ears  later. 

In  18 1 3,  at  the  age  of  thirty-two,  Josiah 
married  Mary  Davis,  a  native  of  Vermont, 
born  in  1787.  daughter  of  Dyer  Davis,  who 
came  to  Otego,  Otsego  County,  when  Mary 
was  but  thirteen  years  old.  Air.  Davis  was  a 
soldier  during  the  entire  war  cjf  the  Revolu- 
tion, enlisting  when  he  was  but  sixteen,  and 
going  to  the  front  with  his  father,  who  after- 
ward received  a  pension  for  his  services,  ami 
died  in  Ohio,  leaving  a  family  of  three 
daughters  and  four  sons.  ^Irs.  Josiah  h^d- 
wards  died  in  1869,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two, 
having  been  the  mother  of  live  children. 
One  son  died  at  the  age  of  one  year.  A 
daughter,  Mary,  wife  of  George  Jackson,  died 
childless  when  fifty  years  of  age.  Henrv  S. 
was  the  eldest  son.  Temperance  is  the  widow 
of  Sherman  Barnes,  of  Worcester,  Otsego 
County.  Lucretia  is  the  wife  of  David 
Beardslee,  and,  with  her  family,  lives  on  the 
farm  of  her  late  brother,  Henry  .S.  Josiah 
]{dwards  and  his  wife  sleep  in  the  old  ceme- 
tery here. 

Henry  S.  Edwards  was  brought  up  on  his 
father's  farm,  attended  the  tlistrict  school, 
and  from  his  tenth  year  was  constantly  at 
work,  at  thirteen  being  so  strong  and  rugged 
that  his  labor  was  equal  to  that  of  any  man  on 
the  place.  On  Christmas.  1839,  'i>-'  was  mar- 
ried to  Laura  M.  Beardslee,  whose  brother 
David  married  Lucretia  Julwards.  I'revious 
to  this  time,  in  company  with  his  father  he 
had  ownetl  some  two  hundred  ai:res  of  new- 
land  near  this  place;  and  in  1S42  they  made 
the  first  ]Hn-chase  of  land  here,  a  lot  of  eightv- 
four  acres  in  extent,  and  costing  three  thou- 
sand and  four  hundred  dollars.  He  bought 
and  sold  much  real  estate,  and  at  the  close  o( 
his  life  owned   over  three  hundred  acres  of  ex- 


cellent farm  land,  and  had  several  barns 
which  are  models  of  convenience  and  improve- 
ment. The  house  in  which  he  resided  was 
built  in  1840  by  .Mr.  Abell,  of  whom  he 
bought  tlie  farm;  and  he  rebuilt  and  added  to 
it  until  one  now  finds  a  fine  large  farni-house 
standing  on  an  eminence  above  the  road,  sur- 
rounded and  embowered  by  beautiful  sIkkIc- 
trees  which  .Mr.  hldwards  took  much  delight 
ill  planting  and  training.  :\Iuch  attention 
has  been  given  to  the  dairy  ilei)artment  on 
this  larm.  it  having  been  started  with  six 
cows  and  increasing  to  over  fifty,  the  stock 
l)eing  excellent  Durham,  Holstein.  and  Guern- 
seys. Mr.  Kd wards  kept  six  horses  and 
seventy  or  eighty  head  of  cattle,  fattening 
yearly  twelve  to  fifteen  hogs.  The  farm  is  oil 
the  west  side  of  the  valley  through  which  the 
Ouleout  Creek  flows;  and'the  fertile  flat  land 
is  three-()uarters  of  a  mile  long. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  lulwards  had  no  children  born 
to  them:  but  their  hearts  have  ever  been  ojjen 
to  the  children  of  others,  and  no  less  than  five 
young  people  have  received  their  schooling  at 
the  hands  <if  this  benevolent  couple.  Thev 
adojjteil  a  daughter,  .Mariette  Baldwin,  a  very 
bright  girl,  who  at  the  age  of  sixteen  became 
the  wife  of  George  L.  Williams.  She  died  at 
an  early  age,  leaving  one  tlaughter,  Laura,  and 
a  son,  Arthur  O.,  who  taught  for  a  year  in 
the  little  school-house  which  for  fortv  years 
has  nestled  snugly  under  the  hill  near  the 
farm.  In  this  same  school-house  George  L. 
Williams  taught  years  ago,  before  his  mar- 
riage and  before  his  entrance  into  the  min- 
istry, in  which  profession  his  son  Arthur 
has  followed  him.  Arthur  Williams  is  a 
member  of  Wyoming  Conference,  and  is  now 
attending  Drew  Theological  School.  .Mr. 
Ldwards  always  had  a  care  over  Laura  Beards- 
lee. his  youngest  sister's  child,  who  is  now 
the  wife  of  Levi  .Stilson,  and  who  lives  on 
the  ICdwards  farm,  which  he  helps  to  conduct. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stilson  have  two  children: 
Agnes,  fourteen  years  old;  and  William 
Henry,  nine.  Morgan  ICdwards,  adopted  son 
of  :\ir.  and  Mrs.  lulwards,  was  the  son  of 
Sherman  Barnes  and  his  wife  Temperance 
Ldwards,  a  sister  of  Henry.  From  the  time 
he  was  fourteen  months  ohl  until  his  marriage 
he  lived  with   his  foster-parents,  and   bv  thcw 


434 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


he  was  educated  at  the  Franklin  Institute. 
He  and  his  wife  now  live  on  a  farm  adjoining 
the  Edwards  farm. 

Mr.  lidwards  was  a  Master  Mason  of  twenty 
years'  standing,  and  in  politics  a  Democrat; 
and,  although  in  a  Republican  town,  he  was 
never  defeated  as  Supervisor.  He  was  for 
many  years  Senior  Warden  of  the  Episcopal 
church,  of  which  his  wife  is  also  a  communi- 
cant; and  he  assisted  greatly  toward  the 
building,  of  the  church  in  1865.  He  was 
recognized  as  one  of  the  foremost  citizens  of 
his  native  town,  and  was  much  beloved  and 
respected  by  his  neighbors  and  friends.  His 
life  was  full  of  beneficent  hospitality,  his 
large  heart  being  always  open  to  those  who 
were  left  without  the  care  and  protection  of 
their  natural  guardians. 

The  excellent  likeness  of  Mr.  l^dwards  on 
another  page  will  serve  to  perpetuate  the 
memory  of  the  features  of  this  good  man,  who 
has  left  a  name  that  will  long  be  held  in 
honored   remembrance. 


ANFIELD    BOYD  is  a  retired  farmer 


.  of  Cannonsville,  Delaware  County, 
is  ^  N.Y.,  who  has  made  for  himself  a 
delightful  home  and  comfortable 
fortune,  and,  what  is  of  far  greater  value,  a 
reputation  as  an  upright  man,  strictly  honor- 
able in  his  dealings.  His  great-grandfather, 
who  came  to  America  from  Scotland,  and 
made  his  home  in  Massachusetts,  had  two 
brothers,  one  of  whom  settled  in  New  York, 
on  tlie  Hudson  River,  and  the  other  in  Ver- 
mont. William  Boyd,  a  son  of  the  Bay  State 
settler,  was  born  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  March 
15,  1750,  served  as  a  patriot  soldier  in  the 
Revolution,  and  married  in  January,  1777, 
Margery  Taylor,  (jf  Newington,  Conn.,  who 
was  born  March  7,  1758.  A  number  of  years 
after  marriage  they  removed  to  West  Spring- 
field, Mass.,  where  they  died,  she  in  1833, 
and  he  in  1839. 

Their  son,  Elisha  Boyd,  was  born  at  Cam- 
bridge in  1795,  and  until  181 5  followed  the 
life  of  a  farmer  there.  He  then  moved  to 
Franklin,  Delaware  County,  N.Y.,  making 
the  journey  on  horseback  and  in  an  ox  cart, 
and  here  leading  the   life  of  a  sturdy  pioneer. 


In  1 8 18  Elisha  Boyd  married  Patty  Reming- 
ton, of  Meredith,  whose  father  served  as  a 
Revolutionary  soldier  for  seven  years.  His 
constant  companion  during  that  time  was  his 
pet  dog,  who,  displaying  wonderful  sagacity, 
more  than  once  saved  his  life.  At  one  sta- 
tion on  the  frontier  the  sentinels  were  almost 
nightly  killed  while  on  duty,  but  the  perpe- 
trators of  the  crime  could  not  be  discovered. 
It  soon  became  difficult  to  obtain  a  sentinel 
from  the  ranks;  but  Mr.  Remington  volun- 
teered for  the  duty,  and,  accompanied  by  his 
faithful  dog,  began  his  solitary  walk.  Soon 
the  dog  began  to  bark  and  dig  at  the  roots  of 
a  dead  tree;  and,  accordingly,  Mr.  Reming- 
ton fired  at  what  appeared  to  be  a  black  ball 
among  the  branches.  Down  fell  the  body  of 
the  Indian  who  had  waited  in  ambush  to  take 
the  life  of  the  man  whose  victim  he  himself 
proved  to  be.  At  another  time,  when  on 
guard,  Mr.  Remington  saw  what  he  supposed 
to  be  a  wild  hog,  but,  disliking  to  needlessly 
alarm  the  camp,  refrained  from  firing  for  a 
time.  At  length  his  dog  again  became  fran- 
tic; and,  noticing  the  peculiar  gait  of  the 
supposed  hog,  he  fired,  and,  hastening  to  the 
spot,  discovered  that  he  had  killed  an  Indian, 
who  was  cleverly  disguised  that  he  might 
attack  the  sentinels.  At  the  close  of  the  war 
Mr.  Remington  settled  in  West  Meredith, 
where  he  engaged  extensively  in  farming  and 
lumbering,  and  also  operated  a  saw  and  grist 
mill,  in  all  of  which  industries  he  was  emi- 
nently successful. 

Canfield  Boyd,  son  of  Elislia  and  Patty 
(Remington)  Boyd,  was  born  in  Franklin, 
February  28,  1819.  His  childhood  was  spent 
in  attending  the  district  school,  and  working 
on  his  father's  farm,  and  he  also  learned  the 
shoemaker's  trade.  When  about  thirty  years 
of  age,  he  purchased  the  land  on  which  he  now 
resides  in  Tompkins,  which  at  that  time  was 
a  desolate  wilderness.  His  first  purchase 
consisted  of  fifty  acres ;  and,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  his  neighbors,  he  erected  a  board 
house,  which  he  and  his  wife  occupied  on  the 
third  night  after  the  first  tree  had  been  felled 
for  its  frame.  Martha  Neff,  whom  he  mar- 
ried October  6,  1839,  was  the  daughter  of 
Silas  and  Polly  (Watts)  Neff,  and  was  born 
in    Butternuts,    Otsego   County.      When  about 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


435 


seventeen  years  of  ayv,  she  left  liome  to  learn 
the  tailor's  trade,  and  went  to  work  in  what 
is  now  Morris.  At  the  age  of  twenty-live 
she  married  Mr.  Hoyd,  and,  like  the  faithful 
wife  she  was,  insisted  ii|)on  sharing;  his  hard- 
ships in  the  little  cabin,  comforting  and  en- 
couraging him,  and  refusing  the  offers  of 
more  comfortable  quarters  for  the  first  few 
weeks  with  her  neighbors.  At  the  e\])iration 
of  eight  years  Mr.  l?o)-d  pinxhaseil  another 
fifty  acres,  and  later,  in  icS82,  a  frame  house, 
which  he  now  occu[)ies,  it  being  of  commo- 
(-lious  proj)ortions,  and  delightfulh-  situated. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  15o\'d  are  the  parents  of  four 
cliildren:  Heiir\-  L.,  Thomas  W.,  Gilbert  V.., 
and  Elbert  A.  Ilenrs',  a  blacksmith  by 
tratle,  married  Miss  Lydia  Smith,  of  'I'oni]:)- 
kins;  and  they  have  si.\  children  now  living: 
Ilattie,  I'ldwin,  I\Iary,  Willis,  I.avina,  and 
Ella;  one  daughter,  lAz/Av.  having  died  of 
diphtheria  at  the  age  of  seventei.'n.  'I'homas, 
a  farmer  in  Tom])kins,  married  Miss  Nellie 
Mains;  ami  they  have  four  children:  iulith, 
Ivtta,  Eena,  and  Kenneth.  Gilbert  E.  Boyd, 
also  a  Tompkins  farmer,  married  Miss  Jemima 
Mains,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Thomas  Boyd,  b^lbert 
A.  works  the  home  farm,  and  at  present  has 
one  hundred  and  twent\--five  acres  of  land  in 
a  state  f)f  high  cuiti\-;ition,  the  farm  contain- 
ing two  hundred  and  thirty  acres  in  all. 
Here  are  kept  fifty  head  of  fine  cattle;  and  a 
large  dairy  is  operated,  the  butter  from  which 
finds  a  ready  market  at  an  advanced  price  in 
the  large  cities  of  New  \'ork  and  New  Jersey. 
A  large  quantity  of  hone\',  the  product  of  an 
extensive  apiary,  is  yearl\-  shipped  to  market. 

Elbert  A.  Hoyd  married  Louisa  M.  l^rown, 
daughter  of  .Simeon  and  Lucia  (I'"\-arts) 
Brown:  and  the\-  ha\e  one  son.  Emory  Reed, 
born  in  1884.  Mrs.  Elbert  l^oyd's  great- 
grandfather, Collins  Brown,  came  fr(_)m  the 
Eastern  States  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  and  settled  in  Masonville,  in 
this  county.  His  wife  was  Margaret  Chai)in, 
a  member  of  one  of  the  oldest  New  Englanil 
families.  Their  son,  Collins  Brown,  Jr.,  who 
was  born  in  ALasonville,  was  educated  in  the 
district  school,  and  later  received  an  academic 
training.  IK'  was  three  times  married,  his 
first  wife  being  Louisa  (iriswold,  who  became 
the  mother  of   .Simeon  1'.  liiown,  the  father  of 


Mrs.  Boyd.  His  second  wife  was  AFarv  Neff. 
and  his  third  .Sarah  K.  Wood,  who  dird  at 
the  age   of   seventy-fi\e. 

.Simeon  P.  Brown,  having  received  his  early 
education  in  the  district  school  of  ^Lasonville, 
attended  the  academy  at  I-"ranklin,  and  then 
entered  Madison  Uni\-ersity,  at  Hamilton. 
Madison  County,  N.Y.,  where  he  was  grad- 
uated from  both  the  classical  and  theological 
courses,  after  which  he  was  ordained  as  a 
Ba])tist  minister.  His  first  ])arish  was  at 
Sherman.  I'a.  :  but  later  he  went  to  liennetts- 
ville,  N.\'.,  where  he  remained  one  year. 
His  next  call  was  to  Sidney  Centre,  and  from 
there  he  came  to  Cannonsville.  In  1864  he 
enlisted  from  the  town  of  .Sanford  in  the 
Sixth  New  \'ork  Heavy  Artillery  as  a  private, 
and  served  for  eleven  months.  He  partici- 
l)ated  in  the  battle  of  Cedar  Creek,  and  (Jcto- 
ber  19,  1864,  at  Winchester,  was  shot  through 
the  thigh,  lying  on  the  field  for  twenty-four 
hours  before  assistance  reached  him.  He 
died  from  the  effects  of  his  W'ound  six  weeks 
later,  faithful  to  the  end,  a  true  patriot,  a  be- 
loved and  loving  husband,  father,  and  friend; 
and  his  loss  was  keenly  felt,  not  only  by  his 
immediate  family,  but  by  all  who  were  fortu- 
nate enough  to  possess  his  acquaintance.  His 
wife  was  Lucia  I^.  h'varts,  of  Coventry,  \'t., 
a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  ]\L  .M.  lu-arts,  a  Bap- 
tist minister  of  that  town.  Mr.  b'.varts  was 
a  descendant  of  the  illustrious  family  of  that 
name  which  has  given  to  this  country  minis- 
ters, statesmen,  and  lawyers  of  national 
repute.  His  wife  was  Lavina  Reed,  daughter 
ot  Boah  Reed,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Lisle, 
Broome  County,  N.Y.,  who  passed  the  even- 
ing of  his  life  in  Masonville,  tlying  at  the  age 
of  eighty  years.  !\Tr.  and  Mrs.  Simeon  Brown 
were  the  parents  of  three  children:  Louisa 
M.,  who  married  I^lbert  A.  Boyd:  lamest  W. ; 
and  iVIarcus  S.,  a  physician  at  Walton,  who 
died    in    December,    1892. 

Mr.  C"anfield  Boyd  and  his  wife  are  both  de- 
voted members  of  the  Cannonsville  Baptist 
church,  which  organization  they  joined  at  the 
age  of  seventeen  ;  and  they  are  the  acknowl- 
edged leaders  in  all  church  affairs,  Mr.  Boyd 
being  a  Deacon  at  the  present  time.  In  poli- 
tics he  is  and  always  has  been  a  Re])ublican, 
a    prominent    man    in    all    matters   concerning 


436 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


the  welfare  of  the  town  where  he  resides. 
His  farm  is  one  of  the  finest  in  the  country, 
and  its  excellence  is  due  entirely  to  his 
energy,  strengthened  by  the  courage  and 
patience  of  his  loving  wife.  This  worthy 
couple  are  now  drifting  down,  hand  in  hand, 
toward  the  close  of  life,  looking  back  upon  a 
past  well  spent,  and  forward  to  a  future  of 
everlasting  peace. 


'RANK  PECK,  one  of  the  most  enter- 
prising young  agriculturists  of  Dela- 
ware County,  was  born  July  25,  1868. 
His  great-grandfather  Peck  was  born  in 
Dutchess  County,  and  in  1790  removed  to 
Delaware  County,  which  was  then  a  wilder- 
ness. Here  in  the  woods,  with  few  neigh- 
bors, he  built,  as  soon  as  possible,  a  log 
house,  not  only  to  shelter  his  family  from 
cold  and  storms,  but  to  protect  them  from  the 
wild  beasts  which  abounded  in  that  section. 
He  cleared  a  small  tract  of  land,  and  raised 
enough  wheat  and  corn  to  supply  his  house- 
hold, being  obliged  to  carry  it  many  miles 
through  the  forest  to  be  ground.  His  eldest 
son,  David,  was  born  December  3,  1794,  on 
the  farm  now  owned  by  G.  Dart.  David  Peck 
always  lived  at  home,  helping  his  father  with 
the  farm  work.  On  December  4,  18 17,  he 
married  Clarissa  Ferris,  who  was  born  June 
4,  1800.  They  had  a  family  of  eight  chil- 
dren, and  lived  to  a  very  old  age. 

One  of  their  sons  was  Hiram  Peck,  the 
father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  He  was 
born  December  22,  1824,  and  lived  at  home, 
working  with  his  father,  clearing  and  improv- 
ing the  land.  December  21,  1853,  he  mar- 
ried Mary,  daughter  of  Isaac  and  Rhoda 
(Webster)  Mabcy.  The  father,  Isaac  Mabcy, 
a  tanner  by  trade,  was  a  Whig  in  politics,  and 
was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  In 
his  youth  lie  worked  on  Staten  Island,  and 
later  went  to  Cairo,  Greene  County.  He 
died  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight,  in  Schoharie 
County,  his  wife  passing  away  at  the  age  of 
eighty-six.  They  had  a  family  of  nine  chil- 
dren —  George,  Alonzo,  .Stephen,  Jcannette, 
Mary,  Isaac,  Sarah,  Martha,  and  William 
Mabey.  After  his  marriage  Hiram  Peck 
bought  two  hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  mostly 


new  land  near  the  old  Windham  turnpike, 
now  known  as  Peck  Street.  This  he  cleared, 
and  on  it  put  new  buildings.  He  and  his 
wife  had  nine  children,  namely:  Munroe,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  seven  years;  Albert,  who 
married  Elizabeth  Christian;  David;  Ella; 
Eda,  who  died  young;  Minnie,  who  was  mar- 
ried to  J.  Cook;  Mary;  Frank,  who  lives  at 
home;  and  John  L.  Peck.  Hiram  Peck  lived 
to  be  fifty-seven  years  of  age.  He  was  a  Re- 
publican in  politics,  and  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church.  His  wife,  who 
now  lives  at  the  old  homestead  with  her  son 
Frank,  is  also  a  member  of  that  church. 

Frank  Peck  received  a  good  district-school 
education.  He  was  scarcely  fourteen  years  of 
age  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death,  but  he 
soon  took  charge  of  the  farm.  Within  the 
last  few  years  he  has  built  a  new  dwelling- 
house,  remodelled  the  barns  and  wagon-house, 
and  greatly  improved  the  farm,  now  having  a 
dairy  that  ranks  among  the  best  in  this  vicin- 
ity. He  has  raised  some  fine  "Wilkes 
breed"  horses,  and  in  all  matters  pertaining 
to  agricultural  pursuits  shows  great  progress. 
He  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  takes  an 
active  interest  in  politics  and  town  improve- 
ments. By  taking  the  responsibility  of  so 
large  a  farm,  and  carrying  it  on  with  such  suc- 
cess, he  has  displayed  great  ability,  and  has 
won  well-deserved  prosperity. 


ILLIAM  H.  ROSA,  senior  member 
of  the  mercantile  firm  of  Rosa  & 
Co.,  of  Walton,  N.Y.,  is  an  ener- 
getic, industrious  man,  of  high  moral  princi- 
ples and  deep  religious  fervor,  who  by  his 
examples  and  teachings  has  had  no  little 
influence  in  raising  the  moral  standard  of  the 
community  of  which  he  is  a  prominent  and 
valued  member.  He  was  born  on  November 
II,  1829,  in  Kingston,  Ulster  County,  which 
town  was  also  the  birthplace  of  his  father, 
James   Rosa,    in    1804. 

James  Rosa  was  the  son  of  Benjamin  Rosa, 
who  married  a  Connecticut  lady,  and  removed 
from  Ulster  County  to  Delaware  County  in 
1834.  Of  the  eight  children  born  to  them 
but  one  is  now  living  —  William  H.  Rosa,  an 
octogenarian,    who    resides    on    Beaver    Hill. 


BIOGRAPHICAI,    RKVIEW 


437 


The  giMn(l|xirents  of  tlK-  subject  of  this  skclcli 
were  humble  fanners  in  moderate  circum- 
stances, living  and  dying  in  tiie  Metboilist 
faith,  the  wife  outliving  the  husband  by  about 
ten  years.  They  were  buried  in  the  family 
lot  on  the  farm  belonging  to  Samuel  Terry,  it 
being  the  custom  of  the  times  to  bury  the 
loved  ones  near  the  old  homesteads  instead  of 
selecting  a  large  tract  of  land  for  a  public 
cemetery. 

fames  Rosa  married  Polly  Brink,  of  Ulster 
County,  and  adoptetl  the  occupation  of  a 
farmer,  moving  to  Delaware  County  in  1836, 
bringing  with  him  a  part  of  his  family  of 
eight  children,  two  others  having  died  in  in- 
fancy. Benjamin,  the  eldest  child,  was  a 
volunteer  in  the  One  Hundred  and  Forty- 
fourth  New  York  Infantry,  and  died  of  fever 
at  Follv  Island  while  in  the  service  of  his 
country,  in  1864,  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven 
years.  Me  left  a  widow  and  foiu"  children, 
one  of  whom,  James  O.  Rosa,  in  partnership 
with  his  uncle  William,  now  carries  on  an 
extensive  business  in  general  merchandise  in 
Walton.  James  Rosa  died  in  1876,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-two  years,  his  wife  ha\'ing 
been  taken  away  ten  years  previously  by  an 
attack  of  apoplexy.  Of  the  children  whom 
they  left,  one  daughter  resides  in  Salt  Lake 
Citv,  one  in  Trov,  N.^'.,  and  two  in  Walton, 
all  having  families  of  their  own;  while  the 
two  sons  —  Nelson,  in  the  railroad  l)usiness, 
and  William  H. —  still  live  in  their  homes  in 
Walton. 

William  H.  Rosa,  the  second  son  of  James, 
was  educated  in  the  district  school  until  eigh- 
teen years  of  age,  after  wdiich  he  remained  at 
home,  working  upon  the  farm  and  making 
himself  generally  useful.  On  his  twenty- 
eighth  birthday,  November  11,  1857,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Delia  .Saw\er,  of  Walton,  daughter 
of  Milton  and  iViscilla  (]5eers)  Sawyer:  and 
they  have  had  four  children:  Edward,  who 
died  -August  11.  187J,  when  thirteen  years 
old;  Everett,  who  died  on  .September  17, 
188S,  aged  twentv-four:  Milton,  who  tlied 
October  ig,  1894;  and  .'\lthea,  a  school  girl 
fifteen  years  of  age. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rosa  resided  in  Tompkins, 
and  later  in  Mason\ille,  where  in  1887  the)' 
sold  their  farm  of  one  hundred  acres,  and  then 


removed  to  their  new  home  whicli  Mr.  Rosa 
erected  on  Williams  Street  in  Walton.  In 
March,  1894,  Mr.  Rosa  embarked  in  mercan- 
tile life  with  his  nephew,  opening  a  two-thou- 
sand-d(dlar  stock  of  general  nieichandise;  and 
they  are  now  carrying  on  a  thriving  and  daily 
increasing  business.  Although  neither  of 
these  men  has  had  any  experience  in  trade, 
with  the  assistance  of  the  practical  )'oung 
wife  of  James  O.  Rosa,  Clara  Bell  Bennett, 
daughter  of  Jesse  Bennett,  they  are  able  to 
]K'rsonally  conduct  all  their  business,  under 
the   name   of   Rosa   &   Co. 

Mr.  Rosa  is  a  Prohibitionist  from  the  Re- 
pul)lican  ranks,  and  has  held  several  offices  in 
the  jiarty  whose  principles  he  u]-)hf)lds.  Like 
his  grandfather  and  father,  he  is  a  true  Meth- 
odist, having  been  converted  when  but  twenty- 
years  of  age,  since  which  time  he  has  been  a 
prominent  helper  in  the  good  cause  as  Sun- 
dav-scho(d  sujierintendent  and  class  leader, 
which  hitter  [position  he  still  holds.  In  this 
good  work  he  has  been  materially  aided  by 
his  faithful  wife,  who  is  ever  ready  to  minis- 
ter to  the  need  of  those  less  fortunate  than 
herself.  Mr.  Rosa  is  a  man  of  most  estima- 
ble character,  who  has  the  satisfaction  of 
being  thoroughly  appreciated  by  those  for 
whom  he  has  labored  so  faithfully  anil  so 
long;  and  he  holds  an  exalted  ])osilion  in  the 
esteem  of  the  community  for  whose  higher  in- 
terests he  is  constantly  striving. 


ILLLAM  II.  WILSON,  one  of  Col- 
chester's well-to-do  farmers,  was 
born  June  25.  1851,  and  was  the 
son  of  Iqihraim  J.  antl  Ann  Eliza  (Young) 
Wilson.  ICphraim  was  born  P'ebruary  27, 
1 8 19,  and  was  the  son  of  James  C.  and  .Sarah 
(Rumsey)  Wilson.  James  C.  was  born  in 
1778,  the  son  of  Isaac,  and  grandson  of 
Joseph  W'ilson,  who  came  from  W'ales,  and 
settled  on  the  Hudson  River  with  his  wife  and 
child,  there  making  his  home  until  he  was 
killed   by   the    Indians. 

Isaac  Wilson  was  married  in  Dutchess 
County,  and  started  for  Delaware  County  with 
horse,  wagon,  and  two  cows.  The  journey 
was  a  perilous  one,  there  being  no  roads  like 
those   of   the  present   day.  lint   nicrrlv  an    Tnd- 


438 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ian  trail,  the  loss  of  which  meant  bewilder- 
ment in  dense  woods.  Great  fortitude  and  a 
brave  heart  were  needed  to  overcome  the  many 
difficulties  in  the  way;  and  it  was  after  many 
of  these  that  Mr.  Wilson  finally  settled  on  a 
farm  of  two  hundred  acres,  now  known  as 
Wilson  Hollow.  A  covered  wagon  was  their 
only  dwelling  for  a  season,  and  their  only 
food  game,  berries,  and  the  milk  of  one  cow, 
the  other  having  been  killed  by  an  accident 
after  their  arrival.  A  log  house  was  at  length 
built,  which  served  them  far  better  when  the 
cold  storms  of  winter  came;  and  some  grain 
was  raised,  not  in  very  large  quantities,  but 
enough  for  their  own  use.  Later,  as  the 
times  improved,  more  modern  buildings  were 
erected,  and  a  comfortable  home  made  for  the 
family.  In  the  great  struggle  for  American 
freedom  which  began  in  1775,  Mr.  Wilson 
served  as  an  Ensign.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Isaac 
Wilson  had  these  children,  namely:  James 
C,  born  in  1778;  Peter,  born  in  1780;  Addie, 
born  in  1783;  Jane,  born  in  1787;  Elizabeth, 
born  in  1793;  Eleanor,  born  in  1798;  An- 
drew, born  in  1800;  Charles,  born  in  1803; 
and  Nancy,  born  in  1806. 

James  C.  Wilson  was  a  hard-working, 
sagacious  farmer,  and  accumulated  much  prop- 
erty, at  one  time  owning  four  hundred  acres. 
This  he  eventually  sold  to  his  son  Hiram, 
and,  leaving  the  old  home,  moved  to  Downs- 
ville,  where  he  died  when  a  very  old  man, 
ninety-six  years  of  age.  His  wife,  however, 
died  on  the  farm.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wil- 
son were  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  and  in  politics  he  was  a  Democrat. 
They  raised  a  family  of  ten  children  —  Peter, 
Hiram,  Ephraim  J.,  Isaac,  Eleanor,  Andrew, 
George,  Rachel,  Jeanette,  and  Jerusha. 

Ephraim  J.  was  the  third  son  of  J.  C.  Wil- 
son, and  spent  his  childhood  and  youth  on  the 
home  farm,  assisting  his  father  in  the  work, 
and  attending  the  district  school  in  its  season. 
Later  he  engaged  in  lumbering  in  connection 
with  his  farm  work;  and,  when  he  had  saved 
eight  hundred  dollars  from  his  earnings,  he 
bought  from  Lawrence  Carr  fifty  acres  of  land 
known  as  the  George  Dann  farm.  He  then 
sought  for  himself  a  partner  in  life,  and  mar- 
ried Eliza,  daughter'  of  William  and  Sarah 
Young,  and  one  of  a  family  of  nine  children 


—  Samuel,  Enoch,  Charles,  Elizabeth,  Syl- 
via, Ann  Eliza,  Cornelia,  Sarah,  and  Mary. 
William  Young  was  a  farmer  in  a  neighbor- 
ing town,  and  met  his  death  by  an  accident  in 
a  saw-mill.      Mrs.  Young  died  on  the  farm. 

After  his  marriage  Ephraim  J.  Wilson 
engaged  very  extensively  in  the  lumber  busi- 
ness, sending  the  lumber  down  the  river  to 
the  Philadelphia  market,  where  it  brought  a 
good  price.  He  reared  a  family  of  eight  chil- 
dren, namely:  Estella,  born  July  16,  1845, 
died  August  5,  1852;  Augustus,  born  March 
8,  1847,  died  November  10,  1851;  Helen, 
born  December  19,  1849,  married  in  October, 
1890,  to  Joseph  Roileau,  a  farmer  and  carpen- 
ter; William  IL,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Eugene  Chester,  born  November  13,  1853,  a 
conductor,  who  married  in  1874  Mary  A.  Sig- 
nor;  Herman  A.,  born  October  17,  1861,  a 
farmer,  who  married  Belle  White;  Sarah  A., 
born  June  2,  1864,  married  to  James  C.  Loos, 
a  farmer;  George  E.,  born  in  1869,  who  mar- 
ried Ann  Eliza  Jennings.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ephraim  J.  Wilson  were  members  of  the 
Methodist  P^piscopal  church ;  and  he  was  a 
good  Democrat  until  the  day  of  his  death,  Oc- 
tober 23,   1873. 

William  H.  Wilson  was  born  on  the  old 
homestead  upon  which  he  now  resides,  and 
received  his  early  education  at  the  district 
schools  of  the  town,  afterward  attending  the 
Walton  Academy  for  one  term.  As  a  young 
man  he  was  a  very  good  scholar;  and  for 
eleven  terms  he  taught  school,  but  finally 
gave  this  up,  and  devoted  himself  to  farming 
and  lumbering.  July  3,  1873,  he  married 
Hannah  M.,  daughter  of  James  and  Lois 
(Lindsley)  Holley,  the  father  being  a  farmer 
with  a  family  of  two  children.  His  son, 
William  Holley,  married  Jennie  Hull,  and 
lives  at  Cleaver,  on  Loomis  Brook.  Lois, 
the  wife  of  James  Holley,  died  in  1854;  and 
James  then  married  Elizabeth  Moore,  with 
whom  he  resides  in  Walton.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
William  H.  Wilson  have  had  seven  children, 
as  follows:  Frank  H.,  born  February  16, 
1874;  Walter  H.,  born  November  18,  1875; 
James  E.,  born  June  19,  1877;  Melvin  A., 
born  May  11,  1879,  who  died  May  9,  1881; 
Earl  H.,  born  August  10,  1885;  and  Herman 
and  Sherman,  born  June  2,  1888. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


•130 


In  1S87  Mr.  Wilson  Ijouglit  the  old  homo- 
stead,  and  since  that  time  has  increased  it  so 
that  he  now  owns  three  hundred  and  forty 
acres.  He  has  erected  one  of  the  finest  barns 
in  the  siirroundinj;  country,  it  being  three 
stories  high,  with  all  modern  conveniences, 
and  accommodations  for  o\'er  forty  head  of 
cattle.  Here  he  keejis  a  fine  stock  of  graded 
Guernseys,  having  one  registered  Guernsey  at 
the  head,  making  his  probably  the  most  select 
and  best  dairy  in  the  town  of  Colchester.  He 
also  has  many  fine  work  horses,  and  keeps  a 
lew  of  the  Cotswold  sheep.  In  his  various 
undertakings  Mr.  Wilson  has  shown  marked 
ability,  close  apjilication,  and  perseverance, 
all  of  which  have  brought  iiim  success  and  the 
respect  of  his  fellow-citi/.ens.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wilson  are  members  of  the  Methodist  l^pisco- 
pal  church  at  Downsville,  and  he  is  a  Demo- 
crat in  politics. 


J~~\I<-  RLT.SON  RUDOLPH  LEON- 
=1  ARD  is  a  well-known  and  skilful 
'^3  l)h\sician,  and  the  leading  druggist 
of  the  village  of  Hloomville,  in  the 
town  of  Kortright.  He  was  born  June  3, 
1868,  at  Broome  Centre,  Schoharie  Count \-, 
where  his  father,  Dr.  Duncan  M.  Leonard,  is 
an  eminent  jjhysician,  and  the  oldest  repre- 
seutati\'e  of  the  medical  profession  in  the 
place,  and  with  one  exception  the  oldest  in 
the  county.  Rutson  R.  Leonard  is,  on  his 
father's  side,  of  German  extraction,  and  comes 
of  illustrious  ancestry.  His  great-grand- 
father, John  Leonard  Swatzbauer.  was  a  noted 
general  in  the  German  army.  He  wa.s  the 
first  representative  of  the  family  in  America, 
where  the  surname  of  .Swatzbauer  was  dropped, 
and  he  was  called  simply  John  Leonard,  fie 
was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Roxbury,  N.V., 
which  was  then  known  only  as  Heaver  Dam. 
He  was  a  man  of  means:  and  here  he  bought 
lantl,  and  became  a  successful  farmer.  He 
lived  to  a  good  old  age.  His  son.  Henry 
Leonard,  the  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  born  near  Black  River  in  or  near 
\'ermont.  He  devoted  himself  to  agriculture, 
and  spent  his  entire  manhood  in  Roxbury, 
where  he  died  at  the  great  age  of  ninety 
years.      He   was  the  father  of  nine  sons,   five 


of  whom  became  physicians,  and  three  daugh- 
ters. Nine  of  the  family  are  still  living. 
These  children  were:  I'eter  Leonard,  a  farmer 
living  in  the  town  of  .Sidney:  John  Leonard, 
a  farmer  and  retired  physician  in  luisl 
Worcester,  Otsego  County ;  William  Leonard, 
a  doctor  in  Worcester,  Otsego  County;  Daniel 
Leonard,  a  farmer  in  Greene  County;  Dr. 
Dimcan  M.  Leonard;  Asa  Leonard,  living  in 
Triangle  Town,  Broome  Countv;  Salina,  wife 
of  J.  Rudolph  Hanima,  a  farmer,  living  in 
Roxbury:  Lucy,  wife  of  John  Weckel,  a 
miller  in  Roxbm-y ;  .Mary,  wife  of  Christopher 
John  luiderlin,  a  blacksmith  in  Roxbury; 
George  Leonard,  a  physician,  no  longer  li\- 
ing;  Samuel  Leonard,  a  farmer,  not  living; 
and  Charles  Leonard,  also  deci-ased.  It  has 
long  been  a  common  remark  that  the  family  of 
I  Henry  Leonard  were  "physicians  by  birth." 
I  Their  mother  was  accustomed  to  s])enil  a  great 
j  deal  of  her  time  with  the  sick,  being  nearly 
i  always  called  before  any  doctor.  She  was  a 
native  of  Fairfield,  Conn.  Her  maiden  name 
was  Hull,  and  she  was  known  as  "Aunt 
Huldali." 

Duncan  M.  Leonaixl,  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  itS37,  in  the  town 
of  Roxburw  where  his  boyhood  was  spent. 
He  w^as  graduateri  at  the  Castleton  .Medical 
College  in  Vermont,  anil  soon  after  taking  his 
degree  came  to  Broome  Centre,  where  he  is 
still  establishetl  as  a  ])hysician.  His  first 
wife  was  \'ashtie  McHench.  who  was  born  in 
Broome  Centre,  .Schoharie  County,  in  1S28. 
They  reared  a  family  of  four  children,  all  of 
whom  are  living.  The  eklest,  Lmma  R. 
'  Leonard,  of  l^loomville,  Delaware  County, 
was  born  October  12,  1S60.  ]•"  ranees  A., 
wife  of  b'rank  B.  .Mackey,  of  Cobleskill, 
.Sch<iharie  County,  was  born  in  1863.  Lh'sula 
J.,  the  wife  of  Dr.  Christopher  S.  15est,  of 
Midtlleburg,  .Schoharie  Countv,  was  born  in 
April,  1866.  Their  mother  died  June  4, 
1877,  at  the  age  of  forty-nine.  In  January, 
1879,  "'■•  Leonard  married  Lmma  J.  Me- 
Ilench,  a  sister  of  his  first  wife.  Dr.  Duncan 
Leonard  is  one  of  the  leading  men  of  his  ])ro- 
fession  in  this  part  of  the  country,  and  has 
led  a  life  of  exceptional  usefulness.  He  has 
been  President  of  the  Schoharie  County  Medi- 
cal   Societv.    and    nearlv   a    half-hundred   stu- 


440 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


dents  have  graduated  under  his  instruction. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  regular  Baptist  church, 
and  in  politics  is  independent.  Though  he 
started  in  life  in  debt  for  his  education  and 
for  the  horse  and  saddlebags  with  which  he 
made  his  daily  rounds  among  his  patients,  he 
is  to-day  one  of  the  wealthy  men  of  his  town, 
and  is  the  owner  of  eight  hundred  acres  of  land. 

Rutson  Rudolph  Leonard,  fourth  and  young- 
est child  of  Dr.  Duncan  M.  Leonard,  grew  to 
manhood  in  Broome  Centre,  the  town  of  Gil- 
boa,  Schoharie  County.  He  first  attended  the 
district  school,  and  then  the  normal  select 
school  in  Broome  Centre.  Then  he  spent 
one  year  as  a  student  at  each  of  the  follow- 
ing-named institutions:  Stamford  Seminary, 
Starkey  Seminary  and  College,  Hartwick 
Seminary.  After  leaving  Hartwick  Seminary, 
he  began  the  study  of  medicine  at  the  New 
York  University  Medical  College,  where  he 
was  graduated  in  March,  1890.  He  also  stud- 
ied for  a  time  in  the  medical  department  of 
the  University  of  Vermont,  spending  in  all 
nine  years  as  a  medical  student.  In  July, 
1890,  he  came  to  Bloomville,  and  established 
himself  as  a  physician  and  druggist.  October 
12,  1893,  he  married  Jessie  A.  Henderson, 
ilaughter  of  James  and  Nancy  (McNeilly) 
Henderson,  born  in  Kortright,  May  3,  1866. 
Her  grandparents  were  George  and  Eliza 
(Smith)  Henderson,  both  born  in  this  country. 

George  Henderson  was  an  early  settler  in 
the  town  of  Kortright,  where  he  owned  and 
tilled  a  farm  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
acres.  He  was  a  worthy,  industrious  man, 
a  member  of  the  United  Presbyterian  church. 
In  politics  he  was  a  Democrat.  Of  their 
children,  twelve  in  all,  five  arc  still  liv- 
ing, namely:  Robert  Henderson,  in  Kansas; 
William  and  Samuel  Henderson,  in  Kort- 
right; Harvey  Henderson,  in  Kansas;  and 
Anna,  the  wife  of  Robert  Rice,  of  Harpers- 
field.  The  father  died  on  his  farm  at  seventy 
years  of  age.  His  wife  departed  this  life 
when  about  sixty-eight.  Their  son  James, 
the  father  of  Mrs.  Leonard,  was  born  in  Kort- 
right, June  4,  1822,  and  grew  to  manhood  on 
his  father's  farm.  He  improved  his  opportu- 
nities at  the  district  school  so  well  that  he 
became  a  teacher!  After  spending  several 
years  as  a  schoolmaster,  he  became  a  farmer 


and  stock  dealer,  in  which  line  he  was  very 
successful.  September  12,  1853,  he  married 
Nancy  McNeilly,  a  daughter  of  Andrew  and 
Eliza  (Morrow)  McNeilly,  born  in  Down 
County,    Ireland,    February   5,    1830. 

Andrew  McNeilly  came  to  America  with 
his  family  in  1841,  and  settled  as  a  farmer  in 
the  town  of  Harpcrsfield,  in  Delaware  County. 
Here  he  remained  fifteen  years.  Then  he 
sold  his  farm,  and  moved  to  Kortright,  where 
his  last  years  were  spent  at  the  home  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Henderson.  It  was  not  until  the 
great  age  of  eighty-nine  was  reached  that  he 
departed  this  life;  but  his  wife  had  been 
taken  away  many  years  before,  when  about 
fifty-two.  Mr.  McNeilly  was  an  Elder  in  the 
Presbyterian  church,  and  his  wife  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  same  religious  organization.  Seven 
of  their  children  are  still  living.  Their  en- 
tire family  consisted  of  nine  boys  and  girls, 
namely:  Mrs.  William  Hazlett,  of  East  Mere- 
dith; Mrs.  Andresv  Gibson,  of  Davenport; 
Mrs.  James  Rowland,  of  West  Kortright; 
Mrs.  Michael  Se.xSmith,  of  Kortright  Centre; 
Mrs.  Henry  SexSmith,  deceased,  late  of  Wal- 
ton; Mrs.  Henderson;  Adam  McNeilly,  of 
California;  Mrs.  John  Wilsey,  of  Iowa;  and 
William  McNeilly,  who  met  with  an  accident 
which  proved  fatal,  when  he  was  thirteen 
years   old. 

Mr.  Henderson's  residence  was  known  as 
"the  White  House,"  because  it  was  the  first 
so  painted  in  Kortright.  Mr.  Henderson 
bought  his  first  land  in  the  town  of  Kortright, 
where  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  possessed 
five  hundred  acres,  and  had  at  one  time  owned 
eight  hundred.  In  1874  he  moved  to  the 
farm  where  his  last  days  were  spent ;  and  his 
death  took  place  November  29,  1890,  when  he 
was  about  sixty-eight.  He  was  a  man  of 
great  energy  and  industry,  and  very  successful 
in  business.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church  at  West  Kortright,  of  which 
his  wife  is  also  a  communicant.  In  politics 
he  was  a  Republican.  The  home  farm,  con- 
sisting of  three  hundred  acres,  is  still  carried 
on  in  the  most  successful  manner  by  his 
widow.  She  has  a  fine  dairy,  where  the  best 
of  butter  is  made,  and  keeps  a  herd  of  thirty 
graded  cattle.  In  all  respects  her  farm  is  in 
excellent    condition,    and    her    home    is    most 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


II' 


comfortable  and  attractivo.  Mr.  lli'iuicrson 
was  the  fatlicr  of  ton  children,  nine  of  whom 
arc  still  living.  William  Henderson,  now  in 
Iowa,  was  the  only  child  of  tiie  first  mar- 
riage, liis  mother  being  Xaney  Ilarkness,  who 
lived  but  a  short  time.  .Andrew  Henderson 
died  at  one  year  of  age.  Andrew  'SI.  Hender- 
son lives  at  North  Kortright.  I'lmma  E.  is 
the  wife  of  Howard  Mitchell,  of  luist  l\Tere- 
di'h.  (ieorge  Henderson  is  in  Colorado. 
J  hn  Henderson  lives  in  I-'.ast  Meredith. 
Jessie  A.  is  the  wife  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  James  IM.  Henderson  is  in  Koit- 
right.  C.  Irving  Henderson  and  M.  b'hnxMice 
Henderson  li\x'  at  liome. 

Dr.  Rutson  Rudolph  Leonard  and  his  wife 
now  live  in  the  village  of  Bloomville,  his 
inherited  and  acquired  skill  as  a  physician 
bringing  him  a  very  large  jjractice.  He  is 
the  pro])rietor  of  a  drug  store,  where  a  full 
line  of  drugs  are  constantly  in  stock.  He 
owns  a  business  block,  erected  in  the  fall  of 
1892,  which  contains  three  stores  besides  his 
own,  also  two  halls  —  Leonard  Hall,  for  pub- 
lic meetings,  and  a  larger  hall  for  dancing, 
measuring  thirty  by  forty-five  (vet,  the  only 
halls  in  the  village.  The  block  measures 
forty  by  sixty  feet.  Dr.  Leonard,  though  lib- 
eral in  his  religious  views,  leans  toward  the 
doctrines  of  the  Baptist  church,  his  wife  being 
a  member  of  the  L'nited  Presbyterian  church. 
Politically,  he  is  a  Democrat,  and  is  a  health 
officer.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
Lodge,  No.  630,  of  Gilboa,  an  Oild  h'ellow  in 
the  Delaware  \'alley  Lodge,  No.  6ij.  of 
Bloomville,  and  also  belongs  to  the  Roval 
Lncampment  of  Oneonda,  No.  112.  He  has 
been  the  Noble  Grand  of  the  lodge,  and  was 
one  of  its  originators  and  charter  members. 
Lie  is  a  most  valuable  member  of  the  Dela- 
ware and  Schoharie  County  Medical  Societies. 
Though  still  a  young  man.  Dr.  Leonard's 
prominence  and  success  are  already  so  marked 
that  a  brilliant  career  is  predicted  for  him. 


k(jsi:\vi:i.i.     ki:lsi;v     palmer- 

TON,      M.D.,     the      successful     and 
universally      popular     physician    of 
Cannonsville,      in       the      town      of 
lompkins,  is   descended   from    an   old  pioneer 


family  of  the  I'jnpire  Stale.  His  great-grand- 
lather,  William  Palmerton,  was  an  linglish- 
man  who  immigrated  to  America  in  the  old 
C\)lonial  days,  and  settled  in  Saratoga  C(junty. 
.Syivenus,  son  of  William,  was  born  in  Balls- 
ton  in  that  county,  and  resided  there  until 
1822,  when  with  his  family  he  removed  to 
Delaware  County,  taking  up  habitation  in 
what  is  now  the  town  of  Deposit.  Llere  he 
purchased  a  tract  of  heavily  timbered  land, 
and  at  once  built  his  log  house.  At  this  time 
there  were  no  railroatls  in  the  State:  and 
Catskill,  nearly  one  hundred  miles  distant, 
was  the  nearest  depot  for  supplies.  Syivenus 
Palmerton  was  exceedingly  industrious;  and 
by  unceasing  patient  toil  he  cleared  his  land, 
j  and  converted  the  wilderness  into  a  liountiful 
farm  and  the  log  house  into  a  comfortable 
j  home,  which  he  occupied  for  many  years. 
Afterward  he  removed  to  the  village  of  De- 
posit, where  he  lived  in  retirement  for  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  His  wife  was  P'.lcanor 
L^gglcstfui. 

.Samuel  Palmerton,  a  son  of  Syivenus,  was 
born  in  Hallston,  and  reared  to  a  life  of  agri- 
culture and  lumbering.  On  the  death  of  his 
lather  he  succeeded  tfi  the  ownership  of  the 
old  home,  which  he  has  enlarged  by  the  pur- 
cliase  of  more  land.  He  has  also  erected 
some  sulistantial  buildings  and  otherwise  im- 
jiroved  the  place.  He  married  Miss  Lvdia 
Kelsey,  daughter  of  Rosewell  and  Hannah 
(.Smith)  Kelsey;  and  she  became  the  mother 
of  six  children.  One  son.  Harvey,  died  at 
the  age  of  eleven:  the  others,  .Sarah  A..  E.llen 
1"..  George  W.,  Rosewell  K..  and  Cajjitola, 
are  all  living. 

Rosewell  K.  Palmerton  was  born  in  that 
l)art  of  the  town  of  J'ompkins  which  is  now 
included  in  Deposit.  Delaware  Count\-,  Au- 
gust 13,  1857,  and  received  his  early  educa- 
tion at  the  district  schools  of  the  village.  At 
the  age  of  seventeen  he  began  to  teach,  and 
for  five  winter  terms  taught  in  the  schools 
near  his  home,  assisting  his  father  on  the 
farm  during  the  summer  and  attending  the 
Deposit  -Academy  in  the  spring  and  fall.  In 
1877  he  accepted  the  position  of  clerk  in 
Studevant's  drug  store  in  Deposit,  and  began 
the  study  of  medicine  with  Doctors  Studevant 
and   Radiker,    entering  the   College  of   Phvsi- 


442 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


cians  and  Surgeons  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  in 
1879.  He  was  graduated  trom  this  institution 
on  March  i,  18S1,  and  began  practice  in  Can- 
nonsville,  where  he  has  remained  since  that 
time,  being  remarkably  successful  in  his  pro- 
fession, and  having  an  extensive  and  con- 
stantly increasing  practice. 

In  1879  Doctor  Palmerton  married  Miss 
Jenny  Wilson,  who  was  born  in  Bennetts- 
ville,  Chenango  County,  a  daughter  of  Merton 
and  Olive  (Bennett)  Wilson;  and  they  have 
one  son,  Abel  B.  Palmerton.  The  Doctor  is 
an  active  Democrat,  and  was  appointed  Post- 
master of  Cannonsville  in  1893.  Doctor 
Palmerton  is  a  conscientious,  intelligent  man, 
an  unwearying  laborer  in  his  profession, 
thoroughly  deserving  his   prosperity. 


^ETER  ERASER,  a  highly  respected 
^     farmer  residing  on    the  River    road 

lis  north  of  Platner  Brook,  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Delhi,  November  16, 
1848,  a  son  of  James  and  Mary  (Arbuckle) 
P'raser.  The  grandfather,  Andrew  Eraser, 
was  a  native  of  Scotland,  but  emigrated  to 
America  when  a  young  man,  and  located  at 
Delhi,  where  he  purchased  a  tract  of  land  on 
Scotch  Mountain.  He  began  life  in  a  log 
cabin,  afterward  building  a  fine  frame  house. 
His  last  years  were  spent  in  the  village  of 
Delhi.  He  reared  a  family  of  nine  children, 
six  of  whom  are  living;  namely,  Daniel, 
Ebenezer,  James,  Ann,  ICmily,  and  Jennie. 

James  Phraser,  like  his  father  before  him, 
was  reared  to  agricultural  pursuits,  remaining 
on  the  homestead  until  of  age,  after  which  he 
went  to  work  on  a  farm  by  the  month,  so  con- 
tinuing until  his  marriage,  when  he  rented  a 
farm  for  nine  years.  He  afterward  pur- 
chased the  farm  where  his  son  Peter  now  re- 
sides, and  here  lived  for  twenty  years,  when 
he  sold  the  property  to  his  son,  and  purchased 
the  adjoining  farm.  Mr.  Eraser  married  Mary 
Arbuckle,  a  daughter  of  Robert  and  Sally 
(McGregor)  Arbuckle;  and  of  this  union  there 
were  nine  children,  seven  of  whom  lived  to 
maturity;  namely,  Peter;  Robert  A.,  a  law- 
yer of  Delhi;  Mary:  Ella:  Sheldon:  Wal- 
lace; and  Augusta. 

Peter   Eraser  was   educated    at    the    district 


school,  and  assisted  on  the  home  farm  until 
he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age,  when  his 
father  gave  him  one  hundred  acres  of  timbered 
land,  which  he  partially  cleared.  He  later 
purchased  the  farm  where  he  resides  from  his 
father,  and  is  now  the  owner  of  four  hundred 
and  fifty  acres  of  the  best  farming  land  in  the 
county.  He  devotes  much  time  to  keeping 
graded  Jersey  cattle,  having  seventy-two  cows, 
and  makes  a  fine  line  of  butter,  which  finds  a 
ready  sale. 

Mr.  Eraser  was  married  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Hogg,  a  daugh- 
ter of  William  and  Margaret  (Curry)  Hogg, 
natives  of  Scotland,  but  residents  of  this 
vicinity  for  over  forty  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hogg. have  three  children:  Elizabeth,  Frank, 
and  Margaret.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eraser  are  the 
parents  of  five  children  —  Clara,  Bessie, 
William,  Harry,  and  Jessie.  Two  of  the 
daughters  received  their  education  at  Delhi 
Academy. 

Mr.  Eraser  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and 
has  served  his  time  acceptably  as  Assessor. 
He  is  emphatically  a  self-made  man,  is  pro- 
gressive in  his  views,  and  works  his  farm  on 
thoroughly  practical  lines,  factors  which 
doubtless  conduce  to  his  present  prosperity. 
Mrs.  Eraser  is  a  member  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church,  the  family  attending  the  same 
place  of  worship. 


ENRY  W.  CLARK,  the  trusted  sta- 
tion agent  at  Sidney,  N.Y.,  is  well 
known  as  one  of  the  most  faithful 
and  capable  employees  of  the  D. 
C.  Co.  Railroad.  He  was  born  in 
Newark,  Tioga  County,  N.Y.,  November  23, 
1845,  eldest  son  of  Watson  W.  and  Phebe 
(Smith)  Clark.  He  has  one  sister,  Julia, 
wife  of  Dr.  R.  M.  Clark,  in  Guilford,  and  a 
brother,  Arthur  P.,  a  dentist  in  Sidney.  His 
paternal  grandfather  was  Gershom  A.  Clark,  a 
Connecticut  farmer  who  moved  10  Guilford, 
Chenango  County,  about  1815,  and  thence, 
about  1845,  to  Newark,  where  he  died  in 
1866.  He  was  a  very  successful  farmer,  gain- 
ing a  bountiful  livelihood  by  his  earnest  toil, 
which  enabled  him  to  provide  the  luxuries  as 
well    as   the   necessities  of    life  for  his  seven 


ninc.RAPHICAT,    RKVIFW 


443 


children.  The  last  of  his  family,  Lucius  !'. 
Clark,  died  in  April,  1S94,  in  Nebraska, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  farming.  The 
mother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the 
daughter  of  Joel  Smith,  a  farmer  in  Newark, 
who  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-seven 
years.  She  is  one  of  eleven  ciiildren,  eight 
of  whom  are  still  living,  the  youngest,  Susan 
(Smith)  Ames,  of  Newark,  being  over  sixty. 

Henry  W.  Clark  attended  the  district  school 
in  his  boyhood,  and  later  began  business  life 
in  Guilford,  where  he  remained  for  eight 
years.  He  then  entered  the  I-'.ngineer  Coriis 
of  the  New  York  &  Oswego  Midland  Rail- 
road, being  employed  by  that  comjianx-  for  five 
\ears  as  assistant  engineer,  ha\ing  charge  of 
two  divisions.  In  iSjj  he  entered  the  em- 
ploy of  the  Erie  Railroad,  where  he  remained 
for  about  a  year,  and  then  accepted  a  position 
with  the  ]).  &  H.  C.  Co.  Railroad  as  yard- 
master  at  Sidney,  later  being  calletl  to  the 
office  of  ticket  clerk  of  this  place.  For  ten 
years  he  faithfully  performed  his  duties  in 
that  capacity,  and  was  tlien  made  station 
.agent,  which  position  he  has  held  since  that 
time,  giving  complete  satisfaction  to  the  com- 
[lany  as  well  as  to  the  patrons  of  the  road. 

October  14,  1873,  Mr.  Clark  married  Miss 
Ella  D.  Clark,  who,  thougii  of  the  same  name, 
was  no  relation  to  him.  Mrs.  Clark  was  born 
in  De  Ruyter,  N.^^,  daughter  of  R.  I",  and 
Clarissa  (Lansing)  Clark;  and  she  is  the 
mother  of  one  child,  William  W.  Clark,  a 
school-boy  of  fourteen.  The  family  are  con- 
stant attendants  of  the  Congregational  church, 
of  which  they  are  highly  rcsi)ected  members. 
They  reside  in  their  deliglitful  home,  at  No. 
5  River  -Street,  which  Mr.  Clark  erected  in 
1890,  and  where  his  mother  is  one  of  the  fam- 
ily circle. 

Mr.  Clark  is  a  consistent  Rejiublican.  He 
was  President  of  the  village  in  1S93.  is  a 
Director  of  the  Sidney  National  Hank.  Presi- 
dent of  the  .Sidney  Water  Comixmy,  and  fore- 
man of  the  Piielps  Hose  Company.  In  all 
the  positions  of  trust  and  i-esponsibility  which 
he  has  held  and  now  ociupies,  he  has  ever  ex- 
hiijited  a  manly,  noble  character,  firm  in  prin- 
cijile,  cheerful  in  disposition,  courteous  and 
modest  in  bearing;  and  his  long  connection 
with   the   company   by    wliich    he    is   now   em- 


ployed testifies  to  the  regard  and  confidence 
in  which  he  is  held  1)\'  liis  superiors  as  well  as 
subordinates  in  office. 


rxNoHl'.Rr  LIDDLI-;  was  born  on  No- 
\\\  ^■^■"^'^'^''  -3'  1821,  in  the  town  of  Ho- 
J_'o\  vina,  and  was  the  son  of  Thomas 
^■^and  Margaret  (Archibald)  Liddle. 
riiomas  Liddle  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  who 
emigrated  to  this  country  in  his  youth,  and 
settled  in  Bovina,  where  he  bought  a  tract  of 
about  four  hundred  acres  of  land.  He  here 
married  Mi.ss  Archibald;  and  a  family  of  eight 
children  were  born  to  the  couple  —  Andrew, 
Alexander,  James,  John,  Christa,  Robert, 
Barbara,  and  Isabella.  The  father  was  a  pros- 
perous farmer  and  a  dairyman,  antl  did  not 
neglect  civic  duties  while  devoting  himself  to 
his  own  affairs,  as  he  was  for  some  time  Over- 
seer of  the  I'oor.  He  was  a  Republican  in 
politics,  and,  like  his  wife,  a  I'nited  Presby- 
terian in  religion.  Roth  lived  to  l)e  quite 
old. 

Robert,  the  son  of  the  emigrant,  and  the 
original  of  this  sketch,  grew  up  at  Bovina, 
the  town  of  his  birth,  and  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools  of  the  neighborhood.  He 
began  his  business  life  as  a  farmer,  owning  a 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  to 
which  he  afterward  added  one  hundred  and 
twenty  more.  This  farm,  which  was  a  dairv 
farm,  he  sohi  after  a  time,  and  came  to 
Hownsville,  where  he  purchased  a  small  estate 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  village.  This  tract  of 
land  belonged  formerly  to  the  old  Downs 
estate,  and  Mr.  Riddle's  spacious  mansion 
faces  the  old  homestead  of  the  Downs  family. 
Besides  a  fine  lireed  of  cows,  he  owns  a  goodlv 
number  of  shee).).  and  has  bred  some  of  the 
finest  horses  in  the  count}'.  I'or  grazing  pur- 
poses his  farm  is  especially  adapted.  At 
twenty-three  he  married  Catherine  McGregor, 
the  daughter  of  John  and  Jane  McGregor,  who 
lived  in  Andes.  The  wife's  father  owned  a 
farm  on  the  State  road.  Of  the  McGregor 
family  there  were  nine  —  Daniel,  Mary,  Cath- 
erine, .Alexander.  Nancy,  Jane,  .Margaret,  Isa- 
bella, and  John.  The  parents  are  both  dead. 
To  Robert  and  Catherine  Liddle  seven  chil- 
dren   were   born:  Jane,    born    in    1S45.    is   the 


444 


BIOGRAPHICAL  JIEVIEW 


wife  of  George  K.  Gladstone,  and  has  six 
children.  Margaret  is  the  widow  of  George 
Gladstone.  Mary  is  the  wife  of  the  Hon. 
Bryson  Bruce,  a  member  of  the  legislature  of 
Iowa;  and  they  have  a  family  of  seven  chil- 
dren. Thomas  C.  married  Miss  Carrie  Garri- 
son. Agnes  is  the  wife  of  Mr.  I':.  Shaver, 
and  the  mother  of  four  children.  Isabella 
m.irried  Myers  Hitt,  and  has  four  children. 
IClizabeth  is  the  wife  of  Edward  Allen.  Mr. 
Liddle,  being  left  a  widower,  took  to  himself 
a  second  wife,  marrying  Miss  Angenette 
Shaver,  a  daughter  of  Peter  Shaver.  The  one 
child  of  this  marriage  grew  up  and  married 
Mr.  O.  B.  Purdy,  a  gentleman  of  Downsville. 
Again  Mr.  Liddle  was  widowed,  his  wife 
Angenette  dying  in  1864.  His  third  wife 
was  Miss  Harriet  Beates,  a  daughter  of  Rob- 
ert and  Mary  (Wilson)  Beates,  who  bore  him 
eight  sons  and  daughters,  whose  births  came 
in  this  order:  Emma  A.;  Katharine  B..; 
I'Idna  May;  Leila;  Nellie;  Robert  Beates  and 
Edith,  twins;  and  Augustus  Dwight.  The 
Hon.  Robert  Beates,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Lid- 
dle, was  of  Scotch  origin,  being  the  son  of 
James  Beates,  whose  father  came  from  Scot- 
land, and  settled  on  a  farm  at  Delhi,  where 
he  passed  the  remaining  years  of  his  life. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  Liddle  are  both  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbyterian  church :  and  their 
children,  which  have  been  like  the  "quiver 
full  of  arrows"  in  his  household,  have  been 
brought  up  in  the  admonition  of  the  Lord. 
The  father  is  an  adherent  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  has  been  Overseer  of  the  Poor  for  a 
vear. 


DGAR  P.  HOYT,  who  is  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  harnesses  at  No. 
142  Delaware  Street,  in  the  village 
of  Walton,  is  a  man  of  good  business  princi- 
ples and  excellent  judgment,  and  a  fine  repre- 
sentative of  the  industrial  interests  of  the 
town.  His  entire  life  has  been  spent  in  this 
locality,  where  he  is  justly  esteemed  for  his 
many  worthy  qualities  of  heart  and  mind. 
He  was  born  in  the  year  1841,  on  the  moun- 
tain then  known  as  Dunk  Hill,  which  is  about 
four  miles  north-east  of  Walton,  that  having 
been    also  the   birthiilace    of    his    father,    Ga- 


briel A.  Iloyt,  who  was  born  in  1810,  and  died 
in  the  village  of  Walton  in  1878. 

Mr.  Hoyt  comes  of  honored  New  lingland 
ancestry,  his  grandparents,  Amasa  and  Eliza- 
beth (.Seymour)  Hoyt,  having  been  natives  of 
Connecticut.  They  removed  to  this  section 
of  New  York  about  the  time  of  the  settlement 
of  the  North  family,  coming  with  a  pair  of 
oxen  and  a  two-wheeled  cart  as  far  as  the  head 
of  the  west  branch  of  the  Delaware  River, 
thence  down  the  river  in  a  flat-boat  to  the  vil- 
lage of  Walton.  Instead  of  taking  up  land  on 
the  fertile  flats,  they  went  to  Dunk  Hill, 
where  they  bought  two  hundred  acres  of  heav- 
ily wooded  land,  from  which  they  improved  a 
good  farm,  he  having  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  it  cleared  before  his  death,  which 
occurred  just  prior  to  1870.  His  good  wife 
survived  him  nearly  eight  years;  and  their 
bodies  are  now  resting  side  by  side  in  the  old 
family  burying-ground  on  the  home  farm. 
Three  of  their  family  of  children  were  born 
after  they  came  to  this  county.  They  were 
devout  Christians,  very  strict  in  religious 
observances;  and  he  served  a  large  part  of  his 
life  as  a  Deacon  of  the  church. 

Gabriel  A.  Hoyt  was  reared  to  the  occupa- 
tion of  his  parents,  and  after  his  marriage 
bought  a  farm  on  the  turnpike,  where  he  car- 
ried on  general  agriculture  for  some  thirty 
years.  Then,  being  afflicted  with  rheuma- 
tism, he  removed  to  the  village  of  Walton, 
where  he  lived  retired  from  active  pursuits 
about  seven  years  before  relieved  from  his 
sufferings  by  the  hand  of  death.  His  mar- 
riage with  Delia  Guild,  the  sister  of  Truman 
Guild,  was  celebrated  in  the  village  of  Wal- 
ton in  1839;  and  of  the  five  sons  and  three 
daughters  born  to  them  all  are  living  except 
one  son,  Sherman,  who  was  a  volunteer  in 
the  late  Rebellion.  He  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany B,  One  Hundred  and  Forty-fourth  New 
York  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  after  three 
months"  service  died  of  typhoid  fever.  His 
remains  were  brought  to  Walton,  and  interred 
in  the  cemetery.  The  seven  children  now 
living  are:  Edgar  P.,  Charles  P.,  Augusta, 
Hannah,  Arthur,  Seymour,  and  Elizabeth. 
Edgar  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
Charles  P.  Hoyt,  junior  member  of  the  large 
wholesale   and    retail    drv-goods   firm   of   Tur- 


Samuel   Korn. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    KKVIKW 


117 


land  iS:  Hoyt,  in  l'liila<lclphia,  left  honu' 
at  the  early  a;;e  nf  nine  \'ears,  on  hoard  a 
n'lft,  with  ahorse,  < //  ivntc  to  IClwood,  N.f., 
where  ho  was  to  make  his  home  with  his 
uncle  Griswohi,  who  had  married  a  sister  ot 
his  mother.  He  remained  there  live  years, 
i^^oinj;  tlicnce  to  I'liihuleliihia,  wheri'  he 
worketl  for  two  years  at  the  jeweller's  trade. 
Heini;-  stronj;ly  imhued  with  Christian  princi- 
|)les,  he  became  an  acli\e  worker  in  relit;ious 
circles,  and  while  there  formed  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Ilattie  Turland,  the  dau.qhter  of  a 
merchant.  The  acc|uaintance  thus  he^un, 
ripening  into  love,  culminated  in  their  liapp\- 
marriage.  Augusta,  tlie  witlow  of  Dr.  11.  ]•'.. 
Ogden,  resides  in  Walton.  Mannah,  the  wife 
of  Ransom  I'.vans,  lives  in  Oneonta.  Arthur, 
who  married  ICmma  I'"anchen,  lives  in  \Vallon. 
Seymour,  a  hardware  clerk  in  Walton,  mar- 
ried Miss  Lily  Miller.  l';iizabetli,  the  wife 
of  John    \.    W'oodburn,    lives    in    Delhi. 

I'^dgar  I'.  Ilovt  grew  to  man's  estate  on  the 
home  farm,  and  acquired  a  good  education  in 
the  district  school  antl  the  village  acatlemy. 
.At  the  age  of  fifteen  years  he  began  working 
at  the  harness-maker's  trade  with  his  uncle, 
l'^  Guild,  ser\'ing  a  four  years'  ajiprentii-e- 
ship,  and  four  years  as  a  joui'ne\inan.  lie 
soon  after  established  himself  in  Walton,  at 
liis  jiresi-nt  place  of  business,  where,  for  more 
than  thirty  years  he  has  been  industiaously 
and  ])rofitably  engaged,  being  the  leading  man 
in  his  line  of  work  in  this  \icinity.  On 
(  )ctober  H).  1864,  Mr.  llovt  was  united  in 
wedlock  with  Miss  Jennie  Wright,  a  daughter 
of  Malcom  and  Margaret  (".Shaw )  Wright. 
Two  children,  Hattie  and  -Sherman,  came  to 
brighten  their  home.  Ilattie  married  John 
A.  Heckroth,  who  is  of  German  ancestry: 
and  they  are  the  ]xirents  of  one  child,  Clar- 
ence. .Sherman,  a  harness-maker,  working 
with  liis  father,  married  Mar\'  .\.  Jamieson; 
and  they  have  one  child.  Walter,  a  fine  bov  of 
two  yeais.  After  theii'  marriage  Mr.  and 
.Mrs.  Ho}t  rented  a  house  for  a  few  years,  hut 
subse(|uently  built  the  pleasant  residence  at 
No.  161  Delaware  .Street,  which  is  now  the 
home  of  theii'  son  .Sherman,  while  the\'  oc- 
cupy a  most  comfortable  home  at  No.  3  Bruce 
Street. 

Mr.  Iloyt  i.s  an  active,  public-spirited   man. 


e\er  readv  and  willing  to  do  his  utmost  to  ad- 
vance the  interests  of  his  communitv.  and  has 
servetl  as  \dllage  'i'lustee.  lie  uas  horn  and 
rearid  to  tin-  piinciples  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  fro.n  them  has  never  de])arted. 
He  is  quite  [jrominent  in  .Masonic  circles, 
being  a  .Master  Mason  and  Senior  .Master  of 
Ceremonies  in  his  lodLie. 


[(i^y  A.MUlvL  KORN  lives  in  the  village 
of  Arkville,  in  Aliddletown,  where 
he  is  a  leading  merchant.  His 
"  parents    were    lunaumd    and    N.    f,. 

(Kutner)  Korn;  and  .Sanuiel  was  born  in  Ger- 
many, January  5,  1S57,  and  educated  in  the 
I'atherland.  .'\t  about  fourteen  he  began 
earning  his  li\'ing  as  a  cleik  in  a  wholesale 
dry-goods  house,  where  he  worked  nearly  six 
years.  In  our  centennial  vear,  at  the  age  of 
nineteen,  he  came  to  .America,  and  tound  em- 
plo\nient  for  two  )'ears  on  Jeisey  City 
Heights,  as  overseer  lor  Kutner  &  Co.,  manu- 
facturers ol  jewelr\',  the  senior  partner  ot  the 
firm  being  a  kinsman  of  his  mother.  Then 
.S.imuel  started  on  the  road  as  a  petller  of 
general  meiehandise,  first  going  afoot,  and 
afterwai'<l  with  a  team.  .After  four  years  of 
this  wandering  life  he  came  to  Arkville, 
Delaware  Count\\  and  started  a  general  store 
in  compan\'  with  Patrick  Galliger,  an  arrange- 
UK'Ht  which  continued  two  \'ears.  Tlu-n  he 
bought  out  his  |)artnei-,  and  has  ever  since 
continueil  alone  in  tln'  l)usi)iess,  his  store 
being  the  largest  in  the  neighborhood,  with 
an  annex  establishment  on  the  other  side  of 
the  street.  In  fact,  \ou  can  harilly  mention 
anything  in  ordinary  demand  Mr.  Korn  cannot 
supi^ly,  drugs  not  e\ce]5ted. 

In  iJ^,S8,  when  about  thirtx'  years  old,  Sam- 
uel Korn  was  married- to  Clai'a  i'irst.  .She 
also  was  born  in  Germany,  and  came  to  .Amer- 
ica at  ahiait  the  same  time  her  husband  came. 
They  have  four  children.  The  eldest,  Marcus 
Korn,  was  born  in  1S89,  Severn  Korn  in 
1891,  Leo  Korn  in  1893,  and  Nita  Korn  in 
.September,    1894. 

Patient,  painstaking,  jiersevering,  .attentive 
to  detail,  Mr.  Korn  is  a  systematic,  thorough- 
going man  of  business.  He  is  an  exceedingly 
useful   and    respected   member  of  the   coninui- 


448 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


nity,  and  in  politics  belongs  to  the  Republi- 
can party.  His  portrait,  which  accompanies 
this  brief  bit  of  biography,  has  the  air  of  a 
man  who  is  accustomed  boldly  to  "look  for- 
ward, and  not  back,"  and  calls  to  mind  this 
sentence  of  the  great  poet  of  his  native  land, 
Schiller, — 

■'Whoever  fails  to  turn  aside  the  ills  of  life 
bv  prudent  forethought  mu.--t  submit  to  fulfil 
the  course  of  destiny." 


■AM1':S  BALLANTINK,  a  prosperous 
and  highly  respected  farmer  of  Ham- 
den,  is  one  of  the  best  representatives 
of  the  Scottish  race  in  this  county,  and 
one  who  is  honored  by  all.  His  grandfather, 
Robert  Ballantine,  was  a  sturdy  Scotch  shep- 
herd, who  lived  to  be  nearly  one  hundred 
years  old,  his  wife  also  living  to  a  great  age. 
They  were  the  parents  of  a  large  family. 
Their  son  John,  also  a  shepherd,  married 
Agnes  Henderson,  and  came  to  America  with 
his  family,  comprising  five  children,  crossing 
the  ocean  in  a  sailing-vessel,  the  voyage  occu- 
l)ying  thirty  days.  They  settled  in  Hamden, 
on  a  farm  of  two  hundred  acres,  where  their 
children  were  educated. 

James  Ballantine  was  born  in  .Scotland  in 
1826,  and,  like  his  father  and  grandfather, 
was  reared  to  the  life  of  a  shepherd,  taking 
charge  of  a  flock  when  seventeen  years  of  age. 
He,  however,  received  an  excellent  education. 
In  March,  i860,  he  married  Miss  Catherine 
Whyte,  who  was  born  in  Andes,  Delaware 
County,  a  daughter  of  William  and  IClizabeth 
(Darling)  Whyte.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Whyte  were 
both  natives  of  Perth,  .Scotland,  and  were 
married  about  sixty  years  ago,  after  coming 
to  this  country.  They  were  the  parents  of  six 
children,  three  sons  and  three  daughters. 
One  son,  James,  died  when  sixteen  years  of 
age.  Three  of  the  children  are  still  living: 
Margaret,  who  is  .the  wife  of  James  Darling, 
of  Andes;  William  D.,  who  has  been  for 
thirty  years  a  farmer  and  fruit-grower  in  Cali- 
fornia: and  Catherine,  Mrs.  Ballantine.  Mrs. 
Whyte  died  in  1873,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three 
years,  her  husband  dying  in  February,  1893, 
aged  eighty-four.'  Mr.  VVhyte  was  a  Republi- 
can, and  served  as  Assessor.      He  was  a  suc- 


cessful farmer,  and  greatly  interested  in  all 
educational  matters,  giving  his  children  the 
best  instruction  that  could  be  obtained.  His 
daughters  became  teachers.  Both  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Whyte  were  earnest  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  church. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ballantine  have  been  blessed 
with  seven  children:  Elizabeth;  John  W., 
a  minister  of  Winfield,  la.,  who  was  graduated 
from  Delaware  Academy,  and  later  from  the 
Theological  Seminary,  and  was  ordained  in 
the  fall  of  1892,  being  recently  settled  in 
his  present  position;  Agnes,  a  successful 
teacher;  James,  a  farmer;  Christina;  Robert; 
and  Jennie.  All  have  been  well  educated, 
and   are   highly  intellectual. 

Mr.  Ballantine  has  a  fine  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  acres,  upon  which  he  keeps 
over  thirty  grade  Jersey  cows,  making  choice 
butter,  which  he  ships  to  market.  His  pleas- 
ant home  was  erected  in  1887,  the  valley 
where  it  is  situated  being  known  as  Cham- 
ber's Hollow,  through  which  a  beautiful, 
clear  brook  flows,  abounding  in  the  speckled 
trout  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  fisherman.  In 
1870  a  large  barn  was  built,  fifty-six  by  forty 
feet,  with  a  wing  thirty-six  by  twenty.  Mr. 
Ballantine  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  has 
held  many  offices  of  responsibility  and  trust 
in  the  town,  among  them  being  those  of 
Highway  Commissioner  and  Collector.  He 
is  held  in  the  highest  regard  by  his  many 
friends,  and  respected  for  his  sujierior  intel- 
lect and  noble,  manly  character. 


TEPHEN  ELIJAH  CHURCHILL, 
M.D.,  is  one  of  the  most  thor- 
oughly established  citizens  in  the 
village  of  Stamford,  Delaware 
County,  N.Y.,  where  he  has  passed  the  best 
part  of  his  life.  He  vvas  born  in  Harpers- 
field,  near  the  village  of  Stamford,  on  Sep- 
tember 7,  1841.  His  great-grandfather  in 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  settled 
on  the  Delaware  River,  at  the  junction  of  the 
East  and  West  Branches.  Like  other  hardy 
pioneers  of  his  time,  he  began  clearing  the 
wilderness,  and  erected  a  log  house;  but  in 
1765  he  was  driven  out  by  the  Indians,  and 
he  and  his  family  went  back  to  Massachusetts, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIKW 


119 


where  the  ]):irL-nts  spent  the  rest  ot  tlieir  ilays. 
Their  son,  Stephen  Cluirchill,  was  horn  on 
April  15,  175S.  In  17S0,  wiiilc  the  Revolu- 
tion was  in  proi;ress,  Stephen  Churehill  was 
married  to  h'.sther  I.loyd.  After  a  few  years" 
resilience  in  the  old  l^ay  State,  Mr.  Churehill 
went  hack  to  the  home  of  his  earl)'  childhood 
in  Delaware  County,  and  settled  on  land  now 
owned  hy  Jud<;e  (iilhert,  near  the  villa-e  of 
Stamford'.  There  he  put  u|)  a  loi;  house  and 
a  rough  barn.  The  nearest  grist-mills  were 
at  least  thirty  miles  away:  and  the  Churchills 
had  to  pound  uji  corn  in  a  hollow  stone  to  ])rc- 
l)are  food  for  their  nine  children  —  A[ar\-, 
I'hebe,  Giles,  ICsther,  Samuel.  Stephen,  I'di- 
jah,  Joseph,  and  Melinda.  The  father  found 
the  hardships  of  pioneer  life  too  great  for  his 
endurance,  and  died  during  the  War  of  181  2, 
at  the  age  of  fifty-four. 

One  by  one  the  sons  and  daughters  married 
and  moved  awav  from  the  homestead  except 
Klijah  Churchill,  who.  to  please  his  mother, 
Iwught  nut  the  other  heirs,  and  devoted  him- 
self to  agricultural  improvements.  I'or  a 
man  of  his  position  and  pursuits  he  was  ex- 
ceedingly fond  of  study,  and  so  steadfastly 
improved  his  limited  means  and  opportunities 
for  education  that  he  was  able  to  teach  school 
dm-ing  the  long  winters.  His  tlecisinn  of 
character  and  dignified  bearing  made  him  a 
leader  in  the  communit)',  and  he  was  chosen 
Captain  of  the  militia  company,  an  organ- 
ization re(|uired  by  the  State  in  those  tlays  for  \ 
defence  in  time  of  war.  In  religious  aifairs 
he  exerted  a  great  intluence,  and  took  an  ; 
active  ].)art  in  the  organization  of  the  Pros-  ] 
bvterian  church  in  Stamford.  The  society 
ejected  him  to  the  office  of  Deacon,  which 
title  followed  him  through  life.  On  May  12, 
1830,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Sarah 
Benedict,  a  daughter  of  Iv.ra  Benetlict,  one  of 
the  earlv  settlers  in  the  town  of  Amies.  A 
more  amiable  and  devoted  wife  never  adorned  I 
a  home.  .She  jjossessed  in  rare  degree  the 
qualities  of  a  true  wife  and  mother,  and  the 
sweetness  of  her  life  permeated  the  entire 
household.  The  effect  of  her  wise  training 
and  benign  iuHuence  (Ui  the  life  and  character 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  cannot  be  meas- 
ured. She  still  survives,  at  the  advanced  age 
of    eightv-fivi'.    retaining   vigor   of    mind    and 


body  with  the  charming  manner  m  lu  1  VMHtn- 
ful  da\s. 

Around  the  hospitable  board  of  I'ilijah 
Churchill  and  his  wife  gri'W  seven  children, 
bv  name  Calvin,  i''.i)enetus,  .Sarah.  .Stei^hen 
h;iijah,  l''rances,  Esther,  and  \'esta  Churchill. 
Their  father  was  born  on  ]-"ebruary  3,  1797; 
anil  he  died  March  24,  1S7S,  a  little  over 
fourscore.  Deacon  Churchill  was  beloved  by 
his  family  as  a  model  husband  and  father,  and 
was  honored  and  respected  by  all  who  knew- 
him  for  his  uprightness  and  a  life  fragrant 
with  good  deetls.  As  a  man  ot  brnail  and 
liberal  ideas  he  was  deeply  interested  in 
the  education  ot  his  children,  and  was  one  of 
the  first  subscribers  toward  a  fund  for  the 
establishment  of  an  academic  school  in 
.Stamford. 

Stephen,  the  subject  (if  our  sketch,  was  the 
youngest  son,  and  named  for  his  grandfather 
Churehill.  1 1  is  education  began  at  the  Stam- 
ford Seminar\-,  and  he  finished  his  academic 
course  of  stu<l\'  under  Dr.  Kerr,  of  Coopers- 
town.  In  1865,  aged  twenty-four,  .Mr. 
Cliunhill  became  a  teacher  in  the  Stamford 
.Seminarw  then  under  the  direction  of  the 
Rev.  John  Wilde,  taking  charge  of  the  de- 
partment of  mathematics.  The  next  year  he 
liought  the  schnol  buiklings,  and  became  prin- 
cipal as  W(dl  as  proprietor  of  the  institution, 
l.'nder  former  management  the  school  had 
been  (juh'  fairly  prosperous;  hut.  as  tlie  result 
of  Professor  Churchiirs  assiduous  labor  and 
executiw  aldlity,  the  seminary  entered  upon 
an  era  of  prosperit)'  never  before  attained.  In 
1S69  the  accommodations  for  students  were 
enlarged  by  the  erection  of  a  new  building. 
I'rom  the  excellent  cla.ssical  department  of 
the  school  voung  men  were  sent  \early  to  the 
best  colleges  in  the  land.  Believing  it  to  be 
to  his  jiecuniary  advantage,  in  1873  Professor 
Churchill  sold  two  of  his  buildings,  retaining 
the  ladies"  hall  as  his  residence.  Not  yet 
satisfied  with  his  scholastic  attainments,  he 
entered  the  Sheffield  Scientific  Department  of 
Yale  College  with  a  view  to  medical  study 
thereafter;  and  in  our  centennial  year  he  was 
graduated  from  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons  in  New  York  City.  He  began  prac- 
tice in  Scranton,  Pa.,  in  1876;  but  a  fondness 
for    his    native   hills    imiudled    him    to    return 


45° 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


the  next  year  to  Stamford,  where  he  has  since 
been  a  highly  successful  practitioner. 

But  not  in  the  field  of  professional  life 
alone  has  Dr.  Churchill  directed  his  energy. 
In  various  enterprises  he  has  been  uniformly 
successful,  displaying  much  business  sagacity 
and  ability  as  a  financier.  In  1883  he  erected 
Churchill  Hall,  which  was  the  pioneer  sum- 
mer hotel  in  Stamford.  This  business  has 
been  exceedingly  prosperous,  and  Stamford 
to-day  is  one  of  the  most  popular  resorts  in 
the  Catskills.  I""our  times  he  has  enlarged 
his  hotel,  until  it  has  reached  its  present  mas- 
sive proportions,  and  accommodates  more  than 
three  hundred  guests.  He  is  also  the  owner 
of  one  of  the  largest  and  most  valuable  farms 
in  the  coimty.  The  accumulation  of  his 
wealth  has  been  the  result  of  his  unaided 
efforts.  Dr.  Churchill  has  been  an  indefati- 
gable worker  for  the  development  of  Stamford. 
On  his  return  to  Stamford  from  college  he 
found  the  seminary  had  closed  its  doors,  and 
no  academic  school  in  existence.  With  his 
former  zeal  in  educational  affairs  he  urged 
upon  the  people  the  establishment  of  a  union 
free  school.  This  project  met  with  an  oppo- 
sition in  the  community  that  was  pronounced 
and  bitter;  but  Dr.  Churchill,  after  two  years 
of  persistent  work  for  the  success  of  the  meas- 
ure, aided  by  other  public-spirited  men,  so 
influenced  public  opinion  that  a  victory  was 
won,  and  Stamford  Seminary  was  re-estab- 
lished. He  was  elected  Chairman  of  the 
Board  of  Education,  which  position  he  has 
held  almost  continuously  for  thirteen  years. 
In  the  organization  of  the  Judson  Library 
Association,  tlie  .Stamford  Water  Company, 
the  Electric  Light  Company,  Athletic  Asso- 
ciation, Telephone  Exchange,  and  all  other 
village  improvements,  he  has  been  the  leading 
spirit.  In  1891  he  proposed  the  construction 
of  a  system  of  sewerage,  which  he  thought  was 
demanded  by  the  sanitary  condition  of  the 
growing  town.  This  was  strenuously  opposed 
by  the  conservative  portion  of  the  community, 
but  Dr.  Churchill's  perseverance  won  its  cus- 
tomary triumph.  By  conversation,  newspaper 
articles,  and  personal  appeals  to  the  voters,  he 
so  enlightened  the  people  on  the  health  ques- 
tion that  in  1893- the  work  was  begun  and  the 
sewers   were  completed.      There   is    no   better 


sewerage  system  in  the  State,  and  to-day  the 
inhabitants  recognize  the  great  service  of  the 
Doctor  in  leading  their  thoughts  and  votes  in 
this  direction. 

His  keen  perception,  accurate  judgment, 
wonderful  force  of  character,  and  extraordinary 
intelligence  have  won  for  him  the  high  posi- 
tion he  occupies  in  commercial  and  public 
affairs.      Truly  has  it  been  said:  — 

"Instead  of  saying  that  man  is  the  creat- 
ure of  circumstances,  it  would  be  nearer  the 
mark  to  say  that  man  is  the  architect  of  cir- 
cumstances. It  is  character  which  builds  an 
existence  out  of  circumstances.  Our  strength 
is  measured  by  our  plastic  power.  From  the 
same  material  one  man  builds  palaces,  another 
hovels,  one  warehouses,  another  villas." 


/pTTo 


EORGE  E.  BALLARD,  a  successful 
\  5T     farmer       in       Roxbury,       Delaware 

—  County,  son  of  John  T.  Ballard, 
was  born  on  the  present  homestead  at  Batavia 
Kill,  January  7,  1863.  He  was  educated 
first  in  the  clistrict  school,  and  later  in  the 
State  normal  school  at  Albany.  At  twenty- 
three  years  of  age  he  came  to  his  present  farm 
in  Roxbury,  married,  and  settled  down.  Mr. 
George  Ballard  has  an  interesting  ancestry  to 
refer  to.  His  great-grandfather,  Peleg  Bal- 
lard, came  and  settled  in  Delaware  County, 
taking  up  ninety  acres  of  land  about  the  year 
1794,  when  the  country  beyond  the  eastern 
portion  was  still  wild  and  unsettled;  and  here 
he  had  those  hardships  to  endure  which  are 
the  lot  of  all  pioneers.  The  team  which 
brought  the  family  could  only  proceed  part 
way.  The  rest  of  the  journey  had  to  be  per- 
formed on  foot  by  following  an  Indian  trail. 
Having  secured  ninety  acres  of  land  for  his 
farm,  he  proceeded  to  clear  the  forest,  build  a 
substantial  house  of  logs,  and  plant  fields  and 
gardens.  The  wife  of  Peleg  Ballard  was 
Martha  Haines  before  she  was  married. 
They  had  six  children:  James,  Benjamin,  Je- 
duthun,  Asa,  Lizzie,  and  Zillah.  They  both 
lived  to  an  advanced  age,  Peleg  being  eighty 
years  old  when  he  died,  and  his  wife  surviv- 
ing till  she  was  one  hundred  and  three  years 
old. 

James  Ballard,  son  of  Peleg  and  grandfather 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW  ,5, 

of  George  I'-.  Hallarcl,  was  born  in  I'litnam  are  now  living  a  retired  life,  and  bcjlh  retain 
County,  and  was  nine  years  old  when  his  excellent  health.  Mr.  liallard  is  a  Repnhli- 
father  canir  to  Roxhnry.  At  the  age  of  thir-  can;  and  both  are  meniijcrs  of  the  old-school 
teen  years  he  entered  the  employ  of  John  T.  Haiitist  church  of  Roxlnuy,  as  were  their  par- 
More,  at  Moresville,  in  whose  service  he  le-  ents.  John  T.  ]5allaril  married  Miss  Peace 
mained  only  one  )ear,  with  but  poor  remun-  Scudder,  daughter  of  O.  .Smith  .Scudder, 
eration  for  his  laljor,  and  then  went  home  and  whose  wife  was  before  her  marriage  Miss 
took  hold  of  the  farm  interests,  clearing  more  Sarah  Chase.  The  children  of  John  T.  Hal- 
land  and  helping  to  improve  the  i)lace,  to  lard  and  his  wife  were  two:  Smith  S.  ;  and 
which  he  added  land  until  the  farm  comjirised  George  1^.,  whose  name  heads  the  present 
about    one    hundred    and    eighty    acres.      'I'he  sketch. 

country  was  still  primitive.  He  used  to  buy  Smith  .S.  Hallartl  was  born  at  the  old  home- 
the  tlour  for  the  family  and  carry  it  a  distance  stead,  I'ebruary  3,  1850.  He  attended  the 
of  twelve  miles  on  his  back  over  a  mountain-  district  school,  and  then  began  work  on  his 
ous  road,  stec]i  and  dangerous  on  either  side.  father's  farm.  When  he  was  thirtv-six  years 
After  a  while  he  married,  settled  down,  and  old,  he  married  Miss  I'lstelle  .Stewart,  daugh- 
bought  the  farm  for  his  own,  erected  several  ter  of  Augustus  and  Margai-et  (Hallard)  -Stew- 
frame  buildings;  and  about  the  year  1842  he  1  art,  who  live  in  the  town  of  Ilardeiiburg, 
]iut  up  the  present  fine  large  house.  The  Ulster  Count)-.  Mr.  Stewart  was  a  well- 
wife  of  James  Ballard  was  Miss  Mary  Strat-  known  farmer  of  that  locality,  and  lived  to  be 
ton.  a  daughter  of  Samuel  Stratton,  who  was  about  sixt\- ye:irs  old.  His  wife  is  still  liv- 
the  first  settler  at  Stratton  Falls.  Mr.  Strat-  ing  at  Hardenburg.  They  had  five  children 
ton  took  some  land  in  that  neighborhood,  laiil  — Sarah,  Martin,  l^Istelle,  ICrnest,  and 
out  a  farm,  and  so  cleared  up  and  beautilied  George.  Mr.  .Stewart  was  a  son  of  Abijah 
the  locality  about  the  I'alls  that  it  became  a  Stewart,  one  of  the  early  settlers,  and  was  a 
noted  resort  for  tourists  and  pleasure-seekers.  Democrat  in  |)olitics.  After  his  marriage 
i\Ir.  and  Mrs.  James  Hallard  brought  up  se\'en  Mr.  Smith  Hallard  bought  two  hundred  acres 
children:  Jonathan,  15enjamin,  John  T.,  Jes-  of  land  adjoining  the  homestead,  ;ind  lias  re- 
sie.  I'.lizabeth,  I.ouiza.  and  Polly  Ann.  James  sided  on  his  ])lace  until  recenth-,  keepin"- 
Ballard  lived  to  be  eighty-eight  years  twenty-five  cows,  his  dairv  constituting  his 
old.  Politically,  he  was  an  old-fashioned  principal  industiw  Having  leased  his  farm. 
Whig;  and  he 'and  his  wife  were  both  mem-  lie  now  has  his  residence  elsewhere  in  the 
bers  of  the  old-school  liajitist  church  in  Rox-  1  neighborhood.  Mr.  .Smith  S.  ]5al!ard  is  a 
bury.  Re|>ul)lican    in    politics. 

John   T.,   son   of   James    IkiUard   and    father  (ieorge    \i.    Hallard,  second   son   of    John  T. 

of  George  K.  Ballard,  was  born  March  7.  Ballard,  continues  to  reside  on  the  old  home- 
1809,  at   the  old  home.      He  grew  to  manhood   ^  stead  farm,  which    he   bought    in    1886.      It    is 

there,  attended  the  district  school:  and,  when  lociited  on  the  west  side  of  Hatavia  Kill,  about 

fifty  years  of  age,  he  took  the  farm  from  his  four  miles  from  Roxbury.  On  this  flourish- 
father  by  usual  sale,  and  built  several  barns,  1  ing  estate  he  makes  a  specialty  of  dairy  pro- 
and  added  more   land   to   his   father's  one  hun-  ,,  ductions,     keeping     a     herd     of    thirty    cows, 

dred    and    eighty    acres,    making  two    hundred  chiefly   graded   Jerse_\s,    and    furnishes   choice 

acres    in    all.      lie   has   since  cwned   dilferent  quiilities   of    dairy    produce   for   shi[)ment    and 

farms,  comprising  about  seven   bundled  ;ici'es.  for     local     trade.      He    and    his    wife,    whose 

'1^1   show    the   pri\atioiis   of   those   who    locate  maiden  name  was  Katie  Morse,  h:iye  two  chil 

their  homes  in  un(le\Hdope(l  parts  of  the  conn-  tlren,    namely:   Smith    W.    Hallard     ;ind    John 

try,    Mr.    George    !•".    Ballard    relates   that   his  F.      Mrs.     Ballard's     parents,     Ira    and     .An- 

father,    John    T.    H;ill;ird.    never    wore    a    shoe  toinettc  (.Simmons)   Morse,    reside  at    Batavia 

till    he    was    ele\'en    \ears    old,  and    that    his  Kill.      Mr.  George    I'..  Hallard    is   :i    Republi- 

father  made  the  first    shoes  worn  in  the  neigh-  can    in  ])olitics,  and  both  himself  and  wife  ;irc 

borhood.      Mr.  John   T.  Ballard   and    his   wife  member..  ,,f  i]^q  Roxbury  Baptist  church. 


45  2 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


It  is  interesting  to  note,  in  these  days  of 
unrest,  the  appreciation  manifested  by  both 
brothers,  Smith  S.  and  George  E.  Ballard,  of 
the  aim  and  intention  of  their  father  and 
grandfather  before  their  time.  To  respect 
their  career  by  continuing  to  improve  the  land 
they  pre-empted  so  many  years  before,  and  to 
establish  homes  which  should  perpetuate  their 
arduous  labors  and  preserve  them  from  ob- 
livion—  this  has  been  an  accomplishment  so 
far.  Withstanding  any  enticements  to  locate 
elsewhere,  or  to  follow  some  other  occupation 
than  that  of  their  father,  they  have  set  an 
example   worthy   of   record   and    imitation. 


)EWIS  H.  OWENS,  a  well-known 
dairy  farmer  of  Tompkins,  Delaware 
County,  N.Y.,  was  born  here  on 
the  old  Owens  homestead  in  1847, 
son  of  J.  Wilson  and  Eliza  (Kelsey)  Owens. 
Eliza  Kelsey  was  the  daughter  of  James  and 
Mary  (Brode)  Kelsey.  James  Kelsey  came 
from  New  Hampshire  with  Martin  Lane;  and 
together  they  took  a  tract  of  land,  which  was 
then  a  perfect  wilderness,  and  erected  log 
cabins  and  a  saw-mill  on  the  banks  of  the  Del- 
aware River.  And  this  for  years  they  worked 
together,  sawing  up  logs,  building  rafts,  and 
floating  the  lumber  down  the  river  to  the 
Philadelphia  market,  making  the  return  jour- 
ney, which  often  took  them  four  days,  on  foot, 
and  carrying  on  their  backs  packs  filled  with 
provisions  and  family  supplies  weighing  over 
fifty  pounds. 

In  1797  James  Kelsey  married  for  his  first 
wife  Avis  Hoag,  of  Tompkins ;  and  by  this 
marriage  there  were  these  children:  Mahala, 
born  in  1799;  Rosvvell,  born  in  1801  ;  Mariam, 
born  in  1803:  Dayton,  born  in  1805;  James, 
Jr.,  born  in  1809;  and  Enos  H.,  born  in 
181 1.  His  second  wife  was  Mary  Brode, 
daughter  of  Michael  and  Mary  (Funk)  Brode, 
of  Philadelphia.  The  latter  was  the  daughter 
of  Christian  P'unk,  a  noted  Baptist  clergyman 
of  tho.se  early  days,  who  was  located  at  Ger- 
mantown,  and  was  a  descendant  of  one  of  the 
earliest  Dutch  settlers  of  this  country,  as 
were  also  the  Brode  family.  James  Kelsey 
and  Mary  Brode  were  married  in  March,  1823, 
and    had    three    children;     Michael,    born    in 


1825;  Eliza,  born  in  1827;  and  John  B., 
born  in  1829.  James  Kelsey  was  very  suc- 
cessful in  his  undertakings,  and  at  one  time 
owned  over  one  thousand  acres,  extending 
from  the  bank  of  the  Delaware  River  back 
over  the  hills  to  where  the  Sands  Creek  road 
now  is.  He  offered  one  hundred  acres  to  any 
of  his  sons  or  sons-in-law  who  would  clear  ten 
acres  of  land  and  live  upon  it,  and  his  descend- 
ants occupy  the  land  thus  obtained. 

J.  Wilson  Owens,  the  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Tompkins,  and 
here  received  such  education  as  the  district 
schools  of  the  town  afforded.  In  1844  he 
married  Eliza  Kelsey,  and  settled  on  Sands 
Creek,  where  he  engaged  in  farming  and  lum- 
bering, and  met  with  such  success  in  these 
pursuits  that  at  the  end  of  a  few  years  he 
erected  frame  buildings  on  his  land,  put  up  a 
saw-mill,  and  was  considered  well-to-do  for 
the  times  in  which  he  lived.  Both  he  and  his 
wife  were  Presbyterians  in  their  belief,  and 
energetic  workers  in  the  church  at  Cannons- 
ville.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Owens  had  three  chil- 
dren: Lewis  H.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
James,  who  married  Augusta  Seymour,  daugh- 
ter of  Charles  Seymour,  of  Tompkins,  and  has 
two  children  —  Lenore  and  Charles  S. ;  and 
Charles  Owens,  who  married  Clara  Otis, 
daughter  of  Nathaniel  Otis,  of  Iowa,  and  died 
in  August,  1893,  leaving  three  children  — 
Wilson,  Clyde,  and  Ethel. 

Lewis  H.  Owens  was  educated  in  his  native 
town,  where  he  has  always  engaged  in  farm- 
ing. He  and  his  brother  James  now  have 
charge  of  the  old  homestead  farm  located  on 
the  banks  of  the  Delaware  River.  They  are 
progressive  farmers,  having  all  the  modern 
improved  machinery,  graded  stock,  and  an  ex- 
cellent dairy.  Farm  affairs  do  not  occupy  all 
of  Mr.  Lewis  H.  Owens's  time,  however;  for 
he  is  prominent  in  town  interests,  has  always 
been  identified  with  the  Republican  party, 
and  has  held  positions  of  trust  and  honor  in 
his  native  town. 


ILLIAM    R.    REYNOLDS,   who  oc- 
cupies   an    influential    position    in 
business  circles   in  this  county,    is 
the  junior  partner  in  the  firm  of  Eells  &  Rey- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


453 


noUls,  dealers  in  hartlwarc,  in  the  \-illa-c  "1 
Walton.  He  is  of  luiglish  paientaj^e,  ami 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Walton,  October  1 8. 
1858.  His  father,  Samuel  V.  Reyiiolils,  was 
a  native  of  Bristol,  Knglanil,  and  li\ed  there 
until  sixteen  years  of  age,  when  he  emigrated 
to  America.  Landing  at  New  York  City,  he 
shortly  afterward  made  his  way  to  Catskiil, 
and  from  there  journeyed  to  Hamden,  where  he 
obtained  work  in  the  woollen-mills.  Possess- 
ing a  good  deal  of  mechanical  ability,  he  next 
learned  the  trade  of  carriage-making  in  the 
village  of  Walton,  and  for  many  years  fol- 
lowed that  trade.  He  afterward  worked  as  a 
carriage-maker,  carrying  on  a  substantial 
business  as  such  for  some  time  in  the  firm  of 
Wade  &  Reynolds,  which  was  subsequently 
changed  to  Berry  &  Reynolds.  Selling  out 
his  interest  in  that  business,  he  became  a  car- 
riage painter,  continuing  in  that  occujiation 
until  his  death,  at  the  age  of  threescore  and 
three  years.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Amy  Rowlstown,  was  one  of  four  children 
born  to  her  parents,  William  and  Mary  Rowls- 
town, she  and  her  sister  emigrating  to  this 
country  at  the  same  time.  .She  is  still  living. 
and  is  a  beloved  member  of  the  household  ot 
her  son  William,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
The  following  are  her  eight  children:  Charles 
B. ;  Carrie  W. ;  William  R. :  Mary  A.,  the 
wife  of  ("i.  A.  l^arton.  of  Walton;  .Samuel  !•".  : 
Frederick  W. :  Jennie,  who  married  J.  ( ). 
Lunn,    of   Walton:  and    Harry   W. 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  years  spent  on 
the  I^acific  Coast,  William  R.  Reynolds  has 
passed  his  life  in  the  village  of  Walton,  re- 
ceiving a  ])ractical  education  in  the  village 
school  and  academy,  and  from  his  good  [lar- 
ents  a  careful  training  in  the  duties  of  lite. 
When  old  enough  to  decide  upon  an  occupa- 
tion, he  learned  the  tinsmith's  trade  of  l-'ells 
&  Wood,  and  afterward  the  trade  of  a  plumber, 
subsequently  entering  their  employment  as 
a  clerk.  After  remaining  with  them  three 
vears  as  such,  he  secured  a  position  with 
L.  S.  &  J.  W.  St.  John  as  a  plumber,  work- 
ing for  them  about  a  year.  Then,  desirous  of 
trving  his  fortune  in  the  great  and  growing 
West,  Mr.  Reynolds  made  a  trip  to  Cali- 
fornia, and  for  two  antl  one-half  years  was  en- 
gaged in  the  plumbing  business  in  Sacramento 


antl  other  places  ;n  that  .St;ite.  KLturiiing  to 
Walton,  he  entered  the  employ  of  .St.  John  & 
White,  later  buying  his  present  interest  in 
the  business  carried  on  by  the  firm  now  known 
as  ICells  &  Reynolds,  Captain  .St.  John,  whose 
sketch  a])pears  elsewhere  in  this  v<dume,  hav- 
ing retired  on  March  i,  1804.  A  more  im- 
portant as  well  as  more  recent  date  in  the  life 
of  William  R.  Reynolds  is  November  14, 
1894.  when  he  was  married  to  .^[iss  Kate 
Launt,    of   Walton,    N.Y. 

Mr.  Reynolds  is  a  gentleman  of  most  agree- 
able manners,  courteous  at  all  times,  and  very 
])opular  with  the  citizens  of  Walton,  among 
whom  he  has  a  host  of  friends.  Socially,  he 
is  a  member  of  the  A.  !•".  &  A.  M.,  being 
Treasurer  of  the  lodge,  and  formerly  belonged 
to  the  onlcr  of  Red  Men.  He  has  been  in  all 
the  ranks  of  the  engine  company,  from  torch 
boy  to  chief  engineer,  and  is  a  treasurer  of 
the  corporation.  He  is  a  stanch  su])i->orter  of 
the  principles  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  a 
regular  attendant  of  the  ICpiscopal  church,  of 
which  his  mother  and  sisters  are  active  mem- 
bers, and  in  the  choir  of  which  his  fatlier  sung 
for  manv  \'ears. 


ALTER     T.     ARMSTRONCi     is    a 


fs\  well-known  Delaware  Count)-  man, 
i\ing  in  the  town  of  .Andes,  where 
he  carries  on  an  extensive  and  varied  busi- 
ness, both  with  land  and  machinerv.  He  was 
btirn  March  27.  1853.  in  tlie  town  of  Hamden, 
and  his  parents  were  Andrew  and  Jeannette 
(Hastings)  Armstrong.  Andrew  .-Vrmstrong 
was  the  son  of  Walter  .Armstrong  and  his 
wife,    \'iolet    Anderson. 

The  grandfather,  Walter  .Armstrong,  was 
born  in  Scotland,  where  he  married.  Suhse- 
ciuentl)'  he  came  to  .America  with  his  family, 
and  bought  an  Andes  farm  of  a  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  now  owned  bv  L.  J.  Strangeway. 
Here  he  put  up  various  buildings,  besides 
clearing  the  land,  and  raising  seveTi  children. 
James  .Armstrong,  the  eldest,  now  lives  in 
Delaware.  Ellen  Armstrong  married  Rich- 
aril  Hamilton,  and  li\es  in  .Sidney.  John 
Armstrong  married  in  Montana,  where  he  is 
still  living,  though  his  wife  is  dead.  Jennie 
Armstrong  is  in  DeLance\',  Delaware  County. 


454 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Andrew  Armstrong,  as  already  noted,  married 
Jeannette  Hastings,  and  is  no  longer  living; 
but  his  wife  is  with  her  son  in  Ancles.  Belle 
Armstrong  lives  in  DeLancey,  unmarried. 
Walter  Armstrong  married  Jane  Marks,  and  is 
an  Andes  farmer.  Their  father  lived  on  the 
homestead  till  his  death,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two,  having  already  buried  his  wife. 
They  were  both  members  of  the  United  Pres- 
byterian church,  and  he  was  first  a  Whig  and 
then  a  Republican  in  politics. 

Andrew  Armstrong  was  born  in  Scotland 
before  the  emigration  of  the  family  to  Amer- 
ica. Like  his  father,  he  bought  a  farm, 
though  it  was  not  situated  in  Andes,  but  in 
Hamden.  On  these  two  hundred  acres  he 
lived  six  years.  Then  he  sold  out,  and 
bought  another  place  in  Andes,  of  a  hundred 
and  forty  acres,  nearer  his  father's.  This 
also  he  sold,  and  moved  to  Brushland,  where 
for  eighteen  months  he  worked  as  a  stone- 
mason. His  next  move  was  to  Delhi,  where 
he  bought  another  farm  of  a  hundred  and  forty 
acres;  and  there  he  lived  eight  years.  Once 
more  he  sold,  and  went  again  to  Andes,  where 
he  bought  another  tract  of  nearly  a  hundred 
and  fifty  acres.  He  -did  not  change  again, 
l)ut  continued  on  the  same  place  until  his 
death  in  middle  life,  only  forty-eight  years  of 
age.  Andrew  Armstrong  was  a  hard-working 
and  enterprising  man,  as  may  be  judged  by 
his  frequent  changes.  His  wife  Jeannette 
was  the  daughter  of  James  Hastings,  who 
married  Elizabeth  Elliot,  of  Rovina,  where 
they  owned  a  section  of  a  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  and  reared  seven  chiklren.  The 
brothers  and  sisters  of  Mrs.  Armstrong  were: 
Martha,  Elizabeth,  Isabelle,  Thomas,  John, 
and  James  Hastings.  Their  father  was  a  very 
prosperous  and  active  man,  a  Presbyterian  and 
a  Republican.  He  died  a  short  time  ago,  at 
the  age  of  ninety-seven,  having  been  born  in 
1797.  Andrew  Armstrong  had  six  children, 
all  of  whom  are  living  but  one.  The  eldest 
is  Walter  T.  Armstrong.  James  H.  Arm- 
strong married  Lillie  Covet,  has  one  child, 
and  is  a  Roxbury  farmer.  Ella  Armstrong 
married  Thomas  Smith,  another  Roxbury 
farmer,  and  has  three  children.  Violet  Arm- 
strong married  Andrew  Browne,  an  Iowa  mer- 
chant,  and   has   one   child.      Belle   Armstrong 


married  William  J.  Hizar,  and  Martha  Arm- 
strong married  his  brother,  Charles  C.  Hizar, 
both  being  Andes  farmers;  and  Belle  has  two 
children.  Like  his  father,  Andrew  Arm- 
strong became  a  Republican.  He  was  a  long 
time  an  Assessor,  and  the  family  belonged  to 
the  United  Presbyterian  church. 

Walter  T.  Armstrong  was  educated  at  the 
Delhi  schools  and  Andes  Academy.  In  1872 
he  married  Mary  C.  Hyzer,  daughter  of 
Thomas  Hyzer  and  Rachel  Ferguson.  Thomas 
Hyzer  was  born  on  May  22,  18 19,  and  was 
the  son  of  Abraham  Hyzer  and  his  wife,  Han- 
nah Worden,  and  the  grandson  of  Peter  Hyzer 
and  Eve  (Scriver)  Hyzer.  Peter  Hyzer  was 
born  in  Dutchess  County,  and  came  to  Andes 
as  a  farmer.  His  children  were:  Abraham, 
Peter,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Polly,  Eleanor,  Betsey, 
and  Katie  Hyzer.  Their  father  lived  to  be 
very  old ;  and,  their  mother  having  died  very 
young,  he  was  married  again  to  the  Widow 
Wilson,  who  lived  to  an  advanced  age.  The 
family  attended  the  Presbyterian  church. 
Abraham  Hyzer  was  born  in  Dutchess  Count)', 
but  bought  a  farm  in  Gladstone  Hollow.  He 
soon  after  sold  out,  came  to  his  father's  farm, 
and  took  charge  there  until  the  death  of  the 
old  man,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three.  Abra- 
liam  Hyzer  was  a  Republican,  and  the  family 
attended  the  Methodist  church.  There  were 
nine  boys,  of  whom  four  died  young;  but 
Thomas,  David,  Abraham,  Ira,  and  James 
Hyzer  grew  up.  Thomas  Hyzer  was  born  in 
Andes,  and  there  educated.  At  twenty-one 
he  married  Rachel  Ferguson,  daughter  of 
John  David  and  Asenath  (Hall)  Ferguson. 
Mr.  Ferguson  was  a  son  of  David  Ferguson, 
who  came  from  Scotland,  dwelt  awhile  in 
Schenectady,  and  then  came  to  Andes  with 
his  family,  and  lived  into  old  age.  David 
Ferguson,  who  was  an  enterprising  farmer, 
went  to  Iowa,  and  raised  these  girls  and 
boys  —  Martha,  Samuel,  David,  Huldah,  Ra- 
chel, Seneca,  and  Abigail  Ferguson.  After 
the  death  of  their  mother  he  married  Eliza 
Lidger,  and  lived  to  be  very  old,  a  Whig  and 
a  Methodist.  In  his  young  manhood  Thomas 
Hyzer  bought  a  farm  on  Cabin  Hill,  which  he 
subsequently  traded  for  his  present  estate,  the 
Armstrong  farm,  where  he  raised  a  family  of 
nine  children,  of   whom  six  livifl   to   grow  up. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


455 


His  daughter,  Lena  Ilyzcr,  married  Wilrod 
Scott,  and  died,  leaving  four  children.  An- 
other daughter,  Hannah,  also  deceased,  was 
the  wife  of  David  IClijaii.  Abraham  Ilyzer 
married  Mary  Cathels,  and  they  have  three 
chikiren.  l-"rances  Hyzer  died  unmarried. 
Mary  Myzer  is  Mrs.  Armstrong.  Thomas 
Hy/.er  married  Anna  IVdl  I.iddle,  and  is  a 
thriving  farmer,    very   social   and   popular. 

Mr.  Walter  T.  Armstrong  is  a  Republican, 
like  his  father  ami  grandfather,  but  belongs  to 
a  different  religious  sect,  the  Methodist,  in 
which  his  wife  sympathizes  with  him.  He 
has  two  children:  ICmory  Armstrong,  who  was 
born  February  2.  18S0:  and  Cora,  on  June 
19,  1882,  both  of  whcim  live  at  home.  At 
first  Mr.  Armstrong  lived  in  Middletown, 
where  he  bought  a  saw  and  grist  mill  of 
Moses  Jackson,  which  he  carried  on  four 
years.  Selling  out  his  mill  property,  he  next 
came  to  Amies,  where  he  worked  as  a  carpen- 
ter and  millwright  for  a  year,  staying  with  his 
father.  Then  he  came  to  his  present  place, 
the  old  Hvzer  homestead  of  a  hundred  and 
thirty-two  acres.  In  addition  to  agriculture, 
he  does  more  or  less  carpentry,  having  a  sepa- 
rate shop,  ccmtaining  an  engine  which  runs  a 
circular  .saw  and  a  turning-lathe,  wherewith 
all  sorts  of  bracket  work  can  be  done.  Xot 
onlv  is  he  a  good  mechanic  and  farmer,  hut 
an  enterprising  man  in  other  directions.  He 
keeps  eighteen  choice  Jerseys,  and  everything 
about  the  place  bespeaks  thrift  and  progress. 
Says  wise  old  Seneca: — 

"Opportunity  has  hair  in  front:  behind  she 
is  bald.  If  you  seize  her  by  the  forelock,  you 
mav  hold  her:  but,  if  suffered  to  escape,  not 
Jupiter  himself  can  catch  her  again."  ]\Ir. 
Armstrong  feels  the  force  of  this  doctrine, 
and   has   seized   opportvmity   the   right    way. 


RS.   RACHKL   I5UTLER  owns  and 
occufjies    a    fine    homestead    in    the 


town  of  Hamden.  where  she  and 
her  husband  settled  almost  a  half 
a  century  ago.  She  is  a  capable,  hard-work- 
ing woman,  who  has  led  a  noble  and  heroic 
life,  rearing  and  educating  her  children  in 
ways  of  usefulness  and  honor,  and  is  well 
worthy  of  the  esteem  and  respect  accorded   her 


throughout  the  community  wiierein  slie  dwells. 
She  was  born  and  reared  to  womanhood  in 
County  Carlow,  Ireland,  her  maiden  name 
having   been    Rachel    Scanlon. 

On  the  24th  of  March,  1846,  she  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Edward  Hutler,  a  native  of  the 
same  county;  and  the  following  year  they  left 
their  native  isle,  going  first  to  Liverpool, 
luigland,  where  they  spent  a  few  weeks.  On 
the  loth  of  May  they  sailed  from  Liverpool  in 
the  good  ship  "'Agnes,"'  and  after  a  voyage  of 
nearly  seven  weeks  they  landed  in  New  York 
City.  While  on  the  ocean  their  first  child 
was  born,  and  was  named  John  .Atlantic  ]5ut- 
ler.  They  settled  in  the  town  of  Hamden  on 
the  farm  now  occupied  by  Mrs.  Butler  and  her 
sons,  and  were  the  parents  of  seven  children, 
two  of  whom,  both  boys,  died  in  infancy. 
I'ive  are  now  living,  and  tiirough  her  judi- 
cious teachings  have  become  valued  citizens 
of  this  locality.  The  eldest  son,  John  A.,  an 
agriculturist,  carries  on  the  home  farm  of  two 
hundred  acres,  which  was  bought  and  paid  for 
through  the  energetic  and  persevering  efforts 
of  Mrs.  Hutler.  William  E.  is  a  car])enter  in 
the  town  of  Hamden.  Charles  A.  is  a  rait- 
way  employee  in  Port  Jervis,  N.V.  lulward 
L.  is  a  carpenter.  -And  the  only  daughter, 
Rachel  A.,  is  the  wife  of  George  A. 
Brainard. 

George  .\.  Brainard.  a  prosperous  farmer, 
residing  in  District  No.  i  in  the  town  of 
Hamden,  was  born  on  the  homestead  where  he 
now  lives,  in  the  month  of  October,  1S57. 
He  comes  of  excellent  New  Laigland  stock, 
his  grandfather,  also  named  George  A.  Brain- 
ard. having  been  of  Connecticut  birth.  The 
elder  George  was  a  man  of  good  business 
ability,  po.ssessing  some  means,  and  came  to 
Delaware  County  when  a  young  man,  settling 
in  the  town  of  ('olchester,  where  he  bought  a 
large  farm.  He  was  a  wide-awake,  energetic 
man.  and,  besides  carrying  on  general  farming 
on  a  large  scale,  was  extensively  engaged  in 
buying  and  selling  stock,  and  was  likewise  tor 
a  time  a  well-known  hotel-keeper  in  Hamden. 
He  married  Polly  Bogart :  and  they  became 
the  parents  of  two  sons  and  three  daughters, 
and  of  these  one  son  and  two  daughters  are 
now   living. 

lames    M.    Brainard,    son    of    the    first,    and 


4S<' 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


father  of  the  present  George  A.  Brainard,  was 
born  in  Downsville  in  this  county,  in  1831, 
and  died  in  the  town  of  Delhi,  April  30,  in 
1885.  Following  in  the  footsteps  of  his  an- 
cestors, he  chose  farming  for  his  life  occupa- 
tion; and  the  success  that  has  crowned  his 
efforts  showed  that  he  made  no  mistake  in  his 
choice.  He  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Phylira  Signor,  the  daughter  of  Theodore  and 
Sarah  (Brown)  Signor;  and  of  their  union 
three  children  were  born,  namely:  George 
A.;  Mary  E.,  wife  of  Harry  Hooper;  and 
Annie   M.,    wife  of  Alfred   Bailey. 

George  A.  Brainard  was  the  only  son  of  his 
parents,  and  his  entire  life  has  been  spent  on 
the  farm  where  he  was  born.  He  obtained  a 
good  common-school  education,  and  early  be- 
came very  familiar  with  the  art  of  agriculture. 
He  carries  on  general  farming,  and  pays  a 
good  deal  of  attention  to  his  fine  dairy  of 
thirty-five  cows,  the  milk  from  which  he  ships 
directly  to  New  York  City.  On  April  17, 
187S,  Mr.  Brainard  married  Rachel  A.  But- 
ler, as  above  mentioned ;  and  they  are  the 
parents  of  four  promising  children,  namely: 
George  William,  born  November  20,  1881; 
Mary  G.,  born  December  15,  1884;  James 
E.,  born  June  20,  1887;  and  Fred  H.,  an 
irrepressible  little  lad  of  four  years,  born 
June  4,    1890. 

Mr.  Brainard  is  an  active  Republican  in 
politics,  and  has  served  with  great  acceptance 
as  School  Trustee,  and  has  in  many  other  re- 
spects assisted  in  promoting  the  welfare  and 
advancemenfof  the  community.  Both  he  and 
his  estimable  wife  are  sincere  members  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  toward  the  support 
of  which  they  contribute  generously  and  will- 
ingly. 


T^ROSBY  KELLY,  a  contractor  and 
I  \r^  builder  of  Middletown,  residing  at 
^Is^^  Griffin's  Corners,  is  well  and  favor- 
ably known  for  his  good  business 
abilities,  and  takes  a  high  stand  in  his  chosen 
occupation.  He  is  the  son  of  John  B.  and 
Mary  A.  (Crosby)  Kelly,  and  was  born  Sep- 
tember 16,  1862,  in  Granville,  Bradford 
County,  Fa.  ■  His  paternal  grandfather, 
Thomas    Kelly,    was    the    son    of    Edward,    a 


native  of  Connecticut,  and  one  of  the  first  set- 
tlers in  Greene  County.  Edward  Kelly 
cleared  some  land  on  the  mountain  in  the 
town  of  Halcott,  built  a  log  house,  and  lived 
there  to  an  advanced  age.  His  son  Thomas 
married  Jane  Molyneaux,  and  continued  on 
the  old  homestead  until  he  died,  at  seventy 
years  of  age,  in  1869,  his  wife  living  to  be 
seventy-five  years  old.  Both  were  members, 
in  good  standing,  of  the  Baptist  church.  A 
family  of  fourteen  children  was  born  to  this 
worthy  couple,  the  following  being  a  brief 
mention:  Justice  K. ;  Hannah,  who  married 
P.  Fellows;  Clara,  who  became  the  wife  of  B. 
Ballard;  Betsey,  who  married  A.  Chase; 
Chauncey,  who  chose  for  his  wife  Calisa  Win- 
chel;  John  B. ;  Amy.  who  became  the  first 
wife  of  W.  Scudder,  after  her  death  her  sister 
Theresa  being  his  second  wife;  Edwin  and 
Philip,  who  died  young;  and  Phebe,  who  mar- 
ried M.  Kelly.     The  others  died  in  infancy. 

John  B.  Kelly  received  a  common-school 
education,  and  commenced  farming  when  he 
was  twenty-one  years  old.  He  married  Mary 
A.  Crosby,  daughter  of  Benjamin  L.  and 
Hulda  (Hull)  Crosby,  and  grand-daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Rebecca  Crosby.  Her  father, 
Benjamin  L.,  born  in  1797,  was  a  hale  and 
hearty  old  farmer  of  Greene  County,  who 
almost  cheated  time  by  living  to  the  remark- 
able age  of  ninety-five  years.  His  wife,  less 
sturdy,  died  when  forty-two;  and  he  then  en- 
tered a  second  time  into  the  bonds  of  matri- 
mony. His  second  wife,  Elizabeth  Dickson, 
was  more  of  a  match  for  him,  for  she  attained 
the  age  of  ninety-one.  After  his  marriage 
John  B.  Kelly  moved  to  Bradford  County, 
Pennsylvania,  where  he  bought  a  farm,  but 
died  there  in  a  short  time,  leaving  two  chil- 
dren: Crosby,  born  September  16,  1S62;  and 
John  B.,  born  July  18,  1S64.  The  latter 
married  Sarah  Van  Acken,  and  lives  in  Kings- 
ton, being  a  mechanic  by  trade.  Their 
mother,  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Crosby  Kelly,  lives  at 
Griffin's  Corners,  and  is  highly  esteemed  by 
all  who  know  her. 

Crosby  Kelly  was  educated  at  Delaware 
Academy,  and  at  twenty-one  learned  the  car- 
penter's trade.  His  first  work  on  his  own 
account  was  building  the  Elemdorph  store  at 
Arkville.     Since  then  he  has  built  many  fine 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


•157 


houses,  among  thcni  many  of  the  licautilul 
buililings  at  l-"K'ischmanns  and  Criffin's  Cor- 
ners. In  I.SS4  ho  manictl  Miss  I'.llic  Ilitt. 
claughtcr  of  Albert  Hilt,  a  prosperous  farmer 
of  Union  Grove,  residins;  now  at  (iriftin's 
Corners.  One  eliild,  Mar\'.  was  born  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Kelly,  April  5,  iSSj.  Mr.  Kelly 
has  had  a  lart^e  business  e.xjjerieiice,  and  nccu- 
pies  a  high  position  in  this  community.  He 
is  an  autliority  on  all  matters  pertaining  tt) 
building  interests.  .Socially,  he  is  a  plea.sant 
man  to  meet,  and  is  interested  in  the  leading 
questions  ol  the  day.  He  is  a  Democrat  po- 
litically, and  in  all  things  is  bright  and  enter- 
prising, a  useful  eiti/en,  and  well  appreciated 
bv  his  fellow-townsmen. 


-OIIN  1).  FICKGU.SON,  a  prominent 
merchant  of  Delhi,  N.V.,  was  born  in 
Andes,  .May  iS.  1845,  and  is  a  son  of 
David  and  I^lizabeth  (Pierce)  Fergu- 
His  ])aternal  grandfather,  John  Feigu- 
came  with  his  father,  David,  to  this 
country  from  .Scotland,  settling  in  Dutchess 
Count)',  bi.it  later  came  to  .\ndes.  He  had 
been  brought  uj)  to  agricultural  pursuits,  and 
after  the  death  of  liis  father  took  charge  of  the 
old  homesteatl,  where  he  remained  for  many 
vears.  During  the  last  years  of  his  life  he 
moved  to  Clarence,  la.  He  was  twice  mar- 
ried, leaving  five  children  by  his  first  wife  and 
six  bv  his  seconil.  David  I''ergus()n  was 
brought  up  as  a  farmer  and  miller,  buying  a 
grist-mill  near  Hovina,  which  he  conducted 
up  to  the  time  of  his  death.  May  24,  1S84. 
He  left  a  family  of  seven  children:  namely, 
Robert,  John  D.,  b'.lizabeth,  William,  David, 
Thomas,  and  Get)rge. 

John  D.  Ferguson  was  educated  at  the  dis- 
trict schools.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he 
enlisted  in  Company  !•;,  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-fourth  Xew^  Vork  \'olnnteer  Infantry, 
and  was  attached  to  the  I^leventh  .Army 
Corps,  serving  througli  the  campaign  of  the 
Peninsula.  He  was  honorably  discharged, 
September  26,  1865.  He  then  came  to  ]5o- 
vina,  and  worked  on  a  farm  for  one  year, 
afterward  learning  carjientry,  and  following 
that  for  ten  years  In  the  spring  of  1S77  l^"^ 
went   to    California,    engaging    in    the    lumber 


business  there  until  the  fall  of  1881.  when  lu- 
came  to  Delhi,  and  engaged  at  his  trade  ol 
contractor  and  builder.  He  has  erected  some 
of  the  largest  and  finest  buildings  in  Delhi, 
which  are  monuments  of  his  skill  as  a  builder, 
in  i8i>i  he  formed  a  partnership  with  Mr. 
Chuii  hill,  the  owner  of  a  large  general  store 
at  Delhi.  A  year  later  .Mr.  Churchill  s(jld 
out  liis  interest  to  Mr.  .Armstrong;  and  in  a 
few  months  .Mr.  F'erguson  jjurehased  .Mr. 
Armstrtmg's  interest  in  the  store,  which  he 
continued  alone  for  a  time,  then  took  Mr. 
Groat  into  the  business.  The  store  is  fitted 
up  with  a  large  ami  varied  stock  of  ready- 
made  cli>lhing,  dry  goods,  and  groceries, 
which    is   second   to   none    in   the   village. 

In  1872  Mr.  Ferguson  mariied  Miss  Mar- 
garet M.  Bunnell,  a  daughter  of  Mrs.  Mary 
Bunnell,  of  Delhi:  and  they  have  one  child, 
I.illie  M.  .Mr.  Ferguson  is  Junior  Warden  of 
Delhi  Lodge.  .A.  F.  &  -A.  M.,  a  member  of 
Royal  .Arch  ChajHer,  No.  249,  and  Pa.st  Com- 
mander of  Post  No.  142,  Grand  .Army  of  the 
Republic.  He  is  also  an  active  member  of 
the  fire  department,  having  been  foreman  of 
Hook  and  Ladder  No.  3.  Politically,  he  is 
a  supporter  of  the  Republican  party,  and  has 
filled  the  ]iosition  of  Tax  Collector.  Both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  l-'erguson  are  members  of  the 
Methodist  I*4)iscopal  church,  in  wdiich  they 
take  great  interest,  Mr.  I-'erguson  being  a 
teacher  in  the  .Sunday-school,  and  his  wife  a 
member  of  the  choir  for  many  years.  Mr. 
l'\'rguson  is  a  man  of  the  strictest  probity  and 
honor,  j:>rogressi\-e  in  his  ideas,  and  active  in 
business,  thus  giving  life  and  spirit  to  the 
town,  and  making  it  one  of  enterprise  and 
continuous  jirowth. 


ler  s     ir;uie.       rioui      no\ina     Jie    iemo\eii 
Middletcnvn,    bought    a    farm    of    one    hundr 
and  fifty  acres,  and    built   thereon  a  log  dwe 
ing-house  and  out-buildings.      He  cleared  a 


f    one    hundred 

11- 

and 


458 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


improved  the  land;  and,  having  carried  out 
the   injunction    of    the   couplet   which    warns, 

•■  Before  you  marry. 
He  sure  of  a  home 
Wherein  to  tarry," 

he  was  joined  in  holy  wedlock  to  Betsey  Cum- 
mings.  They  had  four  sons  and  one  daughter, 
namely:  James  C,  who  married  Eliza  Du- 
mond;  Matthew  G.,  who  married  Margaret 
Winters;  Alexander,  who  married  Mary  Du- 
mond;  and  John  G. ;  and  their  sister,  Mar- 
garet A.,  who  died  in  early  youth.  Mrs. 
Betsey  Russell  died;  and  Matthew  was  again 
married  to  Miss  Esther  Blackman,  by  whom 
he  had  three  children,  whose  brief  record  fol- 
lows: Stephen  married  Hannah  Wooden,  Mar- 
garet Ann  married  Andrew  Glendening,  and 
Roswell    married   Betsey   Russell. 

Matthew  Russell  lived  to  be  seventy-five 
years  old,  and  his  wife  Esther  reached  the  age 
of  fifty-five  or  sixty.  Both  were  mernbers  of 
the  Presbyterian  church,  and  the  husband  was 
a  Democrat. 

John  G.  Russell,  a  son  of  Matthew  by  his 
first  wife,  was  born  in  Bovina,  April  25, 
1822.  Having  learned  the  milling  trade,  he 
found  employment  as  a  miller  for  six  years 
here  before  he  began  farming  on  a  tract  of  one 
hundred  acres  of  land,  which  he  purchased 
near  New  Kingston,  and  which  is  now  owned 
by  his  son  Oscar.  He  remained  on  the  farm 
for  thirty-two  years;  and  then,  abandoning  its 
active  cares,  he  came  to  New  Kingston,  where 
he  now  lives,  at  nearly  seventy-three  years  of 
age,  quietly  enjoying  the  reward  of  his  long- 
continued  toil.  On  Christmas  Day  of  1845 
he  was  married  to  Miss  Jane  Chisholm,  who 
was  a  daughter  of  Andrew  and  Elsie  Chis- 
holm, and  who  became  the  mother  of  six  chil- 
dren. She  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine, 
survived  by  five  children,  namely:  Alice 
Jane,  who  married  William  Boggs,  of  Bovina, 
and  has  one  child;  Elizabeth  E.,  wife  of 
Sloan  Archibald,  a  farmer  in  Bovina,  they 
having  two  children;  Margaret  A.,  who  died 
young;  Andrew  M.,  of  New  Kingston;  John 
Oscar,  a  farmer,  who  married  Miss  Belle 
Thompson,  and  lives  near  New  Kingston;  and 
Mary  Adelia,  the  wife  of  Arthur  H.  Russell, 
of  Unionville,  Mich.,  who  has  one  child.     Mr. 


John  G.  Russell  married  for  his  second  wife 
Miss  Elizabeth  S.  Miller,  a  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Margaret  (Scott)  Cowens,  and  a 
member  of  the  United  Presbyterian  church. 

Andrew  M.,  son  of  John  G.  and  Jane  (Chis- 
holm) Russell,  pursued  his  elementary  studies 
in  the  schools  of  New  Kingston,  and  finished 
his  education  at  Stamford  Academy.  As  a 
young  man  he  worked  on  his  father's  farm, 
and  taught  school  for  seven  terms.  He  then 
began  selling  farming  implements  for  the  firm 
of  Wheeler  &  Mellet.  He  is  now  Postmaster 
of  New  Kingston,  to  which  place  he  came  in 
1884.  Here  he  met  and  married  Miss  Anna 
Winters,  daughter  of  Robert  and  Margaret 
(Chisholm)  Winters.  Mr.  A.  M.  Russell  is 
a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  has  held  several 
of  the  minor  public  offices  in  the  town.  His 
wife  is  a  memlDer  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
church  of  New  Kingston,  where  they  reside. 


AMES  S.  MINOR  is  a  well-known  and 
highly  esteemed  business  man  of  De- 
posit, proprietor  and  manager  of  Mi- 
nor's Manufactin-ing  Company  of  that 
place,  one  of  the  prominent  and  representa- 
tive enterprises  of  Deposit,  and  contributing 
not  a  little  to  its  prosperity  and  importance. 
Mr.  Minor's  paternal  grandfather,  Philo 
Minor,  was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  being- 
born  in  that  State,  May  3,  1781.  He  became 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  Chenango  County,  New 
York,  where  he  followed  the  useful  and  time- 
honored  occupation  of  farming,  and  became  a 
popular  and  highly  respected  citizen  of  his 
locality.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Polly  Stilson,  was  born  March  26,  1783,  and 
died  Eebruary  6,  1848.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Philo 
Minor  had  a  large  fainily,  six  of  whom,  three 
boys  and  three  girls,  attained  maturity. 

George  Minor,  one  of  their  sons,  was  born 
November  3,  1803,  was  reared  on  the  farm, 
and  when  a  young  man  came  to  Deposit, 
where  he  obtained  employment  with  Martial 
R.  Hulce,  a  well-known  citizen,  who  was  then 
engaged  in  the  lumber  business  at  that  place. 
After  remaining  here  for  some  time  Mr. 
Minor  returned  to  Chenango  County,  built  a 
store,  engaged  in  mercantile  business,  and 
dealt   to  some  extent    in    pine    lumber.     The 


-^^  ^^ 


JflMEs  S.  Minor. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


461 


lumber  was  hauled  acri)ss  counti)-  b)'  icani  to 
Deposit,  where  it  was  made  into  rafts  on  the 
river,  and  thus  floated  down  to  the  Philadel- 
phia market.  The  business  inereasetl  in  ex- 
tent and  importance;  and  Mr.  Minor,  finding 
his  financial  prospects  improviiii;  so  rapidly, 
made  an  especial  effort,  ami  invested  the  bulk 
of  his  profits  in  a  large  supply  of  this  useful 
product  of  the  forests,  which  he  had  on  the 
river  in  rafts,  when  a  freshet  occurred  whicii 
swept  awa)-  the  lumber  and  his  fortune  at  the 
same  time.  Tiiis  would  have  tliscouraged 
most  men;  but  Mr.  Minor  met  his  bad  luck 
with  fortitude,  and  went  to  work  anew.  Re- 
ceiving an  inheritance  from  his  father,  he 
used  it  to  apply  on  his  debts,  and  by  dint  of 
industry  and  economy  finally  succeeded  in 
clearing  off  all  his  intlebtedness  and  meeting 
ever\-  obligation,  [xiying  out'  hundred  cents 
on  the  ilollar  —  an  example  of  business  honor 
and  fidelity  that  might  be  coi)ied  to  advantage 
by  firms  and  individual^;  of  to-day.  I\Ir. 
(ieorge  Minor  died  .September  18,  1S80.  He 
was  twice  married,  first  to  Miss  Maria  L. 
Wattles,  who  died,  leaving  two  children,  and 
second  to  the  mother  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  Miss  Ann  Eli/.a  .Smith,  who  was  born 
in  Delaware  County,  and  was  a  daughter  of 
Ralph  Smith.  The  latter  was  a  native  of 
Connecticut,  where  he  was  born,  in  Chatham, 
Middlesex  County,  March  2,  1780.  He  died 
in  Deposit,  N.V.,  January  17,   1850. 

James  S.  iMinnr  was  born  in  Deposit,  Janu- 
ary 19,  1840;  and  it  was  in  the  following 
year  that  his  parents  removed  to  Chenango 
County.  He  laid  the  foundations  of  a  good 
and  substantial  education  in  the  district 
schools  of  his  locality,  which  were  of  a  high 
degree  of  excellence.  He  later  attended  the 
seminary  at  Deposit,  and  spent  two  terms  at 
the  Delaware  T.iterary  Institute.  He  im- 
proved his  opportunities,  became  an  excellent 
scholar,  and  was  engaged  in  teaching  in  the 
town  of  Deposit,  Delaware  County,  during 
one  winter,  and  during  another  in  Chenango 
County.  The  money  he  earned  in  the  latter 
jjlace  he  turned  over  to  his  father  to  be 
applied  upon  the  hitter's  debts.  He  was  at 
tills  time  about  twenty  years  (dd;  and,  mak- 
ing up  his  mind  to  obtain  some  regular  em- 
ployment, he  came   to    Deposit   that  year  with 


a  cash  cajntal  of  just  one  dollar.  lie  first 
obtained  a  situation  as  clerk  in  a  stfjre,  re- 
ceiving for  his  services  for  the  first  year 
seventy  ilollars  antl  his  board,  and  for  the 
second  year  ten  dollars  ])er  month.  He  was 
industrious,  and  applied  liimself  earnestly  to 
business  and  to  obtaining  a  close  insight  into 
business  methods.  During  this  time  he  be- 
came acquainted  with  C.  M.  I'utnam,  of  this 
l)lace,  who  had  some  capital :  and  an  agree- 
ment was  reached  between  them  by  which  a 
])artnership  was  formed  untler  the  name  of 
I'utnam  &  Minor.  They  bought  out  the  store 
of  N.  A.  ICggle-ston,  which  they  conducted, 
and  where  Mr.  Minor  was  engaged  in  taking 
care  of  the  business  in  1862.  They  were 
very  prosperous,  and  continued  the  jiartner- 
ship  until  1886,  when  they  dissolved.  The 
attention  of  Mr.  Minor  was  then  directed  to 
manufacturing  interests,  anil,  after  looking 
over  the  ground,  he  established  a  jilant  for  the 
manufacture  of  shirts,  overalls,  and  other 
articles  in  the  line  of  men"s  furnishing  goods, 
putting  in  machinery  and  stock  to  the  amount 
of  five  thousand  dollars;  and  thus  the  Minor's 
Manufacturing  Company  was  inaugurated. 
The  first  three  years  of  the  firm's  existence 
were  not  very  successful  ones,  and  the  out- 
look was  rather  discouraging:  but  Mr.  Minor 
was  not  a  man  to  give  up  easily,  and  simply 
renewed  his  efforts,  his  persistence  being 
finally  rewarded  by  larger  sales  and  a  rapidly 
increasing  demand  for  the  goods  manufactured 
by  the  firm.  At  the  present  time  the  busi- 
ness done  amounts  to  about  eighteen  thousand 
dollars  per  year,  and  furnishes  employment  to 
about  fifteen  hands.  It  is  one  of  the  sound 
and  substantial  business  enterprises  of  De- 
posit, and  lias  done  much  to  advance  the  pros- 
perity and  enhance  the  progress  of  the  village. 
Mr.  Minor  is  also  closely  connected  with  other 
flourishing  business  enterprises.  Among 
them  he  owns,  in  company  with  his  brother, 
.'\.  v.  Minor,  the  Deposit  .Marble  Works, 
which  they  purchased  togetlier  in  1884.  He 
also  owns  two  farms,  which  come  untler  his 
management,  and  is  besides  the  administra- 
tor of  quite  a  large  estate.  He  is  also  a 
stock-holder  and  present  Treasurer  of  the 
Deposit  Water  Works,  and  takes  an  active 
interest    in  most   of   the   matters   that   concern 


462 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


the  welfare  of  the  village  and  the  surrounding 
country. 

Mr.  James  S.  Minor  married  Miss  Mary  K. 
Burrows,  daughter  of  Henry  Burrows,  whose 
father  was  Hubbard  Burrows,  a  native  of  Con- 
necticut, and  a  pioneer  of  Delaware  County. 
Henry  Burrows  was  a  life-long  resident  of 
Deposit.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife, 
mother  of  Mrs.  Minor,  was  Cynthia  Smith. 
She  was  a  daughter  of  James  Smith,  and  was 
born  in  April,  181 1,  in  Cortland  County, 
New  York.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Minor  are  the  par- 
ents of  eight  children  now  living,  namely: 
George  H.,  a  graduate  of  Hamilton  College  at 
Clinton,  N.Y.,  and  now  Assistant  Professor 
of  Mathematics  in  the  North-western  Univer- 
sity at  Evanston,  111. ;  William  B.,  a  graduate 
of  the  Philadelphia  Dental  College,  practis- 
ing in  Deposit;  Henrietta  J.,  a  graduate  of 
the  normal  school  at  New  Paltz,  N.Y.,  and 
now  a  teacher  in  Deposit;  James  A.,  a  Senior 
at  Hamilton  College;  Harriet  M.,  now  in  her 
second  year  at  Smith  College,  Northampton, 
Mass.;  Ralph,  a  graduate  of  Deposit  Union 
School,  who  will  enter  college  in  the  fall  of 
1894;  Clark  and  Edith,  now  attending  the 
Deposit  Union  School.  Mr.  Minor  takes  a 
deep  interest  in  educational  matters,  and,  as 
will  be  seen,  is  taking  pains  to  secure  to  his 
children  that  advanced  cultivation  of  the  in- 
tellectual faculties  that  will  place  them  in  a 
position  to  grasp  the  best  of  life's  opportuni- 
ties, and  fit  them  for  taking  a  part  and  per- 
forming good  service  in  the  highest  spheres  of 
human  activity.  He  has  been  largely  instru- 
mental in  raising  the  standard  of  the  schools 
in  Deposit  and  in  the  establishment  of  the 
present   admirable   system. 

Politically,  Mr.  Minor  is  a  Republican, 
and  indorses  the  national  platform  of  that 
party.  In  religion  he  is  a  Presbyterian  of 
broad  and  liberal  views.  He  is  one  of  the 
most  influential  members  of  that  church  in 
Deposit,  is  very  active  in  church  work,  and  is 
at  present  Deacon  and  Treasurer  in  the  church 
of  his  choice,  toward  the  building  of  which  he 
contributed  liberally  of  his  means.  He  has 
also  assisted  in  the  construction  and  establish- 
ment of  other  Protestant  churches,  and  has 
not  been  found  wanting  when  called  upon  to 
give   both   moral   and   financial  aid  to  benevo- 


lent and  Christian  enterprises  of  various 
kinds.  His  life  has  been  one  of  industry  and 
active  exertion;  and  all  his  labors  have  been 
directed  by  a  high  moral  sense  of  responsibil- 
ity to  himself,  to  humanity,  and  to  God.  He 
has  ever  borne  the  Golden  Rule  in  mind  in 
his  dealings  with  his  fellow-men,  and  has  so 
won  their  confidence  and  esteem.  In  connec- 
tion with  this  sketch  there  appears  a  more 
graphic  representation  of  Mr.  Minor's  person- 
ality, as  depicted  in  the  accompanying 
portrait. 


ANSOM  A.  GRANT,  Deputy  County 
Clerk  of  Delhi,  Delaware  County, 
N.Y.,  was  born  November  20, 
1847,  in  the  town  of  Middletown. 
His  father,  W.  Ward  Grant,  was  born  in  the 
same  town  and  in  the  same  house,  on  April' 
12,  1824,  the  homestead  having  been  in  pos- 
session of  the  family  for  many  years.  The 
Grants  are  of  Scotch  descent,  and  come  from 
the  same  stock  to  which  the  late  General 
Grant  belonged.  The  paternal  grandfather 
had  but  two  sons  who  grew  to  maturity, 
namely:  John,  who  was  a  lawyer  by  profes- 
sion, and  died  October  5,  1S69,  aged  forty- 
two  years;  and  W.  Ward.  The  latter,  who 
was  the  second  son,  assisted  his  father  in  the 
management  of  the  farm,  and  spent  his  entire 
life  on  the  old  homestead.  He  took  an  active 
part  in  the  politics  of  his  day,  serving  very 
acceptably  for  two  terms  as  County  Clerk,  to 
which  position  he  was  nominated  by  the  Re- 
publican party.  He  married  Malinda  Wol- 
cott,  who  was  born  June  29,  1825,  a  daughter 
of  Ransom  Wolcott.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Grant 
reared  the  following-named  children:  Ran- 
som, Newman,  William  W.,  and  G.  Chaun- 
cey.  One  son,  John,  died  at  the  age  of  six 
years.  Mrs.  Grant  died  at  Margarettville, 
aged   sixty-one. 

Ransom  A.  Grant  was  educated  in  the  dis- 
trict school,  and,  until  he  arrived  at  the  age 
of  eighteen,  assisted  his  father  on  the  farm. 
He  afterward  went  to  Delhi,  where  he  took  a 
course  in  the  academy,  and  in  1867  was  ap- 
pointed clerk  in  the  County  Clerk's  office, 
under  his  father.  In  1877  he  was  elected  to 
the    position    of    County    Clerk,    serving    two 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


463 


terms  of  three  years  each,  at  the  termination 
of  which  he  engaged  in  the  lumber  business, 
and  in  the  manufacture  of  sash,  blinds,  and 
doors,  and  general  building  materials.  In 
1S83  his  plant  and  machinery  at  Delhi  were 
destro\etl  i)y  fire;  and  he  then  moved  his 
business  to  ]^rookl\-n,  continuing  there  until 
1885,  when  he  returned  to  Delhi,  and  entered 
the  County  Clerk's  office,  under  Mr.  Georse 
'['.  Warner.  Me  was  appointed  Dcinity  Clerk 
under  Mr.  Crawford,  which  position  he  has 
retained    ever   since. 

Mr.  Grant  was  married  in  1869  to  Miss 
Augusta  Covert,  a  daugiUer  of  Thomas  and 
Jane  (Graham)  Covert.  Of  this  union  there 
is  one  son,  who  is  now  ntteiiding  the  academy 
at  Delhi.  Mr.  Grant  has  served  as  village 
Trustee,  which  position  he  filled  with  entire 
satisfaction.  In  his  religious  views  he  is  a 
Presb_\-terian,  and  the  .Second  Presbyterian 
Church  finds  in  him  an  active  supporter. 
During  iiis  long  tenure  of  public  office  he  has 
ftlled  his  position  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of 
all;  and,  being  the  possessor  of  those  quali- 
ties which  go  to  make  a  true  and  loyal  man, 
he  is  esteemed  and  respectetl  by  all. 


T^h:Wl.S  Sl'-.VMOL-R  .SI'.  JOHN,  a  lead- 
IJT  ing  citi/.cn  of  Walton,  N.Y.,  was 
-L^  ^  born  in  this  town  on  Independence 
Day,  1845.  The  St.  John  geneal- 
ogy is  directly  traceable  back  to  1634;  and 
sixteen  years  afterward,  in  1650,  Matthias 
St.  John  came  to  Norwalk,  Conn.  The 
family  is  of  ancient  French  origin.  .Some  of 
its  members  cast  in  their  fortunes  with  Will- 
iam the  Conqueror  as  far  back  as  the  eleventh 
century,  while  others  at  a  much  later  [jeriod 
became  Muguenots  in  the  Protestant  Reforma- 
tion. In  the  nineteenth  century  the  family 
interest  has  largely  centred  in  the  grandfather 
of  our  special  subject.  Cook  St.  John,  who 
was  born  on  June  i.  1773,  and  died  on  Octo- 
ber II,  1876.  He  was  a  man  to  make  one 
think  of  the  words  of  a  distinguished  lady: 
"Age,  when  it  does  not  harden  the  heart  and 
sour  the  temper,  naturally  returns  to  the 
milky  disposit  ion  of  infancy.  Time  has  the 
same  effect  u])on  the  mind  as  on  the  face. 
The   predominant   passion,   the  strongest    feat- 


uix',  becomes  more  conspicuous  from  the 
others'  retiring."  The  New  York  Ilcralii  of 
May  3,  1876,  apropos  to  our  centennial  year, 
])ublished  a  three-column  account  of  an  inter- 
view with  this  gentleman,  which  had  been 
granted  a  few  days  before;  and  these  were  its 
headlines:  "A  Wonderful  Career.  Thrilling 
Ciiat  with  Cook  St.  John,  One  Hundred  and 
Three  Years  Old.  Recollections  that  almost 
antedate  American  Independence.  Romantic 
Incidents  from  Washington  to  Grant."  He 
was  born  in  Wilton,  Conn.,  and  remembered 
the  burning  of  Norwalk  by  the  British  forces 
when  he  was  six  years  old,  in  1779.  I-'our  of 
his  elder  brothers  — Justin,  Adonijah,  Gideon, 
and  Peter  -  were  in  the  Revolutionary  army. 
Their  fatiier  was  Peter  St.  Jnhn,  who  after- 
ward came  to  Walton,  where  he  tiled  in  181 1, 
just  before  the  War  of  1 81 2,  and  far  into  the 
eighties  in  age.  Tiiough  a  Yale  graduate, 
Peter  St.  John  was  able  to  give  his  children 
but  a  meagre  education.  Cook  was  taught 
little  beyond  s])elling  and  cijihering,  and  had 
to  begin  self-support  at  the  tender  age  of 
seven.  He  afterward  spent  one  year  as  ap- 
prentice with  a  carpenter  and  joiner,  and 
learneil  the  trade  so  thoroughly  that  he  is  the 
reputed  inventor  of  the  dove-tail  joint,  so  in- 
dispensable to  e\ery  wood-worker.  In  his 
youth  he  hail  employment  in  New  York  City, 
and  there  he  helped  to  buiUl  the  first  dock  on 
the  Hudson  River.  He  first  settled  in  New 
Canaan,  where  he  owned  a  grist-mill. 

At  the  age  of  thirty-five,  in  1807,  Cook  St. 
John  came  tu  Walton,  bringing  with  him  his 
wife  and  two  boys,  and  laboriously  cleared  a 
farm  in  what  was  then  a  wild  region  with  a 
few  scattered  tlwellings.  Here  he  remained 
nearly  three-quarters  of  a  century,  achieving 
that  measure  of  success  which  must  ever 
accompany  tact,  energy,  and  a  vigorous  intel- 
lect, tiiougli  physically  he  was  strong  rather 
than  large.  His  memory  was  phenomenal, 
even  in  oUl  age;  and  his  narratives  sountled 
like  i-omances,  though  strictly  true.  He  may 
justly  be  called  the  most  notable  man  of  his 
locality:  for  his  career  extendetl  into  two  cent- 
uries, and  he  lived  to  see  forty  descendants, 
growing  from  eleven  branches,  and  represent- 
ing five  generations,  all  living  within  gunshot 
of  the  old  home.      Toward  the  close  of  his  life 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


464 


he   became   nearly   blind,    but    never    lost    his 
grip  on   the   interests   and   joys  of   humanity. 
In  politics  he  was  a  Whig  till  the  Republican 
party  was  formed;  and  in  religion  he  became 
a    Universalist,    when    it    cost    something    to 
cleave  to  an  unpopular  and  liberal  faith.      His 
hundredth  anniversary  took  place  on  June   3, 
1873,    and    was  a  most    unique  occasion.      It 
was  indeed  a  beautiful  sight  to  see  the  white- 
haired  veteran  surrounded  by  one  hundred  and 
eleven  friends,  of  whom  scores  had   his   blood 
circulating   in   their  veins,  and   varied   in   age 
from  two  to  eighty-three.     The  gathering  was 
at  the  house  of  his  son,   Thaddeus   Seymour 
St.    John.      On    the     lawn    the    tables    were 
spread  in  a  temporary  refectory,  adorned  with 
laurel  and  the  national   flag.     Though  some- 
what  careworn,   the   patriarch's    face    beamed 
with  smiles  of  satisfaction.     On  his  right  and 
left    were    his   nearest    kinsmen,   and    on    the 
table  was  the  birthday  cake,  three  and  a  half 
feet  high,  arranged   in  a  hundred  layers,  and 
o-raced    with    as    many    varieties    of    flowers. 
After  the  banquet   our   old  friend   retired  for 
his    usual    nap.     In    a   felicitous    speech    the 
family  pastor,   the  Rev.   Mr.    Purrington,   re- 
ferred to  the  venerable  man's  declaration  that 
for  seven   years   he   lived   with   his   first   wife, 
fifty  with    his    second,    and    twenty  with    his 
daughter-in-law,    with   never  an    unkind  word 
from  either—  a  fact  which  speaks  volumes  for 
the  man  himself. 

His  first  wife,  Polly  Seymour,  died  July  2, 
1 804,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-seven,  after 
the  removal  to  Walton,  leaving  three  chil- 
dren, of  whom  Thaddeus  Seymour,  our  sub- 
ject's father,  was  the  eldest.  The  other  boy, 
William  St.  John,  was  an  early  California 
])ioncer,  but  died  in  Walton,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-five,  leaving  four  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, of  whom  three  are  still  living.  The 
sister,  Betty  St.  John,  born  in  1800,  married 
Nathaniel  Gray  Eells,  a  brother  of  her  brother 
Seymour's  wife;  but  she  also  died  in  Walton. 
Grandfather  Cook  St.  John's  second  wife,  to 
whom  he  was  married  in  Walton,  January  7, 
1805,  was  Anna  Benedict,  of  Norwalk,  Conn.; 
and  she  bore  two  sons  and  one  daughter  — 
John,  Polly,  and  Giles.  She  died  in  1850, 
aged  seventy-six;  and  none  of  her  children 
now  survive.     In  fact,  they  died   before  their 


father,  who  did  not  pass  away  tilj  the  centen- 
nial year,  when  he  was  nearly  four  years  past 
his  century,  his  funeral  being  attended  by  the 
first-born  offspring  of  four  generations — ^that 
is,  his  eldest  son,  grandson,  great-grandson, 
and  great-great-grandson. 

Thaddeus  Seymour  St.  John,  commonly 
known  as  Uncle  Seymour,  was  born  in  New 
Canaan,  Conn.,  November  25,  1797,  and  be- 
fore the  family  removed  to  Walton,  where  he 
died  September  16,  1887,  his  body  lying  be- 
neath a  granite  shaft  in  the  cemetery,  whither 
his  wife's  body  was  borne  eleven  days  later. 
She  was  over  eighty-seven  years  old,  and  her 
maiden  name  was  Hannah  Gray  Eells.  Of 
their  seven  children  three  lived  to  maturity; 
and  two  sons  —  Lewis  Seymour  and  William 
Seymour,  both  of  Walton  —  are  now  living. 
Mary  St.  John  married  David  Peabody,  and 
died  in  Walton  in  1864,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
four.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thaddeus  Seymour  St. 
John  were  married  in  18 18,  and  lived  together 
sixty-five  years.  He  became  a  Republican 
when  the  party  was  formed,  like  his  father, 
and  was  prominent  in  public  affairs,  as  Jus- 
tice of  Peace  and  President  of  the  village. 
In  earlier  years  he  traded  largely  in  grain  and 
lumber,  which  he  rafted  to  Philadelphia. 

His  son,  Lewis  S.  St.  John,  our  subject, 
was  educated  partly  in  Walton  Academy. 
After  being  for  a  while  a  clerk  for  his  elder 
brother  William,  he  went  into  business  on  his 
own  account.  In  1870,  when  he  was  twenty- 
five  years  old,  and  ill  health  made  it  advisable 
to  be  more  out  of  doors,  he  found  employment 
in  a  civil  engineer  corps,  on  the  New  York  & 
Oswego  Midland  Railroad,  and  worked  there 
till  its  completion  one  year  later.  For  five 
more  years  he  held  other  positions  with  the 
company.  From  1876  to  1885  he  was  con- 
ductor on  the  main  line.  He  then  embarked 
in  the  hardware  business  with  his  nephew, 
Julius  W.  St.  John;  but  after  four  years  in 
the  store,  he  went  back  to  the  road  as  con- 
ductor of  the  passenger  train  running  between 
Delhi  and  Walton,  a  place  he  still  holds.  As 
a  P'ree  Mason,  he  belongs  to  Delaware  Chap- 
ter, has  taken  the  Scottish  rites,  has  been 
Master  of  the  Blue  Lodge  seven  years,  was 
two  years  District  Deputy  Grand  Master, 
under  Grand   Master  John  W.   Vrooman,  and 


niOGRAPHICAI,    REVIKW 


l^'5 


is  now  Master  of  a  Lo(l2;c  of  Perfection,  ;uul 
holds  the  position  of  Assistant  Grand  Lect- 
urer for  the  eleventh  Masonic  district,  with 
Grand  Lecturer  George  H.  Raymond. 

His  marriage  took  ])lace  on  Octoher  30, 
1 866,  soon  after  he  attainetl  his  majority;  and 
his  bride  was  Mary  Launt,  horn  in  Ilamden, 
the  daugliter  of  I'rederick  and  Marietta 
(Chase)  Launt.  Iler  father  died  August  4, 
1876,  aged  sixt)'-four,  ten  years  after  her  mar- 
riage; though  lier  mother  still  lives  in  Wal- 
ton, at  the  age  of  seventy-six.  Mr.  and  ^Frs. 
Lewis  Seymour  St.  John  iiave  two  children 
living,  a  daughter  ami  a  son,  and  iiave  buried 
one  daughter,  lulna,  at  the  age  of  three. 
Helen  B.  St.  John  is  now  tlie  wife  of  John  H. 
-Smith,  of  Norwich.  N.\'.;  and  they  have  a 
fine  boy,  Harold  llorton  .Smith,  two  and  a 
half  years  ol<l.  Hari)hl  Launt  St.  John,  born 
in  1S75,  is  a  graduate  of  the  high  school,  antl 
still  lives  at  home.  The  .St.  John  family  may 
well  enjoy  the  sa\'ing  of  the  great  Universal- 
ist  preacher,   Hosea  Ballon,  about  home, — 

"In  family  government  let  this  be  ahvavs 
remembered,  that  no  reproof  or  denunciation 
is  so  potent  as  the  silent  infiueiux'  of  a  gooil 
example." 


.LI AM  R.  HL.CKLL.V,  an  enter- 
[jrising  resident  of  .Stamford,  N.V., 
who  has  done  much  to  pi'omote  the 
growth  of  the  place,  was  born  June  24,  1820, 
at  New  Britain,  Hartford  County,  Conn.,  and 
was  the  son  of  Moses  W.  and  Mary  (Corn- 
well)  Becklc)-.  Moses  W.  Heckley  was  born 
at  Berlin,  C.'onn..  and  in  his  youth  leariu'd  the 
harness-maker's  trade,  w^hich  he  followed  for 
some  years,  but  later  bought  a  farm,  \\p<n\ 
which  he  died  when  seventy-six  years  old,  and 
where  his  wife  ])assed  away  at  the  age  of 
eighty-four.  .She  was  a  member  of  the  Bap- 
tist church,  and  had  seven  children  —  Sarah, 
William  R.,  Henrv.  George,  ICunice,  Caro- 
line, and  Moses  all  except  two  of  whom 
grew   to   maturity. 

William  R.  Beckley,  having  received  his 
education  at  tlie  district  school  of  his  native 
town,  learned  the  harness-maker's  trade  with 
his  father,  and  continued  in  this  for  two  or 
three  years.      His   first    removal    w-as   to    Cox- 


sacisie,  .\ .  \  .,  where  lii.'  stayed  a  yiMi  .iiki  :i 
lialf,  and  then  came  to  .Stamford  in  1844,  and 
boiigiit  a  harness  store,  in  connection  with 
whicii  he  carried  on  a  tanner)'.  His  under- 
takings thus  far  being  very  successful,  he 
bought  lam!  east  of  the  creek,  and  erected 
buildings,  which  he  sold  when  completed, 
l-'rom  this  time  he  engaged  in  building  exten- 
sivelv.  and  was  the  first  to  erect  business 
blocks  at  that  end  of  the  town.  He  has  en- 
gaged in  various  lines  of  business,  including 
clotiiing,  grocery,  dry  goods,  tanner}',  and 
blacksmithing.  Mr.  Beckley  also  started  a 
stage  route  between  Catskill  and  Delhi, 
touching  at  Hunter,  also  from  Stamford  to 
Richmondville,  and  from  .Stamford  to  Km- 
mons  Station  via  Davenport,  owning  in  this 
connection  nearl\'  sixty  horses.  He  bought 
tracts  of  land  by  the  acre,  cutting  streets  and 
walks  through  them,  setting  out  shade-trees, 
among  which  were  one  hundred  of  the  most 
beautiful  maples  in  the  town,  and  selling 
house  lots  with  the  contract  that  the  purchaser 
was  to  build  thereon.  By  this  means  he 
carried  eiut  his  favorite  idea  of  building  up 
the  town,  and  making  it  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful places  in  this  part  of  the  comity. 

In  1846  William  R.  Beckley  married  Re- 
becca H.  Maynard,  ilaughter  of  .Samuel  May- 
nard,  whose  sketch  is  given  elsewhere  in  this 
volume.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beckley  have  had 
three  children:  l-"remont,  who  died  when  four 
}ears  of  age;  l-"annie,  born  August  19,  1S54, 
who  married  William  Riseley,  a  successful 
bhle-stone  and  granite  dealer  of  Kingston, 
and  who  is  the  mr.ther  of  six  box's  and  two 
girls:  I'rederick  B.,  Clarence  M.,  Claude  !•"., 
Carrie  1<..  Helen  I..  Raymond  B.,  lulmund, 
and  Larl  D. :  and  William  M.,  born  October  2, 
1868,  wlio,  after  finishing  his  studies,  started 
as  a  clerk  in  the  jKist-ofTice,  also  working  at 
telegrajjhy,  and  tiiree  years  later  went  as 
clerk  in  the  post-office  at  .Shandaken.  after- 
ward being  employed  with  his  father  in  the 
post-office  at  .Stamford.  He  is  now  the  owner 
of  the  gentlemen's  furnishing  and  tailoring 
business  which  formerly  belongt'd  to  R.  W. 
Laughlin;  and  this  he  carries  on  in  a  well- 
appointed  store.  William  M.  Beekle\'  was 
married  December  27,  1894,  to  Cornelia  L. 
I'reston. 


466 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Mr.  William  R.  Beckley,  after  selling  out 
his  stage  route,  retired  from  business  life; 
but,  being  of  an  active  temperament,  unable 
to  endure  idleness,  he  bought  a  piece  of  land 
near  the  railway  station,  erecting  thereon  a 
building  in  which  he  carried  on  a  produce 
and  commission  business.  His  health  fail- 
ing, he  at  length  gave  up  business,  and  is 
now  spending  his  last  years  in  well-earned 
rest,  having  the  satisfaction  of  looking  back 
upon  a  life  well  spent.  He  served  as  Post- 
master during  President  Cleveland's  first 
administration.  Mr.  Beckley  is  an  Odd 
Fellow,  belonging  to  the  Hobart  Lodge,  In- 
dependent Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  His  wife 
is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.  Mr.  Beckley  is  widely  known  for  his 
extensive  labors  in  building  and  improving 
the  town,  and  his  long-continued  efforts  in 
this  direction  have  been  highly  appreciated  by 
his  tellow-citizens. 


'ON.  WILLIAM  L.  FORD,  one  of 
the  older  citizens  of  Deposit, 
Broome  County,  has  been  promi- 
nently identified  with  local  interests 
in  this  part  of  the  country  for  many  years, 
and  has  taken  an  active  part  in  promoting  the 
welfare  and  advancement  of  the  community  in 
which  he  resides.  His  aspirations  through 
life  have  ever  been  toward  an  ideal  manhood; 
and,  following  in  the  path  of  duty  and  honor, 
he  has  gained  the  respect  and  approbation  of 
his  fellow-men.  He  represented  the  county 
of  Broome  in  the  State  Assembly  in  1852,  in 
1872,  and  in  1873,  and  assisted  in  the  enact- 
ment of  wise  and  wholesome  laws,  refusing 
his  sanction  to  unjust  measures  and  those  of 
doubtful  expedience.  Impervious  alike  to 
bribery  and  intimidation,  he  is  a  man  who 
cannot  be  induced  to  perform  any  act  which 
to  his  mind  would  involve  a  breach  of  prin- 
ciple or  a  betrayal  of  his  own  conscience. 
He  was  an  able  and  trustworthy  legislator, 
and  was  not  one  of  that  class  of  politicians 
who  maintain  their  positions  by  corrupt  meth- 
ods and  questionable  practices.  Mr.  Ford  is 
of  Scotch  and  Irish  extraction.  His  grand- 
father, Benjamin  Ford,  who  was  a  resident  of 
Newport,  Herkimer  County,  was  a  Deacon  in 


the  Baptist  church,  a  consistent  Christian 
gentleman,  and  a  man  of  high  moral  influence. 
The  father  of  our  subject  was  Daniel  Ford, 
who  married  Elizabeth  Scott,  a  native  of  the 
town  of  Bernardston,  Mass.  Daniel  Ford  was 
a  native  of  Albany,  and  when  a  boy  came  to 
Herkimer  County,  where  he  lived  on  a  farm. 
In  1836  he  remo\-ed  to  Whitestown,  Oneida 
County,  residing  there  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  1883,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two 
years.  His  wife  lived  to  be  seventy-nine 
years  old.  They  were  the  parents  of  eight 
children,  namely:  Philander,  deceased ;  Eliza, 
who  became  the  wife  of  James  S.  Whitman, 
of  Muncie,  Ind. ;  Philinda,  who  lives  at 
Yorkville,  Oneida  County;  Mary  A.  (de- 
ceased), who  was  the  wife  of  Nathan  Davis, 
of  Panama,  Chautauqua  County,  N.Y.;  Rod- 
ney A.,  coal  agent  for  the  Delaware  &  Hud- 
son Railroad  at  Binghamton;  Ann  M.,  who 
married  Charles  Graham,  and  is  living  at 
Whitesboro,  Oneida  County,  N.Y. ;  S.  Au- 
gusta, wife  of  Sylvanus  Hoag,  of  Yorkville, 
Oneida  County;  and  William  L.,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch. 

The  latter  was  born  in  the  village  of 
Middleville,  Herkimer  County,  N.Y.,  March 
12,  1820.  He  remained  there  until  the  age 
of  sixteen,  attending  the  common  schools  as 
he  had  opportunity,  and  working  on  the  farm 
when  required.  He  then  engaged  at  New 
York  Mills  as  a  clerk  in  a  general  store, 
meanwhile  pursuing  his  education  as  best  he 
could.  He  continued  there  till  1841,  in 
which  year  he  went  to  Binghamton,  where 
his  brother  Rodney  was  engaged  in  the  dry- 
goods  business,  remaining  there  until  1846, 
when  he  came  to  Deposit,  bringing  with  him 
a  stock  of  general  merchandise.  In  this  place 
he  went  into  business,  and  after  about  three 
years  formed  a  partnership  with  George  T. 
Belding,  the  style  of  the  firm  being  Ford  & 
Belding,  and  they  operating  on  the  Delaware 
County  side  of  the  line.  This  arrangement 
continued  for  about  three  years,  when  Mr. 
Ford  bought  out  Mr.  Belding,  and  took  for  a 
partner  John  B.  Perry,  the  firm  being  then 
known  as  Ford  &  Perry.  This  firm  carried 
on  a  considerable  business,  the  partnership 
remaining  intact  for  about  twenty-five  years; 
and  during  that  time,  in    1865,    they  built  the 


BIOGRAPHICAI,    REVIF.W 


.,67 


three-story  frame  biiiUlin^  known  as  I'oril's 
store,  anil  also  an  aildition  to  the  i:iost-office. 
In  1882  Mr.  Foril  houj;lu  out  Mr.  Ferry's  in- 
terest, and  conikicted  a  successful  business 
till,  compelled  by  failing  health,  he  .sold  the 
stock  in  1892  to  Mr.  \V.  H.  \Vilc(i.\:  but, 
continuing  to  deal  in  i)utter,  he  lor  liiat  \n\v- 
pose  retained  an  office  in  the  building.  Mr. 
Ford  was  first  married  in  Binghamton  to 
Sarah  A.  Morgan,  daughter  of  Augustus 
Morgan  and  a  sister  of  Tracy  Morgan.  From 
this  union  sprang  two  children,  both  now  de- 
ceased. Mrs.  Ford  died  in  1848;  and  our 
subject  was  married  the  second  time,  in  1858, 
to  .Sarah  C.  Ward,  a  daughter  of  .Austin 
Ward,  of  Holland  Patent,  Oneida  County,  and 
by  her  had  three  children:  Sarah  !■:..  residing 
at  home;  .Anna  W..  wife  of  Dr.  Ward,  of 
Binghamton,  having  two  children,  Charles  A. 
and  Sarah  1". :  and  A.  Ward,  who  married 
Ada  Ford,  of  Oneonta.  and  is  now  residing  at 
Binghamton,  being  the  father  of  three  chil- 
dren, William  1..,  jr.,  Elizabeth,  and  Flor- 
ence W.  .Mr.  l-'ortl's  second  wife,  the  mother 
of  these  children,  died  in  1878.  Our  subject, 
in  addition  to  other  public  service,  was  Su- 
pervisor of  the  town  of  .Sanford,  Broonn' 
Countv,  and  called  the  attention  of  the  Board 
to  manv  matters  of  importance,  being  well 
calculated  to  advance  the  true  interests  of  the 
people  in  any  jiublic  place  or  position.  Mr. 
Ford  was  a  great  admirer  of  Henry  Clay, 
and  cast  his  first  vote  for  him  in  1844, 
when  Clav  was  the  Whig  candidate  for  the 
Presidencv.  llis  defeat  was  a  bitter  dis- 
appointment to  Mr.  I'ord,  for  all  through 
his  younger  days  Clay  was  his  model  and 
ideal. 

Mr.  Ford  has  served  for  years  on  the  Board 
of  Education,  and  has  also  been  the  President 
of  the  \'illage  Board.  He  is  a  Director  in 
the  Broome  County  National  Bank,  and  has 
always  manifested  much  interest  in  the  social, 
moral,  and  intellectual  well-being  of  Deposit 
and  its  neighboring  communities.  He  is  a 
man  of  strong  mentality,  and  is  remarkably 
active  for  one  of  his  years.  His  useful  life 
and  honorable  career  have  made  him  many 
admirers;  and  all  will  hope  that  years  (if  com- 
fort and  honor,  as  well  as  pidilic  utility,  may 
still  be  before  him. 


kRS.  SAK.All  H.  rO\VNSi:ND  is 
ine  ol  that  older  circle  of  benevo- 
lent and  high-minded  women  in 
Walton,  daily  growing  smaller, 
which  is  looked  to  for  advice  in  all  the  works 
of  charity  of  the  town.  She  is  the  widow  of 
John  Townsend,  who  died  October  3,  1870, 
aged  sixty-seven,  and  occupies  the  old  home- 
stead which  was  built  by  his  father,  William 
Townsend,  about  1796,  nearly  one  hundred 
vears   ago. 

Dr.  Piatt  Townsend,  father  of  William,  was 
born  on  Long  Island  in  1733;  ^'"'l.  when  he 
came  to  this  ])art  of  the  country  with  his  fam- 
ily in  1795,  he  found  nothing  before  him  but 
an  unbroken  forest.  Here  he  cleared  for  him- 
self a  homestead  and  built  a  log  cabin,  which 
his  son  afterward  replaced  by  the  stanch  farm- 
house where  his  descendants  now  live,  and 
which  bids  fair  to  stand  for  many  years  to 
come  and  shelter  many  generations  more  of 
Townsends.  Dr.  Piatt  Townsend  was  three 
times  married.  His  first  wife  was  Elizabeth 
Hul5bartl:  and  she  was  mother  of  William, 
Isaac,  and  Piatt,  the  latter  dying  when  but 
eight  years  old.  The  Doctor's  second  wife 
was  Martha  Dickinson,  by  whom  he  had  one 
daughter,  PVances,  who  became  the  wife  of 
Lancaster  Lupton,  an  I-aiglishman  of  wealth 
and  influence,  in  the  direct  line  of  the  nobil- 
ity. His  third  wife  was  .Ann  (loslin.  who 
survived  him  thirteen  years,  and  died  March 
29.  1828,  ninety-tw-o  years  of  age.  Dr. 
Townsend  died  at  the  old  homestead  in  1S15. 
He  rests  in  the  family  burial-place  on  the  an- 
cestral tarm.  He  was  a  much  beloved  and 
public-sjiiritetl  citizen,  and  at  his  decease  left 
a  verv  large  property  in  land  and  stock:  but. 
what  Was  better  than  all  earthly  possessions, 
he  had  laid  up  for  himself  a  goodly  store  of 
the  high  regard  and  respect  of  his  fellow-men 
and  the  sure  approbation  of  his  (iod. 

William  Townsend  was  born  before  the 
family  left  Long  Island,  and  died  Decem- 
ber 24,  1849.  He  married  Abigail  Smith, 
by  whom  he  had  ten  children:  Maria,  born 
in  1 791;  Nancy,  born  in  1793;  Smith,  who 
died  in  the  pr'ime  of  life;  Piatt,  born  in 
1801:  lohn,  before  named,  born  in  1S03; 
Cornelia,  born  in  1805:  Eliza,  born  in  1807, 
wife    of     Rev.    E.    Wills:    lulward,    born    in 


468 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


i8ii,cliecl  in  Morrisvillc,  N.Y.,  1884,  after 
:ill  his  family  had  passed  away;  Charles  B., 
born  in  1S13:  Abigail,  born  in  1815.  The 
mother  of  these  children  died  eight  years 
before  her  husband,  in  1841. 

Mrs.  Sarah  H.  Townsend,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Franklin, 
Delaware  County,  in  1821.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  Simeon  and  Mary  McGregor  Mul- 
ford.  Her  father  was  a  native  of  Long 
Island,  and  her  mother  came  from  Batavia. 
In  1824  Simeon  Mulford  moved  from  Frank- 
lin to  Walton,  where  he  purchased  a  farm 
of  several  hundred  acres,  a  part  of  which  is 
now  village  residences  and  the  fair  ground. 
When  his  failing  health  made  active  business 
impossible,  he  sold  his  Walton  property,  and 
moved  to  Bainbridge,  Chenango  County.  He 
died  in  Unadilla  in  1856,  at  eighty  years  of 
age;  and  his  wife  died  in  1866,  having  also 
reached  fourscore.  Mrs.  Townsend  had  one 
half-brother.  Captain  Daniel  Howell,  who 
served  through  the  Civil  War.  He  was  for 
many  years  a  distinguished  citizen  of  Wau- 
kesha, Wis.,  in  which  place  he  died  in  De- 
cember, 1890,  aged  eighty-three.  He  was 
high  in  the  Masonic  orders,  and  in  many  ways 
distinguished  himself,  being  the  prime  mover 
in  establishing  a  post-office  at  Salem  cross- 
roads in  Chautauqua  County,  N.Y.  A  sister 
of  Daniel  Howell  is  still  living  in  Waukesha. 
She  is  the  witlow  of  Mr.  Lockwood,  of  that 
town,  and  is  still  a  vigorous  lady,  although 
nearly  an  octogenarian.  Mrs.  Townsend's 
own  sister  is  the  wife  of  M.  N.  Kline  in  New 
York  City. 

Mrs.  Townsend  was  educated  at  the  Franklin 
Institute,  and  was  a  teacher  before  her  mar- 
riage to  John  Townsend  in  her  twenty-second 
year.  She  has  three  children,  namely: 
Charles  W.  Townsend,  a  member  of  the  Stock 
Ex'change,  New  York  City,  and  having  a  fam- 
ily of  one  son  and  one  daughter;  William,  a 
successful  lawyer  in  Utica,  N.Y.,  married, 
but  without  children;  and  John  H.,  who  re- 
sides here  with  his  mother  on  the  home  farm 
and  in  the  old  and  spacious  house  already 
spoken  of  and  so  well  known  to  all  who  are 
at  all  familiar  with  Walton  and  its  surround- 
ings. John  H.  Townsend  married  in  January, 
1880,  Florence  Bostwick,  of  W'alton,  daughter 


of  Jabez  and  Jane  (Chase)  Bostwick,  and 
grand-daughter  of  Judge  Bostwick,  of  this 
county.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Bostwick 
his  wife  married  Robert  Launt;  and  after  his 
decease  she  came  here  to  Walton,  where  she 
still  resides.  John  H.  Townsend  and  his 
wife  have  but  one  child,  Howell  Bostwick,  a 
promising  youth  of  thirteen,  tall  and  manly  in 
bearing,  an  apt  student,  and  one  who  shows 
much  decided  talent  for  art. 

Much  of  the  village  of  Walton  now  occu- 
pies the  Townsend  farm ;  and  both  the  Con- 
gregational and  Episcopal  churches  are  on 
sites  presented  by  the  Townsends  from  their 
ancestral  acres,  the  former  church  having 
been  given  by  William  and  the  latter  by 
John  Townsend,  who  also  presented  to  the 
town  the  land  for  the  high  school,  or  acad- 
emy, as  it  was  called  in  the  earlier  days.  He 
was  an  excellent  man,  public-spirited  and 
benevolent,  setting  the  example  to  his  towns- 
men of  giving  freely  to  all  worthy  objects, 
and  through  his  influence  carrying  out  many 
schemes  for  the  improvement  of  the  town  and 
its  people.  He  was  a  stanch  Democrat,  but 
never  held  office,  allowing  the  casting  of  his 
vote  to  suffice  for  his  share  in  the  country's 
welfare.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church,  to  which  his  wife  still  belongs. 
The  name  of  Mrs.  Townsend  will  long  be  re- 
membered, not  only  for  the  lionor  cast  upon 
her  family  and  the  noble  race  with  which  she 
is  connectetl  by  marriage,  but  more  because  of 
her  high-minded  moral  earnestness  and  the 
disinterested  service  which  she  is  always 
ready  to   give. 


SCAR  I.  BENNETT,  a  retired  farmer 
and  a  public-spirited  and  pliilan- 
thropic  citizen  of  Hobart,  was  born  in 
Stamford,  September  21,  1828,  dur- 
ing the  Presidency  of  John  Ouincy  Adams. 
His  parents  were  Isaac  and  Nany  (Foot)  Ben- 
nett. 

His  grandfather,  Daniel  Bennett,  came 
from  Connecticut  to  Delaware  County,  New 
York,  as  a  surveyor,  and,  buying  a  tract  of 
land  in  Stamford,  began  to  clear  away  the 
forest.  While  thus  engaged,  he  was  surprised 
and  captured  by  the  famous  Indian  chief,  Cap- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


tain  l^rant,  and  his  band  of  savages,  who  took 
him  to  Canada,  where  he  remained  in  eaptiv- 
itv  six  years.  Discovering  tiiat  lie  was  a 
tailor  by  trade,  the  British  forced  him  to 
make  clothing  for  the  army  officers,  keeping 
!iim  tluis  occupied  until  the  close  of  the  Revo- 
lution, allowing  him  small  wages  in  jiayment 
for  his  work.  The  soldiers  often  rohlied  him 
of  his  earnings;  but,  by  covering  his  gold 
pieces  and  using  them  as  buttons,  and  by 
other  ingenious  devices,  he  contrived  to  con- 
ceal, and  thus  retain,  a  part  of  his  earnings. 
After  his  release  he  returned  to  .Stamford  to 
engage  in  farming,  and  Iniilt  a  lug  cabin,  in 
which  he  dwelt  some  years.  Daniel  Ben- 
nett's family  consisted  of  seven  children: 
William;  Abijah ;  John;  Isaac;  Charity;  and 
two  other  daughters,  whose  names  are  not  re- 
corded. All  grew  up,  though  not  one  of  them 
is  now  living.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bennett  both 
lived  to  a  good  old  age,  he  dying  while  on  a 
visit  to  one  of  his  sons  in  Cayuga  County. 
lie  was  a  man  of  industry  and  intelligence, 
liberal  in  his  religious  views,  and  in  politics 
what  was  then  known  as  a  Whig,  or  Patriot. 

