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GENEALOGY 

974.701 

W27H 


GENEALOGY  COU-EGTIONI 


Al  I  (  N   c    CJIJNI  I    t-i  JUL  II      I  IHHAH  r 


3  1833  01149  0072 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Allen  County  Public  Library  Genealogy  Center 


http://www.archive.org/details/historybiographyOOgres 


WASHINGTON    ACADEMY,   SALEM,   N    Y. 


HISTORY  AND  BIOGRAPHY 


Washington  Bounty, 


TOWN  OF  QUEEJ4SBUHY, 

WITH 

Historical  Notes  on  the  Various  Towns. 


ARRANGED    AND    EDITED    BY 


THE   GRESHAM    PUBLISHING    COMPANY. 


3Uu$tvatcb+ 


GRESHAM    PUBLISHING   COMPANY: 
CHICAGO,   ILL.  RICHMOND,   IND.  NEW  YORK,   NY 

1894. 


PRESSES    OF 

M.    CULLATON    &    CO. 

RICHMOND,    IND 


* 


IS 


*  "PREFACE.- 


"^Q)^  ' 


1180279 

§8&>  F  A  TRUTH   it  may  be  said  that  History,  the  highest  form  of  prose  literature, 


is  fast  becoming  one  of  the  most  popular  and  important  branches  of  human 
knowledge.  It  has  rapidly  risen  in  our  day  from  an  empirical  state  to  the  rank 
of  a  science,  and  the  master  minds  of  this  century  that  have  devoted  their 
energies  to  efforts  in  behalf  of  its  advancement  in  accuracy,  interest  and  value,  have 
transformed  it  from  the  princely  eulogy  and  fairy  tales  of  olden  times  into  a  vast  super- 
structure only  less  real  than  the  great  drama  of  actual  events  it  is  intended  to  perpetuate 
in  human  memory.  This  improvement  has  popularized  History  until  it  is  no  longer  the 
Pactolus  of  the  learned,  but  has  risen  to  be  the  guiding  star  of  modern  civilization.  In 
it  are  reflected  the  principles  that  govern  the  character  and  destiny  of  nations,  and  from 
it  the  statesman  and  reformer  may  construct  a  chart  to  guide  all  intelligent  effort  at 
reform  in  our  old  civilization,  or  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  new.  As  in  ancient  times,  so 
even  at  this  hour,  "Experience  is  a  light  for  our  footsteps,"  no  less  for  the  Nation  or 
community  than  for  the  individual,  and  true  History  is  human  experience  condensed  and 
preserved. 

Local  history  particularly  has  rapidly  risen  in  importance  since  our  Centennial  year, 
when  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  by  joint  resolution,  recommended  to  each  city, 
town  and  county  in  this  country  the  duty  of  collecting  for  permanent  preservation  their 
local  history  and  biography.  In  the  first  century  of  our  National  existence  the  annals  of 
town  and  county,  together  with  the  individuality  of  the  citizen,  had  been  absorbed  by  the 
history  of  the  State  and  the  still  more  masterful  theme  of  the  life  of  the  Nation.  Since 
the  opening  of  our  second  century  it  is  becoming  more  generally  understood  that  the 
history  of  a  people  resolves  itself  largely  into  the  achievements  of  its  leading  men  and 
women,  and  that  in  biography  may  be  found  that  department  of  history  most  valuable  for 
the  intelligent  study  of  National  life  and  human  advancement.  Hence  in  the  series  of 
County  Cyclopedias  that  bear  the  imprint  of  the  publishers  of  this  volume,  much  attention 


vi  PREFACE. 

has  been  given  to  the  collection  and  publication  of  biographical  sketches  of  leading 
citizens,  past  and  present.  It  is  a  fact  that  biography  of  this  character  must  have  promi- 
nent place  in  the  local  history  of  the  future,  and  that  the  important  and  useful  lessons  it 
teaches  will  never  fail  to  excite  interest  and  give  pleasure.  It  subserves  the  highest  good 
by  presenting  examples  worthy  of  emulation,  and  by  perpetuating  the  memories  of  those 
who  are  worthy  of  remembrance. 

From  the  time  when  this  territory  was  yet  a  wilderness  down  to  the  present  day, 
Washington  county  occupies  an  important  position  among  her  sister  counties  of  the 
Empire  State  —  a  proud  eminence  based  alike  on  her  wonderful  development,  her  indus- 
trial prosperity,  and  the  prominent  place  she  occupies  in  the  history  of  the  Revolution  — 
that  gigantic  struggle  for  the  rights  of  man,  when  a  Nation  was  born  in  a  day,  and  the 
dial  hand  on  the  clock  of  human  progress  moved  forward  in  a  greater  advance  than  it 
had  hitherto  marked  in  five  centuries. 

That  Washington  county  has  kept  well  to  the  front  in  that  general  improvement 
which  distinguishes  these  later  times  —  in  industrial  development,  art,  science,  literature, 
and  everthing  that  tends  to  ennoble  life  and  make  its  possession  priceless  —  is  largely 
due  to  the  energy,  ability  and  character  of  the  men  who  have  found  fitting  notice  on  the 
pages  of  this  volume — worthy  descendants  of  the  pilgrims  and  pioneers  who  first  conquered 
this  soil,  and  by  brawn  and  brain  reduced  it  to  the  uses  of  civilization. 

THE    PUBLISHERS. 


^(?O^TENTS4 


HISTORICAL. 


Pages. 

History  of  Washington  County 17-79 

CHAPTER  I.  —  Introduction  —Geography  — 
Topography  —  Lake  George  —  Diononda- 
howa  Falls  —  Geology  — Minerals 17-23 

CHAPTER  1 1.  —  Mound  Builders  —  Indians  — 

War-path  of  America 23-27 

CHAPTER  III.  —  Champlain's  Invasion  — 
Hudson's  Discovery — Iroquois  Raids  into 
Canada— Father  Jogues  Discovers  Lake 
George 27-29 

CHAPTER  IV.— French  Invasions  of  the  Mo- 
hawk Country  —  Iroquois  Ravages  of  Can- 
ada        29-30 

CHAPTER  V.—  Destruction  of  Schenectady— 
Winthrop  and  Schuyler's  Expeditions  — 
French  Invasion  —  Dellius  Land  Patent.  .  .        30-32 

CHAPTER  VI.— Nicholson's  Expeditions  — 
Saratoga  Settlement — -Campbell  Colony  — 
Lydius'  Establishment 32-34 

CHAPTER  VII.— Destruction  of  Old  Sara- 
toga—  Fort  Clinton  —  French  Expeditions 
— English  Abandonment  of  the  County.  .  .        34-35 

CHAPTER  VIII.— Battle  of  Lake  George — 
Rogers,  Putnam  and  Stark's  Rangers — Fall 
of  Fort  William  Henry  —  Abercrombie  and 
Amherst's  Campaigns 35-40 


Pages 
CHAPTER  I  X—  Early  Settlements  —  Provin- 
cial   and    Artillery  Patents  —  New   Hamp- 
shire Grants 40-42 

CHAPTER    X.  —  County    Formation     under 

Name  of  Charlotte 42-43 

CHAPTER  XL— Commencement  of  the  Rev- 
olution—  Burgoyne's  Invasion  —  Battle  of 
Fort  Ann  —  Burgoyne's  Slow  Advance  — 
Murder  of  Jane  McCrea — Bennington  — 
Saratoga  —  Union  Convention  —  Revolu- 
tionary Soldiers 43-51 

CHAPTER  XII.— Charlotte  becomes  Wash- 
ington County —  Cambridge  and  Eaton  An- 
nexed —  Canals  —  County  Seat  Struggles  — 
Turnpikes  —  Warren  County  Erected  — 
Battle  of  Plattsburg 51-53 

CHAPTER  XI II.— New  Industries  — Cham- 
plain  Canal  —  Plank  Roads  —  Early  Rail- 
roads         53-55 

CHAPTER  XIV.  —  Commencement  of  the 
Civil  War  —  Regimental  Histories  and  Mor- 
tuary Lists  —  Peace 55-62 

CHAPTER  XV. —  Later    Railways  —  Present 

Industries  —  County  Progress 62-63 

CHAPTER  XVI.— Statistics  of  Population. 
Manufactures,  Agriculture.  Mining,  and 
Trade,  and  Transportation 63-66 


vm 

CHAPTER  XVI  I. —  Agricultural  and  Medical 
Societies  —  The  Early  Press  —  Churches  — 
Schools  —  Early  Banks—  Secret   Societies 

CHAPTER  XVI 1 1.— County  Political  and 
Civil  Lists 

CHAPTER  XIX.— County  Home— Early  Iron 
Enterprises  —  LaFayette's  Visit  —  Steam- 
boat Navigation —  Indian  Names —  Histor- 
ians   

Historical  Notes  upon  the  Villages  and  Towns 
of  Washington  County 

CHAPTER  I.  — Village  and  Town  of  Salem. . 

CHAPTER  II.— Village  of  Sandy  Hill,  and 
Town  of  Kingsbury 

CHAPTER  1 1 1. —Village  and  Town  of  White- 
hall   

CHAPTER  I  V.  —Villages  of  Fort  Edward  and 
Fort  Miller,  and  Town  of  Fort  Edward. .  . 

CHAPTER  V.— Village  and  Town  of  Green- 
wich   


CONTENTS. 


Pages 

66-72 
72-76 

76-79 


80-142 

80-84 

84-90 

90-95 

95-100 

00-105 

Pages 
CHAPTER  VI.—  Village  and  Townof  Argyle.    10~>-1  10 

CHAPTER  VII.  — Towns    of     Jackson    and 

White  Creek 110-116 

CHAPTER  VIII  —Village  and  Town  of  Cam- 
bridge    116-122 

CHAPTER  I  X.— Villages  of  Easton  and  North 

Easton.  and  Town  of  Easton 122-124 

CHAPTER  X  —Village  of  West  Hebron   and 

Town  of  Hebron 124-127 

CHAPTER  X  I.  — Village  and  Town  of  Gran- 
ville     128-132 

CHAPTER   XII. —Village   of    Hartford    and 

Towns  of  Hartford  and   Hampton 132-136 

CHAPTER  X  I  I  I  —Village  and  Town  of  Fort 

Ann 136-138 

CHAPTER  X  I V— Towns    of    Dresden    and 

Putnam 138-142 

Historical  Notes  upon  the  Village  of  Glens  Falls 

and  the  Town  of  Queensbury 143-148 


<  'ONTENTS. 


BIOGRAPHICAL. 


Page 

Adams,  James 275 

Adams,  J.  M 208 

Allen,  Fred.  W 370 

Allen,  Hon.  C.   L 318 

Ambler,  S.  B 350 

Anderson,  Rev.  John 402 

Armstrong,  Adam,  jr 315 

Ashton,  J.  W 412 

Ashton,  W,  J '.  433 

Baker.   N.   G 349 

Bancroft  Public  Library,  The.  .  361 

Bartlett,  Dr.  W.  R 390 

Bascom,  Hon.  0 385 

Bascom.  R    0 284 

Bates,  Homer  B 318 

Bemis,  E.    H 336 

Blackfan,  H.  S  ,  M.   D 193 

Blashfield,  C.   E 426 

Bratt,  Frederick  A 387 

Brayton,  John 256 

Briggs,  David  0 192 

Brooks.  John 246 

Brown,  Maj.  Daniel 389 

Buck,  Charles  H 294 

Bullock,    Rowland  S 156 

Burdett,  James  H 383 

Burditt,  E.  L 273 

Burleigh,  Hon.  H.  G 249 

Byrne    Hon.    Frank 231 

Cameron,  Hon.  W.  M 161 

Carver.  J.  W 292 

Chase,  D.  A.  M.  D 407 


Page 

Chase,  Elijah 424 

Cipperley,  John,  M    D 321 

Clark,  Asahel 190 

Clark,  Dr    B.  J 337 

Clark,  E.  G 260 

Clark,  Guy  R 418 

Clark,  Rev.  Thomas.  M.  D 409 

Cleveland,  W.  W 242 

Cole.  A.  B 274 

Cole.  Hiram 436 

Colvin.  H.  D 419 

Contryman,  Capt.  A   B , .  242 

Cornell,  Flavius  J 410 

Cotton,  Willard  H 187 

Cozzens.  W.   L 419 

Craadall.  Alden  M 379 

Crandall,  Henry   203. 

Crandall,  W.  H 369 

Crocker,  B  P 367 

Cronkhite,  L.  W 201 

Cronkhite.  William 174 

Cruikshank,  Robert 224 

Culver,  George  B 167 

Cushman   Family 356 

Davis,  C.  G 209 

Davis,  L.  L 235 

Davis,  O.  F  422 

Davis,  Rufus  R 282 

Dearstyne,   Andrus 155 

Dennis,  W.   H 427 

Derby.  Hon    J.  H 105 

Dillingham,  Henry 306 

Donahoe,  Rev.  John  F 176 


Page 

Doren,    James 215 

Doremus,   G.  W 417 

Dorr,  Geo.  E 420 

Earl.  J.  C 384 

Eldridge,  Ahira 316 

Eldridge,   William 353 

Ellis,  James 308 

Ethier,  Rev.    J    S 329 

Farr,  Dr.  D.  C 343 

Fennel,  Rev    A.  J 215 

Fenton,  C.  S 387 

Ferriss,   J.  A 160 

Field,  Rev.   T.   A 186 

Filkins,   David 386 

Finch,  George  N 225 

Finch,  S.  L 283 

Fishier,   Franklin 324 

Fitch.  Hon.  Asa,  M.  D 338 

.Fitch,  Prof    Asa,  M   D 412 

Flood,  Thomas 381 

Foster,  John  B 188 

Frazer,  Frederick 378 

Fryer.  Wilbur 345 

Ganly,  John 428 

Gayger,  W.  H 287 

Getty,  George  D 211 

Gibson.  Hon    James 151 

Gifford,  Thomas  C 305 

Gilchrist  Family 362 

Gilroy,  John 339 

tioodson.  Isaac  A 380 


CONTEXTS. 


Page 

Goodman,  Hon.  J.  E 351 

Gray,  Capt.  E.  J 322 

Gray,  Henry,  M.  D 204 

Gray.   J.  W 298 

Gregory,  Sylvanus 355 

Greenough,  E.   A 194 

Griffin,  B.  H.... 411 

Griswold.  S.   K 221 

Haines.  AG 282 

Hall.  Austin 431 

Hall,    John 340 

'Hamilton.  Robert 168 

Harris.  G    D 415 

Harris,   John  F 175 

Haviland,  Joseph 184 

Hill,  Fred  E 244 

Hodgman,  A   C 251 

Holcomb.  B.  R,  M.  D 178 

Holmes,  Cornelius,  M.  D 388 

Horsfield.  Rev.  F.  H.  T 433 

Horton.  E,  T„  M,  D 293 

Howard,    Henry  A 276 

Howe,  Prof    W.  W 253 

Howland,  L.  M 215 

Howland,   Amasa 219 

Hubbard,  Martin  D 316 

Hughes.  Charles 195 

Hughes.  William  H 372 

Ingalsbe.  G.  M 320 

Ingalsbe.  Milo 264 

Ingalsbe.  Myron  D 193 

Jenkins.  C.  A 425 

Jenkins,   Gamalael 197 

Jenkins,    Lyman 386 

Jenkins,  N.   L 162 

Jones,  O.  D 429 

Johnston,  Rev.  John 251 

Keenan,    John 379 

Kellogg,  Rev.   Charles  D 258 

Kenyon,  Sylvanus  H 157 

King,  Lieut.  John 216 


Page 

Lapham,  Hon.  Jerome 375 

Larmond,  Capt.   John 430 

Lashway,  Albert  H 378 

LaVake,  James  O 297 

Law,  James 326 

Lawrence,  W.  E 278 

Lillie.  Judge  Thomas  A 169 

Linendoll.  R.  A  ,  A.  M.,  M.  D.  220 

Long.  A    J 229 

Lotrace,  Charles  H 337 

Lowber,  R.W 236 

Lyon.  Charles 291 

Manville,  Capt.  J.  H 262 

Marline,  Hon.  G.  R  .  M    D  ...   311 

Mason,  H    L 385 

Mason,  S.  C 312 

Masters.  J    T 207 

McArthur,  James  L 153 

McArthur,   Thomas  W 162 

McCarty,  Maj.   James 222 

McCormick,   J.  B 277 

McDermott,  Rev.  James 166 

McDonald,  Hon.  Wm 325 

McKensie,  David  C,  M.  D 389 

Mc Wayne,  LeRoy,  M    D 364 

Mealey,   Cornelius 377 

Mealey,  Jno.  H 304 

Miller,    Frank 409 

Miller,  Joseph 313 

Miller,  W.  H  ,  M.  D 190 

Millington,    John,  M.  D 361 

Moneypenny,  Dr.  John 400 

Montgomery,  L.   E 285 

Morey,  C.  L 366 

Mott,  O    H,  M.  D 257 

Mowry,   Henry  L 177 

Neddo,  Capt.  George 348 

Newman,  Alfred  J    416 

Northrup,  H    Davis 234 

Northup.  Judge  L   H 160 

Norton,  N.  R 414 

O'Brien,  Rev.  James  J 204 

O'Brien,  M.  H 307 


Page 

Ordway,    James  M 184 

Ottarson,  B.  F 314 

Packer,  Nathan  E 335 

Palmer,  W.  M 382 

Paris,  C     R 222 

Paris,  Hon.  U    G 223 

Parks,  S.  H 201 

Parrish,  H.  H 432 

Patterson,  Charles  R 366 

Peck  Family 353 

Pember,  F.   T 287 

Petteys,  Edgar  M 188 

Pierce.  C.    H 344 

Piser,   Leonard 368 

Potvin,  Mitchel 354 

Powell,  W.  H 294 

Pratt,  Albert  V 355 

Pratt,  De  Morris 433 

Pratt,  James  E 303 

Pratt,  John  L,  jr 363 

Pruyn,    Samuel 185 

Reed,  Edward 286 

Rice,  OK 165 

Rice,  R.  Niles 405 

Rich,  L.   M 403 

Rider,   James  M 159 

Robertson,  H    G 414 

Robinson,  J.J 272 

Robinson,  O.  C 353 

Rochon,  C.  A 262 

Rogers,    Deliverance 273 

Rogers,  Hon    Charles 376 

Rogers,  Lieut.  Harper  N 388 

Rogers,  W.  G 421 

Root,  Henry,  A.  M.,  M.  D 232 

Rosekrans,  Hon    E.   H 339 

Russell,   S    W 180 

Satterlee.  George   296 

Sawyer,  Rev.  E.  R  ,  D    D 189 

Scales,  Charles 402 

Seeley,   Jurden  E 170 

Sheldon,  Hon.  O   W 191 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Sheldon,  N.  E.,   M.  D 857 

Sherrill,   George   263 

Sherrill,  J.  D 254 

Sherman,  Alex    M 404 

Shiland,   John 40* 

Shipman,  Hiram 196 

Sisson,  Hon.  Hiram 156 

Sickles,  Maj.  Gen.  D.  E 384 

Skeels,  E.  W 349 

Skiff,  S.  M 422 

Smith,    Henry 404 

Somers,  John 434 

Sprague,  AT 381 

Sprague,  Watson  N 171 

Stevenson,  Hon.  W.  D 252 

Stillman,  S.  L 210 

Sullivan,  D.   J 322 

Sweet,  B.  G 233 

Taber,  Charles  R 302 

Teftt,  Frances  A 257 

Tefft,  Hon.  W.  H 179 


Page 

Thebo,  P.  C 245 

Thomas,  Mel vin 344 

Thompson,  J.  H 206 

Thompson,  LeRoy 213 

Thompson,  Thomas 357 

Thomson,  Lemon.   M     D 346 

Tidmarsh,   H    L   415 

Travis,  W.  B 418 

Trumbull,  G.    E   212 

Underwood,   Christopher 154 

Underwood.  George  F 220 

Vandewerker,  H.  W.,  M.  D 214 

Van   Dusen,  Hon.  N.  W 286 

Van  Ness,  C.   H 318 

Van  Wormer,  Francis  M 173 

Van  Wormer,    Rodney 293 

Vaughan.  A    C 323 

Wallace,  H.   H 292 

Wallace,  J.  W 243 


Page 

Wallace,  Theo.  C 347 

Ward,  T.  L 426 

Watkins,   John  L 358 

Wells,  WW 410 

Wentworth,  Rev    E,  D  D.    ...  192 

Weston,  Hon.  Roswell 417 

Whitcomb,  George  H 261 

White,  J.  H 281 

Williams,  General  John 393 

Williams,  R     Jay 301 

Williams,    Sherman 226 

Williamson,   Alex 234 

Wilson,  Joseph 365 

Wilson.  Ross 435 

Wing,  Hon.  H    R 411 

Witherbee,  R.   M 295 

Woodard,  Daniel  D 326 

Wright.  C.  T 255 

Wright,  Maj.  James 202 

Young.   Cornelius 253 


( 'ONTENTS. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Page 


Bancroft  Public  Library,  The facing  361 


Cronkhite,  Leonard  W. 
Ethier,  Rev.  Joseph  S.  . 
Gibson,  Hon.    James.    . 

Howland,   Amasa 

Ingalsbe,  Milo 

Lapham,  Hon.  Jerome. 

Long,  A.  J 

Lowber,  Robert  Wilson 
Lyon,  Charles 


201 
320 
149 
219 
264 
375 
229 
236 
291 


Page 
Martin,  Godfrey  R,  M.  D "      311 

Rice,  Orrin  Kellogg "      165 

Russell,  Solomon  W "      180 

View  of  Altars  in  St.  Alfonsus'  Church,  Glens 

Falls between  326  and  329 

View  of  Altars  in  St.  Mary's  Church  at  Glens 

Falls between  326  and  329 

White,    James  Hylar facing  281 

Williams,  General  John "      393 

Williams,  R.   Jay "     301 


®HlSTOHlGflLt  g^ETCH 


OF )SJ^~> 


Washington  County,  flecu  York. 


<^r 


-*~- 


CHAPTER    I. 

INTRODUCTION  — GEOGRAPHY— TOPOGRA- 
PHY—LAKE  GEORGE-DIONONDAHOWA 
FALLS  —  GEOLOGY  —  MINERALS. 

INTRODUCTION. 

•  lJ  LONG  the  shore  of  one  of  the  world's 
Q/  -*-  most' beautiful  lakes,  and  in  the  historic 
upper  valley  of  the  noble  stream  made  famous 
forever  by  the  "  Prince  of  American  Letters," 
lies  an  old  and  time -honored  county,  first 
called  Charlotte  for  Queen  Charlotte,  wife  of 
George  III.,  of  England,  and  afterward  given 
its  present  name  of  Washington,  in  honor  of 
the  master-spirit  of  the  American  Revolution. 

Washington  county,  New  York,  the  "'war- 
path of  America, "  owes  its  military  importance 
during  war,  and  its  commercial  advantages  in 
times  of  peace,  to  its  geographical  position  ; 
but  its  history — like  that  of  any  other  county — 
is  the  result  of  the  character,  the  spirit,  and 
the  intelligence  of  its  people. 

To  write  the  history  of  Washington  county 
from  its  creation,  under  the  name  of  Charlotte, 
by  legislative  enactment  in  1772,  down  to  the 
recorded  events  of  the  present,  and  confine 
the  work  to  the  limited  space  which  the  scope 
3  ( 


of  this  volume  will  but  necessarily  allow,  is 
an  undertaking  of  no  small  degree. 

In  attempting  to  some  extent  the  investiture 
of  this  important  history  with  the  interest  that 
naturally  belongs  to  it,  we  shall  seek  to  trace 
the  first  attempted  settlement  on  the  Hudson, 
and  the  fate  of  Captain  Campbell's  Scottish 
colony,  events  occurring  between  1737  and 
1745.  We  shall  attempt  to  give  what  can  be 
secured  of  the  fort  building,  the  passing  of 
hostile  expeditions,  and  the  battles  in  Wash- 
ington county  during  King  George's  and  the 
French  and  Indian  wars.  We  shall  endeavor 
to  examine  carefully  the  Hudson  river,  the 
Salem  and  the  Skenesborough  settlement  be- 
ginnings of  1761,  made  respectively  by  New 
Yorkers,  Massachusetts  pioneers,  and  Scotch 
Highland  soldiers.  We  shall  notice  the  later 
coming  ef  the  Kingsbury  Connecticut  colony, 
and  the  Campbell  and  Clark  colonies,  respec- 
tively, of  Argyle  and  Salem.  We  shall  record 
the  settlement,  in  1770,  of  the  Irish  Methodist 
colony  at  Ash  Grove,  under  the  leadership  of 
Philip  Embury,  the  founder  of  Methodism  on 
the  American  continent.  We  shall  endeavor 
to  chronicle  the  birth  and  mark  the  course  of 
the  two  great  New  York  and  Vermont  parties 
on  the  soil  of  the  county,  struggling  for  civil 
17) 


18 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


supremacy  over  its  entire  sweep  of  territory. 
We  shall  record  the  fraternizing,  to  a  certain 
degree,  of  these  hostile  factions  in  the  com- 
mencement of  the  common'war  waged  by  the 
Thirteen  Colonies  against  England,  and  call 
especial  attention  to  the  noble  spirit  of  patri- 
otism and  self-sacrifice,  throughout  the  larger 
part  of  the  count}',  awakened  by  the  opening 
thunders  of  the  Revolutionary  struggle.  We 
shall  give  brief  mention  to  the  Tory  defection 
in  Wood  Creek  valley,  and  then  follow  the 
slow  and  toilsome  march  of  Burgoyne's  glit- 
tering legions  over  the  "war-path  of  America" 
to  the  fateful  field  of  Saratoga,  where  splen- 
did victory  crowned  the  efforts  of  Arnold  and 
Morgan  in  the  cause  of  American  indepen- 
dence, while  not  neglecting  notice  of  the 
tragic  death  of  lovely  Jane  McCrea  and  Baum's 
ill-starred  expedition  through  the  beautiful 
Cambridge  valley  to  meet  disaster  and  defeat 
at  the  battle  of  Bennington.  We  shall  pro- 
ceed rapidly  over  the  closing  days  of  the 
Revolution  and  the  insurrectionary  Salem  at- 
tempt of  county  annexation  to  Vermont.  We 
shall  next  attempt  to  trace  the  progress  of  the 
county  since  the  struggle  for  independence, 
noticing  its  several  stages  of  growth,  and  re- 
cording its  single  accession  and  afterward 
great  losses  of  territory.  We  shall  endeavor 
to  give  the  patriotic  position  the  county  occu- 
pied in  the  late  Civil  war,  and  the  proud  and 
honorable  part  its  noble  sons  took  in  that 
great  struggle  for  national  supremacy  and  an 
undivided  country.  We  shall  attempt  the 
record  of  county  progress  since  the  war,  and 
give  due  attention  to  the  efforts  that  have 
been  made  to  place  Washington  in  the  front 
rank  of  the  counties  of  the  Empire  State. 
We  shall  seek  to  tell  the  story  of  the  develop- 
ment of  her  material  resources  and  her  com- 
mercial facilities,  give  her  educational  advan- 
tages and  high  moral  and  religious  standing. 
and  speak  of  the  potent  influence  for  the 
common  weal  and  public  prosperity  wielded 
by  an  intelligent  and  progressive  county 
press. 


To  write  the  history  of  the  county  intelli- 
gently it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  trace  the 
territory  of  Washington  under  the  succeeding 
jurisdictions  of  Dutch  New  Netherlands  and 
English  New  York,  chronicling  during  that 
time  the  march  of  Indian  and  French  war 
parties  and  expeditions  over  the  densely 
wooded  Champlain  and  Hudson  portage. 

Associated  with  the  history  of  the  present 
territory  of  Washington  county  under  the 
rule  of  the  white  race,  is  the  story  of  its  In- 
dian occupation  as  a  hunting  ground  and  its 
use  by  the  red  lords  of  the  forest  as  a  great 
war  trail  between  American  and  Canadian 
waters. 

It  should  awaken  a  feeling  of  pride  in  the 
heart  of  every  citizen  of  Washington  county 
when  they  view  the  wonderful  progress  the 
county  has  made  from  a  few  colonies  planted 
in  an  unexplored  wilderness  to  wealthy  com- 
munities and  populous  villages. 

But  little  more  than  a  century  ago,  dense 
forests  covered  mountain,  hill  and  valley 
throughout  Washington  county,  where  green 
meadows  and  golden  harvests  now  lie  warm 
in  heaven's  bright  sunshine.  Such  progress 
is  far  beyond  any  fairy  result  ascribed  to  the 
magic  wand  of  enchantment. 

GEOGRAPHY. 

Washington  county,  New  York,  is  in  the 
historic,  beautiful  and  far-famed  valley  of  the 
upper  Hudson  river,  and  the  basins  of  the 
northern  lakes  of  St.  George  and  Champlain, 
and  lies  between  forty-two  degrees  and  fifty- 
four  minutes  and  forty-three  degrees  and 
forty-seven  minutes  north  latitude  ;  and  three 
degrees  and  ten  minutes  and  three  degrees 
and  twenty-one  minutes  east  longitude  from 
Washington,  or  seventy-four  degrees  and  ten 
minutes  and  three  degrees  and  twenty-one 
minutes  west  longitude  from  Greenwich,  Eng- 
land. As  a  political  division  of  the  State,  it 
is  bounded  by  Essex  county  ;  on  the  east,  by 
the  State  of  Vermont;  on  the  south,  by  Rens- 
selaer county,  and   on  the   west   by  Saratoga 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


19 


and  Warren  counties.  It  is  sixty-one  miles 
in  length,  and  for  forty  miles  from  the  southern 
boundary  line  has  an  average  width  of  eighteen 
miles,  which  then  abruptly  contracts  down  to 
nine  miles;  when  it  reaches  the  peninsular 
portion  of  the  county,  that  narrows  down  to 
five  miles  at  the  Essex  county  line.  In  geo- 
graphical position  Washington  county  is  one 
of  the  northeastern  counties  of  New  York, 
while  its  geographical  center  and  center  of 
population  are  located  respectively  in  the 
towns  of  Fort  Ann  and  Hartford.  Its  lat- 
itude and  longitude  center  is  in  the  town  of 
Hartford.  The  computed  area  of  Washington 
county  is  eight  hundred  and  thirty  square 
miles. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

The  surface  of  Washington  county  is  di- 
vided into  three  separate  and  distinct  physical 
parts  —  a  northern  or  mountainous  peninsular, 
a  central  valley  stretching  from  Lake  Cham- 
plain  to  the  Hudson  river,  and  a  great 
southwestern  mountain  region  composed  of 
three  ridges  and  their  two  separating  valleys, 
running  from  southwest  to  northeast,  and  em- 
bracing the  larger  part  of  the  central,  and  all 
of  the  southern  townships. 

The  highest  mountain  in  the  county  is 
Black  mountain,  which  is  in  the  town  of 
Dresden,  and  has  an  altitude  of  twenty-eight 
hundred  and  seventy-eight  feet  above  the 
waters  of  Lake  George. 

The  soil  of  the  county  is  loam  in  the  val- 
leys, and  sand  and  clay  on  the  hills  and 
ridges;  while  the  original  heavy  forests  that 
covered  mountain  and  plain,  and  hill  and 
dale,  were  mainly  of  ash,  oak,  beech,  maple, 
elm  and  pine,  in  whose  depths  gamboled  the 
deer,  and  lurked  the  bear,  panther  and  wolf. 
In  the  rocks  once  dwelt  the  deathful  rattle- 
snake, and  high  in  the  air  swept  the  fierce 
and  vengeful  eagle. 

The  drainage  of  Washington  count}*  is  by 
the  Hudson  river  and  the  Lake  Champlain 
systems.  The  northern  peninsula  is  drained 
west  and  east   by  several  small  streams  into 


Lakes  George  and  Champlain,  while  the 
north,  central  and  eastern  parts  have  their 
drainage  north  by  Wood  creek,  and  Pawlet 
and  Poultney  rivers,  into  the  narrows  of  Lake 
Champlain.  The  south,  central  and  southern 
parts  of  the  county  have  their  drainage  south 
by  the  Batten  Kill  and  Hoosick  river,  into 
the  Hudson. 

The  broad  plain  around  Sandy  Hill  and 
Fort  Edward,  running  northward,  soon  nar- 
rows into  the  valley  of  Wood  creek,  the  lar- 
gest stream  in  the  county  that  flows  into  Lake 
Champlain.  This  remarkable  depression  af- 
fords a  fine  portage  from  Lake  Champlain  to 
the  waters  of  the  Hudson  river,  and  the  march 
of  invading  armies  through  this  valley,  in 
the  struggle  of  warring  races  for  the  mastery 
of  the  North  American  Continent,  has  made 
Washington  county  the  "War-path  of  Amer- 
ica." 