Isaac  Bennett,  son  of  Daniel,  and  father  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  March  12,  1777,  and  came  to 
Stamford  with  his  father  in  childhood,  lie 
married  Nany  Foot,  also  a  nativ'c  of  Connecti- 
cut, where  she  was  born  in  1785.  He  liegan 
life  as  a  merchant,  but  after  a  time  turned  his 
attention  to  agriculture.  lie  tiist  bought 
forty-two  acres  of  land,  and  then  added  to  it 
from  time  to  time,  until  he  became  the  ]ios- 
scssor  of  a  farm  of  two  hundred  and  ten  acres, 
besides  a  wood-lot  of  fifty.  He  was  a  hard- 
working, frugal  man,  who  began  life  with  no 
capital  save  energy  and  ability,  and  raised 
himself  to  the  independent  and  desirabL'  posi- 
tion of  a  well-to-do  farmer  sokly  by  his  own 
exertions.  He  was  Supervisor  tor  several 
terms,  and  held  other  minor  offices.  He  was 
a  man  of  a  benevolent  nature  and  enlightened 
views.  Believing  in  the  goodness  ol  (iod  and 
man,  his  opinions  were  reflected  in  his  relig- 
ious belief,  which  was  that  of  the  Universal- 
ist  church.  In  politics  he  was,  like  his 
father,  a  Whig,  but  became  a  Republican  on 
the  formation  of  that  party.  He  died  at  the 
old   homestead,  April    15,   1864:   but   his   wife 


had  dejiarted  lliis  life  fourteen  years  earliL-r, 
on  I'\'hruary  10,  1.S50.  Their  children  were: 
Mrs.  I.auni  (iriffm  and  Mrs.  Charlotte 
Stevens,  both  deceased;  Mrs.  \'ohicia  (irant, 
now  a  resident  of  Holwrt ;  Daniel  R.  Bennett, 
a  farmer,  who  died  December  23,  1847,  at 
the  age  of  thirty-two,  and  who  at  the  time  of 
his  death  was  town  Su])er\-isor ;  [ohn  M. 
Bennett,  who  died  in  18S7.  aged  sixtv-six 
years;  and  Oscar  I.  Bennett,  the  youngest  of 
the  family. 

Oscar  I.  Bennett,  the  special  subject  of  this 
sketch,  grew  to  manhood  on  the  old  Bennett 
farm;  and- the  instruction  which  he  received 
in  the  district  school  was  supplemented  by 
that  of  [jrivate  schools,  and  he  also  taught  for 
(me  winter.  When  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
he  took  charge  of  the  home  farm,  of  which  in 
due  time  he  became  the  owner,  paying  off  the 
other  heirs,  continuing  to  li\-e  on  his  ances- 
tral acres  sixty-four  years.  For  a  long  time 
he  carried  it  on  as  a  general  dairx-  farm,  toil- 
ing faithfully,  and  proving  himself  successful 
in  every  undertaking.  The  farm  is  in  excel- 
lent condition.  Most  of  the  buildings  now 
standing  upon  it  were  erected  bv  him,  and 
many  other  improvements  are  the  result  of  his 
industry  and  enterprise.  In  December.  1S93, 
he  moved  into  the  village  of  Ilobart,  leaving 
his  two  sons  to  carry  on  the  farm.  On  fune 
3,  1856,  he  m:uTied  .Selina  W.  .Sturges,  who 
was  born  in  the  town  of  .Stamford,  lulv  2, 
1S32,  and  was  the  daughter  of  (jeorge  and 
Maria  (Olmstead)  .Sturges.  Her  jjarents  were 
of  the  [Moneer  stock,  and  resided  in  the  town 
to  the  end  of  their  days,  dying  at  an  advanced 
age.  They  luui  four  sons  and  as  many  daugh- 
ters, all  but  one  of  whom  are  living  to-day. 
iMr.  and  Mrs.  Bennett  have  three  children: 
Lotta   .Sturges    Bennett,  living  at   home;   ban- 

1  erson  .Sturges  Bennett,  single;  and  Sherman 
Oscar  Bennett,  married.  Both  boys  are  pn 
the  farm.  Mrs.  Bennett  is  a  most  estimable 
woman,  a  lady  of  refined  tastes.  Mr.  Bennett 
has  alwa\s  been  a  public-spirited  man,  like 
his  father,  deeply  and  actively  interested  in 
the  welfare  of  his  town,  where  he  has  held 
various   jiublic  ofilces.      He   is   \'ice-I'resident 

I  of  the  National  Bank  of  Ilobart.  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  village  Board  of  Trustees.  In 
religion  he  is  liberal,  and    in  politics  a  Prohi- 


47° 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


hitionist.  Though  possessing  an  abundance 
of  this  world's  goods  and  a  keen  intellect,  he 
shows  the  fine  simplicity  of  his  nature  by  a 
modestly  unassuming  and  comfortable  manner 
of  life.  His  genuine  kindness  and  strict  hon- 
esty are  proverbial  among  the  people  of  his 
town,  where  truly  it  seems, 

None  know  him  but  to  love  him, 
None  name  him  but  to  praise. 


THOMAS  BURROWS,  present  Su- 
pervisor of  the  town  of  Deposit,  Dela- 
ware County,  N.Y.,  is  one  of  the 
prominent  residents  of  that  part  of 
the  country,  and  comes  from  a  family  that  was 
identified  with  the  interests  and  development 
of  the  county  at  an  early  day.  He  has  for 
twenty-two  years  been  engaged  in  general 
merchandising  in  the  village  of  Deposit,  and 
has  a  high  standing  among  the  business  men 
of  that  place.  Mr.  Burrows  is  of  Scotch  an- 
cestry; and  some  of  his  ancestors  were  officers 
in  the  Continental  army  during  the  War  of 
the  Revolution,  one  of  them  bravely  ineeting 
his  death  while  facing  the  foe  at  Stonington, 
Conn.  This  martial  spirit  appears  to  have 
been  transmitted  to  some,  at  least,  of  their 
descendants,  Mr.  Burrows  of  this  notice  hav- 
ing well  sustained  the  family  reputation  dur- 
ing the  late  civil  strife.  The  grandfather  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  Peris  Burrows, 
a  native  of  Connecticut,  who  came  to  York 
State  many  years  ago,  and  was  among  the 
early  settlers  of  the  town  of  Tompkins  (now 
the  town  of  Deposit),  Delaware  County.  His 
son,  Harry  Btirrows,  was  born  in  Delaware 
County,  and  married  Betsey  Whitaker,  a  na- 
tive of  Wayne  County,  Pennsylvania.  They 
were  the  parents  of  five  children:  Wealthy, 
now  Mrs.  A.  K.  Davis,  and  living  in  De- 
posit; I'^liza,  wife  of  D.  L.  Demoney,  of  De- 
posit; George  A.,  a  farmer  of  the  town  of 
Deposit;  James  Thomas,  of  this  sketch;  and 
Frances,  wife  of  W.  W.  Main,  of  Rock  Val- 
ley, Delaware  County. 

James  Thomas,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Tompkins,  now  De- 
posit, Delaware  County,  November  ii,  1841. 
He  was  brought  up  to  agricultural  pursuits; 
and,    his    father    dying    when     he    was    quite 


young,  the  boys  of  the  family  were  obliged  to 
work  hard,  having  to  care  for  two  farms.  He 
was  thus  employed  until  he  enlisted  in  .Au- 
gust, 1S64,  in  Company  A  of  the  One  lliui- 
dred  and  Forty-fourth  New  York  Volunteer 
Infantry.  Although  needed  at  home,  he  could 
not  remain  a  passive  spectator  of  the  great 
struggle  for  national  life  that  was  then  being 
carried  on ;  and  so  he  went  forth,  as  a  soldier 
and  patriot,  determined  to  do  his  part,  and 
have  a  share  in  saving  the  Union.  He  was 
in  the  battles  of  Hilton  Head,  Honey  Hill, 
various  skirmishes  in  South  Carolina,  in  the 
charge  on  the  Confederate  works  at  James 
Island,  and  in  a  number  of  skirmishes  about 
Charlestown.  He  was  discharged  on  the 
close  of  the  war  at  Hilton  Head,  June  20, 
1865,  and  was  mustered  out  at  Hlmira,  N.Y., 
July  20  of  the  same  year.  He  then  went  to 
work  as  clerk  for  his  brother-in-law,  D.  L. 
Demoney,  remaining  thus  engaged  for  five 
years,  during  which  time  he  became  familiar 
with  the  business.  He  then  formed  a  part- 
nership with  C.  T.  Edick,  the  style  of  the 
firm  being  Burrows  &  Edick.  They  bought 
out  Mr.  Demoney's  store  in  Deposit,  and  con- 
tinued together  for  ten  years.  In  1880  our 
subject  bought  out  his  partner,  and  has  since 
been  sole  proprietor.  He  was  married  Au- 
gust 3,  1870,  to  Lola  Evans,  daughter  of 
Newell  and  Harriet  (Webb)  Evans.  Mrs. 
Burrows  is  a  lady  of  refinement,  and  was  edu- 
cated in  the  high  schools  of  Syracuse,  where 
she  was  a  teacher  previous  to.  her  marriage. 
They  have  had  three  children:  Marian  H.: 
Walter,    deceased;  and    Lloyd,    deceased. 

Mr.  Burrows  was  first  elected  Supervisor  in 
1883,  and  served  that  year,  being  defeated  the 
year  following  for  the  same  position.  He 
was  again  elected  in  1892,  and  again  in  1893. 
Fraternally,  he  belongs  to  the  Masonic  order, 
and  is  a  member  of  Deposit  Lodge,  No.  396, 
and  a  member  of  the  Deposit  Chapter.  Po- 
litically, he  affiliates  with  the  Republican 
party.  He  is  a  courteous,  affable  gentleman, 
of  well-defined  opinions,  but  liberal-minded, 
and  always  willing  to  hear  both  sides  of  a 
question.  He  is  popular  in  his  town  and  vil- 
lage, and  his  life  history  is  one  that  is  worthy 
of  a  place  among  those  of  the  most  honored 
residents  of  Delaware  County. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


47' 


V.   THOMAS    I'ARK,    pastor  of   the 
I'rcsbytcrian  church  at  Walton,  N.^'., 
15  \  is    a    native    of    Scotland,    and    was 

born  there,  April  t6,  1.S45.  His 
father  and  grandfather  were  both  natives  of 
that  country.  The  grandfather  sjienl  his  life 
there  engaged  in  the  vocation  of  a  shepherd, 
and  was  the  father  of  thirteen  chiklren.  One 
of  his  sons,  Andrew  Park,  who  was  superin- 
tendent of  a  large  woollen  factory  at  Hawick 
for  many  years,  came  to  this  country  in  1S57 
with  a  wife  and  eight  children.  He  pm'- 
chased  a  farm  at  Andes,  Delaware  County, 
X.Y.,  where  he  remained  for  eleven  years, 
and  then  moved  to  Iowa.  He  has  in  later 
years  made  his  home  with  his  son  Thomas. 
Mr.  Park  was  married  in  his  native  lanil  to 
Miss  S.  Milligan;  and  the  following  chiklren 
were  born  to  them,  three  after  their  arrival  in 
this  State:  George  R.,  William,  Thomas, 
David,  Andrew,  Jane,  Janet.  Isabella,  Sophia, 
Ellen,  and  Margaret.  Ten  of  the  eleven  chil- 
dren arc  living,  all  residents   of   this   country. 

Rev.  Thomas  Park  received  his  early  edu- 
cation in  .Scotland,  attending  the  parish 
schools  until  he  was  thirteen.  .After  coming 
to  America  with  his  parents,  he  went  to  work 
on  a  farm.  In  the  year  1870  he  began  his 
preparation  for  the  ministry,  attending  Mon- 
mouth College,  111.,  for  five  years,  graduating 
in  the  class  of  1876.  He  afterward  spent  two 
years  at  the  Theological  .Seminary  at  New- 
l)urg,  N.^'.,  graduating  from  there  in  1878. 
His  first  charge  was  the  United  Presbyterian 
church  at  Del.ancey,  where  he  remained  fnmi 
1877  until  1892,  when  he  came  to  his  present 
charge  at  Walton.  He  is  the  first  pastor  to 
preside  over  the  fine  new  church,  which  was 
dedicated  in  November,  1891.  During  Mr. 
Park's  charge  at  DeLancey  the  church  mem- 
bership increased  nearly  fourfold,  and  since 
his  advent  in  Walton  sixty-six  new  members 
Iiave  been  added. 

He  was  married  in  1878  to  Miss  Cleghorn, 
a  daughter  of  James  and  Anna  (Steele)  Cleg- 
horn,  both  of  whom,  are  natives  of  .Scotland, 
Mrs.  Park  having  come  to  this  country  at  the 
age  of  three  years.  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Thomas 
Park  have  six  children:  namely,  Anna,  Mary, 
William  }.,  Ada,  Andrew,  and  ICmma,  all  of 
whom  are   now   attending   the    Walton    Acad- 


emy. Mr.  i'ark  is  an  ardent  supporter  of  the 
]3rinciples  of  prohibition.  He  is  a  man  of 
genial  manners  and  liberal  views,  his  [lersonal 
popularit)',  as  well  as  the  sincerity  and  effec- 
tiveness of  his  pulpit  utterances,  being  at- 
testetl  by  the  largely  increased  membershii)  in 
both  his  charges.  .A  true  she|)herd,  he  leads 
his   flock. 


1;RR\'  S.  .MI1.1.1:R,  though  of  Scot- 
tish descent,  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Bovina  on  I'ebruary  28,  1837. 
His  father,  William  .Miller,  was  a 
farmer  and  she]iherd  in  .Scotland,  who  came  to 
America  in  1831  with  a  wife  and  three  chil- 
dren. They  were  on  the  Atlantic  for  seven 
weeks,  and  were  travtd-worn  and  wear\'  when 
they  arrived  at  \ew  \'ork  City.  Coming  to 
Delaware  County,  .Mr.  Miller  ])urchased  land 
near  Bovina,  which  he  at  once  began  to  clear 
of  the  dense  growth  of  timber  with  which  it 
was  covered.  This  work  required  patient  in- 
dustry, and  hardships  were  to  be  endured;  but 
the  bold  emigrant  who  had  dared  to  try  his 
fortune  in  a  strange  land  was  no  weakling, 
and  the  task  was  at  length  accomplished  and  a 
log  cabin  built.  .As  the  young  farmer  grew 
more  prosjierous,  this  modest  dwelling  gave 
place  to  a  more  ambitious  structure  of  stone. 
Another  farm  had  been  purchased  before  a 
great  while:  and,  when  William  Miller  died 
at  sevent)'-eight  years  of  life,  he  left  a  com- 
fortable conij^etence  f(;r  those  who  came  after 
him.  His  wife.  Isabella  (Dickson)  Miller, 
attained  to  an  age  one  year  greater  than  that 
of  her  husband,  whom  she  did  imt  long  sur- 
vive. Despite  Mr.  Miller's  busy,  hard-work- 
ing life,  he  did  not  fail  in  the  duties  of  a 
citizen,  l)ut  discharged  faithful!)'  the  respon- 
sibilities ot  the  office  intrusted  to  him  by  the 
jieople  of  the  countv,  being  Road  Commis- 
sioner for  some  time.  In  politics  he  was  a 
Re]niblican;  and  botii  husband  and  wife  were 
members  of  the  United  Presbyterian  church, 
in  which  organization  he  was  earnestly  inter- 
ested. Of  the  seven  sons  and  one  daughter 
born  to  them  six  sons  are  now  living,  nameh': 
Thomas  and  Michael,  in  Bovina;  William,  in 
Walton;  Walter,  in  Delhi;  Berry  S..  in  Bo- 
vina; Gilbert   D.,  in  Bovina  Centre.      Janette 


472 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


[.,  the  only  daughter,  died  in  her  thirty- 
second  year,  and  David  in  infancy. 

Berry  S.  Miller  grew  up  and  was  educated 
in  his  native  school  district.  With  the  com- 
mon sense  and  inherent  industry  that  charac- 
terize his  nationality,  he  turned  his  attention 
toward  practical  farming,  and  worked  out  by 
the  month.  The  modest  stipend  he  earned 
was  scarcely  an  equivalent  for  the  labor  ex- 
pended; but,  in  spite  of  this  fact,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-five  years,  so  saving  had  he  been 
that  he  was  able  to  buy  the  farm  upon  which 
he  now  lives.  In  1866  he  won  the  heart  and 
hand  of  Miss  Catharine  E.  Oliver,  daughter  of 
[ohn  and  Margaret  Oliver,  who  have  since 
ilied  in  Delhi,  to  whom  he  was  married  on 
December  20  of  the  same  year.  The  lady 
was  Scotch  born;  and  so  he  followed  the 
advice  given  by   Nokomis  to   Hiawatha, — 

••  Wed  a  maiden  of  your  ijcojjle. 
(Jo  not  eastward,  jjo  not  westward." 

The  farm  now  owned  by  Mr.  Miller  consists 
of  one  hundred  and  forty-si.x  acres  of  land, 
and  to  its  cultivation  and  improvement  his  en- 
tire energies  are  devoted.  A  herd  of  twenty 
Jerseys  supply  the  dairy,  which  is  noted  for 
its  cream  and  butter. 

When  in  1864  the  call  for  soldiers  to  fight 
for  the  preservation  of  the  Union  sounded 
throughout  the  boundaries  of  the  Northland, 
Berry  S.  Miller  ])rom[5tly  put  aside  the  pacific 
implements  of  agriculture,  to  gird  on  the 
weapons  of  warfare,  enlisting  under  John 
Clark,  One  Hundred  and  l'"orty-fourth  Regi- 
ment, New  York  Volunteers,  Company  E. 
He  was  in  the  battles  of  Honey  Hill,  Devoes 
Neck,  Coosawhatchie,  and  several  other  en- 
gagements. On  the  i<Sth  of  July,  1865,  he 
was  honorably  discharged  ;  but  tiie  hardships 
of  campaigning  had  left  their  marks  upon  him, 
and  he  never  fully  recovered  from  the  ill 
effects  of  the  exposures  and  privations  of  the 
Civil  War. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  one  son  was  born 
on  the  loth  of  August,  1869,  who  bears  the 
name  of  Thomas  W.  Miller,  and  has  now  an 
honored  and  respected  position  among  his 
contemporaries.  This  young  man  received 
his  early  education  in  the  same  district  in 
which     his     father    went    to    school,    though. 


unlike  his  father,  he  did  not  finish  his  studies 
here,  but  continued  them  in  the  academy  at 
Delhi,  where  he  was  graduated  in  June,  1893. 
Having  taught  one  term  of  school,  he  is  now 
the  editor  of  the  Andes  Recorder,  and  is  a 
fearless  advocate  and  defender  of  the  princi- 
ples he  espouses. 

Mr.  Berry  S.  Miller  is  a  Republican  and  a 
member  of  the  United  Presbyterian  church. 
He  attributes  the  success  of  his  married  life  to 
his  wife's  industry  and  frugality,  together  with 
her  careful  oversight  of  everything  he  had  ; 
and  her  death,  on  July  22,  1892,  he  is  sensible 
has  left  a  void  that  can  never  be  filled. 


MH.O  GRAHAM,  an  enterprising 
merchant  of  the  village  of  Meredith, 
was  born  at  this  place,  August  4, 
1852,  and  is  the  son  of  John  G.  and 
Alma  (Bouton)  Graham.  The  paternal  grand- 
father, James,  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and 
came  to  this  county  about  1809,  among  the 
early  settlers  of  the  town.  He  farmed  his 
land  here  for  a  number  of  years,  afterward 
moving  to  Meredith  Hollow,  where  he  lived 
until  the  time  of  his  death,  aged  seventy-eight. 
His  wife  was  Jane  Rice,  a  native  of  Ireland, 
and  the  mother  of  eleven  children;  namely, 
John  G.,  Henry  R.,  James  H.,  William  H., 
Samuel  T.,  Thoma.s,  Nancy  H.,  Jane  G., 
Martha  M.,  Charles,  and  I.sabella  A.  Mrs. 
Graham  died  at  Meredith  Hollow,  aged 
seventy-seven. 

John  G.  Graham,  eldest  son  of  James,  was 
educated  in  his  boyhood  at  the  district 
schools,  and  thereafter  continued  for  some 
time  to  reside  with  his  father,  of  whom  he 
learned  the  cabinet-making  trade.  He  also 
followed  farming  to  some  extent.  Besides 
this  he  owned  and  operated  for  a  number  of 
years  a  woollen-mill,  and  after  its  destruc- 
tion by  fire  he  continued  to  conduct  his  farm 
at  Meredith  Hollow.  He  was  Supervisor  for 
many  years,  and  during  the  time  of  the  war 
was  enrolling  officer,  and  was  also  Census 
Enumerator  for  the  towns  of  Kortright,  Delhi, 
and  Meredith  in  1870.  He  was  a  Justice  of 
the  Peace  for  twenty-one  years,  and  a  very 
active  and  influential  man  in  the  affairs  of  the 
village.     He  was  married  to  Alma  Bouton,  a 


cJ.   MiLC  Graham 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIP:\V 


475 


daui;litor  of  William  Boiiton,  a  cai'ijcntcr  of 
Mcrctlith;  ami  Ihcy  roared  five  children: 
namely,  Mary,  James,  Minerva  IC,  William, 
and  J.  Milo.  Minerva  1'".  is  the  wife  of  Mar- 
shall Jackson,  a  farmer  of  Meredith.  Marv 
marric'd  I'-zra  Gates,  a  farmer ;  and  she  and 
her  luisband  both  are  ileceased.  Mr.  John  (i. 
(jraham  ilied  at  Meredith,  in  i<S75,  aged 
sixty-six. 

J.  Milo  Graham  was  educated  at  the  district 
schools,  anil  liegan  teaching  at  the  age  of 
nineteen.  Having  taught  school  winters  for 
seven  terms,  in  1879  he  went  into  partnership 
with  F.  II.  Mnnson,  which  business  connec- 
tion lasteil  one  year,  when  he  |nirchased  Mr. 
Munson's  interest  in  the  tirm.  Mi',  tiraham 
has  now  one  of  the  largest  and  most  com- 
pletely stocked  stores  in  Meredith,  dning  a 
lucrative  business.  He  was  appointed  Post- 
master in  1879,  and  continues  to  hold  that 
position. 

In  1885  Mr.  Graham  was  married  to  Mrs. 
Jennie  M.  Munson,  a  daughter  of  Maxon  Har- 
low, a  farmer  of  this  vicinity.  Mrs.  Jennie 
M.  (jraham  dying  after  seven  years  of  happy 
wedlock,  Mr.  Graham  married  for  his  second 
wife  Miss  Cora  J.  .Scott,  a  daughter  of  Alex- 
ander .Scott,  of  Franklin.  Mrs.  Ciraham  is  a 
mendjer  of  the  Alethodist  church,  Mr.  (iraham 
occu|)ying  the  position  of  Treasure!'  of  the 
Baptist  church.  He  is  a  member  of  Delhi 
Lodge  of  Free  RLasons,  No.  439,  Royal  Chap- 
ter, No.  249,  and  Norwich  Commanderv,  No. 
46,  and  has  held  several  important  ol'liees  in 
these  organizations.  I"or  eighteen  years  he 
has  been  Justice  of  the  Peace,  having  been 
elected  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-two,  and  tor 
one  term  was  Justice  of  the  .St'ssions.  He  is 
a  Republican,  and  one  who  has  always  taken 
an  active  i)art  in  ]iolitical  affairs. 

Mr.  Graham  is  an  exceedingly  capable  busi- 
ness man,  enjoying  a  high  reputation  as  an 
intelligent  and  honoralde  merchant.  He  takes 
a  dee])  interest  in  the  affairs  of  his  native 
place,  filling  with  honor  and  credit  many  posi- 
tions of  trust  and  reponsibility.  His  portrait 
herewith  annexed  shows  him  to  be  just  in  the 
prime  of  manhood,  and.  as  to  his  earthl)'  pros- 
pects, a  citizen  who  ma\'  be  counted  on  to 
contribute  to  the  common  weal  for  man}'  a 
year   to   come. 


^iia'TF:\y\N  r  gI'.or(;I';  c.  robin 

.SON,  a  practical  ami  jirogressive 
armer  ami  dairyman  i;f  Walton, 
has  an  honorai)le  record  for  brave 
and  gallant  conduct  as  a  soldier  in  tiie  late 
Civil  War,  and  good  re|>ulation  as  a  faithful 
citizen  in  lime  ot  peace.  He  was  born  in  the 
town  of  rom|)kins,  Mai'ch  24,  1S3S,  and  is  ,1 
descendant  of  a  pioneer  of  this  comity,  his 
grandfather,  John  RobinsiJii,  who  was  of  Con- 
necticut birth,  having  been  one  of  the  early 
settlers  He  w'as  a  wagon-maker  by  trade, 
and  was  one  of  the  lirst,  if  not  tlie  \'ery  first, 
to  opi'u  a  wagon-shop  in  Walton.  At  the 
tinie  he  came  here  there  were  no  saw-mills  in 
the  \'icinily;  and  he  was  obligeil  not  onl\-  to 
fell  the  trees,  but  to  hew  out  his  own  lunilier, 
carrying  it  from  the  woods  on  his  back.  He 
reared  a  large  famiK'  of  children. 

His  son,  Hiram  Robinson,  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Walton,  and  here  grew  to  manhood. 
He  settletl  on  a  tract  of  wild  land,  from  which 
he  evolved  a  good  homestead,  sharing  with 
his  neighbors  the  trials  and  discomforts  of 
life  in  a  new  countr\'.  He  married  Lavinia 
Husted,  ])>■  whom  he  had  fifteen  children, 
seven  of  whom  are  living  to-day.  John,  the 
eldest  son,  enlisted  in  the  Seventy  second 
New  \'ork  X'olunteer  Infantry,  and  was  se- 
verely wounded  in  the  shoulder  at  the  battle 
of  Spottsylvania  Court  House.  (ieorgeC.  is 
the  subject  of  this  sketch.  ICmiK'  J.  is  the 
wife  of  William  llolley.  of  Walton.  Will- 
iam H.  enlisted  in  the  One  Hundred  anil 
Fort)'-fourth  New  \'ork  X'ohmteer  Infantry, 
serving  with  honor,  and  is  now  a  resident  of 
Lanesljoro,  Pa.  P'rank  is  the  wife  of  J. 
Boyer,  of  Broome  Count}'.  Charles  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Walton.  .And  Nanc}-  M.  is  the  wife  of 
J.  R.  Kilpatrick,  of  Newburg,  N.Y.  At  the 
age  of  fiftv-six  }ears  the  father  enlisted  in  the 
service  of  his  countr}',  becoming  a  member  of 
the  One  llur.dred  and  P'orty-fourth  New  York 
Regiment,  and  serving  with  his  comjiany  tor 
a  year,  when  he  was  discharged  for  physical 
disabilitv.  In  politics  he  was  in  his  early 
years  a  ni<-m'.ier  of  the  Whig  party:  but  on 
the  disbandment  of  that  organization  he 
joined  the  Re]>ublican  forces,  and  thereafter 
supported  the  ])rincii)les  of  that  ])arty.  Both 
he  and  his  wife  departed  this  life  in  1866. 


476 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


George  C,  second  son  of  Hiram  Robinson, 
was  reared  in  the  place  of  his  nativity,  obtain- 
ing a  good  common-school  education.  At  the 
breaking  out  of  the  late  Rebellion  he  was 
among  the  very  first  of  Walton's  chivalric 
youth  to  respond  to  his  country's  call,  joining 
the  Seventy-second  New  York  Volunteer  In- 
fantry. He  enlisted  in  Sickles's  Excelsior 
Brigade,  May  i,  1861,  and  was  mustered  into 
the  United  States  service  at  Staten  Island. 
The  day  following  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run 
the  regiment  was  ordered  to  the  front,  going  to 
Washington,  and  remaining  in  Camp  Cad  well 
till  spring,  when  it  was  ordered  to  Liverpool 
Point,  Camp  Wool.  It  was  actively  engaged 
in  the  siege  of  Yorktown  and  subsequently  in 
the  battle  of  Williamsburg,  where  the  brigade 
to  which  it  belonged  lost  seventeen  hundred 
men,  the  commanders  of  the  forces  being 
General  George  B.  McClellan  on  the  Union 
side,  and  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  on  the 
Confederate  side.  The  brigade  then  marched 
toward  Richmond,  reaching  first  the  Chicka- 
hominy  Swamp,  remaining  there  until  Mc- 
Clellan's  retreat,  taking  part  in  the  principal 
battles  of  those  seven  memorable  days. 

Mr.  Robinson  was  taken  sick  at  the  second 
battle  of  Malvern  Hill,  and  was  ordered  to  the 
hospital  at  Fortress  Monroe,  where  he  re- 
mained two  months,  rejoining  his  regiment  at 
Warrenton  Junction,  going  thence  to  Freder- 
icksburg, where  he  was  again  at  the  front  in  a 
hard-fought  battle.  The  following  winter  his 
regiment  was  encamped  at  Falmouth,  and  in 
the  earl\-  part  of  May,  1863,  fought  bravely  at 
Chancel  lorsville,  where  Mr.  Robinson  was 
unfortunately  taken  prisoner.  He  was  sent  to 
Libby  Prison,  and  after  a  short  stay  there  was 
sent  to  Camp  Parole,  at  Annapolis,  thence  to 
Camp  Destruction,  near  Alexandria,  where  he 
was  confined  for  five  months.  He  rejoined 
his  regiment  again  at  Culpeper  Court  House, 
and  afterward  went  into  winter  quarters  at 
Brandy  .Station.  In  the  spring  of  1864  he 
fought  in  all  the  battles  of  the  e.xciting  cam- 
]iaign  leading  to  Richmond,  and  was  at  one  of 
them  wounded  in  the  leg,  but  not  sufficiently 
to  cause  him  to  leave  his  regiment.  While 
in  the  front  at  Petersburg,  the  time  of  service 
of  his  regiment  expired;  and  it  was  consoli- 
dated with   the   One   Hundred  and  Twentieth 


New  York  Volunteer  Infantry.  On  an  order 
discharging  all  non-commissioned  officers, 
Mr.  Robinson  was  mustered  out  of  service,  in 
October,  1864,  as  Orderly  Sergeant. 

While  home  on  his  veteran  furlough,  Mr. 
Robinson  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  C.  Eels, 
a  daughter  of  Samuel  t^els,  the  third ;  and  of 
this  happy  union  five  children  have  been 
born,  namely:  Palmer  E.,  born  in  July,  1866; 
Bertie  L.,  born  in  February,  1872;  Seymour 
B.,  born  in  August,  1874;  Samuel  E.,  born 
in  August,  1876:  and  Clara  H.,  born  in  July, 
1879. 

In  his  political  views  Lieutenant  Robinson 
is  a  decided  Republican;  and,  socially,  he  is 
an  influential  member  of  the  Ben  Marvin  Post, 
in  which  he  has  served  as  Vice-Commander. 
Much  credit  is  due  him  for  the  deep  interest 
he  has  ever  taken  in  the  militia  company  of 
Walton.  He  assisted  in  raising  the  company, 
of  which  he  was  one  of  the  first  members,  and 
was  appointed  Second  Lieutenant  of  the  com- 
]>any,  a  position  which  he  held  for  ten 
years,  when  he  resigned  it.  He  was  also  an 
important  member  of  the  Walton  Rifle  Team, 
in  the  organization  of  which  he  took  an  active 
part.  As  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the 
town  of  Walton,  he  is  held  in  high  respect, 
and  is  widely  known  as  a  man  of  sterling 
character  and    worth. 


r^ELSOX  CRANI-:,  a  highly  intelligent 
and  wealthy  farmer  and  dairyman  liv- 

[S  \^  ing  in  the  town  of  Sanford,  Broome 

County,  is  the  only  representative 
left  of  his  father's  family.  He  is  one  of  the 
most  favorably  known  men  in  the  county,  has 
served  his  town  repeatedly  on  the  Board  of 
Supervisors,  and  in  all  public  matters  has 
been  an  effective  worker  for  the  best  interests 
of  the  people.  A  man  of  excellent  natural 
and  acquired  abilities,  he  is  competent  to  fill 
leading  positions  in  public  life  or  in  the 
world  of  business,  and  has  had  before  him 
a  broad  field  from  which  to  make  choice  of  a 
calling;  and  his  decision  to  settle  down  on  a 
farm  was  creditable  to  his  judgment. 

In  the  opinion  of  many  thoughtful  people 
the  rural  home  has  the  advantage  of  all  other 
places  for  the  broadest   and   deepest   and   most 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


477 


lasting  (logrco  of  satisfaction  and  hapiiincss. 
The  pure  air,  the  open  fielii,  the  running 
brook,  are  ever-fruitful  sources  of  delight. 
The  field  of  ripening  grain  spread  like  a  sheet 
of  gold  upon  the  hillside,  with  the  shadows  of 
the  clouds  chasing  each  other  over  it  as  it 
bends  and  swells  in  soft  undulations  to  the 
will  of  the  wandering  wind,  is  certainly  a 
thing  of  beauty  beyond  the  artificial  splendor 
of  gilded  city  palace  or  the  constant  tramp  of 
busy  thousands  hurrying  to  and  fro  amid  the 
marts  of  trade.  As  ^Ir.  Emerson  has  well 
said.  "Whatever  events  in  progress  shall  go 
to  disgust  men  with  cities  and  infuse  into 
them  thic  passion  for  country  life  and  country 
pleasures  will  render  a  service  to  the  whole 
face  of  this  continent,  and  will  further  the 
most  i^octic  of  all  tlie  occupations  of  real  life, 
the  bringing  out  by  art  tlie  native  but  hidden 
graces  of  the  landscajie."  Mr.  Crane  does  not 
make  the  life  of  a  farmer  one  of  mere  drudg- 
ery, but  uses  brains  as  well  as  bands:  for 
agriculture,  as  he  rightly  views  it,  is  a  sci- 
ence and  an  art,  ami  he  brings  to  it  that  intel- 
ligence which  it  demands,  having  bis  papers, 
his  library,  his  workshop,  all  at  his  command, 
and  making  of  them  useful  servants. 

.Mr.  Nelson  Crane  traces  his  ancestry  back 
to  the  early  settlement  of  the  Massachusetts 
Hav  Colony,  when  the  progenitors  of  the 
Crane  familv  in  America  came  over  from 
ICngland.  Several  of  this  name  liave  won  dis- 
tinction in  civil  and  in  military  life.  Gen- 
eral William  Crane,  of  the  Revolutionary 
army,  was  wounded  at  Ouebec.  His  son. 
Captain  William  Montgomery  Crane,  was  a 
noted  naval  officer  in  the  war  with  Tripoli 
and  the  War  of  1812.  Charles  Henry  Crane, 
late  Surgeon-general  of  the  United  States 
Army,  was  horn  at  Newport,  R.I.,  in  1825, 
and  died  at  Washington,  D.C.,  in  1883.  He 
was  a  son  of  Colonel  Ichabod  Crane,  of  New 
Jersey,  and  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  College 
and    the    Harvard    Medical    School. 

Simeon  Crane,  a  Revolutionary  soldier, 
moved  from  Connecticut  to  Delaware  County, 
New  \'ork,  in  179C,  and  brought  with  him  his 
son  -Simeon,  who  was  at  that  time  two  years 
old,  having  been  born  in  C'onnecticut  in  1794. 
It  was  this  younger  Simeon  who  became  the 
father  of  Nelson.      He  married   Charlotte  An- 


tiiony,  a  native  ol  Delaware  County;  and  the 
family  mc)Ved  to  the  toWTi  of  .Sanford  in 
Broome  County  in  1844,  ami  settled  on  the 
place  where  their  son,  .Nelson  Crane,  now 
lives.  Simeon  Crane,  Jr.,  was  a  soldier  in 
the  War  of  181  3,  and  su!5sec|uently  an  ICnsign 
of  the  Seventietli  New  \'ork  Infantry,  his 
commission  bearing  date  of  March  16,  1822, 
and  signed  by  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton. 
He  was  a  man  of  industrious  liabits,  fixity  of 
purpose,  strong  and  active  mental  [jowers,  and 
high  moral  principles.  He  was  a  successful 
farmer,  and  died  in  Hroonie  County,  .March 
20,  187c).  The  mother  dietl  .\ugust  2"].  1884, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-two.  They  were  the  par- 
ents of  four  children,  namely  :  I'>astus,  whose 
ileath  ijccurred  at  the  age  of  twenty-four  years, 
occasioned  by  being  injured  V>\  the  falling 
of  a  tree;  Nelson:  I. aura  A.,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  sixty-four  ye.irs;  and  ^Marietta, 
who  was  born  in  1830.  became  the  wife  of 
Aaron  Lathrop,  a  mechanic  at  Oxford,  and 
died  in  1889. 

Nelson  Crane  vv;is  born  near  Delhi,  in 
Delaware  County,  January  26,  1828;  and  his 
youth  was  si:)ent  on  his  father's  f;inn.  When 
he  was  sixteen  years  old,  tlie  famij)'  moved  to 
their  new  home  in  Broome  County,  where  he 
continucil  with  them.  He  was  a  remarkable 
boy  for  learning:  and,  while  having  but  the 
advantages  afforded  by  tiie  common  schools, 
he  made  rapid  ])rogress  in  his  studies,  and 
took  up  the  higher  branches  by  himself. 
When  nineteen  years  old,  he  had  mastered 
algelira,  geometry,  trigonometry,  and  thus 
fitted  himself  to  become  a  surveyor.  He  has 
done  a  good  deal  of  work  in  this  line  since  in 
Delaware  and  Broome  Counties  and  in  Penn- 
sylvania. His  |)rincipal  occup;ition,  however, 
has  been  that  of  farming:  and  he  has  a  nicely 
improved  place,  consisting  of  two  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  acres,  having  ;i  dairy,  good 
farmhouse,  commodious  barns,  and  other  out- 
buildings conveniently  arranged  and  in  good 
condition.  His  counsel  and  hel[)  have  been 
much  sought,  and  he  has  filled  many  places  of 
trust  and  honor  in  the  town.  He  was  town 
Superintendent  of  Schools  in  1856,  and  in 
1862  was  appointed  by  Judge  Kattell.  of 
Binghamton  (then  Provost  Marshal,  stationed 
at   6wego_),  Enrolling   Oflficer  of  the  town  of 


478 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Sanford,  with  rank  of  Assistant  or  Census 
Marshal.  He  served  in  that  capacity  until 
the  close  of  the  war.  He  taught  school  two 
terms  in  Broome  County,  and  was  entirely  up 
with  the  times  in  educational  matters.  He 
was  also  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace,  but  re- 
signed the  office.  He  filled  the  office  of 
Assessor  three  terms,  and  was  elected  Super- 
visor four  terms,  three  of  them  consecutively. 
He  has  served  on  the  grand  jury,  and,  in 
short,  has  been  one  of  the  principal  men  of 
the  town.  Six  or  seven  years  ago,  when  the 
New  York  Central  Telephone  Company  pro- 
jected their  line  through  from  Oneonta  to 
Deposit,  he  was  one  of  the  prime  movers  in 
the  enterprise,  and  assisted  materially  by  way 
of  subscription.  There  is  a  station  in  his 
house,  of  which  he  has  charge.  He  was  one 
of  the  organizers  of  the  Broome  County 
Farmers'  Fire  Relief  Association,  incorpo- 
rated in  1887.  He  was  a  Director,  and  its 
first    Secretary. 

In  1850  Mr.  Nelson  Crane  married  Harriet 
M.  Van  Home,  of  Delaware  County,  daughter 
of  Hubbard  Van  Home,  a  prominent  citizen 
of  Sanford.  She  died  in  1871,  after  twenty- 
one  years  of  married  life.  Politically,  Mr. 
Crane  is  a  Rejiublican,  and  is  able  to  give  a 
good  reason  for  upholding  the  measures  of 
that  party.  Socially,  he  is  a  gentleman  whom 
it  is  a  pleasure  to  meet,  thoroughly  conversant 
with  the  best  thought  of  the  day,  entertaining 
and  instructive  in  conversation,  and  fully 
alive  to  the  best  interests  of  a  common 
humanitv  the  world  over. 


LINCOLN  MOWBRAY,  M.D.,  phy- 
sician and  surgeon,  Walton,  Delaware 
County,  N.Y.,  is  eminently  qualified 
for  the  duties  of  his  profession;  and 
during  the  short  time  he  has  been  a  resident 
of  this  county  he  has  enjoyed  a  good  practice, 
and  has  won  in  a  large  measure  the  confidence 
and  esteem  of  the  community.  He  was  born 
in  New  York  City,  on  December  20,   1866. 

He  is  of  French  descent  on  the  paternal 
side.  His  grandfather,  Thomas  De  Mowbra, 
who  was  born  in  !•" ranee,  in  early  life  went  to 
England,  thence  to  the  north  of  Ireland, 
where  he  was  married,  and  where  the  Doctor's 


father  was  born.  When  the  latter  was  a  boy 
of  nine  years,  the  family  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica, and  located  in  New  York  City.  There 
the  lad  was  educated,  and  grew  to  man's  es- 
tate, and  subsequently  embarked  in  the  whole- 
sale grocery  business,  in  Fulton  Street,  where 
by  good  business  management  he  accumulated 
considerable  money.  He  was  afterward  con- 
nected with  the  well-known  firm  of  Thurber, 
Whyland  &  Co.,  in  the  wholesale  grocery 
trade,  and,  having  acquired  a  competency,  is 
now  retired  from  active  pursuits,  living  in 
Bergen  County,  New  Jersey.  In  his  political 
views  he  was  formerly  a  stanch  supporter  of 
the  principles  of  the  Republican  party,  but 
is  now  an  active  worker  in  the  ranks  of  the 
Prohibitionists,  and  recently  received  the 
nomination  for  the  Lower  House.  He  was 
reared'  to  the  faith  of  the  Episcopal  church, 
but  later  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  of  which  his  wife  is  a  consistent 
member.  His  wife,  Mary  B.  Hyberger,  was 
born  in  Pennsylvania  of  German  antecedents. 
The  ceremony  that  united  their  destinies  was 
solemnized  in  Brooklyn,  N.Y. 

J.  Lincoln  Mowbray  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated in  the  city  of  New  York,  and,  after 
being  graduated  from  the  Brooklyn  High 
School,  took  a  private  course  of  instruction 
under  Professor  Winter.  Deciding  to  prepare 
himself  for  the  practice  of  medicine,  he  en- 
tered the  New  York  Homoeopathic  College, 
in  New  York  City,  from  which  he  was  grad- 
uated in  April,  1888,  immediately  beginning 
the  work  of  his  profession  in  the  dispensary 
connected  with  the  college.  The  following 
year  Dr.  Mowbray  continued  his  chosen  voca- 
tion as  an  assistant  in  the  office  of  Dr.  T.  C. 
Williams,  gaining,  while  serving  in  that  ca- 
pacity, experience  of  inestimable  value.  He 
next  opened  an  office  in  New  Haven,  Conn. ; 
and  during  the  three  years  of  his  stay  in  that 
city  he  built  up  a  fine  practice,  but  was 
obliged  to  abandon  it,  his  health  not  being 
good  in  that  locality.  Coming  then  to  this 
county,  he  settled  in  the  village  of  Walton, 
where  he  is  meeting  with  gratifying  success, 
and  bids  fair  to  become  one  of  the  leading 
practitioners  in  these  parts.  Dr.  Mowbray 
was  united  in  marriage,  June  28,  1893,  to 
Miss   Louise    M.    Reif,    of    New   Haven,    who 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


479 


shares  with  licr  luisbaiul  the  respect  ami  regard 
of  the  community. 


UllX  W.  MAVXARD,  one  of  the  pro- 
gressive farmers  of  Delaware  County, 
and  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  oldest 
families  of  Stamford,  was  horn  here 
January  25,  1836,  son  of  Samuel  B.  and  Mary 
(Juclson)  Maynard.  His  grandfather,  Stephen 
Maynard,  was  the  only  child  of  Thomas,  who 
came  to  America  from  I'.ngland.  and  settled  in 
Dutchess  County. 

'i'he  death  of  Thomas  Maynard  left  Stephen 
an  orphan  at  an  early  age.  He  married  and 
came  to  Delaware  Count)'  while  this  region 
was  yet  a  complete  wilderness.  Here  he  set- 
tled on  the  farm  now  occu])ied  hy  the  subject 
of  this  sketch.  Taking  u]i  a  large  tract  of 
land,  he  built  a  log  cabin,  clearctl  a  portion 
of  the  farm,  and  here  lived  until  his  ileath  at 
sixty-three  years  of  age.  1  le  had  six  children, 
four  of  whom  grew  to  matLU-it)-  Thomas, 
Coley,  Orin,  and  Samuel.  Stephen  Maynard 
was  a  Democrat,  and  a  mend)er  of  the  Meth- 
odist Eiiiscopal  church.  Samuel  was  boiii 
on  November  [2.  I  (S04,  and  was  marrieil  Sep- 
tember 26,  1826,  to  Mary  Judson,  who  was 
born  July  10,  1806.  He  bought  out  his 
brothers  ami  sisters,  and  look  possession 
of  the  old  homestead,  where  he  built  a  new 
house  and  barns  and  made  various  ether  im- 
provements, living  to  be  nearly  seventy-six 
years  of  age,  his  wife  dying  at  about  the  same 
age.  They  had  six  children  —  Rebecca  H., 
Charles  m'.,  Mary  L.,  John  \V.,  Harriet  H., 
Arunah  A. 

John  W.  Maynard  was  educated  in  the 
schools  of  Stamford  and  in  the  academy  at 
Ashland.  When  twenty- one  years  old,  he 
bought  his  father's  property  of  two  hundred 
and  seventeen  acres,  and  engaged  in  agricult- 
ural pursuits  on  this  ancestral  farm.  Mr. 
Maynartl  has  improved  the  land,  raised  trame 
buildings,  including  a  wagon-house,  and  has 
remodelled  the  barns.  About  twenty-three 
vears  ago  he  set  out  one  hundred  majile-trees 
on  his  estate,  and  to-day  has  one  of  the  finest 
groves  in  this  section.  In  1868  he  went  to 
California  for  his  health,  but,  failing  to  im- 
prove, returned   after  a   stay  of   three  months, 


and    gradually    regained     his     healtii     in     his 
native   town. 

On  November  30,  1856,  he  married  .Mai- 
garet  Halt,  who  was  born  August  21,  1836, 
and  was  the  daughter  of  Daniel  Hait,  of 
South  Kortright,  now  called  Almeda.  He 
raised  a  famil\-  of  four  children:  Margaret, 
Lottie,  and  I'amelia,  who  are  now  dead;  and 
Washington.  Daniel  Hait  died  of  heart  dis- 
ease. Mrs.  |ohn  W.  Ma\nard  tlied  Septem- 
ber 14,  1868,  and  left  three  children:  Frank 
A.,  born  Sei)tember  11,  1864,  who  married 
Sarah  Darling,  antl  lives  at  Stamford;  Helen 
J.,  born  April  6,  1866,  who  lives  at  home; 
and  Merton,  born  July  7,  1868.  Mr.  May- 
nard married  for  his  second  wife  ]\Iary  IC. 
Hammond,  daughter  of  Mlisha  Hammond,  a 
farmer  at  Manor  Kill,  who  lived  to  be 
seventy-five  years  old,  and  raised  a  family  of 
six  children — Adelaide,  \'ictorine,  Sarah, 
Mary    I"..,    lilisha,    and   Grace    Hammond. 

During  the  summer  season  the  estate  of 
Mr.  J.  W.  Maynard  is  a  favorite  resort  for 
residents  of  the  city.  His  farm  is  located  on 
the  turnpike,  and  has  an  elevation  of  some 
two  thousand  feet  alxn-e  sea  level,  the  crest  of 
the  hill  forming  the  water-parting  for  the 
head  waters  of  the  Delaware  and  Schoharie 
Rivers.  Mr.  Maynard  is  a  Democrat,  and  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
as  were  his  father  and  grandfather  before  him. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  the  St.  Andrew's 
Lodge,  No.  289,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  at  Hobart. 
He  was  Assessor  for  one  term,  and  in  all  the 
duties  that  have  devolved  upon  him  he  has 
shown   ability   and   good   judgment 

Merton  H.  Maynard,  son  of  John  W.  May- 
nard and  his  first  wife,  ^hlrgaret,  was  born 
half  a  mile  east  of  the  village  of  Stamford, 
and  was  educated  in  the  seminary  of  this 
place.  When  twenty-one  years  of  age,  he 
entered  active  business  life,  buying  out  D.  V. 
Chichester's  furniture  and  undertaking  busi- 
ness. In  189I  he  built  a  large  and  handsome 
store,  part  of  which  he  used  for  his  own  busi- 
ness, while  the  rest  brings  him  in  a  good 
income  by  being  let  to  tenants.  When 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  Merton  Maynard 
married  Marv  A.  Gillespie,  daughter  of  Alex- 
ander and  I'olly  !■:.  (Brockway)  Gillespie. 
I  Her  father  was  a  farmer  of  Stamford,  and  died 


480 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


when  fifty-nine  years   (Ad;  but   her   mother  is 
still  living. 

Merton  Maynard  follows  the  traditions  of 
the  family  in  belonging  to  the  Democratic 
party  in  politics,  and  being  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  He  is  also  a 
member  of  Green  Lodge,  No.  497,  A.  F. 
&  A.  M.,  of  Hobart.  By  his  energy  and  in- 
dustry he  has  built  up  one  of  the  most  exten- 
sive trades  in  his  town,  and  not  only  has  his 
ability  been  used  in  mercantile  pursuits,  but 
he,  as  well  as  his  father  and  grandfather,  has 
been  of  valuable  assistance  in  the  manage- 
ment  of   town   affairs. 


"ENRY  GROAT,  a  prominent  mer- 
chant of  Delhi,  was  born  at  Pratts- 
villc,  Greene  County,  N.Y.,  Feb- 
ruary 15,  1869,  a  son  of  John  and 
Catherine  (Gilbert)  Groat.  His  grandfather, 
John  A.  Groat,  was  a  native  of  Dutchess 
County,  and  a  prominent  farmer.  He  after- 
ward moved  to  Greene  County,  and  purchased 
a  farm  there.  His  son  John  remained  on  the 
farm,  assisting  his  father  until  1861,  when 
he  enlisted  in  the  Fifteenth  New  York  Heavy 
Artillery,  and  served  with  distinction  until  the 
war  was  nearly  over,  being  discharged  on  ac- 
count of  disability  from  wounds  received  in 
action.  He  resided  for  a  time  in  Greene 
County,  but  afterward  moved  to  Gilboa,  of 
which  place  he  is  still  a  resident.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  Catherine  Gilbert,  daughter  of 
William  M.  Gilbert,  a  prominent  foundryman 
of  Greene  County;  and  two  children  were 
born   to   them  —  Henry   and   Charles. 

Henry  Groat  spent  his  early  years  in  Gil- 
boa,  and  received  his  education  at  the  district 
schools  of  that  village.  For  several  winters 
he  taught  school,  afterward  coming  to  Delhi, 
where  he  entered  the  employ  of  Mr.  J.  K. 
Hood,  remaining  with  him  as  clerk  for  three 
years.  He  then  formed  a  partnership  with 
Mr.  John  D.  Ferguson,  opening  a  large  gen- 
eral store  on  Main  Street,  where  he  conducted 
a  successful  and  increasing  business  until 
July  I,  1894,  when  he  severed  his  connection 
with  Mr.  Ferguson,  and  erected  a  fine  busi- 
ness block  on  Meredith  Street,  Delhi,  N.Y., 
and  opened  a  large  grocery  store  soon  after, 


with  a  complete  new  stock  throughout  of 
staple  and  fancy  groceries  and  provisions,  and 
now  caters  to  the  best  trade  of  Delhi  and 
vicinity. 

Mr.  Groat  was  united  in  marriage  Novem- 
ber 25,  iSgi,  with  Miss  Alice  L.  Mann, 
daughter  of  O.  C.  Mann,  formerly  a  jeweller 
in  this  town,  but  now  employed  in  the  custom- 
house in  New  York.  Two  children  have  been 
born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Groat;  namely,  Kath- 
arine M.  and  Florence  M.  Mr.  Groat  is  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Independent  Order 
of  Odd  Fellows,  of  Lodge,  No.  439,  A.  )■". 
&  A.  M.,  and  Delhi  Chapter,  No.  249.  He  is 
a  Republican  in  politics,  and  in  his  religious 
views  is  an  adherent  of  the  Presbyterian 
faith,  Mrs.  Groat  being  a  member  of  the  Sec- 
ond Presbyterian  Church.  Mr.  (}roat  is  one 
of  the  youngest  and  most  successful  business 
men  in  Delhi,  enjoying  the  highest  reputation 
for  honesty  and  integrity.  He  is  possessed  of 
much  tact  and  judgment  —  a  combination 
necessary  to  a  successful  merchant.  He  has 
also  gained  in  a  high  degree  the  confidence 
and   esteem   of   his   associates. 


ITAS  B.  HOVVLAND,  a  well-known 
farmer  residing  near  the  village  of 
Walton,  which  is  his  native  place, 
was  born  on  September  28,  1854.  He  is  a 
son  of  Edwin  R.  Howland,  whose  father  was 
Elias  B.  Howland,  one  of  the  early  pioneers 
of  Hamden.  He  was  a  famous  hunter  and 
expert  fisherman.  He  purchased  and  culti- 
vated a  tract  of  land,  and  resided  there  for  a 
few  years,  and  then  went  West  .for  a  short 
time,  afterward  coming  to  the  town  of  Wal- 
ton, where  he  purchased  a  farm,  on  which  he 
made  his  home  until  his  death,  in  1893,  aged 
eighty-nine  years.  P^dwin  R.  Howland,  who 
was  born  in  Hamden,  came  to  Walton  when 
he  was  twenty-two  years  old,  and  purchased  a 
farm  on  East  Brook.  He  was  married  to 
Miss  Margaret  McDonald,  a  daughter  of 
Archibald  and  Jeannette  (Smith)  McDonald; 
and  they  had  a  family  of  six  children,  five  of 
whom  are  living  and  residents  of  this  town; 
namely,  Elias  B.,  Jeannette,  Pollock  T., 
p:dgar    R.,    and   Owen    L.    Howland. 

Elias  B.  Howland  was  educated  at  the  dis- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


481 


trict  scliools,  ami  spent  his  early  years  on  the 
farm  which  is  now  owned  hy  liis  brothers. 
At  the  ag<'  of  twenty-two  he  started  out  for 
himself,  renting  a  farm  for  one  year,  and  then 
purchased  liis  present  place.  He  devotes 
most  of  his  time  to  his  large  dairy,  kec])ing 
thirty-four  Jersey  cows,  and  making  a  line 
grade  of  butter,  the  output  amounting  to  some 
ten  thousand  pounds  per  year,  which  he  sends 
to  New  York  and  Newburg  markets,  lie  was 
married,  in  1876,  to  Miss  Rachel  Rutherford, 
a  daughter  of  Robert  Rutherford,  a  prominent 
farmer  of  Bovina.  tiiis  countv.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Howland  have  two  chihlren  -  Reuben  and 
Maggie. 

Mr.  Howland  has  one  of  the  finest  farms  in 
the  county.  He  is  a  man  of  progressive 
ideas,  never  hesitating  to  utilize  an\-  modern 
improvement  which  may  be  of  benefit  to  him 
in  his  work.  In  politics  Mr.  Howland  is  a 
Republican.  He  has  never  sought  any  public 
office,  devoting  his  time  entirely  to  his  call- 
ing. He  is  an  honest  anil  true  friend,  and 
ever  ready  to  help  those  wIkj  have  been  less 
fortunate  than  himself. 


'^1^  NURblW      JACK.SOX      FRAXCI.SCO 

is  a  prosperous  farmer  of  Kast  Branch, 
Delawai'e  County,  where  he  is  also 
pro|jrietor  and  manager  ol  a  popu- 
lar resort  for  summer  boarders.  lie  was 
i)orn  in  the  town  of  Colchester  in  this  count)', 
October  31,   i  846. 

His  father.  Richard  I-'rancisco,  wlio  was  for 
some  years  Justice  of  Peace  in  Colchester, 
was  born  in  .Milford,  Otsego  Count)'.  He 
was  there  educated,  and  worketl  on  the  home 
farm  till  about  1835,  when  he  ]Huchased  a 
large  tract  of  land  on  the  Bea\er  Kill  in  Col- 
chester, ami  engaged  in  farming  and  lumber- 
ing, rafting  his  own  lumber  down  the  river  to 
Philadeli)hia.  When  a  young  man,  he  had 
studied  law;  and,  as  his  knowledge  ol  legal 
matters  was  (|uite  extensive,  his  services  were 
in  great  tiemand  among  the  ijcojile  of  his  sec- 
tion when  any  contro\-ersy  arose  which  required 
settlement  in  the  courts.  He  married  I'oUy 
Westcott,  daughter  of  Benjamin  Westcott,  a 
successful  farmer  in  the  town  of  Milford,  and 
a   representative  of  one  of  the  oldest  families 


in  the  count)'.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  I'"ranciscii  had 
twelve  children,  name!)  ;  iCrastus,  ;i  farmer  in 
Hancock;  .Audeli.i,  who  mai'ried  Caleb  .S. 
Miller,  of  Hancock;  ( )rlan(ln,  who,  a  car- 
penter b)'  trade,  lives  in  Ri|)()n,  Wis.  ;  Benja- 
min, a  farmer  in  Walton,  who  died  in  i  S92  ; 
I'rancis,  a  farmer  in  CoKhestei,  who  died  in 
1859;  .\le.\under  H.,  a  f;uiner  in  Liberty; 
Lavina,  who  married  John  ,Mar\en.  a  farmer 
in  East  Davenport,  Otsego  Count)';  .Marette, 
who  died  in  1885,  and  whose  husband  was 
Dr.  .Sibers,  a  dentist  of  Cooperstown  ;  .Andrew 
J.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Ann,  who  mar- 
ried George  Re)nolds,  of  Walton,  a  merchant 
in  Oneonta,  where  he  died;  Melissa,  who 
married  lulget  Lewis,  of  Hancock;  and  D.  C. 
Francisco,  who  is  a  farmer  in  Liberty,  and 
also  keeps  a  summer  hotel  there.  .Mr.  Rich- 
ard P'rancisco  li\ed  to  be  o\'er  seventy  years  of 
age,  his  wife  surviving  hint  about  five  years. 
They  were  both  esteemed  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church ;  and  Mr.  P'ran- 
cisco,  who  was  a  strong  Democrat,  was  an 
active  citizen,  taking  part  in  all  the  town 
affairs.  He  was  universally  resj^ecteil,  and 
his  death  was  a  great  loss  to  the  comnumity 
in  which  he   lived. 

-Andrew  Jackson  P'rancisco  was  educated  in 
his  native  town,  where  for  some  years  he 
worked  the  home  farm,  antl  followed  the  riv'er 
as  a  lumbei'nian.  When  lie  started  upon  his 
own  career',  he  bought  a  farm  in  Walton, 
which  he  sold  in  1866,  coming  to  liast  Branch, 
where  he  purchased  the  only  hotel,  and  in 
partnership  with  his  brother.  D.  C.  P'rancisco, 
was  ver\'  successful.  .After  a  time  he  bought 
out  his  brother's  share,  and,  changing  the 
hotel  into  a  summer  boarding-house,  has  now  a 
very  select  class  of  [jatrons  during  the  season. 
He  is  also  engaged  in  farming  tt)  some  extent. 
He  has  been  twice  married,  his  first  wife  being 
.S\lvia  Pomkins.  who  was  born  near  Cannons- 
ville.  Bv  her  he  had  one  child,  Lida,  who 
married  Charles  Miller,  of  luist  Branch.  .Mr. 
P'ranci.sco  was  again  married,  June  24.  1874, 
to  Blanche  'I'homas,  daughter  of  Moses  and  Or- 
cilla  (Colei  Phomas,  of  Buckingham.  Wayne 
Countv.  I'a.  By  the  second  union  is  one 
child,  Cora  A.   P'rancisco,  who  was  born   t)cto 


ber    5,     1876,    and    has   been    educated    in    the 
district  schools  and  Hancock  Academv. 


482 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  jMancisco  are  active  member.s 
of  the  Baptist  church,  and  of  the  Good  Tem- 
plars Lodge  at  luist  Branch.  Mr.  Francisco 
cast  his  fir.st  vote  with  the  Democratic  party, 
l)ut  has  since  joined  the  ranks  of  the  Prohibi- 
tioni.st.s.  He  is  much  respected  by  all  who 
know  him,  particularly  by  his  city  boarders, 
for  whose  comfort  and  enjoyment  he  .so  well 
provides.  As  is  well  known,  the  churl  is  not 
bountiful,  but  ever  the  •'  liberal  deviseth 
lil)eral  thinsjs.  " 


-AMES  HENRY  BROWN,  a  succes.sful 
mason  in  Walton,  is  a  loyal  citizen  who 
did  brave  service  for  his  country  during 
the  late  Civil  War.  He  is  a  native  of 
Oneonta,  Ot.sego  County,  where  he  was  born 
December  16,  1845.  He  was  left  an  orphan 
at  a  very  early  age,  and  the  first  six  years  of 
his  life  were  spent  with  his  grandfather  Sher- 
man, and  the  next  four  at  the  home  of  A. 
Cheney,  in  Cooperstown.  The  four  succeed- 
ing years  he  lived  with  Harvey  Williams,  and 
for  two  years  thereafter  worked  at  an)thing 
he  could  find  to  do. 

At   the   age   of   si.xteen    he    enlisted    in  the 
Union    army,    joining     Company     L,     Second 
New  York  Cavalry,  September   16,  1861.      He 
was  mustered  into  service  in  the  city  of  Wash- 
ington,   and   during   the   first    winter   was    en- 
camped   near    Arlington    Heights.      Early    in 
the  spring  of    1862,  his  company  was  attached 
to    General    Kilpatrick's    corps,    and    followed 
the  Armv  of  the  Potomac  in  its  various  expedi- 
tions.     Mr.    Brown    was  an    active   participant 
in   many   battles,    among   them    being   the    en- 
gagements at   Brandy  Station,   l-redericksburg. 
Cedar   Mountain,    Second    Bull    Run,    and    he 
served  throughout  the  Pennsylvania  campaign. 
He  was  at  the  front  in  the   raids  conducted   by 
Colonels    Mcintosh     and     Sheridan,    and     was 
taken    prisoner  at    Hanover   Court-house,  June 
2,    1864.      He    was   at    first   confined  at    Rich- 
mond,    going    thence     to     the     Andersonville 
Prison,     where    he     remained     seven    months. 
From  Andersonville  he  was  forwarded  to   Sa- 
vannah,    thence    to     Millen,     again    back    to 
Savannah    and    down     the     coast.      Kilpatrick 
was  then   but  twenty  miles  away,  and  the  ob- 
ject of  their   many  removals  was  to  keep  the 


prisoners  out  of  the  reach  of  Sherman's  army, 
which  was  making  daily  progress  in  its  march 
to  the  sea.  With  the  others,  Mr.  Brown  was 
ne.xt  sent  to  Thomasville,  and  then,  after  a 
march  of  thirty-five  miles  to  Albany,  Ga. ,  was 
l)ut  on  board  the  cars  and  returned  to  Anderson- 
ville. He  was  subsequently  forwarded  by  train 
to  Vicksburg,  and  in  April,  1865,  got  inside 
the  Union  lines.  He  went  first  to  St.  Loui.s, 
thence  to  Camp  Annapolis,  and  from  there  to 
New  York  City,  and  on  the  sixteenth  day  of 
May,   1865,  received  his  honorable  discharge. 

After  his  return  to  civil  life  Mr.  Brown 
settled  in  Cooperstown,  and  there  learned  the 
mason's  trade  of  George  B.  Wood.  In  1879 
he  removed  to  the  village  of  Walton,  where  he 
has  since  found  constant  employment,  his  abil- 
ity and  faithfulness  as  a  workman  being  recog- 
nized and  appreciated  by  his  patrons.  He  is  a 
man  of  sound  sense  and  strict  integrity,  a  fine 
representative  of  the  self-made  men  of  our 
country. 

Mr.  Brown  has  been  twice  married.  By 
his  first  wife,  Ellen  Shelman,  of  Cooperstown, 
to  whom  he  was  united  on  January  i,  1866,  he 
had  three  children.  Charles  D.,  born  Novem- 
ber 9,  1866,  is  a  resident  of  Waterbury,  S. 
Dak.  Stella  A.,  born  July  26,  1869,  married 
Seymour  Bush,  of  Walton ;  and  they  have  one 
child,  Everett  J.  Bush.  Cora  M.,  born  Sep- 
tember 18,  1 87 1,  is  the  wife  of  W.  T.  Mann, 
of  Gouverneur,  St.  Lawrence  County ;  and  they 
have  a  daughter,  Helena  V..  Mann.  The 
mother  died  in  Cooperstown  in  1877;  and  Mr. 
Brown  was  married  on  January  17,  1878,  to 
l-'mrette  Johnson,  one  of  the  three  daughters 
born  to  Daniel  and  Sally  A.  (Smith)  Johnson, 
natives  of  Otsego  County,  the  other  children 
having  been  Louisa,  who  died  in  infancy,  and 
Amelia,  who  died  at  the  age  of  eight  years. 
Mr.  Johnson  went  to  war  and  never  returned, 
and  his  widow  married  John  F.  Bristol  ;  and 
they  reared  one  child,  Minnie. 

In  his  political  views  Mr.  Brown  is  an 
ardent  supporter  of  the  principles  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  and  is  a  charter  member  of  the 
Ben  Marvin  Post,  No.  209,  (Irand  Army  of  the 
Republic,  having  been  a  Commander  and  a 
delegate  to  the  State  encampment.  Relig- 
iously, both  he  and  his  wife  are  esteemed 
members  of  the  Methodist  church. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIFAV 


4R3 


'OIIX  KINMONIII  l-OkMAX  is  the 
keeper  ol  the  countN  house  al  l)ellii, 
1  )ehi\varc  Counl\',  X.  \'.  II  is  ,i;ran(l- 
fatlier,  John  {•"ornian,  came  lioni  Xew- 
biii\!;  to  Dehiwar'e  Count),  and  was  amon.jj;  llie 
earliest  settlers  in  Kortri_i;ht.  Takin.i;'  up  a 
tract  of  land,  he  built  upon  it  a  lot;  eahin; 
and  beneath  its  rude  shelter  he  and  his  younj;' 
wife  bra vel\' began  their  married  lite.  Little 
ones  st)on  came  to  hrij;hten  the  pioneer's  home, 
and  make  loneliness  ini|)ossibk'.  I'hey 
brought  up  a  family  of  se\en  children,  one  ol 
whom,  named  Ro.\e\,  is  still  liviuL;,  over 
ninety  \ears  of  age.  l-"or  many  years  (irand- 
father  John  l-'orman  remained  in  possession  ot 
this  farm,  but  finally  sold  it  to  one  of  his  sons, 
lacob.  While  on  a  \isit  at  Sidney,  the  old 
man  was  stricken  down  witli  an  illness  wliicli 
jiroved  fatal.  Llis  wile  died  at  the  old  home- 
stead, after  having  reached  the  age  ot  tour- 
score. 

Their  son  Jacob,  the  father  of  tiie  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Kortright.  and 
spent  his  boyhood  and  vontli  njioii  his  lather's 
farm.  lie  was  brought  up  to  lead  the  uselul 
and  independent  life  of  one  who  tills  the  soil, 
meanwhile  axailing  himself  ot  the  advantages 
afforded  at  the  district  school.  lie  remained 
with  his  father  until  twenty-one,  ami  later  in 
life  returned  to  the  old  homesteati  as  its  owner, 
llis  wife,  Louisa  LI  ill,  was  also  a  native  ot 
Kortright  ;  and  her  fathei'  had  been  one  ol  the 
worthy  i)ioneer  farmers  of  the  town.  .She  was 
one  of  a  family  of  the  children  :  .\thelson, 
Louisa,  Myron,  .Vdeliza,  and  I-'reelove.  Jacob 
I-"orman  and  his  wife  reared  the  following  chil- 
dren ;  Adeline,  who  married  Maitin  Harkcr, 
the  agent  in  charge  of  the  (irecian  |)roperty  at 
Meredith;  Charles,  a  farmer  of  the  town  of 
Delhi:  lohn  K.,  above  named;  and  Myron,  a 
merchant.  After  living  at  the  old  homestead 
for  a  number  of  years,  Jacob  I'orman  removed 
to  a  neighboring  farm,  where  he  remained  up 
to  the  time  of  his  death,  al  forty-five  years  of 
age.  Ills  wife  died  at  Kortright.  :H  the  age 
of  si\ty-eight.  Hoth  were  members  ol  the 
Methotiist  church,  and  for  many  years  Jacob 
was  one  of  its  trustees. 

|ohn  K.  l-'orman  hrst  saw  the  light  in  Kort- 
right, Xovember  22,  1S51.  Like  his  father 
and  grandfather  before  him,    he    was    bred    to 


agricultinal  piusuits,  and  also  went  to  the  dis- 
trict school.  When  but  fourteen,  he  had  the 
misfortune  to  lose  his  father;  and  lor  the  next 
four  years  he  remained  with  his  brothers,  carr\- 
ing  on  the  farm.  It  may  well  be  believetl  that 
in  spite  of  his  extreme  \()Ulh  he  took  his  share 
of  the  labor  and  responsibi  1  itv  manfully  ;  and 
that  the  efforts  of  these  voung  husbandmen 
were  crowned  by  success  is  to  be  interred  I  rom 
the  fact  that  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  John 
went  to  farming  for  himself,  liaving  bought 
land  in  Kortright.  .After  several  years  he  sold 
his  farm,  and  bought  a  mill  in  Hobart,  where 
he  s])ent  one  season.  Then  he  returned  to  his 
native  t(nyn,  where  he  again  engaged  in  larm- 
ing,  the  woik  which  seems  to  have  been  his 
special  vocation  ;  for,  as  luiierson  has  truly 
said,  "The  fitness  is  the  calling." 

Ma\  16,  1.S72,  Mr.  I'orman  married  Delia 
Maxon.  Her  grandfather,  also,  was  one  of 
the  ijioneer  settlers  of  Kortright,  and  had  the 
honor  of  serving  as  a  gallant  Caj^ain  in  the 
War  of  I1S12.  Hoth  of  the  grandixarents  passed 
their  last  years  in  KortiMght,  but  the  death  of 
the  wife  took  place  in  Meredith.  Mrs.  l'"or- 
nian's  |)arents  were  Reynolds  and  Lydia  (Butts) 
Maxon,  both  of  whom  were  born  in  Kortright. 
Hut  the  father  established  himself  as  a  wagon- 
maker  in  Hloomville:  and  it  was  there  that 
Delia,  afterward  Mrs.  l-'orman,  was  born. 
Her  rnother  was  one  of  five  children:  Hush- 
nid,  ()liver,  Hetsv  .\nn.  I.vdia,  and  Delilah: 
ami  .Mrs.  Maxon  bionght  uy)  three  of  her  five 
children,  n:miely :  Marshall  M.  ;  and  his 
sisters,  Delilah  and  Delia,  who  were  twins,  the 
latter  being  Mrs.  I-"ornian.  Delilah  married 
lames  H.  Cavan,  a  f;u-mer  of  Kortright,  and  is 
now  a  widow,  making  her  home  in  Delhi. 
Marshall  M.  .M;i\on  is  still  a  resident  of 
Hloomville,  having  there  a  plea.sant  home.  .\t 
the  age  of  eighteen  he  enlisted  in  the  L'nion 
army,  and  had  servetl  as  Sergeant  three  vears 
lacking  one  month,  when  the  war  closed.  He 
rnarried  Lucia  Keeler.  and  they  have  three 
children.  The  mother  died  at  the  home  of 
.Mr.  and   Mrs.    I-"orman,  at   the  age  of  seventy- 

i  one  vears.  Death  came  to  the  father  at  the 
age  of  seventy-seven,  while  at  the  house  of  his 
son  in  Hloomville.  Hoth  jiarents  were  devoted 
to    the    interests   of   the    Methodist   church,    of 

,  which  they  were  worthy  rncrnbers. 


484 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


On  April  i,  1891,  Mr.  Forman  took  charge 
of  the  county  almshouse  at  Delhi,  and  con- 
tinues to  fill  the  position  with  marked  ability. 
In  his  wife  Mr.  Forman  has  an  invaluable 
assistant.  While  he  is  occupied  with  matters 
pertaining  to  the  farm,  she  superintends  the 
household,  and  with  kindly  care  promotes  the 
well-being  of  the  inmates  within  its  sheltering 
walls.  The  house  is  charmingly  situated  on 
the  Delaware  River,  in  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful portions  of  the  county,  and  will  accom- 
modate sevent)'-five  people.  The  farm  consists 
of  two  hundred  and  ten  acres  of  fertile  land, 
under  excellent  cultivation  and  stocked  with 
sixty  head  of  cattle.  Mr.  Forman  gives  much 
attention  to  his  herd  of  forty  beautiful  Hol- 
steins,  which  bear  witness  to  the  success  that 
has  attended  his  efforts  in  this  department. 
Under  his  management  many  improvements 
have  been  made  and  reforms  instituted,  both 
indoors  and  out.  From  the  top  of  the  house  to 
the  bottom  an  exquisite  neatness  prevails,  and 
one  is  impressed  with  the  perfect  system  every- 
where found.  Mr.  Forman  finds  a  judicious 
adviser  in  the  county  superintendent,  Mr. 
Wright.  At  the  last  county  fair  both  the 
horses  and  cattle  from  the  county  farm  received 
first  prizes,  as  did  the  vegetables  and  fruits  ex- 
hibited. The  fact  that  the  entire  work  of  the 
institution  is  ])erformed  wholly  by  the  inmates, 
thus  saving  the  county  great  expense,  proves 
the  wisdom  of  Mr.  Forman' s  administration  as 
well  as  his  practical  ability.  The  State  in- 
spector, in  his  last  report,  pronounced  the 
establishment  a  model  for  the  entire  State. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Forman  are  regarded  with 
the  highest  respect  throughout  the  community, 
their  kindly  and  sunny  natures  endearing  them 
to  all  with  whom  they  come  in  contact;  and 
their  hospitality,  a  virtue  which  is  called  in 
the  Talmud  "an  expression  of  divine  worship,  " 
is  proverbial  for  its  graceful  cordiality.  Mrs. 
Forman  was  formally  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist church  at  Hloomville;  but,  on  becoming 
a  resident  of  Delhi,  she  connected  herself  with 
the  Second  Presbyterian  Society  here,  where 
her  husband  is  also  a  worshipper.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Delhi  Lodge  of  Free  Masons, 
No.  439.  As  would  be  expected  from  his 
career  and  position,  he  is  warmly  interested  in 
the   county  agricultural    society,    of  which    he 


is  Vice-President ;  and  he   is  a   Republican    in 
politics. 


L'GL'STUS  S.  FITCH,  who  has  been 
eminently  successful  in  mercantile 
|iursuits,  is  a  member  of  the  enter- 
l)rising  firm  of  Fitch  Bros.  & 
Seeley,  of  Walton,  N.  Y.,  dealers  in  general 
merchandise.  Mr.  Fitch  is  descended  from  a 
long  line  of  ancestors,  a  full  account  of  whom 
is  given  elsewhere  in  the  biography  of  George 
W.   Fitch. 

Augustus  S.  h'itch  was  born  in  the  village 
of  Walton,  May  15,  1841.  In  due  time  he  be- 
came a  regular  attendant  of  the  town  schools, 
where  he  was  carefully  instructed  imtil  his 
twentieth  year,  when  he  accepted  the  position 
of  clerk  in  the  store  owned  by  his  father  and 
brother,  the  firm  name  being  X.  Fitch  &  Son. 
After  ten  years  of  faithful  service  in  this  ca- 
pacity he  was  made  a  jjartner,  the  firm  becom- 
ing N.  Fitch  &  Sons.  In  1872  the  aged  father 
died ;  and  once  more  the  firm  name  was 
changed,  being  then  known  as  N.  Fitch's 
Sons.  For  some  years  the  two  brothers  were 
the  only  members  of  the  company;  but  in 
1879  they  received  Mr.  George  C.  Seeley  as  a 
partner,  and  the  name  then  adopted  has  been 
retained  ever  since. 

Mr.  Fitch  was  married  September  13,  1866. 
to  Eliza  A.  Honeywell,  of  Walton,  a  daughter 
of  Alfred  and  Margaret  (Russell)  Honeywell. 
After  nine  years  of  happy  wedded  life  Mrs. 
Fitch  died,  July  25,  1875,  when  but  twenty- 
nine  years  of  age,  having  given  birth  to  four 
children:  Frankie,  who  died  in  1873,  a  babe 
of  four  months;  William  H.,  who.se  death  oc- 
curred January  i,  1880,  he  being  then  a  lad  of 
eleven  summers;  Mary  A.  Fitch,  who  was 
graduated  from  the  Walton  High  School  in 
1894;  and  Eliza,  who  died  when  an  infant. 

Mr.  Fitch's  second  marriage  occurred  on 
September  30,  1880,  he  being  then  united  in 
the  bonds  of  matrimony  with  Miss  Isabel le 
Bryce.  She  was  the  daughter  of  James  and 
Elizabeth  (McQueen)  Bryce,  the  former  of 
who  died  in  Del.ancey,  N.  Y.,  in  1865,  in 
his  sixty-eighth  year;  while  the  latter  passed 
away  in  1870,  having  reached  the  age  of 
seventy-three  years.      Mrs.  p-itch  was  a  gradu- 


BIOORAPHICAT,    REVIEW 


•jR? 


ate  ot  the  Alban\-  StaU-  Niiniial  Schoul,  aiul 
for  three  years  taui;"ht  in  the  W'altun  schunls. 
She  and  her  twin  sister,  I'".lizai)eth,  widnw  nf 
lames  Tayldr.  of  Del.ancev,  and  molliei-  i>t 
lames  l^rvce  Taylor,  a  school-hox'  of  til'ieen, 
are  the  onlv  sur\i\<)rs  of  a  laii^e  tamih. 
Their  brother,  William  Hrvce,  who  for  some 
years  taught  school  in  Di'lhi,  and  was  at  one 
time  principal  of  a  school  in  Sauj;erties,  was  a 
surj;eon  in  the  Civil  Wai',  in  the  l'"oil\-fouith 
New  \'ork  Infantrx',  and  served  for  three  years, 
after  which  he  practised  in  llamdcn,  where  he 
died  in  i  <S68.  lie  was  a  i;raduate  of  ('<dnnd>ia 
College  of  Medicine  in  New  \  uik  City. 

Mr.  I-'itch  is  a  Republican,  a  ligid  adhcicni 
to  that  partv's  princi]des,  although  he  has 
never  held  office  or  been  an  aspirant  lor  ollice. 
In  li^^J  hi'  joineil  the  ( 'oiigrcgal  ional  i  lun\h, 
of  which  body  he  has  evei-  since  been  an  active 
and  valued  member,  having  been  a  tiustee 
since  iSSj.  He  has  occupied  hi>  procnt 
delightful  home  since  the  fall  of  \S~~:  and 
here  he  is  ever  glad  to  receive  his  lunncrous 
friends,  whom  he  entertains  with  genial  coi'di- 
al.itv.  Walking  in  the  ways  of  integrity, 
honor,  and  industry,  making  untiring  ctforts 
to  meet  the  wants  of  his  many  ]KUrons,  Mr. 
l-'itch  has  won  enviable  success  in  business 
lit'e,  and  an  influential  position  among  his 
associates  and  friends. 


W.  ,S|li;i'l-'II-:i.l),  M.  n..  is  one  of  the 
ablest  and  most  favorably  known  jjhysi- 
cians  of  .Sidney,  Delaware  C'ountv, 
\.\'.  Me  was  born  in  St.  Johnsville, 
Montgomery  County,  on  .Se])tember  ",  n^S/.  a 
son  of  Cicorge,  and  a  grandson  ot  lames 
.Shefrield.  'The  grandfather  was  boiii  in  Con 
nocticiit.  May  2,  i/S.S,  of  l-jiglish  and  Cerman 
|)arentage,  and  was  still  a  boy  when  his  lather 
and  all  the  family  moved  to  Decrtield,  \.\.. 
near  Ctica.  Later  they  went  to  the  town  o| 
Clav,  Onondaga  County,  where  the  father  ol 
lames  died  about  iSio.  James  remained  at 
beerfield,  married  Miss  Anna  James,  March 
2  1,  iSi^,  and  moved  to  Manheim,  Herkimer 
County,  and  later  to  Dolgeville  (then  known 
as  Wi'nton's,  later  as  Hrockett's  bridge,  but 
now  as  Dolgeville),  T'ldton  County,  where  his 
son,  Cieorge  Sheffield,  was  born  June  lo,  i.SiX. 


lie   marrieil  on    M.irch    ,^(.i.    i'"--)-;,  *    o i<'    1^- 

Iligbie,  daugluer  of  Jacoi)  liigbie,  of  St. 
lohnsville.  In  this  town  .\Ir.  and  .Mrs.  ( ieorge 
.Sheffield  made  their  home,  and  re.ued  their 
large  family  of  ten  childien,  seven  of  whom 
are  still  living.  Charles  Wesley,  their  first 
son,  died  July  14,  1S49,  aged  five  years. 
William  James,  their  second  son,  died  T>ecem- 
ber  17,  1.^75.  aged  twenty-nine  years,  leavitig 
a  wife  and  two  children,  a  son  and  a  daughter. 
Marv  I'Ji/.abeth,  wife  of  Harvey  \'t>\,  of  St. 
lohnsville,  is  the  mother  of  one  son.  .Sarah 
Jane  Sheffield  died  July  10,  1.S77,  ageil 
tvventv-si\  years,  uimiarried.  Car'dine  Adelia, 
wife  of  Henry  T'ical,  is  the  mother  of  a  son 
and  a  daughti'r.  t ieorge  Washington  Sheffield 
lives  near  Dolgeville,  is  married,  and  has  a 
son  and  two  daughtei's.  Jnhn  Wesley  i-  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  .Albert  D. ,  who  has 
been  principal  of  the  .Nelliston  jiublic  .school 
for  a  number  of  years,  is  married,  and  has  one 
daughter.  James  ICrwin  .Sheffield,  who  lives 
in  Montgomery  Comity,  is  recently  married, 
llattie  is  wife  of  Clark  Leek,  an  engineer  of 
lohnst'iwn,  l-'ulton  County,  who  has  one  son. 
(ieorge  Sheffield,  the  father  of  this  family, 
ilied  at  Lassellsville,  T'ulton  County,  May  26, 
icS83,  aged  si.xtv-si.x  years.  His  widow  is 
still  living  at  the  .same  place,  now  aged 
seventy-one  years. 

fohn  Weslev  ShelTield  was  reared  on  his 
father's  farm,  .itteiiding  the  district  school, 
the  high  school  .at  St.  Johnsville,  I'airfield 
.Academy,  and  T'.astman's  Business  College,  ol 
Toughkeepsie.  He  followed  the  ])rofession 
of  teaching  for  eight  years,  and  in  1  S.S  ^ 
began  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  Daniel 
Small,  of  .St.  Johnsville,  as  jireceptor.  He 
entered  the  .\lbany  Medical  College  in  the 
autumn  of  that  year,  was  graduated  on  March 
:;,  1S.S6,  and  soon  after  began  to  practise  at 
Trout  Creek,  Delaware  Comity.  Here  he 
remained  l'<ir  five  years,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  months  siient  at  Wamiisville.  M.adison 
County.  In  the  sjiring  of  1H91  he  removed  to 
Sidney,  where  he  is  regarded  as  a  most  skilful 
memlier  of  his  ])rofession. 

October  I  (),    1 8S7,   Dr.    J.    W.    Sheffield    was 

married   to   Mi-.s   Zana    M.    Clarke,  a   daughter 

of  the  late  Luman    T.  Clarke,  of  Addison,  \'t., 

i  her   mother   being    a    great-graml-daughter    of 


486 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Lord  Dudley,  of  Wales.  She  had  been  a 
successful  teacher,  and  is  also  a  graduate  of 
the  Mary  Metcher  Hos])ital  Training  School 
for  Nurses,  in  Burlington,  Vt.  Ur.  and  Mrs. 
Sheffield  are  the  parents  of  two  children: 
Bernard  Clarke,  born  September  5,  1889; 
and  Wesley  Thare,  born  I-'ebruary  18,  i8gi. 
The  Doctor  is  a  Master  Mason  and  a  Knight 
of  Pythias,  but  takes  no  active  part  in  politics. 
He  and  his  wife  are  both  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  giving  to  that 
organization  their  hearty  supjjort.  Dr.  Shef- 
field is  a  rising  young  physician  of  remarkable 
adaptability  for  his  calling,  his  kindly,  pre- 
possessing manner,  combined  with  his  cheer- 
ful, sympathetic  disposition,  making  him  a 
welcome  visitor  in  hours  of  health  as  well  as 
illness;  and  the  success  he  has  attained  in  the 
short  period  of  his  residence  in  the  town  of 
Sidney  gives  unquestionable  assurance  of  a 
bright  and  prosperous  future. 


|l-:\'.  ISAAC  HIAX'ITT  was  a  Baptist 
clergN'man,  and  an  influential  resi- 
dent I  5  Halcottsville,  in  Middle- 
'town,  Delaware  County,  N.  Y. ,  where 
he  died  on  January  7,  1892,  full  of  years  and 
worth,  respected  b\  a  large  number  of  asso- 
ciates, both  in  religious  and  social  circles. 
In  this  town  also  was  he  born,  on  August  25, 
1 8 10.  His  father,  Russell  Hewitt,  was  born 
near  Albany,  married  Ziporah  Wheeler,  was 
a  Democrat,  came  to  Halcottsville  in  his  later 
years,  and  lived  to  be  eighty-four.  He  reared 
eight  of  the  nine  children  born  to  him,  whose 
names  were  Merritt,  Orin,  Isaac,  Wheeler, 
Norman,   William,    George,    luncline. 

Isaac,  the  third  son,  was  a  self-made  man, 
having  been  born  with  a  disposition  to  get  all 
the  education  possible,  and  so  be  of  .some  use 
in  a  public  way  to  his  country.  The  neigh- 
borhood did  not  afford  the  desired  facilities 
for  culture;  yet  he  managed  by  hard  work  to 
fit  himself  for  the  pulpit  at  the  early  age  of 
twentv,  at  which  time  also  he  married,  the 
lady  of  his  choice  being  Julia  Maria  Weld, 
who  was  born  on  the  last  day  of  the  year  1806, 
and  therefore  was  her  husband's  senior  by 
nearly  four  years.  She  was  the  daughter  of 
David  Weld,  born   February  15,   1773,  and  his 


wife,  Hannah    Foster  Weld,   born  January    16, 

'787-  .        .      , 

David  Weld's  birthplace  was  in  Massachu- 
setts. In  early  life  he  was  bound  out  to  a 
farmer,  who  treated  him  so  harshly  that  David 
ran  away  to  Connecticut,  where  he  found  a 
home  with  a  shoemaker  named  Karl,  whose 
trade  he  learned.  There  also  he  subsequently 
married,  and  then  came  to  Hubljell  Hill  in 
Delaware  Count}',  where  he  took  uj)  a  tract  of 
land,  and  built  a  log  house  amid  the  acres  he 
was  gradually  reclaiming  from  the  wilderness. 
There  were  neither  shoe  factories  nor  .shoe 
stores  in  those  pioneer  days;  and  David  Weld 
found  plenty  of  employment  among  the  farmers 
of  the  district,  his  services  being  in  requisi- 
tion far  and  near.  By  his  union  with  Miss 
Foster  fourteen  children  were  added  to  the 
population  of  the  town ;  the  eldest,  Julia 
Maria  Weld,  bef(jre  mentioned,  the  wife  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch ;  Harvey  Weld,  born 
February  12,  1808;  Matilda  Weld,  January  26, 
i8iO;  Huldah  Weld,  November  11,  181 2; 
David  Foster  Weld,  Januar)-  4,  1S14;  Clar- 
ence A.  Weld,  November  19,  1815;  William 
W.  Weld,  July  29,  181 7;  Eli  T.  Weld,  May 
7,  1 819;  Delilah  Weld,  December  19,  1 820 ; 
Jarvis  J.  Weld,  the  first  clay  of  October,  1822  ; 
Jeannette  Weld,  the  second  day  of  June,  1824; 
Augustus  Weld,  June  21,  1827;  I-'anu)-  Weld, 
December  5,  1S29;  Isaac  W.  Weld,  July  28, 
1832.  At  the  end  of  a  dozen  years,  about  the 
year  181 7,  Mr.  Weld  bought  two  hundred 
more  acres  adjoining  the  farm  he  already 
owned;  for  there  were  boys  and  girls  enough 
growing  up  to  attend  to  every  department  of 
farm  work,  both  outside  and  inside.  On  this 
homestead  he  died  January  iS,  1853,  at  four- 
score;  but  his  wife  lived  twelve  years  longer, 
dying  on  June  19,  1865,  ju.st  at  the  close  of  the 
Civil  War,  aged  seventy-eight.  They  were 
members  of  the  Baptist  church,  and  Mr.  Weld 
was  a  Democrat. 

The  marriage  of  Isaac  Hewitt  and  Julia 
Maria  ^\'eld  took  place  November  5,  1830. 
He  at  once  bought  one  hundred  and  fift\'  acres 
of  land  al  Bragg  Hollow,  and  also  began 
preaching  in  various  places  within  the  limits 
of  what  was  known  as  the  Lexington  Associa- 
tion. Al  different  times  he  was  the  stated 
sujiph'  in  a  dozen  different  churches,  and  with 


Isaac  Hewitt 


HIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


4R0 


lour  of  thcni  lie  was  continu()iisl\-  connccti'd 
fur  main'  \cars.  The  Sccoiid  C'lnircli  of  Kox- 
hur\',  N.\'.,  located  in  I  laK'otis\i  1  le,  was  built 
at  the  expense  of  tlu'  Re\'.  Mr.  llewiil;  and 
the  first  sermon  in  it  was  |)ieailied  In  him,  his 
text  heing  Obadiah  i.  17.  11  is  last  discouise 
was  fittingh'  delivered  in  the  same  eliureh, 
from  the  text,  John  iii.  14.  In  the  course  ot 
his  ministr\-  Mr.  Hewitt  hajjti/ed  o\'er  foui' 
hundred  persons,  married  about  loiu"  hundn-d 
couples,  and  preached  about  the  same  number 
of  fmieral  sermons.  I, ike  a  venlahle  Ha|)list 
ajiostle,  he  went  from  State  to  .State,  e\eii  as 
far  west  as  Illinois;  nor  did  he  i;i\e  up  the 
good  work  till  his  death,  at  the  same  advanced 
age  as  his  father,  eighty-foiu'. 

Not  loni;  before  the  centennial  vear  he 
renioxed  from  l^ragg  Hollow  to  Halcottsvil  le, 
buN'ing  the  farm  of  two  huiuhed  acres,  where 
he  spent  his  last  da\s,  and  where  his  widow 
still  lives,  lacking  onlv  two  vears  ol  ninctv, 
but  enjoying  excellent  health,  as  indicated  by 
the  fact  that  as  late  as  1894  she  was  able  to 
tlri\-e  to  Aliddlebnrg,  a  distance  of  thirtv  miles, 
to  attend  the  yearly  meeting  of  the  Haptisi 
Association,  greatly  enjoying  the  ser\  ices,  and 
not  overtasked  by  the  journey.  Like  her  hus- 
band, she  is  large-hearted,  always  icady  to 
help  the  ]>ooi-,  and  interested  in  whatevcr 
tends  to  promote  the  publit'  weltare.  Ihe 
religion  of  ,Mi-.  and  Mrs.  Hewitt  biund  expii's- 
sion  in  theii'  good,  hearty  music.  With  lull 
heart  could  thev  sing  the  couplet  :  — 

■■  I'll  (111)])  m\  l)urcli.-n  at  liis  feet. 
.\ik1  be.ir  a  soul;  away." 

.An  excellent  likeness  of  the  able  and  faith- 
ful Christian  messenger  whose  career  is  brielly 
outlined  in  the  foregoing  sketch  is  presented 
on  another  page  of  the  "  Review.  " 


SCAR  J.  SL.ATi-'.R,  a  well-known  and 
expert  mechanic  of  Deposit,  was  born 
May  28,  184C),  in  the  town  of  Hain- 
Iiridge.  Chenango  Cotmty,  \.\'., 
being  the  son  of  Joseph  .Slater  and  his  wife, 
.Sally  Syhius,  of  Xorthani])ton  Coiuitv,  I'a. ,  a 
descendant  of  one  of  the  early  Dutch  settlers 
of  that  section. 

Israel  Slater,  the  father  of  Joseph,  was  born 


in  the  town  of  Windsoi',  \'t.,  where  he  received 
his  earl\'  education,  and  wiiere  he  resided 
imtil  after  his  marriage.  lie  studied  nu-di 
cine,  and  followeil  that  |)rofession  with  )iiarkeil 
success  in  the  town  of  Windsor,  also  later  on 
in    Hainbridgt'.       l'"rom    early  youth   he   showed 

'   marked   ability    in    mechanics,    and,  after    com 
ing   to    New    N'ork,    used    to    work    as   a    black- 
smith as  well    as  a  larmer.       .At   one  time,  ha\ 
ing   binlt   a   fortv-foot    bain,    he   made   b\'  hand 
all  the  nails    used   to   shingle    it.       lie   married 
.Susanna    Cage,    of    Washington    ColuUv,    New 

1  N'ork,  and  with  his  wife  made  the  journey 
through  the  wilderness  to  Hainbridge,  liought 
a  tract  of  tinibi'red  land,  and  erected  with  iiis 
own  hands  ,1  log  cabin,  which  was  the  onlv 
shelter  for  his  famih'  foi-  main'  seasons. 
Many  were  tlu'  hardships  and  discouragements; 
and  caution  had  to  1k'  taken  .against  the  wohes, 
bears,  wild-cats,  and  panthers  whieh  in  those 
da\s  aboimded.  (  )u  one  \er\  dark  night  .Mr. 
Slater  was  followed  In  a  ])aek  of  wolves  a  dis- 
tance of  three  miles  through  dense  \yoods  to 
his  own  door,  although  lor  some  reason  the\' 
(lid  not  dare  attack  him.  Israel  .Slater  served 
his  country  at  the  time  of  the  War  of  i8ij, 
being  one  of  the  brave  minute-men  stationed  at 

I  .Sackett's  Harbor  when  the  Hritish  threatened 
that  placi--.  Mrs.  .Slatei-  died  when  >ixtv-two 
yi.-;irs  of  age,  in  183.),  and  lelt  a  lamilvdf  (.-iglil 
children:  |oseph,  the  lather  ol  the  subiet't  ol 
this  sketch;  Marcus;  Heniimiin;  .Nathan; 
Albert;  Delia;  Caroline;  and  Charlotte. 
Her  son  .Albert  served  muler  .Sherman  in 
Wood's  division,  and  was  killed  in  the  battle 
of  Resaca,  having  had  his  thigh  shattered  by 
a  shell. 

I  [oseph  .Slalei"  was  boiii  at  Hainbridge  in 
1810,  and  received  his  education  in  the  sehoids 
of  his  native  town.  When  he  had  attained 
sufficient  years,  he  learned  the  trades  of  mill- 
wright and  joiner,  in  which  callings  he 
actively  engaged  for  himself  in  the  town  of 
(ireene,  Chenango  Coimtv,  and  was  consid- 
ered one  of  the  best  mechanics  in  the  country. 
Mr.  .Slater  was  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  a 
member  of  the  Cniversalist  chinch.  His 
career  was  a  short  one,  as  he  was  cut  down  in 
early  manhood,  and  left  a  wife  anil  four  chil- 
dren—  Lydia,  Louisa,  Oscar,  and  Julia.  At 
the  death  of  Mr.  Slater  the  home  was  broken 


49° 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


up.      Oscar,    the  subject   of   this   sketch,    went 
to    live    with    his    grandfather,    Israel    Slater; 
Lvdia   lived    at  the    home    of    Iliram    Bennet, 
of"    Hennettsville;     and    Louisa,    at    the    home 
of    IMilton    Bennett,    of   the    same    place.    Mrs. 
Sally    Slater,    with     her    daughter    Julia,    re- 
turned    to    her     old     home     in     Penn.sylvania, 
where  she  later  married  for  her  second  hu.sband 
Urias  Holenbeck.  of    Belvidere,   111.,  and  went 
West,  taking  with   her  Julia  and    Louisa,  who 
there    married     and     settled.      Louisa    became 
the  wife  of  Seth   Blood.      Julia  married  David 
M.  Gibbs,  who  soon  went   to  the    front   in  the 
war    of    the    Rebellion.      After    his    return    at 
the  close  of   the  war  they  finished  their  educa- 
tion at  Normal,   III.  and  then  taught   for  nine  \ 
years,  as   principal    and    preceptress,    the   high   1 
school    at    Rosemond,    Christian    County,    111., 
and  later,  for  eleven  years,  the   graded  school  ! 
at  (ienoa.   III,  where  they  now  reside.      Lydia 
married  William  L.   Axtell,  a  brother  of   Mrs. 
Oscar    }.    Slater,  and    lived    near   the  home   of 
her   brother's   famil\'   until   she  died,  in    1892, 
greatly  lamented. 

Oscar  J.  Slater  received  his  education  in 
the  schools  of  Bennettsville  and  Sanford, 
where  he  lived  with  his  aunt  Charlotte,  wife  : 
of  Hiram  B.  Fuller.  In  1S61  Mr.  Slater 
started  in  active  business  life  in  the  town  of 
.Sanford,  j-iroome  County,  \.\'.,  as  a  car- 
penter and  joiner,  which  trade  he  followed 
until  I H64,  when  he  went  to  Masonville,  and 
there  learned  the  cooper's  trade.  In  1866  he 
started  in  the  cooper's  business  at  Deposit 
with  a  cousin,  Orville  Wilson.  The  partner- 
ship continued  for  about  two  years,  and  then 
Mr.  Slater  bought  the  i)lace  where  he  now 
resides,  and  carried  on  his  business  for  over 
twenty-five  years,  up  to  August,    1S94. 

When  twenty-four  years  of  age,  he  married 
July  17,  1864,  Margaret  A.xtell,  daughter  of 
Joseph  and  Caroline  (Harper)  .^xtell,  of 
China.  Mrs.  Slater  received  a  dlstrict-.school 
education,  and  was  brought  up  at  home,  assist- 
ing her  parents  in  the  work  of  the  farm,  and 
learning  to  spin  wool  and  Ha.x.  The  training 
which  she  received  in  all  domestic  pursuits 
excellently  fitted  her  to  oversee  the  home 
which  .she  now  possesses.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Slater  have  one  child,  Stella  Olivia  Slater. 
She    was    graduated     at     the      Deirosit     High 


School  in  the  class  of  1888,  and  is  an  accom- 
plished musician,  having  received  her  musical 
education  at  Clinton  Liberal  Institute,  at  I'^ort 
Plain,  N.  \'.  She  has  large  classes  of  pupils 
on  the  piano,  both  in  her  own  and  neighboring 
towns,  and  enjoys  an  enviable  rejjutation  as  a 
teacher. 

Mr.  Slater  inherits  his  skill  as  a  mechanic 
from  his  grandfather  and  father,  and  through 
his  success  in  his  work  has  made  for  himself  a 
pleasant  home.  Changes  in  the  butter  trade 
having  made  the  cooper  business  unprofitable, 
he  has  now,  January  i,  1895,  abandoned  it, 
and  accepted  a  pleasant  and  responsible  posi- 
tion in  the  employ  of  the  New  York  Con- 
densed Milk  Company  in  their  condensery  in 
Deposit.  Mr.  Slater's  family  are  members  of 
the  Baptist  church  in  Deposit,  working  for 
the  interest  of  the  people  among  whom  they 
live,  and  hulding  the  respect  of  the  whole 
community.  Mr.  Slater  is  a  Republican  in 
]iolitics,  and  as  a  representative  of  this  party 
has  been  offered  several  times  the  most  im- 
portant town  offices,  all  of  which  he  has  re- 
fused. He  has  stood  like  a  rock  for  the 
principles  of  his  party,  successfully  combat- 
ing, through  the  press  and  in  public  debate, 
what  he  .sternly  characterizes  as  "the  false 
claims  of  the  Democrats,  the  heresies  of  the 
(ireenbackers,  and  the  hypocrisy  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Prohibition  movement." 
has  also  done  some  good  work  as  a 
preacher. 


He 

lav 


-^KXJ  \ML\  J.  WHITE  was  born  on 
-'"S.      the  old  White  homestead  on  April  4, 

[j^J  1827.  His  grandfather,  Benjamin, 
who  was  born  in  Wales  in  1746, 
came  to  America  with  the  British  soldiers 
during  the  Revolution,  and  was  taken  prisoner 
at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  While  in  the 
soldiers'  hosjiital,  he  fell  in  love  with  a  young 
nurse  who  came  each  day  to  render  her  sweet 
services  to  those  .suffering  from  wounds  and 
illnesses.  The  attraction  seems  to  have  been 
mutual;  iov  the  young  lady.  Miss  Lovina 
Tottin  by  name,  afterward  became  his  wife. 
Miss  Tottin  was  a  native  of  Dutchess  County, 
New  York,  where  she  was  born  March  7, 
1 761,   and  was  the  daughter  of  Jonas    Tottin, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


491 


a  Hollander.  To  Benjamin  and  Lo\ina  White 
eleven  children  were  born  —  Marv,  l.ovina, 
William,  John,  Benjamin,  George  C,  James, 
Peter  \'.  G. ,  Richard,  Susan,  and  I'hohe. 

Benjamin  learned  the  hatter's  trade,  which 
he  followed  after  the  war  in  .Stronj;'  RidLCe, 
L'lster  County,  X.  \'.  ;  but  in  1795  he  \i)ked 
an  ox  team,  and,  bundling  u])  bag,  baggage, 
and  familv,  journe\ed  in  true  pioneer  style  to 
Delaware  Countv.  Arriving  in  Colchester,  on 
the  Delaware  River,  he  purchased  a  hundred 
acres  of  land,  and  built  a  log  house  in  which 
to  abide.  This  was  burned  to  the  ground  :  and 
subsequently  he  erected  a  clapboard  liouse, 
which  is  still  standing,  in  a  fairl\-  good  state 
of  jirescrvation.  Here  he  established  a  hat 
factorv  and  built  a  cider-mill,  the  nearest 
mill  and  market  being  at  Kingston.  .Al- 
though the  distance  was  not  great,  it  took 
cjuite  a  week  to  make  the  journey  liack  and 
forth,  and  necessitated  great  inconvenience 
now  and  then.  He  was  a  Democrat,  ami 
lived  to  be  eighty  years  old.  11  is  wife  died 
October  l,^,  1857.  at  the  age  of  ninety-six 
vears. 

Peter  \'an  Gasbeck  White  was  Ixiin  in 
L'lster  County,  and  came  to  Delaware  County 
with  his  father  when  a  lad.  Here  he  was 
educated:  and,  as  he  grew  older,  he  took 
tender  care  of  the  aged  father  and  motlier  who 
leaned  uixm  his  youth  and  strength.  Cjion 
coming  into  possession  ot  the  homestead,  he 
married,  July  9,  1826,  Miss  Charlotte  .Sutton, 
a  (laughter  of  Caleb  and  Sarah  .Sutton,  formerly 
of  Dutchess  County,  but  now  living  near  Han- 
cock. A  family  of  eight  brothers  and  sisters 
filled  the  -Sutton  home  with  sounds  of  fun  and 
frolic.  Their  children  were  James,  Abraham, 
Polly,  I.ettie,  Hettie,  Abby,  Charlotte,  and 
Sherman.  The  latter  is  still  living,  at  eighty- 
three  \ears  of  age. 

Peter  \'.  Cj.  White  was  known  for  his  skill 
as  a  [jilot,  displaying  great  dexterity  and 
energy  in  floating  his  lumber  rafts  down  the 
ri\-er.  .Seven  trips  were  accomplished  in  one 
year.  In  the  early  days  this  rafting  was  an 
arduous  (.■nterprise,  the  return  tri])  being  made 
by  water  to  Kingston,  from  which  point  the 
rest  of  the  journey,  a  distance  of  sixty-five 
miles,  was  made  afoot.  Railroail  travel  now 
renders    the    journey    a    ^hort    and    easy    one. 


Nine  children  were  born  to  Peter  \'.  (r.  White 
and  his  wife  Charlotte.  The  eldest,  Benjamin 
J.,  born  April  4,  1827,  married  Lovina  ilurd. 
William  G.,  born  .April  25,  1829,  married 
.Sarah  A.    Holiday.      Jeremv    T. ,  born  FelMuarv 

24.  1832.  married  Caroline  Schoonmaker. 
John  .S. ,  born  June  24,  18:54,  married  Mar\ 
]■'..  Radiker.  b'.unice  Page,  bi>rn  Januar\-  24, 
1837,  married  Wesley  lerrv.  Pluu-be  Jane, 
born  March  12,  1839,  married  .Nicholas  Barn- 
harilt.  Peter  Harrison,  born  .\pril  19,  1  S4 1 , 
is  dead.  Hettie  Maria,  born  December  15, 
1843,  married  John  Warren.  Mary  Cornelia, 
born  Septembei'  9.  1846.  married  James 
Berhim.  Mr.  Peter  \'an  (;a>beck  U'hite 
served  in  the  War  of    1812.       He  died  October 

25,  1862.       His  wife  died  May   19,    1866. 
Benjamin   J.    White,    their  eldest    son,  grew 

to  \ears  of  discretion  in  his  native  town,  and 
received  his  education  in  the  common  schools. 
He  was  married  in  1854  to  Miss  l.ovina  Ilurd. 
whose  father  came  from  Connecticut  in  the 
early  davs  of  the  settlement  of  .Sullivan 
Countv,  and  who  married  a  Miss  Mai  lory. 
Mrs.  l.ovina  White  had  five  sisters  —  Olivia, 
Mary,  Charlotte,  Minerva,  and  Harriet  -  and 
three  brothers --  John,  Curtis,  and  Charles. 
Mrs.  White  died,  leaving  these  children  to 
solace  her  husband  in  his  grief.  The  eldest 
of  these,  l-'redG.,  born  January  26,  18311,  is  a 
carpt-nter  in  Delhi,  m.arried  Mary  .A.  Hawks. 
and  has  two  children  -  Bell  and  Bessie. 
Charlotte,  born  .September  \C>.  1 S60,  married 
(jeorge  Knoll,  a  farmer  of  Parksville,  .Sulli- 
van C<iuntv,  to  whom  she  has  borne  two 
children.  Bell,  born  .September  18,  1863, 
married  Herman  Wilson,  a  farmei'  in  Wal- 
ton; and  they  have  two  chiUlren.  WiKon 
P.   lives   in    Indian    Territory. 

Mr.  Benjamin  J.  White  at  one  time  owneM 
a  farm  of  one  hundred  ami  forty  acres  near 
Walton.  Later  he  lived  for  seven  years  at 
Brock  Hollow,  afterward  farming  at  Trout 
Brook.  He  married  for  his  second  wife  Mrs 
Hannah  Hawk,  widow  of  Daniel  Hawk,  and 
a  daughter  of  David  and  Mary  Ann  (Caunift) 
Hawk.  Her  jiarents  raised  a  family  of  seven 
children  -Susan,  Hannah,  Caroline,  Charles, 
Mliza,  \'enice.  and  INerett — all  of  whom  live 
in  Matteawan,  Dutchess  County.  Mrs.  Whites 
first  husband,  Daniel    Hawk,  was  a  descendant 


492 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


of  Ebon  Hawk,  who  settled  in  this  section 
when  there  was  only  an  Indian  trail  through  to 
Ncwburg.  Onlv  one  child,  a  daughter,  was 
born  of  Mr.  White's  last  marriage.  This 
daughter,  Susie  L.  by  name,  was  born  on  the 
first  day  of  May,  1879,  and  lives  at  the  paren- 
tal home.  Mr.  White  is  one  of  the  seven 
men  who  formed  the  Masonic  Lodge  of  Wal- 
ton. He  is  a  I'rohibitioni.st,  and  a  Democrat 
in  politics,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church.  He  has  filled  several  small 
offices  in  the  town,  and  is  now  Notary  Public 
of  Colchester. 


XDKl'.W      T.      STKAX(;EWAV      was 
horn   in    Hovina,   Delaware  County,    in 
the    year     i  S40.      His    grandfather, 
Thomas   Strangeway,  the  progenitor 
of  the   Strangewav  family   in    America,    was  a 
native  of  Scotland,  wht)  settled  in  Middletown, 
where  he  bought  a  farm  and  raised  a  family  of 
three   sons   and    two    daughters.      He    died    in 
Walton.      Christopher,    the  father  of   Andrew, 
was  also  a  Scotchman,  anil  was  evidently  quite 
a  lad  at  the  time  of  his  father's  emigration  to 
America,  as  he  had  been  apprenticed  to  a  black- 
smith in  Scotland,  and  had  acquired  great  skill 
in  his  craft.      The  vast   agricultural    facilities 
of  the  new  country  encouraging  him  to  turn  his 
attention  to  husbandry,    he  bought  a   farm    of 
one  hundred    acres,    whence    he  mo\cd  several 
years  later  to  take  ixissession  of  a  small   estate 
known    as    the   "turnpike   farm,"    u|)on   which 
the   remaining   years   of   his    life    were    spent. 
The    steady,    strong    hand    of    the    smith    was 
turned  with  equal  success  to  the  plough,  spade, 
and  scythe;  and   Christopher  had  accumulated 
a    fair    share    of     worldly    goods    and    chattels 
within  his  allotted  years.      He  married  a  Mi.ss 
Margaret  Thompson,    of    Hovina;  and  the  five 
children  born  of  the  marriage  are  all    living. 
They  are:   William    T.    Strangeway,    a    farmer 
in   Delhi;   Andrew,    the  central   figure   of   this 
familv  group;   Helen,  the  wife  of    Mr.    George 
Gladstone,  of  j-iovina;  Thomas  C,  who  resides 
on    the    old    place ;     and    James,    a    farmer    of 
Andes.      Christopher    Strangeway    was    a    Re- 
jniblican  in  politics,  and  a  United  Presbyterian 
in  religious  faith. 

Andrew  T.   Strangeway  was  educated   in  the 


schools  of  his  native  town,  and  at  about  thirty 
years  of  age  engaged  in  mercantile  life  in 
Bovina  with  Mr.  John  Hilson.  This  jxartner- 
ship  continued  for  three  years,  when  Mr. 
Strangeway  went  into  business  for  himselt,  in 
which  he  has  prospered  throughout  the  period 
of  twenty-three  years  of  close  application.  It 
seems  that  Mr.  Strangeway  must  have  had  in 
a  large  degree  that  pertinacity  of  purpose  and 
clear  foresight  which  combine  to  produce  what 
is  known  as  business  talent,  and  this  aptitude 
for  the  practical  details  of  life  is  doubtless  an 
inheritance  from  his  Scotch  ancestors.  At  all 
events,  he  is  what  is  called  a  ".success." 

In  1874  Mr.  Strangeway  consummated  his 
youth's  ideal  of  happiness  in  his  marriage  with 
Miss  Margaret  A.  Doig,  of  Bovina.  The 
young  lady  was  the  youngest  daughter  of  An- 
drew and  Margaret  Doig,  her  father  being  a 
well-known  farmer  in  the  neighborhood.  Only 
six  years  of  wedded  union  followed;  for  in 
1880  Mrs.  Strangeway  died,  leaving  three 
little  motherless  children  to  her  husband's 
care:  Maggie  D.  and  Elizabeth  J.  Strangeway, 
and  Harvey  C,  the  last  named  being  now  de- 
ceased. Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Strangeway  were 
members  of  the  United  Presbyterian  church  at 
Bovina  Centre. 

In  politics  this  gentleman  has  always  been 
Republican,  The  people  of  Bovina  have 
given  ]iroof  of  their  confidence  in  him  by 
electing  him  to  the  office  of  Town  Clerk,  a 
position  he  has  filled  creditably  for  several 
terms;  while  in  the  church  he  has  also  been  a 
prominent  official.  The  elder  of  Mr.  Strange- 
way's  daughters  is  a  graduate  of  the  Delhi 
.Academy,  and  both  young  ladies  are  teachers 
in  their  nati\'e  town. 


ILLIAM  REED,  an  enterprising 
farmer  and  dairyman  of  I'nion 
Grove,  in  the  town  of  Andes,  Dela- 
ware County,  is  a  man  of  good  judgment  and 
foresight,  having  by  his  energy  and  industry 
won  well-deserved  prosperity.  His  father, 
Samuel  H.  Reed,  was  a  son  of  Samson  and 
Rebecca  (Hammond)  Reed,  natives  of  New 
Hampshire.  Their  other  children  were  Eliza- 
beth, William,  and  Levi  Reed.  Samuel  H. 
was    born     in     Hamilton,     Madison    County, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


403 


N.\'.,  Juno  I,  1S30,  ami  married  I{li/al)itli 
iM.  15akcr.  ilaiighter  of  John  M.  ami  M.  W. 
(IMillcr)  Hakfi-.  llcr  iiarcnts  were  both  born 
in  Rhode  Island:  ami  they  had  live  ehildreii 
—  i:ii/.abeth  M.,  Sarah  A.,'  John  M.,  Warren 
A.,  and  Snsan  L.  Mrs.  John  M.  15aker  was  a 
daughter  of  John  R.  and  Elizabeth  (Wilson) 
Miller,  both  of  Rhode  Island.  Samuel  II. 
Reed  and  wife  I^lizabeth  had  three  children. 
James,  the  eldest,  was  born  October  22,  1847, 
W'illiam  was  born  November  5,  1852,  and 
Elizabeth  Xovember  19,  1855.  Mr.  Reed's 
occiiixition  wa.s  farming  and  lumbering.  He 
resided  in  Sherburne,  Chenango  Countv.  In 
1863  he  enlisted  in  the  Twentieth  New  \'oik 
Cavalry.  Soon  alter  the  war  he  movt'd  with 
his  family  to  the  town  of  Andes.  Ili-ri'  he 
helped  to  erect  a  saw-mill  at  Big  I'oiid,  now 
called  Mountain  Lake,  and  also  aided  in 
building  a  road  from  that  ]jlace  to  the  Barka- 
boom  road,  a  distance  of  three  miles.  He 
worked  at  lumbering  foi-  a  niniiber  of  years, 
and  then  sold  out  to  James  Murdoek  and 
W.  11.  b'.llsworth,  and  with  his  son  William 
bought  the  farm  of  four  lunxlred  aci'es  which 
is  the  ];rcsent  home  of  the  familv.  The  land 
was  then  entirely  uncultivated;  hut  b\-  un- 
ceasing toil  it  was  cleared,  and  substantial 
buildings,  including  a  saw-mill,  wen.'  erected. 
Samuel  II.  Reed  died  December  17,  1892. 
His  widow,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Reed,  still  lives, 
making  hiT  home  with  her  children.  .She  is 
a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

James  Reed  married,  in  1870,  Mllen  I'ud- 
ney.  They  reside  at  jjresent  in  Norwich, 
Chenango  ('ount\',  and  have  two  children, 
namely:  Chailes  I,.,  born  October  11.  1871: 
and  Arthur  J.,  born  .\ugust  18,  1879.  Lli/.i- 
beth  Reed  married  July  4,  1874,  I.ero}' 
Decker:  and  they  have  four  children :  .Samuel 
O.,  born  November  16,  1876;  Maud  M.,  Au- 
gust 17,  1878:  I.ina  II.,  June  ij,  1880; 
Leroy,  December  28,  1886.  Their  home  is 
in  -Sodom,  Colchester. 

William  Reed  was  educated  in  the  district 
school  at  .Sherburne,  and  later  attended  the 
Sherburne  Academy,  living  at  home  with  his 
parents  till  he  was  twenty-one.  On  July  4, 
1876,  he  married  Salome  Decker,  who  was 
born  September  18,  1858,  daughter  of  Philip 
and  Margaret  Decker.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  W'illiam 


Reed  ha\'e  seven  children,  ;is  follow^s:  Lillie 
M.  Reed,  born  July  13,  1877:  William  Wal- 
ter, J:»nu:iry  18,  1879;  Myrtle  \'.,  March 
16,  1880:'  M.  Idleii,  I'ebruary  9,  1882; 
Floyil  Ci.,  July  1,  1884:  Charles  I.,  October 
31,    1887;   C.   l.esley,  August   19,    1890. 

Mr.  Reed  is  a  DeuKKrat,  being  an  active 
]iolitician,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
P'piscopal  church.  His  carei'r  has  been  a 
successful  ;uul  prf)sperous  one,  everything 
about  his  farm  giving  evidence  of  the  good 
management  and  energy  expended  ui)on  it. 
He  began  lite  in  a  most  humble  way,  and 
to-day  owns  one  of  the  finest  farms  in  this 
section  of  the  country,  in  connection  with 
which  he  o|)erates  an  e\tensi\e  dairv.  He 
may  well  be  considered  one  of  the  most  po|)u- 
lar  men  in  the  town,  and  is  held  in  the  great- 
est esteem  bv  all  his  fellow-citizens. 


\.Mi;S  W.  l.AKIN  is  an  esteemed  resi- 
dent (i|  Hancock,  where  he  was  born 
May  13,  1839.  He  is  a  descendant  of 
some  ol  the  most  noted  men  <if  this 
pait  ol  the  country;  and  the  histor\'  of  his 
;incestors  is  a  history  of  the  trials,  hardshiiis. 
and  hraverv  of  the  earh'  davs. 

The  grandfather  of  J;unes  W,  was  Jonas 
l.akin,  who  came  with  his  jiarents  from  New 
London,  Conn.,  in  1795,  :uid  settled  on  I'art- 
riilge  Island,  tlu'  Wheeler  famih'  migrating  at 
the  same  time.  Though  advantages  for  eiluca- 
tion  were  then  l)ut  meagre.  Jonas  overcame  all 
the  difficulties  in  the  wav.  and  acquired  a 
knowledge  not  onlv  of  the  common  branches, 
hut  also  ol  law.  His  learning  anil  soimd  juilg- 
inent  ga\e  him  a  wide  reputation  in  the  sur- 
rounding countrw  and  his  ;Kl\ice  was  often 
called  for  in  affairs  of  import;ince  in  town  and 
.State.  T'or  o\er  thirt\  \ears  he  was  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  and  for  many  vears  was  Coroner. 
He  was  a  Tree  Mason  ;ind  a  Democrat,  and 
one  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  his  time  in 
])olitics.  Jonas  Lakin's  wife  was  I'rudence 
I'arks,  daughter  of  "Boswin  "  Parks,  the  most 
noted  scout  and  hunter  in  this  part  of  the 
conntrv  in  Revolutionary  times. 

"Boswin  "  Parks's  real  name  was  Josiah  ; 
and  he,  with  a  man  named  .Skinner,  was  the 
first  to  take  a  raft  tlown   the  ri\er  to  Philadel- 


494 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


phia.  Skinner  was  nicknamed  "Admiral"; 
and  at  tlie  same  time  Parks  received  his  sobri- 
quot  of  the  "Hoswin,"  by  which  he  is  gen- 
erally remembered  in  the  Delaware  Valley. 
Stories  of  him  and  his  daring  exploits  are  very 
numerous.  He  often  lay  concealed  for  days  at 
a  time  to  escape  the  Indians,  at  one  time  hid- 
ing with  his  family  in  a  cave  near  Equino.x, 
Pa.,  while  the  Indians  searched  the  surround- 
ing country  for  him.  He  was  a  man  of  ath- 
letic build  and  matchless  nerve,  an  antagonist 
to  be  feared  by  all  who  met  him  in  combat,  as 
was  well  attested  by  a  Tory  named  Goodman, 
with  whom  he  had  a  hand-to-hand  contest. 
They  were  coming  down  the  river  in  a  canoe 
together,  when  a  political  dispute  ensued; 
and,  leaving  the  canoe,  they  landed  on  an 
island  in  the  Delaware  River,  about  one  mile 
above  Fish's  Eddy,  and  there  fought  it  out, 
"Hoswin  "  coming  off  victorious. 

He  was  always  scouting  about  the  Indian 
camps,  finding  out  their  plans ;  and  many 
defenceless  settlers  owed  their  lives  to  his 
timely  warning.  Once  he  started  from  Co- 
checton  and  made  his  way  through  the  wilder- 
ness to  the  Wyoming  Valley,  to  warn  the 
settlers  there  of  the  approach  of  the  Indians 
and  Tories  under  Brant  and  Sir  John  Johnston. 
He  was  met  with  suspicion,  and  confined  in 
the  block-house,  the  officers  thinking  he  was 
a  renegade  or  Tory  who  was  trying  to  entice 
them  outside  their  defences,  that  they  might 
the  more  easilv  fall  upon  them.  He  was, 
however,  recognizeil  by  an  officer  as  "Boswin" 
Parks,  the  scout,  and  allowed  tt)  depart ;  but 
his  warning  was  unheeded,  and  the  terrible 
Wyoming  massacre  followed.  One  night, 
when  he  encamped  on  an  island  in  the  east 
branch  of  the  Delaware  River,  being  accom- 
l)anied  by  his  wife  and  small  children,  they 
were  attacked  by  three  Indians.  "Boswin" 
disposed  of  one  with  a  shot  from  his  rifle,  and 
then  turned  and  struggled  with  a  second. 
While  thus  engaged,  the  third  savage  managed 
to  twist  his  fingers  in  a  handkerchief  which 
the  brave  frontiersman  wore  knotted  around 
his  neck,  and  nearly  succeeded  in  choking 
him,  when  Mrs.  Parks  came  u])  from  behind 
with  a  butcher's  knife  and  cut  the  handker- 
chief; ami  her  husband,  regaining  his  breath, 
made    quick    work    of    the    remaining   Indians. 


This  fiercest  of  the  fierce  combats  of  those 
wild  days  gave  the  name  of  Bloody  Island  to 
the  place  where  it  occurred.  The  reputation 
of  Mr.  Parks  as  an  Indian  fighter  made  him  a 
valuable  scout  for  the  Revolutionary  army. 
His  thrilling  adventures  are  still  told  in  the 
valley  where  much  of  his  life  was  spent.  He 
was  an  old  man  when  he  died,  and  was  buried 
on  Partridge  Island. 

Mrs.  Prudence  Parks  Lakin  lived  to  the 
extraordinary  age  of  one  hundred  and  eight 
years.  Her  memory  was  excellent ;  and  she 
never  tired  of  telling  of  the  perils  of  her  early 
youth,  of  which  she  retained  a  distinct  recol- 
lection. She  was  well  acquainted  with  Tom 
Quick,  the  noted  Indian  slayer  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary days,  who  was  a  companion  of  her 
father.  Well  did  she  remember  how  on  two 
different  occasions  the  family  were  taken  by 
their  father  into  his  canoe  in  the  night  to 
escape  from  the  Indians,  and  how  many  times 
they  lay  for  days  concealed  in  caves  and  woods 
until  the  enemy  was  put  off  the  scent.  She 
retained  her  faculties  until  the  last.  About 
twenty  years  previous  to  her  death  she  dis- 
carded her  glasses,  being  able  to  read  without 
them,  and  at  the  age  of  one  hundred  often  took 
walks  by  herself,  going  three  or  four  miles. 
She  had  two  brothers,  William  and  Moses, 
natives  of  Hancock,  who  lived  to  be  nearly 
ninety;  and  her  sisters  also  li\-ed  to  a  good  old 
age.  Moses  Parks  was  a  pensioner  of  the  W'ar 
of  1812. 

Jonas  Lakin  lukI  liis  wife  cleared  the  land 
now  occupied  In'  their  grandson,  James  W. , 
and  erected  thereon  a  log  house.  They  were 
the  parents  of  nine  children.  Their  eldest  son 
was  William  G.,  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  Their  other  children  were:  Homer, 
a  farmer  and  lumberman  at  Como,  Pa.,  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  and  a  prominent  citizen;  Salose, 
a  merchant  lumberman  and  blacksmith  at 
Pease  luldy,  Hancock;  George,  a  Pennsyl- 
\ania  farmer,  now  engaged  in  the  livery  busi- 
ness in  Hancock;  Arad  .S. ,  a  minister  and 
missionary,  a  self-educated  man,  who,  ex- 
periencing religion  at  eighteen,  studied  for 
the  ministry,  preached  in  Delaware  County 
and  New  ^'ork  City,  enlisted  in  the  army  as 
Chaplain,  under  Sherman,  and  after  the  war 
went    South    anil     established    a     church     and 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


495 


school  for  tlie  cnlij;htennicnt  of  tlic  iK'i;n>cs; 
Elvira;  Thankful;    Louisa;  and  Sali\-. 

William  (i.  Lakin  was  cilucatcd  in  his  na- 
tive town  ot  Hancock,  and  was  a  lumberman 
anil  farmer.  lie  was  a  prominent  man  in  town 
affairs,  and  one  ol  i;reat  al)ilit\-  in  business. 
He  niarrieil  Sophia  Wheeler,  (lau,i;hter  of 
Royal  Wheeler,  and  i;rand-dau,i;hter  of  iMcder- 
ick  and  Mary  (Comstock)  Wheeler,  of  Han- 
cock. Mr.  W.  Ci.  I.akin  died  October  j6, 
1851,  in  the  i)iime  of  life;  and  liis  wife  sur- 
vived him  a  nmnber  of  \ears,  <lyin,i;  Se|)tem- 
her  23,  i.S.So.  I'heir  children  now  li\in_i;-  are 
as  follows:  Oscar,  a  larmer  and  lumberman  at 
Dingmans,  I'a.  ;  luul  S. ,  a  farmer  at  iMsh's 
lukly ;  I'orter,  a  farmer  and  lumberman  in  Han- 
cock; and  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

James  W.  Lakin  was  educatcil  in  the  district 
school  ol  liis  native  town,  anil  started  as  a 
limiberman  at  an  early  a_L;'e.  He  is  a  promi- 
nent member  of  the  l-'ree  Masons,  and  has  for 
two  terms  i)een  an  abk'  C'onnnissioner  of 
Highways.  On  May  10,  i-SX^,  Mr.  Lakin 
was  married  to  Lucy  .Sheiinan,  daughter  of 
Cieorge  and  Susan  (Lakin)  Sherman,  nati\-es 
of  I'ennsylvania.  They  haw  oni-  child,  (irace 
Lakin,  born  |ul_\  5,  i8,S-.  Mi-.  Lakin  has 
inherited  from  his  illustrious  ancestors  much 
ot  their  strength  of  character,  and  is  to-dav 
one  ol  tlie  ablest  men  of  the  town. 


^-fT^ROl'KSSOK  JOHN  V.  SMITH, 
I N^^  teacher,  well  known  in  Delaware 
|lS  and  adjacent  counties,  now  engage.! 
in  the  work  of  his  profession  at 
Ro.\bur\',  \.\'.,  was  born  at  Potter  Hollow, 
Albany  Count)-,  July  8,  1843.  His  great- 
grandfather, William  Sniith.  came  o\'erseas 
from  ICngland,  and  settled  at  Hangall,  Dutch- 
ess Countv,  N.N'.,  where  he  obtained  a  large 
tract  of  unreclaimed  land,  and  set  to  work  to 
make  it  productive.  After  some  little  time 
he  sold  this  farm,  and  moved  to  Potter  Hol- 
low, where  he  bought  a  much  larger  estate. 
The  new  farm  was  still  a  wilderness  when  he 
took  it,  and  he  had  to  clear  the  land  before  he 
could  plough  it.  He  built  a  comfortable 
house  and  a  good  barn,  and  soon  had  a  beau- 
tiful home.  Before  this,  however,  he  had 
served  in  the  arm\-  throughout  the  French  and 


Indian  War.  He  lived  long  enough  to  sec 
the  beginnings  of  the  Ignited  .States  of  Amer- 
ica, and  to  take  some  part  in  the  early 
political  life  of  the  country.  He  was  a  [ef- 
fersonian  Democrat  in  politics.  He  died  at 
the  age  of  eighty-seven,  leaving  thirteen  chil- 
dren, who  all  lived  to  gooil  (dd  age. 

Isaac  J.  Smith,  one  of  the  sons  of  William, 
was  born  on  the  old  farm  at  Potter  Hollow. 
He  was  educatcil  in  the  district  school,  and 
at  the  age  of  eighteen  began  to  learn  the  car- 
penter's trarle  -an  occupation  which  he  fol- 
lowed through  life.  He  was  one  of  the 
leading  contractors  atui  builders  in  the  region, 
and  left  behind  him  as  witness  of  his  energy 
and  skill  many  well-built  tanneries  and  grist- 
mills. When  he  was  twenty  years  of  age,  he 
married  Miss  Phiebe  Wyatt,  a  lady  of  Welsh 
parentage.  He  built  a  con-ifortable  home,  and 
had  a  family  of  seven  children  —  Lot  J.,  Dan- 
iel, Leonard,  John  W.,  Orin,  Piatt  A.,  and 
Sarah  M.  Isaac  J.  Smith  was  a  Democrat. 
He  li\-ed  to  the  age  of  eighty-five  years,  his 
wile  having  died  when  she  was  si.\ty. 

Lot  J.  Smith  was  born  and  grew  to  man- 
hood on  the  old  Smith  homestead,  at  Potter 
Hollow.  When  he  was  seventeen,  he  began 
leaitiiiig  the  carpenter's  trade  with  his  father, 
and  worked  at  this  for  four  years,  until  he 
was  of  age.  Hut  he  was  more  interested  in 
agriculture,  and,  soon  taking  ujj  that  occupa- 
tion, followed  it  to  the  end  of  his  days, 
putting  forth  his  best  efforts  to  make  it  pro- 
gressive. In  this  he  was  ahimdantl)'  success- 
ful. When  twentv-one  vears  old,  ^Ir.  Lot  J. 
.Smith  married  Alniina  \'oung,  daughter  of 
John  r.  ;uid  Margaret  Young,  of  Albany 
County.  .Mr.  Young  was  a  farmer,  and  died 
at  the  age  of  si.xtv-eight,  survi\eil  by  his  wifi'. 
who  lived  to  be  eighty  years  oltl.  They  had 
seven  children  Peter  J.,  Julia  M..  Henry, 
Johi-i  W.,  Margaret,  Jeremiah,  and  Almina. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lot  J.  Smith  had  si.x  chililren 
-  -Samuel.  Isaac,  John  \'.,  Rosina,  .-Xnn  IC, 
and  Julia  M.  Samuel  married  Amy  Haga- 
done,  and  has  five  childreii.  Isaac  married 
Cynthia  Co]jpern(dl:  and  both  he  and  his  wife 
are  now  dead,  leaving  three  children.  The 
three  daughters — Rosina,  Ann,  and  Julia 
Smith — are  deceased.  Mr.  Lot  J.  Smith 
died  in  the  si.Nty-eighth  year   of   his  age,  from 


496 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


the  effects  of  a  fall.  His  wife  died  when  she 
was  sixty-eight.  Mr.  Smith  was  a  Democrat, 
and  he  and  Mrs.  Smith  were  members  of  the 
Baptist  church  at  Preston  Hollow. 

John  Y.  Smith  began  his  education  at  the 
district  school.  He  was  a  good  scholar,  and 
when  he  was  only  sixteen  he  got  a  situation  as 
teacher.  He  afterward  went  to  the  academy 
at  West  Durham,  and  took  an  advanced  course 
to  fit  himself  more  thoroughly  for  this  work, 
and  was  graduated  from  that  institution  in 
1S63.  Then  for  seven  summers  and  eight 
winters  he  taught  school  during  the  winter 
term,  and  worked  at  carpentering  in  the  sum- 
mer. In  1876  Professor  Smith  accepted  the 
offer  of  a  school  in  Durham.  This  was  his 
first  school  which  kept  in  session  the  year 
round.  After  three  years  of  satisfactory  ser- 
vice in  Durham,  he  accepted  a  call  to  Middle- 
burg,  where  he  stayed  four  years,  and  was 
well  liked  and  much  respected.  Then  he 
went  to  Gilboa,  and  taught  there  for  six  years. 
He  won  many  friends,  and  left  the  schools  in 
a  good  condition.  For  the  past  five  years 
Professor  Smith  has  been  teaching  in  Rox- 
bury,    where  his   record    is   well   known. 

Professor  Smith  married  Lucy  Hisert, 
daughter  of  Benjamin  F.  and  Ann  Hisert. 
Mr.  Hisert  was  a  blacksmith  and  inventor, 
who  lived  at  Norton  Hill,  Greene  County, 
afterward  at  Coxsackie,  and  now  lives  at  Hoo- 
sick  Falls.  Mrs.  Smith  had  four  brothers  and 
sisters— Dallas  M.,  Jannett,  Philip  B.,  and 
F"rank  Hisert.  Mrs.  Smith  was  a  Methodist. 
She  died  April  30,  18S8,  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
nine  years,  leaving  three  daughters,  who  have 
all  been  school-teachers.  The  eldest,  Alice 
Jeannette,  was  born  September  27,  1869. 
She  married  Zopher  E.  Reed,  lives  in  Rox- 
bury,  and  has  one  child,  John  Henry  Reed. 
Julia  Franklin  Smith  was  born  December  23, 
1872,  and  is  now  living  at  home,  as  is  also 
Almina  Ann,  who  was  born  March  7,  1875. 
All  three  of  the  daughters  belong  to  the 
Methodist  church.  Professor  Smith  is  a 
Democrat  in  politics.  He  is  now  fifty-one 
years  old,  and  has  the  respect  and  esteem  of 
the  town's  people,  who  know  him  as  a  public- 
spirited  man,  a  man  who  has  at  heart  the 
best  interests  of  his  school  and  of  the  com- 
munity. 


AMES  D.  CHRISMAN,  carpenter  and 
builder,  an  intelligent  and  worthy  rep- 
resentative of  the  industrial  interests 
of  the  village  of  Walton,  was  born  in 
the  Weed  settlement,  in  the  town  of  Walton, 
in  March,  1831,  being  a  son  of  Jacob  Chris- 
man,  who  was  born  at  German  Flats,  on  the 
Mohawk  River,  July  15,  1784,  and  died  in 
Walton  on  October  24,  1877.  Jacob  was  a 
son  of  Frederick  Chrisman,  whose  early  life 
was  spent  in  the  home  of  his  nativity,  Ham- 
burg, Germany.  He  emigrated  to  the  United 
States  in  1772,  bringing  with  him  his  wife, 
and  also  two  or  three  of  his  family  of  four 
sons  and  two  daughters.  He  bought  a  large 
tract  of  unimproved  land  in  the  fertile  flats  of 
the  Mohawk  Valley,  and  he  and  his  sons  be- 
came well-to-do  farmers.  A  brother  of  Fred- 
erick Chrisman,  William  Chrisman,  accom- 
panied him  to  this  country,  and  settled  in 
Chester,  Pa.  He  reared  seven  children,  five 
of  them  sons,  one  of  whom  became  a  whole- 
sale grocer  in  Philadelphia,  and  another  a 
well-known  druggist  in  the  same  city. 

Jacob  Chrisman  did  his  full  share  of  pio- 
neer work,  and  eventually  became  an  exten- 
sive land-holder.  During  the  War  of  18 12  he 
did  gallant  service  for  his  country  at  Sackett's 
Harbor.  On  September  11,  iSio,  he  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Betsey  Day,  who  was 
born  in  Craig's  settlement,  in  the  town  of 
Tompkins,  Delaware  County,  May  20,  1790, 
and  who  died  in  Walton  in  1850.  She  was 
a  daughter  of  John  and  Nancy  (Craig)  Day, 
both  natives  of  this  county,  and  prosperous 
members  of  the  farming  community.  Mr. 
Day  made  a  voyage  to  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
where  he  was  taken  sick  and  died,  leaving  his 
widow  with  one  daughter  and  four  sons,  of 
whom  John  Day,  of  Titusville,  is  the  only 
one  now  living.  In  1830  Jacob  Chrisman 
and  his  wife  came  to  the  town  of  Walton, 
and,  buying  one  hundred  and  fiftv  acres  of 
land  on  the  Delaware  Flats,  in  the  Weed  set- 
tlement, carried  on  general  farming  as  long 
as  they  lived.  Six  children  were  born  to 
them,  as  follows:  Henry  Chrisman,  of  Wal- 
ton; Mary  Ann,  the  wife  of  Michael  Hess, 
who  died  in  Buchanan,  Mich.,  at  the  age  of 
forty-four  years,  leaving  two  sons;  Eliza,  the 
wife  of   Peter  Hess,  who  resides  in    Hesston, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


497 


tnd.;  George,  for  many  years  a  hotel-keeper 
in  Hurley,  Wis.,  dying  there  in  October, 
1893,  leaving  three  daughters  and  two  sons; 
Ahram  and  James  D.,  residing  in  Walton. 
The  mother  died  September  7,  1850;  and  .Mr. 
Chrisman  subsequently  married  .Mrs.  Redeker, 
a  widow. 

James  D.  Chrisman  spent  his  \H)unger  days 
in  school,  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  began  a 
three  years'  apjirenticeship  at  the  carpenter's 
trade,  and  afterward  was  employed  for  a  year 
as  a  journeyman  carpenter.  In  Fel)ruary, 
1852,  he  started  for  California,  via  Nica- 
ragua, arriving  at  the  Golden  Gate  cit\'  on 
March  25.  I'rom  San  Francisco  he  went  to 
the  placer  mines  at  Rattlesnake  and  Wild 
Goose  I5ar,  si.\  miles  from  Auburn,  the  countv 
seat  of  Placer  County,  and  for  three  \'ears 
thereafter  he  engaged  in  mining,  owning  two 
claims,  one  on  each  side  of  the  river.  The 
following  year  Mr.  Chrisman  was  engaged  in 
the  lumber  business,  with  a  yard  at  Wild 
Goose  Flats.  .Although  quite  successful  in 
his  ventures,  the  love  of  home  was  strong 
within  his  breast;  and  he  returned  to  this 
State,  ha\ing  been  absent  four  years  to  a  day. 
Resuming  his  former  occupation  in  Walton,  he 
has  since  been  [jrofitably  em])loyed,  not  only 
in  this  county,  but  beyond  its  borders,  having 
erected  some  of  the  fine  residences  and  iiusi- 
ness  buildings  in  Wellsville.  Friendship, 
Hornellsville,  .-Xndover.  Independence,  and 
elsewhere,  also  churches  in  .Addison,  Wallace, 
South  .Addison.  Orrville,  Cameron,  and  other 
places  too  numerous  to  mention. 

While  working  in  Independence,  Allegany 
County,  X.\'.,  .Mr.  Chrisman  met,  wooed, 
and  won  the  estimable  woman  who  became  his 
wife.  She  was  then  known  as  Julia  A.  Bas- 
sett;  and  their  wedding  was  celebrated 
September  9,  1856,  at  the  residence  of  her 
parents,  John  C.  and  Martha  (St.  John)  I^as- 
sett.  Three  children  have  been  born  to  them, 
one  of  whom.  George  B.,  died  at  the  age  of 
twenty  months.  Two  daughters,  Harriet  J. 
and  Lizzie,  are  li\ing.  The  f(jrmer  is  the 
wife  of  Julius  St.  John,  and  they  have  three 
sons.  Lizzie,  who  married  William  Wade,  of 
Walton,  has  a  son  and  a  daughter  living,  and 
has  lost  one  little  son.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chris- 
man  are   finely  located    in    the   pleasant  house 


which  he  built  some  tliirteen  years  ago,  and 
which  his  son-in-law.  Mr.  St.  John,  and  fam- 
ily occupy  with  them.  .Mr.  Chrisman  occu- 
pies a  good  [losition  in  the  community, 
possessing  in  an  eminent  degree  the  confi- 
dence and  esteem  of  his  fellow-townsmen. 
Socially,  he  is  one  of  the  eldest  I'ree  Masons 
in  Walton,  having  belonged  to  that  fraternity 
thirty-three  years.  He  is  a  Chapter  Mason 
of  the  Scottish  rites,  antl  has  served  as  .Sec- 
retary and  Treasurer  of  I^lue  Lodge.  In  poli- 
tics he  casts  his  \c)te  with  the  Democratic 
party,  doing  his  full  duty  at  the  polls,  but  has 
never  been  an  aspirant  for  public  office. 


DG.AR  ().  L.AKI.X.  the  prosperous  pro- 
prietor of  a  well-stocked  and  finely 
equi])ped  farm  bordering  on  Lake 
Somerset,  in  Hancock,  Delaware  County, 
X.Y.,  was  born  in  this  town  in  July,  1837. 
The  Lakin  family  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  New 
York  .State,  and  the  early  ancestors  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  were  among  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  the  Delaware  Valley.  A  further 
historv  of  the  family  may  be  found  in  this 
volume  in  connection  with  the  biography  of 
John    T.    Lakin,    a   brother  of   Edgar. 

Edgar  ().  Lakin  was  educated  in  the  schools 
of  Hancock,  and  was  still  quite  young  when, 
owing  to  the  death  of  his  fatiier,  he  learned  to 
rely  upon  his  own  resources.  His  early  occu- 
pation was  that  of  lumbering,  working  in  the 
saw-mills,  and  teaming  the  lumber  to  the 
ri\'er.  In  1861  he  came  to  Homand  Tond, 
since  called  Lake  Somerset,  the  countr)'  being 
then  but  a  wilderness;  and  here  he  cleared 
his  land,  and  engaged  in  farming  and  lumber- 
ing, which  occupations  he  still  follows.  His 
extensive  farm  buildings  are  of  most  modern 
architecture;  and  his  two  hundred  acres  of 
land  near  the  lake,  togethi-r  with  one  hundred 
ant!  fifty-six  acres  of  woodland,  are  carried  on 
bv  the  most  im])roved  methods. 

Mr.  Lakin  married  July  26,  1S60,  Mary 
lunma  I-lvans,  whose  parents  were  Nathan  and 
Mary  .Ann  (Jordan)  Evans.  She  was  born 
near  Philadelphia,  her  father  being  an  engi- 
neer on  the  Reading  Railroad.  Mr.  Evans 
was  struck  by  an  engine,  and  killed  w-hile  yet 
in  the  prime  of   life,  and  at   his  death  left  a 


498 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


widow  and  three  children.  His  daughter 
Mary  Emma,  came  to  Delaware  County  when 
about  twelve  years  of  age,  and  till  her  mar- 
riage made  her  home  with  an  aunt,  Mrs.  Loc- 
mans,  of  Pease  Eddy,  Hancock.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lakin  are  the  parent^  of  four  children, 
namely:  Leonie,  born  October  15,  1862; 
Charles  E.,  born  October  S,  1864;  Edward 
D.,  born  February  8,  1876;  and  Reuben  A., 
born  August  10,   1890. 

Mr.  Edgar  O.  Lakin  has  served  his  town  as 
Collector  for  two  years.  He  has  one  of  the 
most  beautifully  located  homes  in  the  town  or 
county,  standing  on  the  picturesque  shore  of 
the  delightful  sheet  of  water  known  as  Lake 
Somerset,  the  homestead  being  surrounded 
by  stately  and  venerable  trees.  Everything 
about  the  estate  gives  evidence  of  a  man  of 
taste  and  good  judgment,  as  well  as  thriftful 
industry. 


iDWARD  A.  ACKLEY,  managing  edi- 
tor of  the  Stamford  Rccorde7\  was  born 
in  Troy,  N.Y.,  May  30,  1869.  He 
comes  of  excellent  parentage,  his  father, 
Ferdinand  W.  Ackley,  having  been  a  man  of 
exceptional  ability.  Ferdinand  W".  Ackley 
was  born  in  W'ashington  County,  where  he  re- 
ceived his  early  education,  and  when  quite 
young  began  the  study  of  law,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Rensselaer  County  bar.  From 
his  youth  he  took  a  great  interest  in  politics, 
being  a  stanch  Democrat,  and  in  the  interests 
of  his  party  made  many  brilliant  speeches, 
which  won  for  him  a  lasting  reputation. 
When  he  died  in  the  prime  of  his  life,  being 
but  forty-two  years  of  age,  Rensselaer  County 
lost  one  of  its  best-known  lawyers  and  most 
energetic  political  workers. 

Edward  A.  Ackley  received  his  education 
at  the  St.  Paul's  School  at  Salem,  N.Y.,  and 
at  the  Bulkeley  High  School  at  New  London, 
Conn.  He  began  the  work  of  life  in  New 
York  City,  as  an  ofifice  boy,  and  step  by  step 
was  promoted  until  he  became  manager  of  the 
business.  Here  he  remained  five  years,  when 
he  started  a  manufacturing  business  for  him- 
self under  the  firm  name  of  Ackley,  Allen  & 
Co.  After  two  years  his  health  failed,  and 
he  sold  his   business  and   came  to   Stamford, 


where  among  the  Catskills  he  rapidly  im- 
proved. Being  possessed  of  literary  taste  and 
ability,  he  went  into  the  office  of  the  Rc- 
cor(iei\  assisting  in  the  editorial  work  as  a 
pastime  and  as  his  health  would  allow.  On 
September  i,  1893,  he  became  a  stockholder 
in  the  company,  and  was  appointed  director. 
September  i,  1894,  Mr.  William  Clark,  the 
editor,  resigned;  and  Mr.  Ackley  was  chosen 
editor  and  general  manager. 

Through  his  efforts  the  Stamford  Recorder 
has  become  the  leading  weekly  paper  in  Dela- 
ware County,  and  is  a  stanch  supporter  of  Re- 
publican principles.  In  the  spring  of  1894 
the  Recorder  printed  and  distributed  four 
thousand  illustrated  souvenirs  of  Stamford  by 
way  of  showing  their  appreciation  of  the  sup- 
port which  it  had  received  from  the  people  of 
the  town. 

Mr.  Ackley  is  interested  in  all  enterprises 
calculated  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  town, 
and  in  all  things  shows  himself  a  public- 
spirited  citizen,  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  good 
government  and  the  advancement  of  local 
interests  meeting  with  the  hearty  co-operation 
of  his  fellow-citizens. 


^ATTHEW  W.  MARVIN,  a  promi- 
nent lawyer  of  Walton,  and  one  of 
the  firm  of  Marvin  &  Hanford, 
has  always  resided  in  the  town  of 
his  birth,  taking  an  active  part  in  its  political 
and  social  affairs.  He  is  descended  from  an 
old  pioneer  family,  a  full  account  of  which  is 
given  in  the  sketch  of  his  brother,  Mr. 
Nathaniel    C.    Marvin. 

Thomas  Marvin,  the  present  Matthew's 
father,  was  born  in  Connecticut,  but,  when  a 
very  small  boy,  was  brought  to  Walton  by  his 
father,  Matthew  Marvin,  a  hero  of  the  Revo- 
lution, who  had  married  Mary  Weed,  of  that 
State.  This  worthy  couple  were  the  parents 
of  six  children,  five  of  whom  lived  to  reach 
maturity;  and  they  now  sleep  side  by  side  in 
the  Walton  cemetery,  having  died  at  ad- 
vanced ages,  firm  believers  in  the  Congrega- 
tional faith,  in  which  they  reared  their 
children.  Thomas  Marvin's  wife  was  Dency 
Tiffany,  of  Hamden;  and  after  their  marriage 
they  began   life  on  the  farm  in  that  town,  but 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


•199 


soDii  removed  to  the  old  homestead,  where  his 
wife  died  in  1845.  Thomas  Marvin  was  a 
soldier  in  the  War  of  18 12,  where  he  fou,t;ht 
gallantly  for  his  country.  He  was  a  Ueaeon 
of  the  Congregational  church,  in  wiiich  he 
had  been  reared  from  chililiiood.  In  1861  he 
took  up  his  residence  in  W'altnn  with  his  son, 
Nathaniel  C.  Marvin,  where  lie  died,  leaving 
eight  children,  namely:  Andrew  Mar\in,  who 
has  since  died  in  Hrooklyn,  N.Y.,  the  father 
of  two  sons;  William,  who  died  in  New  Jer- 
sey in  1 886,  leaving  a  widow;  Thomas  K.,  of 
Walton;  Joseph  T.,  now  in  Kansas;  Nathan- 
iel C,  a  popular  lawyer  of  Walton;  l'"red- 
erick  F.,  of  Kansas;  Mli/a,  the  widow  of  the 
Rev.  J.  P.  Root,  of  Boston:  and  Matthew  W., 
the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Matthew  W.  Alarvin  was  born  in  Walton, 
November  18,  1832,  and  grew  u])  on  his 
father's  farm,  attending  the  district  school. 
When  nineteen  years  of  age,  he  entered  the 
Walton  Academy,  where  he  pursued  his  stud- 
ies two  years.  For  five  terms  he  taught  in 
the  district  schools  of  his  native  town,  but 
left  the  teacher's  desk  in  1862,  to  enlist  in 
the  One  Ihuulred  and  T'orty-fourth  Regiment, 
New  York  \'olunteer  Infantr\'.  He  took  the 
field  as  I-"irst  Lieutenant  of  Company  H.  and 
in  March,  1863,  became  Captain  of  that  corn- 
pan)-.  He  served  throughout  the  war,  fort- 
iniately  escajjing  injury,  and  returned  in  good 
health  when  the  struggle  was  over.  Mr.  Mar- 
vin has  received  five  commissions  from  the 
governor  of  New  \'ork,  among  them  those  of 
Adjutant  and  Major  of  the  regiment.  In 
1879  he  organized  one  of  the  best  companies 
of  the  State,  of  which  he  was  Captain  for  thir- 
teen years,  resigning  in  1892.  After  the  war 
he  began  the  study  of  law  with  his  brother, 
Nathaniel  Curtis  Marvin,  and  has  been  prac- 
tising for  about  twenty-four  years.  .Mr.  Mar- 
vin is  a  Chapter  Mason,  and  has  ser\'ed  as 
High-priest  and  Master  of  the  Lodge.  He  is 
also  a  Past  Master  Workman  in  the  .Vncient 
Order  of  United  Workmen. 

In  1864,  when  at  home  as  a  recruiting 
officer,  he  married  Isabella  Sinclair,  who  was 
born  in  Stamford,  daughter  of  Hector  and 
Anna  (Moore)  Sinclair,  of  .Scotch  ancestry, 
and  a  descendant  of  John  .Moore,  one  ol  the 
oldest  and  most  celebrated  settlers  in  this  por- 


tion of  the  State.  .Mr.  and  .Mrs.  Marvin  have 
been  calletl  to  ]jart  with  one  tiaughter,  Dency, 
who  tlieil  when  thirteen  years  of  age.  They 
have  five  children  now  living:  Llizabelh,  wife 
of  William  Wells,  of  Mi(ldlet<nvn,  who  has 
one  daughter;  Mary,  who  married  Phili]) 
Titus,  and  has  one  son  and  one  daughter; 
Hector  .S.,  who  resides  at  home,  and  is  As- 
sistant Postmaster;  Harry  F.,  a  lad  in  school; 
and  Anna  lk-11,  a  young  lady  still  at  school. 

Mr.  Marvin  has  been  Supervisor  of  the 
town.  President  of  the  village,  and  Presi- 
dent of  the  Hoard  of  Kducation.  He  has  also 
served  one  term  in  the  State  .Senate.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Republican  party,  the  interests 
of  which  he  ever  has  at  heart,  and  whose 
principles  receive  his  earnest  support.  A 
gentleman  of  high  moral  character,  brilliant 
intellect,  and  untiring  energy,  he  is  regarded 
by  his  friends  and  associates  as  a  living  ex- 
ample I  if  honor  and  u])rightness. 


LLIAM     H.    WEBB     is    a    man    to 


whom  have  come  experiences,  dan- 
gers, and  deprivations  which  it  has 
been  the  fate  of  few  men  of  recent  times  to 
undergo.  He  was  born  on  .September  24, 
1837,  in  Kilsby,  Northamptonshire,  England, 
son  of  William  Webb,  a  sheep-raiser  in  that 
place.  The  family  afterward  moved  to  West 
Haddon,  where  the  father  spent  the  remainder 
of  his  life,  and  was  buried. 

William  H.  Webb  received  his  early  educa- 
tion at  the  common  school  of  West  Haddon, 
and  when  eighteen  years  of  ;ige  enlisted  in 
the  Fifth  Northumberland  Fusi leers,  and  em- 
barked for  the  Crimean  War.  Leaving  Ports- 
mouth in  1854,  the  regiment  jMOceeded  to  the 
town  of  V'arna.  Turkey,  with  the  exi)ect;Uion 
of  meeting  tiie  Russians  on  the  Danube. 
After  a  short  stav  they  were  ordered  across 
the  Black  Sea  to  the  Crimea,  where  they 
landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Alma.  'Phey 
were  engaged  in  the  battles  of  Alma  and 
Inkerman,  anil  in  the  long  siege  of  Sebasto- 
pol.  .After  that  city  was  taken,  the  regiment 
proceedeii  to  Philipi^opolis,  thence  to  embark 
for  England;  but,  before  sailing  orders  ar- 
rived, the  war  with  Persia  broke  out,  and  the 
regiment  journeyed  overland   to  the   Red   Sea, 


Soo 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


arriving  at  Bushire  in  time  to  participate  in 
the  battles  of  Resliire  and  Ab  El  Hamid. 
The  Fifth  then  embarked  for  Mauritius  on 
Her  Majesty's  transport  "Simoon,"  which, 
when  off  the  coast  of  Ceylon,  struck  on  a  coral 
reef,  and  quickly  went  to  pieces,  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  lives  being  lost.  With  incredi- 
ble strength  and  endurance  Mr.  Webb  swam 
seven  miles,  and  reached  the  shore.  He  was 
shipped  on  board  the  "Mount  Stuart  Elphin- 
stone,"  and  arrived  at  length  in  Mauritius. 
Rumors  of  the  Indian  mutiny  now  began  to 
take  definite  shape,  and  the  remnant  of  the 
Fifth  was  ordered  to  Calcutta.  Proceeding  up 
the  Ganges  River  to  Chinsura,  they  disarmed 
two  regiments  of  native  infantry,  and  at  Bhag- 
alpur  met  with  similar  success.  Farther  up 
the  river  they  were  signalled  by  Major  Eyre's 
detachment  of  artillery,  who  had  met  the  en- 
emy and  had  been  defeated  by  them  in  am- 
bush. The  fresh  troops,  consolidating  with 
the  artillery,  met  the  mutineers  drawn  up  in 
line  of  battle;  and  after  an  hour  and  a  half  of 
sharp  fighting  the  British  were  victorious. 
The  Fifth  was  the  first  regiment  to  carry 
Enfield  rifles  into  India;  and  their  skir- 
mishers were  able  at  eight  hundred  yards  to 
drop  the  enemy.  With  the  superior  skill  and 
courage  of  trained  troops,  they  totally  defeated 
the  mutineers  and  took  sixty  prisoners,  whom 
they  hung  that  night.  This  engagement  was 
called  the  battle  of  Arrah.  At  Buxar  the 
victorious  troops  re-embarked  and  proceeded 
to  Allahabad,  where  they  joined  Havelock's 
forces,  and  with  them  pressed  on  to  Cawn- 
pore,  about  which  and  Lucknow  centred  the 
attention  of  both  British  and  mutineers. 
About  twelve  hours  before  the  arrival  of  the 
re-enforcements  there  had  occurred  in  Cawn- 
pore,  under  Nana  Sahib,  one  of  the  most  hor- 
rible massacres  ever  known,  only  four  men  out 
of  four  hundred  and  fifty  persons  escaping  to 
tell  the  tale.  Nana  Sahib  escaped  across  the 
river  just  as  Havelock's  troops  came  up. 
The  first  thing  to  meet  the  eyes  of  the  Eng- 
lish was  the  "slaughter-house,"  where  three 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  women  and  children 
had  btjen  butchered.  Mr.  Webb  assisted  in 
the  sad  burial  of  the  bodies,  and  then  with 
the  spies  helped  to  discover  two  or  three 
hundred  of    the   leaders  and  the   followers  of 


Nana.  These  sepoys  were  brought  before  the 
English  army,  the  artillery  was  set  up,  and 
they  were  shot  from  the  mouths  of  the  cannon. 
On  September  20,  Havelock,  with  about  two 
thousand  two  hundred  men,  started  for  Luck- 
now,  to  relieve  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  and  the 
beleaguered  garrison.  At  Marigunge  the 
enemy  were  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle,  and 
Havelock's  forces  cut  their  way  through  the 
centre  of  that  immense  army  of  fifty  thousand, 
and  kept  on  to  Bunio  Bridge  on  the  river 
Dumree.  On  tliis  march  two  hundred  and 
twenty-three  men  were  killed,  six  of  whom 
were  commissioned  officers.  On  entering 
Lucknow,  the  Fifth  Regiment,  being  the 
right  of  the  line,  was  first  to  cross  the  bridge, 
and  lost  six  hundred  and  sixty-three  ofificers 
and  men,  and,  on  reaching  the  city,  was  re- 
duced to  two  hundred  and  thirty  men  under 
Major  Simmons.  Here  it  was  that  William 
H.  Webb  passed  his  twenty-second  birthday. 
The  next  morning  they  advanced  on  the  rear 
of  the  troops  of  the  enemy,  and  made  it  possi- 
ble for  the  remainder  of  Havelock's  forces  to 
come  through.  On  September  25,  1857,  they 
entered  the  residency,  and  found  the  rem- 
nants of  the  Thirty-second  Infantry,  Captain 
Oliphant's  battery,  and  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  women  and  children.  The  siege 
lasted  four  months;  and  during  that  time  the 
besieged  subsisted  on  four  ounces  of  rice  a 
day,  and  day  and  night  kept  their  rifles  loaded 
by  their  sides,  ready,  waking  or  sleeping,  for 
the  call  to  duty.  After  a  while  the  enemy 
began  to  fire  upon  the  hospital.  The  general 
gave  orders  that  the  firing  must  be  silenced, 
and  detailed  Major  Simmons  for  the  duty, 
The  Major,  taking  the  forlorn  hope,  composed 
of  fifty  volunteers  of  his  own  regiment,  Mr. 
Webb  being  one  of  the  number,  proceeded 
along  till  they  came  to  the  street  facing  the 
battery;  and  they  gave  the  order  to  the  rear 
rank  to  take  the  left  side  of  the  street,  leaving 
the  front  rank  on  the  right.  The  enemy, 
opening  a  fire  of  grape,  killed  every  man  on 
the  right  of  the  street,  the  brave  Major  being 
one  to  fall.  The  left  now  charged  the  battery, 
and  killed  nearly  every  man  at  the  guns,  spik- 
ing the  battery.  From  now  on  Lucknow  was 
surrounded  by  over  one  hundred  thousand 
mutineers,  being  re-enforced  from  Delhi,  who 


Thomas  E.  Hastings. 
^nd  daughter,  jennie  mabel. 


BIOGRA  FH IC  A  I.    R  EV I  K\V 


'^o^ 


constantly  fin-d  ujioii  the  town;  and  every  day 
the  hope  of  the  little  band  inside  grew  more 
desperate.  Each  day  the  tjuards  listened  for 
the  boom  of  the  relief  army.  The  women 
climbed  the  walls,  where  it  was  safe,  and 
gazed  earnestly  across  the  plains,  where  help 
would  first  appear.  At  length,  on  January 
26,  iS5<S,  Mary  Brown,  a  -Scotch  girl,  known 
in  song  as  "Fair  Mllen."  ga\x'  out  the  cry 
that  she  heard  the  bag|ji])es  in  the  distance 
playing  "The  Campbells  are  coming."  .Sir 
Colin  Campbell,  afterward  Lord  Clyde,  ar- 
rived at  the  city  with  his  Sutherland  High- 
landers and  others  on  jaiuuiry  27;  and  that 
verv  night  General  Havelock  dietl  of  dysen- 
tery, and  worn  out  with  privation.  Mr.  Webb 
was  in  the  rear  of  the  retreat  from  C'awnpore 
with  the  garrison,  and  received  a  bullet 
through  the  mouth.  The  British  trooi)s  con- 
tinued to  pursue  the  mutineers,  and  at  one 
time  Mr.  Webb  rode  eight  hundred  miles  in 
ten  days  on  the  back  of  an  elephant. 

May  16,  i860,  the  Fifth  went  on  board  the 
troop  ship  "Mcgera,"  at  Calcutta,  under  com- 
mand of  Sir  Hope  Grant,  i)roceetled  towartl 
China,  and  at  the  Pei-Ho  River  had  the  first 
engagement  with  the  Chinese,  both  on  land 
and  water,  capturing  all  the  forts  on  the  river, 
and  keeping  on  to  I'ekin,  which  they  also 
captured,  and  ended  the  war,  Mr.  Webb  being 
here  wounded  in  the  ankle.  The  homeward 
voyage  to  luigland  from  Hong-K()ng  was  made 
in  the  ship  "Cambodia."  and  was  not  without 
incident  and  peril,  the  most  irksome  experi- 
ence of  all  to  Mr.  Webb  being  when,  off  .St. 
Helena,  they  were  "lying  at  sea  becalmed, 
near  the  equator,  under  a  boiling  sun,  with 
scarcely  a  breath  of  air." 

The  Fifth  arrived  in  ICngland  ninety-three 
strong,  and  was  reviewed  by  the  Queen  at 
Hyde  Park,  January  i,  1863.  each  man  being 
presented  b\-  Her  Majesty  with  the  "  Lucknow 
Medal."  When  Mr.  Webb's  commanding 
officer  wished  him  to  re-enlist  for  another  ten 
years,  Mr.  Webb  said  that  he  had  seen  enough 
of  war:  and  he  received  this  answer:  "Well, 
if  you  w^ill  go,  you  must;  but  you  can  make 
up  your  mind,  Webb,  you  will  never  be  shot 
or  drowned,  but  whether  you  will  get  hung 
or  not  I  cannot  say.  G(M)d-by."  When  in 
Mauritius    Mr.    W'ebb.    then    a   Corporal,    was 


placed  as  guard  o\er  a  Dutch  murderer; 
but  his  prisoner  escaped  his  guard,  jumped 
overboard,  and  was  drcnvned.  Mr.  Webb  was 
reduced  to  the  ranks,  but  was  afterward  ]jro- 
moted  to  the  rank  of  -Sergeant.  To  tell  the 
whole  story  of  Mr.  \Vebl)'s  military  career 
would  be  to  give  a  history  of  the  Oime.in  anrl 
Persian  campaigns,  the  Indian  mutiny,  and 
the  China  campaign  of  i860.  His  memory 
of  places  and  events  is  remarkable,  including 
a  long  list  of  battles  in  which  he  was  engaged, 
besides  those  mentioned  above. 

After  lea\ing  the  service  he  was  appointed 
W'arden  of  Leicester  Prison:  but  that  position 
he  resigned  before  long,  and  in  1865  came  to 
this  country.  He  made  the  voyage  in  the 
"Harvest  Oueen,"  an  old  "Black  Ball  "  liner, 
landing  on  Sejitember  34,  1865,  in  New  York, 
and  from  there  came  to  l^nadilla.  Here  he 
worked  at  farming  and  railroading  for  a  time, 
and  then  Ijought  a  farm  in  Masonville.  This 
he  finally  sold,  and  bought  the  one  where  he 
now^  resides.  Mr.  William  H.  Webb  and 
Harriet  Deacon,  daughter  of  John  and  Eliza- 
beth (.'Mien)  Deacon,  e^f  South  Kilsworth. 
England,  were  married  in  St.  (ieorge's  Church 
at  Leicester,  May  24,  1864.  They  have  two 
children:  Harriet  Emma,  born  in  L'nadilla: 
and  Florence  Ella,  born  in  Masonville.  Mr. 
Webb  is  a  useful  and' highly  respected  citizen, 
has  held  several  offices  of  trust,  serving  ac- 
ceptably for  some  years  as  Justice  of  the 
Peace. 


(bJI  HOMAS  ]:LLI0TT  HA.STIXGS,  the 
It  oldest  business  man  in  Bovina  Centre, 
Delaware  County,  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Bovina  on  the  first  day  of  Aiiril. 
1829,  and  was  a  son  of  James  M.  and  I'liza- 
beth  (Elliott)  Hastings. 

Mr.  Elliott's  grandfather,  John  Hastings, 
who  was' born  in  England,  came  to  America, 
and  made  his  home  for  some  years  in  .Albany, 
where  his  son  James  ]\L  was  born  about  1797. 
In  1798  the  family  removed  to  the  town  of 
Bovina.  Here  thev  accjuired  some  wild  land, 
mostly  woods,  in  w^hich  bears,  wolves,  and 
deer  abounded,  agreeing  to  pay  the  rent  for  it 
in  wheat.  It  was  in  school  district  Xo.  14, 
then     known    as    the    town    of    Delhi.     The 


S04 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


grandfather  cleared  a  portion   of    this   place, 
which  is  still   owned  by  the   Hastings  family, 
built  a  log  house,  and  became  an  innkeeper  as 
well   as   a  farmer.      It  was  not  till   1813,  dur- 
ing the  last  war  with  Great   Britain,  that  the 
town    was    laid    out,    the    first    town    meeting 
being  held  on   October  28  of  that  year.     The 
school-house   was   furnished   with   fuel   by  the 
farmers,     in     proportion     to     the    number    of 
scholars  sent   by  their  families.     Bovina  was 
separated  from   Delhi  in  1820.     The  pioneer 
and  his  wife  were  Presbyterian  church   mem- 
bers.     He   died   at   a   good    old    age,    leaving 
three     sons  —  James      Madison,      John,      and 
Thomas.     John    Hastings  was    killed    by  the 
fall  of    a    tree   which    he    was    hewing    down. 
Their    brother    Thomas    Hastings    went     to 
Texas    before    its    annexation    to    the    United 
States,   and   fought   in   the   Mexican   War,  but 
died   in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  on   his  way  home. 
James  M.  Hastings  was  brought  to   Bovina 
by   his   parents  when   very   young.      Here   he 
grew  to  manhood,  and  here  he  always  lived  on 
the  same  estate,  much  respected  and  revered 
with    increasing   length    of    days.      In   all    he 
cleared  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  its  tim- 
ber,   and    gradually    brought    the     place    into 
order    for    general     agriculture,    though    with 
special   reference    to    dairy  work.      His  wife, 
Elizabeth  Elliott,  a  Scotchwoman,    bore  him 
four  daughters  and  three  sons,    of   whom   five 
are  yet  alive.     One  of  the  daughters,  Magda- 
len    Hastings,    living    in     Kortright,     is    the 
widow  of  James   Miller.      Janet  is  the  widow 
of  Andrew  Armstrong,  of  the  town  of  Andes. 
I'^lizabeth  resides  in  Bovina,  the  wife  of  Will- 
iam T.    Miller.      The  two  surviving  sons  are 
Thomas   Elliott  and   his  brother,   James   Ed- 
ward  Hastings,  who  resides  on  the  old   home- 
stead.    The  father  lived  to  a  serene  old  age. 
He  was  a  Republican  in  politics  from  the  time 
the  party  started,   and   had   held  minor  town 
offices;  but    the  mother,   who,    like   her    hus- 
band, was  a  Presbyterian  church  member,  died 
in  1865,  having  been   born  with   the  century. 
James  M.  Hastings  died    September  13,   1892, 
lacking    three   months    of    his    ninety-seventh 
birthday. 

Thomas  E.  Hastings  was  born  on  the  home- 
stead, went  to  the  district  school,  and  lived  at 
home  till    1852,  when   he  was  nearly  twenty- 


three  years  of  age.      Then  he  took  up  his  resi- 
dence  in    Bovina   Centre,    where   he  opened   a 
store  for  general  merchandise,  beginning  with 
a  stock   worth    only  twelve    hundred    dollars. 
At  this  time  he  was  in  partnership  with  James 
Elliott.      Two   years   later,  in    1854,    Mr.    El- 
liott sold   out   to   W.  D.  Telford,  and  the  new 
alliance    lasted    six    years.      Then,    in     i860, 
Mr.  Hastings  bought  Mr.  Telford's  share,  and 
for   five  years  carried   on   the   business   alone. 
In  1866  Mr.  J.  K.  Hood  joined  him,  and  they 
worked  together  two  years,  till   1868.     Then 
came  another  change.     This  time  it  was  the 
senior  partner  who  sold  out  to  the  junior,  Mr. 
Hood,    Mr.    Hastings   retiring  from   trade  for 
nearly   two  years.      In    1870  he    put    up    new 
buildings,  where  he  opened   a  store  which   he 
carried    on    till    1893,    when    he   sold    out    to 
A.  T.  Doig,  who  still  owns  it.     There  are  not 
many  older  traders  than   Mr.  Hastings  in  the 
county.     Though    no    longer    selling    general 
merchandise,  he  deals   in  agricultural   imple- 
ments,   cattle  feed,    and   land   fertilizers.      In 
all  his  busy  years  he  never  kept  a  clerk,  he 
and  his  partners    preferring    to   do  the   work 
themselves;    yet   in  his   last  year  as  a  store- 
keeper the  business  amounted  to  forty  thou- 
sand dollars. 

In  1859,  at  the  age  of  thirty,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Jane  S.  Blair,  a  daughter  of  Peter 
Blair,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Bovina. 
Mrs.  Hastings  died  at  forty-five  years  of  age, 
in  1886,  leaving  five  children,  who  all  re- 
ceived an  excellent  education.  James  Blair 
Hastings,  born  in  i860,  and  a  graduate  of 
Hamilton  College,  is  a  professor  in  Franklin. 
Elmer  Ellsworth  Hastings,  born  in  1862,  lives 
in  Bovina.  He  is  a  graduate  of  Poughkeepsie 
Business  College.  William  Elliott  Hastings 
graduated  from  the  Franklin  Institute,  and  is 
now  a  clerk  in  Delhi.  Milton  Hastings  is  a 
pupil  at  the  same  school.  Their  sister,  Jen- 
nie Mabel  Hastings,  is  at  home.  Their 
father  is  a  Republican,  and  was  several  years 
Town  Clerk.  He  is  a  reliable  Presbyterian, 
as  was  Mrs.  Hastings.  Mr.  Hastings  is  never 
without  some  good  story  to  tell  of  the  early 
days  of  the  town;  for  he  is  well  informed 
about  everything  and  everybody  in  town,  and 
can  narrate  the  history  of  four  generations. 
As  may  be  seen  from   this   account   of  him. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIp:\V 


505 


Thomas  E.  Hastings  is  a  very  self-reliant 
man,  who  might  adopt  as  his  own  the  sayinj; 
of  the  celebrated  author  of  "Don  Ouixote,"" 
"lie  is  best  served  who  has  no  occasion  to 
put  the  hands  of  others  at  the  end  of  his 
arms."  His  portrait,  with  that  of  his  ilaiii;li- 
ter,  Jennie  Mabel,  is  a  pleasin.ij;  accompani- 
ment   of   this   outline  sketch   of   his    life. 


i'.oRGK     ArCiU.srrs     JTDD,    a 

much  respected  citizen,  and  widel\' 
known  as  one  of  the  lari;est  land- 
owners of  Middletown,  Delaware  County, 
N.Y.,  is  a  native  of  that  place,  his  birth  hav- 
ing occurred  there  August  li,  1S25.  He  is 
the  son  of  Truman  and  Lucy  (Johnson)  Judd, 
his  paternal  grand]iarents  being  Demas  and 
IClizabeth  Judd.  The  grandfather,  Demas 
ludd,  was  born  in  Schoharie  Count)-,  and  was 
a  ]irosperous  farmer,  a  Whig  in  politics,  and 
a  soldier  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  He 
lived  to  be  over  eighty  years  old.  his  wife 
being  eighty-two  at  the  time  of  her  death. 
A  family  of  seven  children  were  liorn  to  this 
worthy  couple;  namely,  Demas,  Hamilton, 
Parmalee,  Anthony,  Marena,  IMarvin,  and 
Truman.  The  last  named,  father  of  .Augus- 
tus, was  born  .April  ,30,  iSoo.  .  He  learned 
the  art  of  dressing  cloth,  and  found  employ- 
ment in  Halcottsville,  in  Woodstock,  Ulster 
County,  Olive,  Greene  County,  and  various 
other  places.  At  last  he  liought  a  farm  for 
himself  at  Red  Kill,  now  owned  by  George 
G.  Kelly.  This  he  greatly  improved,  and 
sold  within  five  years,  moving  to  another  farm 
about  a  mile  away.  After  residing  here  some 
years,  he  bought  a  farm  in  Lexington,  Greene 
County,  and  lived  there  ten  years.  During 
this  time  he  lost  his  wife,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  seventv.  .Since  leaving  Lexington,  he  has 
resided  in  Ikishnellville,  Ulster  County,  and 
has  now  attained  the  remarkable  age  of  ninety- 
four.  He  is  a  Republican  in  ]H)litics,  and  is 
held  in  high  esteem  by  his  fellow-townsmen, 
who,  during  his  active  career,  called  upon  him 
to  fill  several  town  offices.  His  wife  was 
Lucy,  daughter  of  Luther  Johnson,  a  Revolu- 
tionary patriot  and  soldier.  Their  family  of 
seven  children  inherited  the  sterling  qualities 
of    their   ancestors,    both    in    independence    of 


mind  and  jjusiness  ability,  each  rearing  a  fam- 
ily, whose  respective  members  were  in  their 
turn  prominent  and  valuable  citizens  in  the 
localities  where  tiiey  settled.  Tiiey  were  as 
follows:  ICmily,  who  married  I'^li  Jenkins, 
and  dieil,  leaving  five  children;  G.  Augustus; 
Demas,  who  cliose  for  his  wife  Caroline  (jar- 
rison,  anil  removed  to  Minnesota,  and  had  a 
family  of  eight  children;  Ivlizabeth,  who  he- 
came  the  wife  of  Henry  G.  Cartright,  removed 
with  her  husband  to  Illinois,  and  is  the 
mother  of  four  children;  William,  who  set- 
tled in  Athens,  (ireene  County,  X.Y.,  and 
married  Hannah  Winter,  and  has  one  child; 
Truman,  who  took  to  wife  Margaret  Mabce, 
and  lives  in  Hushnellville,  having  two  chil- 
dren: Lucv  A.,  who  married  James  Sharp, 
and  went  to  Illinois,  and  has  two  children. 
G.  Augustus  Judd  grew  to  manhood  in  his 
native  town.  (3f  the  first  three  hundred  dol- 
lars he  earned  he  lust  two  hundred  by  the 
faihn-e  of  his  employer;  but,  not  discouraged, 
he  kept  on  in  the  path  which  was  to  lead  to 
success.  He  began  business  for  himself  at 
the  age  of  nineteen,  farming  and  dealing  in 
cattle  and  horses,  for  which  he  found  a  market 
in  Dutchess  County,  but  finally  buying  a  farm 
at  Red  Kill.  This  w^as  the  beginning  of  his 
investments  in  real  estate  and  in  the  accumu- 
lation of  property,  in  which  he  has  since  been 
so  successful.  After  buying  and  selling  vari- 
ous farms,  his  operations  extending  over  a 
period  of  fifty  years,  he  is  now  the  owner  of 
one  thousand  acres  of  land,  most  of  which  is 
highly  cultivated  and  improved.  This  he 
has  accomplished  by  enterjirise,  industry,  and 
good  management. 

November  5,  1884,  he  married  \ancy  J. 
Osterhoudt,  tlaughter  of  Solomon  and  Nancy 
Ann  (Bookhoudt)  Osterhoudt.  Her  father, 
Solomon  Osterhoudt,  was  born  in  Woodstock, 
Ulster  County,  N.Y.,  and  was  engaged  in  the 
clothing  business  at  ClovesviUe,  Delaware 
County,  \.V.  He  married  Nancy  Ann. 
daughter  of  John  Bookhoudt,  one  of  the  first 
settlers  of  Roxbury,  and  the  father  of  nine 
children,  by  name  James,  Margaret.  Sarah, 
Sidney.  Anthony  W.,  .\ugusta,  Jackson, 
Albert,  and  Nancy  Jane.  The  maternal 
grandmother  of  Mrs.  Judd.  Nancy  .Ann  Book- 
houdt,   was  born   in   Ireland. 


So6 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judd  have  two  children:  Har- 
old O.,  born  April  lo,  1888;  and  A.  Hillis, 
born  November  2,  1891.  Mr.  Judd  is  a 
prominent  man  in  Middletown,  and  highly 
esteemed  for  his  personal  qualities.  He  has 
lived  an  industrious  life,  mailing  the  best  of 
his  opportunities;  and  his  example  is  worthy 
of  emulation  by  the  rising  generation.  His 
home  is  at  Griffin's  Corners,  where  he  lives  a 
retired  life.  He  takes  an  interest  in  politics, 
and  is  a  warm  supporter  of  the  Republican 
party.  In  his  religion  he  is  liberal  in  his 
views,  taking  little  interest  in  dogmatic  the- 
ology, but  striving  so  to  live  as  to  have  a 
conscience  "'void  of  offence  toward  God  and 
man." 


rOSEPH  DARROVV,  a  much  respected 
farmer  of  Hancock,  Delaware  County, 
N.Y.,  was  born  December  2,  i8i8,  at 
Cannonsville,  in  the  adjoining  town  of 
Tompkins.  His  father,  Ebenezer  Darrow,  a 
descendant  of  an  old  family  who  were  among 
the  first  settlers  of  New  England,  was  born  in 
New  London,  Conn.,  and  followed  the  trade 
of  carpenter  and  joiner  in  Cannonsville  and 
vicinity,  having  here  located  his  home  early 
in  the  nineteenth  century.  He  married 
Electa  Lowrey,  daughter  of  Memucan  Low- 
rey.  Her  father  was  also  a  carpenter  and 
joiner,  who  followed  that  occupation  all  his 
days,  and  whose  family  were  pioneers  of  the 
town  of  Tompkins,  coming  there  from  Con- 
necticut about  the  year  1800.  Ebenezer  Dar- 
row died  in  early  manhood,  leaving  his  wife 
with  four  children,  .namely :  Joseph,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch;  Nancy,  who  married  Nel- 
son Chamberlin,  of  Cannonsville;  Catherine, 
who  is  unmarried,  and  since  their  mother's 
death  has  kept  house  for  her  brother  Joseph ; 
and  Caroline,  who  married  William  LaBarr, 
of  Hancock,  Delaware  County,  and  moved 
to  Belvidere,  Boone  County,  111.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  LaBarr  have  two  children:  Bradley  B., 
a  hardware  and  stove  dealer  in  Belvidere,  who 
married  a  Miss  Jones,  of  the  same  town;  and 
Ella,  who  married  a  Mr.  Cleveland,  also  a 
resident  of  Belvidere,    111. 