The  Batten  Kill,  whose  beautiful  Indian 
name  was  Ondawa,  is  the  largest  stream  that 
flows  directly  from  the  county  into  the  Hud- 
son, and  its  head  waters  of  Black  and  White 
creeks,  drain  the  valley  between  the  first  and 
second  great  ranges  of  hills,  ere  it  breaks  its 
way  through  the  first  great  range  trending 
from  southwest  to  northeast.  It  also  drains 
largely  this  first  mountain  range  which  con- 
stitutes the  highlands  of  the  towns  of  Easton, 
Greenwich,  Argyle,  Hartford,  Granville, 
Hampton  and  east  Whitehall.  Gathering  its 
wealth  of  waters  from  the  beautiful  Cossa- 
yuna  and  Argyle  lakes,  and  a  score  of  bright 
and  sparkling  creeks  and  rivulets,  the  Batten 
Kill  becomes  a  swift-flowing  and  strangely 
picturesque  stream,  whose  wonderful  Dionon- 
dahowa,  or  Middle  Falls,  have  a  descent  of 
seventy-five  feet  in  a  distance  of  three  hun- 
dred. Northward  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Batten  Kill,  in  early  pioneer  days,  stretched 
twelve  miles  in  length  and  six  in  width,  the 
eastern  part  of  the  great  Saraghtoga  wilder- 
ness, one  of  the  famous  Indian  hunting 
grounds,  through  which  roamed  for  untold 
years  the  lordly  and  masterful  Iroquois. 


•20 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


In  the  valley  between  the  second  and  third 
range  of  hills,  flows  the  Owl  Kill,  the  princi- 
pal Washington  county  branch  of  the  Hoosick 
river.  Draining  largely  the  second  range  of 
hills  which  constitutes  the  high  ground  of 
Cambridge,  West  Jackson  and  east  Salem, 
and  Hebron,  and  the  western  part  of  the 
third  ridge,  which  constitutes  the  highland  in 
the  extreme  eastern  parts  of  Jackson  and 
White  Creek,  it  wends  southward  into  the 
Hoosick  river,  and  through  the  populous  Cam- 
bridge valley,  noted  for  fertility,  and  famous 
for  beautiful  scenery. 

LAKE    GEORGE. 

Andiatirocte,  Saint  Sacrament,  and  George 
are  three  names  in  three  different  languages 
for  a  mountain -walled  and  island -gemmed 
sheet  of  beautiful  water  whose  fame  is  world 
wide.  The  Indian  name  was  supplanted  by 
the  French,  which  in  turn  gave  way  to  the 
English,  and  to-day  throughout  the  bounds  of 
civilization  Lake  George  is  the  only  name 
that  has  ever  been  heard  by  unnumbered 
thousands  for  the  lovely  sheet  of  water  around 
which  history  and  romance  strangely  cling  in 
song  and  story. 

The  first  white  discoverer  of  Lake  George 
was  Father  Isaac  Jogues,  a  French  Jesuit 
missionary,  who  first  beheld  its  waters  on 
August  ii,  1642,  while  being  carried  a  captive 
by  Iroquois  Indians  from  Canada  to  the  banks 
of  the  Mohawk  river.  He  escaped  the  next 
year,  and  in  1646,  when  returning  to  the  Iro- 
quois as  a  French  ambassador,  he  reached 
Lake  George  "on  the  eve  of  Corpus  Christi, 
which  is  the  feast  of  the  Blessed  Body  of 
Jesus,  and  in  honor  of  the  day  named  the 
lake  'the  Lake  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament.'" 
This  name  was  contracted  to  that  of  Lake 
Saint  Sacrament,  by  which  it  was  known  until 
1755.  In  August  of  that  year  General  William 
Johnson  encamped  with  his  arm}'  on  the  head 
waters  of  the  lake,  and  changed  its  name  from 
Lake  Saint  Sacrament  to  Lake  George,  in 
honor  of  George  II.,  of  England. 


DIONONDAHOWA    FALLS. 

On  the  Batten  Kill  are  three  falls —  one  at 
Greenwich  ;  the  second  at  Galesville,  forty 
feet  high,  and  the  third  and  most  remark- 
able, half  a  mile  below  and  west  of  Galesville, 
known  by  its  Indian  name  of  Dionondahowa. 
"For  forty  or  fifty  rods  above  the  last  falls 
the  stream  runs  in  a  gently-descending  rapid, 
curving  to  the_  right  and  descending  more 
rapidly  as  it  nears  the  fall.  It  then  suddenly 
narrows  its  channel,  inclines  to  the  left  be- 
tween rough  walls  of  slate-rock,  and  falls  over 
four  successive  terraces,  each  narrower  and 
higher  than  the  preceding,  and  having  a  total 
fall  of  seventy-five  feet  in  three  hundred  feet 
of  distance.  The  waters,  now  of  creamy 
foam,  here  gather  together,  and  entering  a 
rocky  gorge,  hurl  themselves  madly  over  the 
brink  into  the  '  Devil's  Caldron.'  Now  lashed 
to  fury,  beaten  to  spray,  dashed  hither  and 
thither  with  resistless  force,  they  sullenly  pour 
over  another  fall  of  twelve  or  fifteen  feet,  and 
turning  to  the  right  flow  through  a  dark  ravine 
between  high  rocky  banks  on  their  way  to  the 
Hudson.  The  scenery  at' this  point  is  beauti- 
ful and  picturesque,  and  may  well  repay  the 
tourist  for  a  trip  to  view  this  woderful  mani- 
festation of  the  power  and  masterly  skill  of 
Nature's  great  Architect." 

GEOLOGY. 

We  condense  the  following  account  of  the 
geology  of  Washington  county  from  the  geo- 
logic description  of  the  same  by  Asa  Fitch, 
M.  D.,  who  adopted  the  Taconic  theory  that 
the  rocks  of  the  county  were  an  independent 
series  lying  between  the  primary  and  transition 
strata,  and  rejected  the  Metaphoric  theory 
that  placed  them  as  lower  members  of  the 
primary  strata,  changed  from  their  appearance 
by  the  agency  of  heat  :  Starting  from  Lake 
George  on  the  stratified  or  granitic  rocks  and 
passing  to  the  southeastern  part  of  the  county, 
the  following  different  rocks  occur  :  at  Wood 
creek  a  hard  white  sandstone  rests  upon  the 
granite,  and  is  known   as   the   Potsdam  sand- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


21 


stone,  whose  eastern  edge  lies  along  a  soft 
lime  and  sand  rock,  named  the  calciferous 
sandstone,  which  is  succeeded  by  the  pure 
blue  Chazy  limestone.  Twelve  miles  from 
this,  in  the  Bald  mountain  range  of  hills 
along  the  Hudson  river  is  the  Trenton  lime- 
stone. Bordering  on  the  two  last  named 
limestones  is  the  Hudson  river  slate.  Upon 
the  east  side  of  the  Bald  mountain  range 
commences  the  Taconic  slate  that  occupies 
the  eastern  part  and  underlies  three-fifths  of 
the  county.  Principally  gray  in  color,  yet  it 
changes  to  green  Magnesian  slate,  and  to  pale 
blue  Sparry  and  snow-white  Stockbridge  lime- 
stones, the  latter  being  the  celebrated  Rut- 
land marble. 

Lying  in  a  trough  between  the  primitive 
rocks  of  New  York  and  the  Green  mountains, 
the  strata  of  the  county  are  sedimentary  and 
belong  to  the  lowest  known   paleozoic    rocks. 

The  granite  rock  is  a  granitic  gneissoid,  and 
underlies  nearly  all  of  Putnam,  all  of  Dresden, 
and  Fort  Ann  and  Whitehall,  north  of  Half- 
way brook  and  west  of  Wood  creek.  Two 
valuable  minerals  —  iron  ore  and  block  lead  — 
are  found  in  the  area  named,  but  the  last 
mineral  is  most  abundant   in   north   Putnam. 

The  Potsdam  sandstone  is  well  developed 
from  Whitehall  to  Fort  Ann,  and  thence  west 
along  Half-way  brook  to  the  Warren  county 
line.  It  usually  crops  out  in  precipices  facing 
westward,  and  furnishes  the  best  of  firestones 
for  furnaces,  although  very  inferior  for  smooth 
stones  or  pavements.  Occurring  in  uniform 
layers,  it  looks  in  cliffs  like  solid  courses  of 
masonry  laid  up  for  a  wall  of  some  great 
fortification,  tower  or  castle  of  olden   times. 

Succeeding  the  Potsdam  is  the  calciferous 
sandstone,  intermediate  in  position  and  com- 
position between  the  sandstone  below  and  the 
limestone  above  it.  Soft  enough  to  quarry  in 
smooth  faced  blocks,  it  is  in  high  repute  for 
flagging.  Several  quarries  are  open  in  the 
towns  of  Kingsbury  and  Fort  Ann,  and  north 
of  Dewey's  bridge  this  rock  shows  a  thickness 
of  two  hundred   feet. 


Chazy  limestone,  pale  blue  or  dove-colored, 
reaches  from  Fort  Ann  to  the  Mettowee  river, 
and  occupying  northwest  Hartford,  and  the 
east  border  of  Kingsbury,  reappears  on  the 
west  side  of  Wood  creek  and  passes  to  Glens 
Falls,  where  it  has  changed  in  color  to  a  jet 
black.  Its  fossil  shell,  the  Maclurea  Magna, 
is  abundant  in  the  northwest  part  of  Granville. 
This  limestone  is  valuable  for  lime,  and,  tak- 
ing a  high  polish,  becomes  a  good  marble. 
In  twelve  miles  distance,  from  Lake  Cham- 
plain  to  the  Hudson  river,  this  limestone 
changes  into  a  well-marked  Trenton. 

Trenton  or  Bald  mountain  limestone  stands 
in  the  midst  of  slate  rocks  like  an  oasis  in  a 
desert.  It  constitutes  Bald  mountain,  in  the 
town  of  Greenwich.  This  mountain  is  a  mile 
in  length  and  seven  hundred  feet  high,  hejng 
made  up  principally  of  the  blue  Trenton 
limestone,  and  ranks  as  pure  carbonate  of 
lime,  producing  one  of  the  finest  of  "rich 
limes."  The  Bald  mountain  lime  has  always 
ranked  superior  to  any  other  lime  offered  for 
sale  in  the  leading  cities  of  the  United  States. 

Hudson  River  slate  is  well  exposed  all 
along  the  Hudson,  from  Sandy  Hill  to  Schuy- 
lerville.  It  extends  three  miles  east  from  the 
Hudson  to  the  base  of  Bald  mountain,  and  is 
generally  a  shale  rather  than  a  slate.  The 
Graptolithus  pristis,  the  fossil  of  this  slate, 
which  occurs  abundantly  at  Baker's  Falls,  re- 
sembles a  narrow  blade  of  grass,  having  teeth 
like  a  saw  along  both  edges.  The  shale  or 
slaty  gravel  of  this  slate  makes  a  very  fine  top 
dressing  for  a  sticky  ciay  road. 

Taconic  slate  is  dark  colored  where  in  con- 
nection with  Hudson  River  slate,  and  quite 
black  when  in  contact  with  the  limestone  of 
the  western  part  of  the  county.  Silex  is  the 
largest  ingredient  of  this  rock  that  occupies 
the  eastern  part  of  Washington  county,  and 
whose  characteristic  fossil,  Buthoirephis  ftex- 
uosa,  which  appears  like  curved  and  branching 
marks  painted  on  the  stone,  has  numberless 
shades  of  different  colors  and  contains  milky 
quartz  and  iron  pyrites.      This  rock  affords  a 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


splendid  roofing  slate  that  is  in  demand  in 
Europe,  South  America  and  Australia. 

Taconic  sandstone  is  a  harsh  gray  rock  with 
seams  of  white  quartz  running  through  it, 
and  widely  scattered  throughout  our  soils.  It 
shows  a  thickness  from  a  bed  of  a  few  inches 
up  to  a  rock  of  two  hundred  feet,  and  is  pre- 
ferred to  any  other  stone  for  the  walls  of 
buildings,  as  it  can  be  readily  quarried  into 
narrow  blocks. 

The  sparry  limestone  extending  through 
the  Taconic  district  resembles  a  chain,  the 
successive  links  of  which  connect  the  west 
Trenton  limestone  with  the  east  side  granular 
limestone.  It  is  a  blue  or  bluish-gray  rock, 
veined  and  marked  with  white  calcareous 
spar,  and  occurs  all  through  the  Taconic  dis- 
trict, at  numerous  points,  in  insulated  masses. 

Magnesian  slate  has  widely  different  shades 
of  color  and  degrees  of  hardness,  as  occurring 
in  a  few  places  in  the  west  and  in  the  east, 
but  the  main  mass  of  rock  lies  in  the  extreme 
southeastern  part  of  the  county,  where  it  is 
more  uniform  in  color. 

Granular  limestone  or  Rutland  marble 
touches  the  southeast  corner  of  Washington 
county  for  the  short  distance  of  one  mile. 
It  is  a  white  crystalline  rock,  and  has  been 
favorably  known  in  the  marble  markets  of  the 
world  for  the  last  fifty  years,  under  different 
names,  such  as  Dorset  marble,  Stockbridge 
limestone,  Arlington  stone  and  Sutherland 
marble. 

Granular  quartz,  alhough  not  a  formation 
in  the  county,  yet  is  everywhere  abundant  in 
the  form  of  pebbles  and  cobble-stones. 

The  geologic  record  of  the  county  is  one 
that  goes  back  into  the  very  dawn  of  the 
creation  of  the  world,  and  its  rock-written 
chapters,  if  ever  deciphered,  will  constitute  a 
history  of  startling  past  changes  of  wonderful 
interest. 

MINERALS. 

In  1880  there  was  nearly  eight  million  tons 
of  iron  ore  mined  in  the  United  States,  and 
the  center  of  total  production  of  this  iron  ore 


was  twelve  miles  northwest  of  Meadville,  in 
Crawford  count)',  Pennsylvania.  The  meri- 
dian and  paralleled  center  of  production  then 
intersected  in  the  eastern  part  of  Center 
county,  Pennsylvania. 

The  great  coal  field  of  the  central  United 
States  is  nearly  enclosed  by  the  older  rocks  of 
the  Wisconsin,  Michigan,  the  Appalachian 
and  the  Ozark  regions.  In  this  basin  and  its 
rock  border  lie  the  fuel  and  ore  with  which  the 
United  States  must  make  its  material  pro- 
gress in  the  twentieth  century.  On  the  north- 
eastern border  of  this  great  coal  basin,  we 
find  the  Archaean  rocks,  a  narrow  belt  of  which 
is  found  in  Washington  county. 

The  geological  column  of  iron  ores  in  New 
York  commences  down  in  the  Archaean  rocks, 
and  with  a  few  breaks  extends  up  through  the 
Lower  and  Upper  Silureans,  the  Devonian, 
Carboniferous  and  Triasic  rocks,  and  missing 
the  Jurassic,  attains  its  height  in  the  Creta- 
ceous rocks.  The  iron  ores  of  New  York, 
and  the  number  of  tons  of  each  mined  in 
1880,  were  as  follows: 

ORES.  TONS. 

Magnetite 927,000 

Limonite 155,000 

Hematite 95,000 

Fossil 85,000 

Carbonate  ores,  which  are  alone  in  Colum- 
bia county,  were  not  reported  in  1880. 

The  Archaean  rocks  come  to  the  surface  only 
in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  county,  east 
of  Lake  George.  Magnetic  ores  occur  in 
this  narrow  belt,  and  in  1880  were  only  mined 
at  the  Potter  and  Mount  Hope  mines.  The 
Potter  mine  is  nearly  five  miles  from  Fort 
Ann,  and  in  1880  produced  twelve  thousand 
one  hundred  and  seventy-two  tons  of  ore, 
which  was  disposed  of  to  Fort  Edward  fur- 
nace, fourteen  miles  distant,  except  a  part 
that  was  hauled  to  the  canal  and  shipped  to 
the  Hudson  river  furnaces.  The  Potter  is 
named  for  Joseph  Potter,  its  owner,  and  was 
opened  in  1879,  being  worked  the  next  year 
by  John  T.  Harris  &  Son.     The  mine  is  situ- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


23 


ated  between  the  headwaters  of  two  small 
runs,  the  ore  being  granular,  and  containing 
more  or  less  pyrite,  but  in  places  grades  into 
a  magnetite  hornblende  gneiss.  A  sample 
taken  in  1880  from  a  pile  of  fifteen  hundred 
tons,  contained  62. 82  per  cent  of  metallic  iron 
with  no  phosphorous  or  titanic  acid. 