Joseph   Darrow   was   educated   at    Cannons- 
ville, and   first  worked  in  saw-mills,  spending 


a  part  of  his  time  farming  for  Daniel  Cham- 
berlin, of  that  town,  the  brother  of  Nelson 
Chamberlin.  Joseph's  mother  married  for  a 
second  husband  Solomon  Jones,  of  Hancock, 
and  removed  to  the  Jones  homestead,  which 
Joseph  afterward  bought  from  the  heirs  of  his 
step-father.  After  Mr.  Jones's  death,  in  the 
spring  of  1845,  Joseph  went  to  Hancock  to 
work  the  farm  for  his  mother.  When  not 
farming,  much  of  his  time  was  spent  on  the 
river,  working  as  raftsman  and  steersman  for 
Marvin  Wheeler,  then  the  most  extensive 
lumber  dealer  in  this  section.  He  has  been 
through  many  perilous  adventures  on  the 
river,  the  Delaware  raftsmen  being  noted  far 
and  wide  as  a  hardy  and  brave  class  of  men. 
Often  in  the  roughest  weather  he  was  obliged 
to  make  the  return  journey  from  Philadelphia 
on  foot,  sometimes  walking  fifty  miles  in  a 
day,  carrying  his  purchases  on  his  back. 
But  in  spite  of  these  hardships  he  is  now 
hale  and  hearty,  and  is  highly  esteemed  by  all 
who  know  him.  Unmarried,  he  lives  with 
his  sister  on  the  farm  which  he  has  won  by  his 
untiring  industry.  The  natural  beauty  of  his 
estate,  which  is  pleasantly  situated  on  the 
river,  has  been  greatly  increased  by  tasteful 
cultivation. 


/^JeORGE  G.  KELLY  is  the  enterpris- 
\  3  I  ing  and  prosperous  proprietor  of  a 
^-"^  five-hundred-acre  farm  on  Batavia 
Kill,  in  the  town  of  Roxbury.  His  grand- 
parents were  Edmond  and  Lovina  (Liscomb) 
Kelly,  the  former  of  whom  during  the  early 
part  of  his  life  worked  on  a  farm  in  Putnam 
County.  When  the  Revolutionary  War  broke 
out,  he  took  up  arms  and  went  forth  to  the  de- 
fence of  his  home  and  his  country.  Edmond 
Kelly  served  through  the  struggle  for  Anier: 
ican  independence,  and  then,  with  what 
worldly  effects  they  could  bring,  plunged  into 
the  wilderness  with  his  little  family,  and  at 
length,  after  a  long  and  toilsome  march 
through  the  thick,  entangled  forests,  infested 
with  wild  beasts,  they  reached  what  is  now 
known  as  Roxbury.  Four  or  five  other  fami- 
lies only  were  settled,  so  that  they  had  to  cope 
with  the  rough,  rude  forces  of  nature  almost 
alone.     The   rifle   and   the   axe  were    equally 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


S07 


bout 


!•: 


necessary  while  Mr.  Kelly  was  erectinj,'  his 
first  log  house  for  the  proteetion  of  his  family. 
Often  at  night  the  stealth)-  step  of  the  prowl- 
ing panther  could  be  heard  as  he  made  the 
rounds  of  the  little  cabin.  Game  was  so 
plentiful  that  they  lived  for  weeks  on  the  flesh 
of  deer  and  bears,  and  on  the  fine  trout  which 
swarmed  in  the  brooks.  Mr.  Kelly  was  an 
indefatigable  worker,  a  man  of  great  energ\', 
with  an  iron  constitution.  Politicall)'.  he 
was  a  Whig.  He  and  his  wife  were  both 
deeply  religious.  They  were  members  of  an 
old-school  Baptist  church,  and  brought  uj) 
their  ten  children  in  that  faith.  These  chil- 
dren were:  Charles,  William,  Abigail.  Amv, 
Martin,  ICzekiel,  .Susan,  lulmond,  jr., 
rhomas,  and  Hannah.  lulmoncl  Kell\-  lived 
to  the  age  of  eighty-six,  and  his  wife  t<i  ;i 
the  same  age. 

Martin  Kelly  was  the  second  son  of 
mond,  and  was  the  father  of  George  (i.  Kelly. 
Martin  was  born  in  Putnam  Count)-,  and  came 
West  with  his  father,  sharing  tlie  hardships, 
and  afterwaril  the  blessings  of  the  pioneer 
home.  He  assisted  his  father  on  the  farm, 
and,  when  the  opportunity  came,  worked  for 
others  and  saved  his  earnings.  When  he  was 
old  enough,  .he  bought  his  father's  farm  and  a 
piece  of  an  adjoining  one  in  addition.  Martin 
had  had  some  educational  advantages  in  a  dis- 
trict school,  and  he  supplemented  what  he 
had  there  learned  with  so  jutlicious  a  course  of 
reading  that  he  became  a  well-informed  man. 
He  had  good  business  ability,  his  agricultural 
methods  were  the  best,  and  he  obtained  excel- 
lent crops  from  his  fields. 

Martin  Kelly  married  Alvira  .Stewart,  who 
lived  in  Pennsylvania.  She  bore  him  eight 
children  —  lulmond,  Julia  Ann,  .Syrenus, 
Stewart.  Anna,  Ezekicl,  George  G.,  and 
Abigail.  As  he  had  become  very  well-to-do, 
Martin  sold  the  farm  to  his  son.  ICdmond  1,., 
and  moved  to  Griffin's  Corners,  where  he  lived 
a  quiet  life.  He  was  a  Republican,  and  held 
the  offices  of  Supervisor  and  Constable  of  the 
town  of  Roxbury.  Both  Mr.  and  .Mrs.  Martin 
Kelly  followed  their  earlv  training,  and  were 
loyal  members  of  the  old-school  HajUist 
church. 

George  G.  Kelly  was  born  March  i8,  1S36, 
at  Red  Kill,  on  the  farm  now  owned   by  K.  L. 


Kelly.  He  received  a  good  education  at  th<- 
Red  Kill  flistrict  school,  and  worked  at  home 
till  he  was  of  age.  Then  he  w(jrked  for  v.-iri- 
ous  people  for  six  years.  When  he  was 
twenty-seven,  he  purchased  two  hundred  and 
seventy  acres  of  land  in  Middlclown.  When 
he  had  owned  this  place  but  a  short  time,  h<- 
was  offered  a  price  much  higher  than  what  he 
had  paid  for  it.  and  accordingly  he  sold  <,ut 
and  bought  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  acres' 
near  Griffin's  Corners,  owned  by  John  Book- 
hout.  Here  he  li\-ed  twenty  years  and  ten 
months,  [Hitting  uj)  sul)stantial  buildings  and 
making  wise  improvements.  Finally  he  sold 
that  estate,  and  bought  his  present  splendid 
farm  of  five  hundred  acres  on  Batavia  Kill, 
near  the  jiost-office  of  Denver.  He  has 
greatly  improved  this  farm  since  it  came  into 
his  possession,  and  it  is  an  interesting  place 
to  visit.  It  is  well  stocked,  well  watered, 
and  well  cultivated.  Mr.  Kellv  keeps 
seventy-five  milch  cows,  and  has  large  anfl 
roomy  barns  and  several  other  buildings. 
His  house  is  beautifully  located,  facing  the 
valley,  commanding  a  wide  vista  of  the  neigh- 
boring farm  lands. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-seven  Mr.  Kelly  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Susan  Carman, 
daughter  of  Richard  and  Sally  (Covell)  Car- 
man, who  came  from  l-'ishkill  on  the  Hudson. 
The  Carmans  were  of  I-jiglish  descent.  Mrs. 
Carman  was  a  tiaughter  of  .Samuel  and  Eleanor 
Covell.  Samuel  Covell  was  born  on  Cape 
Cod.  October  15,  1779.  He  died  April  15. 
1852.  His  wife  Eleanor  was  born  March  1. 
1783,  and  died  August  4,  1859.  They  had 
seven  children  Edwin,  I-'lecta,  Caroline, 
Priscilla,  Amanda,  Mary,  and  .Sally.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  George  Kelly  have  four  sons,  as  fol- 
lows: Derwood  B.  Kelly  married  Ida  John- 
son, lives  at  Griffin's  Corners,  and  has  one 
child.  Delvern  H..  a  farmer,  married  Xettie 
Hinckley,  and  lives  in  Middletown.  Ward 
Kelly  lives  at  home,  is  a  wide-awake,  ca))able 
young  man.  and  a  great  help  to  his  father. 
Cornelius,  named  for  his  mother's  brother, 
also   lives    at    home,    and    is    still    in   school. 

Mr.  George  G.  Kelly  is  a  Republican.  He 
is  an  A.ssessor  of  the  town,  and  has  always 
been  active  in  politics,  and  interested  in  the 
welfare   of   the   community.      He    is    hale   and 


So8 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


hearty,  and,  as  he  has  inherited  a  sound  consti- 
tution, will  no  doubt  live  to  a  good  old  age, 
respected  and  beloved  by  his  friends  and 
fellow-citizens. 


I'llRAIM  1)AXI1:L  l\h  KKNNA,  M.D., 
a  successful  medical  practitioner  of 
Walton,  is  a  man  of  strong  mental 
■  calibre,  well  endowed  by  nature  with  the  tal- 
"ents  requisite  to  make  him  a  leader  among 
men.  He  was  born  and  reared  among  the 
picturesque  scenery  of  the  Green  Mountain 
State,  his  birth  having  occurred  in  the  town 
of  Goshen,  Addison  County,  Vt.,  April  8, 
i860.  He  is  the  scion  of  an  ancient  Scotch 
family,  and  the  son  of  John  McKenna,  who 
was  born  in  Canada  in  1825. 

John    McKenna    left     his     Canadian     home 
when   a   small   boy,  and   grew   to    manhood   in 
Brandon,  Vt.,  receiving   his   education   in   the 
public   schools.       In    1851    he   was    united    in 
L.  marriage  with   Miss   Mary  Hooker,  a  daughter 

of  Daniel  and  Sarah  (Joy)  Hooker,  the  latter 
being  a  life-long  resident  of  Vermont.  Mr. 
Hooker  was  born  in  Massachusetts;  and  when 
a  young  man  he  removed  to  Goshen,  Vt., 
where  he  was  one  of  the  very  earliest  settlers, 
and  built  the  first  framed  house  erected  within 
the  town  limits.  Thirteen  children  were  born 
to  him  and  his  wife;  and  eleven  of  these  grew 
to  maturity,  the  following  being  their  record: 
Daniel,  who  settled  in  Goshen,  married  a  dis- 
tant relative,  Fannie  Hooker,  of  Cattaraugus 
County,  New  York.  Thomas,  who  remained 
single,  died  in  Goshen.  Joseph,  now  a  resi- 
dent of  Goshen,  married  a  Michigan  lady. 
Heman,  who  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  the  late 
Rebellion,  is  supposed  to  have  been  killed  in 
battle.  Rebecca,  the  wife  of  Nathan  Capen, 
who  has  held  the  office  of  Town  Clerk  in 
Goshen  for  the  past  fifty  years,  died  in  that 
place.  Sally  is  the  wife  of  Noah  Bisbee,  of 
Brandon,  Vt.  Levina  married  Stillman  Jones, 
for  many  years  a  hotel-keeper  in  West  Roch- 
ester, Vt.,  but  now  a  resident  of  LeRoy,  Mo. 
Jane  is  the  wife  of  Riley  Blodgett,  of  Roches- 
ter, Vt.  Susan,  the  wife  of  James  Washburn, 
a  farmer,  lives  in  Goshen.  Laura  died  in 
early  womanhood,  unmarried.  Mary  is  the 
wife  of  Mr.    McKenna. 


Mr.  antl  Mrs.  McKenna  have  spent  their 
many  years  of  wedded  life  in  the  towns  of 
Goshen  and  Sudbury,  Vt.,  and  are  highly 
esteemed  citizens.  Five  children  besides  the 
Doctor  have  been  born  to  them,  as  follows: 
Mary  J.,  the  wife  of  Albert  Sumner,  a  pros- 
perous farmer,  resides  in  Brandon,  Vt.  Annis 
R.  is  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  M.  M.  Mills, 
a  Baptist  minister  in  South  Otselic,  N.Y. 
Rev.  Erwin  J.,  pastor  of  the  Union  Square 
Baptist  Church,  Somerville,  Mass.,  married 
Frankie  Jordan,  of  Newburg,  N.Y.  Frank 
J.,  a  railway  postal  clerk,  running  from  Kan- 
sas City  to  Council  Grove,  Kan.,  married 
Alice  Smith,  of  Tola,  Kan.  Thomas  J.,  a 
graduate  of  the  Boston  School  of  Pharmacy,  is 
at  present  in  the  drug  business  with  C.  F. 
Browne  at    Beverly,    Mass. 

Dr.  McKenna  received  his  collegiate  educa- 
tion at  Colgate  University,  in  Hamilton, 
N.Y.  Having  decided  to  adopt  the  profes- 
sion of  medicine,  when  twenty-two  years  of 
age  he  became  a  student  in  the  office  of  Dr. 
L.  Haseltine,  of  Brandon,  Vt.  In  1885  and 
1886  he  attended  two  courses  of  lectures  at 
the  Albany  Medical  College,  and  subsequently 
continued  his  studies  in  the  University  of 
Vermont,  at  Burlington,  receiving  his  di- 
ploma from  that  institution  in  1887.  Dr. 
McKenna  then  took  an  examination  at  Belle- 
vue  Hospital  Medical  College,  in  New  York 
City,  and  there  received  a  diploma.  He  very 
soon  after  began  his  professional  career  in  the 
town  of  Hamden,  in  this  county,  where  he 
remained  until  September,  1893,  when  he 
came  to  W^alton.  He  has  here  gained  an 
extensive  patronage,  and  has  earned  a  reputa- 
tion for  professional  skill  of  which  a  much 
older  physician  might  well  be  proud.  He  is 
a  man  much  esteemed  in  the  medical  frater- 
nity, and  is  a  valued  member  of  the  Delaware 
County  Medical  Society.  He  is  a  prominent 
member  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Wal- 
ton. In  politics  the  Doctor  is  a  stanch  sup- 
porter of  Grover  Cleveland,  for  whom  he  cast 
his  first  Presidential  vote.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Walton  Lodge  of  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  In 
1 89 1  he  was  a  candidate  for  the  office  of 
County  Coroner,  running  against  a  Republican 
majority  of  one  thousand  five  hundred,  and  in 
the  unequal   contest  went  so  far  ahead  of  his 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


509 


ticket  that  he  cut  clown  the  majority  to  one 
hundred  and  forty-three  votes,  showing;  in  a 
most  cmpliatic  manner  his  popuhuily  in  this 
section  of  the  county,  lie  is  now  Ileaitii 
Ofificer  of   Walton. 

Dr.  McKenna  was  marriecl  on  I'ebruarv  23, 
18S7,  to  Miss  Mary  Iraver,  the  daui;htc-r  ol 
Alvah  Traver,  a  well-i<nown  attorney  of  Trov, 
N.Y.  Their  pleasant  home  has  been  i)ri,i;ht- 
cned  and  cheered  in-  the  birth  of  two  win- 
some children,  namely:  Morence,  born 
September  29,  1888;  and  Jessie,  born  Aui;ust 
12,    1890. 


of  Postmaster  for  four  years.  He  is  energetic 
ami  industrious,  and  enjoys  well-deser\e(l 
prosperity,  being  held  in  high  regard  by  all 
who   know   him. 


"irA.-WlD  G.  jr:NKIXS,  a  prosperous 
|p=^  and  well-known  farmer  of  Ihiion 
^.X^y  (jro\-e  in  the  town  of  Antics,  was 
born  in  Roxbury,  in  the  eastern  part 
of  Delaware  County,  March  26.  1845,  son  of 
James  and  Mary  (Garrison)  Jenkins.  He  was 
born  on  the  old  home  farm,  and  remo\ed  when 
four  years  of  age  to  Andes,  where  he  grew  to 
manhood,  anil  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  of  the  town.  When  twenty  years  of 
age  he  began  lumbering,  cutting  timber  for 
the  manufacturers.  He  subsequently  bought 
a  farm  located  one  mile  from  the  river  on 
Barkerboom  Creek,  where  he  erected  build- 
ings, cleared  his  land,  and  engaged  in  dair\- 
ing.  He  now  keeps  thirteen  fine  Jersey  cows, 
his  dairy  being  one  of  the  best  in  the  vicinity. 
In  1863  he  married  Julia  M.  Hanmer,  l)y 
whom  he  has  had  nine  chiklren,  namely: 
l''lmer  R.,  who  was  born  Jatuiary  17,  1865; 
Egbert  P.,  who  was  born  May  29,  1S67,  and 
died  April  27.  1871  ;  Ada  I.,  who  was  born 
January  15,  1870,  and  married  George  P. 
Doolittle,  of  Meischmanns,  Middletown;  I^va 
C,  who  was  born  October  15,  1872:  Maggie 
M.,  who  was  born  February  11,  1875:  Mary 
1"..,  who  was  born  May  5,  1879:  J.  Garfield, 
who  was  born  August  14,  1881;  I.aur.i  H., 
who  was  born  December  15,  1S84;  and  Bertha 
\'.,  who  was  born  October  3,  1887.  Mrs. 
Jenkins  is  a  (laughter  of  Robert  M.  Hanmer, 
whose  sketch  is  given  elsewhere  in  this  vol- 
ume. She  and  her  husband  are  members  of 
the  Baptist  church.  Mr.  Jenkins  is  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics,  and  was  Collector  of  the 
town  for  one  term,  and  has  also  held  the  office 


rm. 


i:oR(ii';   s.    .\.\DRi;\\s, 


an    enter- 


\\^  I  l)risingand  highly  intelligent  farmer, 
has  resiiled  for  fift\-four  years  on 
llamden  Hill,  in  the  town  of  llamden.  Dela- 
ware County,  N.\'.  He  comes  of  good  old 
New  l-^ngland  stt)ck,  being  a  grandson  of  .Sam- 
uel Andrews,  who  was  born  in  P'airlield, 
Conn.,  about  1766,  and  married  lilizabeth 
Marion,  also  of  Connecticut.  Thirteen  chil- 
dren, eleven  sons  and  two  daughters,  were  the 
fruit  of  their  union.  One  daughter  died  at 
the  age  of  twelve;  but  all  the  other  members 
of  this  large  family  lived  to  marry  and  have 
children  of  their  own.  One  son,  in  fact,  still 
survives,  Benjamin  Andrews,  aged  se\enty- 
two,  a  coal  dealer  in  Brooklyn,  \.\'.  .Sam- 
uel Andrews  was  a  small  boy  at  the  time  of 
the  Re\'olution;  and  in  his  old  age  he  de- 
lighted the  hearts  of  his  children  and  grand- 
children with  exciting  tales  of  those  stirring 
days,  the  burning  of  his  native  town  bv  the 
British,  his  escape  from  the  redcoats,  and 
many  equally  thrilling  adventures  which  he 
and  his  parents  could  vividly  remember.  He 
tlied  at  his  farm  home  in  Stamford,  X.\'., 
where  he  had  been  successfully  engaged  in 
clearing  and  cultivating  the  land;  but  his 
wife  lived  to  reach  the  adv.mri'il  age  of 
ninety-six. 

.Andrew  .Aiulrews.  a  son  01  .^anuiel  and 
l-'lizabeth,  and  the  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  biography,  was  born  in  .Stamford,  April 
9,  1802,  and  in  1830  marrietl  Maria  Peak,  of 
Hamden,  who  became  the  mother  of  six  chil- 
liren,  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  all  of 
whom,  with  the  exception  of  George  -S.,  have 
passed  away.  One  of  the  daughters,  Docia 
Ann,  lived  until  her  thirty-sixth  \ear. 
Joseph,  a  son,  died  unmarried  in  1872,  aged 
forty  years.  Daniel  B.,  also  unmarried, 
served  one  year  as  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  W;ir. 
and  passed  away  when  forty-five  years  of  age, 
in  1884.  Del'ia  A.,  wife  of  '  William  F. 
Close,  died  July  23,  1S84,  in  her  forty-first 
year.      Hannah,    the  third   daughter,    lived  to 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


reach  her  sixty-second  year,  dying  March  3, 
1893.  Mrs.  Andrews  died  January  29,  1859, 
when  fifty-five  years  of  age,  her  husband  out- 
living her  many  years  and  dying  in  Hamden, 
May  23,  1894,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety- 
two.  Parents  and  children  sleep  side  by  side 
in  the  cemetery  at  Hamden  Hill,  resting  in 
peace  after  lives  of  faithful  toil. 

George  S.  Andrews  was  born  in  Hamden  in 
1835,  and  here  attended  the  district  school, 
which  he  afterward  taught  for  four  terms.  He 
enlisted  in  1864  in  the  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-fourth  New  York  Volunteers,  Company 
C,  and  served  until  the  close  of  the  war,  when 
he  was  discharged  from  the  general  hospital 
at  Hilton  Head,  S.C.,  June  15,  1865.  On 
April  25,  1865,  Mr.  Andrews  married  Miss 
Eunice  Ellis,  of  Hamden,  daughter  of  Miles 
and  Ann  (Van  Akin)  Ellis,  both  of  Middle- 
town,  Delaware  County.  Mrs.  Andrews  was 
one  of  nine  children,  of  whom  all  have  passed 
away  except  herself  and  her  brother,  Elijah 
Ellis,  of  Harpursville,  Broome  County. 
Miles  Ellis  was  a  volunteer  in  the  Civil  War, 
during  which  he  died  of  fever,  in  1864,  aged 
forty-five  years,  his  death  being  followed  by 
that  of  his  wife  three  months  later.  Mr.  An- 
drews's first  farm  consisted  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty  acres,  which  he  bought  in  1866  of 
Ely  Kent.  Besides  that  he  now  owns  the  old 
home  farm  of  two  hundred  and  ten  acres.  He 
carries  on  a  finely  appointed  dairy,  keejoing 
fift\-  cows,  grade  Jerseys,  and  manufacturing 
superior  butter  for  the  market. 

Mr.  Andrews  is  a  Republican  of  firm  [jarty 
principles,  and  has  held  the  position  of  Asses- 
sor for  nine  years.  He  is  an  active  member 
of  Bryce  Post,  Grand  Army  of  tlie  Republic, 
of  Hamden,  of  which  organization  he  is 
now  serving  his  second  term  as  Commander. 
Judicious  in  the  outlay  of  money  for  improve- 
ments, energetic  and  industrious,  he  deserves 
the  success  won  by  his  unwearied  labors  and 
strictly  honorable  di.-alings. 


:AM   H.   SH-LIMAN,   who  owns  the 
.Silliman   homestead   in   West    settle- 
ment,   is    the    grandson    of    Eben 
Silliman,    who  came   in    1810  from 
Fairfield,    Conn.,    to    Delaware    County,    and 


settled  in  the  town  of  Stamford,  where  he 
bought  a  tract  of  some  hundred  and  fifty  or 
two  hundred  acres,  and  laid  it  out  for  a  farm. 
The  neighbors  among  whom  Mr.  Silliman 
cast  his  lot  proved  very  pleasant,  and  the  best 
of  feeling  and  the  most  cordial  relations  were 
kept  up.  Mr.  Silliman  used  to  tell  how  he 
became  accjuainted  with  .Seth  L\on.  He  lost 
his  pocket-book  while  surveying  his  new  land; 
and  Mr.  Lyon,  finding  it,  immediately  hunted 
him  up,  and  in  a  pleasant,  cordial  manner 
restored  it  to  him.  This  little  incident  was 
the  beginning  of  a  firm  friendship.  Mr.  Sil- 
liman lived  prosperously  and  well  on  his  Stam- 
ford farm  all  his  life.  His  wife,  whose  name 
was  Anna  Gould,  bore  him  ten  children  — 
Eben,  Jonathan,  Abraham,  Benjamin,  Daniel, 
Alexander,  Anna,  Catherine,  Caroline,  and 
Ellen.  Mr.  Eben  Silliman"s  death  was  a 
great  shock  to  his  people.  It  occurred  in  this 
manner.  He  was  painting  a  building,  when 
he  lost  his  balance  and  fell,  striking  on  a 
picket  fence.  He  was  so  lacerated  and 
bruised  by  the  paling  that  the  accident  was 
fatal.  Mr.  Silliman  was  a  Whig,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

Alexander  Silliman,  whose  name  is  sixth 
in  the  above  list  of  the  children  of  Eben,  was 
born  in  Fairfield,  Conn.,  April  29,  1806,  and 
came  to  Delaware  County  when  he  was  but 
four  years  of  age.  He  received  a  scanty  edu- 
cation at  school,  though  he  afterward  became 
a  well-informed  man  by  proper  use  of  his 
opportunities.  At  maturity  he  came  into 
possession  of  the  Silliman  estate;  but  after 
a  short  period  he  decided  to  sell  this  property, 
and  move  away.  This  he  accomplished  Feb- 
ruary 5,  1837.  He  worked  farming  for  a 
little  while,  and  then  went  to  Michigan,  pros- 
pecting. He  soon  returned  and  bought  a  farm 
of  one  hundred  acres  in  the  town  of  Jefferson, 
Schoharie  County.  Here  he  lived  for  ten 
years,  working  on  the  land  and  getting  good 
crops.  Then  he  came  back  to  Roxbury,  and 
bought  the  present  homestead  of  two  hundred 
acres,  one  hundred  acres  of  which  he  pur- 
chased of  J.  Collins,  and  the  other  hundred  of 
E.  D.  Hunter.  This  land  under  a  system  of 
skilful  and  thorough  cultivation  has  yielded 
very  gratifying  results.  The  place  has  been 
improved  by  additional   buildings  and  altera- 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


5" 


tioiis  in  those  already  staiuliiii;'.  A  part  oi 
the  present  thvcl ling-house  was  built  in  1795. 
and  is  still  in  i;oo(l  condition.  Here  Mr.  Sil- 
linian  lived  until  shortly  before  his  death, 
whicli  occurred  on  August  11,  1882.  at  the 
age   of   seventy-si.\. 

Mr.  .Alexaniier  Silliman  was  in  his  early 
tlays  a  Whig,  iDut  later  he  became  a  Democrat. 
He  married  Lucy  Montgonier_\-,  who  died 
August  13,  1854,  at  the  age  of  forty-tix'e. 
Like  his  father,  Ale.xander  had  ten  children. 
His  daughter  Louise  was  born  December  22, 
183J,  and  died  Xovember  2~,  1865.  at  the  age 
of  thirt\-two.  Mary,  who  is  still  living,  was 
born  December  24,  1834;  and  .Angeline  (de- 
ceased) was  born  March  18,  1837.  Ro.xanna 
was  born  May  18.  1839,  and  died  February 
26,   1872.      Hiram,  the  subject  of  this  history. 


was    born    Octobei 


1841.      William    was 


born  January  6,  1844.  Hetty  was  born  July 
25,  1846,  and  lived  till  November  7,  1874. 
Ella  L.  was  born  ^Klrch  13.  1848,  and  died  in 
her  thirty-fifth  year.  Harriet  was  born  on 
the  13th  of  April,  1850.  I'.mma  J.  was  born 
July  24,    1854. 

Hiram  II.  Silliman  was  born  in  Jefferson, 
Schoharie  County,  in  the  same  year  in  which 
his  father  came  to  Roxburv.  The  family  hail 
been  left  behind  until  the  niw  home  should 
be  in  readiness,  and  it  was  while  they  were 
waiting  that  Hiram  was  liorn.  He  received 
a  good  education  in  the  district  schocd.  At 
twenty-five  lie  bought  the  old  homestead  from 
his  father,  and  began  the  management  of  the 
farm,  which  has  steadily  grown  in  value  and 
productiveness,  vear  by  year  the  abundant 
crops  bearing  testimony  to  intelligent  and 
faithful  work.  On  January  5,  1869,  Mr.  Sil- 
liman was  united  in  matrimon\'  with  Ruth 
Keator,  a  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Mary  Kea- 
tor,  who  lived  at  Batavia  Kill.  Mr.  Keator 
was  born  in  1800,  and  lived  to  the  age  of 
sixty-nine  years.  His  father  was  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers.  Mrs.  Silliman  had  twelve 
brothers  and  sisters.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Silliman 
have  two  sons.  The  elder,  Charles  H.,  born 
June  25,  1871,  married  Carrie  Conrovv,  daugh- 
ter of  .Stephen  Conrow,  of  Gilboa,  Schoharie 
County,  and  is  a  Congregational  minister  in 
Friendship,  Allegan}'  County.  The  younger, 
Xorman  K.,  was  born  April  21,   1875. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  .Silliman  ha\e  a  \ers  jjleasanl 
home,  situated  at  the  very  head  of  the  valie) 
in  the  West  settlement.  He  is  a  Democrat  in 
politics,  and  has  been  .Assessor  of  the  town 
for  two  terms,  and  Trustee  of  Schools  for 
about  twenty  years,  besides  holding  other 
public  positions  of  trust  and  respnnsii)ilit\-. 
Mr.  Silliman  is  a  member  of  Cieur  de  Lion 
Lodge.  No.  571,  A.  I'.  &  A.  M..  which  he 
joined  on  January  6,  1866,  bein-  one  of  tiie 
first  members.  He  is  widely  and  favorabh' 
known    as   a   ])ractical   antl    successfid    farmer. 


'UHN  S.  Willi  1;,  a  successful  business 
man  and  po])ular  citizen  of  Downsville, 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Colchester, 
June  28,  1834,  a  son  of  Peter  \'.  G. 
and  Charlotte  (Sutton)  White.  He  is  a 
grandson  of  Benjamin  and  Lovince  Sutton, 
whose  genealogy  may  be  found  in  the  biog- 
raphy of  Ik'ujamin  Sutton,  Jr.,  of  Trout 
Creek.  He  grew  to  manhood  on  his  father's 
faim.  and  was  educated  in  the  public  schools 
of  the  town.  When  a  young  man,  he  \isited 
his  uncle,  John  White,  in  Ohio,  and  there 
engaged  in  agricultural  i)ursuits,  later  taking 
charge  of  his  uncles  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-two  acres,  on  whicii  new  buildings 
were  being  erected.  In  i860  he  made  a  visit 
to  his  native  town,  and  was  there  united  in 
marriage  to  Mar\-  K.  Radeker.  Returning 
with  his  wife  to  Ohio,  Mr.  White  again  as- 
sumed the  management  of  the  farm  of  his 
uncle  John,  and  cared  for  him  and  his  aunt 
until  they  died,  when  he  sold  their  farm  and 
removed  to  Delaware  Count)',  settling  in 
Downsville.  Here  he  purchased  property  in 
the  village,  one  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
acres  of  farm  land  outside  the  town,  and 
eighty   acres   of   timber   land. 

Mrs.  John  S.  White  is  a  daughter  of  Will- 
iam H.  and  Jane  (C'ampbell)  Radeker,  biog- 
raphies of  whom  are  given  idsewhere  in  this 
volume.  She  and  her  husband  have  one  son, 
Horton  \'.  (i.  White,  who  was  born  March 
28,  1S68.  He  received  his  elementary  edu- 
cation in  the  scliools  of  Downsville.  and  later 
attended  Walton  Acailemy,  and  graduated  at 
Eastman's  Business  College,  I'oughkeepsie. 
He   married   Alice    Kater.      In    company   with 


512 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


his  son,  Mr.  White  started  a  hardware  store 
at  East  Branch,  Delaware  County,  of  which 
they  are  still  the  proprietors,  Morton  taking 
charge  and  doing  the  active  husiness  of  the 
firm.  They  deal  extensively  in  hardware  and 
agricultural  implements,  and  their  store  is 
one  of  the   hest    in   the  town. 

Mr.  John  S.  White  has  been  Town  Clerk 
for  three  terms.  He  is  liberal  in  religious 
views,  and  is  highly  esteemed  throughout  the 
community  for  his  business  ability,  integrity, 
and  sound  judgment. 


(51  HEOPHILUS  F.  McINTOSH,  editor 
*  I  and  proprietor  of  the  Delaware  Repub- 
lican,  one  of  the  leading  papers  of  the 
county,  has  exercised  a  marked  influence  on 
the  affairs  of  this  section  of  New  York  as  a 
progressive,  public-spirited  citizen,  having 
aided  in  guiding  its  political  destiny  as  well 
as  in  promoting  its  interests  materially,  so- 
cially, and  morally.  Mr.  Mcintosh  is  the 
representative  of  a  well-known  family,  and 
comes  of  sterling  Scotch  ancestry.  He  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Kortright,  near  Bloom- 
ville,  November  30,  1829.  His  father, 
George  Mcintosh,  was  born  in  the  same  town, 
and  was  a  son  of  Simon  Mcintosh,  whose 
father  emigrated  from  Scotland,  and  was  a 
pioneer  of  Dutchess  County.  After  attain- 
ing manhood,  Simon  Mcintosh  served  as  a 
militia  man  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution, 
and,  subsequently  coming  to  this  county  as 
a  pioneer,  leased  land  from  the  Kortright 
Patent,  and  made  this  his  permanent  abiding- 
place. 

George  Mclniosh  was  a  life-long  resident  of 
this  county,  and  held  a  good  position  among 
its  successful  agriculturists.  He  married 
.Sarah  Jaquish,  daughter  of  John  Jaquish,  a 
native  of  New  Jersey,  and  the  son  of  a  French 
sailor  who  made  visits  to  the  United  -States, 
but  never  settled  in  America.  Mr.  Jaquish 
spent  the  early  years  of  his  life  in  New  York 
City,  but  afterward  became  an  honored  resi- 
dent of  Delaware  County.  In  the  Revolution- 
ary War  lie  served  seven  years  nine  months 
and  a' day,  being  Orderly  Sergeant  in  General 
Poor's  brigade,  and  an  active  participant  in 
the  battles  of  Monmouth,  Saratoga,  and  York- 


town,  besides  being  in  many  minor  engage- 
ments. He  also  served  with  General  Sullivan 
in  his  campaign  against  the  Indians.  Six 
children  were  born  to  George  and  Sarah  (Ja- 
quish) Mcintosh,  the  following  being  a  brief 
mention:  Theophilus  F"letcher,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch;  Perry  H.,  a  resident  of  Chico, 
Cal.,  unmarried;  Delia,  who  married  A.  L. 
Hagar,  of  Hobart,  N.Y.,  and  died  in  1889, 
leaving  no  children;  Sophronia,  the  widow  of 
Joel  B.  Carpenter,  who  resides  in  Walton,  and 
has  two  children;  Walter,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  twenty-five  years,  twin  brother  of  Olive, 
who  married  Reuben  H.  Dart,  and  now  lives 
in  Albany,  N.Y.,  with  her  daughter. 

Theophilus  F.  Mcintosh  acquired  his  edu- 
cation in  the  district  schools  and  the  printing- 
office,  in  the  latter  place  gleaning  a  vast  fund 
of  general  information.  In  February,  1843, 
being  then  a  sturdy  lad  of  thirteen  years, 
and  thrown  somewhat  upon  his  own  re- 
sources, he  came  to  the  village  of  Delhi, 
where  he  secured  the  position  of  "devil"  in 
the  Ga::ctte  printing-office.  He  worked  for 
his  board,  with  an  allowance  of  twenty-five 
dollars  a  year  for  clothes,  for  a  period  of  seven 
years,  becoming  well  versed  in  the  various 
duties  of  a  newspaper  office,  and  an  expert  in 
the  art  of  printing.  With  a  view  to  establish- 
ing himself  permanently  in  journalism,  he 
next  attended  school  awhile,  and  then  entered 
the  Express  office  as  a  compositor,  remaining 
there  four  years,  during  that  time  serving  also 
as  Assistant  Postmaster  of  Delhi.  The  suc- 
ceeding five  years  Mr.  Mcintosh  spent  in 
Rloomville,  working  with  Mr.  Champion  on 
the  Mirror.  While  there  he  met  with  gratify- 
ing success,  and  made  many  warm  friends. 
Among  other  prominent  men  of  the  time  with 
whom  he  was  brought  in  contact  was  the  late 
Jay  Gould,  who  was  there  surveying  for  a  rail- 
road, and  who  spent  most  of  his  leisure  time 
in  the  office  of  the  Mirror. 

In  September,  1858,  the  Rev.  C.  B.  Smyth 
established  a  paper  at  Delhi,  called  Star  of 
Dclazoare;  and  this  was  published  in  the  J///-- 
;v;- office,  Mr.  Mcintosh  being  engaged  to  do 
the  typesetting.  In  May  following  he  and 
Mr.  Smyth  purchased  a  press  and  material  at 
Walton,  and,  moving  it  to  Delhi,  established 
a  plant    which   was   the   nucleus  of  the  present 


Hlbert  p.   Minor. 


niOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


T '  ■ 


Ripiiblicaii  office,  Mr.  Sinytli  bciiii;-  (.-(litdr  and 
Mr.  Mcintosh  tlie  publislicr  of  tlie  Sldr  of 
Dcltu^'aii\  which  was  a  small,  livo-cohinin, 
four-i)ai;c  weekly  iia|)ei-.  In  the  spring-  of 
i860  Alvin  Sturtevant  and  Mr.  Mi-lntosh 
forming  a  copartnership,  purclia.sed  the  plant 
and  interest  of  that  paper,  and  started  the 
Delaware  Rif^ublicaii,  issning  the  first  number 
.May  14,  1860.  I-"roni  the  first  the  |)aper  has 
been  strongly  Republican  in  its  [lolities,  and 
during  the  Lincoln  campaign  of  that  year  was 
largely  instrumental  in  arousing  the  jieople  to 
a  realizing  sense  of  their  duties,  and  spurring 
on  its  jiartv  to  victor\-,  its  influence  being- 
felt  throughout  this  section  of  the  county. 
■  It  was  then  a  seven-column,  four-page  weekh', 
and  the  third  Republican  [lap.r  of  the  county. 
In  1864  the  Franklin  I'lsitor  was  ])urchased 
and  merged  into  the  Kcpiibliciui.  The  firm  of 
Stintevant  &  Mcintosh  continued  until  186S, 
when  the  senior  member  of  the  firm  disposed 
of  his  interest  to  Mr.  Joseph  l^veland,  now 
]5roprietor  of  the  Franklin  naiiyniaii.  In 
January,  1S69,  Mr.  Mcintosh  became  the  sole 
{iroprietor  of  the  Republican^  which  under  his 
management  has  lost  none  of  its  former  pres- 
tige, but  has  steadily  gained  in  strength  and 
popularity.  Soon  after  taking  ])ossession  of 
the  Jiaper,  he  enlarged  it  by  one  column;  and 
in  the  spring  of  189^  it  was  changed  to  a 
nine-column,  four-i)age  weekl\-,  beginning 
with  the  fii'st  number  of  the  present  \'olume 
(xxxiv.). 

Mr.  Mcintosh  has  devoted  his  best  energies 
to  his  W(n'k  of  making  a  newspaper  that  should 
educate  its  constituency,  and  kee])  its  readeis 
well  informed  on  current  topics  and  the 
affairs  of  this  and  other  countries.  This  he 
has  accomplished;  and  the  paper  is  lead  far 
and  wide,  its  cii'culation  being  t  nil}'  ec|ual  to 
that  of  any  other  paper  in  the  count}'.  Mr. 
Mcintosh,  who  is  a  man  of  un<loubted  integ- 
rity and  sound  convictions,  has  ser\'ed  on  the 
Republican  County  Committee  sewral  times, 
and  been  delegate  to  as  many  as  six  .State  con- 
ventions, besides  numerous  comity  conven- 
tions, lie  was  elected  County  Treasurer  in 
i86g  for  a  term  of  three  years,  and  served  so 
satisfactorily  that  in  1872  he  was  re-elected 
for  another  term  of  three  years.  During  the 
Warner  Miller   Senatorial    contest    Mr.   Mcin- 


tosh, who  was  a  warm  personal  friend  of  Mr. 
Miller,  look  an  active  part  in  the  campaign, 
which  was  conducted  in  a  most  aide  manner, 
although  Mr.  .Miller  was  linally  defeated  by 
Mr.    liiscock. 

Mr.  Mcintosh  was  marrii-d  in  1858  to  Miss 
I''rances  .S.  Kinder,  a  daughter  of  the  Hon. 
Steijhen  II.  Keek'r,  of  Hloomville,  and  a 
gi'anfl-daughter  of  the  lion.  Martin  Keeler,  a 
former  Sheriff  and  Judge  of  Dtdawaie  County, 
and  one  of  the  most  prominent  and  inlhiential 
I  men  of  his  dav.  Into  their  ple.isant  house- 
I  hold  circle  six  childii'n  have  been  born,  five 
'  sons  and  oni-  daughter.  Robert  I'.,  the  eldest 
I  son,  is  clerk  of  the  town  of  Delhi,  and  assists 
his  father  on  the  Ripnblicau.  ("harles  K.,  a 
railway  postal  clerk,  running  between  S\-ra- 
cuse  and  New  \'ork  Cit\',  married  Nellie 
Rogers,  of  .Syracuse:  and  they  have  one  child, 
Walter.  Ilenrx'  M.,  who  resides  in  De.xter, 
Mo.,  is  one  of  the  lirm  of  {■"risbie  &  Mcin- 
tosh, lundier  dealeis.  Cieorge  \\'.,  formerly 
an  assistant  in  the  Ripiibliciui  office,  is  now 
with  his  bidtlier  in  Missouii.  I''rances  S., 
who  was  graduatetl  from  the  Delhi  Acad- 
emy, married,  and  resides  at  Cazenovia, 
N.Y.  And  iM-ank  !•;.  is  a  student  at  the 
Delhi  Acadcmv.  Mr.  ;in(l  Mrs.  Mcintosh 
are  held  in  high  ri'gard  throughout  the  large 
circle  of  their  fi'iends  and  ac(|uaintances. 
Religioush'.  tlu\'  aie  Ixith  membt-rs  of  the 
Methodist  Fpisco[)al  church,  of  which  he  is  a 
Trustee. 


'S)f\  I.Hl'^RI  1'.  MlXnR.  senior  member  of 
the  lirm  of  ,\.  !'.  Minor  iS:  Son,  of 
Deposit,  N.^'.,  is  the  veteran  hard- 
war<'  (kaler,  and  one  of  the  princi- 
pal business  men  of  the  village.  The  firm 
has  a  large  trade  in  stoves,  ranges,  furnaces, 
paints  and  oils,  agricultural  implements, 
barbed  wire,  builders'  and  blacksmiths"  su[)- 
plies,  and  other  goods.  Mr.  Minor  takes  a 
lively  interest  in  all  things  beneficial  to  the 
village,  antl  has  aided  bv  his  influence  and 
material  sup]iort  the  various  ]>ul)lic  enterprises 
which  have  made  De])osit  a  prosjierous  and 
thriving   ])lace. 

George    Minor,    father    of    .Albert    P.,    was 
born    in     the    town     of     Co\entrv,     Chenango 


Si6 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


County,  and  was  very  well  known  in  Broome 
County,  having  been  in  business  there  when  a 
young  man.  He  was  twice  married.  By  his 
first  wile,  Maria  L.  Wattles,  a  native  of  Wal- 
ton, Delaware  County.  N.Y.,  the  mother  of 
our  subject,  he  had  two  children  —  Albert  V. 
and  Lydia  M.  His  second  marriage  was  to 
Ann  Eliza  Smith,  also  of  Delaware  County, 
by  whom  he  had  three  children  :  James  S.,  a 
sketch  of  whom  appears  elsewhere  in  tliis 
work;  Henrietta;  and  the  sister  with  whom 
she  makes  her  home,  Julia  E.,  wife  of  Will- 
iam L.  Laman,  of  Coventryville,  N.Y.  The 
daughter  Lydia  M.  is  the  widow  of  Sherman 
Piersol,  who  was  a  farmer  in  Bainbridge, 
N.Y.  Mr.  George  Minor  was  a  very  enter- 
prising man,  and  engaged  extensively  in  the 
lumber  business  in  this  county.  He  bought 
up  large  quantities  to  be  rafted  down  the  river 
and  to  the  Philadelphia  market.  Having 
made  considerable  money  in  various  specula- 
tions, he  put  it  nearly  all  into  rafts  of  lum- 
ber, which  were  imfortunately  overtaken  by  an 
immense  flood,  and  lost.  The  prospective 
profits  as  figured  by  him  had  been  very  large, 
and  the  disappointment  occasioned  by  the  loss 
of  all  was  great.  This  disaster  interfered 
materially  with  his  subsequent  business  ca- 
reer; for,  being  a  strictly  honest  man,  he 
could  not  take  any  of  the  advantages  resorted 
to  by  many  men  under  similar  circumstances, 
but,  as  quick  as  a  dollar  was  secured,  it  went 
to  pay  his  debts.  The  money  earned  by  the 
boys  not  of  age  was  used  for  the  same  purpose, 
and  to  fully  meet  his  obligations  was  to  him 
the  work  of  life.  He  was  able  in  this  respect 
to  be  satisfied;  for,  when  he  died,  all  debts 
had  been  fully  met,  every  one  of  his  creditors 
having  received  one  hundred  cents  on  the 
dollar.  He  died  in  his  seventy-seventh  year, 
and  no  man  has  ever  left  a  better  record  for 
straightforwardness  and  scrupulous  integrity. 
Albert  P.  Minor  was  born  in  Coventryville, 
Chenango  County,  N.Y.,  January  ii,  1830. 
His  mother  died  when  he  was  but  nine  years 
old.  and  he  was  only  fifteen  when  his  father 
was  overtaken  with  misfortune.  So  that  early 
in  life  he  was  thrown  upon  his  own  resources, 
not  having  the  paternal  hand  and  purse  to 
assist  or  the  advice  and  love  of  a  mother  to 
encourage    and    sustain.      Having     spent     the 


first  twelve  years  of  his  life  in  Coventryville, 
he  came  with  his  father  to  Deposit,  returning 
to  his  birthplace  when  fifteen,  and,  when 
nineteen,  coming  again  to  Deposit,  to  enter 
in  good  earnest  upon  the  tasks  of  real  life. 
He  engaged  in  a  hardware  store  as  clerk  for 
Elias  Chi  Ids,  who  was  doing  business  on  the 
identical  spot  where  his  own  store  is  now  sit- 
uated. He  had  received  a  common-school 
education,  supplemented  by  a  brief  course  of 
study  at  O.xford  Academy  in  Chenango 
County.  He  had  no  practical  knowledge  of 
business  methods;  but  by  diligent  applica- 
tion to  his  work  he  soon  mastered  the  details, 
and  became  an  efificient  and  valuable  help  in 
the  store. 

He  bad  but  five  dollars  in  his  pocket  to 
begin  with,  and  his  wages  were  not  large;  but 
he  managed  to  save  in  a  few  years  the  sum  of 
five  hundred  dollars.  He  had  by  this  time 
becomi?  so  thoroughly  conversant  with  the 
trade  that  he  felt  competent  to  go  into  busi- 
ness on  his  own  account.  Accordingly,  in 
1853  he  formed  a  partnership  with  John  M. 
Smith,  the  style  of  the  firm  being  Minor  & 
Smith.  They  put  in  a  new  stock  of  goods  at 
the  old  stand,  and  were  successful  from  the 
first,  having  a  liberal  patronage,  and  realizing 
handsome  profits  year  by  year.  They  con- 
tinued in  business  together  for  twenty  years, 
and,  among  other  additions  to  it,  had  built  up 
a  carriage  manufacturing  enterprise,  to  which, 
upon  the  dissolution  of  the  partnership,  John 
M.  Smith  succeeded;  and  Mr.  Minor  retained 
the  hardware  and  other  trade  in  the  store. 
After  continuing  the  business  for  some  years 
under  his  own  name,  in  the  spring  of  1888  he 
associated  with  him  his  son,  Clinton  S.,  the 
style  of  the  firm  being  then  established  as  it 
now  remains.  The  firm  of  Mint)r  &  Smith 
were  burned  out  in  1869,  and  did  business  on 
the  other  side  of  the  street  until  the  comple- 
tion of  the  Minor  Masonic  Block,  into  which 
they  moved  in  the  following  year.  This 
building,  which  has  since  been  occupied  by 
the  store,  is  of  three  stories,  forty-five  feet  by 
sixty-five,  and  was  erected  in  1870  on  the  spot 
of  the  old  hardware  store. 

Mr.  Minor  was  married  in  1856  to  Emily 
L.  Ogden,  a  daughter  of  John  Ogden,  of 
Deposit;  and   they  have  one  son,  Clinton   S., 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


S'7 


who  is  a  graduulc  of  Mastnian's  Husincss  Col- 
lege at  Poughkeepsie,  aiul,  as  above  men- 
tioned, the  junior  member  of  the  firm  of 
A.  P.  Minor  &  Son.  lie  was  married  to  Ida 
S.  Dean,  of  Deposit.  Albert  P.  Minor  owns, 
besides  tlie  building  where  lie  does  ])usiness, 
a  gooil  residence  property  on  I'ront  .Street  anti 
the  building  now  occupied  by  the  Courier 
printing-office,  lie  and  his  brother  James  S. 
arc  owners  of  the  Deposit  Marble  Works. 
He  is  a  member  of  Deposit  Lodge,  No.  396, 
A.  F.  &  A.  M.  He  has  held  'the  office  of 
SupL'rvisor,  and  has  long  been  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  ICducation,  having  served 
continuously  since  the  grading  of  the  schools 
in  1875.  In  politics  he  has  been  a  Republi- 
can since  the  time  John  C.  Fremont  was  a 
candidate   for   the   Presidency. 

Mr.  Minor  has  readied  his  present  comfort- 
able position  in  life  by  personal  effort,  and  is 
held  in  universal  regard  as  a  man  of  integ- 
rity, honor,  and  abilit\'.  lie  believes  the 
Golden  Rule  to  be  the  sufficient  law  for  the 
conduct  of  social  life,  and  is  disposed  to  judge 
[icople  rather  by  their  acts  than  by  any  pro- 
fession the)'  may  make.  He  is  genial  and 
generous,  nut  given  to  criticism,  but  liberal 
in  his  views,  and  w^illing  that  others  should 
enjoy  that  same  freedom.  A  kind  neighbor, 
a  judicious  counsellor  and  faithful  friend,  his 
advice  is  much  sought  after,  especially  in 
money  matters  by  widows  and  orphans.  It 
may  well  be  said  of  him  that  he  has  served 
those   truly   who   have   put    him    in    trust. 

The  publishers  of  this  "Review"  are  happy 
in  being  able  to  present  to  their  readers  a 
life-like  portrait  of  this  enterprising  business 
man  and  public-spirited  citi/.en,  w^ho  has  done 
so  much  toward  making  Dejiosit  what  it  is  — 
one  of  the  most  lively  and  ]^rosperous  villages 
in  the  Em[Mre  State,  an  important  trade  cen- 
tre, the  seat  of  pleasant  homes  and  flourishing- 
schools. 


JJS  CRO\M<:,  a  well-known  man- 
ufacturer of  Grand  Gorge,  X.Y., 
was  born  in  this  place.  May  4, 
1855.  I'he  great-grandfather  of  Mr.  Cronk 
was  Lawrence  Cronk,  who  with  his  wife, 
Nancy  Crary,  came   to   New    York    from    Con- 


necticut, and,  settling  near  Grand  (jorge, 
carried  on  one  of  the  earliest  taverns  in  this 
part  of  the  country.  He  lived  to  be  eighty 
years  of  age,  and  was  liie  father  of  nine  chil- 
dren—  John,  Hannah,  Betsey,  Sally,  Nathan- 
iel, Fdward,  Nathan,  Phebe,  and  Rosela. 
John,  the  grantlfather  of  Willis,  was  born  on 
Clay  Hill  in  the  town  of  Roxbury.  When 
ready  to  start  out  in  the  world  for  himself,  he 
bought  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  acres  of 
the  D.  Lee  farm,  owned  by  the  Dent  family. 
.Selling  this  later,  he  bought  one  hundred  and 
forty  acres  near  b\-,  put  up  new  buildings, 
improved  the  farm,  and  here  lived  until  his 
death  at  forty-four  years  of  age.  His  wife 
lived  to  be  sixty  years  of  age,  and  was  the 
mother  of  eight  children  —  Hiram,  David, 
Almanran,  Harrison,  Lawrence  J.,  Fliza  J., 
John,  and  Isaac.  John  (^ronk  was  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  in 
]jolitics   a   Whig. 

David  Cronk  was  born  on  the  Dent  farm  in 
the  log  cabin  which  was  the  family  home- 
stead. He. attended  the  district  school  until 
thirteen  years  of  age.  when  he  commenced 
working  in  the  tannery  of  D.  Lafrom,  his  duty 
being  to  grind  the  bark  for  the  tanning.  He 
afterward  was  employed  by  A.  Moore  in  the 
tannery  business,  and  later  went  west  to  Ox- 
ford, and  for  three  years  drove  a  stage.  Re- 
turning then  to  Grand  (iorge,  he  worked  in 
the  tannery  business  for  some  months,  after 
which, he  bought  a  farm  of  sixty-four  acres 
near  the  village,  and  ff)r  a  while  employed  his 
time  in  so  improving  it  that  he  was  enabled 
to  sell  it  to  good  advantage.  After  engaging 
in  several  farming  investments,  he  removed  to 
Schoharie  Comity,  and  thence  went  to  Greene 
County,  where  he  dwelt  for  six  years,  having 
a  farm  of  three  hundred  acres,  and  carrying  on 
a  large  ilairv.  Again  he  came  back  to  Dela- 
ware Count V,  and  after  a  short  residence  here 
bought  the  house  in  which  he  now  lives.  His 
wife  was  Frances,  daughter  of  Philip  and 
Priscilla  (Bangs)  Sines,  by  whom  he  had 
eight  children  —  Nettie,  John,  Willis,  Addi- 
son, David,  Ella,  Roma,  and  Frank.  Mrs. 
Cronk  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-three,  but  her 
husband  is  still  living.  He  is  a  Democrat, 
and  has  held  the  office  of  Constable  several 
terms. 


Si8 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Willis  Cronk  was  educated  in  (jrand  (Jorge, 
and  worked  at  home  on  the  farm  until  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,  when  he  began  working  at 
the  carpenter's  trade.  After  two  years  thus 
employed,  he  went  into  the  factory  of  W.  P. 
Moore,  a  manufacturer  of  sashes  and  blinds. 
Here  he  rose  to  be  foreman,  and  in  1887 
bought  out  the  business.  He  has  enlarged 
and  remodelled  the  factory,  and  continues 
here  engaged,  making  sashes,  blinds,  doors, 
mouldings,  and  other  accessories  of  buildings. 
He  has  an  excellent  trade,  and  all  his  work  is 
done  in  the  best  style  and  with  the  greatest 
thoroughness. 

When  thirty-eight  years  old,  Mr.  Cronk 
was  married  to  Jennie  West,  daughter  of  The- 
odore West,  a  carpenter  of  New  Haven.  Mr. 
Cronk  is  a  Democrat,  and  has  held  several 
minor  offices.  Notwithstanding  his  many 
business  responsibilities,  he  has  shown  him- 
self to  be  a  public-spirited  man,  who  has  at 
heart  the  welfare  of  his  native  town. 


"ERMAN  F.  INDERLIED,  of  the 
Inderlied  Chemical  Company  at 
Rock  Rift,  Delaware  County, 
N.Y.,  with  his  residence  at  Wal- 
ton, was  born  at  Lienen,  Germany,  April  12, 
1827,  a  son  of  Henry  Casper  Inderlied,  born 
in  Newkirchen,  (Jermany,  and  Elizabeth 
Tigges,  a  native  of  Lienen.  Of  their  family 
the  following-named  came  to  this  country: 
Frederick  J.,  who  came  in  1842,  married 
Elizabeth  ]5ruisik,  and  is  residing  at  Orange, 
N.Y.  They  had  five  children,  namely:  Will- 
iam II.,  who  enlisted  in  the  army  during  the 
Civil  War,  and  died  of  disease  contracted  in 
service;  Herman  1*".,  Andrew,  and  Frederick 
J.,  who  are  still  living;  George,  who  is  de- 
ceased. Henry  Inderlied  married  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Lagemann,  and  settled  in  Youngsville, 
N.Y.,  where  he  died  in  1883.  William,  who 
was  the  first  to  come  to  the  United  States, 
married  Miss  Mary  Chittentlen,  a  native  of 
Greene  County,  New  York,  and  is  now  a  resi- 
dent of  North  Branch,  N.Y. 

Herman  F.  Inderlied,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  emigrated  to  America  in  1843.  He 
was  married  July  16,  1848,  to  Miss  Rachel 
Kratzer,     a    native    of     Germany,     who    was 


brought  by  her  parents  to  this  country  when 
she  was  but  eighteen  months  old.  Mrs.  In- 
derlied was  a  daughter  of  John  Kratzer,  who 
first  settled  in  New  York  City,  and  later  in 
Sullivan  County,  where  he  engaged  in  farm- 
ing. To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Inderlied  were  born 
the  following-named  children:  William  K., 
born  September  24,  1849,  is  a  tanner  residing 
in  Allegany,  N.Y.  Henry  H.,  born  January 
6,  1852,  is  a  prominent  merchant  of  Walton. 
George  F".,  born  May  11,  1854,  is  now  a  resi- 
dent of  New  Milford,  I'a.  lidward  C,  born 
December  14,  1856,  is  in  business  with  his 
father  at  Rock  Rift.  Julius  J.,  born  July  12, 
1859,  is  a  tanner,  and  resides  in  Allegany, 
N.Y.  Rachel  S.,  born  May  10,  1861,  mar- 
ried Morton  Wimple,  of  Thompson,  Pa. 
Theodore  M.,  born  June  22,  1863,  is  a  shoe 
dealer  at  Warren,  Pa.  Charles  F.,  born  July 
20,  1865,  is  a  resident  of  Walton.  Oscar  K., 
born  May  3,  1867,  is  engaged  with  the  Erie 
Railroad  Company.  Alfred,  born  June  5, 
1868,  died  September  30  of  the  same  year. 
Minnie  was  born  September  25,  1869. 
Lillie,  born  January  28,  1872,  died  September 
2,  1872.  Mrs.  Inderlied  died  November  3, 
1873,  in  Susquehanna  County,  Pennsylvania. 
Mr.  Inderlied  married  for  his  second  wife 
Mrs.  Ida  Schneppendahl  Bueddemann,  a  na- 
tive of  Germany,  who  was  born  April  12, 
1844. 

After  his  first  marriage  Mr.  Inderlied  set- 
tled in  Sullivan  County,  New  York,  and 
embarked  in  the  tanning  business.  He  re- 
mained there,  however,  but  a  short  time, 
when  he  took  up  farming,  continuing  at  this 
new  venture  for  seven  years,  after  which  he 
again  went  back  to  his  original  trade  of  a  tan- 
ner, and  was  superintendent  of  a  tannery  at 
Salladasburg,  Pa.  After  four  years  he 
moved  to  North  Branch,  purchasing  his 
brother's  interest  in  a  tannery.  In  1868  he 
went  to  Susquehanna  County,  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  conducted  a  tannery  for  twenty-one 
years,  during  this  time  doing  a  large  and  in- 
creasing business.  He  came  to  Walton  in 
1889,  and  has  conducted  his  business  here 
ever  since. 

When  Mr.  Inderlied  came  to  this  country, 
he  had  nothing  but  courage,  honesty,  and  a 
pair  of  willing  hands  to  start  out  in  the  battle 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


,''9 


of  life.  He  has  now  liy  hard  work  and  econ- 
omy amassed  a  comfortable  property,  and 
to-day  ranks  as  one  of  the  most  prosperous 
business  men  in  the  county.  In  politics  he  is 
a  stanch  supporter  of  the  Republican  jiarty. 
He  has  never  sought  any  office,  but  is  well 
posted  in  all  county  and  State  matters.  Mr. 
Inderlied  is  an  attendant  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church.  l-'raternally,  he  is  a  member 
of  Walton  Lodge,  No.  559,  A.  K.  &  A.  M. 
In  1890  he  erected  a  residence  which  is  a 
great  acquisition  to  the  man)-  tine  dwellings 
in    Walton. 

Mr.  Inderlied  has  been  the  architect  of  his 
own  fortune;  and,  when  once  he  has  put  his 
hand  to  the  plougli,  he  has  never  turned  back. 
His  success  in  life  is  an  object  lesson  to  the 
younger  generation. 


<TISA.\C  .S.  HOOKllorr,  one  of  Dela- 
HJ  ware  Couiit\'s  pros])erous  and  |)rogres- 
3JJ_  si\-e  dairy  farmers,  hneh'  located  at  Ba- 
ta\'ia  Kill,  was  born  in  this  same  town 
of  Roxbury,  January  51,  |S:;,S.  and  inherits  the 
bl(jod  of  two  races,  the  Irisli  and  the  Dutch, 
combining  characteristics  of  the  (iaelic  and 
Teutonic  peoples.  His  paternal  grandfather  I 
was  John  T.  Hookhout,  a  Hollander,  whose 
wite  was  a  nati\e  of  Ireland.  15oth  came  to 
America  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  after  tlie  l\e\dlutionar)-  War,  and  met 
for  the  first  time  aboard  ship,  the  \-o\age  oc- 
cujn-ing  thirty-si.\  days. 

.Soon  after  their  aiiival  on  these  shores 
John  r.  J^ookhout  and  Xancv  -Smock  were  | 
marrietl,  and  at  once  began  farming  in  West-  j 
Chester  Count)-,  New  N'ork,  where  the\-  re-  ! 
mained  a  number  of  )-ears.  In  I  SoS  the)- 
came  to  Delaware  Count)-,  and  bought  a  hun- 
dred acres  of  wooded  land,  which  la\-  about 
two  niiles  abo\-e  the  village  of  Koxbury. 
This  land  thev  cleaied  and  made  arable, 
l)Utting  up  new  buildings,  and  making  man\- 
imi)ro\-ements,  Mt".  Hookhout  having  the 
reputatioi-i  of  an  industrious  and  successful 
farmer.  He  lixed  to  the  rijie  old  age  of 
eighty-se\-en  years,  and  his  w-ife  to  al)out  tlie 
same  age.  Politicall)-,  he  was  a  Whig,  and 
su])ported  that  party  from  its  organization. 
I'jilisting  as  a  ])ri\-ate,    he  serxed  through  the 


War  of  1812,  aiul  to  the  ilay  of  his  death  was 
a  respected  and  honored  citi/.en  of  Koxburv. 
He  and  his  wife  had  a  family  of  ten  children, 
of  whom  eight  grew  up;  namely.  William, 
James,  John,  I'eter,  Anna,  Jane,  Margaret, 
and   Mary   Hookhout. 

William  Hookhout,  the  eldest  son,  was  born 
in  Westchester  Count)-  in  1790,  and  was 
therefore  eighteen  years  of  age  when  his 
father  moved  to  Delaware  Ct)unty.  Although 
young,  his  labor  w-as  equal  to  an)-  man's  in 
clearing  anil  working  the  farm.  There  were 
no  roads  by  which  the  farmer  could  drive  to 
town  and  exchange  his  produce  for  wares  that 
he  needed.  I'".\-ery  farm  had  to  sup])ly  its 
occupants  with  nearly  all  their  necessities. 
'I'o  get  meal  to  niake  the  dail)-  bread  for  the 
family,  William  had  to  carry  a  sack  of  grain 
on  his  back  to  a  mill  some  distance  away  to 
be  ground,  his  path  leading  through  the 
woods,  and  niarked  by  blazed  trees. 

When  William  was  twent)-  years  old,  he 
married  Caioline  Hull,  and  bought  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  thirt\--six  acres  in  the  same 
section  of  the  count)-.  This  farm,  which  is 
now  owned  h)  Michael  OTIair,  was  then 
nearly  all  new  land.  .Mr.  Hookhout  cleared 
it  and  erected  substantial  buildings,  |)roving 
himself  a  sagacious  farmer,  and  was  well 
known  throughout  the  neighborhood.  Like 
his  father,  he  su|)ported  the  \\'hig  ])arty  in 
politics;  and  both  he  and  his  wife  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  church.  He  died  at 
the  age  of  sixt)-,  and  his  w-ife  at  sixtv-ti\-e. 
They  had  ele\-en  children,  all  of  whom  haye 
married. 

Isaac  S.  Hookh(iUt  receixed  onl\-  a  common- 
school  education;  but  by  home  study  he  pre- 
jxired  hiniselt  for  a  business  career,  and,  being 
\ery  ambitious,  was  alw-a)-s  on  the  lookout  for 
a  chance  to  improve  himself.  When  he  was 
but  fourteen  years  okl,  his  father  died;  and  he 
at  once  took  charge  of  the  farm,  and  looked 
after  the  interests  of  the  children.  When  he 
was  twent) -fue  )-ears  old,  he  married  and 
bought  ai-i  adjoining  tract  of  tw-o  huiulred 
acres,  which  is  now-  ow-ned  by  Caleb  Rey- 
nolds, in  Xorth  Roxbur\-.  .After  clearing  and 
inqjroxing  the  land,  he  sold  it,  and  bought  a 
farm  of  one  himdred  and  thirty-six  acres  on 
Hubble  Hill,   where   he   sta\-ed  ten  years.       He 


520 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


then  sold  that  farm  and  bought  his  present 
place  at  Hatavia  Kill.  The  farm  is  about  twt) 
hundred  and  forty-four  acres  in  extent ;  and  it 
was  the  first  farm  settled  in  this  beautiful 
valley,  the  former  owner  having  come  here  in 
1794.  It  is  finely  located;  and  Mr.  Bookhout 
has  imi^roved  it  very  much,  so  that  it  is  now 
reckoned  as  one  of  the  best  dairy  farms  in  the 
valley.  Mr.  Bookhout  has  an  excellent  dairy, 
owning  many  fine  cows  of  different  breeds,  the 
farm  being  well  adapted  for  grazing. 

Mr.  Isaac  S.  Bookhout  married  luisebia 
Craft;  and  they  have  had  four  children, 
namely:  Charles,  who  was  born  July  8,  1866; 
W.  Ward,  born  January  i,  1869,  and  died 
October  29,  1889;  Lillie  F. ,  born  May  2, 
1871,  and  died  April  13,  1880;  and  Ray- 
mond, the  youngest,  who  was  born  July  22, 
1884,  and  now  lives  on  the  farm.  Mr.  Book- 
hout is  a  Republican,  and  he  and  his  wife  are 
both  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.  He  is  a  respected  citizen,  and  a 
popular  man  throughout  the  neighborhood. 


'AMES  W.  PIERCE,  a  well-known  and 
respected  farmer  residing  in  the  town 
of  Hamden,  about  six  miles  from  Wal- 
ton, was  born  in  Dutchess  County 
August  8,  1822.  His  father,  Daniel,  and 
grandfather,  Timothy,  were  natives  of  the  same 
county.  Daniel  Pierce  was  brought  up  as  a 
farmer,  residing  with  his  grandfather  until  he 
came  of  age,  his  mother  having  died  when  he 
was  quite  small.  He  then  started  out  in  the 
world  for  himself,  first  working  by  the  month. 
Being  of  a  frugal  and  saving  turn  of  mind,  he 
was  soon  enabled  to  jHucha.se  a  farm  in  Andes, 
upon  which  he  resided  for  some  years,  then 
moved  to  Meredith,  where  he  rented  a  farm. 
He  s])ent  his  last  years  with  his  son,  James 
W. ,  dying  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy- 
eight.  He  married  Miss  Mary  Reynolds,  a 
daughter  of  James  and  Sarah  (Campbell)  Rey- 
nolds, and  a  native  of  Dutchess  County.'  Of 
this  union  there  were  eight  children;  namely, 
James  W. ,  Elizabeth,  Timothy,  William, 
Robert,  Daniel,  Lavinia,  and  Marcus.  Three 
of  them  are  still  living,  namely:  James  W.  ; 
Lavinia,  who  is  the  wife  of  George  l-'oster, 
and  lives  in  Nebraska;  and  Robert,  a  promi- 


nent farmer  of  Walton.  Mrs.  Pierce  died  in 
Meredith,  at  the  age  of  forty-four  years;  and 
Mr.  Pierce  married  for  his  second  wife,  Betsey 
Lockwood,  a  native  of  this  county.  She  died 
at  the  home  of  James  W'.  Pierce,  aged  sixty- 
two. 

James  W.  Pierce  sjient  his  early  )ears  in  the 
town  of  Andes,  where  he  acquired  a  common- 
school  education.  He  assisted  his  father  for  a 
time,  afterward  working  on  a  farm  b\-  the 
month.  He  then  turned  his  attention  to  the 
blacksmith  trade,  working  at  that  business  for 
si.xteen  years.  In  1859  he  purchased  the  farm 
of  two  hundred  acres  which  he  now  occupies, 
upon  which  he  has  built  a  fine  residence  and 
commodious  barns.  He  is  specially  interested 
in  butter-making,  shipping  it  by  wholesale  to 
New  York  City  and  Newburg. 

Mr.  Pierce  was  married  in  1849  to  Miss 
Frances  C.  Clark,  a  daughter  of  Charles  and 
Catherine  (Gay)  Clark.  The  Clark  family 
originally  came  from  Connecticut,  the  parents 
of  Charles  Clark  coming  to  Franklin  when  he 
was  but  eight  years  old.  The  mother  of  Mrs. 
Pierce  was  the  daughter  of  Edward  Gay,  a 
school-teacher,  and  the  first  to  teach  school  in 
the  village  of  Franklin.  Mr.  Clark  reared  a 
family  of  seven  girls,  namely:  Clarissa,  the 
wife  of  Jacob  Warner,  of  Walton ;  Amanda, 
who  is  married  to  Sylvester  Brown;  Amelia, 
married  to  P.  Young;  Mary,  the  wife  of 
Aaron  Houghtaling;  Aurelia,  the  wife  of 
William  F"isher,  of  Croton ;  F"rances,  Mrs. 
Pierce ;  Kate,  married  to  Stephen  Benedict, 
of  North  Walton.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pierce  be- 
came the  parents  of  twelve  children,  namely : 
Mary  R.,  who  died  in  infancv;  Edward  T. , 
who  married  Belle  Wooden,  and  has  one 
child  —  Ethel;  Robert  W. ,  who  married  Ellen 
Hastings,  of  New  York;  Herbert  A.,  who 
married  Mary  Moat,  of  Roxbury,  and  has  four 
children  —  James  W.,  Mno,  Nellie,  and  Lillie 
Belle;  Charles  A.,  who  is  a  Baptist  minister, 
and  married  Mary  Fitch  ;  William,  who  mar- 
ried Mary  II.  Newton,  a  daughter  of  Dr. 
Newton,  and  has  two  children  —  Sterling  and 
Gertrude  F.  ;  Marcus,  who  married  Lulu 
Frick ;  I'rederick,  who  is  a  veterinary  surgeon 
at  Oakland,  Cal.,  who  married  Alice  Palmeter, 
and  has  one  child  —  Lena  ;  Kate,  the  wife  of  the 
Rev.    F".  I.   Wheat,   a  pastor  of  the  Congrega- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


tional  cluucli  at  W'oddliawn.  and  iIk'  niutlKT 
of  one  son  —  Charles  Ii\ini;-:  l-"rank,  who  mar- 
ried I.illie  Cook,  and  assists  his  father  on  the 
farm;  Clarence  W. .  who  is  a  clerk;  and  lames 
R..  who  is  residing;  with  his  l^rolher  at  (  )ak- 
land,  Cal..  and  is  studyinj;-  for  the  ministry. 

Ill  I.S64  Mr.  Pierce  enlisted  in  Comi)an\-  I), 
One  Hundred  and  Forty-fourth  Xew  York 
X'olunteer  Infantry,  and  ser\ed  for  about 
eleven  months,  fortunately  escapiiii;'  heinj;' 
either  woundetl  or  taken  jirisoner.  lie  was 
honorably  discharged  from  the  service  at 
h'.lmira  in  1.S65.  He  is  a  member  of  benjamin 
Mar\in  Post,  Xo.  2cx),  (irand  .\rm\'  of  the 
Re|)ublic,  of  Walton.  He  i>  a  strong  sup- 
])orter  of  the  Republican  ])art\-,  but  has  ne\er 
aspired  to  anv  official  position.  The  famil\- 
are  active  members  of  the  Ha]itist  church,  Mr. 
Pierce  having  been  a  Deacon  for  a  number  of 
years.  He  is  one  of  the  strong  representative 
men  of  his  district,  and  all  his  life  has  been  a 
respected  and  honored  citizen,  ever  forward 
and  active  in  those  mattei's  pertaining  to  the 
good  of  the  communitv. 


ii.xRLE.s  (i.   .mi;i:ki:r,   one  of   the 

]irosperous  farmers  of  the  town  of 
Ro.xburv,  was  born  at  the  old 
Meeker  homestead,  June  27.  1X55, 
being  the  son  of  Hiram  and  .Sarah  (Mont- 
gomery) Meeker,  and  grandson  of  Lvman 
Meeker.  The  graiulfather  came  from  I'air- 
field.  where  he  was  giving  his  attention  to 
farming,  to  Delaware  Countv,  and  settled  on 
Ross's  15rook.  The  whole  i)lace  was  then  a 
wilderness;  and,  in  looking  back,  one  can  but 
wonder  at  the  courage  which  so  bravelv  faced 
the  har(lshi])s  and  jirivations  incident  to  such 
an  undertaking.  Xevertheless,  he  prospered, 
and  cleared  the  wav  to  a  home  for  himself  and 
a  heritage  for  his  children.  I.vtnan  .Meeker 
had  ten  children  Hiram,  .\braham.  lulvvin. 
(iorham,  Philo,  Ahaz.  Adad,  Pauline,  ()live. 
and  Deborah.       These  all  lived  to  grow  up. 

Hiram  Meeker,  son  of  I.vman.  receiveil  his 
education  at  the  district  school  in  his  native 
town  of  Roxburv.  and  commenceil  farming  as 
an  occujjation  bv  working  for  his  brother-in- 
law,  Jeremiah  G.  Henton.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-one  he  bought   one  humlred  and  eighty 


acres  ol  partiiillv  cleared  land,  and,  taking 
hokl  of  the  laborious  task,  tinished  clearing 
the  whole  trad,  laying  it  out  in  helds,  gar- 
dens, and  hay-|)roducing  meadows.  Later  in 
lite  he  took  down  the  old  farm-house  which 
had  served  him  and  his  wife  in  their  first  hibo- 
rious  (lavs.  :uid  erecteil  a  large  and  attractive 
new  one.  with  modi-rn  conveniences.  He  also 
built  two  barns  and  a  wagon-house,  jjartly  of 
stone.  I'luis,  commencing  slowly  at  first,  and 
steadily  progressing,  he  developed  a  very  fine 
estate.  This  energetic  and  enterprising  man 
lived  to  be  eight v  vears  old. 

His  widow.  Mrs.  .Sarah  M.  Meeker,  i>  still 
living,  ;it  seventy-six  ve;irs  of  age.  .She  re- 
sides with  her  son,  Charles  (i.  Meeker.  Her 
other  children  were:  .Marv,  who  married 
C.  ( ).  Kiljiatrick,  lives  in  town,  and  has  one 
child;  and  l-jinna.  deceased  at  the  age  of 
nineteen.  Mr.  Hiram  Meeker  was  a  Demo- 
crat, lie  was  .Supervisor  and  Justice  of  thi.- 
Peace  a  long  time,  and  also  served  as  an  As- 
sessor. Hoth  parents  were  meml)ers  of  the 
.Methodist  I-'.piscopal  church. 

Charles  (].  Meeker  was  educated  in  the  dis- 
trict school  and  at  the  Roxburv  .\cadem_v. 
.After  leaving  school,  he  em[)loyed  himself 
about  the  farm  until  he  was  of  age.  'J ' 
took  entire  charge  of  it,  and  has  since  ^  :. 
steadilv  .going  on  with  imiirovements  and  de- 
veloping its  various  resources.  Mr.  Meeker's 
farm  is  a  specimen  of  a  fine  tvpe  of  .-\merican 
agriculture.  It  su|i])orts  an  attractive  dairv. 
and  a  careful Iv  selected  herd  of  thirtv  cows, 
tvventv-six  of  which  are  pure  (iuernseys.  The 
farm,  being  partlv  in  the  corporation  of  Rox- 
bury,  is  distinguished  by  the  convenient  walks 
which  lead  all  about  it.  Mr.  Meeker  deserves 
commendation  for  his  e:utiest  endeavor  to 
beautifv  and  improve  his  jilace.  and  is  an 
examjile  to  those  who,  having  estates,  are 
indifferent  to  their  ajjpearance.  or  to  the  im- 
provement of  that  which  thev  must  pass  on,  as 
thev  finallv  leave  them,  to  their  descendants. 

Charles  C.  Meeker  married  Miss  Isabel l:i 
Cartwright.  who  was  born  Xovember  24. 
1X60,  daughter  of  .Almarion  and  Hannah 
(Cowen)  Cartwright.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cart- 
wright  had  two  children-  I'"ber  and  Isabella. 
The  father  lived  to  be  sixty-four  years  old. 
The  mother  makes  her  home  with  the  son  and 


522 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


daughter.  Mr.  Cartwright  was  a  Republican, 
but  at  the  time  when  Horace  Greeley  was  so 
active  in  politics  he  changed  to  the  Democratic 
side.  He  was  a  man  of  use  in  town  affairs. 
At  one  time  he  held  the  office  of  Provost  Mar- 
shal. He  was  ahso  Justice  of  the  Peace  three 
years,  and  Supervisor  the  same  length  of  time. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Meeker  have  one  child,  a 
daughter  named  Jennie,  born  September  i6, 
1878.  Mr.  Meeker  is  a  Democrat  in  politics, 
and  he  has  been  a  Trustee  of  the  village.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Roxbury  Lodge,  Indepen- 
dent Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  No.  608.  He  and 
his  wife  are  both  attendants  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church. 


fHOMAS  H.  SCOTT,  who  owns  and 
occupies  a  fine  farm  about  four  miles 
from  the  village  of  Walton,  is  by  trade 
a  carpenter  and  builder,  and  has  erected 
many  fine  buildings  in  this  vicinity,  among 
others  being  the  United  Presbyterian  church 
and  parsonage  at  Walton.  He  was  born 
in  Rovina,  June  23,  1852,  son  of  James  R. 
Scott,  who  was  a  native  of  the  same  town, 
born  there  in  1824.  His  paternal  grandfather, 
Adam  Scott,  who  was  born  in  Deenburnhaugh, 
Roxburgh  County,  Scotland,  in  1795,  emigrated 
to  this  country  in  1818,  and  was  among  the 
original  settlers  of  Bovina.  His  marriage 
with  Nancy  Russell,  which  was  performed  by 
Squire  Maynard,  the  grandfather  of  Judge 
Mavnard,  was  the  first  marriage  in  Bovina. 
He  took  up  a  tract  of  wild  land,  and  began  to 
clear  a  farm  ;  but,  while  yet  in  the  vigor  of 
manhood,  he  was  accidentally  killed,  the  pair 
of  horses  which  he  was  driving  taking  fright 
and  running  away,  and  he,  being  thrown  from 
the  sleigh,  .struck  on  his  head  and  went 
through  the  ice.  He  left  a  widow  and  eight 
children,  the  eldest  of  whom  was  a  boy  twelve 
years  old.  A  year  afterward  the  mother  of 
these  children  was  likewise  taken  away  by 
death,  leaving  the  family  orphans  indeed. 

James  R.  Scott  resided  with  an  uncle  after 
the  death  of  his  parents,  and,  on  leaving 
school,  learned  the  trade  of  a  carpenter  and 
joiner,  which  he  carried  on  in  Middletown  and 
Bovina.  For  seven  years  he  was  also  engaged 
in  general  farming,    but   never  entirely  relin- 


quished his  trade.  He  lived  until  sixty-five 
years  of  age,  departing  from  the  scenes  of  his 
earthly  labors  in  1889.  His  wife  was  Mary 
Winter,  a  native  of  New  Kingston,  and  one  of 
ten  children  born  to  Thomas  and  Isabelle 
Winter,  who  emigrated  to  New  York  from 
England,  and,  settling  in  New  Kingston,  there 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits.  They  reared 
eight  children,  four  sons  and  four  daughter.s, 
namely:  James  A.  ;  Thomas  H.  ;  Gilbert  T.  ; 
Andrew;  Annabelle,  deceased;  Mary  E. ,  the 
wife  of  Jacob  N.  Thompson,  of  New  Kingston; 
P'anny,  deceased;  and  Elizabeth.  The  mother 
spent  her  last  years  in  the  place  of  her  birth, 
passing  on  to  the  higher  life  at  the  age  of 
threescore  years.  Both  parents  were  conscien- 
tious members  of  the  I'nited  Presbyterian 
church. 

Thomas  H.,  the  second  son  of  James  R.  and 
Mary  Scott,  lived  on  a  farm  in  New  Kingston 
until  sixteen  years  old,  acquiring  a  good  com- 
mon-school education,  and,  after  completing 
his  studies,  taught  school  in  the  winter  for 
several  seasons.  He  learned  the  carpenter's 
trade  of  his  father,  as  did  each  of  his  brothers, 
and  subsequently  entered  into  partnership  with 
him,  continuing  thus  to  work  until  18S4.  He 
then  established  himself  in  the  village  of 
Walton,  where  his  reputation  as  a  skilled 
mechanic  had  preceded  him.  Many  of  the 
finest  residences  and  other  buildings  of  this 
locality  have  been  built  under  his  supervision, 
and  are  standing  monuments  of  his  skill  and 
industrv.  For  ten  years  he  conducted  the 
business,  being  the  leading  carpenter  of  the 
town;  but  early  in  the  present  year,  1894,  he 
removed  to  his  farm,  which  contains  one 
hundred  acres  of  choice  land.  He  carries  on 
mixed  farming  and  dairying,  his  specialty 
being  butter-making;  and  in  this  business,  as 
in  every  other  in  which  he  has  engaged,  he  is 
meeting  with  unqualified  success. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Scott  to  Jennie  Ormis- 
ton  took  place  in  1880,  when  he  was  about 
twenty-eight  years  of  age.  Miss  Ormiston 
was  one  of  seven  children  born  to  her  parents, 
James  and  Rebecca  (McFarland)  Ormiston, 
who  were  natives  of  Broome  County,  and  were 
pioneer  settlers  of  Bovina.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Scott  have  had  their  family  circle  enlarged  by 
the  birth  of  six   children,  of  whom  the  follow- 


RIOGRAPHICAL    REVIP:W 


523 


ing  arc  li\ing:  Mai\  ;  Ivalpli  aiul  Rcl)occa, 
twins;  atul  Holon.  Mr.  Scoll  is  a  slraight- 
forward  lousiness  man.  highly  ostccnicd  among 
his  t'rioncis  and  fciiuw-cit izcns.  and  in  politics 
is  an  influential  mcmiicr  of  tjic  I'ldliihition 
part\'.  He  and  his  estimable  wife  are  both 
members  of  the  United  Presbyterian  church,  in 
which  he  has  been  an  l^lder  for  man\-  years, 
having  been  elected  previous  to  his  iemo\al 
to  W'allon.  He  was  superinteiuU'nt  of  the 
Sunday-school  for  seven  years,  and  Mis.  Scott 
was  one  of  its  most  etTicient  teachers. 


i;()R(;i-:   c;.    i)i-:('K.b;k.  one   of   the 

shrewd,  energetic  business  men  of 
Middletown,  and  {'resident  of  the 
{'copies  Hank  at  Margarettville,  is  a  native  of 
Delaware  C!ount\',  haxing  been  born  in  the 
town  of  Roxburv.  {-"ebruarx-  1;.  1NJ4.  {{is 
parents  were  William  and  Jane  (.Moie)  Decker, 
at  one  time  residents  of  I'aghkanick.  Colum- 
l)ia  Coimtv,  X.  \'.,  the  former  of  whom  was 
born  Januar_\-  1.  1795,  and  was  the  son  ol  Law- 
rence Decker,  whose  wife  was  b\-  maiden  name 
Caroline  Hollenbcck.  The  latter  died  before 
her  husband;  antl  Lawrence  1  )ecker  married 
again,  his  secontl  wife  l)eing  l.ucietia  {-"owler. 
lie  was  of  Dutch  ancestry,  and  came  from  Co- 
lumbia to  (ireene  Coiuit)-,  bu\ing  a  small  faiiii 
neai-  I'rattsville,  which  he  cultivated  with  that 
untiring  industry  characteristic  of  the  race 
from  which  he  sprang.  He  and  his  wife  Caro- 
line were  the  |_)arents  of  five  children,  one  son 
and  four  daughters,  whose  names,  reversing  the 
order  of  se.x,  were  Caroline,  Ami,  Christina, 
I'hebe,  and  William. 

■{'he  last  named,  the  date  ol  whose  biith  is 
given  alcove,  was  on  the  death  ol  his  parents 
ado])tetl  into  the  llardenburgh  family,  and 
accpiireil  a  practical  education  in  the  common 
schools  of  {'rattsville.  His  strong  commercial 
instincts  prompted  him  to  sei'k  the  avenui's  of 
trade  as  the  road  to  fortune;  ami  with  but  a 
slender  capital  he  staited  in  the  mercantile 
business,  opening  the  lirst  geneial  store  in 
{■vo.xburv.  l-'or  some  time  all  went  well  with 
the  youthful  merchant;  but  his  good  fortune 
did  not  last  long,  his  store  being  destroved  by 
fire,  with  all  its  contents.  Not  relishing  this 
experience,  he  turned  aside   from   the  ])aths  ol 


commerce  to  tlmse  o|  agricu{ture,  an({  pur- 
chasetl  a  farm  in  tlie  town  of  .\ndes,  the  |)rop. 
ert\'  l)eing  known  at  the  time  as  tlte  Clhapman 
farm,  and  now  forming  a  |),hI  of  the  site  of  Ihe 
village  of  Andes.  {{ere  he  resi({e({,  engaged 
in  agricultural  pursuits,  from  iM^2  to  184^ 
Al)out  the  latter  year  he  sold  his  farm,  and, 
feeling  inc{inec{  for  a  change,  l)ecame  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  Andes  Hotel,  whiclt  he  conducted 
lor  some  three  veins.  {n  1X46  he  removed  to 
Hancock,  and  conducted  a  hotel  there  for  one 
vear,  but  at  the  end  of  that  time  returned  to 
farming,  and  died  on  his  son's  farm,  {-"ebruarv 
JJ,  icS;^.  1  {e  was  an  (dd-time  Democrat,  anil 
had  serveil  in  the  War  of  i.Sij.  {{e  {ield  the 
office  of  Deputy  .Sheriff  of  his  county.  {{is 
wife,  forinerly   Jane    More,    was    {jorn    June    S, 

I  1S05,  'I'l^'  attaineci  the  rijie  age  of  eighty  years, 
dying  May  2<S,    1  .S.S5. 

I  Cicorge  (i.  Decker  actjuired  a  fair  amount  of 
elementary  knowledge  in  the  common  schools 
of  his  native  town  of  {<oxbury  and  Andes,  and 
added  to  his  mental  e(|ui|)ment  by  a  coiu'se  in 
the  Delaware  .Academy  at  Delhi.  He  then 
took  a  position  as  clerk  in  the  general  store  of 
the  Hon.  L.  1.  Huihaus,  remaining  so  emi)loyed 
for  eight  vears,  at  the  enil  of  which  time  he 
became  a  partner  in  the  business,  the  firm 
being  known  as  L.  J.  Hurhaus  &  Co.  Not 
long  after,  obtaining  an  interest  in  the  business, 
he  came  to  Margarettville,  in  1849,  and  o])ened 
a  branch  store,  of  which  he  took  personal 
charge  for  six  vears,  it  being  one  of  the  first 
stores  in  the  village.  He  then  built  a  store 
for  himself,  and  continued  in  the  mercantile 
business  imtil  1 S76,  wlien  he  so{tl  out  the 
stock  to  .^{r.  .Swart,  a{)oul  this  time  being 
maile  I'ostmaster  of  tlie  village,  an  office  wliich 
he  resigned  in  1884.  '{'he  Western  loan 
business  occupied  his  attention  from  1889  to 
1891.  in  which  latter  year  he  organized  and 
became  {'resident  of  the  {'e<t[j{e's  {-Sank  of 
Margarettville.  He  was  elected  {'resilient, 
April  10,  1891  ;  anil  the  bank  building  was 
erected  in  the  following  year,  '{'he  bank  is  a 
prosperous  institution,  much  patronized  by  the 
l)usiness  men  and  citizens  of  Middletown;  ami 
^^r.  Decker  .ably  fills  the  office  of  {'resident. 
That  he  has  the  good  will  and  confidence  of  his 
fellow-townsmen  is  attested   bv  the  fact  that  he 

I  has  served  a  term  as  member  of  As-rnibl\,  .md 


524 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


has  held   the    town    offices   of    Supervisor   and 
Commissioner  of  Schools. 

Mr.  Decker  was  married  in  1849  to  Cathe- 
rine H.  More,  daughter  of  Alexander  and  Sarah 
(Church)  More.  The  father  of  Mrs.  Decker 
was  a  thriving  and  well-known  farmer  of  Ro.\- 
bury,  and  was  later  a  dealer  in  farm  produce. 
He  was  the  son  of  Robert  and  .Susannah  (Fel- 
lows) More,  and  was  born  in  Ko.xbury  in  1799. 
His  paternal  grandparents  were  John  and 
Bessie  (Tyler)  More.  Robert  More,  father  of 
Alexander,  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier  serving 
in  the  patriot  army,  and  later  becoming  one 
of  Delaware  County's  first  settlers.  He  took 
up  wild  land,  which  he  cleared,  and  became  a 
thriving  and  substantial  farmer,  surviving  to  a 
good  old  age.  He  arid  his  wife  reared  the  fol- 
lowing children:  William  C. ,  who  married 
Sarah  Newkirk;  Susan  A.,  who  became  the 
wife  of  O.  A.  Preston ;  Catherine,  now  Mrs. 
Decker;  Abigail  C. ,  who  married  A.  A. 
Crosby,  of  Rondout ;  and  David  F.,  who  mar- 
ried Sarah  Hubble,  and  now  resides  in  New- 
ark, N.J. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  G.  Decker  are  the 
parents  of  three  children:  Susie  M.,  who 
became  the  wife  of  S.  W.  Marvin,  a  publisher 
of  New  York  City,  and  has  four  children, 
whose  names  are  George  O.,  Alexander  B. , 
Elenor,  and  Samuel  W'.  ;  Augusta  A.,  who 
married  O.  A.  Ewart,  and  died  October  22, 
1893,  leaving  three  children — Howard  D., 
Fred.  M.,  and  Katherine ;  William  M.,  who 
married  Bessie  Smith,  is  now  a  prominent 
physician  in  Kingston,  and  has  two  children 
—  Dorothy  and  William. 

Mr.  Decker,  although  engaged  in  active 
business,  is  not  unmindful  of  the  things  per- 
taining to  the  higher  life,  and  exemplifies  a 
practical  Christianity  in  his  dealings  with  his 
fellow-men.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church,  and  is  a  power  for  good 
in  the  communitv  in  which  he  dwells. 


[^■jATHANH':L  CURTIS  MARVIN,  at- 
toruey-at-law  of  the  town  of  Walton, 
is  a  lineal  descendant  of  Reginald 
Marvin,  who  sailed  from  England 
for  America  early  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
The  emigrant  chose  New  Haven  as  the  place 


best  adapted  for  his  new  enterprise;  and 
hither  he  was  soon  followed  by  his  brother 
Matthew,  whose  permit  to  cross  the  Atlantic 
was  dated  April  15,  1635.  Here  Reginald 
Marvin  reared  his  family;  and  his  son  Regi- 
nald, who  li\ed  at  Lyme,  and  was  known  in  the 
Indian  wars  as  Lyme's  Captain,  became  the 
father  of  Samuel  Marvin,  who  was  born  in 
1671.  Thomas,  son  of  Samuel  Marvin,  and 
the  great-grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  born  March  4,  1703,  resided  at: 
Simsbury,  Conn.,  and  died  in  1754,  having 
amassed  a  comfortable  fortune. 

His  son  Matthew  was  born  at  Simsbury, 
June  7,  1754.  When  the  Revolutionary  War 
broke  out,  and  so  many  were  ready  and  anxious 
to  fight  for  their  freedom,  Matthew  was  too 
young  to  be  accepted  as  an  active  soldier;  but, 
with  praiseworthy  longing  to  take  a  part  in  the 
struggle,  he  persuaded  his  uncle  to  take  him  as 
Orderly.  And  thus  he  participated  in  several 
battles,  among  which  were  Long  Island,  Tren- 
ton, Red  Bank,  Princeton,  and  Germantown. 
He  was  also  one  of  those  brave,  daring  fellows 
who  followed  Lafayette  in  the  memorable 
storming  of  the  fort  at  \'orktown.  He  was 
married  at  New  Canaan,  Conn.,  in  \/^4.  to 
Mary  Weed,  of  that  town.  In  1799  they  re- 
moved with  a  yoke  of  oxen  and  a  horse  to 
Walton,  N.  Y. ,  where  he  took  a  grant  of  one 
thousand  acres  of  timber  land  in  comjiany  with 
his  brother-in-law.  This  the_\'  cleared  and  im- 
proved, transforming  it  into  fine,  fertile  farms, 
which  continued  in  the  possession  of  the 
family  until  1865.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Matthew 
Marvin  buried  an  infant  daughter,  but  reared 
five  sons  —  Joseph,  Jared,  Thomas,  the  father 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  William,  and 
Lewis. 

Their  son  Thomas  was  born  at  Cambridge, 
Wa.shington  County,  N.  Y.,  April  20,  1791, 
and  died  March  25,  1891.  In  1813  he  married 
Dency  Tiffanv,  who  was  born  September  5, 
1795,  in  the  town  now  known  as  Hamden. 
-She  passed  away  in  1846,  leaving  eight  chil- 
dren: William,  born  November  28,  1814,  who 
died  March  30,  1889;  Thomas  Edwin,  born  in 
1 816,  who  resides  in  Walton;  Andrew  J.,  who 
was  born  in  18 19,  and  died  in  Brooklyn,  N.Y., 
in  1877;  Jose])h  Tiffany,  who  was  born  in 
1822    and    now    li\-es     in    Kansas;     Nathaniel. 


( 


^4"-^ 


A'sr.    'ifrr/i /-fieh,' 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


.=;^s 


Curtis,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  licdcnck 
Foote,  born  in  1828,  at  present  also  in  Kan- 
sas; Elizabeth  Crane,  born  in  1830,  wlio  is 
the  widow  of  the  Rev.  }.  V.  Kodt,  of  Huston, 
and  has  two  daunhters,  both  of  wlioni  are  mis- 
sionaries in  India;  and  Miittiirw  W. ,  n\ 
Walton. 

Nathaniel  Curtis  Mar\in  was  born  March  •^, 
1826,  in  Walton,  and  grew  up  on  his  father's 
farm,  receivint;  his  education  in  tiie  district 
school  and  in" the  academy  of  h"r;inklin.  When 
but  tweh'e  years  of  age,  he  begem  to  read  hiw 
with  judge  Isaac  Ogden,  and  at  si.xteen  entered 
the  law  ofifice  of  \.  K.  and  T.  II.  Wheeler. 
He  lived  at  home,  and  his  time  was  full\-  occu- 
pied with  farming  and  reading  hiw.  Ik-  was 
dee]ily  interested  in  the  State  militia,  and  in 
1849  was  elected  Ca])tain  of  Com])an\'  A, 
Si.xtv-ninth  Regiment,  being  made  Colonel  in 
1 85 1.  November  7,  1850,  he  nKirricd  Miss 
Julia  A.  Fitch,  who  was  born  in  Walton  on 
Christmas  Day,  1831,  dimghter  of  Nathaniel 
and  Sally  (Benedict)  h'itch,  both  of  whom 
were  natives  of  Connecticut,  Init  removed  to 
New  \'()rk  when  verv  voung. 

Nathaniel  I-'itch  was  boin  in  1797,  and 
brought  to  Walton  when  but  h\c  vears  of  age. 
The  Benedicts  had  mined  here  in  1797,  and 
Sally  was  born  in  1799;  and  here  both  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  l-'itch  dietl  —  she,  I-"ebruary  16, 
1879;  and  he,  August  12,  1S72.  They  were 
the  parents  of  fi\c  thihhen.  namel\'  :  Sarah, 
wife  of  I)i-.  I',.  .Sduthard,  of  I-"ranklin;  Julia, 
Mrs.  Marvin;  I,\'man  M.  h'itch,  of  Kansas 
Citv,  Mo.;  (ieorge  and  .Augustus,  both  of 
Walton.  The  ancestors  of  the  I'itch  family 
were  silk  manufacturers  in  I-'rancc,  who  at 
the  time  of  the  Huguenot  jjersecution  tied  to 
Germany,  and  thence  to  Ilollanfl  and  Fngland. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mar\-in  buried  their  only  son, 
Nathaniel  Curtis,  Jr.,  aged  two  and  one-half 
vears,  on  October  20,  1869.  They  have  living 
four  daughters:  .Mice  Augusta,  widow  ot  T. 
Porter  Lanfield,  who  has  one  daughtt'r,  I'.Ua; 
Fliza  l-'lora,  wife  of  Charles  B.  Bassett  ;  Julia 
I'iteh,  wife  of  Benjamin  (i.  North;  and  Cora 
Belle,  who  married  .Mr.  J.  lerknile,  ;nui 
resides  in  New  Jersew  being  tiie  mother  of 
two  sons  and  one  daughter. 

Mr.  Marvin  was  a  radical  Democrat  of  the 
old  Jackson   and   Jefferson    school,    \-oting    for 


M.Mlin    \',in    Bnreii   .ind    I'remunt  ,    but    on    the 
nrg;mi/alion    <>\    the    Re|.ul)lican    p;utv   he    es 
ponsed    its   cause   as    that    of    triii.-    henna  racv. 
;uid    li:is   fver   since   been    its   sl;incli  def.  ip'. 
.Althuugh     JK'    nexer    aspiird    tn    be    .01    ..ii     . 
holder,   lu'   reluct:HUly  consented   to  serve-  as  ,1 
c;uidid;ite  for  St;ite  legi.^kilure,   t.iking  the  fieM 
only    nine    days    befme    the    election,    and    was 
elected    in   a    Demueratic  distriet.       He   served 
in   this  position  during  iS78;ind    1871;,  his   in 
Huence    U<v    guod    being    felt    throughout    lh:it 
body.      .Mr.    Marxin    is  an   houui  to  the  worth) 
name    he    bears   -generous,    manh,    judicious, 
and    conscientious;     a     devoted     hu>b;uHl     :ind 
father,  and   a   faithful    friend;    a   citizen    whose 
life  is  an  e.\am])le  of   integrity  and   uprightness 
which  young  men  might   be  conmiended  in  fol- 
lowin>/. 


.\^'  COri.l)  was  born  :it  West  settle- 
meiu.  l\o.\bur\',  Delaware  Countv, 
N.\'..  May  27,  i8jG,  son  of  John 
Burr  and  .Mary  (More)  (iould.  The 
Could  family  is  of  l-jigli.sh  extraction,  its 
foundei-  in  this  eountr\-.  Major  Nathan  (Sold, 
having  left  St.  ICdmundsburv,  Countv  Suffolk. 
Fngland,  in  1646,  to  settle  in  I'airtieid.  Comi., 
where  he  soon  made  his  influence  felt  as  a  fore- 
m(jst  citizen.  He  was  one  of  the  signers  of 
the  ]x-tition  for  the  charter  of  the  Connecticut 
Colon),  1654.  which  petition  "was  signed  In 
no  gentleman  unless  he  had  sustiiined  a  higji 
rejJUtation  in  Fngland  before  he  came  to  New 
luigland. "  I'rom  1651  until  his  death  in 
1694  he  was  a  member  of  the  Connecticut 
Colonial  Council,  which  corres|.ionded  to  the 
.State  .Senate  of  to-da)-. 

A  grandson  of  Major  Cold,  Colonel  Abraham 
(iolcl,  married  lilizabeth  Burr,  thus  connecting 
the  Ciold   famil)-  with   another  of  equal    pronii 
nence.      .\br;diam    Ccdd    was     Colonel    of     the 
I'ifth    Regiment    in    the    Revolutioiiarx'   arnn. 
receiving  his  commission  from  Cio\ernor  Tnun 
bull.       Farl\-    in   the   war   he   w;is   killed   \>. '  • ' 
leading   an   attack    ag:tinst    the    |-".nglish    1 
(jeneral    Trvon.       His  sword    is   still  presr 
n<iw   being  in  the   possession   of   his   nanii  - 
Abraham     Could    Jennings.        The     Colonel  - 
fourth    son.    Abraham,    was    commissionetl    as 
Captain.      At  the  close  of  the  war,  when  New 


526 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


York  was  in  the  "  West,"  and  sturdy  men  from 
Connecticut  were  pushing  their  way  across  the 
border,  this  Cajitain  (iold  led  a  part)-  Irom 
l-"airficld  into  Dehiware  County,  where  he  took 
upland  in  what  is  now  known  as  West  settle- 
ment, Koxbury.  Here  was  born  his  eklest 
son,  Jt)lin  Burr  (iould,  the  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch.  The  wife  of  John  Burr  (iould 
was  a  grand-dauj;hter  of  John  More,  a  Scotch- 
man of  Ayrshire,  who  emi};rated  in  1772,  anil 
of  whom  a  sketch  is  to  be  found  elsewhere  in 
this  volume. 

Almost  all  of  Ja\'  (iould's  school  education 
was  received  before  he  was  fifteen  at  the 
schools  of  the  district,  the  private  school  sup- 
ported bv  his  father,  and  a  few  other  progres- 
sive men  of  the  settlement,  and  at  the  ITobart 
Academv,  where  he  ]5artiallv  paid  his  own 
e.xjiense  bv  kee])ing  books  outside  of  school 
hours.  As  |ohn  Burr  (iould  had  succeeded 
Captain  (iold  in  the  ownershi]5  and  care  of  the 
farm,  so  it  was  e.xj^iected  that  Jay  would,  in 
turn,  succeed  his  father;  but  he  showed  such  a 
distaste  for  farm  life  that  his  father  exchanged 
the  farm  for  a  store  in  the  xillage  of  Roxbury. 
At  the  age  of  fifteen  Jay  not  onl\-  kept  the 
books,  but  did  all  the  bu\'ing;  and  he  was  so(jn 
taken  into  partnership.  His  extra  time  was 
spent  in  the  studv  of  surveying;  and  before  he 
was  sixteen  he  was  doing  practical  work,  at 
first  as  an  assistant,  then  as  a  projector  and 
leader  of  ex]x^ditions.  He  made  several  maps, 
the  most  important  being  that  of  Delaware 
County,  which  is  still  a  standard. 

While  travelling  over  the  countiy  as  a  sur- 
veyor, he  became  interested  in  the  reminis- 
cences of  the  old  settlers.  He  took  notes, 
followed  u])  lines  of  in\estigation,  and  in  an 
incrediblv  short  time  lie  had  read\-  the  first 
History  of  Delaware  Count\'.  To  state  that 
the  manuscript  was  burned  at  the  |irinters, 
and  that  nearl\-  all  of  it  had  to  be  rewritten 
from  memorv,  is  to  give  but  one  instance  of 
tho.se  remarkable  traits  of  energy  and  persever- 
ance and  power  of  concentration  and  memory 
which  were  key-notes  to  Mr.  (iould's  character. 
Before  this  book  had  been  returned  from  the 
printers,  Mr.  (iould  had  met  Colonel  Zadock 
I'ratt,  of  Fratts\ille,  who,  recognizing  at 
once  the  young  man's  ability,  ditl  not  hesitate 
to  enter  with  him   into  a   large   tannery  enter- 


prise in  Pennsylvania.  W'ith  almost  the 
quickness  of  thought,  a  \illage  sprang  up  in 
the  forest,  with  its  tannery,  church,  school- 
house,  and  post-office,  with  a  plank-road  lead- 
ing to  the  nearest  town,  and  a  stage  route 
connecting  with  the  outside  world. 

The  pros])erity  of  the  business  soon  enabled 
Mr.  (iould  to  purchase  Colonel  Pratt's  interest, 
and  enter  into  partnershi]5  with  a  New  York 
firm.  The  partnership  and  the  necessary  deal- 
ing with  wholesale  houses  led  Mr.  (iould 
frequently  to  New  York.  Here  he  met  men  of 
larger  interests,  one  of  whom,  who  had  watched 
Mr.  (iould's  astuteness  and  quickness  in  deal- 
ing with  tlifficult  situations,  asked  his  assist- 
ance in  extricating  from  financial  embarrass- 
ment a  small  railroad  in  Vermont.  The 
accomplishment  of  this  undertaking  gave 
evidence  of  Mr.  (iould's  peculiar  ability  to 
build  up  a  flagging  enterprise,  and  it  launched 
him  on  his  life  work.  Henceforth  his  interests 
were  centred  in  railroads  and  kindretl  enter- 
])rises,  as  steamship  and  telegraph  lines.  To 
enumerate  in  order  the  railroads  that  gradually 
came  under  his  management  would  be  to  trace 
the  development  of  those  parts  of  our  country 
through  which  those  railroads  run,  especiall)' 
of  the  great  West  and  South-west. 

The  Vermont  railroad  on  a  firm  footing,  Mr. 
Gould  became  interested  in  the  Cleveland  & 
Pittsburg  road,  which  he  built  up  in  the  same 
way.  The  l:Crie  next  engaged  his  attention, 
then  the  Union  Pacific.  At  the  time  of  his 
death  Mr.  (^ould  was  a  director  in  numerous 
railroad  and  other  companies.  But  his  greatest 
enterprises,  familiar  to  .ill,  were  the  Union 
Pacific,  the  Missouri  Pacific,  the  Texas  & 
Pacific,  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Com- 
pany, and  the  Manhattan  Railway.  He  amal- 
gamated rival  telegraph  companies,  and  became 
the  head  of  the  W'estern  Union  Telegraph 
system.  lie  obtained  control  of  the  Union 
Pacific  and  the  Manhattan  when  they  were  on 
the  verge  of  bankruptcy,  and  soon  made  of 
them  paying  companies.  And  he  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  great  .Missouri  Pacific 
system. 

Mr.  (iould  amassed  a  colossal  fortime,  and 
died  at  an  age  when  many  men  are  but  begin- 
ning to  reap  the  friut  of  their  labors.  But 
into    his    first     twenty-one     years     had    been 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RKVIEW 


s-'y 


crowded  the  work  and  exiXTieiicc  ol  manv  an 
average  man's  lifetime.  Denied  the  longed- 
for  educational  advantages,  and  husv  all  (lav, 
he  grasped  every  <ipportunity  to  Iraiii,  spending 
the  early  hours  nt  ihe  night  m  reading  and 
stud)-.  He  had  a  remarkahle  knowledge  of 
human  nature,  gained  hy  his  business  contact 
with  men  of  all  classes.  .\nd,  aside  from  the 
]iractical  use  of  his  knowledge  of  surveying, 
his  work  in  that  line  had  <|uicke-ned  his  natural 
capacit)'  for  detail. 

January  22.  i.SG^,  Mr.  (iould  was  marrii'd 
to  Helen  Day  Miller,  of  New  \'i)rk,  daughter 
of  Daniel  .S.  Millei',  descenilant  of  an  I'.nglish 
family  which  settled  at  luisthamptini,  L.  1. , 
in  early  Colonial  days.  Ihe  chihlicn  of  this 
union  are:  deorge  Ja\  (iould,  hoin  in  1  .sr)4 ; 
Kdwin  (iould,  born  in  1  .S66 ;  Hek'n  Millei' 
(ioukl,  horn  in  I  iS6,S  ;  Howard  ( ioidd.  hmn  in 
1871;  Anna  Cjould,  born  in  1S75;  and  fiank 
Jay  (iould,  born  in  1S77.  Mrs.  (inuhl  died 
Januaiy  13.  1SS9;  and  Mr.  (Iould  survived 
her  but  a  few  \ears,  his  death  occurring  De- 
cember 2,    ICS92. 

Mr.  (iould  had  promised  to  assist  tlu'  con- 
gregation of  the  Reformed  church  of  Ri)\l)ur\' 
in  rebuikiing  their  church,  which  had  been 
burned  to  the  ground  with  all  its  fmnishing. 
This  s(}ciety  is  the  oldest  dl  the  Reformed 
Church  in  Delawaie  (.ount).  jay  dould's 
mother  had  been  a  mendjer  of  it  ;  and,  as  a 
boy,  he  had  attended  its  services.  Hut  his 
death  occurred  before  anv  plans  fur  rebuilding 
had  been  matured.  To  fulfil  his  iiromise  aiul 
to  erect  a  desirable  memorial,  his  children 
built  at  the  expense  of  about  S  100,000,  and 
deeded  to  the  church,  a  house  of  worshi])  which 
is  the  pride  of  the  village.  The  corner-stone 
was  laid  September  20,  189.1;  and  the  services 
of  dedication  were  held  on  (  Ictoln-r  i^  of  the 
following  year.  The  infinite  care  and  loving 
thought  bestowed  upon  e\erv  detail  has  re- 
sulted in  making  this  church  not  onh  an  ob- 
ject of  great  beaiUv,  but  one  most  perfectl}' 
adapted  t<i  all  its  uses.  It  stands  on  a  slight 
eminence,  surrounded  b\'  a  well-turfed  lawn,  in 
the  most  attracti\'c  part  of  the  \illage,  and  is 
built  of  .St.  Lawrence  marble,  the  interior 
being  finished  in  Indiana  limestone  and  cjuar- 
tered  oak.  'I'he  tiled  aisles,  the  mosaic  floor 
of  the  jiulpit,   the  si.x  large  windows  of  stained 


glass,  aild  tti  it-,  bi-auty.  ihe  ininisleiS 
study  and  the  church  jiarlor  and  kitchen  are 
also  supplied  lo  the  minutest  detail.  Tin- 
church  throughout  i.s  lighted  with  gas,  in 
which  (iiiuenience  are  a<lded  a  gimd  water  sup 
ply  and  perfect  drainagiv  In  mie  transept  is 
the  pi|)e  organ.  The  nther  is  arranged  l<pr  a 
.Sunda\-schoid  inoni,  with  all  a|ppriipriale  fin'- 
nishings. 


w.  jLi.irs  s.    r.\Tri;.\(,ii.i.,  .,i 

Walton,   Delaw.iie  Cuimtv,   N.\'.,   was 


\\f)\  bi>ru     in    the    town    ni     Canterbnrv, 

Conn.,  I"ebiuar\  20,  iSio.  Hi- 
lathei',  Horatio,  who  was  born  in  Lisbon, 
Comi.,  in  (  )ctobcr,  1777,  was  a  son  of  Lemuel 
Pattengill,  a  n.itive  of  the  same  town.  i'hree 
ot  his  sons  John,  Henjamin,  and  \\  illiam 
were  soldiers  in  the  Continental  arnn,  serving 
all  through  the  war.  John  settled  in  Lawrence 
(  ciuuty,  Xcw  \'ork,  and  was  nearlv  oik-  hun- 
dred veaisold  when  he  died.  He  was  one  of 
the  last  eleven  pensioners  of  the  Re\  idutionarv 
War,  all  of  whom  passed  awav  within  one  \ear 
ot  his  death.  IV'njamin  went  South,  where  all 
tiace  of  him  was  lost.  William  settled  on  the 
dreen  Mountains,  dying  there  at  an  advanced 
age.  Lemuel  was  a  Cajjtain  in  the  War  ot 
I. Si  2,  and  was  wounded  and  taken  prisoner  at 
the  battle  of  (Jueenstown,  Canada,  and  was 
soon  afterw.ird  parcded. 

Horatio  Pattengill  was  married  to  Mis- 
Thankfid  Cad},  who  was  born  i-"ehrnar\  24. 
I7<S3,  at  .Stepheiitown,  Washington  (_dnnt\. 
\.  ^'.  .She  was  the  mother  <if  si.x  children, 
namely:  Kv;in.  tiled,  aged  eight  months; 
Horatio.  die<l  at  Corning.  X.N'.,  in  hiseightv- 
seventh  vear;  \\'illi;un.  rlied  at  .\ew  IJshon. 
in  his  eightv-sixth  year;  Pauline,  wife  of 
Parker  .Scott,  died  in  .Milford.  ()tsego  (.'ountv. 
I S42,  aged  twent\-eighl  vears ;  l{liz:i.  wife  of 
1).  de  l-'orest.  died  at  ()berlin.  (Ihio.  in  iS"". 
aged  fifty-six  \ears. 

Julius  .Seneca  i'attengill.  the  fourth  nniin"  . 
of  the  familv,  was  engaged  on  the  home  l:irm 
until  he  arrived  at  his  twentieth  \ear.  when  Ik 
taught  school  lor  some  ten  01  nioiv  term>. 
In  I.S:;,S  he  graduated  from  the  <  Ineida  Insti 
tnte  and  connnenced  the  study  ol  theology  with 
the    I'J.ev.    A.    !■"..    Campbell,    of    ConpL-rstown, 


5^8 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


X.  Y.  He  was  ordained  in  i  S40  at  New 
Hcrlin,  where  he  was  engaged  in  pastoral  work 
for  nine  years.  Coming  to  Walton  in  1S48, 
he  remained  as  pastor  of  the  Congregational 
church  for  twenty  years.  He  next  went  to 
Homer,  N.  \'. ,  where  he  was  employed  by  the 
State  Temperance  .Society  for  one  year,  and 
from  there  went  to  liainbridge,  and  was  after- 
ward two  years  at  Holland,  Oneida  County. 
Returning  to  Walton  in  1S83,  he  was  for  seven 
years  pastor  of  the  Cannonsville  Presbyterian 
church,  and  from  that  time  has  not  been  in  con- 
tinuous active  work,  but  has  preached  as  an  oc- 
casional supply,  having  been  a  servant  in  the 
vineyard  of  the  Lord  for  fifty-six  year.s.  He 
was  instrumental  in  establishing  the  academy 
at  New  Berlin,  and  obtained  every  one  of  the 
jiledges  for  the  erection  of  the  Walton  Acad- 
emv,  which  school  is  one  of  the  best  ot  its  kind 
in  the  State. 

Rev.  Mr.  Tattengill  was  married  on  Oc- 
tober 8,  1839,  to  Miss  Phrebe  H.  Mosher, 
of  Laurens,  Otsego  County,  N.  Y.  Four  chil- 
dren were  the  fruit  of  the  union,  namely: 
Frances  A.,  wife  of  George  O.  Mead;  Cather- 
ine E. ,  who  died,  aged  eighteen  years;  Mary 
M.,  wife  of  Charles  Nolton,  died  in  1881,  aged 
thirty,  leaving  two  children;  William  H.,  a 
resident  of  W^alton. 

Mr.  Pattengill  is  possessed  of  a  physical  and 
mental  vigor  which  years  have  not  serif)usly 
impaired.  He  has  been  indefatigable  in  his 
labors  as  a  sower  of  precious  seed,  ha\ing  on 
occasion  preached  the  word  four  times  in  a 
long  summer  day,  and  three  times  in  winter 
days.  Full  of  years  and  meekly  wise,  he  is 
justly  venerated  as  one  who  has  led  many  in 
the  wav  of  righteousness. 


^'-r^V/ ILI.L\.M  BRIXKMAX,  the  compe- 
J^  lent  I'ostmaster  of  iM-anklin,  .X.  \\, 
is  one  of  the  best  known  and  most 
highly  esteemed  citizens  of  this  place.  ilis 
father,  Dedrick  Hrinkman,  was  a  nati\e  of 
Prussia,  where  he  was  i)orn  in  1806,  and 
learned  the  trade  of  cabinet-maker,  at  which  he 
worked  for  seven  years  near  the  family  home. 
In  1830,  with  no  fortune  except  his  own  willing 
hands,  he  sailed  for  America,  the  voyage  being 
an    unusually   quick    and    pleasant    one.      He 


married  in  this  country  Klizabeth  Vareschorst, 
of  Germany;  and  until  1844  they  resided  in 
Cat.skill,  after  which  they  removed  with  their 
three  children  to  Roxbury,  Delaware  County. 
Here  for  eight  years  Mr.  Brinkman  followed 
his  trade,  and  then  ]nu-chased  a  small  farm  in 
that  town,  which  he  sold  at  the  expiration  of 
two  years  to  buv  a  larger  one  of  three  hundred 
acres  near  b\-.  This  the  family  occupied  until 
the  fall  of  1865,  disposing  of  it  then,  to  re- 
miive  to  their  new  home  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  about  two  miles  above  Franklin 
village.  This,  also,  was  sold  two  and  a  half 
yeais  later,  when  Mr.  Brinkman  bought  the 
farm  on  which  he  resided  until  his  death, 
resulting  from  an  accident  with  a  runaway 
horse  in  1880.  His  widow  now  lives  with 
her  daughter  in  Roxbury.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Brinkman  buried  an  infant,  and  reared  ten 
children  to  maturity,  seven  sons  and  three 
daughters,  of  whom  six  sons  and  two  daughters 
still  survive.  They  are :  Lewis,  Otis,  George 
H.,  and  William  in  Franklin;  Edward  and 
Charles  in  the  West;  Mary,  wife  of  George 
Silvernail,  in  P'lorida ;  and  Eliza,  wife  of 
Joseph  Dart,  at  Roxbury.  One  of  the  sons, 
Henry  C.  Brinkman,  was  a  volunteer  in  the 
Civil  War,  enlisting  in  the  Eighth  Indepen- 
dent Xew  York  Battery,  and  dying  of  malarial 
fever  at  Whitehouse  Landing,  June,  1862, 
when  but  twenty-one  years  of  age.  -A  daugh- 
ter, Clara,  for  many  years  a  successful  teacher, 
died  in  the  ])rime  of  life. 

W'illiam  Brinkman  was  born  in  Catskill, 
(ireene  County,  July  8.  1840,  and  received  his 
early  education  at  the  district  school  and  the 
Ro.xbury  Academy.  In  October,  1861,  he 
enlisted  in  the  same  company  with  his  brother 
Henry  as  a  jMivate,  re-enlisting  Xovember  21, 
1863,  and  .serving  to  the  close  of  the  war, 
when  he  was  discharged,  in  June,  1865.  Al- 
though he  was  in  active  service  throughout  the 
terrible  struggle,  with  the  exception  of  three 
months  during  which  he  was  a  patient  at  the 
Chesapeake  Hospital,  a  victim  to  malarial 
fever,  he  escaped  shot,  shell,  and  prison,  and. 
after  jjeace  again  reigned  in  the  land,  returned 
to  Roxbury,  later  removing  to  Franklin,  where 
he  was  engaged  on  his  father's  farm.  Mr. 
I  Brinkman  then  spent  six  months  sight-seeing 
I  in  Nebraska  and  the  West;  but,  as  this  was  at 


Sherman  S.  Gregory. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RKVIFW 


Si> 


the  lime  of  llu'  ni'c-at  gras.sluippcr  sci>ur}j;c,  his 
ini|)rcssi()ns  ot  tlial  L-xlciisiw  region  wcic  ikiI 
as  favorable  as  tlicy  wnnlii  lia\e  l)ccn  mulei- 
(liffeix'iit  circumstances. 

(  )ctol)er  5,  I  .S6(j,  lie  manied  Miss  Marion 
li.  Kingsle)',  ol  h'ranklin,  who  recei\ecl  her 
education  at  the  Delawaie  Institute,  and  taiii^iit 
seven  terms  prexious  to  lu'r  marriai^e.  Mrs. 
Hrinkinan  was  the  daus;hter  of  Bradford  Kin^s- 
lev,  of  l'"ianklin,  who  died  in  1N77,  ai^ed 
se\'eiity-three  \ears,  his  father,  l^radftird 
Kins;sle\',  Si.,  ha\iiii;-  moved  from  Connecticut 
antl  settled  on  a  farm  in  l''ranklin  o\er  ninel}' 
N'cars  a'^iK  ller  niotlKa,  Marv  A.  (ireene.  of 
Saratoga,  passed  awa\-  wlien  se\ent\'ei<;ht  years 
of  age  at  the  cdd  homestead  in  l-'ranklin,  whith 
passed  out  ol  the  |)ossession  of  ihv  familv 
only  a  few  years  ago.  Mrs.  Hrinkman  lias 
two  sisters  and  oni'  hrothei',  (ieoige  H.  Rings 
ley,  of  Coventi-y,  now  living.  Ilei-  maternal 
grandfather  was  Roger  Able,  the  hrst  while 
])erson  to  be  liuried  in  the  town  of  I'ranklin. 
He  died  at  t wenU-eiglit  years  of  age,  soon 
aftei'  settling  here;  and  his  r>.'niains  wei'e 
drawn  on  an  o.\  sled  to  Haitlett  Hollow, 
where  it  was  then  supposed  the  town  woukl  be 
built.  The  wife  of  Roger  .Able  t'.\|)erienced 
an  exciting  adventuix-  in  the  eailv  ])ioneer 
dax's.  .She  was  riding  her  hoi  se  along  the 
bridle-path  iusl  over  the  hill  from  {•'ranklin, 
when  a  panthei-  sprang  betore  her  with  Hashing 
eves  and  open  jaws.  The  screams  of  the 
frightened  wom.ni  drow  the  ferocicjiis  creature 
from  the  path,  and  brought  to  her  lescue  a 
workman  from  the  neighboring  fori-st.  In  the 
e.Kcitement  Mrs.  .Able  had  lost  liei'  saddle,  but 
had  clung  to  her  horse.  After  lier  husband's 
death  she  removed  to  .Saratoga  Couiitv,  where 
she  clietl  at  an  achanced  age. 

In  18"^  Mr.  Hrinkman  s(dd  his  farm  and, 
with  liis  faniil\-,  removed  to  b' ranklin,  of  which 
town  he  was  ap|)ointe(l  Postmaster  in  1.S.S5, 
serving  four  \  ears,  being  leappointeil  in  (  )cto- 
ber,  1895,  and  still  serving  in  that  capacity 
He  is  a  charter  member  and  iMist  Adjutant  ot 
the  (jraml  Arm\'  of  the  Republic,  Post  132,  of 
P'ranklin,  of  which  he  has  been  Conimander  tor 
six  \ears.  He  is  an  enthusiastic  Mason,  lia\'- 
ing  belonged  to  that  org.uiization  for  the  last 
twenty-nine  )ears,  and  ha\dng  servetl  as  Master 
of  the  Lodge  at  P'ranklin  for  five  vears.      He  is 


a  Ro\.il  .\ich  Mason,  bein-  ,1  im  hum  1  i>i  I  n.i 
dilla  Chapter,  .\o.  \y>i,  and  al>o  i^  a  mend)er 
ot  iJK-  .Sns(|uehami.i  Lodge,  ot  the  .Scnttisli 
kites  degree.  .Abcjul  lliirtern  vears  ago  Mr. 
i^rinkman  purchased  his  present  home  in  the 
village,  where  all  are  suie  ol  a  cordial  welcome 
from  him  and  hi>  estimable  wife,  who  is  a 
valued  member  of  the  Coiigreg.ii  imial  church. 
Mr.  Hrinkman  is  a  modest,  retiring  m.m,  who 
performs  his  duties  in  a  strictiv  honorable, 
conscientious  manner;  and  his  l)i;i\i'r\  in  the 
long  service  for  his  country,  althuii-h  never  re 
terred  to  by  him.self.  will  long  live  in  the 
memorv  of  his  comrades  and  friend.s. 


IH;RM.\.\     S.    (.Rl-CokN',    ,,f    Can- 

iions\ilk'  in  the   town   of   ■l"om]>kins, 

be:irs  a  name  well  known  throughout 

this   section    of    the    .State;  and    the 

history    ol    his    family,    which    has    long    been 

prominent     in    all    town    and   count\'   affairs,   is 

peculiarly  interesting. 

rinioth)-  (iiegory,  great -granillatlier  of  .Sher- 
man, was  born  in  l)utchess  County,  and,  when 
\erv  \oung,  came  westward  to  the  east  br.mch 
of  the  Helaware,  and  was  one  of  the  pioneers 
of  these  parts.  The  countr\  bordering  on 
the  ri\er  was  at  tli;it  t  ime  a  complete  wilder- 
iK-ss ;  and  for  one  \  e,n'  this  stiird\  goodman 
worked  at  his  land  and  lived  alone,  with  his 
own  hands  erecting  the  log  cabin  that  ua.s  his 
first  shelter,  and  in  all  that  time  seeing  no 
human  creature  except  an  occasional  Indian. 
.At  length  he  brought  his  faniiU,  and  for  some 
years  lived  ])eacefullv;  but  at  the  breiiking- 
out  <if  the  Re\olutionar\  War,  having  received 
news  that  the  Indians  antl  Tories  were  going  to 
plunder  the  vallev  and  massacre  the  iniiabi- 
tants,  he  started  off  his  family  on  horseback 
down  the  valley,  and,  taking  with  him  all  the 
valuables  possible,  set  fire  to  his  stacks  and 
buildings,  and  went  back  to  Dutchess  Comity. 
.After  the  war  he  returned  l<i  the  \alle\'  and 
settled  a  few  miles  farther  (low  n  th.in  formerly, 
on  the  site  of  tlu'  village  which  was  afterward 
named  in  his  honor  (iregor\  town.  He  raised 
a  large  famih,  and  livetl  to  an  ailv.incecl  age. 
His  ancestors  came  from  La>tern  .Massachu- 
setts; and  one  branch  of  tlie  family  li:i\e 
resided     for    generations     in    the     quaint     old 


532 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


town  of  Marblehead,  where  they  have  engaged 
extensively  in  the  shoe  manufacture.  A  fa- 
mous seedsman  is  also  of  their  number. 

Josiah,  son  of  Timothy,  and  grandfather  of 
Sherman  S.  Gregory,  was  brought  up  on  the 
farm  of  his  father,  and  followed  the  pursuit  of 
farmer  and  lumberman.  He  married  Sally 
l-'uller,  of  Colche.ster,  and  had  two  children  — 
Josiah,  Jr.,  and  Thomas.  He  was  in  early 
manhood  fatally  injured,  and  died  while  yet 
very  young.  His  son,  Josiah,  Jr.,  was  born 
at  the  old  homestead,  and  received  an  educa- 
tion from  the  district  school,  after  which  he 
followed  the  river  as  lumberman,  and  assisted 
in  the  farm  work.  Later  Josiah  Gregory 
bought  a  farm  in  Colchester,  and  married 
Lottie  Sutton,  daughter  of  Caleb  Sutton,  of 
Hancock,  by  whom  he  had  nine  children  — 
Sally  A.,  Jeremiah,  Sherman  S. ,  Charlotte, 
John,  Kdwin  R.,  Peter,  Jane,  and  James.  In 
May,  1840,  Josiah  removed  from  Colchester 
to  Tompkins,  and  bought  his  father's  farm, 
where  his  son  James  J.  still  lives;  and  there 
he  spent  the  last  days  of  his  life. 

Sherman  S. ,  second  son  of  Josiah  Gregory, 
Jr.,  attended  the  district  school  and  assisted 
about  the  farm  until  he  was  twentv-one,  when 
he  bought  from  his  father  the  farm  where  he 
still  lives.  On  November  11,  1848,  he  mar- 
ried Emily  Jane  Alverson,  daughter  of  John 
and  Jennie  (Frazier)  Alverson,  of  Tomjikins. 
The  father  of  John  was  Jeremiah  Alverson, 
one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Delaware  County, 
and  a  noted  pilot  on  the  Delaware.  He  was 
of  English  descent,  and  came  from  Dutchess 
County  to  the  town  of  Walton  while  it  was  yet 
a  wilderness.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gregory  have  two 
children,  Adalinda  and  Dewitt  C.  The  latter 
has  been  twice  married,  his  first  wife  having 
been  Rosy  Squires,  daughter  of  Henry  and 
Nancy  (Soules)  Squires,  by  whom  he  had  one 
child,  Robert  C.  The  second  wife  of  Dewitt 
C.  (Jregory  was  Nellie  Jockett,  daughter  of 
William  Jockett,  of  Cannonsville.  She  died, 
leaving  one  child,  Nellie. 

Mr.  Sherman  S.  Gregor_\'  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  Baptist  church  of  Cannons- 
ville, and  prominent  in  church  affairs.  He  is 
now  serving  his  fifth  term  as  Commissioner  of 
Highways,  and  is  largely  engaged  in  farming 
and   in  dairying  on  an  enormous  scale,  all  his 


work  being  carried  on  by  means  of  the  most 
improved  machinery.  Mr.  Gregory  is  a  man 
of  the  times,  interested  in  what  is  going  on  in 
the  world  to-day,  progressive  and  enthusiastic, 
always  ready  to  adopt  new  measures  which 
shall  improve  the  condition  of  nature  or  of 
man.  On  a  neighboring  page  may  be  seen  a 
very  good  likeness  of  this  worthy  citizen. 


W] 


ASHINGTON  M.  IVES,  a  prosper- 
ous farmer  in  Johnson  Hollow,  was 
born  March  2,  18 19,  in  that  part  of 
the  town  of  Windham,  Greene  County,  N.Y., 
now  known  as  Frattsville.  His  grandfather, 
Samuel  Ives,  was  born  in  W^allingsford, 
Conn.,  and  was  descended  from  two  of  the 
"Mayflower's"  passengers.  He  was  engaged 
in  farming  in  Connecticut,  whence  he  re- 
moved to  Greene  County,  settling  at  Lexing- 
ton, which  was  formed  from  Windham  in 
18 1 3.  He  was  a  minute-man  in  the  Revolu- 
tion, a  Whig  in  politics,  and  a  member  of  the 
Reformed  church.  He  lived  to  a  good  old 
age,  as  did  also  his  wife,  Julia.  Their  chil- 
dren were:  Samuel;  Romie  R. ;  Daniel; 
Caleb;  Julia,  who  became  Mrs.  Baldwin; 
Catherine,  who  married  Mr.  Ringe;  Lola, 
who  married  John  Ives;  Betsey,  who  married 
Mr.  Steele;  Ann,  who  became  Mrs.  Page; 
Keziah,  who  married  C.  Mattoon;  and  Ahna, 
who  married  a  Mr.  Crooker. 

The  eldest  son,  Samuel,  was  born  in  Con- 
necticut. He  bought  the  farm  in  Prattsville 
now  owned  by  D.  W.  Hyatt;  and  in  1826  he 
moved  to  Johnson  Hollow,  Delaware  County. 
Here  he  engaged  extensively  in  farming  and 
lumbering,  and  lived  until  his  death,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-four  years.  He  was  a  Whig  in 
politics,  and  was  drafted  in  the  \\'ar  of  1812. 
His  wife  was  Betsey  I'airchild,  daughter  of 
one  of  the  early  settlers;  and  she  died  when 
forty-six  years  of  age,  a  member  of  the  Re- 
formed church.  Their  children  were:  Jona- 
than R.,  Samuel  P.,  Washington  M.,  Calista 
M.,  Nancy  M.,  Alma  C,  Betsy  A..  Helen  M. 

Washington  M.  Ives  attended  the  district 
school,  and  worked  on  the  farm  until  twenty- 
five  years  of  age.  After  the  death  of  his 
father  he  purchased  the  interests  of  the  other 
heirs  in  the  old  homestead,  which  comprised 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


533 


one  hunilrod  and  tilty-six  acres.  In  1843  he 
married  Harriet  \.  Meeker,  who  was  jjorn 
May  28,  1822,  dau-hter  of  I'hih)  and  (Jertriiile 
(Scott)  Meeker,  residents  of  Roxlnuy.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Ives  hail  six  chihh-i'n.  namely: 
William,  who  was  horn  July  iS,  1845,  ^I'n' 
died  February  22,  1851:  i'hi'lo,  who  was  horn 
February  18,  1847,  and  whose  lirst  wife, 
Alida  Stevens,  died,  leaving  one  child,  after 
which  he  married  .Alida  Laverick,  by  whom 
he  had  three  children:  Mary  S.,  born  Septem- 
ber 6,  1849.  now  the  widow  of  William  F. 
Fenn,  of  Prattsville,  who  died,  leaving  tive 
children;  Homer  M.,  who  was  born  December 
7.  1 85 1,  married  Lucy  Morgan,  resides  at 
Ohio,  and  has  lost  his  wife  and  one  child; 
John  W.,  born  November  5,  1853,  who  mar- 
ried Adella  Chalfield,  and  is  a  machinist  in 
Ohio;  S.  Parker,  born  November  3.  1S58, 
who  married  .Alma  Tuttle.  and  lives  at  the 
old  homestead  with  his  wife  and  three  chil- 
dren. Mrs.  Ives  died  October  I,  1890,  a 
member   of   the    Reformed   church. 

Mr.  Ives  continued  the  industrv  of  farming, 
and  erected  the  buildings  now  on  his  farm, 
which  is  situated  in  Johnson  Hollow,  and  was 
the  first  to  be  settled  in  this  section  of  the 
country.  He  has  two  hundred  acres  of  land 
and  twenty-five  grade  cows.  He  was  Captain 
of  the  State  militia,  and  is  a  Republican  in 
politics.  Mr.  Ives  is  an  energetic  and  indus- 
trious man,  and  his  flourishing  and  well-man- 
aged farm  shows  the  thrift  and  pros]K'rit\-  of 
its  owner. 


CHIA'LKR  1;.  WOOD,  a  native  of 
Sidne\-,  is  one  of  the  young  men  of 
his  town  who  has  alreadv,  before  he 
has  reached  the  prime  of  life. 
shown  much  promise  as  a  successful  man  in 
his  cho.sen  vocation,  and  a  useful  and  infiuen- 
tial  citizen.  He  is  of  the  fifth  generation  in 
descent  from  Joseph  Wood,  who  was  born 
January  25,  1755.  ^^'i^'  married  March  16, 
1780,  Mary  St.  John.  They  lived  to  a  good 
old  age,  and  had  nine  children,  namely:  Jo- 
seph, Jr.,  born  February  22,  1781,  who  died 
1836;  Caleb,  born  February  25,  1783,  who 
died  April  12  of  the  same  year:  Caleb,  born 
July    29,    17S4;    Mary    W.,    born   January    14, 


1787;  I'.li/aortn,  Durn  July  ,S,  17,^1;  I..,vinia, 
born  March  17,  1795:  Henjamin,  born  August 
'3.  '79-'^;  Sarah,  born  December  ,S,  1799: 
.Seely,    born   January    12,    iSoi. 

Caleb  married  Abigail  Hookhoiit,  bom  July 
S,  1782.  They  raise<l  a  family  of  st-ven  cliif- 
drcn,  namely:  Jessie  1...  borii  |uly  i),  181:17, 
died  at  an  advanced  age.  I'anfina  .\.,  born 
I-"ebruary  28,  1804,  was  the  wife  of  A.  I'atton; 
and  both  she  and  her  husband  have  passed 
away.  Mary  St.  John,  b(jrn  .August  2;,  181  1. 
was  the  wife  of  the  late  Solomon  Robbins,  and 
is  no  longer  living.  Belinda  A.,  born  l-Vb- 
ruary  25,  1816.  died  May  18,  1865,  wife  of 
-Seba  Heach.  Sarah  K.,  born  July  2,  1818, 
died  October  1,  1880.  wife  of  Collins  Brown'. 
Seely  K..  born  July  2,  1822,  resides  in 
Galesburg,  111.  Joseph  R..  born  September 
22.    1813,    died    November   23,    1892. 

Caleb  Wood  came  to  Delaware  County  from 
Connecticut  early  in  the  century,  and  bought 
land  near  Walton,  the  country  then  being  ifew 
and  unsettled,  and  so  primitive  that  the  road 
was  marked  by  notches  cut  in  the  trees,  the 
wagons  which  passe<l  being  so  few  in  number 
that  they  did  not  make  a  sufficient  track  to 
direct  the  traveller.  After  clearing  the 
greater  part  of  his  land,  he  sold  it,  and  bought 
one  hundred  acres  of  timbered  land  near  .Sid- 
ney Centre;  and  here  he  spent  the  rest  (.f  his 
lile  with  his  wife  and  numerous  family.  Ik- 
was  a  member  of  the  ancient  Whig  party,  and 
a  man  of  liberal  religious  views,  far  beyond 
his   time. 

Joseph  R.  Wood,  the  second  son  of  Caleb, 
spent  his  early  manhood  on  the  home  farm 
until  he  had  saved  a  sufficient  amount  of 
wealth  to  enable  him  to  buy  a  farm  of  his 
own.  On  October  i.  1840,  he  married  Laura 
Lawrence,  daughter  of  John  B.  and  .Anna 
(Cook)  Lawrence.  .Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lawrence 
were  married  November  15,  181 5,  and  came 
to  this  county  aliout  that  time  from  the  I^ast- 
ern  States.  Mr.  Lawrence  was  a  great  rea<ler 
and  somewhat  of  a  scholar,  being  what  is 
called  a  self-made  man.  and  accumulating 
during  his  life  considerable  wealth.  He  was 
born  May  18,  1794.  and  died  I-"ebruarv  22, 
1869.  Mrs.  Lawrence  was  born  September 
9,  1795,  and  died  in  1S75.  Joseph  R.  Wood 
and   his  wife  were   the   parents   of  eight   chil- 


534 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


dren:  Spencer  L.,  born  June  26,  1841,  who 
died  September  2,  1844;  Clark  A.,  born  Oc- 
tober 5,  1842,  dying  December  23,  1877; 
Victor  D.,  horn  April  21,  1844,  who  died 
September  24,  1863;  John  M.,  born  March  4, 
1846,  who  died  August  6,  1847;  Bloomer  C, 
born  April  12,  1848,  dying  January  6,  1863; 
Francesca  S.,  born  January  25,  1850,  who 
died  November  7,  1865;  Theron,  born  Jan- 
uary 5,  1852,  who  died  October  20,  1865; 
Emery  E.,  born  January  27,  1857,  who  died 
January  4,  1863.  Mr.  Wood  was  a  Republi- 
can, and  was  a  Christian  citizen  much  re- 
spected by  all.  His  wife  was  a  member  of 
the   Baptist  church. 

Clark  A.  Wood,  the  second  son  of  Joseph 
R.,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Sidney,  and  grew 
to  manhood  on  the  farm.  Never  having  en- 
joyed good  health,  he  was  unable  to  leave  the 
ways  of  his  father  and  start  in  a  new  line  of 
life,  but  was  obliged  to  content  himself  with 
a  district-school  education.  He  was  married 
at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  on  July  3,  1S64,  to 
Sarah  A.  Beach,  daughter  of  Seba  and  Belinda 
(Wood)  Beach.  Seba  Beach  was  born  in 
1804,  and  all  his  life  was  spent  in  faithful 
and  satisfactory  manual  labor  in  the  factories 
of  his  native  State,  Connecticut,  where  he 
died   in    1874. 

The  three  children  of  Clark  A.  and  Sarah 
A.  Wood  were:  Schuyler  E.,  born  April  10, 
1868;  Flora,  born  November  26,  1870,  still 
at  home;  and  John  Merchant,  who  was  born 
May  26,  1874,  and  died  August  24,  1S87. 
Clark  Wood  resided  on  his  father's  farm  until 
in  1876  he  inherited  the  John  B.  Lawrence 
farm,  which  was  originally  a  part  of  the  fam- 
ily farm.  After  removing  to  this  new  home, 
he  lived  but  two  years;  and  on  January  23, 
1877,  his  wife  passed  away  at  the  old  home- 
stead. He  was  a  Republican  and  an  attendant 
at  the  Baptist  church,  of  which  iiis  wife  was  a 
member. 

Schuyler  E.  Wood  was  born  at  his  grand- 
father's liouse,  where  so  many  members  of  this 
well-known  family  have  been  sheltered  and 
nurtured.  At  the  death  of  his  parents  he 
came  into  possession,  together  with  his  sister, 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  excellent 
farm  land,  furnished  with  barns  of  recent 
build  and  a  most  comfortable  house,  which  he 


now  occupies.  All  this  is  known  as  the 
Joseph  Wood  and  John  Lawrence  farm,  and 
on  it  are  kept  twenty-two  cows,  besides  much 
stock,  dairying  being  the  principal  industry. 
Mr.  Wood  is  a  man  of  marked  intelligence, 
and  well  read  in  all  matters  of  daily  interest. 
He  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  one  who  it  is 
hoped  will  do  much  in  the  interest  of  the 
principles  he  upholds.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Baptist  church,  and  is  an  active  partici- 
pant   in  all   the   good   works   of   his   town. 


ISAAC  HANMER  was  born  January  24, 
1836,  and  has  spent  the  greater  part  of 
his  life  in  Delaware  County,  in  the 
towns  of  Colchester  and  Andes,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Campbell  Mountain.  The  grand- 
father of  Mr.  Hanmer  was  Isaac  Hanmer, 
whose  parents  were  natives  of  Wales.  He 
was  a  ship-builder;  and,  while  engaged  in 
working  at  his  trade  on  Lake  Champlain,  he 
met  with  his  death  when  about  thirty  years 
old,  leaving  but  one  child,  Robert  M.,  the 
father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  After 
the  death  of  her  husband,  Mrs.  Isaac  Hanmer 
married  Henry  Johnson,  a  native  of  Ireland, 
and  with  him  came  to  the  town  of  Colchester, 
Delaware  County,  in  1822.  They  bought  a 
farm  on  Campbell  Mountain,  near  the  Camp- 
bell homestead,  and  lived  to  a  good  old  age, 
at  their  death  leaving  eight  children — John, 
Edward.  Jane,  Kate,  Barna,  Abbie,  Mary,  and 
Henry  B. 

Robert  M.,  when  but  ten  years  old,  removetl 
with  his  mother  to  Delaware  County  from 
Dutchess  County,  where  he  was  born,  near  Red 
Hook.  He  received  a  common-school  educa- 
tion, and  then  started  for  himself  on  a  farm 
on  Campbell  Mountain.  After  clearing  the 
land,  he  put  up  substantial  buildings,  and 
continued  throughout  his  residence  on  the 
mountain  one  of  the  most  prosperous  farmers 
in  the  vicinity.  In  1S56  he  sold  his  first 
farm,  and  went  to  Pepacton,  where  he  engaged 
in  mercantile  business  on  the  present  site  of 
the  Tiffany  Hotel.  Five  years  later  he 
moved  to  Union  Grove,  where  he  engaged  in 
lumbering,  running  the  lumber  down  the  river 
to  Philadelphia.  He  built  a  mill  where  Jen- 
kins's mill    is   now   situated,  and   another  one 


JOHN  Clark. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


53S 


three  miles  up  the  creek  on  the  location  of 
Mr.  Reed's  residence.  When  failinj^  health 
would  no  longer  allow  iiini  to  engage  in  active 
business,  he  left  his  son  in  charge  of  his  ex- 
tensive trade,  and  now  lives  a  retired  life  in 
Union  Grove,  enjoying  the  fruits  of  his  earlv 
toil.  He  and  his  wife  are  Presbyterians,  and 
in  politics  he  has  been  an  active  worker  for 
the  Republican  party.  He  has  held  many 
town  offices,  among  them  being  Justice  of  the 
Peace  and  Supervisor.  He  is  a  charter  mem- 
ber of  the  Downsville  Lodge,  No.  464,  A.  F. 
&  A.  M.  The  wife  of  Robert  M.  Hannier 
was  Margaret  Lown,  and  they  were  married 
December  17,  1S33.  She  was  the  daughter  of 
Herman  D.  an<l  Harriet  (Hart)  Lown.  Her 
father  was  a  farmer,  and  had  a  family  of  five 
children  —  Sandy.  David,  Margaret,  Julia,  and 
Maria.  Mr.  Lown  lived  to  be  seventy  years 
old,  and  his  wife  seventy-five.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Robert  M.  Hanmcr  were  the  jxarents  of  si.K 
children:  Isaac,  tlie  subject  of  this  sketch: 
Herman  D.,  born  June  24,  1838,  who  married 
Electa  Hoffman,  deceased,  and  is  a  farmer 
and  lumberman  in  Virginia,  having  a  family 
of  nine  children;  also  Robert  R.,  Ann  Maria, 
Julia  M.,  and  Adah  M.,  all  of  whom  now  re- 
side near  Union  Grove,  Delaware  County, 
N.Y. 

Isaac  Hanmer  was  born  on  Campbell  Moun- 
tain: and,  after  receiving  his  education  in  the 
common  schools,  he  taught  school  for  eighteen 
years,  and  then  settled  at  L'nion  Grove, 
where  in  connection  with  his  father  he  en- 
gaged in  the  lumber  business,  carrying  on  the 
saw-mills,  and  piloting  the  rafts  down  the 
river.  He  was  for  four  vears  in  Virginia, 
engaged  in  lumber  business,  and,  after  return- 
ing home,  started  a  cooperage  on  the  Barker- 
boom  Creek  in  Union  Grove,  and  since  that 
time  has  manufactured  about  twt)  thousand 
firkins   a  year. 

In  1862  Mr.  Hanmer  married  Jane  Gregory, 
who  died  in  the  following  year.  She  left  one 
child,  Jennie,  born  .April  12,  1863,  who  is 
now  the  wife  of  E.  Laidlaw,  of  Middletown, 
and  the  mother  of  three  children.  In  Febru- 
ary, 1864,  Mr.  Hanmer  married  Josephine 
Burhans,  daughter  of  Philip  and  Helen  (Wal- 
lace) Burhans,  of  Flatbush.  Ulster  County. 
Mr.  Burhans  carried  on  the  fish  business  and 


farming,  and  was  tlic  l.aln.r  o!  six  cluldren  — 
George,  Margaret,  Cornelia,  Serena,  Joseph- 
ine, and  Francis.  The  present  Mrs.  Hanmer 
is  the  mother  of  the  following  children:  Mag- 
gie, born  May  29,  1S66,  who  died  May  26, 
1867;  White  G.,  born  Xovcmlier  29,  1867,  a 
cooper  and  carpenter  at  Union  Grove;  Hertha, 
born  July  19,  1870,  who  died  October  17, 
1876:  Dora,  born  August  27,  1873,  and 
Hamilton  B.,  born  April  12,  1880,  both  liv- 
ing at  home. 

Isaac  Hanmer  responded  to  the  call  of  his 
country  in  1861,  enlisting  in  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  First  Regiment,  and  was  enrolled 
First  Sergeant  of  Company  E,  being  in  ser- 
vice a  year,  when  he  was  overtaken  by  a  con- 
tagious disease,  and  was  sent  home  to  recover. 
His  brother,  Herman  1).,  enlisted  in  the 
Third  New  York  Cavalry  in  July,  1S61,  antl 
was  enrolled  August  10.  as  First  Lieutenant  of 
Company  E.  I'our  years  he  served  faithfully 
for  the  Union,  during  which  time  he  went 
through  some  thrilling  experiences,  and  en- 
gaged in  some  of  the  bloodiest  battles  of  the 
war.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Phil  Kearney 
Post,    No.    10,    Richmond,   Va. 

Isaac  Hanmer  has  for  many  years  been  a 
member  of  Downsville  Lodge,  No.  464,  A.  F. 
&  .A.  M.,  and  is  also  a  member  of  Arena 
Lodge,  No.  589,  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows.  He  has  been  Justice  of  Sessions, 
and  has  held  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace 
for  more  than  twenty  years,  being  still  acting 
in  that  capacity.  Through  his  vigorous  ef- 
forts for  the  welfare  of  his  town  many  im- 
provements have  been  brought  about,  and  he 
has  the  respect  of   his  fellow-citizens. 


,D1;R  JOHN  CL.ARK,  a  regularly  or- 
dained minister  of  the  old  -  school 
Ba[)tist  cluirches  of  the  Lexington 
Association  of  Delaware,  Selioharie,  Greene, 
and  Ulster  Counties,  New  York,  is  a  highly 
respected  resident  of  the  village  of  Haleotts- 
\ille.  He  was  born  in  Giiboa,  Schoharie 
Count V.  March  9.  1838.  His  grandfather  was 
John  B.  Clark,  of  English  descent,  who  came 
to  Schoharie  County  from  the  town  of  Coey- 
mans,  .Albany  County,  and  settled  in  Giiboa 
on    the    place    now   owned    by    Willis    Baker. 


5J^ 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


He  finished  clearing  the  land,  and  erected 
buildings  thereon,  but  subsequently  sold  this 
farm,  and  moved  to  North -western  Pennsyl- 
vania, near  the  present  city  of  Meadville, 
where  he  resided  until  his  death,  at  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  fourscore,  his  wife,  Eve,  dying 
at  about  the  same  age,  leaving  three  sons  — 
Reuben,   Alva,   and   Ira. 

The  eldest  son,  Reuben,  the  father  of  the 
special  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  bom  in 
Gilboa,  October  24,  1804.  His  wife,  Eliza, 
the  daughter  of  Simeon  and  Esther  Wright, 
was  born  November  19,  1807.  Reuben  Clark 
resembled  his  father  in  his  early  life,  and 
began  farming  on  the  farm  which  the  grand- 
father first  settled.  After  a  few  years,  how- 
ever, he  disposed  of  this  place,  and  purchased 
a  small  farm  near  by.  He  was  not  confined 
to  farming,  but  was  also  a  mechanic.  He 
died  November  29,  1870,  his  wife  surviving 
him  only  a  short  time,  dying  May  i,  1873. 
They  had  four  children, —  Lucy,  Mary,  Cyrus, 
and  John.  Lucy  married  M.  D.  L.  Fox,  and 
lives  near  Gilboa:  issue,  two  children.  Cyrus 
married  Mar\-  Tygett,  living  in  Columbia 
County;   issue,  five  children. 

John,  the  youngest,  attended  the  common 
school,  and  on  his  twenty-fourth  birthday, 
1863,  was  married  to  Jennie  E.  Hannah, 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Sally  Hannah,  of 
Grand  Gorge.  He  began  farming  on  his 
father-in-law's  farm,  where  he  remained  three 
years,  and  next  bought  a  farm  in  Gilboa, 
which,  however,  he  directly  sold,  and,  buying 
one  of  M.  A.  Losa,  near  Broome  Centre, 
Schoharie  County,  lived  there  three  years. 
He  then  sold  out,  and  purchased  a  farm  of 
William  Hagadom,  near  by,  where  he  lived 
five  years,  selling  in  1875  on  account  of  the 
sad  death  of  his  wife,  Jennie,  which  occurred  | 
August  10,  1875.  The  issue  of  this  marriage 
was  one  child,  Ella,  who  was  born  July  24, 
1S69,  and  died  December  15,  187 1.  On  Oc- 
tober 22,  1876,  Mr.  Clark  married  Julia  M. 
Webb,  widow  of  Linus  Webb,  and  daughter 
of  Joshua  and  Huldah  Roberts,  of  Halcotts- 
ville.  She  had  one  son,  Victor  Webb,  who  is 
a  teacher,  and  is  now  attending  the  Oneonta 
Normal  School.  From  this  marriage  there 
have  been  three  children:  Foster  Roberts 
Clark,    born    April    11,    1883,   died   in   baby- 


hood; Isaac  La  Verne  Clark,  born  March  22, 
1885;  and  Scott  Hay  Clark,  born  July  13, 
1889. 

After  his  second  marriage  Mr.  Clark  rented 
for  two  years  the  farm  belonging  to  the 
Orrin  Hewitt  estate,  near  Halcottsville,  and 
then  moved  to  Halcottsville,  where  he  lived 
one  year.  He  next  bought  and  occupied  for 
fourteen  years  and  one  day  a  farm  of  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  on  Sunny  Side,  which 
he  stiU  owns  and  rents.  In  the  spring  of 
1894  he  moved  to  Halcottsville,  and  has  built 
a  neat  cottage,  intending  to  make  it  his  per- 
manent residence,  and  devote  his  entire  time 
to  his  ministerial  duties.  Both  he  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  primitive,  or  old- 
school  Baptist,   church. 

Mr.  Clark  was  licensed  in  September, 
1880,  to  preach  in  the  church  at  Gilboa,  was 
ordained  in  June,  18S4,  and  is  now  pastor  of 
Gilboa,  second  Roxbury,  Schoharie,  Middle- 
burg,  Oliver,  and  Hurley  churches.  Elder 
Clark  became  a  church  member  when  twenty- 
six  years  old,  but  did  not  become  a  minister 
until  over  forty,  his  labors  being,  however, 
none  the  less  effective,  for,  as  Thomas  Fuller 
has  pithily  remarked,  "•  Surely  that  preaching 
which  comes  from  the  soul  most  works  on  the 
soul." 


7::^HESTER  BEERS  is  skilfully  carry- 
I  ^^  ing  on  mixed  husbandry  on  his  fine 
^J^s  farm   in  the  town   of  Walton.     On 

this  homestead,  where  he  was  bom 
December  22,  1842,  he  has  spent  his  entire 
life,  and,  since  he  assumed  its  care,  has 
added  greatly  to  its  improvement.  He  has 
placed  the  buildings  in  good  repair,  and  in 
1S93  erected  a  new  barn  at  a  cost  of  eighteen 
hundred  dollars,  which  for  convenience  and 
comeliness  is  not  excelled  in  this  vicinity. 
It  is  very  capacious,  being  forty  feet  by  sixty 
feet,  with  an  L  twenty  feet  by  thirty-eight 
feet,  and  having  twenty-two-feet  posts  above 
the  large  stone  basement,  wherein  his  horses 
and  cattle  are  kept,  the  driv-eway  for  the  hay 
and  grain  being  fourteen  feet  above.  Mr. 
Beers  excels  in  making  fine  dairy  butter  and 
maple  sugar,  also  in  raising  nice  vegetables. 
Mr.   Beers  is   of    New  England   parentage. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


537 


his  father,  .Aaron  Hours,  having  been  born  in 
Xewtown,  Conn.,  August  7,  iSoS,  being  a  son 
of  Zalmon  Heers,  also  a  native  of  that  State. 
Zalmon  was  born  in  177S,  and  was  the  onlv 
child  of  a  patriot  s(ddier  who  served  in  the 
Revolutionary  War  under  General  Washing- 
ton, and  died  from  sickness  at  \'alley  Forge. 
Zalmon  Beers  came  to  Delaware  County  in 
1815,  bringing  with  him  his  wife  and  all  of 
his  children  excepting  Lyman,  who  remained 
with  his  uncle.  Me  took  up  one  iiundred 
acres  of  timbered  land  in  the  town  of  Walton, 
near  l-.ast  Brook.  lie  was  a  stone-mason  by 
trade,  therefore  did  not  give  all  his  attention 
to  farming.  He  died  in  old  age  at  the  house 
of  his  son,  Albert  G.,  at  Rock  Rift;  and 
Hannah,  his  wife,  died  on  Ivast  Brook  at  the 
house  of  her  daughter,  .Sar.di  A.,  a  few  years 
later. 

Zalmon  Beers  married  Hannah  M.  Banks, 
and  seven  children  were  born  to  them; 
namel}',  Lyman,  Albert  (j..  Hiram,  Adelia, 
Drusilla,  Sarah  A.,  and  Aaron.  L\nian,  the 
eldest,  was  a  hatter  in  Daiibury.  Conn.,  and 
had  quite  a  family  of  children,  nearlv  all  now 
deceased.  .Vlbert  G.  was  a  farmer  and  lum- 
berman at  Rock  Rift.  He  reared  seven  chil- 
dren, of  whom  one  daughter  and  two  sons  are 
now  living.  Hiram  was  engaged  in  farming 
near  W'alton  in  his  younger  days,  but  after- 
ward removed  to  I'eiinsx  Ivania.  He  reared 
two  daughters  and  one  son,  and  one  of  his 
grand-daughters  has  served  with  acceptance  as 
School  Commissioner.  Adelia,  who  married 
James  Goldsmith,  a  farmer,  in  .South  Frank- 
lin, died  at  the  age  of  thirty-six  years,  leav- 
ing two  children.  Drusilla,  who  died  in 
1850,  married  Milton  Sawyer,  and  the)'  reared 
eight  children.  Sarah  A.,  the  only  child 
now  living,  is  eight\-three  years  of  age,  and 
ilraws  a  pension,  her  husband,  Alfred  Brad- 
ley, a  brother  of  .Mrs.  Aaron  Beers,  having 
been   a  faithful  soldier   in   the   War  of    1S12. 

In  regard  to  his  uncle,  Milton  Sawyer,  the 
following  incident  was  told  to  Mr.  Beers  by 
an  early  settler  a  short  time  since:  Fifty 
years  ago  dairymen  in  the  neighborhood  of 
I-last  Brook  used  to  take  their  butter  in  the 
fall  to  Catskill  to  market,  always  carrying 
l)rovision  for  the  journey.  Thomas  Jamie- 
son   on    one   occasion    was    about    to   start   for 


Catskill  with  his  butter,  but  had  no  meat 
to  carry  with  him.  Milton  Sawyer,  a  great 
hunter,  told  him  that  if  his  son  Roiiert  would 
take  his  oxen  and  sled  and  go  back  int(j  the 
wooils,  near  where  William  Tweedie  now 
lives,  he  could  have  all  the  meat  he  would 
need.  Robert  accordingly  went  as  directed, 
and  in  less  than  six  hours  returned  with  three 
fine  deer. 

Aaron  Beers  chose  the  independent  life  of  a 
farmer  after  his  marriage,  settling  on  a  tract 
of  wild  land,  containing  one  hundred  and 
eight  acres  of  timber,  which,  after  many  years 
of  incessant  toil,  strict  economy,  and  judi- 
[  cious  management,  he  placed  in  a  good  state 
of  cultivation.  He  was  also  enabled  to  pur- 
chase more  land,  so  that  his  homestead,  which 
is  now  in  the  possession  of  his  son  Chester, 
contains  one  hundred  and  eight\-three  acres 
of  as  fine  and  productive  laml  as  can  be  found 
in  this  region.  I^efore  marriage  he  returned 
to  Connecticut  to  learn  [jractical  comb-mak- 
ing, which  business  was  profitable  only  for  a 
short  time,  when  he  came  again  to  Walton. 
Iho  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Paulina 
Bradley.  .She  was  a  daughter  of  Xehemiah 
and  Esther  (Cable)  Bradley,  natives  of  Con- 
necticut and  jjioneer  settlers  of  this  countv. 
Their  union  was  solemnized  December  4, 
1841.  at  the  residence  of  her  brother  on  Ham- 
den  Hill.  .X  slip  from  a  contemporary  news- 
l)aper,  recently  found  on  the  ceiling  of  an  old 
building,  contains  a  notice  of  the  event,  giv- 
ing the  name  of  the  officiating  clergvman. 
"Elder  Wm.  Cumings."  Paulina  Bradley 
Beers  was  one  of  six  children  born  to  her  par- 
ents, the  remaining  children  being  .Alfred, 
who  died  at  I-'ast  Brook;  Gershom  H.,  who 
died  in  the  prime  of  life,  near  Pinesville: 
William,  who  dieil  in  iSSi,  aged  seventv-five 
years,  leaving  a  widow,  now  an  octogenarian, 
living  in  Walton:  Charlotte.  Mrs.  Charles  X. 
Hart,  who  died  a  widow  in  Minneapolis, 
Minn.,  June  4,  1893,  at  the  venerable  age  of 
ninety  years;  and  Sally,  who  died  when  Hear- 
ing the  age  of  threescore  and  ten  years,  the 
widow  of  Hezekiah  Cable.  Of  the  marriage 
of  .Aaron  Beers  and  his  wife  two  children  only 
were  born  -  -  Charles  and  Chester.  Charles 
Beers  was  born  February  22,  1845,  married 
Mariett  Soper  in  early  manhood,    followed  the 


538 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


occupation  of  farming  on  Dunk  Hill  in  the 
town  of  Walton  for  a  few  years,  then  went  to 
Ida  Grove,  la.,  then  to  Rome,  la.,  where  he 
now  lives.  The  father  departed  this  life  on 
September  29,  1887;  and  his  widow,  an  un- 
usually bright  and  active  woman  of  eighty- 
seven  years,  resides  on  the  homestead  with  her 
son  Chester. 

Chester  Beers,  who  was  always  fond  of  his 
books,  received  a  liberal  amount  of  schooling, 
and,  having  completed  his  education  at  the 
Delaware  Literary  Institute,  of  Franklin,  ob- 
tained a  first-grade  certificate,  taught  school 
in  the  winter,  and  worked  on  the  farm  in  the 
summer  season  for  twelve  years,  teaching  one 
summer  in  Deposit.  He  is  a  farmer  by 
choice,  and  on  the  parental  homestead  is  con- 
ducting his  agricultural  interests  with  a  wise 
and  skilful  hand  and  brain,  being  unusually 
prosperous  in  all  of  his  enterprises,  and  has 
acquired  a  high  rank  among  the  thrifty 
farmers  and  representative  citizens  of  the 
town.  He  was  first  married  November  10, 
1873,  to  Janet  R.  Nichols,  who  lived  less 
than  two  short  years,  dying  August  13,  1875, 
without  issue.  On  January  8,  1884,  Mr. 
Beers  was  again  married,  his  bride  being  Ida 
M.  Taggart,  of  Beerston,  being  the  daughter 
of  the  late  Joseph  Taggart,  and  his  wife, 
Elizabeth  (Orr)  Taggart.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tag- 
gart were  the  parents  of  ten  children,  briefly 
named  below :  Nancy  Jane,  the  wife  of  Her- 
bert Oles,  mother  of  six  children;  Ida  (Mrs. 
Beers);  Joseph;  Cora  B. ;  Charles;  Emma,  the 
wife  of  William  Costello,  mother  of  two  chil- 
dren; John;  and  James.  The  four  sons  are 
unmarried,  and  make  their  home  with  their 
mother  in  Beerston.  Two  daughters,  who 
grew  to  womanhood,  are  deceased,  namely : 
lilla,  who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  years; 
and  Anna,  the  wife  of  Clement  Northrup, 
who  died  in  Littleton,  Col.,  when  but  twenty- 
four  years  old,  leaving  two  children.  Mr. 
Taggart  gave  up  the  cares  and  burdens  of  this 
life  and  was  gathered  to  his  eternal  rest  in 
1884,  being  then  seventy-three  years  of  age. 
One  child  only  has  come  to  bless  the  home  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beers — ^  Clara  Janet,  who  was 
born  September  11,   1887. 

Mr.  Beers  is  a  man   of   strict    integrity  and 
strong  convictions,  and   is  held   in  high  con- 


sideration in  the  neighborhood  where  he  has 
spent  his  life.  He  is  a  man  of  large  phy- 
sique and  fine  presence,  being  si.x  feet  four 
and  one-half  inches  tall,  and  weighing  two 
hundred  and  forty  pounds,  exceeding  his 
father,  who  was  a  stalwart  man,  in  height  by 
one  and  one-half  inches.  He  is  a  prominent 
member  of  the  Grange,  and,  having  been 
rocked  in  a  Democratic  cradle,  still  clings  to 
the  principles  of  the  party  to  which  he  was 
born  and  bred. 


OMN  P.  BLAKELY,  a  prominent 
farmer  of  Kortright,  was  born  in  this 
town,  June  18,  1845,  son  of  James  G. 
and  Susan  (McAuley)  Blakely,  both 
of  whom  were  natives  of  the  town.  The 
father  was  born  January  12,  18 10,  and  the 
mother,  July  23,  181 3.  James  G.  Blakely 
was  a  son  of  William,  who  was  born  in  Wash- 
ington County,  and  moved  to  the  town  of 
Kortright  in  1808,  when  quite  a  young  man, 
purchasing  a  farm  of  about  nine  hundred 
acres.  At  the  time  of  his  advent  in  the  town 
it  was  in  a  very  primitive  state,  most  of  the 
land  being  covered  with  timber,  requiring 
the  expenditure  of  much  energy  and  time  to 
bring  it  under  cultivation.  This  Mr.  Blakely 
successfully  accomplished.  In  addition  to  his 
farm  he  also  kept  a  tavern,  which  was  the 
first  one  in  the  town.  He  raised  a  family  of 
nine  children,  all  of  whom  grew  to  maturity, 
one,  Mrs.  Sarah  Mitchell,  being  alive  at  this 
time.  William  Blakely  died  on  the  home- 
stead, aged  seventy-four.  In  politics  he  was 
a  Democrat.  James  G.  Blakely  was  educated 
in  the  district  schools  of  Kortright.  He  was 
a  successful  farmer  and  dairyman,  owning  a 
farm  of  three  hundred  acres,  part  of  the  old 
homestead.  He  and  his  wife,  Susan,  had 
eight  children,  five  of  whom  are  now  liv- 
ing, namely :  Mrs.  Agnes  Thomas,  widow  of 
John  Thomas,  residing  in  the  town  of  .Stam- 
ford; William,  Jennie  M.,  and  John  P.,  all  of 
Kortright;  and  Rebecca  S.,  who  resides  at 
home.  Mr.  James  G.  Blakely  died  April  15, 
1882. 

John  ]'.  Blakely  was  educated  in  the  dis- 
trict schools  of  Kortright  and  at  the  Stamford 
Academy,    and  then  engaged   in  teaching  for 


RIOORAPHICAI.    RKVIRW 


'y> 


two  terms.  1  Ic  aftcrwaid  (lc\()tc(l  liis  atten- 
tion to  general  farming,  also  making  a  spe- 
cialty of  dairying,  owning  fifty  head  of  cattle. 
Mr.  lilakely  is  a  man  of  progressiw  ideas, 
anil  has  remodelled  and  im|)roved  the  farn) 
bnildings  until  the  estate  is  second  to  none  in 
the  count)-.  lie  is  a  member  of  the  West 
Kortright  I'resbyterian  Church,  and  in  poli- 
tics is  a  Democrat.  He  has  ne\er  been  prom- 
inent in  politics,  neithei-  has  he  ever  sought 
any  public  office.  He  is  a  man  of  great  popu- 
larit)'  with  his  fellows,  and  the  t\'pe  of  an 
honest,  intelligent,  industiious.  and  well- 
to-do   farmer. 


hlORCH  W'KiliT,  who  is  engaged  in 
general  farming  and  dair\'iag  near 
DeLancey  station,  is  one  of  the  sub- 
stantial and  trustworthy  citizens  of  the  town 
of  Hanulen.  He  is  the  offspring  of  an  an- 
cient Scotch  family,  and  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Delhi  on  .Scotch  Mountain,  where 
his  parents  settled  on  their  arri\al  in  this 
country. 

John  Wight,  the  grandfather  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  a  nati\'e  of  Roxburghshire, 
-Scotland,  where  he  spent  man\'  years  of  his 
long  life  in  hertling  sliee]).  He  married 
Ivleanor  Middlemist,  who  bore  him  five  sons 
and  se\'eral  daughters.  Of  the  five  sons, 
three — Matthew,  Thomas,  and  ("icorge -- emi- 
grated to  America,  and  became  usetul  and 
respected  citizens.  'I'he  mother  of  these  chil- 
dren, outliving  her  husband  several  years, 
died  in  the  town  of  Delhi,  at  the  ripe  old  age 
of  ninety-eight  years,  an<l  was  buried  in  the 
church-\ard  cemetery  of  the  first  PresbyteriaTi 
church. 

George  W'ight,  ."-ir.,  was  born  in  Roxburgh- 
shire, -Scotland,  in  i\Iarch,  1790.  His  wife 
was  a  native  of  Northumbi-rland  County,  V.ug- 
land,  where  their  marriage  was  solemnized  in 
1S17.  The  following  year  they  with  their 
first-born  sailed  fmm  Liverpool  for  America, 
via  Halifax,  at  which  port  the  vessel  was  to 
load,  therice  to  Boston,  arriving  at  New  York 
City,  their  point  of  destination,  after  a  voy- 
age of  six  weeks.  They  came  to  Delaware 
County,  w^hcre  they  bought  one  hundred  and 
sixty    acres     of     scantily    improved     lanil     on 


.Scotch  Mountain  from  Wiilow  Cameron,  wii..>. 
husband  was  one  of  (irahamVs  victim>.  H\ 
persevering  .nid  t')il  anil  bra\e  endur.iuce  they 
cleared  their  farm,  and  subseipiently  bought 
two  hundre<l  and  fortv  acres  more,  making  in 
all  loui-  lunulred  acres.  The  father  w.is  a 
man  ot  more  than  ordinary  intelliL;ence  .and 
ability,  and  exercised  gre.it  intluence  in  Ih.- 
commnnit)'  where  he  lived.  He  was  also  an 
honored  IClder  in  the  I'resbyterian  church  for 
many  years.  He  and  his  good  wife  s|)ent  a 
most  hapin'  weddetl  life,  and  in  their  ileath 
were  not  separated,  both  being  buried  on  tin- 
same  day,  in  the  year  1876,  the  mother  being 
in  her  eightieth  year,  and  the  ilay  of  their 
burial  being  the  eight\-sixth  anni\ersary  of 
the  birth  of  the  father.  l-^leven  children  were 
born  to   them. 

The  eldest,  John  1...  a  retired  farmer  living 
in  Andes,  has  been  twice  married,  and  of  his 
nine  children  only  three  are  living;  the  sec- 
ond, Betsy,  who  for  many  years  took  care  of 
her  parents,  is  still  in  the  parental  home- 
stead: the  third,  a  daughter,  died  in  infancv: 
the  fourth,  Robert,  diecl  March  7,  1876.  aged 
fifty-one  years,  leaving  two  sons  and  two 
daughters;  the  fifth,  I'^leanor,  married  John 
Holmes,  of  Colchester,  and  has  had  six  sons 
and  three  daughters,  six  of  whom  are  living; 
the  sixth,  William,  a  graduate  of  Jefferson 
College,  Pa.,  and  for  many  years  thereafter  a 
succi'ssful  teacher,  is  living  in  Bernardston, 
.Mass.,  on  a  farm,  and  has  one  son  and  one 
(laughter,  another  daughter  having  die<l  in  in- 
fancy; the  seventh,  Margaret  Ann.  wife  of 
William  Hyniers,  of  HaiiKlen,  has  five  sons 
and  two  daughters  living,  an  infant  having 
died;  the  eighth,  Isabella,  died  at  eighteen; 
the  ninth,  Jane,  widow  of  John  W.  Smith,  of 
Walton,  has  two  sons  and  one  daughter  living. 
having  lost  four  children:  the  tenth  is 
(icorge,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  thv 
eleventh,  Thomas,  a  practising  physician  of 
Andes,  has  one  son  and  three  daughters  liv- 
ing, and  has  lost  two  sons. 

In  I  S69  were  solemnized  the  marriage  vows 
of  Mr.  George  Wight  and  Miss  Kmma  .\. 
Knowles,  daughter  of  W.  H.  and  Jane  ( Mc- 
{•"arlane)  Knowles,  both  natives  of  Hanulen. 
Her  father  is  a  farmer;  her  mother  is  of  Scotch 
parentage. 


54° 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Y^TENRY  G.  CARTWRIGHT,  editor 
I^J  and  proprietor  of  the  Roxbury  Times, 
|U  I  and   a   popular  and    influential  citi- 

^■~"^  zen  of  this  town,  is  descended  from 
a  well-known  family  of  the  name.  His  father 
was  Dr.  Cartwright,  for  many  years  a  success- 
ful and  prominent  physician  of  Roxbury,  who 
married  Mary  Mead. 

Mr.  Cartwright  was  born  in  Roxbury,  No- 
vember 13,  1S69.  He  was  educated  in  the 
schools  of  this  town  and  at  Fort  Edward  In- 
stitute, later  attending  the  Cortland  Normal 
School,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1887.  In 
1889  he  was  page  in  the  Assembly,  and  began 
corresponding  for  the  Albany  papers.  He  was 
later  assistant  in  the  post-ofifice  at  Hunter, 
Greene  County,  N.Y.,  but,  having  a  taste 
for  journalism,  he  purchased  the  Hunter 
P/icnix,  a  weekly  paper  of  that  town.  This 
he  edited  for  some  time,  and  then  sold  it, 
being  then  employed  by  the  Prudential  Insur- 
ance Company.  In  April,  1891,  he  accepted 
a  position  as  clerk  with  A.  Cartwright,  a 
leading  merchant  of  Roxbury.  Not  being 
content  with  mercantile  life,  and  wishing  to 
return  to  his  literary  work,  in  April,  1892,  he 
purchased  of  R.  R.  Hazard  the  Roxbury 
Times,  whose  circulation  of  six  hundred  has 
increased,  under  his  able  management,  to 
over  eleven  hundred.  Mr.  Cartwright  is  a 
stanch  Republican,  and  was  a  delegate  to  the 
State  Convention  at  Syracuse,  being  the 
youngest  member.  Me  is  very  active  in  all 
enterprises  pertaining  to  the  improvement  and 
welfare  of  the  village  of  Roxbury,  and  takes 
especial  interest  in  educational  matters. 


-OHN  C.  CARPENTER,  a  prosperous 
farmer  and  dairyman  of  Tompkins, 
N.Y.,  was  born  in  Broome  County, 
July  4,  1841.  His  father,  Benjamin 
L.  Carpenter,  was  a  native  of  the  same 
county,  and  resided  there  until  1856,  when  he 
removed  to  Delaware  County,  and  purchased  a 
tract  of  eighty-six  acres  of  land,  now  included 
in  the  farm  owned  and  occupied  by  the  sub- 
ject of  this  biography.  At  the  time  of  his 
purchase  it  contained  a  small  plank  house  and 
a  log  barn.  Buying  interest  in  a  saw-mill, 
Mr.  Carpenter  engaged  in  the  lumber  business 


in  connection  with  agricultural  pursuits. 
Here  he  lived  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-one  years.  His  wife  was  Sarah  Hoag, 
daughter  of  Ezra  and  Charlotte  Hoag;  and 
she  died  when  fifty-seven  years  of  age,  having 
reared  five  children  —  Nancy  Russell,  John 
C,  and  Charles  W.  Theressa,  Mrs.  Abram 
Moore,  died  February  g,  1863;  George  L*. 
died  January    14,    1864. 

John  C.  Carpenter  attended  the  district 
school  in  his  boyhood,  and  assisted  his  father 
in  the  care  of  the  farm.  In  August,  1862,  he 
enlisted  in  Company  A,  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-fourth  New  York  Volunteer  Infantry, 
and  served  in  the  various  campaigns  in  which 
this  regiment  was  active.  At  the  battle  of 
Honey  Hill  he  was  wounded  in  the  left  arm; 
and,  as  this  accident  caused  him  to  be  unfit 
for  service,  he  was  honorably  discharged 
March  30,  1865.  He  returned  to  his  home, 
and  in  1866  purchased  the  old  farm,  and 
leased  a  saw-mill,  engaging  in  lumbering  and 
farming. 

April  II,  1867,  Mr.  Carpenter  married 
Miss  Mary  C.  Wood,  and  they  are  the  parents 
of  five  children  —  Willie  A.,  Lewis  G., 
Francis   L.,    Adelbert,   and  Annie  E. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carpenter  and  four  of  their 
children  arc  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church,  in  which  organization  they  are 
active  workers.  Mr.  Carpenter  is  a  Republi- 
can in  politics,  is  a  member  of  the  Plasket 
Post,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  of  Han- 
cock, and  is  highly  respected  in  the  town 
where   he   resides. 


LEXANDER  NEISH,  attorney-at-lavv, 
residing  in  the  village  of  Walton,  is 
a  gentleman  whose  talent  and  cult- 
ure has  gained  him  an  honorable 
position  in  the  legal  profession,  and  placed 
him  among  the  leading  and  influential  citizens 
of  Delaware  County.  Andes  is  the  town  of 
his  birth,  which  occurred  December  11,  1846. 
He  is  a  descendant  of  respected  pioneer  set- 
tlers of  this  region,  being  a  grandson  of  Alex- 
ander Neish,  who  was  born  in  Crieff,  Scotland, 
in  1779,  and  his  wife,  Jeannette  (Drummond) 
Neish,  also  a  native  of  Scotland. 

Several    years    after    their    marriage    this 


niOGRAI'HICAI.    KK.VIKW  -.,, 

worthy  couple  emi>;i-ato(l  to  the  riiitcd  States,  way     iN-nnri,     mm.i.^     m     liuiMii^,     'mii..; 

brinyin^   with   them  tuiir  children,  laiulin<;    in  Marietta,  married   Henry  A.  Xeidi;;,  liviiii;  in 

New    \'ork    City  after  a  three  months"  voyage.  Andes.       The     parents    are     huth     aeti\e    and 

rurchasing     horses     and    wagons,     they    came  hearty    people,  and   are   esleenicd    mcmhers  dI 

through    the    intervening  woods  to  the  town  of  the    Methodist   church    of    .Andes.      Inpoiiliis 

Ilamden,  where   they  bought  land,  and  carried  John  Neish  is  a  wide-awake  Republicin. 

on   general    farming   on  an    extensive  scale  for  .'\lexander    Xeish  was  re.ireii    upon  the  l.im- 

those   days.      Two   more   children  were   subse-  ily    homestead,    gained    the    rudiments    of    hi, 

cpiently     addctl     to     their     househoKl      circle.  education   at    the   district  schoid,  and   ])ursueil 

Mrs.  jeannctte  Xeish  died  in  February,    1.S64,  a  higher  course  of   study  at   the   Andes   Colle- 

in  the  eight\-seventh  \ear  of  her  age,  survived  giate   Institute.       As  many  men   now  eminent 

only  a   lew   weeks   by   her    husband,    who  died  in    the    various    |)rofessions    have    done,     Mr. 

when    eighty-five    years    idd.      The    record    of  Neish    began  his  career  as  ,1  teacher,  and    con- 

their    children    is   as    follows:   James,    wiio    is  tinned  to  exercise  that  calling  fur  threi- y.ars. 

now  cighty-se\en  years  old,  owns  ami  occupies  lie  then  entered  the  office  of    W.  II.  Johnson, 

one    of    the   hnest    farms    in    Andes:    he    is    a  of   Andes,  and,  after  re;iding  law  with  him  for 

widower,    his    wife    having   died    in    I'ebruary,  some  time,  was  admitted   to   the   bar    in    Mav, 

1894,  when  ])ast  ninety  years  of  age.      John  is  1869.       The     following     month      .Mr.     Xeish 

the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  .'\nn,  opened  an  office  in  the  village  oi  Walton,  :ind 
the  wife   of    Haskell   1'.  W'ilher.  resides  in  the  |  began  the  practice  of   his  profession,   in  which 

village  of  W'alton.      Mary,  the  widow  of  W'al-  he  has  met   with   eminent   and    tlattering   snc- 

ter   Stott,    lives  at   Livingston   Manor.      Will-  cess.      On  the  ist  of  January,  1894.  he  formed 

lam  resides  on  the  old  homestead.      Jeannctte,  a    partnership    with    John    (i.    More,    the    lirm 

the  youngest,  married  Senator  William  Lewis,  being  known   as    Xeish    &    More.      Aside  from 

and  both  are  now  deceased.  his  legal   duties   iMr.   Xeish    tinds   time   to   dc- 

John  Neish,  son  of  Alex;inder.  was  a  \ouiig  vote  to   the   interests   of   his   comnninilv,  ha\- 

latl    when    he   came   to    .Andes,    but    has    some  ing   been    President   of   the  village  of   Uallon 

remembrance  of  the  ihcary  voxage  across  the  for  six  years,  and  having  ser\ed  on  the  lioard 
stormy    Atlantic.      He    mairicd     Amelia     M.    ;  of    lulucation   of    Walton    l^iion    l-'ree   School 

Barnhart,  the  daughter  of  Philip  and  Nancy  eleven  years,  this  school  taking  a  high  rank 
(  Knapp)    Barnhart,    a    native    of    Washington   ,  among  the  schools  in  this  section  of  the  State. 