The  Mount  Hope  mine  is  a  half-mile  north- 
west of  the  Potter,  and  in  1880  produced 
six  thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty  tons 
of  ore.  The  ore  outcrops  on  the  west,  south 
and  east  side  of  Mount  Hope  ridge,  and  is 
finely  granular  in  texture,  being  largely  mixed 
with  hornblende,  and  to  a  lesser  extent  with 
quartz,  feldspar,  mica,  and  occasionally  with 
pyrite.  A  sample  of  the  ore  yielded  36.99 
per  cent  of  metallic  iron,  0.055  Per  cent 
phosphorus,  and  no  titanic  acid,  while  the 
phosphorous  in  100  parts  iron  was  0.149  per 
cent. 

The  old  Pedunk  mine  is  two  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  northwest  of  the  Potter,  was  worked 
for  several  years,  but  became  idle  about  1875. 

Some  five  miles  north  of  Fort  Ann,  and 
northeast  from  the  Potter,  are  several  small 
beds  of  limonite  iron  ore. 

No  statistics,  at  this  writing,  can  be  ob- 
tained of  any  of  these  mines  or  beds  later 
than  1880.  In  that  year  the  Potter  and 
Mount  Hope  mines  furnished  employment  for 
sixty  miners,  twenty-seven  laborers,  and  five 
of  a  supervising  force,  all  of  whom  received 
twenty-six  thousand  dollars  wages.  There 
was  two  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars  of  capital  invested  in  them, 
and  adjoining  real  estate,  while  the  value  of 
the  yearly  products  was  returned  at  forty-seven 
thousand  seven  hundred  dollars.  The  iron 
made  from  the  ore  of  these  mines  is  used  for 
the  manufacture  of  Bessemer  at  Fort  Edward 
and  elsewhere  in  New  York,  and  at  several 
places  in  Ohio. 

In  1880  there  were  four  quartz  and  feldspar 
mines  in  operation  in  Washington  county,  in 
which  fifty-two  thousand  two  hundred  dollars 
capital    was    invested,    and   where   seventeen 


hands  were  employed.  Their  yearly  output 
was  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  seven 
tons,  valued  at  seven  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  twelve  dollars. 

Graphite  is  found  in  Putnam,  brick  clay 
exists  in  several  towns,  and  lead  containing 
silver  is  in  White  creek,  but  the  latter  so  far 
has  not  been  developed  in  paying  quantities. 
Roofing  slate  is  in  the  eastern  part  in  consid- 
erable quantities,  and  the  celebrated  Rutland 
marble  also  lies  in  the  southeastern  part  of 
the  county. 


CHAPTER    II. 

MOUND-BUILDERS  —INDIANS— WAR-PATH 
OF   AMERICA. 

MOUND-BUILDERS. 

The  aboriginal  history  of  the  territory  of 
Washington  county  would  be  extremely  inter- 
esting, if  it  could  be  presented.  But  the 
mute  ruins  of  mound  and  temple  of  the 
earliest  inhabitants  of  America  can  tell  noth- 
ing of  their  builders,  while  the  traditions  of 
the  Indian  are  too  dim  as  well  as  too  fanciful 
to  give  anything  of  their  own  origin  or  the 
fate  of  their  predecessor,  the  Mound-builder. 

While  there  is  abundant  evidence  of  the 
Mound -builders  residing  in  western  New 
York,  yet  there  is  nothing  known  so  far  to 
warrant  their  permanent  occupation  of  the 
territory  of  Washington  ;  no  record  of  mound, 
temple,  altar  or  fortification  ruins  having  ever 
been  discovered  in  the  count}-. 

Four  principal  theories  exist  for  the  emigra- 
tion of  the  Mound-builder  from  the  old  to  the 
new  world. 

The  existence,  in  past  ages,  of  a  narrow- 
north  Atlantic  isthmus  from  England  to  Maine 
afforded  them  a  route  if  they  were  of  European 
origin  ;  and  the  rending  of  this  narrow  stretch 
of  land  by  the  great  ice  fields  of  the  glacial 
age  into  mere  island  fragments,  of  which 
Greenland  and   Iceland  alone  remain,   would 


-M 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


have  cut  them  off  from  all  communication 
with  their  native  land,  whose  shores  they  may 
never  have  revisited,  as  in  all  probability  it 
became  the  home  of  strangers  after  their 
westward  emigration. 

The  study  of  the  ocean  currents,  the  winds 
and  temperature  of  the  South  Pacific,  with 
the  record  of  drifting  boats  from  the  "Flowery 
Kingdom"  and  the  East  Indian  isles  being 
cast  upon  the  western  shore  of  South  America, 
allow  the  possibility  of  a  Mound-builder  emi- 
gration from  southeastern  Asia  to  western 
South  America. 

The  ice-bound  floor  of  Behring's  strait  in 
winter  and  the  chain  of  the  Aleutian  islands, 
stretching  from  Siberia  and  Japan  to  Alaska, 
is  the  third  and  most  probable  route  of  the 
Mound-builders  from  the  shores  of  the  old  to 
the  lands  of  the  new  world. 

Some  have  thought  that  when  fabled  At- 
lantis was  sinking  in  earthquake  throes,  they 
left  its  shores  and  their  drifting  boats  floated 
into  some  south  Atlantic  harbor. 

The  seat  of  the  Mound-builder's  empire 
was  in  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  valleys, 
where  his  temple,  altar,  effigy  and  tomb 
mounds  are  abundant,  and  in  which  his  num- 
erous forts  and  fortifications  were  erected, 
with  skill,  and  in  places  upon  quite  a  large 
scale. 

Schoolcraft  states  that  the  Mound-builders 
existed  in  considerable  numbers  along  Lake 
Ontario  before  the  twelfth  century,  and  were 
the  ancient  Alleghans,  who  left  their  name 
upon  the  Allegheny  mountains. 

Stretching  over  the  western  part  of  New 
York  in  towns  protected  by  forts  and  sur- 
rounded by  mounds  and  temples  were  the 
Mound-builders,  and  it  is  highly  probable  that 
hunting  parties  of  this  great  lost  race  once 
followed  the  chase  and  sought  for  fish  on  the 
territory  and  in  the  streams  of  Washington 
county. 


INDIANS. 


When  the  "Great  Admiral"  placed  the  im- 
perial standard  of  Spain  upon  the  shores  of 


the  western  world  he  gazed  upon  an  empire 
more  vast  than  any  of  the  empires  of  the 
east.  Yet  that  mighty  Indian  empire,  stretch- 
ing nine  thousand  miles  from  pole  to  pole,  and 
more  extensive  in  territory,  greater  in  popula- 
tion, and  more  abundant  in  rich  mines,  than 
imperial  Rome  during  her  golden  age,  has 
passed  away,  and  all  its  greatness  lies  buried 
in  the  graves  of  Powhatan,  King  Philip,  Pon- 
tiac,  Tecumseh,  and  a  score  of  other  great 
chieftains. 

Of  the  eight  great  Indian  families  occupy- 
ing the  territory  of  the  United  States  at  the 
time  of  the  discovery  of  America  by  Colum- 
bus, the  Algonquin  and  the  Huron-Iroquois 
were  the  two  most  prominent  in  warfare. 

The  Algonquins  stretched  along  the  Atlan- 
tic coast  and  extended  back  to  the  lakes  and 
the  Allegheny  mountains. 

Encircled  by  the  Algonquins  were  their  in- 
veterate enemies,  the  Huron-Iroquois  of  the 
present  territory  of  western  and  central  New 
York  and  western  Canada. 

The  fiercest  and  bravest  of  all  the  Huron- 
Iroquois  was  the  Five  Nations,  after  1715  the 
Six  Nations,  whose  home  was  in  central  New 
York. 

The  Six  Nations,  stretching  in  a  narrow  belt 
from  east  to  west,  through  central  New  York, 
were  the  Mohawks,  Oneidas,  Onondagas, 
Cayugas,  Tuscaroras  and  Senecas.  Sylvester 
says  that  they  celebrated  five  great  feasts  every 
year:  New  Year's  Festival  or  Sacrifice  of  the 
White  Dog,  Maple  Feast,  Planting  Festival, 
Feast  of  the  Strawberries,  Feast  of  the  Green 
Corn  Moon,  and  Harvest  Festival. 

The  confederacy  of  the  Five  Nations,  after 
1715  the  Six  Nations,  was  the  result  of  the 
wonderful  "Tribal  League  of  the  Hodeno- 
saunee,  or  People  of  the  Long  House. "  This 
league  made  them  powerful  and  successful. 

In  each  of  the  Five  Nations  there  were  eight 
tribes,  arranged  in  two  divisions  and  named  as 
follows  : 

Wolf,        Bear,         Beaver,        Turtle, 
Deer,        Snipe,       Heron,         Hawk. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


25 


•  Each  tribe  was  divided  in  five  parts,  and 
one-fifth  of  it  placed  in  each  of  the  Five  Na- 
tions. Thus  the  Mohawk  of  the  Beaver  tribe 
recognized  the  Seneca  of  the  Beaver  tribe  as 
his  brother,  and  they  were  bound  together  by 
the  ties  of  consanguinity  closer  than  could 
have  been  effected  by  any  separate  tribal 
relation  which  could  have  been  devised.  This 
league,  the  highest  effort  of  Indian  legislation, 
forms  a  splendid  and  enduring  monument  to 
the  proud  and  successful  confederacy  that  was 
reared  under  it,  and  that  spread  the  terror  of 
its  name  among  every  Indian  tribe  east  of  the 
Mississippi  river  and  residing  in  Canada. 

The  Six  Nations,  "The  Indians  of  Indi- 
ans," and  "The  Romans  of  the  West,"  was 
the  highest  type  of  a  thorough,  finished,  and 
developed  savage. 

John  Bach  McMaster,  in  his  History  of  the 
People  of  the  United  States,  speaks  of  the 
Indian  as  follows  : 

"The  opinion  which  many  careful  and  just 
minded  persons  of  our  time  have  formed 
touching  the  Indians,  of  whom  the  settlers  in 
the  border-land  then  stood  in  constant  dread, 
is  a  singular  mixture  of  truth  and  romance. 
Time  and  absence  have  softened  all  that  is 
vile  and  repulsive  in  his  character,  and  left  in 
full  relief  all  that  is  good  and  alluring.  We 
are  in  no  danger  of  being  tomahawked.  But, 
one  hundred  years  ago  there  were  to  be  found, 
from  Cape  Ann  to  Georgia,  few  men  who  had 
not  many  times  in  their  lives  seen  numbers  of 
Indians,  while  thousands  could  be  found  scat- 
tered through  every  State  whose  cattle  had 
been  driven  off,  and  whose  homes  had  been 
laid  in  ashes  by  the  braves  of  the  Six  Nations. 
In  every  city  were  to  be  seen  women  who  had 
fled  at  the  dead  of  night  from  their  burning 
cabins  ;  who  had,  perhaps,  witnessed  the  de- 
struction of  Schenectady  ;  or  whose  children 
had,  on  that  terrible  day  when  Brant  came 
into  Orange  county,  stood  in  the  door  of  the 
school  house  when  the  master  was  dragged 
out,  when  their  playmates  were  scalped,  when 
their  aprons  were  marked  with  the  black  mark 


which,  like  the  blood  upon  the  door-posts,  a 
second  time  stayed  the  hand  of  the  Angel  of 
Death.  The  opinions  which  such  men  and 
women  held  of  the  noble  red  man  were,  we 
may  be  sure,  very  different  from  those  current 
among  the  present  generation,  and  formed  on 
no  better  authority  than  the  novels  of  Cooper, 
and  the  lives  of  such  warriors  as  Red  Jacket 
and  Brant. 

"Of  the  true  character  of  the  Indian  it  is 
difficult  to  give  any  notion  to  those  who  are 
acquainted  with  it  only  as  it  appears  exalted 
or  debased  in  the  pages  of  fiction.  In  him 
were  united,  in  a  most  singular  manner,  all 
the  vices  and  all  the  arts  which  form  the 
weapons,  offensive  and  defensive,  of  the  weak, 
with  many  of  those  high  qualities  which  are 
always  found  associated  with  courage  and 
strength.  He  was,  essentially,  a  child  of  na- 
ture, and  his  character  was  precisely  such  as 
circumstances  made  it.  His  life  was  one  long 
struggle  for  food.  His  daily  food  depended 
not  on  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  or  the  abund- 
ance of  the  crops,  but  on  the  skill  with  which 
he  used  his  bow ;  on  the  courage  with  which 
he  fought,  single-handed,  the  largest  and 
fiercest  of  beasts ;  on  the  quickness  with 
which  he  tracked,  and  the  cunning  with  which 
he  outwitted,  the  most  timid  and  keen-scented 
of  creatures.  His  knowledge  of  the  habits  of 
animals  surpassed  that  of  Audubon.  The 
shrewd  devices  with  which  he  snared  them 
would  have  elicited  the  applause  of  Ulysses  : 
the  clearness  of  his  vision  excelled  that  of  the 
oldest  sailor;  the  sharpness  of  his  hearing 
was  not  equalled  by  that  of  the  deer. 

"Yet  this  man,  whose  courage  was  unques- 
tionable, was  given  to  the  dark  and  crooked 
ways  which  are  the  resort  of  the  cowardly 
and  the  weak.  Much  as  he  loved  war,  the 
fair  and  open  fight  had  no  charms  for  him. 
To  his  mind  it  was  madness  to  take  the  scalp 
of  an  enemy  at  the  risk  of  his  own,  when  he 
might  waylay  him  in  an  ambuscade,  or  shoot 
him  with  a  poisoned  arrow  from  behind  a  tree. 
He  was  never  so  happy  as  when,  at  the  dead 


36 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


of  night,  he  roused  his  sleeping  enemies  with 
an  unearthly  yell,  and  massacred  them  by  the 
light  of  their  burning  homes." 

In  the  foregoing  description  McMaster, 
while  giving  the  Indian  character,  has  failed 
to  allow  the  Red  Man  credit  for  his  honorable 
treatment  of  the  Quaker,  who  bought  his 
land  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  and  has  not 
criticised  the  Puritan,  Patroon  and  Cavalier 
for  not  adopting  the  policy  of  Penn,  and 
averting  nearly  all  of  the  Indian  wars  of  the 
colonial  period. 

Washington  Irving,  in  concluding  his  sketch 
of  the  "Traits  of  Indian  Character,"  says: 
"Should  he  (the  poet)  venture  upon  the  dark 
story  of  their  (the  Indians')  wrongs  and  wretch- 
edness ;  should  he  tell  how  the)'  were  invaded, 
corrupted,  despoiled  ;  driven  from  their  native 
abodes  and  the  sepulchers  of  their  fathers  ; 
hunted  like  wild  beasts  about  the  earth  ;  and 
sent  down  with  violence  and  butchery  to  the 
grave  —  posterity  will  either  turn  with  horror 
and  incredulity  from  the  tale,  or  blush  with 
indignation  at  the  cruely  of  their  forefathers." 

Of  the  Indian  occupation  of  Washington 
county  but  little  can  be  learned  at  this  late 
day,  while  it  is  a  subject  that  the  early  his- 
torians of  eastern  New  York  were  quite  neg- 
lectful of,  and  so  nearly  all  knowledge  of  camp 
and  trail,  of  hunting  ground  and  village,  has 
passed  away. 

It  seems  that  the  Mohawks  were  the  "over- 
lords" of  the  count}7,  but  had  no  permanent 
settlement  within  its  boundaries  when  the 
white  race  made  its  appearance  in  the  upper 
Hudson  valley.  Some  years  later  they  made 
no  use  of  the  county  beyond  occasionally 
hunting  in  its  forests,  and  it  became  the  resi- 
dence of  their  tributaries,  the  Mohicans,  of 
western  Massachusetts. 

The  Pompanuck  tribe  of  Indians,  and  prob- 
ably a  branch  of  the  Mohicans,  is  said  to  have 
come  to  the  vicinity  of  Pumpkin  Hook,  in  the 
present  town  of  White  Creek.  But  nothing 
further  of  them  is  preserved  in  history  or  has 
been  handed  down  in  tradition. 