County.      Mr.  B;irnhart   was  born  in  the  town  Politically,  he  affiliates   \\i''i    tlu-    jv.-nniili,  ui 

of   Andes,   being  a   son    of  John   and    Lleanor  ])arty. 

(Shaver)  Barnhart,  the  latter  of  whom  is  said  On  April  11,  1S67,  Mr.  .\li-ii  \\u.>  nuirricd 
to  have  been  the  first  white  female  child  born  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Hitchcock,  the  daughter  of 
within  the  limits  of  Andes,  to  which  place  Lucius  and  the  late  Susan  (Sweet )  Hitchcock, 
her  father  had  come  from  Dutchess  County.  ,  who  pas.sed  from  earth  in  I'ebruary,  1894.  at 
The  Shaver  family  were  of  Holland  descent,  the  age  of  sixty-seven  years,  leaving  her  hus- 
and  on  removing  to  this  county  brought  some  band  and  three  children.  Mr.  Hitchcock  is 
wealth  with  them.  At  the  time  of  an  Indian  a  catpenter  by  trade,  and  an  esteemed  resident 
outbreak  thev  hid  a  kettle  of  silver  in  a  bin-  of  Oneonta.  Of  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
nacle,  and  were  never  afterward  able  to  find  :  Neish  four  children  have  been  born:  the  eld- 
it.  Of  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Neish  est,  Mora  M.,  a  talented  young  lady  and  an 
six  children  were  born:  one  son  died  in  in-  accomplished  musician,  was  married  to  V.  .\. 
fancy;  another,  Philip,  who  was  a  lawyer  by  St.  John,  October  11.  1S94,  and  settled  in 
profession,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Iowa,  Walton  village:  Lillian  LaSalle,  who.  like 
and  subsequently  dietl  at  the  age  of  thirty-  her  sister  h'lora,  was  a  graduate  of  the  Walton 
four  years,  leaving  a  wife  and  children  ;  Juli-  High  School,  also  pursued  her  musical  stud- 
ana,  the  wife  of  6.  G.  Ilendrix,  lives  in  Wal-  ies  at  the  New  luigland  Conservatory  of 
ton  village:  Alexander,  also  of  Walton,  is  .Music,  Boston:  Alexander  J.,  a  youth  of  six- 
further  nientioned    below;    Bvron    \'..    a   rail-  ,  teen  years,  is  in  school,  preparing  for  college : 


S42 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Albert  P.,  the  youngest  child,  is  a  fine  lad 
of  nine  years.  The  parents  are  sparing 
neither  time  nor  expense  in  educating  these 
children  to  become  self-reliant  men  and 
women,  with  a  definite  place  in  this  busy 
world   of   ours. 


ISAAC  HARDENHURGH,  late  of  Ro.x- 
bury,  NA'.,  wa.s  the  last  male  descend- 
ant of  his  family  possessing  the  old 
homestead  in  Delaware  Count}.  He 
was  a  great-grandson  of  Johannes  Hardenburgh, 
of  Rosendale,  Ulster  County,  the  patentee  of 
the  Hardenburgh  Patent,  which  was  granted 
April  20,  1708,  the  lands  having  been  pre- 
viously purchased  of  the  Indians.  The  title 
was  confirmed,  it  is  said,  by  three  govern- 
ments—  the  Dutch,  English,  and  United 
States.  After  the  Revolution  it  was  found 
that  the  monuments  were  lost ;  and  an  act, 
passed  March  29,  1790,  appointed  Charles 
Tappen  and  James  Cockburn  commissioners 
to  make  a  survey  of  certain  lines,  to  be  prop- 
erly marked  by  stone  heaps  every  two  miles 
along  the  division  lines.  The  grant  was 
divided  into  great  tracts,  numbered  from  one 
to  forty-two.  The  number  of  acres  in  the  pat- 
ent is  not  known.  It  lies  within  the  bounda- 
ries of  Ulster,  Sullivan,  Greene,  and  Delaware 
Counties. 

An  elder  Isaac,  son  of  Johannes,  came  to 
the  town  of  Ro.xbury  in  1791,  journeying  by 
the  way  of  Saugerties,  through  the  gorge,  up 
the  mountain,  to  Tannersville,  and  down  the 
Schoharie  Kill,  by  marked  trees  and  Indian 
trails.  He  was  a  man  of  vigorous  physique, 
was  possessed  of  a  considerable  amount  of  legal 
knowledge,  and  always  dressed  in  Colonial 
style.  He  married  Rachel  Graham,  of  New 
York  City,  and  became  the  father  of  seven 
children  —  Frances,  Lewi.s,  Margaret,  Eliza- 
beth, John,  Catherine,  and  George.  He  built 
the  old  stone  house  in  the  basement  of  which 
was  kept  the  first  store  in  the  town  of  Rox- 
bury.  Later  he  removed  to  Catskill,  where 
he  died  on  January  15,  1822.  As  was  the  cus- 
tom among  the  wealthy  people  of  that  day,  he 
kept  a  number  of  slaves ;  and  they  were  very 
eager  to  come  to  this  land  of  promise,  the 
maple-sugar  country. 


Lewis,  the  eldest  son  of  the  first  Isaac,  was 
born  in  1783,  was  married  July  20,  1806,  to 
Agnes  Laraway,  and  came  into  possession  of 
the  homestead.  Lewis  was  a  very  active  and 
energetic  man.  He  had  made  many  improve- 
ments in  his  lands,  and  had  planned  many 
more,  when  he  was  suddenly  taken  away  by 
the  hand  of  death  in  1838,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
five  years,  leaving  a  wife  and  six  children  — 
Ann  Eliza,  Katie  Maria,  Rosina,  Martin, 
Isaac,  and  Addison. 

Isaac,  second  son  of   Lewis  and  Agnes  Har- 
denburgh, was  born  November  2,  1827,  at  the 
old  homestead  in  the  town  of   Ro.xbury,  and  at 
his  father's  death  came   into  possession  of  the 
property.      He   was   a    large,    powerfully   built 
man,  of  a  genial  and  happy  disposition  and  of 
a  noble  heart.      His  mental  endowments  were 
superior:  he  was  a  deep  and  accurate  thinker, 
and  all  his   life  bore  a  reputation   for   sterling 
integrity.       Two     old     servants,      Jack      and 
Deyona,    husband    and    wife,    who    had    been 
slaves  of  his  father,  were  cared  for  by  him   to 
a  good  old  age.      The  death   of   Isaac   Harden- 
burgh   occurred    March    16,    1889,    and  was  an 
event    deeply    mourned  by  the  entire  commu- 
nity.     Mr.    Hardenburgh   was   united    in   mar- 
riage    September    29,     1881,    to    Mary    Shoe- 
maker,   of   Roxbury,    Delaw-arc   County,   N.  ^^ , 
a  capable,    thrifty,    and  energetic   woman,  who 
looked  well  after  his  comfort    in   his  declining 
years.      One  little  daughter,  Agnes,  named  for 
Mrs.   Hardenburgh's  mother,  was  born  October 
17,   1885. 

This  sketch  of  the  Hardenburgh  family  has 
been  kindly  contributed  to  the  "Review"  by 
Mr.  Hardenburgh' s  niece,  Miss  More,  of  New- 
ark Valley,  Tioga  County,  N.  Y.  The  accom- 
panying portrait  of  Isaac  Hardenburgh  will 
be  recognized  with  pleasure  by  all  who  were  so 
fortunate  as  to  have  his  personal  acquaintance. 


/3)eORGE  W.  ROBINSON,  a  well- 
\  '•)  I  known  and  enterprising  dealer  in 
—  c\ery  description  of  market  vege- 
tables, of  the  town  of  Walton,  was  born  near 
this  place,  December  25,  1832,  son  of  James 
and  Elizabeth  (Case)  Robinson.  John  Robin- 
son, father  of  James,  was  a  native  of  Scho- 
harie County,  where  he  was  one  time  engaged 


Isaac 


nURC. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


5  1.'; 


in  the  mamifacturo  of  wagons.  Ik-  afterward 
moved  to  Walton,  where  he  continued  his  busi- 
ness up  to  the  time  of  his  death.  lie  left  nine 
children;  namely,  Iliram,  James.  (;eori,fe  W. , 
William,  Edward,  Charles,  Nancy  M.,  Re- 
becca, and  Delia.  James  Robinson  was  reared 
to  agricultural  jjursuits.  He  married  a 
daughter  of  Huel  and  Abigail  Case;  and  at  the 
time  of  his  early  death,  which  took  place  when 
he  was  but  thirty  years  of  age,  he  left  the  fol- 
lowing family  :  Cicorge  W. ,  Lyman,  and  Jane. 
Mrs.  Robinson  died  in  1863,  at  the  lionu-  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch.  The  father  of  Mrs. 
Robinson  came  from  Connecticut,  and  settled 
as  a  farmer  in  this  State. 

George  W.  Robin.son,  being  but  si.\  years 
old  when  his  father  died,  spent  his  earlv  years 
under  the  care  of  his  grandfather.  lie  at- 
tended the  district  school,  and  afterward 
managed  the  farm  and  took  care  of  his  grand- 
parents until  their  death.  He  then  exchanged 
that  farm  for  another,  and,  after  Ii\ing  thereon 
for  eighteen  years,  mo\ed  to  his  jiresent  loca- 
tion in  1887.  Here  lie  purchased  a  lot,  upon 
which  he  erected  a  fine  dwelling.  His  first 
i)nsiness  ventm-e  in  Walton  was  in  the  ice 
business.  Continuing  at  that  for  f<iur  \eais, 
he  afterward  went  into  the  raising  of  market 
vegetables  on  a  large  scale,  having  an  exten- 
sive trade. 

Mr.  Robinson  was  married  Decembei'  30, 
1856,  to  Miss  .Sarah  J.  C,n\y.  a  daughter  of 
Charles  and  .Sarah  (Hutler)  (ira).  Mrs.  Rob- 
inson has  the  following  brothers  and  sisters: 
Angelina,  Marcu.s,  hlrastus,  I':iiphet,  and 
(ieorgc.  The  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Robinson 
was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Walton,  coming 
here  in  180S.  He  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary period.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robinson 
have  the  following  children;  James  .A.,  who 
has  two  children;  Charles,  married  to  Miss 
Ilattie  Wakeman,  has  one  child,  |osephine, 
and  is  a  carpenter  residing  in  Walton;  Ira, 
married  to  Harriett  Berry,  has  one  chihl  — 
William;  Herman,  residing  in  Montana,  en- 
.gaged  in  business  as  a  i)utchcr ;  .Addie,  mar- 
to  (leorge   h".    Robinson;   and    l.ibbie,  who 

.Mr.    RobinsoTi 
9,    A.     I-.     & 


ried 

is   engaged  as  a  dressmaker. 

is    a    member    of    Lodge    \o.    ;,-, 


a  Repuhli.,,01   m  pnimes,   aim    lia.-,    I,een    .\sses 
sor    for    twelve    years.       Mrs.      Robinson     is    ,, 
member  of   the    Methodist    chinch.       Mr.    Rob 
inson    is    a    man    comm.inding   the    ulrnoNt    re 
sped,    not    only    in    his    i)Usiness,    but     in     his 
private    life,    and    has    siiown    himself     to    !„• 
worthy  of  the  public  confir|en<  c. 


I  .S4 : . 
ham  I 
Both 


•■-'•\.M     I..     Will  11-;    was    Ix.rn    on 
the  larm  on  which  he   now   li\es,   on 
the     fourteenth     dav     of     |-"ebruarv. 
His    parents,    Robert    and    .\nna    (Cra- 
White,     caiiie     to      America     in      i8:;4. 
were  natives  of  regions  indissohiblv  con- 


\ears 

owed     for 

comini:    to    .America. 


A.    M.,    of   Walton,    of  which   organization   he 
has  occupied  the  position   of  Trustee.      He  is 


nected  with  some  of  the  most  romantic  and 
pathetic  episodes  in  Scottish  historv.  'I"he 
father  was  horn  in  Ayrshire,  Scotland;  the 
mother,  in  .Montrose.  Robert  White  was  a 
carpenter  by  trade,  and  was  a  skilled  joiner, 
having  served  an  ajiprenticeship  of  fi\ 
in  .Scotland.  This  trade  he  d 
twenty-five    years    after 

In  1837  he  bought  a  farm  of  fifty  acres,  which 
he  enlarged  by  different  purchases  from  time 
to  time.  Here  he  died  Ajiril  5,  1 861).  at  the 
age  of  sixty-eight  years.  His  wife  survived 
him  twenty-four  years,  reaching  the  advanced 
age  of  ninety-four.  Both  husband  and  wife 
were  devout  and  earnest  members  .if  the 
I'nited  Presbyterian  church.  Robert  White 
was  a  strong  and  faithful  .advocate  for  and 
defender  of  Republican  principles.  Of  the 
nine  children  born  to  the  Scotch  coujile  h\x- 
are  now  living,  namely:  John  (;..  a  farmer  in 
Mount  Hope,  Wis,  ;  Jane,  the  wife  of  John  I). 
\'an  Aikin,  a  farmer  in  Walton;  Anna,  the 
wite  ot  John  (I.  Thom[ison.  a  farmer  and 
laborer  in  Bovina;  William  I...  the  subject 
of  this  memoir;  Alexander,  a  farmer  in  Belle 
riaine.  la.  James  died  at  eighteen  vears  of 
age,  and  Mary  and  Robert  died  in  infancy. 

William  L.  White  spent  his  bovhiiod  <in 
the  farm  where  he  was  born,  and  received  the 
foundation  of  a  good,  plain  education  in  the 
district  schools,  afterward  attending  the  Col- 
legiate Institute  of  .Andes  for  four  terms, 
where  he  fitted  himself  for  a  teacher.  During 
the  long  winter  months  he  taught  school,  and 
through  the  summer  vacations  he  did  car- 
penter's   work.      He    taught    for    six   terms    in 


546 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Delaware  County,  and  was  for  two  terms 
l'rinci])al  of  the  Cannonsville  Migh  School, 
where  he  had  an  attendance  of  ninety-five 
pupils.  In  1.S69  he  came  into  ])ossession  of 
his  father's  estate,  since  wjiich  time  he  has 
turned  his  eneroies  toward  agricultural  pur- 
suits and  stock  raising  and  dealing.  He  has 
been  somewhat  largely  engaged  in  buying  and 
selling  Western  hor.ses,  five  carloads  of  which 
he  has  made  advantageous  disposition  oi  since 
1890.  I'nder  his  management  his  patrimony 
has  been  considerably  augmented,  and  the 
farm  boundaries  have  greatly  extended.  The 
While  farm  being  adapted  for  a  grazing  farm, 
jMr.  White  keeps  a  herd  of  forty-eight  cattle, 
and  has  been  eminently  successful  in  breeding 
Jersey  dairy  stock.  The  dairy  is  remunerative 
to  its  owner  and  .satisfactory  to  its  patrons. 
The  average  number  of  pounds  of  butter  per 
head  for  1892  was  two  hundred  and  eighty- 
three,  the  quality  of  which  was  as  fine  as  its 
quantity  was  phenomenal. 

Mr.  White  is  in  the  communion  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  church  at  Hovina  Centre, 
and  has  always  been  a  stanch  Republican. 
For  ten  years  he  has  held  the  office  of  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  and  was  in  1891  and  1892  Super- 
visor. Many  minor  offices  ha\e  taxed  the 
time  and  energies  of  this  bu.sy,  practical  man, 
who  has,  nevertheless,  found  himself  able  to 
discharge  them  satisfactorily  to  those  who 
intru.sted  the  (kities  to  his  hand,  and  without 
detriment  to  his  personal  work  and  interest. 
His  many  friends  wish  for  him  the  best  things 
that  can  offer.  He  enjoys  the  respect  and  es- 
teem of  his  fellow-beings,  and  the  worldly 
pros|ierit\'  that  his  efforts  deserxe. 


.\MI-:S  J.  GRI':(;()R\',  one  of  the  worthy 
descendants  of  the  stanch  jnonecr, 
Timoth\'  Gregory,  who  founded  Creg- 
oi-\town,  was  boin  in  Tomjikins, 
Delaware  County,  May  11,  1843.  Josiah 
Gregory,  father  of  James,  was  born  in  the 
adjacent  town  of  Colchester  on  March  29, 
1797,  and  after  a  useful  and  successful  life 
died  l-'ebruary  15,  1886,  and  was  buried  in  the 
family  lot  in  Granton,  having  retained  to  the 
last  all  his  faculties.  His  wife,  whom  he 
married    July    4,     1819,    was    Viletty    Sutton. 


She  died  April  6,  1874.  They  had  eleven 
children:  Jeremiah  S. ,  born  January  25,  1821, 
died  August  14,  1822;  .Sally  .Ann,  born  June 
15,  1822,  died  (Jctober  15,  1885;  Jeremiah 
T. ,  born  June  17,  1824,  is  Poor  Master  of  the 
town,  and  resides  in  Cannonsville  (a  further 
histor)'  of  this  gentleman  may  be  found  in  an- 
other part  of  this  volume)  ;  -Sherman  .S.  was 
born  I'ebruary  20,  1826,  and  his  sketch, 
together  with  a  further  history  of  the  (iregory 
family,  may  al.so  be  found  in  another  jxart  of 
this  work;  Charlotte,  born  July  22,  1828; 
John  P.,  born  .September  29,  1830;  Edwin  R. , 
born  October  9,  1833;  Peter  W. ,  born  No- 
vember 15,  1835:  Loomis  M.,  born  A])ril  21, 
1838,  was  drowned  May  7,  1848;  Jane  C, 
born  January  23,  1841.  All  of  the  above 
were  born  in  Colchester,  while  James  J.,  who 
is  under  consideration  in  this  sketch,  was  born 
in  Tompkins. 

James  J.,  after  a  common-school  education, 
succeeded  his  father  in  the  lumber  business, 
and  bought  also  the  homestead  farm,  which  he 
now  carries  on.  This  farm  has  been  in  the 
family  for  half  a  century;-  and  many  arc  the 
relics  of  the  red  men  and  of  troublous  times 
that  have  been  found  about  the  place  and  are 
in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Gregory.  It  has  an 
Indian  orchard,  and  a  tract  where  the  abo- 
rigines cultivated  their  corn. 

On  January  26,  1870,  Mr.  James  J.  (iregory 
was  married  in  Franklin  to  Anna  l-",liza  Chil- 
son,  a  nati\e  of  Hamden.  She  was  daughter 
of  Harvey  and  Betsey  (Hailey)  Chilson.  Har- 
vey Chilson's  father  was  Timothy  Chil.son,  a 
descendant  from  one  of  the  old  Puritan  fami- 
lies of  the  \ew  England  States.  He  came 
to  Hamden  in  the  early  part  of  this  century 
from  Vermont,  bringing  his  family  with  him, 
and  for  some  years  operated  a  grist-mill  near 
his  new  home.  Later  in  life  he  returned  to 
Vermont,  and,  while  crossing  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  was  the  victim  of  a  fatal  accident,  and 
was  drowned.  His  wife  survived  him  many 
vears,  jiassing  the  latter  part  of  her  life  with 
her  children  in  Michigan.  Harvey  Chilson, 
father  of  Mrs.  Gregory,  received  his  education 
in  Hamden,  and  learned  the  mason's  trade, 
lie  married,  in  1844,  Betsey  Bailey,  daughter 
of  Edward  and  Mary  (Wheaton)  Bailey,  from 
Oueen.stown,    Canada.      She    was    of    English 


RIOGRAPHTCAI,    RF.VIFW 


V»7 


descent  on  the  IlTiley  side,  and  (iernian  im 
the  Wheaton  side.  Luther  Hailev,  i^reat- 
grandfather  lit  Mrs.  (Iregnrv.  was  a  t'aplain  in 
the  British  army  during;-  the  l-"rench  ancl  Indian 
War,  and  for  distini;iiished  servit-es  at  tiiat 
time  was  f;i\en  h\-  tlie  liiitisli  i;ii\ernment  a 
large  tract  ni  huid  in  what  is  now  the  I'nited 
States,  and  situated  somewhere  west  of  Xew 
\'ork  State.  Tliis  ch'iim  was  never  taken  up, 
as  the  Cajitain  was  soon  after  killed  while  de- 
fending I-^irt  Detiance;  and  his  onlv  child, 
lulward,  remcned  with  the  widowed  motliei- 
to  Canada.  llar\e\  (hilson  enlisted  in  tlu' 
One  Hundred  and  l-"iirty-fonrth  J'Jegiment  of 
the  .Xew  \'ork  X'olunteers,  and  served  in  the 
late  war  for  nearl\  three  wars,  being  then  dis- 
charged foi-  disability.  .After  the  wai'  he 
settled  in  Michigan  and  took  a  soldiei's  grant 
of  government  land  near  Whitehall,  Muskegon 
Count)'.  He  there  successfulh'  engaged  in 
farming.  He  had  four  children  Mar\',  Anna 
Kliza,  Ivlihu,  and  Matthew  E.  Mr.  and  .Mrs. 
James  J.  (jregor\'  ha\e  one  child,  Hcrlha  Ii. , 
born  March  3,  i''^74,  who  is  now  being  edu- 
cated at  the  I  leposii  .\cadein_\'.  .Mr.  (iregorv, 
following  the  precetlent  of  his  family,  is 
an  able  and  industrious  farmer,  caii'ving  into 
effect  all  the  jirinciplcs  brought  down  to  him 
from  the  past,  improNed  and  supplemenleil  b) 
the  moi'c  advanced    views  of  the  jiresent. 


I,i:X.\\l)i:k  Si;.\RI.];.S,  of  Sidney. 
is  prol)abl\'  the  oldest  resident  ol 
Delaware  C"ount\',  and  is  oiu'  ol  the 
most  ies]K-cted.  He  was  born  Xo- 
vemlier  7,  1  Soo.  in  the  town  ot  1-iedtord,  West- 
chester Countv,  X.\'.,  and  so  is  within  less 
than  six  years  of  being  a  centenarian.  His 
l)arents  were  Roger  Searles  and  his  wife, 
E.sther  Baker,  of  Westchester  County.  The 
former  was  a  farmer  and  dealer  in  li\e  stock, 
and  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  His  remains  rest 
in  the  cemetery  at  l'"latbush.  Kings  County, 
X.  \'.  ;  while  the  mother,  who  died  in  middle 
life,  was  burietl  at  Catskill.  Tiiey  had  a 
typical  pioneer  familv  of  eight  sons  antl  three 
daughters,  all  of  whom  save  one  (Esther) 
arrived  at  maturity,  but  have  now,  with  a 
single  exception  (Alexander,  abo\e  named), 
passed  to  the  lile  beyond. 


Having  iieen  Iraineil  to  f;irn)  work  in  bux 
hood,  absorbing  whatever  knowledge  1  ould  be 
obtained  in  the  district  sehonls  ol  the  tiim 
and  locality,  .\lexan<le|-,  .at  the  a,i;i;  i.|  ri;;h 
ti'cn,  in  compan\  with  his  brother  Lewis,  wini 
lo  work  at  the  tailur's  trade  in  Westt-i  lo. 
Albany  Count)'.  ,\flt-r  obtaining  a  ihorou-li 
insight  into  the  tailoring  business,  In-  came  t<i 
JM'anklin,  wheie  he  w;is  for  fortv  vears  i-ni 
ploved  in  working  at  his  tr.ide.  in  1X6;  he 
purchased  three  hundred  and  (wenl\'  .'icres  dI 
land  in  the  town  nf  .Sidne\,  on  the  site  of  the 
present  \illage  of  that  name.  This  land  he 
great!)'  im|)ro\ed,  and  sold  it  in  1S71,  much  of 
the  present  village  of  .Sidne\'  having  been 
built  upon  it  since  that  time.  About  seven- 
teen )ears  ago  .Mr.  .Searles  moved  to  his  pres- 
ent Imnu'  on  Libertv  .Street,  although  he  has 
been  a  resident  of  the  village  for  about  thirlv 
ye, US,  leading  a  retiii-d  life,  and  (.'njoving  the 
comi)elence  he  had  ;iccnmulaleil  bv  maii\  pre- 
vious )'ears  of  hard  labor. 

Mr.  Searles  was  married,  at  the  age  uf 
twentv-fi\e,  to  Lliza  Dean,  of  Meredith, 
daughter  of  Xalhaniel  Dean,  whose  wile  was 
a  membei'  of  the  I'orter  familv  of  that  |)hue. 
The  marriage  was  a  happ\  one:  and  si\tv-h\e 
\ears  ot  loving  companionship  glided  almost 
imperce])tiblv  awa\.  until  Mrs.  .Searles  was 
called  to  anolln'r  life  l)v  llie  silent  messenger 
of  death.  \lur  demise  occurred  I-"ebruarv  \o. 
I  .S90,  when  she  was  in  her  eightv -seventh 
vear.  -She  was  a  faithful  wife  and  ni'ithci', 
and  was  ever  active  in  works  of  Christian 
charitv.  ( )f  the  four  children  horn  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  .Searles,  but  one  is  now  living, 
I'orter  D.,  who  was  born  J  mie  1'').  1.S3S.  ( )ne 
son  died  in  iiifancv.  Helen,  who  became 
the  wife  of  William  T.  Bradford,  died  Mav 
36,  I  <S<Sc),  at  the  age  of  sixt\'-one.  .\nd  an- 
other daughter,  .Sarah,  died  Se|)teniber  S, 
I  S46,  when  but  nine  )ears  ol  a.LCe. 

I  In  earlier  years  Mr.  .Searles  was  a  memljer  c.| 
the  Xew  \'ork  .State  militia,  and  rose  from  the 
ranks  to  the  office  of  Major.  In  spite  ol  his 
great  age,  he  still  retains  possession  ol  all  his 
faculties;  and  few  men  as  old  as  he  can  boast 
of  better  health  or  fewer  infirniities.  Like 
a    sturdv    oak,     he    has    weathered    the    storms 

j  of  mail)  winters;  and.  with  an  almost  phe- 
nomenal memorv,  he   can   look  back   and    Iron 


548 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


the  scenes  and  events  of  his  earlier  years 
draw  forth  for  the  benefit  of  the  younger  gen- 
eration many  interesting  reminiscences  and 
characteristic  anecdotes.  The  vigor  of  his 
green  old  age  may  be  in  some  measure  ascribed 
to  the  fact  that  he  has  all  his  life  been  a  man 
of  singular  temperance,  having  always  ab- 
stained from  the  use  of  tobacco  and  alcoholic 
drinks,  though  in  his  early  days  total  absti- 
nence was  a  thing  almost  unknown,  and  drink- 
ing habits  the  rule  among  all  classes.  It 
would  be  well  for  the  younger  generation  if 
Mr.  Searles's  example  were  more  widely  imi- 
tated. It  is  not  impossible  that  he  may  live 
to  be  pointed  out  with  local  pride  as  "the 
centenarian"  of  Delaware  County,  and  thus 
see  the  dawn  of  a  new  and  glorious  century, 
full  of  hope  and  promise  to  the  children  of 
men. 


-OHX  K.  NI-:\VK1RK,  of  Ro.xbury, 
X.\'.,  a  prominent  business  man  and 
citizen  of  that  place,  is  descended  from 
a  very  old  family  of  "genuine  Knicker- 
bockers," his  early  ancestors  having  come 
from  Holland  and  settled  in  \ew  York  nearly 
two  and  a  half  centuries  ago.  His  great- 
grandfather, Dr.  Jacob  Xewkirk,  who  was  of 
the  fifth  generation  of  Newkirks  in  this 
country,  was  born  in  lister  C'ountx',  X.\'., 
March  17,  1750.  He  was  one  of  the  first 
physicians  in  the  place,  and  was  very  success- 
ful in  his  profession.  The  last  years  of  his 
life  were  spent  in  Greene  County,  where  he 
died  in  1833.  In  I77<S  he  married  Anna 
Person,  and  had  two  children — a  daughter, 
Catherine,  who  married  Abram  A.  Salisbury; 
and  a  son,  John  Person  Newkirk,  who  was 
i)orn  in  Creene  County,  A]3ril  30,  1780,  in 
the  midst  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  John  P. 
Xewkirk  was  a  physician  and  a  merchant;  and 
throughout  his  life  he  was,  like  his  father, 
a  member  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  church. 
When  he  was  twent\-two  years  old,  he  con- 
tracted marriage  with  Catherine  Salisbury, 
who  bore  him  these  children;  namely,  .Abram 
Hasbrouck,  Jacob,  Ann,  Catherine,  William, 
Caroline,  Mary,  and  Harriett.  His  death  oc- 
curred February  17,  1855;  but  his  wife  sur- 
\ived  him  eleven  years. 


Jacob  Newkirk,  the  second  son  of  Jf)hn  P. 
Newkirk,  was  born  in  Catskill,  Creene 
County,  February  22,  1806.  Like  his  grand- 
father, whose  name  he  bore,  he  chose  the  med- 
ical profession,  and  was  very  successful  in  his 
practice.  He  studied  with  the  famous  Dr. 
King,  of  Cairo,  N.  V.  More  than  si.\ty  years 
ago  Dr.  Jacob  Newkirk,  second,  commenced 
his  practice  in  Ro.xbury,  where  he  remained  to 
the  day  of  his  death.  He  was  always  a  very 
prominent  citizen,  growing  up  with  the  town, 
and  identified  at  all  times  with  its  progress. 
When  he  settled  here,  the  district  was  little 
more  than  a  wilderness:  no  roads  had  been 
thoroughly  cleared,  and  his  patients  lived 
some  distance  apart.  His  first  visits  were 
made  on  foot  or  on  horseback,  conditions 
under  which  few  physicians  of  the  present  day 
have  to  labor.  Sometimes  called  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  night,  and  obliged  to  ride  several 
miles  through  rain  or  snow  to  attend  an  urgent 
case,  his  profession  was  no  sinecure.  Yet  he 
lived  to  a  good  old  age,  being  eighty-eight  at 
his  death,  which  occurred  August  13,  1894. 
His  wife  was  Deborah  M.  Burhans.  They 
had  two  children,  one  of  whom,  William  S. 
Newkirk,  is  now  dead. 

John  E.  Newkirk,  the  surviving  son  of  Dr. 
Jacob  and  Deborah  Newkirk,  was  born  January 
15,  1838.  He  received  an  e.xcellent  education 
at  Roxbury  Academy  and  Delaware  Institute, 
where  he  was  graduated.  At  the  age  of  eigh- 
teen he  accepted  a  position  as  clerk  for  Mr. 
H.  Burhans.  After  holding  this  position  two 
years,  he  started  a  hardware  business  with  his 
brother  William,  buying  the  establishment  of 
Edward  Burhans ;  and  for  six  years  they  car- 
ried the  business  on  under  the  name  of  J.  K.  & 
W.  S.  Newkirk.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he 
bought  out  his  brother's  share,  and  has  since 
run  the  establishment  alone,  except  one  year 
in  which  his  son  was  a  partner.  He  has  built 
up  a  flourishing  business,  and  has  a  large 
patronage.  In  addition  to  his  hardware  busi- 
ness, he  also  has  an  extensive  ]:>lumbing 
trade,  and  has  a  large  tin-shop. 

He  married  Sarah  C.  Harter,  of  Herkimer 
County,  where  her  father  was  a  well-to-do 
farmer,  who  has  since  retired.  Mrs.  Sarah  C. 
Newkirk  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-four,  leaving 
five  children,  namely :  Frank  H.  Newkirk,  who 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


549 


is  a  train-dispatcher  on  the  West  Shore  Rail- 
road; W'illiam,  wiio  lives  in  Nebraska,  where  he 
is  engafjed  in  a  pros])erous  insurance  business; 
Jane,  who  married  Mi'.  II.  C.  I,on_i;\ear,  and 
now  li\es  at  Fine  Ilill,  in  Lister  Count\' ;  and 
Minnie  and  Marj;aret,  wlio  li\eat  home.  Mr. 
Xewkiik  has  three  grandchiUlren  :  John  |acob 
Newkirk,  son  of  l-"rank  II.  Xewkirk,  who  mar- 
ried I'lorence  Fisher;  and  b'rank  II.  and 
Sarah  D.  Longyear,  the  children  of  his  daugh- 
ter Jane. 

Since  the  death  of  his  tirst  wife  Mr.  New- 
kirk has  married  again,  his  second  wife  being 
Josephine  Mc(iregor.  the  tlaughter  of  John 
Mctjrcgor,  formerh-  of  llobart,  N.\'.  .Mr. 
Newkirk  is  a  life-long  Uemocrat,  and  has 
held  the  offices  of  Super\isor  and  Town  L'lerk 
in  Roxburv.  He  beh)ngs  to  sexeral  orders 
and  lodges,  is  a  prominent  Mason,  and  is  one 
of  the  most  ])opular  and  res])ected  citizens  of 
the  town.  Mrs.  Newkirk  is  a  communicant  of 
St.   Peter's  Church  (Ei)iscopal)  in  llobait. 


[eJT^AL.MoN  II.XRKISON  M.\lIli;\V 
S()N  is  a  highl\-  intelligent  farmer 
of  the  town  of  Mason\'ille,  a  man 
who  reads  thi.-  papei's  and  takes  a 
keen  interest  in  matters  and  events  of  the 
dav,  especialh'  in  things  that  make  for  social 
])rogress  and  indi\idual  iniprovenient.  His 
native  place  was  McDonough,  Chenango 
Countv,  N.\'..  where  he  was  born  Se|)teniber 
22,  1826.  His  parents.  Daniel  and  Sarah 
(Darling)  Mathewson,  were  born  in  Rhode 
Island,  in  the  town  of  (iloucester,  since  called 
Hurrillsville.  J(ishua  Mathewson,  his  i)ater- 
nal  grandfather,  was  the  son  of  an  earlv 
settler  of  Rhode  Island,  who  li\'ed  to  the  rare 
cdd  age  of  one  hundred  and  three  years  and 
nine  months.  Joshua  was  a  farmer,  and  ownetl 
seven  hundred  acres  of  "Little  Rhody's'"  few 
thousaiuls,  and  was  accounted  a  man  of  wealth 
in  his  da\-.  His  liomestead  was  in  Buirills- 
\ille,  where  he  died  at  an  atl\anced  age.  ha\'- 
ing  reareil  si.\  children.  In  religion  he  was 
liberal. 

Daniel  Mathewson  owned  a  small  farm  in 
Hurrillsville,  where  he  married  and  had  a 
famil\-  before  he  decided  to  move  westwaril. 
He    came     with     his     wife    and     children     to 


Chenangci    tcmnlv,     .\i-u     \oik,    .iiioiu    rp  ii[\ 
eight    \ears   ago,  making   the   trip  with   a   co\ 
ered    wagon,    a    pair   of    horses,  ami   a    \uke  of 
oxon,  bringing   their  household   goods  and  pro 
visions,    and    dri\ing    a    cow.       Thes    tarried   a 
little    while    at      Norwich     before     conuiig     lo 
.McDonough,     where    ihev    settled.        .Mr.     Ma 
theuson     bought     about     two     hun(he<l     acre--. 
About    one-tenth     was    cleare<l,     the    rest    in    a 
wild     state    and     for    the     most     part     thickh' 
wooik-d.    and    abounding    in    bears,    deer,    and 
smallei'  animals,    also   wolves,    whiih    were   far 
too   numerous   for    the    comfort    and    safet\     ol 
domestic      towls     and      animals      without     the 


greatest   precaution.       I 
Norwich   and   ( )xford. 
thrifty    woodsman,    anc 
])urpose,     clearing   his 


be    nearest    market    w.is 

.Mr.    Mathewson    was   a 

used    his   axe   to   good 

land,    disjxising    of    the 


timber  b\  binning  it  in  |)iles  and  maiuifactur- 
ing  |iotash  ot  the  ashes,  which  he  bartered  foi 
merchandise.  '{"lie  stores  as  well  as  the  mill 
to  which  the  grain  nnrst  Ije  carried  to  be 
ground  were  at  a  great  distance  from  the 
home. 

.Mr.  Mathewson  died  in  1.S32,  at  sixtv-eiglu 
vears  of  age.  His  wile,  sur\i\ing  him  nine 
years,  dietl  in  1861.  at  se\"ent_\-eight.  .She 
was  in  earl\  life  in  Rhode  Island,  ami  also  in 
.New  Ndrk,  a  member  of  the  l-'ree  Will  ]5aptist 
church;  while  her  husband  was  a  L'niversalist 
in  religious  belief.  In  ])olitics  he  was  a 
Whig.  Their  ten  children  grew  to  maidiood 
and  womanhood.  Three  of  them  are  now  li\- 
ing,  namelv  ;  Mesta]iha  Mathewson,  a  retired 
farmer  in  the  town  of  Cortland,  Cortland 
Countv,  N.  N.  ;  .^.  Harrison  Mathewson,  a 
farmer  in  .Masonxille;  Lclihla  I-"ieeman, 
widow  of  the  late  I'itz  Henr\-  ]-"reeman,  lives 
in  Montague,  Mass.  Julia  i{.  Haldwin  ilied 
in  1X72.  Hope  died  at  thirtv-four  years  of 
age;  Daniel  I',  died  at  sixty-four  years: 
Mar\  I-'ranklin  died  at  thirty-nine;  Thomas  J. 
dieil  at  sixtv-se\en  \ears;  Windsor  died  July 
3,  I'S":;;  and  Russell  R.  was  killed  while 
liunbering  in  Cameron,  Steidien  County,  au'ed 
thirt\-six  years. 

S.     Harrison    Mathewson    received    hi>    ^.i 
nientar\'   education     in    the    tlistrict    schocd    at 
McDonough.    ar.d    afterward   |nirsued   more  ad 
v^mced    studies    in    select    schools,    anil    in    the 
Norwich   Acadenn.      He    lived   at   home    with 


55° 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


his  parents,  assisting  his  father  in  farm  work 
when  nut  attending  school,  till  nineteen  years 
old,  when  he  began  life  on  his  own  account  by 
working  out  on  the  farm  of  Mrs.  Hatchelor,  of 
McUonough,  for  four  months  at  nine  dollars 
l)er  month.  After  a  year  of  work  as  a  farm 
laborer,  he  went  to  Rhode  Island  and  engaged 
himself  to  Messrs.  Eddy  and  Jes.se  Potter,  con- 
tractors and  builders,  to  learn  the  carpenter's 
trade.  He  remained  with  them  si.\  years,  re- 
ceiving for  the  first  year  seven  dollars  per 
month  and  board,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
time  having  full  wages  of  a  skilled  mechanic. 
Returning  to  McDonough,  he  there  followed 
his  trade  for  five  year.s.  He  also  in  that  time 
took  to  himself  a  wife.  The  following  year, 
in  the  spring  of  1857,  they  removed  to  Dela- 
ware County,  and  on  April  3  took  up  their 
abode  on  the  farm  in  Masonville,  where  he 
has  continued  to  live  to  the  present  day.  To 
his  original  purchase  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-six  acres  he  has  added  fifty-si.\,  making 
one  hundred  and  eighty-two  in  his  home  farm. 
Besides  this  he  owns  fifty  acres  in  Tompkins. 
That  Mr.  Mathewson  has  been  unwearied  in 
his  imi)rovements  in  the  thirty-seven  years  in 
which  he  has  occupied  his  homestead  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  he  has  summoned  his  neigh- 
bors no  less  than  twelve  times  to  assist  in 
"raisings."  I'he  number  and  excellence  of 
his  buildings  abundantl\'  attest  his  skill  in 
carpentry.  He  keeps  a  dairy  of  about  twenty 
head  of  native  cattle,  and  is  a  shareht)lder  in 
the  ().  K.  Creamer)-,  in  which  he  has  one- 
fourth  interest. 

Mr.  Mathew.son  was  married  on  January  29, 
1S56,  to  Susan  l*".  Randall,  who  was  born  in 
Masonville,  March  13,  1837,  daughter  of 
Hezekiah  A.  and  i':iiza  A.  (Moody)  Randall. 
Her  grandfather,  Ichabocl  Randall,  was  an 
early  .settler  of  tiie  town,  who  lived  on  the 
farm  which  is  the  home  of  Mr.  Mathewson. 
Oman  Randall,  brother  of  Ichabod,  was  the 
first  settler  here,  and  built  the  original  log 
house  on  the  farm.  Mrs.  Mathewson' s  father 
was  a  representative  farmer  of  his  day.  His 
wife  died  in  McDonough,  at  forty-eight  years 
of  age.  He  died  at  the  home  i;f  his  daughter, 
Mrs.  Mathewson,  May  24,  1877,  at  sixty-six 
ye.irs  of  age.  They  were  Presbyterian  in  re- 
ligion,   and    Mr.    Randall    was  a   Democrat   in 


politics.  ■   Of    their    eight    children,    four    are 
now  living. 

Mr.  Mathewson  and  his  wife  Susan  reared 
four  children,  namely:  Russell  R. ,  born  Sep- 
tember 29,  1858,  was  a  teacher  in  early  man- 
hood, now  lives  in  Binghamton;  PTora  Austin, 
born  January  16,  1857,  was  also  a  teacher, 
now  wife  of* Alexander  Austin,  of  Masonville; 
Homer  Mathewson,  born  July  26,  1870,  a 
former  teachei,  now  a  farmer  on  the  home 
farm  ;  Jessie,  formerly  a  teacher,  born  Novem- 
ber 7,  1 87 1,  also  lives  at  home.  Mrs.  Susan 
Mathewson  died  in  Masonville,  September  15, 
1884.  On  January  9,  1886,  Mr.  Mathewson 
was  married  to  Mrs.  Eliza  Case,  whose  maiden 
name  was  De  Eorest,  who  was  born  in  L'na- 
dilla,  N.Y. ,  and  who  died  September  19, 
1 893.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Methodi.st 
Episcopal  church,  of  which  Mr.  Mathewson 
has  been  a  member  for  thirty-five  years,  hold- 
ing various  offices,  as  class  leader,  Steward, 
and  Trustee.  He  was  also  Sunday-school 
superintendent  ft)r  five  years.  He  is  of  a 
deeplv  religious  nature,  and  leads  an  exem- 
plary Christian  life. 

Industrious,  sagacious,  and  prudent,  Mr. 
Mathewson  has  been  financially  successful  in 
his  various  undertakings.  _  His  residence  is  a 
comely  dwelling,  fronted  by  a  beautiful  lawn 
sloping  to  the  highway,  conveniently  and  taste- 


full  v 


rnished  and  arranged  as  to  home  com- 


forts and  the  exercise  of  generous  hospitality. 
In  politics  Mr.  Mathew.son  is  a  stanch  Re- 
publican. 


RANK  (iRAHAM  is  a  retired  dairy 
farmer  in  comfortable  circumstances, 
now  living  at  Bovina  Centre.  He  was 
born  in  Roxi)urghshire.  .Scotland,  and  came  to 
America  in  1845  with  his  parents,  James  and 
Charlotte  (Armstrong)  (Iraham.  He  has  in 
his  veins  some  of  the  gallant  blood  of  the 
Scotch  Highlanders  of  the  olden  days,  inherit- 
ing it  from  his  grandfather,  Thomas  Graham. 
James  Craham  held  an  important  position  in 
his  native  land  of  thistle  and  heather,  having 
charge  of  a  large  landed  estate.  P'our  weeks 
from  the  day  that  he  left  Scotland  he  moved 
into  his  own  home  in  Bovina,  whither  he  had 
come  and  purchased  a   farm.      The    following 


BIOGRAIMIICAI,    RK.VIKW 


55  ■ 


sinint;'  he  hdunlil  :i  trad  dl  \h\w  hmuliol  and 
twenty  acres  i>r  brush-cci\cic<l  land  near  ndlii, 
and  it  was  a  work  of  time  and  palienee  tn^ct  it 
into  a  state  oi  |)ro(Uirti\'cness.  'I'iiis  farm  was 
iionglit  on  credit,  and  li\-  dint  ol  u;c>od  nianai;e- 
nient  the  eider  (iraliain  met  liis  pavmcnls  as 
thev  l)eeame  cine,  nnlil  theri-  w.is  no  fnrther 
debt,  and  he  was  sole  and  nndispnic'd  posses 
sor. 

lie  was  a  Repnhlican  in  politics,  and  an 
acti\c  woikcr  and  i;cncions  sn|)poitci-  of  the 
l-'irsl  I'resln  terian  ('lunch  in  l)clhi,  of  which 
his  wife  was  also  a  niend)i.'r.  lie  died  .it  the 
age  ol  si.\ly-ti\e  \eai's,  his  wiU'  li\ing  to  he 
seventy-fotn'.  C  )f  their  eight  ihildicn,  two 
sons,  James  and  Thomas,  arc  dead.  Ihe  si\ 
living  are  l-'rank,  the  cential  hgnre  of  this 
family  grou])  ]«)|-trait  ;  Robert,  a  grocer  in 
Canada;  Beatrice,  the  widow  of  Robert  (iow, 
in  Ho\ina  ('(.Mitre;  \\'alti.'r,  who  li\es  at  the 
home  i)hux'  in  Delhi;  Marg;ni-t,  wlui  married 
John  Middlemast,  and  is  a  widow  in  l)elhi; 
and   ICUiot,   a  tarnicr  in  -\ndes. 

h'rank  was  a  lad  ot  si.\ti-en  when  his  f.ither 
came  to  .\merica,  and  had  received  his  sc  hool- 
ing  in  .Scotland.  h'oi^  several  wars  he  worked 
ont  bv  the  month,  his  lirst  month's  earnings 
amonnting  to  onl\'  fonr  dollais;  and  his  largest 
\x*ail\'  iKixinent  was  one  hundred  and  tiflv 
dollars.  In  spite  of  his  pooi'  wages,  he  prac- 
tised sLich  close  economy  and  self  deiiiLil  that 
he  was  able  after  some  _\'ears  t<i  buv  a  farm  ol 
one  hnndred  and  tw  (.aitN'-skx  aci'es  near  |)elhi. 
Here  he  made  (lair\-farming  a  specialt\ .  He 
sitles  some  thiit\'  hc;id  of  cattle,  he  had  some 
wry  tine  fnll-bloodc-d  sheep.  lie  had  a  good 
farm,  and  was  a  practical  and  snccessfnl 
fariDer. 

In  i<S3,S  he  was  joined  in  wedlock  to  Mar\ 
Wight,  a  danghter  of  .Matthew  and  .Mary 
I'.lliot  Wight.  Ihe  parents  of  .Mrs.  (iraham 
were  among  the  eail\  settlers  ol  Delhi,  anti 
were  also  Scotch.  ()nl\  one  child  crowned 
this  marriage  of  T'raiik  and  Mar\-  (iraham,  a 
losebud  horn  to  bloom  in  heaven;  for  the 
daughter  whose  coming  had  awakened  such 
joyful  antici))ation  di<.'d  in  infancx'.  In  1890 
Mr.  (Iraham  moved  to  Ho\  ina  Centre,  where  he 
now  has  a  hantlsome  residence  in  progress  ol 
erection.  He  has  been  an  efticient  worker  in 
the  I'resbvterian   church,  to   which   ccimmimion 


his  v\ilc  also  liL  longed  ;  ;ni(l  he  has  alw.iys 
been  a  loyal  ke|)lil)l ican.  .Mrs.  (ir.diani  died 
at  hci  hoini-  in  |{ci\ina  Cenlie,  .Seplend)er  14, 
i.S(;4.  With  the  aecnnndati.in  of  uorMh 
possessions,  oflicial  c.ires  have  come;  and 
I'rank  Ciiaham  has  beiai  |o|-  some  vcars  .\-,st-> 
sor  and  member  of  the  l^^ci.^e  Hoard,  and  is 
now  Justice  of  the  I'eaie  in  Hu\  ina,  where  he 
is  held  in  high  regard  as  an  upright  man  and  a 
useful  citi/.en. 


I..\'RN  W  .  1 1  I  .\  1  .  a  popular  resident 
■t  llancotk,  .\.\.,  was  born  in 
Thompson,  .Sidlivan  Count\-,  De- 
ember  19,  iSj.S.  I  lis  grandfiilher, 
John  Hunt,  who  was  of  Irish  descent  on  the 
paternal  side,  and  Dutch  on  the  maternal,  was 
boin  in  Woodstock,  Clster  Count\,  where  the 
lamilv  were  early  jiioneers.  lie  marrie<l  a 
daughter  ol  Captain  (^'oitright,  one  of  the  most 
pi-ominent  men  in  Clstei'  Countv,  who  com- 
manded the  company  in  the  Revolutionarv  War 
in  which  llenrv  Ilunt's  great-grandfather 
served.  John  limit  lesided  at  Woodstock 
when  the  Indians  and  Tories  raided  that  sec- 
tion ol  the  coimtrv,  leaving  desolation  and 
ruin  behind.  The  familv  had  just  time  to 
llee  to  the  block-house  in  tile  village  before 
theii"  house  was  deslroved.  .\t  the  close  of 
the  w.u'  John  Hunt  lesumed  his  former  occupa- 
tion ol  farming  in  his  native  town,  remainini; 
there  until  the  latter  part  of  the  ceiiturv.  when 
he  removed  to  .Sullivan  Countv  and  lieeanie  a 
pioneer  settler  of  Thompson,  (King  there  at 
an  ailvaiiced  age.  lie  was  ;i  stanch  Whig. 
11  is  wife  lived  to  be  over  ninetv  vears  of  age, 
retaining  ;ill  iier  faculties  until  the  last,  and 
reniemheiing  nianv  interesting  anecdotes  of 
llu'  Indian  wars,  which  she  related  to  liei' 
chiklren  and  graiulchihlren. 

Jacob  Hunt,  son  of  John  and  father  of  the 
subject  of  this  biogr.iphv,  was  also  jiDrii  in 
Woodstock,  the  date  of  his  birth  being  ]-"ebru- 
arv  I,  1S02.  Me  was  but  seven  vears  of  age 
when  he  removed  with  his  jiarents  to  .Sullivan 
(jiuntv,  where  he  assisted  his  parents  on  the 
home  f:irm.  Tlieie  were  fonr  childien,  of 
whom  he  was  the  eldest,  namelv  :  Jacob; 
-Abraham;  .\llsop;  and  Jane,  who  married  a 
German  miller,   llenrv  Dalmetcli,  of  Bingham- 


SS2 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ton.  Jacob  Hunt  was  a  carpenter  and  farmer, 
and  marrietl  Nellie  Wynkoop,  who  was  de- 
scended from  an  old  Dutch  family  of  New 
York  State,  and  owned  a  farm  in  Sullivan 
County  adjoining  that  of  John  Hunt.  Jacob 
Hunt  was  a  large  man  of  wonderful  strength 
and  indomitable  courage,  who  was  always 
called  upon  to  settle  disputes  in  the  town 
where  he  was  a  prominent  and  much  respected 
citizen.  He  later  purchased  a  farm  in  Galilee, 
Pa.,  and  there  passed  his  last  days,  dying  when 
over  eighty  years  of  age.  He  was  three  times 
married,'  the  result  of  his  first  union  being 
eleven  children,  as  follows:  Henry,  David, 
Hulda,  Mary,  Ennace,  Nancy  J.,  Jacob,  John, 
Abraham,  Reuben,  and  Francis  —  all  of  whom 
are  now  living  except  David,  who  died  in  1SS4 
in  Wisconsin.  Hulda  married  Addison  PuUis, 
a  lumberman  of  Galilee,  Pa.  ;  Mary  is  the  wife 
of  George  Ralston,  a  farmer  in  Jackson 
County,  Wis.  ;  Ennace  married  Wesley  Wil- 
cox, of  Galilee;  and  Nancy  is  the  wife  of 
Charles  Weeks,  of  Thompson,  Sullivan 
County. 

Heniy  W.  Hunt  was  educated  in  his  native 
town,  and  learned  the  blacksmith's  and  car- 
])enter's  trades,  which  he  followed  for  fifteen 
years.  August  12,  ii^55,  he  married  Rachel 
Tyler,  daughter  of  Smith  and  Polly  (Baxter) 
Tyler.  The  Tyler  famih'  was  one  of  the  first 
to  settle  in  Hancock,  and  gave  the  name  to 
several  localities  of  this  section.  The  Baxters 
were  also  pioneers  here,  Jesse  Baxter,  grand- 
father of  Mrs.  Hunt,  being  one  of  the  original 
settlers  of  Harvard  in  the  town  of  Hancock. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hunt  have  had  foui'  children, 
namely:  Ophelia,  born  June  28,  1S56,  who 
died  May  29,  1858;  Polly  E. ,  who  was  born 
March  i,  1858,  married  George  W.  Pine,  of 
Thompiion,  Sullivan  County,  and  was  the 
mother  of  three  children —  Blanche,  Frederick 
M.,  and  F"loy  L.  ;  Marshall,  born  F'ebruary  27, 
i860,  a  contractor  in  New  York  Citv;  and 
Carrie,  who  was  born  December  13,  1866,  and 
married  Frank  Verdon,  a  telegraph  o])erator 
at  Maybrook,  Orange  Count}'. 

Mr.  Hunt  was  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  two 
terms  in  Thompson,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
East  Branch  Camache  Tribe  of  Red  Men. 
He  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  having  cast 
his   first   vote   for  John   C.    Fremont,    and   has 


supported  the  p4rty  since  that  time.  Mrs. 
Hunt  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  and  the  family  is  universally  esteemed 
throughout  the  town  where  they  reside. 


i:V,  JACOB  B.  VAN  HOUSEN,  a 
venerated  and  much  beloved  clergy- 
man of  Roxbury,  N.  Y.,  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Fulton,  Schoharie 
County,  November  21,  1817.  His  grandfather, 
Francis  Van  Housen,  of  Dutch  ancestry,  was 
born  in  Hudson,  Columbia  County,  and  was 
a  private  and  Sergeant  in  the  Revolutionary 
army.  He  married  Hannah  Daniels,  and  soon 
after  came  to  Schoharie  County,  in  1795,  and 
built  a  log  cabin  in  the  wilderness  near  West 
Fulton.  He  cleared  five  acres  of  land,  raising 
a  little  grain,  which  he  was  obliged  to  take  on 
a  sled  drawn  by  an  ox  team  sixteen  miles 
through  the  forest  to  be  ground.  The  road 
that  was  cut  by  this  travel  may  still  be  seen. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  church,  and  was  a 
Democrat  in  politics.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Van 
Housen  had  a  family  of  seven  children:  Levi, 
A.sa,  Lemuel,  Elizabeth,  Louisa,  Polly,  and 
Hannah. 

Levi  Van  Housen,  the  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Columbia  County, 
working  with  his  father  until  he  took  pos.ses- 
sion  of  the  farm,  which  he  afterward  sold. 
Moving  to  Richmondville,  he  purchased  a  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  eighteen  acres,  and  re- 
mained thereon  about  eight  years.  He  then 
changed  his  abode  to  Summit,  and  from  there 
to  Worcester,  Otsego  County.  While  in  the 
forest  after  wood,  a  falling  tree  struck  him, 
breaking  his  back.  This  occurred  in  the 
prime  of  his  life,  he  being  but  fifty-nine  years 
of  age  at  the  time  of  hus  death.  He  married 
Hannah  Baird,  to  whom  fourteen  children 
were  born;  namely,  Jacob  Bairtl,  Lemuel  P., 
Erastus  R.,  Leroy  B. ,  Levi  Y.,  John  F., 
Jason  B. ,  Harriet,  Elizabeth,  Mary,  Sarinda, 
Lydia  Ann,  Melis.sa,  and  Emeline.  Mr.  Levi 
Van  Housen,  like  his  father,  was  a  member 
of  the  Baptist  church  and  a  Democrat  in  poli- 
tics, and  held  many  offices  in  the  town. 

Jacob  Baird  Van  Housen  was  etlucatetl  in 
Fulton    Academy,    and    afterward   learned    the 


William    Wakefield. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


S5S 


blacksmith's  trade.  At  the  a^c  ni  iweiU) 
four  he  i;a\e  up  this  oeeui)ati()n,  and,  lia\iny 
studiet!  fur  liie  iuiiiistr\.  was  ortiained  ])astt)r 
of  the  Seeontl  Sununil  Church.  ilere  he 
otticiated  for  three  _\ears,  and  then  uio\eil  to 
Mat  Creei<,  Schoharie  Count\,  where  lie  re- 
mained seven  \ears,  tiien  remmed  to  .Stamford, 
Delaware  County,  preaching;  also  at  other 
])laces.  lie  came  to  Ro.\l)ur\'  in  Octohei', 
189J.  He  tiiarried  Rachel  M.  Hrazie,  dauj^h- 
ter  of  I'eter  and  .Ann  (Xoonaii)  Hrazie,  her 
father  beini;'  a  farmei-  of  .Summit,  .Schoharie 
Count\'.  Mr.  anil  Mis.  \'an  llousen  ha\e 
had  three  children:  Mar\-  .S. ,  who  married 
Dr.  K.  Cowles,  of  hishkill,  Dutchess  C'ount\', 
X.\'.,  and  has  two  ciiildrcn  llattie  M.  and 
l~rank  J.;  Levi  J.,  who  was  born  December 
25,  11^57,  and  married  Jennie  .\.  (irant, 
dausj;hter  of  James  and  Hannah  ((.'urr)  (irant, 
and  has  se\en  childien—  Carrie  .Ma\',  haiima 
C,  Mary  Inez,  Charles  (i.,  ]-"nuik'  C. ,  I'.d- 
ward  J.,  and  Maudie  .\.  (deceased);  Charles 
K.,  who  was  horn  JuK  16,  1859,  and  died 
Jidy  j6,    1  .S64. 

The  Rew  Mr.  \'an  llousen  bou_i;ht  the 
Carter  estate  in  the  town  of  Ro\bur\,  on  the 
Windham  turn])ike.  His  son  I.e\i  J.  takes 
charge  of  it,  carr\inj;'  on  a  lariie  dairy,  and  is 
a  very  proi;ressi\-e  farmer.  I.e\i  J.  is  a  Demo- 
crat, his  father  a  Prohibitionist.  In  his  tifly- 
three  vears  of  ministeiaal  lalioi-  Mr.  \'an 
llousen  has  preached  ei,!;ht  thousand  siTmons 
and  ba])tized  about  four  hundred  i)eo])le.  To- 
day, at  tin'  a_u:e  of  se\ent}'-seven,  he  is  an 
acti\e  man,  still  preachins;'  the  i;-osi)el.  and 
doinj;  n'ood  where\er  he  i^oes.  Many  are  the 
hearts  that  he  has  brou-ht  to  the  light  and 
made  "lad  bv  his  teachini;s. 


^^fA)/  n.l.I.VM  \\.\Ki;i' li;i.l),  a  man  wh. 
bei;an  life  in  the  most  humble 
circumstances,  b\'  aident  energy, 
luUiring  iudustrv,  and  strict  adherence  to 
honorable  business  princi|)les,  has  matie  tor 
himself  a  reiiutation  and  acquired  a  com])etency, 
which  he  now  enjoys  in  his  beautiful  home  in 
Walton.  His  father,  Hiram  Waketield.  was 
the  son  of  Jesse  Waketield.  of  Connecticut, 
and  one  of  a  faiiiih  of  tixe  children,  all  of 
whom    married    and    lived   to  a  good  old  age. 


He   w.is   horn    III    i.-'ij.    111    .\l  iii'ihtMuii,   Di-l.i 
ware   County,    wliere   he   man  ieil    .Miss    Idniira 
Kiltie,  the  result  of  this  union  being   si.\   ihil 
(hen,     one    of    whom,     named     Josephine,     w;i> 
drowned    in    early   childhood.       .Another,     I'eter 
Wakeheld,   who   was  a   most    successful    fanner 
in    I'rankiin,    died    November    \  \,    iKy^,   in   his 
fifty-se\enth   year,   leaving  a   goodh   fortune  to 
his   wife  ami   two  daughters.      Amanila,  widow 
of    Horatio    I'omeroy,    lives    in    North   Walton. 
So]ihronia  and  l.ydia  Jane  are  single,  and    live 
in     I'lanklin.        Hiram    Wakefield   was  a  hum- 
ble  fanner,  and  after   many   \ears  of  ceaseless 
toil   died    in    hranklin,    in    i.SSj,    his   wife  tw<i 
years  later  following  him   to  the  eternal  home. 
William     Wakefield    was    born    in     Middle- 
town,     Delaware    County,     in     1S33,    and    was 
reared    in   the   dailv  drudgery  of   farm    life,  re- 
cei\ing  onl\'  the   limited   education   which   the 
district    schools    of    the-     town    could    furnish. 
When    but   twent\'-one,    he   mai  18^4, 

Miss    Rachel    Russell,    of    Ham:   ...     ...  <   died 

childless  in  iSiT).  In  itS5<S  he  again  luarried, 
his  second  wife  being  .Margaret  l)avidson,  of 
Delhi,  tlauglUer  of  (ieorge  and  Margaret 
(Dunn)  Da\idson,  who  were  both  nati\es  of 
laiglaml.  Mr.  Davidson  died  at  his  home  in 
Delhi  in  i  S<S6,  in  his  eight\ -third  year.  He 
had  a  famih'  of  fourteen  children.  His  widow 
and  nine  children  survive  him.  .Mrs.  Da\iil- 
son  li\es  in  Hamden.  a  feelile  lady  of  eighty- 
seven  vears.  Thomas  Davidson,  a  brother  of 
Mrs.  Wakefield,  an<l  a  \iilunteer  in  the  late 
Ci\il  War,  was  killed  in  the  battle  of  Ilonev 
Hill,  when  but  twent\'  years  old.  A  brave 
young  man,  just  starting  out  on  life's  career, 
there  he  lies  buried  among  his  comrades  who 
died  for  their  country's  freedom  and  the  honor 
of  their  nation's  flag.  John  David.son,  an- 
other brother,  also  fought  in  his  country's 
service,  being  wounded  in  battle,  and,  dying 
fnun  the  effects  of  that  wound,  now  sleejis  in 
the  old  cemetery  at  West  Delhi.  Other  mem- 
bers of  the  family  :ue  the  following:  (irace, 
now  deceased,  who  left  four  chiklren  l.iy  her 
first  marriage,  with  Rich;ud  Thompson,  her 
second  husbaml  being  John  Sctitt  ;  Isabella, 
wife  of  Henr\-  Scott,  who  lives  in  Delhi,  and 
has  four  children;  Mrs.  W.ikefield;  (ieorge 
W.  ;  Ideanor  J.,  widow  of  I'eter  Wakefield; 
Allon,   living  in   California;   Mary  A.,  wife  of 


SS6 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


John  B.  Mable,  living  in  DeLancey;  James 
I'.,  in  Mundalc;  Douglas,  in  Rovina.  Two 
(lictl  unnamed,  and  (ieorge  when  but  a  few 
months  old. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wakefield  ha\e  one  son, 
Charles  \\'.  Wakefield,  who  married  Dora 
Goldsmith,  and  lives  in  Oneonta.  Mr.  Wake- 
field is  a  carjK-nter,  whose  work  is  always 
faithfully  and  carefully  performed,  and  who 
has  built  many  of  the  finest  houses  in  Walton. 
He  erected  his  present  residence,  at  No.  4 
Bruce  Street,  in  the  summer  of  1892  ;  and  both 
the  exterior  and  interior  of  the  house  e.xhibit 
the  artistic  taste  and  thorough  workmanship  of 
the  owner,  making  it  one  of  the  most  attractive 
dwellings  in  the  town. 

Mr.  Wakefield  was  formerly  a  Republican, 
and  is  now  a  Prohibitionist;  and  both  he  and 
his  admirable  helpmate  are  valued  members  of 
the  Congregational  church.  In  these  days  of 
discontent,  when  so  many  complaints  are  being 
made,  on  the  one  hand  of  poor  work,  and  on 
the  other  of  scant  remuneration,  it  is  a  special 
pleasure  to  hear  of  a  man  who  has  received  a 
suitable  reward  for  his  honest  labor.  Mr. 
Wakefield  is  a  man  of  this  type,  meritoriously 
successful,  whose  prosperity  has  been  won  by 
vigorous  efforts  and  rigid  conformity  to  the 
principles  of  honor  and  noble-mindedness. 

.\  portrait  of  this  worthy  citizen  may  be 
seen  on  an  adjoining  page. 


■AMES  COULTER,  an  influential  resi- 
dent of  Bovina  Centre,  was  born  in  the 
.same  town  in  1808.  His  parents  were 
Francis  Coulter  and  Nancy  Glenden- 
ning;  and  both  were  born  in  Scotland,  where 
they  were  married.  They  came  to  this  coun- 
try in  1800,  and  stayed  a  year  in  Albany, 
whence  they  removed  to  Delaware  County  for 
a  two  years"  residence  in  Stamford.  Then 
they  came  to  Bovina,  and  hired  some  land. 
In  order  to  reach  New  York  City,  which  was 
the  main  market,  it  was  necessary  to  go  to 
Catskill  by  team,  and  thence  to  the  metropolis 
in  a  sloop.  The  primeval  forest  had  not  yet 
been  cleared  away,  and  was  full  of  game. 
Wolves,  bears,  and  even  panthers,  occasion- 
ally visited  the  yards  of  the  log  houses  scat- 
tered  here  and   there  in  the  wood  clearings. 


Francis  Coulter  soon  had  a  log  house  of  his 
own,  where  he  lived  many  years,  working  hard 
and  successfully,  till  he  was  able  to  own 
nearly  two  hundred  acres  of  land,  which  he 
bequeathed  to  his  family  when  he  died,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-six.  He  and  his  wife  were  a 
unit  in  their  religious  opinions,  belonging  to 
the  United  Presbyterian  Church  in  Bovina 
Centre;  and  she  died  at  about  the  same  time 
and  age  as  her  husband.  Of  their  nine  chil- 
dren five  grew  up,  and  two  still  survive:  our 
subject,  the  elder;  and  his  brother,  William 
Coulter,    living   in   Wisconsin. 

James  Coulter  went  to  school  and  grew  up 
in  his  native  town,  where  he  learned  carpen- 
try, blacksmithing,  and  stone-masonry,  having 
a  natural  turn  for  these  trades,  though  his 
main  business  was  always  agriculture.  On 
January  5,  1832,  James  was  married  to  Nancy 
Thompson,  who  was  born  in  Bovina  on  the 
first  day  of  December,  181 1,  just  before  the 
last  war  with  Great  Britain.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  Andrew  Thompson,  another  early 
Scotch  settler  of  Bovina,  in  1802;  though  he 
and  his  wife  have  long  ago  passed  into  the 
undiscovered  country,  followed  by  their  seven 
sons  and  daughters.  Grandfather  Thompson 
was  a  hard-working  farmer,  and  won  both 
riches  and  respect.  James  Coulter  bought 
the  land  where  he  now  lives  in  1833,  the  year 
after  his  marriage.  At  first  they  had  only  a 
small  clearing  and  a  log  hut ;  but  his  farm 
has  now  grown  to  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres,  one  of  the  largest  in  the  vicinity. 
Mrs.  Coulter  died  the  day  after  the  Fourth  of 
July,  i8gi,  when  nearly  eighty  years  old. 
Her  husband  has  been  a  member  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Bovina  Centre  since 
he  was  a  lad  of  eighteen,  and  his  wife  also 
was  a  communicant.  They  had  no  less  than 
thirteen  children,  and  the  six  named  below 
are  now  living.  James  William  Coulter 
oversees  the  Commodore  Gerry  estate  at  Lake 
Delevan.  Francis  R.  Coulter,  born  August 
I,  1840,  is  a  prosperous  Bovina  farmer  and 
milk-raiser,  and  was  married  in  January, 
1871,  to  Jane  Nancy  Scott,  born  in  Bovina,  a 
daughter  of  Robert  C.  Scott,  a  pioneer  in  this 
region;  but  they  have  no  children,  and  live 
a  somewhat  retired  life,  the  farm  which  they 
occupied    for   a    score    of    years    having    been 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


SS7 


rented,  while  its  owners  have  jiurchased  a 
residenee  in  the  vilhii^e.  John  Coulter  is  a 
lawyer  and  ranehnian  in  Georgetown,  Col. 
David  Martin  Coulter  and  Dickson  Kliot 
Coulter  are  both  Andes  farmers.  I-Idward  L. 
Coulter  lives  on  the  homestead. 

Though  now  retired  from  active  life,  tiie 
father  of  these  boys  has  been  a  hard  worker. 
A  Republican  in  politics,  he  has  held  many 
local  offices,  having  been  one  term  Super- 
visor, three  years  Justice  of  I'eace,  and  once  a 
Highway  Commissioner.  He  is  respected  as 
one  of  the  original  settlers  of  the  town,  yet  he 
is  still  hale,  heart)-,  and  jolly.  In  1845  'i^' 
took  an  actix'e  part  in  tiie  anti-rent  war.  and 
was  on  the  spot  when  .Stejihens  was  shot,  a 
fact  which  connects  him  closely  with  local 
history.  He  is  full  of  entertaining  chat ;  for 
he  knows  everything  about  the  neighborhood, 
Coulter  Brook  having  been  named  for  the 
Coulter  family.  W'ell  has  it  i)een  said  by 
Dr.  I'aley,  the  great  writer  on  the  I'A'idences  ' 
of  Christianity:  — 

"Old  age  brings  us  to  know  the  value  of  j 
the  blessings  which  we  have  enjo\'ed,  and  it 
brings  us  also  to  a  ver\'  tiiankful  perce])tion  of 
those  which  yet  remain.  Is  a  man  advanced 
in  life?  The  ease  of  a  single  day,  the  rest  of 
a  single  night,  are  gifts  which  may  be  sub- 
jects of  gratitude  to  God." 


'(JHX  r.  L.AKIX.  a  jirosperous  farmer 
and  lumberman  of  Hancock,  was  born 
in  this  town.  May  28,  1819.  Hebe- 
longs  to  an  old  pioneer  family,  being 
a  grandson  of  Joel  Lakin.  who  with  his  two 
brothers,  Jonathan  and  Jonas  I, akin,  came 
from  Vermont  in  the  latter  ])art  of  the  last 
centur\-,  and  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Dela- 
ware River,  where  their  descendants  still  live, 
loel  was  a  soldier  during  the  last  three  years 
of  the  Revolution.  Jonas  was  the  first  Sui)er- 
\isor  of  the  town  of  Hancock,  Delaware 
County,  naming  tiie  jjlace  in  honor  of  his 
native  town  in  Vermont.  The  Lakin 
brothers,  strong  and  athletic  men,  engaged  in 
lumbering  and  rafting,  and  established  their 
business  on  Partridge  Island  in  the  same 
vicinity  in  which  the  Wheeler  family  settled. 
Joel  was  the  first  militia  Captain  of   Hancock, 


and  was  always  identified  with  tm  junsj,.  r  ii.\ 
and  advancement  of  the  county.  When  he 
came  from  \'ermont,  he  brought  his  wife, 
Sally  Martin  Lakin,  and  his  four  children  - 
John,  Jonas,  .Sally,  .md  Betsey  -  with  him. 
By  his  second  wife,  Clementine  -Sands,  he 
had  two  children,  .Mary  .Ann  and  Cassandra. 
He  ilied  a  number  of  years  before  her,  and 
was  buried  in  Hancock,  the  town  for  which  he 
had  done  so  much,  and  whose  interests  were 
always  foremost  in  his  mind. 

Jonas  Lakin.  son  of  Joel,  the  father  of  John 
T.  Lakin,  was  born  in  Hancock  in  1794.  He 
had  such  education  as  the  times  afforded,  and 
at  an  early  age  began  to  follow  the  pursuit  of 
lumberman  on  the  Delaware  River.  Philadel- 
phia was  their  market  and  depot  of  supplies; 
and  this  noted  steersman,  with  the  other 
laborers,  would  raft  the  lumber  down  the 
ri\er,  and  make  the  return  journey  of  four 
days  on  foot.  To  add  to  their  difficulties, 
they  were  obliged  to  carry  their  purchases  on 
their  backs.  Jonas  Lakin  married  Polly 
Thomas,  daughter  of  Lucy  (Jacobs)  and  John 
Thomas,  a  lumberman  of  Hancock,  who  is 
now  buried  on  the  point  of  land  at  the  "Wed- 
ding of  the  Waters"  of  the  Delaware  River. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jonas  Lakin  had  fourteen 
children,  namely:  John  T. :  Joel,  a  Hancock 
lumberman  and  prominent  town  officer,  who 
married  Lastina  Studley;  Sarah,  who  married 
Daniel  Thomas,  a  farmer  and  lumberman 
of  Hancock;  Lucinda,  who  married  James 
Turner,  a  lumberman  of  the  same  town  ;  Mar- 
garet, who  married  Omar  Parks,  also  a  lum- 
berman of  Hancock;  Susan,  who  married 
Henry  Salsbury,  a  millwright  at  .Ashtabula, 
Oiiio;  .^Lltilda,  who  married  Charles  Dovle,  a 
Hancock  farmer;  TMwin,  a  noted  steersman 
in  the  Delaware  River,  who  married  Abigail 
Doyle;  Mary,  who  married  Octave  Bonefond, 
a  farmer  of  Hancock:  ICdgar.  an  extensive 
farmer  of  TLuicock,  who  married  Emma 
E\ans;  J\L)ses,  a  Hancock  farmer,  who  mar- 
ried Grace  Hubbell;  Harrison,  a  farmer  of 
Hancock,  who  married  Harriett  Wheeler,  of 
the  sani'j  place;  Ruth,  who  married  Her- 
man Brush,  of  Hancock;  Harriet,  who  died  in 
infancy,  being  tlie  only  one  of  the  family  who 
did  not  grow  to  maturity.  They  were  a 
strong,  comelv  race,  and  the  women  were  con- 


558 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


sidered  particularly  beautiful.  Jonas  Lakin 
always  followed  lumbering  as  his  occupation, 
at  which  he  was  very  successful.  In  his  early 
days  game  and  fish  abounded  in  great  plenty, 
and  the  family  subsisted  chiefly  on  that  and 
the  product  of  their  own  land.  Jonas  died  in 
his  fifty-sixth  year,  and  was  buried  at  Par- 
tridee  Island,  a  number  of  years  before  the 
death  of  his  wife,  which  occurred  in  1892,  in 
her  eighty-ninth  year.  She  aLso  was  buried 
at    Partridge   Island,    in   the   family   lot. 

John  T.  Lakin  attended  the  district  school 
in  his  native  town,  and  at  the  early  age  of 
fifteen  years  began  to  follow  the  river  as 
steersman  and  lumberman;  and  this  occupa- 
tion, together  with  farming,  which  he  carried 
on  to  some  extent,  he  continued  till  1891. 
For  over  fifty  years  of  that  time  he  cut  and 
rafted  all  his  own  lumber,  and  sold  his  own 
products.  July  4,  1854,  Mr.  Lakin  married 
Hannah  Lewis,  daughter  of  Zenas  and  Mar- 
garet (Thomas)  Lewis,  both  of  old  Massachu- 
setts Puritan  stock.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lakin 
were  born  four  children:  Emily  C,  who  mar- 
ried John  Thomas,  a  dairyman  and  farmer  of 
Hale's  Eddy;  Fred  W.,  a  farmer  of  Hancock, 
who-married  Jessie  Leonard;  Frank  M. ;  and 
Lewis  N.,  who  was  the  youngest  of  the  fam- 
ily. The  two  sons  worked  the  home  farm, 
consisting  of  over  seventeen  hundred  acres  of 
land,  in  company  with  their  father. 

John  T.  Lakin  belongs  to  the  Democratic 
party,  having  cast  his  first  vote  for  President 
in  1840.  Although  he  has  never  aspired  to 
political  honors,  yet  on  account  of  his  great 
popularity  he  has  held  many  positions  of  trust 
in  his  own  town;  among  these  was  that  of 
Highway  Commissioner,  which  he  held  for 
nine  years.  In  all  his  undertakings  he  has 
been  eminently  succes.sful,  and  has  gained  for 
himself  great  respect  and  admiration.  He 
has  ever  the  interests  of  his  town  at  heart, 
and  by  his  untiring  enterprise  and  good  judg- 
ment has  greatly  added  to  its  prosperity. 


rOHN    G.    RUS.SELL,    a    retired    dairy 
farmer  of  the  town  of  Bovina,  was  born 
on  January  16,  1827,  and  is  the  grand- 
son of  the  progenitor  of  this   branch  of 
the    Russell    family    in    America,    a    doughty 


Scotsman,  who  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  in 
Bovina.  The  parents  of  John  G.  Russell, 
James  and  Margaret  (Brice)  Russell,  were 
hard-working,  sober-minded  people,  to  whom 
were  born  twelve  children,  whose  names  are 
recorded  in  the  sketch  of  Andrew  T.  Russell 
in  another  part  of  this  volume.  In  the  dis- 
trict schools,  to  which  he  was  sent  in  his  boy- 
hood, young  John  gained  what  knowledge  of 
text-books  he  was  there  able  to  acquire.  He 
lived  beneath  the  family  roof  until  his  mar- 
riage to  Margaret  NicoU,  which  was  solem- 
nized on  November  19,  1857.  The  bride  was 
a  Scotch  woman  and  the  daughter  of  Andrew 
NicoU,  whose  wife,  as  well  as  himself,  was  of 
Scotch  birth.  There  were  four  sons  and  five 
daughters  in  the  Xicoll  family. 

John  G.  Russell  became  the  owner  of  one 
of  his  father's  farms,  a  tract  of  ninety-three 
acres,  the  boundaries  of  which  he  afterward 
very  greatly  increased  by  subsequent  pur- 
chases of  land.  He  was  most  successful  in 
his  dairy  farming,  in  which  he  was  engaged 
until  1894.  He  now  lives  in  the  village  of 
Bovina  Centre,  where  he  enjoys  in  retirement 
the  results  of  his  life's  early  and  prolonged 
labors.  His  wife  has  borne  him  three  daugh- 
ters: Margaret  A.,  the  wife  of  Mr.  Robert 
Wilson  Scott,  of  Bovina  Centre;  Alice,  a 
teacher  in  Bovina;  and  Christina.  Mrs. 
Thompson,    of  Walton. 

Mr.  Russell,  like  his  brother,  Andrew  T., 
takes  no  interest  in  the  political  concerns  of 
the  country,  but  has  devoted  the  energies  of 
his  years  to  personal,  social,  and  religious 
duties.  His  household  is  a  household  of 
faith,  both  he  and  his  wife  being  conscien- 
tious members  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
church.  Mr.  Russell's  genial  manner  and 
kindly  heart  have  won  for  him  the  esteem  and 
regard  of  those  who  know  him  best. 


(51  HOMAS     DkLANEY,    the    genial    and 

*  I  hospitable  proprietor  of  Hotel  River- 
side  at  Walton,  has  become  well  and 
favorably  known  throughout  the  surrounding 
country.  He  was  born  in  Orange  County, 
New  York,  in  1835,  son  of  James  and  Mary 
(Mills)  DeLaney.  His  mother  was  a  native 
of   Orange    County,    where  she  died   in    1844, 


RIOGRAI'lIICAI,    KKVIKW 


IcLiving  toLir  ibilclicn,  twn  of  wliom  arc  imw 
living,  Thomas  and  his  bruthcr  Janics.  The 
younger  James  has  led  a  life  (luite  different 
from  that  of  his  early  associates.  When  hut 
thirteen  years  old,  he  went  tci  (ieoigia  with 
I-ilder  Beebe'ssiin:  and,  when  the  war  broke 
out,  ho  joined  the  rebel  army  and  fought 
bravely  for  that  side,  while  his  lirother  was  as 
bravely  fighting  for  Northern  principles.  He 
was  taken  ])risoner  ami  placed  in  Point  Look- 
out Prison,  but  escapei',  and  after  the  war 
went  to  Orlando,  Orange  County,  I'la.,  where 
ho  is  now  a  wealth)'  merchant.  James  l)e 
Lanoy,  Sr.,  who  was  born  in  New  York  Citw 
died  when  past  middle  life,  in  Orange  Count\'. 

Thomas  DeLmey  learned  the  blacksmith's 
trade:  and  twent)' years  of  his  young  life  were 
spent  in  Sullivan  Count v,  working  at  that 
trade,  which  is  so  fascinating  to  the  minds  of 
poets  and  artists,  as  tvpical  of  human  strengtii, 
skill,  and  mastery.  In  1.S62  Mr.  DeLanex- 
volunteered  in  Comjiany  G.  One  Ihmdred  and 
Forty-third  New  ^'ork  \'olunteer  Infantry, 
going  out  as  Second  Sergeant.  He  served 
three  years,  and  saw  some  of  the  most  o.xciting 
work  of  the  war,  being  with  Sherman  in  his 
march  to  the  sea,  and  in  other  engagements  of 
note.  In  1885  ho  came  to  Walton,  and  pur- 
chased the  hotel  propertv  then  known  as  the 
Riverside  Hotel,  and  kept  by  (jrocn  Chase. 
The  location  is  a  charming  one;  and  Hotel 
Riverside,  as  it  is  now  called,  is  a  favorite 
summer  resort,  Mr.  Del.anev  having  done 
much  to  im]:)rove  it  and  make  it  more  conven- 
ient and  attracti\o.  It  is  now  a  large  cot- 
tage, with  additions  and  imi)rovoments  on  the 
original  house;  and  it  is  more  than  likely 
that  before  many  years  larger  accommodations 
will  have  to  be  provided  for  the  many  guests 
who  frocpient  this  place  during  the  warm 
weather. 

In  1860  Mr.  iJel.aney  married  Sarah 
Palmer,  of  the  neighboring  village  of  Downs- 
ville,  a  daughter  of  Ahcll  and  Clarissa 
Palmer.  Her  parents,  who  wore  natives  of 
this  county,  died  during  the  war  in  Oregon, 
leaving  a  family  of  six  children.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  DeLaney  have  two  children;  one  son, 
Walter;  and  a  daughter,  Grace,  who  is  a 
young  lady  of  much  artistic  talent.  The 
walls  of  her  father's  house  bear  witness  to  her 


taste  and  skill  in  oil  p.iinliug.  IK'r  work  is 
of  tile  realistic  schocd.  which  i>  in  these  days 
coming  to  be  ver\   popular. 

Mr.  DeLaney  is  a  membi-r  of  the  (ieneral 
Mar\in  Post,  .\o.  joo,  (;r.ind  .'\rm\  of  the 
Republic,  having  been  transferred  from  the 
I'loming  Post  of  Downsville,  in  which  he  had 
been  ( juartermaster.  He  is  a  liini  Ripuhli- 
c;in,  and  ser\ed  as  Deputy  .Sheriff  under  Clark 
and  Crawford.  Heing  a  Chapter  Mason,  he 
filled  several  chairs  while  in  .Sullivan  Countv, 
anil  is  a  highly  respected  brother  in  all  Ma- 
sonic circles.  .Mrs.  DeLanev  is  a  niiinber  of 
the  Congrogati(jnal  church,  and  mu'Ji  inter- 
ested in  church  work.  l"or  some  vcars  before 
her  marriage  she  was  a  teacher,  and  she  con- 
tinues much  intoreste<l  in  educational  matters. 
Mr.  DeLaney  is  a  valued  citizen  of  Walton. 
The  many  people  with  whom  he  has  business 
and  social  relations  hold  him  in  the  highest 
esteem,  and  are  glad  to  reckon  him  among 
their  friends. 


iHARLLS  R.  ll.\ri'Ii;LD.  whose 
death  at  his  home  near  Griffin's  Cor- 
ners two  years  ago  was  a  cause  of 
mourning  throughout  the  commu- 
nity, was  born  in  Now  York  City,  Januar\-  17. 
1825,  and  was  the  son  oi  Charles  R.  and  Marv 
(McAully)  Hatfield.  The  father  was  of  laig- 
lish  descent,  while  the  mother  was  a  native  of 
Scotland.  i'hev  had  a  large  family  of  chil- 
dren; namel}'.  ]\Iarv,  I-^mily,  Elizabeth,  .Me- 
lissa. Catherine.  Armintha,  Christina.  Eve- 
line, James.  Maria.  Charles  R.  The  last 
named  was  brought  up  in  the  metropolis,  and 
learned  the  trade  of  gilder  and  frame-maker, 
being  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  picture- 
frames  in  Now  York  City,  until  the  Civil 
War.  He  then  enlisted  in  the  One  Hundred 
and  Forty-fourth  Regiment,  and  served  with 
credit  to  the  close  of  that  momentous  struggle. 
Ho  selected  as  his  life  partner  Miss  Christina 
Miller,  daughter  of  Adam  and  Eliza  (tiihsoni 
Miller.  Her  [larents.  who  wore  natives  of 
Scotland,  came  to  .Vniorica  in  1S30.  and  set- 
tled in  New  York  City,  where  they  estab- 
lished a  hair-dressing  business,  which  Mr. 
Miller  continued  until  his  death  at  the  ago  of 
thirtv-two,    his    wife     preceding    him    to    the 


560 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


other  shore  by  five  months.  '  They  had  three 
children,  of  whom  Mrs.  Hatfield  is  the  only 
one  now  living. 

Mrs.  Hatfield's  health  failing  in  the  city, 
they  came  to  Delaware  County;  and,  buying 
the  Willoughby  farm  near  Arkvillc,  Mr.  Hat- 
field remodelled  the  house  and  adapted  it  to 
the  wants  of  summer  boarders.  This  proving 
a  successful  venture,  he  then  sold  out  and 
bought  the  old  Lee  farm,  three  miles  from 
Griffin's  Corner.s,  and  here  built  a  large 
house,  which  his  widow  now  carries  on  as  a 
boarding-house  and  hotel.  A  family  of  six 
children  were  born  to  him  and  his  wife,  the 
following  being  a  brief  mention  thereof: 
William  married  Sarah  Adams,  and  lives  in 
Kidgway,  Pa.  Charles  R.  took  for  his  wife 
Alice  J.  McKillip.  Thomas  F.  lives  at 
home.  Elizabeth  became  the  wife  of  James 
\V.  Curtis,  of  Fleischmanns.  John  W.  mar- 
ried Maggie  A.  G.  Seacor,  making  his  home 
in  Brooklyn,  N.Y.  Katie  L.  is  the  wife  of 
Philip  Schaffer,  and  lives  at  Williams  Bridge. 

Mr.  Charles  R.  Hatfield  lived  to  be  sixty- 
seven  years  old.  He  was  a  Republican,  and, 
while  in  New  York  City,  was  a  member  of 
the  Broadway  Tabernacle  Church.  After  his 
death  his  wife  enlarged  the  house,  which  can 
accommodate  sixty  boarders.  It  is  called  the 
Hatfield  Mansion,  and  is  a  landmark  in  this 
part  of  Delaware  County,  having  an  elevation 
of  about  twenty-five  hundred  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea.  The  scenery  is  grand,  em- 
bracing a  view  of  ten  different  mountain 
peaks. 

Mrs.  Hatfield  is  a  business  woman,  with 
plenty  of  friends. 


^\CAJ/n,LIAM  H.  BROWN,  a  well- 
known  citizen  of  Hancock,  Dela- 
ware County,  was  born  August  25, 
1825,  in  the  adjoining  town  of  Walton.  His 
father,  William  Brown,  a  native  of  Rhode 
Island,  came  to  Walton  in  the  early  days  of 
its  settlement.  He  married  Sophia  Bene- 
dict, a  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Lois  (McCall) 
Benedict.  The  Benedict  family  originated  in 
Connecticut,  and  was  one  of  the  first  to  settle 
in  Walton.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Brown 
had   two   children,    namely:    George   A.,    who 


was  born  June  2,  1823,  and,  after  learning  the 
shoemaker's  trade,  removed  to  Glendale, 
Wis.,  where  he  now  resides;  and  William  H. 
The  father  of  these  two  boys  was  lost  in  the 
river  while  employed  in  rafting. 

Young  William  was  but  nine  years  of  age 
when  he  made  his  home  with  Mr.  Seth  Hoyt, 
with  whom  he  lived  until  his  sixteenth  year. 
In  1850  he  removed  to  Read's  Creek,  Han- 
cock. On  March  11,  1852,  he  married  Miss 
Rachel  S.  Hood,  daughter  of  William  and 
Nancy  (Apley)  Hood,  of  Hancock,  and  a 
member  of  one  of  the  oldest  families  of  that 
section  of  the  country.  Mrs.  Brown's  great- 
grandfather came  from  Holland  with  his  two 
brothers,  and  located  his  home  in  Colchester, 
while  one  of  his  brothers  settled  on  the  Mo- 
hawk ;  and  the  other,  supposed  to  be  the  an- 
cestor of  General  Hood,  took  up  his  residence 
in  the  South.  The  Apley  family  came  from 
Connecticut,  and  was  among  the  first  to  settle 
in  the  Delaware  Valley.  Mrs.  Brown's  par- 
ents had  nine  children,  three  of  whom  lived 
to  reach  maturity:  Mrs.  Brown,  who  was  the 
oldest;  Clark,  who  is  a  prominent  lawyer  and 
stock-raiser  in  La  Crosse  County,  Wisconsin  ; 
and  Betsey,  who  married  Mr.  Carley,  of 
Deposit. 

Mr.  Brown  enlisted  in  the  Second  New 
York  Heavy  Artillery  in  September,  1862, 
and  was  mustered  into  the  service  at  Elmira. 
He  took  an  active  part  in  the  engagements  at 
Spottsylvania  Court-house,  Hanover  Junction, 
Swift  Run,  and  Cold  Harbor,  lying  at  the 
latter  place  eleven  days  under  fire  and  with- 
out relief.  His  next  engagement  was  at 
Petersburg,  where  his  regiment  was  reduced 
from  seventeen  hundred  to  eleven  hundred 
men.  June  16  they  charged  on  the  rebels, 
and  Mr.  Brown  was  wounded  in  the  leg. 
For  eleven  months  he  lay  in  the  military  hos- 
pital, where  his  wound  partially  healed;  but 
for  thirty  years  it  continued  to  be  extremely 
painful,  and  in  January,  1892,  he  had  the  leg 
amputated.  After  leaving  the  army  he  re- 
sumed his  former  occupation  of  farming  and 
lumbering  and  working  as  a  steersman  on  the 
river. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brown  are  the  ]3arents  of  six 
children:  The  eldest,  Sophia,  was  born  April 
3,    1853,    and   married   H.  D.    Mills,  a  stone- 


HIOGRAPHICAI.    RKVIKW 


'^r,i 


mason  at  Fish's  Kdtly.  Louisa  was  horn 
September  4,  1854,  ami  is  tlie  wife  ot  Henry 
Denio,  a  farmer  of  Tompkins.  (;eorf;e  is  ;i 
farmer  at  Read's  Creek,  Iwrn  Sejjtemher  u, 
1S56.  Charles  was  born  July  .'.  1858.  and 
resides  at  East  Branch.  Ai)ram,  a  farmer  and 
lumberman,  was  born  September  9,  1860. 
Clarence  I..,  the  yoim.i;est,  was  horn  August 
13,  1871,  and  is  employed  in  tlie  factory  on 
Read's  Creek. 

Mr.  Brown  is  a  Reixiblican  in  politics,  lias 
been  Constable,  Collector  of  Taxes  for  seven 
years,  and  has  twice  taken  the  census  of  his 
town.  He  is  a  man  of  u|)right  character,  a 
worthy  citizen  of  the  Iowa  where  he  resides, 
with  the  good  works  of  which  his  name  is  ever 
identified. 


I'ORtil-:  W.  MARXTX  is  a  highly 
respected  and  thriving  citi/.en  of 
Walton,  N.\'.,  owns  and  occupies  a 
good  farm  in  Marvin  Hollow,  about  two  and 
one-half  miles  from  the  railway  station.  He 
was  born  in  the  town  (jf  Walton,  No\ember 
20,  1817.  His  grandfather,  Alatthew  Marvin, 
a  native  of  Xew^  Canaan,  Conn.,  came  to  this 
State  after  the  Revolution,  and  first  lived  for 
a  few  years  near  Hoosick.  (l-'or  furtlu-i-  an- 
cestral history  see  sketch  of  N.  C.  Marvin.) 

Jared  Marvin,  a  son  of  Matthew  and  Marv 
(Weed)  Marvin,  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Pioosick,  and  was  reared  on  a  farm,  but  later 
worked  at  the  cariienter's  trade,  and  was  also 
employed  in  a  mill  as  a  cloth-linisher.  He 
afterward  adopted  the  calling  of  a  ])ilot,  and 
won  a  wide  reputation  for  skill  in  guiding 
rafts  down  the  ri\-er.  He  s])cnt  the  last  years 
of  his  life  in  the  town  of  Walton,  and  died  on 
the  farm  adjoining  that  of  his  son  (ieorge.  at 
the  age  of  seventy-six  years.  He  married 
i'anny  Rogers,  the  daughter  of  .Vsa  and  Cath- 
erine Rogers,  who  occupied  the  farm  adjoin- 
ing his  father's.  Mr.  and  ^Irs.  Rogers 
removed  from  (jranville,  Mass.,  their  native 
[ilacc,  to  Tompkins,  at  an  early  period,  and  in 
i8i2or  1814  came  to  Walton,  where,  buying 
a  tract  of  heavily  timbered  land,  they  im- 
]iroved  a  farm.  Mr.  Rogers  dietl  when  about 
seventv  years  of  age.  His  widow,  who  was 
one  of  the  old  Hamilton  stock,  aiul  the  daugh- 


ter ol  a  woman  who  spent  more  llian  .1  ( ••niurv 
of    years    on    this    sphere,    was    a    ri-mark.ihjy 
well-preserved  old   lady,  ever  act  ive  ,uid  .ilerl, 
and     alter     slie    was    eighty    years     old     oik  e 
walked   a   distance   of   four    miles,   clinihing   a 
tremendous  mountain  on  tlie  w.iy.      .She    lived 
to  the  advanced  age   of   ninet\-lwo  vears.      'l"o 
Jared  Marvin  and    his   wife  were   i)orii  the  fol- 
lowing  children:   Catherine,  who   died   at    the 
age  of  twenty-three  years;   Georgi;  W. ;    .Marv, 
who  marriet!    Decatur  Fells,  of   Walton:   .Vbi- 
gail,    who   married    Roswell    St.    John,   and    is 
now    deati;    Charles,    a     prominent     minister, 
who  resides  in  the  West,  where   he  has  organ- 
ized and  built    up   twelve   churches;    William: 
Lewis  and  John,  the  latter  of  whom  died  when 
a   little    lad   of   foiu"  years.       The  mother,  who 
spent  her  declining  days  with   her  eldest   son, 
lived   to    the    ;ige    of    fourscore    years.      Both 
were   members   of  the   Congregatittnal  church. 
At    the    age    of    sixteen    years    George   W. 
.Marvin,    the    eldest    son    of   Jared,    began    the 
pioneer    labor  of   clearing   the   land,    taking   a 
yoke  of  oxen   and  iloing  a   man's  work.      For 
some   time   he    was   engaged    in    teaching    the 
district  school    in    the  winter,  and  working  on 
the    farm    during    the    remainder   of    the   vear. 
He  remained  with  his  jxirents  until  the  home- 
stead,   largely    through    his   efforts,    was    paid 
for.      He  married    when    twenty-nine   ve;irs   of 
age,  mox'ing  then  to  a  farm  which   he   had  i)re- 
viously     ])urchased,    and     of     which      he     had 
cleared      a     sm:ill      portion.        Having      lived 
thereon    foi-   three  years,  Mr.  .Marvin    disposed 
of   that    propertw  and   with    his   brother  Will- 
iam   |)urchased   three   hundred    acres   of    land, 
which     constitutes     his     present      homestead. 
\'ery    little    of    this    land    h;id    been    cleared; 
and,  assisted   by  his   brother,  he  put  up  a  saw- 
mill, and,  cutting  down  the  trees,  sawed  tiiem 
into  lumber,  which  he  sent  to    Philadelphia  at 
first,  but    in    later   times   began   suppKing  the 
\illage    of    Walton.      He    contiiuiecl     in     this 
business   for   nearl\-   thirty   ye.irs.    and    in   the 
mean    time   jilaced    his    land  in  a  good  state  of 
cultivation.      He  has  a  fine  grass-bearing  ;ind 
dairying    farm,    raises    some    grain;  and,    be- 
sides the  numbers   of   cattle  and  horses  on  his 
place,  he  keeps  a  g(^od    many  siiee]^.      He   has 
erecteti   excellent   farm    buildings,  and  has  all 
the  tools  :ind    macJTiner}'  refpiisite  for  carrying 


562 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


on  his  business  after  the  most  approved 
methods.  He  had  the  misfortune  to  have  one 
barn  destroyed  by  lightning,  but  this  has 
been  replaced   by  two  very  fine  ones. 

Mr.  Marvin  was  married  in  1846  to  Hannah 
Eells,  who  was  one  of  twelve  children  born  to 
Mead  and  Philena  (Johnson)  Eells,  natives  of 
Walton.  Mr.  Eells  was  a  dealer  in  lumber, 
and  an  expert  in  running  saw-mills,  being 
able  to  saw  trees  thirty-four  feet  long  and 
four  feet  thick.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eells  were 
both  members  of  the  Congregational  church ; 
and  both  died  at  the  home  of  Mr.  Marvin,  he 
at  the  age  of  eighty  years,  and  she  when 
seventy-five  years  of  age.  Mrs.  Marvin,  who 
departed  this  life  December  20,  1892,  bore 
her  husband  three  children  —  Martha,  Julia, 
and  George.  Martha  had  great  musical  tal- 
ent, received  all  the  advantages  afforded  at 
the  Providence,  R.I.,  Conservatory,  and  won 
a  fine  reputation  as  a  music-teacher  in  Provi- 
dence, having  pupils  from  seven  different 
States.  Her  death  by  drowning  was  a  sad 
blow  to  her  family  and  to  her  many  friends. 
Julia,  who  was  also  a  pupil  of  the  Walton 
Academy,  married  William  A.  Drake,  a  civil 
engineer,  who  has  been  largely  engaged  in 
surveying  Western  railroads,  and  is  now  sur- 
veying in  Arizona.  They  are  now  living  in 
Pueblo,  and  are  the  parents  of  three  children 
—  Mattie,  Nellie,  and  Dorothy-  George  mar- 
ried Lizzie  Patterson,  the  daughter  of  George 
Patterson;  and  they  have  one  child,  Martha. 
He  is  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  assists  in 
the  care  of  the  home  farm. 


F.  ADEE,  proprietor  and  editor  of 
the  Delaware  Express  of  Delhi,  was 
born  at  Davenport  Centre,  August 
22,  1865,  and  is  the  son  of  George 
T.  Adee,  a  prominent  citizen  of  Delhi.  Mr. 
Adee  resided  in  Davenport  Centre  until  he 
was  ten  years  of  age,  when  he  moved  w'ith  his 
parents  to  this  town.  His  early  education 
was  gained  at  the  district  school,  and  was 
supplemented  by  a  course  at  the  academy, 
from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1885.  He 
also  spent  one  year  at  Cornell  University  and 
in  1887  entered  the  law  department  at  Co- 
lumbia College,   taking    his  degree   in    1889. 


Upon  the  completion  of  his  college  course  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  returned  to 
Delhi,  where  he  practised  law  with  his  father 
for  about  two  years.  Turning  his  attention 
to  journalism,  he  purchased  the  Delaware 
Express  in  March,  1891.  This  paper  was 
established  as  far  back  as  1839,  and  is  a 
bright,  interesting  newspaper,  with  a  steadily 
increasing  circulation.  Mr.  Adee  has  a  fine 
outfit  for  all  kinds  of  job  printing,  and  does  a 
large  amount  of  business  in  this  line.  He 
was  instrumental  in  starting  the  present 
Andes  Recorder^  and  also  the  Walton 
Times,  both  of  which  papers  he  subsequently 
sold,  now  devoting  his  whole  time  and  atten- 
tion to  the  Delaware  Express.  Mr.  Adee  is  a 
Republican  in  politics,  and  for  the  last  four 
years  has  occupied  the  responsible  position  of 
Justice  of  the  Peace.  He  has  served  on  the 
County  Republican  Committee  for  one  term, 
and  is  also  a  member  of  the  Senatorial  Com- 
mittee of  his  district.  He  is  a  member  of 
Lodge  No.  439,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  is  an 
attendant  and  supporter  of  the  Second  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Delhi. 


/©To 


EORGE  S.  SEYMOUR  is  a  success- 
\  '•)  I  ful  farmer  in  the  town  of  Tompkins, 
X.Y.,  where  he  was  born  on  October 
7,  1848.  His  grandfather  was  William  Sey- 
mour, who  is  further  mentioned  in  the  biog- 
raphy of  Alonzo  Seymour  elsewhere  in  this 
volume.  Charles  D.  Seymour,  the  father  of 
George,  was  born  in  Tompkins,  April  16, 
1823,  and  was  brought  up  a  farmer.  He  mar- 
ried Phoebe  Walker,  daughter  of  John  and 
Betsey  Walker,  residents  of  that  part  of 
Tompkins  now  known  as  Deposit. 

George  S.  Seymour  in  his  childhood  was 
educated  at  the  district  school,  and  worked 
on  his  father's  farm,  a  part  of  which  he  pur- 
chased from  his  father  in  1880.  On  January 
19,  1 88 1,  he  married  M.  Eliza  McDonald, 
daughter  of  D.  G.  and  Jane  (Chambers)  Mc- 
Donald, of  Walton.  Mrs.  .Seymour's  paternal 
grandfather,  Archibald  McDonald,  came  to 
America  from  Scotland,  and  settled  in  North 
Carolina,  where  he  remained  for  thirteen 
years,  and  then  came  to  Delaware  County, 
New    York.       He    married    Jennette     Smith, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIP:\V 


5^1 


(laughtor  of  Jt)lin  Sniitli.  ol  Wulion.  Tlicir 
son,  D.  G.  McDoiuikl,  was  born  in  North 
Carolina,  and,  when  tiiirtccn  \cars  of  ago,  re- 
moved with  his  ]>arcnts  to  Xew  York,  where 
he  was  engaged  in  the  lumber  business  and 
agricultural  pursuits.  )j.  (i.  MeDonald  mar- 
ried Jane  Chambers,  who  became  tiie  niotlier 
of  eight  children,  namely:  Maria;  Mli/a,  the 
wife  of  the  subject  of  tiiis  sketch;  John; 
Archibald;  Jennette;  Jane  and  David,  wlio 
were  twins;  and  Sloane.  Tiie  family  are  Re- 
formed Presbyterians,  and  still  reside  on  the 
old  homestead.  Mr.  McDonald  is  a  ivepuhli- 
can  in  jiolitics. 

Mrs.  -Seymoui'  resided  with  her  ])arents  in 
Walton,  teaching  school  in  various  .towns  of 
Delaware  County  for  five  years.  She  is  the 
mother  of  two  children  -  David  N.  and  lilthel 
N. ;  and  both  she  and  her  husband  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbyterian  church.  I'cditicalU', 
Mr.  Seymour  is  a  Republican,  being  a  tlrm 
supporter  of  the  j^latform  of  that  pait\-;  and 
his  position  as  a  man  (jf  unquestionable  integ- 
rity is  manifested  by  the  respect  with  which 
he  is  rciiarded  bv  all   who  know  liim. 


.    Knapp, 

Charles 

'  asiiier, 


iIl.\RLl-:S  P.  KNAPP,  Cashier  of  the 
l)e])osil  National  Hank,  is  one  ol  the 
entei'|)rising  citizens  ol  this  place. 
lie  has  contributed  largel}',  both  in 
mone\'  and  intluence,  to  ad\ance  tlie  interests 
of  this  part  of  the  countv-  A  glance  at  the 
village  of  Deposit  will  indicate  what  niannei' 
of  men  have  the  controlling  power,  and  will 
show  the  sort  of  public  spirit  thc\  jjossess. 
The  electric  lights,  water-works,  soldiers' 
monument,  and  \arious  other  public  improxe- 
ments  would  be  credit.able  to  a  town  four  times 
its  size;  and  Mr.  Knapp  has  done  his  lull 
share,  toward  bringing  these  about.  lie  is 
emphaticallv  a  De|)osit  man,  having  alwa_\'s 
made  this  village  his  home,  and  being  famil- 
iarl\-  known  throughout  the  entire  connnu- 
nitv.  The  bank  of  which  he  is  the  Cashier  was 
started  in  1X54  as  a  piivate  institution,  being- 
established  by  the  lion.  Charles  Knapji,  his 
grandfather,  wh<i  was  one  of  the  most  ]iromi- 
nent  men  of  his  time  in  this  part  ol  the  -State. 
In  1864  it  became  a  National  H.ank,  its  num- 
ber under  the  national  banking  laws  being  472. 


I'he  present  I'lesidenl  is  (  hai  les  | 
ot  Hinghamlon;  the  Xice-PrcNident, 
Majiles,  of  New  ^'(lrk  Cilv.  I'lie 
Chailes  P.  Kuapp,  and  the  .\ssi>,i;iul  C.ohicr, 
Chailes  PinkiU'\.  are  residents  of  Deposit. 
I  he  bank  is  on  the  soundest  linaiu  ial  basis, 
and  has  never  failed  to  pa\-  its  fne  per  lenl. 
semi-annual  dividend,  which  is  gDdd  evidence 
ol  the  character  of  its  m.inagenieul  and  some- 
thing ol  an  index  of  the  |)rosperit\  of  the 
village  and  conniumity.  The  father  of  Charles 
P.  was  James  II.  Knap]),  who  was  also  inter- 
ested in  the  bank,  and  was  its  j'lesident  from 
July,  i.S.So,  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
November  \  ;^,  iX.Sj.  He  had  previousjv  been 
one  ol  the  bank's  cashiers  and  vice-presidents, 
and  was  elected  Director  January  i).  1866. 
lie  was  a  businessman,  and  did  not  interest 
himself  jiarlicularly  in  politics.  llis  widow, 
thi'  mother  of  Charles  P..  is  living  at  Deposit, 
and  is  a  lad\'  of  fiftv  vears,  ])ossessing  rare 
(|ualities  of  mind  and  ln'art,  with  the  intelli- 
gence and  retinement  of  the  true  wom.m. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  an  onlv  child, 
lie  was  born  Mav  16,  186;,  and  was  brought 
up  in  the  village  of  Deposit.  lie  attended  the 
well-known  Phillips  (Ivxeter,  N.ll.)  .Acadenn. 
one  ot  the  best  preparalorv  schools  in  this 
counti-}',  from  1880  to  1884.  1 1  is  father  being 
in  |)oor  health,  he  was  called  to  assist  in  the 
hank,  November  21.  1884.  and  ranked  as 
Teller.  (  )n  h'cliruai-v  17,  1888.  he  was 
electi'd  to  his  present  responsible  position, 
which  he  has  ,ably  filled,  contributing  largeh' 
to  the  prosperilv  of  the  institution.  Mr. 
Kna])p  is  the  President  of  the  Deposit  Hoard 
of  Trade;  and  it  has  been  through  thi-  untiring 
energv  of  this  organization,  made  u])  mainh 
of  the  \-oung  men  of  De])osit,  that  tlie  jilace 
has  seemed  its  varied  industries,  and  has  at- 
tained the  proud  distinction  of  being  the  most 
progressive  place  of  its  size  on  the  road.  Mi'. 
Kna]ip  is  also  a  stockholder  and  prime  mover 
in  the  Deposit  Plectric  Companv.  I'rater- 
nallv,  he  is  Iligh-priest  of  Deposit  C'hapter 
and  Past  Master  of  De|)osit  I  odge.  A.  I-'.  & 
.\.  M.,  and  is  a  member  of  Malta  Connnanderv, 
No.  21,  at  l^inghamton,  and  of  the  (Hseningo 
Consistorv,  -S.  P.  R.  K.,  of  Hinghamton. 
.Sociallv,  he  is  a  gentleman  whom  it  is  a 
!  pleasure  to  meet,  genial   and  courteous,  ha\  ing 


5^4 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


the  characteristics  that  make  an  agreeable  com- 
panion and  faithful  friend. 


J~N  I'NCAN  CAMl'BELL,  who  is  spend- 
— I  ing  the  eventide  of  an  active  life  in 
9y  restful  retirement  in  the  village  of 
Bovina,  was  born  in  Scotland  on 
December  24,  1817.  His  paternal  grand- 
father was  Alexander  Campbell.  But  little  is 
known  of  him  beyond  the  fact  that  he  was  a 
soldier  in  the  ]?ritish  army.  Duncan  came  to 
America  in  1820  with  his  parents,  Colin  and 
Catherine  (McGregor)  Campbell,  being  on 
the  Atlantic  forty-two  days.  In  Scotland, 
his  native  country,  Colin  Campbell  had  fol- 
lowed various  occupations.  After  coming  to 
this  countrv.  he  settled  on  a  farm  in  Andes, 
Delaware  County,  and,  steadily  applying  him- 
self to  agricultural  pursuits,  there  passed  the 
remaining  years  of  his  life.  Both  he  and  his 
wife  lived  to  a  green  old  age.  They  were 
loyal  to  the  kirk  of  Scotland,  never  affiliating 
with  the  American  branch  of  the  Presbyterian 
church. 

A  family  of  ten  children,  four  of  whom  are 
now  living,  were  brought  up  on  the  Delaware 
farm:  namely,  Alexander,  Jannette,  Mary, 
Nancy,  Duncan,  Catherine,  Susan,  Elizabeth, 
Colin,  and  John.  Duncan  and  Nancy  were 
twins. 

Duncan  Campbell  grew  up  and  was  educated 
in  Andes,  working  at  home  until  he  was 
twenty-eight  years  old.  Feeling  then,  doubt- 
less, that  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  for  every 
man  to  establish  himself  independently,  he 
began  to  take  outside  employment,  and  did 
whatever  work  he  could  find  to  do.  He  laid 
stone  walls  in  the  neighborhood,  and  toiled 
and  saved  his  earnings  until  he  had  amassed  a 
sum  sufficient  to  purchase  a  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  ninety  acres  in  Bovina.  Here  he 
established  a  dairy  farm,  which  was  financially 
so  successful  that  he  was  able  to  extend  the 
territory  of  his  estate  to  three  hundred  and  fif- 
teen acres.  Me  lived  here  for  thirty-five 
years,  a  conspicuous  example  of  industry  and 
thrift.  In  1893  he  moved  into  the  village  of 
Bovina. 

On   the   8th   of  January,    1857,  he   took   for 
his  wife  and  helpmate  Miss  Nancy  Thompson, 


a  daughter  of  George  and  Elizabeth  Thomp- 
-son,  of  Bovina,  both  of  whom  are  now  de- 
ceased. Seven  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Duncan  Campbell,  and  it  is  as  yet  an 
unbroken  family  circle.  The  eldest  is  a 
(laughter,  Mary  C.  Campbell,  who  lives  at 
home.  Elizabeth,  the  second,  married  David 
J.  Miller,  and  lives  in  Bovina.  Colin,  the 
eldest  son,  is  a  farmer  in  the  near  town  of 
Walton.  John  M.  lives  on  the  old  home- 
stead. Jannette  Campbell  is  a  teacher  in 
Hobart.  Margaret  lives  with  Mrs.  Miller  in 
Bovina.  And  Emma,  the  youngest,  teaches 
in  the  village. 

Duncan  Campbell  has  always  taken  an 
active  part  in  the  politics  of  the  Republican 
party,  of  which  he  is  a  clear  exponent  and 
strong  advocate.  He  and  his  wife  are  both 
conscientious  members  of  the  Reformed  Pres- 
byterian church,  following  the  instincts  and 
traditions  of  their  Scottish  ancestry. 

A  portrait  is  herewith  presented  of  this 
worthy  representative  of  the  noted  clan  Camp- 
bell, of  which  it  has  been  well  said  that  no 
other  family  can  show  a  more  numerous  and 
illustrious   roll   of   names. 


()\.  CHARLES  KNAPP,  decea.sed, 
will  long  be  remembered  as  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  men  of  his 
time  in  this  part  of  the  State,  and 
one  who  contributed  largely  toward  the  devel- 
opment of  De])osit  and  its  vicinity.  He  was 
born  in  tiie  town  of  Colchester,  Delaware 
County,  October  8,  1797.  He  had  only  such 
educational  advantages  as  were  afforded  by  the 
district  schools  of  his  native  jilace  eighty  years 
ago,  and  they  were  certainly  very  limited. 
Colchester  is  situated  upon  the  east  branch 
of  the  Delaware  (formerly  Mohawk)  River, 
and  is  one  of  the  most  rugged  places  in  the 
State  of  New  \'ork.  Lumber  was  the  chief 
resource  of  the  early  settlers,  as  it  is  of  their 
descendants,  notwithstanding  the  tanning  of 
leather  is  an  important  industry  and  in  the 
past  five  years  the  dairy  business  has  grown  to 
considerable  proportions. 

Mr.  Knapp  was  the  son  of  a  farmer,  and  was 
brought  u])  to  hard  manual  labor.  His  earn- 
ings till  he  reached  his  majority  went   into  the 


D'JNCflN    CAiViPBELL. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


'.f'l 


general  fund  fur  the  support  ul  his  father's 
family.  In  1S15  he  henan  his  piihlie  career 
by  venturiui^  upon  the  occupation  of  a  \il]aj;e 
school-teacher.  I-Or  a  few  years  leaching'  was 
his  winter  occujKUion,  while  in  summer  he 
returned  to  the  farm.  ( )ne  instance  of  his 
thriftiness  in  his  early  life  was  teaching  a  si.\ 
months'  term  of  school  for  sixteen  d<dlars  per 
month,  and  presenting  to  his  father  at  its  clo>c 
an  even  one  hundred  dollars,  he  ha\ing  earned 
by  overwork  enough  for  his  spending  monev 
and  sufficient  to  add  a  small  sum  to  the  amount 
of  his  regular  wages.  Of  couise,  his  education 
did  not  sto]i  with  his  school  studies.  He  was 
gifted  with  a  strong  and  assimilating  mini!, 
and  became  in  a  practical  sense  a  thoroughlv 
educated  man.  When  he  was  twent\-one 
\ears  of  age,  he  embarked  without  capital  in 
such  local  business  as  promised  the  best  le- 
wards.  Me  continued  as  a  farmer  for  a  whiU-, 
but  soon  also  engaged  in  the  lumber  trade.  in 
1.S25  he  opened  a  general  countr\  store  at 
Fepacton,  near  Colchester.  The  amount  of 
his  capital  for  that  enterprise  was  onlv  three 
hundred  dollars:  but  he  managed  his  little 
estate  so  that  with  the  entire  contidence  of 
the  ])ublie,  which  he  ahvavs  enjoyed,  he  gained 
rapidlv  by  legitimate  enterprise;  and  in  the 
course  of  twenty  \ears  he  amassed  what  W(ju1(I 
be  regarded,  ewn  in  these  times,  a  handsome 
fortune.  lie  did  not  confine  himself  to  any 
one  thing  or  a  few  things,  but  directed  a  large 
varietx'  of  ])aying  enteritises. 

The  high  regard  in  which  he  was  held  l)\' 
his  fellow-citizens  was  shown  in  1S41  In  his 
election  to  the  State  AssembI)'.  lie  dis- 
charged his  public  duties  at  Albanx',  as  he  did 
his  pri\ate  business  at  home,  in  a  manner 
which  sustained  him  before  the  public  as  an 
upright,  conscientious,  and  able  man.  in 
|84<S  he  moved  to  l)e]5osit,  as  the  Mrie  Kail- 
wa\'  apjieared  to  be  likel\-  to  make  important 
changes  in  business  channels  and  to  aid  him 
in  larger  enterprises  than  he  had  before  been 
able  to  carr\-  on.  Here  he  engaged  in  larming 
to  some  extent,  but  largely  in  lumbering  and 
tanning.  In  1S54  he  ojji-ned  a  banking  hoirse 
under  the  indixidnal  banking  law  ot  the  .State. 
This  was  the  beginning  of  the  Deposit  Na- 
tional Bank,  which  has  always  been  one  ot 
the  soundest  and,  it   m  v  be  adtied,  one  of  the 


niost  successful  financial  institutions  ot  the 
State.  Two  years  later  the  li.ink  became  tin- 
pro]ierty  of  ,in  association  with  a  capital  stock 
of  one  hundred  and  tweiits-five  thousand 
dollars.  Mr.  Knapp  retained  .1  rnajoritN  o| 
the  slock,  which  ga\e  him  the  control;  ;ni(l 
the  business  management  was  still  under  his 
innnediate  supi'rv  ision.  In  r  .S(')4  it  became  a 
.National  Hank;  and  in  I.S^^  ihe  c;i|)ital  stotk 
was  incieased  to  tw<i  hundred  thousand,  which, 
to  a\<)id  the  payment  of  excessive  taxes,  was  in 
iSjiS  reduced  to  one  hunched  thousand.  I'n<lei- 
the  etticient  management  of  .Mr.  Knap]i  the 
l)ank  paid  a  good  di\idend,  besides  :idding  to 
its  resources  \ear  b\   w:\y. 

In  I  .S6X  Mr.  Knapp  w;is  nominated  l)\  ,1 
ke|)ublican  conxention  held  at  .Sitlney  l'lain> 
toi'  member  of  ('ongress.  It  was  a  long  and 
tedious  convention,  in  which  Chenango  Ccmntv 
jiresented  the  name  of  the  lion.  Isaac  .S.  New- 
ton, Delawaie  Countv  presented  that  of  the 
lion.  .S;unuel  I-'.  Miller,  and  (  )tsego  Countv 
urged  the  nominati<in  of  the  lion.  David  Wil- 
bur. .Mr.  Knapp,  being  finalU'  asked  b\ 
telegraph  il  he  would  take  the  nomination, 
cmisented,  and  was  elected  by  a  large  majority, 
lie  serveil  in  Congress  with  ability  ahmg  with 
such  re|)resentati\es  as  .Mr.  llotchkiss  froni 
this  distiicl,  llamilton  Ward,  William  .\ 
Wheeler,  John  .A.  (Iriswold.  (jeneral  .Slocmn. 
porter  .Sheldon,  and  others  from  this  .State. 

In  1.S70  he  was  offered  a  renominat ion,  but 
declint'd,  as  he  was  o\er  si-\ent\  three  vears  ot 
age,  and  did  not  care  to  burtlen  his  life  with 
the  responsibility  of  the  position.  lie  \\as 
originally  a  Democrat,  believing  with  Jackson 
and  Benton  on  national  issues  and  financial 
m.itters,  but  was  an  inflexible  op|)onent  of  the 
extension  of  sla\er\'.  and  was  conseijuenth' 
among  the  first  in  the  ranks  of  the  l\e|Hd)lican 
party.  His  whole  careei'  furnishes  a  remark- 
able exam])le  of  the  stalwart,  self-made  men 
of  this  countrw  lie  learned  to  struggle  with 
poverty  when  a  boy,  which  taught  him  the 
proper  use  of  wealth  when  he  became  a  man. 
It  was  no  great  step  for  him  t<i  go  from  the 
mountain  school-house  to  the  national  Con- 
gress, because  the  school-teacher  possessed  the 
ability  of  the  statesman.  ilarlv  in  life  he  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Sylvia  Radeker  at 
Colchester.      The  imion  was  eminently  a  hapjiv 


568 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


one,  and  was  not  ended  until  after  its  golden 
anniversary  had  been  passed.  Mr.  Knapp  died 
in  1887.  Ten  children  were  the  fruit  of  their 
marriage,  five  of  whom,  three  sons  and  two 
daughters,  are  now  li\ing. 

The  Hon.  Charles  Knajiji  died  in  Jidy, 
1880.  His  life  had  been  an  eventful  and  a 
useful  one.  The  world  was  the  better  for  his 
having  lived  in  it,  and  it  is  with  pleasure  that 
the  publishers  of  the  "  Review  "  can  place  in 
their  work  the  biogra])hv  of  so  illustrious  a 
representative  of  this  part  of  the  countr\-.  He 
was  an  ambitiou.s  man,  it  is  true;  hut  his 
aspirations  were  always  within  their  proper 
limits.  There  is  in  the  human  mind  a  natural 
desire  for  distinction,  for  being  or  acquiring 
something  which  ^hall  lift  the  individual 
above  the  mass,  and  give  him  consideration 
with  his  fellows.  A  desire  so  natural  and  so 
universal  as  this,  a  desire  that  so  readily  joins 
hands  with  the  highest  motives,  must  have  a 
legitimate  s]ihere  of  operation,  and  must,  when' 
confined  to  this  sphere,  be  entirely  consistent 
\vith  the  noblest  life.  When  it  is  united  with 
a  sincere  love  of  men  and  an  honest  regard  for 
the  effect  of  one's  action  u]ion  others,  when  it 
is  held  subordinate  and  subsidiarv  to  the  uni- 
versal good,  when  it  grasps  at  nothing  which 
actual  excellence  of  power  and  character  may 
not  legitimately  claim,  then  it  is  good  in  itself 
and  good  in  its  results.  It  is  right  for  a  man 
to  desire  to  excel  in  an\thing  worthv  of  a  man, 
and  in  all  these  desires  and  ambitions  Mr. 
Knapp  had  this  concejJtion  of  the  truth;  and, 
whether  in  business  affairs  or  ]3olitical  affairs, 
he  was  not  held  or  controlled  by  selfish  mo- 
tives. He  was  a  man  who  reached  his  ])osi- 
tion  of  influence  solely  as  a  result  of  honest 
methods  projierl}-  applied,  and  was  enabled  to 
become  distinguished  by  virtue  of  his  own  in- 
herent worth. 


iLARK      CAHLI-;,      a     substantial      and 
,  esteemed     resident     of      the     town     of 

Is  _  Delhi,  was  born  in  Hamden,  Dela- 
ware County,  X.  \'.,  October  19, 
1832,  being  a  grandson  of  Calvin  Cable,  who 
settled  in  Delhi  at  an  early  period  of  its  his- 
tory, and  there  spent  his  last  years.  The 
father,    Simon  Cable,    was    born    in   Columbia 


County,  New  York,  and  removed  with  his 
parents  to  Delaware  County,  remaining  witii 
them  until  he  became  of  age,  and  assisting  in 
the  work  of  clearing  the  farm.  He  then  pur- 
chased a  farm  in  Walton,  which  he  carried  on 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  when  he  was 
seventy-two  years  old.  His  wife  was  Maria 
Launt,  a  native  of  Delhi,  and  a  daughter  of 
Jeremiah  Launt.  She  sur\-ived  her  husband 
man)'  years,  living  to  the  unusual  age  of 
ninety-four.  .She  bore  her  husband  three  chil- 
dren;   namel}-,   Betsey  Ann,   Maria,   and   Clark. 

Clark  Cable  spent  his  early  years  in  Walton 
on  the  parental  homestead,  and  acquired  his 
education  in  the  district  school.  After  attain- 
ing his  majority  he  purchased  a  farm,  and  for 
twenty  )ears  was  engaged  in  general  farming. 
He  then  moved  to  Harvard,  and  for  five  years 
was  the  keeper  of  a  hotel  in  that  village.  Re- 
turning to  Walton,  he  worked  in  a  mill  there 
for  the  succeeding  five  years,  gi\ing  uj)  that 
position  to  come  to  the  farm  of  his  father-in- 
law,  where  he  has  since  resided.  On  Julv  2, 
1858,  Mr.  Cable  was  united  in  wedlock  to 
Miss  Sarah  Launt,  a  daughter  of  John  Launt, 
one  of  the  oldest  persons  now  living  in  Dela- 
ware County,  and  of  their  union  two  children 
have  been  born ;  namely,  John  and  Henry. 
The  elder  son,  John,  married  Lizzie  Wade; 
and  they  have  one  child.   May. 

John  Launt.  the  father  of  Mrs.  Cable,  is  of 
German  descent,  being  a  son  of  Jeremiah 
Launt,  who  was  born  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and 
whose  father  was  a  native  f)f  Germany.  John 
Launt  was  born  November  23,  1803.  in 
Worcester,  X.  \'.  ;  but.  when  a  little  fellow, 
his  parents  removed  to  Nassau,  Rensselaer 
County,  where  he  li\ed  seven  or  eight  years. 
In  1 81 2  he  went  to  Greenbush  to  see  the 
soldiers,  an  event  which  he  distinctly  remem- 
bers. He  afterward  went  with  his  parents  to 
the  town  of  Schodack,  and  was  about  fifteen 
years  old  when  the  family  came  to  Delhi.  In 
the  latter  place  he  attended  the  district  school 
and  worked  on  the  farm,  remaining  at  home 
until  his  twenty  -  first  birthday.  He  then 
went  for  a  time  to  the  Black  River  country, 
and  later  bought  a  farm  in  Hamden,  which  he 
managed  for  fifteen  years,  and  then  sold,  and 
the  ne.xt  five  years  was  engaged  in  farming  on 
Walton    Mountain    in    the    town    of    Walton. 


BIOGRAIMIICM.    l-;i:\'IF':\V 


5^", 


V\w  yeais  thereafter  lie  hi)u_i;lit  liis  |)ivsent 
farm,  which  then  consisted  of  verv  wild  land, 
but  was  pleasantly  located  on  I'lattner  I^niok, 
al)oiii  three  miles  from  Walton.  ]\\  per- 
severini;-  industry  he  cleared  and  improved  a 
tine  homestead.  .At  the  ai,^e  of  twenty-four 
years  he  married  Jeanette  Warren,  a  native 
of  llamden,  and  one  of  a  large  family  born  to 
i;iias  and  Nancy  (("xiodrich)  Warren.  Mi. 
and  Mrs.  Launt  reared  four  daughters,  of 
whom  we  record  the  following:  .Sarah  be- 
came the  wife  of  Clark  Cable,  whose  name 
heads  tliis  sketcli.  Mary  mairied  l:pliraim 
Wakeman.  of  Walton,  anil  thev  reared  live 
children.  Matilda' became  the  wife  of  Will- 
iam Leonard.  And  Angeline,  who  manied 
Clark  Trij^ii,  became  the  mother  of  six  chil- 
dren—  Hetse\-  .Ann.  Cecilia,  .Sarah,  ludson, 
Laura,  and  lulia. 


LOXZO  SI-;\\M()CR  is  a  native  resi- 
dent of  the  town  of  Tompkins,  which 
he  re])resents  as  a  member  of  the 
Coimty  Hoai'd  of  .Super\  isors.  11  is 
great-grandfather,  William  .Se\nioui-,  who,  it 
is  ,sup]:)osed,  was  of  luiglish  l)iith,  foi'  man\- 
\ears  was  a  iiromiiient  business  man  at  .\ew- 
burg,  .\.\'.  He  also  built  two  Liverp<iol 
l)ackets,  the  ■"Williani  iVnn  "  and  the  "On- 
tario." the  latter  being  a  vessel  of  li\e  bundled 
tons'  burthen,  the  largest  packet  at  that  tinu- 
in  the  Liverpool  trade.  lie  was  an  extensive 
dealer  in  real  estate,  and  did  much  for  the  im- 
pro\-ement  of  the  \illage,  where  he  was  a  resi- 
dent to  the  time  of  his  death. 

His  wife,  acconi|)anied  b\-  his  son  William, 
who  was  born  in  New  ilaxeii.  Conn.,  moved 
then  to  Delaware  Count\',  where  thev  were 
among  the  tiist  settlers.  i'liis  son  purchased  a 
tract  (il  heavily  timbered  land  on  tlie  south  side 
of  the  west  iiranch  of  the  Delaware  River, 
which  included  the  hind  now  owned  ])\-  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  in  these  earlv  ilavs  no 
railroads  or  canals  shortened  the  distances  be- 
tween towns  and  villages,  and  the  isolated 
])ioneers  sidisisted  chietlv  on  the  |)roducts  of 
their  own  laiul  and  the  deei'  and  fish  which 
were  then  abundant  in  the  surrounding  countiv. 
William  Seymour,  Jr.,  commenced  at  once  on 
his  removal  to  his  new   home   to  cleai'  his  laiitl 


and  lake  his  lumber  by  me,ins  of  rafts  down  the 
river  to  I'hilailelphia,  returning  over  the  Ion- 
route  on  loot.  December  \(t.  i.S(.  5.  hi-  mar 
ried  Dorothv  Lord,  daughter  of  Idiphalet  and 
Mary  ((ireeni  Lord,  She  was  born  .\ugusl, 
2.S,  I  7.S,S,  and  died  j.inuary  j,S,  iSC>U.  the 
mother  of  ten  children,  having  lived  to  see  the 
wilderness  about  her  home  transformed  into 
the  .seat  o|  a  prosperous,  vvealthv  commnnilv. 

W'iUet  .Seymour,  a  son  of  \\ilii;im  'and 
Dorothy  Seymour,  and  the  father  of  the  subject 
o|  this  sketch,  was  born  on  the  old  farm  in 
Tompkins,  May  6,  iSo;.  and  w.is  reared  to 
agricultural  and  limibering  jmrsuits,  in  which 
he  was  employed  throughout  his  life.  (  )n  the 
death  ot  his  father  he  became  the  jiossessor  of 
the  <ild  homestead;  and  here  he  still  resides  in 
his  ninetieth  year,  retaining  to  a  remarkable 
degree  all  his  faculties.  His  vvite  w.is  .Mary 
(ioodrich,  to  whom  he  was  married  |ulv  jS, 
1830.  .She  was  lioru  in  .Sidiiev,  X.\'.,  .Sep- 
tember I,  I, Si  4.  Her  grandfather,  Zeiias 
(ioodrich,  who  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier 
and  a  pioneer  of  Sidney,  married  Mercv  Law- 
rence. .\lleii  (ioodrich,  the  father  of  Mrs. 
W'illet  .Sevmour,  married  Miss  T^lizabeth 
Lord,  a  daughter  of  T;iii)halet  and  .Marv 
((ireeii)  Lord.  .Nine  of  the  ten  children 
born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs  W'iUet  Seymour  lived  to 
reach  maturity:  namely.  AmaiuTi,  .\lon/o,  (iil- 
bert,  (.liarles.  i-jastus  I'.. .  W'illet,  j-'lorence. 
and  Recto]-,  Lewis  dying  in  infancv,  and 
Washington  dyin.g  at  the  age  of  fortv-eiglit 
vears.  Mrs.  .Sevmour  was  a  thrifty  housewife, 
and  before  her  marriage  had  learned,  besides 
the  necessary  household  accomjilishments,  the 
art  ot  weaving,  carding,  and  spinning,  so 
that  in  her  eailv  married  life  she  dressed  her 
children  in  the  homespun  vvhicii  she  made 
[  entirelv   with  her  own  hands. 

Alon/.o  .Sevmoui'  was  brought  U]i  to  the 
lumlier  business,  assisting  his  father  in  liuving 
the  standing  lumber  and  rafting  it  down  the 
ri\er  to  I'liiladelphia.  Ciion  reaching  his 
majority  he  purchased  a  tract  of  lanil  in  the 
town  of  Tompkins,  on  which  there  was  an  im- 
jjioved  water-power  and  saw-mill,  and  has  been 
since  that  lime  continuoiislv  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  and  sale  of  lumber.  He  has  also 
been  greatly  interested  in  farniiiig.  and  in  iS.S.S 
]5urchased    the    old    homestead    which    he    now 


57° 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


occupies.  In  i860  he  married  Miss  Josephine 
liradbury,  who  became  the  mother  of  six  chil- 
dren:  Oakley  A.  ;  Irvin  W.  ;  Ziba  A.  ;  John 
W.  ;  June;  and  Kate,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
five  years.  And  they  have  also  an  adopted 
child,   Belle. 

Politically,  Mr.  Seymour  is  a  Republican, 
being  a  stanch  supporter  and  active  worker  of 
that  party,  and  has  held  man\-  offices  of  trust 
and  responsibility,  among  them  being  that  of 
Supervisor,  to  which  he  was  elected  in  1893 
ancF  re-elected  in  1894.  He  has  also  held 
positions  on  various  committees,  his  long  ex- 
])erience  and  natural  business  ability  and 
well-known  integrity  making  his  co-operation 
doubly  valuable.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Seymour  are 
both  earnest,  active  members  of  the  Baptist 
church,    where  the\'  are  universallv  esteemed. 


tILi:V   SANFORD  was    born 
l>ell    Hill    in    Middletown, 
fount  V,     on     the     I'ourth 
"^  1822.      His    iirandparents. 


on  Hub- 
Delaware 
of  July, 
dparents,  William 
and  Fhcebe  (Hull)  Sanford,  came  to  New 
York  from  Connecticut  in  1790,  bringing  with 
them  a  famih'  of  small  children.  Their  jour- 
ney was  through  a  wilderness,  and  the  only 
landmarks  that  the  travellers  could  depend 
upon  in  the  trackless  depths  of  the  northern 
forests  were  blazed  trees. 

The  Sanfords  were  among  the  very  earliest 
settlers,  and  lived  in  great  isolation,  being  two 
miles  distant  from  the  few  emigrants  who  had 
settled  in  the  neighborhood  previously.  Some 
time  \s'as  s]ient  in  selecting  a  good  location  for 
the  future  home,  and  a  spot  was  at  last  chosen 
which  is  now  known  as  Hubbell  Hill.  Here 
a  tract  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres  was 
bought,  and  the  sturdy  pioneer  fell  to  the  task 
of  cutting  down  trees  for  the  construction  of  an 
humble  home.  For  a  week  at  a  time  he  saw 
no  living  things  save  the  wolves  and  panthers 
that  infested  the  limitless  forest  around  him 
and  ])rowled  dangerously  near  the  lonely  .set- 
tler's rough  fortress  of  defence.  As  the  sons 
grew  u]),  they  were  each  one  taught  the  use  of 
axe  and  spade;  and  before  long  the  beautiful 
timber  was  cut  down  and  burned,  in  order  to 
clear  a  space  where  grain  could  be  raised. 
Just  as  he  had  begun  to  enjoy  the  fruition  of 


his  labors,  he  died,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years, 

i  leaving  a  wife  and  eleven  children  —  Charles 

C. ,  William,   Ziba,  John,    Mrs.    Bennam,    Mrs. 

j  Reed,    Ruanna,    Lucy,    Marauca,    Betsey,    and 

Amy. 

Charles  C.  was  born,  in  Connecticut,  and 
was  nine  years  old  when  his  father  came  to 
Delaware  County.  It  fell  to  his  lot  to  con- 
tinue the  work  begun  by  his  father;  and  he 
improved  the  property  by  putting  up  buildings 
of  a  more  substantial  .sort,  and  by  cultivating 
the  land  more  extensively.  He  was  joined  in 
the  holy  estate  of  matrimony  to  May  Smead  ; 
and  to  them  also  were  born  eleven  children, 
namely:  Daniel,  William  Perry,  Harriet, 
Charles,  Alonzo,  Riley,  Levi,  John  S. ,  Jona- 
than, Edgar,  and  Irving,  all  of  whom  grew  to 
maturity.  The  father,  Charles  C,  lived  to  be 
eighty-six  years  old.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
were  members  of  the  old-school  Baptist  church. 
Riley  Sanford,  whose  name  is  the  title  word 
of  this  biographical  memoir,  was  married  at 
twenty  years  of  age  to  his  first  wife,  Miss 
Temperance  Jenkins,  whose  full  history  is 
contained  in  the  I.  H.  Jenkins  biography. 
She  died  at  the  age  of  about  thirty-two  years, 
leaving  four  children  to  mourn  with  her 
bereaved  husband  —  Henry,  Asol,  Fmery,  and 
David.  Mr.  Sanford's  second  wife  was  Miss 
Phebe  Jenkins,  a  daughter  of  John  Jenkins. 
The  offspring  of  this  marriage  were  two  chil- 
dren, Charles  H.  and  Esther  T. 

Henry,  the  eldest  son,  married  Sarah  San- 
ford, and  lives  in  Bragg  Hollow.  Asol  was 
married  three  times.  His  first  wife  was  Mary 
Thorpe,  who  left  one  child;  the  second  was 
Mary  Hanley,  who  also  left  one  child;  and  the 
third  w-as  Agnes  Miller,  who  is  still  living, 
and  resides  with  her  husband  at  Halcottsville. 
Emery  was  joined  in  wedlock  to  Eunice  Jen- 
kins. They  live  at  Kelly's  Corners,  and  have 
four  children.  David  F.  married  -Sarah 
Brooks,  and  is  the  father  of  three  children; 
he  owns  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
acres,  and  is  considered  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful farmers  in  this  region.  Charles  H. 
married  Miss  Marv  A.  Jaquish,  and  lives  in 
Bragg  Hollow.  F^sther  married  Charles  D. 
Rowe,  lives  in  the  same  locality,  and  has  four 
children. 

Riley    Sanford    disposed    of    his    estate    on 


BIOGRAPHIC  A  I,    K  KV I  K\V 


y/i 


llubbcll  Hill,  and  in  iSj.S  nicivx-d  In  iIk'  tanii 
he  now  owns,  ami  upon  wliich  lu-  n.-sitk-N. 
The  handsome  new  l)iiiklini;>  on  llie  place 
and  its  ;;enerally  ini|ini\etl  condition  hear 
witness  to  his  indiisti\- and  jiid^nient.  lie  is 
a  man  <it  fine  pliysii|ue  and  slinni;  nei\e,  and 
is  full  of  plans  foi'  future  inipro\enient.  Some 
years  ago  he  mastered  the  art  of  veterinarv 
surgery,  and-  lias  been  \er\-  successful  in  his 
practice.  lie  has  held  se\eral  town  olhccs. 
iiicluding  that  of  Assessor. 


"()\.  ISA.XC  llOklOX  M.WNAKI) 
is  one  ol  the  citizens  of  Delaware 
Count\'  whose  reputation  as  a  man 
of  ])ublic  affairs  extends  far  besoTuI 
the  boundaries  of  his  native  .State,  and  whose 
name  is  connected  with  some  (jf  the  most  im- 
portant exents  of  the  .State  and  nation  in  recent 
years. 

lie  was  born  on  April  g,  1838,  in  ]-5ovina, 
son  of  Isaac  and  Jane  (1-alconer)  .Ma\nard. 
His  great-grandfather,  Isaiah  Mavnard,  emi- 
grated to  this  countr\-  from  the  north  of  Eng- 
land about  1750,  settling  in  the  town  of  R\-e, 
afterward  Harrison,  Westchester  Countv,  X.  \'. 
During  the  Revolutionary  War  the  grandfather 
of  Juilge  Mavnard,  l^lisha  H.  Maxnard,  distin- 
guished himself  as  a  ])atriot  soldier;  and  in 
1790,  when  the  dav.s  of  fighting  were  o\ei",  he 
removed  from  Westchester  Countv  and  settled 
in  Bovina,  then  a  part  of  Stamford.  Delaware 
Countv.  He  was  the  first  settler 'within  the 
|)resent  limits  of  the  town  of  Hovina.  Here 
in  the  wilderness  he  reared  his  familv  of  tne 
sons  and  seven  daughters;  and  Isaac,  born  in 
1795,  the  father  of  the  present  Judge  Mavnard. 
was  the  first  white  child  born  in  the  new  settle- 
ment. Isaac  .Maynard  was  a  ])rominent  man 
in  the  affairs  of  the  town  and  county,  serving 
as  Magistrate  for  moit.-  than  twenty  vears. 
His  wife  was  born  in  1797.  in  the  citv  of 
New  \drk,  and  was  the  daughter  of  Archibaltl 
l-'alconer,  a  native  of  Nairn,  Scotland. 

In  the  healthful  and  vigorous  work  of  the 
home  farm  Isaac  II.  Maynard  develo])ed  a  con- 
stitution which  has  not  failed  him  in  the 
arduous  and  wearisome  tasks  ol  his  maturer 
vears.  In  September,  1854,  he  entered  the 
Stamford  Seminary,  where  he  jirepared  for  col- 


lege ;  ;uul  in  1838  he  entered  .\mll(■l•^l 
College,  from  which  he  vva>  graduiiled  with 
high  honor  in  i8r)j,  He  tuok  pri/e>  lui 
(iieek,  ;ind  one  lor  prolu  ieni  v  in  t\Icm|)or.i 
neons  deb;ite,  delivered  the  ( iei  ni:in  oral  ion  at 
the  Junioi-  exhibition,  pronounced  one  of  tin.- 
luiglish  or.ilions  at  c<pnnnencenunt,  a'iid  was 
valedictorian.  He  then  studied  law  with  the 
late  Hon.  William  .Muirav,  and  in  .November, 
1863,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  ;it  Hinghamloii. 
He  practised  law  in  I)elhi  until  186;,  then 
removed  to  Stamford  and  formed  ;i  law  partner- 
shi])  with  his  cousin,  the  Hon.  I'.  K.  dilbeit, 
the  firm  of  (iilbert  &  Mavnard  continuing  until 
January,  1878.  He  was  Sufpervisor  of  the 
town,  and  was  largelv  instrumental  in  securing 
the  incorporation  of  the  village  of  .Stamford  bv 
special  act  of  the  legislature  in  1870.  and  was 
the  author  of  its  charter.  He  was  the  first 
President  of  the  village,  and  was  re-electeil 
unanimously  for  ten  vears  in  succession.  He 
was  one  ol  the  foimders  of  the  .Stamford 
.Seminary  in  1874,  ■•■  '  -is  a  member  of  its 
Hoard  ot    Trustees  ccame  a  |)art  of  the 

Cnion  1-ree  .School  in  18.S1.       He  was  also  one 
of  the  organi/.ers  of  the  latter  institution. 

His  legislative  career  began  in  187;.  when 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Assemblv  from 
Delaware  Countv.  and  in  that  capacitv  served 
on  many  im])ortant  committees.  He  was  an 
active  su|)|)orter  of  (iovernor  Tildeii  in  the  ex- 
citing Presidential  contest  of  1877.  and  one  of 
the  foremost  leaders  of  the  Democratic  ])artv. 
In  November.  1877,  he  was  electetl  Jutlgeand 
.Surrogate  ol  Delaware  Countv,  and  in  hi>  full 
term  of  six  years  showed  rare  judicial  abililv 
anil  integrity.  In  1883  he  was  a  candidate  on 
the  Democratic  ticket  for  .Secretarv  of  .State, 
but  was  defeati-d.  ( )n  Januarv  1.  1S84.  Judge 
Maynard  was  a])pointed  bv  .Attorney-Cieneral 
O'Brien.  ]-"irst  Deputv  Attornev -(ieneral.  and 
held  the  otifice  till  Jime  1.  1884.  when  he  re- 
signed to  Liccept  the  office  of  .Second  Comp- 
tndler  of  the  I'nitetl  .States  Treasurv,  to 
which  he  hail  been  ap])ointed  bv  President 
Cleveland.  When  Judge  .Mavnard  went  into 
the  .Second  Comptroller's  oflice.  the  work  of  the 
office  was  over  two  vears  behind;  but.  when  he 
left  it,  the  work  was  up  to  current  <late. 
.Xjjril  I,  1887,  he  was  appointed  .Assistant 
Secretarv   of    the    Treasurv ;   and   here    he    hail 


S72 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


charge  of  the  Custom  Senice,  the  Internal 
Revenue  Service,  the  Revenue  Marine,  the 
.Su|3crvising  Surgeon-general's  Bureau,  the 
Navigation  Bureau,  the  Life-saving  Service, 
the  Light-house  Board,  the  Steam  Inspection 
Service,  the  Miscellaneous  Division,  and  the 
Supervising  Architect's  Bureau  —  all  of  which 
reciuired  his  personal  attention.  All  these 
official  services  at  Washington,  involving  so 
many  different  and  intricate  cases.  Judge  May- 
nard  rendered  thoroughly  and  faithfully,  to  the 
hearty  satisfaction  of  the  government  and  the 
approval  of  the  public.  On  the  inauguration 
of  President  Harri.son,  Judge  Maynard  resigned 
his  office,  and  May  22,  1889,  was  appointed  by 
(iovernor  Hill  as  one  of  the  commissioners  to 
revise  the  general  laws  of  the  State.  In  this, 
as  in  all  of  his  official  duties,  he  displayed 
rare  ability.  The  work  of  the  commission 
resulted  in  reducing  by  about  one-half  the 
entire  bulk  of  the  laws  of  the  State.  In  Janu- 
ary, 1892,  he  was  appointed  by  Governor 
Flower  Associate  Judge  of  the  Court  of 
Appeals,  the  appointment  being  confirmed  by 
the  Senate. 

Judge  Maynard  was  married  June  28,  1871, 
to  Margaret  M.  Marvine,  daughter  of  Charles 
Marvine,  of  Delhi,  X.  V.  They  have  one 
daughter,  Frances,  a  young  lady  of  eighteen. 
Few  ot  our  public  men  have  discharged  more 
constant  and  arduous  duties  than  Judge  May- 
nard. From  the  time  of  his  first  election  as 
Supervisor  of  Stamford  he  has  without  ceasing 
worked  for  the  public  good  in  professional  and 
political  capacities,  and  his  executive  ability 
has  proved  to  be  of  the  highest  order.  For  the 
foregoing  facts,  summarizing  the  career  of  this 
eminent  citizen  of  Delaware  County,  the  "  Re- 
\iew  "  is  indebted  to  the  Albany  press. 


ir^^AV'lD  C.  HO  AG,  a  prosperous  farmer 
I        I     of   Andes,    was   born  in   the  town  of 

^4^9^  Delhi,  July  3,  1864.  His  grand- 
father, William  Hoag,  a  stone-mason 

of  ICnglish  descent,  was  born  in  Scotland.      He 


married  Kllen  Jack.son,  al.so  a  native  of  Scot- 
1  uid,  who  lived  to  be  over  ninety  years  of  age. 
Mr.  Hoag's  death,  which  occurred  when  he 
was  but  fifty  years  of  age,  was  caused  by  a 
large  stone  falling  upon  him. 


John  Hoag,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
biography,  came  to  America  in  1852  with  his 
wife  Margaret  and  one  child,  James,  and  en- 
gaged in  carpenter  work  at  Andes.  But  eight 
of  their  family  of  twelve  children  are  now  liv- 
ing: James,  whcj  was  born  October  18,  1852, 
and  with  his  wife,  Blanche  Bell  (Knapp) 
Hoag,  and  two  children,  now  resides  in  Wayne 
County,  Penns)ivania;  John,  Jr.,  who  married 
Betsey  Hitt,  and  now  lives  in  Evansville, 
Sullivan  County,  and  has  two  children;  Ella, 
who  married  William  Van  Kuren,  a  farmer  of 
Andes,  and  is  the  mother  of  two  children; 
Robert,  who  married  Libbie  Lewis,  and  is  now 
a  farmer  with  five  children,  in  the  town  of 
Hardenburg,  Ulster  County ;  Jennie,  who  mar- 
ried Warren  Dean,  a  carpenter  in  Bovina; 
David  C,  the  subject  of  this  biography;  Will- 
iam, who  married  Belle  Middlemist,  and  is 
now  a  farmer  in  Sullivan  County;  and  Thomas, 
who  married  Jennie  Lunn,  and  is  a  farmer  of 
Delhi,  with  one  child.  John  Hoag  moved  from 
Andes  to  a  farm  in  Delhi,  whence  he  returned 
to  Andes,  where  he  bought  one  hundred  and 
fifty  acres.  This  he  afterward  sold,  and  went 
back  to  Delhi,  where  he  at  present  tends  the 
toll  gates.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics, 
and  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  He 
was  always  active  and  industrious,  and  has 
been  very  successful  in  his  undertakings. 

David  C.  Hoag  was  educated  in  his  native 
town  of  Delhi,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-three 
bought  of  Margaret  Hoag  a  farm  of  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres.  His  brother  William 
shared  the  expense  with  him,  and  together  they 
purchased  two  more  farms,  one  of  ninety-si.x 
and  the  other  of  fifty-fi\e  acres,  making  them 
then  the  possessors  of  about  four  hundred  acres. 
After  a  year  David  bought  his  brother's  share, 
and,  having  .sold  eighty-five  acres,  operates  the 
rest  as  a  dairy  farm.  He  keeps  thirt\'  cows, 
grade  Jerseys,  and  some  young  stock.  In  1892 
he  married  Tina  Fenton,  daughter  of  Orin  and 
Mary  (McLean)  l-'enton.  Mr.  F'enton  owns  a 
farm  of  two  hundred  and  thirty  acres  near  Perch 
Lake,  and  has  a  family  of  five  children:  Alex- 
ander, Geoi-ge,  Andrew,  Mamie,  and  Tina. 
Mr.  I'enton  enlisted  in  the  One  Hundred  and 
First  New  York  Infantry  at  the  commencement 
of  the  war,  received  his  discharge  after  three 
years'  service,  and  is  now  drawing  a  pension. 


BIOGRAnilCAL    REVIEW 


•^Ji 


Mr.  Hoat;'  is  the  owner  of  almiit  twu-thirtls 
of  I'crcli  I.ako,  an  cxteiuleil  \ie\v  of  which  is 
ol)tainc(l  fiom  his  residence.  lie  is  classed 
anions;  the  successful  farmers  of  the  \icinitv. 
lie  is  a  Republican  in  jiolitics,  a  man  of  broad 
views,  liberal  in  relij;ious  matters,  and  a 
kind  nei<;hbor,  lo\ed  anil  resjiected  h\  all  who 
know  him. 


^  'LUM-AX  L.  WAl  riJ-.S  is  the 
wealthiest  citizen  of  Sidney  Centre, 
in  the  town  of  Sidney,  Delaware 
County,  where  he  has  held  many 
offices,  and  is  a  very  influential  man.  He 
was  born  in  another  jxirt  of  the  same  town, 
May  6,  1816,  just  as  the  War  of  1812  was 
over,  and  in  the  very  year  when  James  Mon- 
roe was  elected  as  the  successor  of  James 
Madison    in   the   Presidential   chair. 

'I'he  grandfather  for  whom  he  was  named, 
Sluman  Wattles,  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Lebanon,  Litchfield  County,  Conn.,  in  1753, 
of  Scotch  descent.  He  was  a  lanti  surveyor, 
and  came  to  this  region  in  1784  to  make  sur- 
veys in  connection  with  the  Livingston 
grants.  He  brought  his  young  wife  with  him, 
bought  land,  and  at  last  became  owner  of  a 
quarter  of  the  Livingston  Patent.  The  whole 
estate  measured  four  miles  by  si.xteen,  and 
Grandfather  Wattles's  jiart  of  it  was  a  mile 
from  the  present  town  of  Franklin.  When  he 
first  came  hither,  Surveyor  Wattles  was  on 
horseback,  and  had  to  follow  the  water- 
courses as  his  only  guiile.  It  wp.s  an  un- 
known country,  full  of  Indians;  but  the)'  were 
not  hostile  to  the  new-comer,  who  made  a 
treaty  with  them,  though  not  without  the 
[jlentiful  aid  of  whiskey.  They  knew  him 
well,  and  trusted  him:  and,  when  his  log 
house  was  built,  with  its  bark  roof  and  doors 
of  split  log,  they  often  stayed  over  night 
within  its  shelter.  At  the  outset  there  were 
no  white  settlers  in  the  neighborhood.  The 
nearest  mill  was  at  Schoharie,  forty  miles 
away.  l-"or  meat  they  had  game  from  the  for- 
est and  fish  from  the  stream:  and  their  bread 
was  mostly  johnny-cake,  made  of  mai/e,  or 
Indian  corn.  P"or  a  long  time  he  held  the 
office  of  Judge.  As  such  he  heli)ed  organize 
the  countv,  and    was   the   first   member  elected 


from  it  to  the  .State  Assembly.  The  Judge's 
first  wife  died  in  early  lifi-.  of  sm;dl-po.v. 
His  second  wife  was  Hetsy  Hulls,  of  .Sidney; 
and  his  first  child,  Mrs.  Hetsy  iJcwey,  en- 
joyed the  distinction  of  being  the  first  white 
child  born  in  the  county  after  the  Kevcdulion. 
The  old  gentleman  was  a  stanch    Presbyterian, 

I  and  spent  his  last  years  in  Siilney,  where  he 
died    in     1S37,    at    the    good,    square    age    of 

'  eighty-five.  He  had  raised  a  large  family,  all 
of  whom  li\'ed  to  glow  Lip,  though  only  two 
survived  him.  Their  names  were:  Caroline, 
Sluman,  Join,  .Simon,  .Sally,  15et.sy,  Chand- 
ler,   Nathaniel. 

Of  these  children  the  youngest,  Xalh;uiiel, 
was  born  in  I-'ranklin,  and  married  l-.niily 
Birdsall,  of  Otego.  He  combined  the  two 
professions  of  agriculture  and  theologv,  being 
both  an  able  farmer  and  a  good  Bajjtist 
preacher.  Alwa\s  of  studicnis  habits,  he  ob- 
tained a  good  education  for  his  day.  His  last 
years  were  passed  on  the  farm  at  East  .Sidney, 
where  he  died  at  the  age  of  sevent\-five ;  but 
his  wife  died  at  forty-five.  They  brought 
into  the  world  si.x  boys  and  a  daughter,  all 
but  one  of  whom  are  still  living.  The  eldest, 
Sluman  L.  Wattles,  named  for  his  grand- 
father, is  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Caro- 
line is  the  wife  of  William  Dewey,  of  Sidne)- 
Centre.  Walter  \\'attles  is  a  Sidney  farmer. 
Gilbert  Wattles  is  at  Minneapolis,  Minn. 
Homer  Wattles  lives  in  McHenry,  III. 
lulwin  Wattles  is  in  .Sidney.  Their  brother 
Russell  died  in  the  ])riiiie  ',f  lift-,  aged  only 
thirty-five. 

Mr.  Sluman  L.  Waiue^  g'>"  !■"  manhood 
in  East  Sidney,  attending  the  district  school, 
and  then  studying  at  Trenton  .Academy. 
Though  he  followed  farming  as  his  life  work, 
he  was  always  a  great  student.  ]ioring  o\er  his 
books  almost  unaided,  but  to  such  gooil  pur- 
pose that  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  in  the  _\ear 
1834.  he  could  teach  school,  and  continued  so 
doing  for  ten  successive  winters,  always  re- 
turning to  the  farm  in  summer.  Soon  after 
reaching  his  majority,  in  1S37,  he  was  ap- 
pointed Superintendent  of  .Schools  for  the 
towMi  of  Sidney.  In  1S46,  at  the  age  of 
thirty,  he  was  created  Justice  of  Peace,  and 
held  the  office  for  nearly  a  quarter-century. 
In     fact,     during     nearly    all    his     adult    life 


574 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


he  has  held  one  or  another  public  position, 
having  been  Supervisor  five  years.  He  was 
also  a  Notary  Public;  and  this  led  him  into 
much  legal  business,  in  addition  to  agricul- 
ture. 

On  the  second  day  of  the  year  1847,  at  the 
age  of  thirty-one,  he  was  married  to  Wealthy 
Ann  Porter,  a  native  of  Conway,  Franklin 
County,  Mass.,  where  she  was  born  October 
1 8,  1824,  the  daughter  of  George  R.  and 
Elizabeth  (Chauncey)  Porter,  who  was  a  kins- 
woman of  Commodore  Isaac  Chauncey,  an 
officer  of  great  service  to  the  States  in  the 
War  of  1812.  G.  R.  Porter  was  a  native  of 
Nova  Scotia,  and  belonged  to  an  old  family. 
In  his  early  days  he  came  to  Sidney,  where  he 
farmed  until  his  death.  He  was  the  father  of 
five  children,  four  of  whom  have  lived  to  ad- 
vanced age.  Of  these  children  Mrs.  Wattles 
is  the  eUiest.  Mary  Ann  Porter  is  the  widow 
of  Rinaldo  Southwick,  and  lives  in  Boston 
with  her  son.  William  Porter  carries  on  the 
home  farm.  Elizabeth  Porter  is  the  wife  of 
Isaac  De  Cou,  and  makes  her  home  in  Harrison 
County,  Iowa.  George  Porter,  named  for  his 
father,  died  in  babyhood.  The  Porters  were 
Baptists,  and  in  this  religious  faith  Mrs.  Wat- 
tles continues.  Her  husband,  however,  is  a 
liberal,  belonging  to  no  church.  When  he 
sold  his  farm  and  came  to  Sidney  Centre  in 
1846,  there  was  no  village  here;  and  he  wit- 
nessed the  erection  of  every  house  in  the 
place.  They  have  but  one  child,  Kate,  born 
in  Sidney,  March  21,  1855,  and  married  to 
luigene  Hanford,   a  Walton   lawyer. 

In  politics  Mr.  Wattles  is  a  Democrat. 
He  is  a  leading  man  in  town  affairs,  a  large 
owner  of  real  estate,  and  Vice-President  of 
the  Sidney  National  Bank.  He  is  a  genial, 
cheerful,  and  popular  gentleman,  who  rarely 
goes  beyonil  the  boundaries  of  his  native 
town;  and  his  wife  is  a  born  lady,  given  to 
liospitality. 

"Agriculture  engenders  good  sense,  and 
good  sense  of  an  excellent  kind."  This  say- 
ing of  a  French  author  fits  the  career  of  Mr. 
Wattles,  who  would  perhaps  add,  with  the 
English   poet,  Alexander  Pope:  — 


For  modes  of  faith,  let  graceless  zealots  fight : 
His  can't  be  wrong  whose  life  is  in  the  right. 


Ji 


Wi: LU  ROBERT.S,  one  of  the  ex- 
tensive agriculturists  of  Delaware 
County,  was  born  in  Bragg  Hollow, 
in  Middletown,  April  30,  1838, 
.son  of  Joshua  F.  and  Hulda  (Weld) 
and  grandson  of   Da\id  Weld  and  of 


being  a 
Roberts, 
Ira  Roberts. 

David  Weld,  the  maternal  grandfather, 
settled  in  Delaware  County  in  the  early  days, 
when  the  country  was  still  wild  and  mostly 
inhabited  by  the  .  bear,  wild-cat,  deer,  and 
other  wild  animals.  Afterward  he  went 
West,  and  died  there.  Ira  Roberts,  the  pater- 
nal grandfather,  came  with  his  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Baker,  from  their  native 
place,  Putnam  County,  in  181  5,  and  settled  in 
Bragg  Hollow.  His  farm  here  consisted  of 
one  hundred  acres  of  land  that  had  been  some- 
what already  improved.  About  six  months 
after  entering  upon  his  undertaking  he  died  in 
his  new  home,  leaving  his  wife  with  eight 
children,  one  of  them  being  Joshua  1".  Mrs. 
Roberts  lived  to  be  about  eighty  years  old. 

D.  Weld  Roberts,  son  of  Joshua  F. ,  was 
educated  at  the  district  school,  and  afterward 
turned  his  attention  to  the  work  on  his  father's 
farm  till  he  was  about  twenty-eight  years  old. 
Then  he  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Mead, 
daughter  of  John  T.  and  Rachel  (Keater) 
Mead.  John  T.  Mead  was  a  son  of  David  and 
lilizabeth  (Ballard)  Mead.  His  father  was  a 
Baptist  minister,  a  laborious  and  earnest  man, 
devoted  to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  people 
he  endeavored  to  serve.  John  T.  Mead  had  a 
district-school  education ;  and,  when  of  age, 
he  bought  of  Orvy  Stevenson  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  ten  acres,  where  he  lived  for  six- 
teen years,  adding  new  buildings,  and  improv- 
ing the  place  by  degrees.  But,  concluding 
after  a  while  to  .sell  out,  he  bought  the  Thomas 
and  Harry  Keater  place,  and  there  lived  about 
fourteen  years.  Then,  circumstances  seeming 
to  call  for  a  change,  he  went  to  Roxbiuy, 
bought  a  house  there,  and  settled  down  for 
some  time.  Still  later  he  moved  over  to 
Batavia  Kill,  where  he  remained  till  his  death, 
which  occurred  at  the  age  of  eighty-five  years. 
John  T.  Mead  was  a  Republican,  and  it  is 
related  of  him  that  he  never  missed  putting  in 
a  vote. 

Rachel  Keater,  wife  of    fohn   T.    Mead,  was 


George  Hdee. 


HIOGRArillCAL    RF'-.VIKW 


.';7  7 


a  (laui^htcr  of  Joseph  and  I'olly  (White) 
Kcatcr.  Joscjih  Kcater  was  lioin  in  l\.inj;'slnn, 
a  son  of  Cornelius  Keatcr.  lie  was  also  one 
of  the  ])ioneers,  antl  took  his  part  in  suhduinj; 
the  wilderness.  lie  settled  on  the  Halavia 
Kill,  and  hou;.;"ht  the  farm  of  l)aniel  Keater 
eonii)osed  of  ahout  three  hundred  acres,  hut 
S(dd  one-half  of  the  land.  lie  has  elearetl  the 
remainder,  and  has  now  li\ed  on  the  place 
forty-eight  \ears.  His  wife  is  now  sexenly- 
foiu"  years  old.  They  have  had  ei,i;iit  chil- 
dren—Mary, Mehitable,  l-;iizaheth,  Rachel, 
Deborah.  Ihomas,  Harry,  and  t'hauncx. 
Thomas  and  Harry  built  the  first  store  in  the 
Kill,  and  were  \er\-  successful  in  conducting 
it,  considering  the  limitations  of  those  da\s. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  U.  Weld  Roberts  have  two 
children.  (leorge,  the  elder  .son,  l)orn  Januar\' 
29,  1868,  married  Miss  Peace  llubbel;  and 
they  live  at  the  ]iarental  home.  The  other 
son,  Nelson  J.,  born  .A]iril  7,  1874,  is  a  car- 
penter by  trade.  I).  Weld  Roberts  bought  a 
farm  of  two  hundred  and  si.xty  acres  in  Hragg 
Hollow.  After  selling  it  to  his  father,  he 
piu'chased  other  land,  and  continued  to  add 
more  aiul  more,  till  now  he  has  a  spacious  trad 
of  culti\-ated  land  co\ering  fully  three  hundred 
acres.  He  has  built  a  ver\-  large  barn,  which 
is  in  size  sixtv-four  by  sixt\-six  teet,  twenty- 
six  feet  of  this  being  an  overshot.  Mr. 
Roberts  has  a  herd  of  foity  cows,  mostly 
Alderneys;  also  a  flock  of  o\er  eighty  sheej), 
with  poultry  and  other  accessories  of  a  ])rosper- 
ous  farm.  Mr.  Roberts  is  a  Democrat  in  his 
|)olitical  opinions.  Hoth  he  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  I'.piscopal  churcli. 


/^JlTuRGK  ADEl':,  a  well-known  lawyer 
\  JX  residing  on  Main  Street,  Delhi, 
^-^  N.Y.,  was  born  January  25.  1834. 
in  Bo\ina,  Delaware  County.  His  lather, 
.Stephen  R.,  was  a  native  of  the  same  town, 
born  there  June  14.  iSoi.  and  was  the  sf)n  of 
.Samuel  Adee.  who  was  the  son  of  Jonathan, 
who  died  about  the  commencement  of  the 
Revolutionary  War.  Jonathan  had  two  .sons 
and  three  daughters:  namely,  Samuel.  Ph(fbe, 
Sarah,  Rebecca,  and  Jonathan.  Their  father 
was  John,  who  had  four  sons  and  one  tlaughter; 
namely,  Jonathan,  William.  Daniel.  John,  and 


Hannah.  John  .\dei-  .\,i^  .1  ui  i...  m  i.iils' 
lite,  and  nio\i'd  from  I'l  ii\  idiiicc.  R.I.,  to 
Rye  in  or  liefore  1721),  and  en;;aL;ed  in  farm- 
ing and  real  est.ite  ojierations.  lie-  ilieij  in 
17S4,  having  li\ed  in  America  most  of  his 
lile,  his  native  countr\'  being  ICngland,  where 
he  was  born,  and  Iroin  whence  he  c:iin<-  to 
.\merica  with  his  family  in  the  earh  pirl  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  The  family  were  of 
P'rench  extraction,  (lating  b.ick  to  Count 
Adee.  whose  aricestial  home  was  at  Cler- 
mont, forty  miles  from  Paris.  The  second 
brother  of  the  \'iseount  was  contemporarv 
with  the  celebrated  i\Iary.  (jueen  of  .Scots, 
and  accompanied  that  unfortunate  queen  when 
she  left  France  tfi  take  her  place  on  the  throne 
of  .Scotland.  One  branch  of  the  family  moved 
to  Cirencester.  Ciloucestershire,  I-Ingland  :  and 
their  moninnents  may  be  seen  to  this  dav. 
bearing  the   family   coat   of  arms. 


••I5i(,i..\M>'s    Hi-roKV    or-    GMU-cr:sTi:KsHii<i;, 
"1791. 

■"Arms  of  Adee  of  (.'irencester  in  Glouces- 
tershire.  England,  namely:-- 

"Three  '  crosses,  points  downw.ard,  one  in 
pale  and  two  in  saltier,  encircled  with  :i 
coronet. 

"In  the  south  cross-aisle  of  the  church  of 
Holvrood,  parish  of  .Xmpney.  in  the  hun- 
dred of  Crowther  and  Menter  and  in  the 
deanery  of  I'airford.  two  miles  from  Air- 
mouth,  there  is  a  monument  with  a  Latin  in- 
scription recording  the  death  of  Mary,  wife  "l 
Smithin  .Adee,  Ksquire.  who  died  on  the  loth 
of  lulv.  1729;  and  on  it  are  these  arms, 
namely :  — 

"Three   cros.scs.    jiolnts    downward,    one    in 


57S 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


pale    and 
coronet. 


two    in    saltier,    encircled     with  a 


"The  family  arms  of  Adee  of  Aberdeen- 
shire, Scotland,  descended  from  the  second 
brother  of  the  Viscount  Adee,  who  came  over 
to  Scotland  from  France  in  the  suit  of  Mary, 
the  Oueen  Mother,  with  the  motto  on  scroll: 
"'Crux  Mihi  Grata  Ouies.' 
"(The  cross  to  me  is  joyful  rest.)" 


The  Adee  coat  of  arms  was  brought  to 
America  by  John  Adee  about  two  hundred 
years  ago. 

Samuel  Adee,  grandfather  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  was  a  boy  only  ten  years  of  age 
at  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  with  the  mother 
country.      The    Tory    boys    would    whip    him 
while  on  his  way  to  and   from   school   on  ac- 
count  of    his    patriotism,    but    it    only    made 
him    more    enthusiastic.      He    moved    to     the 
town    of    Bovina    with    his    family    in    April, 
1793,   being   one   of   the  first    settlers    in   the 
town.      His     brother    Jonathan     settled     near 
Reynoldsville,  Tompkins  County,  N.Y.,  about 
the  same  time.     Samuel  was  an  energetic  man 
in   all    that    he    undertook.      Settling    in    the 
midst  of  a  dense  forest,  the  piercing  scream 
of  the  panther,  the  sullen  growl  of  the  bear, 
the  sharp  bark  of  the  wolf,  were  ever  and  anon 
heard,  kept  back  at   night  by  large  fires  kin- 
dled   for    that     purpose.       In    three    days    he 
erected  a  log  house,   which   in  the  course  of 
seven  or  eight  years  gave  way  to  a  fine  frame 
dwelling;  while  a  large  frame  barn,  with  some 


seventy-five  acres  of  cultivated  land,  attested 
his  enterprise  and  perseverance.  His  wife 
was  Sarah  Bloomer,  of  White  Plains,  where 
she  lived  in  the  troubled  times  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, when  the  country  was  scoured  alternately 
by  the  redcoats  and  the  patriot  soldiers  of 
Washington.  They  were  married  soon  after 
peace  was  restored,  and  reared  a  large  family 
of  children  to  be  useful  and  worthy  members 
of  the  community.  •  They  were  members  of 
the  Baptist  church,  old  school.  He  would  go 
fifteen  miles  on  foot  to  a  church  a  little  east 
of  Harpersfield  Centre,  and  his  wife  on  horse- 
back, to  attend  divine  service.  He  died  in 
October,  1828,  and  his  wife  in  March,  1843. 
Their  children's  names  were  as  follows: 
Joshua,  Elizabeth,  Ann,  Jonathan,  Deborah, 
Darius,    Esther,   and  Stephen   B. 

The  latter,  inheriting  his  father's  energetic 
nature,   remained  on  the  old  homestead,   and 
occupied  himself  with  its  cultivation  and  im- 
provement.    He  erected  a  fine  house  in  1839, 
and  subsequently  new  barns.      In  1831  he  mar- 
ried  Miss   Elizabeth   D.    Ludington,   a  lineal 
descendant  of  Lady  Jane  Pinckney,  a  daughter 
of  Sir  John  Pinckney,  England's  historic  law- 
yer  and   Earl    of    Derby.     His    son,   Thomas 
Pinckney,  came  to  America  in    1687,   accom- 
panied by  his  sister  Jane;  and  he  was  com- 
missioned  Governor  of  the    Carolinas.     Jane 
married  Mr.  Fowler;  and  their  daughter  Jane 
married   Thomas    Foster;  and  their  daughter, 
Mary,    married    Joseph    Northrup;    and    their 
daughter,  Jane,  married  Henry  Ludington  ;  and 
their  daughter,  Elizabeth  D.,  married  Stephen 
B.  Adee,  father  and   mother  of  George  Adee. 
They  were  members  of  the  Baptist  church,  old 
school.      Henry   Ludington's   father,    Samuel, 
and    five    brothers    served    under   Washington 
during  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  one  was  a 
Colonel   on  his  .staff.      The  father  of  the  six 
Ludingtons  was  an   Englishman,  born  in  Liv- 
erpool, and   had  been  an  officer  in  the  ICnglish 
navy.      He  moved  to  America  with  his  family 
at  an  earlv  date,  and  settled  at  the  place   in 
Putnam   County    that    bore  his    name.      Their 
patriotism    made    them    famous    for    the    part 
they  all    took    in    gaining  our   independence. 
Samuel   marched   with    the   troops    from   New- 
York,    and   was    present    at    the    surrender   of 
Lord  Cornwall  is  at  Yorktown,  Va.     He  moved 


RIOGRAl'HICAI.    REVIKW  c;70 

from  Liuliiigtonvillc  with  liis  family,  in  1795.  I<>w;i,    with   a   (iau-iUfr  <if   hrr   lirst    in.tt  ria.;.-. 

He  and  his   sun    Hcniv   cleared    up   adjoinini;  Thr    l^octor  was  a   son   nf    lli-nr\    i-'urniaii.    a 

farms   in   Bovina,  N.\'.,  the  whole   hcin.i;   now  thrifty  farmer   residin;;   aemss   the   river   frum 

owneil  and  occupied    hy    Henry's  son,  Thomas  Hlnumville.  who  was  a  son  of  Jaeoh  I'orman,  an 

H.   Ludin,!;ton.  early  settler  in  that  vicinity,  and  whose  father 

Stephen  B.  Adee  and  his  wife   I~.lizaheth  D.  came  to  this  country  hefore  the  Revidnt ionarv 

reared      six     children        Henry     L.,     Ceori^e,  War,  and    had   a  flail  made  of  iron  with  which 

•James    S..    William    A.,     IClizaheti)     R.,    and  to    thrash      I'ories.       He    was    taken     prisoner 

Mary   H.      The   mother  died   April    2^,   1847,  ^^''^'1    '^'^   '1'i'l'  ''"'I  ^'^'"'^   t"   l'-n^;iand   for  trial, 

aged  thirty-seven  years.      The  father,  Stephen  He   was   ac(iuitted,  and  returned  to  this   coun- 

B.  Adee,  married    .Miss    Nancy   Orr,    of    Kort-  try:    hut   his  flail    is    in   the  Ijiglish    .Museum 

right,  in   184S.      He  died  February   15,   1870,  to   this  day.      George   Adee   remained  at  iJav- 

and   his  wife    in    1877.      They  are  now  resting  enport    Centre  till     1875,    having  a   large   law 

in  a  cemetery   in   the   upper  jvart    of    Bovina,  practice.      In    the  year   mentioned  he  removed 

where   the  eldest  son,  Ilenrv  L.,  who  died   at  to   Delhi    with    his    family,    and   still    resides 

the  early  age  of   sixteen,  was  laid  by  tlie  side  there,  having  a  successful    practice  in   all   the 

nf  his  mother  in  1848.  courts    of    the    .State,     including    the    general 

George    Adee,    the    subject    of    this    notice,  terms   of   the  Supreme  Court  and  the  Court  of 

s[)ent    his    early  years   on    the   old    homestead  Appeals,  where  he  has  met  with  great  success, 

where    his    father  and    grandfather    had   lived  George    and    I-'rances    M.    .\dee     have    one 

before      him.       He      attended      the     common  child,    a    son,    Stephen    Forman    Adee.    horn 

schools,  and   out   of   school    hours  assisted   his  August  22,   1865,  at    Davenport  Centre,  where 

father  on   the  farm.      In    1854,  at   the  age  of  he  attended  the  comnKjn  school   till  he  moved 

twenty,  he  entered  the   Delaware  Academy  at  to   Delhi  with   his   jiarents  in  1875.      He  then 

Delhi,    N.Y.,    where     he    remained     for    two  entered  the  Delaware  .Academy,  and  was  grad- 

years,    except     one     term,    during     which     he  iiatcd    in     1885.      l'"rom     this     institution     he 

taught   school.      In   August,    1856,  he   entered  went   to   Cornell    University  at    Ithaca,  N.\'., 

the   law  office  of    the  late   Hon.  .Samuel    Gor-  where,    after  a    year    of    unceasing   study,    his 

don,  of    Delhi,  w^here   he   read   until   July    15,  health   gave  way ;  and  he  returned  home  for  a 

1857,  and  was   then   admitted   to   the   iiar  at  a  year.      His   health    improving,    in   September, 

general    term    of    the    Supreme    Court   held  at  1887,     he    entered     Columbia     College     Law 

Coojierstown,     X.Y.      He    began    practice    in  .School  in   Xew    \'ork    City.      While   there,  in 

Hobart,    where    he    remained   four    years.      In  1889,  he  was  admitted   to  the  bar  at  a  general 

1861    he  removed    to    Davenjiort    Centre.      On  term  of  the  .Suiireme  Court  held    in    Brooklyn. 

October  4,   1864,  he  m:irried  Miss  I'rances  M.  and  was  graduated  at  the  close   of   the   term  in 

Forman,  daughter  of   Stephen  I'orman.  M.D.,  June,     1889.       Returning    to    Delhi,    he   then 

of   Bloomville.    who   practised  there   for  more  entered    upon    the    practice    of    law   with    his 

than   fifty   years.      Her  mother  was   Miss   I'm-  father,  the   firm   being   G.  &  S.  F.  Adee;  and 

dence    Roberts,  a  daughter  of   ICli    Roberts,  a  they  enjoyed   a  good   and    successful   practice 

successful    farmer,  who  moved    from    Dutchess  until    February,    1891,    when    he    bought    the 

County,    Xew    York,    and    settled    about    four  Delaware   /f.r/»n-,o-,  and  was  a  successful  editor 

miles    above    Bloomville,    when    it    was  all   a  and  [proprietor  of  that  i)aper.      Soon  tiiereafter 

wilderness.      She   was  an    interesting    lady,    a  he   started   and   was    projirielor   of    the    Amies 

leader  in  society,  and  a  worker   in   the  Metho-  Rccoidii;    at    Ancles,    X.Y.,    and   also   started 

dist  I'^piscopal  church  at  Blo<imville,  of  which  and  was   proprietor  of   the  Walton    Tinus,    at 

she  and  the  Doctor  were  members.      She  died  Walton,    X.Y.,    each   of    which    he   sold:    and 

in  1857.      The  Doctor  afterward  married   Mrs.  October  i.  1894,  he  sold  the  Delaware /:".r//v.o- 

ICmiline    Wright.       He     died     Se])tember    4,  to  William   Clark,  and   then  formed  a  copart- 

1884,  and  was"  laid  at  rest  beside  his  wife  and  nership  with  G.  W.  &  H.  D.  Crawford,  under 

two  daughters  in  the  cemetery  at  Bloomville,  the  firm  name  of  Crawfords  &  Adee,  and  they 
N.Y.       His    widow    now    resides    at    Inwood,   ,  entered  into  an  extensive   lumber  business   as 


s8o 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


manufacturers,  imjiorters,  and  wholesale  and 
retail  dealers  at  Delhi,  N.Y.  The  family 
attend  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  this 
place,  of  which  the  mother  and  son  are  active 
members. 

George  Adee,  in  the  mean  time,  continued 
the  practice  of  the  law.  He  has  always  been 
a  consistent  Republican,  and  in  many  a  politi- 
cal contest  has  stumped  the  county,  and  made 
speeches  from  time  to  time  in  almost  every 
town  therein,  being  hailed  as  one  of  the  best 
Republican  speakers  of  the  county.  He  is  a 
good  orator,  whether  in  a  political  contest  or 
at  the  bar,  his  aim  being  to  follow  down  the 
lines  of  truth  and  so  arrange  the  facts  and  law 
as  to  carry  conviction  to  jury  and  court.  His 
pleas  are  interspersed  with  touching  pathos 
and  cutting  sarcasm,  and  he  so  fully  debates 
both  sides  of  the  issue  that  opposing  counsel 
have  but  little  to  say  except  to  repeat  his 
arguments.  His  audience  often  sit  in  breath- 
less silence,  except  when  he  turns  a  point  of 
mirth,  and  then  break  forth  in  cheer  upon 
cheer.  He  has  won  many  a  legal  contest  by 
his  superior  eloquence  over  his  adversaries. 

He  still  resides  at  Delhi,  hale,  hearty,  and 
robust,  pursuing  the  even  tenor  of  his  way, 
and  enjoving  great  popularity.  He  has  al- 
ways been  an  able  counsellor,  a  true  and 
trusted  friend,  an  accommodating  neighbor, 
beloved  and  respected  by  every  one,  a  kind 
and  affectionate  husband  and  father.  His 
house  is  fitted  with  all  the  modern  improve- 
ments, and  furnished  in  the  best  and  latest 
style;  and  it  is  often  the  scene  of  joyous 
social  gatherings,  presided  over  with  graceful 
hospitality  by  his  loving  wife,  a  lady  of  rare 
gifts  of  heart  and  mind. 

The  accompanying  portrait  of  this  distin- 
guished member  of  the  Delaware  County  bar, 
together  with  the  illustrations  of  the  escutch- 
eons of  the  ancient  family  of  which  he  is  a 
notable  representative,  will  be  highly  appre- 
ciated h\  the  readers  of  the   "Review." 


'OSEA    JENKINS,   well-known   dealer 
in  agricultural    implements  at  Trout 
Creek,    in  the   town    of    Tompkins, 
was  born    in  Roxbury,    in   the  east- 
ern   part    of    the    countv.      His    great-great- 


grandfather was  Solomon  Jenkins,  whose  son, 
Nathaniel,  was  born  in  Dutchess  County. 
Nathan  Jenkins,  son  of  Nathaniel,  was  also  a 
native  of  Dutchess  County;  and  his  son  Hor- 
ace, the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  born  in  Roxbury.  The  Jenkins  family 
came  to  this  country  from  Wales.  One  of 
the  ancestors  of  Mr.  Jenkins  was  killed  in  the 
battle  of  White  Plains;  and  for  many  years 
some  of  his  clothing,  torn  with  buckshot, 
showing  where  he  received  his  death  wound, 
was  preserved  in  the  family. 

Nathan  Jenkins  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of 
Batavia  Kill,  being  the  first  man  to  drive  a 
wagon  into  that  town ;  and  there  he  cleared 
his  land,  and  erected  a  log  cabin,  subsisting 
chiefly  on  the  fish  and  game  which  abounded 
in  the  vicinity.  His  father  was  a  Revolu- 
tionary soldier,  and  received  a  pension  for  his 
services,  dying  in  Roxbur\'  when  over  ninety 
years  of  age.  Nathan  Jenkins  married  Lydia 
Morse,  of  Roxbury;  and  nine  children  were 
born  of  this  union — Horace,  Hosea,  Benja- 
min, Smith,  Albert,  Phoebe,  Celia,  Margaret, 
and  Irene.  Nathan  Jenkins  died  at  Batavia 
Kill,    aged   eighty-three  years. 

Horace  Jenkins  attended  the  district  school 
in  Roxbury,  assisting  his  parents  on  the  farm, 
and  later  purchased  land  for  himself,  which 
he  cleared  and  cultivated.  His  wife  was  Annie 
Vermilya,  daughter  of  Solomon  and  Susan 
(Milnix)  Vermilya,  of  Middletown,  Delaware 
County;  and  she  became  the  mother  of  five 
children,  as  follows:  Susan,  who  married 
Jesse  Howes,  of  Sullivan  County;  Orson,  who 
married  Helen  Chandler,  of  Pennsylvania; 
William,  whose  wife  was  Sarahette  Southard, 
of  Tompkins;  Irene,  who  married  John  A. 
Wilber,  of  Sidney;  and  Hosea,  subject  of  this 
sketch.  Horace  Jenkins,  after  disposing  of 
the  old  homestead,  removed  to  Tompkins,  and 
purchased  land  on  Knickerbocker  Kill,  clear- 
ing one  hundred  acres,  and  engaging  in  farm- 
ing and  dairying.  On  the  death  of  his  wife 
in  1890,  he  sold  this  place,  and  retired  from 
active  pursuits,  going  to  live  with  his  daugh- 
ter in  Tompkins;  and  here  he  still  resides, 
strong  and  hearty  as  of  old.  He  cast  his  first 
vote  for  Andrew  Jackson,  and  his  last  with 
the  Democratic  party  was  for  James  K.  Polk. 
He  then  gave  his  support  to  the   Republican 


HIOC.RAI'HICAI,    Ri;VIK\\ 


',S, 


party,  voting  with  that  organization  at  the 
lime  of  Lincoln's  st-conil  election,  and  has 
c\er  since  been  a  stanch  defender  of  its  jirin- 
cijiles.  He  is  a  highly  respected  nieniher  of 
liie  Baptist  church,  in  the  good  works  of 
which    he   is  always   prominent. 

llosea  Jenkins,  son  of  Horace  and  .Annie 
(Vermilya)  Jenkins,  removed  to  Tomiikins 
from  Ko.xbury  with  his  ])arenls  when  l)ut  ten 
years  of  age,  and,  besides  attending  llie  dis- 
trict school  and  assisting  in  the  care  of  the 
farm,  learned  the  carpenter's  trade.  He  pur- 
chased a  farm  containing  a  portion  of  the  old 
homestead  and  some  adjoining  land;  antl  here 
he  lived  until  1894,  when  he  sold  it  antl 
bought  a  home  in  the  \illage  of  Trout  Creek, 
where  he  now  resides.  I'or  twenty  vears  he 
has  dealt  in  all  kinds  of  farm  implements,  and 
is   still    engaged   e.\tensi\'ely  in  tiiis  business. 

March  13,  i<S58.  he  married  Miss  Mary 
Ann  Sherwootl,  daughter  of  James  and  Chloe 
(Steward)  Sherwood,  of  Ro.\l)ury.  The  Sher- 
wood famih'  are  of  German  ancestry,  the 
father  of  James  Sherwood  being  Moses  Sher- 
wood, a  ijioneer  of  Roxbury,  and  a  sharp- 
shooter in  the  War  of  1812.  It  has  always 
been  said  that  he  was  the  man  who  killed 
(ieneral  Brock:  ami  his  own  explanation  of 
the  affair  was,  "I  don't  kn<iw  as  I  killed  him; 
but  1  took  good  aim,  and  saw  him  fall." 
Moses  Sherwood  settletl  in  Roxbury  at  the 
beginning  of  this  century,  his  first  habitation 
being  a  log  cabin  with  a  blanket  for  a  door. 
The  wolves  and  other  wild  animals  howled 
about  the  house  at  night:  and  many  a  time, 
while  her  husband  was  at  war,  the  wife  of  this 
sturdy  pioneer  was  obliged  to  lift  her  oldest 
bov  to  the  horse's  back  that  he  might  go  to  the 
mill.  He  lived  to  be  over  ninety  years  of 
age,  active  and  rugged  to  tiie  end.  being  able 
to  read  without  glasses.  His  wife,  Sarah 
Cator  Sherwood,  was  born  in  Roxbury.  Their 
son  James,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Jenkins,  was  a 
successful  farmer  of  Roxbury,  fidlowing  that 
occupation  throughout  his  life.  His  children 
were:  George,  Mary.  I'.lizabeth,  James,  Sarah. 
I'lleanor,  Chloe,  Peter,  and  Melissa.  He 
died  at  Ro.xlniry  in  1894.  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
four  years,  having  been  for  many  years  a 
member  of    the    Methodist    Kpisopal    church. 

Hosea    Tenkins  and  his  wife  are  the  parents 


er 


I  »i         it  Ml  1         i    il  1  ii  1  1  1  ■!  I 

Shultes 

mother    of    one    child 

married   Marvin  H 


I .  \ ,  1 ,     1  I  n  ■     win-    ■  1 1     >  n  11  u  I 

in      I'ompkins,     and     tiie 

]!lan(lie:    jjnm.i,    \\lici 


111 
hi 

CO 


ig  as  commissKdier  01  iiigiuvays.  I 
s  estimable  wife  attend  the  Methodi>t 
)]>al  church  at  Trout  Creek. 


■pi- 


\<)Rri;K    j.AKIX,    a    respected    citi/en 
ot    the   town    o|     Hancock,    was    born 
[£i         I  )ctober  9,    184;,    on    the   old    home- 
stead   in    Hancock,    r.ow  occu|>ied   b\ 
his    l)rother,    James    I. akin,    whose    biograph\'. 
together  with  the  familv  historw  mav  l)e  found 
in  anotlur  ])ait  of  this  \olume. 

Portei'  l.akin  was  educated  in  tin-  <listih  t 
schools  of  his  nati\e  town,  and  since  his  six- 
teenth vear  has  followed  the  ri\'er  as  a  lumber- 
man, besides  carrying  on  an  extensive  farm 
business.  His  home  has  been  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Hawk  Point.  June  16,  1867,  he  mar- 
rietl  Marv  Mills,  a  native  of  Prattsville, 
daughter  of  ilenr\  and  Margaret  (Rowe)  Mills. 
Henr\  Mills  came  from  Glasgow,  .Scotland, 
and  setth-d  at  Prattsville,  Greene  County, 
where  he  was  for  a  time  employed  in  the 
woollen-mills.  Later  he  mo\ed  to  I'.quinimk, 
Pa.,  where  he  bought  a  \  vr.:t  and  lived  for  some 
vears,  after  which  he  came  to  Hancock,  first 
making  his  home  on  (ireeiie  l-"lat,  later  :it 
Hawk  Point,  where  he  ]Kissed  his  last  da\s, 
dying  in  1868.  His  wife,  who  was  a  native 
of  Greene  Count}'.  sur\i\ed  him  a  number  of 
vears.      -She  was  the  mother  of  a  large  family. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  l.akin  ha\e  had  ten  children, 
namelv :  Jidius.  born  December  30.  1 8'>S  ; 
Lrnest,  born  (  )ctober  7.  1871;  1  Lury  I^gbert. 
born  October  16.  1872;  Maud  Lillian,  born 
Ianuar\  ro.  1876,  died  .SeiHember  20.  18S0; 
Porter  1)..  born  March  J8.  1878,  died  .\i>ril  7. 
r88o:  Pari  R..  born  l-'el)ruary  .y;.  i.'<8o;  Her 
bert  1),  born  January  8,  188.?:  .Margaret  .M.. 
born    .November  9.    1884:     Lllen    Mills,    horn 


582 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


June  26,   1887;  Porter  H.,  born   November  4, 
1892. 

Mr.  Lakin  has  over  ei<;ht  hundred  acres  of 
land,  much  of  which  is  under  cultivation,  the 
methods  used  being  the  most  modern.  By  his 
interest  in  the  public  welfare  and  his  diligent 
application  to  business  he  commands  the  re- 
spect of  his  fellow-townsmen,  whose  apprecia- 
tion of  him  has  been  often  attested  by  their 
votes  at  the  polls.  He  is  a  Democrat,  and  has 
held  a  number  of  positions  of  trust  and  honor, 
having  been  Assessor  of  the  town  for  six  years, 
and  being  now  Commissioner  of  Highways. 


Knox   H.,  a  child  of  two  years,  having  been 
born  October  18,   1892. 


lEV.  MILTON  C.  HAMBLY  was  or- 
dained in  October,  1893,  as  pastor  of 
the  Presbyterian  church  of  Ham- 
den,  Delaware  County,  N.Y.  He 
is  a  Canadian,  having  been  born  in  Nobleton, 
County  York,  Ontario,  in  1858.  His  grand- 
father was  William  Hambly,  of  Nova  Scotia, 
who  married  Nancy  F"isher,  and  died  in  the 
prime  of  life,  leaving  a  widow,  three  sons, 
and  one  daughter.  Their  son  John  was  born 
in  Nova  Scotia  in  1828,  and  married  Mary 
Ann  Holden,  who  was  born  at  Brampton, 
Ontario,  in  1839.  ^'^^-  Hambly  is  engaged 
in  mercantile  life  in  Toronto.  He  and  his 
wife  are  the  parents  of  seven  children: 
Amelia  C,  wife  of  W.  H.  Ayer,  of  Toronto; 
William  S.,  a  commercial  traveller,  residing 
in  Toronto;  the  Rev.  Milton  C. ;  Jennie  E., 
wife  of  John  A.  Trollope,  a  Methodist  minis- 
ter in  Ontario;  John  W.  F.,  a  commercial 
traveller,  who  is  unmarried  and  lives  at  his 
parents'  home  in  Toronto;  George  J.,  who  is 
also  a  commercial  traveller;  and  M.  C.  F. 
Hambly,  who  is  married  and  in  business  with 
his  father. 

Milton  C.  Hambly  received  his  early  educa- 
tion at  Nobleton,  and  was  graduated  from  Knox 
College,  Toronto,  in  April,  1893.  He  is  an 
energetic,  earnest  worker  in  the  gospel,  intent 
on  rightly  divining  the  word  of  truth.  On 
May  19,  1 88 5,  he  married  Miss  Elspeth  L. 
Butchart,  of  Mildmay,  Ontario,  daughter  of 
John  and  Isabella  (Kennedy)  l^utchart.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hambly  are  the  parents  of  three 
children:  Ivan  C,  born  February  5,  1887; 
Elwood  C,  who  was  born   December  7,  1888; 


RTHUR  F.  BOUTON,  well  known  as 
a  leading  business  man  of  Roxbury, 
N.Y.,  was  born  in  this  town,  July 
I,  1872,  son  of  Burrett  and  Eliza- 
beth (P'risbee)  Bouton.  The  paternal  grand- 
parents were  John  T.  and  Betsy  M.  (Fuller) 
Bouton,  the  former  of  whom  was  the  son  of 
Samuel  Bouton. 

Burrett  Bouton  was  born  in  Roxbury  in 
1847,  and  received  his  education  at  the  Rox- 
bury Academy.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he 
began  to  work  as  a  clerk  for  his  father,  who 
kept  a  store  of  general  merchandise,  and  after- 
ward became  a  partner  in  the  business. 
Having  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  legal  pro- 
fession, in  1S85  he  gave  up  commercial 
interests,  and  devoted  his  entire  time  to  the 
practice  of  law.  He  was  an  active  and  useful 
citizen,  a  strong  Democrat  in  politics,  and 
twice  served  his  town  as  Supervisor.  He 
died  in  1891,  at  the  comparatively  early  age 
of  forty-three,  leaving  three  children  —  Ar- 
thur F.,  Anna,  and  John  Frisbee  Bouton. 
The  mother  of  these  children,  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
(Frisbee)  Bouton,  daughter  of  John  and  Jane 
(Smith)  Frisbee,  survives  her  husband,  and  is 
a  lady  much  respected  by  a  wide  circle  of 
friends.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Reformed 
church  of   Roxbury. 

Arthur  F.,  the  elder  son  of  Burrett  Bou- 
ton, received  his  early  education  in  the  com- 
mon school  at  Roxbury,  and  later  attended  the 
Stamford  Seminary.  At  the  age  of  seventeen 
he  began  to  read  law  with  his  father,  and  after 
the  latter's  death  continued  his  legal  studies 
with  A.  C.  Crosby,  I£sq.  Later  he  turned  his 
attention  to  the  insurance  business,  and  at 
this  time  represents  the  New  York  Life  In- 
surance Company,  and  also  some  of  the  best 
fire  and  accident  insurance  companies.  In 
1892  he  married  Miss  Lulu  Craft,  a  daughter 
of  A.  J.  and  Elizabeth  (Faulkner)  Craft,  of 
Roxbury.  Mr.  Bouton's  office  and  residence 
are  both  on  Main  Street.  He  is  the  Town 
Clerk,  and  is  connected  with  the  fraternal 
orders,  being  a  member  of  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  No.  608,  of   Ro.xbury. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


v<^^ 


(^AMES  HUNT,  a  practical  farnuT  and 
highly  respected  citizen  ol'  Tompkins, 
Delaware  County,  N.Y.,  was  born  in 
Charlestown,  N.H.,  May  2~,  1827,  and 
was  of  ICnglish  and  American  parentage. 
His  father,  Henry  Hunt,  was  a  native  of  Lon- 
don, England,  and  led  a  sailor's  life  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  afterward  settling  in  America. 
He  married  Esther  Hart,  wIkj  was  horn  near 
Charlestown;  and  for  a  time  he  resided  in  the 
State  of  New  Hampshire.  He  then  moved  to 
Springfield,  Vt.,  where  he  died  in  the  prime 
of  life,  leaving  his  widow  with  four  children. 
She  lived  near  Springfield  until  her  death. 

James  Hunt  was  very  young  when  his  father 
died,  and  he  came  to  live  with  his  aunt,  Mrs. 
Benjamin  Lane,  about  one  mile  from  Can- 
nonsville,  Delaware  County.  Here  he  grew 
to  manhood,  and  lived  until  his  marriage  at 
thirty-four  years  of  age.  Starting  out  in  life 
for  himself,  Mr.  Hunt  purchased  a  tract  of 
timbered  land,  which  he  cleared,  and  then  sold 
a  few  years  later,  buying  one  hundred  acres  now 
included  in  his  present  farm.  .About  twenty 
acres  of  this  land  had  been  cleared,  and  it 
contained  one  log  house.  Mr.  Hunt  at  once 
began  to  fell  the  trees  and  preiwre  more  land 
for  cultivation.  He  has  at  present  uj)ward  of 
seventy  acres  cleared,  and  has  erected  good 
frame   buildings. 

Mr.  Hunt  was  married  on  November  6. 
1861,  his  bride  being  Miss  Harriet  I'llizabeth 
Hathaway,  who  was  born  in  Tomjikins,  a 
daughter  of  IJenjamin  and  Llizahelh  Hatha- 
way. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hunt  are  the  parents  of 
two  children:  Grace  15.,  w'ho  married  .Samuel 
L.  Halbert:  and  I-"rank  L.  Mrs.  Hunt  is  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Can- 
nonsville,  and  both  she  and  her  husband  are 
respected  throughout  the  community  in  which 
they  reside. 


)E\T  SYIA'ESTI'.R  CIIACE,  druggist, 
also  Postmaster  of  Walton,  Delaware 
County,  N.Y.,  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Hamden,  January  21,  1.S37. 
The  paternal  grandfather  of  Mr.  Chace  emi- 
grated from  Holland  previous  to  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  and  at  the  breaking  out  of 
hostilities  was  a  soldier  under   General  Wash- 


ington. He  settled  in  Rhode  Island,  a\v\  w.is 
the  father  of  three  sons  who  lived  to  niaturitv. 
all  of  whom  came  to  Delaware  County.  Thev 
were  .Sylvester,  Philip,  and  (ieorge.  (ieorgi- 
Chace  married  Christina  \'.in  Hun.-><  n,  by 
whom  he  had  ten  children,  who  may  be  thus 
briefly  mentioned:  llir.im  (i.  settled  near 
Hetliany,  Pa.,  where  he  married  and  reared  a 
family.  William  (',.  settle.l  in  Hradfonl 
County,  Pennsylvania,  and  married  .Miss  R. 
Church.  P'rancis,  who  went  to  California, 
died  young.  Henry  is  a  residrnt  of  Delaware 
County.  p:(Kvard  lives  in  Illinois.  Sarah 
married  Allen  Crandall.  of  Alba,  Pa.  Maria 
married  Henry  Lill,  i>f  Delhi,  both  of  whom 
are  deceased.  Lydia  A.,  married  to  George 
Innman,  died  in  Pennsylvania.  Amv  married 
Warren  Peak.  Augustus  H.,  tiie  father  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Hamden 
in  1813,  and  married  Miss  Harriet  .Monfort, 
of  Kortright,  by  whom  he  had  these  children: 
Levi  S.  is  our  subject.  Jared,  a  farmer  of 
Delos,  N.V.,  died  1S91.  William  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Binghamton.  N.V.  Marv,  married  to 
Clark  Gould,  of  Walton,  died  in  1871. 
Emily  is  the  wife  of  Robert  Harvey,  of  this 
county.  Hattie  died  [889,  at  p:imira,  N.V. 
Mr.  Chace  lived  to  see  many  important 
changes  in  the  county,  all  the  outcome  of 
progress  and  [prosperity.  He  was  an  old-time 
,  Democrat  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  in 
1874.  Mrs.  Chace  is  still  living,  residing 
with   her  son   at    \V;Uton. 

Levi  S.  Chace  was  educateil  at  the  schools 
of  his  native  village,  afterward  settling  ujinn 
a  farm,  where  he  remained  utitil  1864,  when 
he  came  to  Walton,  shortly  emlj.irking  in  the 
drug  business,  which  he  has  continued  up  to 
the  i)resent  time.  He  was  married  in  1S50  to 
Miss  Mary  Tiffany,  a  daughter  of  llair\ 
Tiffanw  Miss  Tiffany  was  born  at  Black 
River  in  1839.  They  reared  live  chiklren. 
namely:  Harry,  who  was  killed  on  the  rail- 
road in  1889;  .Marcia,  wife  of  William  Borst, 
of  New  Jersey:  George,  who  resides  in  Nor- 
folk, \'a.,  a  jeweller  by  trade,  and  married  to 
Miss  Maggie  Sutherland:  Helen,  wife  of 
Alvin  Reiniiart,  of  Walton:  Herman,  a  grad- 
uate of  pharmacy.  Mr.  Chace  has  lieen  Chief 
of  Police  of  Walton,  and  twice  occupied  the 
position  of   Collector  of  Walton.      He  was  ap- 


584 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


pointed  Postmaster  of  Walton,  February  21, 
1894.  He  is  a  member  of  Walton  Lodge  of 
Free  Masons,  No.  559,  and  a  charter  member 
of  Walton  Chapter,  No.  251.  Mr.  Chace  has 
done  as  much  as  any  man  of  his  time  in  pro- 
motinir  the  welfare  of  Walton. 


[DWARD  F.  TOMPKINS,  a  very  suc- 
cessful merchant  of  Union  Grove,  was 
born  January  8,  1867,  son  of  Daniel 
and  Sarah  (Turner)  Tompkins.  His  paternal 
grandfather,  a  farmer,  married  Elizabeth  Post, 
and  had  a  family  of  seven  children  —  Daniel, 
John,  Charles,  Robert,  Mary,  Esther,  and 
Libbie. 

Daniel  Tompkins  was  born  in  Roxbury, 
where  he  was  educated  and  grew  to  manhood. 
When  quite  young,  he  commenced  working  at 
lumbering,  and  to  some  extent  in  the  tan- 
nery business.  In  1862  he  enlisted  at  Delhi 
in  the  Fourth  New  York  Cavalry,  and  served 
throughout  the  war.  While  carrying  de- 
spatches, he  was  taken  prisoner,  and  held  for 
nine  months.  After  his  release  he  met  and 
married  -Sarah  E.  Turner,  whose  father  was  a 
large  planter,  of  Portsmouth,  Va.  At  the 
close  of  the  war  he  returned  North,  buying  a 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  in  Canada 
Hollow,  in  Middletown,  about  six  miles  from 
Margarettville.  Here  he  was  very  successful 
in  his  farming  career.  He  and  his  wife  be- 
came the  parents  of  the  following  children: 
ICdward  F.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Mar- 
garet, who  married  W.  C.  Sanford,  of  New 
Kingston;  Susan,  who  now  lives  at  New 
Kingston;  Charles,  a  farmer  of  Margarett- 
ville; Frona,  who  lives  in  Stamford; 
Chauncy,  who  resides  at  New  Kingston;  and 
Edna,  whose  home  is  also  at  New  Kingston. 
Daniel  Tompkins  sold  his  farm,  and  removed 
to  Arena,  Delaware  County,  where  his  wife 
died  October  31,  1887.  He  has  since  lived 
with  his  son  Edward.  He  is  a  Republican, 
and  an  active  worker  in  politics,  being  also 
very  liberal    in   religious  views. 

Edward  I'.  Tompkins  was  educated  at  Jack- 
sonburg,  but  when  quite  young  commenced  to 
work  on  a  farm.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he 
became  a  clerk  in  the  store  of  D.  A.  Fletcher, 
in  whose  employ  he  remained  for  five  years. 


He  then  came  to  Union  Grove,  buying  a  store 
from  Mrs.  F.  B.  Mason,  on  the  corner  of 
River  and  Barkerboom  Streets.  He  here  car- 
ries a  complete  line  of  general  merchandise, 
is  always  obliging  and  courteous  to  his  cus- 
tomers, and  has  a  very  large  patronage. 

The  wife  of  Mr.  Tompkins  is  P'lora,  daugh- 
ter of  Warren  and  Elizabeth  (Brower)  Weaver. 
Peter  Weaver,  the  grandfather  of  Warren,  was 
born  in  Dutchess  County,  and  came  to  Dela- 
ware County,  settling  in  what  is  now  known 
as  Weaver  Hollow,  where  he  owned  a  large 
farm.  He  married  Sarah  Phenix,  by  whom  he 
had  ten  children.  His  son  William,  the 
father  of  Warren,  was  born  on  the  old  home- 
stead, and  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools.  He  married  Eva  Austin,  and  had 
four  children  —  Warren,  Angelina,  Ira,  and 
Sarah.  William  Weaver  bought  a  part  of  the 
old  homestead,  and  lived  there  till  his  wife 
died.  He  then  married  Mary  Travis,  and 
went  into  a  hotel  at  Lumberville,  now  called 
Arena,  where  he  resided  several  years,  and 
afterward  bought  a  farm  in  Prattsville,  but 
on  account  of  his  wife's  ill  health  removed  to 
the  village  of  Durham,  Greene  County.  In 
1885  he  came  back  to  Delaware,  and  has  lived 
with  his  son  Warren.  His  second  wife  died 
in  1894.  He  is  a  Republican,  and  an  es- 
teemed member  of  the  Methodist  P^iiscopal 
church.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  Warren 
Weaver,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Tompkins,  bought 
one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land  on  the 
Delaware  River,  where  his  sister  Angelina 
kept  house  for  him  a  few  years.  In  1866  he 
married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Louis  and 
Mary  Brower;  and  they  have  two  children 
now  living:  Flora,  who  married  the  subject  of 
this  sketch;  and  Alma,  who  is  at  home  with 
her  parents.  A  daughter,  now  deceased,  was 
named  Olive.  In  18S7  Mr.  Weaver  bought 
an  adjoining  upland  farm,  removed  there,  and 
now  makes  that  place  his  home,  while  he  still 
owns  the  farm  on  the  Delaware. 


YP^ANSOM   R.    hawk,  one  of  the  be.st- 

I  ^-^      known  citizens  of  East  Branch,  Han- 

£b\  cock,    belongs    to   a   family   that    is 

^"^  one   of    the    oldest    in    the  country, 

the    branch     in    Delaware    County    being    de- 


BIOGRAl'IllCAL    RKVIKW 


5S.S 


scendod,  it  is  su|i|)()sc(l,  tiom  Adam  Iluwkcs, 
who  early  settled  in  Saugus,  near  l.vnnlield, 
Mass.,  where  some  of  his  liescendants  still 
reside. 

John  Hawk,  the  i;randtather  of  Ransom, 
was  born  near  ICaston,  I'a.,  and  was  a  child  at 
the  time  of  the  Kexolut  ionai'\'  War.  His 
famil)'  lived  on  the  outskirts  of  tiie  town,  and 
were  oblit;'ed  to  leave  all  their  effects  behind 
them,  and  drive  their  stock  to  the  block-house 
in  the  \-illat;e  to  escape  from  the  Indians  and 
Tories,  who  were  leaving  devastation  and 
deatli  in  their  i)ath.  John  Hawk  remembeied 
many  thrillini;'  tales  of  those  excitini;'  tinu's, 
having  been  well  acc[nainted  with  Tom  ( )uick, 
the  noted  Indian  slayt'r,  from  whose  lips  he 
heard  many  stories  of  adventure,  and  having 
also  known  Kanope  and  Ben  Shank,  two  fa- 
mous Indians,  the  former  ol  whom  fell  before 
the  rille  of  (juiek,  while  the  latter  escaped 
and  fled  the  country.  J(din  Hawk  marrieil 
Jane  Ross,  a  nati\e  of  ("ochecton :  and  they 
had  the  following  children :  John,  Xathaniel, 
George,  Rosanna,  I'ollv,  and  .Sallw  and  one 
child  who  died  in  infancy.  The  parents  (jf 
these  cl". ildren  were  highly  respected,  and 
both    lived    to    be   o\'er   eighty   years    of    age. 

George  Hawk  was  horn  at  the  foot  of 
Hawk"s  Mountain,  which  was  named  for  his 
family.  He  was  educated  in  his  native  town 
of  Hancock,  and  followed  the  occui)ati<ins  of 
farming  and  luml)ering  throughout  his  life. 
He  married  Susan  Dennis,  a  daughter  of  a 
soldier  of  the  W'ar  of  1S12,  who  died  at  .Sack- 
ett's  Harbor.  She  was  a  descciidant  of  the 
Dennis  faniih'  of  Andes,  some  of  the  members 
of  which  settled  in  Tompkins.  Mr.  ami  Mrs. 
Hawk  had  seven  thildren:  Maria,  who  was 
born  January  18,  1833,  and  married  (ieorge 
\V.  Houston:  Ransom  R. :  Jeremiah  D,  born 
June  12,  i<S37:  Henry  J.,  born  July  30,  1839; 
James  B.,  born  June  24,  1844:  John  J].,  born 
December  T),  184":  and  .Sally  A.,  born  April 
22,   1850. 

Ransom  R.  Hawk,  eldest  son  of  George, 
was  born  in  Hancock,  November  12,  1834, 
was  educated  in  his  nati\-e  town,  and  learned 
the  carpenter's  trade.  In  1872  he  erected  the 
store  now  occupied  b\'  Mr.  Mel  lory,  and  car- 
ried on  a  general  merchandise  business  for  a 
number   of   years.      In   i\ugust,    1S64.    he   en- 


listed in  Conii)an\  (',  Ww  \'ork  l!ngiiu-er 
Corps,  (jf  which  comp.iny  W.  M.  {{rowii,  of 
Cohoes,  was  Captain,  and  from  whieli  he  n-- 
ceived  his  discharge  |uly  4,  18^,5,  at  Hilton 
Head,  S.C.  June  2S,' 1866,  he  married  Mi->s 
I'.Uen  .M.  Miller,  daughter  of  James  and 
.'\nnie  M.  (Williams)  Miller,  of  Hancock. 
The  Miller  family  is  one  of  the  ohkst  in  this 
section  of  the  connliy,  to  which  the\  immi- 
grated from  Connecticut,  .is  did  also  the  Will- 
iams family.  Nathan  Williams,  gran<lfallier 
of  Mrs.  Hawk,  was  a  soldier  of  the  War  of 
1812,  and  for  his  ser\ices  at  that  time  drew  a 
pension  from  the  government. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hawk  have  two  children, 
Susa  M.  and  Philij)  1?.,  both  of  whom  resitle 
with  their  parents.  The  family  attend  the 
Methodist  ICpiscopal  ciiurch  at  ICast  Branch, 
of  which  they  are  valued  members.  Mr. 
Hawk  has  been  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  two 
terms,  also  .Assessor  and  Inspector  of  Klec- 
tions.  He  is  a  Rcijublican  in  politics,  a 
member  of  .Shehawken  Lodge  of  I'ree  Masons, 
and  of  the  Hancock  Chapter  of  Royal  Arch 
Masons:  and  the  esteem  with  which  he  is  re- 
garded by  ail  testifies  to  his  worth  as  a  citi- 
zen and  a  friend. 


'^r\  l-'(il.S'rrS  II.  TODD,  a  more  than 
ordinarily  successful  mechanic  and 
] dumber  of  Delaware  County,  was 
born  on  the  iith  of  A]3ril,  1S63. 
His  great-grandfather,  the  first  of  this  fiunilv 
in  Americ;i.  had  an  interesting  and  romantic 
historw  The  ship  which  brought  him  and 
his  parents  to  these  shores  was  wrecketl  off 
the  Connecticut  coast:  and  the  little  boy  of 
three  years  old  was  the  only  one  of  the  entire 
family  who  was  saved,  no  trace  of  the  others 
ever  being  discovered.  L'pon  being  ques- 
tioned, the  little  fellow  said  his  name  was 
■'Sanimiir  Todd";  and  by  this  name  he  was 
caileil.  i\  compassionate  man  took  the  child, 
raised  and  educated  him.  At  eighteen  he 
entered  the  American  army,  :ind  ser\ed 
through  the  Revolutionary  \Var.  When  he 
had  marrietl  and  was  about  to  seek  a  new 
home,  he  recei\ed  from  his  foster-father  two 
oxen,  a  horse,  and  a  cart.  With  this  limited 
capital    .Samuel    Todd    settled    on    a    luuidred 


S86 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


acres  of  land  in  Middletown,  Delaware 
County,  and  began  to  earn  a  support  for  him- 
self and  his  brave  young  wife,  who  dared  to 
share  his  hard  fortune.  Eight  children  were 
born  to  the  stout-hearted  settler.  Samuel 
Todd  lived  to  the  remarkable  age  of  one  hun- 
dred and  two  years. 

Isaac,  their  youngest  son,  lived  on  the  place 
settled  by  his  father,  and  married  Miss  Fanny 
Bouton,  of  the  same  county.  He  bought  a 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  acres  at 
the  upper  end  of  Dry  Brook,  and  later  one 
hundred  and  sixty  more  at  Clovesville.  In 
the  early  days  of  these  settlements  the  pioneer 
farmers  lived  for  the  most  part  on  the  deer 
which  abounded  here,  selling  the  skins  and 
purchasing  their  other  supplies.  A  family  of 
seven  children  were  reared  by  Isaac  and  Fanny 
Todd.  It  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  eldest  son. 
Burr,  to  stay  and  work  on  the  farm,  so  he 
missed  the  meagre  chance  of  an  education  that 
the  country  schools  afforded  at  that  time. 
But,  being  naturally  quick  and  intelligent,  he 
learned  to  read  and  write,  and  became  an  ex- 
tremely enterprising  and  successful  business 
man. 

liurr  Todd  came  into  possession  of  his 
father's  farm,  but  enlarged  his  business  by 
carrying  the  neighboring  farmers'  produce  to 
Kingston  in  his  line  of  wagons,  and  fetching 
back  groceries  and  family  supplies.  So  en- 
tirely trustworthy  was  he  that  he  established 
quite  a  business  by  this  simple  arrangement. 
At  thirty-eight  years  of  age  he  bought  the 
hardware  store  of  W.  D.  Doolittle,  and  was 
eciually  successful  as  he  had  been  in  other 
lines  of  business.  In  1856,  at  Griffin's  Cor- 
ners, where  he  established  himself  in  mercan- 
tile life,  he  married  Miss  Susan  Stone.  Miss 
Stone  was  born  December  5,  1835,  ^"'^  was  a 
daughter  of  Robert  and  Caroline  (Griflfin) 
Stone.  Robert,  her  father,  was  born  in 
Clovesville,  and  was  the  son  of  Russell  Stone, 
an  early  settler  and  a  man  of  progressive 
ideas.  Ten  children  were  reared  by  the  par- 
ents of  Mrs.  Todd:  Hannah;  Augustus; 
Susan  L.  ;  John  F. ;  Mary;  George;  William 
H.;  Josephine;  and  Rutson  and  Judson,  who 
were  twins. 

Burr  Todd  and  his  wife  were  the  parents  of 
three  chilchx-n.      The   eldest,   Carrie   T.,  born 


July  27,  1858,  married  Allen  Doolittle,  of 
Griffin's  Corners,  and  has  one  child,  Roy  C. 
Lilian,  the  other  daughter,  born  February 
21,  1873,  married  Charles  V.  -Spriggs,  and 
lives  in  Arkville.  Burr  Todd  was  a  stanch 
Re])ublican  and  a  zealous  worker  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church,  of  which  he  was  a 
member.  He  helped  to  build  the  old  church, 
and  was  one  of  the  first  subscribers  to  the  new 
one  built  in  1885;  but  he  only  lived  to  see 
the  corner-stone  laid,  being  called  to  that 
"mansion  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
skies." 

Augustus  H.,  the  only  son  of  Burr  and 
.Susan  (Stone)  Todd,  received  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  school  in  Griffin's  Corners,  at 
fourteen  spant  three  months  in  Eastman's 
Business  College  at  Poughkeepsie,  and  at 
twenty  went  into  partnership  with  his  father 
in  the  hardware  store.  Six  years  after  the 
death  of  his  father  he  sold  out  to  Mr.  J.  M. 
Hicks.  In  1883  he  began  to  work  as  a 
plumber.  A  shop  was  built  across  the  creek 
on  Main  Street  in  the  fall  of  1893,  for  plumb- 
ing and  other  work;  and  here  a  large  business 
is  done,  a  four-horse-power  water-motor  being 
employed  in  the  establishment,  where  general 
repairing  of  machinery  is  a  specialty.  He 
has  also  a  turning-lathe,  and  employs  an  ex- 
pert to  take  charge  of  this  branch  of  the  busi- 
ness. Mountain  staffs,  souvenirs,  and  various 
small  fancy  articles  are  made  here  from  the 
woods  of  the  Catskills  and  find  a  ready  sale 
and  large  market  over  the  United  -States. 
Mr.  Todd  is  superintendent  and  a  heavy 
stockholder  of  the  water  works  of  this  place, 
and  has  put  in  the  water  works  of  Roxbury 
and   Griffin's    Corners. 

Mr.  Augustus  H.  Todd  wooed  and  won 
Miss  Sarah  Beardsley,  a  daughter  of  Nelson 
and  Melissa  Beardsley.  Nelson  Beardsley 
lives  at  Kelly's  Corners,  and  has  three  daugh- 
ters and  one  son  —  Sarah,  Nettie,  Addie,  and 
Earl  C.  Two  children  have  blessed  the  union 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Augustus  H.  Todd:  Otis  H. 
and  Marea  H. 

The  political  influence  of  Mr.  Todd  has 
always  been  used  in  disseminating  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Republican  party,  of  which  he  is 
a  strong  advocate.  In  religious  views  he  is 
strong,    liberal,    and   charitable,  and   bears   in 


L.  P.  May. 


BIOGRAIMIICAI.    RE:VIEW 


5S9 


all  the  relations  of   life  the  impress  and  inllii- 
ence  of  judgment  and  sagacity. 


;^  rilll.i;iL'S  .may,  a  well-known  and 
highly  respected  farmer  of  tJie  town 
of  Masonville,  Delaware  County, 
N.Y.,  was  born  in  Coventry,  Che- 
nango County,  November  28,  1827,  son  of 
Willard  and  I.ucy  (Kenyon)  May.  His 
father  was  born  in  Massachusetts  in  1794,  and 
his  motiier  in  Rhode  Island  ai)out  1790.  His 
grandfather,  Samuel  May,  who  was  a  Massa- 
chusetts man,  moved  from  that  State  to  New 
York  with  an  ox  team,  and  settled  at  Hain- 
bridge,  Chenango  County,  aJjout  the  )-ear 
1810,  being  among  the  first  settlers  tiiere. 
In  the  course  of  time  he  was  the  owner  of 
a  fine  farm,  of  which  lie  had  cleared  a  good 
part  and  brought  into  a  good  state  of  cultiva- 
tion. The  latter  part  of  his  life  was  spent  in 
the  town  of  Colesville,  Broome  County,  where 
he  died,  aged  about  eighty.  lie  was  twice 
married,  his  second  wife  being  I'att)'  Hudson. 
He  iiad  a  large  family  of  children,  only  one 
of  whom  is  alive  at  the  [iresent  day,  Will- 
iam S.  May,  of  Harpursville. 

Willard  May  grew  to  manhood  and  received 
his  education  in  Massachusetts  and  \'ermont. 
Shortly  after  coming  to  this  .State  with  his 
father,  he  enlisted  in  the  American  army,  and 
was  in  active  service  in  the  Way  of  1812  14. 
He  was  by  trade  a  car|)enter,  an  occupation  he 
followed  in  conjunction  with  farming.  He 
resided  in  Coventry  until  after  the  death  of 
his  first  wife,  when  he  moved  to  Afton  vil- 
lage; but  he  spent  liis  declining  years  with 
his  son,  Jabez  May,  at  I'enn  \'an.  \'ates 
County,  where  he  died  aged  eighty-four.  In 
politics  he  was  a  Whig,  and  afterward  a  Re- 
publican, and  in  religious  matters  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Baptist  church.  Mr.  May's  second 
marriage  was  to  luniice  Metcalf,  widow  of 
Seth  Sceley.  He  was  the  father  of  seven 
children,  three  of  whom  are  living:  Sally, 
widow  of  Isaac  Randall,  of  Masonville;  Jabez 
May,  of  I'enn  Yan  ;  and  L.  I'hiletus,  tiie  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch.  Warren  died  agetl  twenty 
years,  Mary  Ann  aged  twenty-four,  Laura 
agetl  sixty-two  years,  and  Willard,  Jr.,  aged 
five  years. 


I.,  riiiletus  May  was  educated  in  the  town 
of  Coventry.  I  le  g;ive  liis  attention  to  farm- 
ing and  carpentering,  learning  ihc  latter  lra>ie 
under  his  father  and  f(d lowing  it  as  ;i  business 
for  several  years.  In  1859  he  came  to  Mason- 
ville, and  ijonght  the  f;irm  upon  which  he  now 
resides,  the  land  then  being  uncultivated  and 
witii  no  improvements.  He  speedily  set 
about  clearing  the  land,  and  irecting  line  and 
substantial  buildings.  The  farm  consists  of 
one  hundred  and  thirty-tliree  acres  of  good 
land;  anil  he  conducts  a  fine  tiairv,  keeping 
about  twenty-two  iiead  of  cattle.  Mr.  May 
has  always  been  a  hartl-working  man,  and  has 
gained  his  present  compett-nc\'  b\-  industry 
and  good  mmagement.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Baptist  church  of  Masonville,  anil  is  now 
one  of  its  Trustees.  In  politics  he  is  a  Re- 
publican. 

Mr.  May  was  married  by  IClder  A.  St.  John, 
September  25,  1862,  to  ICmih-  M.  Beach,  who 
was  born  September  10,  1832,  a  daughter  of 
Lumon  and  Maria  (Brainerd)  Beach,  of  .Ma- 
sonville. Mrs.  May  died  Decendier  31,  1S88, 
leaving  no  children. 

Mr.  May  is  one  of  the  tew  old  settlers  of 
Masonville  now  living.  He  lias  never  taken 
an  active  part  in  ])olitics,  but  has  always  been 
ready  to  devote  his  time  and  influence  to  the 
best  interests  of  the  town,  rendering  sul)stan- 
tial  aid  in  works  of  improvement  anil  progress. 

.As  a  scion  of  good  old  New  Kngland  stock, 
a  thri\ing  member  of  the  farming  community, 
and  a  public-spirited  citizen  of  Delaware 
Counts',  Mr.  May  is  especially  deserving  of 
portraiture  in  this  "  Biogra|ihical  Review." 
His  likeness  on  an  adjoining  page  will  be 
readily  recognized  by  friends  and  accpuiint- 
anccs. 


\\  l\  ji  1 1 1  !  was  born  in 
e,  Delaware  C'ounty.  un 
14.      1859.        His    hither. 


ll.l.IAM  I 
I  )iiwns\i 
( )ctober 

Philander  Wright,  w.is  a  native  of  (  Hsego 
Counts,  but  moved  to  Dehiware,  in  wiiieh 
county  he  has  followed  farming  and  other  occu- 
pations, anil  where  he  is  now  lixing.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  l-"rances  Williams,  I'heir'  son, 
William  R.,  whose  name  heads  this  biogra]ihy, 
grew   up   and   was  educated  in  his  native  town. 


59° 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


where  he  learned  the  cigar-maker's  trade,  and 
where  he  estahlished  a  cigar  factory.  His 
patronage,  which  was  small  at  first,  and  only 
warranted  the  employment  of  three  workmen, 
was  gradually  enlarged,  as  the  fame  of  his 
brand  of  the  "Golden  Gem"  was  noised 
abroad;  and  Mr.  Wright  found  it  expedient  to 
enlarge  his  factory  and  increase  the  number  of 
his  employees.  In  a  few  years  he  opened  a 
general  grocery-store,  which  has  also  proved  a 
financial  success. 

In  1879  Mr.  Wright  married  Miss  Lydia 
Thompson,  a  daughter  of  Andrew  and  Margaret 
(Oliver)  Thompson.  The  father  is  a  success- 
ful farmer  in  Hamden,  and  bears  a  record 
worthy  of  mention.  He  is  of  Scottish  parent- 
age, being  a  son  of  Andrew  Thompson,  Sr. , 
who  came  to  America  in  1800,  and  settled  in 
Bovina,  there  living  to  be  a  very  old  man,  com- 
pleting his  ninetieth  year.  Andrew  Thompson 
enlisted  in  1864  in  Company  K,  One  Hundred 
and  Forty-fourth  New  York  Volunteers ;  but, 
finding  the  ranks  filled  when  he  arrived  at  Port 
Royal,  S.  C. ,  he  was  transferred  to  Company 
A,  New  York  Engineer  Corps.  His  coura- 
geous bearing  and  unflinching  adherence  to 
duty  while  under  fire  at  Morris  Island  won  for 
him  the  highest  commendation  from  the  com- 
mander in  charge.  Captain  Brown.  He  be- 
h)ngs  to  England  Post,  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wright  have  one  little  son, 
Harry,  born  January  28,  1890.  The  strict 
probity  and  keen  sense  of  honor  which  char- 
acterize Mr.  Wright's  dealings  with  the  public 
have  won  for  him  universal  respect;  and  this 
has  been,  perhaps,  one  of  the  chief  reasons  for 
that  success  which  has  attended  him  as  a  mer- 
chant and  manufacturer.  He  is  an  adherent 
of  the  Rejjublican  jjartx',  to  which  he  has 
alwa\-s  lieen  loval. 


7T^HARLi:.S  -S.  WOODRUFF.  The 
I  Sj-'  subject  of  this  sketch  spent  the  early 
^jHs  years    of    his     life     in     the    \-illage 

wherein  he  was  born,  and  in  the 
district  schools  laid  a  substantial  foundation 
for  his  education,  which  was  comideted  in  the 
Delaware  Academy  in  Delhi,  and  from  which 
he  was  graduated    with    an    honorable   record. 


Before  his  graduation  he  had  spent  some  time  as 
a  clerk  in  his  father's  store,  and  he  afterward 
gave  his  entire  attention  to  mercantile  pursuits. 
In  1880  he  bought  an  interest  in  the  store,  and 
has  continued  in  active  business  since.  This 
is  one  of  the  most  wide-awake  and  enterprising 
firms  in  this  section  of  the  county,  carrying  an 
extensive  line  of  dry  goods,  boots,  shoes,  and 
ready-made  clothing,  besides  being  largely  en- 
gaged in  buying  and  selling  butter  throughout 
this  State  and   Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  Woodruff  has  ever  taken  an  active  in- 
terest in  the  prosperity  of  his  native  town  and 
county,  aiding  all  beneficial  schemes  tending 
to  develop  its  business  resources  or  improve  its 
moral,  educational,  or  social  .status,  and  has 
filled  man)-  of  the  offices  of  the  town.  He 
served  as  treasurer  of  the  fire  department  three 
years,  was  Treasurer  of  the  village  three  years, 
and  for  a  long  time  did  efficient  .service  as 
Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  Board  of  Trade. 
For  two  years  he  was  President  of  the  Dela- 
ware County  Agricultural  Society,  and  has 
been  instrumental  in  raising  it  to  its  present 
prosperous  condition.  He  was  Secretary  of 
the  Republican  County  Committee  for  many 
years,  and  in  1893  was  nominated  by  acclama- 
tion to  the  office  of  County  Treasurer. 


(*)|  RUMAN  LEWIS,  Assistant  Po.stmaster 
*  I  at  .Sidney,  N.  Y. ,  was  born  in  the  town 
-*-  of  -Sidney,  Delaware  County,  March 
4,  1843,  son  of  Reuben  Lewis,  who  was 
born  in  Greene  County  in  1802.  Reuben 
Lewis  was  a  farmer,  and  for  si.xteen  years 
occupied  the  position  of  Ju.stice  of  the  Peace 
of  Sidney.  In  1842  he  married  Mi.ss  Eliza 
Olmstead,  of  Greene  County,  who  became  the 
mother  of  six  children,  five  of  whom  lived  to 
reach  maturity,  although  but  three  are  still 
living,  namely:  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Hiram,  a  farmer,  who  is  married,  and  has  a 
familv  in  Ashtabula  County,  Ohio;  Reuben,  a 
railroad  engineer  in  Scranton,  Pa.,  where  he 
has  a  wife  and  family.  Their  only  daughter, 
Maria,  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  years. 
Mrs.  Lewis  lived  to  be  eighty-five  years  of 
age,  retaining  her  faculties  in  a  remarkable 
manner  until  her  .sudden  death,  January  21, 
1893,    of  apoplexy. 


HldGRAl'HICAL    REVIKW 


59' 


'rruinan  I.owis  lived  mi  ilic  hirin  with  his 
parents  until  1S59.  when  he  niu\e<l  with  iheni 
to  the  village.  lie  attended  the  distriet  schoul 
in  his  boyhood,  but,  when  ei^i^hteen,  learned 
the  blacksmith's  trade,  at  which  he  was  em- 
ployed for  twenty  years,  or  until  1 SN 1 .  In 
1849  he  married  Miss  liattie  L'amion.  of 
Sidney,  who  was  a  nati\e  of  ("annons\ille, 
a  daughtei'  of  Mlisha  Cannon.  ( )ii  .Se|)tenibei- 
9,  I.S92,  Mrs.  Lewis  passed  away:  and  her 
husband  was  left  a  childless  widower.  Like 
his  father,  Mr.  Lewis  is  a  Democrat.  lie  was 
Road  Commissioner  in  I.S.S4,  and  is  now  serv- 
ing in  his  fourth  \ear  as  Justice  of  the  J'eace. 
l'"or  the  last  nine  years  he  has  been  employetl 
as  clerk  in  the  jiost-ofiTice.  which  is  lecorded  as 
a  third-class  one,  altiiough  handlini;-  more  mail 
than  man\-  offices  of  hi;;her  rank.  lie  now 
occupies  the  position  of  Assistant  Postmaster 
under  Charles  A.  Wood,  and,  bein_g  thorouL;hl\- 
accpiainted  with  all  the  de]iartments  of  the 
office,  as  well  asentirel)'  trustwoitlu  and  atten- 
tive to  his  duties,  is  often  left  in  full  char,i;e. 
As  a  gentleman  of  correct  morals  and  sound 
judgment,  he  is  held  in  high  regard  bv  his 
friends  and  fellow-workci  s. 


DW'I.X  W.  FOXi).  general  insurance 
agent,  residing  in  the  village  of  Wal- 
ton, has  been  identified  with  the 
business  circles  of  this  |)art  of  Delaware 
County  ff)r  several  \ears,  an<l  is  regardetl  as 
one  of  its  most  enter]:>rising  and  able  citizens. 
lie  is  of  New  bjigland  birth  and  ancestrw  hav- 
ing been  born  in  New  IlartfortI,  Conn.,  in 
1.S33.  His  father,  J.  R.  Tond,  was  a  native 
of  the  same  town,  and  there  reared  to  maturit}'. 
He  was  a  farmer  and  dairyman  in  the  earlier 
years  of  his  life,  and  later  became  one  of  the 
earliest  manufacturers  of  condensed  milk.  In 
I1S80  he  came  to  Walton  and  established  the 
jilant  known  as  the  Granulatetl  Milk  I'actor)-, 
which  is  still  in  successful  ojieration.  He 
subsecjuent  1\  renioxei!  to  Oregon,  and  died  near 
Portland,  in  1  .S9C),  at  the  age  of  seventv.  He 
was  twice  married.  His  first  wife.  Martha  A. 
Watson,  was  the  daughter  of  Iiarve\'  and  .Sally 
(Wells)  Watson,  esteemed  residents  of  New 
Hartford,  Conn.  She  died  in  the  village  of 
Walton,     in    1884,    at    the   age    of    sixty-three 


years,  leaving,  besiiles  the  subjecl  <if  this 
sketch,  who  was  her  oids  son.  .in  adojiled 
daughter,  Cora  1..,  the  wife  of  hldward  Mri-^ac  k, 
of  Cnion  City,  .\.J.  Mr.  l'on<l  married  |..r  hiv 
second  wife  .M.uy  .So]iliia  .Sheiwond.  wlm  sur 
\ives  him,  and  is  now  a  resident  <i|  \\;dt<in. 

i-^dwin  \\ .  INiud  was  reared  as  a  farmer'- 
son,  acciuiring  his  rudimentary  education  in 
the  ])ublic  schodls,  and  afterward  pursuing  a 
lull  .academical  course.  lie  worked  with  his 
father  in  the  milk  factory  until  1879,  when  he 
removed  to  I'lirt  I'lain,  Monigunierv  Count\. 
to  take  charge  of  the  nianufactorv  uf  the 
Orange  Countv  Milk  Association,  remaining 
there  two  years.  Receiving  a  flattering  offer 
to  assume  the  management  of  the  Heidelberg 
Cheese  and  Contlensed  Milk  Coiiipan\  at  ^'arla 
i'lats,  near  Melbourne,  Australia,  he  went 
there,  and  continued  in  chaige  three  \ears. 
.\ftei-  travelling  around  the  world,  .Mr.  I'ond 
came  to  Walton  in  1884;  and  three  \e.ir> 
later  he  established  himself  in  the  insurance 
business,  in  which  he  disphns  more  than  uidi- 
nary  ability  and  tact.  He  now  represent- 
seventeen  strong  and  trustwortln  insurance 
companies,  and  is  recognized  as  a  straight- 
forward, thorough-going  business  man.  merit- 
ing the  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens.  (In 
b'ebruary  if.  1886,  Mr.  I'ond  was  married  t^ 
Miss  I'lorence  St.  John,  a  nati\e  of  New  \'ork 
City.  Mrs.  Pond's  parents  were  .S.  llenrvand 
I'.mily  (Leavens)  St.  John,  the  latter  of  whom 
was  born  in  1815  in  New  Wnk  Citv.  anil  dieil 
in  Walton  in  1878.  Mr.  .St.  John  was  a  native 
of  \\'alton,  and  in  earlv  life  went  to  New  \'ork 
Cit\'  as  a  clerk  in  a  dry-goods  store,  in  which 
liusiness  he  remained  some  time.  He  after- 
wards entered  into  co[)artnersIii]i  with  his 
brother,  (ieorge  St.  John,  as  merchant  tailors 
I  and  general  clothiers,  under  the  firm  name  of 
'  (ieo.  &  .S.  II.  -St.  John.  Ha\ing  secured  .1 
competencv.  he  retired  from  actixe  busine--, 
and.  coming  to  Walton,  built  a  fine  residenr> 
near  the  present  h<ime  of  Mr.  and  .Mrs.  Poml. 
and  thereafter  lived  retired,  dying  in  f89;. 
wlie'ii  seventv -nine  vears  old.  He  reared  three 
children,  as  follows:  Sarah,  the  wife  of  A.  I.. 
H\(le.  lixes  in  New  ^'ork  City.  Lmnia.  the 
wife  of  the  Re\'.  Ree\e  Ilobbie.  resiiies  in 
Newark.  N.J.  Mr.  S.  H.  St.  John  had  the 
following  brothers  antl  sisters  who  reached  the 


592 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


age  of  maturity:  Martha  St.  John  Bassett,  who 
lived  at  Independence,  N.Y.  ;  Maria,  the  wife 
of  Joseph  E.  Shefheld,  of  New  Haven,  Conn.  ; 
Thoma.s  and  lirastius,  who  lived  at  Mobile, 
Ala.  ;  and  George,  who  resided  at  Walton. 
Mr.  S.  H.  St.  John  at  the  time  of  his  death 
was  the  only  remaining  child  of  Colonel  John 
Trowbridge  and  Mary  St.  John,  who  were 
among  the  early  settlers  of  this  section,  com- 
ing to  Walton  from  Connecticut. 

Of  the  four  children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
I'ond,  two  little  daughters  died  in  infancy,  and 
two  are  now  living,  namely:  Sarah  K.  Fond, 
born  April  2,  1889;  and  Samuel  Henry  St. 
John  Pond,  bom  August  24,  1891.  Politi- 
cally, Mr.  Pond  is  a  steadfast  Democrat,  and 
has  served  as  village  Trustee.  He  is  a  promi- 
nent member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  belong- 
ing to  the  Walton  Lodge,  A.  ¥.  &  A.  M., 
where  he  has  taken  the  thirty-second  degree, 
and  in  which  he  is  now  serving  as  Senior  War- 
den. Religiously,  he  is  a  Vestryman  of  the 
Christ  Episcopal  Church,  of  which  both  him- 
self and  wife  are  communicants,  and  toward 
the  support  of  which  they  cheerfully  contribute. 


|j^|ANSOM  PALMATEER,  a  householder 
and  dairy  farmer  of  Andes,  N.  Y. ,  was 
born  in  New  Kingston,  Middle- 
town,  on  May  7,  1854.  His  grand- 
father, John  Palmateer,  was  of  Dutch  extrac- 
tion, being  son  of  a  Hollander,  but  was 
himself  American  born,  a  native  of  Dutchess 
County,  where  he  lived  and  reared  a  family  of 
nine  children:  John,  William,  Abraham, 
Cyrus,  Lucinda,  Jessie,  Owen,  Sylvester,  and 
Mary.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life  John  Pal- 
mateer moved  to  Saginaw  County,  Michigan, 
and  sojourned  there  until  the  day  of  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  his  ninety-fifth  year.  His 
wife,  Elizabeth  (Warner)  Palmateer,  also 
lived  to  be  very  old.  She  was  a  member  of 
the  Baptist  church. 

William,  the  second  .son  of  John,  was  born 
December  14,  18 14.  He  began  to  work  out 
on  a  farm  when  a  boy  of  twelve  years  of  age, 
and,  when  twenty-si.\,  married  Mary  A., 
daughter  of  Cornelius  and  Mary  (Yeaples) 
Demond.  Mary  Palmateer  was  a  grand-daugh- 
ter of  Christian  and  Anna  Yeaples,  who  lived 


at  Kingston,  Ulster  County.  This  village  was 
burned  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  in 
which  Christian  served;  and  the  family  moved 
to  New  Kingston  Valley,  Delaware  County, 
and  bought  a  farm,  upon  which  their  grand- 
daughter, Mrs.  Mary  Palmateer,  now  lives. 
Christian  Yea,'les  built  the  first  log  house 
there.  The  flat  surface  of  the  land  selected 
for  a  habitation  to  be  erected  upon  was  covered 
with  a  growth  of  pine-trees,  which  were  rare 
in  this  locality;  and  many  stumps  still  remain 
to  attest  the  industrious  hand  of  the  ancestor 
who  felled  their  trunks  so  long  ago.  Bear  and 
wolf,  elk  and  deer,  disa]:)peared  gradually  from 
their  native  haunt.s,  as  the  white  man's  foot  in- 
v'aded  year  by  year  their  wild  domains;  and 
it  was  not  long  before  smoke  curled  up  from 
many  a  settler's  cabin  chimney,  and  the  soli- 
tude of  the  forest  rang  with  the  .stroke  of  the 
axe  and  blow  of  hammer.  Mr.  Yeaples  was 
the  father  of  these  children:  Jacob;  John; 
David;  Henry;  Christian;  Cornelius  B.  ; 
May;  Catharine;  Rachel;  Nellie;  and  Mary, 
Mrs.  Palmateer. 

William  Palmateer  did  a  great  deal  toward 
the  improvement  of  this  estate.  He  built  a 
large  frame  house  and  farm  buildings.  To 
William  Palmateer  and  his  wife  the  number  of 
offspring  of  the  Yeaples  family  was  repeated. 
Of  their  twelve  children,  eight  are  now  living, 
and  may  be  thus  mentioned :  Phoebe,  who 
married  John  V.  Simmons,  a  farmer  located 
near  Roxbur}-,  and  is  the  mother  of  two  chil- 
dren; Sylvester,  wht)  married  Estella  Sanford, 
and  lives  in  Andes  with  their  two  children; 
Harriett,  who  married  first  Edward  Taylor,  by 
whom  she  had  one  child,  and  secondl)'  1*. 
Kaughman;  Ransom,  the  original  of  this  pen 
sketch;  Emily,  who  married  John  Rhoter- 
mond,  has  one  child,  and  lives  in  California; 
Rhoda  and  Etta,  who  live  at  home;  Mary,  now 
Mrs.  George  Hewitt,  of  Margarettville,  who 
has  one  child.  William  Palmateer  died  in 
1877,  at  sixty-two  years  of  age.  His  widow 
is  still  living.  Both  were  members  of  the 
Methodist  lipiscopal  church. 

Ransom  Palmateer  worked  at  home  until  he 
was  twenty-five  years  old,  gaining  a  practical 
experience  and  knowledge  of  farm  life.  He 
then  bought  three  hundred  acres  of  land  from 
Hizer  &  Liddle,  and   began   to  think,  as  most 


ItlOGRAPHICAI.    RKVIKW 


593 


young  farmers  do,  that  it  \va>  11..1  wise  im  mni 
to  live  alone.  So  he  wooed  and  married  Anna 
Simmons,  the  daiij^hter  of  John  \'.  and  Har- 
riett (Beers)  Simmons.  I'he  iMide's  paternal 
grandparents  were  Xohle  and  Sarah  (Randall) 
Simmons,  the  former  a  native  of  Mas.sachu- 
setts,  though  of  ICnglisJi  jiarentage,  and  a 
-soldier  of  the  War  of  i>Si:;.  Mr.  Xohle  Sim- 
mons's  estate  was  joeated  in  what  is  now  known 
as  North  Ro.xhury,  at  that  time  an  ahsolute 
wilderness.  Me  and  his  wife  reared  seven 
children:  Hiram,  George,  I'iliza,  Daniel, 
J-'.meline,  l.ydia,  and  John  \'.  John  \'.  Sim- 
mons, the  "Benjamin  "  of  his  father's  old  age, 
received  a  good  education,  and  began  teaching 
at  .seventeen  years.  At  twenly-si.x  he  married 
Miss  Harriett  Beers,  a  daughter  of  David  and 
Polly  ((iould)  Beens.  I'o  tiicm  seven  chil- 
dren were  born.  Sarah  V..  married  a  Mr. 
Scudder,  W.  Porter  married  C.  Devo,  Xathie 
died  young,  Jennette  married  the  Rev.  C 
Artmari,  l-jiima  married  (!.  (iraham,  .M. 
Agusta  married  II.  L.  Kelly,  and  Anna  is  the 
wife  ot  .Mr.  R.  Palmateer.  Mr.  Simmons  was 
left  a  widower,  and  married  for  his  second  wife 
Miss  l{liza  (ileason,  who  bore  him  two  chil- 
dren. Cileason  and  John.  .She  died;  and  he 
married  thirilly  .Miss  .Acldie  Palmater,  bv 
whom  he  has  one  child.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sim- 
mons soUl  their  estate  to  their  son,  and  are 
now  living  a  quiet  life. 

Ransom  Palmateer' s  marriage  has  l)een 
blessed  b\-  the  advent  of  fi\e  children,  four  of 
whom  are  now  living;  namel\-,  .\itluir,  Mav. 
Everett,  Edith,  and  Howard.  He  has  re- 
modelled the  buildings  on  his  fairii.  and  is 
preparing  timber  for  the  construction  of  a 
capacious  overshot  barn.  He  has  one  of  the 
largest  dairies  in  Amies,  keeping  a  herd  of 
fifty  graded  Jersey  cows,  a\'eraging  two  hun- 
dred and  hftv  pounds  of  butter  per  head.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Palmateer  are  hapjjily  allied  in  the 
bond  of  a  common  religious  faitii,  both  being 
members  of  the  Methodist  l'l|)iscop:il  church ; 
and  in  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 


i:oR(;p;  ii    kp.ator.  a  successful 

fanner   of    Roxburs',    X.\. ,    was   hf)rn 
m    West    settlement    in   this  town   on 
March  11,    1837.      He  belongs  to  a  f:miily  that 


has  been  in  Del.iw.irc  (  ounlv  for  three  genera- 
tions, being  a  grandson  of  (.iiie.m  Keator, 
who  was  a  native  of  lisopus,  lifter  ('ount\ , 
and  thence  came  here  with  his  f.unilv  and 
settled  iri  Brookdale,  near  the  vill.ige  of  Rox- 
hur\-. 
:  The  wilderness  still  hid  the  most  lertile 
lands  under  its  veil  f.f  dense  uiiderbrirsh  ,ind 
mighty  trees.  But  Gideon  Keat.>r  threw  him- 
self with  a  will  into  the  work  of  reclaiming; 
his  six  hundred  acres,  and  soon  the  fruitful 
fields  were  beginning  to  crowd  out  the  forests. 
The  earth  yielded  uj)  its  increase,  ami  Mr.  and 
-Mrs.  keator  were  very  prosperous  in  their  new 
home.  Barns  and  other  necessary  buildings 
were  put  up  as  fast  as  the\-  were  needed  ;  aiTd 
the  estate  came  in  time  to  be  verv  valuable,  so 
that  Ml.  Keator  had  no  dithcultv  in  .selling  it 
for  a  good  price  when  he  decided  to  make  a 
change.  Benjamin  Scudder  was  the  purchaser, 
and  he  lived  on  the  place  all  his  life.  Mr. 
Keator  and  his  wife  .Mary  had  eight  children  -  - 
John  (;.,  Charity,  (ieorge,  Harriet,  Hiram, 
Katie,   Peter,  and  Henrv. 

George  Keator,  second  .son  of  (lideon  Kea- 
tor, was  born  in  L'lster  Countv,  came  with  his 
father  to  Delaware  Comity,  and  was  educated 
in  the  district  school  of  Roxbury.  When  he 
came  to  man's  estate,  he  contracted  marriage 
with  Betsy  Benjamin,  a  daughter  of  Jesse  and 
Katherine  Benjamin,  who  were  early  settlers 
in  Roxbury.  He  jiurchased  si.\tv-nine  acres 
of  cleared  land  in  West  settlement,  and  then, 
as  soon  as  opportimity  offered,  .secured  one 
hundied  ;icres  more  of  jsartly  reclaimed  new 
land.  These  two  ijurchases  made  a  fine  farm 
when  .Mr.  Keator  had  |)Ut  on  the  improvements 
that  he  saw  were  desirable  —  new  houses  and 
barns.  He  lived  on  this  farm  until  his  death, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-four.  .Mr.  Keator  was  a 
Democrat,  and  an  old-.school  Bajitist.  Mrs. 
lk-ts\-  Keator  lived  to  the  age  of  eightv-si.x. 
•She  had  si.x  children,  but  three  of  the.se  died. 
1  he  three  who  li\ed  became  well-known  men 
in  the  community.  Jacob  P.  married  Jennie 
\'an  Kureii,  but  she  died,  leaving  one  daugh- 
ter. Millie;  and  he  married  again,  this  time 
.May  Douglass.  By  his  second  marriage  he 
had  one  son,  John,  who  li\es  at  Rondout,  and 
is  a  ])alace-car  conductor.  John  B.  married 
Eleanor  Bartram.  and  died,  leaving  one  dauuh- 


594 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


tor,    Mary,    wlm    is    now   the    wife    of   John    P. 
Ganoung. 

The  other  son,  George  H.  Keator,  was  edu- 
cated at  Roxbury  Academy  and  at  Syracuse. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-three  he  married  Miss 
Frances  B.  \\'alker,  daughter  of  Daniel  and 
Eliza  Walker.  Mr.  Walker  owned  a  large 
farm,  and  in  addition  owned  and  operated  a 
fulling-mill.  He  also  did  some  work  as  a 
contractor  and  builder.  He  had  seven  other 
children  —  five  by  his  first  wife,  the  mother  of 
Mrs.  Keator,  and  two  by  his  second  wife. 
Mr.  Walker  was  a  Democrat,  and  lived  to  the 
age  of  seventy-one  years.  After  his  marriage 
Mr.  Keator  took  charge  of  his  father's  farm, 
he  being  imable  to  manage  it  on  account  of  ill 
health.  This  he  continued  until  1867,  when 
he  went  to  Dover,  Del,  and  took  up  a  farm 
there.  After  one  year's  trial  his  father,  find- 
ing the  home  work  too  much  of  an  under- 
taking, sent  for  him  to  come  back  to  the  old 
place.  So  he  took  up  the  affairs  of  the  estate 
anew;  and  there  he  lives  to-day,  about  five 
miles  out  from  the  village. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Keator  have  had  three  chil- 
dren, of  whom  one  is  now  living.  Bessie  M., 
who  was  born  January  23,  1865,  married  Adel- 
bert  Carroll,  and  is  now  dead.  Alice  M.  was 
born  September  3,  1866,  married  H.  G.  \'. 
White,  of  East  Branch,  and  died  at  twenty- 
seven.  Maud  M.  was  born  March  15,  1880, 
and  still  lives  at  home  with  her  father.  Mr. 
Keatt)r  is  a  Democrat,  and  has  held  the  office 
of  Assessor  for  four  terms.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  ICpisocal  church,  and  of 
Hobart  Lodge,  No.  62,  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  Fellows. 


J">vA\'n)      FOOTE      is     an      influential 
— \     citizen       of       l-"ranklin,       Delaware 
QJ      County,  in  which  town  he  was  many 
years     an     active     and     progressive 
farmer,    though    of    late   years   li\-ing  a    some- 
what retired  life. 

Looking  backward,  we  find  that  all  the 
l'"o()tes  of  the  country,  for  nine  generations  or 
more,  are  descended  from  Nathaniel  l-"oote, 
who  came  earh-  to  Wethersfield,  Conn.,  and 
had  two  .sons — Nathaniel  and  Robert.  Many 
facts  concerning  the    famih'   are    set    forth    in 


the  Foote  genealogy,  published  in  1849,  and  in 
the  sketch  in  this  volume  of  Mrs.   S.   E.   Foote. 

The  grandfather  of  David  F'oote,  Cliarles 
F'oote,  was  a  tanner,  currier,  and  .shoemaker  in 
Colchester,  Conn.  ;  and  his  wife  was  Jerusha 
Chamberlain.  He  was  also  a  surveyor,  and 
went  to  Wyoming,  Pa.,  in  pursuance  of  his 
calling,  expecting  to  remain  there;  but,  the 
Revolution  coming  on,  both  he  and  his  son 
Charles  enlisted  as  soldiers.  He  had  five  boys 
and  four  girls,  all  of  whom  li\ed  to  be  married 
except  the  youngest  daughter  and  one  son. 
The  fourth  child  and  second  son  was  Elias,  the 
father  of  Mr.  David  I'oote. 

Elias  Foote  was  born  in  Colchester,  New 
London  Countv,  Conn.,  on  October  4,  1766, 
ten  years  before  the  Revolution,  but  died  in 
Franklin,  Jul_\-  5,  1855,  when  nearly  ninety 
years  old.  His  wife  was  Sally  Tracy,  born 
in  Lenox,  .April  13,  1780,  and  therefore  four- 
teen years  her  husband's  junior.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  Ezekiel  and  Patience  (Kimball) 
Tracy,  both  from  Massachusetts ;  but  she  was 
married  in  Otsego  County,  in  the  town  of 
Oneonta,  in  1809,  though  later  they  lived  in 
Otsego,  on  a  farm  of  forty  acres,  afterward 
increased  to  twenty  more.  Mr.  F"oote  sold 
this  land  in  1844,  and  ended  his  life  in  the 
home  of  his  son  David  in  North  Franklin,  and 
was  buried  in  the  graveyard  near  the  Baptist 
church,  where  his  wife  also  was  placed  at  the 
age  of  seventy-six,  both  being  firm  Baptists. 
They  had  four  boys  and  three  girls,  and  two 
sons  and  one  daughter  are  still  living.  One  of 
the  sons  is  David,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  ; 
and  the  other  is  ICzekiel,  a  retired  blacksmith 
in  the  same  town.  Their  sister  I^sther  never 
married,  but  has  a  home  with  her  brother 
David,  though  she  and  her  sister  Jane  had  a 
home  together  in  the  same  town,  till  it  was 
broken  by  death  in  1889. 

David  F'oote  was  born  March  24,  181 2,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  la.st  war  with  England; 
and  his  birthplace  was  on  the  banks  of  the 
Susquehanna,  in  what  was  then  a  pavt  of  the 
town  of  F"ranklin,  but  is  now  within  the  limits 
of  Otsego.  Though  a  farmer,  he  was  for  sev- 
eral winters  a  teacher  also.  Like  his  father, 
he  married  somewhat  late  in  life,  October  i, 
1857,  when  he  was  forty-five.  His  wife  was 
Marv     Parsons,    of    Franklin,    a     daughter    of 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RKVIFAV 


59'; 


Thomas  and  Anna  Parsons,  who  lanio  Ironi 
Connecticiil  in  i  Soo.  IMr.  and  Mrs.  l-"o(ito 
have  no  cliihlron,  tliough  llicy  liaxc  i;i\c'n  a 
home  to  the  cliihhx'ii  ol  others,  tlius  hlcssini;- 
their  feUow-men.  In  politics  Mr.  I'oute  was 
a  Republican  initil  i  S.S.|.  when  his  rei;aii!  for 
temjjerance  led  tn  his  union  with  the  I'lu- 
hibitory  part}'.  lhiuii;h  he  lias  lu-ld  \u>  public 
office.  He  has.  however,  been  ap])oinled  ex- 
ecutor for  several  estates.  lie  owns  a  faiin  of 
one  hundred  and  tort\  acres  in  Xdith  l-'iank- 
lin,  purchased  in  1S44.  and  nn  which  he  has 
resideil  e\er  since.  1  ie  has  also  another  estate 
of  one  huntlred  and  twelve  acres  of  bottom  land 
along  the  Sust|uehanna,  once  the  property  of 
his  brothel'  Asa,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
se\'enty-si.\.  leaving  a  son  and  daughter.  'I'he 
son,  (ieorge  II.  l-"oole.  has  been  a  teacher  diu'- 
intr  se\enteen  winters. 


I,.  Ml'RR.XN'.  ail  enterjirising  business 
man,  wlm  condiiiU's  the])ractice  of  the 
tonsoiial  ait  with  the  duties  of 
Postmaster  i>f  Ark\'ille,  to  which 
latter  office  he  was  aii]ininted  in  1S93,  was 
born  in  Middlelown,  Januai'\  10,  1  >S66,  son  of 
(ieorge  and  I.ucinda  (Rlish)  Murras,  and  the 
grandson,  i>n  the  ]iaternal  side,  nt  James  ,uid 
.Mar\'  ( l'd)anathus)  Murray,  both  natives  of 
Scotlanil,  and  who  came  to  America  about 
the  opening  \'ear  of  this  centui'y.  settlirig  ill 
.\ew  N'ork  C'it\'.  Ihe  foriiier  was  a  seafaring 
rnan.  holding  a  iiosition  as  second  niate,  and 
was  lost  at  sea  when  about  foi't\'-two  years  of 
age,  Iea\ing  a  wife  and  two  children  -  Robert 
and  (ieorge.  11  is  wife  sui'\'i\'ed  him  si.\ 
years,  and  died  at  the  age  of  forty-si.\  years  in 
New  York  City. 

Roliert  Murray  died  in  the  South  during  the 
late  C\\\]  War;  while  his  brother  (ieorge. 
boi'ii  in  iSici.  in  .New  \'ork  ('it\',  was  brought 
up  there,  but  later  went  to  Hyde  Park, 
Dutchess  County,  where  he  learned  the  tan- 
ner's trade.  In  1.S33  he  enlisted  in  the  navy 
as  a  L'nited  .States  marine  on  L'nited  States 
ship  "Peacock,"  and  served  for  o\'er  three 
years,  visiting  m;ui\'  foreign  countries  and 
iiiost  of  the  iH'incipal  seajiorts  of  the  world. 
In  the  pursuit  of  his  calling  he  contracted 
rheumatism,  and,  receiving  his  discharge  trom 


the  nav\',  resumed  his  tra<le  o|  tanner,  coming 
to  Delaware  Connt\  in  i.S.(J,  and  thelollow 
ing  year  mari'\  ing  I.ucinda,  daughter  o|  lohn 
and  I.uiinda  ll'ownsend)  Hlish  .\  lamihcif 
twelve  children  was  born  t<i  them,  nanieh  ; 
Robert  .\.  marrieil  Mai\  He, idle,  and  re>i(les  in 
Middlelown.  Norman  J.  died  at  the  aL;e  of 
thirteen.  ()li\ei'  1..  married  .Sarah  I'.uker. 
and  resides  at  (irillin's  Corners.  I'lli/.a  died  at 
the  age  of  ele\en  \ears.  Artemesia.  now  de- 
ceased, became  the  uife  of  John  A.  Jones,  and 
at  her  death  left  one  child.  Celia  I.  married 
■■"rederick  J.  Mlmore,  and  resides  in  Ssracuse, 
\.  \'.  Mar\  1^,  liecame  the  wife  of  John  II. 
Depew.  of  Walton.  James  (i.  chose  for  his 
wife  I.N'dia  Kellv,  and  settled  at  (iriffm's  Cor- 
ners, (ieorge  died  in  infanc\'.  A.  !..  is  the 
subiect  of  this  sketch,  Dorleskie  and  I.odus- 
kie  were  twins,  the  first  of  whom  died  at  the 
age  of  si.xleen  vears,  and  the  latter  became  the 
wife  of  Walter  I..  I'".lwoo<l,  and  resides  in  Wal- 
ton, \.^'.  Soon  after  his  marriage  (ieorge 
Mm'rax  bought  a  farm  of  one  himdred  acres 
situated  on  the  Kingston  and  Delhi  turnpike 
near  .\rk\ille  and  along  the  bank  of  the  Dela- 
ware Ri\'er.  Here  he  resided  for  thirt\-two 
vears,  ching  at  the  age  of  se\enty-three.  Ik- 
was  a  Democrat  in  ])iditics,  and  was  ()\erseer 
of  the  Poor  in  his  town.  His  wife  still  sur- 
vives him,  and  is  now  se\'ent\'-two  \ears  ol  agi'. 
.A.  I..  Murra\  was  educated  at  CloUs\ille. 
and  learneil  the  lonsorial  trade,  which  he  i>rac- 
tised  at  (iritTm's  L'orneis,  later  buying  a  shop 
at  Margareltville.  After  slaying  in  the  latter 
place  some  thirteen  months  he  sold  out  to  ]•;.  J. 
l-'.astman,  and  came  to  Ark\  ille,  where  heo]iened 
a  shop  and  soon  met  with  good  |)atronage.  He 
was  appointed  Postmaster  in  July.  I.'^y3.  antl 
has  satisfaetorilv  ])ert'ipniied  the  duties  of  the 
office  to  the  present  time.  Mr.  Murra\'  chose 
for  his  wile  Miss  .Anna  Conklin.  daughter  of 
Arthur  and  l-'.mma  A.  ( ( )sterhoudt )  Conklin.  of 
Margarettville.  They  have  one  .son,  Harry 
W.,  born  May  15.  i<*^93.  Mr.  Murray  has  so 
far  in  his  career  shown  good  business  ability, 
and  is  the  sort  of  niaii  who  knows  how  to  make 
the  most  of  op|)ortunit ies.  He  is  interested  in 
the  affairs  of  his  town,  and  contributes  his 
share  toward  its  material  welfare.  His  wife  is 
a  member  of  the  new-school  Ha])tist  church, 
and  is  a  lad}  of  nian}   ])leasing  qualities. 


596 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


HOMAS  D.  KINGSTON,  proprietor  of 
the  Kingston  Hotel,  Delhi,  is  well 
known  as  one  of  the  best  hotel  men  in 
Delaware  County.  He  made  his  first  start 
as  a  landlord  in  this  village,  purchasing  his 
present  house,  which  he  has  rebuilt  and  re- 
furnished in  the  most  approved  modern  style, 
and  has  since  conducted  with  marked  success, 
winning  popularity  as  a  host  who  understands 
how  to  cater  to  the  wants  of  the  public,  one 
who  well  knows  that  "fine  words  butter  no 
parsnips. " 


HADDKUS  S.  HOYT,  a  highly  re- 
spected farmer,  residing  abtjut  fi\c 
miles  north  of  the  village  of  Walton, 
was  born  about  three  miles  below  his  pres- 
ent residence,  October  28,  1821.  His  father, 
Amasa,  was  also  born  at  the  same  place. 
The  grandfather,  Thaddeus  Hoyt,  came  origi- 
nally from  New  Canaan,  Conn.,  and  was  one  of 
the  pioneer  farmers  of  Delaware  County.  He 
reared  a  family  of  four  sons,  Amasa  being  the 
third  in  order  of  birth.  He  and  his  elder 
brother,  Thaddeus,  were  farmers.  The  second 
son.  John  Benedict  Hoyt,  was  a  graduate 
of  Yale  College,  and  a  well-known  minister 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Amasa  resided 
on  the  old  homestead  until  the  time  of  his 
death.  His  children  were  all  prominent  mem- 
bers of  the  community,  several  of  his  sons 
being  Deacons  of  the  church.  The  family 
have  always  been  among  the  foremost  in  church 
matters,  the  grandfather  having  been  instru- 
mental in  building  first  a  log  and  afterward 
a  frame  church  about  one  mile  from  the  \illage 
of  Walton.  -Amasa  Hoyt  was  married  to  1^1  iza 
H.  Seymour,  a  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Anna 
(Whitney)  Seymour.  Her  jjarents  reared  the 
following  family:  Samuel,  Lewis,  Thaddeus, 
Andrew,  Annie,  Pollie,  Sallie,  Hannah,  I^liza, 
and  ICmma  Seymour.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Amasa 
Hoyt  were  born  nine  children;  namely,  Ga- 
briel, Amasa,  Thaddeus,  l-'rederick,  Edward, 
ICdwin,  William  S. ,  Julia,  and  Whitney. 

Thaddeus  S.  Hoyt  received  his  education  at 
the  district  and  a  select  school  at  Walton, 
afterward  teaching  school  for  one  winter.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-two  he  purchased  froiu  his 
father-in-law,    Thaddeus  Fitch,    the    farm    ad- 


joining the  one  upon  which  he  now  resides. 
Mr.  Hoyt  was  married  September  12,  1843,  to 
Letitia  Fitch,  a  daughter  of  Thaddeus  and 
Hannah  (Mead)  Fitch.  The  family  originally 
came  from  Connecticut,  Mr.  1-itch  coming  to 
the  farm  upon  which  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
now  resides  in  1808.  He  died  in  1879,  at 
the  advanced  age  of  ninety-five  years,  being 
an  extremely  active  man  until  the  time  of  his 
death.  He  was  Deacon  of  the  Congregational 
church  for  many  years.  He  was  a  man  of 
much  influence,  and  held  in  the  highest  re- 
spect by  all  throughout  the  town.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Thaddeus  S.  Hoyt  have  ever  been  active 
in  religious  matters,  leaving  the  church  at 
Walton  to  assist  in  building  one  at  \\'estbrook. 
This  church  was  organized  in  1857,  Mr.  Hoyt 
being  elected  Deacon,  and  serving  as  Tru.stee 
for  many  years.  He  has  been  superintendent 
of  the  Sunday-school  for  thirty  years,  Mrs. 
Hoyt  having  been  engaged  in  teaching  in  the 
school' for  nearly  that  length  of  time.  Li  poli- 
tics Mr.  Hoyt  is  a  supporter  of  the  Republican 
party.  He  has  always  been  known  as  a  saga- 
cious and  ]irudent  farmer,  his  good  judgment 
having  brought  his  farm  up  to  its  present  .state 
of  productiveness.  He  is  held  in  the  highest 
esteem  b\'  his  neighbors,  as  a  man  of  rare 
moral  and  intellectual  wt)rth.  Mr.  Hoyt 
served  as  Registrar  of  the  Delaware  Congre- 
gational Association  for  ten  years.  A  portrait 
of  Mr.  Thaddeus  S.  Hoyt  finds  an  appropri- 
ate place  in  this  gallery  of  Delaware  County 
worthies. 


TT^HARLES    P.    MOFFATT,   one  of  the 
I  \X      most      extensive      and       enterprising 

^^U^^  farmers  of  Delaware  County,  and 
a  citizen  of  Grand  Gorge,  Ro.xbury, 
was  born  October  12,  1827,  son  of  Isaac  and 
Mary  (Poppino)  Moffatt.  He  owns  and  occu- 
pies the  farm  on  which  his  paternal  grand- 
father settled    nearly  a   hundred   years  ago. 

Isaac  Moffatt,  Sr.,  was  born  May  6,  1750, 
and  married  Anna  Scott,  who  was  born  Au- 
gust 27,  1752.  He  came  from  the  north  of 
Ireland,  and  settled  in  Washingtonville, 
Orange  County,  where  he  worked  at  the  shoe- 
maker's trade.  In  1799  he  accompanied  an 
exploring    party    to    Delaware    County,    and. 


-^'K 


Thaddeus  S.   Hoyt. 


niOGRArilK  AI.    KIA  IKW 


^')0 


finding  here  a  suitaljle  place  tor  a  home,  re- 
turned for  his  wife  and  child,  lie  erected  a 
log  house,  cleareil  his  land,  and  worked  a 
little  at  shoemaking.  He  and  his  wife  had 
nine  children,  namely:  Jane,  horn  March  18. 
1782;  Francis,  born  May  17.  17S3;  Xathan, 
born  SeiJtemlier  27,  1784:  William,  horn 
I'ebruary  8,  1786;  Mary,  born  October  5, 
1787;  Isaac,  born  May  10,  17S9;  David,  born 
March  29,  1791;  I':imer,  born  February  15, 
'793;  George,  liorn  January  5.  1795.  The 
father  of  this  family  died  in  January,  1825: 
and  his  wife  passed  away  March  21,  1820. 
He  was  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  as  w^as 
also   his   wife. 

Their  son  Isaac,  the  father  of  Charles  I'., 
was  born  in  Orange  County,  May  10,  1789, 
and  was  but  ten  years  old  when  his  parents 
moved  to  Delaware  County.  His  school  davs 
were  e.\trcmely  limited;  but  by  improving 
his  leisure  at  home  he  became  a  well-read 
man,  and  continued  working  on  the  farm,  of 
whicli  he  assumed  the  management  after  his 
father's  death.  He  married  Mary,  daughter 
of  Jonas  and  ICleanor  Poppino,  who  was  born 
-September  12.  1796.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Poppino 
settled  on  the  farm  now  owned  bv  Charles 
Mayhand;  and  they  reared  the  following  chil- 
dren: Temperance,  .Mary.  ICliza,  Amanda. 
John  Ci..  Thomas  J.,  and  Charles.  Mr.  and 
.Mrs.  Isaac  Moffatt.  Jr.,  had  ten  children  - 
Cornelia,  Ivliza  J..  Adeline,  Fllen,  Charles 
P..  .  Sally  Ann,  .Amanda,  Mary.  .Samuel,  and 
Harriet.  Mr.  Moffatt  improved  his  farm  and 
erected  new  buildings,  living  to  be  sixty-eight 
years  of  age.  He  was  a  Whig,  and  with  his 
wife  was  a  member  of  the  Presb\teri:ui 
church. 

Charles  P.  Moffatt  received  a  district->Liino; 
education,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  mar- 
ried Mary  J.  Rickey,  daughter  of  John  M.  and 
Hannah  (Judson)  Rickey,  of  Jefferson.  Scho- 
harie County.  Mr.  Rickey's  father  owned  a 
farm  near  .Stamford,  which  was  then  in  an 
unsettled  condition.  He  was  a  CajJtain  in 
the  Revolutionary  War,  and  was  the  father  of 
eight  daughters  and  three  sons.  John,  the 
father  of  Mrs.  .Moffatt,  purchased  a  tract  of 
one  hundred  acres  of  timbered  land,  which  he 
cleared,    erecting   substantial    buildings.      He 


w.is  a  mendx-r  of  the  Methodist  I-ipiscopal 
church,  and  died  when  thirt\-lhree  years  of 
age,  the  father  of  two  children:  Caroline,  who 
married  Willi. un  Moore,  and  died,  leaviui; 
three  sons;  and  .Mary,  the  wife  of  .Mr.  .Mol- 
fatt.  His  widow  married  .Mr.  \'andvkr,  and 
became  the  mother  of  three  sons. 

Mr.  :ind  Mrs.  .Moffatt  have  Ii.id  ihrer  chil- 
dren, two  of  whom  are  now  living.  The 
other,  FUa  I".,  who  married  .Melvin  j'arsoiis, 
died  when  thirty-seven  years  of  age.  leaving 
one  daughter.  Carrie  A.  Moffatt.  who  married 
Mr.  Brown,  of  Oneonta,  and  has  one  child. 
Charles  W.,  the  only  son,  and  a  merchant  in 
.Stamford,  married  Ikdle  I'almadge.  and  has 
one  child.  .After  his  marriage  Mr.  Moffatt 
purchased  a  farm  of  one  hundretl  and  sixty 
acres  now  owned  by  Mr.  Iloleside,  and  there 
he  lived  for  four  years.  He  then  sold  tlKit 
property,  antl  purchased  the  old  homestead 
where  he  now  resides,  having  remodelled  the 
house,  the  frame  of  which  is  nearly  one  hun- 
dred years  old.  He  has  erected  commodious 
barns,  and  keeps  fifty  or  sixt\-  cows  and  six 
horses.  One  hundred  :icres  have  l)een  added 
i.0  th '■  original  land,  and  the  farm  of  three 
hundred  acres  is  now  one  of  the  finest  in  this 
l^art  of  the  countrv. 

Ml'.  Moffatt  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and 
for  nine  terms,  or  twent\'-seven  \ears.  held 
the  otTicc  of  Assessor,  to  which  he  was  three 
times  more  elected,  but  declined  to  serve; 
and  for  six  years  he  was  Fxcise  Commis- 
sioner. He  was  drafted  in  the  Civil  War. 
but  ])aid  three  hundred  dollars  for  a  substi- 
tute. Mr.  .Moffatt  is  a  mendier  of  the  Meth- 
odist P^|)iscoiJal  church,  and  is  identified  with 
all  the  good  works  of  that "  organizUion,  .is 
well  as  with  those  of  the  town  in  which  he 
resides. 


tl2)T<)R.ACF.    G.    ITIKLPS  is    a   plain    and 
[■n;  I      unassuming     but      infiuential    farmer 

I  ^9  I  and   trader,  living   in   L'nadilla.  two 

^*"^  miles  from  the  village  of  .Sidne\-, 
Delaware  County.  He  was  born  in  Dutchess 
County  in  November,  1834.  His  father, 
B.  W.  Phelps,  the  second  of  two  sons,  was 
born  in  the  same  county  in  1797.  and  died  in 
Afton,    Chenango  County,    in    our    centennial 


Goo 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


year,  his  age  lacking  only  one  year  of  four- 
score. 

B.  W.  Phelps's  wife  was  Anna  Crandle,  of 
Micidlefield,  Otsego  County,  the  daughter  of 
Isaac  Crandle.  They  were  married  about  the 
year  1819,  and  during  nearly  all  their  lives 
carried  on  a  farm  in  Guilford,  Chenango 
County.  They  had  eleven  children,  of  whom 
seven  sons  and  three  daughters  are  still  liv- 
ing, Mr.  Horace  Phelps  being  the  fourth  in 
the  order  of  birth.  The  one  deceased 
daughter  was  Octavia,  the  wife  of  George 
Brightman,  and  died  in  March,  1888,  about 
fifty-seven  years  old,  leaving  a  son,  Eugene 
Brightman.  Of  these  ten  surviving  children 
the  youngest  is  now,  at  the  close  of  1894, 
fifty-one,  and  the  oldest  over  seventy;  and  all 
are  married.  Their  mother  died  in  1865,  five 
years  before  her  husband;  and  their  bodies 
rest  in  the  East  Guilford  cemetery,  amid  the 
rural  scenes  wherewith  their  memories  are 
affectionately  and   respectfully  cherished. 

Their  son  Horace  grew  up  like  the  sons  of 
other  farmers,  attending  the  district  school, 
and  working  on  the  land.  With  dawning 
manhood,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  began  tp 
be  greatly  interested  in  live  stock,  which  he 
purchased  for  his  father,  who  was  every  inch 
a  farmer.  On  reaching  his  majority,  Horace 
bought  sheep  and  cattle  on  his  own  account, 
subsequently  hiring  three  or  four  farms  for 
stock-raising;  and  to  this  business  he  devoted 
the  most  of  his  time  for  two  years,  when  he 
began  to  trade  in  lumber  with  Charles  G. 
Brooks,  of  Mount  Upton,  buying  and  clearing 
timber  land,  and  getting  the  lumber  ready  for 
the  general  market,  but  chiefly  for  railroads 
and  mines,  having  contracts  for  the  supply  of 
the  Delaware  and  Hudson  Mining  Depart- 
ment. This  of  course  involves  an  immense 
traffic  throughout  Delaware  and  other  coun- 
ties, to  the  extent  of  a  hundred  thousand 
dollars  a  year.  In  all  Mr.  Phelps  personally 
owns  some  twelve  hundred  acres,  and  the  firm 
holds  still  larger  tracts  of  land.  He  is  a 
vigorous  man,  but  finds  himself  physically 
well  ta.Kcd,  as  one  of  the  busiest  men  in  the 
county,  looking  after  his  numerous  interests. 
In  politics  he  is  independent,  and  has  never 
held  any  public  office;  but  as  a  financier  he  is 
interested  in  six  national  banks  as  stockholder 


and  director.  In  Sidney  and  other  towns  he 
has  monetary  ventures  in  several  different  en- 
terprises, for  he  is  a  tower  of  strength  in 
every  line  of  work. 

Mr.  Phelps  married  in  1861,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-seven,  just  at  the  beginning  of  our 
great  Civil  War.  His  wife  was  Isabelle  Tal- 
cott,  of  Guilford,  the  daughter  of  Adna  and 
Eliza  (Wright)  Talcott,  natives  of  the  State 
of  Connecticut.  Lena,  the  only  daughter  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Phelps,  is  the  wife  of  Edgar 
Beal,  of  East  Guilford;  and  they  have  one 
son,  Horace  Beale,  named  for  his  affectionate 
grandfather.  An  eminent  preacher  has  well 
said,  in  words  w^hich  apply  to  our  subject: 
"  Remember  you  have  not  a  sinew  whose  law 
of  strength  is  not  action.  You  have  not  a 
faculty  of  body,  mind,  or  soul,  whose  law  of 
improvement  is  not  energy." 


Mr. 


'OHN  D.  VAN  AKEN  is  a  well-to-do 
and  prosperous  agriculturist,  whose  val- 
uable farm  is  located  about  seven  miles 
from  Walton  village,  near  Loomis. 
Van  Aken  is  a  native  of  the  Empire 
State,  having  been  born  in  Middletown,  No- 
vember 17,  1823.  His  father,  Albert  R.  Van 
Aken,  and  his  grandfather,  Gideon  Van  Aken, 
were  both  natives  of  this  State,  the  latter 
having  been  a  prosperous  farmer  of  Plattner 
Brook,  in  the  town  of  Delhi,  both  he  and  his 
wife  spending  their  last  years  on  the  farm 
which  they  wrested  from  the  forest. 

Albert  R.  Van  Aken  was  one  of  a  large 
family  of  children  born  to  his  parents.  He 
spent  his  early  life  in  the  manner  common  to 
farmers'  sons,  assisting  on  the  farm  until  at- 
taining his  majority.  His  first  purchase  of 
land  was  in  Walton,  being  the  farm  on  which 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  now  resides.  The 
land  was  then  in  its  primitive  wildness, 
scarcely  a  tree  having  been  cut.  He  erected 
a  log  house  and  barn,  and  by  dint  of  zealous 
industry  succeeded  in  placing  much  of  the 
land  in  a  yielding  condition.  During  his 
residence  here  he  saw  great  changes  in  the 
aspect  of  the  surrounding  country.  Selling 
this  property  to  his  son  John,  he  bought  an- 
other farm  about  a  mile  below  Loomis,  where 
he  lived  for  a  time,  going  thence  to  a  farm  in 


BIOGRA I*H ICAI,    RKV 1  KVV 


Co  I 


Tompkins,  near  Deposit,  wliere  lie  spcui  ihc 
remainder  of  liis  eartlily  life,  dying  at  the  aj;e 
of  seventy-two  years.  1 1  is  wife,  Catlierine 
Delemater,  was  the  tlauf;hter  of  Isaac  Dele- 
niatcr,  a  pioneer  of  Middletown.  to  which 
place  he  came  with  his  wife  when  the  tim- 
bered land  was  the  home  of  wolves,  bears,  and 
other  wild  animals.  The  log  cabin,  which 
was  their  first  dwelling-house,  was  the  place 
of  birth  of  the  larger  number  of  their  large 
family  of  children,  but  was  eventualh'  re- 
placed by  a  substantial  frame  house.  ()!  the 
union  of  Mr.  \'an  Aken  and  Catherine  Dele- 
mater nine  chihh-en  were  burn,  seven  of  whom 
grew  to  maturity,  namely:  Jeremiah,  who 
died  inthearmv;  John  I).;  William;  Jacob; 
James:  Matilda;  and  -Sarah  Jane.  Tiie 
mother,  who  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  died  in 
what  is  now  De[)osit. 

John  1).  \'an  Aken  was  educated  and  spent 
the  earlier  years  of  his  existence  in  Middle- 
town,  tilling  the  soil  in  season,  and  attending 
the  district  school  in  winter  and  whenever  he 
could  be  spared  from  work.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen  years  he  came  with  his  parents  to 
Walton,  and  for  some  time  thereafter  assisted 
in  the  labor  of  clearing  the  land  and  improv- 
ing the  farm.  He  subsequently  worked  nut 
b\'  the  month  for  a  while,  and,  when  twent\- 
eight  years  old,  bouglu  the  homestead  of  his 
father,  in  which  he  has  since  made  extensive 
improvements,  building  the  [nx'sent  fine  resi- 
dence and  the  convenient  barn  and  out-build- 
ings. In  addition  to  the  raising  of  the 
cereals  common  to  this  section  of  our  country, 
Mr.  \'an  Aken  devotes  his  attention  to  the 
dairy  business,  kee])ing  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
cows,  and  making  a  superior  grade  of  butter, 
which  he  disposes  of  to  pri\ate  customers. 

]\Ir.  Van  Aken  was  united  in  the  bonds  of 
matrimonv,  in  1862,  to  Miss  Jane  C.  White,  a 
daughter  of  Robert  and  Anna  White,  and  who 
came  from  Scotland  in  the  year  1S33  with  her 
parents.  A  brother.  John  G.  White,  now 
resides  in  Wisconsin.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  White 
were  early  settlers  in  the  town  of  Bovina. 
The  only  child  born  of  this  hapjjy  union  was  a 
bright  and  interesting  Ijoy,  named  \Miitc  G. 
Van  Aken,  who  ]5assed  from  this  life  when 
only  eleven  years  old.  Although  no  asjiirant 
for  political  honors,  Mr.  \'an  Aken  keeps  well 


inlonueil  on  topics  oi  general  inli/re>t,  anil  in 
politics  indorses  the  princii)les  of  the  Kei)Mljli- 
can  |)art\'.  Mrs.  \'an  .Aken  has  been  actively 
identified  with  the  I'resbyterian  church,  of 
which  she  is  a  \aluable  member,  since  I1S57, 
first  in  Hovina,  and  later  in  Walton. 


AMlvS  WILLIAM  CLRTLS  is  the  pro- 
jirietor  of  Maple  \'illa,  situated  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  fiom  I-'leischmanns 
depot.  lie  was  born  in  New  York 
City  in  i860,  October  24.  His  grandfather 
was  .Samuel  Curtis,  and  the  grandmotiier's 
maiden  name  w-as  Mary  .Ann  Kell.  .Samuel 
Curtis  was  born  in  London,  and  was  a  seafar- 
ing man,  dying  at  the  age  of  thirtv-five,  while 
in  command  of  a  ship.  His  wife  long  out- 
lived him.  dying  at  the  great  age  of  ninety- 
five.  Her  last  years  were  sj)jnt  in  this 
country  with  her  grandson  at  Majjle  \'illa. 
John  Kell  ('urtis,  eldest  son  of  Samuel, 
was  born  in  London,  but  came  t.>  America  at 
the  age  of  sixteen,  and  learne;!  the  jeweller's 
trade  with  his  uncle,  John  Hruck.  whose  shop 
was  on  Chatham  Street,  Xew  \'(jrk  Citv. 
After  six  V'ears'  apprenticeshi])  John  began 
at  the  age  of  twent_\-two.  to  trade  for  himself, 
at  Xo.  83  Bleecker  Street,  Xew  York  City, 
antl  soon  was  the  head  of  so  good  a  business 
that  at  the  end  of  five  years  he  sold  out  the 
Bleecker  .Street  shop,  and  opened  a  larger 
establishment  on  Broadway,  between  I'^igh- 
teenth  and  Nineteenth  .Streets,  where  he  re- 
mained for  seven  years.  15v  this  time  he  was 
nearly  thirty-five  years  ol  I,  aii.l  he  engaged  in 
the  anticpie  furniture  trade  for  two  years. 
Then  he  went  in  with  the  firm  of  Svi:)her  & 
(^).,  at  593  Broadway,  where  he  continued 
many  years,  when  he  died  at  the  age  of  sixty. 
His  wife,  Marv  I'razier  Gibson,  was  the 
daughter  of  a  thriving  jeweller.  James  Gib- 
son. Their  onlv  child  now  living  forms  the 
special  sni)ject  of  this  sketch.  .After  her  hus- 
band's ileath  Mrs.  .Mary  V.  Curtis  came  to 
Delaware  County  to  live  with  her  son.  and  is 
still  in  the  enjoyment  of  excellent  health. 
She  is  attractive  in  person  and  manner,  v.:*!-; 
an  excellent  faculty  for  business,  and 
to  the  Dutch  Reformed  church,  in  whh  n  mi 
husband  was  an  influential  I{lder. 


602 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


James  W.  Curtis  was  educated  in  the  New 
York  schools.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he 
became  a  clerk  with  Pope  &  Stevens,  hard- 
ware dealers  at  114  Chambers  Street,  New 
York  City.  After  three  years  he  went  into 
the  antique  establishment  of  Sypher  &  Co., 
where  his  father  was  also  employed,  at  593 
Broadway.  Still  later  he  came  to  Delaware 
County,  bought  the  sixty-five  acres  constitut- 
ing the  old  Patrick  Redmund  farm,  and  moved 
into  the  little  frame  house,  where  for  a  few 
years  he  entertained  a  few  city  boarders  in 
summer.  Being  of  an  enterprising  disposi- 
tion, and  having  a  wide  metropolitan  acquaint- 
ance, he  then  built  the  large  four-story  house 
called  Maple  Villa,  besides  a  barn  and  smaller 
buildings,  and  fitted  up  the  grounds  with  a 
shaded  lawn  and  four  maple  groves,  the  whole 
estate  being  situated  twenty-two  hundred  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  A  fine  road  leads 
from  the  village  to  the  Villa,  which  affords 
accommodation  for  nearly  sixty  boarders,  and 
is  always  well  filled  in  the  season.  The  land- 
lord also  owns  fine  turnouts  for  pleasure- 
driving,  and  keeps  eight  Jersey  cows,  which 
supply  cream  for  the  table.  He  also  raises 
his  own  chickens,  geese,  ducks,  and  turkeys. 
In  1883  he  married  Elizabeth  L.  Hatfield, 
daughter  of  Charles  R.  and  Christina  (Miller) 
Hatfield,  of  whose  family  sketches  may  be 
found  elsewhere  in  our  volume ;  and  they  have 
one  child,  John  K.  Curtis,  born  May  26, 
1888.  Mr.  Curtis  is  a  Democrat  in  politics; 
and  both  himself  and  wife  are  still  members 
of  the  Presbyterian  society  in  New  York  City, 
to  which  they  belonged  many  years  ago.  A 
poetic  preacher,  Dr.  Cyrus  A.  Bartol,  has 
wisely   written:  — 

"Labor  is  never  a  thing  of  mere  muscle  or 
nerve.  Are  not  intelligence,  will,  fidelity, 
and  the  sweat  of  the  brow  alike  in  the  stu- 
dent's and  the  digger's  task?"  And  this  is 
the  spirit  of  Mr.  Curtis's  life. 


CTAVE  B.  FLSH,  one  of  the  younger 
veterans  of  the  late  war,  a  well- 
known  blacksmith  of  Fish's  Eddy, 
is  a  native  of  Hancock,  of  which 
this  village  forms  a  part.  On  the  paternal 
side  he  is  of  Welsh  descent,  his  progenitors 


having  come  to  America  from  Wales  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  being  among  the  pio- 
neers  of   the   New   England   States. 

Edmund  Fish,  great-grandfather  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  married  Lydia  Billings,  of 
Connecticut.  He  was  a  Revolutionary  sol- 
dier, and  was  employed  throughout  his  life  in 
farming.  His  children  were:  Isaac,  Jehu, 
Daniel,  Billings,  Franklin,  Lydia,  Hannah, 
Lucy,  Rebecca,  and  Grace.  He  removed  to 
Vermont  after  the  Revolution,  and  later  went 
to  Liberty,  Sullivan  County,  N.Y.,  where  he 
was  one  of  the  first  settlers.  Isaac  Fish,  son 
of  Edmund,  was  born,  in  Stonington,  Conn., 
April  14,  1777,  and  received  his  education  in 
Vermont.  Removing  with  his  parents  to 
New  York,  he  assisted  his  father  on  the  farm, 
and  taught  school  in  Liberty.  He  married 
Rachel  Stewart,  daughter  of  Jehial  and 
Rachel  (Williams)  Stewart,  of  Massachusetts; 
and  they  had  five  children  —  Hiram,  Jane, 
John,    Stuart,    and   Charlotte. 

Hiram  Fish  was  born  in  Rockland,  Dela- 
ware County,  February  5,  1809,  and  was  an 
infant  when  his  parents  moved  to  Hancock. 
Later  he  removed  with  them  to  Rockland,  and 
afterward  to  Ellenville.  Having  received  his 
education  in  the  public  schools,  he  began 
while  quite  young  to  follow  the  life  of  a  lum- 
berman on  the  Delaware  River,  and  has  now 
for  many  years  been  a  steersman.  When 
twenty-six  years  of  age,  he  removed  to  Dela- 
ware County,  where  he  married  in  1836  Miss 
Persis  A.  Underwood,  daughter  of  Silas 
Underwood,  whose  former  home  was  near  Bos- 
ton, Mass.  Hiram  Fish  has  been  honored  by 
having  the  thriving  little  village  where  he 
resides  named  for  him;  and  he  gave  the  land 
on  which  the  depot  of  the  O.  &  W.  Rail- 
road stands,  that  it  might  be  placed  on  his 
side  of  the  river.  He  has  held  many  town 
oflfices,  as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  Assessor,  and 
Highway  Commissioner,  and  was  Postmaster 
from  1873  to  1887.  He  attends  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church.  He  and  his  wife  had 
eight  children,  five  of  whom  still  live, 
namely:  Rachel  J.,  who  resides  in  Denver, 
Col.;  Octave,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Emma  M.,  wife  of  S.  V.  Proudfit,  a  lawyer  of 
Glenwood,  la.;  Martha  H.,  who  married  E. 
Martin   Edwards,  of  Sidney  Centre:  and   Ed- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


miind.  The  latter,  who  was  born  in  1S39, 
enlisted  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  and 
served  until  1863,  when  he  was  discharp;ed  on 
account  of  sickness  and  returned  home.  In 
1 87 1,  hoping  to  improve  iiis  healtii,  hi-  went 
to  the  Adirondacks,  and  lemained  in  that  re- 
gion five  years,  following  the  occu]:>ation  of 
guide  and  hunter.  In  1876  he  returned  to  his 
native  town  of  Hancock,  and  seven  vears  later, 
in  1883,  was  appointed  Assistant  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park, 
and  held  that  position  until  the  park  was 
placed  under  the  control  of  the  War  Depart- 
ment in  1886.  He  returned  home  in  poor 
health,  but  in  1893  his  health  was  greatls 
benefited  by  a  course  of  treatment.  lie  has 
served  as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  votes  with 
the  Republican  party. 

Octave  B.  P'isii  was  educated  in  the  district 
schools,  and  in  1864,  when  but  seventeen 
years  of  age,  enlisted  in  Hancock  in  the  One 
Hundred  and  I'orty-fourth  Regiment,  Com- 
pany F,  and  took  ]iart  in  the  engagement  on 
James  Island,  in  Februar\',  1865,  serving 
until  the  close  of  the  war,  and  being  mustered 
out  July  14,  1865.  He  then  returned  to  his 
native  town,  where  he  engaged  in  lumbering 
until  1S70,  when  he  learned  the  blacksmith's 
trade,  at  which  he  has  since  been  employed. 
In  the  s]M-ing  of  1881  he  went  to  Colorado, 
where  he  worked  at  his  trade  for  a  time,  after 
which  he  returned  to  Hancock. 

November  14,  1873,  he  married  Miss  Pillen 
M.  Houck,  daughter  of  Edwin  antl  Mary 
(Read)  Houck:  and  they  have  had"  four  chil- 
dren: Jennie,  born  November  28,  1875:  Syd- 
ney, born  March  14,  1878;  and  Ennna  and 
Mary,  who  died  in  infancy.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Fish  attend  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
and  are  highly  respected  members  of  society. 
Mr.  Fish  has  been  Constable  for  a  number  of 
years,  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  is  es- 
teemed wherever  he  is  known. 


ried  llie  were  >|ienl  ill  i_"\ciUl).  \.^.;  I.ii! 
shortly  before  llie  deatii  nl  Mr.  Eclis,  r>n 
A[)ril  9,  1894,  they  moved  to  W'.iiton,  wluii 
she  now  resides  with  hei  childnn.  Ten  chil- 
dren were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  i'.ells  Cir.in- 
villc,  Henjanun,  Edward,  Junius,  Clanin  e. 
I'"annie,  Ailelaide,  .Sophronia,  Georgiana,  :ind 
Juliet;  and  all  are  living  but  three.  Mrs. 
ICells  also  has  seventeen  grandchildien  to 
comfort   her  in    her  declining  vears. 


RS.  EMMA  (McC'ALl.)  i:i:i.l.S 
is  the  widow  of  Edward  Eells,  one 
of  Walton's  old  residents.  .She 
was  born  in  Athens,  Pa.,  in 
1835,  antl  at  an  early  age  was  married  to  Ed- 
ward Eells.      Most   of   the  years  of   their  mar- 


INirS  HIRAM  i:i;i.ES  i>  one  .,1  the 
successful  business  men  of  \\'alti:)n, 
where  his  paternal  grandfailiei',  Henja- 
niin  H.  Eells,  was  an  early  settler, 
coming  from  Connecticut  in  1770.  In  those 
days  horseback  was  the  only  means  of  tra\-el- 
ling:  and  the  familv  emigrated  in  that  wa\', 
bringing  their  household  goods.  Benjamin^ 
son,  Jeremiah  Baird,  the  father  of  Junius  II. 
I'-ells,  is  now  seventy-three  years  old,  and  fur 
over  fifty  years  has  been  in  the  carriage  busi- 
ness. He  founded  the  firm  of  J.  B.  I^clls  & 
Son,  of  which  his  son  Frederick  now  has 
charge.  J.  B.  Eells,  or  "Baird,"  as  he  is 
better  known  to  the  older  residents,  is  one  of 
the  respected  citizens  of  Walton:  and  during 
the  late  war  he  was  elected  .Supervisor.  He 
and  his  wife,  Sarah  Olmsted,  are  enjo\ing 
the  fruit  of  a  well-spent  life  in  their  comfurt- 
able  home  on  North  Street. 

Mr.  Junius  H.  Eells  is  a  member  of  the 
firm  of'l':ells  &  Mott,  of  Oneida,  N.V.,  and 
rejiresents  them  on  the  road.  He  was  born  in 
Walton,  February  21,  1S46,  and  when  sixteen 
vears  old  enteretl  his  father's  carriage-shop  as 
an  apjircntice.  This  trade  he  followed  lor 
seventeen  years,  leaving  it  to  travel  fur 
Spencer  &  Co.,  of  Oneida,  whose  business  w;i> 
purchasefl  by  P'ells  &  .Mott  over  nine  years 
ago.  Mr.  Eells  was  married  December  27, 
1866,  to  lumicc  C.  -St.  John,  and  four  chil- 
dren were  born  to  them:  namely.  I'r.mk. 
Howard,  Bessie,  and  Emma,  of  whom  only 
I-'rank  and  lunma  are  living.  Mrs.  Eunice 
liells  died  October  23,  18S3.  On  I'ehruary 
12,  18S5,  Mr.  F.ells  married  his  second  wife. 
Minnie  Bass  Tibbals,  of  New  \'ork  City,  by 
whom  he  has  had  two  children  -  Martha  and 
Alden.      The    latter    died     August     4,     1892. 


6o4 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eells  also  have  an  adopted 
child,  Charlotte  Brownell.  Mrs.  Minnie  B. 
Eells  was  born  in  Stockbridge,  Mass.  Her 
grandfather  was  Jonathan  Chamberlain,  a 
Colonel  in  the  War  of  1812.  A  sturdy  and 
patriotic  citizen,  with  physical  powers  of  re- 
markable endurance,  he  lived  to  be  eighty-two 
years  old  without  the  loss  of  a  tooth ;  and  it 
was  his  boast  he  did  not  know  what  the  tooth- 
ache meant. 

In  closing,  it  should  be  said  that  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  Junius  H.  Eells,  is  one  of 
the  best-known  men  in  the  carriage  trade  of 
the  East,  and  the  business  of  his  firm  covers 
six  or  seven  States.  Since  May  i,  1892,  he 
and  his  family  have  occupied  their  spacious 
and  comely  new  residence,  built  in  the  Colo- 
nial style,  opposite  the  attractive  home  of  the 
North  sisters. 


(i)<^TLYSSES  S.  CAMPBELL  was  born  on 
/At  Campbell  Mountain  on  December  5, 
iCyl  1837.      The  ancestor  of  this  family 

^  of  Campbells  in  America,  and  the 
grandfather  of  Ulysses,  was  Archibald  Camp- 
bell, born  in  Scotland,  September  24,  1776. 
Early  in  1800  he  emigrated  to  America;  and 
in  Westchester,  N.Y.,  on  November  29,  1803, 
he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Jones.  Archi- 
bald moved  to  what  is  now  known  as  the  town 
of  Colchester,  but  which  at  that  time  was  al- 
most a  trackless  wilderness.  With  the  cour- 
age and  strength  that  marked  the  Scottish 
emigrant,  he  bought  a  tract  of  this  land,  and 
immediately  began  the  arduous  task  of  clear- 
ing a  site  for  a  habitation.  There  were  Ind- 
ians in  the  vicinity  more  to  be  dreaded  than 
the  wild  animals  of  the  forest,  and  more  jeal- 
ous of  the  encroachments  of  the  "pale  faces," 
who  each  year  came  in  greater  numbers  to 
usurp  the  domains. 

In  spite  of  the  almost  inconceivable  diffi- 
culties of  the  situation,  he  brought  his  wife 
to  their  humble  woodland  home;  and  amid 
.these  rough  surroundings  they  reared  a  family 
of  eleven  children.  Daniel  C,  their  eldest 
son,  born  November  20,  1804,  married  Phcebe 
Bogart,  and  died  November  12,  1874.  Eliza- 
beth, born  May  7,  1806,  married  Eleazer 
Conklin,  and  died  July  30,  1853.     Mary  Ann, 


born  March  29,  1808,  married  David  Warren. 
Robert,  born  May  4,  1809,  married  Hannah 
Radeker,  and  died  July  5,  1891.  Janette, 
born  May  15,  181 2,  married  Samuel  Hitt, 
both  deceased.  Jane  M.,  bom  May  7,  1814, 
married  W.  H.  Radeker,  deceased.  Archi- 
bald, born  September  8,  18 16,  married 
Charity  Voorhees,  and  lives  on  Campbell 
Mountain.  Cornelia,  born  August  i,  1818, 
married  Josiah  Warren,  and  died  June  15, 
1S69.  John,  born  April  30,  1820,  married 
Catherine  Sprague,  and  died  January  9,  1867. 
Esther,  born  June  3,  1822,  married  George 
Gregory,  who  died ;  and  she  was  married  a 
second  time  to  Enoch  Knapp.  Caroline, 
born  August  25,  1824,  was  married  twice, 
first  to  George  Elmwood,  second  to  Isaac  Wil- 
son, and  lives  in  Downsville. 

Archibald  Campbell  was  left  a  widower, 
his  wife  Mary,  who  was  born  in  Wales,  June 
17,  1783,  dying  on  the  date  of  her  birth,  in 
1827,  in  Colchester.  He  returned  to  Scot- 
land after  his  second  marriage,  and  died  in 
his  native  land  on  August  8,  1856.  Robert 
Campbell,  the  second  son  of  Archibald,  and 
the  father  of  Ulysses,  started  out  for  himself 
at  twenty-one  years  of  age.  He  bought  one 
hundred  acres  of  his  father's  land;  and  then, 
as  he  saw  that  the  business  in  which  he  had 
embarked — lumber  dealing  —  was  proving  a 
successful  venture,  he  purchased  other  timber 
tracts,  and  was  soon  considered  the  most  skil- 
ful steersman  who  floated  a  raft  on  the 
Delaware.  All  of  the  lumber  was  sent  to 
Philadelphia  down  the  river;  and  the  raftsmen 
were  piloted  back  to  Kingston,  from  which 
point  they  had  to  walk  home.  This  return 
journey  of  sixty  miles  Robert  often  made  in  a 
day,  being  of  remarkable  physique  and  very 
athletic.  He  was  deeply  partisan  during  the 
anti-rent  war,  and  was  a  Captain  in  general 
training  at  that  time. 

He  won  the  hand  of  Miss  Hannah  Radeker; 
and  to  them  were  born  five  children,  namely: 
Ulysses  S. ;  Francis,  born  September  i, 
1839,  dying  November  5,  1866,  who  was  a 
Sergeant  in  the  Civil  War;  Orin,  born  Octo- 
ber 28,  1844,  who  died  in  1875;  Helen,  born 
October  31,  1841,  now  Mrs.  C.  T.  Bogart, 
living  in  Downsville;  Celestia  Jane,  born 
October  20,  1846,  who  married   Mr.  E.  Brad- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


''°5 


ley,  and  is  now  dead.  Rolu-it  Campbell  died 
at  the  age  of  eighty-two  years,  having  lived  a 
useful  Christian  life  worthy  of  the  respect  and 
imitation  of  all  who  knew  him.  He  was  a 
Whig  in  political  faith  and  a  Tresbyterian  in 
religious  convictions.  His  wife,  Mrs.  Han- 
nah Radeker,  born  May  ^^'i,  i  .S04,  was  one  of 
a  large  family,  and  the  daughter  of  Jacob  and 
Sarah  Radeker.  Her  father  was  liorn  Sep- 
tember 9,  1776,  and  died  .A])ril  3,  1857.  Tlie 
dates  of  her  mother's  birth  and  death  were 
May    17,    1775,    and    .August    i,    J  8^4. 

Ulysses  S.  Camjibell  grew  up  on  the  old 
homestead,  which  he  afterward  bought.  He 
enlisted  in  the  United  Slates  service  in  1S62. 
in  Company  K,  One  Hundreil  and  l^'orty- 
fourth  New  York  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  was 
discharged  in  1S63.  In  1864  he  re-enlisted, 
and  remained  in  the  ranks  until  the  end  of 
the  struggle.  In  1871  he  was  married,  in 
Franklin,  to  ;\Iiss  Sarah  Francisco,  a  daughter 
of  DeLancy  and  Jeannette  (Davidson)  Fran- 
cisco. Mrs.  Campbell's  |)arents  were  among 
the  early  settlers  of  Colchester.  Her  father 
was  bom  September  19,  1807,  and  died  at  the 
age  of  eighty-three  years.  Her  motlier, 
whose  home  is  with  Mrs.  Campbell,  was  born 
September  li,  1811.  Mr.  Campbell  has  held 
several  offices,  and  is  now  Commissioner  of 
Highways.  He  formerly  turned  his  attention 
to  dairying,  and  has  lately  bought  land  in 
Downsville,  where  he  has  built  a  handsome 
residence.  He  lias  always  been  an  advocate 
of  Repid)lican  ])rinciples.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Campbell  are  in  the  communion  of  the  Pres- 
byterian churcli.  They  ha\e  no  children  ex- 
cept two  by  adoption,  namely:  Mae  D.,  who 
now  resides  with  them;  and  Sherwood  I). 
Francisco,  who  is  now  married,  and  resides 
on  Mr.  Cani[5beirs  farm.  They  also  gave  a 
home  to  Robert  C.  Bradley  and  (Jrin  Mathews 
for  a  number  of  vears. 


/^)  I'.ORGF  J.  HL"\'(;K,  a  thriving  farmer 
\  f5T  of  Dejjosit,  was  born  in  Tompkins. 
N.V..  September  7,  1840.  son  of 
Peter  Huyck,  jr.,  who  was  born  in  tlie  same 
town,  March  26,  1810,  he  being  the  son  of 
Peter  Huvck,  a  native  of  Schoharie  County. 
Isaac  Huyck,  father  of  Peter,  was  also  born 


in  .'-icnMiKine  County,  and  w,^^  n|  Hutch  de- 
scent, his  ancestors  having  been  among  thi- 
original  settlers  of  Xew  \'..rk  State,  wiiile  he 
was  one  of  the  founders  of  tlie  town  of  Si  ..dj,  , 
or,  as  it  is  now  ca!le<l,  Schoharie.  Kmioving 
from  that  place,  he  eventu.illy  bou.-hl  ;i  farn^ 
in  what  is  now  Cannonsviile,  on  Trout  Creek. 
.As  time  went  on,  iniprnvements  were  made  by 
him,  and  the  acreage  increased.  Isaac  Huvck 
died  when  ninety  six  years  of  age,  on  the  f;um 
lie  Jiad  cleared,  and  whicli  is  still  held  in  his 
lamily.  His  son  Peter  assisted  with  the  work 
on  the  farm,  and  later  added  to  the  number  of 
acres  on  Trout  Creek.  .At  the  breaking  out 
of  the  Revolutionary  War  lie  enlisted  with 
the  American  forces  under  different  com- 
mands, and  many  and  various  were  the  anec- 
dotes of  those  exciting  times  he  would  relate 
to  his  grandchildren.  He  distinctly  remem- 
bered the  (light  of  his  parents  from  their 
home  near  Kingston,  whence  they  were  driven 
by  the  Indians.  Peter  Huyck  was  married 
twice,  first  to  Susana  Gardner,  of  Kingston; 
and  from  this  marriage  there  were  four  chil- 
dren—  Lottie,  Annie,  (leorge,  and  Isaac. 
He  married  for  his  second  wife  Cornelia 
Huyck,  a  distant  relative;  and  from  this  union 
there  were  seven  children — Peter,  Andrew, 
Jacob,  Flisha,  Susan,  Julia,  and  Lavinia.  Mr. 
Huyck  lived  on  the  homestead  on  Trout  Creek, 
and  died  there  when  a  very  old  man. 

Peter  Huyck,  Jr.,  started  in  active  business 
life  for  himself  as  steersman,  rafting  logs  to 
Philadeliihia.  Later  he  took  to  buving  nn;l 
selling  live  stock,  walking  long  distances, 
driving  his  herd  before  him,  buying  and  sell- 
ing as  he  went.  At  the  end  of  a  ^few  years 
he  bought  a  farm,  which  he  stocked  well,  and 
in  connection  with  his  farm  work  engaged 
again  in  lumbering.  When  twenty-seven 
years  of  age,  he  married  I^sthcr  -Seeley,  daugh- 
ter of  William  and  Mary  (Benedict )  Seelev, 
of  Sidney.  They  had  five  children,  namelv: 
William  K.,  who  married  Lavinia  (Begeal) 
Houghtaling,  the  widow  of  P^lias  Houghtal- 
iiig,  who  was  killed  in  the  late  war:  George 
J.,  the  subject  of  this  biograjihy;  Julia  .A., 
who  married  Charles  Downs,  of  Deposit: 
.Mary  I£.,  who  married  William  Begeal,  son 
of  Samuel  and  Charlotte  (Barle\  )  Begeal.  of 
Schoharie   County;  and   Celia  .Ann.  who  m.ir- 


6o6 


BIOGRAPHICAL  REVIEW 


ried  Charles  A.  Palmatier,  of  Tompkins. 
Peter  Huyck,  Jr.,  still  lives  at  this  writing, 
scarcely  showing  his  advanced  age  of  eighty- 
five  years,  and  remembers  all  important 
events  that  have  occurred  during  his  life. 
Me  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian church  in  his  town,  and  its  first  Deacon. 
He  was  in  his  young  days  a  Democrat;  but  at 
the  starting  of  the  Republican  party  he  cast 
his  vote  with  them,  and  has  continued  to  do 
so  up  to  the  present  time. 

George  J.  Huyck  received  his  education  at 
the  district  schools,  helping  his  father  with 
the  farm  work  at  odd  times,  and  had  just  be- 
come of  age,  in  1862,  when  the  war  broke 
out.  He  enlisted  in  the  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-fourth  Regiment,  New  York  Volun- 
teers, served  three  years;  and  at  James 
Island,  in  front  of  Charleston,  on  February 
17,  1865,  was  shot  by  two  minie  balls,  which 
struck  both  legs.  After  lying  in  the  hospital 
at  Beaufort,  S.C.,  he  returned  to  the  regi- 
ment, and  was  granted  a  furlough  of  thirty 
days.  He  reported  for  duty  at  the  end  of 
that  time,  and  was  mustered  out  in  Jidy  of 
the  same  year.  After  remaining  at  home 
about  two  years,  he  went  to  Riceville,  Mitch- 
ell Countv,  la.,  where  he  engaged  in  farming 
and  stock-raising.  He  remained  there  three 
years,  then  sold  out,  returned  East,  and 
bought  the  homestead,  where  he  engaged  in 
farming,  dairying,  and  lumbering  to  a  certain 
extent.  In  1S92  Mr.  Huyck  sold  that  place, 
and  went  to  the  DeMoney  farm,  where  he  re- 
mained but  a  short  time,  as  in  1894  he  bought 
the  Whitakcr  estate,  one  of  the  best  and  old- 
est in  the  country. 

On  November  27,  1872,  (ieorge  J.  Huyck 
married  Ann  E.  Travis,  of  Hale's  Eddy,  a 
descendant  of  the  old  Whitaker  family,  the 
original  owners  of  his  estate,  and  a  sister  of 
Squire  Travis,  of  Hale's  Eddy,  town  of  De- 
posit. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Huyck  have  three  chil- 
dren—  William  Jan,  Rutherford  .Squire,  and 
Celia  Ann.  Mr.  Huyck  is  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  and  his  wife  a  member 
of  the  Baptist  church  of  Tompkins.  He  was 
a  charter  member  of  Hathaway  Post,  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  of  Deposit,  and  is  hon- 
ored and  respected  as  a  patriotic  and  useful 
.  citizen. 


/m-p 


URDEN  W.  BATES,  a  descendant  of 
\\^  I  an  old  and  honorable  Scottish  fam- 
ily, was  born  in  the  town  of  Col- 
chester, Delaware  County,  N.Y.,  October  13, 
1863.  His  great-grandfather,  Robert  Bates, 
left  Monedie,  Scotland,  in  1801,  and  came  to 
America,  bringing  papers  attesting  a  highly 
honorable  Christian   parentage. 

James,  the  grandfather  of  Gurden,  was  a 
boy  of  ten  years  when  his  father  emigrated  to 
this  country;  and  he  grew  up  thoroughly  im- 
bued with  American  ideas  and  Republican 
principles.  He  owned  a  place  in  Delhi, 
which  he  sold,  and  then  settled  on  the  estate 
in  Colchester  known  as  the  "Squire  Tate 
farm,"  a  tract  of  four  hundred  acres  of  land. 
Here  he  conducted  an  extensive  business  in 
lumber  dealing,  floating  his  timbers  down  the 
Delaware  to  their  markets.  He  belonged  to 
the  political  party  known  as  Whig  in  his  gen- 
eration, and  was  of  the  old-school  Presbvte- 
rian  faith.  To  him  and  his  wife,  Elizabeth 
Bates,  were  born  six  children,  namely:  Mary, 
the  wife  of  William  Polleck,  of  Iowa;  Sarah, 
the  wife  of  Mr.  Jared  Fuller,  of  Iowa;  Har- 
riet, who  married  Simon  Horton,  both  dead ; 
Robert;  James,  Jr.,  who  married  Amanda 
Dann,  of  New  York  City;  Gurden  E.,  who, 
after  serving  in  the  Civil  War,  went  to  Kan- 
sas, and  died  there  in  1888. 

Robert  Bates,  son  of  James,  was  born  in 
Delhi  on  February  25,  1823.  He  was  edu- 
cated in  the  district  schools,  and  worked  with 
his  father  in  the  lumber  business  until  he  was 
twenty-four  years  old,  when  he  married  Miss 
Mary  Wilson,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Millicent 
(Rumsey)  Wilson.  Robert  Bates  bought  the 
northern  portion  of  his  father's  farm  when  he 
first  began  farming,  and  finally  purchased  the 
entire  estate.  He  was  largely  engaged  in 
lumber  dealing,  in  which  he  was  eminently 
successful.  He  held  the  office  of  Postmas- 
ter from  1849  to  1852,  and  was  Justice  of  the 
Peace  for  twelve  years.  He  was  a  Republi- 
can, and  in  1879  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Assembly,  and  was  Sabbath-school  superin- 
tendent for  thirteen  years.  He  died  on  the 
13th  of  July,  1888,  leaving  his  wife,  who  sur- 
vived him  two  years. 

Gurden  W.  Bates,  son  of  Robert  and  Mary 
(Wilson)  Bates,  grew  up  and  was  educated   in 


UKXJRAI'IIICAI.    KKVIKW 


V.7 


his  native  town  of  Colchcsti,!.  After  liis 
father's  death  he  took  complete  control  of  tlic 
home  farm.  He  and  his  widowed  mother 
moved  afterward  to  iJownsville.  when  the  lat- 
ter died.  Mr.  Giirden  Hates  was  aiipointeil 
Deputy  Sheriff  in  the  autumn  of  1889,  and 
continues  to  hold  this  office.  He  belonj;s  to 
the  Rei)ub]ican  jKirty  in  politics,  and  is  in  the 
conmuMiion  of  the  I'reshvterian  church. 


,incc  111  innl-.liii-    u|)  the  tnwn,  and   ..n,-   ,,1    t-iu- 
I  strong-  workers  in  the  Maptisl  cliurrh.       He  had 

I  vv'i  I     VI'  I  \->  'k;      I  •-11  'K     i  it      tfli  1  .111      Ki  .1'. .     I .  :  •..     * I.  :  1 


lAKl.I'lS  K.  S(_()l'ii;i.D  is  a  worthy 
re|)resentati\e  nf  an  honored  pioneer 
il^  ^,  family  of  the  town  of  .Masonville. 
His  birth  occurred  on  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides,  Maich  j6,  185^,  it 
bciiii;-  the  home  of  his  paients,  Hiiani  and 
Angeline  (Olmstead)  Scofieitl,  the  former  of 
whom  was  born  in  the  town  of  Half  Moon, 
Saratoga  County,  May  J7,  iSij,  and  the  latter 
in  Mason\ille,  ( )ctober  10.    1814. 

^His  ])ati'rnal  grandfather,  (lilbert  Scoiield, 
and  his  maternal  grandfather,  Henjamin  ()lni- 
stead,  both  served  as  soldieis  in  the  Revolu- 
tion. The  f<irmer  was  of  Ivnglish  ancestry, 
and  the  latter  of  h'.nglish  and  (iernian.  (lil- 
bert .Scofield  came  to  Mason\ille  with  his 
familv  in  181  :;,  ami  bought  the  farm  adjoining 
the  one  where  his  grandson  now  resides,  it 
being  then  in  a  wihl  anil  unimproved  condi- 
tion, a  small  opening  on  which  a  lude  log 
house  had  been  built  being  the  on]\  attempt  at 
improvement.  (  )n  a  hill  neai  h\'  Mrs.  .Sco- 
field, when  retiH'ning  fiom  a  neighbor's  one 
evening,  was  chased  l)\'  wdlves.  .She  carried 
a  pine  torch  in  hei'  hand,  anil  was  thus  seen  bv 
her  husband,  who  took  a  toich  and  lan  out  to 
meet  her.  ( I  ilberl  '.Scoheld  was  an  ingeiiicjus 
man,  and  before  the  invention  of  iion  and  steel 
l)loughs  irsed  to  make  wooden  ones  to  irse 
in  culti\ating  his  land.  He  was  the  first 
person  in  town  to  introduce  a  cook-slo\e  into 
his  household.  lie  died  wiien  but  tift\-five 
\ears  old,  his  wife  li\ing  to  the  age  of  eight\- 
one.  Both  were  members  of  the  Baptist 
chiu'ch  ;  and,  |)<dit icall\\  he  was  a  Democrat. 
Of  their  large  family  of  ten  children,  Hiram, 
the  father  of  Charles,  is  the  onl}'  one  now- 
living.  Henjaniin  ()lmstead  was  also  an  early 
settler  of  Mason\-ille,  anil  managed  a  line  farm 
of  one  hundred  acres.      He  was  of  great   assist- 


Iwd    wives,  each   o|    whom    bore   him   Iwn  chil 
dren,    .\ngeline    being   a    daughter    ■ 
marriage.       Both    he    and    his    : 
when  about  se\ent\   vears  of  ,ige 


r   o|    his    (iist 
isl      u  ill-    dinl 


Hii 


am   .Scofield  grew  to  inaidi«ioc|    in    .M;iM,n 
ville,      receiving     his     schoolin-      in     the     lo; 
school-house,      which,      with 
benches,     stood    two    or    thiee   mijrs   from 
h<ime. 


its      ],in. legged 

.     mi  Irs    Ironi    hi> 

(  )n  .September  8,  18^''.  he  was  united 
in  marriage  to  .Angeline  (  )lmstead,  the  Kew 
Henry  Robertson,  who  now  resides  in  Ben- 
nettsx  i  lie.  ijerforminj. 
his  man  iaLie  hi 


the     ceremoUN.       .\fter 


his  marriage  he  bought  land  near  the  cdd  lionu- 
stead,  a  part  of  which  he  alreadv  owneil,  am 
on  which  he  engaged  in  general  farming  an. 
stock-raising  for  many  \ears.  In  piditics  he 
is  a  stanch  Democrat,  and  has  alwa\s  been  in- 
fluential in  local  affairs,  haxing  served  as 
.Supervisor  one  term,  besides  holding  minor 
offices.  He  is  yet  vigorous  in  intelleit  and 
botlv  bii-  one  <if  hi.s  advanced  vears,  and  is 
looked  u])on  with  respect  and  esteem.  He  is 
liberal  in  his  religious  views.  (  )f  the  nine 
children  born  to  him  and  his  wife,  who  passed 
away  Jidv  ,0,  1888.  eight  ,u;rew  to  maturitv 
and  si.\  are  now  living,  the  familv  lecord  being 
as  lidlows:  (iilbert  B. ,  born  .August  6,  1 8  ^<j, 
was  married,  and  died  Mav  15,  1886,  in  Dead- 
wood,  Dak.  ;  .\daline,  born  Mav  ^,  1841,  died 
July  j8,  1865;  Matilda  .A.,  born  December 
16,  1842,  is  the  wife  of  William  Mosher.  of 
l^ainbridge;  Louisa,  born  ( )ctober  2.  1844.  is 
the  widow  ol  I-jnerson  l-'rcnch,  and  resides  in 
Morrisville ;  Mai'v,  born  .August  j8,  1846.  is 
the  wife  of  (  )scar  Broad,  of  .North  .Sanford ; 
lliiam  ]•;.,  born  July  \2.  1848.  died  March 
25.  1849;  ( )scar,  born  l-'ebiiiary  7,  1850,  is  a 
.-...;, I..,,.    ..I     (■...■i;.i..      ii.,       ,,-u..',..    1,..   '.,..„.     .. 


resilient  of  Carlisle,  i'a 
creamery  ;  Charles  R.  :  I 
[4,     1855,    is   the    wife    of    Levi    ( )1 


where    he    owns    a 

a     r. .    horn    March 

m stead,    of 


North  .Sanford. 

Charles  R.  has  s]jent  the  larger  part  of  his 
life  in  the  i)lace  of  his  nativity,  having  ac- 
quired his  education  in  its  district  schools 
and  in  theacademv  in  L'nadilla.  lie  rem. lined 
a  member  of  the  ixuental  homestead  until 
attaining  his  majoritv,  when  he  began  life  for 
himself.  lie  has  devoted  his  attention  to  cul- 
tivating   the    soil,    and   for    three   vears   was   a 


6o8 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


resident  of  Afton,  where  he  owned  a  good  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  eight  acres.  This  he  sold 
in  order  to  buy  the  homestead  nl  his  parents, 
of  which  he  tool<  ]3ossession  in  1892,  and 
which  he  and  his  estimable  wife  are  now 
managing  with  profit.  His  farm,  containing 
one  hundred  and  forty-nine  acres,  is  pleasantly 
located,  well  supplied  with  substantial  build- 
ings, and  stocked  with  Jersey  grade  cattle. 

On  November  i,  1876,  Mr.  Scofield  married 
Miss  Deeta  Keith,  who  was  born  July  21, 
J  853,  in  Milford  Centre,  Otsego  County, 
being  a  daughter  of  Amos  and  Lydia  (Scott) 
Keith,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Mr.  Keith  was  a  shoemaker  by 
trade,  but  after  his  removal  to  Milford  he 
engaged  in  farming.  He  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy-six  years.  His  widow  is  still  living, 
and  makes  her  home  in  Binghamton  with  her 
daughter,  Mrs.  William  Darling.  He  was  a 
sound  Republican,  and  both  he  and  his  wife 
were  members  of  the  Ba])tist  church.  They 
reared  ten  children,  eight  of  whom  are  living,- 
namely:  Andrew  Jackson,  of  Hornellsvillc ; 
Lockwood,  of  Bainbridge;  Mary  Darling, 
residing  in  Binghamton;  Newton,  of-  Mason- 
ville;  ]{liza  Phelps,  of  Chicago;  George  and 
Albert,  of  Sidney ;  and  Mrs.  Scofield.  The 
deceased  were  Luzerne,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  years;  and  Angeline  Green,  who  died 
in  Binghamton,  at  thirty-four. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Scofield  have  four  children : 
Harvey  F. ,  born  January  11,  1879;  Emerson 
C,  born  September  2,  1885;  Florence  A., 
born  November  30,  1889;  and  Mary  ]i.,  born 
June  29,  1 891.  Both  parents  are  valued  mem- 
bers of  the  Baptist  church,  and  in  politics 
Mr.  Scofield  is  closely  identified  with  the 
Democratic  party.  A  man  of  undoubted  in- 
tegrity, he  is  a  member  of  Masonx'ille  Lodge, 
No.  606,  A.  F.  &  A.  M. 


fOlIX  M.  ORR  was  born  on  the  farm  in 
Kortright,  where  he  now  resides  and 
has  lived  throughout  his  life.  He  be- 
longs to  an  old  and  prominent  family, 
the  members  of  which  have  been  connected 
with  the  history  of  this  town  since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  century.  Mr.  Orr's  grandfather, 
John  Orr,  was  a  nati\e  of  Ireland  and  a  pioneer 


of  Kortright,  where  he  located  his  habitation 
about  the  year  1800,  buying  half  of  the  land 
now  occupied  by  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
The  tract  consisted  of  one  hundred  acres,  par- 
tially improved,  containing  a  small  clearing 
and  a  log  house ;  and  here  he  resided  for  manv 
\ears,  the  latter  ]jart  of  his  life  being  spent  in 
Kortright.  John  Orr  was  an  industrious  and 
religious  man.  He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
five  years,  his  wife  Elizabeth  also  living  to  a 
good  old  age.  Both  were  members  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  church  ;  and  they  were  the 
parents  of  seven  children,  three  sons  and  four 
daughters,  all  of  whom  have  passed  away. 

Their  son,  David  Orr,  was  born  in  Dublin, 
Ireland,  but  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years 
came  to  America,  where  he  married  Nancy 
Spencer,  of  Davenport,  N.  Y.  He  was  a 
weaver  by  trade,  but  gave  his  whole  attention 
to  farming  in  this  countr\-.  His  new  occupa- 
tion proved  eminently  successful,  and  he  be- 
came the  owner  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-two 
acres  of  land.  His  death  occurred  in  the  town 
of  Kortright,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three  years, 
his  wife  dying  when  sixty-five  years  old,  both 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  Of  their 
eleven  children,  six  still  survive,  namely: 
Elizabeth,  a  resident  of  Kortright;  Robert, 
who  lives  in  Almeda;  John,  the  subject  of  this 
biography;  Joseph,  of  Kortright;  William, 
also  residing  in  Kortright;  David  M.,  a  resi- 
dent of  Davenport.  The  following  have  passed 
away :  Sarah,  Nancy,  Hester,  Mary,  and  James. 

John  M.  Orr  was  born  November  12,  1823, 
and  grew  up  on  the  old  home  farm,  attending 
the  district  .school.  In  early  manhood  he  pur- 
chased the  old  homestead,  where  he  resided  for 
twenty-six  years,  and  then  bought  the  farm 
which  he  now  occupies,  on  the  Beatty  Brook 
road.  He  owns  two  hundred  and  sixty-two 
acres,  carrying  on  general  farming  and  dairy- 
ing. He  has  fifty  cows,  and  manufactures 
butter  of  the  finest  quality. 

On  January  20,  1856,  Mr.  Orr  married  Miss 
Mary  J.  Pogue,  who  was  born  in  Kortright, 
August  8,  1836,  a  daughter  of  John  and 
Hannah  (Kilpatrick)  Pogue.  Mr.  Pogue  was 
a  native  of  Ireland,  and  died  at  the  age  of 
fifty-two  years,  his  wife,  who  was  born  in 
Kortright,  living  until  her  si.vty-second  year. 
Both  were   Presbyterians.      Mr.    and  Mrs.   Orr 


(John    M.  Orr. 


KIOORAl'lllfAI.    KKVIKW 


have  been  called  lo  pan  with  mie  lIuUI.  Alai; 
I-".,  wife  of  J.  S.  I'ditei-.  wlm  died  at  the  a-e 
of  thirty-three  years;  and  thev  haw  tliree 
childien  now  li\ini;-.  nanieh  ;  James  K.  who 
resides  at  home  and  assists  his  father  in  tile 
manat;enient  of  the  farm;  1  )a\  id  \\  . .  wiio  also 
helps  on  the  home  farm;  and  Jenn\  il.,  wife 
ot  I\ol)ert  S.  McCraeken,  a  farmer  of  Kort 
riuht.  James  K.  (  )rr,  eldest  son  of  John  M., 
has  taken  an  acti\e  part  in  politics,  ha\in,i; 
been  nominated  for  Super\isoi-  bv  the  Demo- 
cratic ]Kuty.  lie  is  a  sin-le  man,  of  liberal 
religi()ns  \iews,  and  is  a  very  siiccessfid 
farmer. 

Mr.  ()rr's  larm  is  carried  on  nndei"  the  lirm 
name  of  J.  .M.  ( )rr  &  Sons,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  thriving  in  this  section  of  the  countrw 
The  family  attend  the  I'reslnterian  church,  of 
which  Davitl  Orr  is  a  Deacon.  Ihev  are 
hi_i;hly  resjiected  and  honored  throughout  the 
town  where  the\-  reside,  the  entire  faniilv 
being  industrious,  energetic,  and  u]iright.  A 
portrait  ol  this  wortlu'  representatixe  of  the 
sagacious  and  thrixing  agricidturists  of  Dela- 
ware Coimt}-  will  be  found  on  a  neighboring 
Ijage. 


HOMA.S  HILL.  iJininietor  anti  manager 
)f  the  .Ackerly  Hotel  in  Margarettviiie. 
was  born  in  .Sjiokan,  L'Ister  Coimtx',  on 
.\])ril  19,  1 S.^^).  and  is  a  grandson  of  .An- 
drew Hill,  of  I'eckskili.  who  was  a  large 
landholder,  and  one  of  the  first  ]irojectors  of 
the  I'lster  &  Delaware  Railroad.  Andrew 
Hill  li\ed  to  an  honorable  old  age,  haxingbeen 
an  energetic  and  successful  worker  foi'  the 
Democratic  parts',  in  whose  [)rinci]des  he  was 
thorough !}■  and  intelligeiUh'  \ersetl.  .Six  sons 
were  born  to  him,  namch':  Abraham;  Will- 
iam; Samuel;  John;  .Andiew,  Jr.;  and 
Thomas  —  all  of  whom  are  now  dead.  i'homas 
Hill  of  the  second  generation,  and  the  falhei' 
of  the  Thomas  of  whom  this  sketch  is  wi'itten, 
was  also  a  large  land-owner,  and  was  engaged 
as  a  merchant  farmer  arid  lumber  dealer.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  legislature  in  1  iS64,  and 
was  an  ardent  Democrat  and  able  politician. 
He  held  the  office  of  Superxisor,  ami  was  prom- 
inent in  civic  affairs  generallx'.  In  1X40  he 
married  Maria  Russell,  a  daughter  (if   William 


Russell,  a  l.unui  ol  I'Nler  t  ounlx,  ujin  u.i-^ 
successlul  in  business  ;uid  the  fiither  i.|  a  hii'.- 
lamily.  The  nundier  of  desceiiikml-.  was  rr 
peated  in  this  gener.ition,  six  rhildren  b.in;; 
born  to  Ihomas  and  .Maria  (Russelh  Hill. 
<  )ne  ol  their  sons  was  J.>seph,  wh.i  m:irried 
Lli/ibeth  llogan,  :in<l  who  li\,-s  will,  hj^ 
family  at  Shok:ui.  Thom;is  Hill,  the  soun-er. 
with  whose  name  tliis  article  begins,  was  t-du 
cated  in  the  Shokan  school,  ;iu(l  beg.m  Inrsiness 
at  the  age  of  t wentx-lxvn  xears  :it  .Sh.indiiken  as 
a  merchant,  continuing  in  mercantile  life  for 
eighteen  years,  after  xvhieh  periorl  he  iioiighi 
the  .\ckerly  Hotel  in  Marg.irettx  ille.  which  is 
still  under  his  management.  .Mr.  Hill  wim 
lor  his  wife  Miss  Jessie  Huih.ius,  a  dauglUer 
of  l-'rancis  H.  and  Louisa  (I'reston)  Hurhaus. 
Three  children  were  born  c.f  this  union,  as 
lollows:  .Maud,  born  l-"ebiuar\  :;.  iNjci; 
Ihomas  H..  now  dead,  Ixirn  I'ebi  uarx  15.  1S74. 
and  Jessie  M.,  born  on  .August  20.  1  Sj^.  I',,]- 
loxving  the  family  traditions.  Mr.  Hill  is  what 
may  be  called  a  "Ijorn  "  Democrat,  and  holds 
a  political  office  after  the  manner  of  his  fore- 
fathers. 

.Mis.  Hill's  father,  j-'rancis  li.  liurhaus. 
was  a  son  ol  luKvard  Hurhaus.  |i. .  ;nid  a 
grandson  of  Ltlward  and  M;ii\-  .\ewinan  Hui 
bans.  I'.dward.  the  ancestor,  was  a  native 
of  Kingston,  coming  after  the  Re\'oliitionar\ 
War  to  Ro.xbury,  where  he  bought  the  farm 
noxv  owned  b\  R.  Modre.  I'rancis  H.  Hur- 
haus started  to  earn  his  own  lixing  at  fourteen 
years  ot  age.  but  short Ix'  abandonetl  farming 
antI  learnetl  the  trade  of  liiacksmith,  in  which 
he  was  verx'  successful.  He  afterward  trav- 
elled as  far  west  as  Chicago,  and  in  all  the 
.States  on  this  side  of  the  Mississippi  River, 
for  Pratt.  .Snyder  &  Co.,  oil-cloth  manufact- 
iners.  He  ne.vt  went  into  the  hotel  busi- 
ness, which  1h-  finally  gave  up  to  enter 
mercantile  life.  He  is  a  resident  of  M;ii 
irarettville. 


(^OII.X  <•.  WHirARI-.R.  u  farmer  ..1 
Trout  Creek,  in  Tomjikins.  Delaware 
Coimtv,  a  representative  of  a  well- 
known  pioneer  familv,  was  l>orn  in   this 

town,   .-\ugust    2-.   i^>49.      He  is  a  g-     '    d- 

son   of   Ucujanw-n  W'hitaker.  who  w.i  i- 


6l2 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


of  Wyoming  Valley,  Pa.,  and  with  his  family 
was  obliged  to  flee  from  the  Indians  and  Tories 
at  the  time  of  the  massacre,  his  wife  bringing 
her  baby  on  her  back,  while  he  carried  the 
older  child.  Together  they  made  their  way  on 
foot  to  the  Delaware  Valley,  where  14eaj*m-in 
W'hitaker  built  a  house  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
river,  and  resided  here  until  his  death  at  an 
ailvanced  age.  His  son  John,  the  baby 
brought  on  that  long  and  weary  journey  from 
Wyoming,  having  grown  to  manhood,  settled 
near  what  is  now  Sanford,  Broome  County, 
and,  after  clearing  the  land,  erected  the  build- 
ings which  still  stand  on  the  place.  He  mar- 
ried Catherine  Weaver;  and  they  had  these 
children  —  Squire,  Henry,  Ogden,  Stephen, 
Richard,  l-:iizabeth,  Zil'pha,  '  Phebe,  Polly, 
Catherine,  and  Margaret.  John  Whitaker  died 
at  the  age  of  ninety-six  years. 

Richard  Whitaker,  the  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  biography,  was  born  October  7,  1816, 
in  Sanford,  and  attended  the  district  school 
and  assisted  his  parents  on  the  farm.  When 
twenty-one,  he  purchased  a  farm  in  Sanford, 
which  he  sold  four  years  later,  buying  the  farm 
now  occupied  by  his  son.  He  married  Polly 
Ann  Hill,  born  I'ebruary  22,  i<Si6,  daughter 
of  Isaac  and  Clarissa  (Parks)  Hill,  of  Tomp- 
kins. Mrs.  Polly  A.  Whitaker  died  April  20, 
1883.  Isaac  Hill  was  a  pioneer  farmer  of  that 
section.  The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rich- 
ard Whitaker  were  the  following:  Josejihine, 
born  February  24,  1845,  the  wife  of  William 
11.  Brewer,  a  farmer  of  Masonville,  died  Janu- 
arv  28,  1894,  leaving  four  children,  namely: 
Martha  K.,  born  January  1,  1872:  Marion  V... 
born  March  3,  1873;  Alberta  L. ,  born  Septem- 
ber 3,  1875;  and  Helen  M,  born  January  8, 
1883.  Fredonia,  born  January  13,  1847,  mar- 
ried Albert  (iould,  of  (iroton,  Tompkins 
County,  and  has  four  children:  Alice,  born 
l-"ebruary  2,  1871;  Rosa  M.,  born  in  April, 
1873;  Mary,  born  in  1875;  and  Frank.  John 
().  is  the  subject  of  this  biography.  Orville 
R.,  born  May  10,  1853,  married  Helen 
.McLean,  of  Owego,  Tioga  County,  and  has 
three  children:  Ole  M.,  born  March  8,  1875; 
<  )scar  !•■. ,  born  (October  i,  1877;  and  Charles 
U.,  l)orn  July  20,   1881. 

John  C).  Whitaker  attended  the  district 
schoiil    of    his    native    town,     and    adopted    a 


farmer's  life.  On  November  18,  1874,  he 
married  Laura  Matleson,  born  September  15, 
1859,  daughter  of  Albert  and  Catherine 
(Davis)  Matleson,  of  Ma.sonville,  her  father 
being  a  farmer  and  carpenter  of  that  town. 
Jonathan  Davis,  paternal  grandfather  of  Mrs. 
Whitaker,  was  a  life-long  resident  of  Exeter, 
Otsego  County,  where  he  passed  away.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Whitaker  have  two  children:  Clara, 
born  September  9,  1875;  and  Blanche,  born 
June  I,  1881.  Mr.  Whitaker  is  a  man  of  good 
character,  upright  in  conduct,  and  is  held  in 
high  respect  by  his  neighbors  and  friends. 


1{NR\'     J.     DICKSON,    a     prominent 
citizen    of    Andes,   Delaware    County, 

ks  y  where  he  is  a  large  owner  of  mills 
and  other  property,  was  born  Sep- 
tember 17,  1858,  being  the  son  of  John  and 
Alice  (Gladstone)  Dickson. 

His  grandparents,  James  and  Jane  (Trotter) 
Dickson,  came  to  America  in  18 16.  Though 
a  carpenter  by  trade,  Mr.  Dickson  took  a  farm 
of  a  hundred  and  forty  acres  in  the  tow-n  of 
Andes,  which  is  the  estate  now  occupied  by 
James  Armstrong.  Their  children  were  nine 
in  number.  Elizabeth  Dickson  married  John 
Baker,  and  is  now  dead.  William  Dickson 
married  a  Miss  Holmes,  and  is  also  dead. 
Thomas  Dickson,  no  longer  living,  married 
Mary  Turnbull.  James  Dickson,  a  resident  of 
Andes,  married  lilizabeth  Davis.  Mary  Dick- 
son, deceased,  married  Edward  Turnbull. 
John  Dickson  married  for  his  first  wife  Alice 
Gladstone,  and  his  second  w'ife  was  Elizabeth 
01i\er.  Peter  Dickson  married  liliza  Bank, 
and  they  are  lixing  in  Penn.sylvania.  Henry 
Dick.son,  decea.sed,  married  Esther  Ciladstone. 
Ellen  Dickson  married  Amos  l-'risbee,  and 
their  home  is  in  (JIadstone  Hollow. 

John  Dickson,  the  father  of  Henry  J.,  was 
born  March  30,  1827,  at  the  old  homestead, 
and  was  educated  in  the  common  schools.  As 
his  father  died  while  he  was  still  young,  his 
self-reliance  was  early  developed;  and  at  the 
age  of  twenty  years  he  was  engaged  as  a  car- 
penter. While  still  a  young  man,  he  bought 
a  farm  of  eight  acres  of  D.  Ballentine,  but 
soon  sold  this  ])arcel  of  land,  and,  marrying, 
purchased    a    farm    and     settled    in    Gladstone 


15IOGRAPHICAI,    RF^VIEW 


"^ 


Hollow,  in  Aiulcs.  Ik'  bccann.'  uic  lallici  ol 
six  children,  as  follows:  Walter.  Maf;j;ic,  anil 
Man-  .\.  Ditkson,  all  of  whom  an.-  dead: 
Hcnn  j.  Dickson,  the  suhjeel  of  this  sketch; 
I'^sther  Dickson,  who  nianied  (leor;;e  I-'..  (Had- 
stone,  a  merchant  in  M;iri;arell\  ille,  :ind  has 
one  child;  William  Dickson,  lixinj;  at  home. 
After  a  time  John  Dickson  sold  the  farm  at 
(iladstone  Hollow,  and  bonght  the  ])iesent 
home  in  the  villaj;e,  with  its  ninetv  acres  of 
land.  He  is  a  Reptiblican,  a  member  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  ihurch,  and  hulds  the 
office  of  Assessor. 

Henry  J.  Dickson  was  educated  at  the  acad- 
em\'  of  his  native  town.  At  twent\-fi\e  vears 
of  age  he  turned  his  attention  to  agricidture, 
taking  his  father's  farm;  but  at  the  end  of 
three  \'ears  he  sold  two  lunidied  acres  to  Reed 
Dmnond,  and  nio\e<l  into  the  village  of  Andes. 
Here  he  bought  of  his  uncle,  I'eter  Dickson, 
a  store  filled  with  general  merchandise  and 
agricidtiu-al  im|)lements  of  all  kinds;  also  a 
grist-mill,  where  he  engaged  in  manufacturing 
b\'  the  roller  process  buckwheat  flour.  Inning 
the  grain  and  grinding  it  into  different  kinds 
of  feed.  l'"or  the  first  nine  months  he  managed 
the  entire  business  alone.  Then  in  i  S.S6  he 
todk  as  a  partner  W'altei'  J.  .\rmstrong,  son  of 
Walter  ^Armstrong,  living  in  the  village.  .\ 
sketch  of  the  Armstrong  family  ma_\'  be  found 
elsewhere  in  this  xohnne.  The  grist-mill 
which  Henr\-  Dickson  bought  of  I'eter  Dickson 
was  originalh' a  carding  and  fulling  mill,  and 
was  built  b\-  the  \\'aterbur\s  about  the  \ear 
1.S30.  In  iS.S/  Mr.  Dickson  rebuilt  the  mill, 
putting  in  a  steam-engine  of  twenty-five-horse- 
])ower,  to  be  used  in  midwinter  and  summer. 
.Attached  to  this  mill  he  now  has  a  firkin  fac- 
tor}-, and  he  is  also  the  owner  of  a  pkining  and 
saw  mill.  Among  his  other  possessions  are  a 
tenement  house  and  a  building  containing  a 
l)hotogra|)h  gallerw  law  otfice,  and  dress-mak- 
ing establishment.  He  also  owns  real  estate 
in  Delhi. 

Henrv  J.  Dickson  marrieil  Kate  I.awson, 
daughter  of  James  and  .\aucy  Mc(iregory,  of 
Delhi.  Jennie  .Mc(iregor\,  a  sister  of  Mrs. 
Dickson,  married  .Adam  Rutherford.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Dicksun  have  four  children:  Ray 
Dickson,  born  iti  1X84;  .Alice  Dickson,  born 
in    1S87;      Lynn    Dickson,   born    in    1X90;  ami 


liilltird  DukMin,  hnin  in  li^'^j.  1  lie  l.ouih. 
residenie  is  a  line  m.nisidii  situated  uii  .\I;iin 
Street,  surrounded  b\  beiniliful  groimds.  .Mr. 
Dickson  is  a  Re|iublican.  a  membei'  uf  the 
I'nited  l'iesl)\  teri:in  chinch.  ;ind  ;i  man  nf 
large  abil  it\'  and  inlluence.  He  is  \erv  useful 
in  the  community,  ami  has  much  to  dn  with 
the  |)rosperit\'  of  his  town. 


LCUSTL'.S  J.  (;.\RI'i:N'ri-;R.  a  re- 
tired farmer,  who  nccupies  a  jileasant 
home  in  the  \illage  of  \\'alton, 
may  be  classed  as  (iiie  uf  the  self- 
maile  men  of  Delaware  Countv,  li;i\  ing  begmi 
his  careei"  without  othei'  resources  than  his 
own  indomitable  will  and  perse\ering  in- 
dustry. He  was  born  in  the  town  of  1  lam- 
den,  Delaware  fount}',  in  KS44,  and  is  a  son 
of  John  I,.  Carpenter,  a  farmer  bv  occupation, 
who  married  Jidiet  .Smith,  daughter  of  IV-n- 
janiin  Smith.  At  the  age  of  thirt\-si.\  }ears 
she  was  called  from  this  life,  and  was  followed 
the  next  wai'  b}  her  husb:uid.  l-'oin-  suns, 
the  eldest  ni  whom  \v;is  but  thirteen  \ears  old, 
were  left  orjihans,  and  were  subset|uent  l\ 
cared  for  l)\   kind  neighbors  and  friends, 

.Augustus  J.  Caipenter  was  nine  \e;irs  old 
when  the  death  of  his  father  occurred,  and  he 
was  taken  t<i  the  home  of  a  neighbor  with 
whom  he  lived  for  a  vear.  He  then  bec;une 
an  inmate  of  the  household  df  a  relati\e, 
Jotham  .Scudder,  a  blacksmith,  resiiling  near 
Delhi,  with  whom  he  li\ed  until  attaining  his 
majorilN'.  He  leceived  a  limited  ;imount  ol 
schooling,  and  became  familiar  with  the  trade 
of  a  blacksmith;  hut  work  at  the  forge  having 
no  attractions  for  him,  he  turned  his  attention 
to  agriculture,  and  went  to  work  on  a  farm  b}' 
the  month.  Jkdng  hard-working  and  econom- 
ical in  his  habits,  he  saved  some  nione}-.  and 
in  iS/S  bought  one  himdred  and  six  acres  o( 
good  land  in  the  town  of  .Mason\ille,  where  he 
carried  on  general  farming  with  excellent  re- 
sults. In  KSy5  he  sold  his  farm  and  removed 
to  the  village  of  Walton,  where  he  is  now  en- 
joving  the  fruits  of   his   earlier  years   of    labor. 

Mr.  Carpenter  has  been  twice  marrieil.  On 
l-"el)ruar\'  4,  I S69,  he  was  wciMeil  to  Aliikt 
Cramer,  daughtei' of  William  and  Toll}'  (Mun- 
soni  C'ramer,  all    natives  nf    Delaw;ne   Cciunt\. 


6.4 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


She  died  on  the  farm  in  Masonvillc,  March  12, 
1885,  ieavin^^  one  son,  William.  Since  her 
death  Mr.  Carpenter  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Mrs.  Margaret  (Wright)  Ogdcn,  daughter 
of  Malcom  and  Margaret  (Shaw)  Wright,  and 
widow  of  the  late  iulward  Ogden,  who  died  in 
the  village  of  Walton,  in  March,  1871,  being 
then  but  thirty-six  years  old.  Mr.  Ogden 
was  born  in  Walton,  .son  of  Abram  and  Mar- 
garet (Sawyer)  Ogden,  who  removed  here  from 
New  Jersey.  His  great-grandfather  was  one 
of  the  earliest  settlers  of  the  county;  and  his 
grandfather.  Daniel  Ogden,  cleared  and  im- 
proved a  fine  farm,  four  miles  from  Walton, 
on  West  Brook,  the  farm  now  being  owned 
and  occupied  by  William  H.  Ogden,  a  son  of 
Mrs.  Carijenter.  Mr.  Wright,  the  father  of 
Mrs.  Carpenter,  was  born  in  Scotland,  emi- 
grating from  there  when  a  young  man.  His 
wife,  Margaret  Shaw,  was  a  native  of  Delhi. 
Three  sons  and  si.x  daughters  were  born  of 
their  union,  all  of  whom,  with  the  exception 
of  two  daughters,  are  now  living.  Of  the 
union  of  Margaret  Wright  and  Edward  Ogden 
eight  children  were  born,  three  of  whom  are 
deceased;  namely,  Eliza,  Emily,  and  Charles. 
Eliza  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  years. 
Emilv,  who  married  Piatt  Hanford,  died  in 
1887,  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine  \ear.s,  leaving 
an  infant  daughter.  Charles  married  Imelda 
Heer.s,  he  died  May  i,  1892,  aged  thirty 
years,  leaving  his  widow  antl  two  children  — 
Thurman  and  Eouise.  The  names  of  the 
living  children  are  as  follows:  William  H. 
who  resides  on  the  Ogden  farm,  as  before 
mentioned;  Julia,  who  was  graduated  from 
the  Walton  High  School,  was  a  successful 
teacher,  and  is  the  wife  of  Edwin  Guild; 
Jennie,  an  active  young  lady,  living  with  her 
ijrother  on  the  farm;  John,  a  harness-maker; 
and  James,  a  salesman  in  a  hardware  store  in 
Oxford. 


§()11X   W.  (;()L'LD,    a  prosperous  farmer 
of    Hancock,   was   born    in   Devonshire, 
England,  in    1830,  and   was  brought  to 
this  country  by  his    [xircnts    when   but 
two    years    of    age.      His  father,    John   Gould, 
was  a   stone-mason,  who  came  to  this  country 
with  his  faniilv  and  settled   in   Xewburg  on  the 


Hudson,  where  he  was  very  successful  in  his 
trade  of  stone-cutting.  In  1842  he  exchanged 
his  property  in  that  place  for  eight  hundred 
and  fifty  acres  of  land  in  the  wilderness  of 
what  was  then  considered  the  West.  Hiring 
a  guide  to  pilot  them  through  the  forest,  the\' 
made  the  journey  to  Westfield  in  wagons ;  and 
from  there  seven  ox  teams  hitched  to  wood- 
shod  sleds  transported  them  to  w-hat  is  now 
called  Gould's  settlement.  They  were  the 
pioneers  of  this  section,  it  being  five  years  be- 
fore any  other  settlers  came  here.  John  Gould 
married  Mary  Gillard,  of  his  native  town;  and 
they  had  eight  children  at  the  time  of  their 
removal  to  Hancock,  four  of  whom  had  been 
born  in  England.  After  settling  in  that 
town,  he  was  head  mason  for  the  Erie  Rail- 
road, and  was  employed  on  many  public  works 
in  the  State,  being  exceptionally  .skilful.  In 
his  forty-ninth  year,  while  engaged  in  drawing 
logs  to  a  mill,  he  was  killed  by  the  rolling  of 
a  huge  log.  His  life  had  been  one  of  untiring 
industry,  and  his  death  occurred  just  as  he  was 
rising  to  easy  circumstances.  His  w^ife  sur- 
vived him  about  six  years. 

John  W. ,  being  the  eldest  son  and  about 
twenty-four  years  of  age,  was  now  called  to 
the  management  of  the  farm.  He  subse- 
quently ijurchased  two  hundred  and  thirty-two 
acres  of  land  near  the  old  homestead,  and 
erected  a  substantial  frame  house  and  com- 
modious farm  buildings,  there  being  no  roads 
within  six  miles  of  his  farm.  At  the  break- 
ing-out of  the  war  he  went  to  Hancock  to  en- 
list in  his  country's  service,  but  was  persuaded 
by  his  seven  brothers,  who  were  already  en- 
rolled, to  remain  at  home  and  care  for  their 
families.  He  is  the  eldest  of  twelve  children, 
nine  of  whom  grew  to  maturity,  namely:  John 
W.  ;  (ieorge,  who  was  a  soldier  in  the  One 
Hundred  and  Eorty-fourth  New  York  State 
\'olunteers;  Hannah,  who  married  Mar\in 
Thomas,  a  farmer  in  Gould's  settlement ; 
James,  a  soldier  in  the  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-fourth  Regiment,  now  a  resident  of 
California;  William,  a  member  of  the  same 
regiment;  Richard,  who  enlisted  in  the  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-third  New  York  State 
X'olunteers;  Henry,  a  soldier  of  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Forty-fourth  New  York  State  Volun- 
teers;   Charles,    who    died    in    service    in    the 


lilOGRAI'lIICAI.    KF.VIKW 


r.,'. 


Tenth  Legion  Excelsior  Bri^adi  ,  \\(skv.  a 
soldier  of  the  l-"orty- fifth  I'ennsvlvania. 

Septemlocr  9,  i.s'fio,  John  W.  (ioiild  nianied 
Sarah  Jane  Lobdell,  daughler  of  James  and 
Sarah  (Cowell)  Lolxlell,  of  Weslcrlo,  Alhanv 
County. 

Mrs.  (iould's  fatiicr  and  her  i;randfatlier  were 
both  ministers  of  tiie  Methodist  hlpiseopal 
Church,  and  were  ])ioneers  of  Alhanv  County. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Could  are  ineml)ers  of  tiie  .MetJi- 
odist  Episcoixil  church  ;  and  Mr.  (ionld  has  for 
seven  years  been  .Assessor  of  tlie  town,  and  has 
al.so  held  the  office  of  Ndtarv  I'ul)!ic.  lie  is 
now  engaged  in  farming  and  wool-growing,  in 
which  he  is  \er\  successful.  Ik-  has  no  chil- 
dren of  his  own,  hilt  he  and  his  wife  have  edu- 
cated and  brought  up  three  who  were  of  other 
families.  Mr.  (ioukl  cast  his  first  \ote  for 
John  C.  l-"remont,  antl  has  alwa\s  voted  with 
the  Rejiublican  party.  He  is  nniversallv 
regarded  with  respect  and  esteem,  wherever 
known. 


;£,|;Y  I<'.'nii;.\Ll)  CAMIMU'LL,  an  exten- 
dve  farmer  in  the  town  of  Colchester, 
now  retired  from  acti\e  life,  was 
born  .Sc])t  ember  6,  I,S|6.  1 1  is 
father,  Archibald  Campbell,  .Sr. ,  a  British 
soldier  for  five  years,  was  born  in  .Scotland  in 
1776.  After  coming  to  .America  he  married 
Mary  Jones,  of  Wales,  anil  settled  in  West- 
chester Count}',  where  he  was  o\erseer  of  a 
large  farm.  Tiring  of  his  position,  and  eager 
for  a  home  of  his  own,  he  shortly  ventured 
westward,  with  onlv  a  ]iack  of  small  articles  to 
pay  his  way.  lie  journe\ed  on  through  the 
wilderness  of  uncleared  land,  occasionally 
meeting  a  family,  until  at  last  he  reached 
Hrock  Mountain  and  secured  of  Charles  Teed 
a  small  tract  of  land.  lie  returned  for  his 
wife:  and,  accompanied  by  her  and  iheir  three 
children,  he  again  (iei)arted  for  the  new  home, 
where  he  lived  a  short  time.  And  then  he 
bought  the  site  now  owned  by  his  son  Archi- 
bald, and  mo\ed  here,  leasing  one  hundrcil  and 
twelve  acres.  .At  different  times  he  added 
land  to  his  estate,  which  he  cleared  with  the 
help  of  his  son,  and,  building  a  saw-mill, 
.sawed  the  timber  and  ran  the  lumber  down  the 
river  to  market. 


1  he  elder  .Xrciiib.iM  .nid  lii>  wile  .Mar\  had 
elevL-n  children,  namely:  I);inifl,  wlm  w.is 
born  Niivcmber  ::ci,  1.S04,  ;ind  ni;irrird  I'lK-bv 
Hogart  :  I-;ii/.al)eth,  who  w;is  born  M:iv  14, 
1X06,  and  married  l-;ie;i/er  Conkl  in  :  '  .Mary 
.Ann,  who  was  bMiii  .March  2').  i.SdS,  and  mar- 
ried David  Wanvn  :  Robert,  who  was  burn 
May  5,  1.S09.  and  ni;irried  Hannah  Radeker; 
Jennetl,  who  was  burn  .Ma\  15,  i,S|j,  and  mar- 
ried .Samuel  Hill:  Jane  .Mari.i,  who  u.csbom 
May  7,  1.S14,  and  m.irried  Willi;un  II.  R;idc- 
ker:  .Xrchihald,  subject  of  this  sketch:  Cor- 
nelia, who  was  born  August  1,  i.Si.S,  and 
married  Josiah  Warren:  John,  win.  was  bi.rn 
.April  30,  i.S'20,  and  miuricd  Catherine 
.Si_)rague:  Esther,  who  was  born  June  3,  1X22, 
and  married  (icorge  (lregui\;  Candine,  who 
was  born  .August  25,  iXj;,  and  married  (ieorge 
ICIwood.  When  his  wife  died,  the  father 
became  discontented  with  his  himie,  :uid,  sell- 
ing the  farm  to  his  suns,  returnetl  to  .Scotland 
and  married  a  lady  whom  he  had  known  and 
loved  before  he  came  to  .\meric;i.  He  died 
there  .August   ^o,    1.S56. 

.Archibald  Cam|)bell.  ihiril  son  of  .Xrchihald 
and  Mary  Campbell,  bought  a  ]5art  of  the 
estate  and  continued  the  work  of  lumliering, 
clearing  the  land  and  raising  grain  and  stock. 
He  mairied  Charit)-,  d;mghter  of  John  C. 
X'oorhees,  a  farmer  of  .Sullivan  Coimtv :  anil 
they  had  a  family  of  ten  children,  as  fcdlows: 
Ileniy,  who  was  born  December  20.  1  .S44, 
and  married  Laura  Radeker:  .Sarah,  who  was 
born  -September  12,  i  S46,  and  married  Mr. 
.\.  Cowen :  James,  who  was  born  Jime  2^. 
1S49,  and  married  l.mitta  Jellett:  John,  who 
was  born  May  27,  1N51:  . Xrchihald,  Jr.,  who 
was  born  .A])ril  50,  1S53:  Charles,  who  was 
born  I'"ebru:iry  26,  1S36,  and  marrieil  Mary 
.Shell;  Cidin,  who  was  born  in  1S57,  and  mar- 
ried .Sarah  Johnston:  Dunc:in,  who  was  horn 
October  2^,  i''^39:  Horace,  who  was  born  .Sep- 
tember 17,  1861:  and  Hugh,  who  was  born 
November  16,  186;,  and  married  Mimiie 
(iregor)'. 

Mr.  Cani])hell  has  made  many  ailditions  to 
his  farm,  and  now  owns  over  fi\e  hiuKlred 
acres,  keeping  twent\-fi\e  cows  and  a  large 
stock  ot  shee|).  The  olil  buildings  ha\e  been 
remoilelletl,  and  new  ones  erecteil :  but  since 
his    wife's    death.     M.irch    27,     1892,    he     has 


6ir, 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


rented  his  farm  to  his  son,  and  now  lives  a 
retired  life.  Mr.  Campbell  was  a  Whig  in 
politics,  but  is  now  a  I'rohibitionist.  He  is 
an  esteemed  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  to  which  his  wife  also  belonged.  He 
has  been  very  successful  as  a  farmer,  and  his 
estate  still  prospers  under  the  management  of 
his  son. 


HRAllAM  VAN  STIUXHL'RC;,  a  pros- 
perous farmer  of  Andes,  Delaware 
County,  was  born  in  this  town 
October  13,  1850.  He  is  an  in- 
dustrious man,  greatly  esteemed,  and  enjoying 
well-deser\-ed  success.  In  politics  he  is  a  Re- 
])ublican. 

His  grandfather,  William  Van  Steinburg, 
settled  on  a  farm  near  New  Kingston  in 
Middletown,  and  had  a  family  of  six  chil- 
dren— George,  Jacob,  Jane,  Barnett,  Catherine, 
and  Sally.  He  was  a  very  active  man,  and  a 
thriving  agriculturist,  but  died  in  middle  life. 
George,  his  eldest  son,  was  educated  and  grew 
to  manhood  in  his  native  town.  He  married 
Antoinette,  daughter  of  Dr.  George  Stead, 
one  of  the  best  physicians  of  Delaware  County, 
who  was  in  practice  with  Dr.  Cohoon,  the  first 
doctor  in  the  county.  Dr.  .Stead  became 
blind,  and  after  his  affliction  practised  for 
thirty  years,  his  wife  visiting  his  patients 
with  him.  George  and  Antoinette  Van  Stein- 
burg had  a  family  of  ten  children  —  Mar)-, 
Aaron,  William,  John,  Abraham,  Richard, 
Ella,  IClizabeth,  Colonel,  and  Almon.  Mr. 
Van  Steinburg  bought  one  hundred  and  thirty 
acres  of  heavily  timbered  land,  joining  the 
Stead  farm,  on  which  he  built  a  house  and 
barn.  He  soon  sold  out,  and  rented  a  farm 
on  Perch  Hill,  afterward  buying  one  hundred 
and  thirty-seven  acres  on  Parkerboom  Creek, 
where  he  lived  for  twenty-eight  years.  With 
his  two  sons,  William  and  Aaron,  he  enlisted 
in  the  One  Hundred  and  Forty-fourth  New 
\'ork  Infantry  in  1862,  and  .served  during  the 
war.  After  his  wife's  death  he  sold  his  farm 
and  retired  from  active  work.  He  is  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics,  and  has  lived  a  busy  life, 
being  highly  respected  by  all  w-ho  know  him. 
Abraham,  the  fourth  son,  as  enumerated 
above,  was  si.xteen  vears   of  age   wlicn    he   first 


began  his  farming  career.  He  worked  on 
\-arious  farms  in  the  vicinity,  and  later  bought 
one  hundred  and  seventy-six  acres  of  uncleared 
land  near  Harkerboom  Creek,  on  which  was  a 
log  house.  He  had  not  intended  that  for  a 
home;  but  at  one  time,  when  he  was  away  on 
business,  his  wife  moved  their  goods  through 
the  wilderness  to  the  cabin,  and  was  keeping 
house  there  on  his  return.  lincouraged  to 
continue  his  undertakings,  he  bought  more 
land,  making  in  all  four  hundred  and  seventy- 
nine  acres,  which  he  cleared,  floating  the  lum- 
ber down  the  Delaware  Ri\er  to  Philadelphia. 
Many  extensive  improvements  have  been  made 
on  his  farm  ;  and  he  now  has  three  large  barns, 
a  house,  milk-house,  and  a  blacksmith's  shop 
for  his  own  convenience.  He  has  forty  cows 
and  as  man\'  sheep,  several  men  being  hired 
to  assist  him  in  the  work. 

He  married  Phebe,  daughter  of  William 
Sprague,  a  successful  farmer  of  Middletown, 
who  had  a  family  of  six  children:  Carrie, 
Pllizabeth,  and  George,  who  are  dead;  Phebe, 
who  was  born  April  28,  1850;  Aaron,  a  farmer 
in  Ulster  County,  who  married  Phebe  Dun- 
ning; and  Ezra,  a  carpenter  of  Ulster  Count}-, 
who  married  Ada  Clayton.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Van  Steinburg  have  seven  children :  Mary, 
born  January  8,  1869,  who  married  George 
Rosencran.se,  and  lives  in  Stamford;  George, 
born  April  14,  1875;  Jessie,  born  May  21, 
1877;  Harvey,  born  May  26,  1879;  Cassie, 
born  December  28,  1882;  Fannie,  born  No- 
vember 4,  1883;  and  Lola,  born  Mav  24, 
1885. 


B 


AVID  B.  WOODIN  is  one  of  the 
leading  contractors  and  builders  of 
Delaware  County,  and  is  conspicu- 
ously identified  with  the  building 
interests  of  the  town  of  Sidney,  where  he  has 
resided  since  1893.  During  the  past  ten  years 
many  of  the  niore  important  buildings  of  Sid- 
ney and  Walton  were  erected  under  his  super- 
vision and  that  of  his  brother,  who  was  until 
lately  in  business  with  him  —  among  them, 
the  spacious  house  of  j.  II.  l-^Us,  Dr.  Hawley's 
fine  residence,  that  of  the  late  Dr.  Alexander 
Montgomery,  and  the  elegant  and  commodious 
dwelling  of  Dr.   Stone. 


KICKIRAI'IIICAI-    RKVIKW 


'■i: 


Ml-.  Wciculin  is  a  iiatiwdl  I  )chiuaiv  Cdiintv, 
and  was  Ixnn  in  the  town  ni  Amies  in  iS;-. 
Mis  j,n-an(il"atlicr,  Ilcmy  Woodin,  was  iioni'in 
I'ntnam  County,  Conn.,  in  1798,  and,  wiuii  a 
young  man,  came  to  this  county,  casting;  in  his 
lot  with  the  early  settlers  of  the  town  of 
Andes  where  he  took  up  a  tract  of  tiniljcr  land, 
from  which  in  the  cour.se  of  time  he  cleared  a 
farm.  His  industry  and  fru-alitv  met  with 
their  natural  reward;  and  he  became  one  of 
the  well-to-do  ai;riculturists  of  the  town,  resid- 
inj;-  on  the  homestead  which  he  had  wrested 
from  the  forest  until  his  death  in  1882.  lie 
was  twice  married,  choosinj;-  for  his  first  wife 
a  Miss  Hamilton,  of  Andes.  .She  bore  him 
four  sons  and  three  dau,i;hters,  of  whom  three 
sons  and  two  dau,i,diters  are  now  livin,u,  lulwin 
Woodin,  father  of  the  suhiect  of  this  sketch, 
being  the  eldest  child.  .\fler  the  death  of 
the  mother  of  these  childivn,  llenrv  Woodin 
married  Catherine  Ronev :  and  she  became 
the  niothei'  ot  five  clii  Idren.  foiu'  sons  and  one 
daugiiter,  all  of  whom  aiv  now  lixing,  one  of 
them,  Henry,  residing  with  his  mother  on  the 
old  home  farm.  She  is  a  bright,  active 
woman,  and  has  full  cliaige  of  the  al'fairs  of 
the  household. 

Kdwin  Woodin,  father  of  David  H. .  was  born 
about  se\enty  }'ears  ago,  and  in  1855  married 
Jane  Miu-phy.  wlio  after  ihirtx-three  vears  of 
wedded  life  jxissed  to  her  reward,  in  l-"ebniarv, 
I<S88,  leaving  him  five  sons,  as  lollows;  l)a\id 
15.  :  William,  a  cmitractor  am!  builder,  living 
in  Walton;  Andrew,  who  is  in  the  emplox- 
nu-nt  ot  his  eldest  brother;  Sherman,  a  farmer, 
li\ing  in  .Andes;  and  l-ldwin,  who  is  working 
with  his  brotlu-i-  William  in  Walton.  The 
father  still  resides  in  the  town  of  .\nde.s. 