As  late  as  1850  a  company  of  Saint  Francis 
Indians,  from  Canada,  carrying  bead-work, 
visited  Granville,  where  they  claimed  the  right 
by  immemorial  usage  of  camping  at  various 
places  near  the  village.  The  leader  of  the 
party  claimed  that  one  of  the  traditions  of  his 
people  was  that  their  ancestors  had  camped 
and  hunted  for  untold  ages  there,  and  there 
had  made  their  hatchets  and  arrows,  and 
found  the  best  beavers  in  the,  Pawlet  river. 
In  excavating  for  buildings  defective  arrow- 
heads and  hatchets  were  found  afterward,  by 
a  Mr.  Thompson,  which  confirmed  the  Indian 
account. 

The  Mohicans  had  hunting  camps  on  the 
territory  of  the  count}',  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
sites  of  Fort  Ann  and  Fort  Edward,  as  late, 
if  not  later,  than  1755.  But  nothing  can  be 
found  now  to  tell  how  soon  thereafter  they 
left,  or  where  their  camps  were  located,  or 
the  names  and  directions  of  the  trails  by 
which  they  had  intercourse  with  the  tribes  of 
New  England. 

WAR-PATH    OF    AMERICA. 

Situated  on  the  great  water-ways  of  the 
continent,  the  Five  Nations  had  three  great 
war-paths  over  which  they  passed  to  wage 
unceasing  war  with  the  rival  Indian  nations 
then  inhabiting  the  United  States  and  Can- 
ada. 

From  their  great  council  fire  in  central  New 
York  the  Cataba  war-path  led  through  Penn- 
sylvania and  Virginia  to  the  Carolinas  ;  the 
Niagara  trail  passed  into  western  Canada  and 
westward  along  the  great  lakes  to  the  head- 
waters of  the  Mississippi  ;  and  the  Canadian 
trail,  or  the  War-path  of  America,  ran  through 
Washington  county  to  Lake  Champlain, 
which  afforded  a  water  route  to  the  heart  of 
Canada. 

Over  the  first  path  they  marched  south  to 
carry  the  terror  of  their  name  to  the  gulf. 
Over  the  second  path  they  swept  to  visit  ruin 
on  other  nations  of  their  own  family  along 
Lake  Erie,   and  to  wreak  vengeance   on  the 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


27 


tribes  west  of  the  great  lakes.  Over  the 
third  path  they  passed  to  battle  with  the 
Huron  and  afterward  to  mark  the  Canadian 
frontier  with  a  wide  swath  of  flame  and  a  dark- 
trail  of  blood. 

The  War-path  of  America  was  originally 
the  portage  from  the  site  of  Fort  Edward,  on 
the  Hudson,  and  extended  along  the  valley  of 
Wood  creek  to  the  site  of  Whitehall,  at  the 
head  of  boat  navigation  on  Lake  Champlain. 

From  Fort  Ann,  on  this  portage,  Johnson 
cut  a  road,  in  1755,  to  Fort  William  Henry, 
on  Lake  George,  and  it  was  used  to  some  ex- 
tent by  succeeding  expeditions  during  the 
French  and  Indian  wars. 

But  the  chief  interest  of  French  and  Eng- 
lish expeditions  is  with  the  old  war-path 
through  the  Wood  Creek  valley,  over  which 
the  legions  of  Burgoyne  moved  to  impending 
ruin.  The  story  of  Saratoga  and  the  raid  of 
Clinton  are,  so  far,  the  last  chapters  of  the 
military  history  of  this  old  war-path,  whose 
earliest  use  was  in  the  days  of  Iroquois  su- 
premacy, and  whose  last  military  memory  was 
in  the  closing  hours  of  the  great  Revolution- 
ary struggle. 

From  the  great  carrying  place  at  Fort  Ed- 
ward the  road  passed  for  some  distance 
through  a  great  wilderness  of  mighty  pines, 
and  where  it  descended  some  hill  into  a  deep 
valley  the  forest  depths  were  so  dark  and 
gloomy  that  the  rays  of  the  sun  never  pierced 
them.  Toward  Fort  Ann  heavy  but  more 
open  forests  extended,  and  from  that  place 
the  road  struck  Wood  creek,  whose  waters 
often  bore,  both  northward  and  southward, 
invading  forces. 

Ambush  and  battle  were  frequent  along  this 
road,  massacre  and  torture  were  no  strangers 
to  it,  and  tradition  has  handed  down  many  a 
legend  of  its  scenes  of  horror  and  blood-shed. 
Until  the  axe  of  the  lumberman  and  farmer 
cleared  out  these  dense  forests,  the  supersti- 
tious peopled  some  of  its  spots  after  night- 
fall with  the  spirits  of  its  once  marching  war- 
riors,  and  the  sounds  of    battle   strife.      But 


the  sunlight  has  dispelled  the  gloom  of  the 
road  depths,  scattered  the  flitting  spirits 
among  the  shadows,  and  sent  into  oblivion 
many  of  the  superstitions  of  a  part  of  the 
early  settlers. 

On  the  War-path  of  America,  over  which 
once  marched  embattled  hosts,  now  surge  a 
resistless  tide  of  trade  and  travel. 


CHAPTER    III. 


CHAMPLAIN'S  IN  VASION  — HUDSON'S  DIS- 
COVERY—IROQUOIS  RAIDS  INTO  CANA- 
DA—FATHER  JOGUES  DISCOVERS  LAKE 
GEORGE. 


CHAMPLAIN  S   INVASION. 

In  all  the  history  of  New  France  there  was 
no  event  that  was  fraught  with  such  far-reach- 
ing consequences  as  that  of  the  invasion  of 
the  territory  of  what  is  now  Washington 
county,  in  July,  1609,  by  Samuel  de  Champ- 
lain,  whose  name  is  borne  by  the  beautiful 
lake  once  known  as  the  "Wilderness  Sea"  of 
the  Iroquois.  On  the  4th  day  of  July,  1609, 
the  daring  and  adventurous  Champlain,  with 
two  Frenchmen  and  sixty  Huron  Indians,  dis- 
covered and  entered  the  great  forest-sur- 
rounded and  mountain-walled  lake  that  will 
carry  his  name  down  through  all  the  ages  to 
come.  Floating  for  two  days  on  the  calm  and 
placid  waters  of  the  new  found  lake,  the  dis- 
tinguished French  discoverer,  with  his  feeble 
little  flotilla  of  twenty-four  canoes,  hove  in 
sight  of  a  fleet  of  Iroquois  warriors  on  their 
way  to  raid  some  Algonquin  Indian  village  of 
Canada.  Notwithstanding  conflicting  ac- 
counts, the  weight  of  evidence  is  to  establish 
the  locality  of  this  eventful  meeting  to  be  on 
the  west  shore  of  Lake  Chaplain,  in  what  is 
now  the  town  of  Putnam. 

The  dreaded  Iroquois,  two  hundred  in  num- 


2S 


BIOGBAPHY  AND  HISTOBY 


ber,  landed  along  the  shore,  while  the  Hurons 
remained  on  the  lake,  but  sleep  was  a  stranger 
to  both  savage  bands,  who  spent  the  swiftly 
flying  hours  of  the  short  summer  night  in  the 
elegant  pastime  of  reviling  and  abusing  each 
other  in  a  manner  that  would  have  done 
credit  to  civilized  adepts  in  the  quarrelsome 
art.  At  the  dawn  of  day,  on  the  7th  of  July, 
1609,  the  French  and  Hurons  went  on  shore, 
and  the  two  Indian  bands,  burning  with  the 
engendered  animosity  of  untold  years,  faced 
each  other  eager  for  the  approaching  fray. 
Then,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  Iroquois, 
who  already  anticipated  an  easy  victory  from 
their  largely  superior  number,  appeared  in 
front  of  the  Hurons  a  being  such  as  they  had 
never  gazed  upon  before  in  the  person  of 
Champlain,  whose  white  face,  dark  hair,  and 
shining  armor,  produced  a  stupefying  effect 
for  a  few  minutes  on  the  warriors  of  the  Long 
House.  Recovering  from  their  momentary 
stupor,  the  Iroquois  bent  their  bows  to  test 
the  power  of  the  strange  intruder.  Seeing 
this,  Champlain  raised  his  arquebus  and 
fired,  killing  the  two  tall  and  haughty  chiefs 
leading  the  Iroquois  war  party  and  also  wound- 
ing a  warrior.  A  thunderbolt  from  a  clear 
and  cloudless  sky  could  not  cause  greater 
astonishment  than  the  apparent  lightning 
and  thunder  from  the  iron  mouth  of  Champ- 
Iain's  fire  arm  produced  upon  the  stoutest 
hearted  savages  of  the  North  American  con- 
tinent. Although  surprised,  appalled,  and 
stupefied,  the  Iroquois  promptly  rallied,  and, 
for  a  few  moments,  sent  a  vigorous  flight  of 
arrows  against  their  hereditary  foes  and  the 
strange  invader.  Before  Champlain  could 
reload  one  of  his  French  companions  ad- 
vanced in  sight  and  fired.  Another  Iroquois 
fell  dead,  and  this  increase  of  the  strange  in- 
truders and  the  second  gleam  of  deathful 
flame  shook  the  indomitable  courage  of  the 
bold-hearted  warriors  of  the  Five  Nations, 
and  wavering,  their  line  broke,  under  a  weight 
of  disasters  that  seemed  as  supernatural  as  it 
was  incomprehensible.      Flying  into  the  forest 


the  escaping  Iroquois  carried  the  news  of  this 
unwonted  French  attack  on  their  confederacy 
and  bequeathed  its  bitter  memory  to  succeed- 
ing generations. 

The  French  and  the  Hurons  re-entered 
their  canoes  and  returned  to  Canada,  but 
Champlain's  death  shot  on  the  territory  of 
Washington  county,  New  York,  was  fatal  for 
France  in  the  new  world,  and  its  echo  ringing 
through  nearly  two  centuries  of  Indian  inva- 
sions of  Canada,  died  only  on  the  Plains  of 
Abraham,  when  French  power  in  North 
America  fell  before  the  arms  of  England. 

Hudson's  discovery. 

The  greatest  body  of  water  bordering  on  the 
northern  part  of  the  county  was  discovered  by 
Champlain,  and  bears  his  name,  while  the 
largest  stream  flowing  southward  along  the 
western  boundary  of  the  county  was  discov- 
ered, where  it  empties  into  the  ocean,  two 
months  later,  by  Henry  Hudson,  another  of 
the  world's  great  discoverers.  Champlain 
claimed  the  territory  of  New  York  for  France, 
and  Hudson,  although  an  Englishman,  was 
in  the  service  of  Holland  when  he  discovered 
the  river  which  bears  his  name.  On  this 
stream  settlements  were  afterward  made  by 
the  Dutch,  who  claimed  the  territory  of  the 
Empire  State  as  a  part  of  New  Netherlands, 
in  right  of  Hudson's  discovery. 

Hudson,  on  a  second  voyage  of  discovery  for 
Holland,  discovered  the  great  bay  which  bears 
his  name,  and  which  in  all  likelihood  became 
his  grave,  as  his  crew  mutinied  there  and  cast 
him  afloat  in  an  open  boat,  from  which  no 
tidings  ever  came. 

IROQUOIS    RAIDS    INTO    CANADA. 

The  Iroquois  were  beaten  by  Champlain,  or 
rather  by  his  strange  arms,  and  for  a  few  years 
ceased  to  war  with  the  Canadian  Algonquins, 
but  they  were  not  subdued,  and  afterward  be- 
came friendly  with  the  new-settling  Dutch,  at 
Fort  Orange,  now  Albany,  in  order  to  procure 


BIOGRAPHY  AXD  HISTORY 


29 


the  death  dealing  arms  of  the  white  man, which 
they  obtained  from  the  traders  there  in  ex- 
change for  their  furs.  Thus  supplied  with 
the  weapons  of  the  dreaded  French  invaders, 
they  again  took  the  war  path,  and  in  bands 
numbering  from  ten  to  a  hundred,  repeatedly 
overran  the  southern  part  of  Canada,  spread- 
ing terror  and  desolation  in  their  track,  and 
arresting  French  settlement  in  the  valley  of 
the  Saint  Lawrence.  Their  routes  of  inva- 
sion were  by  the  west  shore  of  Lake  Saint 
George,  and  over  the  portage  between  the 
Hudson  and  Lake  Champlain,  through  the 
territory  of  this  county. 

But  little  authentic  account  can  be  obtained 
of  these  raids,  which,  tradition  says,  com- 
menced between  1630  and  1640,  and  were 
made  principally  by  the  Mohawk  and  Oneida 
nations,  as  the  other  three  of  the  Five  Na- 
tions were  engaged  in  a  war  of  extermination 
against  the  Eries,  Hurons,  and  other  western 
Indian  tribes. 

FATHER    JOGUES    DISCOVERS    LAKE    GEORGE. 

In  1642  one  of  these  raiding  bands  of  Iro- 
quois captured  Father  Isaac  Jogues,  a  French 
Jesuit  priest,  who  was  born  at  Orleans,  France, 
in  1607,  and  had  come  to  Canada  as  a  mis- 
sionary. After  visiting  terrible  tortures  upon 
him,  they  carried  him,  mangled  and  bruised, 
as  a  prisoner  to  the  Mohawk  country,  from 
which  he  afterward  escaped,  and  in  which  he 
was  treacherously  slain  on  October  18,  1646, 
at  his  Mission  of  the  Martyrs,  Saint  Mary's  of 
the  Mohawks,  that  he  had  founded  in  the 
month  of  May,  that  year. 

While  bearing  Father  Jogues  as  a  prisoner 
to  the  Mohawk  country,  the  Iroquois  band 
reached  Lake  George,  on  August  1 1,  1642,  and 
their  captive  on  that  day  was  the  first  white 
man  to  gaze  upon  the  waters  of  that  beautiful 
lake,  which  four  years  later  he  named  the 
"Lake  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament."  Nine 
years  later  Sir  William  Johnson  re-christened 
the  lake  as  George,  in  honor  of  George  II.  of 
England. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


FRENCH  INVASIONS  OF  THE  MOHAWK 
COUNTRY— IROQUOIS  RAVAGES  OF  CAN 
ADA. 


FRENCH    INVASIONS    OF    THE    MOHAWK    COUNTRY. 

A  solemn  treat}'  of  peace  between  the 
French  and  Iroquois  had  been  negotiated  in 
1746  by  Father  Jogues,  but  the  inveterate 
hate  of  the  Iroquois  soon  caused  them  to  dis- 
regard its  provisions  and  to  continue  their  raids 
into  Canada  with  but  little  interruption  for 
nearly  twenty  years. 

In  1664,  the  English  conquered  the  New 
Netherlands,  and  the  Five  Nations  transferred 
their  allegiance  from  the  old  to  the  new  mas- 
ters of  New  York  without  any  hesitation,  and 
continued  their  summer  pastime  of  plunder 
and  murder  in  Canada. 

Finally  aroused  to  resistance,  the  French 
colonists  obtained  aid  from  France,  and  in 
1665  a  veteran  regiment  was  sent  over  to  stop 
the  ravages  of  the  Iroquois.  After  the  arrival 
of  these  troops  Governor  Courcelle,  of  Can- 
ada, in  January,  1666,  started  with  a  force  of 
four  hundred  troops  and  two  hundred  Algon- 
quin Indians  to  invade  the  territory  of  the 
Five  Nations.  From  the  head  of  Lake 
Champlain  he  crossed  the  northern  part  of 
this  county  to  Lake  George,  and  then,  by 
carelessness  of  his  guides,  missed  the  Mohawk- 
castles  and  arrived  near  Schenectady,  from 
which  he  was  compelled,  in  February,  to  re- 
treat to  Canada  by  the  way  which  he  had 
come,  and  on  the  return  trip  his  force  was  se- 
verely harrassed  by  the  Iroquois,  as  well  as 
suffering  terribly  by  the  weather  and  for  want 
of  provisions. 

The  fruitless  winter  invasion  of  the  Mohaw  k 
country  of  1666  was  followed  by  a  more  suc- 
cessful autumn  one,  led  by  Marquis  de  Tracy, 


30 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


whose  force  is  placed  by  Johnson  at  six  hun- 
dred, while  Sylvester  states  that  it  numbered 
one  thousand  three  hundred.  Tracy  had  two 
pieces  of  artillery  and  only  succeeded  in  burn- 
ing the  Mohawk  villages,  as  their  owners,  ap- 
prised of  his  invasion,  fled  before  his  arrival. 

IROQUOIS  RAVAGE  OF  CANADA. 