D.nid  H.  Woodin  w:is  leaied  in  the  town 
ot  his  birth,  and  recei\ed  ;i  fair  education  in 
its  public  schools,  acquiring  a  practical  knowl- 
edge of  his  father's  business  before  reaching 
the  }-ears  of  matuiity.  After  following  his 
trade  for  some  time  in  .\ndes.  he  t-stablished 
himself  in  business  in  Walton,  where,  in  com- 
]KUiy  with  his  brother  William,  he  remained 
for  about  six  years.  His  health  failing,  he 
was  obliged  to  gi\"e  uj)  active  work  for  a  while, 
leaving  his  brother  to  c;ui\  on  the  business 
alone,  and  the  latter  being  still  thus  engaged. 
Mr.   Woodin  remo\"ed  to  .Sidne\'  in  the  summer  1 


ol    r89^,  and  now  ciecupies   a    line    resiile ,, 

I'ike  -Street,  the   house    bi-iug   of    his  ,,u,i  mn 
struclion.       He   has  a    large  :ind  constantly  in- 
creasing     business,      and      ranks     among     the 
loremost  citizens  of  the  place. 

Mr.  Woodin  was  married  Aj^rili^,  1883,  hi 
lamna  Shafer,'  of  Andes,  daughter  <if  \Vash- 
ington  and  Jane  (|-"uller)  Shafer,  the  remain- 
ing children  of  her  parents  being  as  follows  ; 
Mary,  the  wife  of  II.  I).  Ma\han,  residing  in 
Huffalo,  .\.\.  ;  i;ila,  who  married  (ieorge  I'.. 
Lawrence,  and  lives  in  Creston,  la.;  Ijiima ; 
and  Ada,  wife  of  Iv.  T.  lio.,se,  of  lin.oklyn, 
.\ .  \  .  Her  mother  passed  from  this  life  in 
1884;  and  Mr.  Shafer.  now  an  aged  man,  lives 
with  his  daughter,  .Mrs.  Woodin.  The  union 
of  Mr.  antl  .Mrs.  Woodin  has  been  blessed  by 
the  advent  of  one  child,  lr\ing  D. ,  a  bright  boy 
of  .seven  years.  Mr.  Woiidin  takes  a  warm  in- 
terest in  ]3ublic  aff.iirs,  and  usuall\  casts  his 
vote  with  the  Democratic  i)arty,  although  re- 
serving the  right  to  support  the  candidate  he 
deems  best  fitted  to  perform  the  duties  of 
public  otifice. 


-|;SSI-.  MCRDOCK  is  a  representative 
larmer  and  dairyman  of  Masonvillc. 
industrious,  progressive,  and  highly 
respected  throughout  the  town  where 
he  resitles.  His  f;ithor,  George  Murdock, 
emigrated  from  the  eastern  part  of  the  State 
of  \ew  \'ork  when  quite  \(umg.  and  settled 
in  Caroline,  T(jnipkins  Coinitv,  earl\-  in  this 
century,  where  he  followed  his  trade  of  stone- 
mason. He  married  Ruth  Knickerbocker, 
daughter  of  a  pioneer  of  Roxbury,  and  a  de- 
scendant of  the  old  New  York  family  of  that 
name,  whose  ancestors  came  from  Holland. 
George  Murdock  and  wife  were  the  parents  of 
six  children,  namely:  l-jlgar.  who  married 
Miss  Cash,  of  Sidney,  and  there  spent  the 
latter  |iart  of  his  life:  Harvey:  George:  Cath- 
erine A.,  wife  of  l-'dwin  H.  Shaw,  of  .Sheboy- 
gan, Wis.:  John  J.,  a  farmer  in  .South  H;iin- 
bridge:  and  Jesse,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
Jesse  Mm-dock  was  born  at  Caroline.  M:irch 
6.  1832,  and  was  eilucated  at  the  district 
schocds  of  his  native  town.  He  began  life  as 
a  farmer,  antl  was  empKned  at  farm  labor  in 
\'arious    places.      About     i860     he    settled    in 


6i.S 


]!IO(;R.\rill(AI,    REVIEW 


Masonville  on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides 
and  carries  on  a  dairy.  On  July  lo,  1864,  he 
married  a  daughter  of  I>aiah  Booth,  who  was 
a  native  of  Delaware  County,  where  he  was 
engaged  in  farming  and  0])erating  a  dairy. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Murdock  have  three  children  — 
Delia,  George,  and  Lilian  —  all  of  whom 
were  educated  at  Masonville,  and  live  with 
their  parents.  Mr.  Murdock  is  an  ujiright, 
useful,   and  valued  citizen. 


M 


1822. 


AVID  ANDERSON,  the  son  of  An- 
drew and  Sarah  (Brotherton)  Ander- 
son, was  born  in  Bethel,  Sullivan 
County,    N.Y.,    on    September    3, 

Mis    father  came    from    the    north    of 


Ireland  to  New  York  City,  where  he  found 
employment  as  a  car-man,  and  where  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Brotherton.  After  his  marriage, 
with  a  wisdom  one  wishes  many  more  city 
denizens  might  emulate,  he  left  the  crowded 
city  streets,  and  went  to  .Sullivan  County, 
where  he  bought  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
forty  acres.  Here,  amid  the  wholesome  sur- 
roundings of  country  life,  he  and  liis  wife 
raised  a  family  of  ten  children,  namely: 
Thomas,  born  November  5,  1804;  William, 
February  18,  1806;  Andrew,  April  29,  1808; 
Eliza,  February  18,  18 10;  James,  October 
29,  1812;  Ellen,  March  -4,"  1814;  Sarah, 
-April  24,  18 16;  Samuel,  October  24,  1820; 
David,  September  3,  1822;  Maria,  December 
28,  1824.  Samuel  is  living  in  Newark,  N.J'.; 
and  Maria,  now  a  widow,  lives  in  New  York 
City.  Andrew  Anderson  was  an  industrious 
man,  whose  labors  were  crowned  with  success. 
In  politics  he  was  a  Democrat.  He  died  in 
the  prime  and  vigor  of  life,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
three  years.  His  wife,  who  died  before  him, 
was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

David  7\nderson,  with  whose  history  this 
sketch  has  mainly  to  deal,  passed  the' years 
of  child  life  and  boyhood  in  the  village  of  his 
birth,  where  he  was  educated.  His  first 
enterprise  was  one  which  requires  some  expe- 
rience as  well  as  good  judgment  to  insure  suc- 
cess. This  venture  was  hotel-keeping  in  the 
old  Radiker  house  in  Colchester,  now  used  as 
a  private  residence.  It  was  built  by  Jacob 
Railiker,  and   was   the  first    inn  in  thi^^  section 


of  the  country.  After  three  years  Mr.  Ander- 
son left  the  village,  and  moved  to  the  Garri- 
son farm  on  Campbell  Mountain,  and  stayed 
there  for  a  period  of  eight  years.  One  year 
was  passed  at  the  Elwood  farm.  Then  he 
came  to  Downsvillc,  where  he  bought  prop- 
erty at  the  lower  end  of  the  village,  and  built 
a  hotel,  now  known  as  the  Anderson  House. 
The  situation  is  one  of  the  best  in  Downs- 
villc, and  the  house  is  very  popular.  Mr. 
Anderson  conducts  a  livery  in  connection 
with  his  hotel  business,  so  that  his  patrons 
may  have  the  benefit  of  the  lovely  river  drives 
about  the  country. 

David  Anderson's  first  wife  was  Miss  Eme- 
line  Bennet,  by  whom  he  had  two  daughters, 
only  one  of  whom  is  now  living;  namely, 
Sarah,  who  married  Mr.  A.  Tyler,  was  left  a 
widow,  antf  has  since  married  again.  Her 
sister  who  died  was  named  Eliza.  Mr.  An- 
derson's second  wife,  to  whom  he  was  married 
on  December  13,  1857,  was  Miss  Emily  Jane 
Williams,  a  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Laura 
Williams.  The  father  of  Mrs.  Williams  died 
in  Oswego.  He  and  his  wife  raised  a  family 
of  seven  children:  Emily  Jane,  now  Mrs. 
Anderson;  Julia  F. ;  George  K. ;  Elizabeth; 
William   D. ;   Mather;  and    Ida. 

David  Anderson  is  a  man  whose  ability  is 
recognized  by  all  with  whom  he  comes  in  con- 
tact. Mrs.  Anderson  is  a  faithful  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  while  he  is 
liberal  in  his  religious  views.  Mr.  Anderson 
brought  up  and  educated  a  nephew  of  his  wife, 
E.  T.  Smith,  who  has  proved  himself  a 
worthy  recipient  of  the  benefits  bestowed  upon 
him.  He  is  one  of  the  leading  merchants  in 
Downsville,  and  won  for  his  wife  a  daughter 
of  Dr.  G.  P.  Bassett. 


OHN  HEDGE  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Bovina,  December  17,  1821,  antl  was 
the  son  of  P'rancis  and  Susan  (Boyd) 
Hedge,  both  natives  of  North  Ireland. 
P'rancis  Hedge  was  born  in  1769,  and  emi- 
grated to  America  in  1827,  bringing  with  him 
a  family  of  twelve  children,  which  was  aug- 
mented by  the  addition  of  two  of  American 
birth  after  his  arrival  in  the  "land  of  the 
brave."      P'rancis    Hedge   bouiiht  one  hundred 


Hdam  Gibson. 


I'.h  i(  ;k  \  I'l  I  ii    \  I      !•  1  \  I  i-.w 


aiul  sixty  acres  of  land  in  lidviiia,  wliich  he 
cleared,  and  uixin  which  he  pnl  up  several 
haihlin^iis.  'I'his  was  sold  at  an  advance,  and 
two  hundred  acres  ol  land  was  purchased  near 
Walton.  Here  he  lived  until  his  death  in 
1S41.  He  was  a  Democrat  and  a  Presby- 
terian. 

John  w.is  quite  \nLini;'  when  his  father 
died;  and  the  care  of  the  farni  fell  to  his  lot, 
which  cut  short  his  educational  pursuits,  and 
forceil  him  to  turn  his  whole  eneri;ies  toward 
l)ractical  farming,  lie  married  Miss  Nancy 
Il-aniilton,  whose  ])arents  were  natives  of  15o- 
vina,  though  they  had  moved  in  later  years  to 
Delhi,  where  they  raised  a  fami]\-  of  seven 
children  —  Thomas,  Nancy,  James,  Andrew, 
John,  I'.lizaheth,  and  William.  Suhsecpient 
to  his  marriage  Air.  Hedge  moved  to  Haniden, 
where  he  bought  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
thirt)'  acres,  which  he  afterward  sold,  coming 
to  Colchester,  and  bn\ing  from  Selh  While, 
of  Delhi,  a  tract  of  one  hundred  and  eightv 
acres,  one  mile  from  the  river  in  Terry  Cove. 
This  estate  is  in  a  most  desirable  situation. 
Its  trout  streams  afford  excellent  spurt  for  the 
hsherman,  as  well  as  delicious  material  for 
the   housekee|)er's   culinar}'   art. 

Comfortable  buildings,  attracti\e  scenery, 
and  pleasant  siu'roundings  all  combine  to 
make  this  a  most  charming  home  for  tlie  fam- 
ily of  children  who  were  reared  here:  Will- 
iam h'rancis,  who  ilied  \'onng:  I.\(lia  Jane, 
who  also  died  in  childhood;  John  A.,  who 
married  Miss  Isabella  l)a\'is,  and  li\es  in 
.Syracuse;  Andrew,  born  May  4.  1S68:  h'rank 
I.:  and  Libbie  L.  Mr.  Hedge  owns,  besides 
his  herd  of  cows  which  sup])ly  his  excellent 
and  remunerative  dairy,  a  ilock  of  thirty  sheep 
and  some  fine  horses  and  oxen.  He  is  a 
stanch    Democrat,    and    is   a    religious    man. 


f^AMI'.S  A.  GIH.SON.  a  highlv  intelli- 
gent and  wealthy  farmer  of  Kortright, 
in  the  north-eastern  part  of  Delaware 
Count\',    was    horn   on   the   farm  wliere 


he     now     resitles,     August      16,      lSji. 


His 


where  llie  sul)jecl  of  this  sketch  now  resiihs. 
and  heie  he  live<l  ihrougiioMt  his  life.  His 
first  piu'chase  t'onsisled  of  sixlv-two  acres,  to 
which  he  was  able  to  add  from  lime  to  time, 
so  that  at  his  death  he  was  liie  owner  of  one 
hundred  and  n i net \- acres.  He  and  his  wifi- 
were  I'resiiyterians,  and  he  was  a  supporter  of 
the  Republican  ])arty.  .Adam  Ciibson  died 
January  21,  1890,  at  the  age  of  se\enty-seven  ; 
l)ut  his  wife  is  still  living  on  the  old  home- 
stead, riiey  w.re  the  parents  of  six  ihildren, 
four  of  whom  are  now  living:  .Mary  Ann 
McLaury,  of  Binghamton;  Miss  Isabelle  (iib- 
son,  residing  with  iier  mother;  Charles,  also  in 
Uinghamton;  and  James  A.,  of  Kortright. 

James  A.  (libson,  the  youngest  child  of  his 
p:irents,  grew  u])  on  his  father's  farm,  attend- 
ing the  district  school,  the  graded  school  at 
Hinghamton,  and  the  .Stamford  .Seminary. 
After  receiving  his  education,  he  devoted  his 
lime  to  farming,  residing  on  the  home  farm, 
and  caring  for  his  parents  in  tlie  evening  of 
their  li\es.  He  is  the  owner  of  twenty  head 
of  native  cattle,  and  mak>-s  a  good  cpialit)'  of 
butter  for  market,  b.  ing  eminently  successful 
in  his  chosen  occu]>ation.  Mr.  Gibson  is  a 
bachelor  of  pleasant  dis])osition  and  cultivatetl 
tastes,  being  extremely  fonil  of  reading,  and 
owning  a  very  gi^od  library.  He  is  a  Re|)ub- 
lican,  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  and  also  of  the  Delaware  Lodge.  .\o. 
612,  Inde[)endent  Order  of  Odd  h'ellows.  and 
is  reg;irded  with  much  esteem  by  all  who  are 
fortunate  enough  to  ])Ossess  his  friendship  or 
enjoy  his  acquaintance. 

A  ]ioi-trait  of  his  father,  the  late  .\dam  (jib- 
son.  ma\'  be  found  on  another  page  of  this 
vtdimie. 


father,  Adam  Gibson,  of  Ireland,  married 
D<nM  Whigham.  of  the  same  country,  and  came 
with  her  to  .\merica  in  1S34,  settling  in 
Kortright.      In    1837   he    pin-chased    the    farm 


I^"X.\\1D   R0T1I1:NSII-:.S,  who  is  carry- 

I; 1      ing  on  a  lucrative  business  in  Wal- 

I^Sy  ton  as  a  manufacturer  and  wholesale 
dealer  in  cigars,  has  resiiled  in  that 
village  since  1891.  Many  of  the  most  enter- 
prising ami  successful  businessmen  of  Dela- 
ware Comity  are  of  foreign  birth,  and  Mr. 
Rothensies  is  :in  excellent  representative  of 
this  class  of  citi/.ens,  having  been  born  in 
Hesse- Darmstadt.  Germany,  in  1838.  His 
father,     I  evi     Rotliensies,    was    an    extensive 


62  2 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


farmer,  and  dealer  in  stock.  His  wife  was, 
by  maiden  name,  Anna  HUimcnthal ;  and  she 
bore  her  husband  five  children,  three  sons 
and  two  daughters.  Both  of  the  daughters 
married  in  their  native  country,  and  both  died 
while  in  the  prime  of  womanhood.  The  three  I 
sons,  of  whom  David  is  the  eldest,  are  all  Hy- 
ing. Joseph,  the  youngest,  is  a  merchant  in 
Walton.  Aaron,  the  second  son,  remained  in 
his  native  country.  The  parents  are  no 
longer  living,  the  father  having  died  at  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty-three,  in  1886,  and  the 
mother,  who  survived  him,  dying  at  the  age  of 
fourscore  years. 

David     Rothensies    received    a    substantial 
education  in  his  native  country,  and  began  to 
learn  the  butcher's  trade  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen.     In    1855    he  emigrated   to   the    United 
States,  taking  passage   in  a  sailing-vessel,  at 
Havre  de   Grace,    France,   the  voyage  lasting 
forty-one  days.     He  found  employment  at  his 
trade  in  New  York,  but  remained  there  only 
six  weeks.     Coming  to  Delaware  County,  he 
settled    in  the  town  of    Meredith,   and    began 
his   mercantile    career    by   peddling,    on   foot, 
dry  goods  and  notions.      Being  very  successful 
in  his  ventures,  he  bought  a  horse  and  wagon, 
and    enlarged    the    scope    of    his    trade.      His 
business  continued  to  grow;  and  his  one-horse 
wagon  was  in  due  time  superseded  by  a  cov- 
ered vehicle  drawn  by  a  pair  of  superb  horses, 
his  turnout  being  -well  known  throughout  this 
part  of  the  State.      Mr.  Rothensies  continued 
his  commercial  travels  for  about  eight  years, 
and   in   1864  opened  a    dry  and    fancy  goods 
store     in     Downsvillc,     subsequently    adding 
cigars  to  his  original  stock.      In  1875  he  sold 
out   his   stock  of   merchandise,  and  turned  his 
entire  attention  to  the  manufacture  and  sale 
of    cigars,    being    thus    engaged    for    several 
years.     Deciding  to  leave  the  rural  village  of 
Downsvillc,  Mr.  Rothensies  went   to   Middle- 
town,    Orange    County,    N.Y.,    conducting    a 
prosperous  business  there  for  two  years.     At 
the   end    of   that    time,   his    health    being  im- 
paired,   by    the    advice    of    his    physician    he 
sought    a    place   of    higher  altitude   in  which 
to  settle,  and  removed  his  business  to  Walton 
in  1891.      Since    then    he    has    been    closely 
identified   with    the   manufacturing    and    mer- 
cantile  interests  of  the  village. 


October  18,  1881,  Mr.  Rothensies  married 
Miss  Ida  Russell,  daughter  of  William  Rus- 
sell, of  Hamden.  Their  wedded  life  has  been 
gladdened  by  the  birth  of  two  children  —  Leo 
and  Charles  —  both  bright  boys,  their  respec- 
tive ages  being  eight  and  three  years. 


ACOB  BIELER,  a  worthy  citizen  and 
prosperous  wagon-maker  at  Grififin's 
Corners,  in  Middletown,  Delaware 
County,  was  born  in  the  Duchy  of 
Baden,  Germany,  on  December  15,  1838,  and 
was  a  son  of  Christian  Bieler,  who  was  a 
farmer,  and  lived  to  the  age  of  threescore 
years  and  ten.  His  wife  died  when  sixty-five. 
They  left  four  children — George,  Chisholm, 
Lena,  and  Jacob  Bieler. 

Jacob  Bieler  was  educated  in  Germany,  and 
came  to  this  country  when  sixteen  years  of 
age.  He  crossed  the  ocean  in  a  sailing- 
vessel,  and  landed  at  New  York  after  a  pas- 
sage of  twenty-eight  days.  He  first  came  to 
Margarettville,  remained  three  years,  and 
learned  the  trade  ot  wagon-making.  Thence 
he  went  to  Franklin,  in  this  county,  where  he 
made  a  stay  of  one  year,  and  went  from  there 
to  Western  New  York,  and  spent  some  time. 
Returning  to  Delaware  County,  he  sojourned 
awhile  in  Delhi,  and  then  went  again  to 
Margarettville.  In  i860  he  established  him- 
self in  trade  at  Griffin's  Corners,  but  at  the 
end  of  a  year  was  burned  out.  After  this  mis- 
fortune he  built  another  shop  near  the  bridge, 
which,  however,  he  soon  sold,  and  bought  a 
house  and  lot  of  land.  Here  he  erected  the 
two  shops  now  standing,  where  for  twenty 
years  he  has  carried  on  a  large  business. 

In  1862  he  married  Essenth  Engle,  who 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Halcott,  Greene 
County.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Frederick 
and  Ella  (Garrison)  Engle,  and  grand-daugh- 
ter of  John  Engle,  who  w-as  born  in  Germany, 
but  came  to  this  country  and  became  a  .soldier 
in  the  Revolutionary  War.  After  the  war 
was  over,  he  went  to  Lexington,  Greene 
County,  where  he  was  one  of  the  pioneer  set- 
tlers. He  lived  to  the  very  remarkable  age  of 
one  hundred  and  seven  years,  and,  dying,  left 
four  .sons  —  Jacob,  Christopher,  Frederick, 
and  Peter  Engle  —  and  one  daughter.      Fred- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    KKVIKW 


'■'-'.? 


crick  Eny,lc,  Mrs.  Hiclcr"s  fatlicr,  was  lioni  in 
Lexington,  Greene  County,  and  at  the  age  ol' 
twenty-one  entered  mercantile  life  in  llalcotl. 
After  a  time  he  sold  his  store,  and  Ixiught  a 
farm  and  another  store  near  hv,  wheri'  he  was 
in  business  until  1845.  Then  he  sold  out, 
and  came  to  Griffin's  Corners,  where  he  again 
established  himself  as  a  merchant.  Here  lie 
I'cmained  until  his  death,  which  took  ])lace 
when  he  was  about  si.xtx-fui'  \ears  of  age. 
His  wife,  i\Irs.  Jacob  l^ieler's  mother,  is  still 
living,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one,  with  her  son 
Arland,  in  Laplata,  .Mo.  They  had  seven 
children,  five  of  whom  are  living,  and  are: 
Martha  Engle,  who  married  (ieorge  Xesbut. 
and  lives  in  Minnesota:  E.  I-".  Engle,  a  tin- 
smith; Arland  ICngle,  whose  home  is  in  La- 
plata; l-^ssenth  ICngle,  the  wife  of  Mr.  Hieler; 
and  Aaron  luigle. 

Some  years  ago  Mr.  Hieler  built  a  fine,  sj^a- 
cious  house,  which  is  now  surrounded  bv 
delightful  groimds  and  shaded  bv  beautiful 
trees.  In  summer  it  is  thrown  hosjjitablv 
open  to  })eople  who  are  seeking  a  [ileasant 
retreat  for  the  heated  term.  Hiis  roomy  man- 
sion accommodates  from  twent\-fi\-e  to  thirtv 
guests,  and  is  nsualh'  filled  with  cit\'  people. 
who  are  rendered  most  comfortable  by  the 
efforts  of  their  kind  host  and  hostess,  lieing 
much  more  at  bom.-  than  they  could  be  ;it  the 
large  hotels.  'Mv.  and  Mrs.  Hieler  have  had 
two  daughters:  ^Hnnie  Hieler,  whom  thev  lost 
when  a  fair  girl  of  seventeen  \ears ;  and  Mag- 
gie Hieler,  who  still  gladdens  their  home  with 
her  presence.  Mr.  Hieler  is  li  Democrat  in 
politics,  and  in  religious  opinions  a  Presbyte- 
rian, belonging  to  the  church  at  ^L^rgarett- 
ville.  He  is  a  complete  master  of  the  art  of 
wagon-making,  is  a  genial  host,  and  i^  1 
worthy   and   highh'   respected   gentlemai;. 


f\X  Hl'Ri:X  THO^L\S.  a  well-known 
farmer  anti  lumberman  of  Hancock, 
N.\'.,  was  l)orn  in  tliis  town  on  May 
20,  1 85 1.  Llis  paternal  grandfather.  Daniel 
-Thomas,  t-anie  originalh'  from  \'ermont,  being- 
one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  this  jjart  of 
Delaware  County.  He  married  .\bigail 
Hrown,  who  was  a  descendant  from  the  old 
Puritan  stock   of    New  pjigland.      In  the  early 


da\s  ot  llu-  ceiilurs'  she  and  her  lainih'  werr 
clothed  in  homes|)un,  the  materi:il  for  which 
was  carded,  spun,  and  woven  bv  her  own 
hands.  Daniel  Thomas.  Jr.,  son  of  Danirl 
and  Abigail  (Hrown)  Thomas,  and  falh<  r  o| 
the  subjict  of  this  sketch,  attended  the  di- 
tricl  school  at  H.iniotk  in  his  boyhood,  and 
lollowed  the  occupations  of  farming  rui  I  lum- 
bering throughout  his  active  life.  lb-  niaj - 
ried  in  .Se]nember.  1N4.).  Sarali  l.akiii.  of 
Hancock,  by  whom  he  had  li\c  children,  tliree 
ol  whom  are  now  li\-ing.  namel\  :  Mar\',  born 
Jul}'  ?.  1 847 ;  John,  bmn  Januars'  14.  1849: 
and  Van  Huren.  Daniel  Thomas.  Jr..  was  a 
]")rominent  man  in  town  afLiirs,  and  in  |jolitics 
he  was  a  Democrat. 

\'an  15uren  Thomas  was  educated  in  his 
native  town,  and  has  spent  his  life  in  lumber- 
ing and  in  canying  on  the  farm  connected 
with  the  idd  homestead.  On  April  26.  i,S<ji, 
he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Catherine  Mc- 
Kenna,  daughter  of  Xelsun  McKenna.  This 
union  has  been  blessed  In-  one  child,  who  was 
l)orn  March  25.  1894.  ^Ir.  Thomas  has  held 
various  offices  in  the  town,  serving  with  much 
abilitv.  and  enjoying  the  confnlence  and  es- 
teem   of   his   fellow-citizen>. 


i:ORGE  T.  HROWX.  .M.D.,  a  native 
of  Warren.  Litchfield  County,  Conn., 
may  be  consitlered  ])eculiarly  quali- 
fied ftu'  the  profession  of  metlicine.  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  he  has  h.id  a  more  than  ordinary 
experience  since  his  early  boyhood  with  the 
[Mactical  application  of  medical  anil  surgical 
knowledge. 

Dr.  Hrown's  |)aternal  grandfather  was  a  sea- 
caiJtain,  who  lived  to  be  \'ery  old,  ;ind  siieiit 
ihe  last  tlays  of  his  life  in  I.itchtield.  The 
grandmother  was  noted  for  her  extraortlinai}' 
|)hvsL-al  strength,  being  able  in  her  youth  to 
lift  with  ease  barrels  of  cider  or  sugar,  and 
[jcrforming  various  remarkable  feats  of  nv'-'  ^ 
lar  power.  ]>oth  of  the  grand|)ai"ents  li\< 
be  very  ohl.  Captain  Hrown  completing  tlie 
ninetieth  year  of  his  life  in  Litchfield.  'The 
grandparents  of  Dr.  P>rown  on  the  maternal 
siile  were  Cieorge  and  Marv  I'omerov  Tal- 
madge,  the  grandfather,  who  was  one  of  the 
most  prominent   lawyers  in  Litchfield,  belong- 


624 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


ing  to  the  old  and  well-known  family  of  Tal-  I 
madge.     George    Talmadge    was    one    of   the 
Democratic  party,  and  died  in  the  sixty-sixth  I 
year  of  his  age,  having  survived  his  wife  for 
some  years. 

Orlando  Brown,  son  of  Captain  Brown,  and 
the  father  of  George  T.  Brown,  was  born  in 
Mystic,  Conn.,  and\vas  graduated  from   Yale 
College  in  185 1.     He  began  to  practise  medi- 
cine tn    Boston;    but,    when    the    Civil    War 
broke  out,  he  went  as  a  surgeon  in  the  Eigh- 
teenth Regiment,  and  was  afterward  appointed 
Medical  Director  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
He  served  also  in  the  State  of  Virginia  under 
General   Howard.     After  the  war  he  returned 
to   Connecticut,   where    he    is    now    living  in 
Litchfield.      He  has  a  high   reputation  for  sci- 
entific  knowledge    and    skill,    and    holds    the 
honored    position    of    President   of   the    State 
Medical   Society.     Dr.  Orlando  Brown  has  a 
hospital    in    Washington,    Litchfield    County, 
Conn.,  in  which    he  takes  an   absorbing  inter- 
est.     He  has  been  a  widower  for  thirty-eight 
years.     From   his  youth   he   has  been  a  very 
active  politician,  and   has   done  much  for  the 
Republican  party  in  his  section.      He  married 
Miss  Fanny  Talmadge,   and   is  tlie  father  of 
four    children       F;ninv.    Mary,    Chester,    and 
George  T. 

Dr.  George    1 .    l>ro\\n   lias  had  a  peculiar, 
not   to   say  unique,  experience    in   his  medical 
career,  having  accompanied   his   father  to  the 
army  when  but  a    la;l  of    thirteen  years,   and 
remained   with   him   throughout  the  four  years 
of   blood   and   carnage.      It  was  amid  the  dead 
and  dying  of   many  battlefields  that  the  nerve, 
the  ski  if,   the  calm   strength,  and  cool   judg- 
ment  which    so    characterize    the    physician 
whose  memoir  is  now  presented  to  the  public 
were  fostered  and  developed.      In  187S  he  re- 
ceived his  degree   from   the   Medical    College 
of   the   I' ni versify  of   New  York,  and  was  sur- 
geon   in   the    United    States   service  for  some 
vears.     Then     he     practised     in    Fernandina, 
Fla.,    for    two    years,    after   which    period    he 
spent  some  time  in  European  travel,  returning 
to  America,  and  establishing  himself  for  three 
years  in  Ulster  County. 

Dr.  Brown  finally  came  to  Margarettville, 
uhtre  he  now  holds  the  position  of  Health 
Officer.      He   married    Miss   Amelia    Perry,    a 


daughter  of  George  and  Mary  Perry.  The 
wife's  father  was  a  dealer  in  stone  in  the  town 
of  Newburg.  In  political  convictions  Dr. 
Brown  follows  the  line  of  heredity,  and  is, 
like  his  father,  a  Republican.  He  has  been 
eminently  successful  in  his  professional  career 
in  Margarettville,  and  has  won  the  esteem  and 
respect  of  all  who  have  the  pleasure  of  his 
acquaintance,  or  have  come  to  him  for  treat- 
ment. 


ACOB  M.  H.  CORNISH  is  well  known 
in  Walton  and  the  vicinity  as  a  painter 
and  decorator,  and  dealer  in  wall- 
paper, shades,  paints,  oils,  and  other 
art  materials.  His  paternal  grandfather  was 
Jacob  Cornish,  a  contractor  and  builder,  who 
died  at  Pine  Hill,  Ulster  County,  N.Y.,  in 
1852,  at  the  age  of  sixty-one,  his  wife  Susan 
passing  away  some  years  before  in  New  York 
City,  leaving  a  family  of  six  sons,  whom  we 
briefly  enumerate:  William,  who  emigrated  to 
California:  John,  who  settled  in  Colorado; 
Benjamin,  now  deceased;  Joseph  C,  the 
father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Abram,  a 
resident  of  New  York;  and  Alexander,  a  con- 
tractor and  builder  of  Menlo  Park,  N.J. 

Joseph  C.  Cornish  was  born  in  New  York 
City  in  1829,  and  in  early  manhood  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Margaret  Hos- 
brook,  of  Kingston,  N.Y.,  daughter  of  Jacob 
J.  and  Katherine  (Knickerbocker)  Hosbrook, 
of  Stone  Ridge,  N.Y.  Four  children  were 
born  to  them,  namely:  James  M.;  Matthew 
B.;  Francis  A.;  and  Jacob  M.  H.,  whose 
name  is  found  at  the  head  of  this  sketch. 
Joseph  C.  Cornish,  the  father,  is  now  retired 
from  active  business. 

Jacob  M.  H.  Cornish  was  born  at  Pine 
Hill,  Ulster  County,  N.Y.,  in  1857,  and, 
after  receiving  a  common-school  education, 
acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  painting  and 
decorating  business  with  his  father,  commenc- 
ing when  but  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  re- 
ceiving instruction  in  drawing  from  competent 
teachers.  In  connection  with  this  business 
his  father  and  he  carried  on  successfully  the 
family  trade  of  building  and  contracting, 
building  many  churches  in  Delaware  County 
and   the  vicinity,  among  them   the   Methodist 


l'.10(-,K.\I'|||(AI,    RKVII'-.W 


Episcopal  cliurcli  at  Walton.  Juik'  i,  i.SSi. 
Mr.  Cornish  was  marricil  to  Miss  Coia  i;. 
Wol)b,  thuightL-r  of  H.  A.  anil  I'.iiiilv  i;. 
Webb,  of  Walton.  A  sistor  of  .Mrs.  ("ornish, 
Mis.s  Lclia  W'chh,  is  an  artist  of  ahilit\',  and 
has  cla.sscs  in  Walton  and  .Sidney. 

Mr.  and  ^[rs.  Cornish  occupy  a  pleasant 
homo  in  Walton,  where  they  attend  the  I*".[)isco- 
pal  cliurch.  and  are  [ironiinent  in  social  affairs. 


G.  EDCl-RTOX,  Ca.shier  of  the 
JS\  ]3cla\vare  National  Rank  of  Delhi, 
is  a  representative  of  one  of  the 
oldest,  most  enter])risin<;",  and  most  noted 
families  of  Delhi,  his  Ljreat-graMdfather, 
Ciiierdon  ICdgerton,  and  his  .!;raiulfathcr. 
Henry  Edgerton,  having  l)ecn  prominent 
among  the  influential  citizens  of  the  earl\' 
part  of  the  present  century.  They  built  the 
Edgerton  Mouse,  and  were  among  the  leading 
spirits  in  founding  the  Delaware  15ank  up- 
ward of  fifty  years  ago,  it  having  ojjened  its 
doors  for  business  A]iril  4,  1839.  It  was 
organized  with  H.  I).  (lould  as  President.  M. 
-Shaw  as  Cashier;  and  among  its  Directors 
were  li.  D.  Gould,  Sanniel  Gordon,  X.  K. 
Wheeler,  and  Charles  Marvin.  In  1S63. 
when  the  national  bank  law  came  in  vogue, 
it  became  a  national  bank,  and  is  now,  with 
its  cajiital  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars 
and  its  excellent  business  system,  the  oldest 
and   strongest   bank    in    Delaware   County. 

Mr.  Edgerton  is  a  Delhi  boy,  his  birth  hav- 
ing occurred  here,  June  29,  1S58.  lie  is  the 
only  son  born  of  the  union  of  Thomas  and 
Elizabeth  (Griswold)  ICdgerton,  formerly  hon- 
ored residents  of  this  connnunity.  .Soon  after' 
his  birth  his  parents  removed  to  .Alleganw 
Cattaraugus  Comity,  where  they  lived  until  the 
death  of  Mr.  Edgerton.  The  widowed  mother 
and  her  son,  a  lad  of  nine  years,  then  returned 
to  Delhi.  Mrs.  Edgerton  subsequently  be- 
came the  wife  of  Judge  J.  S.  Ilawes,  and  now 
resides  in  Kalamazoo,   Mich. 

W.  G.  ICdgerton  im])roved  every  opportu- 
nity afforded  him  for  gaining  an  education, 
anil,  after  leaving  the  district  school,  entered 
the  Delaware  Academy,  where  he  obtained  a 
thorough  knowU'dge  of  l)ook-kee])ing  in  con- 
nection   with    the    academic    course.      At    the 


age  of  titleeil  years  he  began  to  jiaddlc  his 
own  canoe.  iking  capable,  energetic,  anil 
willing,  he  secured  a  posiljun  in  the  Delaware 
National  Bank  as  Ixiok-keiper,  ;ind  after  a 
taithfnl  service  of  thirteen  ^■ears  was  in- 
stalled as  t'ashier  in  iSSTj,  succeeding  Wallei 
{iriswid<l,  and  being  the  fifth  cashier  iin- 
ployed  in  the  bank.  This  position  Mr.  lid- 
gerton  is  filling  with  credit  and  ni. irked 
business  ability,  and  is  justly  esteern.-d  as  a 
young  man  of  sterling  integritv  and  hi,L;li 
moral    |)rinciples. 

.Mr.  Edgerton  married  Miss  Carrie  .\.  M. 
.Smith,  the  daughter  of  i'rofessor  .S.  ('.  .Smith, 
lormerly  I'rineipal  ot  the  Delaware  .Academv, 
but  now  the  well-known  editor  of  the  Dela- 
ware C<i:::i//i-.  Both  he'  and  his  estimable  wife 
are  active  members  of  the  social  cir-Lde>  of 
their  comuumity:  and  their  home  is  an  attrac- 
tive ])lace  for  a  host  of  friends.  In  jiolitics 
Mr.  Edgerton  is  a  strong  Democrat.  lie  is  a 
mendier  arid  present  Master  of  the  Delhi 
Eodge.  No.  4^9.  A.  !•".  &  .\.  M.,  and  High- 
priest  of  Delhi  Chapter,  No.  249,  and  also 
belongs   to   the    Xi>rwich    Commandery. 


'oLTRIC   W.    rRA\TS,   a   well-known 
resident    and    business    man    of    De- 
posit,   Delaware    County,     is   a    na- 
'^  tive   of    Pennsylvania,    having    been 

born  in  that  .State  o])])nsite  the  \-illage  of  Han- 
cock. Xovember  24,  1826.  His  grandfather, 
Thomas  Travis,  came  from  ()range  Count}'  to 
the  Delaware  X'allev  by  wav  of  Port  Jervis, 
from  which  place  he  paddled  to  this  point  in 
a  canoe.  The  land  ])ro\etl  to  contain  an  Ind- 
ian orchanl  and  hnrying-ground,  many  skele- 
tons and  relics  having  been  since  discovered 
on    the    Travis   farm. 

'Thomas  'Travis  engaged  extensively  in  lum- 
bering, and  purchased  over  nine  hundred  acres 
of  land,  upon  whicii  he  cleared  three  large 
farms,  giving  one  to  each  of  his  two  sons 
when  thev  siiccessi\elv  reached  their  majoritv. 
He  and  his  wife  were  active  members  of  the 
Baptist  church.  'Thomas  'Tia\is  built  the  first 
grist-mill  on  Scheawkin  Creek,  and  was  a 
]irogressive  man  fi^r  his  lime.  He  w.is  an 
active  patriot  during  the  Kevoluti.in.  although 
not   attached   to   any   regiment;    and    in    after 


626 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


years  he  often  referred  to  those  stirring  times, 
designating  his  neighbors  as  "Whig"  or 
"Tory,"'  according  to  the  cause  which  they  es- 
poused in  1775.  The  wife  of  Thomas  Travis 
was  Rachel  Jones,  of  Hancock;  and  she  be- 
came the  mother  of  nine  chikhvn  —  Benja- 
min, Gilbert,  Thomas,  Harrison,  Solomon, 
Rachel,  Dorcas,  Sarah,  and  Clarissa.  The 
father  of  this  family  was  stricken  with  fever, 
and  died  at  his  home,  aged  sixty  years. 

His  son,  Gilbert  W.,  the  father  of  Squire 
\V.  Travis,  was  born  in  Buckingham,  Pa., 
January  lO,  1802.  He  received  a  district 
schooling,  after  which  he  assisted  his  father 
in  lumbering,  farming,  and  in  building  the 
famous  grist-mill.  He  then  purchased  at 
Hale's  Eddy  a  farm,  where  he  established  a 
home  which  is  still  occupied  by  one  of  his 
descendants.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Bap- 
tist church  and  a  rigid  Democrat,  dying  at  his 
home  in  Broome  County  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
three.  His  wife  was  Catherine  Whitaker, 
daughter  of  John  Whitaker,  of  Broome 
County,  and  Catherine  (Weaver)  Whitaker,  of 
Wyoming.  Catherine  Weaver  was  a  child  in 
arms  at  the  time  of  the  Wyoming  massacre; 
and  her  parents  were  among  those  who  fled 
with  their  families  into  the  trackless  forest  on 
the  approach  of  the  Indians  and  Tories,  of 
whose  coming  they  had  disbelieved  the  warn- 
ing. Tying  up  the  dog  that  he  should  not 
betray  them,  with  the  younger  children 
strapped  to  their  backs,  they  fled  to  the  Dela- 
ware Valley,  and,  arriving  at  the  river, 
begged  food  and  shelter  of  the  first  white  man 
whom  they  met.  His  answer  was  to  turn 
them  from  his  door,  with  the  remark  that  they 
should  have  been  killed  for  daring  to  oppose 
the  king.  Weary  and  footsore,  they  struggled 
on  up  the  river  until  they  reached  the  house 
of  the  brother  of  the  man  who  had  treated 
them  so  cruelly.  He  proved  to  be  a  good  pa- 
triot, and  gave  them  assistance,  helping  them 
to  reach  their  destination  near  what  is  now 
Deposit.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  has  in 
his  i)ossession  a  piece  of  homespun  cloth 
woven  by  his  grandmother,  and  used  by  her  to 
fasten  her  baby  boy  to  her  back  in  the  flight 
from  Wyoming  —  an  ever-present  reminder  of 
the  hardships  undergone  liy  his  ancestors  in 
those  hostile  times. 


Squire  W.  Travis  received  his  education  in 
the  district  school  and  the  Deposit  Academy, 
and  then  started  in  the  lumber  business  for 
himself,  taking  his  first  raft  to  Philadelphia 
without  starting  a  log;  and  for  forty  years  he 
was  a  pilot  on  the  river.  On  November  11, 
1856,  he  married  Eliza  J.  Surine,  daughter  of 
Alanson  and  Jane  (McLean)  Surine.  Peter 
Surine,  the  father  of  Alanson,  was  a  native  of 
Dutchess  County,  a  son  of  a  French  Huguenot 
emigrant,  who  lived  to  be  over  a  hundred 
years  old.  Peter  was  born  in  Putnam  County, 
whence  he  removed  to  Guilford,  being  one  of 
the  first  settlers  in  that  section.  He  later  re- 
moved to  a  farm  about  one  and  one-half  miles 
from  the  town  of  Walton ;  and  there  engaged 
in  agricultural  pursuits.  In  his  declining 
years  he  purchased  land  in  Michigan,  where 
he  died  at  the  age  of  ninety  years.  His  wife 
was  an  English  lady,  who  died  in  Walton  at 
the  home  of  her  son,  John  Surine,  aged 
ninety-four  years.  Alanson  Surine,  father  of 
Mrs.  Travis,  was  educated  in  the  town  of 
Walton,  and  worked  in  the  foundry.  He  pur- 
chased land  in  Hamden,  and  there  married 
Jane  McLean,  daughter  of  John  McLean,  a 
Revolutionary  soldier  who  came  to  this  coun- 
try before  the  war,  and  enlisted  in  the  Colo- 
nial cause.  John  McLean  settled  in  Albany, 
where  he  lived  when  that  town  was  burned, 
his  family  being  obliged  to  quickly  pack  what 
they  could  of  their  possessions  and  flee  for 
safety,  beholding  their  house  in  flames  before 
they  lo.st  sight  of  it.  After  peace  was  de- 
clared, John  McLean  settled  in  Walton, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  farming  until  his 
death.  He  was  a  strict  Scotch  Presbyterian, 
and  in  politics  a  Democrat. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Squire  W.  Travis  have  two 
children  —  William  H.  and  Jennie.  William 
married  Miss  Kate  Clapper,  of  Deposit,  who 
is  the  mother  of  four  children  —  Florence  J., 
Squire  Vernon,  William  C,  and  Edna  May. 
Jennie  Travis  is  a  school-teacher  employed  in 
District  School  No.  i,  and  lives  at  home  with 
her  parents.  Mr.  Travis  is  at  the  present 
time  extensively  engaged  in  quarrying  and 
shipping  stone,  in  which  business  he  is  emi- 
nently successful.  He  is  an  enterprising 
and  upright  man,  and  is  held  in  deserved 
respect. 


rUOGRAl'HlCAL    REVIKW 


(■■- 


III'MIC    ("iRAXl"    carries    an    cxtiii- 
sivo  stock   of    staple   and    I'ancv   j^ro- 


|b\'  ccnos  m  Ins  lai\i;c  store  in  the 
village  of  Hohait,  and  in  aiUlition 
thereto  has  an  extended  trade  in  bntter.  Mr. 
Grant  is  a  representative  of  an  excellent 
Scotch  family,  ant!  is  a  native  of  Delaware 
County,  born  in  Ilarpersficld,  February  i, 
1852.  He  is  a  son  of  James  A.  and  Margaret 
(Hume)  Grant,  the  former  a  native  of  Stam- 
ford, and  the  latter  of  Kortriyht. 

His  grandfather,  Duncan  J.  Grant,  who  was 
born  in  Scotland,  came  to  this  countrv  when  a 
young  man,  and  settled  in  the  town  of  Har- 
pcrsfield,  where  he  was  a  thriving  fanner. 
He  was  well  educated,  and  was  one  of  the 
most  prominent  and  influential  citizens  of  his 
day,  serving  one  term  as  Sheriff  of  the  county. 
In  his  religious  views  he  was  liberal,  and  in 
politics  a  stanch  Democrat.  He  lived  to  be 
well  advanced  in  years,  surviving  his  wife. 
]\lar\'  Cowan,  who  died  ere  reaching  the 
meridian  of  life.  Of  the  six  children  Imrn  to 
them  none  are  now  living. 

James  A.  (Irant  s|)ent  his  life  within  the 
limits  of  Delaware  Count}',  anti,  when  a  young- 
man,  began  a  mercantile  career,  entering  the 
employment  of  one  Mr.  Cowan  as  a  clerk,  in 
Hrushhmd.  After  continuing  in  that  capacity 
for  some  time,  he  opened  a  store  for  general 
merchandise  in  llohart,  which  he  condnctctl 
with  success  for  fifteen  or  sixteen  years,  till 
his  early  death  at  thirty-seven  \ears  of  age.  in 
December,  1863.  He  took  great  interest  in 
the  affairs  of  the  town  and  count\',  was  an 
active  politician  in  the  I^emocratic  party,  and 
served  as  Sujiervisor  of  Stamford.  He  was 
liberal  in  his  ndigious  views:  while  his 
w'idow.  who  now  makes  iier  home  with  the 
only  child  born  of  their  union,  R.  Hume 
Grant,  is  an  earnest  and  worthy  member  of 
the    Presbyterian   church. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  grew  to  manhood 
in  the  town  of  Stamford,  and,  after  leaving 
the  district  school,  attended  Wellington  Semi- 
nary, from  which  he  entered  Oberlin  College, 
in  Oberlin,  Ohio,  being  graduated  from  that 
institution  in  1874.  .After  some  time  spent 
in  travel  Mr.  Grant  was  admitted  to  the  Illi- 
nois bar,  in  the  city  of  Ottawa,  in  1876.  I'or 
six  years  he  practisetl   his   profession    in    Chi- 


cago, and  wa>  aKo  fdr  a  lime  engaged  a>  a 
teacher  in  the  private  seminary  conducted  b\ 
the  Misses  V..  and  H.  (ir.mt  of  that  citv.  Re- 
turning to  llobart  in  iSSi.  he  was  electe.l 
.School  Commissioner  of  Delaware  Counts', 
an  i>tTice  in  which  he  did  faithful  service  for 
three  years.  .A  portion  c,f  that  lime  he  like- 
wise spent  in  teaching.  In  iS.Sf  .Mr.  (irant 
established  his  present  mercantile  biisine>s, 
which  has  jiroved  very  luciative,  and  which  he 
enlarges  from  year  to  vcar. 

Mr.  Grant  and  Miss  Ida  McN'aught  were 
united  in  marriage  November  24.  rSSS.  Mrs. 
Grant's  mother,  Mrs.  Sarah  (  Harrett  )  Me- 
Xaught,  widow  of  the  late  William  Mc- 
Naught,  now  lives  with  her.  The  Grant 
househokl  has  been  enlarged  and  enlivened  bv 
the  birth  of  four  children:  namely,  Hessie 
liell,  Malcom  Kenneth,  Dor.ald  Hume,  and 
Wallace  Raymond.  Politically,  Mr.  R. 
Hume  (irant  is  a  straightforward  Republican. 
He  is  a  man  of  broad  cultm-e  and  gooii  mental 
attainments,  and  is  held  in  high  regard 
throughout  the  commimit\'.  He  has  served  as 
Supervisor  of  Stamford  tliree  terms,  dmin:; 
the  years  1 886-88.  He  is  inde])endent  and 
liberal  in  religious  matters,  :ind  Mrs.  C.r.iut 
is  a  valued  member  of  the  Presb\terian 
church. 


7^1I.\R1.1-:S  11I:RRI\G,  the  popular 
I  \f       station  agent  for   the    New  \'ork,  On- 

V^  ^.  tario  &  Western  Railroad,  at  Wal- 
ton, is  well  fitted  for  the  important 
position  he  occupies,  being  a  thorough  and 
tnistworth}-  business  man.  He  is  a  native  <>f 
Delaware  Count}',  his  birth  having  occurred 
January  10,  1849,  in  the  town  of  Delhi.  His 
paternal  grandparents  were  residents  of  ScIm- 
harie  County;  and  his  father,  Joseph  Herring, 
was  born  in  that  county  in  1S17.  and,  after 
arriving  at  years  of  maturity,  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Sophia  Chase,  a  native  of  Ham- 
den.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Harrv  P.  and 
Olive  (Roberts)  Chase,  the  former  of  wh<.ni 
died  at  the  age  of  forty-two  \'ears:  anil  \\\v 
latter,  who  survived  her  husband,  lived  a 
widow  until  her  death  in  1S61,  at  the  age  of 
sixty  three  }'ears.  A  son,  Isaac  Chase,  died 
soon  after  his  mother,  at  the  age  of  thirtv-si\. 


628 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


The  surviving  children  are:  Charles  VV.,  a 
farmer  residing  in  Haniden ;  and  Barbara,  the 
eldest,  who  is  the  wife  of  P.  B.  Pettis,  of 
DeLancey,  and  has  recently  celebrated  her 
seventy-second  birthday.  Joseph  Herring 
died  in  1862;  and  his  widow  subsequently 
married  Merman  Launt,  who  died  March  22, 
1887,  aged  seventy-one  years,  leaving  two 
daughters  by  a  former  wife:  Florence  P. 
Launt,  residing  in  Sidney;  and  Adelaide,  a 
teacher  in  the  Walton  Academy. 

Charles  Herring  was  the  only  child  born  to 
his  parents.  He  received  the  foundation  for 
his  education  in  the  district  schools,  and  was 
afterward  a  student  in  the  Walton  Academy, 
where  he  continued  his  studies  until  nineteen 
years  of  age.  Having  an  inclination  for  me- 
chanical pursuits,  he  began  to  learn  the  trade 
of  carriage  trimmer  in  the  shop  of  Eels  & 
Morris,  of  Walton,  but  later  abandoned  the 
idea  of  becoming  a  carriage  trimmer,  and  en- 
tered the  employment  of  Mead,  North  &  Co., 
as  clerk  in  their  extensive  hardware  and  gro- 
cery store.  Mr.  Herring  afterward  formed  a 
partnership  with  Mr.  Beers,  and  for  some 
time  they  carried  on  a  meat  business  under 
the  firm  name  of  Beers  &  Herring.  Giving 
up  his  meat  market,  he  next  secured  a  position 
as  baggage-master  for  the  New  York,  Ontario 
&  Western  Railroad,  and  in  1876  was  ap- 
pointed station  agent,  a  responsible  position, 
which  he  has  ably  filled  to  the  present  time. 

An  important  step  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Her- 
ring was  his  marriage  with  Miss  Sarah  Far- 
relf,  of  Hobart.  Mrs.  Herring's  father  died 
in  early  life;  but  her  widowed  mother  sur- 
vived until  1893,  when  she  passed  away,  at 
the  advanced  age  of  seventy-five,  leaving  three 
children,  namely:  Helen,  widow  of  Clark 
Newcome,  of  Hobart;  Sarah,  now  Mrs.  Her- 
ring; and  Michael,  who  resides  in  Hobart. 
The  household  circle  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Herring 
has  been  increased  and  greatly  enlivened  by 
the  advent  of  three  sons  and  two  daughters, 
enumerated  as  follows:  James,  a  young  man 
of  twenty-two  years,  who  is  fitting  himself  for 
a  civil  engineer,  this  being  his  second  year  in 
Union  College;  Herman,  twenty-one  years 
old,  also  in  Union  College;  Jennie  B.,  fif- 
teen, who  is  giving  her  attention  to  the  study 
of   music,    for  which   she   has   marked   talent; 


Sophia,  a  little  girl  of  eight;  and  Charles,  a 
bright  little  fellow,  six  years  of  age.  Mr. 
Herring  believes  in  the  Democratic  party, 
and  has  served  satisfactorily  as  School  Tru.stee 
and  Village  Trustee.  Socially,  he  is  a  Chap- 
ter Mason  of  Walton  Lodge,  No.  257. 


(bfTiTo 


IIOMAS  A.  HILSON  holds  an  honored 
jl  position  among  the  practical  and  pro- 
-'-  gressive  farmers  of  the  town  of  Bovina. 
He  was  born  in  New  York  City  on  January 
25,  1837,  being  the  only  son  of  William  and 
Elizabeth  (Strangeway)  Hilson,  both  of  whom 
were  natives  of  Berkshire,  Scotland.  (For 
further  family  history  see  sketch  of  John  Hil- 
son, an  uncle  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch.) 

William  Hilson  lived  in  his  native  country 
until  after  his  marriage.  Emigrating  to  the 
United  States,  he  landed  in  New  York, 
and  remained  in  that  city  several  years,  work- 
ing at  his  trades  as  a  stone-mason,  brick- 
mason,  and  plasterer.  Subsequently  removing 
to  Delaware  County,  he  bought  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  five  acres,  on  which  the  improve- 
ments were  of  small  value.  He  worked  hard 
both  at  his  trade  and  at  his  agricultural 
labors,  much  of  his  mechanical  work  still 
remaining.  His  death  occurred  when  he  was 
but  forty-five  years  old.  His  wife  lived  but  a 
.short  time  afterward,  passing  to  the  brighter 
shore  at  the  age  of  forty-six  years.  Both  were 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  in 
politics  he  was  a  Whig.  They  were  the  par- 
ents of  four  children,  namely:  three  daugh- 
ters, now  deceased;  and  the  son  Thomas. 
Elizabeth  Hilson,  the  wife  of  Alexander  Hoy, 
died  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven  years.  Mar- 
garet, the  wife  of  David  Sloan,  died  when 
thirty-three  years  of  age.  Helen  Hilson  died 
when  an  infant. 

Thomas  A.  Hilson  was  a  young  lad  when 
he  came  with  his  parents  to  this  town,  and 
here  he  was  reared  and  educated.  After  the 
death  of  his  parents  he  took  charge  of  the  old 
homestead,  which  he  has  since  occupied,  and 
which  he  now  owns.  Of  his  one  hundred  and 
five  acres  twenty  acres  are  in  timber,  and  the 
remainder  in  tillage  or  grazing  land.  His 
residence  is  commodious  and  convenient,  and 
the  barn  and  out-buildings  substantial  struct- 


IHOGRAi'llKAL    KKVIKW 


fiT) 


urcs.  A  Ixautiful  view  ot'  tiic  valley  huli>w 
ami  the  siirroiindin--  country  c:\u  he  nhtaiiicil 
from  his  house,  makiiiL;-  the  jilace  one  of  the 
most  attractive  spots  in  Delaware  County. 
In  addition  to  general  fannini;,  Mr.  ililson 
has  a  fine  dairy  of  twenty  milcii  e(nvs,  mostly 
Jersey  grades,  which  in  i  S<):;  yielded  him  aii 
average  of  two  himdred  and  ninetv  [)ounds  of 
butter  per  head. 

Mr.  Hilson  has  been  twice  married.  In 
1 86 1  he  was  united  to  Helen  Graham,  who 
died  in  1866,  leaving  him  with  two  children. 
On  March  28,  1868.  he  married  Jeanette  O. 
Stott,  a  native  of  Bovina.  and  a  daughter  of 
George  and  Ellen  (Storie)  .Stott.  Mr.  .Stott 
was  a  native  of  Scotland,  who  was  for  many 
years  engaged  in  farnung  pursuits  in  Bovina', 
where  he  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years. 
His  wife,  who  lived  to  the  good  old  age  of 
eighty-six  years,  was  a  life-long  resident  of 
Bovina.  Both  were  wortliy  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  church.  Of  tlie  large  family  of 
children  born  to  them  six  lived  to  maturity, 
and  four  are  now  living,  namelv:  George,  a 
farmer  in  the  town  of  Andes:  Walter  O.,  a 
truck  gardener  in  Colorado;  Jane,  a  resident 
of  Bovina  Centre;  and  .Mrs.  Hilson. 

Mr.  Hilson  has  four  children  living,  as  fol- 
lows: Mary  S.,  the  wife  of  David  Finkle,  of 
Bovina  Centre;  Jennie;  Nellie  J.;  and  Bessie 
M.  I5oth  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  and  are  greatlv  respected 
among  their  neighbors  and  associates.  In 
politics  he  is  a  strong  adherent  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  and  a  man  of  intbience  in  local 
afifairs.  He  has  served  with  fiilelity  as  Asses- 
sor for  the  past  seven  vears. 


[eJ-^^AMCKL  EGGLI-ISTO.V.  a  prosper- 
//^  ous  farmer  of  Tompkins,  X.Y.,  was 
^ — '  born  in  this  town,  December  27, 
183S.  His  grandfather,  Samuel 
Eggleston,  was  a  native  of  Saratoga  County, 
where  James,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  born.  In  1828  they  removed  to 
Tompkins  from  Corintii.  the  journey  being- 
made  overland  in  ox  teams;  and  there  they 
erected  a  log  cabin.  The  father  worked  for  a 
time  in  a  saw-mill,  and  also  at  his  trade  as  a 
mechanic,    in    connection   with    farmins;.      He 


married  Ruth  Conk,  0/  Tompkins,  and  db-d  in 
i.S.t4,  upward  of  seventy-ei-ht  years  of  age, 
having  been  father  of 'ten  children,  all'^nf 
whom   grew   to   maturitv. 

James  J^ggleston  was  a  fam./us  hunter,  and 
had  many  exciting  adventures  with  widves  an<l 
panthers,  more  than  once  narrowlv  escaping 
with  his  life.  He  died  in  1864,  at  the  age  n( 
seventy-four  years.  \l\>  grave  is  in  the  fam- 
ily buri.il-ground  on  the  homestead  farm. 
His  wife,  .Ann  Gifford,  daughter  of  Joseph 
Gilford,  a  farmer  of  .Sarato-a  County,  died 
September  2.  1S86,  and  is  buried  beside  her 
husband.  They  had  the  following  children: 
Nancy,  who  married  Theodore  Sisson,  a 
farmer  of  Pennsylvania;  Clarissa,  who  mar- 
ried David  Scott,  a  farmer  of  'Tompkin>: 
Rachel,  the  wife  of  Isaac  .Scott,  of  the  same 
town;  Susan,  who  married  Jacob  Gordenies,  a 
farmer  in  Tomjikins;  Betsy  A.,  wife  of  Henrv 
M.  Smith,  a  meclianic  and  farmer  of  .Mace. 
Mith.;  Simon  C.  a  farmer,  who  married 
Alice  Russell,  of  Tompkins,  and  died  there 
in  1892;  James,  who  married  .Mary  Avery, 
and    has   since   passed   away:  and    Samuel. 

-Samuel  Eggleston's  boylnKJtl  was  passed  on 
the  old  farm  in  Tom])kins.  wiiere  he  attendeil 
the  district  school.  H  is  father  being  an  in- 
valid for  twelve  years,  the  care  of  the  farm 
fell  upon  young  Samuel  when  he  was  but 
fifteen  years  of  age.  December  31.  1859.  he 
married  Olive  Miner,  daughter  of  Abram  and 
Keziah  ((icdden)  Miner,  of  Dravton,  Catta- 
raugus County,  wiiere  Mr.  Miner  was  engaged 
in  carpentering  and  farming.  .Mrs.  I-!ggies- 
ton  was  left  an  orphan  when  verv  young,  and 
was  educated' at  Walton.  She  and  her  hus- 
band have  had  three  children:  Albert  I.,  born 
April  .^o,  1S61,  who  died  January  6,  1.S88: 
Curtis  S.,  born  November  27,  1S65:  and  Mel- 
vin  .•\..  born  No\ember  25.   1S70. 

Albert  J.  Eggleston  married  Estelia  Coll- 
ier, of  Tom])kins:  and  they  were  the  parents 
of  two  children  —  Hattie  B.  and  Maggie  M. 
Curtis  .S.,  a  carpenter  of  Binghamton.  married 
Kate  .M.  Shaw,  of  that  city.  Melvin  .A.,  wli  . 
assists  his  father  on  tlie  home  farm,  married 
lunma  A.  Webster,  daughter  of  Hiram  B. 
Webster,  of  Tompkins.  Mr.  .Samuel  Eggles- 
ton is  a  successful  farmer  and  a  highlv  re- 
spected citizen   of   the   town  where  he  resides. 


630 


RIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


and    to    promote  the  welfare   of   which   he  is 
ever  reach-  to   lend  a  helping  haml. 


TTAIIARLES  DOYLE,  a  representative 
I  \J  farmer  of  the  town  of  Hancock,  N.Y., 
\%^^  was  born  in  this  town  September  6, 
^  1828,  and  died  on  April  16,  1871. 
The  Doyle  family  is  well  known  in  the  pio- 
neer history  of  this  section  of  the  country, 
having  been  the  first  settlers  of  Doylestown, 
Pa.,  and  also  among  the  first  to  settle  Han- 
cock, coming  to  the  latter  town  early  in  the 
nineteenth  century.  Edward  Doyle,  the 
father  of  Charles,  was  born  in  Hancock,  and 
spent  a  long  life  in  his  native  town,  dying  at 
the  age  of  eighty-two.  His  wife  was  Harriet 
Leonard,  also  of  Hancock. 

When  Charles  Doyle  started  in  life  for 
himself,  he  purchased  the  farm  on  which  his 
widow  is  now  living.  This  estate  is  beauti- 
fully situated  on  the  banks  of  Lake  Somerset, 
and  here  Mr.  Doyle  spent  the  remainder  of 
his  life.  His  death,  at  the  age  of  forty-three 
years,  removed  from  the  community  a  man  of 
much  usefulness,  of  .sterling  qualities,  and 
highly  respected  by  all  who  knew  him.  He 
was  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  took  an  active 
interest  in  his  party. 

On  June  7,  1858,  Mr.  Doyle  married  Ma- 
tilda Lakin,  daughter  of  Jonas  Lakin,  second, 
and  Mary  (Thomas)  Lakin.  They  were  the 
parents  of  three  children:  Walter,  who  lives 
on  the  home  farm  with  his  mother;  Herbert, 
a  telegraph  operator  on  the  O.  &  W.  Rail- 
road at  Cook's  Falls;  Evelyn,  wife  of  Au- 
gustus Reyen,  of  Hancock,  and  the  mother  of 
one  child,  Charles  Reyen. 


son 


-AMES  COWAN  STORIi:,  i\LD.,  a 
well-known  physician  and  surgeon  of 
Walton,  was  born  in  Bovina,  Delaware 
County,  N.Y.,  January  12,  1855,  the 
of  Alexander  and  Esther  A.  (Calan) 
Storie.  James  Storie,  the  father  of  Alexan- 
tler,  was  born  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  and  was 
there  married  to  Mary  McCurrie,  of  Scotch 
descent.  They  emigrated  to  America  soon 
after  his  marriage,  settling  in  Bovina,  where 
Mr.  Storie  cleared  his   1  mrl.  nnrl    in  mur'^o  of 


time  had  a  fine  farm  under  cultivation.  His 
family  consisted  of  Mary  A.,  now  a  resident 
of  Bovina;  Nellie,  who  married  George  Stott, 
and  died  at  Bovina:  Mrs.  Bruob:  Samuel, 
who  died  in  the  town  of  Tompkins;  and  Alex- 
ander, born  in  1 8 14. 

At  the  time  of  the  Rebellion  Mr.  Alexan- 
der Storie  was  active  in  raising  men  for  the 
Northern  army,  during  which  period  he  was 
Supervisor  of  the  town.  He  is  a  man  of  more 
than  ordinary  ability,  and  for  many  years  held 
the  responsible  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace. 
He  is  a  Republican  in  politics.  He  married 
Esther  A.  Calan,  who  was  born  in  Delaware 
County  in  1820;  and  they  had  five  children, 
briefly  recorded  below:  William  died  at  eigh- 
teen years  of  age.  Marion  died  at  the  age  of 
ten.  James  resides  in  Walton.  Alexander 
F.  is  a  resident  of  Orange  County,  New  York, 
married  to  Miss  Gussie  Hastings.  John 
William,  married  to  Miss  Jennie  Laidlaw,  re- 
sides in  Bovina.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Storie 
are  members  of  the  Presbyterian  church, 
which  they  were  instrumental   in  building. 

James  Cowan  Storie  received  his  early  edu- 
cation at  the  district  schools,  afterward  at- 
tending the  Stamford  Seminary,  where  he  was 
graduated.  He  read  medicine  in  the  office  of 
Dr.  Henry  Ogden,  a  prominent  physician, 
was  graduated  from  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons  in  New  York  City  in  1S84,  and 
at  once  came  to  Walton,  where  he  has  re- 
mained in  active  practice  ever  since.  Dr. 
Storie  is  a  member  of  the  Delaware  County 
Medical  Society.  He  has  never  been  active 
in  politics  or  sought  any  office,  but  devotes 
his  whole  time  to  his  profession. 


IIARLES  S.  ADAMS  represents  one 
of  the  old  pioneer  families  of  Stam- 
ford, of  which  town  he  is  a  highly 
respected  citizen.  He  was  born 
on  June  29,  1839,  in  the  same  house  in  which 
he  now  resides.  He  is  a  great-grandson  of 
Joseph  Adams,  a  descendant  of  one  of  four 
brothers  of  the  name  of  Adams  who  came  to 
New  England  with  the  early  colonists. 

Joseph  Adams  was  born  in  Connecticut  in 
1740,  his  father,  Abram  Adams,  being  one  of 
the  first  settlers  of  that   State.     Joseph  was  a 


Jnr.v^s  C    Storie. 


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BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


^33 


fanner,  and  a  soUlioi-  of  tlic  Rcx'oUitionary 
War.  He  tlicd  in  lairficki  County,  Connect- 
icut, at  a  good  old  age.  His  son,  another 
Joseph,  was  horn  in  August,  1770,  and  mar- 
ried Sarah  Smitii,  horn  in  Ma_\-,  1776,  also  in 
Connecticut.  In  June,  1797,  this  worthy 
couple  moved  with  horse  and  cart  lo  Delaware 
County,  New  York,  and  settled  in  Stamford, 
where  they  cleared  land  and  huilt  a  log  house. 
Joseph  Adams,  Jr.,  was  a  weaver  hy  trade, 
and  followed  this  occui)ation  to  some  extent 
after  moving  to  Delaware  County.  He  was 
one  of  the  sturdy,  courageous  farmers  of  that 
time,  industrious  and  faithful  lo  his.  duties, 
and  at  his  tleath  owned  a  productive  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty-five  acres  of  land.  He 
died  September  6,  1819,  a  Whig,  of  liberal 
religious  views:  and  his  wife  passed  away 
February  2,  1839.  They  were  the  parents  of 
four  children,  namely:  .Smith,  born  .Septem- 
ber 12,  1796;  I'hilemus.  born  in  August, 
1801  ;  I'"idelia,  horn  in  October,  1806; 
Edwin,  born  July  24,  18 10.  ICdwin  is  the 
only  survivor  of  this  family;  and  he  is  one  of 
the  oldest  citizens  of  the  town,  residing  with 
his  son  Charles. 

-Smith  Adams,  st)n  of  Joseph  and  Sarah, 
was  born  September  12.  1796,  in  l'"airfiel(l 
County',  Connecticut,  and  was  brougiit  to 
Delaware  County  by  his  pai'cnts  wiicn  l)ut 
eighteen  months  old.  He  gTcw  up  to  a 
farmer's  life,  and  succeeded  to  the  old  home- 
stead, where  he  died  August  5,  1870,  having 
passed  a  useful,  successful  life.  His  wife 
was  Rachel  Taylor,  born  in  l-"airfiekl  Count)-, 
in  December,  1797,  a  daughter  of  Zalmon  and 
Hannah  (Whitlock)  Taylor.  .She  ilied  June 
16,  1856,  the  mother  of  three  children,  only 
one  of  whom,  Charles  S.,  of  this  sketch,  is 
still  living.  The  others  were:  .Sarah  Adelia, 
wife  of  John  M.  IJennett,  who  died  in  1886; 
and  Eliza  Jane,  wife  of  David  .Sturgess,  who 
died  in  1892. 

Charles  S.  Adams  was  educated  in  the  dis- 
trict schools,  after  which  he  gave  his  attention 
to  farming.  His  farm  contains  one  hundred 
acres  of  land,  and  here  he  operates  an  exten- 
sive dairy.  March  9,  1871,  he  married  Miss 
Maria  M.  Ballard,  a  native  of  Roxbury.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Adams  are  the  parents  of  five  chil- 
dren—  Francis   B.,  John    O.,  h-va    M..    Mary, 


and  .Sar;ih.  I  liey  aie  lii)er;il-minilec|  and  pid)- 
lic-spirited,  and  Mr.  Adams  is  a  kepul)lic:in. 
He  has  made  extensive  improvements  in  the 
buildings  on  his  place,  which  give  evidence 
of  his  good  judgment  :nid  abilil\-. 


fff^OHN  T.  McDON'.ALD,  general  farmer, 
stock-raiser,  and  manufacturer  of  fancy 
dairy  butter,  owning  ;ind  ably  manag- 
ing a  fine!)-  improved  farm  on  I'Ak 
Creek,  in  the  town  of  Delhi,  has  spent  his 
entire  life  on  the  beautiful  homestead  which 
he  now  occupies,  his  i)irth  having  occurred 
here  October  4,  1842.  He  is  one  of  Delhi's 
most  brainy  and  progressive  agriculturists, 
possessing  in  an  eminent  degree  those  traits 
that  command  respect  in  the  business  world 
and  gain  esteem  among  his  neighi^ors  and 
associates. 

Mr.  McDonald  is  the  rightful  inheritor  of 
those  habits  of  thrift  anil  enterprise  which 
have  been  the  step])ing-stones  to  his  success- 
ful career,  being  the  scion  of  an  excellent 
Scotch  family.  His  great-grandfather,  who 
was  a  native  of  old  Scotland,  emigrated  with 
his  famil)',  and  was  one  of  the  earliest  pio- 
neers of  Delaware  County,  where  he  took  u|) 
land  in  the  town  of  .Stamford.  Alexander 
McDonald,  a  soti  of  the  emigrant,  was  a  little 
lad  of  four  years  when  he  left  his  native 
Highlands;  and  the  larger  yavt  of  his  after 
life  was  spent  within  the  limits  of  this 
county,  although,  when  a  }oung  man,  he  was 
for  several  }ears  the  captain  of  a  sloo])  on  the 
Hudson  River.  He  subset|uently  bought  a 
timber  ti'act  in  Stamford,  where  he  established 
a  home,  and  he  and  his  good  wife  reared  their 
family  of  seven  children  — Ann.  John,  James, 
Jane,  William,  Alexander,  and  George. 

James  McDonald,  the  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  cpiite  a  young  man  when 
his  father,  Alexander,  tiled;  and  from  that 
time  until  his  marriage  he  resided  on  the 
paternal  homestead,  taking  full  charge  of  it. 
In  1841,  soon  after  his  union  with  iClizabeth 
Rose,  the  daughter  of  Hugh  Rose,  a  farmer  ol 
.Stamford,  he  bought  the  farm  now  owned  by 
his  son,  John  T.  It  was  then  partly  cleared: 
ami  in  the  succeeding  years  lie  placed  a  large 
share   of    it    under   cultivation,    erected    a   fair 


634 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


set  of  buildings,  and  established  a  most  com- 
fortable   homestead    for   himself    and    family. 
He  was  a  skilful  farmer,  an  upright  man,  and 
one  of  the  best-known  and  most  valued   citi- 
zens of  this  section  of  the  county.      His  wife 
was  the  descendant  of  a  respected  pioneer  of 
Delaware  County,  her  grandfather  Rose  hav- 
ing   removed    here    from    Scotland    in    1776, 
while  this  region  was  but  a  vast  forest,  find- 
ing his  way  by  means  of   blazed   trees.      Ind- 
ians still    roamed   the   woods   in    those    days. 
One  night  a  party  of  them  came  to  his  house, 
and  took  a  boy  out  of  bed,  where  he  lay  be- 
tween  two   others,    and    carried    him    away   to 
Canada.      His    mother   never    knew    what    be- 
came of  him.      He  was  well   treated,  however, 
by    his    captors;    and,   after  he  had  grown  to 
manhood,   he  came  back  on  a  brief   visit,  re- 
turning then  to  Canada,  accompanied  by  two 
of  his  brothers.      Mr.  Rose  built  the  first  mill 
in  the  locality  in  1792,  on   Rose   Brook.      His 
son,  Hugh   Rose,  improved  a  good  farm  in  the 
town  of  Stamford,  and  there  reared  a  family  of 
ten  children  —Mary,  Margaret,  Lydia,  Sarah, 
Eliza,  Elizabeth,  Hugh,  Abigail,  ICdmund,  and 
Catherine.     The  family  circle  of  James   Mc- 
Donald and  his  wife  included   seven   children, 
as  follows:  Alexander;  Clark  H.;  James   H.; 
Catherine,   the    wife    of    William    Gaffers,    of 
Albany  County;  John  T.,  of   Delhi;   Isabella, 
the    wife    of    James    W.    Hills,    of    Albany 
County ;  and   Charles   R.      Both  parents  spent 
their  entire  wedded  life  on  the  homestead,  the 
father  dying   in    1868,  at  the  age   of  sixty-six 
years,  and  the  mother  when  sixty-seven  years 
old.      She  was  a  woman  of  sterling  worth,  and 
a    consistent    member    of     the     Presbyterian 
church   of   West    Kortright. 

John  T.  McDonald  received  a  good  com- 
mon-school education.  During  his  youth  and 
early  manhood  he  assisted  in  the  care  of  the 
farm;  and  after  the  death  of  his  father  he 
bought  out  the  interests  of  the  remaining 
heirs  in  the  estate,  running  heavily  in  debt 
therefor,  and  has  since  been  successfully  en- 
gaged in  general  farming  and  dairying,  carry- 
ing on  his  operations  in  that  systematic  and 
intelligent  manner  that  is  a  sure  guarantee  of 
prosperity.  His  farm  contains  two  hundred 
acres  of  choice  land,  some  one  hundred  and 
sixty  of  which   arc   under  cultivation,  and   on 


which  he   has  made  extensive  and  expensive 
improvements,  such  as  draining  swampy  land, 
pulling  out  stumps,  and   placing   it    in   a  pro- 
ductive   condition.      He    has   entirely    rebuilt 
the  residence,  furnishing  it  wi'h  many  of  the 
modern     improvements    so    conducive    to    the 
comfort   of   the  family,  including  among  other 
things  a  furnace  for   heating.      He    has  also 
erected  a  commodious   barn,  sixty  by  one  hun- 
dred feet,  and  about  fifty  feet   high,  the  base- 
ment  of   which  is  devoted  to  the  swine.      The 
second    floor,  which   has   stalls  for  a  hundred 
head   of   cattle,  contains  the   cow   stable;  and 
on  the  upper  floor  is  the  wagon-room  and  the 
horse  stable,   and   he  has   recently  annexed   a 
creamery,  with   all   the  conveniences  for  mak- 
ing  five   hundred    pounds    of   butter   per    day. 
Each   floor  of  this   "animal   palace"   is  most 
conveniently  arranged;  and  the  conveniences 
for  feeding,  watering,  and  caring  for  his  stock 
can  scarcely  be   improved.      We  must  not  for- 
get to  mention  that  above  the  wagon-room  is 
a  threshing-machine,  run  by  power  from  the 
mill,  in  which  the  grain  harvested  upon  the 
farm  is  threshed.      He  also  has  a  large  poultry- 
house,    built    on     the    most    improved    plans, 
accommodating    about     eight     hundred    hens. 
With  characteristic  enterprise  Mr.  McDonald 
built  a  mill  upon  his  farm  a  few  years  since; 
and   here,  from   timber  which   he   cuts  on   his 
own  land,  he  manufactures  the  boxes  in  which 
he  ships   his   butter,  and   has  also  a  grist-mill 
for  grinding  feed   and  a  cider-mill    in   which, 
when    the   seasons  are    propitious,    he    makes 
large    quantities    of    cider    and    cidjr    jelly. 
Every  acre  of  the  land  is  made  available;  and, 
in  order  that  the  sugar  maples  of   his  orchard 
may  bring  him   good  returns,  he  has  erected  a 
sugar-house   near  his   mill,    and   here  the   sap 
from    seven    hundred    trees    is    annually    con- 
verted into  syrup  or  sugar,  for  which   he   finds 
a  ready  market.      Mr.  McDonald   is  a  man  of 
great   native   ability,    possessing   unusual   me- 
chanical   talent;  and    the  major    part    of    the 
various   improvements   of  the   place   emanated 
from   his  own   brain,  and  are  the  productions 
of   his  own   hand.      In  his  workshop  are   tools 
of   many  kinds,  in  the  use   of   which   he  is   an 
adept.      Although   a  general   farmer,  our  sub- 
ject  pays   especial   attention   to   dairying,    his 
fine  herd  of  graded  Jerseys  numbering  about 


RIOGRAPHICAI,    RKVIKW 


f'3.S 


niiK-ty  head,  Irom  which  in  1893  he  sokl 
twenty-three  thousand  one  hundred  pounds  of 
butter,  sending  it  direct  to  private  customers, 
and  shipping  it  to  all  parts  of  the  country. 
In  the  sale  of  his  farm  products,  which,  he- 
sides  butter,  include  fresh  eggs,  chickens, 
maple  syrup,  condensed  cider,  and  cider  jelly, 
Mr.  McDonald  has  built  up  a  most  extensive 
and  lucrati\-e  trade,  his  goods  ha\ing  a  fine 
reputation,  and  bringing  the  higlicst  market 
price. 

On  b'ebruary  1,  1S71,  .Mr.  McDonaUl  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Catherine  Covell,  a  na- 
tive of  Roxbury,  daughter  of  ICdmund  and 
Araminta  (Wilson)  Covell.  The  father  was 
for  some  time  engaged  as  a  carpenter  in  Rox- 
bury. The  last  twenty-eight  years  of  the 
lives  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Covell  were  spent  in 
the  town  of  Walton,  where  they  successfully 
managed  a  large  farm,  and  where,  within  one 
short  week,  both  i^assed  to  their  final  rest. 
They  were  excellent  Christian  people,  ami  es- 
teemed members  of  the  Methodist  church. 
During  the  wedded  life  of  John  '!".  McDonald 
and  his  estimable  wife,  in  which  sorrow  as 
well  as  pleasure  has  had  its  swa\',  eight  chil- 
dren have  been  born,  of  whom  we  record  the 
following:  James  died  at  the  age  of  six 
months.  ICddie  died  at  the  age  of  nine  years. 
Elizabeth,  an  accom])lished  young  lady,  was 
graduated  from  the  Delaware  Acaelemy  in  the 
class  of  1895.  I'.arl  died  at  the  tender  age  of 
two  years.  The  others  are  Annlia,  Catherine, 
Isabella,  and  Araminta.  Religiously,  Mr. 
McDonald  and  his  family  are  connected  with 
the  Presbyterian  church;  and  in  him  the  Re- 
publican party  finds  an  earnest  advocate.  ()n 
an  accompanying  page  mav  be  seen  a  view  of 
Mr.  McDonald's  farm. 


,i;V.  CHARLI'.-S  A.  1II'151:LL,  pas- 
tor of  the  l'"irst  Baptist  Church  at 
Trout  Creek,  Tompkins,  N.^'.,  was 
born  in  Goshen.  Litchfield  County. 
Conn.,  July  2,  1845.  He  is  of  old  Puritan 
stock,  being  descended  from  early  settlers  of 
New  England.  Loveman  llubell,  his  grand- 
father, was  born  in  Warren,  Conn.,  December 
5,  1784.  He  married  Rosannah  Mead,  born 
March   28,   1792,  daughter  of  Abner  Mead,  of 


Warren,  and  removed  tn  i'ranklin.  Didaware 
Count}',  X.\'.,  iif  which  town  he  w.i>i  one  of 
the  [lioneers.  He  ami  his  wile  were  the  |)ar- 
enls  of  eleven  chiMren,  namelv:  <>rilla,  born 
December  ,1,  iSdi^;  I.iicv,  burn  Angust  24, 
1811;  James  l'\,  Ijoiii  July  I S,  1813;  Lucius 
.S.,  born  September  12,  1815;  James  I,.,  horn 
December  29,  1817;  .Sar.di,  born  ( )clober  25, 
1 8 19;  Henry  .S.,  Imrn  January  6,  1822; 
Charles  W.,  born  July  7,  1823;  Clarissa  .\., 
born  December  2,  1825:  David  C,  born  De- 
cember 4,  1829:  Mar\'  R.,  born  A[)ri]  30, 
1832.  Loveman  Hubell  mo\eil  to  Walton, 
and  spent  his  last  tlays  at  the  home  of  his 
grandson,  of  whom  this  sketch  is  written, 
dying  October  22.  1866.  a  firm  believer  in  the 
HaiJtist  faith. 

His  son,  James  I..,  was  educated  in  the  dis- 
trict schools,  and  graduated  from  the  l-'ranklin 
High  .School.  Heing  offered  a  |josition  as 
foreman  in  a  large  machine-siiop  at  Goshen, 
Conn.,  he  removed  to  that  town,  and  was  Cap- 
tain of  a  cavalry  company  in  the  .State  militia 
for  a  number  of  )'ears.  lie  married  i'ollv 
Ann  Wetlge,  daughter  of  Lyman  Wedge,  of 
Warren,  Conn.  James  Hubell  died  of  ty- 
phoid fever  when  a  young  man  of  twenty-nine 
yeais:  and  his  death  was  followed  two  months 
later  by  that  of  his  wife,  she  i)eing  a  victim 
of  the  same  fatal  disease.  Their  two  sons, 
John  L.,  liorn  October  2,  1842,  and  Charles 
.\.,  born  July  2,  1845,  were  thus  left  ori^hans 
at  an  early  age,  and  were  cared  for  bv  their 
grandjiarents,  Loveman  Hubell  and  his  wife. 
John  L.,  the  elder,  enlisted  in  the  Civil  War 
in  186,,  going  to  the  front  from  Walton  in 
Conijiany  I,  i  went \ -first  New  \'ork  Ca\alry, 
and  serving  under  Slieridan  in  the  .Shenandoah 
\'alley.  He  was  taken  ill  while  in  service, 
and  died  in  1864.  being  buried  in  Washing- 
ton, D.C.  His  wife  was  Martlia  J.  Beagel, 
of  Walton,  a  daughter  of  John  Heagel.  Mr. 
ami  Mrs.  John  L.  llubell  weie  the  parents  of 
one  child,  Oliver    A.  Ihdiell. 

Charles  .V.  Hubell.  son  of  James  L.  and 
Lollv  Ann  (Wedge)  Hubell.  was  a  mere  boy 
of  seventeen  at  the  breaking-out  of  the  war, 
but  enlisted  August  12,  1S62,  in  Company  B, 
One  Hundred  and  Forty-fourth  Regiment, 
New  \'(M-k  \'olunteers,  ami  served  through  the 
great   struggle,   being   mustered   out   June   25, 


636 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


1865.  at  Hilton  Head.  September  25,  1867, 
he  married  Electa  L.  Bulkley,  daughter  of 
James  M.  and  Rebecca  (_Hopkins)  Bulkley. 
The  Bulkley  family  was  one  of  the  oldest  in 
Dutchess  County,  Mrs.  Hubell's  grandfather 
being  James,  a  son  of  Moses  Bulkley,  a  sea- 
captain  and  native  of  that  county.  The  Hop- 
kins family  early  settled  in  Connecticut. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hubell  have  four  children: 
Alice  M.;  I.ibbie  R.,  who  married  F.  W. 
Baker,  of  Hattenburg,  Ulster  County,  and  is 
the  mother  of  one  child,  Carson;  James  S., 
who  is  engaged  in  lumbering  in  Colchester; 
and  Hattie  G.,   who  lives  at.  home. 

About  1879  Mr.  Hubell  entered  the  minis- 
try, and  for  twelve  years  preached  at  the  Col- 
chester Baptist  Church,  after  which  he 
accepted  a  call  to  the  Baptist  church  at  Trout 
Creek.  He  is  a  member  of  Ben  Marvin  Post, 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  No.  209,  of 
Walton.  As  a  pastor  he  is  beloved  by  his 
people,  and  his  work  in  the  Master's  vineyard 
has  been  blessed  with  good  results. 


(S^fA.MES  HALLEXTIXE,  a  ijrominent 
citizen  of  Andes,  N.  \'.,  was  born  here 
(in  January  27,  1855.  His  grandfather, 
Uavid  Ballentine,  was  born  in  Rox- 
burghshire, Scotland,  and  came  to  this  country 
in  1814,  settled  in  Bovina,  where  he  engaged 
in  mercantile  business  and  farming,  and  mar- 
ried Anna  Grant. 

Duncan  Ballentine,  son  of  Da\id,  was  born 
in  Bovina,  February  28,  1821.  He  kept  a 
store  there  till  1846,  when  he  came  to  Andes 
and  engaged  in  business,  afterward  organizing 
the  national  bank  of  this  place,  in  which  he 
continued  to  be  interested  till  his  death,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-seven  years.  In  1864  he  was  a 
Republican  delegate.  Mrs.  Duncan  Ballen- 
tine, who  is  still  living,  is  a  strong  supporter 
of  the  church,  as  was  alscj  her  husband.  They 
had  eight  children,  six  of  whom  grew  to  ma- 
turity, namely:  David,  who  married  Elizabeth 
Frazer,  and  had  one  child — Raymond;  James; 
George,  who  married  Ella  Ferguson,  and  had 
four  children  —  Mabel,  Laura,  Hattie,  and 
Lillian;  Ejihraim,  who  married  Eva  Crispell, 
and  had  (me  child  —  Duncan;  Agnes,  who 
married    F.     Xcwman.    and    had    one    child  — 


Hazel;   Lillian,  who  married  John   Knaiiji,  and 
had  one  child  —  John. 

James  Ballentine  was  educated  in  the  Andes 
and  Ferguson  Academies.  In  1874  he  suc- 
ceeded 'his  uncle  Da\id  in  the  produce  busi- 
ness, which  he  now  carries  on  so  successfully. 
He  married  Kate  Shaw,  daughter  of  Archibald 
and  Mary  (Grant)  Shaw.  Mr.  Ballentine  has 
had  a  very  prosperous  business  career,  and  is 
a  well-known  and  highly  esteemed  citizen,  a 
leader  in  many  of  the  town  affairs.  He  is 
a  Republican,  has  been  a  Supervisor,  and  a 
member  of  the  Assembly. 


.BRIDGE  F.  DOUGHERTY,  a  practi- 
>!  cal  farmer  of  Masonville,  Delaware 
County,  N.  Y. ,  was  born  Ntjvember 
12,  1854.  His  father,  John  Dougherty,  was  a 
son  of  Jacob  Dougherty,  who  married  Eunice 
Robinson. 

John  Dougherty  attended  the  district  school 
in  his  boyhood,  and  assisted  his  father  on  the 
farm.  L'pon  reaching  maturity,  he  began 
farming  for  himself  at  Terry  Clove,  where  he 
was  an  early  settler.  He  married  Maria 
Signor,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Hannah 
(Linderbeck)  Signor,  of  Dutchess  Count}',  a 
descendant  of  two  old  pioneer  families.  In 
the  latter  part  of  the  Civil  War  John  Dough- 
erty enlisted  in  an  engineer  corps  and  served 
ten  months.  When  peace  was  declared,  he 
returned  to  his  home  and  purchased  the  farm 
now  occupied  by  his  son  Elbridge  at  Mason- 
ville, where  he  now  passes  most  of  his  time, 
having  retired  from  active  life.  He  and  his 
estimable  wife  were  the  parents  of  five  chil- 
dren, three  of  whom  are  still  living:  Hannah 
J.,  who  married  James  Carroll,  a  farmer  at 
Trout  Creek;  Eunice  O. ,  the  wife  of  Daniel 
Hoyt,  of  Tompkins;  and  Elbridge  F. ,  of 
whom  this  sketch  is  written. 

Elbridge  F.  Dougherty's  early  life  was 
pleasantly  passed  in  pursuing  his  studies  at 
the  district  school  and  helping  in  the  work  of 
the  farm.  On  July  3,  1877,  he  married  Miss 
Lydia  A.  Banker,  daughter  of  Brazillia  and 
.Susan  (Frcar)  Banker,  of  l'"ranklin.  The 
father  of  Brazillia  Banker  was  Thorn  Banker, 
a  pioneer  of  Kortright,  who  married  Phoebe 
Rowe,  whose  ancestors  were  among  the  first  to 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RKVIKW 


'.57 


settle  in  New  Wuk.  l?ia/illia  Hunkei'  was  a 
participant  in  tiie  anti-rent  war,  and  (iininn 
the  exciting;-  times  nf  that  ])eri(](l  was  a  (irm 
sup|)(irler  of  the  ])(ipular  side.  lie  died  at  a 
;;c)()d  old  aj^e  at  l'"ranklin. 

I{lhriii_L;e  Dou<;herty  is  engaged  in  (arming 
and  o|x'rating  a  ilair_\-,  haxing  si.\t\-  acres  of 
land  nnder  cult  i\ation,  lie  and  his  wife  lia\e 
two  children:  Claude  1-",.,  horn  |-'ehruarv  iS, 
1879,  wli(>  li\es  at  home  anil  attends  school  in 
Masonville;  and  John  15.,  who  was  horn  Ma\- 
22,  1891.  Mi-.  Dougherty  is  nni\ersall\-  re- 
spectetl  throLighout  the  town  where  he  is  a 
resident,  and  his  success  in  life  testifies  to  his 
upright,   industrious  manhood. 


fsif  .\Mi;.S  1:.  lIASTIXCiS,  one  of  the  fore- 
most stock  dealers  and  farmers  in 
Ho\  ina,  is  a  gi-andson  of  John  Hastings, 
a  jMonecr  in  this  countr\-,  who  came  to 
Hoxina  in  1799.  At  this  time  the  region  of 
woodland  near  the  \illage  was  infested  bv 
deer,  wolves,  hears,  and  jianthers ;  and  the 
Colonial  farmer  who  I'hose  this  section  of  New 
^'ork  for  his  habitation  nuist  be  also  a  hunter, 
riic  nearest  market  was  se\ent\-  miles  distant, 
at  Catskill  ;  ami  iiere  the  doughtv  settlers  car- 
ried their  skins  and  game,  which  were  ex- 
changed for  household  goods  and  family 
sti]:)plies. 

John  Ilastings  lived,  after  the  primitive 
fashion  of  the  da\',  in  severe  sim]ilicit\'.  On 
.Sundavs  lie  would  walk  to  the  little  nieet- 
ing-liouse  at  Koitright  barefooted,  with  his 
shoes  shuig  over  his  shoulder,  in  order  to  keep 
them  clean  and  sa\e  shoe-leather.  The  near- 
est mill  was  at  Kortright  si.x  miles  away;  and 
the  journevs  thither  and  back  were  formidable, 
and  even  dangerous,  tlir(]ngh  the  lonely  roads, 
where  the  cry  of  the  jxinther  or  wolf  might 
suddenly  smite  the  ear  of  the  belated  traveller, 
who  sometimes  found  it  a  ride  lor  life  to  get 
back  within  the  sheltered  ])recincts  of  his  own 
home.  There  were  foiu'  descendants  of  John 
Hastings  left  to  hand  down  the  name  to  futinx' 
generations,  of  whom  James,  the  father  of  the 
James  of  this  memoir,  is  the  only  survivor. 
James  the  father  was  born  in  1797,  and  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Mlliott.  Their  son,  James  V... 
grew  up  on  the  idd   I'arm,  and   was  educated   in 


the  district  school  and  tlu-  hellii  .\cadem\. 
lie  has  paid  gieal  attention  to  >iock-r.iising, 
and  owns  a  large  number  of  full-blooded  |er- 
se\s,  all  registered,  thirty-six  of  which  .are 
kept  lor  cliiry  use,  averaging  in  |8()^  about 
three  lumdre<l  pounds  of  butter  each.  I'he 
ca])acious  barn,  lately  completed  at  a  lo-t  of 
three  thousaiul  five  lumdred  dollars,  measures 
lift)  feet  by  sixty  feet,  and  se\ent\  feet  in 
height  to  the  \ane  on  the  cu|)ola,  has  a  bridge- 
wa\-  seventeen  by  twenty-four  feel,  with  a  wing 
thirty-two  feet  by  thirty-six  feet,  and  can 
accommodate  sixty  head  of  cattle.  Hut  it  is 
in  tlie  dairy  that  Mr.  I  iastings's  chief  interests 
are  centred;  and  the  golden  l)utter,  the  deli- 
cious cheeses,  the  pure  milk  and  thick  cream 
ot  the  I-Iastings  dairv,  have  a  wide  reputation. 
In  1884,  on  January  15,  James  I'.  Hastings 
was  joined  in  holv  wedlock  to  ]-;ilen  Cimning- 
liatii,  a  native  of  Clster  Countv.  |-"our  chil- 
dren have  blessed  their  union  i-'lizabeth  V.. . 
Charles  H.,  William  J.,  and  bjiima  I).  All 
are  still  at  home  beneath  the  paternal  shel- 
ter. I'he  world Iv  affairs  of  life  have  not  ab- 
sorbed the  attention  of  this  successful  niiin  to 
the  exclusion  of  sjiiritual  concerns,  for  both 
he  and  his  wife  are  in  the  communion  of  the 
L'nited  I'resbv  terian  chinch.  lie  is  an  advo- 
cate of  Republican  principles,  and  as  a  mon- 
eved  man,  as  well  as  an  individual  intelligent 
force,  wields  weighty  influence  in  matters  of 
public  interest. 


"OX.   M.\K\i.\   I).   \vHi:i;Li:k,  in- 

rr-'i  s]iector-in-Chief  of  l^ost-otHices  of 
the  L'nited  .States,  is  a  native  of 
Hancock,  Delaware  County,  X.\'. 
His  f.ither,  Marvin  Wheeler,  was  the  son  of 
i'ledeiick  Wheeler,  whose  native  [ilace  was 
Xe\v-  London,  Conn.  'i'he  familv  is  of  Welsh 
origin.  i'rederick  Wheeler  with  several 
brothers,  athletic  and  brave  men,  came  to  the 
Delaware  \'alley  in  1795,  being  the  first  set- 
tlers on  I'artridge  Island,  now  |xirt  of  the  town 
of  Hancock.  I-'rederick  was  married  in  Xew 
London  to  .Marv  Comstock,  bv  whom  he  had 
foiu'  children,  Marvin  l)eing  the  youngest. 
The  others  were  Koyal.   I'ollv,  and  Corinda. 

.Marvin  was  born  in  1S04.      .\t  an  early  age 
he    Ijecamc    acquainted    with    farm    work,    and 


638 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


also    assisted    his    father    in    lumbering,    later 
starting    out    for    himself    as   a   merchant   and 
general     trader.        He     wis    thrifty    and     far- 
sighted,  qualities  to  which   he  owed  much   of 
hi"    success  in  life.      He  became  an   extensive 
land-owner,    and  for  years  was  Postmaster  in 
Hancock.      Originally  counted  with  the  Whigs, 
he   became  a   Republican  on  the  formation  of 
that  party.      He  married   Kmily  Edick,  daugh- 
ter of  Conrad  and  Hlizabeth  Edick,  of  Deposit. 
Conrad  Edick  was  born  at  German  Flats,  Her- 
kimer County.      He  entered  the  patriot  army 
during    the    Revolutionary    War,    and    was    in 
active  sen-ice  much  of  the  time  until  its  close. 
His  native  village  being  burned  in   1779  by  a 
party  of  Tories  and  Indians  under  command  of 
the  infamous  Brant,  :Mr.  Edick  moved  with  his 
step-father     to     Stone     Arabia,     Montgtmiery 
County;  and  later,  in  the  winter  of   1781,  they 
removed    to    Creenbush     near    Albany.      Mr. 
I<:dick  was  one  of  the  force  raised  to  avenge 
the  Wyoming  and    Cherry  Valley   massacres. 
He  took  part  in  several  engagements   in  which 
the    enemv    were    repulsed    with    considerable 
loss.      In  the  spring  of    1781    he  again  enli.sted 
for    nine    months'    service,    and   went   to    Fort 
Plain,  where  he  was  employed  as  military  ex- 
press,   and    was    often    with    scouting    parties 
detached     for    dangerous    service.        In  Octo- 
ber,   1 78 1,    a    large  force     of   British,  Tories, 
and    Indians,    under    Walter    Butler,    attacked 
Johnstown,     destroyed     property,     and     killed 
many  of  the   settlers.      An  expedition   set  out 
from     Fort     Rensselaer,     under    command    of 
Colonel    Willett,    to    avenge    this    massacre, 
Conrad     Edick    being    numbered    among    the 
troops.      They  pursued  the  retreating  foe  and 
overtook  them  at  Canada  Creek,  about  Novem- 
ber I,  when  a  fierce  battle  ensued,  the  advan- 
tage being  with  the  attacking  force. 

Mr.  lulick  was  twice  married.  By  his  first 
■marriage,  to  a  Miss.^Whitaker,  of  Sanford,  he 
had  three  children,  as  follows:  Phebe,  Jacob 
C,  and  IClizabeth.  His  second  marriage  was 
to  IClizabeth  Sneeden,  and  by  her  he  had  six 
children:  Margaret;  Ro.xanna;  Sally;  Emily, 
born  February  32,  1808,  who  became  Mrs. 
Marvin  Wheeler ;  Jane  M.  ;  and  Rachel  P. 
In  1787  Mr.  Edick  settled  about  two  miles 
below  Deposit;  but  later,  in  1801,  he  removed 
to   Deposit  village,   where  he  died   at    an    ad- 


vanced age.  He  was  greatly  respected,  and 
was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Masonic 
Order.  During  the  anti-Ma.sonic  agitation 
secret  meetings  were  often  held  in  his  house; 
and  his  Masonic  apron  is  still  preserved  at  the 
home  of  his  descendant,  Marvin  D.  Wheeler. 
The  five  children  of  Marvin  and  Emily 
(Edick)  Wheeler  were:  Frederick  M.  ;  DeWit't 
C.  ;  Evelyn  Susan  ;  and  Marvin  Duane,  whose 
name  appears  at  the  head  of  this  sketch.  The 
two  elder  brothers  are  deceased.  Frederick 
married  Elizabeth  Bull,  of  Milford,  Conn., 
and  had  three  children.  Marvin  D.  Wheeler 
attended  the  schools  of  his  native  town,  and 
later  entered  the  military  academy  at  Sing- 
Sing.  After  graduation  he  returned  to  Han- 
cock, and,  like  his  brothers,  entered  intf)  busi- 
ness with  his  father.  Early  regarded  by  his 
fellow-townsmen  as  a  young  man  of  great 
promise,  he  served  as  Supervisor,  and  held 
other  positions  of  trust,  fulfilling  his  public 
duties  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  com- 
munity. His  advancement  was  rapid,  and 
his  fame  soon  extended  beyond  the  limits  of 
his  native  town.  In  the  first  year  of  President 
Harri-son's  administration  he  was  appointed 
Inspector  of  the  New  York  Post-ofifice,  and 
shortly  afterward  w^as  made  Inspector-General 
of  Post-offices  of  the  United  States,  which 
position  he  still  holds  under  President  Cleve- 
land. 


ACOB  LAWRENCE  is  a  worthy  repre- 
sentative of  the  mercantile  interests  of 
the  village  of  Hobart,  where  he  is  an 
extensive  dealer  in  gentlemen's  cloth- 
ing and  furni.shing  goods,  including  a  general 
and  complete  assortment  of  articles  usually 
found  in  a  store  of  this  kind.  He  was  born 
January  7,  1853,  in  Chri.stburg,  East  Prussia, 
the  residence  of  his  parents,  Abram  and  Lena 
(P'reundlich)  Lawrence,  or  Laurenes.  In 
1889  the  father,  a  well-to-do  merchant,  accom- 
])anied  by  his  wife,  came  to  America.  Three 
years  later  his  death  occurred  in  Omaha, 
Neb.,  followed  the  next  year  by  that  of  his 
wife  in  the  same  city.  The  four  children 
born  to  them  are  all  living,  and  with  the 
exception  of  the  eldest  son,  the  subject  of 
this   sketch,    arc  residents    of    Trinidad,   Col., 


HIOGRAIMIICAI,    KIIVIKW 


•.V) 


the  I'olldwiiii;-  hciiii;-  tlu-ir  names:  Mrs.  Sarah 
Mlliyon,  Max  I.awixiKo,  and  Mis.  .Sophia 
Hai'j;nian. 

Jacoh  Lawrence  received  a  line  edncalinn 
under  tlic  excellent  scIidoI  s\sten)  ol  (iernianv. 
i-"r<ini  his  lather  he  became  acc|iiainted  with 
the  mercantile  business,  and.  wliile  \et  a 
ydunj;-  man,  emigrated  to  this  C(iuntr\-,  laudiiiLC 
in  New  \'()rk  Citv  nn  the  I'ouitli  of  |ulv, 
iiS/i.  lie  there  en,i;ai;ed  as  a  tra\ellin,g  sales- 
man Inr  two  Years.  In  1X74  Mr.  Lawrence 
established  a  dry-n'oods  store  in  the  villas^e  of 
Delhi,  where  he  remained  about  a  year  and  a 
half.  In  I  (S~6  he  o])ene<l  his  [iresent  place  in 
Ilobarl,  puttini;'  in  a  full  stock  of  goods,  and 
has  since  conducted  a  lloiu'ishing  business. 
He  is  widely  known  as  an  able  and  honorable 
business  man,  courteous  and  atti.-nti\'e  to  the 
wants  ot  his  cust<iniei's,  kee]-)ini;  a  well-fur- 
nished anil  attractive  store. 

Mr.  Lawrence  was  miited  in  marriage  ( )cto- 
ber  3,  1882,  to  Miss  Laura  (irant,  a  native  of 
.Stamford,  being  the  daughter  of  the  late  Alex- 
ander (iiant  and  his  wife,   X'alencia  (ii'aut. 

Mr.  (irant  was  a  farmer  of  Stamford,  and 
his  widow  still  resides  on  the  home  tarm. 
One  child  has  blessed  this  union,  a  son  named 
Amazia  J.  Lawrence.  In  ]>olitics  Mr.  Law- 
rence is  a  sound  Democrat.  lie  is  a  mend)er 
of  the  Masonic  fraternitv',  belonging  to  .St. 
Andrew's  Lodge,  No.  jAo,  A.  V.  &  A.  M. 
He  is  liberal  in  his  religious  views,  while 
Mrs.  Lawrence  is  a  communicant  of  the  Lpis- 
cojxil  church. 


f7?)\AIA.\  1!.  1'.\I..MI:R,  a  highly  respected 
~  and  well-to-do  citizen  of  the  town  of 
rom])kins,  was  born  l-'ebruar_\'  2S, 
1815,  at  Delhi,  son  of  Abel 
Palmer,  a  native  of  Canton,  Litchtield  County, 
Conn.  The  father  of  Abel  I'almer  came  with 
his  i)arents  when  young  to  Andes,  Delaware 
Countv.  where  he  went  into  the  cariK-ntering 
business,  and  built  some  of  the  first  frame 
houses  in  that  section  of  the  country.  He 
married  a  member  of  the  I'eck  family,  of  Con- 
necticut, b'rom  Andes  he  moved  with  his 
family  to  Delhi,  where  he  died. 

Abel  I'almer  was  horn  in   1772.       I-"rom   boy- 
hood  he   showed  marked  vocal  al)ility:  and  '   ■ 


taught  singing-M  hool  i.h  .1  lung  ti?ne,  but 
exenlually  leased  a  pie<  e  of  iaml.  when-  he 
cairied  on  larming,  also  following  the  trade  of 
carpenter  and  millwright.  lie  married  .M.ir_\- 
.Saunders,  a  native  of  (  onnect  ii  iil,  whose 
famil\-  were  noti-d  fdr  iheir  l)ra\er\  and  d.iriiig 
in  the  Ke\idulioiiar\  War.  .Abel  I'almer  first 
settled  in  .\ndes.  but  later  in  life  moved  to 
Delhi,  where  he  purchased  a  farm,  and  resided 
there  until  his  death,  in  1S5;.  when  lightv- 
two  years  o|  age.  1 1  is  wife  had  died  nineteen 
vears  previon>  to  this,  having  ha<l  a  familv  of 
eight  children  Helsev,  .Saunders,  .Margaret, 
Lydia.  Castle,   Iji)in.  .\l)el,  and  Lyman  H. 

Lyman  H.  I'almei'  received  his  educaliim  at 
the  district  schools  of  Delhi,  ami  until  sixteen 
years  old  assisted  his  father  nn  the  farm.  lie 
then  started  for  himself  in  life,  doing  car- 
]>entering  and  lumljering  until  he  reached  his 
tvventv-lirst  year,  when  he  went  .South,  working 
in  (ieorgia  and  the  Candinas,  erecting  mills. 
During  the  late  vv.ii'  he  was  engaged  on  govern- 
ment works  foi'  a  few  vears.  In  iS;i  he 
bought  fiom  the  heirs  of  his  first  wife's  familv 
ninety-four  acres  if  l.md.  upon  which  he  now 
resides,  also  holding  the  title  to  four  hundreil 
and  ninetv  acres  in  (ieoigia. 

^Ir.  I'almer  has  been  twice  niarrieil.  first, 
in  iS^T),  to  I.nc\  Carpenter,  daughter  of  John 
Car]. enter,  a  native  of  \ermont  ;  and  bv  this 
marriage  there  were  two  children  :  Mary  lane, 
who  married  Ilenrv  Marks,  of  Chicag<i.  III.: 
and  .\ancv  ,M.,  who  married  NornKin  I.  Harris, 
of  Hart,  (Jceana  Countv,  Mich.  .Mr.  I':dmer 
married  for  hi.s  second  wife,  in  1 86t').  Kenna 
:\.  liutler,  who  was  horn  in  the  town  of  Wal- 
ton in  1826.  daughter  of  John.  Jr..  anti  Kuana 
(Herrvi  Hutler.  John  Butler,  the  grandfather 
of  .Mrs.  I'almer,  was  born  in  Lngland,  and 
came  to  this  countrv  when  a  voung  man.  set- 
tling in  Connecticut,  where  he  followed  the 
trade  of  shoemaker.  All  <•{  his  symiiathies 
were  with  the  .\niericaii  '      .md  during  the 

Kevolutionarv   War   he  on    thi>    side. 

Three  of  his  brothers  were  numbered  among 
the  British  forces,  and  during  an  engagement 
John  Butler  shot  one  of  them  three  times 
without  recognizing  his  victim.  He  marrieil 
Martha  Lells,  of  Canaan,  t'oiui.  :  autl  in  1809 
he,    with    his    wife,     bought    land    in    Walton, 


'lere 


he  engaged    in   farmi' 


I,,l,.> 


640 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Jr.,  followed  his  father  in  the  shuemaking 
business  until  his  death,  at  the  old  homestead, 
when  sixty-three  years  of  age.  He  was  the 
father  of  nine  children.  Mr.s.  Palmer's  sister 
Harriet  married  George  W.  Finch,  of  Tomp- 
kins, and  still  resides  in  that  town. 

Lyman  B.  Palmer  has  been  a  voter  in  four 
different  States  —  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
(ieorgia,  and  South  Carolina.  He  first  voted 
with  the  Whigs;  and,  when  the  change  was 
made  in  the  two  parties,  he  became  an  Inde- 
]K'ndent,  voting  generally,  however,  with  the 
Democratic  party.  While  in  the  South,  he 
met  and  talked  with  many  jjrominent  men,  in- 
cluding Jefferson  Uavis;  Alexander  Stephens; 
Governor  Crawford,  of  Georgia ;  and  Robert 
Toombs.  Mr.  Palmer  is  one  of  the  substantial 
citizens  of  Tompkins,  is  .still  hale  and  vigor- 
ous, and  continues  to  look  after  his  extensive 
business  interests. 


rmCK  GLADSTONP:,  a  noted 
farmer  in  Bovina  Centre,  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Andes  on  September  19, 
I  .S43.  There  are  numerous  Gladstones  in  the 
county,  among  them  Ur.  James  A.  Gladstone ; 
and  all  trace  their  lineage  to  a  common  an- 
cestor, Robert  Gladstone. 

Grandfather  Robert  was  a  Scotch  emigrant 
from  Ro.xburgh.shire,  who  in  181 7  began  clear- 
ing the  Bovina  farm  now  belonging  to  Andrew 
G.  Thomson.  He  was  a  hard-working  and 
successful  citizen,  and  a  member  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  church.  His  wife  died  young; 
but  he  lived  to  be  some  eighty  years  old, 
dying  in  1858,  having  been  born  about  the 
peri<xl  of  the  American  Revolution.  Robert 
Gladstone  had  si.x  boys  and  one  girl ;  and  his 
son,  Robert  Osborne  (iladstone,  is  now  living 
in  Andes.  The  list  of  Grandfather  Robert 
Gladstone's  other  children,  deceased,  is  as 
follows:  William  (iladstone,  who  married 
Catherine  Renwick ;  John  (iladstone,  who 
married  I.sabella  I^lliott,  and  had  twelve  chil- 
dren ;  Thomas  Gladstone,  who  married  Mar- 
garet Bigger,  and  had  four  boys  and  two  girls; 
Walter  Gladstone;  James  Gladstone;  Viola 
(iladstone;  and  Robert  Gladstone,  Jr.,  who 
married  Jane  Miller,  and  had  six  children. 
Walter    Gladstone,     who    married     Isabella 


Elizabeth  Bigger,  was  born  in  Scotland  on  the 
very  last  day  of  the  year  1810,  before  the 
family  removed  to  the  United  States;  and  his 
wife  was  also  born  among  the  Scotia  hills,  but 
four  years  later,  in  July,  1814.  Walter  was  a 
life-long  farmer,  and  came  to  this  country 
when  little  more  than  a  boy.  As  soon  as 
possible  he  bought  land  midway  between  the 
centres  of  Andes  and  Bovina,  and  there  resided 
till  in  1858,  when  he  was  nearly  fifty  years 
old,  he  sold  the  place,  in  order  to  make  a  new 
settlement  in  Gladstone  Hollow,  a  locality 
named  after  his  family.  There  he  owned  a 
hundred  and  fifty  acres,  which  he  began  to 
develop  in  the  best  way;  but  his  hopes  were 
blasted  by  his  death  only  two  years  later,  in 
i860,  just  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil 
War.  His  wife  lived  till  1869,  dying  at  the 
age  of  fifty-five ;  and  both  belonged  to  the 
Andes  United  Presbyterian  church.  They  had 
six  boys  and  five  girl-s,  of  whom  only  two, 
Robert  and  William,  have  passed  from  earth. 
Margaret  Gladstone  is  now  in  Walton,  the 
widow  of  Romaine  Palmer,  of  Andes,  her 
husband  having  been  killed  while  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duty  as  a  member  of  Company 
E,  in  the  One  Hundred  and  Forty-fourth  Regi- 
ment of  New  York  Volunteers.  John  Andrew 
(iladstone  lives  in  Andes.  The  next  son  is 
George,  of  whom  more  anon.  Thomas  is  an 
Andes  farmer.  Ann  married  P.  S.  Doig,  of 
Walton.  Walter,  named  for  the  father,  has  a 
farm  in  Andes.  Elizabeth  lives  unmarried  in 
Walton.  Her  sister  Isabella  is  an  Andes 
school-mistress.  Another  sister,  Janet  Glad- 
stone, has  a  home  with  her  brother  Tom  in 
Andes. 

George  (iladstone  grew  up  in  Andes,  attend- 
ing the  district  school,  and  going  to  the 
academy  one  term.  On  reaching  his  majority, 
he  began  working  out  by  the  month  —  for 
I'.  C.  Armstrong  two  seasons,  and  Walter  A. 
Doig  one  season.  .So  saving  was  he  of  his 
i  scant  earnings  that  in  1868,  on  the  8th  of 
January,  he  was  able  to  take  upon  himself 
family  responsibilities,  and  became  the  hus- 
band of  Helen  Strangeway,  a  Ikjvina  girl, 
daughter  of  Christopher  Strangeway,  of  whose 
family  further  facts  may  be  found  in  our  sketch 
of  A.  T.  Strangeway.  In  1868  George  Glad- 
stone  bought   the  estate  w^here  he  still   lives. 


William  H,   Formhn. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


^•■i:. 


At  first  In-  had  only  a  luindicd  acres,  hut  I  he 
land  has  been  more  than  d.)ul)led  l)v  the  addi- 
tion of  the  (iillis  farm.  As  is  ainmst  iniivei- 
sally  the  case  in  lliis  Scotch-Ameiican  ie,i;ion. 
special  attention  is  -iven  In  the  .iwner  to  ijie 
dairy,  supplied  with  milk  fioni  thirlv  tine 
Jersey  cattle,  each  of  which  yiekls  upward  of 
two  lunidred  and  fifty  pounds  of  huttei'  e\erv 
year,  prejiared  for  market  in  huiklin-s  arran.i;etl 
according;'  to  the  latest  ideas. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  (jladstone  have  broui^hl  up 
their  four  sons  in  the  L'nited  I'resbvterian 
church.  The  eldest,  James  Walter  (iladstone, 
born  in  1869,  is  a  farmer  in  the  same  town. 
His  brothers,  Christojiher  .StrannewaN',  born  in 
1871,  Robert  i^lliott,  born  in  1874,  and  Will- 
iam Armstrong,  born  in  1876,  are  at  home  on 
the  farm.  In  jjolitics  their  father  is  a  Repub- 
lican, and  his  faniih-  form  the  centre  of  a 
wide-awake  circle  of  friends.  Well  has  it 
been  said  by  that  .searching  essavisi,  E.  V. 
Whil)])le:  "(irit  is  the  grain  of  character.  It 
may  generally  be  described  as  heroism  ma- 
terialized—  s|)irit  and  will  thrust  into  heart, 
brain,  and  backbone,  so  as  to  foini  part  of  the 
ph}'sical  substance  of  the  man."  .Such  an 
opinion  is  well  borne  out  in  the  (iladstone 
posterity,  anil  one  can  hardh'  sjjeak  the  name 
without  being  reminded  In-  it  of  that  ISritish 
statesman  righth'  known  as  the  drand  Old 
Man. 


R.S.  1:.  J.  W  ADi;,  of  Walton,  widow 
ni  the  late  Ldiarles  H.  Wade,  who 
tiled  in  Hinghamton.  X.  \'.,  Ma\- 
10,  1873.  is  a  lad_\-  greatly  es- 
teemed for  her  excellent  traits  of  character. 
.She  was  born  in  New  \'ork  Cil\,  and  conies  of 
good  New  I'jigland  stock  on  both  sides,  her 
jiarents,  .Andrew  and  Mar\'  (i^attersoni  .Sev- 
mour,  ha\ing  been  of  Connecticut  birth,  her 
father  a  native  of  .\ew  Canaan,  and  her  mother 
of  -Stonington.  ller  paternal  grandfather. 
Samuel  Sevmour.  was  born  in  Connecticut, 
in  1756,  and  in  1774  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Anna  Whitne\,  in  the  town  of  Xorwalk, 
now  \ew  Canaan.  Thev  remained  in  the  .State 
of  their  nativit\  imtil  after  the  birth  of  their 
twelve  children,  seven  of  whom  were  daugh- 
ters, and   in  1803,  accompanieil  by  their  entire 


family,  came  tn  WaltiMi.  uheie  ihev  afterward 
resided.  Their  children  all  married  .md  bi- 
came  heads  nf  families,  exciptiug  one  son; 
and  their  ilescendanls  are  niimbere<l  among  the 
useful  and  valued  citizens  ol  the  place.  I'hi-N 
made  the  removal  horn  Connect  icnt  willi 
wagons,  a  jjart  of  the  family  riding  imi  hiMs>' 
back.  Like  other  pioneers,  ihi\  fdllnueil  a 
path  marked  by  blazed  trees.  Ihe  cmuUrs  was 
then  in  an  almost  i)rimili\e  cnndilion,  and 
thev  accom])lished  their  share  in  .F]iening  it  up 
for  the  advance  of  civilization. 

Charles  H.  Wade  was  born  .uul  reared  {•< 
manhood  in  New  \'ork  City,  and  was  a  sun  of 
hdias  Wade,  Jr.,  who  was  one  of  the  firm  <>i 
(irinnell,  Minton  &  C>i.,  extensive  shippers  to 
toreign  ports.  His  union  with  Miss  .Seymour 
was  solemnized  in  1852;  and  three  vears  later 
they  removed  to  Walton,  buving  the  line  large 
house  on  the  corner  of  Delaware  and  'I'ownsend 
.Streets,  which  is  now  used  as  busiiK>s  prop- 
erty, his  widow  having  removed  to  her  ]iresent 
desirable  home  in  1891.  .Mr.  Wade  engaged 
in  a  snccesslul  mercantile  birsiness  in  this  vil- 
lage, and  was  for  m;uiv  vears  a  member  of  the 
lirm  of  (iay,  I'lels  &  Wade,  the  leading  mer- 
chants of  the  ])lace,  having  an  extensive  trade 
throughout  this  part  of  Delaware  Countv. 
.Se\en  children  were  boin  to  .Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wade,  two  of  whom  died  in  infancv.  The  five 
living  children  are:  William  D.  ;  Lizzie,  wife 
ot  John  R.  Launt.  who  has  one  son,  Kae  C. 
l.aimt,  a  youth  of  fouiteen  years;  Charles  l... 
who  married  (irace  Lapsley,  of  .Springfield. 
.Mo.  ;  Sevniour  H.  ;  and  .Alfred  L.  Mr.  Wade 
was  a  man  of  good  business  capacitv.  and  was 
prominent  in  local  affairs.  l-"or  a  while  he 
served  as  .Su|H-rv  isor,  and  in  pcditics  was  an 
uncompromising  Democrat,  lovallv  sustaining 
the  principles  of  that  ]xirtv.  .Sociallv.  he  was 
an  im])ortant  member  of  the  Masonic  frater- 
nity, being  :i  Mason  of  high  degree,  and  filling 
different  chairs  in  the  societv. 


ll.l.fAAI  H.  l-"ORMA.\  1.-  a  ..ulLstau- 
jSi\l  'ial  farmer  of  the  town  of  Stam- 
ford, Delaware  Countv.  X.  \".  His 
grandfather.  Henrv  l-"orm;ui,  was  born  in 
Dutchess  Countv,  August  19,  1787,  and  mar- 
ried  .March  6,    1808,    Miss   .Mary   Kisho]..    who 


6,4 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


was  born  July  19,  1787-  Henry  Forman  was 
a  farmer,  and  also  a  blacksmith  of  Stamford, 
having  learned  the  latter  trade  in  Bloomville 
when  a  mere  boy.  After  his  marriage  he  re- 
moved to  Stamford,  where  he  was  one  of  the 
first  settlers,  and  where  he  died  November  29, 
1868,  his  wife's  death  having  occurred  April 
5,  1867.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  and  in  politics  a  Whig.  He 
was  an  energetic  and  industrious  man,  and 
with  the  assistance  of  his  .sons  cleared  and 
cultivated  the  farm  in  Stamford.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Henry  Forman  were  the  parents  of  five 
children,  two  of  whom  still  live,  namely: 
Alexander,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  and  his  sister  Harriet  Benson,  widow 
of  Simon  Benson,  residing  in  lirie,  Pa. 

Alexander  Forman  was  born  August  18, 
1815,  in  Stamford,  where  he  was  educated  in 
the  district  schools,  and  later  adopted  a 
farmer's  life.  October  3,  1843,  he  married 
Ann  White,  who  was  born  in  Bloomville, 
April  27,  1820,  a  daughter  of  Shadrach  and 
Mary  (Upham)  White.  The  father  of  Mrs. 
Ale.xander  F"orman  was  born  in  South  Hamp- 
ton, L.  I.,  September  20,  1779,  and  his  wife 
in  Massachusetts.  February  25,  1783,  their 
marriage  occurring  May  8,  1805.  He  was  a 
tanner  and  currier,  and  in  the  pioneer  days  of 
Bloomville  moved  to  that  village,  where  he 
died  November  6,  1866,  and  his  wife  January 
24,  1858.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church.  He  was  liberal  in 
religious  matters,  and  a  .stanch  Republican. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ale.vander  Forman  are  still  liv- 
ing and  enjoying  good  health  in  their  home  in 
Bloomville,  passing  the  evening  of  their  lives 
in  the  peace  and  prosperity  deserved  by  the 
faithful. 

William  H.  Forman,  the  only  child  of  Alex- 
ander and  Ann  (White)  Forman,  was  born  in 
Stamford,  September  24,  1844,  receiving  his 
early  education  in  the  schools  of  this  town,  and 
later  attending  the  Andes  Academy.  He  then 
gave  his  attention  to  farming,  and  lived  at  his 
parents'  home  until  thirty  years  of  age.  He 
was  married  on  Christmas  Eve,  December  24, 
1874,  to  Miss  Jennie  McDonald,  who  was  born 
in  Stamford,  where  her  father,  Alexander 
McDonald  was  an  early  settler.  Mrs.  Jennie 
Forman   died   while   yet   young;  and   her   hus- 


band was  again  married  November  6,  1889,  his 
present  wife  being  Julia  Foote,  daughter  of 
Charles  F"oote,  a  farmer  and  carpenter  of  Har- 
])ersfield. 

Mr.  P^orman  inherited  from  his  grandfather 
one-half  the  old  homestead,  but  is  now  the 
pos.sessor  of  the  whole  property.  He  also  man- 
ages his  father's  fann,  and  has,  in  all,  three 
hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  under  his  con- 
trol, making  him  one  of  the  principal  farmers 
of  the  town.  He  keeps  fifty  grade  Jersey 
cow.s,  and  makes  excellent  butter.  Mr.  For- 
man is  a  Republican,  but  in  no  way  prominent 
in  politics,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
ICpiscopal  church.  He  also  belongs  to  the  ]VIa- 
sonic  fraternity,  being  a  member  of  the  Delhi 
Lodge,  No.  439,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  An  intelli- 
gent, industrious,  and  upright  citizen,  he  is 
desei'vedly  held  in  high  esteem. 

Mr.  l'"orman  is  further  represented  in  this 
volume  by  a  portrait,  which  his  friends  will 
easily  recognize. 


ARL  S.  LAKIN,  son  of  William  G. 
I.akin,  was  born  April  15,  1836,  in 
Hancock,  Delaware  County.  The 
progenitors  of  the  Lakin  family  in  America 
were  among  the  early  Puritan  settlers  who  made 
their  home  on  the  rugged  coast  of  New  Eng- 
land, where  they  might  live  free  from  persecu- 
tion. A  branch  of  the  family  .settled  in 
Vermont ;  and  shortly  after  the  Revolutionary 
War  three  brothers,  named  Jona.s,  Joel,  and 
Jonathan,  came  to  Delaware  County  and  settled 
on  Partridge  Island. 

Mr.  Eaii  .S.  Lakin  has  followed  the  river  as 
a  steersman,  anil  since  he  was  fifteen  years  old 
has  scarcely  mi s.sed  a  season's  run.  He  has 
one  hundred  and  si.xty-two  acres  of  land  at 
Fish's  Eddy,  and  this  he  cultivates  in  connec- 
tion with  his  lumbering  business.  He  has 
always  taken  great  interest  in  local  history; 
and  from  him  have  been  obtained  many  of  the 
interesting  facts  concerning  the  early  days  of 
the  town,  as  they  were  told  him  by  his  grand- 
mother, Prudence  Parks  Lakin.  The  history 
of  the  family  is  given  at  length  in  another  part 
of  this  volume  in  connection  with  the  biog- 
raphy of  his  brother,  James  W.   Lakin. 

Mr.     Lakin    has    been     prominent     in    town 


RIOGRAPHICAL    KKVIKW 


^•IS 


affairs,  and  has  l)ccii  Cnlloitur  n\  Taxes  and 
Constable,  which  latter  position  he  still  hulds. 
He  is  a  Free  Mason  in  the  soxcnth  dci,'rec.  a 
member  of  the  llaneock  l,iidi;-(_-,  Xn.  ;;j, 
A.  !•■.  &  A.  M.,  and  ..t  the  R.iyal  Aivh  tjiai) 
ter.  lie  is  a  Denioerat  in  politics,  and  is  un- 
married. Mr.  Lakin  has  a  !;oo(l  reputation  lor 
honesty  and  intes;rity,  and  is  hi-hlv  esteemed 
b\-  his  townsmen. 


::^>r'  MOS   C.    PI'XK,    the  popular  editor  ot 

h\  the  Downsville  AVre.v,  was  born  June 
Jj\\  -''  1S39.  SO"  of  Orin  and  Lucinda 
^-^  (^Goslee)  Peck.  Orin  Peck  was 
born  I'ebruary  4,  1802,  and  was  thi;  son  of 
Amos  Peck,  who  came  to  Greene  County 
about  the  beginning  of  the  century,  and  [)ur- 
chased  two  hundred  acres  of  land.  He  and 
his  wife  raised  a  family  of  seven  children: 
namely,  Orin,  Levi,  Charles,  .Munson.  Mar\-, 
Jane,  and  Lydia,  all  of  whom  are  now  dead 
but  Lydia,  who  lives  in  Connecticut,  and  is 
the  widow  of  Alfred  Peck. 

Orin  Peck  grew  to  manhood  on  the  farm, 
and  was  educated  in  the  county  schools,  work- 
ing on  the  farm  during  his  youth.  When 
twenty-four  years  old,  he  married  Lucinda 
(loslee;  and  they  had  the  following  children  : 
Pamelia  anti  Delia,  who  ;ire  now  dead;  New- 
ton G.,  who  is  a  farmer  in  Schohai'ie  County: 
Amanda,  wife  of  A.  Rathbone,  of  Davenport, 
Delaware  County;  and  Amos  C,  the  suliject 
of  this  sketch.  Orin  Peck  had  a  farm  of  two 
hundred  acres  in  Greene  County,  and  li\ed 
there  until  1848,  when  he  sold  out.  antI  re- 
moved to  Delaware  Coimty,  buying  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  acres  at  Harper.sfieUI.  Here  he 
dwelt  for  twenty  years,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  he  disposecl  of  his  Ilarperstield  property. 
He  then  purchased  a  home  in  .Stamford,  where 
he  spent  his  old  age,  and  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy-five  years.  His  wife  passed  away 
December    12.    i86v 

Amos  Peck  was  born  in  (jreene  County, 
and  grew  to  manhood  at  his  father's  home, 
receiving  his  education  at  the  district  schools. 
After  five  years  spent  in  agricultural  pursuits 
at  the  old  homestead,  he  bought  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  acres  in  his  native  town,  where  he 
spent  the  ne.xt  five  years  of  his  life.      He  then 


soM  his  I, inn,  and  slailed  Ailh  .\.  W.  Clark 
the  newsjiaper  called  the  Jefferson  U',,l/y. 
In  1S75.  having  disposed  of  his  interest  in 
that  enteri^rise,  ctmiing  to  Downs\illi-,  he 
started  the  Downsville  ,\'<  ri'.v.  ihis  (taper  is 
one  ot  the  most  interesting  local  sheets  in  the 
vicinity,  h:is  a  large  circuhiti(jn,  ami  is  highlv 
spoken  of  by  ;dl  its  subscribers  and  I'^ailers. 

Mr.  Peek  married  Kate,  dau^iiter  of  Ldward 
and  Mary  .Ann  (Heard)  \'oung.  Ldw;ird 
\'oung  was  born  in  1  So^,  on  Long  island,  and 
came  to  .Schoharie  County  when  he  was  yet  ;i 
\iiung  man.  He  was  a  carpenter  and  farmer, 
and  was  the  fatlier  of  seven  children  -  ]'oll\-. 
P'lizabeth,  Kate,  Cyntliia,  .Sarah,  I.vdia,  Hat- 
tie.  Sar.ih  is  the  wife  of  James  H.  Hubb.ird, 
Lydia  wife  of  Stejihen  Dayton,  and  H:ittie  the 
wife  of  .Stei)hen  Matice,  all  of  Jefferson.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Amos  Peck  have  two  children :  Ld- 
ward. born  I)eceniber  j^,  1867;  and  (leorge. 
born  October  i,  1X70,  both  living  in  Downs- 
ville. 

Mr.  Peck  is  a  Democrat,  and  a  member  of 
the  HajHist  church,  while  his  wife  is  an  ad- 
herent to  the  faith  of  the  Methodist  ilpiscopal 
church.  He  is  a  man  widelv  known  through 
the  [jages  of  his  excellent  paper,  and  enjovs 
the  acquaintance  and  esteem  of  a  large  circle 
of  his  fellow-citi/ens. 


WILL  S.  DIPHLL  was  born  in  Dav- 
I 1      en|iort     Centre,    Delaware    Countv, 

\^  J  on  Seiitember  6,  1S62.  The  grand- 
|xirents  of  Mr.  Dibble  were  from 
Schoharie  County,  and  the  grandfather  was  a 
large  land-owtier  in  that  section.  He  was  a 
Republican,  and  a  meniber  of  the  Methodist 
I'.piscopal  church,  and  lived  to  be  quite  old. 
He  left  four  sons  and  one  daughter  —  Lewis, 
Daniel.  Bruce,  Simon,  and  .Anna  Liza. 

Simon  Dibble  was  liorn  in  .Scholiarie,  Sep- 
tember 16.  1815.  He  left  home  when  a  lad 
of  fifteen  years,  and  at  nineteen  bought  a 
lu)tel  in  Blenheim,  which  he  kept  for  several 
years.  Selling  out  his  Blenheim  propertv,  he 
engaged  in  farming  in  ^K■redith.  He  now 
rents  this  place,  and  lives  a  cpiite  restful  life. 
He  is  a  Re]>ublican,  and  has  been  .Supervisor 
and  Town  Clerk  for  a  good  many  years.  He 
married   Miss  Anna  Davis,  a  daughter  of   N'e- 


646 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


hemiah  and  Charlotte  Davis,  and  one  of  a 
family  of  five  chiklien  —  Anna,  Fred,  John, 
Joel,  and  Mary.  Nehemiah  Davis  served  in 
the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  lived  to  be 
seventy-eight  years  old.  His  wife  almost 
completed  a  century,  dying  in  her  ninety- 
third  year.  Simon  Dibble  was  the  father  of 
a  dozen  sons  and  daugliters,  namely:  Mary, 
the  widow  of  William  Smith,  now  living  in 
Davenport  Centre  with  her  two  children; 
Catherine  O.,  who  lives  at  home;  Hartley  H., 
who  married  Helen  Kenyon,  a  farmer  of 
Meredith;  Roderick,  a  farmer  of  Meredith, 
who  married  Miss  Nellie  Gregory,  and  has 
two  children;  Frederick,  a  merchant  in  On- 
tario, who  married  and  has  one  child;  Fannie, 
the  wife  of  John  Gregory,  of  Bloomville;  Car- 
rie, who  married  Mr.  W'infield  Sheldon,  a 
farmer  of  Meredith,  and  has  four  children; 
Charles,  a  policeman,  who  married  Miss  Cath- 
erine Simion;  Daniel,  of  whom  this  is  a  per- 
sonal record;  Jennie,  who  married  Jilr.  Hasted 
Moore,  a  merchant  in  Oneonta,  and  has  two 
children;  Olive,  the  wife  of  Hiram  Frisbee, 
a  farmer  of  Bloomville;  Jolin,  also  a  farmer 
of  Bloomville,  who  married  Miss  Mary  Jerow. 
Daniel  S.  Dibble  began  early  in  life  to 
earn  a  support  for  himself,  delivering  milk  on 
board  the  Schuyler  steamers  on  the  Hudson, 
when  a  little  boy  of  thirteen.  When  he  grew 
older,  he  superintended  a  farm  at  Walford  for 
four  years,  after  which  he  bought  a  farm  of 
two  hundred  acres  of  land  near  Meredith, 
where  he  kept  a  dairy.  Fight  years  ago  he 
came  to  Griffin's  Corners,  and  here  estab- 
lished a  general  grocery  store  and  a  livery 
stable.  In  1887  he  w.as  married  to  Miss  Fan- 
nie J.  Payne,  a  daughter  of  John  II.  and  Julia 
(Shafer)  Payne.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Payne  had  two 
other  children,  namely:  Minnie,  now  Mrs. 
Abraham  Quick;  and  George,  who  died  in  his 
youth.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dibble  have  one  child, 
who  was  born  on  the  8th  of  August,  1892. 
Mr.  Dibble  is  a  Republican  in  political  con- 
viction, and  is  a  man  of  liberal  religicnis  views. 


/iTo 


FORGE      A.      EVANS,      innkeeper, 
\    •)  I       owner  of   the  Bloomville  Hotel,  was 
^ —         born   May  26,   1853,  in  the  village  of 
Sidney   Centre,  and    is  the  son   of   Oscar  and 


Jane  M.  (Brown)  Evans.  He  is  a  great- 
grandson  of  Levi  Evans,  who  was  among  the 
first  settlers  of  Unadilla,  Otsego  County,  and 
was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812. 

Orrin  Evans,  son  of  Levi,  spent  the  greater 
part  of  his  time  in  the  town  of  Sidney,  and 
was  a  hard  worker.  He  owned  a  good  farm  of 
about  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  acres,  and 
he  had  but  one  child,  Oscar.  Orrin  Evans 
and  his  wife  died  in  the  town  of  Masonville, 
at  George  Evans's  home,  he  at  eighty-seven 
years  of  age,  and  she  at  seventy-eight.  Orrin 
was  a  liberal  in  his  religious  views,  and  politi- 
cally a  Democrat. 

Oscar  Evans,  son  of  Orrin,  owned  a  farm  of 
two  hundred  acres  in  the  town  of  Sidney, 
where  he  carried  on  quite  extensively  general 
farming  and  dairying.  He  is  now  a  retired 
farmer,  living  in  the  village  of  Sidney  Centre. 
His  wife  died  November  12,  1893,  at  the  age 
of  sixty -four.  She  was  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  while  he  is  a 
liberal  in  religion,  and  in  politics  a  Demo- 
crat. They  had  two  children:  George  A.,  of 
whom  this  sketch  is  written;  and  a  daughter, 
Delia,  who  is  the  wife  of  Edward  Harris,  and 
resides  in  Binghamton. 

George  A.  Evans  was  educated  in  the  dis- 
trict schools.  He  gave  his  attention  to 
farming,  and  lived  at  home  until  he  was 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  when  he  bought  a 
farm  of  one  hundred  acres  in  the  town  of 
Masonville.  Here  he  lived  for  six  years, 
then  sold  it  and  bought  a  more  extensive  farm 
of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres,  where  he  re- 
sided for  six  years,  carrying  on  general  farm- 
ing and  dairying.  In  1887  he  sold  out  again, 
and  engaged  in  the  livery  business  at  One- 
onta, and  also  ran  a  stage  for  four  y(;ars  from 
Grand  Gorge  to  Catskill.  In  January,  1889, 
he  gave  up  the  livery  business,  and  came  to 
Bloomville,  buying  the  Bloomville  Hotel, 
which  he  has  successfully  numaged.  It  is  an 
exceptionally  good  public  house,  well  heated 
by  furnaces  and  stoves,  with  accommodations 
for  fifty  guests.  He  has  remodelled  and  im- 
proved it,  and  does  a  flourishing  business, 
keeping  in  connection  therewith  an  excellent 
livery  stable. 

November  3,  1875,  he  was  married  to  Han- 
nah  Goodrich,  who  was   born    in   the   town   of 


BIOGRAl'HKAI,    RKVIKW 


'17 


Davcnpurt,  daui^litcr  ul  C.  W'.  (idudrich.  a 
farmer  anil  blacksmith.  Hi»th  of  licr  parents 
have  passed  away.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  E\ans  have 
had  five  children,  but  four  of  whom  are  now 
livinj;:  namely,  Olive  W.,  Minnie.  I'rank, 
and  Hazel,  who  are  all  at  home.  One  son, 
Walter,  died  at  the  ai;c  of  ei,i;ht  years. 

George  A.  Evans  is  liberal  in  his  religious 
views,  and  his  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church  at  Bloomville.  lie 
supports  the  Democratic  party,  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Delaware  Valley  Lodge,  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  I'ellows,  No.  612.  He  is  an 
honored  citizen  of  the  town  of  Masonville, 
and  has  held  various  public  offices,  serving 
one  term  as  Collector,  and  has  gainetl  the 
respect   of   his   fellow-citizens. 


Hi:XRV  IH  RI-I:E,  the  energetic 
and  popular  proprietor  of  the  Can- 
nons\ille  House,  Cannonsville, 
X.Y.,  was  born  in  this  village,  and  has  re- 
sided here  all  his  life,  being  of  the  fourth 
generation  cjf  Durfees,  who  have  made  their 
home  in  the.se  parts.  His  great-grandfather, 
Thomas  Durfee,  was  a  native  of  Connecticut 
and  an  early  settler  of  Delaware  County. 
Tradition  does  not  disclose  the  location  of  his 
first  settlement  here:  but  after  his  marriage 
to  his  second  wife,  a  daughter  of  .Squire  Can- 
non, he  occupied  a  jiortion  of  the  Cannon  es- 
tate, residing  thereon  until  his  death. 

His  son,  also  named  Thumas.  was  born  in 
Cannonsville,  and  learned  the  trade  of  a 
blacksmith,  but  later  became  a  Baptist 
preacher  and  removed  to  Philadelphia,  where 
he  was  engaged  in  church  work  for  several 
years.  He  then  returned  to  Cannonsville, 
where  he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty  years. 
His  wife,  IClsie  Randall,  died  here  at  the  age 
of  ninety  years.  .Stejihen,  son  of  Thomas 
Durfee,  jr.."  like  his  father,  learned  the  black- 
smith's trade,  which,  however,  he  did  not  fol- 
low long,  but  during  the  war  was  a  sutler  and 
Provost  Marshal.  lie  afterward  kept  a  pub- 
lic house  in  Cannonsville.  where  he  died  in 
1867,  at  the  age  of  fifty-four  years.  His  wife 
was  Antoinette  .Smith,  who  was  born  in  Can- 
nonsville, a  daughter  of  Abner  Smith,  a 
native   of   the   same   village. 


Ai)ner  .Smith's  l.ither,  (■;deli  .Smitli,  was 
i)(jrn  in  tiie  western  part  ol  khdije  Island,  and 
resitle<l  in  that  vicinity  till  1799,  when,  ac- 
companied by  his  wife  am!  child,  lie  immi- 
grated to  Delaware  County.  He  purchased  .t 
tract  of  limber  land  mnv  included  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Cannonsville,  and,  im|)roving  the- 
water-power,  erected  a  saw  and  grist  mill,  en- 
gaging extensively  in  Iuml)eriiig  and  farming. 
Here  he  lived  until  liis  dcatli  at  the  age  n\ 
eighty-seven  years.  He  marriet!  Iluldah  Cot- 
trell,  who  was  b(M'n  in  Connecticut,  near  the 
Riiode  Island  line,  anil  livetl  U>  i)e  eight v-five 
years  of  age.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  L'aleb  Smith 
reared  a  large  family,  their  lirst  cluKl  lieing 
born  in  179S,  and  now  resides  in  Madison. 
Wis.,  in  her  ninety-si.xth  \ear.  Their  son 
Abner,  the  father  of  Mrs.  -Stejihen  Durfee. 
spent  iiis  entire  life  in  Cannonsville,  where  he 
was  engaged  in  farming  and  lumbering  for 
many  years,  and  later  was  empli)\ed  at  the 
shoemaker's  trade,  dying  at  the  age  of  fifty 
years.  His  wife  was  Marian  Kelsey,  daugh- 
ter of  James  Kelsey,  wlio  was  a  native  of 
Massachusetts.  When  (|uite  young,  James 
Kelsey,  accompanied  by  Martin  Lane,  started 
for  the  Ear  West,  as  New  \'ork  was  considered 
at  that  time,  with  a  ]xiir  of  oxen  and  a  cart: 
and  here  he  purclnised  a  tract  of  timber  land 
two  miles  below  the  village  of  Cannonsville, 
emploving  himself  in  farming  and  lumbering. 
His  wife  was  Avis  Hoag,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  fortv-six  \ears. 


648 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Delhi,  and  there  died  when  sixty-three  years 
old.     His  widow,  surviving  him,  lived  to  the 
age  of  threescore  and  four  years.     They  were 
persons    of    great    moral    worth,    and    devout 
members  of  the  United   I'rcsyterian  Church  of 
Delhi.     In   politics  he  affiliated  with  the  Re- 
publican   party.     They    reared    six    children, 
namely:  R.  A.  S.  McNee,  a  farmer  of  Delhi;  J. 
Frederic;  William  G. ;  Daniel  A.  and  Maggie 
J.,  of  Delhi;  and  Elizabeth,  who  died  in  1867. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  educated  in 
the  schools  of    Hamden  and    Delhi,   and    re- 
mained with  his  parents  until  about  fourteen 
years  old,  when  he  went  to  live  with  his  aunt 
Agnes   Holmes,    in   the  town  of   Delhi.     He 
began  his  life  as  a  wage-earner  by  working  as 
a  farm    laborer  at   four  dollars  a  month,  and 
continued  thus  employed  some  ten  years,  his 
wages  being  increased  as  the  years  passed  by. 
Being  industrious  and  economical,  he  accumu- 
lated  quite  a  sum   of    money,    and  was   then 
enabled   to   buy  a  farm,  selecting  one   in   the 
town   of  Delhi,  on  which   he   pursued  general 
farming  for  seven  years.      In  1876  Mr.  McNee 
sold   that   property;  and    four  years    later    he 
moved  to  Bovina  Centre,  taking  up  his  trade 
as  a  mason  and  a  plasterer. 

The  union   of   Mr.    McNee  with  Miss  Eu- 
phemia   F.  Doig,  a  native  of   Bovina,  and  the 
descendant  of  one  of    its  most  respected  fam- 
ilies, being  a  daughter  of  William  and  Jane 
(Forest)  Doig,  was  solemnized   February  25, 
1875.      Her  father,  the  son  of  Walter  Doig, 
was  born  in  Scotland  in  1808,  and  died  in  the 
village    of    Bovina,    April    7,    1871;  and    her 
mother,  who  was  born  in  181  1,  died    February 
28,     1864.      Both     were    connected     with    the 
Presbyterian   church,    in   which    he    faithfully 
served  as  Elder  for  many  years.     They  reared 
a    family    of    nine    children,    of    whom    Mrs. 
James  William  Coulter  and   Mrs.  McNee  are 
the  only  ones  now  living.     The  deceased  are 
as    follows:     Jane,    born    January    26,     1836, 
died  July  29,  1855.     Walter,  born   March  26, 
1837,    died    January    9,     1894.      William    F., 
born  November  28,   1840,  studied  for  the  min- 
istry, but  died  before  com])leting  his  theolog- 
ical   course.     Margaret,    born    February     lo, 
1843,  died   March    10,    1847.      Mary   S.,  born 
July  4,  1845,  died  March  30,  1847.     Mary  J., 
born  March,  1847,  and  Andrew,  born  June  4, 


1849,  are  deceased.  Mrs.  Coulter  was  the 
third  child  in  order  of  birth,  and  Mrs.  McNee 
was  the  youngest  member  of  the  parental 
household. 

The  family  circle  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McNee 
has  been  completed  by  the  birth  of  four  chil- 
dren; namely,  William  F.,  Nellie  J.,  Celora 
L.,  and  James  L.  The  family  are  regular 
attendants  of  the  United  Presbyterian  church, 
of  which  Mrs.  McNee  has  been  a  member  for 
the  past  twenty  years.  Politically,  our  sub- 
ject sustains  the  principles  of  the  good  old 
Republican  party,  and  has  served  his  fellow- 
townsmen  as  Collector  two  years,  and  is  now 
serving  his  fourth  year  as  Constable. 


AMES  A.  SHAW  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Hamden,  May  17,  1864.  His 
grandfather,  William  Shaw,  came  to 
this  country  from  Scotland,  and  es- 
established  himself  in  Terry  Clove.  He  and 
his  wife,  Margaret  McDonald,  and  their 
children — Jane,  Alexander,  William,  Don- 
ald, Sarah,  Catherine,  and  June  —  are  all  now 
deceased.  William  and  Margaret  Shaw  were 
remarkably  pious  people,  and  reared  their 
children  in  the  fear  and  admonition  of  the 
Lord,  and  within  the  fold  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  to  which  they  both  belonged. 

James  H.  Shaw,  the  father  of  James  A., 
whose  name  heads  this  memoir,  was  born  at 
Terry  Clove,  where  he  grew  up  and  was  edu- 
cated. At  an  unusually  early  age  he  started 
out  in  business  for  himself,  and  bought  land 
at  different  times  until  he  was  possessor  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres.  This  was  sold, 
and  the  money  invested  in  a  place  in  Ham- 
den, whither  he  now  moved,  and  where  he  re- 
mained during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  His 
wife,  Adelia  C.  Conklin,  belonged  to  one  of 
the  oldest  families  in  Coles  Clove,  where  her 
parents,  Ambrose  and  Phcebe  Conklin,  were 
large  landed  proprietors.  There  were  six 
children  in  the  Conklin  family:  Adelia; 
William;  John  R. ;  Jane;  James  E.,  a  farmer 
in  Colchester;  and  Ansel,  who  lives  at  home. 
Mrs.  Conklin  still  lives  at  the  old  homestead; 
and,  though  past  the  limit  of  fourscore  years, 
she  retains  her  faculties  and  her  health  to  a 
remarkable  degree. 


BIOG RAPH ICAL    KKV 1  K\V 


'•40 


James  A.  Sliaw  passctl  llic  college  course 
successfully  at  llaniden,  and  at  twentv-two 
years  of  age  took  eniploymeiit  witli  lieard 
Brothers,  railroad  hriil^x-  builders,  with  wlioni 
he  remained  for  five  years,  soon  heconiiiii; 
foreman  and  taking'  contracts  for  work  on 
some  of  the  largest  liraw-bridges  in  the  I'nited 
States,  including  the  iiridge  over  the  Thames 
at  New  London,  Conn.,  one  in  Wheeling,  W. 
Va.,  one  in  St.  Louis,  and  one  in  Louisville, 
Ky.  Returning  to  Delaware  County,  he 
bought  a  house  and  lot  in  Downsville:  and, 
building  an  addition  to  the  dwelling,  lie 
opened  a  furnitiu'e  store  and  undertaker's 
establishment.  .A  steam-engine  is  used  in 
connection  with  his  planing  and  hmiber 
matching,  in  wliich  he  is  extensivel)'  engaged. 

On  March  22,  1S93,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Eva  i\L  Lindsley,  a  daughter  of  Ira  I), 
and  Jerusha  (\Vils(jn)  LindsU-y.  The  young 
wife's  father  was  born  April  30,  i8j8,  anil  is 
a  farmer  in  Downsxille,  whei'e  he  has  held  the 
office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace.  He  is  a  Re- 
publican. James  and  i^'a  -Shaw  have  one 
child,  born  April  23,  1894.  Mr.  Sliaw  is  a 
Republican,  and  belongs  to  the  Masonic 
Order,  being  a  niemher  ot  I'oughkeepsie 
Lodge,  No.  266. 


-AMl'.S  A.  POMEKCJV  is  extensively 
engaged  in  general  farming  and  dairy- 
ing ill  the  town  of  Sidney,  where  he 
was  born  October  3,  1S37.  His  par- 
ents were  .Abner  and  Hester  A.  ( R.igers) 
Pomeroy. 

Abner  Pomeroy  was  the  son  of  Joseph  Pom- 
eroy, a  farmer,  and  a  soldier  in  the  War  of 
1812,  who  spent  his  entire  life  in  the  old  Uiiy 
State,  dying  there  at  eighty  years  of  age.  He 
and  his'  wife  had  a  large  family  of  children, 
Abner  being  among  the  older  ones.  He, 
being  of  an  adventurous  turn  of  mind  and 
desirous  of  acquiring  landed  property,  re- 
moved to  Delaware  County,  bringing  his  wife 
and  family.  He  settled  at  first  in  the  town  of 
Franklin,  but  a  few  years  later,  in  1818,  came 
to  Sidney,  and  bought  one  hundred  and  ten 
acres  of  wiUl  and  heavily  timbered  land.  He 
built  a  log  house,  which  the  family  occupied 
for  several    years,    and    witli    the   assistance  of 


his  sons  redeemed  a  goodly  siiare  ol  ids  lam! 
from  the  wilderness.  lie  suiisccnienlly  sold 
that  farm,  and  liought  a  smaller  one  in  the 
same  town:  and  un  this  lie  and  his  wife 
passeil  the  remainder  of  their  li\es,  she  dying 
at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years,  while  he 
lived  to  the  age  of  eighty.  lie  reared  a  fam- 
ily of  seventeen  children,  four  by  his  first 
marriage,  and  thirteen  jjy  his  second.  In 
politics  he  was  a  stanch  Democrat,  and  served 
as  lligliway  Commissioner  and  as  Assessor. 
He  was  liberal  in  his  religious  views,  and  his 
wife  was  a  Baptist. 

James  A.  Pomerov,  the  eldest  child  of  his 
father's  second  marriage,  obtained  his  educa- 
tion in  the  ilistrict  schools,  and  remained  an 
inmate  of  the  parental  household  until  twenty- 
three  years  of  age.  When  beginning  life  for 
himself,  he  worked  by  tlie  month  for  a  short 
time,  then,  buying  sixty  acres  of  land,  com- 
menced farming,  and  in  course  of  time  added 
forty  more  acres  to  his  original  purchase.  He 
finally  sold  that  jjlace  at  an  advantage,  and  in 
1873  bought  the  farm  where  he  now  resides. 
It  consists  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  acres, 
which  he  has  placed  in  a  gofxl  state  of  cult- 
ure, and  further  improved  by  the  erecti(jn  ot 
commodious  farm  buildings,  liis  barn,  which 
was  erected  in  1S85,  l>eing  eighty  feet  long 
by  fifty  feet  wide,  and  capable  of  accommodat- 
ing seventy  or  eighty  head  of  cattle.  Mr. 
Pomerov  makes  a  siiecially  of  stock-raising, 
and  has  one  of  the  finest  herds  of  cattle  in  the 
county,  consisting  of  about  sixty  head  of  full- 
blooded  and  recorded  cattle,  his  favorite  breed 
being  the  Devons.  His  sales  of  milk,  from 
about  thirtv-five  cows,  average  one  hundred 
and  twentv-five  dollars  a  month.  Mr.  Pom- 
erov is  giving  his  close  attention  to  his  tann- 
ing interests,  and  has  but  little  time  to  devote 
to  political  matters,  but  uniformly  support> 
the  Democratic  party.  He  takes  an  intelli- 
gent interest  in  local  affair-,  and  has  served  as 
Assessor  three  years. 

The  union  of  Mr.  PoninuN  with  .Miss  Sarah 
Palmer  was  solemnized  November  21,  1S60. 
Mrs.  Pomeroy  was  born  in  Franklin,  .•\ugu?,t 
20,  1835,  being  a  daughter  ol  George  antl  .Me- 
lissa (Hovt)  Palmer,  neither  of  whom  is  now 
living.  Mr.  Palmer  was  a  successful  farmer 
of   Franklin,  and  he  and  his  wife  were  num- 


6so 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


bcred  among  its  most  respected  citizens.  The 
following  are  the  three  children  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Pomeroy:  Irving  L.,  a  farmer,  married, 
and  residing  in  the  town  of  Sidney;  Minnie 
M.,  the  wife  of  Alfred  Reynolds,  of  Coopers- 
town;  Amasa  J.,  a  farmer,  residing  at  home. 
Mr.  Pomeroy  and  his  excellent  wife  are  faith- 
ful and  valued  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church. 


/^TeORGE  E.  SCOTT,  a  highly  re- 
\  '•)  I       spected  farmer  and  a  resident  of  his 

—  native  town  of  Kortright,  was  born 
August  28,  1835.  His  parents,  George  L. 
and  Eleanor  (Hendrickson)  Scott,  were  both 
natives  of  this  State,  his  father  having  been 
born  in  Westchester  County,  and  his  mother 
in  Long  Island.  His  paternal  grandfather, 
Elijah  Scott,  came  to  Kortright  about  the 
year  1788.  As  soon  as  he  had  cleared  an 
opening,  he  erected  a  log  cabin,  which  was 
for  many  years  the  family  dwelling.  He  im- 
proved a  homestead,  on  which  he  lived  until 
gathered  to  his  long  rest,  after  a  long  life 
full  of  usefulness  and  activity. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  the  only  son 
of  his  parents  that  grew  to  maturity.  He  was 
a  young  boy  when  he  came  to  Kortright, 
where  he  afterward  resided,  succeeding  his 
father  in  the  ownership  of  the  farm.  He  was 
a  successful  and  well-to-do  farmer,  at  the  time 
of  his  decease,  August  16,  1866,  owning  one 
hundred  and  sixty-four  acres  of  good  land. 
His  wife  outlived  him  many  years,  passing 
away  April  13,  1890,  in  the  eighty-third  year 
of  her  age.  Neither  was  connected  with  any 
church  by  membership;  but  he  was  a  firm  be- 
liever in  the  Universalist  faith,  and  her  relig- 
ious views  coincided  with  the  doctrines  of  the 
Methodist  I-^piscopal  church.  They  were  the 
parents  of  six  children,  three  of  whom  died 
when  young,  two  dying  in  infancy,  and  Mary 
when  thirteen  years  old.  Three  are  now  liv- 
ing, namely:  F,lizabeth,  the  wife  of  James 
Dougherty,  of  Oneonta;  George  E. ;  and 
Charles  W.,  a  farmer,  residing  on  the  old 
homestead. 

George  E.  Scott  has  spent  his  entire  life 
amid  the  scenes  in  which  he  was  reared,  ob- 
taining a  good  common-school  education  and 


a  thorough  drilling  in  agricultural  work.  He 
remained  a  member  of  the  parental  household 
many  years,  assisting  in  the  management  of 
the  home  farm,  and  looking  after  the  welfare 
of  his  parents  when  the  burden  of  years  began 
to  bear  upon  them.  He  is  now  the  owner  of 
an  excellent  farm  of  seventy-five  well-im- 
proved acres,  amply  supplied  with  a  shapely 
and  substantial  set  of  farm  buildings. 

To  Mr.  Scott  and  his  wife  two  children 
have  been  born,  namely:  Fanny,  who  died  at 
the  early  age  of  nine  years;  and  Marshall,  a 
stenographer,  residing  in  Mauch  Chunk,  Pa. 
From  his  early  boyhood  Mr.  Scott  has  been 
reared  to  habits  of  industry  and  economy,  and 
he  has  all  his  life  pursued  a  course  in  accord- 
ance with  his  early  teachings.  He  has  thus 
become  a  good  citizen,  promptly  meeting  his 
various  obligations,  and  taking  an  interest  in 
the  welfare  of  the  community.  Politically, 
he  is  a  sound  Democrat;  and,  religiously, 
both   he  and  his  wife  are   liberal  Christians. 


RAM  A.  ALLEN,  Deputy  Sheriff 
of  Delaware  County,  is  numbered 
among  the  most  trustworthy  and  es- 
teemed citizens  of  the  town  of  Han- 
cock, in  which  he  resides.  He  was  born  and 
reared  a  farmer's  son,  his  birth  occurring  in 
the  town  of  Hancock  in  the  year  1861,  his 
parents  being  Myron  W.  and  Mary  E.  (Fel 
ton)  Allen,  both  natives  of  Schoharie  County. 
Mr.  Allen  is  of  English  extraction,  his  great- 
grandfather on  the  paternal  side  having  mi- 
grated from  England  with  his  wife  and  seven 
sons,  and  settled  in  the  town  of  Summit, 
Schoharie  County.  One  of  his  sons,  Ezra, 
grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
but  a  boy  when  he  came  to  this  country  with 
his  parents.  On  reaching  years  of  maturity, 
he  married  a  Miss  Mitchell,  of  Schoharie 
County;  and  of  the  children  born  to  them  is 
given  the  following  record:  Edwin  and  Eras- 
tus  were  among  the  band  of  enterprising  and 
venturesome  men  who  sought  the  gold  fields 
of  California  in  1849;  but,  unlike  the  major- 
ity, they  were  successful  in  their  ventures, 
the  latter  remaining  there,  successfully  en- 
gaged luitil  his  death  in  1865,  while  Edwin 
removed    from    that    State     to     New    Mexico, 


RIOGRAIMIICAI,    KF.VIKW 


r.-i 


wlvjrc  liis  (Icatli  nccuncd  in  iSSij.  Mvimi 
\V.  is  the  lather  ol  Mr.  Allen  ol  tliis  notiir. 
Ezra  and  William  arc  thrivinn  ai;ricuUiirists, 
residing-  in  Sciioharic  County;  and  Davitl,  a 
mason,  lives  in  the  same  count)'.  I'he  par- 
ents of  these  children  were  well-to-do  larmers 
of  high  moral  character  and  good  social  stand- 
ing in  their  community.  Both  were  helievers 
in  the  doctrines  of  the  Ha|)tist  cluwch :  and 
the  mother,  who  survived  her  husbanil  nianv 
vears,  almost  rounded  out  a  full  century,  li\- 
ing  to  celebrate  her  nim.'tv-eighth  l)irthdav. 

I\I\ron  \V.  Allen,  who  was  l,orn  in  iSj". 
was  reareil  to  agricultural  lahm'.  and  was  fm- 
man\'  \'ears  engaged  as  a  tiller  of  the  soil  in 
the  town  of  Hancock.  1  le  has  more  recenth' 
become  interested  in  mercantile  pursuits,  an<i 
is  now  a  successful  merchant  in  Binghan.iton, 
X.V.  F"rom  his  union  with  Mis>  l-"eltfin, 
which  was  solemnized  in  KS54.  four  children 
were  born,  all  of  whom  are  occui-tying  useful 
positions  in  the  world,  and  acguitting  them- 
selves as  faithful  citizens,  the  fed  lowing  being 
a  brief  reconl:  Rosa,  who  married  William 
ICberts,  a  dealer  in  real  estate,  residing  in 
Hinghamton  ;  George  A.,  a  successful  i)raclis- 
ing  ]5hysician,  of  Hancock;  Hiram  A.,  whose 
name  apjiears  above;  and  Theron  J-].,  wlu>  is 
agent  for  the  l-"argo  &  Wells  Mxjjress  Com- 
pany,   and    resides    in    Hinghanitun,    X.\'. 

Hii'am  A.  Allen  obtained  his  education  in 
the  puldic  schools  of  .^ulli\'an  and  Delaware 
Counties,  and,  wlu'U  eighteen  years  old,  learned 
the  cooper's  trade,  which  he  followed  continu- 
ousl\-  for  ten  vears.  most  ot  the  time  in  the 
town  of  Hancock.  I-'ebruitry  3.  1S86.  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Debbie  I-"..  Richart.  tlu-ir  nuptials 
being  celebrateil  in  Dushore,  .Sullivan  County, 
Pa.,  at  the  residence  of  her  parents,  John  and 
Margaret  (Maben)  Richarl.  Thiee  children 
ha\-e  l)een  born  to  Mr.  and  .Mrs.  Allen,  one  of 
whom,  a  lo\ely  child  of  one  and  a  half  years, 
was  taken  from  earth  when  '"life  and  lox'e 
were  new,"  ])assing  awa\'  in  tlu-  puritv  and 
innocence  of  ciiiklhood.  .\  son  and  daughter 
remain  to  brighten  the  family  circle :  Harry. 
a  bright  and  active  lad  of  seven  years;  and 
{•'va,    a    little   girl    not    yet    two   years   old. 

Mr.  Allen  is  a  man  of  sterling  character, 
and  is  a  faithful  supporter  of  the  Republican 
jiartv.      In   1SS8  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of 


Deputy  .Sheriff,  and  has  served  his  constitu- 
ents with  conspicuous  abilitv.  lie  is  still 
ijuile  ;i  young  man  ;  and  his  personal  friends, 
ol  whom  he  has  a  leL;iiin,  preilicl  for  him  a 
brilliant  future.  lie  is  active  in  promoting 
and  advancing  all  enterprises  for  the  gocid  of 
his  c<jmmunity,  ;ind  is  in  truth  :i  piihlic- 
si)irited  citizen.  His  eslim.ible  wife,  who 
shares  with  him  the  uni\-ersal  regard  of  her 
neighbors  ;ind  friends,  is  a  consistent  member 
of  the  Hai)tist  church. 


RlllCR  (i.  I'A  ITJ-.RSoN.  ;ittorney 
and  counselliir-:it-l;iw,  who  is  eng;iged 
in  the  practice  of  his  chosen  |:iro- 
tession  in  the  village  ol  W;ilton, 
\.\'..  w.is  born  at  W;ilton,  l-"ebruarv  22, 
1868.  He  is  of  -Scotch-Irish  descent,  ;ind 
[jossesses  manv  of  those  (.pialities  which  would 
tend  not  only  to  make  a  successful  practi- 
tiriner  at  the  bar,  Init  a  wortlu'  and  useful 
citizen. 

His  l:ithei',  Geoi'ge  Patterson,  was  born  neai' 
IPiwiik,  .Scotland,  in  1835.  and  seventeen 
years  later  came  to  this  countrw  He  was  the 
son  of  Archibald  i'atterson.  ;uul  one  of  a  fam- 
ily of  seven  children,  the  names  of  the  others 
being  Robert  H..  P'.llen.  John,  Walter  M., 
Agness,  and  James,  ;ill  of  whom  settled  in 
Dehiware  Coimt\'  excejit  ICllen.  who  married 
and  remained  in  Scotland.  i  le  bec:ime  natu- 
ralized in  i85(_).  and  cast  his  first  vr)te  for 
Abraham  Lincoln,  in  pursuance  of  whose  call 
he  wore  the  blue  for  three  years  and  nine 
months,  serving  in  the  lughth  Independent 
Battery  of  New  York  \'olunteers.  Returning 
to  Delaw;ire  Count\  at  the  chise  of  the  war. 
he  resumed  the  civic  tluties  of  life;  and  on 
the  sixth  day  of  March.  1867,  he  married 
Anna  Aloore,  and  settled  on  ;i  farm  about  four 
miles  from  the  vilLage  of  Walton,  where  he 
has  since  resided.  Ten  years  later  the  de;ith 
angel  crossed  the  threshold  of  their  hajipy 
home,  and  the  loved  wife  and  tenrler  mother 
was  borne  to  the  realms  of  the  blessed,  leav- 
ing the  widowed  huslxmd  with  six  children. 
His  secontl  marriage,  which  occurred  in  iSSi, 
w.is  with  Miss  I'".mma  Waters;  and  of  the  six 
children  born  of  their  union,  three  are  now 
living;  nanielv.    Kittie,    Robert,   and    Bessie. 


6s2 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


In  politics  he  is  a  standi  Rei)ublican,  and  a 
man  who  keeps  abreast  of  the  times  in  the 
affairs   of  his   country. 

His  mother,  Anna'  (Moore)  Patterson,  was 
the  daughter  of  James  Moore,  who  with  his 
wife  Elizabeth  came  to  this  country  from  Ire- 
land about  1835,  and  settled  on  a  farm  in  the 
town  of  Hamden,  N.Y.,  where  they  resided 
for  nearly  fifty  years.  She  had  three  brothers 
and  three  sisters;  namely,  Thomas,  Jane, 
Joseph,  Elizabeth,  William,  and  Margaret, 
all  of  whom  are  now  dead  except  William 
and  Margaret,  who  reside  at  Walton,  N.Y. 
Before  her  marriage  she  taught  a  district 
school  in  various  parts  of  the  towns  of  Ham- 
den, Colchester,  and  Walton.  .She  was  a 
woman  of  many  noble  qualities  of  heart  and 
mind,  highly  respected  by  all,  and  a  zealous 
Christian.  She  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-six 
years,  March  10,  1877. 

His  three  brothers  and  two  sisters  — 
namely,  Lizzie,  William  M.,  George  W., 
Alvin  J.,  and  Anna  M. —  all  reside  at 
Walton,  excejit  Anna,  who  lives  at  Delhi, 
N.Y.  Lizzie,  who  was  the  first  to  enter  the 
state  of  matrimony,  married  George  Marvin, 
Jr.,  and  resides  about  two  miles  from  the  vil- 
lage of  Walton. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  spent  his  early 
life  at  his  father's  home  on  the  farm,  where 
the  characteristics  of  industry  and  frugality 
were  so  instilled  into  him,  not  only  by  pre- 
cept and  example,  but  by  required  practice, 
that  early  he  came  to  realize  what  was  meant 
by  the  stern  realities  of  life.  I-'rom  the  time 
he  was  old  enough  to  help  his  father  on  the 
farm  until  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
from  six  to  eight  months  of  the  year  was  spent 
on  the  farm.  Having  improved  his  opportu- 
nities for  obtaining  an  education,  when  seven- 
teen years  of  age  he  received  a  license  to 
teach  school;  and  his  first  term  as  teacher  was 
in  the  same  school  he  had  always  attended. 
Thereafter  he  attended  the  Walton  Union 
School,  and  taught  school  alternately,  being 
very  successful  as  a  teacher,  having  taught  at 
different  times  the  three  largest  schools  in  the 
town  of  Walton  outside  of  the  village. 

In  1890  he  was  the  successful  candidate  in 
the  Cornell  University  scholarship  competi- 
tive examination  held  for  Delaware  County; 


and,  at  the  opening  of  the  school  in  Septem- 
ber of  that  year,  he  entered  Cornell  Univer- 
sity School  of  Law,  from  which  he  graduated 
June  16,  1892,  receiving  the  degree  of  LL.B. 
Entering  upon  an  ofifice  clerkship  in  the  law 
ofifice  of  the  Hon.  A.  H.  Sewall,  County 
Judge,  he  remained  with  him  until  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar,  which  occurred  November 
25,    1893. 

Mr.  Patterson  is  a  Republican  in  ]iolitics, 
and  a  member  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
church.  In  1893  he  was  elected  Justice  of 
the  Peace  by  a  handsome  majority,  in  which 
capacity  he  has  served  his  town  now  for  about 
one  year,  during  which  time  about  sixty  per- 
sons charged  with  the  commission  of  crime 
have  been  before  him,  besides  a  large  number 
of  civil  actions.  As  a  court,  he  has  proved 
himself  an  apt  discerner,  wholly  unbiassed  by 
fear  or  favor,  inspiring  at  the  same  time  the 
confidence  of  the  people  and  the  respect  of 
those  who  come  before  him. 

In  his  legal  profession  his  industry  and  ap- 
plication are  guarantees  of  success,  and  his 
steadily  increasing  practice  shows  the  confi- 
dence of  his  clients  in  his  ability.  We  pre- 
dict for  him  genuine  success. 


ILBERT  BOGART,  a  veteran  of  the 
'*)  I  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  now 
peacefully  engaged  in  general  hus- 
bandry and  dairying  in  the  town  of  Mason- 
ville,  Delaware  County,  N.Y.,  was  born  in 
Catskill,  Greene  County,  January  23,  1823. 
His  parents  were  Peter  and  Mary  A.  (Chides- 
ter)  Bogart,  his  mother  being  a  native  of  Cats- 
kill,  his  father  of  Dutchess  County,  where 
his  grandfather  was  an  early  settler.  The 
latter,  Peter  Bogart,  Sr.,  was  a  soldier  in  the 
War  of  18 1 2.  He  moved  from  Dutchess 
County  to  Catskill,  Greene  County,  and  set- 
tled on  a  farm  which  is  now  owned  by  lidgar 
Bogart,  and  which  is  located  near  the  Catskill 
House.  The  land  was  then  in  a  wild  state. 
The  elder  Mr.  Bogart  cleared  the  farm  and 
made  a  home  for  his  family,  although  he  only 
held  a  lease.  He  saw  eighty-four  years  of 
life,  most  of  them  years  of  toilsome  activity. 
His  wife  al.so  labored  and  lived  to  a  good  old 
age.     They  were  well-to-do  people  for  those 


Gilbert   Bosart. 


lUOGRAPMK^M,    RF.VIKW  r.jj 


clays,   and   reared   a    large   family  of   ehildi-.h.  under  tiie   Minim.,    .i,,,    .mi.     muim    m.     wmtn 

all    of   whom   have   now   passed   away.  snows,  eiearin,LC   and    plnii-hiMi;,    plantin-    and 

Peter  Hogart,  Jr..  grew  to  manhood  in  Cats-  harvesting  ami   hniidiiig.  an  1  that  he  has  h-.-cn 

kill.      He  came   to  Delaware  County  in  i.S^6,  a  good   manager,  are  almndinllv    indie  at. ■(]    hv 

several   years   after   his   marriage,  making   the  the  appearance  nf  iiis  weil-lilir<l  liidds  and  the 

journey  with  teams,  and  bringing  his  wife  and  excellent   condilinn    nt    his    nc-atlv-kepi    prern- 

family     and     all      his     worldly     effects.        He  ises.      He   made   successive    purchases   till    al 

bought  at  first    fifty   acres  of   heavily  tind^ered  one    time   he    owneil    twu    lumdre<l    and    thirty 

land,    and,    making  a   small    clearing,    built   a  acres.      He  now  owns  nne  hundred  and  thirtv, 
house   for  their    home.      A    man    of    push    and   ,  on  which    he   has    made  all   the  improvements, 

thrift,    he    worked    hanl,    was    financially    sue-  He   has   devnted    much    attentimi   to   dairving, 

cessful,    and    bought    moic    land    till    he    |m)S-  keeping   sometimes  as  many  as  fortv-live   head 

sessed  a  farm   of  one  humlred  and  sixty  acres,  of  cattle.      He  now  has  thirlv. 

He  was  a  member  of  the    Baptist   church,  and  A  true  jiatriot,  Mr.  Hogart   enlisted  in  .Se|)- 

in  politics  was  an  adherent  of   the  Republican  tember,     1861,    to    helj)    quell     the    .Southern 

party.      He   died  on   his   homestead  at  the  age  Rebellion.      He  served  in    C"nmpan\-  !•".  .Sixtv- 

of   eighty-one,  his   wife    having   preceded    him  first    New    York     N'olunteer     Infantrv,     under 

to  the  silent  land  at  about   sixty  years   of   age.  Captain    David    Jackson,  and  was   in  the   cam- 

Of   their   thirteen  children  six  are  now  living,  paign   of    Raj^pahannnck,  and    in   the   siege   of 

as  follows:    Henjamin  H(.)gart.  a  farmer  in  .Sul-  Yorktown,  and   in  several    other  engagements, 

livan  Count}';   Gilbert,  of  Masonville;  James,  enduring  fatigues  and   hardships  to   the   detri- 
a  farmer  occupying   the   ]:iaternal  homestead  at   '  ment   of   his   health.      He   was   honorably  dis- 

1-Iast    Masmuille:    Sarah,    wife    of    J.    Henry  charged  on  account  of  disabilitv  in  iS^j;  ;ind 

Beach,     residing    with     her     brother    Gilbert;  in  August,   1S64,  here-enlisted    in    the    Ivngi- 

.■\bram  and  Jeremiah,  farmers    in   the   town   of  neer  Corps,  in  which   he   served   until    he   was 

Sidney.  mustered  out,  after  the  close   of   the  war,  July 

In  the  district  schools  of  the  town    of   Cats-  4,    I.S65.  at  Hilton  Head.      His  experiences  in 

kill,  where  (nibert  resided  till    thirteen    yc.irs  the  army  resulted    in    permanent  injury  to  his 

of   age,    he    recei\ed    his    first   schooling.      He  health.      He  is  a  meml)er  of  the  Grand  .\rmy  of 

was  quick   to    learn,  and    made   rapid   progress  the  Republic,  Post  \o.   iSo,  ot  Mason\-ille. 


m  his  studies,  which  he  continued  in  Dela-  Mr.  Bogart  was  married,  September  i. 
ware  County  after  coming  here  with  his  par-  1847,  to  Hannah  M.  Beach,  who  was  born  in 
ents.  Teaching  one  term  of  schotd  in  Connecticut,  March  ;?o,  1S2J.  They  have 
I'ennsvlvania  was  a  part  of  his  juvenile  had  five  children,  only  one  of  whom  now  sur- 
experience.  Ambitious,  i)usbing,  and  self-  vives.  Will  K.  Bogart,  horn  July  ;i,  iS'^. 
reliant,  he  started  in  life  for  himself  at  six-  He  received  his  elementary  education  at  Ivist 
teen,  and  gave  his  father  forty  dollars  a  year  Masonville,  and  at  Walton,  anci  then  at  Co|- 
from  that  time  till  he  was  of  age.  He  had  gate  University.  Hamilton,  Madison  (."ounty. 
worked  out  for  a  while  on  a  farm  not  far  from  N.Y.,  where  he  is  now  studying  for  the  min- 
home  for  eight  dollars  a  month.  Thinking  to  istry.  He  was  married  March  11.  1SS5.  to 
do  better  than  this,  he  went  back  to  Greene  Anna  Fuller,  a  native  of  Masonville,  daughter 
Countv,  making  the  journey  on  foot,  and  of  William  Fuller,  whose  biography  is  con- 
worked  there  eight  months.  Returning  then  tained  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  The  other 
to  Delaware  Countv,  he  continued  thus  labor-  children  of  ^fr.  and  Mrs.  Gilbert  Bogart  were: 
ing  bv  the  month  till  twenty-three  years  old.  Amanda,  who  died  :it  three  years  of  ;ige;  Fllen. 
in  1846,  when  he  was  enabled  to  buy  the  farm  who  became  Mrs.  John  Mattison.  and  died  at 
of  one  hundred  acres,  where  he  now  resides,  the  age  of  twenty-one  years :  Julia,  Mrs.  I-Izra 
paying  fifty  dollars  down.  A  log  house  was  Coon,  who  died  at  twenty-four  years,  leaving 
on' the  place,  only  a  few  acres  of  which  were  three  children  -  I. illie.  Clarence.  an<l  Clara 
cleared.  Mr.  I5ogart  has  lived  here  nearly  half  -  another  son.  Leon,  having  died :  and  .\delia 
a  centurv.      That  he  has  toiled  early  and   late,  Bogart,  who  died  at  sixteen  years. 


6s6 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Mrs.  Hannah  M.  Bogart,  wife  of  Gilbert 
Bogart,  died  May  12,  1894.  She  was  a  thor- 
oughly estimable  woman,  and  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  church,  as  is  her  husband.  Mr.  Bo- 
gart is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  has  al- 
ways taken  an  active  interest  in  the  welfare 
and  progress  of  his  town.  He  has  served  four 
years  as  Poor  Master. 

On  another  page  of  the  "Review  "  may  be 
seen  a  portrait  of  this  worthy  and  respected 
citizen. 


-OHX  GRIl'l'lX,  nt)w  residing  at  Grif- 
fin's Corners,  in  Middletown,  where  he 
is  well  known  and  highly  respected,  was 
born  eighty-six  years  ago  in  Fishkill, 
Dutchess  County.  N.  V.,  son  of  Ezekiel  and 
Charlotte  (White)  Griffin,  and  grandson  of 
William  Griffin,  who  came  from  luigland  and 
settled  on  Long  Island.  At  the  time  of  the 
breaking-out  of  the  Revolutionary  War  the 
grandfather  owned  a  large  property ;  but,  refus- 
ing to  take  up  arms  against  his  native  country, 
his  property  was  confiscated.  After  the  war 
he  removed  to  Westchester  County,  where  he 
died,  leaving  four  sons:  William.  Jr.  ;  Ezekiel  ; 
.Solomon  ;  and  John. 

Ezekiel  was  born  on  Long  Island,  but  re- 
moved to  Fishkill  Mountain.  In  1833  he 
came  to  Middletown,  Delaware  County,  and 
invested  in  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
acres,  now  belonging  to  the  Ik-njamin  Crosby 
estate.  He  married  Charlotte  White,  daugh- 
ter of  John  White,  a  prosperous  farmer.  This 
couple  had  these  children — Eli,  Murray  G. , 
Joseph,  John,  Matthew,  David,  Eliza,  Pamelia, 
and  Alice.  The  father  was  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episco])al  church,  and  an  adherent 
of  the  Whig  party.  He  lived  to  be  seventy- 
two  years  old,  his  wife  dying  when  she  was 
fifty-eight  years  of  age. 

John  Griffin  received  his  education  in  the 
district  school  of  Fishkill ;  and,  after  engaging 
in  agricultural  work  for  others  for  some  twenty 
years,  he  at  last  purchased  seventy-five  acres  of 
land  in  the  town  of  Halcott,  Greene  County, 
where  he  lived  for  fifty  years.  His  first  wife 
was  Hannah  Miles,  daughter  of  Isaac  Miles; 
and  they  were  blessed  with  nine  children,  as 
follows:    Charlotte    married  Samuel  Hassard, 


and   went   to    Illinois.      Daniel    married    Betsy 
Hosier,  and    resides    in    New  York.      Margaret 
is  the  wife  of   Levi    Streeter,  and  lives  in  Min- 
nesota.     Charles    lives    in    Michigan.       Phebe 
Jane    married    William     Griffin,    of     Halcott. 
Lewis  married,  and  made  his  home  in  Michi- 
gan.     Clarissa  became  the  wife  of  J.  Barnum. 
David  married  Harriet  Cole.      William   is  also 
married.      The  mother  of  these  children  dying, 
Mr.     Griffin    married,    in    1867,     Martha   Jane 
Munger,    daughter    of    Samuel    and    Elizabeth 
(Carpenter)    Munger.      Samuel   was  the  son  of 
John    Munger,    a    Revolutionary    patriot,    and 
was    born    in    Dutchess  County.      He  lived  to 
be  forty-seven  years  old,  his  wife  dying  when 
thirty-four  years  of  age,  leaving  si.\  children  : 
Susan,  who  married  John  Frey ;   Phebe  C,  who 
became  the  wife  of  Ci.   B.   Stone;    Mary;  James 
E. ,    who   lives   in    Nebraska;  .  Henry    J.  ;  and 
Martha  J.      In    1874  Mr.   Griffin  and  his  wife 
removed    to    Griffin's   Corners.       Here   at    Eto 
Cottage,    pleasantly    situated    about    seventeen 
hundred  feet  above  tide-water,  three-fourths  of 
a  mile  from  the  railway  station,  forty  rods  from 
post-office  and  churches,  Mr.s.  Griffin  accommo- 
dates summer  boarders.      Mr.    Griffin  has  held 
many    positions    of    trust,    being   appointed   as 
Sheriff  in   Dutchess  County,  and   is  numbered 
in    the    ranks    of    the    Republican    party.      In 
religion  he   is  liberal  in  his  views,  advocating 
progress  in  thought  as  well  as  in  action. 