Tracy's  invasion  had  such  an  effect  on  the 
Five  Nations,  that  for  nearly  twenty  years 
Canada  enjoyed  peace  at  their  hands,  but  at 
the  end  of  that  time  the  unwise  course  of 
action  pursued  by  Denonville,  the  Governor 
of  Canada,  and  the  weakness  of  that  country, 
served  as  provocation  and  was  temptation, 
and  the  relentless  Iroquois  sharpened  up  the 
hatchet.  Once  more  the  terrific  war-whoop 
rang  in  the  forest  regions  of  the  lakes  as  the 
Iroquois  swept  over  the  portage  war-path  in 
the  summer  of  16S9.  They  were  nine  hundred 
strong  by  Johnson,  while  Sylvester  makes 
them  one  thousand  five  hundred  in  numbers. 
Like  the  angry  waters  of  a  torrent-flooded 
stream  spreading  over  all  the  adjoining  low- 
land, so  this  fierce  savage  wave  swept  over 
the  entire  open  country  around  Montreal,  and 
only  receded  when  reaching  the  forts  before 
the  gates  of  that  city.  Canada,  hopeful  of 
prosperity  from  a  score  of  years  of  peace, 
now  lay  desolate  and  blackened  beneath 
the  scalping  knife  and  flaming  torch  of  a  mer- 
ciless savage  horde. 

Widely  spread  under  the  summer's  sun  were 
smoking  ruins,  wasted  fields,  and  an  unsepul- 
chered  host  of  the  dead,  in  which  were  in- 
volved alike  the  valiant  soldier,  the  fearless 
hunter  and  the  prosperous  farmer,  with  the 
busy  matron,  the  beautiful  maid  and  the  inno- 
cent babe.  Through  the  darkness  gleamed 
the  death  fires  of  the  unfortunate  captives, 
where  fiendish  cruelty  exhausted  human  in- 
genuity in  the  infliction  of  most  horrible  tor- 
tures. The  Iroquois  had  paid  a  large  in- 
stallment on  the  debt  of  vengeance  the}'  owed 
to  Champlain  for  his  raid  of  1609. 


CHAPTER    V. 


DESTRUCTION  OF  SCHENECTADY  —  WIN- 
THROP  AND  SCHUYLER'S  EXPEDITIONS 
—  FRENCH  INVASION  — DELLIUS  LAND 
PATENT. 

DESTRUCTION    OF    SCHENECTADV. 

The  period  of  French  and  Iroquois  wars, 
eight}'  years  in  length,  ended  in  1689,  when  a 
second  war  period  of  seventy-four  years  com- 
menced, which  is  known  in  the  history  of  this 
country  as  the  inter-colonial  wars.  During 
this  last  named  period  four  wars  were  waged 
between  French  and  English,  called  in  the 
new  world  King  William,  Queen  Ann,  King 
George's,  and  the  French  and  Indian  wars. 
Although  these  wars  were  terminated  in 
Europe  by  treaties  of  peace,  yet  fighting  never 
totally  ceased  at  any  time  between  the  oppos- 
ing colonies  in  America,  within  the  seventy- 
four  years  from  1689  until  1763;  when  New 
France  ceased  to  exist  as  a  political  division 
in  the  new  world. 

King  William's  war  opened  in  1689,  and  in 
February  of  the  following  year  a  small  detach- 
ment of  French  and  Algonquin  Indians,  under 
Mantet  and  Sainte  Helene,  passed  to  the  west 
of  Washington  county  and  surprised  Schenec- 
tady. After  killing  sixty  persons,  they  laid 
the  place  in  ashes  and  retreated  with  upward 
of  ninety  prisoners. 

WINTHROP'S    EXPEDITION. 

The  massacre  of  Schenectady  by  the  French 
and  Indians  aroused  the  provincial  authorities 
of  New  York  and  Connecticut,  and  they  re- 
solved upon  retaliatory  measures  by  raising  a 
force  and  capturing  Montreal. 

Gen.  Fitz  John  Winthrop,  of  Connecticut, 
was  appointed  to  command  this  force,  which 
consisted  of  four  hundred  from  New  York 
(mostly  Dutch),  one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
Connecticut    men,    and    thirty    "River"   and 


JlKXiRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


31 


one  hundred  and  fifty  Mohawk  Indians.  On 
the  5th  of  August  General  Winthrop  crossed 
the  Hudson  at  the  "Great  Carrying  Place" 
(Fort  Edward)  and,  preceded  by  a  Dutch 
company  under  Major  Peter  Schuyler,  the 
next  day  marched  to  the  "Forks  of  Wood 
creek,"  now  Fort  Ann.  From  there  he 
marched  to  the  mouth  of  Wood  creek.  At 
that  place,  receiving  word  that  he  would  not 
be  joined  by  the  Seneca  and  Iroquois  Indians 
at  the  north  end  of  Lake  Champlain,  on  ac- 
count of  small-pox  breaking  out  in  their  coun- 
try, he  did  the  most  sensible  thing  that  he 
could  do  under  the  circumstances  by  resolving 
to  abandon  the  expedition. 

A  council  of  war,  called  on  the  15th,  sanc- 
tioned this  course,  and  Winthrop  returned  to 
Albany,  where  he  was  put  under  arrest  for 
retreating.  Before  retiring  from  Wood  creek 
General  Winthrop  sent  Captain  John  Schuyler 
with  forty  men  and  one  hundred  and  twenty 
Indians  against  any  French  detachment  that 
might  be  at  the  northern  part  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain.  Schuyler  was  soon  joined  by  a  return- 
ing party  of  thirteen  men  and  five  Indians, 
under  Captain  Glen,  who  had  been  on  a  scout, 
and,  with  this  slight  accession  to  his  small 
force,  proceeded  to  La  Prairie,  on  the  lake, 
where  he  inflicted  some  damage  on  the  French. 

Schuyler's  expedition. 

During  the  next  year  Major  Peter  Schuyler 
collected  a  force  of  two  hundred  and  sixty 
whites  and  Iroquois  Indians,  and  proceeded, 
by  the  way  of  the  portage  route,  from  the 
"Great  Carrying  Place"  to  the  falls  of  Wood 
creek,  from  which  he  descended  the  lake  in  a 
small  fleet  of  canoes  that  he  had  built  at  Fort 
Ann.  Arriving  at  La  Prairie,  he  had  a  fight 
with  the  French,  in  which  he  had  twenty-one 
men  killed  and  five  wounded,  and  was  com- 
pelled to  retreat. 

FRENCH    INVASION. 

Several  small  Indian  depredations  on  either 
side  occurred  during  1692,  but  it  was  reserved 


for  the  next  year  to  witness  a  French  winter 
expedition,  upon  quite  a  large  scale. 

De  Mantelle,  with  a  force  of  four  hundred 
and  twenty-five  French  and  two  hundred 
Huron  Indians,  on  snow  shoes  and  provision 
sledges,  came  over  the  ice  of  Lakes  Cham- 
plain  and  George  and  pushed  through  the 
forests  into  the  Mohawk  country,  where  they 
burned  several  castles  or  forts  and  captured 
quite  a  number  of  prisoners.  On  their  retreat, 
Sylvester  says  that  Major  Peter  Schuyler, with 
a  body  of  English  and  Iroquois,  fought  them 
at  Greenfield  Hills,  in  Saratoga  county,  on 
February  27,  1693  ;  while  Johnson  states  that 
five  days  before  this  the  French  had  arrived 
at  Lake  George.  Schuyler  did  not  follow 
farther  than  the  Hudson  river,  and  at  the 
lake  the  French  pushed  on  for  Ticonderoga, 
while  the  Hurons  crossed  to  Lake  Champlain. 
A  large  number  of  their  prisoners  escaped, 
their  depot  of  provisions  was  spoiled  by  rain, 
and  the  invaders  did  not  reach  Montreal  until 
March  9,  after  suffering  great  hardships. 

DELUUS    LAND    PATENT. 

While  there  was  a  cessation  in  military 
affairs  along  the  lakes  in  1696,  a  move  was 
made  in  a  civil  line  that  came  very  near  trans- 
ferring the  entire  county  to  one  individual. 
Rev.  Godfredius  Dellius,  pastor  of  the  Re- 
formed church  at  Albany,  secured  a  patent 
from  Governor  Fletcher,  for  all  the  land  north 
of  the  Saratoga  patent  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Hudson,  ninety  miles  northward,  embracing 
more  than  half  of  Washington,  all  of  Warren 
and  the  larger  part  of  Essex  counties,  being 
in  all  two  thousand  square  miles  of  territory. 
The  quit  rent  to  be  paid  to  the  crown  Yearly 
for  this  land  was  one  raccoon  skin.  Dellius 
claimed  to  have  purchased  this  land  from  the 
Mohawks  prior  to  1696,  but  the  settlement 
would  have  been  retarded  by  this  grant. which 
was  vacated  by  the  legislature  in  1698,  upon 
the  persuasion  of  the  Earl  of  Bellamont. 
Dellius  resisted  this  vacation,  and  returning 
to  Holland,  is  supposed    to    have  transferred 


32 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


his  claim  to  Rev.  John  Lydius,  his  successor 
in  the  Alhany  church. 

King  William's  war,  which  has  principally 
occupied  this  chapter,  closed  in  1697,  by  the 
treaty  of  peace,  at  Ryswick,  in  Holland,  and 
for  the  remaining  three  years  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  comparative  quiet  reigned 
along  the  northern  lakes  and  the  dense  forests 
of  Washington  county,  but  it  was  only  a  lull 
preceding  another  oncoming  storm  between 
England  and  France. 


CHAPTER    VI. 


NICHOLSON'S  EXPEDITIONS  —  SARATOGA 
SETTLEMENT  — CAMPBELL  COLONY— LY- 
DIUS' ESTABLISHMENT. 


NICHOLSON  S    EXPEDITIONS. 

The  waning  of  the  light  of  the  seventeenth 
century  was  over  peaceful  days,  but  the  sun 
of  the  new  century  was  soon  obscured  by 
clouds. 

In  1702  war  was  declared  between  France 
and  England. 

It  was  but  the  second  stage  of  the  great 
struggle  between  those  two  great  powers  for 
territorial  supremacy  in  America,  and  was 
known  in  Europe  as  the  "War  of  the  Spanish 
Succession,"  while  in  the  history  of  this  coun- 
try it  has  place  as  "Queen  Anne's  War." 

The  heaviest  part  of  this  war  fell  upon  the 
New  England  colonies,  while  New  York  was 
for  the  most  part  spared,  which  one  historian 
says  was  on  account  of  the  French  having 
made  a  treaty  with  the  Iroquois,  and  then  re- 
fraining from  invading  their  territory.' 

Be  it  as  it  may,  concerning  the  last  state- 
ment, yet  but  few  and  very  small  war  parties 
of  either  Iroquois  or  Hurons  traveled  over 
Washington  county  during  Queen  Anne's  war. 

After  seven  years  of  comparative  peace  had 
prevailed   in   the   Upper    Hudson  valley,   the 


English  projected  an  expedition  against  Can- 
ada by  the  way  of  Washington  county.  Con- 
necticut, New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Penn- 
sylvania furnished  fifteen  hundred  troops, 
which  were  joined  at  Albany  by  several  inde- 
pendent New  York  companies,  one  hundred 
Mohawks,  and  a  few  British  regulars.  This 
army  was  commanded  by  Gen.  Francis  Nich- 
olson, and  was  preceded  in  its  march  by  a  de- 
tachment of  laborers,  under  Col.  Peter  Schuy- 
ler, who  built  Fort  Saraghtoga  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Hudson,  just  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Batten  Kill.  Proceeding  northward,  Schuyler 
built  stockades  at  Stillwater  and  Fort  Miller 
falls,  opened  a  road  from  the  Batten  Kill  up 
to  the  "Great  Carrying  Place"  at  Fort  Ed- 
ward, where  he  erected  Fort  Nicholson,  and 
then  pushed  forward  to  the  "Forks  of  Wood 
creek,"  at  which  place  he  built  Fort  Schuy- 
ler, on  the  site  of  Fort  Ann.  Nicholson 
moved  up  with  the  main  part  of  his  army 
to  Fort  Schuyler,  while  a  French  force,  re- 
ported to  be  sixteen  hundred  strong,  lay  on 
the  northern  part  of  Lake  Champlain  to  watch 
his  movements. 

The  expedition  against  Quebec  from  New 
England,  with  which  Nicholson  was  to  co- 
operate, failed  to  accomplish  its  purpose,  and 
the  NewYork  forces  could  not  move.  They  were 
soon  depleted  by  a  severe  sickness  which  broke 
out  in  their  camp,  and  in  November  retired 
down  the  river,  after  destroying  Forts  Nichol- 
son and  Schuyler,  and  the  posts  at  the  second 
carrying  place. 

In  1 71 1  another  expedition  by  sea  and  a 
land  force  by  the  lakes  was  projected  by  the 
English.  General  Nicholson  was  again  placed 
in  command  of  the  land  force,  and  arriving  at 
the  ruins  of  Fort  Schuyler,  built  a  new  fort, 
called  "Queen's  Fort."  Fearing  that  the 
Champlain  route  would  be  unhealthful,  Nich- 
olson's arm}7,  then  increased  to  four  thousand, 
took  up  its  line  of  march  to  Lake  George,  but 
ere  reaching  its  shore,  learned  of  the  English 
fleet,  intended  to  operate  against  Quebec, 
being    shattered   at   sea.      This   news    caused 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


;;:; 


Nicholson  to  abandon  "Queen's  Fort,"  and 
to  disband  his  army  at  Albany. 

Fort  Saraghtoga  remained  as  the  northern 
outpost  of  the  Hudson  river  settlements,  and 
two  years  later  Queen  Anne's  war  was  termi- 
nated by  the  peace  of  Utrecht  in  1713.  Des- 
ultory fighting  still  continued  along  the  New 
England  and  western  frontiers,  but  Washing- 
ton county  and  the  northern  lake  region  en- 
joyed peace  for  over  thirty  years,  during 
which  time  the  French  sought  to  effect  a  set- 
tlement on  the  lake  territory  whose  ownership 
had  not  been  definitely  settled  by  the  peace 
of  Utrecht.  In  1731  the  Governor  of  Canada 
built  a  fort  at  Crown  Point,  around  which  was 
planted  a  French  settlement.  This  move 
alarmed  the  colonists  as  moving  the  French 
center  of  military  operations  so  much  nearer 
Albany,  but  the  legislature  and  governor  of 
New  York  were  engaged  in  a  constant  conflict 
with  each  other  and  nothing  was  done  toward 
building  a  fort  at  Ticonderoga  as  a  check  to 
French  aggression.  The  building  of  the 
Crown  Point  fort  was  but  a  part  of  the  grand 
design  of  France  to  found  a  mighty  empire  in 
the  great  extent  of  country  watered  by  the 
Saint  Lawrence,  the  Great  Lakes  and  the 
Mississippi,  and  having  for  its  eastern  boun- 
dary the  Appalachian  mountain  system. 

The  only  means  used  by  New  York  to  coun- 
teract the  French  move  at  Crown  Point  was 
to  countenance  a  settlement  by  the  Schuylers 
at  Fort  Saraghtoga  and  invite  "Loyal  Pro- 
testant Highlanders"  to  settle  on  the  lands 
between  the  Hudson  and  the  northern  lakes. 

SARATOGA     SETTLEMENT. 

The  Schuylers,  some  years  after  the  peace 
of  Utrecht,  were  instrumental  in  securing  the 
settlement  of  a  tract  of  land  at  the  fort  of 
that  name  on  the  east  side  of  the  Hudson 
river  in  what  is  now  the  town  of  Easton.  This 
was  the  pioneer  settlement  of  the  county  and 
was  extended  to  the  western  side  of  the  river. 
Nothing  definite  can  be  obtained  of  the  year 
of  its  settlement,  and  its  total  destruction  in 
3 


1745,  led  to  its  being  confounded,  in  after 
years,  with  the  Saratoga  settlement  and  vil- 
lage on  the  west  side  of  the  river. 

CAMPBELL    COLONY. 