OHN  N.  ARBCCKLE,  the  only  son  of 
the  late  Hon.  Daniel  T.  Arbuckle, 
County  Judge  and  Surrogate,  is  to-day, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-six  years,  one  of 
the  most  prominent  men  in  the  town  of  Delhi, 
where  he  is  conducting  a  large  coal  busines.s, 
is  the  owner  of  a  flour  and  feed  mill  and  an 
elevator,  and  is  an  extensive  retail  dealer  in 
grain  and  feed.  His  entire  life  has  been  spent 
in  this  vicinity,  his  birth  having  occurred  in 
Delhi,  April  23,   1868. 

His  grandfather,  Nathaniel  Arbuckle,  a 
native  of  Scotland,  emigrated  to  America  at 
the  age  of  eighteen,  and  for  a  few  years  worked 
upon  a  farm  in  Canada,  l-'rom  there  he  came 
to  Delhi,  where  he  purchased  a  partially 
cleared  tract  of  land,  and  engaged  in  farming 
pursuits.      He  married,  and  reared  a  family  of 


BIOGRAPHIfAI     KFVIFW 


6S7 


six  children,  namely:  .Maij;aret,  wh.i  married 
Henry  Kiee.  a  farmer,  of  Delhi;  William  H.  ■ 
James  X.  ;  Daniel  T.  ;  C.  J.  ;  and  Peter  1?.' 
He  rounded  mit  a  lull  |)erii)d  of  seventy-five 
years;  and  his  wife,  who  died  at  the  hoiiK- of 
her  son  Daniel,  lived  to  the  ai;e  of  threescore 
and  ten  years.  Both  were  faithful  members 
of  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Delhi. 

Daniel  T.   .\rbuckle  obtained  his  elementarv 
education  in  the  tlistrict  schools  of    Delhi,  and 
was  fitted  for  college  at  the  Delaware  Academy. 
He    entered    I'nion   College,    and,    after    being- 
graduated   from   there,    began   the   stuti\-  of   law 
with    Colonel     Robert     Parker,     of     Delhi,    an 
uncle    of   Judge   Amasa  j.    Parker,  of   Albany. 
After  his  admission   to   the   bar   he    began    the 
jiractice  of  his  profession    in   his   native  town, 
where  he  soon  had   an   e.\tensi\e  clientage,  and 
continued    in   active   jiractice   until    i.Sxf.  when 
he    was    elected    to    the    In-nch    of    the    Couutv 
Court.      Juilge  Arbuckle  retained   this   honored 
positiciii    until     iSSS,    when    bv   reason    uf    con- 
tinued   ill    health   he   retireil    from   active    life, 
ilis   death    occurred   on    .March   9,    1  .S94,  at   the 
age    of    tifty-.seven    years.       In    memorv    of    his 
distinguished     services    as    jurist    and     citizen 
the  Delawai'e  Count}'  liar  passed    resolutions  of 
res])ect    and     sympathy,     nglith      speaking     of 
Judge    Arbuckle    as    "  haxing    discharged     his 
duties  in  all    the   various   relations   in    life,  not 
only    in    bis    professional,    but    in    his    judicial 
career  and    in   the   ordinaix   walk>   of    life,   with 
great  care,  credit,    honor,    and   hoiiestv";   pa\'^ 
ing  a  tribute  to  "his  unswerxing   integritv,   his 
devotion  to  the  interests  of  his  clients  and  the 
discharge  of  public  duties,  his  pain.staking  meth- 
ods   of    business,   his    U[)riglilness    of   character, 
and  pm-ity  of  heait"  ;  attesting  "bis  abilitv  as 
a  law_\-er,  his  fairness  as  a  judge,  .nul  iiis  worth 
as  a  citizen  "  ;   dei)loring  his  earlv  remo\al  "at 
a  time  in  life  when  there  a]i|x-are(l   to   be  nian\- 
years  of  usefulness  before   him,  and   the   future 
for  him  looked  bright  and  promising.      A   good 
man   has   passed    awav ;    a   wise    counsellor    has 
gone  to  his  reward  ;   a  kind  and  devoted  husband 
and  father  has  been  called  to   his   eternal    I'est  ; 
a    noble,     upi'igbt,     conscientious      citizen     has 
joined  the  great  majoritw  " 

Judge  ArbuckK'  married  Elizabeth  J.  Peters,, 
who  was  one  of  si.\  children  born  to  [ohn  and 
Jane    (Blakelev)    Peters,    of    Bloomvifle.       Mr. 


Peters,  who  i>  .i  bale  and  hearty  man,  well 
advanced  in  years,  has  been  eng.iged  in  agricult- 
ur.il  iKirsuits  during  his  life,  having  been  the 
owner  of  a  good  farm  in  Bhiomville,  and  also 
carried  on  a  brisk  trade  in  buying  and  selling 
butter.  His  wife  long  since  passed  to  the 
better  world.  Judge  and  .Mrs.  .Arbuckle 
reared  three  children,  two  daughters  anil  a  son. 
1  he  eldest,  Agnes,  who  was  graduated  from 
\'assar  College,  is  a  teacher  of  rare  ability. 
Jennie,  the  other  daughter,  is  an  able  assistant 
to  her  brother,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  in 
his  extensive  business,  having  entire  charge  of 
the  lx)oks  and  accounts,  and  representing  him 
in  his  absence. 

John  .v.  .Arbuckle  was  the  first  child  born  to 
his  parents.  He  received  a  practical  educa- 
tion, attending  jirimarily  the  village  school, 
and  later  the  Delaware  Academy.  .At  the  age 
ol  eighteen  years  he  entered  the  pu.st-office  as 
a  clerk  under  Henry  Davis,  remaining  there 
three  year.s.  Ibis  not  being  a  sufficiently 
active  calling  for  one  of  his  wide-awake  anil 
alert  business  proclivities,  he  established  him- 
selt  as  a  dealer  in  coal.  In  iSgr,  in  companv 
with  Mr.  Penfield.  he  purcha.sed  a  mill,  anil 
shortly  afterward  built  the  elevator  and  store- 
house, and  in  conjunction  with  his  coal  busi- 
ness dealt  extensively  in  grain  and  feed.  In 
.Sejitember,  189^.  Mr.  .Arbuckle  purchased  the 
interest  of  his  jxutner,  and  has  since  continued 
in  business  alone.  In  p(ilitics  Mr.  .Arbuckle 
is  a  steadfast  Deniocrat.  Religiouslv,  he 
belongs  to  the  Presbyterian  church,  of' which 
he  is  a  Trustee,  and  of  which  his  mother  is 
also  an  esteemed  mendier. 

These  three  children  are  to  .Mis.  .Arbuckle  a 
great  hel|)  and  comfort,  e.ich  and  all  doing 
everything  possible  to  make  her  ])athway  a 
pleasant  one.  The  family  re>idence.  which  is 
beautilidly  situated  upon  an  eminence  o\-er- 
looking  the  village,  indicates  in  all  of  its 
appointments  the  exercise  of  cultivated  tastes 
and  ample  means. 


i-)!  .\k\i;\'    B.    M()Ri;.\L'S,    a   contractor 
1(1     liuilder.      residing      in      Walton, 
wo]thil\     re|)re^ents    the     industrial 
interests  of  the  town,  and  is  one  of 
those     brave     citizen     soldiers    to    whom     the 


6s8 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


country  is  so  much  indebted.  Me  was  born 
in  Oneonta,  Otsego  County,  November  28, 
1841. 

Mr.  Morenus  comes  of  Revolutionary  stoci<, 
and  is  one  of  the  eleven  children  born  to  Will- 
iam and  Polly  (Wulf)  Morenus,  of  whom  the 
following  grew  to  adult  life:  Caroline  married 
(ieorge  Hanford,  and  lived  in  Sidney,  both  de- 
ceased. Augusta  married  Samuel  Seeley,  and 
moved  to  Dakota,  where  her  death  occurred. 
I'Llizabeth  is  the  wife  of  A.  J.  Knickerbocker, 
of  Hancock.  l-:iisha  fir.st  married  Euphemia 
Hoyt,  and  after  her  death  Martha  Bonnell. 
Harvey  B.  is  further  mentioned  below.  Fran- 
ces married  Miles  Robinson,  of  Sidney. 
Henry  W.  married  Amelia  Groatevant.  Kllen 
died  in  early  womanhood.  Margaret  died  when 
voung.  DeWitt  died  in  infancy.  The  parents 
removed  to  Sidney  in  1845,  the  father  there 
working  at  the  carpenter's  trade.  In  1867  he 
removed  with  his  family  to  North  Walton, 
where  he  died  in  1879.  His  widow  survived 
him,  and  died  in  Oneonta. 

Harvey  B.  Morenus  was  reared  and  educated 
in  Sidney  Centre,  attending  the  district  schools 
until  twelve  years  old,  when  he  began  to  work 
with  his  father  at  carpentering.  In  July, 
1 86 1,  he  enlisted  in  the  Third  New  York 
Cavalry,  and  was  mustered  into  service  on  the 
19th  of  August,  being  soon  ordered  to  Wash- 
ington. On  October  21  he  was  in  the  battle 
of  Ball's  Bluff,  and  during  the  following  win- 
ter was  encamped  at  Poolesville,  Md.  In 
the  s])ring  his  regiment  was  sent  to  Harper's 
Ferry,  thence  down  to  Winchester,  where  on 
March  12,  1862,  it  was  engagetl  in  battle. 
The  regiment  was  subsequently  ordered  to  join 
Burnside's  expedition  at  Newl)ern,  N.C. ,  but 
(lid  not  reach  there  until  after  the  capture  of 
the  city.  May  i,  1862.  On  the  15th  the  Third 
New  York  Cavalry  occupied  an  im])ortant  posi- 
tion at  the  frcmt  in  the  engagement  at  Trent 
Road,  and  there  Mr.  Morenus  was  wounded  in 
the  right  side,  a  ball  striking  his  heavy  Colt's 
revolver  and  shattering  it  in  pieces,  one  of 
which  entered  his  side,  and  another  his  arm, 
where  it  remained  for  twenty-seven  years 
before  being  taken  out.  He  was  sent  to  the 
regimental  hospital,  but  soon  reported  for  duty, 
and  was  in  the  battle  at  Roll's  Mills  on  No- 
vember   7,  at    Kin.ston,    N.C,   December   14, 


at    White    Hall    the    following    day,     and    at 
Goldsboro  on  the  i6th. 

Among  the  numerous  other  engagements  in 
which  he  took  part  may  be  named  the  follow- 
ing. At  the  battle  of  Trent  Road,  March  14, 
1863,  he  was  again  womided,  a  musket  ball 
passing  through  his  left  arm,  disabling  him  to 
such  an  extent  that  he  was  given  a  furlough  of 
thirty  days.  He  rejoined  his  regiment,  and 
was  again  in  battle  April  28,  1863,  at  Beland 
Cross-roads;  at  Warsaw,  July  4;  at  Tarboro, 
July  20;  at  Peletier's  Mills,  April  16,  1864; 
at  Chula  Station,  May  12,  1864,  when  he  was 
wounded  in  the  forefinger  while  carrying  a 
comrade  from  the  field;  at  Malvern  Hill,  July 
27;  and  from  September  29  until  October  7  he 
was  at  Johnson's  Farm.  During  one  of  the 
skirmishes  of  those  days  Mr.  Morenus,  whose 
horse  was  shot  from  under  him,  captured  the 
horse  of  Lieutenant  Smith,  who  was  killed, 
and  succeeded  in  escaping  his  pursuers.  On 
October  20,  1864,  he  was  present  at  the  battle 
of  Charles  City  Pike,  and  on  December  12  was 
at  South  Ouav.  From  there  Mr.  Morenus  was 
sent  to  Norfolk,  where  he  was  placed  on  guard 
duty,  and  in  July,  1865,  he  was  mustered  out 
of  service  as  Duty  Sergeant. 

Returning  to  Sidney  Centre,  Mr.  .Morenus 
engaged  in  agriculture,  but  two  years  later  sold 
his  farm  and  entered  into  the  mercantile  busi- 
ness, which  he  carried  on  successfully  for 
several  years.  In  1869  he  was  appointed  Post-  . 
master  at  Sidney  Centre,  and  also  Railway 
Commissioner,  holding  both  offices  until  1875, 
when  he  removed  to  Walton,  in  order  that  his 
children  might  have  the  benefit  of  its  fine  edu- 
cational facilities.  He  established  himself  in 
the  village  as  a  carpenter  and  builder,  and  by 
his  enterprise  and  ability  has  secured  a  large 
and  lucrative  business. 

On  September  27,  1865,  Mr.  Mcirenus  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Elizabeth  H.  Bailey, 
who  was  born  in  Suffolk,  Va. ,  January  23, 
1843,  a  daughter  of  James  M.  and  Ann  (Gynn) 
Bailey.  Mr.  Bailey  was  born  April  15,  1799. 
By  his  union  with  Ann  Gynn,  December  31, 
1835,  he  had  eight  children,  namely:  Mary 
Ann,  born  September  29,  1836,  died  April  9, 
1863;  .Sarah  R..  born  February  i,  1838,  died 
February  13,  1863;  James  M.,  born  August 
22,  1839,  an  officer  in  the  Confederate  army, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RKVIKW 


'■■-.'I 


who  died  Aujiust  «,  1.S64,  Inmi  wminds  re- 
ceived at  the  i)lo\vin,t;-ii|)  ol"  the  mine  in  Inml 
of  i'elershurt;-;  Martha  I'".,  hdiu  laiuiarv  16. 
1S41,  died  X.ivendier  (),  iS()4;  l'.ii/al)eiri  I!., 
Mis.  Mdrenns;  Riii)eit  S. .  hmn  |anuar\  ih, 
1S45,  who  h)st  an  eye  while  >ei\in^  in  tile 
(."onfederate  army,  and  died  .\|)ril  j-,  i.S.SN; 
C'dinelia  (i.,  Ikhii  .\ui;nst  i(),  1.S46,  ilied  Sep- 
temluT  3.  1S74;  and  I'.dna  S. ,  jiorn  March  JA, 
1848.  Idle  molluT  (it  tiiese  children  died 
March  ^  i'"^.^-':  and  Mi-.  Hailev  married  Mrs. 
Martiia  Sliepard,  December  16,  1X52.  Hv  liis 
last  marria_i;e  were  three  cliileh-en,  namely; 
Charles  W. ,  hciin  (  )ctoher  15,  1S53;  luij;ene 
S. ,  born  May  j;.  1X56,  died  September  J4, 
1.S56;  and  I.ucv  M.,  bnrn  Ma\'  15,  I<S;<> 
Mr.    HailcN'  died  in    1864. 

M|-.  antl  Mis.  Morenus  ai'e  the  parents  of 
three  children.  Mae,  born  Jul\-  iS,  1867.  is 
the  wife  of  Charles  M.  llackett,  of  ( ireeiisboro. 
X.C.  Howard  H. ,  boin  Mas  31.  1869,  now 
the  chiel  book-keepei"  fni  the  Cottaije  Origan 
Company,  of  Chicai^o.  married  Martha  Cable 
in  1895.  Roheit  I'".,  horn  Jannar\'  10.  1S7:;, 
is  book-kee|x-r  for  I-'itch,  Brook  &  .Snlls',  of 
Walton.  Ill  politics  Mr.  Morenus  is  an  im- 
comiironiisiiiL;-  Re|niblicaii,  and,  tliou<;li  no 
as]iirant  lor  of'licial  honors,  has  served  as 
I)e]iuty  Sheriff  for  iiiiK'  \ears.  He  is  Adjutant 
and  e.\-Conimander  of  the  lien  Marvin  Tost, 
No.  209,  (jrand  .Armv  of  Ihe  Rejinldic.  lie 
also  ser\'etl  for  thirteen  \ears  as  Lieutenant  of 
the  Se].)arate  Companw  National  (luards. 
heinn'    then    placed    upon    the    letiied    list. 


J"^E\Vrrr  H.  COl.I'.,  who  for  the  last 
=1  fifteen  \ears  has  been  successful  1)' 
9y  enga.Ljed  in  the  hotel  business  in  .\rk- 
\ille,  was  born  Noxeinber  1,  1837.  in 
Middletown,  Delaware  Count\-,  N.  \'.  11  is 
parents  were  .Solomon  and  bjiieline  ((Ira)) 
Cole,  the  former  ol  whom  was  the  son  of 
Thomas  Cole,  a  farmer  and  lunilierman  who 
oatiie  from  Cdnnecticut  when  a  \dun.i;'  man, 
accomjianied  b\-  his  wife,  K'lusha  Jenkins,  a 
worthy  hel]imeet.  This  couple  liecanu-  the 
[larents  of  seven  children.  1)\  name;  Hetsy, 
who  became  the  wile  ot  (ieor^e  Osteriioudt  ; 
Solomon,  who  became  the  lather  of  the  subject 
of    this    sketch  ;   Mary,    who   married   l{phraini 


Isham;  iMiuliiu',  who  w;is  united  in  inarriaf;e 
I"  -     Robinson;    John;    I  hirrison,    who    left 

his  native  place  \n  >,-,-k  his  fortunes  in  the 
W'esl  ;  and  William  II.  \\w  lather,  wh..  wa.s 
a  ^ood  example  of  the  sturdv  pioneer  class, 
and  was  ,1  man  much  respected,  died  at  the  a^jc 
ol  eii;hlysi\.  His  wife  survived  to  the  re- 
in.irkable  ;i-e  iif  iiineiy-nine,  an  illustration  of 
ihe  advantage  of  plain  living;  :ind  simple  taste.s. 

.Solomon  Cole,  the  next  in  line,  was  born  in 
Middleloun,  and  became  accustomed  to  farm 
lileand  work  at  an  early  :ij;e.  When  a  vounf^ 
man,  he  purchased  a  farm  of  tw.i  hundred' acres 
near  (irirtin's  Corners,  and  occupied  himself 
in  tilliiii;  the  soil.  He  married  |-;melinc 
Hon-hton,  daughter  of  l)a\id  Hoii^rhton.  a 
farmer  and  an  early  settler  in  the  town  of  Ro.x- 
bnry.  In  1861  Scdomon  Cole  sold  his  farm 
and  mo\ed  to  Ro.sburw  ( )iie  vear  later  he 
moved  to  Mai\:;aiettville,  and  still  later  to  Ark- 
ville,  where  he  bought  the  hotel  of  (niffin  & 
Crespill,  and  en,:;af;ed  in  its  manajiement  until 
his  death  at  the  a^e  of  tifty-ei^ht.  He  was  a 
prominent  rii;uie  in  his  locality,  a  man  of 
si|uare  dealini;-,  and  a  stanch  Republican  in 
political  faith.  He  was  the  lather  of  .seven 
children,  named  as  follows;  .Abraham,  who 
UKirried  ()li\e  Meeker  for  his  first  wife,  was 
later  iniited  to  Ivninia  Keater.  and  is  now  de- 
ceased :  Charles,  who  chose  for  his  wife  Mmnia 
Kittle,  now  resides  in  HinL,di:uiiton.  N.\'.,  and 
hasonechikl;  I'.dward.  resident  in  New  \'ork 
City,  who  married  Trudie  lunmett.  and  has 
two  childien;  Rena,  who  became  the  wife  of 
Charles  .Still,  an  en,i;ineei',  and  resides  in  Ark- 
ville;  James  M.,  the  eldest,  married,  but  now 
deceased;  I-'.mma  Ilalstead,  who  is  married,  re- 
sides in  Jersex  City  Hei_L,dUs,  and  has  one 
child;  and  Dewitt,  whose  name  claims  atten- 
tion at  the  head  of  this  sketch. 

Dewitt  H.  Cole  attended  the  iniiilic  schools 
of  his  nati\e  town  in  earlv  \outh.  and  assimi- 
lated a  fair  amount  of  practical  knowledj^e. 
which  he  has  since  supplemented  hv  observa- 
tion and  experience  in  the  affairs  of  everv-ilav 
life.  lakini;  his  father's  hotel  at  the  a.Lje  of 
twenty-two,  he  a])plied  himself  to  the  task  of 
maiKii^ership  with  the  determination  to  make 
his  hoslelrx  known  lar  anil  wide  as  a  place  of 
comfort  for  man  and  beast.  In  this  he  has 
been    singularly    successful,    and     his    ]iresent 


66o 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


standing  in  the  community  is  due  tu  his  own 
good  judgment  and  far-sighted  business,  policy. 
His  hotel  is  situated  opposite  the  depot,  an 
advantageous  location,  as  it  is  thus  its  own 
advertisement. 

Mr.  Cole  is  a  married  man,  as  all  hotel- 
keepers  should  l)e.  His  wife  was,  by  maiden 
name,  Pevila  Hasbrook.  Her  parents  were 
Barney  L.  and  Rosa  (Hubbard)  Hasbrook,  the 
former  of  whom  is  the  leading  merchant  in 
Clovesville,  N.Y.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cole  have 
one  child,  Beulah,  born  April  lO,  1893.  Al- 
though known  so  well  as  a  genial  host,  Mr. 
Cole's  duties  and  responsibilities  in  life  are  not 
confined  to  his  hotel  business.  He  is  .so  well 
liked  by  his  fellow-townsmen  that  they  have 
chosen  him  to  serve  as  Collector  and  Deputy 
Sheriff,  both  of  which  responsible  positions  he 
has  well  filled.  His  politics  are  Republican; 
and,  when  the  interests  of  his  locality  or  the 
country  at  large  are  to  be  served,  he  is  not  to 
be  found  among  the  stay-at-homes.  Of  a 
.social  nature,  he  belongs  to  Margarettville 
Lodge,  No.  389,  A.  !■'.  &  A.  M.,  and  is  also  a 
member  of  the  order  of  Knights  of  Pythias. 
His  popularity  is  unquestifmed,  and  he  is  prop- 
erly assigned  a  place  among  the  substantial 
residents  of  his  county. 


I-IORGIC  HL'RCllL'S,  a  successful 
stock-raiser  and  dairyman,  owns  and 
occui)ies  a  farm  of  one  hundred  acres 
located  about  four  miles  from  the  village  of 
Walton,  on  which  his  birth  occurred  June  5, 
1834.  11  is  father,  James  Hurchus,  was  born 
in  the  town  of  South  hlast,  a  son  of  Samuel 
Hurchus,  who  was  a  farmer  in  that  place,  and  a 
life-long  resident. 

James  Burchus  learned  the  trade  of  a  shoe- 
maker;  and  some  time  during  the  War  of  181 2 
he  made  shoes  for  the  soldiers,  but  was  after- 
ward drafted  into  the  army,  and  ser\-ed  three 
months.  He  was  a  Corporal  of  his  company, 
and  was  detailed  to  look  after  deserters,  serv- 
ing in  this  capacity  until  he  received  his 
discharge.  He  continued  to  follow  his  trade 
for  a  while,  i)ut  after  marriage  returned  to 
farming.  His  wife  was  Bathsheba  Foster,  a 
native  of  South  Hast.  Removing  with  his 
bride  to  Delaware  County,  Mr.  Burchus  bought 


a  tract  of  partly  cleared  land,  taking  possession 
of  it  in  1 82 1.  He  continued  the  improve- 
ments, among  other  things  setting  out  a  fine 
orchard.  Seven  years  later  he  sold  that  land 
and  purchased  a  farm  of  fifty  acres,  mostly 
covered  with  a  dense  growth  of  timber,  of 
which  .so  little  had  been  cleared  that  he  has 
been  known  to  hunt  for  two  days  to  find  a  yoke 
of  cattle.  He  was  an  active  worker,  and  l)y 
able  and  vigorous  management  placed  the 
oriiiinal  land  under  cultivation,  and  occa- 
sionally  bought  other  land,  until  at  the  time 
of  his  decease  he  owned  two  hundred  and 
seventeen  acres,  his  homestead  being  one  of 
the  most  valuable  estates  in  this  vicinity. 
His  first  wife  bore  him  the  following  children  : 
Sarah,  Elizabeth,  Pamelia,  Sally,  Betsey,  and 
Samuel.  She  lived  but  ten  years  after  her 
marriage;  and  he  subsequently  married  Polly 
Bossett,  a  native  of  Dutchess  County,  and  a 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Sally  Bossett.  ( )f 
this  union  three  children  were  born,  namely; 
Sherman ;  George ;  and  Mary,  who  married 
Wesley  Wilman,  of  Connecticut. 

George,  the  youngest  son,  is  the  only  mem- 
ber of  the  parental  household  ncjw  living.  He 
receiv'ed  a  very  good  education  in  tiie  district 
schof)l,  and  ably  assisted  his  father  in  the  farm 
work,  remaining  at  home  until  becoming  of 
age.  He  then  bought  of  Hezekiah  Cable  fifty 
acres  of  land,  situated  about  a  mile  from  the 
home  of  his  i:)arents.  He  cleared  the  land,  and 
prepared  it  for  tillage,  in  the  mean  time  erect- 
ing a  frame  house  and  a  log  barn,  and  con- 
tinued to  reside  there  some  fifteen  years.  On 
the  death  of  his  father,  Mr.  Burchus  purchased 
the  old  homestead  where  he  was  born  and 
reared,  and  has  since  carried  it  on  with  marked 
success.  He  has  made  extensive  improve- 
ments, building  a  new  barn,  but  occupying 
the  house  which  his  father  erected.  At  the 
time  tliat  he  took  possession  of  his  projjcrty, 
part  of  the  land  was  in  its  original  wildness, 
and  in  such  a  condition  that  he  could  not  cut 
hay  enough  to  feed  twelve  head  of  cattle.  He 
now  cuts  hay  enough  on  one  hundred  acres  to 
keej)  twenty-four  cows,  five  yearlings,  ten 
shec]),  and  four  hor.ses.  He  operates  a  large 
dairy,  making  a  fine  grade  of  butter,  most  of 
which  is  sold  in  New  York  City.  His  cattle 
are  graded  Jersey.      He  had  the  misfortune  a 


BIOGRAPIirCAL    RKVIKW 


r.,: , 


sh.Ht     imc  agu  tu  iKuv  mnc  ,,|    l,i>  o.ws  kilKW  Thdr  si.x  diildivn  i.k.v  !..•  I„i, 

l.v  h-htmnK  ,n  one  ni,t;lu.  u-.nl    nnnic-.l    |;,nr  WlnM,!.- 

Ml.    Innvluis  and   Laura  j.   tahlc,   tl.c  ,h>uol,.  .Ma,.;„vt      Slni,,-  \\,||,„n 

lor    ..I     llczckiah    ami    Sallx     diiadlcv)    Cahk'.  Krllv.       Melissa  inarru.!    Mr     i 

wcro    marricl    ,n    1X35.       Mr.    ami    Mrs.    Cal.lr  is    xW    sul.im    ,,l     tju-    l/,|l.iu 

were   natives  ol    C  ..nncctu  iil,    hiU    ivmove.l    lu  oliv,;    marricl    lirsi     |,,|„,     | ), 

this  county,  and    |nircliasfd   a   tarm  in  Walton,  R.-xtnnl    iJLuill. 
on  whiili  their  children,   lour    in    iiuinhei',   wert'  l-ld-iu'  .\.    Wrniiha 

horn.       Mr.  and  Mrs.   Hurchus  hecame   the   par-  irict    >.  ho,,N.  and   can; 

ents    ot     five    children,     three     of    whom     have  (Hillins    Curners      wh 

|)as.sed    to    the     •Mile     elysian,"     Alice     dvin-  cahinel -nnikin-    l.',.>inrs's       Vl 

when  a    little   chikl   ol    .seven   years.       Ida   died  the  eiiterprisewas  e-tahli^i 

when    seven    \ears   old:  and    I'.sther,    who    was  in  trade   was  consumed    In 

married,  died  at  the  a!;e  of   twentv-three  vears.  man    was   nothin-    d.umie, 

leavmt;  two  children  -     Ida   and    \\illie.      Julia  and  immeilialelv"hei;an  to  ,.,,,;  „     ^     n, 

and  iM-ank   are   still    livin-    the    latter  su|)erin-  a  carpenter.       In    ihe    srcon<U  e  u"  ..|    1 1  . 

tendin--    the    management    o|     the    home   farm.  War.  on  .\u-usi    11 ,   1  Soj.  he 'enl  isi^.,1  in  (  om- 

Mr.    Hurchus    is   a   Cran-er,    and    in   politics    is  pauv   (,,   One    Hundred   and    I- .; : '    l„,.  • !,    \,   . 

independent,  althoui^h   he   usually    su|iports   the  N'.ak     V.dnnteers.       |  |c    \' 

Uemocratic    ticket.       Moth    he    and    his    family  w.is  al  one  time  a  .Second  1 .,    u; ,  :i.:.; 

are  amonj;-  the  most  active  w.irkers    in   the  l>ap'-  lor   (\w    hmi;   wearvm.mth-    in   the   h.. 

ti.st  church,   in  which  he  has  served  as   rrustee,  .S|.    .Vu-ustine.   l-'la.,    from    uhich    he   was  ,ii~ 

besides    h(ddin-    many  other  oflicial    ])ositions.  char!;ed    in  .Xu-usi.    1  ,S^4.  ,  ,11    i,  ,  ,  ,,,.,1  ,,i    .,1,,,: 

He  was  one  of  the   ]Mime   movers  in  the  huild-  cal  disahililw 

ins;-  of   tile   present    Baptist  church,  ami   it    was  He    married    Melissa    T."i,i.    a    ,iaii    hie;     ,,1 

chiefly  throu-h  his  efforts  that    Ihe   church   was  Is.iac     and     j-'aniu      1  Hou-hloiu     WM        Mi- 

'"•-'iiiizc-d.  lodds     grandfather.      .Samue!      T,,dd. 

'"•'-'  soldier   in   the  ke\  olut  ionar\    War.       In. .._ 

Ml---     \'ermiiya.     there    were    nine   children    in 

D(-rAR     .\.     \'|;RM1I.\'.\      was     born      in  Isaac  Todd's  familv  :    .Sciidder ;   (  )rrin  ;    Hen 

Middletown,       June       JO,       l  S40.         His  John;      Hurr;      .\aron  :     liir.mi;     W.ilter; 

i;randfather.    Wi  lliam  Wainilya,    was  Melissa,    now    .Mrs.    X'ermiha.       I',.    i:d,.u     .\ 

a    Hollander,    who    settled    in    I'utnam    Countv,  and  Melissa  \'erniil\a    -"I       '■  "  ■ 

where   he   re.ired   a   family   of    four  children  llerhcrt  .S. ,  whose  hii: 
William,     Jesse.     John,      .Samuel.         The     last   '    i.sr),S,  and  who  married  .\m,i;-i.i  .\l, 
named,  and   father  of    l-".d-ar   .\.   X'erinilya,    re-   '  daughter  of    1'.   (.'.  and  l-jnma  i\'i-. 

mo\ed    from     I'utnam     County    wiien    a    youni,^  'I'hc  father-in-law  of   Mi.   Herbert  .s.    \ 

man.       He  w.as   a  cobbler  by  trade.  Init  did  not  is    a     l)oardin,i;-liouse     |>ro|irietor      ■•      ' 

follow  this  occupation    for  any  len,i;th   of  tinn'.  ("orners,  while   he   himself  is  a  iew 

He    bou.n'ht    a    mill   on    Hata\  ia    Kill,    which    is  same  pi. ice.  and  is  doit 

now   known   as   Morse's    mill.       Here   he    li\ed  In    ])olitics    he    is    a     1 

until  his  death,  though  not  after  the  fashion   of  1   lulgar    .\.     X'ermilya     hem,:;    a     I'l  ,; 

that   "Miller  of   Dee  "    who  .sang,   "I    care   for  I   The  latter  is  a  class  leadei'     •    -     1  ■ 

nobody,    and    nobotly    cares    for    me";   for    he  Methodist  I^iiiscopal  cluna  : 
wooed    and    married    as    most    voimg    men    do. 
His    wife    was    Miss     Catherine     Robinson,    a 


daughter  of  Issacher  Robin.son.  Ilei'  father 
was  also  a  miller,  and  had  manv  a  tale  of  the 
da_\s  of  177*').  haxiiig  fought  in  the  Revoln- 
tionar\'    War.       Hoth    husband    and    wife    were 


oiix  lie  rs().\.  .th> 

modat ing    propriel'  ■ 
House.    Helhi.    N.\ 
her    10,    isric).       Ill 


members    of    the    old-school     J-!a])tist    church.       jam     IIut>on,     emiui 


662 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Scotlaml,  and  became  one  of  the  early  settlers 
of  Delhi,  where  he  improved  a  farm.  He  and 
his  wife  reared  a  family  of  nine  children; 
namelv,  l-lbenezer,  John,  Thomas,  George, 
Margaret,  Catherine,  ICllen,  Mary,  and  Jane. 
Hoth  parents  were  deeply  religious,  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Scotch  I'resinterian  chinch. 

John  Hutson,  Sr.,  was  the  second  child  born 
to  his  parents.  He  entered  upon  a  mercantile 
career,  conducting  a  general  store  in  Delhi  for 
many  years.  He  also  carried  on  a  substantial 
flour  and  feed  business,  and  dealt  largely  in 
butter.  He  was  well  known  throughout  this 
section  of  the  count}-,  and  was  numbered  among 
the  .solid  and  substantial  citizens  of  Delhi. 
He  married  Julia  Hewes,  a  native  of  this 
county,  and  one  of  a  large  family  of  children 
born  'to  James  and  Margaret  (Wea.soner) 
Hewes.  Mr.  Hewes  was  born  in  this  country, 
of  Welsh  antecedents;  and  his  wife  was  of 
Holland  ancestry.  Of  the  union  of  Mr.  Hut- 
son  and  Miss  Hewes  the  following  children 
were  born:  William;  Jane,  who  became  the 
wife  of  Abraham  C.  Crosby,  an  eminent  lawyer 
of  this  town;  Elizabeth,  who  married  Charles 
R.  Stillson,  a  jeweller,  of  Delhi;  John;  and 
Ida  M.,  who  married  Charles  K.  Woodruff, 
whose  sketch  appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 
The  good  mother  passed  away  at  the  age  of 
fifty  years,  and  the  father  after  a  useful  life  of 
threescore  years.  Both  were  tried  and  faithful 
members  of  the  Scotch  Presbyterian  church. 

John  Hut.son,  the  subject  of  this  brief 
sketch,  spent  his  early  years  in  the  village  of 
Delhi,  obtaining  a  practical  etlucation  in  the 
village  schools  and  academy.  After  complet- 
ing his  studies,  Mr.  Hutson  began  working  in 
the  flour  and  feed  mill  which  his  father  had 
built  and  was  then  operating,  and  where  Kiff 
&  (ileason,  whose  sketches  may  be  found  in 
another  part  of  this  work,  are  now  engaged  in 
business.  He  afterward  entered  the  butcher- 
ing business,  working  first  for  his  father,  and 
subsequently  for  himself,  continuing  thus  en- 
gaged for  four  years.  Soon  after  this,  occurred 
the  death  of  his  father;  and  Mr.  Hutson  spent 
two  years  travelling  in  the  West,  being  em- 
])loyed  in  various  lines  of  business.  Not  find- 
ing any  locality  more  jileasing  to  his  tastes 
than  his  native  town,  he  returned  to  Delhi, 
and,  securing  a  position  as  clerk  in  the  Ameri- 


can House,  remained  there  until  Richard 
D.  W.  Kiff,  the  proprietor,  retired,  when  Mr. 
Hutson  made  a  second  visit  to  the  West. 
When  Mr.  Kiff  assumed  the  management  of 
the  hotel  for  the  second  time,  Mr.  Hut.son  again 
entered  his  emjiloy  as  a  clerk,  retaining  the 
position  until  January  i,  1S93,  when  he  formed 
a  partnership  with  C.  K.  Kiff,  s(m  of  his 
former  employer  (see  sketch  given  elsewhere 
in  this  volume) ;  and  they  managed  the  affairs 
of  the  house  successfully  for  a  year,  when  the 
partnership  was  dis.solved.  Since  that  time 
Mr.  Hutson  has  continued  the  business  alone, 
and  is  meeting  with  decided  success,  having  a 
well-kept  and  well-appointed  hotel,  centrally 
located  and  extensively  patronized.  It  is 
situated  on  the  main  street  of  the  village,  is 
conveniently  arranged,  heated  throughout  with 
steam,  and  has  accommodations  for  fift)-  guests, 
the  gentlemanly  proprietor  himself  attending 
personally  to  its  management.  The  table  is 
excellent;  and  the  cheerful,  home-like  air 
pervading  the  house  makes  it  very  attractive. 

Mr.  Hutson  was  united  in  marriage  in 
March,  18S4,  to  Miss  Mary  Riley.  They 
have  one  child,  a  bright  little  bo)-,  named 
William  Henry.  In  politics  Mr.  Hutson  in- 
variably supports  the  principles  of  the  Repub- 
lican party.  Socially,  he  is  a  member  of 
Walton  Lodge,  No.  625,  Independent  Order 
of  Odd  Fellows,  and  belongs  to  the  Elks  of 
Scranton.  Mrs.  Hutson  is  a  faithful  member 
of  the  Catholic  church. 


I  LIT  AM  WICKS  NORTH,  proprie- 
tor of  the  popular  restaurant  at  the 
Walton  station  of  the  Ontario  & 
Western  Railway,  is  a  native  of  the  town 
where  he  resides,  having  been  born  within  its 
limits,  Augu.st  10,  1821,  at  the  home  of  his 
father,  Benjamin  W.   North. 

Benjamin  North,  Jr.,  the  father  of  Ben- 
jamin W. ,  was  born  in  Newtown,  L.  I.,  May  i, 
1749,  at  the  home  of  his  parents,  Benjamin 
and  Margaret  (Freeman)  North.  On  January 
>7.  '773.  he  married  Jane  Brown,  who  died 
October  16,  1779,  leaving  two  children  — 
Mary  B.  and  Jane.  On  March  17,  1784,  he 
was  united  in  wedlock  with  Sarah  Lockwood, 
who  died   October  30,  1789.      His  third   wife, 


BIOCtRAHHICAI,    kevikvv 


to  whom  he  was  imiud  .M.iirli  15,  ijijj,  was 
Sarah  Wicks,  of  lluiuinmoii,  |..  f.  Hk-x  rc- 
nnivcii  to  New  \'ork  City,  and  tlieiv  wcic 
honi  all  ol'  her  ihiidicn;  nainelv,  [ane,  l'",ii/a 
11.,  Menjaniiii  W. ,  William  I-',,'  IJaiiiiah  II., 
and  Robert  1-'. 

Benjamin  W .  North  niarrie<l  I'.meline. 
daughter  of  (kibriel  and  Deborah  North.  Ik- 
was  for  many  \ears  ])ros|)eronslv  en-a,<;eil  in 
mercantile  business  in  New  \'ork,  where  he 
was  an  extensive  dealer  in  ,i;roceries.  lie  was 
a  man  ot  ,i;reat  ]nish  and  eneri;v,  and  was  an 
active  member  of  the  old  lire  department  of 
that  city,  being  foreman  of  1-jigine  Com])anv 
No.  13,  to  which  his  eldest  .son  also  belonged'. 
It  was  due  to  his  efforts  that  engines  were  in- 
troduced into  the  city  tire  de])artment. 

William  Wicks  North  received  an  excellent 
elementary  education  in  the  citv  schools  of 
New  \'ork,  arid  coiupleled  his  school  life  at 
Rye,  Westchester  Counts.  In  1S42  he  went 
with  his  father  to  I'oughkeepsie,  N.^■.,  where 
they  established  a  luu'serv  and  fruit  luisiiiess. 
In  1846  Mr.  North,  leaving  his  father,  caiue 
to  Walton,  and  for  some  time  thereaftei'  was 
engaged  in  general  fainiing.  Just  prior  to  the 
late  Rebellion  he  embarked  in  the  grocer}' 
business,  which  he  hnally  reliiH|uished  for  his 
jiresent  occupation,  opening  a  restaurant  at 
the  Ontario  &  Westt-rn  Kailwav  dejjot  ;  and 
this  he  has  successful  1\-  managed  foi-  the  |)ast 
twenty  years.  l-"or  three  years  he  and  his 
eldest  son  were  emjiloNed  in  sur\eving  foi  the 
railroad. 

On  May  10,  1 N49.  .Mr.  .North  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Mary  .\.  l-'.ells.  daughter  of 
Horace  blells.  an  old  and  honored  settler  of 
Delaware  (.'ountv.  This  union  was  halloweil 
by  the  birth  of  Innr  children,  as  follows; 
Henjamin  (i.,  bmn  December  22,  1851,  is 
Su|)erintendent  of  the  ( )nlario  &  Western 
Railway  Compaiu',  and  a  valued  citizen  c)f 
Walton.  Horace  E. ,  born  December  31, 
I1S53,  is  an  insurance  agent  of  the  tirm  of  I'aul 
&  North.  Ida  ,M.,  born  .May  ^,  I1S36.  died 
Januar\-  22,  1876.  William  I-'.,  born  Novem- 
ber 17,  1861,  is  a  clerk  foi'  the  railwax  com- 
jianx',  eiu]ilo\etl  b\'  his  iMother  Henjamin. 
Mrs.  Noith,  the  beloxed  wife  and  ruother, 
jxtssed  to  the  higher  state  of  existence,  Jaiuiarv 
II,    1894.       She   was  held    in   high   esteem  as  a 


nei-hbor  and  .1  h  lend,    an<i    liei    death    was  inii 
\ersally  inonrneil.       In   pnliii.s    Mi      \,    •'     ' 
alwa\s  aflili.iled  wilh  the    D<-inoi  rat  j,-  ; 


ll.l-l.\M  II.  l..\Slli:k  ua^  bo,n 
.lul\  n,  tS^j.  i,n  Brush  l\id;;e, 
in  .Middletow  n,  Delawari-  (  .imiiI\, 
■'^■V.  lie  is  a  grandMiM  ol  (dnrad  .ind  .Mai  i.i 
(Sagendor|)h(  Lasher.  i-'ive  broiluis  n\  the 
l.asher  family  came  hum  \\  ilteiilieig,  d.-i 
many,  and  .settled  in  Dntchess  ('iiui)t\.  N.-u 
\drk,  before  the  Re\(i|iilionar\  War.  C.ni.,.! 
married  in  Dutchess,  and  came  with  his  wile 
and  family  to  Delaware  toniitv,  which  was 
then     almo.st     unsettled.  The      journey     wa-. 

made  on  horseback,  as  was  often  the  niuilr  in 
those  early  da\  s ;  and  the  road  was  oiiK  dis- 
covered l)y  following  certain  trees  which  had 
been  marked  by  previous  travellers.  Another 
tamil)'  of  emigrants  came  to  this  hpcalit\ 
about  the  same  time.  Ihey  bore  the  name  of 
Rackit,  and  were  for  some  \ears  the  onh 
neighbors  of  the  Lashers. 

Conrad  Lasher  bought  mie  hundred  and 
torty  acres  of  land,  built  a  house  in  the  woods, 
and  began  to  clear  the  land.  lie  s.dd  out  to 
his  son  Allen  when  he  felt  the  burden  of  his 
years  bearing  too  heavily  upon  him,  and  lived 
wilh  his  children  uiuil  he  died,  at  the  age  ol 
eighty-three  years.  lie  was  a  l.iUheran  in 
religion  and  a  Democrat  in  |)olitical  faith 
Neither  he  nor  his  wife  e\er  learned  t^'  re. id 
or  to  speak  l-lnglish.  Their  children  uiic: 
Robert;  I'ldwartl  II.;  .\llen;  Abrah;im  ;  l''re.i 
crick;  aiul  Maria.  .Mrs.    Traver. 

I'!dward,     the     secoiul     son,     was      burn      in 
Dutchess   County,    but   came   to   llelauare    and 
began  tarming  on  an  estate  just  one    mile   from 
the     paternal     homestead.       lie    ;ifterw.u'd     en 
gaged  in  lumber  dealing,  putting  up  ,1  s.iw-inill 
at  l'!mery  Hr<iok,  where   he    sawed   and   shippetl 
his    own     lumber.       This    was    one  of    the   tirst 
saw-mills   in   this  pari    of  the  countrv.       lluie 
was  a  good  home  tr;ide,  and  he  w.is  alii 
long    to    own    a    good    pruprrtw       lie 
Decembei     21,     187;.       1 1  is    wiu-    was   .1    M:-- 
Mabee,  d.iughter  ol    William    .Mai.-     •    r    - 
near    i'ine     Hill     village     in     I'L 
Thev    had    seven   children.    01 
William,  the    subject   of   this 


664 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Lasher  mariicd  Anne  O'Brien,  was  left  a 
widower,  and  married  Nancy  Davis,  having 
one  child  by  each  marriage.  Elbert  is  now 
the  superintendent  of  a  lumber  estate  in 
I'ennsvivania.  They  have  two  sisters:  Sarah; 
and  Samantha  L. ,  who  married  Alonzo  John- 
son, was  left  a  widow,  and  married  Silas 
Hlish. 

William  H.  Lasher  received  a  plain  educa- 
tion at  Townsend  Hollow  and  Griffin's  Cor- 
ners. At  the  latter  place  he  engaged  in  the 
grocery  business  with  Allen  Lasher,  when 
he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age.  Later  in  life 
he  went  into  lumber  dealing,  buying  a  large 
amount  of  real  estate.  In  1874  he  sold  all  of 
his  land  with  the  exception  of  seventy  acres 
which  he  retained  for  a  home.  A  comfortable 
house,  barn,  and  dairy  are  among  the  improve- 
ments. Me  has  been  engaged  in  the  insurance 
business  to  some  extent.  In  1863  Mr.  Lasher 
was  united  in  wedlock  to  Jeannette  Crawford, 
a  native  of  Cayuga,  and  one  of  a  family  of  four 
children.  She  was  born  Februar\'  11,  1841, 
and  had  two  brothers  —  William  II.,  born 
Januar\'  i,  1S29;  and  Robert,  born  March  20, 
1831  — and  one  sister,  Isabella,  born  August 
'7.  i^?i3-  T"  William  H.  and  Jeannette 
(Crawford)  Lasher  were  born  tliree  children. 
Lugene  I',.,  born  June  29,  1869,  married  Ada 
Rowley.  Willie  L. ,  born  April  9,  1870,  mar- 
ried KUa  Crispell.  Lulu  May,  born  March  9, 
1871,  lives  at  home.  Mrs.  Lasher  died  in 
November,  1889.  She  was  a  conscientious 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

William  H.  Lasher  has  been  eminently  suc- 
cessful in  the  different  lines  of  business  in 
which  he  has  been  engaged,  and  is  one  of  the 
leading  |X)liticians  of  the  Republican  party  in 
his  town.  In  1890  he  was  appointed  to  the 
office  of  Postmaster,  which  he  held  for  four 
years.  He  was  Deputy  Sheriff  for  fifteen  and 
Pension  Agent  for  twelve  years,  and  was  Sur- 
veyor of  Highways  for  two  terms. 


lll.\RLi;S  II.  MACK,  stationer  and 
.  perfumer,  is  a  young  man  of  much 
'  Ib  _  promise  in  the  business  circles  of 
Walton,  and  one  of  its  most  popular 
residents.  He  was  born  in  the  village,  Octo- 
ber   16,     1 87 1,    son    of    Abram    L.    and   Anna 


(Fanchen)  Mace,  the  former  of  whom  was 
born  in  Delhi,  this  county,  hi  1845,  and  the 
latter,  a  daughter  of  Henry  and  Hannah  (Eels) 
Fanchen.  having  been  born  in  Walton,  in 
1 846. 

The  paternal  grandfather  was  Abram  Mace, 
who  was  born  in  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.,  in  1822, 
and  was  for  many  years  a  well-known  manufact- 
urer of  this  county,  owning  and  operating  a 
large  woollen-mill  in  Ilamden.  He  was  a  man 
of  much  business  capacity,  and,  having  by 
prudence  and  good  management  accumulated  a 
competence,  he  is  now  li\-ing  retired  from  the 
active  pursuits  of  life  in  the  village  of  Ham- 
den.  He  married  Antoinette  Phelps;  and 
they  reared  five  children,  the  following  being 
their  record  :  Nettie,  who  died  when  a  young 
girl;  Charles  II..  who  gave  his  life  for  his 
country  during  the  late  Civil  War,  having 
enlisted  as  a  Corporal  in  Company  C,  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-fourth  New  York  'Volun- 
teer Infantry,  and  being  stricken,  while  at 
Cold  Harbor,  with  a  fever  from  which  he  never 
recovered,  dying  there  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
two  years;  Abram  L. ,  the  father  of  the  sub- 
ject ;  Delia,  widow  of  the  late  Edward  Buxton, 
residing  in  Oneonta ;  and  .Albert,  operator  of 
the  Delhi  woollen-mills. 

The  marriage  of  the  parents  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  was  solemnized  in  September, 
1868,  in  the  village  of  Walton;  and  this  has 
since  been  their  home.  Abram  L.  Mace  has 
for  many  years  been  a  prominent  man  in  busi- 
ness, social,  and  public  life,  and  an  important 
factor  in  the  industrial  interests  of  the  town. 
He  was  engaged  for  many  years  as  a  carpenter 
and  builder,  but  afterward  embarked  in  mer- 
cantile business,  and  was  also  a  successful 
dealer  in  real  estate.  In  him  the  Democratic 
paity  has  a  warm  supporter,  and  during  Grover 
Cleveland's  first  administration  he  served  four 
years  as  Postmaster.  He  and  his  wife  spend 
the  winter  month.s  in  North  Carolina;  and 
he  is  practical)}'  retired  from  business,  his  son 
Charles  having  succeeded  him  in  the  store. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Abram  L.  Mace  are  the  parents 
of  three  children:  Charles  H.  ;  Hanna,  a  young 
lad\',  who  was  gmduated  from  Vassar  College 
wilii  liigh  honors  in  the  class  of  1890.  She 
is  now  making  jiractical  use  of  her  mental 
attainments  as  a  teacher  of  mathematics.      She 


Ulysses  Drake 


BIOGRAPHl CM,    RKVIF.W 


f.f,- 


alsi)  piisscssos  decided  musical  talent,  in 
which  she  resembles  her  mother,  and  as  a 
result  of  her  dexotion  to  physical  culture  car- 
ried off  athletic  honors  at  college.  The 
youngest  member  ot  this  liouseh<dtl  is  ilenrv 
Fanchen  Mace,  a  y<iimg  man  of  eighteen  \ears. 
He  is  an  e.\]iert  bicvcle  rider,  and  has  won 
man\'  races, 

Charles  H.  Mace  is  an  active  and  enterpris- 
ing business  man,  who  is  rapidly  winning  his 
way  to  an  honored  jiosilion  in  the  mercantile 
circles  ot  Walton.  I'hoiigh  pa\  ing  close  at- 
tention to  his  business  ])ursuils.  Mr.  Mace  has 
always  been  a  great  loxer  of  athletics,  and  is 
the  champion  runner  of  this  localitv'.  In  the 
various  contests  oi  this  kind  in  which  he  has 
taken  a  part,  he  has  in\ariabl\'  been  the  win- 
nei';  and  he  lias  fourteen  badges,  the  of  them 
gold,  all  of  which  he  has  won  as  th'st  jirizes  for 
running  in  one  hundred  and  twr)-lnmdied-anil- 
twent)'  _\'ard  races.  Mr.  Mace  was  united  in 
marriage,  Jidy  12.  1X9^.  to  Miss  l?erlha 
Greenwood,  daughter  of  Ur.  IC.  I),  dreen- 
wood.  Mrs.  Mace  is  a  graduate  of  the  Wal- 
ton High  -School,  and  before  her  marriage  was 
a  valued  teacher  in  the  |niblic  schools.  Both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mace  are  members  of  the  Epis- 
copal chiu'ch. 


'OHN'  j.  U'XiaLL,  a  well-known  dealer 
in  m.irble  antl  granite  in  Ro.xburw 
.\.\'.,  was  born  in  lM)ston,  lune  24, 
1855.  His  i)arents.  Michael"  O'Neill 
and  Ellen  -Shistell  O'Neill,  came  from  Ire- 
land. Mr.  O'Neill's  boyhood,  youth,  and 
young  manhood  were  .spent  in  l?oston.  where 
he  received  a  good  education  and  accjuired  the 
outlines  of  his  knowledge  of  business.  W'hen 
he  reached  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  and 
was  ready  to  Ixrgin  life  for  himself,  Mr. 
O'Neill  decided  to  try  his  fortune  in  another 
part  of  the  coimtrv.  He  came  to  Ro.xbury, 
therefore,  in  1876,  and  has  made  his  home 
here  ever  since.  During  six  years  he  was  in 
the  emplov  of  C.  A.  Xoble.  Then  he  worked 
for  T.  Richman  for  four  years.  I-'inally,  in 
1884.  Mr.  O'Neill  established  a  marble  and 
granite  business  for  himself,  with  his  head- 
quarters on  Main  Street.  The  business  has 
grown   rapidly,  and  is  now  one   of   the   largest 


enterprises  ^il  tin-  sorl  in  the  loinitrv.  .Mi. 
O'Neill  makes  a  speci.ihv  of  the  Nort 
ish  granite,  a  ver\  handsome  stone,  w 
quarried  in  .Scoll.md.  In  i,S(,j  he  made-  a  trip 
to  .Scotland  on  Inisincss  lonnecled  with  tlii', 
granite  industry.  '  )ii  this  voyage  the  su-aiii- 
ship  on  which  he  wa--  ,i  pasxn-t-r  was  wri-(  ki'! 
off  tlu'  Scotch  coast.  ,ind  those  on  boar. I 
|)laced  in  gre.it  and  imminent  d,in;;ei.  .Mr. 
O'Neill,  however,  w.is  resri|.-<l  ■|ii<l  nai  h.d 
the   shore    in    safetv. 

Mr.  (J'Neill  nianied  (laii  .Noble,  daughl<;r 
of  William  Noble  and  Caroline  Denton  Xoble. 
Mr.  William  Noble  is  .1  residei.l  of  Catskill. 
in  (ireeiie  County,  where  he  is  jargeh'  inter- 
ested    in    the    marble    and     granite    business. 

Mrs.  Clara  O'Xeill  is  a  meiniter  of  the 
I'reslnterian  churcli.  .She  h.is  a  sister  Sarali. 
who  married  Otis  ]'.  Morse. 

.Mr.  John  J.  O'Xeill  is  now  thiii\-ni:i: 
years  of  age.  He  is  in  gootl  circumstances, 
and  owns  threi.'  houses  in  the  \illai;e.  in 
politics   he   supp(irts   the    liemMciaii,     i.artv. 


G^^"rI.\■SSl•;S  DRAKI:  is  a  native  of  the 
A-1 1  town  of  J-"ranklin.  Delaware  Countv. 
IvJ^I  N.\'..  where  he  has   resided  all  hi.s 

'  life,  and  engaged  in  farming,  the 
])revailiiig  occu]>ation  of  that  town.  He  is 
descenfled  from  an  old  ])ioneer  faniilv.  his 
father.  Abiel  Drake,  iieing  one  of  the  lir~t 
settlers  in  this  section  of  the  country. 

.•\biel    Drake    was    born    in    .Austerl;' 
lumbia  County,   N.\'.,  in   1  :> 

in    the   woods   at    that    |)la'  at 

that    time    lieing    less  than  an  acre.      He  mar- 
ried   I'aniu'    Maynard,   of    .Austerlit/ ;   :i"  '    ' 
young  couple  came   to    P'ranklin  in  1  .S  1 
after  their  marriage,  tiie   li  -tartiii^  ■•:.; 

alone    with    his    ox    team    1  new    honu  , 

where    he    built    a    log    house   and    ii.irn :    .\u 

thither  he   was   soon    t'  "    ■     '    '  ■     '  ■      

wife.      Thev  were  the 

capital.  Inning  tlv 

seventeen  acres  at 

which   thev  were  oliliged    to   mortgage.      This 

land  Ixdonged    to   the    1'      '        ■         0   ■    ■• 

required  the  outlay  of 

to  make   it   in  ,iny  wa\ 

"f  el.-arinir  it  ot  ti-.e-. 


668 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


begun  with  a  will  by  this  strong,  resolute 
couple;  and,  after  that  was  accomplished,  the 
mortgage  also  was  raised,  to  the  unbounded 
satisfaction   of  these   earnest   workers. 

Here  was  reared  their  family  of  seven  chil- 
dren, three  sous  and  four  daughters,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  being  the  first-born.  One 
son,  Francis  Drake,  lives  at  Croton  village, 
a  daughter  Helen  is  the  wife  of  Albert  Payne, 
who  carries  on  the  farm  on  the  old  homestead, 
and  another  daughter,  Amy,  is  the  widow  of 
Colonel  Sylvester  Wheat  in  the  village  of 
Franklin.  Maria,  wife  of  Alanson  Knapp, 
died  in  1847,  leaving  four  children;  and  her 
sister,  Anna  Drake,  passed  away  in  Bingham- 
ton,  March  11,  1S92,  she  having  been  a  grad- 
uate of  Cazenovia  Seminary,  and  for  many 
years  a  successful  teacher.  Abiel  Drake,  Jr., 
died  on  his  farm  near  the  old  home  in  1890, 
leaving  two  sons  and  two  daughters.  The 
parents  lie  in  the  Croton  cemetery  with  their 
three  children,  the  father  having  died  in 
1863,    and   his  wife   four  years   later. 

Ulysses  Drake  was  born  in  1812,  and  dur- 
ing his  boyhood  assisted  his  father  in  the  care 
of  the  farm,  attending  the  district  school  at 
the  same  time.  He  afterward  became  a  stu- 
dent at  Delhi  and  Cazenovia,  and  then  taught 
school  four  winter  terms.  October  15,  1844, 
Mr.  Drake  married  Miss  Grace  Stewart, 
bringing  his  bride  to  his  farmer's  iiome,  of 
which  he  had  been  in  possession  about  nine 
years.  His  wife  was  born  in  Delhi  in  181 7, 
flaughter  of  Charles  and  Isabella  (Gordon) 
-Stewart.  Mr.  Stewart  was  a  native  of  Scot- 
land, and  died  when  but  forty  years  of  age, 
while  his  wife  was  born  in  Galvvay,  N.Y., 
living  to  reach  her  seventy-fourth  year.  They 
were  the  parents  of  eleven  children,  of  whom 
Mrs.  Drake  and  one  brother  are  the  only 
survivors. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Drake  have  been  called  upon 
to  part  with  two  of  their  children:  Homer 
Ulysses,  who  died  of  diphtheria,  September 
10,  1861,  when  but  thirteen  years  old,  his 
death  being  followed  one  week  later  by  that 
of  his  sister,  Mary  Jane,  aged  fifteen  years,  of 
the  same  fatal  disease.  Their  only  surviving 
child  is  Sanford  William  Drake,  who  married 
on  September  4,  1893,  Miss  Ella  Ward,  both 
she  and   her  young  babe  dying  June  4,   1894. 


The  previous  year  they  had  made  a  pleasant 
trip  to  the  World's  Fair  at  Chicago.  This 
son  now  conducts  his  father's  farm  of  two 
hundred  and  thirty  acres,  which  Mr.  Drake 
earned  by  unwearying,  long-continued  toil, 
building  his  large,  pleasant  house  in  1847, 
and  ten  years  later  a  commodious  barn.  In 
connection  with  the  other  farm  work,  an  ex- 
tensive dairy  is  operated,  where  excellent  but- 
ter is  manufactured  and  sold.  Mr.  Drake 
formerly  kept  a  number  of  fine  wool  sheep, 
but  after  his  marriage  gave  up  this  industry. 

Mr.  Drake  was  reared  a  Democrat,  but  was 
an  anti-slavery  man,  and  later  joined  the  Re- 
publican party.  During  the  anti-rent  troubles 
he  was  called  to  Delhi  to  guard  the  place,  he 
being  then  Captain  of  an  artillery  company. 
He  has  served  in  a  number  of  town  offices, 
among  them  that  of  Commissioner  of  High- 
ways. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Drake  are  active  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Church,  which  Mr. 
Drake  joined  fifty-eight  years  ago,  and  where 
he  has  served  as  Steward  and  Trustee,  and 
also  as  Recording  Steward  for  twenty  years. 
Mr.  Drake  has  retired  from  active  labor,  and 
I  leaves  much  of  his  business  to  the  manage- 
ment of  his  son,  taking  an  interest,  however, 
in  all  mercantile  matters,  but  enjoys  hugely 
the  long-needed  and  deserved  rest,  having 
been  an  indefatigable  worker,  performing  his 
daily  duties  at  all  times  with  the  utmost  care 
and  attention. 

As  a  man  of  truly  noble  character,  gener- 
ous, kind-hearted,  and  liberal-minded,  Mr. 
Drake  is  held  in  the  highest  esteem  by  all 
with  whom  he  comes  in  contact  personally, 
socially,  or  politically.  His  portrait  on  an- 
other page  adds  greatly  to  the  interest  and 
value  of  this  brief  sketch  of  his  industrial 
career. 


ETER    F.    HOFFMAN,   who  keeps  a 
large  summer  resort  at  Arkville,  was 
born    in  Smithville,   Ulster  County, 
I  June   27,    1844,   son   of  Andrew  and 

Lina  (Keldar)  Hoffman.  His  grandparents 
were  Peter  S.  and  Anna  (George)  Hoffman, 
the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  Dutchess 
County,  and  when  a  young  man  settled  in 
Delaware  County.      He  cleared  a  tract  of  land 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIKW 


U.n 


in  tlic  wildornoss,  built  a  log  hmisi.'.  and  fnmi 
this  Iiiimblc  beginning  soon  liail  undur  culti- 
vation a  good-sized  farm,  on  which  he  lived 
nearly  all  his  life.  in  politics  he  belonged  j 
to  the  Whig  party,  lie  dieil  at  the  age  of 
seventy,  and  his  wife  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
two.  They  left  seven  children — George, 
William.  John,  ICdward,  Andrew,  I'.liza,  and 
Miranda. 

Anthew,  fifth  son  of  I'eter  .S.  Hoffman,  was 
born  on  the  old  homesteail.  Having  received 
his  education  in  the  common  schools,  he 
learned  the  carjienters  trade,  and  soon  built 
a  new  house  on  the  farm,  into  which  the  fam- 
ily moved,  as  they  had  long  since  outgrown 
their  cpiarters  in  the  old  log  house.  He  was 
an  all-round  mechanic,  making  all  the  familv 
shoes  and  nianv  of  the  tools  used  on  the  farm, 
so  that  he  proved  himself  to  be  a  verv  useful 
member  of  the  family.  He  married  I.ina 
Keldar,  whose  father  was  a  farmer  of  L'Ister 
County,  ant!  who  lived  to  be  about  fiftv-four 
years  of  age,  leaving  three  children  —Maria, 
Martin,  and  Lina.  Andixnv  and  I.ina  Hoff- 
man had  four  childix'n:  Martin,  who  married 
Gertrude  Kettle,  and  lives  in  Arkville:  Ar- 
tluir.  who  married  Mary  Carly,  lives  at  I'ine 
Hill,  ami  has  two  children;  Leonard,  who 
married  Rose  Bidwell,  lives  at  Catskill,  and 
has  two  children:  and  Peter,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.  .About  the  time  of  his  marriage 
.Mr.  Hoffman  bought  a  home  at  Clovesville, 
where  he  lived  until  his  death,  at  fift\-three 
years  of  age.  His  wife  died  at  the  age  of 
sixty-four.  He  was  a  ReiJublican,  and  a 
member   of   the    .Methodist    Kpiscojjal    church. 

Peter  Hoffman  received  his  education  in 
Middletown,  and  at  the  age  of  si.Nteen  began 
working  on  the  farm,  at  which  he  continued 
for  two  years.  He  then  worked  with  his 
father  at  carpentering  until  1862,  when  he 
enlisted  in  Company  G,  One  Hundred  and 
I'orty-fourth  Xew  York  Regiment,  and  served 
as  a  private  until  the  close  of  the  war.  Upon 
his  return,  in  July.  1S65,  he  engaged  in  team- 
ing, his  route  being  from  different  places 
in  the  Calskills  to  Rondoul.  He  ran  a  num 
ber  of  teams,  and  did  a  good  business  for 
three  vears.  After  leaving  this  business, 
he  buiit  and  carried  on  for  thirteen  years  a 
blacksmith-shop   at    Arkville.      He   then    sold  | 


out,  an<l  at  piesiiil  keeps  a  line  sumtixT  n-sort 
in  Arkville.  It  is  silnati-d  on  a  tiftv-at  re  lot, 
a  part  of  the  old  Cngwin  l.irni,  lnrnurlN  tin- 
camp-meeting  ground,  .md  alsn  the  site  of  the 
first  church  built  in  Middletown.  Tlii-, 
church  having  been  destroxed  l>v  fire,  the  pl.n  1 
was  allowed  to  grow  wild,  .ind,  wlun  Mr. 
Hoffman  bought  it,  wasiovered  with  ipiite  a 
heavy  growth  of  timber.  Hcic  Ik  built,  in 
iS(S6,  a  fine,  eommoviious  house,  thirlv  by  si\t\' 
feet,  the  main  building  beiuL;  four  stories  high, 
and  the  I,  three  stories.  It  has  acconiniod.i- 
tions  for  nearly  one  hundred  guests,  and  i> 
generally  filled  in  the  summer  with  city 
boarders,  some  even  staving  as  long  as  six 
months,  h  is  an  attractive  location,  and  h.is 
fine  drives.  That  Mr.  Hoffman  has  made  a 
success  ol  his  undertaking  is  verv  apparent, 
and  speaks  well  for  his  enterprise  and  good 
business   management. 

Mr.  Hoffman's  wife,  who  <lied  in  1S1J4,  at 
the  age  of  fifty,  deejily  lanientetl,  was  .Abi- 
gail, daughter  of  William  and  Phu-be  ( .Sloat » 
.Stone.  Her  father,  a  successful  farmer  ol 
Clovesviile,  a  Republican  in  pcditics,  died 
when  forty  years  old:  and  his  wife  lived  t(j  be 
si.xty.  They  had  three  children — Theodore, 
Delia,  and  Abigail.  Mr.  Hoffman  has  four 
children,  one  of  whom.  .Alice,  is  married  to 
\\.  C.  Rost,  of  Xew  York,  and  has  one  child. 
Leon,  Mary,  and  ILuiy  ,ire  still  at  home. 
Mrs.  Hoffman  was  an  estimable  wonim.  a 
member  of  the  Hajjtist  church.  .Mr.  Hoffman 
is  a  Republican,  is  Xnt.iry  Public,  anil  ha> 
served  three  terms  as  Pcjstinaster.  lie  is  .1 
member  of  Margarettville  Lodge.  Xo.  ;,s.i. 
A.   r.  &  A.   M. 


II1:RMAX    H.    LUD.MLS    is    propiie- 
tor    ami     manager    of     the     Centra! 
House,  at  Walton,  and   Comm.mder 
of   the    Ben    Marvin    Post.    X.  . 
Grand    Army    of    the    Re|>ublic.  of    t !i. 
town.      He    is    in    the    prime    of    1:' 
been  born   July  15,   1.S4J,   in  M;idis.  .. 
New    York,    where    his    grandfather,    > 
Loomis,  a   native  of   Xew   FLimpshire.  nlIl.'.  . 
as  a   ])ioneer,  and    reared    four   childriii. 


His 


son    George    lived    in 
daughter    Eliza    died 


Xorth    Brook  field.      .\ 


670 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Roxy  Loomis  married  I'./.va  Rice,  and  resided 
in  Pennsylvania. 

Brockhoist  Loomis,  the  other  son  of  Sam- 
uel, was  a  life-long  resilient  of  Madison 
County,  where  he  was  born  in  i  S07,  and  died 
in  1S56.  In  1S31  he  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Clarissa  Fuller,  who  was  born  in  Madi- 
son County  in  1810,  and  lived  in  the  same 
locality  for  sixty-seven  years  before  being 
called  to  the  realms  of  the  blest.  She  was  a 
devout  member  of  the  Methodist  church,  and 
was  the  descendant  of  a  veteran  of  the  Revo- 
lution, her  grandfather  Fuller  having  served 
as  an  officer  in  the  war,  under  the  command  of 
General  Washingon.  Her  father  was  also 
prominent  in  military  circles,  and  was  Cap- 
tain of  a  company  of  militia  in  New  Hamp- 
shire. When  a  comparatively  young  man,  he 
removed  to  this  State,  and  settled  in  Madison 
County,  where  he  lived  until  his  decease,  at 
the  age  of  forty-nine  years.  Of  the  union  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Loomis  were  born  eight  chil- 
dren, briefly  designated  below:  Freeman  L. 
died  at  twenty-two  years  of  age.  George  S., 
a  resident  of  Sherburne,  Chenango  County, 
was  a  gallant  soldier  in  the  late  Civil  War, 
enlisting  as  a  member  of  the  One  Hundred 
and  Seventy-sixth  New  York  Volunteer  Infan- 
try, in  which  he  served  one  year,  when  he  was 
honorably  discharged  on  account  of  physical 
disability.  Olive  A.  married  ICmory  Shep- 
ardson,  of  Fast  Hamilton,  Madison  County, 
where  she  died  in  1869.  William  II.,  born 
in  Hamilton,  enlisted  in  the  Tenth  New  York 
Cavalry,  and  served  for  three  years,  was  de- 
tailed on  staff  duty,  and  was  discharged  as 
Orderly  Sergeant;  he  died  at  the  early  age 
of  thirty-six  years,  in  1874,  at  Frost  Lake, 
.Susquehanna  County,  Pa.  Sherman  B.  is  our 
subject.  Henry,  born  in  Madison  County, 
was  likewise  a  soldier  during  the  late  Re- 
bellion, enlisting  in  1863,  in  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  .Sixty-seventh  New  York  Volunteer 
Infantry,  to  which  he  belonged  until  the 
time  of  his  death,  in  Louisiana,  from  dis- 
ease contracted  in  the  army.  Harriet  A. 
died,  aged  twenty-two  years,  at  .Sherburne, 
Chenango  County,  N.Y.;  and  Lucius  ]  .  died 
in  1862,  at  the  age  of  nine  years. 

.Sherman  B.  Loomis  was  reareti  U)  larming 
pursuits,    and    received    a    substantial    educa- 


tion in  the  schools  of  his  native  town.  In- 
heriting in  a  large  degree  the  patriotic  blood 
that  inspired  the  breasts  of  his  ancestors,  he 
responded  to  Lincoln's  call  for  volunteers 
during  the  late  civil  conflict,  and  enlisted 
October  15,  1861,  in  the  Sixty-first  New  York 
Volunteer  Infantry,  and  the  following  two 
months  was  encamped  at  Staten  Island.  He 
subsequently  went  with  his  regiment  to  Wash- 
ington, joining  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and 
participated  in  the  many  battles  of  the 
Peninsular  campaign.  He  also  served  with 
bravery  in  the  battles  of  Antietam,  Chancel- 
lorsville,  and  Gettysburg.  After  the  trying 
experiences  on  the  fields  of  Gettysburg,  Mr. 
Loomis  lost  his  health,  and  was  sent  to  the 
Annapolis  hospital,  and  was  afterward  trans- 
ferred to  the  care  of  the  V.  R.  C,  and  at  the 
ex]iiration  of  his  term  of  enlistment  was  hon- 
orably discharged,  being  mustered  out  of  ser- 
vice October  17,  1864. 

Returning  from  the  scene  of  strife  to  the 
county  of  his  birth,  Mr.  Loomis  was  ap- 
pointed Postmaster  of  East  Hamilton,  a  posi- 
tion which  he  retained  two  years.  He  also 
engaged  in  the  hotel  business  in  that  village 
until  his  removal  to  Friendsville,  Pa.,  where 
he  was  for  six  years  a  successful  farmer.  Re- 
moving thence  to  the  village  of  Montrose, 
Pa.,  he  entered  the  mercantile  business, 
vi'hich  he  carried  on  for  three  years,  then  going 
into  the  hotel  business.  In  1888  Mr.  Loomis 
came  to  Walton,  and  purchased  the  Central 
House,  now  one  of  the  best-patronized  places 
of  public  entertainment  in  this  part  of  the 
county.  Mr.  Loomis  is  influential  in  politi- 
cal and  social  circles,  being  a  stanch  supporter 
of  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party, 
and  the  present  commander  of  the  Ben  Marvin 
Post,  No.  209,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 
He  is  a  Trustee  of  Walton  Lodge,  No.  559, 
A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  belongs  to  the  Salem  Lodge 
of  Perfection  in  Walton,  and  is  Treasurer  of 
the  Order  of  Red  Men. 

During  his  residence  in  Friendsville,  Pa., 
Mr.  Loomis  wooed  and  won  for  his  life  com- 
panion Miss  Ellen  F.  Rice,  a  daughter  of 
P)zra  Rice,  of  that  place;  and  their  union  has 
been  blessed  by  the  birth  of  one  child,  a  son, 
named  William  E.  Loomis,  who  was  born  in 
Friendsville,  September  15,  1871. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIFAV 


/^^TkORGK  \V.  CRAWFORD,  County 
\  •)  I  ClcMk  of  Delaware  County,  is  a 
member  of  the  enterprising  firm  of 
Crawford  I5rotliers,  carriage  manufacturers  in 
the  village  of  Delhi,  of  which  he  is  a  highlv 
esteemed  citizen.  He  proudly  claims  Dela- 
ware as  the  county  of  his  birth,  which  oc- 
curred March  13,  1859,  in  the  town  of 
Davenport.  He  is  of  Xcw  I-Lngland  antece- 
dents. 11  is  grandfather,  .Samuel  Crawford, 
emigrating  to  this  State,  settled  in  Cherry 
Valley,  Otsego  County,  where  he  conducted  a 
flour-mill  and  a  saw-mill  for  some  years,  com- 
ing from  there  to  Delaware  County,  and  es- 
tablishing himself  in  the  lumber  business  in 
the  town  of  Davenport. 

John  A.  Crawford,  son  of  Samuel,  was  born 
in  Cherry  Valley,  where  he  first  trod  the 
pleasant  paths  of  learning,  afterward  pursuing 
a  further  course  of  study  at  Franklin  Acad- 
emy. He  began  his  business  career  as  a 
dealer  in  lumber  in  the  town  of  Dax'enport, 
where  he  is  the  owner  of  fourteen  hundred 
acres  of  land,  and  operates  a  large  steam  saw- 
mill, being  the  leading  manufacturer  in  this 
line  in  the  county.  Politically,  he  is  a  warm 
supporter  of  the  Republican  party,  is  a  man 
of  inHuence  in  local  and  county  affairs,  and 
for  four  years,  from  1879  till  1883,  served  as 
County  Sheriff.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Mar\-  len  l-^yck,  is  a  native  of 
Albany  County,  and  one  of  a  large  family  of 
children  born  to  Henry  and  Nanc_\'  (Goodrich) 
Ten  Eyck.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Crawford  reared 
two  children — ^  George  \V.  and  Henry  D. 
Both  parents  are  active  and  faithful  members 
of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

George  W.  Crawford  was  reared  beneath 
the  paternal  roof,  and  received  his  eilucation 
in  the  Davenport  schools.  He  worketl  with 
his  father  in  the  lumber  business  until  the 
fall  of  1888,  when  he  and  his  brother,  H.  D. 
Crawford,  came  to  Delhi,  and  established 
their  present  prosperous  business,  which  they 
are  constantly  enlarging  antl  increasing. 
They  are  among  the  foremost  manufacturers 
of  carriages  and  wagons  in  the  county,  making 
traps,  surreys,  runabouts,  for  local  trade,  and 
making  a  specialty  of  an  exceptionally  fine 
line  of  lumber  wagons,  with  tires  ranging 
from  two  to  five  inches  in  width.      These   sub- 


stantial   wagons   are   s(dd    in    liu-    j'lastern  and 
New  York  City  markets. 

Mr.  Crawford,  on  ihe  isi  i>l  j.iuu.ir\.  i.S.Sj, 
led  to  tlie  altar  .Ada  1-;.  Smith,  .i  daughter  ol 
Gilbert  .Smith,  of  Davenport  ('entre.  l'"our 
children  have  come  to  Mess  this  uninu 
Edna,  Nellie,  Josie,  and  .Mary.  Hefore  leav- 
ing Davenport,  Mr.  Crawfunl,  wiio  is  a  stanch 
Republican,  served  efficiently  as  .Supervisdr 
for  two  years.  In  the  lall  of  1.S8S  he  was 
elected  to  the  responsible  [)osition  of  Countv 
Clerk,  entering  the  office  January  i,  1889, 
and  performed  its  duties  with  such  fidelity 
that  he  was  re-elected  in  1891.  Mr.  Craw- 
ford is  a  Master  Mason,  belonging  to  Delhi 
Lodge,  No.  439,  A.  !•'.  &  A.  M.;  and  he  and 
his  familv  atteml  the  Presbyterian  church. 


/^JkORGF.  L.  SCHAFFICR,  proprietor 
\  '3  I  of  the  -Schaffer  I  louse,  and  a  man  of 
high  standing  in  the  town  of  Ro.x- 
bury,  N.Y'..  was  born  in  Schoharie  County, 
July  14,  1843.  His  grandparents  were  Peter 
and  Sail)' J.  Scliaffer,  who  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica hefore  the  Revrdution,  and  settled  in  Con- 
necticut. The  grandfather  was  a  native  of 
Germany,  while  the  grandmother  was  of 
Scotch  birtii.  .So  Mr.  Schaffer  combines  the 
characteristics  of  both  races.  Peter  Schaffer 
served  \alorously  as  a  Captain  during  the  war 
for  independence;  and  after  the  disbandment 
of  the  army  he  came  to  New  York  and  pur- 
chased three  hundred  acres  of  forest  land  in 
Schoharie  County,  on  what  is  now  known  as 
Benham  Hill.  'Mr.  Schaffer  built  a  log 
house,  and,  beginning  at  once  to  clear  the 
land,  became  a  ver\-  successful  farmer.  Peter 
Schaffer  lived  to  tlie  age  of  eighty-nine  years, 
and  his  wife  was  ninety-one  at  her  death. 
They  reared  seven  children  —  John,  Andrew, 
James.  HetsN',  Poll)'.  Margaret,  and  Sarah. 
Both  live<l  and  died  in  tlie  faith  of  the  Meth- 
odist church.  Mr.  .Scliaffer  was  a  Democrat, 
and  was  iilentified  with  politics  from  the 
organization  of  our  national  government  ?■■ 
his   death. 

Andrew  .Schaffer,  the  second  son,  grew  to 
manhood  on  the  farm,  helping  his  father  clear 
the  land,  and  peeling  from  the  trees  the  bark, 
which  was  sold  to  pay  for  it,  being  the  princi- 


672 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


pal  source  of  ready  money.  His  education 
was  mostly  obtained  at  the  "fireside  college," 
he  having  very  little  schooling.  He  served 
as  a  private  in  the  War  of  18 12.  Just  before 
he  left  home  he  married  Margaret  Mulford, 
the  daughter  of  Ephraim  Mulford.  After  he 
came  back,  he  bought  his  father's  farm  and 
began  to  improve  the  land  and  put  up  substan- 
tial buildings. 

When  he  died,  at  fifty-one  years  of  age,  the 
farm  was  free  from  debt.  His  wife  lived  to 
be  sixty-six  years  old.  Both  were  members 
of  the  Methodist  church.  He  was  a  Demo- 
crat, and  held  the  oflfices  of  Supervisor  and 
Poor  Master.  He  had  eight  children  — 
Patrick,  Catherine,  Henry,  Jane,  Abraham, 
Almey,   Juliet,   and   George  L.    Schaffer. 

George  was  but  a  boy  when  his  father  died; 
and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  he  left  the  farm, 
and  began  to  work  summers  and  go  to  school 
winters  on  his  summer's  earnings.  His  first 
month's  wages  were  only  six  dollars;  but  he 
got  an  increase,  and  soon  was  earning  more 
than  any  boy  of  his  age  in  the  neighborhood. 
When  he  was  twenty  years  old,  he  received  a 
license  to  teach.  His  first  school  was  a  very 
difificult  one,  which  several  teachers  had  given 
up  as  hopeless;  but  by  tact  and  good  judg- 
ment he  was  successful,  and  became  very  pop- 
ular with  the  School  Commissioners. 

After  giving  up  this  school,  he  worked  as  a 
clerk  for  B.  H.  Avery,  who  kept  a  general 
merchandise  store  in  Jefferson.  At  the  end 
of  two  years  he  started  in  business  with  E.  C. 
Baird;  but  after  one  year  he  sold  out  to  his 
partner,  and  travelled  with  a  cart,  selling 
goods  on  the  road.  Then  for  a  short  time  he 
kept  a  store  at  Benham,  and  subsequently  was 
employed  by  an  Albany  grocery  firm  as  a  trav- 
elling salesman.  He  began  hotel-keeping  in 
Jefferson.  In  1873  he  bought  his  present 
hotel,  called  the  Schaffer  House,  at  Grand 
Gorge.  He  has  remodelled  the  building  and 
increased  its  accommodations.  Besides  doing 
a  large  local  and  commercial  business,  he 
takes  city  boarders  during  the  summer. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  married 
Jemima  Gallop,  daughter  of  Amos  and 
Jemima  (Fuller)  Gallop,  of  Jefferson,  and 
grand-daughter  of  Levi  Gallop,  one  of  the 
earliest    settlers   of    Schoharie    County.      Mr. 


Schaffer  has  had  two  children,  only  one  of 
whom  is  now  living,  namely:  Myra  E.,  who 
was  born  August  i,  1871,  and  in  1892  mar- 
ried Seymour  N.  Murphy,  a  commercial  trav- 
eller representing  the  Amsterdam  Woollen 
Manufacturing  Company.  Miles  Schaffer  was 
born  August  15,  1872,  and  died  when  he  was 
about  six  months  old. 

Mr.  Schaffer  is  a  Republican,  and  has  held 
offices  in  the  town.  He  is  a  member  of  Jef- 
ferson Lodge,  No.  554,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and 
is  a  highly  intelligent,  popular,  and  prosper- 
ous citizen. 


EV.  ALBERT  W.  TERRY,  proprie- 
tor of  the  Terry  stock  farm,  one  of 
the  best-equipped  summer  resorts 
near  Stamford,  was  born  on  this 
farm,  March  19,  1856,  in  the  town  of  Har- 
persfield,  one  mile  from  the  village  of  Stam- 
ford. He  is  a  great-grandson  of  Partial 
Terry,  who  went  from  Long  Island  and  settled 
on  what  is  now  known  as  the  Taylor  farm  in 
Jefferson,  Schoharie  County,  which  was  then 
a  complete  wilderness  with  very  few  white 
people   near. 

David  Terry,  son  of  Partial  Terry,  came 
over  the  mountains,  and  took  up  a  tract  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  acres.  There  had 
been  a  "squatter"  on  this  land  before  his 
arrival;  but  David  Terry  put  up  a  small 
house,  cleared  the  land,  and  took  full  posses- 
sion. He  became  an  extensive  lumberman, 
cutting  the  timber,  carrying  it  to  the  river 
below  when  the  freshets  came,  and  rafting  it 
to  Philadelphia.  By  selling  this  lumber  he 
paid  for  his  farm,  and  became  one  of  the  most 
prosperous  men  of  his  day.  During  his  vari- 
ous trips  to  Philadelphia  he  learned  brick- 
making,  and  upon  his  arrival  home  dug  clay 
from  the  lake  near  his  house,  made  bricks, 
and  erected  the  first  brick  house  in  this  part 
of  the  country,  which  is  standing  to-day, 
a  model  structure.  It  is  made  with  marble 
window-sills,  keystone  in  the  arch  over  the 
door,  with  large  and  elaborate  fireplaces  in 
each  end  room.  It  is  twenty  by  forty  feet, 
two  stories  high,  and  patterned  after  the 
Philadelphia  houses.  Here  he  lived  until  his 
death,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two;  and  his  wife 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


died  when  seventy-nine  years  old.  Botii  were 
members  of  tlie  Metliodist  Kpiscopal  church, 
and  he  was  a  Republiam.  They  had  ei'dit 
children,  se\en  of  whom  are  now  living  — 
William,  Edward,  Albert,  Anna,  Eliza,  Har- 
riet J.,  Juliet,  and  Sarah. 

William,  the  eldest  son,  and  the  father  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  on  the 
homestead,  October  23,  1S35,  and  received  a 
district-school  education.  He  married  Mary 
C.  Shaw,  daughter  of  Alexantler  Shaw,  who 
was  born  in  Scotland,  and  came  to  Stamford 
when  a  boy.  Here  he  married  Marjorie 
Grant,  who  was  born  December  g,  1803,  ant! 
was  the  daughter  of  Alexander  and  Jane 
(Thompson)  Grant.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William 
Terry  had  but  one  child,  Albert,  the  subject 
of  this  biography.  Mr.  Terry  went  to  Kings- 
ton, and  with  his  two  brothers  engaged  in  ex- 
tensive brick  business;  but  at  his  father's 
death  he  came  into  possession  of  the  farm. 
He  sold  his  interests  in  this,  however,  and 
went  to  Buffalo,  where  he  entered  into  a  real 
estate  business,  which  he  conducted  for  some 
time.  He  then  went  to  Ohio,  and  bought  a 
stock  farm,  upon  which  he  is  living  at  the 
present  day.  Both  he  and  his  wife  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Congregational  church. 

.Albert  W.  Terry  received  an  excellent  edu- 
cation, attending  the  Stamford  Seminary  and 
Kingston  public  school,  and  completing  his 
course  at  the  Oberlin  Collegiate  Normal 
School  in  Ohio,  after  having  graduated  from 
the  Buffalo  High  School.  Having  completed 
his  studies,  he  went  to  Kingston,  and  acted  as 
treasurer  for  his  father's  firm  for  a  short 
time,  and  then  assisted  in  the  office  of  a 
steamboat  companv  in  New  York.  He  mar- 
ried Sarah  J.  Stevens,  a  teacher  in  the  acad- 
emy at  Kingston,  daughter  of  William 
Stevens,  a  farmer  who  livetl  and  died  in 
Lewis  County.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Terry  have 
four  children:  Ruth  Lowell,  born  October  28, 
1884;  Helen  Stevens,  born  November  29, 
1885;  James  Grant,  born  June  9,  1S88;  and 
Margaret   Josephine,  born    February  24,   1891. 

After  marriage  Mr.  Terry  returned  to  Ohio, 
and  studied  at  the  theological  department  of 
the  Oberlin  College,  and  served  for  five  years 
as  the  pastor  of  the  Congregational  church. 
In  the  mean  time  the  old  home  farm  had  come 


back  into  the  possession  of  liis  father,  .md 
Mr.  ferry  now  gave  up  his  past<jrate  and 
undertook  the  management  of  tliis  estate. 
Here  he  made  many  improvements,  building 
a  large  barn  and  making  of  the  idd  home  a 
beautiful  three-story  house,  finely  furnished, 
in  which  he  keeps  about  thirty  cil\  ijoarders. 
Mr.  Terry  has  a  dair)  of  Jerse\s,  twenty  in 
number,  and  in  his  productive  orchard  ami 
garden    raises    abundant    fruit    for    the    tai)le. 


11,  LI  AM  J.  HOKi,  a  i)rosi)erous 
young  farmer  in  Bovina  Centre,  is 
the  son  of  Walter  L.  and  Jane  (Mc- 
.\air)  Doig,  and  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Bovina,  December  19,  1862,  under  tiie  Presi- 
dency of  Abraham  Lincoln,  when  the  Civil 
War  was  at  its  height.  In  this  year  slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia  was  abolished  by 
Congress,  and  forever  prohibited  in  tlie  Terri- 
tories of  the  reiniblic. 

The  history  of  Mr.  Doig's  family  will  be 
found  in  the  sketch  of  his  brother,  Andrew  T. 
Doig,  which  apjjcars  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 
William  J.  Doig,  the  special  subject  of  the 
present  sketch,  was  educated  in  the  district 
school,  and  early  in  life  became  familiar  with 
the  duties  of  a  husbandman.  His  father  hav- 
ing died,  William  still  lives  on  the  home 
farm,  which  he  manages  with  marked  success. 
He  married  Clara  Margaret  Sloan,  daughter 
of  David  and  Margaret  (Hilson)  Sloan,  Janu- 
ary 27,  1S90.  She  was  born  in  Bovina  Cen- 
tre, October  4,  1 868.  Her  father  now  lives 
in  California,  but  her  mother  died  when  only 
thirty  years  of  age.  Mr.  Doig  is  a  general 
and  dairy  farmer,  kee|jing.  besides  other  cat- 
tle, a  fine  herd  of  twenty-six  grade  Jerseys, 
from  whose  milk  he  averages  no  less  than  two 
hundred  and  eight)  pounds  of  butter  per  head 
annually.  This  farm  is  especially  adajjted  to 
the  requirements  of  tiie  dairy:  for  a  fine  nat- 
ural and  never-failing  spring  of  water  effects 
the  temperature  for  cooling  the  cans,  and  also 
furnishes  power  by  whicli  the  churning  is 
done.  Indeed,  Mr.  Doig  has  gilt-edged  facil- 
ities for  making  gilt-edged  l)Utter;  and  every 
pound  he  puts  upon  the  market  proves  that  he 
thoroughly  understands  the  business  he  has 
undertaken. 


674 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


The  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Doig  is  ble.ssed 
by  the  benign  presence  of  his  mother;  and  it 
is  also  brightened  by  one  child,  a  little 
daughter,  Jennie  M.  Doig,  who  was  born 
November  lo,  1S91.  The  family  are  mem- 
bers of  the  United  Presbyterian  church  at 
Bovina  Centre,  which  was  formed  largely  by 
the  untiring  efforts  of  their  worthy  ancestor, 
Walter  Doig,  one  of  the  enterprising  pioneer 
settlers  of  the  town.  In  politics  our  subject 
is  a  Republican,  living  up  to  the  traditions  of 
the  Doig  family,  of  which  he  is  an  excellent 
and  popular  representative.  The  Doigs  live 
in  much  comfort,  the  old  farm  being  a  pleas- 
ant abiding-place;  and  their  residence  is  a 
fine  specimen  of  the  homes  possessed  by  our 
prosperous  and  enlightened  agriculturists. 


iLRA    MOSEMAN,   an  enterprising  mer- 
chant of  Halcottsville,  was  born  in  the 
town     of     Halcott,    Greene    County, 
March   23,    1869,  a  son   of    William    H.  and 
Margaret    (Whitney)   Moseman.      His   grand- 
parents  were   Birdsill    and  Chloe  (Faulkner) 
Moseman,  the  former  of  whom,  when  a  young 
man,    travelled    afoot    through    the    forest    to 
Hunter,   Greene   County,    where    he   obtained 
employment    in  cutting  wood  at  fifty  cents  a 
cord,  thus  earning  the  first  dollar  he  ever  had. 
He   worked    in   this   way   through   the  winter, 
boarding   himself,   and    gaining   early   experi- 
ence    in    industry    and     thrift.      He     married 
Chloe   Faulkner,    and  bought    a  farm   in   Hal- 
cott, where  J.  Scudder  now  lives.      Improving 
the  farm,  he  lived  upon  it  for  some  time,  then 
sold   it,  and   bought  another  one  at  Windham, 
where   he    lived    about     eighteen    years.     He 
then   sold   it,  and   bought   another  farm  in  the 
south  part   of  the   town,  where  his  son  opened 
a  small   store.     After  some  time  he   divided 
this  farm  into  house-lots,  and  started  a  pretty 
village,    now    called    Big    Hollow,    which    is 
rapidly   increasing    in    population.      It    has    a 
school,    three    churches,    one    store,    a    black- 
smith-shop, etc.,  all  due  to  the  enterprise  of 
the  Moseman  family.     Mr.  Moseman  lived  to 
be  eighty-three  years   of   age.      His  wife   still 
survives  him.      He  was  a  life-long   Democrat, 
and  a  member  of  the  Free  Methodist  Episco- 


pal Church.      He  left  five  children  —  William 
H..  Susie,  Mattie,  Robert,  and  John. 

William  H.  Moseman  received  his  educa- 
tion in  the  district  school  in  Halcott.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-one  he  bought  a  one-hundred- 
and-sixty-acre  farm  in  the  town,  where  he 
lived  two  or  three  years,  and  then  sold  out 
and  bought  a  farm  of  one  hundred  acres  at  Big 
Hollow.  Two  years  after,  his  health  failing, 
he  went  into  the  mercantile  business.  He 
built  a  store  at  Big  Hollow,  started  on  a  small 
scale,  and  gradually  increased  the  business, 
but  was  finally  obliged  to  give  it  up  on  ac- 
count of  ill-health,  having  been  in  the  busi- 
ness eleven  years. 

Mr.  Moseman  is  now  living  a  retired  life  at 
Big  Hollow.  He  married  Margaret,  daughter 
of  Alfred  and  Phebe  (Hammond)  Whitney, 
and  has  two  children:  Mattie,  living  at  home; 
and  Elra,  subject  of  sketch.  In  politics  Mr. 
Moseman  is  a  stanch  Democrat. 

Elra  Moseman,  the  subject  of  our  sketch, 
was  educated  at  Big  Hollow.  After  leaving 
school  he  worked  in  his  father's  store  for  one 
year,  and  then  took  half-interest  in  the  busi- 
ness. A  year  later  he  sold  his  interest;  and 
after  some  time  spent  in  looking  for  a  good 
location  he  became  associated  with  A.  A. 
Lewis  at  Windham,  with  whom  he  remained 
two  years.  Next  he  was  employed  as  clerk  in 
the  hotel.  From  there  he  came  to  Halcotts- 
ville, and  formed  a  partnership  with  F.  W. 
p-aulkner  in  the  general  merchandise  business. 
This  partnership  continued  six  months,  when 
Mr.  Faulkner  sold  out  his  interest  to  Robert 
Moseman,  an  uncle  of  Elra.  A  short  time 
after  the  formation  of  this  new  partnership 
Robert  Moseman  died,  and  Elra  is  now  carry- 
ing on  the  business  alone.  In  addition  to  the 
usual  merchandise,  he  carries  a  good  line  of 
agricultural  implements,  drugs,  etc. 

Mr.  Moseman  married  Mary  A.  Lockvvood. 
daughter  of  Milo  and  Adaline  (Lord)  Lock- 
wood.  Her  father  is  a  well-known  and  pro- 
gressive farmer  of  East  Jewett,  and  has  four 
children:  George,  who  married  Nancy  Wood- 
worth,  and  has  one  child;  Mary,  wife  of  Mr. 
Moseman;  Henry,  who  married  Lena  Peter- 
son, of  East  Jewett;  and  Pierce,  who  lives  at 
home.  Elra  Moseman  has  two  children: 
Lloyd,    born   November    18,    1888;    and   Ger- 


RIOGRAPHICAI,    REVIF.W 


trude,  born  Novciiiljcr  2g,  i  S90.  Like  liis 
father  and  grandfather,  he  adheres  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Democratic  party,  and  like  them 
is  energetic  and  enterprising.  He  is  liberal 
in    his   rclisrious   \ie\vs. 


r(;i:.\i-;    iiiomas  ki;.\i()k,  ,,i  Rux- 

nny,  Delaware  Coimt\-,  was  born  Octo- 
ber 19,  1.S63.  a  son  of  Thomas  \i. 
and  Maria  Sturgis  Keator,  and  a  grandson  of 
Jacob  C.  Keator.  His  great-grandfather, 
Cornelius  Keator,  came  to  Delaware  Comitv 
with  his  wife,  Jenn\-  S.  Keator,  and  bought  the 
fifty  acres  of  land  now  nwned  b\-  Thdmas  R. 
Keator.  He  built  a  snrall  house,  which  he 
afterward  enlarged,  and  kept  an  inn.  He  had 
si.K  children  —  Isaac,  Jacob,  .Abraham,  Hetsv, 
Rachel,  and  I'olly.  Their  mother  died 
young;  but  their  father  married  again,  and 
lived  to  the  great  age  of  ninet\-four. 

Jacob  Cornelius  Keator,  son  of  (.'ornelius, 
was  se\'en  years  old  when  he  came  with  his 
parents  to  Delhi,  where  he  afterwartl  married 
lilizabeth  .Smith,  a  daughter  of  David  and 
Jenny  Moore  .Smith.  Da\id  .Smith  came  o\er 
from  .Scotland,  and  settled  in  Delhi,  where  he 
was  known  as  one  of  the  most  progressive 
men  of  his  time.  1!  is  children  were  :  John^T, 
Jairus,  Maria,  Jeannette,  David,  Hruce,  Jane, 
James,  William,  Ivlizabeth,  and  Ann.  Before 
his  marriage  Jacob  C.  Keator  learned  shoe- 
making  with  George  T'risbee.  His  father 
then  gave  him  tiftv  acres  on  the  flats  where 
the  old  red  house  now  stands.  Later  Mr. 
Keator  became  an  extensive  land-owner,  at 
one  time  owning  seven  farms,  u|)on  one  of 
which,  in  1S20,  he  built  a  house  a  story  and  a 
half  high.  In  i<S4<S  he  comjileteti  the  comfort- 
able farm-house  where  he  li\ed  until  his 
death,  at  ninety  years  of  age,  haxing  been  born 
November  23,    1797.       He   had   seven   children. 

His  son,  Thomas  H.  Keator,  was  born  on  the 
old  homestead  in  iS2f).  and  until  his  eigh- 
teenth year  was  a  |nipil  at  the  district  school. 
He  finished  his  education  at  the  T"ergu.s(jn 
Academy,  graduating  after  only  four  terms, 
and  then  worked  with  his  father  until  his 
thirty-fifth  year.  On  January  14,  1862,  he 
married  Maria  .Stin-gis,  a  tlaughter  of  (ieorge 
and  -Sarah  Sturgis,  and  a  descendant   of   .Aaron 


lUur.  ( ieorge  .Sturgis  hail  eiglit  (hijilmi- 
Daviil,  Levi,  John.  Salina,  idi/.abeth.  .Mar\, 
Maria,  and  Charles  Sturgis.  The  (hildreii  oi 
Thomas  H.  and  Maria  (.Sturgis)  Keator  are 
Lugene  T.  and  his  sister,  .Sar.ah  1...  who  w.is 
born  -August   15.    1  .S65 

Lugene  T.  Keator  was  ediiciled  at  the  !:■ 
bury  .Academy,  and  worked  c,ri  the  old  h"i:M 
stead  until  his  t  went) -fifth  \.,ir,  when  he 
bought  a  farm  of  two  JnuKhed  and  fortv-five 
acres  in  the  northern  part  of  Kii.\bur\',  now 
owned  by  IT  Reed.  Mr.  Keator  s[)ent  lour 
successfid  years  in  raising  Ijolstein  cattle, 
and  was  the  owner  of  tjie  noted  Morgan 
stallion,  but  thereafter  sold  the  farm  in  order 
to  buy  the  large  boarding-house  formerh' 
owned  by  Dr.  J.  J.  Keator,  which  he  has  since 
converted  into  a  first-class  hotel  ;  and  through 
Mr.  Keator's  good  management  it  has  iiecome 
a  favorite  summer  resort  for  fashionable  citv 
boarders.  'The  grounds  are  beautifulK'  laid 
out,  with  jiaths  sloping  down  to  the  Dehaware 
Ri\er,  which  flows  through  the  estate.  .Mr. 
Keator  married  Lillian  Ma\ham,  daughter  of 
Lcirenzo  and  Timma  (Hrewsten  .Ma\ham.  .Mr. 
Keator  is  a  Republican,  and  has  held  man\ 
small  offices  in  the  town.  In  religious  \iew>s 
he  is  verv  liberal. 


'IILRM.W   HLSHi:i:.  a  retired  farmer, 
li\ing  in  Meredith  .Sc|uare,  has   long 
been     numbered     among     the     most 
"^  substantial  men  in  the   business  and 

agricidtural  communitv  of  this  jiart  of  Dela- 
ware Coutitv,  being  ]iossessed  of  more  than 
average  abilit\,  great  resolution,  and  energ\  of 
character,  and  those  ([ualities  upon  which  the 
prosperitv  of  a  town  and  countv  depend.  He 
has  spent  his  entire  life  in  this  section  ot  the 
coimtv,  iJelhi  having  been  the  place  of  his 
birth,  which  occmred  June  6,  1S2S.  He 
comes  of  stanch  old  Xew  Lngland  stock.  Hi", 
grandfather,  ICiisha  P.ishee,  who  wa>  o|  Mass;i- 
chusetts  birth,  came  to  Meredith  as  one  of  ii> 
earlv  settlers,  and,  purcl)a>ing  a  trai  t  o|  for,-; 
land,  carried  on  farming  until  his  1! 
which  was  caused  b\  a  cancer.  To  him  .iimi 
his  wife  were  iioin  ti\e  children  —  .Allen. 
T.lisha.   .Simmer,   Harrison,  and  H.ithsheba. 

Of     the     .l^n. ;..-..       .l-...>.-      .,,.■,,•; i        S-.nnr,,-. 


676 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


was  the  father  of  Sherman.  He  was  born  in 
Massachusetts,  learned  the  tanner's  trade,  and 
worked  at  it  there  until  after  his  marriage, 
when  he  came  with  his  wife  and  one  or  two 
children  to  this  county.  His  first  occupation 
after  coming  here  was  in  the  saw-mill  with  his 
father,  where  he  remained  some  time.  Then, 
buying  a  partl\-  cleared  farm  in  Meredith,  he 
was  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  several 
years,  but  ultimately  went  West,  where  his 
last  years  were  spent.  His  wife  was  Charlotte 
Crane,  one  of  several  children  born  to  Sumner 
Crane,  a  former  resident  of  Massachusetts,  but 
later  one  of  the  successful  farmers  of  Meredith. 
They  reared  a  family  of  nine  children  —  Sum- 
ner, Charlotte,  Sherman,  Oman,  Nancy  Ann, 
Francis,  Julia,  Angelia,  and  Harriet. 

Sherman  was  reared  on  the  farm  and  edu- 
cated in  the  district  school,  remaining  a  mem- 
ber of  the  ])arental  household  until  attaining 
his  majority.  He  was  an  indu.strious  boy,  and 
in  his  earlier  years  became  an  adept  in  the 
various  branches  of  agricultural  indu.stry.  He 
began  his  independent  career  on  the  farm  of 
Reuben  Meekey,  his  father-in-law,  carrying 
it  on  with  success  for  twenty-five  consecutive 
years.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Meekey  he 
came  into  possession  of  the  estate,  and  con- 
tinued its  care  and  improvement  until  1893, 
when,  having  by  industry  and  judicious  man- 
agement accumulated  a  competency,  he  retired 
from  the  active  pursuits  of  life. 

Mr.  Bisbee  was  married  in  wSfg  to  Miss 
Adelia  Meekey,  the  only  daughter  of  the  late 
Reuben  Meekey,  a  farmer  of  Meredith,  repre- 
sentative of  an  old  family.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Bisbee  have  an  adopted  daughter.  In  politics 
Mr.  Bisbee  supports  the  Prohibition  ticket; 
and  he  and  his  wife  are  sincere  members  of  the 
Baptist  church,  of  which  he  is  a  Trustee. 


kOVATUS  M.  BLISH,  of  Stamford,  is 
a  great-grand.son  of  David  Blish,  a 
native  of  Connecticut,  and  a  lineal 
descendant  of  Abraham  Blish,  who 
settled  in  Duxbury,  Mass.,  in  1637,  buying  a 
farm  of  twenty  acres  at  what  is  known  as 
Eagle's  Nest.  In  1640  Abraham  removed  to 
Barnstable,  Cape  Cod,  where  he  was  among 
the  first  settlers,  residing  in  the  western  part 


of  the  town,  which  is  known  as  Great  Marshes; 
and  this  property  was  owned  by  the  Blish 
famih'  for  over  two  hundred  years.  July  17, 
1658,  Abraham  Blish  purchased  for  seventy- 
five  pounds  a  farm  called  the  Dolar  Davis 
place,  situated  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  town, 
which  was  known  as  the  common  field,  and 
since  that  period  has  been  called  Blish' s 
Point.  He  was  an  active,  energetic  man, 
prominent  in  all  tow^n  affairs,  and  died  Sep- 
tember 7,  1683,  leaving  a  numerous  family. 
Many  of  his  posterity  took  ati  active  part  in 
the  Revolution  and  the  War  of  1S12,  some 
also  in  the  French  and  Indian  War. 

Aaron  Blish,  son  of  David,  was  born  in 
Connecticut  and  married  Roxie  Webster,  of 
the  same  State.  In  1790  they  moved  to 
-Stamford,  Delaware  County,  where  he  pur- 
chased two  hundred  acres  of  wild  land,  which 
he  cleared  and  improved,  building  a  log  house. 
He  belonged  to  the  State  militia,  and  was  well 
known  as  Colonel  Blish.  He  was  an  active 
member  of  the  United  Presbyterian  church  at 
South  Kortright,  was  a  Whig  in  politics,  and 
held  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace.  Dis- 
posing of  his  first  farm,  he  purchased  one  at 
Rose  Brook,  where  he  and  his  wife  passed 
away,  both  having  reached  the  age  of  seventy- 
five  years.  Of  their  ten  children,  three  are 
still  living:  Mrs.  Sall\-  (iould,  of  -Stamford; 
Mrs.  Elmira  French,  of  Otsego  County;  and 
Mr.s.   Koiily  .Sutherland,  of  St.   Paul,   Minn. 

Their  son,  Novatus  Blish,  the  father  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Litchfield, 
Conn.,  but  grew  to  manhood  in  the  town  of 
Stamford.  He  learned  the  blacksmith's 
trade,  which  he  followed  for  some  years,  and 
then  purchased  a  farm  and  adopted  a  farmer's 
life.  Moving  to  Roxhurv,  he  kept  a  general 
store  for  about  fi\e  years,  selling  it  at  the 
expiration  of  that  time,  and  returning  to  -Stam- 
ford, where  he  became  possessor  of  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  and  a  store. 
These  he  operated  for  twenty-one  years,  adding 
land  from  time  to  time  to  his  original  pur- 
chase, until  at  his  death  he  owned  two  hundred 
and  fifty  acres.  He  was  a  practical  and  suc- 
cessful business  man,  a  Democrat  in  politics; 
and  he  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  at  -South  Kortright.  He 
came   to   his  death   at   the    age    of    fifty-seven 


BIOGRAPHICAL    KKVIKW 


■77 


years  In  tall  ill--  In.ni  a  scaffold.  lie  nianicd 
Mrs.  Mary  Mapcs  Harli>\v,  of  Alhanv  Cour" 
and  she  died  at  the  old  homestead  u 
seventy-four  years  of  a,L;e,  leavinj^  two  eiui- 
(Iren  by  her  hrst  husband  and  six  by  Mr. 
Blish,  namely:  Josejih  Barlow,  a  resident  of 
Ripon,  Wis.,  and  his  sister,  Mrs.  Harriet 
SilJiman,  wife  of  .A.  C.  .Silliman,  of  Ilobart ; 
Mary,  who  died  when  sixty-one  years  of  a^e, 
the  wife  of  William  S.  Foot,  of  Ilobart; 
Novatus  M..  the  subject  of  this  bioi;raphv; 
David  r. ,  who  lives  at  .Atchison,  Kan.,  and  is 
engaged  in  the  wholesale  hardware  business; 
Alonzo,  who  died  at  the  age  of  se\enty-five ; 
.Aaron,  who  passed  away  when  sixty  vears  old; 
and  Henry,  a  resident  of  Hroome  County. 

Xovatus  M.  Hlish  was  born  in  Roxbnry, 
July  if),  i.SjS,  and  grew  up  in  ihe  town  of 
.Stamford,  attending  the  district  school,  and 
later  the  Hanford  .Academy  at  Hobart.  When 
nineteen  years  of  age,  after  the  death  of  his 
father,  he  assumed  the  charge  of  the  old  home- 
stead, and  settled  his  father's  business  affairs. 
He  then  |)urchased  the  home  farm  and  the 
store,  ()|)erating  the  latter  until  [861,  when  he 
sold  it.  L'ntil  i.Syj  he  occupied  the  old 
home,  but  then  mo\ed  awav  to  make  room 
for  his  son.  He  increased  the  extent  of  the 
farm  land  to  four  hundred  and  thirty  acres, 
making  it  one  ot  the  largest  and  most  ])ro- 
ducti\e  farms  in  the  town.  Here  hi'  o[)eraled 
a  flair)',  in  which  industr\-  he  was  \(.'r\-  suc- 
cessful. 

On  September  2  2,  1  .S49,  Xovatus  M.  Hlish 
married  Miss  .Marietta  Cowan,  who  was  born 
in  .Stamford,  December  13,  1.S30,  a  daughter 
of  John  and  Xellie  ((irant)  Cowan.  Mrs. 
Blish  ])assed  awav  March  25,  rScj^,  at  the  home 
of  her  daughter.  Mrs.  (iritlin.  having  been  the 
mother  of  four  children:  Charles  A.,  born  in 
1852,  and  at  ])resent  the  Ceneral  Agent  of  the 
Portland  Insurance  Com|)an\-  in  .San  I'ran- 
cisco.  C'al.,  where  he  resides  with  his  wife 
and  four  children;  Helen,  who  was  the  wife 
of  Bruce  Chisholm.  but  has  ])assed  awa)  ,  Johti 
C. ,  who  is  marrietl,  lias  one  child,  and  lives  on 
the  old  homestead;  Mrs.  I'.tta  CiritTui.  wife  of 
Thomas  (iriffin,  and  mother  of  two  childr-" 
Bruce  B.  and  Kenneth  B.  .Mr.  Hli- 
Presbyterian  and  a  Rei)ubliean,  ha\ing  lieKl 
the   office   "f    lust  ice  of   the    I'eace  for  twehe 


ye.irs  ,ind  Justice  o|  the  .Session  for  two  terms. 
Mr  has  now  retired  fiorn  active  busin.ss,  .uul 
es  with  his  <lau;;IUer,  Mrs.  diilliu.  An 
u|Might,  tnislwoithy  man,  he  ludds  an  exalted 
position  in  the  regard  of  ;ii|  who  are  fortunate 
enough  to  claim  his  act)uaintance. 


r^DRRlLL  BL'RRIll.L,  j'ostmaster 
at  Davenport  Centre,  ;in(l  a  le:id- 
ing  merchant  of  the  town,  is 
numbered  among  the  active  and 
enterprising  citizens  of  Delaware  County,  of 
which  he  is  a  native.  His  grandfather,  Caleb 
Burrell,  was  for  many  years  an  esteemed  resi- 
dent of  this  town,  but  later  lived  in  Otsego 
County.  He  reared  a  family  of  six  childrer). 
his  son  Charles  being  the  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  brief  sketch. 

Charles  Ikirrell  has  spent  the  larger  part  of 
his  life  in  Davenport.  He  is  now  a  resident 
of  the  village,  where  he  is  carrying  on  a  sub- 
stantial nursery  business,  his  enter[)rise  and 
intelligent  ap]ilication  to  this  branch  of  horti- 
culture being  rewarded  by  eminent  success. 
To  him  and  his  wife,  formerly  Catherine 
Rowe,  a  native  of  Davenport,  four  children 
have  been  born;  namely,  Herman,  .\nna. 
Morrill,    and   Se\mour. 

Morrill,  the  second  son  of  his  |jarents.  was 
born  on  July  26,  1865,  and  was  reared  on  the 
farm  of  his  father,  receiving  a  practical  edu- 
cation in  the  da\s  of  his  youth.  I'arming  n')t 
being  congenial  to  his  tastes,  when  c|uite  a 
\()ung  man  he  established  himself  in  a  mer- 
cantile business  as  a  dealer  in  groceries:  and, 
having  in  the  course  of  a  year  built  u|)  a  good 
trade,  he  w:ts  encouraged  to  build  his  present 
store,  which  is  one  of  the  finest  of  its  kind  in 
the  place.  He  carries  ;i  complete  stock  of 
general  merchandise,  containing  all  the  arti- 
cles usually  called  for  by  the  countrv  or  vil- 
lage housewife,  and  has  an  extensive  and 
lucr.iti\e   business. 

In  1892  Mr.  Burrell  married  Xellie  Ward, 
the  accomplished  daughter  of  I)exter  Ward.  .1 
mechanic  residing  in  r):ivenport :  and  their 
home  is  one  of  the  geni;il  ,tnd  hospitable 
jilaces  of  resort  in  the  village.  Mr.  Burrell. 
poliiicallv,  is  an  uncompromising  Democrat, 
and    has    served    as   Town    Clerk    three   vears. 


678 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


In  1893  he  was  appointed  Postmaster,  and  is 
fulfilling;  the  duties  of  the  office  with  fidelity 
and  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  concerned.  Both 
he  and  his  wife  are  earnest  members  of  the 
Methodist    Episcopal   church. 


fOHX  McGIBBON,  a  prominent  farmer 
of  the  town  of  VValton,  Delaware 
County,  N.  v.,  was  born  January  7, 
1854,  only  son  of  Robert  and  Margaret 
McCiibbon.  Robert  McGibbon  was  a  native 
of  Scotland,  but  came  to  this  country  with  his 
father  when  quite  young.  He  was  brought 
up  to  agricultural  pursuits,  and  settled  upon 
the  farm  which  is  now  owned  by  his  son,  the 
.subject  of  this  sketch.  He  was  one  of  the 
leading  men  of  his  vicinity,  and  was  highly 
respected  as  a  man  of  sterling  worth.  His 
death  occurred  on  the  old  homestead  at  the 
age  of  fifty-three.  He  and  his  wife  were  the 
parents  of  two  children,  John  and  Mary. 
Mrs.  Margaret  McGibbon  spent  her  last  days 
in  the  village  of  Walton,  where  she  died  in 
1884. 

John  McCJibbon  received  a  good  common- 
school  education,  and  remained  at  home  work- 
ing on  the  land,  being  still  a  young  man  at  the 
time  of  his  father's  death,  on  which  event  he 
assumed  control  of  this  excellent  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  acres.  Here  he 
keeps  a  very  large  dair)',  making  a  celebrated 
grade  of  butter.  He  has  a  fine  maple  orchard 
of  eight  hundred  trees.  He  uses  a  Vermont 
evaporator,  and  has  made  as  high  as  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  pounds  of  sugar  in  one 
season.  Mr.  McGibbon  has  always  taken  an 
active  interest  in  politics,  being  a  strong  sup- 
porter of  the  Republican  party.  He  was 
elected  to  the  office  of  E.xcise  Commissioner, 
a  position  which  he  filled  in  a  most  capable 
manner  for  three  years.  In  1882  he  was 
elected  Highway  Commissioner;  and  so  well 
and  acceptably  did  he  fill  that  important 
office  that  he  was  re-elected  each  year  until 
1888,  and  has  been  again  elected  this  present 
year,  1894.  In  this  capacity  Mr.  McGibbon 
has  done  an  immense  amount  of  work,  being 
instrumental  in  building  several  important 
bridges,  among  others  being  the  iron  bridge 
at  Walton  over  the  Delaware  River, 


Mr.  McGibbon  was  married  in  1876  to 
Miss  Nettie  C.  McDonald,  a  daughter  of 
David  Ci.  McDonald,  an  old  .settler  of  this 
locality,    presumably    also    of     Scotch    origin. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  McCiibbon  have  five  bright 
and  interesting  children;  namely,  Maria  L., 
Robert  F.,  Margaret,  Jane  A.,  and  Donald  D. 
In  religious  views  Mr.  McGibbon  is  a  sup- 
porter of  the  United  Presbyterian  church,  of 
which  his  wife  is  a  member.  Mr.  McGibbon 
has  ahvavs  been  known  as  one  of  the  thoroughlv 
representative  men  of  his  district,  ever  ready 
and  willing  to  devote  his  time  and  influence 
to  the  best  interests  of  the  community.  A 
man  of  the  highest  probity  and  honor,  his 
character  is  un.stained. 

In  close  proximity  to  the  present  sketch 
will  be  found  a  portrait  of  this  useful  and  es- 
teemed citizen. 


DWARD     S.    METCALF,    a    prosperous 
farmer  residing  about   a   mile    south    of 
West  Davenport,  extensively  engaged 
general    farming,    stock-raising,    and  dairy- 
was  born    in    Davenport    on    October   29, 


m 
in£ 


1846.  His  grandfather,  Ira  Metcalf,  was 
among  the  early  settlers  of  the  town,  where  he 
cleared  and  improved  a  tract  of  wooded  land ; 
but  he  subsequentlv  removed  to  l-"ox  Lake, 
Wis. 

Edward  W.  Metcalf,  son  of  Ira,  was  born  in 
Davenport,  and  from  his  earliest  years  was 
engaged  in  farming,  first  on  the  paternal 
homestead,  and  later  on  a  rented  farm,  where 
he  lived  five  years.  He  then  bought  a  farm  in 
Stamford,  and  was  for  many  years  one  of  the 
leading  farmers  of  the  locality.  He  married 
P'annie  Smith,  the  daughter  of  lOzekiel  and 
Elizabeth  Smith,  who  reared  a  large  family  of 
children,  the  following  being  their  names: 
Maria ;  Harriet ;  Keturah  ;  Phcebe ;  F.mma, 
the  only  one  now  living;  Mary;  P'annie, 
Mrs.  Metcalf;  and  Charles.  Three  children 
were  born  into  the  parental  household, 
namely:  Edward  S. .  of  this  sketch;  Albert, 
formerly  a  farmer  in  Davenport,  but  now  en- 
gaged as  a  butcher  in  Stamford;  and  Spencer, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  thirteen  years.  The 
])arents  were  both  earnest  workers  in  the  Pres- 
byterian church  at   Stamford,  the  father  being 


(John  Mc  Gibbon, 


BIOGRAPHICAI,    REVIEW 


r,8i 


an  l^ldcr,  and  both  being  prominently  con- 
nected with  the  Sunda\-school. 

Young  Edward  was  reared  and  cchicated  in 
Stamford,  whither  his  parents  removed  aixmt 
four  years  after  his  birth.  I'Vom  the  district 
school  he  |)roceeded  to  Stamford  Seminarx', 
where  he  took  a  full  course  of  stud\',  after  his 
graduation  being  employed  for  two  years  as  a 
teacher  in  the  public  schools.  In  1 8<So  Mr. 
Metcalf  removed  to  Meredith,  where  he  rented 
a  farm  for  eight  years.  Remoxing  then  to 
Oneonta,  he  assisted  his  brother-in-law  in  the 
milk  business  for  a  year.  Desirous  of  becom- 
ing a  land-owner,  Mr.  Metcalf  then  came  to 
Dayenport  and  hired  the  farm  where  he  now 
lives,  and  which  he  ])Lu-chased  at  the  end  of 
the  year.  It  contains  one  hundred  and  se\ent\- 
two  acres  of  choice  land.  lie  has  been  ]irin- 
cipallv  engaged  in  dairying  and  general 
farming,  keeping  graded  Jerse\'s  and  raising 
some  stock.  I\Tr.  Metcalf's  career  as  a  farmer 
and  dair_\-man  has  been  chai'acteri/ed  by 
shrewd  common  sense  and  good  business 
habits.  In  ]iolitics  he  is  a  strong  Re]niblican, 
activeh'  adyocating  the  |Minciples  of  that  i)art\. 

In  NS/f),  the  centeiuiial  year,  Mr.  Metcalf 
was  miited  in  marriage  with  luuma  I",  (iood- 
rich,  the  daughter  of  Ira  (ioodrich,  a  thri\ing 
farmer  of  I)a\'en])ort.  Two  children  ha\e 
been  born  of  this  union,  one  of  whom,  l.ennie, 
is  now  lixing.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Metcalf  occu])y 
a  gootl  position  among  the  intelligent  and 
thrifty  inhabitants  of  the  conununit\-,  and 
during  their  residence  here  ha\e  made  many 
warm  friends.  Thex'  are  both  esteemed  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  church  at  West  Dayen- 
])()rt,  and  are  active  workers  in  the  .Sunday- 
school,  he  being  superintendent,  and  his  wife 
one  of  its  most  faithful  teachers. 


"ir^.WlD    L.    WKiHT.    C'ounty    Sui)erin- 

|p=|      tendenl   of  the    I'oor,  and   an   active, 

^.J^^y      wide-awake  agriculturist  of  the  town 


of  Delhi,  is  a  native  of  this  county, 
having  ojx'ned  his  eves  to  the  light  (  )ctober  6, 
1856,  in  the  town  of  Hoxina.  Like  some 
other  of  Delhi's  most  thrifty  and  intelligent 
citizens.  Mr.  Wight  is  of  .Scotch  extraction, 
being  the  son  of  William  Wight,  a  native  of 
Scotland. 


1  homas  Wight,  the  father  of  Willi. ini,  liye.l 
among  the  banks  and  braes  of  the  land  of  Scoii 
and  Hums  for  m.iiiy  years  before  he  sought  tlu- 
shores  of  .America,  bringing  with  him  his 
family,  and  settling  in  Hu\  in.i.  near  L.ikc 
Delaware.  lie  took  up  a  timbered  Inul,  In.m 
which  he  improved  a  homesteail.  where  he  and 
his  faithful  heipm.ite,  who  performed  her  lull 
share  of  jjioneer  lalmr,  resided  until  (ailed  to 
the  life  immortal.  Ihes  were  people  of  great 
moral  worth,  and  niendiers  of  the  i'resbyle- 
rian  church,  in  which  he  served  as  De.acoii 
for  many  years.  Their  family  contained  the 
following  children:  John,  James.  William. 
I'homas.    Nancy.   Margaret,  and  Betsy. 

William  Wight  was  the  third  son  liorn  to 
his  parents,  and  was  cpiite  young  when  he 
came  with  them  to  this  country.  lie  was 
rearetl  to  the  occupation  of  a  farmer;  and  after 
thi'  death  of  his  father  he  assumed  the  manage- 
ment ot  the  old  homestead,  where  he  ami  his 
good  wife,  Isabella  Laidlaw,  a  native  of  .Scot- 
land, resiiled  until  a  few  years  since,  when 
they  both  came  to  the  home  of  our  subject. 
They  are  held  in  high  res])ect  throughout  the 
community,  and  are  worthy  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  church.  l-"our  of  their  \'\\<:  chil- 
dren grew  to  maturitv.  as  follows:  David  I..  : 
Jennie,  who  married  I-'.lmer  Hall,  the  son  of 
Richard  Hall,  of  Delhi;  Thomas  C.  ;  and 
.\  el  lie. 

David  I..  Wight  was  educated  in  the  dis- 
trict school  and  Delaware  .Academy,  and 
accpiired  a  jiractical  knowledge  of  farming  in 
all  of  its  branches  on  the  paternal  homestead. 
He  was  subseipiently  engaged  in  contracting 
for  several  years,  and.  having  accumulateil 
some  money,  invested  it  in  the  farm  of  owr 
one  hundred  acres  which  he  now  owns  and 
occupies.  In  addition  to  general  farming,  he 
keeps  a  large  dairy  of  graded  Jerseys,  selling 
the  milk  to  the  creamery. 

On  Tebruary  j:;.  i.S.Sj.  .Mr.  Wight  was 
united  in  marriage  to  C-arrie  C'oe.  a  daughter 
of  Charles  W.  and  I{liz;d)eth  t"oe.  and  a  grand- 
daughtei  of  Elihu  C'oc.  who  was  the  son  nf 
Cyrus  Coe.  a  life-long  resident  of  ConnecticiU. 
T.lihu  Cue  was  born  and  re;ired  to  m;mhood  in 
that  .State,  but  after  marriage  removed  to 
namdeii,  \.^'..  where  he  cle;ired  a  tnict  of 
wild    land,    which    after    his   death    came    int>' 


682 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


the  possession  of  his  son  Charles,  the  father  of 
Mrs.  Wight,  who  resided  there  until  his  death, 
at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  Mrs.  Eliza- 
beth Coe  is  still  living,  making  her  home  in 
Walton,  but  managing  the  farm.  She  and 
her  hu.sband  had  five  children,  as  follows: 
Emma,  who  is  the  widow  of  Milton  Wilson; 
Olive,  deceased,  who  married  a  farmer  of 
Delhi;  Wilbur;  Carrie,  Mrs.  Wight;  and 
Melissa,  who  married  Malcolm  Launt. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wight  are  the  jiarents  of  three 
children  —  Bessie  Coe,  Isabella,  and  Charles 
David.  Mr.  Wight  is  a  member  of  the 
Grange,  and  belongs  to  Delhi  Lodge,  Xo.  439, 
A.  F.  &  A.  M.  He  is  a  stanch  adherent  of 
the  Republican  party,  and  has  served  as  High- 
way and  Street  Commissioner.  In  1890  he 
was  elected  County  Superintendent  of  the  Poor 
for  a  term  of  three  years,  performing  the 
duties  of  the  office  so  satisfactorily  that  in 
1893  he  was  re-elected  to  this  position.  He 
and  his  good  wife  arc  valued  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  in  which  all  of  his  chil- 
dren have  received  the  rite  of  baptism. 


II. LI  AM  EDWARD  JENNER, 
M.D.,  i)hysician  and  surgeon,  one 
of  the  leading  practitioners  of  Wal- 
ton, Delaware  County,  comes  of  distinguished 
stock,  and  is  a  native  of  Sandgate,  County 
Kent,  I-'ngland,  born  on  the  eighth  day  of  De- 
cember, 1S57.  lie  is  a  descendant  of  the 
world-renowned  Dr.  I'xlward  Jenner,  discoverer 
of  vaccination,  who  was  born  May  17,  1749. 
at  Berkeley,  (iloucestershire,  England. 

Richard  B.  Jenner,  the  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  born  and  educated  in  Wilt- 
shire, England,  and  in  early  life  was  married 
to  Sarah  Pierce,  a  native  of  Hasting.s,  their 
nuptials  being  solemnized  in  the  town  of 
Sandgate,  where  they  settled.  He  embarked 
in  the  drug  trade,  in  which  he  met  with  excel- 
lent success,  carrying  it  on  for  some  years. 
He  possessed  good  financial  ability,  and,  sub- 
sequently engaging  in  the  banking  business, 
accumulated  a  valuable  property.  He  re- 
mained in  -Sandgate,  numbered  among  its 
valued  and  respected  citizens,  until  his  death, 
in  1889.  Mrs.  Jenner  is  still  living  in  Eng- 
land, a  member  of  the  Anglican  church.      Of 


the  eleven  children  born  to  them,  we  record 
the  following:  Agnes,  an  unmarried  lady,  who 
lives  at  Sandgate;  Alice,  who  is  the  wife  of 
Richard  Fynnemore,  and  resides  in  Sandgate; 
Mary,  who  is  the.  wife  of  James  Kennett,  and 
resides  at  Folkestone,  England;  Harry,  who 
lives  in  Springfield,  Mo.  ;  William  Edward, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Bessie,  who  is  a 
resident  of  Toronto,  Canada,  a  certified  nur.se, 
and  a  graduate  of  Charing  Cross  Hospital, 
London,  P^ngland,  of  Crumpsall  Infirmary, 
Manchester,  England,  and  of  Victoria  Hospi- 
tal, Folkestone,  England ;  Herbert,  who  is 
Cashier  in  a  bank,  and  a  resident  of  Sandgate; 
tldith,  the  wife  of  William  P~anclough,  who 
lives  in  Toronto,  Canada;  Beatrice,  who  is 
engaged  in  teaching  in  Bonn  on  the  Rhine,  in 
Germany;  Dorothea,  who  lives  in  Sandgate; 
and  John,  the  owner  of  a  ranch  in  New 
Mexico. 

William  E.  Jenner  was  educated  in  the  city 
of  London,  and  after  leaving  school  was  em- 
ployed in  the  drug  store  of  his  father  for  five 
years.  He  was  subsequently  graduated  from 
the  school  of  pharmacy  in  London.  In  1885 
he  came  to  America,  and  spent  the  first  year 
in  Austin,  Tex.,  engaged  as  a  druggist.  He 
followed  the  .same  business  in  San  Antonio 
another  year,  and  then  continued  it  in  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y.  He  next  entered  the  office  of  Dr. 
Hutchinson,  of  Brooklyn,  and  in  the  mean 
time  attended  medical  lectures  at  Long  Island 
Hospital,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in  the 
class  of  1889.  After  practising  for  a  year  in 
Brooklyn,  Dr.  Jenner  visited  the  scenes  of  his 
early  life,  spending  some  time  with  his  rela- 
tives and  friends  acro.ss  the  water.  In  the 
autumn  of  1893  he  settled  in  the  village  of 
Walton,  opening  a  drug  store  and  engaging  in 
general  practice,  and  is  meeting  with  good 
success  in  both.  He  is  a  man  of  superior 
mental  culture,  capable  in  business,  and  has 
already  won  the  confidence  of  the  peojjle  to  a 
large  extent.  Socially,  he  is  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity,  belonging  to  Walton 
Lodge,  No.  559,  and  is  likewise  a  member  of 
the  Brooklyn  Medical  Association. 

In  the  month  of  February,  1892,  Dr.  Jenner 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Ella  (Chrisman) 
Raymond.  Mrs.  Jenner  is  the  daughter  of 
Abraham    Chrisman,     who     was    a    prominent 


RIOGRAPHICAI,    RF.VIF.W 


f,H;^ 


farmer  and  stock-raisor  of  DL-lawan.-  Count  v. 
She  had  been  previously  married,  her  first 
husband  havini,^  been  Howard  Raymond,  a 
conductor  on  the  Ontario  &  Western  Kailwav, 
who  was  accidentally  killed  on  the  road.  Of 
her  union  with  Mr.  Raymond  one  child  was 
born,  a  fine  boy,  named  I-'lovd  Ravmond. 


r^" 


I'.ORtjl';  (..\.\OL\(i,  an  enterprisin- 
\\^  I  business  man  of  Roxburv,  was  horn 
in  this  town  in  i  .S46.  and  has  lived 
an  honorable  and  useful  life  in  the  community 
in  which  his  lot  has  been  cast.  He  comes  of 
l-'rench  descent  through  the  paternal  line, 
being  a  great-grandson  of  John  (lanoung,  who 
came  from  France,  and  who  received  his  grant 
of  land  in  Putnam  County  directlv  from  King 
(ieorge,  gold  and  silver  being  reserved,  as  in 
all  the  Colonial  patents,  to  the  crown.  John, 
the  emigrant  ancestor,  was  married  twice. 
His  second  wife  was  Abigail,  widow  of  a  Mr. 
Sloat ;  and  of  this  marriage  eight  children 
were  born  —  Devoe,  Snififin,  Harrv,  Horace. 
John,   Hannah,   Sarah,  and  ICbenezer. 

De\-oe  was  born  in  i'utnam  Counts'  on 
I-"ebruary  11,  1788,  and  came  with  his  father 
to  Delaware  Countv  when  si.\  \ears  old.  His 
life  was  passed  in  this  localit\-,  wheie  he 
raised  a  family  of  eight  children  —  John, 
Sally,  Hannah,  Jane,  Julia,  Thomas,  Sniffm. 
and  Fdward.  Devoe  (ianoimg  ma\-  be  called 
a  pi(nu-er  farmer,  since  his  land  was  cleared 
from  the  [irimeval  forest  growth.  This  estate 
is  now  owned  by  ICbei  Cartwright,  and  is  one 
of  the  finest  farms  in  the  \-alle_\-.  The  sturdy, 
energetic  farmer,  whose  toilsome  tilling  of  the 
virgin  soil  was  crowned  by  well-deserved  suc- 
cess, lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  ninetv  vears. 
His  wife.  Sarah  (Gregory)  Canoung.  lived 
also  to  a  green  old  age. 

.Sniffin,  the  father  of  the  l\o\iiur\'  manufact- 
urer whose  name  forms  the  initial  word  of 
this  sketch,  was  born  at  Hataxia  Kill.  At  the 
age  of  si.\  years  he  went  to  live  with  his  uncle 
Sniffin.  When  he  grew  u]),  he  bought  out  his 
uncle's  estate  in  the  town  of  Ro.\bur\',  now 
belonging  to  J.  W.  Scudder.  Besides  follow- 
ing other  avocations,  he  was  a  successful  horse 
dealer,  travelling  back  and  forth  across  the 
countrs'  as  far  west  as  the   Niagara    Ri\er    on 


horseback.       in   1869  he   took    up  his   residiim- 
near   the    Ro\biiry  depot,  ;ind    openid    .1    st,,i,- 
He    married     llkclra,    the  daughter  d     Hiram 
and  Sally  (iterden)   Kelh. 

deorge  (ianoung  li\eii  with  lii>  -n-.ii  um  !< 
when  a  small  hoy,  and  was  cducateil  at  th<- 
Ri>.\bury  Academy.  He  showed  in  earls  lili- 
an  aptitude  for  iht-  use  of  t<]o|>.  :ind,  after 
working  for  a  time  as  a  clerk,  naturalh  drifted 
Irom  the  counter  to  the  mechanic's  bench. 
He  was  emjjloyed  as  foreman  in  a  sash  .ind 
blind  factory,  where  business  detail  as  well  as 
mechanical  profuiencs  was  ihoroiighU  imis- 
tered,  laying  the  found.ition  of  the  prosperous 
business  in  whith  he  afterward  emh.irked 
Coming  into  |)ossession  of  the  propert\-  once 
owned  by  his  uncle,  he  built  a  large  niill  in 
1870,  which  has  since  been  enlarged,  and  es 
tablished  a  sash,  blind,  and  door  factory,  and 
a  saw  and  ])laning  mill.  In  1869  he  married 
Josephine  Aiken,  a  daughter  of  lienjamin  II. 
and  Pauline  (Mead)  Aiken.  .\  daughter.  (  )ra. 
blessed  this  marriage  in  1879.  Mr.  ( ianoung 
has  the  best  wishes  of  all  thcpse  who  rejoiee  in 
seeing  the  reward  of  effort  bestowed  ujion  him 
who  justly  deser\es  it. 


R.s.    CA  riii;Ri.\i-:   j.    \\i;ir.    ..f 

Sidney,  is  the  daughter  of  |;/ia 
and  Mary  (l-'oote)  Clark,  and  the 
widow  of  the  late  William  lones 
Weir,  who  was  for  m;in\-  vears  a  respected 
mi-mber  of  the  agricultural  community,  and  a 
worth}-  citizen  of  the  town.  Mr.  Weir  was 
born  December  ^o.  1816.  and  died  on  the  farm 
now  owned  and  occujjied  b\  his  widow,  in  De- 
cember, 1876.  His  father,  William  C.  Weir, 
was  a  native  of  Chemung  Count\-.  ha\ing  been 
born  and  reared  in  the  town  of  Southport  :  .ind 
in  that  jdace  he  dejiarted  this  life.  d\ing  of 
old  age  at  the  home  of  John  Hrown.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  Jones,  a  sister  of  the  Re\.  .Simeon 
Jones. 

William  Weir  was  twice  married,  his  lirst 
wife,  to  whom  he  was  wedded  in  1S4:;.  was 
Susan  Clark,  a  sister  of  the  present  Mrs.  Wtii 
She  (lied  February  24.  1855.  at  the  age  o| 
forty-four  years,  leaving  one  daughter.  Kate 
FUen  Weir,  who  died  in  Chicago.  111.,  in 
January,    1890.    ageil    forty''" '^'' 


684 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


Weir  was  a  highly  educated  and  intelligent 
woman,  and,  notwithstanding  her  frail  physical 
organization,  was  a  very  successful  teacher. 
In  January,  1856,  Mr.  Weir  and  Catherine  J. 
Clark  were  united  in  marriage;  and  their 
pleasant  pathway  was  brightened  l^y  the  birth 
of  three  children,  who  are  now  the  comfort 
and  solace  of  their  widowed  mother's  life. 
The  eldest  child,  Alice,  married  J.  A. 
Priestly,  M.  D.,  of  Chicago;  and  they  have 
two  cliildren,  a  son  and  a  daughter.  The  | 
.sons,  William  B.  and  Alfred  C,  the  latter  j 
being  familiarly  known  as  I'rcd,  arc  wide- 
awake, active  young  men,  and  enterprising  ! 
members  of  the  industrial  community  of  Sid- 
nev,  where  they  arc  established  as  printers  and 
publishers  of  two  papers,  one  of  them  being 
the  Sidney  Despatch.  l-"red  is  married, 
and  the  happ\'  father  of  two  little  girls. 

l^zra  Clark,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Weir,  had  two 
wives,  the  first  being  I'olly  Hanks,  of  West- 
chester County.  She  bore  him  two  sons  and 
two  daughters,  all  of  whom  grew  to  maturity; 
and  of  the.se  four  children  the  youngest,  and 
the  last  surviving  member,  died  quite  recently 
in  Morris,  N.  Y.  Of  his  union  with  Mary 
Foote  three  girls  and  two  1)o\s  were  born, 
none  of  whom  are  now  living  cvcejiting  Mrs. 
Weir  and  one  of  her  brothers,  a  retired  lawyer, 
residing  in  IJainbridgc,  Chenango  County. 
He  is  a  graduate  of  Hamilton  College,  and 
(luring  his  professional  life  had  an  extensive 
and  lucrative  jjractice.  The  farm  which  Mrs. 
Weir  now  owns  was  settled  u])on  her  by  her 
father  in  181 1,  and  at  the  time  of  his  purchase 
contained  one  hundred  and  nineteen  acres. 
Mr.  Clark  being  unable  to  pay  fully  for  the 
land  in  hard  ca.sh,  made  part  payment  in  cattle. 
He  began  life  with  limited  means,  but  by 
industrious  labor  and  economy  he  became 
successful  and  prosperous.  The  (larks  were 
a  numerous  family,  and  had  lived  in  Bedford, 
Westchester  County,  for  many  generations, 
coming  to  Delaware  County  from  there.  They 
were  not  of  aristocratic  ancestry,  Init  were 
earnest  workers,  and  accounted  good  and  loyal 
citizens. 

On  the  maternal  side  of  the  house,  hr)wever, 
Mrs.  Weir  is  descended  from  a  noble  family  of 
England,  who  in  years  gone  by  were  accus- 
tomed to  dine  in  state,  and  were   waited  upon 


by  a  retinue  of  servants.  Joseph  Foote,  the 
grandfather  of  Mrs.  Weir,  was  a  commissioned 
officer  in  the  Revolutionary  army;  and  his 
daughter  Mary  used  to  delight  in  telling  her 
children  how  she  used  to  sit  upon  General 
Washington's  knee.  Mrs.  Weir  is  a  well- 
known  and  highly  esteemed  lady,  possessing  a 
great  deal  of  intelligence  and  energy. 


-AL.Sl-A'  I3KAX,  a  respected  citizen  of 
)elhi,  is  familiarlv  known  through- 
out this  jiart  of  the  county,  where 
he  has  resided,  man  and  boy,  for 
threescore  years.  On  the  farm  which  he  has 
ablv  managed  for  a  long  period  of  time  he 
drew  the  first  breath  of  life,  on  July  29,  1835. 
His  father,  William  Dean,  a  native  of  Con- 
necticut, a  cooper  by  trade,  was  one  of  the 
earlier  settlers  of  Delhi.  He  took  up  a  tract 
of  timber,  and  in  the  log  house  which  he 
reared  he  and  his  wife  began  their  pioneer 
work.  He  labored  with  a  sturdy  determina- 
tion, and  in  the  years  that  followed  put  his 
place  in  good  order  and  erected  good  frame 
buildings.  On  the  homestead  which  he  im- 
proved he  spent  his  remaining  years,  living 
until  1884.  His  wife,  Hannah  Gates,  of 
Connecticut,  died  at  the  home  of  our  subject, 
when  seventy-eight  years  old.  Both  of  these 
worth)-  people  were  faithful  members  of  the 
Congregational  church.  They  reared  a  family 
of  seven  children — Lucinda,  Adaline,  Julius, 
Hiram,  Maria,  Warner,  and  Halsey.  A 
brother  of  his  wife  came  to  Delhi  at  the  same 
time  that  he  did,  and  was  for  many  years  suc- 
cessfully engaged  in  the  lumber  business,  and 
also  improved  a  good  farm. 

Halse\-  Dean  carl}'  became  jiractically 
acquainted  with  the  art  of  tilling  the  soil. 
After  the  death  of  his  father  he  and  a  brother- 
in-law  assumed  the  management  of  the  home- 
stead, and  for  twelve  years  they  worked  that 
and  the  adjoining  farm  in  partnershi]).  Mr. 
Dean  has  since  continued  the  cultivation  and 
improvement  of  the  homestead  alone.  He  has 
constantly  added  to  the  improvements  already 
instituted;  and  since  his  residence  here  he  has 
erected  the  fine  dwelling-house,  convenient 
barn,  and  other  out-buildings.  Besides  mixed 
hu.sbandrv,  he  pays  a  good  deal  of  attention  to 


RIOGRAPIIICAI.    RKVIEW 


685 


clluryini,^   tindiiii;  il  a  wry  |)niMlahlc   l)iaiKli   (.1 
the  business. 

The  union  of  Mr.  Dean  uitii  Maij^arcl 
Hi)i;'art,  of  Colclicstcr,  look  ]>lacc  in  1S54.  ( )f 
the  three  children  ixirn  to  them,  two  are  now- 
living —  Adaline  and  Lewis  A.  The  former, 
who  married  Joiiii  Myers,  has  one  ehild, 
Halscy  Carleton.  Lewis  A.,  a  farmeL  resid- 
ing on  a  farm  adjoining  his  father's,  married 
Anna  I-'isher:  and  they  have  two  children  — 
Laura  and  H.  Margaret.  Mr.  Dean  is  a  stanch 
supporter  of  the  i)rinciples  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  both  lie  and  his  excellent  wife  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  church. 


SCAR    F.    IIARPKR    is  a  retired  resi- 
dent of   the  village  of    Sidney,  where 
he   has    lived    for   the  past   twentv-si.x 
years.      He  is  of  old  Scotch-Irish  an- 
cestry, and  a  great-grandson   of   Colonel   John 
Harper,    who    came  from    Connecticut    to    the 
State   of    New    V'ork    before    the    Revolution. 
He    had    five   sons --  William,    James,    John, 
Joseph,  and    Alexander.       They  were   the    pos- 
sessors of   twenty-two  thousand  acres   of   land, 
inclutling  what  is  now    Har])ersfield,  Dclaw^-u•e 
County,  the  title  for  which   they  had    received 
from    King  George,    it    being   a    patent    dated 
Decembers,   1769,  bearing   a   seal    the  size  of 
a    saucc-ijlate.      This    document    was     handed 
down    from    generaticjn     to    generation;    and, 
when    Oscar  was   a   boy,  it  was  still   a   family 
heirloom,  in  the  possession  of  Judge  Hotchkiss 
in  West  Harpersfield,  where  it   was   destro\ed 
by  fire   with    his  dwelling   and   all    his   house- 
hold effects  in  1S61.      Judge  Hotchkiss  married 
Margaret,    daughter  of   Colonel   John   Harper, 
at  Lake  Delaware,  the   britlal   pair  standing  in 
Delaware  County,  and   the   minister    in    Scho- 
harie Comity.      He  w^as  a  man  of  marked  abil- 
ity,   and    was    widelv   known    for    his    almost 
perfect   handwriting,  as   plain  and   uniform  as 
printed    matter.      He  was  ]ironiineiit  in  public 
life  for  man\'  years,  being  Postmaster  at  West 
Harpersfield    for  forty    \  ears,    and   dietl   about 
1847,    on    the    old    home    farm,    which    is  now 
occupied  by  his  grandson,   Daniel  X.  Gaylord. 
John    Harper,    Sr..    was    a    Colonel    in    the 
Frencli  and  Indian  War,  and  narrowly  escapetl 
capture  b\-  the   Indians  while  saving  the  fam- 


ily ol  the  Rev.  William  Johnson,  one  ot  the 
original  settlers  of  Sidney.  His  son,  Will- 
iam H.irper,  gr.inilfatiur  of  the  subj.Tt  o|  thj^ 
sketch,  m.irrietl  Hannah  Hotchkiss;  .iM<ltlirv 
became  the  parents  of  nine  chihiren,  live  sons 
and  four  daughters.  .\11  lived  to  grow  up 
and  have  children  of  their  own,  e\((|)l  one 
son,  Riiswell  Harper,  who  was  .1  volunteer  in 
the  War  of  1S12,  when  but  sixteen  years  ol 
age,  and  died  while  in  service.  !  hrse  chil- 
ilren  have  all  jxissed  away,  the  List  of  them. 
George  Harper,  the  youngest  of  the  f.iinily, 
having  died  in  the  winter  of  1S92,  near 
Waterbury,    Conn.,    aged    eighty-two    vears. 

Oscar  I'".  Harper  was  born  in  Davenport, 
Delaware  County,  May  5,  iSi.S',  January  25, 
1844,  he  married  Miss  Lydia  Hotchkiss,  uf 
Harpersfield,  who  died  November  23.  US79,  in 
Sidney,  leaving  five  sons  and  one  daughter, 
namely:  Joseph  IL,  a  civil  engineer  in  liutte 
City,  Mont.;  Linus  I',  and  George  IL,  of 
Lincoln,  Neb.;  Ella  G.,  wife  of  Leonard 
Kellogg,  also  of  Linc(dn;  Porter,  who  mar- 
ried Miss  Kittie  Bradford,  of  Sidnev,  and  has 
one  daughter,  I'.Ua,  amiss  of  fourteen  vears: 
William  R.,  a  railroatl  engineer  ;it  Green 
Island  near  Iroy,  who  has  one  daughter, 
Maud.  .Mrs.  Kellogg  has  one  son.  (jrville.  a 
student  in  the  University  at  Lincoln,  .Neb. 

Mr.  Harper  is  universally  respected  in  tin- 
town  wliere  he  has  been  so  long  a  resident, 
numbering  among  his  friends  the  most  cult- 
ured and  |irominent  people  of  Sidnev  and 
the   surroumlini;-   tow-ns. 


(gjTOllX  AM.  LI-:W1S  ROSK  are  well- 
_1I  known  wagon-makers  in  the  village  ol 
il.imden,  where  ihev  have  a  firmlv  es- 
taidisheii  trade.  John  Rose,  the  senior 
member  ot  the  firm,  was  born  in  1S59.  in  .Sul- 
livan Countv,  New  \'ork ;  .nul  Lewis  Rose, 
the  junior  member,  is  a  native  of  the  siniie 
place.  Their  father,  .-\ustin  Rose,  who  is 
now  living  in  the  town  of  ILmiden,  retired 
from  agricultural  |Hirsuits,  was  born  in  (ireene 
County,  New  'V'ork,  in  I  Si  5,  ;ind,  although 
never  jjossessing  very  vigorous  bodilv  health, 
still  retains  the  full  use  of   his  mental  powers. 


a  bright  and  active  man   of   nearly  four- 
score   years.      He     has     been    twice    marrietl. 


being 


686 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


His  first  wife,  Harriet  Carley,  bore  him  one 
child,  Edwin  L.  Rose,  who,  when  a  boy  of 
sixteen  years,  enlisted  in  the  Fifty-sixth  New 
York  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  after  the  close 
of  the  war  joined  the  band  of  adventurous  and 
enterprising  young  men  whosought  their  fort- 
unes in  the  Black  Hills.  The  father  was 
also  a  soldier  in  the  late  Rebellion,  having 
enlisted  October  i6,  1862,  but,  after  serving 
a  little  more  than  a  year,  was  discharged, 
coming  home  in  December,  1863,  physically 
disabled.  The  maiden  name  of  his  second 
wife,  to  whom  he  was  married  in  1857,  was 
Harriet  Haines.  She  was  one  of  four  chil- 
dren, two  daughters  and  two  sons,  born  to  her 
parents,  Lewis  and  Lucy  (Congdon)  Haines, 
neither  of  whom  is  now  living.  By  this 
marriage  the  two  sons  of  whom  we  write  were 
the  only  children.  In  politics  the  father  has 
been  a  life-long  Democrat,  and,  although  not 
in  sympathy  with  the  methods  of  the  Prohibi- 
tionists, has  never  used  intoxicating  drinks. 
His  wife  is  a  consistent  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist church. 

Tobias  Rose,  the  father  of  Austin  Rose, 
was  for  many  years  engaged  in  farming  in 
Ulster  County,  removing  from  there  to  Greene 
County  in  18 19,  bringing  with  him  his  wife 
and  six  children.  Two  more  children  were 
added  to  their  household,  and  of  these  eight 
children  three  sons  are  now  living.  The  par- 
ents subsequently  returned  to  Ulster  County, 
where  both  lived  until  far  advanced  in  years. 

The  life  records  of  John  and  Lewis  Rose 
have  been  very  similar,  both  having  left 
school  at  an  early  age  to  earn  something 
toward  their  own  support,  entering  the  em- 
ployment of  J.  B.  Gardner  at  Fallsburg. 
Lewis  began  to  sandpaper  woodwork  at  the 
age  of  eight  years,  and  to  do  odd  chores  about 
the  shop.  Two  years  later  he  was  doing  me- 
chanical work,  receiving  twenty  cents  a  day, 
and  boarding  at  home,  his  brother  John,  who 
was  then  eleven  years  of  age,  getting  twenty- 
five  cents  a  day.  After  remaining  thus  em- 
ployed for  five  years,  they  started  out  as  jour- 
neymen;  and  from  that  time  until  the  present 
day  these  sterling  mechanics  have  worked 
continuously  at  their  trade.  They  have  been 
obliged  to  rely  solely  upon  their  own  efforts, 
their  father  coming  out  of  the  army  poor,  not 


only  in  health,  but  in  purse;  and  the  self-reli- 
ance thus  early  necessitated  has  contributed 
largely  to  their  success  in  life.  In  February, 
1885,  Messrs.  Rose  bought  out  the  business 
of  E.  B.  Buckingham,  and  have  since  carried 
on  a  substantial  trade  in  this  village.  They 
have  without  doubt  had  a  wider  experience  in 
wagon-making  than  any  other  one  of  their 
years   in   Delaware   County. 

John  Rose  entered  the  matrimonial  estate 
October  9,  1883,  being  then  wedded  to  Geor- 
giana  Greff,  of  Delhi.  Three  children  have 
been  born  to  them,  namely:  Paul,  who  was 
taken  away  when  only  three  months  old ;  Ger- 
trude E.,  born  April  8,  1892;  and  Helen, 
born  March  24,  1894.  Socially,  Mr.  John 
Rose  is  a  Knight  Templar,  belonging  to  the 
Norwich  Commandery.  He  is  a  sincere  wor- 
shipper at  the  Methodist  church,  and  is  super- 
intendent of  the  Sunday-school.  Politically, 
both  he  and  his  brother  are  stanch  members  of 
the  Republican  party.  On  November  10, 
1887,  Lewis  Rose  was  married  to  Gertrude, 
daughter  of  John  Griffin.  Her  father  came  to 
this  country  from  Germany  when  a  young 
man,  and  was  here  wed  to  Elizabeth  Face, 
who   is   now   a  widow,    and   resides    in    Delhi. 


ZRA  OSTERHOUT,  a  venerable  citi- 
zen of  Meredith,  occupying  a  farm  at 
Meredith  Hollow,  may  well  be 
called  a  pioneer  of  this  section  of  the  county, 
having  lived  here  for  nearly  fourscore  years. 
He  was  born  in  Albany  County,  February  7, 
181 7,  and  was  brought  to  Meredith  an  infant 
in  his  mother's  arms,  his  father  having  taken 
up  a  tract  of  wild  land  in  this  town. 

Mr.  Osterhout  is  of  Dutch  descent.  His 
father  was  Henry,  third  son  of  George  Oster- 
hout. Henry  Osterhout  was  born  in  Bethle- 
hem, Albany  County,  and  was  reared  to 
agricultural  pursuits.  After  becoming  his 
own  master,  he  rented  a  farm  on  shares  for  a 
time,  then  came  to  this  county,  settling  in 
Meredith  on  the  ist  of  April,  1817.  He  took 
up  one  hundred  acres  of  land  in  the  midst  of 
a  deep  forest,  and  soon  the  ringing  strokes  of 
his  axe  were  heard  as  he  levelled  the  huge 
trees  to  make  a  place  for  the  log  cabin  which 
was  to  shelter  himself    and  family.      He  sue- 


Horace  Baker. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RKVIKAV 


riK.i 


ceeded  in  clearing  a  >^aoc\  farm,  re|)lacing  the- 
pioneer  cabin  with  a  set  of  frame  l)iiildin^s, 
and  remained  there  several  years.  He  subse- 
quently sold  that  farm,  and  boiiy;hl  another 
in  the  same  town.  He  died  at  the  aye  of 
eighty-two  years.  He  married  Esther  Gallup, 
a  dau,i;hter  of  Mr.  ami  Mrs.  Rzra  Gallu|3,  of 
Schoharie  County.  I'ive  children  were  born 
of  this  marriage:  Augusta,  who  married  Oliver 
Butts,  of  Meredith:  Abraham:  KUhu;  Maria, 
the  wife  of  George  Munson,  of  Mereditii:  and 
Ezra,  who  was  the  first-born  of  the  househokl. 
The  mother,  who  survived  her  husband,  livcil 
to  be  ninety  years  oUl. 

Ezra  Osterhout  spent  the  first  thirty-six 
years  of  his  life  on  the  parental  homestead, 
where  he  engaged  in  different  branches  of 
farming,  and  also  operated  a  saw-mill  for  sev- 
eral years.  He  afterward  became  the  owner 
of  the  adjoining  farm,  which  he  conducted 
successfully  for  about  thirty  years.  Finally, 
disposing  of  that,  Mr.  Osterhout  bought  his 
present  small  but  valuable  farm  of  thirty-four 
acres,  located  in  the  village,  and  has  since 
devoted  his  attention  mostly  to  dairying, 
making  a  specialty  of  fine  table  butter.  He 
also  bought  a  saw-mill  and  a  grist-mill  in  the 
village,  which  he  ran  for  several  years,  carry- 
ing on  an  extensive  business. 

Mr.  Osterhout  and  Miss  Juliet  Jackson 
were  married  in  1839.  Mrs.  Osterhout  is  a 
daughter  of  William  Jackson,  who  was  for- 
merly numbered  among  the  most  prosperous 
farmers  of  Meredith,  where  the  last  years  of 
his  life  were  spent.  He  and  his  wife  reared  a 
family  of  twelve  children,  all  of  whom  grew 
to  maturitv  and  married.  I'he  union  of  Mr. 
Osterhout  and  his  wife  was  brighteneti  by  the 
birth  of  one  child,  Jeannette.  who  married  Ira 
George,  a  son  of  Charles  George,  a  well- 
known  farmer  of  Mereiiith  and  Davenport. 
.Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  own  the  farm  formerly 
in  the  possession  of  .Mr.  Osterhout:  and  in  its 
management  they  are  assisted  by  their  only 
chiUl  Louis  E.'  George.  Politically,  Mr. 
Osterhout  is  a  >tanch  suj^porter  of  the  Demo- 
cratic ticket,  and  has  always  taken  a  lively 
interest  in  town  and  county  matters.  He  has 
served  as  Assessor  for  a  period  of  nearly 
thirty  years,  twenty-three  consecutive  years  in 
Davenport,  and  six  years   in  his  present   home 


liiwii.  lie  IS  mil  a  niriiil)i-r  nl  anv  reiigmiis 
organi/;itiim,  but  is  .1  rrguhir  :ittendant  at 
Sunday  worship  at  eitlur  the  H:iptist  or  the 
Methodist  church. 


7i)T"KA(  ]■:  UAKl'k,  lat.-  of  Sidney, 
Delaware  County,  \.^'.,  for  many 
years  a  well-known  f.uuier  and  jiro- 
prietor  of  a  s.iw-mill  in  this  town, 
was  born  at  Cummin;;toii,  Mass.,  Janii;irv  5. 
1S13,  and  was  a  son  of  David  and  Rebecca 
(Hill)  Baker.  His  father  and  mother  were  of 
New  J'jigland  ancestry,  and  lived  for  a  time 
after  their  marriage  at  Cummington,  which 
is  noted  as  the  birthplace  of  William  Cullen 
Bryant.  They  moved  to  .Sidney  in  1817,  and 
occupied  for  a  short  time  the  farm  now  owneil 
by  George  Beakes.  .Mr.  Baker  afterward 
bought  a  farm  in  the  vicinity.  He  w.is  a 
hard-working  man;  and,  as  in  those  davs  most 
of  the  land  in  this  region  was  wild,  he  had  to 
cut  and  clear  away  a  good  deal  of  timber, 
eventually  having  a  large  |)art  of  his  fifty-five 
acres  under  cultivation.  Mr.  Baker  was  a 
member  of  the  Congregational  church,  and 
Mrs.  Baker  of  the  Ba])tist.  They  reared  the 
following  family,  namely:  Milton,  I'ersis, 
Harvey,  .Armenia,  Horace,  and  Mercy,  all 
deceased;  William,  living  at  .Sidney  Centre: 
Amelia,  wife  of  Delos  J.  Bailey,  of  North 
Dakota:  and  Pollv,  widow  of  Solomon  John- 
son, living  in  Wisconsin.  Both  Mr.  ami 
Mrs.  David  Baker  died  on  the  homestead,  at  a 
gootl  old  age.  Horace  Baker  was  ethicated  ;it 
the  district  schools  of  Sidnev,  tiie  school- 
house  being  built  of  logs,  .md  the  furniture  of 
:i  ver\  jjrimitive  description.  .At  the  age  of 
twentv  he  commenced  to  learn  the  trade  of  a 
carpenter  with  Hubbard  Niles.  following  this 
business  during  the  best  years  of  his  life. 
Mr.  Baker  was  engaged  in  farming,  as  well  as 
conducting  a  saw-mill,  and  for  fifty  years  was 
an  extensive  manufacturer  of  coffins.  He 
owned  the  home  farm  on  which  he  reside<l. 
and  also  other  arable  land,  in  all  ;ibout  one 
hundred  and  fifty  acres.  In  the  latter  part  of 
his  life  he  dealt  extensively  in  real  estate, 
besides  looking  after  his  other  business  inter- 
ests. In  1870  Mr.  B.iker  had  the  misfortune 
to    lose    his     left    arm     in     his     planing-mill. 


690 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


This  cahuiiity  did  not,  however,  deter  him 
from  continuing  to  work  with  his  accustomed 
energy. 

Mr.  Baker  was  married  October  6,  1841,  to 
Martha  Fowler,  who  was  born  in  Meredith, 
January  21,  1814,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Bet- 
sey (Wliitney)  Fowler.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fowler 
were  natives  of  Connecticut,  moving  from 
there  to  Meredith  when  the  country  was 
young.  He  was  a  hard-working  and  success- 
ful farmer,  and  was  the  father  of  thirteen 
children,  twelve  of  whom  grew  up  to  be  men 
and  women,  and  two  of  whom  are  living  at  the 
present  ilay,  namely :  Sherman  VV.  Fowler,  of 
Winnebago  County,  Wisconsin;  and  Harriet 
Andrews,  of  Walton,  widow  of  John  Andrews. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fowler  were  members  of  the 
Baptist  church  at  Franklin.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Horace  Baker  both  lived  to  be  past  fourscore, 
and  died  within  a  few  months  of  each  other, 
less  than  a  year  ago,  in  1894,  she  on  May  11, 
and  he  on  October  i.  They  had  two  chil- 
dren, only  one  of  whom  was  spared  to 
brighten  their  home,  and  is  now  living; 
namely,  Ophelia  E.  Her  sister,  Althea  L., 
wife  of  Charles  W.  Niles,  dieil  September  15, 
1879,  aged  twenty-eight. 

,ln  their  later  years  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Baker 
were  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.  They  were  formerly  members  of  the 
Congregational  church,  of  which  Mr.  Baker 
was  a  Trustee  and  an  ardent  worker  in  the 
Sunday-school.  In  politics  he  was  formerly 
a  Republican,  but  latterly  cast  his  vote  with 
the  Prohibition  party.  The  iron  bridge  of 
the  Ontario  &  Western  Railroad,  which  is 
one  hundred  feet  in  height  at  tlie  highest 
jjoint,  and  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in 
length,  crosses  a  part  of  the  Baker  farm,  he 
having  given  the  right  of  way  to  the  company. 
Mr.  Baker  was  known  for  many  years  as  one 
of  the  oldest  and  most  representative  settlers 
of  Sidney.  An  energetic  and  progressive 
man,  he  was  always  ready  and  willing  to  de- 
vote his  time  and  use  his  influence  to  forward 
the  best  interests  of  the  village,  where  his 
name  will  long  be  held  in  honored  remem- 
brance. The  portrait  of  Mr.  Baker  presented 
on  another  page  of  this  "Review"  is  consid- 
ered a  very  good  likeness  of  the  departed 
worthy. 


OHN  D.  SALTON,  a  substantial 
farmer  of  the  town  of  Hamden,  is  the 
proprietor  of  a  fine  estate  of  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty  acres  lying  in  Terry 
Clove,  where  he  has  lived  since  the  date  of 
his  birth,  August  12,  1853.  He  is  of  Scotch 
extraction,  a  son  of  the  late  John  Salton,  Jr., 
who  was  born  in  Scotland  in  18 12,  and  seven 
years  later,  with  his  brothers. and  sisters,  ac- 
companied his  parents,  John  Salton,  Sr.,  and 
Jane  (Murray)  -Salton,  to  America.  On  the 
voyage  they  had  a  very  e.xciting  and  frightful 
experience,  the  vessel  getting  on  fire  in  mid- 
ocean,  and  the  passengers  and  crew  having  a 
very  narrow  escape  from  death.  Soon  after 
their  arrival  in  New  York  they  came  to  this 
neighborhood,  and,  being  possessed  of  more 
means  than  the  average  emigrant,  bought  a 
tract  of  three  hundred  acres  of  land,  the  major 
part  of  which  was  in  its  primeval  wildness, 
almost  the  only  improvement  of  the  place 
being  the  small  log  house  into  which  they 
moved  and  spent  their  first  years  of  occupancy 
of  the  farm.  They  improved  a  good  home- 
stead, and  made  it  their  permanent  abiding- 
place,  the  grandfather  dying  in  1838,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-eight  years,  and  his  widow  dying 
in  1858.  They  were  of  the  Presbyterian 
faith.  Of  the  children  born  to  them  onlv  one 
is  now  living,  namely:  Jane,  the  wife  of  Rob- 
ert Elliott,  of  Belle  Plaine,  N.Y. 

John  Salton,  Jr.,  lived  with  his  parents 
until  his  marriage,  and  became  familiar  in  the 
days  of  his  youth  with  the  life  and  labors  of 
the  pioneer.  His  wife,  Elspeth  Davidson, 
whom  he  wedded  in  1849,  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Andes,  of  Scotch  parents.  In  the 
month  of  April,  1850,  they  settled  on  the 
farm  now  occupied  by  their  son,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.  Its  two  hundred  and  thirty  acres 
were  partly  cleared,  and  some  improvements 
had  been  made.  Mr.  Salter  labored  assidu- 
ously to  place  it  all  under  cultivation,  re- 
paired and  remodelled  the  l)uildings,  and  in 
1870  erected  the  substantial  residence  now 
standing  here.  One  of  the  most  noticeable  of 
his  betterments  was  the  grubbing  out  of  the 
thicket  of  elders,  which  occupied  a  large  part 
of  the  yard,  and  the  setting  in  their  place  of 
the  beautiful  hard  maples  which  now  orna- 
ment and  shade  the  grassy  lawn.      Mrs.  Salton, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    RF:VIP:\V 


691 


an  active  and  intelligent  woman,  quite  ail- 
vanced  in  years,  still  lives  on  the  home  farm. 
She  is  a  faithful  and  exemplary  member  of 
the  L'nited  Presbyterian  cluneh,  to  whieli  her 
husband  also  belon-^^ed.  Of  tiie  six  ehildren 
born  to  her  one  son  died  in  infancy,  his  twin 
sister  surviving;  him.  Imvc  are  ikjw  living;, 
namely:  Ellen,  wife  of  Duncan  MclJou-all; 
John  D.  ;  Joanna,  the  wife  of  ]■'..  A.  Tabor,  a 
merchant,  in  l)aven|)ort;  James  \\'.,  a  farmer 
near  Walton;  Agnes,  a  teacher  by  profession, 
residing  with  her  mother. 

The  boyhood  and  youth  of  John  D.  Salton 
were  i)assed  on  the  home  farm,  and  in  attenii- 
ing  the  district  school.  After  the  death  of 
his  honored  sire  he  assumed  the  entire  man- 
agement of  the  home  propert\',  carrying  it  on 
with  great  success.  He  was  the  inheritor  of 
an  unlimited  stock  of  energy,  pci'severance, 
and  thrift,  and  occupies  a  leading  position 
among  the  progressive  ami  prosperous  agri- 
culturists of  this  section  of  the  count}',  taking 
delight  in  adding  to  the  improvements  of  his 
property.  In  1SS8  Mr.  Salton  built  a  com- 
motlious  barn,  sixtv  feel  bv  fortv-si.x  feet, 
with  twenty-two-fect  posts  al)ove  a  basement 
nine  feet  in  heiglit.  The  driveway  to  this 
building  is  fourteen  feet  abow  the  tirst  floor, 
and  the  bay  for  the  hay  has  a  capacity  of 
eighty   tons. 

'On  the  8th  of  June.  1X87.  Mr.  John  U. 
Salton  ami  Miss  ^laggie  J.  Hlair  \vere  united 
in  marriage.  Mrs.  .Salton  is  a  native  ot 
Haniden,  and  is  the  daughter  of  William  and 
Rebecca  I'll izabcth  (  Holmes  )  Hlaii'.  In  poli- 
tics Mr.  .Salton  is  a  stanch  adherent  of  the 
Repui)lican  party,  and  supports  its  principles 
bv  voice  and  vote. 


r)RGI':  R.  Sl.iri-,R.  the  Postmas- 
ter, and  one  of  the  leading  mer- 
chants of  Ilalcottsvillc.  was  born  in 
Margarettville.  Delaware  County.  November 
20,  1847.  His  parent.-^  were  Nicholas  and 
Susan  (Tremper)  SI  iter.  His  father  was  born 
in  Delaware  County,  and  was  etlucateil  in  the 
ilistrict  school  at  Margarettville.  When  a 
vi'ung  man,  Nicholas  Sliter  worked  on  his 
father's  farm,  and  afterward  learned  the  slioe- 
making   trade,  at  which  he  worked  the  greater 


p.irt  of  his  lile.  In  pidities  he  was  a  Repub- 
lic.m,  .uid  in  religion  a  .Methodist.  He  mar- 
ried .Susan,  daugiiler  ^if  Henjainin  and  .Sally 
(\'eaples)  Tremper,  M\<\  died  at  the  age  of 
si\t\-three,  leaving  a  widow  an<l  seven  chil- 
dren, thus  brielly  named:  John  married 
Dolly  Kettle,  liv'S  at  .M;irgareltville,  :ind  has 
live  children,  (ieorge  R.  is  the  subject  f)l 
this  sketch.  I'dward  is  .1  farmer,  and  lives  in 
.Aren.i.  Sar;di  died  ;it  twelve  \ears  of  a^i-. 
.Sherman  married  Miss  He;irdsley,  anil  lives  at 
Andes.  Ida.  wife  of  .\I.  Wood,  lives  at 
Downsvillc.  Alfred  married  J:ine  Kettle, 
lives  in  Arena,  and  has  two  cluidren.  Mrs. 
Sliter  is  still  liviuL;,  is  sixt\-seven  years  old, 
and  enjoNs  fair  health  for  a  woman  of  her  age. 
-She  makes  her  home  in  .\rena,  ami  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Kijiscopal  church. 

(Ieorge  R.,  the  seconil  son.  received  iiis 
education  in  Creene  Count)-,  and  after  leav- 
ing schoid,  at  about  the  age  of  twenty-one, 
worked  at  farming  foi"  some  time.  He  after- 
ward worked  two  \ears  at  shoemaking  in 
Arena,  an<l  then  c:uiie  to  llalcottsville,  where 
he  has  since  continued  to  reside.  He  married 
Bema  Henderson,  a  daughter  of  J;nnes  and 
Hannah  (Sprague)  Henderson.  .Mr.  Hender- 
son was  born  in  Jedburgh,  .Scotland,  Decem- 
ber 25,  1805.  and  at  an  early  age  came  to 
Aiueric:i.  In  January.  1894,  Mr.  Sliter 
o|)ened  a  general  grange  store  at  llalcotts- 
ville. He  is  constantly  increasing  his  stock, 
and  the  enterpiise  is  proving  to  be  a  decided 
success.  The  shoe  business,  also,  continues 
to  occup)'  some  of  his  attention.  He  recently 
bought  a  house  here,  wiiich  he  h.is  remod- 
elled, an<l  upon  the  lot  adjoining  he  h;is  built 
a  barn  :ind  other  buildings. 

In  ]iolitics  Mr.  Sliter  is  ,1  Democnit.  .uul 
works  hard  for  the  success  ol  his  party.  His 
aiipointment  as  I'ostm.ister  he  received  in 
March.  1S94.  He  holds  bro.id  views  on  mat- 
ters of  religion,  and  is  not  a  member  of  any 
churcli.  .Straightforward  and  dilij.nt  in  bu-i- 
ness,  he  has  won  well-deser\  -s. 


VEL  : 


l'.OR(,i:  r.   H.VSSi:rr,   .M.D..  a  prom- 
inent citi/.en  and  su.  ■     --fil  ;.!i\  ~:    :  .:i 
of    Downsville,    to\' 
was   born    in   that   town,  Deceinocr   3,    i  ■- j7,    1 


692 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


son  of  Philip  and  Margaret  (Hitt)  Bassett. 
The  father  was  born  September  7,  1803,  near 
Catskill,  where  he  grew  to  manhood  on  the 
ancestral  farm,  attending  the  district  schools. 
When  very  young,  he  began  to  study  medicine 
with  Dr.  Wells,  of  Middleburg,  Schoharie 
County,  at  the  same  time  teaching  school. 
He  then  located  his  oftice  in  Colchester,  and 
there  married  February  5.  iSSSi  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Jerrid  and  Betsey  (Barker)  Hitt. 
She  was  born  January  7,  1803,  and  died  No- 
vember 9,  1849,  having  given  birth  to  two 
children:  namely,  George  P.  and  Frances,  the 
latter  of  whom  was  born  October  25,  1842, 
and  is  the  wife  of  W.  E.  Holmes,  a  resident 
of  Downsville.  Philip  Bassett's  second  wife 
was  Maria  Barber,  whom  he  married  Decem- 
ber 24,   1 85  I. 

He  was  the  only  physician  in  the  town  of 
Colchester,  and  had  an  extensive  practice, 
visiting  his  patients  on  horseback,  and  carry- 
ing his  medicine  in  saddle-bags.  He  was  one 
of  the  men  to  attend  the  first  course  of  medi- 
cal lectures  at  the  Albany  Medical  College  in 
Albany,  whither  he  went  on  horseback,  al- 
most the  only  mode  of  travelling  in  those 
days.  Philip  Bassett  was  a  kind-hearted, 
generous,  benevolent  man,  of  extraordinary 
nerve  power,  with  special  aptitude  for  his  pro- 
fession, in  which  he  was  eminently  success- 
ful. He  was  a  Republican;  and  both  he  and 
his  wife  were  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  in  which  faith  he  died,  July  27,  1866. 
George  P.  Ikssett  was  educated  at  the 
Delaware  Literary  Institute  at  F'ranklin,  after 
which  he  entered  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons  in  New  York  City,  from  which 
he  was  graduated  in  1862,  and  began  the 
practice  of  medicine  in  Downsville.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1 86 1,  he  married  Anna,  daughter  of 
Abel  and  Clarissa  (P'lowers)  Palmer.  Mr. 
Palmer  was  born  in  the  town  of  Delhi,  and 
late  in  life  went  to  Oregon,  where  he  died. 
His  wife  has  also  passed  away  Mrs.  Bassett 
died  .September  12,  1874,  aged  thirty-five 
years  and  eight  months,  having  had  one  child, 
Jennie,  who  is  the  wife  of  Edward  C.  Smith, 
a  merchant  of  Downsville,  a  nephew  of  David 
Anderson.  Dr.  Bassett  has  recently  married 
a  second  time,  his  wife  being  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
(Parker)  Beers,   daughter  of   Professor  James 


O.  Parker,  a  noted  musician  of  Deposit.  Her 
first  husband  was  Nelson  Beers,  by  whom  she 
had  one  son,  Fred  P.  Beers,  who  is  now  a 
leading  hardware  merchant    in    Downsville. 

Dr.  Bassett  has  continued  to  practise  in 
Colchester,  where  he  has  a  private  office,  and 
is  considered  one  of  the  most  skilful  and  ad- 
vanced physicians  of  the  county.  In  1864  he 
enlisted  in  the  service  of  his  country  in  the 
Tenth  New  York  Regiment,  as  Assistant  Sur- 
geon, with  rank  of  F^irst  Lieutenant.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Republican.  For  two  years  he 
has  been  Town  Clerk,  has  held  the  office  of 
Supervisor  for  three  years,  and  during  the  last 
five  years  has  been  Pension  Examiner.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  Fleming  Post,  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic,  No.  280,  and  is  a  Mason,  a 
member  of  Downsville  Lodge,  No.  464,  A.  F. 
&  A.  M.  Dr.  Bassett  is  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  which  organization  has 
his  hearty  support.  He  is  an  energetic,  pro- 
gressive man,  thoroughly  competent  in  his 
vocation,  and  deserved I3'  esteemed  in  both 
private  and   public   life. 


^^HARLES  H.  VERMILYA,  of 
I  ^ZJ  Fleischmanns,  in  Middletown,  Dela- 
V^lis  ware  County,  has  long  held  the 
^*''~~"^  important  and  trusted  position  of 
•Station  agent,  besides  trading  on  his  own 
account.  He  was  born  in  Shandaken,  LHster 
County,  in  1851,  on  a  day  of  the  year  which 
has  always  been  a  holiday  with  at  least  one 
nationality,  March  17. 

He  is  a  great-grandson  of  William  \'er- 
milya,  who  came  from  Holland,  and  bought 
and  improved  a  farm  in  Putnam  County,  liv- 
ing prosperously  there  with  his  family  till  his 
death  of  old  age.  William  was  the  eldest 
son,  named  for  his  father.  The  others  who 
lived  to  adult  age  were  Jessie,  John,  and 
Samuel;  and  it  is  in  the  line  of  the  youngest 
that  the  special  subject  of  this  sketch  has  de- 
scended. Samuel  Vermilya  was  born  in  Put- 
nam County,  but  came  to  Delaware  County 
when  a  young  man,  learning  the  art  of  shoe- 
making.  On  account  of  ill  health  he  was 
unable  to  continue  in  this  business,  and  so 
turned  miller,  buying  an  establishment  on  the 
Plattekill   River,  which   is  now  known  as  the 


TilOr.R  M'HK  M      I.'  |\-ri.\\ 


r,i,T, 


Morse  mill.  riK-n-  he  remainei!  the  must  of 
his  life.  His  wife,  C^'atherine  Roliinson,  \va.s 
the  daughter  of  Issachar  Rohiiisoii,  who  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Revolution,  aiu!  married  into 
the  Gregory  family.  In  religion  .Samuel  \'er- 
milya  was  a  Baptist,  and  in  jjoiitics  a  Demo- 
crat: and  he  died  at  the  age  of  tiftv-eight,  his 
wife  living  to  be  seventy-two.  ihev  reared 
six  children.  Edward  Vermilya,  the  eldest. 
married  Jane  Whipple.  Of  the  next  son, 
Orville,  more  hereafter.  William  X'ermilva 
married  -Sarah  Kelly,  and  more  of  the  Kelly 
family  may  be  found  under  the  proper  head- 
ing. Melissa  N'ermilya  married  Nelson 
Beardslee.  Edgar  N'ermilva  married  Melissa 
Todil.  The  youngest.  Olive  X'crniiKa,  had 
two  husbands,  John  1).  Elnmre  and  Rexford 
Hewitt. 

Orville  \'ermilya  was  born  in  .Middletown, 
and  began  adult  life  as  a  clerk  in  the  corner 
store  in  Clovesville.  His  wife  was  Margaret 
Stone.  In  due  time  they  left  Clovesville, 
and  he  found  employment  as  foreman  in  a 
tannery  in  the  town  of  .Shandaken,  Ulster 
County.  Thence  thev  removed  to  ("iriffin's 
Corners,  where  he  was  in  the  store  of  William 
Doolittle  (of  whose  family  some  account  may 
be  found  under  that  name  in  this  volume), 
and  also  with  A.  H.  Hurhans.  Later  he  kept 
a  large  boarding-house  in  (iriffin's  Corners  for 
summer  visitors  from  the  city.  Both  he  and 
his  wife  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  They  had 
five  children.  Of  these  the  eldest,  Mary  \'er- 
milya,  married  W.  H.  Oconnor.  The  second. 
Charles  H.,  is  the  special  subject  of  this 
sketch.  Willard  X'ermilya  married  Alice 
\'an  Iluten.  Judson  makes  his  home  in 
Griffin's  Corners.  George  died  at  the  early 
age  of  seven. 

Charles  Henry  X'ermilya  attended  the  dis- 
trict school,  and  then  worked  for  three  years 
in  a  store  near  home.  Next  he  went  to 
Brooklyn,  where  he  worked  for  a  short  time 
in  another  store,  till  he  received  an  ajjpoint- 
ment  as  station  agent  on  the  Ulster  &  Dela- 
ware Railroad,  in  the  centennial  \ear.  when 
he  was  twenty-five  years  oltl.  Coming  to 
I-'L'ischmanns,  Iv  bought  the  house  now 
owned  by  Daniel  Slover.  In  iSSj  he  bought 
a  lot  from  the  X'andermark  farm,  and  built 
thereon   a   house,    which    he  afterward   sold  to 


:\.  Kaufm.imi.  iisij.,  i.f  N'lW  N'ork  <'it\-,  lor  a 
sumnu-i    home,      in    iS.j;    Mi.  ,   built 

his    pn-si-nl    fine    residi/inr.    >■: :ig    tht- 

best  view  to  bi-  anywJKii-  found  in  this  neigh- 
borhood. In  iSSS.  at  the  .igf  .i|  i!  n, 
he  had  married  I.ettii-  |)i"dillli-.  .,t 
George  W.  and  .Sally  Jane  (Dod-i-j  j  hiuliitk-, 
ot  wliom  a  sketch  may  lie  found  in  tiiis  vol- 
uuK-.  .About  the  time  of  his  marriage  Mr. 
X'ermilya  resigned  his  place  on  the  railroad, 
and  went  to  New  X'ork  City,  where  lor  two 
and  a  half  years  he  was  a  grocer;  but  then 
on  account  of  his  wife's  health  he  found  it 
expedient  to  return  to  l-'leischmanns,  where 
he  resumed  his  old  ]iosition  as  station  agent. 
In  addition  to  his  official  duties,  he  is  a  Init- 
ter  commission  merchant,  handling  nearly  all 
of  that  indispensable  commodity  churned  in 
this  region,  and  also  the  flagging  from  the 
blue  stone  quarries.  In  company  with  |ohn 
Blish,  he  deals  .also  in  coal.  .As  a  l)emocrat 
Mr.  X'ermilya  has  held  the  office  of  Tax  Col- 
lector for  the  town  three  years,  and  in  religion 
he  is  a  Methodist.  In  large  measure  Mr. 
X'ermilya  possesses  that  good  roundabout 
t|uality  whereof  a  Spanish  statesman,  I'irnvi:; 
Caballero,  has  well  said, 

"If   common  sense  has  not  tlie  brilliaiie\  "i 
the  sun.  it  has  the  fixity  of  the  stars." 


EORGI-:  W.  HLBB1:LL,  a  well- 
known  an<i  jirosperous  citizen  of 
llalcottsville.  was  born  in  Midille- 
town,  March  14,  1S50.  and  is  the  son  I'f  Har- 
ve\-  and  Emeline  (Hewitt)  Ilubbell.  His 
grandfather  Hubbell.  who  married  I'olly 
Faulkner,  was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  and 
became  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Dela- 
ware Countv.  being  distinguisheil  for  his 
sturdy   enterjirise   and    progressive   spirit. 

His  son,  Harve\'  Hubbell.  was  burn  at 
Keliv's  Corner>,  Delaware  County,  received 
.1  fair  education  in  the  district  school,  and  at 
an  earlv  age  began  working  on  a  farm.  Sev- 
eral years  later  he  bought  a  farm  of  two  hun- 
ilred  acres,  on  which  he  lived  the  greater  jiart 
of  his  life.  He  was  at  one  time 
the  grocerv  liusiness  at  Kelly's  ( 
he  also  acted  for  a  short  period  as  a  clerk  in  a 
hotel  at  the  same   place.      In  politics  he  was  a 


694 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


Democrat,  a  man  of  sound  jiidgment  and  good 
standing,  holding  office  at  various  times.  He 
was  an  active  member  of  the  Baptist  church. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-six,  ending  his 
days  on  the  old  farm,  his  wife  living  to  be 
fifty-nine.  Four  children  survived  him, 
namely:  George  W.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Adelaide,  the  wife  of  Clarence 
White,  of  Roxbury,  mother  of  one  child; 
Norwood,  who  married  Millie  Van  Aukin,  of 
Kingston,  and  has  one  child;  Peace,  who  be- 
came Mrs.  George  Roberts,  of   Catawba   Hill. 

George  W.  Hubbell  acquired  a  practical 
education  in  the  district  school;  and  at  the 
age  of  eighteen  he  began  to  learn  the  carpen- 
ter's trade,  at  which  he  worked  for  four  years, 
when  he  became  a  butcher.  He  remained  at 
the  latter  occupation  for  five  years,  and  then 
went  into  mercantile  business,  in  which  he 
continued  for  many  years.  Previous  to  1894 
there  had  never  been  a  public  house  in  Hal- 
cottsville;  and  Mr.  Hubbell,  perceiving  with 
his  usual  sagacity  a  good  opportunity  in  this 
direction,  opened  a  hotel  on  the  main  street, 
and  is  doing  a  thriving  business.  It  is  built 
in  the  cottage  style,  and  presents  a  very  at- 
tractive and  homelike  appearance.  Besides 
the  hotel  Mr.  Hubbell  owns  one  hundred  acres 
of  land,  and  is  also  engaged  extensively  in  the 
business  of  building  and  selling  houses  in  the 
village,  thus  greatly  improving  the  place. 
Halcottsville  owes  no  small  share  of  its  pros- 
perity to  his  enterprising  spirit  and  successful 
business  ventures. 

Mr.  Hubbell  has  been  married  Ivvicc.  His 
first  wife  was  Ella  Roberts,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  thirty-one;  and  his  second  wife  is  her 
sister,  Inez  R.  Roberts.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hub- 
bell have  two  children :  Ira  R.,  born  Decem- 
ber 30,  1883:  and  Loren  H.,  born  December 
10,  1890,  to  whose  training  they  devote  much 
careful  attention.  Mrs.  Hubbell  is  the 
daughter  of  J.  F.  and  Hulda  (Wells)  Roberts, 
her  father  being  a  successful  farmer  of  Bragg 
Hollow,  Delaware  County,  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  that  district,  and  a.  man  of  high 
standing  in  the  community.  Mr.  Roberts 
was  born  in  Putnam  County,  December  27, 
1808,  his  parents  being  Ira  and  Phcebe 
(Baker)  Roberts.  His  father,  who  was  also  a 
native  of  that  county,  settled  on  a  farm  of  one 


hundred  acres  in  Bragg  Hollo>v  in  1815,  but 
died  six  months  afterward,  leaving  eight  chil- 
dren. His  widow  survived  him  many  years, 
dying  at  the  age  of  eighty.  J.  V.  Roberts, 
father  of  Mrs.  Hubbell,  lived  on  the  old  farm 
at  Bragg  Hollow  for  eighteen  years,  at  the 
end  of  which  time  he  bought  a  farm  of  fifty 
acres  on  Hubble  Hill,  where  he  still  resides. 
He  keeps  thirty  cows,  and  carries  on  a  suc- 
cessful dairy  business.  Mr.  Roberts  is  a 
Democrat,  and  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church,  and,  although  of  advanced  age,  is  still 
quite  an  active  man.  His  wife,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  eighty-two,  was  Hulda  J.  Wells, 
daughter  of  Daniel  Wells,  who  was  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  Delaware  County,  and  who 
later  in  life  went  West,  ending  his  days  there. 
In  politics  Mr.  Hubbell  gives  his  support 
to  the  Democratic  party,  and  he  holds  liberal 
views  on  religious  matters.  He  is  not  only  a 
successful  business  man,  but  is  also  a  devoted 
husband  and  father,  a  kind  friend,  and  a  man 
of  sterling  character. 


ILLIAM  B.  OGDEN.  The  follow- 
ing brief  delineation  of  this  dis- 
tinguished son  of  Delaware  County 
is  here  reproduced  from  the  eloquent  tribute  of 
his  friend,  the  Hon.   Isaac  N.  Arnold:  — 

"The  most  jMominent  figure  in  the  history- 
of  Chicago  from  1835  until  his  death,  in  1877, 
was  William  B.  Ogden.  His  active  mind 
originated  most  and  aided  largely  in  the  erec- 
tion of  nearly  all  our  public  improvements. 
He  laid  out  and  opened  many  miles  of  streets 
in  the  northern  and  u'estern  divisions  of  the 
city,  aided  in  digging  the  Illinois  and  Michi- 
gan Canal,  advocated  with  ability  laws  neces- 
sary for  its  construction  and  enlargement,  pro- 
jected and  built  hundreds,  nay,  thousands  of 
miles  of  railways.  He  had  much  to  do  with 
our  water  supjily  and  sewerage  and  park  sys- 
tems, and,  indeed,  nearly  all  our  great  enter- 
prises and  jjublic  improvements. 

"  He  was  born  June  15,  1805,  at  Walton,  a 
town  in  the  wild  and  mountainous  county  of 
Delaware,  New  York,  and  died  August  3, 
1877,  at  his  country  seat,  Boscobel,  near  High 
Bridge  on  the  Harlem.  He  was  yet  a  lad 
when  his  father  died;  and,    being   the    eldest 


RIOGRArmc.M,    RKVIKW 


■^''il.      In        \\,1>     IMIIX       1>I.HC.II       III      ,1      piisltliill      III       ll.-- 

spDUsihility  as  the  ju'iul  nf  a  laij;c  laiiiil\,  ami 
soon  (lc\oli>|n.'(l  llioso  c|ualitics  ol  cxccutixc 
aljility,  sai;acily,  and  cduram-.  -uikI  si'iisc, 
t'lieiyy,  and  ilctcrniinalion  wliicli  made  him 
always  a  iocnj;nizcd  K'adcr  anioiii;  nun,  and 
caused  his  inriiKMUx-  to  he  powcrt'iil  1\  lY-ll  in 
this  city  and  State  and  thmii-h  the  Xdrth- 
west. 

"I  lis  hiiyhiHid  was  passed  in  the  pietnies(|ue 
valley  and  hills  o\  Delaware  ('unntv,  which 
was  then  cuvered  with  a  tlcnse  and  niai^'nilici'nl 
lorest  (if  su^ar-ni  iple,  beech,  hiich.  and  elm 
trees;  while  on  the  sides  nl  the  iiKiunlains 
were  jiine.  lir.  and  henilnek.  And  \asl  rafts 
of  logs  and  lundier  were  with  the  spiini; 
rtooils  sent  down  the  Delaware  to  i'hihulel- 
phia.  '{"he  raftsmen  had  vu^\^^.  and  simielinies 
danyerons,  experiences  in  running-  the  dams  of 
the  sw(dlen  river;  and  .Mr.  (  >j;"den  had  nianv  a 
talc  of  exciting;  aiKcnture  nccnrriiin'  in  these 
rough  davs.  Hut  it  was  hunting  the  deer 
among  the  hills  of  the  Delaware,  and  on  the 
I'nadilhi  and  other  tributaries  of  the  Sus- 
cpichanna.  which  furnished  the  most  cxiiting 
stories  of  the  clays  of  his  x'outh.  Clubs  of 
hinitcrs  then  existed  in  the  counties  of  ( )tsego. 
Chenango,  and  Delaware.  Packs  of  hovuuls 
were  kept  ;  an<l  the  hunteis  who  g.itiu'red  at 
the  annual  autumn  hunts,  coming  often  fort\' 
to  sixtv  miles,  wcie  as  well  moimted.  with 
hoi'ses  of  as  good  Idood  and  etpia!  endui'ance, 
as  the  best  luiglish  stocks.  Judges.  law\ers, 
and  gent  leni:in  f.iiancrs  joineti  in  the  exciting 
sport;  and  among  them  all  was  no  keener 
sportsm.an,  no  mon-  feaile--s  rider,  than  Mi'. 
( )g(lcn. ' ' 

The  death  of  Mr.  (  Igden  was  a  loss  t<i  the 
world  at  large.  lie  is  e\er  renienibered  for 
his  genial  disposition,  his  generous  inrpulscs. 
and  large  bene\'olence.  lie  was  interested  in 
fostering  e\er\'thing  that  would  ]iromote  the 
general  progress  and  pi'osperity,  and  at  all 
times  exhibited  an  unwa\ering  rectitude. 


OIIX     I".    ODW'l.I.l.,    a    native    of    lilas- 
gow.    .Scotland,    was    bori;    on    (  )ctobei' 
2-,      iX.i".        His     parents,     John     and 
I-'dizabeth    ((lilhllan)  (  )dwcll.  embarked 
for  America  when  he  was  an  infant  of  scarcelv 


tuehe  muntli^,   .iinl  |i.' 
out  of   sight  of    l.nid. 
C'it)-.    the    father    en-.igeil    m    • 
he  colli  imied    to   pm  sue    mil  il 
removed  with   his   famiU   lo    \  i 
making  the  jnurn' 
and     iheiice    bv   ili 
Campbell      .Moiml.ain,         I  i 
stopped,   and   leased  ,i  ti.iel 
lifl\     ;icri.'s    of    land.       .\ 
le.i>e  was  gi\  ell    Up,  and    !  I 
\  ilie.       In   1  )eccmb(.a   ..f  ll 
sail     I  loiu     Xew      \'n\ 
where  the\'  spent  alHHC  ■  -         i 

returned    to    Xew    \'o;  i   tin-   !■ 

spring    thev     setlleil     in      D^iu  iis\  i  He. 
<)dwtdl   some   time  afterw.iid   ~1iin.'    i..i 
loriiia.  but  w.is  shipwreeked  ni 
of    .Acapulco.       lie    w- 
light's  "    crew  ;    but    1 
privation  had  so  inipaiied    Ins 
he   succumbed   to  tlie    i''i"  •-   ' 
him,     and,     d\ing    on 
buried   at   sea   on    M;i\ 
servici"  ;is  a  soldier  in 
lie    belonged    to    ■ 
Whig,  and  boi!i  ' 
to    their    bch 
Miillilhm)     I  ' 
claimed    en":; 
gcneiat  il  i 
Their- 
sclv'iil  in  ' 
Tnited  >' 
];n     !n-!i' 


it\-.        In      \ 

the    I 

his  oil 

Here    he    had    liegun    ' 

practice    when    ' 

which    was    t: 

faithfullv  perf eil   id.-.  • 

as  a  good  soldier. 

On    |ul\     ici,    iSTq,  he   was 
Sar.ah  f.  Terv    "■_ 
Mar\-  I  .\ndcr- 
grandlather  d'ei w 
kevolutioii.irv     \\  .  . 
Inirnin^    of    Kingston.      Her 


I  ■Ml  II 

(       '  : 


696 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


father,  Ezekiel  Amlerson,  also  held  the  rank 
of  Captain  in  the  war.  l?oth  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Isaac  Terwilliger  lived  and  died  at  Callicoon. 
Si.\  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mns.  John  T.  Odwell,  namely:  h:iizabeth  and 
Thomas,  deceased;  John  (i.  ;  I'rederic  M.  ; 
(ieorge  B.  ;  and  Catherine.  Mr.  Odwell  con- 
tinued to  practise  law  after  the  war  until  his 
health  failed.  He  was  a  Republican  until  the 
time  of  the  Hancock  campaign,  when  he  be- 
came a  Democrat.  lie  and  his  wife  are  both 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 


rOHN  HAHCOCK,  senior  member  of  the 
firm  of  Babcock,  Lary  &  Co.,  railway 
and  dredging  contractors,  with  an  office 
at  No.  I  I  Pine  Street,  New  York  City, 
is  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  mechanical 
ability  and  business  tact.  He  was  born  in 
Orange  County,  December  27,  1S38.  His 
grandfather,  Isaac  Babcock,  a  life-long  resi- 
dent of  Orange  County,  married  a  Miss  Ben- 
jamin; and  they  both  lived  to  be  eighty  years 
of  age,  having  reared  a  family  of  fourteen  chil- 
dren, ten  sons  and  four  daughters,  all  of 
whom  grew  to  maturity  and  married. 

John  Babcock,  Sr. ,  one  of  the  sons  of  Isaac, 
was  married  in  1834  to  Catherine  Secor,  who 
bore  him  nine  sons  and  three  daughters;  and 
of  these  seven  sons  and  two  daughters  grew  to 
adult  life,  and  all  but  two  of  the  .sons  married. 
Five  sons  and  one  daughter  are  now  living, 
namelv:  John,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
.Samuel,  also  of  Walton  ;  Josiah  and  George, 
railroad  men,  living  at  Port  Jer\is;  Isaac, 
a  resident  of  Cornwall;  and  Eliza,  the  widow 
of  David  Bowcn.  The  father  died  in  1880, 
at  the  age  of  fifty-eight  years,  from  the  kick  of 
an  o.\.  The  mother  survived  her  husband 
thirteen  years,  dying  in  1893,  in  the  seventy- 
second  year  of  her  age.  Their  graves  are  in 
the  beautiful  cemetery  near  Greenwood  Lake 
in  Orange  County. 

John  Babcock,  who  received  the  name  of 
his  honored  father,  obtained  a  good  common- 
.school  education,  and,  not  being  content  to 
spend  his  life  as  a  tiller  of  the  soil,  left  the 
shelter  of  the  parental  roof  when  seventeen 
years  old  to  begin  his  career  as  a  railroad  man. 
He    was    first-  employed    as    one   of   the  track 


force,  but  was  advanced  step  by  step  until 
appointed  foreman.  He  sub.sequently  became 
Division  Roadmaster  on  the  New  York,  On- 
tario &  Western  Railway,  and '  was  finally 
made  General  Roadmaster,  having  full  charge 
of  all  the  lines  and  branches  of  this  railway. 
In  1888  he  resigned  this  position  to  engage  in 
his  ])resent  lucrative  business,  becoming  one 
of  the  firm  of  Ward  &  Lary,  railway  contrac- 
tors. While  in  this  firm,  one  of  his  great 
achievements  was  the  putting  through  of  the 
zigzag  tunnel  of  two  thousand  seven  hundred 
feet,  eight  miles  north  of  Walton,  the  ap- 
proaches of  which  are  one-half  mile  long  and 
one  hundred  feet  high,  the  building  of  these 
latter  being  considered  a  greater  mechanical 
feat  than  that  of  constructing  the  tunnel,  which 
is  one  of  the  four  tunnels  from  Cornwall 
through  the  spurs  of  the  Cat.skill  Mountains. 
The  ne.xt  important  work  of  Mr.  Babcock  was 
the  building  of  the  water  tunnel,  three  thou- 
sand three  hundred  feet  long,  at  Winsted,  Conn. 
As  Mr.  Babcock  has  never  made  a  special 
study  of  civil  engineering,  it  is  evident  that 
he  has  great  native  abilit}',  possessing  an 
active  and  fertile  brain,  which  he  keeps  in 
constant  use.  Mr.  Babcock  was  a  volunteer  in 
the  late  Civil  War,  going  to  the  front  as  First 
Lieutenant  in  Company  C,  One  Hundred  and 
Seventy-si.xth  New  York  X'olunteer  Infantry, 
and  taking  part  in  many  engagements.  He 
was  made  prisoner  in  June,  1863,  and  remained 
in  durance  thirteen  months  at  Camp  I-'ord, 
Te.xas,  but  on  his  rations  of  corn-bread  and 
beef  stood  the  imprisonment  quite  well,  com- 
ing out  strong.  He  was  finally  exchanged, 
and  afterward  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Captain, 
but,  being  taken  sick,  was  sent  home  and 
subsequently  discharged. 

On  October  8,  1861,  Mr.  Babcock  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Christina  Miller,  the 
daughter  of  John  and  Agnes  (Anderson)  Mil- 
ler, both  natives  of  Scotland,  Mrs.  Babcock 
was  born  in  Utica,  N.Y. ,  but  was  reared  to 
womanhood  in  Canada;  and  in  that  dominion, 
in  the  city  of  Quebec,  while  .she  was  on  a 
pleasure  trip,  her  death  occurred,  July  17, 
1892.  Three  children  w-ere  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Babcock,  one  of  whom,  F'rank,  an  en- 
gineer on  the  West  Shore  Railway,  died  at  the 
age    of    twenty-eight    years.      The    other    two 


i:i(|(;k Ai'iiir  \i,   ki:\  ii-.w 


"n 


i-'hilclrcn  ,1,.  .,  - .,.,  i  ,,,i,  ,. -,  ixw  mm^  m  W.il 
ton,  and  a  ilaii.^litcr,  I'ina,  tin-  witt-  n|  C.  |;. 
\'<)shin<;h,  an  architect  in  New  \\>vV  City. 
Since  the  death  of  her  niotliei-  Mrs.  \'(isl)iir<^h 
presides  over  the  hamlsunie  house  'A  her  I'athiT, 
which  he  erected  in  iSSj.  In  pnliiics  Mr. 
Babciick  is  a  supjiorter  nt  the  Republican 
party;  and,  sociall\-,  he  is  an  influential  mem- 
ber (it  the  Masonic  Iraternitx',  bein^  a  Rosa! 
Arch  Masim. 


IIIIRM.W  STRi;i:r,  MD.,  a  widely 
known  and  much  esteemed  phxsician 
ot  MidiUetown.  residinij  at  Ark- 
ville,  settled  in  this  \icinit\'  a  num- 
ber of  years  ai^o,  and  has  since  then  attained 
a  leaclinj;'  place  aniont;'  the  professional  men  of 
the  count}-.  II  is  birthplace  was  Putnam, 
(.'onn.  ;  and  he  is  the  son  of  John  and 
Rebecca  Street.  Ills  paternal  ^grandfather, 
John  Street,  was  an  i-^nglishman,  who  came  to 
America,  where  he  married,  afterward  return- 
ing to  iuigiand.  Later  he  came  back  to  this 
country,  and  spent  his  last  da\s  here.  His 
son,  John  Street,  ]v..  came  to  Delaware  County 
from  Putnam,  C'onn..  and  engaged  in  farTiiing 
for  three  \ears.  Then,  returning  to  his  old 
home,  he  became  engaged  as  a  contractor,  and 
resided  there  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of 
fortv-five.  llis  widow  was  left  with  five  chil- 
dren to  supjiort,  and  later  became  the  wife  of 
William  I-'risbee.  .She  li\ed  to  the  age  of 
eightv-six  years.  Their  children  were;  .\nn, 
who  became  the  wife  of  Isaac  Robinson,  and 
died,  le:iving  four  children;  I'hilip.  who  mar- 
ried Jane  l-'isher,  ;uid  at  his  death  left  six  chil- 
dren ;  |ohn.  who  m;)iried  Diantha  June,  and 
went  to  Iowa  —  had  one  chilil;  Jane,  who  died 
when  tpiite  \-onng ;  and  Sherman,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch. 

.After  ])ursuitig  his  studies  in  a  college  in 
Western  .Massachusetts,  .Sherman  .Street  at- 
tended medical  lectures  at  Castleton,  \"t.,  ;md 
began  practice  in  Roxburv,  X.  \'. ,  when  but 
twent\-one  vears  old.  l.:iter  he  removed  to 
Middletown,  ;ind  now  resides  at  Ark\ille, 
where  he  has  :i  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
thirtv-three  acres,  situated  on  the  Delaware 
River.  The  farm  buildings,  erected  b\-  him- 
self,   were    destroved    bv    fire;    but    he    rebuilt 


I  neni,    ,iM(|    i  >   \\i  .w    i  ni     pi  i^^rs-.  h     .  ,i 

ert\'.       Di.      .Sirci'l     h.is     been    Iw; 

llis  tirst  will',   .Ann  l''allo(k,  dan^hiii  oi    \\  i  i  i 

iam  l-';illock,  ;i  pi-ugn-ssiv,    i,: .1    I'  ,   ',    r. 

died   wlun    onlv   thirl' 

two    children  :      I  .ni.mil.i,     ;i'  ■  ■ 

Mal\in;i,     who    m;iiiieil     I  )i       I'. 

resides  ;it   Livingston    i.ake.       l»i. 

ried  for  his  second  wife  Jiii;  1    \     1'. 

ter  of  {■'rederick  Hakeiv       I 

lived    on    the  old    liakci'   li'  ni',    ii  .,'1.    ' 

Dr.   ;nid    .Mrs.    .Street    now   reside.      '11: 

one    son.    John,    \\\\i<   m.irrird     I'.m 

.SomervilL',     dreene    (omUs.     ^ 

two  children.      John   .Street   i'- 

a  bridge-builder.  :nid  has  built    si  \ti,,i    lnii!^. 

on    the    L.    &    D.     Railro:id.       Dr.     ^rr-.t     hi 

been  very  successful   in  his  pmlc-s-., 

a    large   practice,    not    onh    in    hi- 

neighborhood,    l)Ut    extending    lar 

limits  of  his  :idopted  town. 

with  the  latest  medic:il  <li- 

.\  Republican  in  politics,  ju- 
leader  ol  the  people  by  re;isiin  ■ 
natural  talents,  and  has  rendered  u 
to  his  part\'.  .\  man  ol  wide  i: 
conspicuous  ability,  he  is  well  won 
conlidonce,  and  is  esteemed  bv  all 
he  comes  into  personal  co-it     ' 


11.     Sl.o.XN. 
honored     citizen     o|      the 


.•;i  \  Walton,    where    he    ' 

])ast  twentv-eight   yi 
Conntv  Down,   in  the  northern 
j-'ebruarv  J.S,    1  ■''!:!  i.      When  .1  i  . 
than    three     years,     he    was     bron. 
countrs'  b\'  his  good  parents.    1  hon. 
(Hailey)  Sloan. 

Thomas    ."^loan    and    his    f;imily    wei 
weeks   and    three    days    in    m;iking   th. 
fr.ini    Ireland  to    Xew   ^■ork   (.'ity.    wh 
landed  July  J5,    i^jn,   with  their  l^^ 
Robert  and  his  elder  sister.      t  »n    : 
their  disembarkation  anothei  -on    w 
their  famih.       Mr.    Sloan   wa- 
trade.       1  le    soon    came    to    I  1 
and  settled  on  a  farm  ■ 
of  Hovina.       I  lis  ser\  i 
in   excellent   demand  as  soon  as  h: 


698 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


for  thorough  and  skilled  workmanship  became 
fully  established.  He  also  paid  good  attention 
to  farming,  and  before  his  decease  had  added 
considerably  to  his  acreage.  He  died  while 
yet  on  the  sunny  side  of  the  hill  of  life,  pass- 
ing away  on  September  22,  1S44,  aged  forty- 
seven  years.  His  widow  sm-vived  him  until 
1865,  being  si.xty-.seven  years  old  at  the  time 
of  her  death.  They  became  the  jjarents  of 
eight  children,  all  of  whom  grew  to  maturity, 
and  were  married,  and  of  whom  three  sons 
and  one  daughter  are  now  living,  as  follows: 
Thomas,  who  resides  in  Bloomington,  Wis.  ; 
Alexander  B. ,  who  is  a  farmer,  and  lives  near 
Belle  Plaine,  la.  ;  Nancy,  who  is  the  wife  of 
William  Miller,  and  lives  in  Walton;  and 
Robert  H.,  also  of  Walton. 

Robert  H.  Sloan  has  spent  the  major  part 
of  his  useful  life  in  Delaware  County,  and  has 
but  a  dim  recollection  of  any  other  home, 
although  he  distinctly  remembers  going  to 
the  cooper-shop  of  his  grandfather,  Alexander 
l^ailey,  in  Ireland,  to  get  a  hoop  to  roll.  His 
educational  advantages  were  very  limited,  as 
at  the  age  of  ten  years  he  was  set  to  stitch- 
ing leather.  Having  learned  the  shoemaker's 
trade,  he  worked  at  it  with  such  steady  aj^plica- 
tion  that  in  1856  his  health  began  to  fail,  and 
he  was  compelled  to  seek  some  other  employ- 
ment. In  connection  with  agriculture,  in 
which  he  engaged,  he  has  carried  on  an  exten- 
sive and  profitable  business  as  a  dealer  in 
cattle  and  in  butter,  the  latter  of  which  he 
shipped  to  the  New  York  markets. 

On  July  4,  1848,  Mr.  Sloan  married  Nanc)' 
Smith,  of  Delhi,  daughter  of  Robert  and 
Christine  Smith,  both  of  whom  were  natives 
of  Scotland.  Sorrow  as  well  as  joy  has  from 
time  to  time  crossed  the  threshold  of  his 
home.  Two  of  their  five  children  —  namely, 
Catherine,  a  child  of  seven  years,  and  Thomas 
Albert,  an  infant  of  ten  months  —  died  in 
the  month  of  May,  1868,  the  former  on  the 
4th,  and  the  latter  on  the  24th,  of  scarlet 
fever.  And  Jennie,  a  daughter,  who  married 
Jacob  H.  Osterhoudt,  died  at  the  home  of  her 
parents  of  diphtheria,  August  2,-  1882,  being 
then  but  twenty-two  years  of  age.  In  less 
than  three  years  the  devoted  wife  and  mother 
was  also  called,  dying  February  15,  1885,  at 
the  age  of  fifty-seven  years,  having  jjorne  with 


heroic  fortitude  and  patience  the  intense  suffer- 
ing caused  by  a  cancer.  She  was  an  earnest 
Christian,  possessing  the  serenest  trust  in 
divine  Providence,  and  was  a  member  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  church.  Two  daughters 
are  left  to  Mr.  Sloan,  his  first  and  last  born, 
of  whom  Christina,  the  wife  of  A.  F.  McFad- 
den,  lives  with  her  father.  She  has  three 
children,  one  son  and  two  daughters.  l-)lla 
Catherine,  the  youngest  child,  is  the  wife  of 
Charles  K.  Wakeman,  of  Walton. 

In  politics  Mr.  Sloan  was  formerly  a  Repub- 
lican, voting  with  that  party  until  1872,  since 
which  time  he  has  been  indei^endent.  He  has 
never  sought  the  emoluments  of  public  office, 
although  he  served  as  Justice  of  the  Peace 
four  years,  in  the  town  of  Bovina,  and  under 
the  administration  of  Abraham  Lincoln  filled 
the  office  of  Postmaster.  Clear-headed,  high- 
principled,  and  endowed  with  an  excellent 
memory,  he  is  a  man  of  exceedingly  temperate 
habits,  having  never  used  liquor  nor  tobacco  in 
anv  form. 


ARRY  WARNER  and  his  wife,  hjiiily 
(Kelsey)  Warner,  occupy  the  Kelsey 
homestead  of  over  one  hundred  acres 
in  the  valley  of  the  Delaware.  Mr. 
Warner  was  born  in  Windsor,  Broome  County, 
on  Washington's  Birthdav,  February  22,  1826. 
His  father,  Moses  Warner,  came  from  Massa- 
chusetts, and,  purchasing  a  tract  of  land  near 
Windsor,  was  here  extensively  engaged  as  a 
lumber  dealer.  lie  was  twice  married.  His 
first  wife  died  in  Windsor;  and  he  married  for 
his  second  wife  Miss  Hannah  Smith,  a  native 
of  Albany  County.  Seven  children  were  born 
of  this  marriage  —  Diana,  Rachel,  Chloc, 
Flias,  Harry,  John,  and  Jane.  The  father 
died  at  about  eighty  years  of  age.  The  mother 
died  in  Tompkins,  when  upward  of  seventy. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Harry  Warner  and  Miss 
Kmily  Kelsey  took  ])lace  in  1848.  Mrs.  Emily 
Kelsey  Warner  was  born  in  the  town  of  Tom])- 
kins,  Delaware  County,  on  January  17,  1824. 
Her  father,  Roswell  Kelsey,  was  born,  so  far 
as  is  known,  in  the  same  village.  Her  grand- 
father, James  Kelsey,  who  was  a  native  of 
Connecticut,  came  thence  to  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  was  an  old  settler   in  the  valley  of 


RIOGRAI'HICAL    RKVIP:\V 


r,,,, 


Ihc  Dclawaiv.  lie  ln.iii;ln  a  lart;c  tra.  ;  ■, 
ti inhered  laiul  in  Tunipkins,  iliaivil  a  larm. 
ami  (.'ivctod  IraiiK'  hiiiUlinns.  His  wik-  was 
Avis  Iloa^^.  On  this  farm  Mr.  Kfisev  livcil 
and  died.  lie  was  iwico  married,  and  three  n| 
his  ehiUh'en  now  snrvixe. 

Knswell  Kelsey,  Mis.  Warner's  lather,  was 
for  a  luimlKr  of  years  a  Uimher  dealer.  Hoatiiit; 
his  loi;s  down  the  Delaware  River  on  rafts  to 
their  jilaees  of  destination.  In  i  .S44  he  l)ou.:;hl 
a  farm  on  the  west  side  of  the  Delaware  River 
in  Deposit,  and  lived  there<in  until  his  death, 
when  about  seventy  vears  old.  His  wife's 
maiden  name  was  Hannah  .Smith.  .She  was 
born  in  Cannonsviile.  and  was  the  dau-hter  of 
Caleb  and  lluldah  (Cottrell)  Smith.  Mr.  and 
.^Frs.  Roswell  Kelsey  raised  a  family  of  ei,::;ht 
children—  I.ydia.  llmilv,  .Step.hen,  I'.lias, 
Caleb,   .\lbert,   l-".llen,  and  Harper. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Warner  ha\e  two  .sons 
.Samuel  and  Hiram.  The  former  married  I'.lla 
Kin,i;sbiir_\'.  and  has  one  son —  Roswell. 
Hiram  married  .\nn  I'.li/a  .Smith,  and  has 
three  children  -  llarrv,  Hiram,  and  Roselle. 
About  the  time  of  his  marriage  Mr.  Warner 
bouj;ht  a  farm  at  I'ompkins,  which  he  sold  f\\c 
vears  later,  when  he  moved  to  I'nadilla, 
( )tsi'L;d  Count\',  where  he  remained  for  sewn 
years.  lie  tinalh'  returned  to  the  Kelse\- 
homestead  in  the  Delaware  \'alle_v,  where  he 
has  been  most  successfullv  eiiL^a^ed  in  i;eneral 
farmini;  and  dairviiij;.  Hesides  this  farm,  he 
h;ts  two  hundred  acres  nf  nuth  in^;'  land. 


,I'.1,S().\  ()/.l.\S    I'LINT.    ])idprietor  of 
the     Walton     foundrv     and      machine- 
Ic;  y  shop,   is  a  manufacturer  ol    ]ilou,L;"hs. 

drag's,  cultivators,  and  i<dlers,  tor 
whicli  he  tinds  a  ready  sale  in  this  local  it\ 
with<nit  the  assistance  of  tra\elliii,i;  salesmen. 
He  is  resiK'Cted  as  one  of  the  most  enterprising; 
and  upright  business  men  of  this  part  ol  Dela- 
ware Countv.  He  was  born  in  the  town  ol 
Delhi.  .August  Jcj.  iSjii,  being  a  son  of  Albert 
and  loanna  (Jones)  I-'lint,  the  former  of  \\U<>nt 
was  l)orn  in  Delhi,  and  the  latter  in  Ciieene 
Comity. 

Albert  i-"liiit  wa>  the  son  of  a  pioneer  hotel- 
keeper  of  Delhi  ;  and  after  his  marriage,  which 
occurred    in    \^2C>.  he  .settled   down  to  farming 


1  ■ "  I  ^  '  I  I  I  ^ ,      I ; !  I  [  '  I  '  I  \  I  .  1     ,  t 

I  le    and    his   will-    be.  .um 
chihlieii,     three    cjj     whion 
('■iinejiiis  M.,  a    l,imu  1     i 
ami    (  )sinaii,     a    ioni|  > 
Kipiibliiiiii.        I  he    ii.iiiH 
Mary,     who     iliid      \pril 
R.,     whii    died     near    .Niiisii'iiiam, 
ol  ihiiu-llvi'  vears,    leaviiiL;  .1  \ii.'. 
children:    Sarah    .\ugust,i.    .M 
delsoli,  w  ho  died  whi  le  in    the 
1  )elhi,   lea\  ing  li\e  childr<-M  .     \ 
married  Heman  johnsim,  ,, 
foity-l'ue  \ears,    in   1  lelhi,    .^ 
The  father  departed  this  life    in    1  ■ 
widow  in   I  .SSc>. 

Having     mastered      the      coniiii- 
branches    in    the   district  si_hnii|.   \. 
began   at    the  age  of   twehe  \ei'- 
steeji  side  hill  of   the   old  heir 
])airs  ol    horses.      .\fter  gruwm^   i..    lii.o.ii...    .. 
he  owned  and  im|irii\ed    a    line   farm    it     I'l  " 
on  which  he  resiiled  several  ve.iis.       Ai 
he  was  for  about  nineteen  vears   eng.i-i.i   .1;   , 
foundry    in    Delhi.       In    1X77   he   si. Id    nut    his 
|iid])erty  in    Delhi,  and   came  to  Waltnn,  whe:.- 
two    years     later    he     est.ibl  islu-d     his     |iiesin! 
fuimdrv    and    machine-shup,  (piite   ,in    e\teii-i\c 

building,   being  one  liuiuiied  lii-    ' 

and  has  since  carried  on   a    liv' 

business,  emphivin,:;  fi'Mu  si\  ■  ,,j,, 

Mr.     I'lint    w.is    united    in    i'  _      '.i    Miss 

ITi-ct.i    I.,    ."smith   nil    l.uiuarv    .*<.    iS;i.       Mis. 
l-'lint  was  burn    in    the   tnvvii    nf    M(.ir.'  ■'       ^ 
gust   j;,    I X  ;o.   lu/iiiL;    a   daiiL^hln    ,A    I 
aiul   I'.leC  ^mith,  l' 

rlied    wlv  ■  ■..'I'l,,':  . 

who  vv.as  success! 
Meredith,  was  snh-r., 
a  second  familv  of  ch 
life  in  1  X,"  ^'  being  tl 
He  was  a  son  n|  I'. 
from  Chath.im,  l  "v.  in   1 

loc.ited  in  ill' 
the    oiiginal 
four  t  imes   n. 

Cleveland,    |il,,  ^    

father.      (  >ne  of  his   wivi 
and  In  the  other  :' 
cliildren.        He 
I  celebrating  the  nm.-  inindredi 


700 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


his  birth,  clyinj;  at  the  home  ot  his  son,  Klijah 
Cleveland  Smith,  in  Meredith.  Mrs.  Flint  had 
five  brothers  and  three  sisters,  all  of  whom, 
with  the  e.xceptioh  of  one  sister,  have  passed 
away.  Oi  this  family,  three  of  the  sons  were 
]>ractising  physicians,  and  one  was  a  lawyer. 
Three  of  her  half-brothers  are  .still  living,  as 
follows:  George  C. ,  a  i^hysician,  resides  in 
Delhi.  Josiah  D.,  a  farmer,  wht)  was  a  volun- 
teer in  the  army  during  the  late  Civil  War, 
lives  on  the  family  homestead,  which  contains 
two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land.  Henry 
Melville  Smith  is  a  jjractising  physician  in 
Jersey  City.  Mrs.  Flint  is  a  cultivated 
woman,  who  taught  .school  three  terms  before 
marriage.  She  and  her  husband  h;ue  reared  a 
foster-child,  Maggie,  the  wife  of  .A.  I).  Peak. 
Politically,  Mr.  Flint  is  a  stanch  supporter  of 
the  principles  of  the  Democratic  party,  and 
he  and  his  wife  are  dcNout  members  of  the 
Methodist  church,  of  which  he  is  a  Steward. 


l.\L\L\  CROSHV.  a  well-known  resi- 
dent of  P'leischmanns,  where  he  is  an 
enterprising  man  of  business,  was 
born  in  Middletown,  January  i, 
1838,  being  the  son  of  Horace  and  Phebe 
(Ackerly)  Crosby,  and  grandson  of  Hopkins 
and  Betsy  (Weed)  Crosby. 

Hopkins  Crosby  was  a  farmer  on  Hubble 
Hill,  where  he  worked  the  farm  now  owned  by 
Ivlijah  Hull.  Later  he  went  to  Indiana,  where 
he  settled  and  continued  farming  until  his 
death.  His  wife  also  died  in  that  State,  and 
they  left  the  following  children:  Jeremiah, 
Horace,  Cahin,  Cvrus,  Jeanette,  Amanda, 
Fsther,  Maria,  I^lisha,  and  William.  Horace 
was  born  on  the  old  homestead  at  Hubble 
Hill  in  1 81 2,  and  grew  to  manhood  there. 
Having  learned  the  tanner's  trade,  he  served 
as  foreman  in  a  number  of  different  places,  and 
then  bought  a  tannery  at  Clovesville,  in  which 
|ilace  he  carried  on  a  successful  business  until 
his  death.  His  wife  was  Phebe  Ackerly, 
daughter  of  William  and  Lucy  (Town.send) 
.Ackerly,  the  former  of  whom  was  a  carpenter. 
He  died  in  early  manhood,  and  left  three  chil- 
dren —  .Alfred,  Matilda,  and  Phebe.  The  chil- 
dren of  Horace  and  Phebe  Crosby  were: 
Calvin;  Adelia,    who   married    David    Pulling, 


now  deceased,  and  resides  in  Marlboro,  Ulster 
Coimty,  N.  Y.  ;  and  William  H.  and  Mary  V., 
both  of  whom  died  young.  The  father  of  these 
children  was  a  Democrat,  and  a  Methodist  in 
religion.  He  lived  to  the  age  of  sixty-three 
years,  his  wife  reaching  her  seventy-first   vear. 

Calvin  Crosby  having  received  his  education 
in  the  schools  of  Clovesville,  began  to  work 
at  the  age  of  fourteen  for  Mr.  Humphrev,  then 
became  clerk  for  the  firm  of  Snyder  &  Dim- 
mick,  with  whom  he  remained  four  years.  He 
afterward  purchased  a  horse  and  team,  and  for 
two  years  travelled  the  road  with  goods.  He 
received  the  appointment  of  Deputy  Sheriff  for 
Delaware  County  under  (jabriel  S.  Mead,  of 
Walton,  which  office  he  held  two  years,  and 
was  for  five  \ears  Constable  in  the  town  of 
Middletown.  In  1864  he  enlisted  as  a  de- 
fender of  his  country's  flag  in  Company  C,  First 
New  York  Fngineer  Corps,  and  continued  in 
.service  until  the  close  of  the  war,  receixing 
an  honorable  discharge.  On  returning  home, 
he  married  Augusta  Van  X'alkerburgh,  daugh- 
ter of  Ale.xander  and  Thankful  (Peck)  Van 
Valkerburgh.  Her  father  is  a  mechanic,  car- 
]ienter,  and  millwright,  owning  a  saw-mill  at 
Halcott  Centre,  Greene  County. 

After  Mr.  Crosby's  marriage  his  father  died  ; 
and  he  went  into  the  mercantile  business  at 
Clovesville  for  three  years,  but  at  last  took  his 
father's  tannery,  carrying  it  on  from  1865  to 
1886.  During  this  period  he  met  with  various 
misha])s,  at  ()ne  time  losing  a  large  stock  of 
leather  by  fire  in  Boston.  But,  not  discour- 
aged, he  bought  a  new  stock  of  bark  and 
leather,  which  he  lost  by  a  freshet.  Fven 
this  did  not  daunt  him.  He  began  a<rain  with 
renewed  deternii nation,  and  kept  on  with  the 
business.  In  the  mean  time  his  mother  died; 
and  he  found  himself  ignored  in  the  will,  the 
propert)'  going  to  others.  In  1888  he  estab- 
lished a  general  merchandise  store  at  Fleisch- 
manns,  which  he  has  continued  to  the  present 
day,  now  having  the  largest  trade  in  the  vil- 
lage. In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat,  and  has 
been  Overseer  of  the  I'oor  for  eight  years.  He 
is  a  member  of  Margarettville  Lodge,  No.  389, 
A.  I-".  &  A.  M.  :  of  the  Knights^of  Pythias; 
and  of  Flliot  Post,  (hand  Army  of  the  Re]nib- 
lic.  In  religion  he  is  a  progressive  thinker, 
being    liberal    in    his   view.s.      He   has    led    an 


IIIOGR  M'llK  AI.    KKVIKW 


70, 


nulustiious  and  usi.lul  liU-.  aiul  well  dcsciM"' 
the  trust  roposoil  in  liiiii  hv  his  lelldw-tnwns- 
men. 


■OllX  CLARK.  Some  III  llie  must  thriv- 
ing;'and  ]ir(is|)ernus  farmers  of  this  part 
cif  I)eia\vare  t_"iiinit\'  are  of  foreij;n 
l)irtli,  and  proniiiK'nl  aniont;  these 
stands  the  .i;enllenian  whose  name  a|)]iears  al 
the  liead  of  tliis  l)rief  sketcli.  He  was  i)orn 
among  the  ruj;;;eti  hills  of  Scotland,  in  Perth- 
shire, in  the  \ear  i.S;o,  and  there  received  his 
schonlinj;'.  lie  l)e>,'an  to  work  at  farming;  as 
soon  as  he  was  old  enou_<;h,  and  remained  in 
Scotland  until  \^7\.  when,  in  iumpany  with 
Isaac  Scohie,  he  enii,u:rated  to  the  rnite<l 
States.  From  New  \drk  City  they  made  their 
wav  to  Delhi,  in  this  county,  Mr.  Clark  having 
fifteen  dollars  left  when  he  arrived.  Heinj;  ot 
an  enerijetic  teni]ieranient,  and  willinj^  to  work 
at  any  honorable  emplo)  ment,  he  remained  not 
lont;  idle,  and  the  following  eight  years  worked 
for  Lawyer  Hell,  of  Delhi.  The  ne.xt  five 
years  Mr.  Clark  was  employed  by  Cieorge  Mar- 
vin, who  gave  him  twenty-three  dollars  per 
month.  \Vhen  he  began  work  on  his  farm  of 
two  hundred  and  forty  acres,  a  large  i)art  ot 
the  land  was  covered  with  timber;  but  by 
continuous  toil  arul  gooil  management  he  has 
it  now  well  under  cultivation.  He  has  met 
with  most  e.xcellent  success  in  dairying  and 
stock-raising,  keeping  a  large  flock  ot  shee]i. 
some  fotn-  or  five  horses,  and  a  line  dairy  ol 
twenty-four  cows,  selling  the  milk  in  New 
York.' 

On  lune  4,  iSSo,  Mr.  Clark  married  Nellie 
Scohie,  a  native  of  Scotland,  where  she  lived 
until  after  the  deatli  '<i  her  father  in  1S72. 
The  following  year  her  widowed  mother  came 
to  America  with  her  four  children,  and,  .set- 
tling in  this  locality,  remained  a  resident  of  the 
neighborhood  until  her  death,  which  occurred 
December  27,  iS()i,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven 
years.  The  record  of  her  children  is  as  fol- 
lows; ls:iac,  a  farmer,  who  lives  in  llamden  ; 
Annie,  the  wife  of  I'eter  MclCwen;  Nellie,  the 
wife  of  Mr.  Clark;  and  Jessie,  the  wife  ot 
Charles  Anderson,  of  West  Delhi.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Clark  have  become  the  parents  of  two 
children;   namely,  Jessie  R.,  born   February  6. 


I  ,s.s  ;,  .III. I   I  >,i\  i'.   \\  . ,   1...1  n 

both   o|    ulioni   h,i\i-  g I 

;ne    in    the    s.ime   ■  l,i'->.i>,    ui    the    lourlii 
at      school.         In      |S<  M'        I    !  ,rl.        ,  ;.• 

father,  John   Cl.uk 

.Scot  hind,  ;ind  : : 

come  lo  1  i\i'  u  . 

accnrdingU ,  .ind  iu-re  lived  until    Ins   iIimiIi.  '•n 

May  4.    I  Si  14. 

The    subjei  t    o|    ihi-.    In  ief    imtii  . 
m;ide    iiKin     in    e\er\     respect     im|iluu     !.;.    lln 
term,  ;ind  has  won  an   honored   ]io>.ition    in   Ihi 
community  b\   his  h;ii)its  of  imhistrs  .uid   iiite;, 
rit\.       Ill  ]iolitics  he    i-  a  Nti;ii;;ht    I<epublic;iii. 
and  .:;i\es  his  earnest  support    to   tin-   prim  ipli- 
of  the  p;iit\.       Both  he  ,ind  his    wile   ,11, 
in    religious    work,  and   ;ire   esteemed    n 
of  the  I'lesbvterian  church  ;it  Del.iin  < 


i.XRLI-.S     L.      I1K.KS,     ;i      promiii.nt 
;nid    popular    citizen    ot     Roxbury,    In 

■'Is  longs  to  one  of   those   families  wlii,  h 

came  to  this  country  when  it  was 
still  \oung  and  ha\e  grown  up  with  it  through 
all  its  stages  of  hardship  ;ind  of  jirogiess. 

His    grandfather,     .\mbrose     Hicks,     i!i<.'..' 
from    No\a   Scotia  to    Rhode    Island,  u i 
staved   for  a   time,  and   then  canie  to  Dei.n\  m 
Countx.    New    \'ork.       .So   rough    were  the  road- 
that   tile    iouine\   was  a   long  ;ind  dit'ficult  one. 
Mr.    Hicks   came   the   last   part   of  the    u  i\ 
from  Moirisville  on    -  through  the  dens> 
forests,    holding    to     the     faint    tr.i  ' 
following  the  bkized    trees   which    ; 
had    gone    before   him    had    left    n  ii. 

took  up  one  huiKlred  :icres  oi    land.  ^ 

work    to    build    a    log  house.       Th 
completed,  and   the   next   thiiii;  to  : 
to  clear  awa\'  the  hea\y  growth  ot 
midst    of    which    his   kind    l.i\        \V 
enough    of    ground    cl''  "     ' 
[)lant    various    crops; 
year,  he   widened  the 
and    his    wife    h;iil   tin 
ters  -    Jessie    anil     I'o' 
Mr.    Hicks  lived  on  hi- 
known  as  "  the  stone  i 
Ira  till    he    died  ;r 

Mr.    Ira  Hicks  i 
father,   .\mbrose.      He  soo 


•J02 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


iial  pidpcrly  Uulc  hiintlrcci  and  fifty  acres,  and 
so  had  four  hundred  ami  fifty  acres  of  hind  in 
all.  lie  gave  a  great  deal  of  attention,  among 
other  things,  to  cattle-raising.  He  also  kept 
a  fine  dniry,  and  had  a  good  trade  in  butter. 
Later  he  came  down  to  Stratton  j-'alls,  and, 
huving  ten  acres  of  land,  jnit  uj)  a  store,  and 
dealt  in  general  merchandise  and  supplies. 
This  proved  a  good  mo\e ;  for  it  supplied  a 
growing  need,  and  soon  became  a  large  and 
nourishing  business,  in  addition  to  which  Ira 
Kicks  also  took  charge  of  the  post-office. 
Misfortune  now  came,  this  building  being 
destroyed  by  fire.  Misfortune,  however,  did 
not  daunt  Mr.  Hicks,  who  soon  had  a  new 
.store,  and  was  doing  a  larger  business  than 
ever  —  a  business  which  continued  until  after 
the  war  in  spite  of  the  hard  times  which  came 
at  that  jjeriod.  He  was  much  interested  in 
militar\-  matters,  and  won  his  way  to  a  Colo- 
nelcy in  the  New  York  State  militia.  He 
was  a  Democrat,  and  held  the  office  of  -Super- 
visor of  the  town  at  one  time. 

Mr.  Ira  Hicks  married  Laura  Chase,  daugh- 
ter of  David  Chase,  a  progressive  farmer,  who 
had  been  one  of  the  early  settlers.  Mr.  Chase 
had  seven  other  children  —  Sarah,  Lucy, 
Phebe,  Hiram,  Calvin,  William,  and  Margaret. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ira  Hicks  had  three  children, 
namely:  Samuel  .\.  Hicks,  who  married 
Jennie  R.  Barnes,  but  is  now  dead;  Ad- 
dison T.  Hicks,  who  married  Sarah  Older,  and 
lives  in  Stamford,  having  three  children;  and 
Charles  L.  Hicks.  At  the  age  of  eighty-nine 
years  Ira  Hicks  passed  away,  leaving  a  good 
recoril  and  an  honorable  name. 

Mr.  Charles  L.  Hicks  was  born  in  Roxbury, 
October  lo,  1846.  He  received  a  good  educa- 
tion at  Delhi  Academy.  When  he  came  of 
age,  he  took  an  interest  with  his  father  in  the 
store.  This  he  continued  with  good  success 
and  profit  for  many  years.  Mr.  Hicks  married 
Miss  Mary  Wilson,  daughter  of  Robert  F.  and 
I'olly  (I'owell)  Wilson.  Mr.  Wilson  came 
from  Hobart  to  Roxburv  some  years  ago,  and 
lived  here  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of 
se\ent)-five.  He  had  six  childix-n,  including 
Mrs.  Hicks  —  John  I'.,  Mary,  I\gbert,  Calista, 
Charles  M.,  and  b'rank.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Charles  L.  Hicks  have  a  son,  Samuel  W. , 
born  April   1  1 ,   1S76. 


Some  years  ago  Mr.  Hicks  built  a  large 
and  handsome  house  in  one  of  the  finest  locali- 
ties in  the  county.  The  famous  .Stratton  Falls 
contribute  not  a  little  to  the  beauty  of  the 
place,  which,  with  its  pleasant  walks  and 
drives,  its  numerous  shade  and  fruit  trees,  and 
its  lawn  tennis  court,  offers  great  attractions  to 
his  fashionable  summer  guests.  Mr.  Hicks  is 
a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  is  a  Free  Mason, 
belonging,  to  Cceur  de  Lion  Lodge,  No.  571, 
A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Roxbury.  He  is  also  a 
member  of  the  Reformed  church.  He  is 
known  among  a  wide  circle  of  friends  and 
acquaintances  as  a  true  man  and  a  polished 
gentleman,  courteous,  intelligent,  and  agree- 
able, and  possessed  of  more  well-merited 
popularity  than  often  falls  to  one's  lot. 


fOH.X  OLMSTEAD,  Cashier  of  the 
I'^irst  National  Bank  of  Walton,  be- 
longs to  a  prominent  pioneer  family, 
his  ancestors  on  both  his  mother's  and 
father's  side  being  of  good  old  New  England 
stock.  His  grandfather,  Philo  Olmstead, 
who  was  a  native  of  Ridgefield,  Conn.,  be- 
came by  marriage  with  Phebe  Gray  the  father 
of  two  sons  and  one  daughter.  The  latter 
died  in  infancy;  while  one  of  the  sons,  David 
Gray  Olmstead,  died  in  the  prime  of  life  at 
Walton,  leaving  a  widow  and  one  daughter. 
Philo  Olmstead  was  well  known  throughout 
Connecticut  as  Colonel  Olmstead,  being  a 
member  of  the  State  militia.  He  died  in 
his  seventy-sixth  year,  a  wealthy  man.  His 
son  Hiram  was  born  at  Meredith  Scpiare, 
Delaware  County,  N.Y.,  February  20,  1821, 
and  educated  at  the  district  school  and  in  the 
academy  at  Walton,  afterward  devoting  his 
time  to  school-teaching  and  farming.  In 
1847  he  married  Sarah  Hanford,  who  was  born 
in  Walton,  April  15,  1827,  on  the  old  home- 
stead, which  has  descended  to  her  from  her 
father,  Levi  Hanford,  and  in  which  she  still 
resides.  Her  father  was  a  native  of  New 
Canaan,  Conn.,  born  in  that  town  February 
15,  1792,  and  married  Cynthia  Hanford,  who, 
however,  was  not  nearly  related  to  him. 
Mrs.  Olmstead  has  one  sister  now  living,  the 
wife  of  George  S.  St.  John,  of  North  Walton. 
(For  interesting  ancestral  history  sec  reminis- 


rUOGRAl'llIfAT.    RKVIKW 


ccnccs  1)1  Willi. iin  1>.  Ihinforii  lu  an"iiiii  \>ui 
of  this  voluiiic. )  Ml.  aiul  .Mrs.  Hiram  ( )lni- 
stcail  roared  stvcn  (.hililrcii,  all  >>[  whom  arc 
still  living,  John,  the  suhjecl  of  tiiis  sketch, 
being  the  third  child  and  second  son. 

Jolm  Olmstead  was  born  in  Waltun.  March 
-3'  ii>5''>;  ;ind,  after  imbibing  all  the  learn- 
ing which  the  district  school  affonled,  he  was 
sent  to  the  Walton  Academy,  at  the  same 
time  helping  his  father  on  the  farm,  and  later 
teaciiing  school  during  the  winter  term. 
When  twenl\-two  yi-'ars  of  age,  he  began  his 
business  career,  entering  the  cmi)loy  of  I".  A. 
lirisack  as  a  salesman.  Appreciating  his 
voung  clerk's  lare  business  ciualities,  Mr. 
Hrisack  soon  accepted  him  as  a  partner  in  the 
firm.  Mav  25,  1881.  Mr.  Olmstead  married 
the  daughter  of  Mr.  Hrisack,  Miss  lunma: 
and  thev  are  the  \noui\  parents  of  two  ciiil- 
dren:  Ivlith  H.  (Jlmstead,  a  little  miss  of 
eleven  vears,  who  attends  school  and  disjjlays 
special  talent  for  music:  and  Bertice  H.,  who 
is  a  bright  boy  of  eight. 

In  1890  the  firm  of  which  Mr.  Olmstead 
was  a  member  disposed  of  its  business,  which 
was  in  a  most  flourishing  condition:  and  in 
i8i)i  the  i'irst  National  Hank  was  establisiied 
with  a  capital  of  hfty  thousand  dollars  and 
five  thousand  dollars  surplus,  Mr.  Olmstead 
being  a  stockhohler  and  Cashier,  and  his 
father,  Hiram  ()lmstead,  a  stockholder  and 
Director.  Mr.  Olmstead  is  a  Repulilican,  is 
respected  as  a  man  nf  sterling  worth  and  trie<l 
integritv,  and  has  occupied  the  positions  n[ 
Town  and  Corporation  Clerk.  He  is  a  C  on- 
gregationalist,  while  his  wife  is  connected 
"with  the  I'ljMscop.il  church.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Olmstead  reside  at  the  pleasant  iKune  of  her 
father,  who  is  in  frail  health.  Her  niotiier 
died    here    in    189 1. 


LSAX    1:.    I'NSLix    i;aki:k,    a 

beloved  resident  of    llancock,  Dela- 
^-'-^      ware  County,  was  born  in  this  place 
''  ""^'  March    15.    1S43.  daughter  of  (ieorge 

TCnsIin,  [r.,  :ind  his  wife,  Rhoda  Holton  Imis- 
lin.  Her  jiaternal  grandfather,  Ge<irge  I'.ns- 
lin.  a  blacksmith  liy  trade,  worked  his  passage 
from  (iermany  to  America  in  order  to  save 
what    monev  he    had    for  a  start   in    the    New 


r 


Wiirld.      1  li'  w.i>  .iij.    ■  .1 

t  an.i.m.    I'a.,  wlnie    lie    lidjciwrd    liis    liade    in 

connect  iiMi    witii    lainiin.;.      Tciin    ' 

niiti'd   Indian  >ia)eraMd   liunter,   w.i 

lar  friend   i>f    Mr.   Ilnslin's  land  1) ,  wiihwliuin 

he    m.ide    his    linme    when   nut    in    "' 

anil  fur  a  hmg  lime  lliev  h.id  (  luthi 

memenli's  of  that  remaikal)h'  ni.in. 

Mr.    1-jislin    lived    tu    the    adv. in  I 

eighty-h\e  years.  liis  son,  (ieur;;e  I 
Jr..  the  f.itlier  nf  Mrs.  li.ikrr,  w.i-,  I 
1794,  in  the  tnwn  nf  Hiiekingh. un, 
C(un)tv,  l';i.,  just  across  the  river  from  ll.m- 
cnck.  Here  he  was  edue.ited,  being  oidi:;id 
to  walk  live  miles  to  school,  but  .it  an  e.irl\ 
age  began  to  assist  on  the  hmni'  fiiin.  II  i> 
tir,-,t  wife  was  Thankful  lirirfin,  .nnl  ids  ^  t - 
ond,  khoila  Holton.  daughter  nf  Jnn;ithan 
Holtnn,  wlio  came  tn  this  country  from  Cnn- 
necticut  after  the  Revolutionary  War.  .Mr. 
]5olton  settled  nn  the  east  branch  of  the  Dela- 
ware River,  on  what  is  known  as  "Hnlton's 
Fhits"  in  the  town  nf  Hancock,  where  he  was 
one  of  the  early  pioneers.  I^nlisting  in  the 
War  of  i8ir,  he  was  statinned  at  New  \'nrk 
Ibirbor,  and  was  recei\ing  a  |)ensinn  fnr  l)i> 
S(.'r\ices  when  he  died. 

.Susan  luislin  was  educated  in  the  distrii  t 
schonls  of  llancnck,  always  making  that  place 
her  home.  In  1S66  she  married  .\uguslu> 
Lakin.  son  of  John  l.akin,  nf  M;Mi<nck. 
(^  The  genealogv  of  the  l.akin  family  is  given 
in  connection  with  the  bingrai>hy  of  Jnhn  1. 
l.akin.)  Mr.  .Augustus  l.akin  was  a  !uml>;  r- 
man  nn  the  Delaware  River,  and  was  kilh  .1 
by  Ings  falling  upon  him  in  the  woods,  dyiii:, 
the  last  dav  nf  ihj  year  iS8ri.  leaving  hi-  -.vi;- 
a    widow    with    twn   children,    namely; 

man,   wlio    was    burn    I-"ebruary    iS.    i.S' .,.■. 

died  .Sejitember  24,  iS,So:  ;ind  l.ucy  V...  who 
was  born  J.muary  I  :•,,  1S78.  and  is  imw  tin- 
only  living  child  nf  Mrs.  r..iker.  On  Decem- 
ber' 2,  iSS;.  .Mrs.  .Susan  \'..  l.akin  married 
James  Wellinuton  R  '  ■  :"  C.ilbna.  -  ' 
tiarie  Count  v.  bnrn  M  i>^>"-  ^^ 

to    llancnck    in    i8''i''. 
Hale's    |-:dd\.  wh.  '-   • 
and    fartning.      II 
native  oi   \'u'- 
j8,   1874,  le  1 . 
Van  liverv,  the  lormcr  ot    wimni  dien  in   1  S  •;  :, 


704 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


and  the  latter  in  1886.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Baker 
have  educated  two  children,  doing  and  caring 
for  them  as  their  own. 

Mr.  Baker,  a  Democrat  in  politics,  was  a 
very  successful  business  man,  and  was  active 
in  town  affairs,  holding  the  position  of  Poor 
Master  from  . 1 88g  to  1891  inclusive.  He  was 
an  esteemed  member  of  Shehawken  Lodge  and 
Royal  Arch  Chapter,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and 
when  he  died  was  buried  with  full  Masonic 
honors.  He  is  spoken  of  as  a  jovial,  generous- 
hearted  man,  universally  loved  and  respected. 
His  death  was  a  great  loss  to  the  community 
in  which  he  lived,  and  was  deeply  mourned  by 
his  many  friends  and  fellow-citizens.  Mrs. 
Baker  is  noted  for  her  charitable  disposition, 
and  is  at  present  bringing  up  as  her  own  two 
little  children,  a  brother  and  sister,  to  whom 
she  gives  a  happy  home.  Here  they  live  con- 
tented with  the  love  of  so  good  and  noble  a 
woman,  who  is  known  to  them  as  mother,  and 
who  is  so  sincerely  esteemed  by  all. 


ica, 


ETUS  F.  SEARLES  was  born  in  Mid- 
dletown,     Delaware    County,    N.Y., 
January   5,   1852.      His   early  ances- 
tors came   from    England    to    Amer- 
and    settled     in     Massachusetts.       Boaz 


Searles,  his  grandfather,  married  Mary  Bel- 
lows, who  belonged  to  the  noted  Bellows  fam- 
ily of  Vermont.  They  had  ten  children,  who 
were  born  in  the  following  order:  Zetus, 
March  13,  1799;  Lumen,  .September  22, 
1801;  Aurilla,  November  10,  1802:  Flowers, 
September  i,  1804;  Hiram,  July  24,  1806; 
Etheta,  October  31,  1807;  Marina,  October 
24,  1809;  Jerry,  June  17,  1810:  Walter,  July 
27,  1813;  Stillwell,  January  31,  1S15.  Boaz 
Searles  lived  to  be  seventy-six  years  old. 

The  father  of  Mr.  Zetus  .Seailes  married 
Miss  Mary  Blish,  daughter  of  John  Blish,  one 
of  the  early  settlers  of  Griffin's  Corners,  and 
one  of  the  substantial  citizens  of  that  village. 
Of  this  union  seven  children  were  born, 
briefly  recorded  as  follows:  Ivlectra,  married 
first  to  Mr.  S.  Tompkins,  second  to  William 
O.  Kelly,  and  now  living  at  Red  Hill,  has 
two  children.  Frances,  married  to  Jason  B. 
Caton,  a  carpenter  in  Roxbury,  has  six  chil- 
dren.     Elmira,    married    to    Amos    Allison, 


lives  in  Margarettville,  and  has  one  child. 
Zetus  F.  is  further  spoken  of  below.  Susan 
lives  at  home.  Byron  married  Miss  Clara 
Kelly,  and  is  now  a  widower  in  Margarett- 
ville.     Howard    D.    lives   at   home. 

Zetus  F.  Searles  married  at  twenty-two 
years  of  age  the  daughter  of  John  ami  Ange- 
line  (Fuller)  Smith,  both  of  whom  are  living 
quiet,  retired  lives  at  Kelly's  Corners.  Mr. 
Searles  managed  and  worked  the  farm  of  his 
father-in-law  for  some  years,  and  then  bought 
a  store,  in  which  he  is  now  engaged,  and 
which  is  the  largest  mercantile  establishment 
in  the  vicinity.  Mr.  Zetus  Searles  is  a  strong- 
advocate  of  Republican  principles  in  politics, 
and  is  a  man  of  broad  religious  views,  being 
untrammelled  by  petty  distinctions  of  secta- 
rian creed,  while  he  has  sincere  respect  for 
"pure   religion   and   undefiled." 

He  has  one  daughter,  Lina,  who  was  born 
on  October  17,  1877. 


OHN  PETERS  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Stamford,  Delaware  County,  N.Y., 
March  22,  1804,  the  son  of  Richard 
Peters  and  Susannah  Halsted,  who 
came  to  this  county  from  Saratoga,  and  set- 
tled in  the  town  of  Stamford  about  the  year 
1795,  on  the  farm  recently  occupied  by  Mr. 
James  A.  Rich,  bringing  all  their  earthly 
possessions  in  a  wooden  chest  of  primitive 
mould  and  rather  heroic  dimensions,  which 
served  them  for  years  in  their  new  home,  in 
turn  as  table,  tool-chest,  wardrobe,  and  cup- 
board, and  which  was  carefully  preserved  in 
the  family  for  many  years,  bearing  the  marks 
of  teeth  and  claws  of  many  wolves,  bears,  and 
other  wild  animals,  received  during  their  al- 
most nightly  visits  while  doing  duty  as  a  bar- 
ricade to  their  doorlcss  cabin.  It  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  the  presence  of  some  of  these 
animals  around  or  near  their  cabin  during 
these  years  was  almost  of  nightly  occurrence; 
and  the  "death  rate"  of  the  item  of  wolves 
for  a  single  season  killed  by  Mr.  Richard 
Peters  and  a  neighbor,  Mr.  Timothy  Canfield, 
as  an  occasional  pastime,  numbered  as  high 
as  fifteen.  The  writer  remembers  a  solitary 
cove  in  the  woods  near  the  Bovina  line,  on 
the  old   farm,  pointed   out   by  the  old   gentle- 


lilOCRAIMllCAI.    KFVIi:W 


man  (John    I'ctcrs)  many  years   a.L^o  as   a   spot 
where  he  was  at  one  time  attacked  in  (>i)en  day 
by    three    ol    these    hall-starved    creatures,    he 
having;    only    an    axe    and    an    idd    knile    with 
which    to   defend   liimselt,  tiie  coiitiicl    ending 
only  when  he  had  ilespalched   the   most    tleter- 
mined    one    and    injured    another,    and    beini^ 
pretty  well  scratched  up  and  done  lor  hinisell. 
The  family  of   Richard  I'eters  (whose  father 
and    i;ran(lfather    both    bore    the   same    name) 
consisted   of   nine  children,  hve  sons  antl   four 
daughters.      Of  these  John  was  the  sixth  child 
and  the  youngest  son.      One  of  the  social  feat- 
ures  of   our  country  during   these  early  years, 
worthy  of   note,  was   the   existence   of   slavery 
throughout  the  Northern  as  well  as  the  South- 
ern   States.      That   previous  to   the   passage  of 
a    law   about    the   year  1S20  fixing   at    latitude 
thirty-six  degrees  and   thirty  minutes  a   divi- 
sion    known     as     the     "Compromise      Line," 
dividing    States     that     should     henceforth    be 
recognized    as    "slave"    and    "free,"    slavery 
existed     to    a     limited     extent     in     Delaware 
County,  is  a  fact  which  doubtless  many  of  the 
present   generation    have  but  imperfectly  com- 
prehended.     A    considerable    number    of    the 
prominent    farmers,    however,    owned    one    or 
more  slaves.      One  such  was  among  the   chat- 
tels  of   the    Peters  household —a  colored  girl 
whose   name  is  now  forgotten.      Her  acknowl- 
edged value  appeared   to   have   been  estimated 
at   from   two   hundreil   and   fifty  to   three   hun- 
dred  dollars:  and  she  was  "swapped"  around 
among   the    families    of    the    neighborhood    at 
about    one    of    these    prices,    with    nearly  the 
same  fretpiency  and   as   little   ceremony  as  the 
good   woman   of   the   house  in  our  day  changes 
her  servant  girl.      Tlie  sequel    of   this  particu- 
lar Topsy's  history  was  that  during  her  forced 
migrations  she  chanced  to  fall  into  hands   that 
were    reported    as    not    being    any   too    gentle 
toward    her:  and   some   of   her  former  owners, 
having   learned   of   this   fact,  straightway  con- 
sulted with  the  good   minister,  the    Rev.  Rob- 
ert   Forrest,    in    reference    to    the    matter.      A 
purse    was    raised,    a    large    proportion    of   the 
amount  having  been  furnished  by  the  i)reacher: 
and  the  slave  girl  soon  became  the  property  ol 
the  venerable    .Scotch   divine.      There    being  a 
worthv  colored   man  in  the  neighborhood   who 
had   lately  obtained  his  own  freedom,  and   was 


nuitrimoni.illy  inclined,  tiie   gnod    in:iii    .,.. 

out  the  sai)le  Rumeo,  anil  in  course  of  time, 
witii  llie  fullest  consent  of  all  parlies  inter- 
ested, sold  to  him  the  hiilhlul  Juliet  lor  thi- 
sum  of  one  dollar,  marrying  them  in  the  bar- 
gain, the  couple  living  h.ippily  together  lor 
many  years,  the  firm  Iricnds  of  tln-ir  gciurous 
and  saintly  benefactor. 

At    the    age    of    twenly-six    years.    July     1, 
i8>o,   John    I'elers    married   Jane,  d.iuglitir   n| 
William    HIakely,    Msq.,    of    Koitriglit,    .\".^'., 
and  shortly  thereafter  purchased   of    his   l:itlier 
the   Stamford    homestead,  the  father   r^  ' 
shortly  afterward,  with  the  unmarried 
of    his    family,    to    lull)-,    (  hiondag.i    County. 
X.\'.      There    were    born    to    John    ;inil    J;ine 
I'eters   four   daughters   and    two    sons:    Nancy 
C,  who  became  the  wife  of    S;imue!  Mcf'une; 
Sarah  A.,  who  dieil    unmarried   at    the   age   ol 
eighteen   years:   William    I?.,  now  residing  at 
Bioomvill'e:    FJizabeth    J.,     wife    of    the    late 
ludge  D.    r.  .Arbuckle:    .Susan  I-".,  wife  of  the 
Hon.  Henry  Davie;  and  John   R.  I'elers  —  all 
of  whom  are  living  excejil  the  two  first  named. 
Although    succeeding    well    as  a    farmer,    the 
rather   restless   spirit   of    John    was   not   to   be 
confined   to  the   limits    of    the    homestead    do- 
main:   anil,    forming     a     ]jartnershi|j    with     a 
friend  :ind  neighbor.  Mr.  John  Loughren  (who 
later  became  the  senior  member  of   the   butter 
firm    of    Loughren    &    ICghert,    of    New    \'ork 
City),  carried   on    with    him    for   many  ye;irs  a 
t[uite     extensive    and     profitable     busines>    ;i> 
clealers    in   butter,  woid,  etc.      Later  he  addeii 
to    this    i|uite    an    extensive    busines.-    in    th. 
manufacture   of   horse-rakes,  being  one   I'l    ih' 
pioneers  in  this  industry,  beginning  with  th.it 
marvel   of   labor-saving  aiijiliances,  the  wheel- 
less  scratch    rake,  which    in    thi-se   jiroi '.--'■.  ■■ 
days    would    be    regarded    as   a   marvt  '. 
man-killing   art.      The  favorite   branc  ' 
business,    however,   during   his   early 
that   to   which    he   devote<l  nn'st    ol    Ir 
tion.  w:is   dealing   in    wool.      In    tiies 
years  nearly  every  farmer  living   in    t' 
of    Andes,   Hovina,   Middletown.  :r 
kejjt    more   or   less   shee|i,  nrtm- 
two    hundred    to    five    hi 

m;u)y  as  :i  thousand  :   

industry     was     the     ■ 

county.      Fulling   and    cardw.^   u....> 


7o6 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


common  as  grist-mills  at  the  present  day. 
Every  house  had  its  spinning-wheels,  and  very 
many  contained  looms  for  weaving  their  yarn 
into  cloth  for  family  use.  Buyers  of  wool 
were  abundant  in  the  county  about  sheep- 
shearing  time,  the  latter  part  of  May  or  early 
June;  and  activity  meant  success.  Sleep  on 
the  part  of  local  speculators  during  this  rather 
brief  portion  of  the  season  was  a  matter  that 
was  left  almost  out  of  the  question;  and  many 
were  the  "lots  "  of  wool  that  were  purchased 
for  future  delivery  during  the  midnight  and 
early  morning  hours,  the  good  man  of  the 
house  being  "rattled"  out  of  his  bed,  and  the 
negotiations  carried  on  and  completed  through 
the  keyhole  or  open  window,  the  jjurchaser 
having  no  time  to  wait  for  him  to  ajjpear  in 
his  "proper  person."  During  these  years  he 
was  seldom  vvithout  two  or  three  farms  on  his 
hands,  it  being  as  much  in  the  line  of  his 
speculative  disposition  to  buy  a  drove  of  cows 
as  a  dairy  of  butter,  and  a  farm  as  either,  pro- 
viding always  there  was  promise  of  quick  re- 
turns and  a  fair  commission;  and  it  might, 
we  think,  be  safely  said  of  him,  as  many  of 
his  early  acquaintances  would  testify,  that  he 
possessed  in  a  large  degree  a  si)irit  of  deter- 
mination which  usually  "made  things  go." 
In  the  year  1850,  having  purchased  a  farm  in 
the  village  of  Bloomville,  he  removed  to  that 
village,  where  he  shortly  after  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  business.  This  was  the  period 
when  the  gold  excitement  of  California  was  at 
white  heat;  and,  as  an  experiment,  he  made 
at  different  times  large  shipments  of  butter  to 
that  market.  One  of  the  methods  adopted 
with  fair  success  for  preserving  it  sweet  dur- 
ing the  journey  of  two  or  more  months  neces- 
sary for  its  transit  was  that  of  i)acking  the 
butter  in  small  wooden  kegs,  holding  about 
one  gallon,  identical  in  style  with  the  old- 
fashioned  oyster-kegs.  These  kegs  were  in 
turn  packed  in  large  casks  of  sixty  or  more 
gallon  capacity,  and  the  vacant  spaces  care- 
fully filled  with  Turk's  Island  salt.  These 
weighty  packages  were  then  carted  by  team  to 
Catskill,  thence  by  water  to  New  York,  and 
thence  around  Cape  Horn,  crossing  the  equa- 
tor twice  on  their  journey  to  the  "forty- 
niners'"  in  that  then  far-off  land  of  gold — a 
venture    which     proved     a     financial     success. 


The  advent  of  the  hop-growing  industry  into 
Delaware  County  gave  scope  for  speculation; 
and  Mr.  Peters,  although  well  advanced  in 
years,  took  his  chances  with  the  others,  and, 
like  most  others  who  dealt  in  this  rather 
treacherous  commodity,  met  with  varied  experi- 
ences as  to  the  result.  Many  of  the  members 
of  the  One  Hundred  and  Forty-fourth  Regi- 
ment will  recall  a  characteristic  incident 
which  occurred  during  a  visit  made  by  Mr. 
Peters  to  their  camp  at  Upton  Hill,  Va.,  dur- 
ing the  war.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  to 
many  of  the  boys  he  was  a  welcome  visitor; 
and,  when  night  came  on,  they  succeeded  in 
arranging  for  him  a  comfortable  sleeping- 
place  in  one  of  the  tents.  This,  however,  the 
old  gentleman,  being  a  good  sleeper,  entirely 
ignored;  and,  wrapping  himself  in  a  blanket, 
he  took  his  place  with  "the  rest  of  the  boys," 
stretched  at  full  length  around  the  camp-fire, 
where  he  was  soon  sleeping  soundly.  The 
night  being  cool,  the  disposition  was  to  un- 
consciously snuggle  up  a  little  closer  to  the 
embers;  and  toward  morning  the  "mess" 
were  awakened  by  him  with  the  caution: 
"Take  ca.re  there,  boys.'  some  of  you  are 
burning!  It's  somebody's  boots.'"  Then, 
suddenly  getting  out  of  his,  he  said :  "Well, 
well!  I  guess  it's  my  boots,  after  all!" 
They  were  both  burned  to  a  crisp — a  joke 
which  furnished  sufficient  fun  for  the  rest  of 
the  night,  and  which  no  one  seemed  to  enjoy 
better  than  himself.  A  pair  of  army 
"schooners"  about  as  wide  as  they  were  long 
were  substituted,  which  "did  him  ]3roud  "  until 
he  returned  to  Washington. 

Mrs.  Jane  Peters,  his  wife,  died  at  Bloom- 
ville, March  7,  1879,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight 
years,  after  having  spent  a  busy  and  in  many 
respects  an  exemjilary  life.  Of  slight  frame 
and  never  physically  strong,  she  shared  the 
spirit  of  activity  and  ambition  wliich  has  char- 
acterized the  life  of  her  husband.  Her  kind 
disposition  and  gentle  manners  deserved  and 
were  rewarded  with  the  respect  of  all  with 
whom  she  mingled.  Her  remains  are  resting 
beside  those  of  her  husband's  parents,  Richard 
and  Susannah  Peters,  who,  after  living  about 
twenty  years  in  Cortland  County,  returned  to 
Delaware  that  tJiey  miglit  spend  their  last 
days    near   the   scenes   of   their   early  married 


RIOGRAPHICAI.    REVIP:\V 


7 '■-'7 


life,  and  in  the  year  1853  wore,  within  a  few 
weetcs  of  eacli  otiier.  laid  to  rest  in  ti)e  ceme- 
tery at  Blooniville.  Mr.  John  Peters  is  living 
with  his  son,  William  H.  Peters,  at  Hloom- 
ville,  hale  and  hearty,  and  still  full  ot  busi- 
ness projects,  at  the  age  of  ninety-one  years. 
His  long  and  active  life,  crowding  hard  upon  a 
century,  has  been  to  a  greater  extent  than  that 
of  any  other  man  now  living  identified  with 
the  hislorv  of    tlie  village  in  which  he  dwells. 


1  LI. I  AM  H.  I'lnKRS,  third  child 
and  eldest  son  of  John  Peters  and 
Jane  ]51akely,  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Stamford,  Delaware  County,  N.Y.,  Decem- 
ber 23,  1837,  in  the  same  house  in  which  his 
father  first  saw  the  light,  and  took  his  name 
from  his  maternal  grandfather,  William 
Blakely.  Since  the  age  of  twelve  years  he 
has  been  a  resident  of  Blooniville,  having 
removed  with  his  parents  to  that  village  in 
1850,  on  the  same  day  in  which  Simon  B. 
Champion,  the  now  venerable  editor  of  the 
Stamford  Mirror,  took  up  his  abode  tlierein. 
lieing  a  boy  of  an  inquisitive  turn  of  mind, 
his  time  for  the  following  four  years  was 
about  et|ually  divideil  between  the  district 
schoolhouse,  iiis  father's  store,  and  the  print- 
ing-office, with  odds  ]irobablv  in  favor  of  the 
latter.  At  the  age  of  si.xteen  he  was  placed 
in  IIar|)ersfiel(l  Union  Academy,  at  that  time 
uniler  the  supervision  of  the  Rew  Robert 
Rogers,  and  remained  for  two  vears,  at  the 
end  of  which  time  he  entered  I^elaware  .Acad- 
emy at  Delhi,  in  the  old  building  which  is 
now  standing,  opposite  the  County  Clerk's 
office,  it  being  the  first  term  in  which  Profes- 
sor John  L.  Sawyer  was  in  control  of  that  in- 
stitution. He  rcmaineil  a  student  there  for 
about  three  years,  during  which  time  the  [ires- 
ent  buildings  were  erected  and  the  school  was 
removed  into  its  more  commodious  quarters: 
and  during  the  same  time  he  taught  two  win- 
ter terms  of  school.  At  twenty-one  years  of 
age  he  entered  \n\.o  mercantile  business  at 
Blooniville  with  Samuel  McCune,  under  the 
firm  name  of  McCuiie  &  Peters,  and  the  lol- 
lowing  winter  was  elected  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  his  opponent  being  the  honorable 
Stephen    H.    Keeler.    now   deceased. 


Jul)  I/,  i,-.'ii,  1..11:  .M\s  |,r.\iui|s  I.,  the 
battle  111  iUill  Run,  he  rnairied  ilaiin.ih  Rich, 
of  .South  Kiirtright,  d.iUL;hler  nf  J:inies  Rieh 
and  Jane  .Snuthard,  and  ,1  gr.ind-d.mghter  ol 
the  Rev.  Robert  l-".prre>.t.  .Mi-.  Piter-,  is  .1 
sister  nf  Cajdain  Jnhu  Ricli,  l.ili  c.i  J,|,  Km.ii- 
ville,  i-"la.  Like  her  liu^liand,  .Mrs.  Piters 
was  for  a  time  a  sluilenl  at  iJei.iw.ire  Acad- 
emy under  tiie  tutorage  nf  i'rofessor  Sawyer. 
During  the  w.ir  Mr.  Peters  was  a  menilier  ot 
the  town  board,  and  was  fur  some  time  en- 
gaged in  the  recruiting  service,  being  later 
appointed  to  assist  Colonel  Roiicrt  P.irker  and 
the  lion.  James  11.  Graham  in  looking  after 
the  just  a])porlionment  of  .State  militarv 
credits  in  Delaware  Countv.  at  Albanv,  and 
elsewhere.  .After  the  war,  having  closed  out 
his  mercantile  business,  he  engaged  in  agri- 
cultural i>ursuits  on  what  w.i>  then  known  as 
the  John  Bathrick  farm  in  Blooniville.  and 
continued  to  make  this  his  business,  in  p.irt. 
for  about  four  vears.  In  this  short  periorj  he 
entitled  himself,  as  he  declares,  to  be  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  most  unsuccessful  f.irmers 
in  the  community:  and,  feeling  a  p.irticular 
respect  for  men  who  succeed  in  employments 
where  he  cannot,  he  to  this  day  feels  like 
raising  his  hat  when  he  meets  a  prosiierous 
farmer.  Mathematics  was  his  favorite  study, 
and  he  had  a  special  fondness  for  mechanical 
pursuits.  The  astonishing  development  ol  the 
watch-making  industrv  about  1870  leil  him  to 
engage  in  the  watch  and  jewelry  business: 
and  this  occujxition,  together  with  that  of  sur- 
veying, to  which  he  has  Irmn  hoyhuod  given 
more  or  less  attention,  have  for  the  past 
twenty-five  \ears  furnished  him  with  sulVicient 
and  fairly  remunerative  eniployment.  As  a 
surveyor  and  draughtsman,  Mr.  Peters  is  --.liil 
to  have  no  siqierior  in  Del.iw.ire  County. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peters  have  had  a  family  oi 
four  chiiLlren,  three  daughters  and  one  si:)n. 
named,  respectivel)',  Jennie,  who  died  ;it  the 
ago  of  eleven  years:  Liz/iei)ell.  who  [lursued 
a  course  of  stud\-  at  Dekiware  .Academ).  .md 
afterward  graduated  fmn)  the  Oneouta  Normal 
.School;  J:unes  R.,  who  wi-  ''•  ■•  ■  •'"'■•  a  stu- 
dent at  Delaware  .Xcadeni  1  >.  L. 
Moody's  schtol  .it  Mount  1 1  M.i>s. ; 
iiiul  Sarah,  who  finished  .1  co';  udv  .U 
Delaware  Academy. 


7o8 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


'HERMAN       STREET       BOUTON 

was  born  in  Griffin"s  Corners,  May 
17,  1864,  son  of  David  A.  and 
Rollins  (Covell)  Bouton.  His 
great-grandfather  Bouton  came  from  West- 
cheste'r  County,  and  settled  in  Delaware 
County  in  1807.  David  A.  Bouton,  Sr.,  son 
of  the  emigrant,  moved  from  Batavia  Kill  to 
Beaver  Dam,  and  thence,  in  1823,  to  Red 
Kill,  where  he  bought  seventy-five  acres  of 
land,  and  made  his  permanent  home.  He 
served  in  the  War  of  1812.  He  married 
Katie  Williams;  and  they  reared  ten  chil- 
dren, briefly  named  as  follows:  John  Bouton 
married  Betsey  Smith.  Katie  married  D. 
Northrop.  Betsey  married  the  same  after  her 
sister's  death.  Walter  is  deceased.  Avery 
A.  married  H.  Richards.  Polly  married  S. 
Reynolds.  Louisa  married  Henry  Powell; 
and  Sarah,  her  twin  sister,  married  Martin 
Kelly.  Julia  married  Mr.  Thomas  O'Connor. 
David  A.,  Jr.,  married  Miss  Rollins  Covell, 
and  was  the  father  of  Sherman  S.  Bouton, 
the  first  white  child  born  in  Halcott,  Greene 
County. 

David  A.  Bouton,  Jr.,  settled  on  the  farm 
of  the  wife's  father,  to  which  he  added'  two 
hundred  and  fifty  acres,  and  upon  which  he 
built  houses  and  barns,  and  made  many  im- 
provements. Here  on  the  family  estate  seven 
children  were  born.  John  died  in  the  Civil 
War.  Avery  A.  married  Anna  K.  Lasher. 
Harley  married  Gilbert  Moseman,  living  in 
Halcott.  Mary  married  three  times,  first  to 
D.  A.  Morrison,  second  to  L.  Faulkner,  and 
third  to  C.  Sanford ;  she  has  one  child,  and 
in  Margarettville.  Daniel  H.  married 
Lasher,  by  whom  he  had  one  child,  and 
her  death  married  Minnie  Newton. 
Henry  married  Mary  Van  Valcurbing. 

Sherman  S.  Bouton  was  the  youngest  child 
of  his  parents.  He  received  his  education  at 
Griffin's  Corners,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
three  years  was  united  in  marriage  to  Hattie 
Todd,  the  daughter  of  John  and  Emily  (Utter) 
Todd.  Mr.  Todd  is  a  successful  farmer  at 
Dry  Brook,  Middletown,  and  has  reared  a 
family  of  seven  children:  Charles;  Warren; 
Nettie;  Hattie,  Mrs.  Bouton;  Bertha;  Liz- 
zie; and  Ida.  Mr.  Bouton  established  a  gro- 
cery and    ice-cream    parlor    in    the  village  of 


lives 
Ettie 
after 


Griffin's  Corners,  which  he  conducted  for  two 
years.  He  then  came  to  Margarettville,  and, 
buying  the  Scriven  place,  converted  it  into  a 
restaurant,  and  later  on  enlarged  it  into  a 
hotel,  which  he  has  conducted  successfully, 
and  in  a  way  to  elicit  the  commendation  of  his 
patrons  and  the  travelling  public  who  enjoy 
his  hospitality.  Mr.  Bouton  is  full  of  busi- 
ness enterprise  and  public  spirit,  and  has  been 
among  the  foremost  in  every  project  for  the 
advancement  and  development  of  the  town's 
resources.  In  the  parlance  of  the  present  era 
of  active  effort,  he  is  a  "boomer."  In  politi- 
cal faith  he  holds  fast  to  Republican  tradi- 
tions. He  has  one  son,  P"orrest,  born  July 
13,    1888. 


ILLIAM  THOMSON  BLACK,  who 
is  holding  the  highest  office  in  his 
town  to-day,  is  a  grandson  of  Will- 
iam Black,  a  Scotch  herdsman  who  came  to 
seek  his  fortune  in  America  in  1841,  and  who 
settled  on  a  farm  in  Bovina,  Delaware  County. 
He  left  seven  children,  four  of  whom  are  still 
living,  namely:  Mrs.  Mary  Whitson,  of 
Dutchess  County;  Mrs.  Jane  Taylor,  of 
Andes;  Mrs.  Rebecca  Thompson,  of  Minne- 
sota: the  Rev.  James  Black,  of  Hamilton, 
Ontario.  David,  the  father  of  William  T., 
and  two  others,  are  dead. 

David  was  a  boy  of  seventeen  when  he  came 
to  America,  and  was  a  farm  laborer  for  some 
years  before  he  became  a  land-owner.  His 
first  possessions  lay  in  Grant  County,  Wiscon- 
sin; but  he  moved  back  to  Delaware  County, 
and  here  he  spent  the  last  years  of  his  life. 
He  died  in  1883.  His  wife,  Margaret  Thom- 
son, who  was  fourteen  years  his  junior,  died 
thirteen  years  before  him.  David  was  an 
honest,  industrious  man,  who  held  the  respect 
of  the  entire  community  in  which  he  lived. 
He  was  an  Elder  in  the  United  Presbyterian 
church,  in  whose  communion  he  lived  and 
died;  and  he  was  elected  Supervisor  for 
eleven  consecutive  terms.  He  left  two  sons 
—  William  T.  and  James,  the  latter  a  Presby- 
terian clergyman  in  Boston,  Mass.  Two 
other  children   died   in   childhood. 

William  T.  Black  was  born  in  Beetown, 
Grant  County,  Wis.,  on  August  5,  1861.     He 


RIOGRAI'IIICAF,    RKVII'AV 


7'» 


grew  up  in  Rovina,  whore  he  was  educated  in 
the  district  scIiodI.  Opportunity  for  jiiu'suing 
a  higher  course  of  study  was  denied  him,  as 
the  management  of  the  farm  fell  to  his  lot  at 
his  father's  death.  In  his  youth  he  taught 
school  for  two  terms,  which  helped,  no  doubt, 
to  fix  thoroughly  in  his  mind  the  learning  he 
had  already  acquired.  The  homestead  has 
now  passed  into  his  hands,  and  has  been  re- 
modelled and  greatly  improved.  He  takes  a 
pardonable  pride  in  the  three  dozen  Jersey 
cows,  whose  cream  and  butter  are  of  wide 
local  reputation.  On  his  farm  is  one  of  tiic 
finest  groves  of  larches  to  be  found  in  Rovina. 
In  1S85  Mr.  IMack  was  married  to  Miss 
Bell  J.  Irvine,  a  daughter  of  Henry  and  Jean- 
nette  (Ainslie)  Irvine,  of  Delhi.  Roth  he 
and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  United  Pres- 
byterian church  in  Rovina  Centre,  of  which 
he  is  a  Trustee.  William  Rlack  is  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics.  He  is  a  very  capable  man 
of  affairs,  well  informed,  and  possessed  of 
sound  sense.  lie  is  now  acceptably  serving 
his   second   term   as  .Su]3er\isor. 


J.  GKORGIC  is  a  [irominent  farmer, 
residing  in  Arkville,  in  Middletown, 
Delaware  County,  and  was  born  on 
the  site  of  his  present  home.  Jul}' 
24,  1843.  'J'^  great-grandfather  was  John 
George,  of  whom  more  may  be  found  in  the 
biography  of  Iliram  N.  George.  Henry 
(jeorge,  son  of  John,  married  Elizabeth  Trem- 
pcr;  and  their  fourth  son  was  Edward,  wh(j 
married  Olive  Todd,  and  became  the  father  of 
the  special  subject  of  this  sketch.  Edward 
George  received  his  education  in  a  log  school- 
house.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  lie  learned 
coopering.  About  this  time  his  marriage 
took  place,  his  wife  being  a  ilaughter  of 
Lyman  and  I'olly  (Craft)  Todd.  Ruying  the 
homestead  farm,  he  built  thereon  a  new  frame 
house,  besides  a  saw-mill.  Tiiis  land  he 
finished  clearing,  and  then  bought  more,  so 
that  in  time  he  owned  five  hundred  and 
seventy-five  acres.  The  timber  was  worked 
up  in  his  mill,  and  then  sold,  mostly  in  the 
neighborhood,  though  a  small  quantity  was 
shipped  to  Philadelphia.  Ry  these  enter 
prises  he  was  able  to  leave  a  comfortable  fort- 


une when  he  (lied,  at  the  .ige  ol  sixty-seven. 
He  had  two  children.  The  i|d>-.sl  is  the  suii- 
ject  ol  this  sketch.  I'lie  nijier  is  a  sister, 
Catherine  Gc-or-e,  the  wile  c>|  \ 
Rroadkill,  of  Reaver  Hill,  and  li.is  tin 
ilren.  Their  father  w.is  a  kepublir.ui,  and  a 
very  intluenlial  and  honorable  cili/en.  I'iie 
mother  has  outlived  her  husband,  and  is  still 
a  cheerful  Christian  of  the  Methoilist  I'^iiscn- 
])al  faith. 

A.  J.  George  went  to  the  jiublic  scho<d  in 
the  .Arkville  district,  ami,  like  his  father, 
early  began  life  for  himself,  bein^  ni.irried  at 
the  age  of  twentv,  during  the 
to  Hannah  Elizal)elh  Myres. 
April,  I.S43,  and  v.as  therefore  his  senior  li\ 
a  few  months.      .She  was  t'-  '  ter  of  J.icob 

Myres,     a     farmer     in     M  iile.       H<r 

grandfather,   Henry  .Myres,  uniiKd    ( 
Sha\'er.      He  was  horn  in   Germ.mv,  h 
in    early    life   to   this   country,    and    settled   at 
-Shavertown,  where  he  met   his  wife,  by  whom 
he    became     the     father    of     fifteen    childreTi. 
Those    who    grew    up     were:    Jacob, 
Henry,  William,  Atlam.  .Sally,   Retsy, 
ine,    and    Jane    Myres.      Jacob    Myres    reared 
seven  children.      Of  these  Jackson  Myr 
ried    Catherine   Gavett,  of    I'ine  Hill, 
seven    chilchen.      James    .M\res    married    H.ii- 
riet    Wycoff,  lives    in    Marg.ueltville,  and   has 
five  chiUlren.      Catherine  Myres  married  Wes- 
ley   Gavett.    of    I.i\ingston    Manor,    and    has 
three    children.      Daniel    Myres    died    in    the 
great     Rebellion,    fighting    for    his    country's 
honor.      Hannah  M\res  is  Mrs.  tieorge.      May 
.Mvres  is  the  wife  of  Jackson  Corhin.  of    Ro\- 
hurv.  and    has    four  children.      Charles    M\  res 
marrieil  Sarah  Slack,  lives    in    Margarcttville. 
and     has    one    child.      In    vouth    Mr.    George 
worked    with    his   father,  lumbering  and    farm- 
ing, and    now  is  the  (jwner  of   the   old    hi'me- 
stead  ;   hut    he   has   built  a  new  r<  - 
done  much   to   keep   the   estate  ti;. 
times.      He   keeps   twenty-five  cows, 
has   thirty   head   of   other       ••'■.    '"  '  • 
and  fifty  sheep.      Fn  fact  ' 
sive  farmer  in  the  vallev. 

Ihe  home  of  Mr.    ii-  f  Mv~    ■ 
blessed  witli  nvi- 
was     liorn     Felini  1:  .     3. 
,  Griffin's     Corners,     in    t! 


7IO 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


was  born  July  14,  1870,  and  lives  at  home. 
Menitt  was  born  F"ebruary  6,  1873,  and  has 
followed  the  paternal  and  grand-paternal. ex- 
ample in  his  youthful  marriage  to  Lillie  War- 
ren; and  they  live  at  Griffin's  Corners,  with 
one  child.  Cyrus  George  was  born  Novem- 
ber 13,  1875,  an<^l  I'v^s  °"  ^^^  home  farm; 
and  so  does  Harvey  George,  born  October  21, 
1879.  Arthur  George  was  born  May  10, 
1868,  and  died  at  the  early  age  of  four.  In 
politics  Mr.  George  is  a  Republican.  The 
Greek  poet,  Hesiod,  has  wisely  written,  "  Let 
it  i)lease  thee  to  keep  in  order  a  moderate- 
sized  farm,  that  so  thy  garners  may  be  full 
of  fruits  in  their  season."  Hardly  can  the 
George  farm  be  called  moderate  in  size,  but 
its  owner  faithfully  obeys  the  i-njunction  to 
keep   it   in  prime  shape. 


Bl'lNEZER  LAIDLAW,  of  Margarett- 
ville,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Andes, 
July  28,  1828.  His  grandparents, 
Thomas  and  Margaret  (Stewart)  Laidlaw, 
were  both  natives  of  Hawick,  Scotland,  where 
Thomas  was  a  spinner  in  a  woollen  factory. 
Three  children  were  born  to  them;  namely, 
William,  Ebenezer,  and  Mary.  Thomas  came 
to  America  in  1823,  and  bought  in  New 
Kingston,  Delaware  County,  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land,  which  was 
of  more  than  ordinary  value,  as  it  had  already 
been  cultivated  and  improved.  He  died  at 
eighty-seven  years  of  age,  being  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  church,  and  a  Whig. 

William  Laidlaw  settled  in  Weaver  Hollow 
in  Andes,  where  he  purchased  two  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  partially  improved  land. 
The  lease  of  the  previous  tenant  having  run 
out,  William  took  the  estate  on  a  new  lease, 
the  contract  of  which  stipulated  for  twenty 
bushels  of  wheat  a  year  as  rental.  He  pur- 
chased this  farm  eventually,  and  married  Miss 
Isabella  Liddle,  by  whom  he  had  twelve  chil- 
dren, briefly  mentioned  as  follows:  Andrew, 
who  married  Margaret  Miller,  and  to  whom 
were  born  six  children;  Ebenezer,  of  whom 
this  memoir  is  written;  Thomas,  who  married 
Catherine  Robertson,  and  is  now  a  farmer  in 
Kansas;  Margaret,  who  married  Daniel  Hizer, 
became  a  widow  in  1891,  and  is  the  mother  of 


seven  children,  and  lives  in  Andes;  Stewart, 
a  farmer  and  blacksmith,  who  married  Mary 
Johnson,  and  has  a  family  of  five  children; 
Christina,  who  married  James  Reynolds,  and 
has  one  child;  James,  who  died  young;  Will- 
iam, Jr.,  who  was  in  the  war,  and  now  lives 
in  Michigan;  John,  deceased;  Mary,  who 
married  James  Miller,  and  has  five  children; 
Isabella,  who  married  F.  Ferguson,  a  farmer 
of  Bovina,  and  has  three  children;  Alexander, 
who  married  Milla  Gibbs,  and  is  a  stock 
dealer  and  blacksmith  in  Kansas.  The  father 
was  a  Republican,  and  a  Presbyterian.  He 
died   at   the  age   of   sixty-five   years. 

Ebenezer  was  educated  in  the  district  school 
of  Andes,  and  at  twenty-two  started  to  work 
as  a  stone-mason.  Three  years  later  he 
learned  blacksmithing,  which  he  plied  for  six- 
teen years  at  Margarettville.  After  some 
years  of  industrious  toil  he  bought  a  small 
estate  near  the  village,  where  he  established 
and  conducts  a  dairy  of  grade  Jerseys,  not, 
however,  neglecting  his  trade,  at  which  he 
continues  to  work.  He  won  the  heart  and 
hand  of  Miss  Sabra  Kelly,  a  daughter  of  Jesse 
and  Priscilla  (Ackerly)  Kelly,  to  whom  he 
was  joined  in  marriage  in  1857.  Six  children 
were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kelly:  Demaris; 
Naoma:  Dennis;  Sabra  K.,  Mrs.  Laidlaw; 
Jane;  and  Emery.  Ebenezer  and  Sabra 
(Kelly)  Laidlaw  are  the  parents  of  two  chil- 
dren:  Bell,  born  November  23,  1864;  and 
William,  born  November  14,  1872.  The  lat- 
ter married  Fanny  Moore,  a  daughter  of  Ben 
Moore,  and  resides  in  Margarettville,  where 
he  follows  the  trade  of  blacksmith.  Ebenezer 
Laidlaw  has  inherited  the  thrift  and  cool 
sagacity  of  his  Scottish  ancestry,  with  whom 
the  national  characteristic  of  shrewdness  was 
strongly  marked.  He  is  a  Republican,  and 
among  other  offices  has  held  that  of  Overseer 
of  the  Poor. 


T'r::^OBERT     B.     van     AKEN,     a    well- 

I  ^^      known  furniture  dealer  in  the  village 

|b\         of  Walton,  has  long  been  connected 

^"^  with     the    mercantile    interests    of 

this   part   of   Delaware   County,  having  owned 

and    managed    a   jewelry  store    in    the  village 

prior  to  the  time  of  opening  his  present  place 


RlfX'.kAPmCAI,    KKVIKW 


lit  business.  lie  IS  a  man  in  tin-  |)riinc  ul 
life,  and  during;-  his  residence  in  this  llirivinj^ 
village  has  built  up  for  hinisoU  a  reputation 
for  honesty  and  gooii  business  nuthods.  ilis 
birth  occurred  in  Deliii  in  1847.  His  father. 
Jeremiah  \'an  Aken,  was  horn  in  Middletown 
in  18 JO,  and  died  in  the  town  of  Walton  in 
I  890. 

Mr.  \'an  Aken  is  a  ;.;randson  of  (lideon  \'an 
.•\ken,  will)  emi!;raled  to  this  country  frum 
Holland,  and  settled  in  Kingston.  N.\'..  but 
later  came  to  Delaware  County  with  his  wife, 
and  took  up  a  small  tr.ict  of  thicklv  wooded 
land  on  I'latner  Brook.  They  reareil  a  fami!\' 
of  twelve  children,  all  of  whom  grew  to  aiiult 
life,  and  all  but  two  marrieil.  These  four  are 
now  living:  Joseph,  a  venerable  man  of  ninety 
xears,  whose  home  is  near  I-'ort  .'\nn ;  Cather- 
ine, residing  on  the  old  home  farm;  Xancv, 
the  wife  of  Alvan  Hindick.  near  l)elhi;  and 
Kliza,  the  widow  of  Lucian  Stillson,  a  resi- 
dent of  ]\Ieredith. 

The  father  of  the  subject  of  tiiis  brief 
sketch  became  one  of  the  prosperous  farmers 
of  Delaware  County,  carrying  on  his  occu|)a- 
tion  for  a  few  \ears  in  Delhi,  and  afterwanl 
removing  to  Hamden,  clr)se  to  the  town  of 
Tompkins.  He  married  Ann  V.  Hallentine. 
who  was  born  in  the  town  of  Bovina.  their 
nuptials  being  celebrated  in  1836.  .Si.\  chil- 
dren were  born  to  them,  two  of  whom  died  in 
early  infancy,  the  record  of  the  living  being 
as  follows:  .Solomon,  a  firmer,  owns  and 
occupies  a' farm  adjoining  the  paternal  home- 
stead in  rom])kins.  is  a  widower,  and  has  one 
son.  Catherine,  the  eldest  daughter,  keeps 
house  for  her  brother,  Solomon  \'an  .Aken. 
William,  a  farmer,  residing  on  the  old  home- 
stead, is  married,  and  has  three  children,  one 
son  and  two  daughteis.  Robert  B.  is  further 
mentioned  below.  The  mother  survived  her 
husband  about  a  year,  and  died  in  Walton  in 
1891.  Thcv  were  sincere  Christian  peojile, 
he  being  a  membL-r  of  tiie  Methodist  church, 
and  she  of  the  I'nited  Presbyterian  churcii. 

Robert  was  educated  in  the  district  schoids, 
and  assistcil  on  the  home  farm  until  twenty- 
three  years  old.  when  he  fidlowed  the  bent  of 
his  inclinations  and  learned  the  jeweller's 
trade,  coming  to  Walton  and  entering  the  em- 
ployment   of    Harvey   .Morton.      He  afterward 


ip|)eneil    a    jcwelr\-    stcire    in    I. 

(/ounty,  where    he   spent    two    . 

.Mr.   \';in   .Aken  returned  In  Walloi 

lished    a    store    fur    the    sale    cif    j., .,.,!>,    .,,,  ; 

silverw.ire,  succeeding    sn    well    in    this  enli  1 

prise   111, it  live  years    later    he    bmi^lil    mit    the 

store  of    Mr.  Morton.      In   189^  in-  '"'-■• 1  oi 

his  jewelry  store  and    its  content^  in. 

White,  and  opem-d  llie  store  in-  i|i,\v  ",  ;upir^. 
l>uttiiig  in  .1  complete  line  ot  furniture:  .iimI 
his  prospects  are  good  for  building  iij)  a  sub- 
stantial business. 

The   marriage   of    Mr.  \'an    .\ken   ;iiid    Miss 
Mniily  .-\lverson    took    place  on    ])ecenibrr  jn, 
18S2,   in  the  town  of  W.ilton,  the  place  of    na- 
tivity of  the  bride.      Mrs.  \'an  .Xkeii's  p;irent-,, 
George   ami    Hettie   (Morton)   .Mverson,   were 
natives  of  Walton.      Her  mother  |i.isseil  to  the 
higher    life   in    1S90,  at    the   age   of   sixty-four 
years,  and    her  father  in   1S91.      They  left  tu  e 
children,  as  follows:    ICsther,  the  wife  of  (  )ren 
(j.    15arlow.    of    Daveii'jort.    la.:    J-Jiiilv.    Mrs. 
\'an  .\ken  :    Ihomas,  a  farmer  on  the  old  farm 
in    Walton:    Dam.iris,    tin-    wife    of    Ransom 
Wilson,    a    lumberniaii    in    .McKeaii    (/oikUw 
I'a.  :   Seymour,    an    unmarried    man    1: 
Walton.      .Mr.    and    Mrs.    \'an    .Vken    ! 
children.      Both    he  and  his  wife  enio. 
teem    of   their  neighbors :   .md    b"' 
workers     in     the     Congre_,'.' i'li  ^' 
which    they    are    regular 
callv,   Mr.  \'an    .Aken    h.i>   •-.• 
towaril  the  teachings  of  the  k 
although  he  claims  the  right 
man  best  fitted  for  the  positio 


_,lDWARD      C.       I..\SI 
(iiittin's    Corners, 
l-'leischmanns    1  : 
and    is    looked    ujion   as  .1 
and    good   citi/eii.      11 
(jreeiie    Countv.   \.^ 
and    Mliza  .A 
of     Conrad 
Lasher.      Coi 
Countw  - 
his  marr;  i. 

he  was  .m  early  settler. 
made  the  journev  "  ''  '  - 
llKirked    trees,    c; 


712 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


with  them.  They  made  a  home;  and  he 
became  a  successful  farmer  and  prosperous 
man,  both  he  and  his  wife  living  to  the  age 
of  eighty-three  years.  They  were  members 
of  the  Lutheran  church,  but  never  learned  the 
luiglish  language.  They  raised  a  family  of 
eight  children,  by  name  Robert,  Edward  H., 
Allen,  Abraham,  Frederick,  Susan,  Maria 
Susan,    and   Katherine. 

Allen  Lasher  was  burn  in  Red  Hook,  Co- 
lumbia County,  N.Y.,  and  was  in  every  sense 
a  self-made  man.  His  educational  opportu- 
nities were  so  limited  that  he  received  in  all 
but  twenty-three  days'  schooling.  He  en- 
gaged in  farming  and  lumbering,  and  worked 
hard  to  get  ahead  in  the  world,  cutting  tim- 
ber, and  then  carrying  it  to  Kingston,  where 
he  purchased  supplies.  This  journey  took 
four  days,  and  was  made  under  difficulties. 
Mr.  Lasher  was  born  in  1823,  and  lived  to  be 
sixty-nine  years  of  age,  his  wife  dying  at  the 
age  of  fifty-two.  They  left  seven  children: 
Edward  C. ;  Emmett  M.,  who  married  Al- 
lerina  H.  Vaudermark,  and  had  one  child; 
Mary  E. ;  Viola  V.,  who  married  Theodore  V. 
Floyd;  Hulda,  who  became  the  wife  of  Will- 
iam H.  Whispul,  and  has  two  children; 
Charles,  residing  in  Newport;  and  James, 
who  lives  at  Griffin's  Corners. 

Edward  C.  attended  the  district  schools, 
then  commenced  farming  and  lumbering,  and 
in  1893  bought  the  hotel  built  by  Asa  Grififin, 
which  under  his  efficient  management  is  well 
patronized.  The  property  covers  two  acres, 
and  the  hotel  accommodates  a  large  number  of 
boarders.  Mr.  Lasher's  first  wife  was  Harriet 
Kelly,  daughter  of  Kelsey  Kelly.  -She  died 
in  1879,  leaving  one  child,  Edna,  who  did  not 
long  survive  her  mother.  Mr.  Lasher  chose 
for  his  second  wife  Jennie  V.  Ferio,  daughter 
of  Peter  and  Jane  (Jones)  Ferio,  the  former 
of  whom  was  a  prosperous  farmer  on  Bingle 
Hill.  Her  mother,  daughter  of  Robert  and 
Jane  (Newton")  Jones,  was  born  in  Wales  in 
1765,  but  came  to  this  country  when  she  was 
five  years  old.  Robert  Jones  lived  to  be 
eighty-eight  years  of  age,  and  his  wife  was 
ninety-four  at  the  time  of  her  death.  They 
had  a  family  of  fourteen  children.  By  his 
second  marriage  Mr.  Lasher  has  one  son, 
Samuel   A.,   born  July    12,    1882. 


Mr.  Lasher  has  inherited  the  characteristics 
of  his  German  ancestors  in  energy,  i)ersistent 
effort,  and  good  business  qualities,  ready  to 
work  hard  with  any  worthy  object  in  view. 
He  is  a  Republican  in  his  political  opinions, 
and  a  Methodist  in  religion.  He  is  consid- 
ered one  of  the  solid  business  men  of  Middle- 
town,  and  is  doing  all  he  can  to  aid  in 
advancing  the  Ijusiness  and  social  interests  of 
the  town. 


/^^TiToRGE  HENRY  BARNES,  an  able 
\  '•)  I  and  prosperous  business  man,  and  an 
^ —  esteemed  citizen  of  Franklin,  is  here 
successfully  engaged  as  a  dealer  in  furniture, 
having  a  substantial  trade  in  this  and  the  sur- 
rounding towns.  He  is  the  worthy  representa- 
tive of  a  pioneer  family,  being  the  grandson 
of  Lyman  Barnes,  and  the  son  of  Levi  Barnes, 
both  of  whom  were  formerly  well-known  citi- 
zens of  Franklin. 

Lyman  Barnes  was  born  in  Branfort,  Conn. 
After  arriving  at  years  of  maturity,  he  re- 
moved to  New  Haven,  where  he  engaged  in 
general  farming,  residing  there  until  after  the 
birth  of  all  his  children.  In  1830  he  came 
from  his  New  England  home  to  this  county, 
locating  in  the  town  of  Franklin,  where  he 
spent  his  last  years.  He  married  a  Miss 
Brackett,  who  was  of  Scotch  extraction,  but  a 
native  of  Connecticut.  She  bore  him  several 
children,  including,  besides  Levi,  the  father 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  the  following: 
George  L.,  who  came  here  from  the  State  of 
his  nativity,  and,  after  spending  a  few  years 
in  this  vicinity,  moved  with  his  family  to 
Michigan,  where  he  died,  leaving  a  widow 
and  three  children;  Merrick,  who  spent  his 
last  years  in  Georgia:  Sherman,  who  accom- 
panied his  brother  Levi  to  Georgia,  where 
both  were  slave-holders,  and  lived  and  died  in 
that  State;  and  three  sisters,  Betsey,  Jane, 
and  Lurinda.  None  of  this  family  are  now 
living. 

Levi  Barnes  was  born  in  New  Haven, 
Conn.,  in  1 800,  and  was  there  married  to 
Flora  Hubbell,  the  daughter  of  John  and  Pris- 
cilla  (Foote)  Hubbell,  the  latter  of  whom 
died  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine  years,  some  four 
years  prior   to    the    decease  of   her   husband. 


1'.|()(;k  \i 


If  \i, 


lAII'AV 


''\ 


I  IK-  laliR-i  ^pciii  uu-  r.iriui  vi\u>  m  iii>  m.ii - 
rioil  life  in  tlio  cit\'  in  which  he  w.is  horn, 
beiiij;  tlu-  i;iri;cr  purl  ol  Ihc  time  <.iiL;;ii;v(l  in 
the  nianutactiirc  of  conilis,  opeialin.^  (piitc  a 
large  factory.  In  1S36  he  went  South  wiiii 
his  brotlier  Meirick,  settling  in  (kvjrgia, 
where  he  iivetl  until  his  lemoval  to  this  town. 
His  declining  years  were  passed  in  the  home 
of  his  eldest  son,  George  Henry,  of  I'ranklin, 
who  was  l)orn  in  New  Haven,  Conn.,  in  1829. 
To  I.cvi  Barnes  and  liis  wife  four  children 
were  born,  as  follows:  Mary  E.,  who  married 
Alonzo  HIish,  and  died  at  Hawdey,  Pa.,  at  the 
age  of  twentv-lwo  years,  leaving  an  infant 
son;  George  Henry:  John  Hubbell.  a  whole- 
sale dealer  in  tea  and  coffee  in  Boston,  who 
was  killed  in  a  railwav  wreck  in  Cambridge, 
Mass.,  in  1892.  leaving  a  witlow  and  three 
children;  and  Herbert,  a  farmer  in  the  town  of 
BainbridiLC.  Chenango  County. 


■r^lClIARl)  .S.  ll.AMxMOXD.  a  popular 
In^  an<l  [irominent  citizen  of  Ku.xbury, 
J_b\  was    born    at    Balavia    Kill    in    this 

^""^  town.  January  15,  1S39.  He  is  of 
iMiglish  and  Dutch  descent,  one  of  his  great- 
grandfathers, named  Ferris,  having  come  here 
from  Holland.  Mr.  Richaril  S.  Hammond 
can  remember  going  to  visit  him  in  his  old 
log  house  many  years  ago.  Mr.  Hammond's 
paternal  grandfather  was  Jonathan  Hammond, 
wiio  came  to  Koxbury  from  Long  Island,  and 
settled  on  a  small  farm  and  built  a  log  house. 
His  wife  was  I'olly  Jenkins.  They  had  six- 
children  —  Nathaniel,  James,  Polly.  Pha-be, 
Margaret,    and    I.itta. 

Nathaniel  Hammond,  the  father  of  the  sub- 
ject of  the  present  sketch,  was  born  at  liatavia 
Kill,  and  received  a  common-school  educa- 
tion. At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  purchased 
a  farm,  which  is  now  owned  by  James  Sher- 
wood, Jr.  This  farm  he  sold  after  improving 
the  land  and  buildings,  and  went  to  work  in 
the  carpenter's  trade,  which  he  followed  the 
rest  of  his  life.  He  married  Caroline  Sears, 
the  daughter  of  Richard  Sears,  and  had  eight 
children:  Richard  S. :  Nancy:  Franklin: 
Daniel  and  David,  who  were  twins;  James; 
Herbert;  and  Hector,  .\fter  working  as  a 
carpenter   at    Roxbury  for   a   short    time,    Mr. 


Il.immond      mo\ed      i"      l.'.-\iii^i'iii. 
Count)-,    and    from    there    to    Clstir    1 
where  he  spent  liie  last  years  of   jii^  jitc      lli- 
was  a   Whig,    and    w;is    ;i    prominent    cili/.t-n. 
well    known  and    respected.      His  thurcli  pri-l 
erence   was    Ba|)tisl,  ;ind    he  was   a   pr- 
niend)er   of   that    church.      lie   died  a: 
of    fortv-seven.      His   wife   survived   him,    ;in'l 
married    a    second     husband.      Both    are    now 
dead. 

Richard,  who  was  n;imed  for  his  ;;rand- 
father  .Sears,  was  educated  in  the  district 
schoid.      At    the    ;ige    of    seventeen    he    went 

West    to    Illinois,    where   In;   workeil    f 

but   came   back   to    Roxbmy  alter  tlin 
and  continued    in   the  sani  v.uii'.  .1 

few   months   after   the   on;  Ci\il 

War.  He  then  torik  up  arm>  in  detence  ot  iii> 
country,  enlisting  in  Septemiier.  |.S''>l.  in 
Company  G,  Twentieth  New  York  \'olunleer 
Militia,  as  a  i)rivate.  :it  the  end  "1 
being  ]iiomoted  to  be  Corporal.  In  tii 
of  .\ntietam.  September  17.  I  So:;,  Mr.  ll;im- 
mond  was  wounded  in  the  knee,  and  disabled 
so  that  he  had  to  come  home,  receiving  his 
discharge,  .-\fter  his  return  he  bought  a  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  at  Pin.  Mil!. 
Ulster  County.  At  the  enti  of  two  . 
sold  it,  and  bought  out  a  grocery  buM);.  "  ■.-.. 
Pine  Hill;  but  at  the  end  of  .1  few  years, 
deciding  to  go  back  to  farming,  he  tr.ided  his 
grocery  business  for  a  farm  on  I'd;. 'n  Cre'-k. 
Here  he  remained  ten  ye;irs. 

On  July  4.   1865,  he  was  marn.       ; 
H.  Cure,    the   daughter   of    William    1 
Pine   Hill.      She   died  on   this  farm   ,ii    liii.  n 
Creek;  and  he  sold   the   place,  and    .     •  :■' 
position  as  travelling  salesman.      ' 
15,     1874,    he   married    Pho-be   Gr 
of    Jonathan     and     Nancy     Gray. 
Countv.      He    has    two    chiidreii 
wife,  namely:   PLlmjr   I".,   who   w.i- 
uarv    13,    1866.    married    Jennie    ii 
one    child,    and    i- 
in    Lexington,  Gr 
F.,  who   lives  at   home.      Hy  his 
ho   had   four  child---    '  ••     -    "' 
H.,  both  of  whom 

IL;  and   Charles    P.  .1^:   :.s  i:. .:•.■.  eii. 

and  the  latter  seven  >■ 

Mr.  Hammond  was   Deputy 


7»4 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


years,  and  is  now  a  Constable  in  the  town. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  John  A.  Logan  Post, 
No.  477,  of  the  Grand  Army  in  Stamford,  and 
is  a  respected  and  popular  citizen  of  Roxbury. 


iDMOND  '['.  I-'INCH,  a  prosperous 
farmer  of  Tompkins,  Delaware  County, 
N.Y.,  was  born  in  the  adjacent  town 
of  Colchester,  June  23,  1836.  His  great- 
grandfather came  from  Kngland  before  the 
Revolutionary  War,  and  settled  in  Westches- 
ter County,  New  York,  where  he  employed 
himself  in  clearing  the  land  and  building  a 
log  house.  His  wife  accompanied  him  to  this 
country,  and  here  was  born  their  son,  James 
Finch,  who  was  a  minute-man  in  the  Revolu- 
tion. At  the  close  of  the  war  he  married  a 
Miss  Finny,  of  Westchester  County.  They 
reared  a  large  family,  leasing  land  on  Harden- 
burgh  Patent,  which  they  cleared,  erecting  a 
log  cabin.  James  Finch  rafted  his  lumber  to 
Philadelphia,  returning  on  foot  with  his  pur- 
chases bound  to  his  back,  the  journey  occupy- 
ing four  days.  He  died  at  Colchester  at  the 
age  of  eighty  years. 

Jesse  Finch,  son  of  James,  was  born  in  Col- 
chester, and,  after  leaving  the  district  school, 
began  the  business  of  cutting  and  rafting 
lumber  with  his  father.  When  twenty-four 
years  of  age,  he  married  Huldah  Malory, 
daughter  of  William  Malory,  who  soon  after 
his  marriage  moved  to  Hamden,  Delaware 
County,  from  Connecticut,  buying  a  farm, 
which  he  sold  ten  years  later,  and  then  re- 
turned to  Colchester.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jesse 
Finch  were  the  parents  of  eight  children; 
namely,  F"rank,  George.  Mary,  Amy,  Esther, 
Edmond,  Junius,  and  Cornelia.  They  moved 
to  Tompkins,  and  settled  on  the  farm  now 
occupied  by  their  son,  Edmond  T.,  where  the 
father  died  at  the  age  of  eighty  years.  In 
religion  he  was  a  Methodist,  and  until  i860 
voted  with  the  Democrats,  after  which  he 
adopted  the  Republican   platform. 

Edmond  T.  Finch  was  educated  at  the  dis- 
trict schools  of  Colchester,  and  assisted  his 
father  in  farming  and  lumbering  until  he 
reached  his  twenty-second  year,  and  then  went 
to  Kansas.  He  joined  the  "Jay  Hawkers," 
a  company  of    Eastern  men  who    banded    to- 


gether to  make  Kansas  a  free  State,  and  par- 
ticipated in  the  "Kansas  War."  At  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War  he  returned  to 
New  York,  and  enlisted  in  the  Second  Heavy 
Artillery,  taking  an  active  part  in  seven  of 
the  most  important  battles  of  the  war,  among 
them  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness,  Spottsyl- 
vania,  and  Cold  Harbor.  In  a  skirmish  at 
Talpothimie  Creek  every  man  in  his  company 
was  shot  and  half  of  them  were  seriously 
wounded.  His  regiment  of  eighteen  hundred 
men  lost  thirteen  hundred  in  six  weeks  before 
Petersburg.  At  Weldon  Railroad,  June  18, 
1864,  Mr.  Finch  was  shot  through  the  right 
lung,  and  for  nine  months  was  confined  in  the 
hospital  at  Willets  Point,  being  mustered  out 
of  service  after  Lee's  surrender  in  1865. 

In  1866  Mr.  Finch  married  Miss  Clemin- 
tine  Grififin,  daughter  of  Stephen  and  Amanda 
Griffin,  of  Tompkins,  and  settled  on  the  old 
homestead,  where  he  still  resides.  Mrs. 
Finch's  grandfather,  Peter  Griffin,  was  a  pio- 
neer of  Delaware  County,  and  married  Phebe 
Parks,  daughter  of  the  famous  "Boswain" 
Parks,  a  noted  scout  and  hunter  of  Revolu- 
tionary times,  who  was  locked  up  as  a  traitor 
by  the  inhabitants  of  Wyoming,  whom  he  had 
warned  of  the  approaching  danger.  They, 
believing  his  story  of  the  coming  massacre  to 
be  untrue,  had  him  arrested;  but  he  was  re- 
leased by  the  interference  of  friends,  and  es- 
caped the  dreadful  fate  of  those  who  did  not 
heed  his  warning.  His  daughter,  the  great- 
aunt  of  Mrs.  Finch,  died  in  Hancock  a  short 
time  ago  at  the  extraordinary  age  of  one  hun- 
dred and  eight  years. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Finch  have  five  children  — 
Mary.  Roy,  Leon,  Paul,  and  Edna.  Mr. 
Finch  is  a  successful  farmer,  and,  in  addition 
to  his  property  in  Tompkins,  owns  farm  lands 
in  Kansas.  He  is  a  liberal-minded,  upright 
man,  vi'ho  enjoys  the  regard  and  esteem  of  his 
acquaintances. 


/lYo 


EORGE  F.  WOOD,  son  of  Henry  W. 
\  '*)  I  and  Sarah  Abell  Wood,  was  born  in 
^-^  Franklin,  X.Y.,  April  7,  1867.  In 
1868,  with  his  parents,  he  went  to  Nebraska; 
and  he  lived  there  till  the  summer  of  1883, 
when  he  returned  to  Franklin,  and  in  Septem- 


BIOGRAPHICAI,    KKVIK.W 


bcr  lie  entered    IJelawaie   I.ileiarv  Institute  a.s 
a  stiulent. 

Me  remained  in  tiie  selinol  live  vears,  ^rad- 
uatinj;  in  the  class  of  1888,  and  takin;;  a 
medal  for  declamation  the  same  \ear.  He 
entered  Hamilton  Collej^e  in  the  fall  of  1S8S, 
and  at  once  he  was  a  recognized  leader  of  his 
class  in  all  matters  of  a  common  college  inter- 
est. He  graduated  with  honor  June  ^50,  1S92. 
Ho  entered  I'nion  Theological  Seminary 
(New-  York  City)  in  the  fall  of  1892.  and  died 
at  the  Presbyterian  Hospital  in  New  \'ork. 
February  3,  .1893.  His  burial-place  is  in  the 
beautiful  Ouleoui  cemetery  at  Franklin,  near 
by  the  village  where  five  years  of  his  school 
days  at  the  institute  so  pleasantly  and  so 
quickly  passed  awa\-.  He  was  a  young  man 
fully  six  feet  high,  of  large  frame  and  of  noble 
countenance,  a  \'oung  man  of  large  intellect 
and  larger  heart. 

His  character  was  of  the  highest  order,  and 
his  friends  were  legion.  The  ministry  was 
his  chosen  life-work,  and  the  foreign  field  his 
place  selected  for  work.  The  call  to  die  was 
sudden,  but  not  a  murmur  did  he  utter.  A 
few  moments  before  his  death  he  said,  "O 
Lord  Jesus,  in  thy  name  I  ask  full  and  free 
entrance  into  the  city  of  life."'  He  was  a 
natural  speaker,  and  he  spoke  with  an  earnest- 
ness seldom  known  in  a  young  speaker. 

Franklin  mourns  the  loss  of  George  I". 
Wood. 


-ACOB  C.  HOAGl.AXI).  a  retired 
farmer  of  the  town  of  Tompkins. 
Delaware  County,  N.V.,  was  born 
in  ("lilboa.  Schoharie  County.  April 
I",  1827.  His  grandfather,  Christopher 
Hoagland.  was  born  in  New  Jersey,  and  mi- 
grated to  Gilboa,  Schoharie  County,  X.V.,  in 
The  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
Here  he  bought,  at  twelve  and  a  half  cents  an 
acre,  large  tracts  of  land,  which  he  improved 
and  sold  at  an  advanced  price  to  new  settlers. 
who  kept  coming  into  the  country  at  that 
time.  He  was  the  first  militia  Captain  in 
the  town,  having  formed  the  company  which 
he  afterward  commanded,  and  also  took  an 
active  part  in  town  affairs.  He  married  ICva 
Van    Loan,   who,  like   himself,  was   descended 


trom     the    earh     Hutch    settlers    nl    ti, 

Ca|>tain  and   Mrs.  Hoagland  had  live ,, 

Jacob,  a  meichant    in  (  alskill;   yXbr.ini,  .1  --ii 

cessful   farnii-r  in  Gillma:   Jaims.  iln 

the    subject     <>i    this    skitiii:    Julin. 

engaged  e.xtensi vel v  in  business, 

nerv,  a    store    at    (iilbo.i.   arirl    a    1 

the  same  |)lace:   .ind  .Susan,  wlm  ; 

n)iin  Grev,  a  merchant  in  ("atskill. 

James    Ijdagland    recei\ed    his    edn 
Gilbiia,  his  native  town,  where  at  .111 
he  began  to  wink  on  a  farm.      W  hen  1..    - 
in  life  fur  himself,  his  f.ilher  ^avi'  liim  a  I    : 
fully  stocked,  where  lie  -■ 
days.      He  married  i-"lleii 

.•\bram  Hecker,  a  hotel-keeper  anil  a  represent- 
ative of  one  iif  the  uldusl  families  in  Gilbua. 
Fight  children  were  born  of  this  union: 
Christo|)her.  who  was  a  farmer  in  (iilbn.i: 
Abram,  a  wholesale  ami  retail  dry-goo. Is  mer- 
chant in  .Albany;  Jacob:  Nathan,  who  keejis 
a  drv-goods  and  grocery  store  in  .Schenevus: 
Margaret;    Fva;    .\daline;   and  Sarrdi. 

Jacob  C.   Hoagland   was   educ;r. 
tive    town.      Having    grown    to    1 
purchased    his    |)resent    farm    ol    ninety-eight 
acres,  then  ])artly  under  cultivation.      lie  m;ir- 

ried  Sarah  Heagle.  of  Hancock.  daM^liti  r  of 
John  and  Margaret  (I'inkle)  Beagle. 

Mrs.  Ho;igland    had   a    family  of   t.: 

seven   of   whom  are    living.      '!  Iv 

tojjher.  who    is  a  farmer  of    Han 

X'esta    Alberta,    and    has    two    c; 

berta  and  Christopher.     .\  daughter, 

married  l-"dward  Christi:in.  a  t'cm,  ■■ 

kins.    ;nid     has     two     childr 

Mena.        Another    daughter.      !.;.;.i.     :::>•■:. 

John    Douglass,    a    resident    ot     )',  .i"s\  Ivini  !. 

and    has    a    family   ot    lour 

Herbert.    Blanche,    and    Job;,. 

hind  married    I,aw\er  Busli,  ot    \ 

m;ui    in    the   acid    factor  ■ 

luvin.      Mary  married    ' 

in  Hancock,  and    li.- 

("hristie.    and    Artlo.i. 

Summers,    a    foreman    1 

Hancock,  and   has  one  clii..:.   .\1 

Hoagland  lives  at  home  with  hi- 
Mrs.  Hoagland    is   a    much    r. 

her  of   the  Method i--     '     •    ' 

who   has   been    fore: 


7i6 


BIOGRAPHICAL   REVIEW 


in  the  acid  works  of  Hancocic,  now  lives  prac- 
tically retired  on  his  farm,  assisted  in  the 
work  by  his  son  Orlando.  He  is  held  in 
favor  by  his  fellow-citizens,  and  has  made 
many   firm   friends. 


AVID  G.  McDonald  is  now  liv- 
ing, retired  from  the  active  cares  of 
life,  on  a  portion  of  his  farm  on  the 
East  Brook  road,  about  five  and  one- 
half  miles  from  the  village  of  Walton.  He  is 
a  native  of  North  Carolina,  born  of  Scotch 
parentage,  August  3,  1822,  in  P^ayetteville, 
Cumberland  County.  His  father,  Archibald 
R.  McDonald,  son  of  Roderick  McDonald, 
was  born  and  grew  to  maturity  in  Scotland. 
While  in  the  vigor  of  young  manhood,  Archi- 
bald McDonald  emigrated  to  America,  and, 
going  directly  to  North  Carolina,  purchased 
a  farm  near  Fayetteville,  and  resumed  the 
occupation  to  which  he  had  been  reared. 
Selling  that  estate,  he  at  length  came  to  Wal- 
ton, and,  after  looking  about  for  a  little, 
bought  the  farm  where  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
Howland,  now  lives,  and  carried  it  on  with 
success  until  a  short  time  prior  to  his  decease, 
when  he  sold  it  to  his  son-in-law,  ICdwin  R. 
Howland.  Very  soon  after  the  transfer  of  his 
])roperty  he  was  thrown  from  a  wagon,  meet- 
ing with  such  injuries  that  his  death  occurred 
three  hours  afterward,  he  being  then  eighty- 
four  years  okl.  His  wife,  Jeanette  Smith, 
was  also  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  the  daugh- 
ter of  John  and  Jane  -Sniitli.  .She  reared 
seven  children:  Robert;  Catherine:  Jane, 
who  married  John  Henderson;  John;  Mary, 
the  wife  of  Amos  Iinsign ;  David;  and 
Roderick. 

The  subject  of  tliis  sketch  spent  the  early 
years  of  his  life  in  the  place  where  he  was 
born,  until  twelve  years  old  being  a  regular 
attendant  at  the  district  .school;  but  after  that 
time  he  made  himself  useful  in  farm  work,  re- 
maining with  his  parents  until  attaining  his 
majority.  After  the  family  removed  to  Wal- 
ton, he  began  his  independent  career  by 
securing  work  on  a  farm  by  the  month. 
His  first  purchase  of  land  was  near  the  place 
where  he  now  lives.  He  ran  in  debt  for  the 
farm,  but  managed  it  so  well    that    it   paid   for 


itself  in  a  few  years.  He  subsequently  sold 
the  property  to  his  son;  and,  buying  the  one 
hinidred  and  sixty  acres  that  constitute  his 
present  homestead,  he  carried  on  a  good  busi- 
ness in  general  farming  and  dairying,  usually 
keeping  about  twenty-seven  cows.  This  es- 
tate he  has  very  recently  sold  to  his  son- 
in-law,  Almon  Launt,  keeping  a  portion  of 
it  for  his  own  use;  and  here  he  and  his  good 
wife  are  passing  their  sunset  years  in  com- 
fort. 

Mr.  McDonald  was  married  in  1845  to  Jane 
Chambers,  a  daughter  of  David  and  Jane 
(Smith)  Chambers.  She  is  a  native  of  Scot- 
land, and  was  about  eight  years  old  when  her 
parents  came  to  this  country.  Their  family 
circle  has  been  completed  by  the  birth  of 
these  children:  Maria,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  twenty-three  years,  married  Calvin  McAl- 
lister, formerly  of  Sullivan  County,  but  now  a 
butter  merchant  in  Walton.  Eliza,  who  mar- 
ried George  Seymour,  a  farmer  of  Cannons- 
ville,  has  two  children — Ethel  and  David. 
John,  who  married  Hattie  McFarland,  has 
two  children:  Earle,  a  carpenter,  residing  in 
California:  and  Margie.  Archie  is  a  miner 
in  California.  David,  a  farmer  and  the  su- 
perintendent of  a  ranch  in  California,  is  mar- 
ried, and  has  one  child,  Lucy.  Jane,  who 
married  Almon  Launt,  son  of  Louis  Launt,  of 
Hamden,  has  two  children  —  Louis  and  Jane. 
Sloane,  a  farmer  in  Masonville,  married  Han- 
nah Terry. 

Mr.  McDonald  has  achieved  his  success  in 
life  by  diligent  toil,  directed  by  sound  busi- 
ness principles.  He  is  a  man  who  thinks  for 
himself,  and  in  politics  does  not  confine  him- 
self to  any  party,  but  votes  for  the  best  men 
and  measures.  Roth  he  and  his  wife  are  con- 
sistent members  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
church   of   Walt  cm. 


AMUEL  B.  KEATOR,  the  owner 
of  a  productive  farm  on  the  Beatty 
Brook  road  in  Kortright,  is  a  suc- 
cessful dairyman  and  a  good  citizen 
of  the  town  in  wiiich  he  resides.  He  was 
born  on  the  farm  which  he  now  occupies,  on 
March  7,  183  i,  a  son  of  Matthew  S.  and  Polly 
(Dennison)     Keator.      Matthew     Keator    was 


1'.I(K;R  AI'llKAI.    Kh.VlKW 


horn  in  Ulster  County,  Init  removed  to  Dela- 
ware County  and  settled  at  his  present  home 
about  the  year  i8:;o.  This  larni  was  im- 
proved land;  but  by  his  unceasin-  toil  and 
]5ationce  he  ditl  mueh  to  make  it  more  [)roduc- 
tive.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  politically  a  Republican, 
and  died  in  Jordan,  Onondai^a  County,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-nine  years.  His  wife  was  a 
native  of  Delaware  County,  and  died  at  the 
age  of  ninety  years.  They  were  the  parents 
of  ten  children,  eight  of  whom  are  now  living, 
namely:  James,  in  Louisiana;  Catherine  Bar- 
low, of  Syracuse;  David,  in  California: 
Henry,  in  Minnesota;  Samuel  B.,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch;  Julia  Doolittle,  of  Margarett- 
ville,  N.Y. :  Harriet  Chadwick.  in  Jordan, 
Onondaga  County;  and  Matthew  S.,  in  Ten- 
nessee. A  daughter  Mary  died,  aged  fifty 
years;  and  Jerman,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight 
years. 

Samuel  ]>.,  the  fourth  son,  grew  to  manhood 
on  his  father's  farm,  receiving  the  best  educa- 
tion afforded  by  the  district  school  at  that 
time.  He  gave  his  attention  to  farming,  and 
purchased  the  old  home  about  thirty-five  years 
ago.  He  is  the  possessor  of  one  hundred  and 
ninetv  acres  of  excellent  land,  superior  farm 
buildings,  with  twenty-five  head  of  the  graded 
Jersey  cattle,  and  furnishes  dairy  products  for 
market. 

In  i860  he  married  Miss  Jane  Ann  Mc- 
Murdy,  a  native  of  Kortright,  and  a  daughter 
of  Jonathan  B.  and  Abigail  ?iIcMur.ly.  Mr. 
McMurdv  was  a  successful  farmer.  He  died 
at  the  age  of  eighty-six,  his  wife's  death  oc- 
curring when  she  was  seventy-nine  years  old. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Keator  are  the  parents  of  two 
children:  Helen,  wife  of  A.  T.  Dunn,  a  resi- 
dent of  Kortright ;  and  George  \V.  The  lat- 
ter married  Miss  Mary  K.  Smith:  and  they 
reside  with  his  parents,  assisting  in  the  care 
of  the  farm  and  dairy.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Keator 
are  members  of  the  L'nited  j'resbyterian 
church  at  Almetla:  and  the  Republican  i)arty 
has  an  ardent  supporter  in  Mr.  Keator.  who 
has  been  Assessor  for  three  years.  He  is  an 
industrious,  progressive,  public-spirited  citi- 
zen, who  has  won  well-deserved  success  by  his 
strict  attention  to  business  and  honorable 
dealings   with   his   fellow-men. 


•i)Si;i'il    S(  IIAlil.l.K 
J  5,    I.S5  I  .       His  f;ithir,   I  . 
ler,  \v;is  ;i  (ierman,  who  i  ;imi-  to  (  oluin 
bi;i  Coiintv,  ;tnd   married   there  .i    Mi^-. 
C;itherine    I.on.s,    a  (lauj;hter   ol    l-'ndcrii    .ni'l 
ICIizabeth    1. 00s.      in    iIk:    I  .ous    i  i. 

were    four    Lhildreii:    (icorg>-    R.:  il-: 

Joseph;      and      Melissa,     now     .Mrs.     \\'iN,,ii. 
George    .Siliauller    w;is    something    o|    .1    wan 
derer,  working   at    iiis   traile   in   H.imileii.  t  .,1- 
chester,    iJel.ancey,    Holiday  Bridgr.    < 
Hollow,     Downsville,    Oneonta,    and 
.At    Gregorv    Hollow    he    farmed    for 
time,  but  returned   to   his   trade.      .\l  <  i-:-:!. 
the    last    named   in   the    list    of     his  abiding- 
places,    he   remained    until    his   death. 

Josei)h  SchauHer  was  born  it  (>:>•.. nta 
Plains,  Columbia  County.  Tin ;  ba- 
thetic interest  surrounding  the  chn     1 1  "i    a 

man  who  at  the  age  of  ten  ye;irs  went    to  work 
out  on  a  farm  for  his  board  and  clntlus,  in  tlu 

stern  school    of   necessity  learning  th.    '.  - 

of     i)atient     toil     and     endurance.      II 
wages    were    four    dollars    for    three 
from  which    they  were  increased  to  lo:' 
dollars     for     eight     months.        He     c 

working  on  various  farms  in  the  neigi. 

until    he   was   twenty-four   years   idd.  when  he 

was  married   to   Miss  .Amelia  Tasey,  1 

he   had  five  children:    Delia    ]'...  born    ' 

5,    1S77,    who   died    May    I ;,    1.S83;  Jane  C. 

born   July    14,    1879:   Maud   S.,  born   October 

17,   1 882;    Henry.  March  ',,   1885:  an.l   Grac  . 

born  .April   17,   1890. 

losepii    Schautkr   began    worki; 
smithing   after    his   marri.ige.    set- 
forge    in    the    old     Charles     Wils  ■  .    -. 
Downsville   in   the   fall   of    1877. 

Here  he  |died    his   traile  for  two  year- 
which    he  sold  nut  and   worked  fi'r  <>  \i  ; 
for     Mr.     William     Ibdmes.        1 
bought    out    the    business   of    R. 
built   a   shop   of   forty   by  twent\ 
Bogart    Avenue.      Here    he 
horse-shoeing   business    in    1 
Schaufler's    house    is   .>ne    of 
erected     in     Downsville,    ha\i;!.,      "  >  ■; 
about    fifty   years   ago. 

He  is  a  Democrat,  an  : 
of   (;)verseer  of   the   I'oor  ; 
Schaufler   is   a    Methodist   in 


f. 


alter 


M- 


7.8 


BIOGRAPHICAL    REVIEW 


cess  that  has  attended  the  life-long  toil  and 
effort  of  this  man  should  surely  be  an  incen- 
tive to  others  who  have  their  own  exertions 
only  to  depend  upon,  and  who  need  an  exam- 
ple to  cheer  and  encourage. 

Mrs.  Schaufler's  lineage  is  worthy  of  record 
here.  Her  maternal  grandfather,  A.  Wilson, 
was  born  November  14,  1793,  and  married 
Elizabeth  Teed  on  the  14th  of  October,  1824. 
They  had  four  children:  Catherine,  born  No- 
vember 28,  1825;  Charles,  born  May  15, 
1827;  John  T.,  born  January  14,  1832; 
Emily,  born  July  30,  1833.  On  the  Tasey 
side  she  is  a  descendant  of  Henry  Tasey,  of 
Washington  County,  who  married  Elizabeth 
Taylor,  and  raised  a  family  of  nine  children 
—  Hugh,  John,  Elizabeth,  Mary,  George, 
Henry,  Nancy,  Martha,  and  Margaret.  Henry 
Tasey,  the  ancestor,  served  in  the  Revolution- 
ary War.  Hugh  married  Nancy  Steward,  and 
had  six  children,  as  follows:  Mary,  Henry, 
Alexander,  John,  George,  Archibald,  and 
Sarah  Jane.  Hugh  was  a  shoemaker  and 
farmer,  and  was  a  Whig.  Henry,  Jr.,  born 
July  13,  1822,  married  Catherine  Wilson. 
Mrs.  Schaufler,  the  wife  of  the  original  of  the 
biographical  sketch,  was  one  of  their  children. 


(INDEEY  E.  HOVT,  senior  member  of 
the  firm  of  L.  E.  Hoyt  &  Co.,  pro- 
prietors of  the  Walton  foundry  and 
machine  works,  was  born  in  this 
town  June  26,  1853.  He  comes  of  stanch 
New  England  stock,  being  the  only  son  of  the 
late  Edwin  and  Eliza  Ann  (St.  John)  Hoyt, 
both  natives  of  Walton,  and  a  great-grandson 
of  Thaddeus  Hoyt,  one  of  the  original  settlers 
of  this  section  of  Delaware  County,  who  came 
to  Walton  in  1790  from  New  Canaan,  Conn., 
bringing  with  him  his  young  wife,  Jemima 
(Benedict)  Hoyt,  and  one  son.  Of  the  five 
children  of  their  household  all  but  the  eldest 
were  horn  in  Walton.  One,  Matthew,  died 
in  early  youth,  the  names  of  the  others  being 
Thaddeus,  John  H.,  Amasa,  and  Chauncey. 
Amasa  Hoyt,  who  was  the  fourth  son  born  to 
his  parents,  was  the  grandfather  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch.  He  was  a  farmer,  and  suc- 
ceeded his  father  in  the  ownership  of  the 
home.stead,  which   was  about  four  miles  north 


of  the  village  of  Walton,  and  on  which  he 
spent  his  entire  seventy-eight  years  of  life, 
his  body  being  there  now  interred.  He  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Hyatt  Seymour,  a  daughter  of 
Samuel  Seymour,  of  Walton,  who  bore  him 
nine  children,  seven  of  whom  are  now  living, 
as  follows:  Lewis,  who  resides  in  \Valton : 
Thaddeus  S.,  a  farmer  on  West  Brook;  Fred- 
erick, in  Walton;  Edward,  owning  a  farm 
adjoining  the  old  homestead,  a  twin  brother 
of  Edwin,  deceased;  William  S.,  residing  in 
Unadilla,  Otsego  County;  Julia,  who  is  the 
wife  of  Stephen  Lyon;  and  Whitney,  who 
lives  in  Binghamton.  The  oldest  of  these 
children  is  now  seventy-eight  years  of  age, 
and  the  youngest  fifty-three  years,  their  com- 
bined ages  aggregating  four  hundred  and 
seventy  years. 

Edwin  Hoyt  lived  but  a  few  years  after  his 
marriage  with  Miss  St.  John,  dying  in  No- 
vember, 1855,  when  but  twenty-eight  years  of 
age.  Mrs.  Eliza  A.  Hoyt  still  lives  in  Wal- 
ton, and  is  now  enjoying  the  comforts  to 
which  her  earlier  years  of  toil  have  richly 
entitled  her.  Being  left  a  widow  when  quite 
young,  with  little  of  this  world's  goods,  and 
with  a  young  child  to  care  for,  she  labored 
diligently  with  her  needle,  working  at  the 
tailoress's  trade,  and  made  a  good  living  for 
herself  and  son.  She  is  a  daughter  of  the 
late  Cyrus  and  Lydia  (Andrews)  St.  John, 
and  one  of  their  seven  surviving  children,  all 
of  whom,  with  the  exception  of  one  daughter, 
who  resides  in  Ohio,  are  residents  of  Walton. 
Her  father,  who  was  a  prominent  farmer  of 
this  town,  rounded  out  a  long  life  of  ninety- 
three  years,  retaining  until  the  last  in  a 
degree  his  great  mental  and  physical  vigor, 
dying  very  suddenly,  February  27,  1892.  He 
was  a  very  devoted  and  exemplary  member  of 
the  Methodist  F^piscopal  church,  in  which  he 
had  been  for  many  years  an  officer.  He  was  a 
son  of  Peter  St.  John,  Jr.,  and  a  grandson  of 
Peter  St.  John,  Sr.,  who  came  to  Walton  from 
Norwalk,  Conn.,  in  1803. 

Peter  St.  John,  .Sr.,  was  born  in  Xorwalk 
in  1726,  and  died  in  Walton  in  181 1.  He 
worked  at  shoemaking  and  farming  after  com- 
ing to  this  town,  being  one  of  the  most  indus- 
trious and  prosperous  of  its  pioneers.  He 
was  a  poet   of   much   merit,   and   was  a  Yale 


BIOGRAI'lllCAI,    RKVIKW  -19 

student,  but    Ictt   college  hcforc  i;ra(luating  tn  .\iivfml)t.i'  In-  ImiiKil    a    p.ii  lini.slii|i  u  itii    In 

nuurv  Molly  Cook,  one  of    Xew  liaven's  ])rel-  -urlha,      a      maeiunist,      ami       1  lionijiMPii.       1 

tiesl    belles.      Sewn    chililren    were    bom    ol  niouUler,  ami   eslablislieil    his   |iresent  loumliA 

this    union    -  i'hi  hi,     Amelia,    Justus,    Sallv,  ami    maeliiiie-slioi>.      Mi.     Iloyt    soon     boutjht 

Adonijah,      i'olh,     ami     (lideon.        His     wile  out  the  interest  ot    the  niouhler;  and  WinheM 

Molly  died    in    1759.   in    New   Jersey,  whither  .S.  Cook   and    l-'r.iiik    I'iiuh    were 

they    iiad    moved.      lie    subsequentlv    returnetl  admitted    to    the    lirm.    whieli    w: 

to   Norwalk,    where    in     1761    he    married   Re-  business    by    April,    iSSij,    almost    their    hrst 

becca   Crolo(>t,  who   bore    him  eleven  children  work   in   the  foundry  being    to   make   the   cast- 

—  I'cter,     Hannah,      Hetty,      Joseph,     I.ydia,  ings   for   the   railway,  besides   whiih   thev  dirl 

Rachel,  Cook,    .Anna,    William,   Rebecca,  and  general    machine   work.      The    firm    !• 

]-"/.ekiel.      Jose|)h     ilied      in      childhood;     and  eminent   success;   and  in   iSyJthepn 

Lydia,   Teler.  Jr.,  Cook,  and    ICzekiel   have  all  machine-shop,  thirty  feet   by    ninety  feel,  was 

been  residents  of   Walton,  coming  here  within  erected.      In    Jainiary,     uSijj.    .M.    J.    .Stanton 

the  fust  four  vears  of  the  present  century.  bought  out  the  interest  of    .Mr.    Tregurtha,  .md 

I'eter    St.    John,    Jr..    the    maternal    great-  is  now  manager  of  the  business, 
grandfather    of    Mr.     Ilovt,     was    three    times  Mr.  lloyt    was   married    March   Ji,    iXX:.  • . . 
wedded.      His   first    wife    was   Sarah    Hoyt,  by  X'irginia     A.    Stevens,    a    native     ot 
whom  he  had  one  child,  both  chiUl  and  mother  County,  being  a  daughter  of  1).  (i.  St.  \'  :.-.    ■! 
(lying  .shortly,  at   about   the   same   time.      His  West    \'irginia.  whose   remaining  childr.'ii  ar.- 
second   wife   died   at    the   age   of    thirty-seven  a  son,  living   in    Walton,  a   daughter 
years,   in  1804.  leaving  five  sons,  one  of  whom  in    llagerstown,    Mil.,    and   another    ■.      ,         . 
was  the  grandfather  of  Mr.  Hoyt.      IniSoshe  who    resides    in    Ohio.      Five    children     have 
married    l*"sther    Hoyt,    of    Xorwalk,  who   bore  blessed  the  union   of    Mr.  and   Mrs.  I! 
him    one  son,    Isaac.      She  survived    her    bus-  of  whom  died  in  intancy.      The  lour  t- 
band,  who   died  in    icS24  at   the   age   of   sixty-  arc:    I'.dwin    Hell,    a   sturdy   lad   of   ten    \. 
three  vears.  while  she  lived    until    1836.      For  Helen    Eliza,    eight    years    old:   Cl\de.    ti.:, 
more  than  one  hundred  years  the  name  of   St.  years;  and  a  beautiful   baby  boy,  Irving  Win- 
John  has   been  held  in  honor  in  Walton,  some  field.      Mr.    Hoyt   and    his   family  re- 
of   the   most   infiuential    of   the  earlier  settlers  his    mother  in  the  house  which    she    | 
of  the  town  having  borne  that  name.  in   the  days   long  gone   by.  and  which    he   iia> 

When  a  lad    of   ten   years,   Lindley  IC.  Hoyt  entirely  remodel  led,  and  which  is  as  c....  v    ..,! 

began   working   as  a  chore    boy  on  a  farm,  an<l  comfortable  a   home  as  one  would  wi- 

in"l87l  entereil  a  blacksmith's  shop,  wiiere  he  The  adult  members  of   this   family  att.  :i  :    i;.- 

served  an  ai)prenticeship   of   three  vears.      He  Congregational    church,  and    in    Mr.  H.i>t   the 

continued    to    follow    his    trade,    most    of    the  Republican  party  has  one   «{    its  mo>t  f,,ithtul 

time  at   the   same   shop,  until    1888,  his   work  adherents, 
being  mostlv  carriage-ironing.      On  the  ist  ol 


INDEX 


BIOGRAPHICAL. 


Acklov.  l^lward  A.    . 

•     4')^ 

Adair,  Hugh 

.     410 

Adams,  Cliarles  S.     . 

.     ('io 

Adec,  lames  S.     .     . 

■     '35 

Adee,  S.  F 

.     562 

Alexander.  Mrs.  I'li/a 

beth  U 

.    .     210 

.Allalieii,  Charles  S.  . 

•     .^36 

Allahen.  Kev.  William 

X. 

.     1S9 

Alkn,  Hiram  .A.    .     . 

.     650 

Allison,  Geori;e  W.    . 

•     325 

Anderson,  David 

.       (.T.S 

Andrews.  George  .S. 

•     ioi; 

Andrews.  John  |. 

■      '51 

Andrews,  William 

■      3'> 

Andrus,  Charles  1..    . 

•     34' 

.-\ndrus,  Frank  .M. 

•     '43 

.Arbuckle.  lobn  \.     . 

.     656 

Armsiiong,  Waller  T. 

•     453 

.'\iistin,  'Iheopliilus  (1. 

•     131 

Babcock,  John       .     . 
liaker,  1  lorace       .     . 
Maker.  Mrs.  .Susan  K 
liallantine.  James 
Halhird,  George  I'..     . 
Mallard,  James  (;. 
lialleiuine,  James 
Barlow.  ( ieorge     .     . 
Barlow,  William  H.   . 
Barnes.  George  H.    . 
B.irtlett,  Henry  K.,  .M.U 
Bartow.  .Andrew  P.    . 
Bassett,  George  I'..  .M.I 
B.Ues,  Ciurden  W. 
Baunies.  John  H.  .     . 
Beach.  Ira    .     .     .     . 
Beach,  .M\ron  1..  .     . 
Beckley,  William  K. 
Beckwith,  John      .     . 


6</> 
(>Sij 
703 
44S 
45^ 
355 

5'^ 
324 
7'2 
3'^4 
.</. 

r,or> 

'5'.! 

346 

1  2 
■iOs 
'72 


Beers,  Chester 
Beers,  lidwin  H.  . 
Beers.  1-red  I'. 
Beers,  Joshua   .     . 
Bell.  Hdmund  R.  . 
Bell,  Howard,  .M.l). 
Bell,  W.alter  L.      . 
Bennett,  Oscar  1.  . 
Biehler,  George     . 
Uieler,  Jacob     .     . 
Bisbee,  .Sherman  . 
Black,  William  T. 
Blakelv.  John  I'.    . 
Blish,  John  .M.       . 
Blish,  .\ovatus  M. 
Bogart,  Gilbert      . 
lionnefond.  John  B. 
Bookhoul.  Isaac  S. 
Bookhout,  Tallman  t 
Booth.  George  W. 
Bouton.  .Artluir  K. 
Bouton,  Sherman  S. 
Bouton,  Webster  .M. 
Boyd,  Canfield 
Bramley.  John  W. 
Bramley,  .Miles 
Brazee.  George 
Brinkman,  ( leorge  1 1 
Brinkman,  William 
Brown,  George  T.,  M.l 
Brown.  James  H. 
Brown,  John      .     . 
Brown,  Samuel  I. 
Brown,  William  II. 
Brundege.  Calel>   . 
Burchus,  <  ieorge  . 
Burgin.  Homer  C. 
Burke,  John  J. 
Burns.  J.  Douglas 
Burrell.  .Morrill 
Burrows,  Jesse  O. 
Burrows,  J.  Thomas 
Burrows,  Capt.  I'.dmer 
Bush,  Lewis      .     .     . 
Butler,  Mrs.  Rachel  . 
Butts,  Orson  J.      .     . 


M. 


53^' 

4" 

'■'3 

34 

l')0 

up 

\<)0 

46s 

22^> 
622 

'•75 
70.S 

S3>< 
392 
nyC. 

'•52 

252 

5"» 
.r,3 

7'S 
5  ■'^2 
70.S 

'4 
434 
425 
I  21 
3'2 
122 
52.S 

''23 

4.^2 

2SS 
560 
300 

3.S; 
'23 
40 

''77 
301 
470 
242 
1; 

455 

100 


Cal)le,  Clark      .     .     . 
Calhoun.  Malcolm 
Campbell,  Ari  liili.ild 
Campbell,  Duncan     . 
Cami)licll,  I  lysses  S. 
Carpenter,  .Albert  1'.,  I. 
Carpenter.  .Augustus  J. 
Carpenter.  John  1  .    . 
Carroll,  Arnold  S. 
Cartwright.  Menrv  G. 
Chace,  Levi  .S.       .     . 
Chamberlain,  .Mrs.  .Ame 
Chamberlin,  Jaculi  H. 
Chamberlin,  John  C. 
Champion.  .Simon  1!. 
Chapman,  John      .     . 
Chichester,  John   .     . 
Chislioln).  James  W. 
Chrisman.  James  D. 
Church.  Martin     .     . 
Churcliill.  Stephen  K..  M.D 
Cl.mcev.  John  D. 
Clark.  Henrv  W.  .     . 
Clark.  J.. hn'.     .     .     . 
Clark,  Rev.  Jn|,n  .     . 
C  uan,  ICmmett  1 ). 
Cobbe,  William      .      . 
Cole,  Diniit  B.     .     . 
Combs.  1  lenrv  .A. 
Combs.  Horace  .M. 
Cuok.  .\m.isa  I'.    . 
Corbin,  .\ndrew   I. 
Cornish,  J.ic.b  .\i.  H, 

W.     . 


Lr.i:_ 

Crar, 

Crary.  Hora'c  H 

Crawfof'!.  G'or^ 

Cro: 

Croi. 

Croiik,  \\  ;i.:.^    . 

Crosbv.  t'aUin 


1...  M.D 


W 


;(.s 
321 
'.1; 
5'''4 

I  12 

'"3 

35 

-■4  ' 


'  Ci 

2S| 

■3'' 
;-'! 
427 

373 
4,^, 

I'll 

44S 

1 1'/ 

442 

701 


''24 

55" 
3  = 
2"' 


722 


INDEX 


Crosby.  Charles  L 236 

Curtis.  James  W tei 


Dann.  Edson  S j7 

Darrow,  Joseph 506 

Dean,  Uudlev  H 219 

Uean,  llalsey 684 

Decker,  George  G 523 

Decker,  .Samuel,  M.D 280 

DeLancv,  Thomas 558 

Dibble.  Daniel  S 645 

Dickson,  Charles  J 310 

Dickson.  Henry  J 612 

Doijr,  .\ndre\v  T 287 

Doig.  William  J 673 

Dooliltle,  Erastus  D 297 

Dougherty,  Elbridge  F.      ...  636 

Dovie,  Charles 630 

Drake,  Ulysses 667 

Durfee.  W.  Henry 647 


Earl,  Dennis  VV 429 

Edgerton,  Edward 146 

I-.dgerton.  \V.  G 625 

Edwards.  Henry  .S 430 

Eells.  Mrs.  Emma  M 603 

Eells,  John  S 367 

Eells,  Junius  H 603 

Eells.  William  H 85 

Eels,  Allen  K 42S 

Eels,  Stephen  D 132 

Eggleston,  Samuel 629 

Ells,  Orson  J 73 

England,  Henry 60 

Evans,  (jeorge  A 646 

Eveland,  Joseph 240 


Farrington,  Zenas 
Ferguson,  John  1). 
Finch,  Edmond  T. 
Finch,  Henry    .     . 
Finch,  \'ictor    .     . 
Fish,  Octave  B.     . 
Fisher,  George  A. 
Filch,  .Augustus  S. 
Fitch.  George  VV. 
Fletcher,  William 
Flint.  Nelson  O.    . 
Foote,  David    .     . 
Foote,  Joseph  H.,  .M.D 
Foote.  Mrs.  Sylvia  E. 
I'ord.  Hon.  William  L. 
Foreman.  Archibald 
I'orman,  Jolin  K.  .     . 
Forman.  William  H. 
Forster,  Martin     .     . 
Francisco,  Andrew  J. 


364 
457 
714 
1S9 

1 75 
O02 

234 
4S4 
216 

105 
699 

594 
114 

389 
466 

79 
4S3 
643 
304 

481 


rAGB 

Eraser,  I'eter 442 

Fra.ser,  Robert  A 3'° 

Frazier,  Rev.  James  K.       ...  J24 

Frisbee,  Mitchell  X 86 

Frisbee,  Willard  H 21 

Fry,  William  A 323 

Fuller,  William 309 


Ganoung.  .Arthur  J 173 

Cianoung,  George 683 

Ganung,  Henrv  E 208 

Gales,  Henry  A,,  M.D.       ...  215 

Gay,  Miss  Laura 96 

Gaylord,  Harper  b 269 

Gemmel,  Cyrus 115 

George,  .A.  J 709 

George,  Hiram  N 51 

Gerome,  Charles  H 363 

Getter,  Aurea  F 356 

Gibbs,  Major  George  C.    .     .     .  376 

Gibson,  Forrest  F 56 

Gibson,  James  A 621 

Gillett.  .Mrs.  Laura 337 

Gladstone,  George 640 

Gleason,  Wallace  B 137 

(lorsch.  Charles 254 

tiould,  Clark  .A 220 

Gould,  Jay 525 

Gould,  John  W 614 

Gould,  Orlando 59 

Gould,  Hon.  Wesley      ....  387 

Graham,  Frank 550 

Graham,  Henry  S S3 

Graham.  J   Mil'o 472 

Grant.  R.  Hume 627 

Grant,  Ransom  A 462 

Graves,  Prof.  Willis  D.      ...  1 77 

Gregory,  James  J 346 

Gregory,  J.  T 370 

Gregory,  Sherman  S 531 

Griftui.'llon.  Dewitt       ....  352 

Griffin.  John 656 

Griffin,  Matthew 352 

(iriffis,  Fred  H 20 

Groat,  Henry 480 

Guild,  Truman 143 


PAGE 

Hastings,  James  E 637 

Hastings,  Thomas  E 503 

Hatfield,  Charles  R 559 

Hathaway,  Benjamin     ....  315 

Haverly.  .Alonzo  A 267 

Hawk,  Ransom  R 584 

Hedge,  John 618 

Herring,  Charles 627 

Herrmann,  Carl 168 

Hewitt,  Rev.  Isaac 486 

Hicks,  Charles  1 701 

Higbee,  Theophilus  B.       ...  396 

Hill.  Myron 212 

Hill,  Thomas 6ti 

Hillis,  Joseph 182 

Hilson,  John 255 

Hilson,  Thomas  A 628 

Hitt,  Charles  E 402 

Hitt,  Edwin  L 369 

Hoag.  David  C 572 

Hoagland,  Jacob  C 715 

Hobbie,  John  S 250 

Hoffman,  Peter  F 668 

HoUey,  James 13 

HoUey.  James  A..  M.D.      ...  116 

Holmes,  Henry  W 96 

Holmes.  William  E 220 

Honeywell,  James  R 334 

Hood,  Capt.  Joshua  K.       ...  27 

Horton,  Mrs.  Hannah  E.   .     .     .  391 

Houck,  Charles  G 214 

Howes,  Edmund  .A 165 

Howland,  Elias  B 480 

Howland,  T.  Pollock     ....  424 

Hoyt,  Edgar  P 444 

Hovt,  Edward 241 

Hoyt,  Lindlev  E 718 

Hovt.  Thadd'eus  S 596 

Hu'bbell,  David  W 120 

Hubbell.  George  W 693 

Hubell.  Rev.  Charles  .A.    .     .     .  635, 

Huchins,  Dr.  Edward  C.    .     .     .  390 

Hull,  William  A 228 

Hume,  Henry  H 3S8 

Hunt,  Henry  W 551 

Hunt,  James 583 

Hutson.  John 661 

Huyck,  George  J 605 

Hymers,  Capt.  William      .     .     .  347 


H 

Halt,  Ezra  H 

Hambly.  Rev.  Milton  C. 
Hammond,  Richard  S. 
Hanford.  Mrs.  Cordelia 
Hanford,  William  B 
Hanmer,  Lsaac 
Hardenburgh.  Isaac 
Haring,  William    . 
Harkness,  E.  R.    . 
Harper,  James  E. 
Harper,  Oscar  F. 
Harrington,  Jeremiah  A. 
Harris,  David  R. 


'# 


I 

Inderlied.  Herman  F 518 

^l      Ives.  Washington  M 532 

582 

7'3 

127  J 

201" 

534    Jackson,  James  K.  1' 400 

542    Jenkins.  David  G 509 

303    Jenkins.  Emery 45 

287  I  Jenkins,  Hosea 580 

119*  Jenkins,  James  H 63 

685"  Jenkins,  Orson 192 

374   Jenner,  William  E.,  .\1.D.  .     .     .  682 

75    Judd,  George  A 505 


\ 


"] 


IXDKX 


■  ^ 


K 

Kcalor,  Eugene  T. 
Kcator,  Cicorm.'  H. 
Koator,  H.  Ward.  M  |i 
Keator,  Sainiiol  It.     . 
Kelly.  Crosby   . 
Kelly.  (Icorgc  (".. 
Kelly,  Lorenzo  I). 
Kelso,  lames  W.  . 
Kerr.  lames  S. 
Kiff.  Charles  i:.    . 
Kini;ston,   Thomas  I ) 
Kling.  John  .... 
Knapp.  Hon.  Charlo 
Knapp.  Charles  1'. 
Knapp,  .Seymour  . 
Knight,  Charles 
Korn,  Samuel    . 


5'I3 
l.)5 

r"' 

45" 

506 

;,,(, 
174 
5"4 
5''3 
|<U 
22S 

447 


.\li  .Allist.-r,  (.alvin 
McDiinald,  David  1  . 
.M> Donald,  I.ums 
McDonald,  John   I 
.McDonald,  William 
.Mcl-.irland.  Hiram 
Mcl-'arlane,  .\lixandci 
.Mcl'.ulane,  ('lilhert   . 
Mi;<  lil)bon,  John   .     . 
.Mcintosh,   iheoiihiliis  I- . 


.McKcnna,  Ephraim  I 
McKinncy,  .Mahlon   .     . 
McLaury.' James  S..  M.I). 
.McLean,  Daniel  L.    .     . 
.McLean,  I'rank  H. 
McMnrdv,  Joseph  S. 
McN'aiigiit.'john  .S.,  M.D. 
.McNee,  William  (i.  .     . 
Mead,  George  O. 
.Meeker,  Charles  C.  . 
Mein.  Samuel  .... 
Merrick.  Mrs.  Jane  K.   . 
iMetcalf,  ICdward  S.  .     . 
Metcalf,  William  H.       . 
Meyer,  John      .... 
.Mifidlemasl.  Thomas  D. 
.Miller,  Ikrrv  S.     . 
Miller,  David  J.     .     . 
.Miller,  Col.  Samuel  F. 
.Miner,  Oliver  K.   .     . 
Minor,  .\lbert  P. 
.Minor,  James  .S.    . 
.Moffatt,  Charles  P.    . 
.Mcmtgomery.  David 
.Montgomery,  George 
Moore,  .Ambrose  B.  , 
Morenus.  Harvey  B. 
.Morrow,  William  B..  .M 
Morse,  James  .Vbner 
.Moseman,  Elra      .     . 
Mowbray,  J.  Lincobi,  .M 
iMuir,  David 
.Munson,  Ainer 
Murdock,  Jesse 
Mnrra\.  A.  I..  . 


N 

M 

N'ert.  Obadiah  .M. 

Mable,  JohnB ::25  ,  Neish.  Alexander 

.Mace,  Charles  H 6^.4    \csbitt,  Robert    . 

.Manzer.  D.  Jerome   .  -375    Newkirk,  John  L. 

.Martin,  Josiah       52    xii^s.  Samuel  W. 

Martin,  Cen.  Williams  ...         y    North,  G.abriel 

Marvin,  George  W 5"!     North,  Kabert.  |r. 

Marvin.  Lewis 44    North,  Robert,  Sr. 

Marvin.  .Matthew  W 4(>S    North,  William  W.    . 

Marvin.  Nathaniel  C 524    Northu]).  Porter  C.   .     . 

Mathewson,  S.  Harrison    .     .     .     549 

Maxwell.  Leander  H iSo 

.May,  L.  P 5S9  O 

.Mavnard,  .\rcliibald  K.      .     .         32.S 

Mavnard,  Hon.  Isaac  H.    .     .     .     571    Odwell,  John   1 .    .     .     . 

Maynard,  John  W 479    Ogden,  Mrs.  Hannah  1 ). 

Mavnard,  .Milton  H 1  ;6    Ogden.  Willi.im  B.    .     . 


.M  l> 


Laidlaw.  Kbenezer 

710 

Lake,  Edgar  B,  .M.D. 

13S 

Lakin,  Earl  S.        .     . 

644 

Lakin.  Edgar  O. 

497 

Lakin,  James  W. 

493 

Lakin,  John  T. 

557 

Lakin,  Porter    .     .     . 

5S1 

Landon,  Dr.  Marcus  O. 

t6o 

Lasher,  Edward  C.    .     . 

711 

Lasher,  (ieorge  H 

409 

Lasher.  Philip  .     . 

"3 

Lasher,  William  H.  .     . 

(163 

Lawrence,  Jacob  .     . 

63S 

Lawrence,  J.  Duncan 

131 

Leal,  Henry      ... 

3'^ 

Leonard,  lir.  Rutson  K. 

439 

Lewis,  Truman      .     .     . 

5'P 

Liddle.  Robert       .     . 

443 

Lindsley,  Ebene/er  W  . 

21 1 

Littebrant,  Henry      .     . 

32 

Looniis,  Sherman  B. 

(>6<) 

Lyon,  Charles  L.  .     , 

26 

Lyon,  John  .M 

249 

Lyon,  Stephen 

324 

140 


4-3 


<  >li\er,  Koliett  I 

1,1:    ,     .,     ,,l      |,,1,„ 

IS  M 
n   I. 
tirr,  {nhn   \| 
"rr.  \Villi.,m      . 
■  lul,  I  /r.i 
Lewis  II 


17 


5"  2 

50.S 

3-2 
4i'( 

-'37 
301 

254 

3..S 

'•47 

521 

277 
36<; 

67.S 

354 
406 
12.S 
47' 

345 
I.Sl 
402 
;i; 

45^ 
5,/, 

I '/J 
..,9 
3'7 
657 
230 
74 
'■74 
47« 
33'S 
130 
'■'7 
595 


335 
540 
'47 
54^ 
'71 

2')2 
2('<\ 

25'^ 
^.62 

1 3' I 


I'almatccr,  K.inson: 
Palmer,  Lvman  B. 

Palmer,  H.  W 

Palmertnn,  Kosewcll  K.,  .M.D. 

Park,  Kcv.   Thomas  ... 

Patlengill,  Rev.  Julius  S.  . 

Patterson,  .\rthur  G. 

Pavne,  .\lbert  .     .     . 

I'e.\kc.  Albert  D. 

Peck,  .Amos  C. 

Peck,  Frank 

Peters.  John 

Peters.  William  II.     .     . 

Pcttingill.  Samuel  C,  .M  D 

Phelps.  Horace  I ',. 

Pierce.  James  W 

Pierson,  Joseph  .M. 

Pine,  Joshua,  Jr.    . 

Pomerov,  lames  .\. 

Pond,  Edwin  W.  . 

I'ost,  Rev.  George  T 

Powell,  John  E.     .     . 


!■: II 

Rose,  John   .     . 
K—  .  I..  ^^^ 


t.y, 

40S 
44' 
47" 
527 
'•5' 
342 
404 
'■45 
43'' 

:a 

2'K' 

5'" 
520 
379 
2'.^ 
(.4,, 

591 
273 
240 


Radeker,  I'.nluar  . 

4" 

Reed,  Smith  W.,  .M  l> 

.>s 

Reed,  William       .     .     . 

4'*2 

Reynolds,  Cornelius  D. 

302 

Revnolds.  George  H..  M.D. 

374 

Revnolds,  William  R 

452 

Rice,  Henry 

3"' 

Rich.  Robert  S.     . 

233 

Rich,  .Mrs.  Sarah 

S:: 

Rider,  Gardner  1.. 

"■4 

Rifenbark,  Stephen  1 

422 

Roberts,  I).  Weld     . 

v4 

Roberts,  .Merrit  S. 

"'■" 

I;    '                '        :    George  1 

47; 

1                            ,  e  W. 

i                              'IP. 

542 

1                          ^      \ 

u- 

43'' 

101 

Ku.-3.  11,  Arniie«   -M. 
(K)5    Russell.  .\ndre«  T. 

56    Russell,  John  G.  . 
6<>4    Russell.  Stephen 


'>2I 

27s 
457 
40'' 

'12'. 


724 


INDEX 


C. 


Sackrider,  James 
Salton,  John  I). 
Sanderson,  Hon.  Timothy 
Sanford,  Riley .  .  ■ 
Sawyer.  .Mrs.  Melinda 
Schaffer,  George  I..  . 
Schaurier,  Joseph 
Scofield,  Charles  K. 
Scott,  Elbert  O.  .  . 
Scott,  George  E.  .  . 
Scott.  Gilbert  T.,  M.D 
Scott.  Thomas  H.  . 
Scott,  Walter,  Esq.  . 
Seacord,  Erastus  R. 
Seacord,  Stephen  R. 
Seaman,  Harvey  M. 
Searing,  Rev.  Richard 
Searles.  Alexander  . 
Searles,  Felix  .  • 
Searles,  /.etus  F.  .  . 
Sewell,  Hon.  Albert  H 
Sewell,  Hubert  S. 
Seymour,  .41onzo  .  . 
Seymour,  George  S. 
Shaffer.  Edward  A.  . 
Sharpc,  DeWitt  C.  . 
Shaw,  Hector  .  .  . 
Shaw,  James  A.  . 
.Shaw,  John  T.  .  .  . 
Shaw,  Rev.  Samuel  G.. 
Sheffield,  J.  W..  .M.D. 
Signor,  George  A.  . 
Silliman,  Hiram  H.  . 
Slater,  Oscar  J.  .  . 
Sliter,  George  R.  .  . 
Sloan,  Robert  H.  .  . 
Smith,  George .  .  . 
Smith,  George  E.,  M 
Smith,  Prof.  John  Y. 
Smith,  Joseph  A.  .  . 
Smith,  Nelson  .  .  . 
Smith,  Capt.  William 
Smith,  William  G..  M 
Southworth,  Eugene  B 
Stearns,  David  W.  . 
St.  John,  Arthur  H.,  M.D. 
St.  John,  Capt.  Julius  W. 


.D 


D 


.1). 


124 
690 
37S 
570 
II I 
671 
7'7 
607 

64 
650 

16 
522 

193 
268 
26S 

'9 

547 

275 
704 
3S5 

392 

569 

S<>2 

'53 
'33 
66 
648 
'45 
235 
4S5 
348 
510 
4S9 
691 
697 

3'4 
209 

495 
383 
1 06 
142 

274 

.So 
366 
168 
14S 


.St.  John,  Lewis  S.     .     . 
Stoddart.  Mrs.  Janette  G. 
Storie.  Alexander      .     . 
Storie,  James  C,  M.D. 
Stoutcnburg,  Hiram  E 
Stoutenburgh,  Andrew  J. 
Strnngeway,  Andrew  T. 
Street.  Sherman.  M.I). 
.Strong,  Lewis  V>.  .     . 
Swart,  William  R. 


463 
166 
187 
630 

70 
238 
492 
697 

"55 

162 


Taylor,  Edwin 

33 

Tavlor,  Justus  W.     .     .     . 

1 1 

Ten  Broeck,  William  A. 

362 

Terry,  Rev.  ./^Ibert  W.  .     .     . 

672 

Terrv,  Samuel 

298 

Thomas,  John,  Jr 

103 

Thomas,  \'an  Buren       .     . 

623 

Thompson,  Hon.  David  L.     . 

313 

Thompson,  William  J.  .     .     . 

95 

Thomson,  Andrew  J. 

264 

Thomson,  William  S.     .     . 

54 

Tiffany,  Francis  E.    .     .     . 

48 

Tobey,  Charles  C.     . 

279 

Todd,  Augustus  H.  .     . 

585 

Tompkins.  Edward  F.  .     . 

vS4 

Townsend.  James      .     . 

291 

Townsend.  .Mrs.  Sarah  H. 

4f'7 

Travis,  Squire  W.     .     .     . 

62,- 

Treyz,  George  L  . 

'79 

Tweedie,  Alexander 

107 

Tweedie,  William 

"7 

Van  Aken,  John  D 600 

Van  .'Xken,  Robert  B 710 

Van  Housen,  Rev.  Jacob  B.  .     .  552 

Van  Steinburg,  .Abraham  .     .     .  616 

\'ermilya,  Charles  H 692 

V'ermilva.  Edgar  A C61 

\'enill,' Charles  H.,  A..M..  Ph.D.  too 


W 

Wade,  Mrs.  E.  J.  .     . 
Wakefield,  William  . 
Walker,  Thompson  K. 
Walsworth,  Louis  M. 
Warner.  .Mrs.  Emily  K. 
Warner,  Harry      .     . 
Wattles.  Sluman  L.  . 
Webb,  Charles  C. 
Webb,  Capt.  James  1. 
Webb,  William  H.    . 
Webster,  George  .     . 
Weir,  Mrs.  Catherine  J. 
Wetmore,  Charles  W.    . 
Wheeler,  Col.  George  D. 
Wheeler,  Hon.  Marvin  D. 
Whipple,  Jerome  .     .     . 
Whitaker,  John  O.     . 
White,  Benjamin  J.   .     . 
White,  John  S.      .     .     . 
White,  .Samuel  E 
White,  Samuel  J. 
White,  Samuel  iM. 
White.  Thomas  E.     . 
White,  William  L. 
Wight,  David  L.  . 
Wight,  George 
Williamson,  David 
Willis,  Warren  G. 
Wilson.  James  S. 
Wilson,  William  11. 
Winans,  Isaac  .     . 
Winter,  John  W.  .     . 
Wood,  .Amos  P.    . 
Wood,  George  F. 
Wood,  O.  D.     .     .     . 
Wood,  Rufus  S.    . 
Wood,  Schu)Ier  E.    . 
Wood.  William  H. 
Woodin.  David  B.     . 
Woodruff.  Cliarles  S. 
Wright,  William  R.  . 


■M  D. 


Young,  James 
Young,  Peter 


W. 


'•■43 

555 

69 

32' 
698 
(■>98 

573 

104 

88 

499 
152 
683 

108 
397 
^•'37 
'75 
611 
490 
5" 

54 
248 

62 
105 

545 
68 1 

539 
341 

2S5 

92 

437 

22 

368 
251 

7'4 
215 
4' 
533 
140 
616 
590 
5S9 


239 
265 


\ 


PORTRAITS. 


Adee,  George  .     . 
Baker,  Horace 
lilish,  John  M.       . 
liogart,  Gilbert 
Burrows,  Palmer  L 
Burrows,  Mrs.  Sophron 
Campbell,  Duncan     . 
Clark,  Rev.  John  .     . 
Crary,  Horace  II. 
Doolittle,  Erastus  1). 
Drake,  Ulysses     .     . 
Edwards,  Henry  S.  . 
Fitch,  George  \V. 
Forman,  William  H. 
Fuller,  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Fuller,  William 
Getter,  Aurea  F. 
Gibson,  Adam 
Gould.  Jay    .     . 
Graham,  J.  Milo 
( Gregory,  J.  T.  . 


ia  M 


576 

f)SS 

393 
(^S3 
-45 
::44 

l(>5 
535 
413 

(,(/, 

43' 
21  7 

642 

307 
3o() 

357 
620 

525 
473 
371 


Gregory.  Slitrman  S.     . 
Hardcnburgh.  Isaac 
Hastings,  Jennie  M. 
Hastings,  Thomas  K. 
Hewitt,  Rev.  Isaac 
Hoyt,  Thadcleus  .S. 
Kerr,  James  S. 
Korn,  Samuel   .     .     . 
.MartiTi    Gen.  Williams  . 

.May,  I..  1' 

Maynard,  .Xrcliibald  I  . 
Maynard.  Mrs.  Jennie  I. 
.Maynard.  Milton  H. 
Mc.-Mlister,  Calvin 
McDonald.  James 
McGibbon.  John   . 
McN'aught,  John  S. 
.Minor,  .\lbert  I'.  . 
Minor,  James  S.    . 
Montgomery.  Hiram 
.Morrow.  William  B. 


543 

50- 
502 

4^7 


It' 

8 

;,S.S 

33' 

33-'' 
I ;; 
140 

<•:•' 

■'4 
4yi 

2^1 


.Niks.  Samuel  W.      . 
Norlli.  Mrs.  M.iry  Fine 
N'orili.  Robert,  Jr. 
(Irr    'I'"   M 

r.i. 

'■'  :-      I  . 

I .  James 
■ ''  .\.ii,'!fi 
.•-itorie,   '  \ 

Storie,  J  ;   D 

Tiltanv.  Ir.ini.i.-.  1..  . 
Waketield.  WMlinm  . 
Walker.    !  K 

Webb,  (  .1. 

Wetmorc,  I  ir  ~  W. 
Willis.  Warren  C. 


4'. 
-'•■4 


.McDon.ald,    Ji.hn     T. 
farm       ..     .     . 


\icw   of 


i-\: 


\ 


X  fO^  "f^ti 


^< 


CI, 


eH2» 


.K  ^ 


% 


c 


'A-