In  1737,  Capt.  Laughlin  Campbell,  a  soldier 
of  great  courage,  visited  Washington  county 
in  response  to  the  invitation  of  the  New  York 
authorities  to  Scotch  Highlanders  to  settle 
there.  Being  pleased  with  the  country,  he 
was  promised,  according  to  his  account,  a 
grant  of  thirty  thousand  acres  for  colony  use 
for  survey  fees  and  quit  rent  by  Lieutenant 
Governor  Clark.  Campbell  then  returned  to 
Scotland,  sold  his  property,  raised  a  colony  of 
four  hundred  and  twenty-three  adults,  and, 
with  a  part  of  them,  came  the  next  year  to 
New  York,  where  Governor  Clark  insisted  on 
full  fees  and  a  share  in  the  land.  Campbell 
refused  to  comply  with  these  terms,  likely  not 
having  the  money  to  pay  the  fees  demanded, 
and  Clark  recommended  the  legislature  to 
grant  the  colony  assistance,  but  that  body, 
then  at  war  with  the  governor,  declined  to  re- 
spond, as  the  money,  they  suspected,  would 
have  to  go  to  the  colonial  officials  for  fees. 
The  colonists  were  obliged  to  separate  to  earn 
their  living,  and  Campbell  died  in  poverty, 
but  his  account  of  his  treatment  is,  in  all  prob- 
ability, correct,  for  the  colonial  officials  then 
in  office  enjoyed  an  unenviable  reputation  for 
double-dealing  and  charging  extortionate  fees. 

LVDIUS'    ESTABLISHMENT. 

At  some  time  between  1730  and  1744,  ac- 
cording to  all  accounts,  Col.  John  Henry 
Lydius,  son  of  Rev.  John  Lydius,  came  to  the 
site  of  Fort  Nicholson  and  built  a  fortified 
house  as  a  trading  post,  where  he  enjoyed  a 
large  trade  with  both  the  Iroquois  and  the 
Canadian  Indians,  as  he  sold  goods  cheaper 
than  the  French  traders.  He  claimed  the 
vast  Dellius  tract  of  land  in  right  of  his  father, 
who  had  purchased  the  title  of  Rev.  Dellius, 
the  patentee. 

The  legislature  did  not  recognize  Lydius  as 


34 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


the  owner  of  the  land,  and  in  1740  granted 
twelve  thousand  acres  of  the  tract  comprising 
the  larger  part  of  the  town  of  Fort  Edward 
to  John  and  Philip  Schuyler  and  others.  The 
next  year  Samuel  Bayard  obtained  a  grant  of 
one  thousand  three  hundred  acres,  extending 
into  the  very  heart  of  Colonel  Lydius'  settle- 
ment. The  Hoosick  and  the  Rensselaer  pat- 
ents were  granted  about  1740,  and  part  of 
these  tracts  extended  into  the  towns  of  Cam- 
bridge and  White  Creek. 

The  selfish  course  of  the  colonial  officials, 
the  war  between  the  governor  and  assembly, 
and  the  likelihood  of  war  breaking  out  at  any 
time  on  the  frontier,  where  the  tomahawk  and 
scalping-knife  of  the  cruel  Indian  would  play 
an  important  part,  had  prevented  any  consid- 
able  settlement  in  the  decades  succeeding  the 
treaty  of  Utrecht. 


CHAPTER    VII. 


DESTRUCTION  OF  OLD  SARATOGA  —  FORT 
CLINTON-FRENCH  EXPEDITIONS— ENG- 
LISH   ABANDONMENT  OF  THE  COUNTY. 


DESTRUCTION    OF    OLD    SARATOGA. 

The  slow  progress  of  settlement  was  arrested 
in  1744  by  the  outbreak  of  war  again  between 
France  and  England,  in  Europe,  over  the 
Austrian  Succession,  and  which  soon  extended 
to  the  colonies,  where  it  was  known  by  the 
name  of  King  George's  war. 

The  preceding  colonial  war  had  been  noted 
for  attempted  English  invasions  of  Canada  by 
the  way  of  Lake  Champlain,  but  King  George's 
war  was  to  be  distinguished  in  the  upper  Hud- 
son valley  only  by  French  invasions  and  the 
total  abandonment  of  Washington  county  in 
1747 'by  the  English. 

Soon  after  war  was  declared,  Indian  scouting 
parties  lurked  about  Lydius'  post  and  Fort 
Saraghtoga,  but  did    no   damage.      The  next 


year  Colonel  Philip  Schuyler  repaired  and 
strengthened  the  forts  at  Saratoga,  which 
were  attacked,  captured  and  destroyed  on 
November  28,  1745  (New  Style),  by  M.  Marin 
and  a  force  of  three  hundred  French  and  as 
many  Algonquin  Indians.  M.  Marin's  origi- 
nal destination  was  Connecticut,  but  on  his 
march  he  changed  his  plan  and  attacked  Sara- 
toga, which  lay  on  both  sides  of  the  Hudson, 
with  a  fort  on  each  side.  There  were  about 
thirty  families  in  the  settlement,  and  Colonel 
Philip  Schuyler,  refusing  to  surrender,  was 
shot  down  in  his  brick  house  on  the  west  side 
of  the  Hudson,  according  to  Lossing  and 
others,  while  Johnson  is  strongly  of  the  opin- 
ion that  his  residence  was  on  the  east  side  of 
the  Hudson,  as  well  as  that  most  of  the  set- 
tlement was  on  the  Batten  Kill  on  the  east, 
and  not  on  the  Fish  Kill  on  the  west  side  of 
the  river. 

Marin  captured  one  hundred  and  nine  pris- 
oners and  retreated  by  Lake  Champlain  to 
Canada.     No  attempt  at  pursuit  was  made. 

FORT    CLINTON. 

In  the  spring  of  1746,  Fort  Clinton  was 
built  near  the  ruins  of  one  of  the  Saratoga 
forts,  to  protect  the  cultivation  of  the  cleared 
fields  of  the  destroyed  settlement.  Fort  Clin- 
ton was  named  for  Governor  George  Clinton 
(father  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton),  cost  three  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  dollars,  and  was  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  long  by  one  hundred 
and  forty  feet  in  width,  with  six  wooden  re- 
doubts for  barracks,  and  mounting  six  twelve- 
pound  and  six  eighteen-pound  cannon. 

The  location  of  Fort  Clinton  has  been  a 
matter  of  some  dispute.  Johnson  says  the 
fort  was  on  the  east  side,  while  Sylvester 
claims  that  it  was  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Hudson. 

FRENCH    EXPEDITIONS. 

During  the  year  1746  over  twenty  small 
French  and  Indian  expeditions  passed  over 
the  soil  of  the  county  to  attack  the  settlers 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


35 


along  the  frontiers  of  New  York  and  Massa- 
chusetts, and  one  force  four  hundred  and  fifty 
strong,  under  Monsieur  de  Mery,  camped  on 
Wood  creek,  into  which  they  felled  the  trees 
growing  on  its  banks  for  several  miles  up  from 
the  mouth,  so  as  to  render  its  navigation  im- 
practicable to  any  English  expedition  moving 
against  Canada  by  that  route. 

War  parties  of  the  French  and  Indians 
continued  throughout  the  next  year  to  pass  to 
their  work  of  plunder  and  murder,  but  the 
only  one  that  inflicted  any  damage  in  the 
county  was  that  of  Saint  Luc,  who,  in  July, 
1647,  made  his  way  stealthily  to  the  vicinity 
of  Fort  Clinton,  with  twenty  Canadians  and 
two  hundred  Indians.  He  had  six  of  his 
warriors  in  the  night  approach  close  to  the 
fort,  and  in  the  morning  they  fired  on  two 
men  who  came  out  of  the  fort  and  then  rose 
up  and  fled,  drawing  slowly  after  them  one 
hundred  and  twenty  of  the  garrison  into  an 
ambush  prepared  by  the  French  leader.  The 
French  and  Indians  fired,  and  then  closed  in 
with  their  tomahawks,  killing  twenty-eight 
and  capturing  forty-five  on  the  spot,  while 
many  others  were  drowned  or  shot  while  try- 
ing to  swim  the  river.  Saint  Luc's  loss  was 
one  Indian  killed  and  five  wounded. 

The  French  leader  remained  near  Fort  Clin- 
ton until  he  ascertained  that  there  were  over 
one  hundred  and  fifty  men  yet  in  the  garrison — 
a  force  too  strong  for  him  to  attack  while  it 
was  behind  the  walls  of  the  fort  —  and  then 
retreated  leisurely,  with  his  prisoners,  to 
Canada. 

ENGLISH    ABANDONMENT    OK    THE    COUNTY. 

The  English  continued  to  hold  Fort  Clinton 
until  October,  when  Governor  Clinton,  upon 
the  plea  that  the  assembly  had  not  voted 
money  enough  to  keep  it  up,  ordered  the  can- 
non and  stores  removed  and  the  troops  with- 
drawn to  Albany.  As  the  last  of  the  garrison 
withdrew  the  torch  was  applied,  by  the  gov- 
ernor's orders,  and  the  fort  was  burned  to  the 
ground. 


Thus  the  first  English  occupation  was  of 
short  duration,  not  lasting  much  over  ten 
years  at  the  farthest. 

The  next  year  the  war  was  closed  by  the 
treaty  of  peace  signed  at  Aix  la  Chapelle,  and 
the  French  and  Indian  war  parties  ceased  to 
pass  through  the  county,  but  the  distrust 
caused  by  the  inefficient  action  of  the  New 
York  authorities  was  sufficient  to  discourage 
all  attempts  at  further  settlement,  until  pro- 
vincial affairs  should  be  in  better  shape. 

1180279 


CHAPTER    VIII 


BATTLE  OF  LAKE  GEORGE  — ROGERS,  PUT- 
NAM, AND  STARK'S  RANGERS—  FALL  OF 
FORT  WILLIAM  HENRY  ABERCROMBIE 
AND   AMHERST'S   CAMPAIGNS. 


BATTLE    OF    LAKE    GEORGE. 

The  last  of  three  peace  intervals  between 
the  four  inter-colonial  wars  that  constituted 
the  great  struggle  for  territorial  supremacy 
between  France  and  England  in  North  Am- 
erica, lasted  but  six  years.  The  first  two  of 
these  wars  were  fought  while  Louis  XIV.,  the 
"Grand  Monarque, ''  was  on  the  throne  of 
France.  During  his  minority  and  early  reign, 
his  minister,  Cardinal  Mazarin,  kept  peace 
with  England,  because  Cromwell  was  too 
powerful  to  be  encountered,  but  in  his  later 
years,  when  dictating  law  to  Europe,  Louis 
foolishly  refused  to  acknowledge  the  Prince 
of  Orange  as  William  III.  of  England.  From 
that  day  his  power  waned  and  the  House  of 
Bourbon  was  doomed  to  fall.  Under  his  pro- 
fligate successor,  Louis  XVI.,  the  struggle 
was  continued   with   England,    ruled   by    the 


36 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


House  of  Brunswick.  The  third  war  had  been 
fought,  and  now  the  fourth,  last  and  greatest 
of  these  wars,  was  about  to  begin.  The  first 
three  wars  had  their  origin  in  Europe,  but  the 
fourth,  known  in  this  country  as  the  French 
and  Indian  war,  originated  in  America  in  1754, 
in  the  contest  of  the  Virginians  and  French 
over  the  Monongahela  valley  in  southwestern 
Pennsylvania. 

Northward  along  the  entire  frontier  line  the 
contest  spread  and  raged  for  two  years  before 
a  formal  declaration  of  war  was  made  be- 
tween France  and  England,  although  during 
this  time,  while  Louis  XVI.  and  George  II. 
were  expressing  friendship  for  each  other, 
they  were  sending  large  bodies  of  troops  to 
help  their  respective  North  American  colonies 
in  their  great  struggle. 

During  the  last  peace  period  the  Mohicans, 
by  permission  of  the  Mohawks,  had  hunting 
camps  in  the  county,  and  a  dim  tradition  ex- 
ists of  a  settlement  beginning  in  the  town  of 
Greenwich  on  the  Schuyler  patent,  where,  in 
all  probability,  a  few  settlers  may  have  strug- 
gled back  to  the  devastated  fields  of  the  Sara- 
toga settlement. 

In  1755  England  planned  three  expeditions 
against  the  French  in  America.  The  third  of 
these  expeditions  was  placed  under  command 
of  Maj.  Gen.  William  Johnson,  and  had  for 
its  object  the  capture  of  Crown  Point.  On 
August  14,  1755,  General  Johnson  arrived  at 
the  site  of  Fort  Edward,  where  General  Ly- 
man had  erected  Fort  Lyman  on  the  site  of 
Fort  Nicholson,  near  the  site  of  Lydius'  estab- 
lishment.  By  August  25th  Johnson  had  over 
four  thousand  troops,  consisting  of  two  Con- 
necticut, three  Massachusetts,  a  Rhode  Island, 
a  New  Hampshire,  and  a  New  York  regiment, 
the  latter  of  which  contained  three  Connecti- 
cut companies.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  Mo- 
hawk braves  joined  the  expedition  under  com- 
mand of  the  celebrated  King  Hendrick.  Gen- 
eral Johnson,  on  the  25th,  moved  with  two 
thousand  five  hundred  troops  and  his  Indians 
toward  Lake  George,  where  he  arrived  on  the 


28th,  and  encamped  within  the  territory  of 
Warren  county.  A  few  days  later  he  was 
joined  by  Gen.  Phineas  Lyman,  with  addi- 
tional reinforcements,  and  Colonel  Blanchard 
was  left  in  command  of  Fort  Lyman. 

The  departure  of  Johnson  was  reported  to 
Baron  Dieskau,  "the  Dutch-Frenchman," 
as  a  retreat  to  Albany.  The  French  com- 
mander, upon  this  intelligence,  resolved  to 
divide  his  force,  and  with  one  part  of  it  cap- 
ture Fort  Lyman.  This  course  of  action  was 
resolved  upon  against  the  positive  command 
of  the  governor  of  Canada.  Dieskau,  with 
twelve  hundred  and  eighty  Canadians  and  In- 
dians, landed  at  South  Bay,  on  the  4th  of 
September,  and  the  next  day  took  up  their 
march  for  Fort  Lyman,  where  they  arrived 
on  the  7th.  His  six  hundred  Indians  refused 
to  attack  .the  fort  —  really  on  account  of  its 
cannon  —  as  property  of  King  George,  but 
offered  to  attack  Johnson  (as  they  supposed 
he  had  no  cannon),  as  he  was  on  French  terri- 
tory. Dieskau  was  compelled  to  give  up  the 
attack  on  the  fort,  and  seek  battle  with  John- 
son. Moving  toward  Lake  George  the  next 
day  he  learned  that  Johnson  had  started  one 
thousand  men,  under  Colonel  Williams  and 
King  Hendrick,  to  relieve  the  fort,  and 
planted  an  ambuscade  into  which  the  English 
and  Indians  fell,  at  Bloody  Pond,  in  the  edge 
of  Warren  county.  Williams  and  King  Hen- 
drick were  killed,  and  their  force  nearly  all 
destroyed.  After  this  signal  victory  the  obsti- 
nate and  rash  Dieskau  pressed  forward  to  the 
assault  of  Johnson's  fortified  camp,  where  he 
was  wounded  and  captured,  and  his  force  de- 
feated and  scattered.  The  battle  of  Lake 
George  raged  from  noon  till  four  o'clock,  and 
was  determined  by  a  charge  of  the  English 
after  repulsing  several  desperate  French  as- 
saults. Johnson  was  wounded  early  in  the 
fight,  and  Lyman  really  won  the  victory. 
The  French  and  Indians  retreated  toward 
South  Bay,  but  one  detachment  was  sur- 
prised at  Bloody  Pond,  and  routed  by  a 
detachment  of    English    sent   out    from   Fort 


BIOGUAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


37 


Lyman,  under  Captain  McGuinness.  From 
South  Bay  the  remnant  of  the  French  and  In- 
dian force  returned  in  their  boats  to  Crown 
Point. 

Johnson  ignored  General  Lyman  in  his  re- 
port of  the  battle,  and  treated  him  with  great 
shabbiness  in  changing  the  name  of  Fort  Ly- 
man to  that  of  Fort  Edward,  for  Edward, 
Duke  of  York.  Johnson  was  made  a  baron 
and  given  a  gratuity  of  five  thousand  pounds 
for  winning  the  battle  of  Lake  George  —  the 
only  English  victory  of  that  year,  and  Lyman, 
the  true  hero,  went  unnoticed  alike  by  the 
Provincial  authorities  and  the  Crown. 

Johnson  wisely  refrained  from  attacking 
Crown  Point  with  his  force,  as  the  French 
had  as  many  men  as  he  had,  and  the  advan- 
tage of  their  fortifications.  Reinforcements 
came  so  late  in  the  season  that  after  building 
Fort  William  Henry,  on  Lake  George,  John- 
son returned  to  Albany  and  disbanded  his 
army. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  year  Captains 
Robert  Rogers  and  Israel  Putnam,  and  Lieu- 
tenants John  Stark  and  Noah  Grant  (great- 
grandfather of  General  U.  S.  Grant)  led  nu- 
merous successful  scouting  expeditions  toward 
Ticonderoga. 

Dissatisfaction  prevailed  at  Johnson's  fail- 
ure to  capture  Crown  Point,  and  in  1756,  the 
colonies  raised  six  thousand  troops,  who  were 
sent  to  Fort  Edward,  under  command  of  Gen. 
Seth  Winslow  of  Massachusetts.  There 
Winslow  was  soon  joined  by  Gen.  James 
Abercrombie  with  a  body  of  British  regulars. 
General  Abercrombie  assumed  command  and 
marched  to  Fort  William  Henry,  where  he 
allowed  the  daring  and  intrepid  Marquis  de 
Montcalm,  the  commander  of  the  French 
forces,  to  completely  outwit  him  in  every  way 
and  capture  Oswego,  on  Lake  Ontario.  Aber- 
crombie was  too  slow  to  attempt  anything, 
and  the  Earl  of  Loudon,  commander-in-chief, 
was  less  energetic,  so  the  army,  after  laving 
at  Fort  William  Henry  till  fall,  was  marched 
back  to  Albany  and  disbanded. 
3a 


ROGERS,  PUTNAM  AND  STARK  S  RANGERS. 

While  the  imbecility  of  the  English  com- 
manders was  inviting  defeat  at  the  hands  of 
the  French,  there  were  three  partisan  leaders 
—  Rogers,  Putnam  and  Stark  —  whose  daring 
scouts  and  successful  fights  taught  the  enemy 
respect  for  provincial  prowess.  In  June,  1756, 
Rogers  and  Putnam,  with  two  pieces  of  light 
artillery  and  one  hundred  men,  at  the  narrows 
of  Lake  Champlain,  ambushed  Saint  Luc 
with  a  force  of  several  hundred  French  and 
Indians,  and  killed  a  large  number,  besides 
sinking  many  boats.  They  also  passed  Crown 
Point  in  the  night  and  raided  into  the  edge  of 
Canada.  In  January,  1757,  Rogers  and  Stark, 
with  seventy-four  men,  on  snow-shoes,  suc- 
cessfully attacked  a  French  party  on  the  ice 
between  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point,  but 
one  French  soldier  escaped,  and  a  force  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  on  snow-shoes, 
were  sent  to  capture  the  audacious  rangers. 
A  battle  of  four  hours,  in  snow  four  feet  deep, 
followed  ;  the  French  drew  off  and  the  rangers 
retreated.  Rogers  was  wounded  early  in  the 
fight,  and  Stark  (second  lieutenant)  won  the 
victory  and  conducted  the  retreat.  In  March, 
Captain  Stark  prevented  the  surprise  and 
probable  capture  of  Fort  William  Henry  by 
Vaudreuil  and  a  force  of  one  thousand  five 
hundred  French  and  Indians,  who  came  from 
Ticonderoga  on  snow-shoes,  along  Lake 
Champlain,  and  through  the  towns  of  Dres- 
den and  Fort  Ann.  Stark,  by  a  ruse,  kept  his 
company  of  New  Hampshire  Scotch-Irish 
from  getting  drunk  on  Saint  Patrick's  day, 
and  thus  had  sober  sentinels,  while  the  regu- 
lars were  all  hopelessly  drunk.  After  a  few 
days  investment  of  the  fort  the  French  burned 
a  lot  of  vessels  and  retreated. 

FALL  OF   FORT  WILLIAM    HENRY. 

During  1757,  Abercrombie  remained  at  Al- 
bany and  sent  Gen.  Daniel  Webb,  with  some 
regiments  of  British  regulars  and  several 
thousand    of  provincial    troops,    to    Fort   Ed- 


38 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


ward.  Webb  had  distinguished  himself  the 
preceding  year  by  a  rapid  flight  down  the 
Mohawk  valley  when  no  enemy  was  in  pur- 
suit, and  hence  was  not  popular  with  either 
soldiers  or  colonists. 

Montcalm  frightened  Webb  from  all  offen- 
sive operations  by  two  swift  and  bloody  raids. 
Lieutenant  Marin,  the  daring  French  partisan, 
on. July  25th  landed  at  South  Bay  with  two 
hundred  French  and  Indians  and  killed  nearly 
all  of  sixty  men  of  a  patrol  and  guard  in  sight 
of  Fort  Edward,  where  cautious  Webb  would 
not  allow  any  of  his  regiments  to  go  out  and 
make  short  work  of  the  butcher.  On  July 
25th,  the  second  raid  was  made  under  Lieu- 
tenant Corbierie,  who  with  fifty  French  and 
two  hundred  Ottawas,  came  up  Lake  George 
to  near  Sabbath  Day  point  and  ambushed  the 
barges,  carrying  a  New  Jersey  regiment,  three 
hundred  strong,  under  Col.  John  Parker,  kill- 
ing one  hundred  and  thirty-one  and  capturing 
one  hundred  and  fifty- seven,  with  a  loss  of 
only  one  Indian  wounded. 

Webb  was  most  terribly  frightened,  and, 
going  to  Fort  William  Henry,  his  fears  were 
not  lessened  any  by  learning  there  of  an  ad- 
vancing French  force.  He  immediately  re- 
turned to  Fort  Edward  and  dispatched  a 
Scotch  regiment  to  reinforce  it.  while  he  sent 
expresses  through  ail  the  colonies  calling  for 
reinforcements,  which  were  promptly  raised, 
to  the  extent  of  twenty  thousand,  and  sent, 
although  arriving  too  late  to  be  of  any  use. 

In  the  meantime  Montcalm  swiftly  ascended 
Lake  George  and  surrounded  Fort  William 
Henry  with  seven  thousand  five  hundred 
troops,  of  which  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred were  Indians.  General  Webb  lay  quaking 
in  his  trenches  at  Fort  Edward,  with  five 
thousand  men,  and  informed  Colonel  Munro, 
commanding  Fort  William  Henry,  that  he 
could  not  relieve  him  until  the  militia  arrived, 
and  if  he  could  not  hold  out  till  then  he  must 
make  the  best  terms  of  surrender  that  he 
could.  Putnam  and  Sir  William  Johnson  on 
the  8th  obtained  permission   to  raise  volun- 


teers and  advance  to  the  relief  of  Munro,  but 
when  they  drew  out  a  considerable  force  to 
start,  Webb  countermanded  the  permission 
and  ordered  the  troops  back.  The  next  day 
Munro  surrendered,  with  two  thousand  two 
hundred  men,  under  stipulations  that  his 
troops  should  retire  the  next  day,  with  their 
arms  and  baggage,  to  Fort  Edward.  The  re- 
treat the  next  day  was  turned  into  a  flight, 
and  the  larger  part  were  massacred  by  the 
Indians. 

This  massacre  is  the  one  dark  stain  on  the 
otherwise  bright  character  of  Montcalm,  who 
did  not  prevent  it,  while  it  is  alike  disgraceful 
to  two  thousand  troops,  with  arms  in  their 
hands,  to  allow  themselves  to  be  butchered  by 
an  inferior  force  of  Indians  unless  they  feared 
to  resist,  under  the  impression  if  they  did  so 
the  French  would  open  fire  on  them. 

Webb  was  relieved  of  his  command  by  Ly- 
man, but  escaped  punishment  and  even  cen- 
sure, although  ordered  to  England. 

The  army  and  the  militia  returned  to  Al- 
bany and  were  disbanded.  A  strong  garrison 
was  left  at.  Fort  Edward,  and  Putnam  and 
Rogers,  with  their  rangers,  were  stationed 
along  the  northern  frontier.  Putnam,  in  No- 
vember, saved  Captain  Little's  detachment 
from  capture  by  Levis,  who,  in  that  mon'h, 
made  a  dash  into  the  neighborhood  of  Fort 
Edward  with  several  hundred  French  and 
Indians. 

Disaster  to  the  English  arms  had  marked 
the  year  1757,  but  three  years  of  repeated 
reverses  were  now  to  be  succeeded  by  two 
years  of  victories,  as  Pitt  had  become  prime 
minister;  and  under  his  genius  success  was 
to  be  organized.  Loudon  was  removed  and 
Abercrombie  given  the  chief  command  in  his 
place. 

Lord  Howe  led  the  advance  of  Abercrom- 
bie's  army  to  Lake  George,  on  June  22,  1758, 
and  shortly  after  this  Putnam,  with  fifty  men, 
was  sent  by  Howe  to  guard  the  head  of  Lake 
Champlain  and  prevent  French  reconnoitering 
there.      Fifteen  of  his  men  became'  sick,  and 


IUOaiJAJ'HY  ANT)  HISTORY 


39 


with  the  other  thirty-five  he  erected  a  stone 
wall  at  Fiddler's  Elbow,  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  below  Whitehall.  Ambushing  his  wall 
with  pine,  the  sturdy  Putnam  waited  until 
fate  sent  no  less  a  foe  than  the  dreaded  Marin 
or  "Molang,"  with  five  hundred  French  and 
Indians.  It  took  Marin  nearly  twelve  hours 
to  dislodge  Putnam,  and  cost  him  nearly  two 
hundred  men,  while  the  rangers  had  but  two 
men  wounded. 

abercrombie's  campaign. 

On  July  28,  1758,  Abercrombie's  army  ar- 
rived at  Fort  Edward.  He  had  the  27th, 
44th,  46th,  55th  and  80th  regiments  of  regu- 
lars, two  battalions  of  the  60th  and  42d  High- 
landers, or  the  celebrated  "Black  Watch," 
six  thousand  five  hundred  men,  all  told,  and 
the  flower  of  the  British  army.  Ten  thousand 
provincial  troops  and  five  hundred  Iroquois, 
commanded  by  Sir  William  Johnson,  -were 
with  him.  A  magnificent  arm)',  if  it  only  had 
had  a  commander  of  any  military  ability  at 
its  head. 

On  July  7,  Abercrombie  crossed  Lake 
George  and  landed  unopposed.  Montcalm 
had  only  three  thousand  men,  but  he  was  an 
host  within  himself.  In  the  skirmishing  that 
ensued  after  the  landing,  Lord  Howe,  the 
idol  of  the  English  army,  was  killed.  On  the 
8th,  "Flung  with  blundering  bolt-headness 
against  a  rude  intrenchment  protected  by 
abatis  and  defended  by  only  three  thousand 
Frenchmen  and  Canadians,  under  the  fiery 
Montcalm,  the  sixteen  thousand  British  and 
Americans  wore  out  the  long,  hot  summer 
afternoon  in  hopeless  attacks,  and  retreated 
at  night  with  the  loss  of  two  thousand  men, 
while  that  of  the  enemy  scarcely  reached  three 
hundred." 

Abercrombie  retreated  after  his  defeat,  and 
later  threw  up  fortifications  at  the  head  of 
Lake  George,  which  he  occupied  until  fall. 
He  then  marched  his  army  back  to  Alb^nv. 

Before  Abercrombie  retreated  from  the 
county,  he  allowed  Colonel  Bradstreet  to  col- 


lect a  small  force  and  proceed  to  Lake  On- 
tario, where  he  captured  Fort  Frontenac,  with 
some  cannon  and  a  large  amount  of  military 
stores. 

Also,  while  Abercrombie  was  at  the  head 
of  Lake  George,  Saint  Luc,  on  July  30,  at 
the  head  of  a  large  body  of  Canadians,  de- 
stroyed a  train  between  Fort  Edward  and 
Lake  George,  taking  one  hundred  and  ten 
scalps  and  eighty-four  prisoners.  Putnam 
and  Rogers  were  selected  to  make  the  pursuit, 
with  five  hundred  men,  but  they  were  not 
soon  enough  to  intercept  the  French  at  South 
Bay.  They  then  divided  their  force  and 
scouted  for  a  short  time,  when  they  re  united 
on  information  of  Marin  being  in  the  vicinity 
with  five  hundred  French  and  "Indians. 
Marin  formed  an  ambusqade,  into  which 
Putnam  ran  unsuspectingly,  but  the  rangers 
soon  withdrew,  and  desperate  fighting  ensued 
in  which  Putnam  was  captured.  The  French 
finally  retreated  and  took  with  them  Putnam, 
whom  Marin  saved  from  the  stake  to  which 
the  Indians  had  tied  him,  and  around  which 
they  had  built  a  fire  to  burn  him. 

amherst's    campaign. 

In  October,  1758,  Gen.  Jeffrey  Amherst  su- 
perseded Abercrombie,  and  while  brave  and 
energetic,  yet  was  a  man  of  no  great  military 
ability.  The  next  spring  another  army  moved 
from  Albany,  and  in  June  arrived  at  Fort  Ed- 
ward, where  Amherst  rested  for  a  few  days. 
He  then  marched  for  Lake  George  with  six 
thousand  British  and  nine  thousand  provincial 
troops.  Crossing  the  lake  he  appeared  suc- 
cessively before  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point, 
each  of  which  was  abandoned  to  him,  as  their 
garrisons  combined  only  twenty-three  hun- 
dred strong,  fell  back  to  aid  in  the  defence  of 
Quebec. 

Amherst  now  showed  his  lack  of  general- 
ship by  halting  at  Crown  Point  on  the  first  of 
August,  and  instead  of  pressing  forward  to  aid 
Wolfe  at  Quebec,  actually  gave  up  his  cam- 
paign, and   after  building   a   fort   or  two,  re- 


40 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


turned  to  Albany,  where  he  went  into  winter 
quarters. 

The  next  spring  Colonel  Haviland  led  a 
small  force  through  Washington  county  to 
Canada,  while  General  Amherst  went  with  the 
main  army  by  the  way  of  Oswego  and  appear- 
ing before  the  walls  of  Montreal,  where  he  was 
joined  by  Murray's  army  from  Quebec.  Mon- 
treal surrendered  without  offering  any  resist- 
ance, and  the  war  was  virtually  ended  in  Am- 
erica, although  peace  was  not  declared  until 
three  years  later.  Amherst  being  in  chief 
command  at  the  close  of  the  struggle  was  made 
a  baronet,  and  afterward  received  the  title  of 
lord.  "  But  it  has  been  truly  said  that  if  Wolfe 
had  been  such  a  soldier  as  Amherst,  the  Gib- 
ralter  of  America  would  not  have  been  cap- 
tured, and  history  has  justly  flung  her  laurels 
on  the  corpse  of  the  hero  of  Quebec,  rather 
than  bind  with  them  the  brow  of  the  cautious 
and  successful  commander-in-chief." 

The  French  and  Indian  war  of  America, 
known  in  Europe  as  the  "Seven  Year's  War," 
had  closed,  and  its  results  in  America  had 
largely  changed  the  political  map  of  the 
country.  Louis  XVI.  had  able  generals,  but 
too  few  soldiers,  in  Canada  to  hold  that  country 
against  the  English.  If  instead  of  sending 
one  hundred  thousand  soldiers  to  defend  his 
European  friends  and  three  thousand  to  Can- 
ada, he  had  sent  more  regiments  to  America, 
New  France  might  not  have  been  swept  from 
the  map  of  the  new  world.  Likewise  if 
France  had  accepted  a  water  line  boundary 
instead  of  a  mountain  one  in  1754  the  French 
and  Indian  war  would  have  likely  been  de- 
ferred for  some  years.  The  Indian  war  period 
lasted  eighty  years,  and  the  Inter-colonial  war 
period  had  now  closed  after  fifty-four  years  of 
duration.  Each  of  these  periods  was  opened 
by  a  single  shot  upon  whose  flight  hung  mo- 
mentous destinies.  The  echo  of  the  one  shot 
—  Champlain's- — died  only  when  Quebec  fell ; 
the  echo  of  the  other  —  Washington's  —  rung 
until  Yorktown  made  supreme  the  cause  of 
American  Independence. 


CHAPTER    IX 


EARLY  SETTLEMENTS  PROVINCIAL  AND 
ARTILLERY  PATENTS  —  NEW  HAMP- 
SHIRE  GRANTS. 

EARLY    SETTLEMENTS. 

The  capture  of  Canada  and  the  prospect  of 
peace  between  France  and  England  led  im- 
mediately to  the  permanent  settlement  of  the 
central  and  southern  parts  of  Washington 
county. 

During  the  year  1761  settlers  came  a  second 
time  to  the  Saratoga  tract  on  the  Hudson,  and 
James  Turner  and  Alexander  Conkey,  from 
Pelham,  Massachusetts,  located  a  colony  site 
on  the  flats  where  Salem  village  now  stands, 
while  some  families  settled  in  Cambridge, 
and  Major  Philip  Skene  brought  thirty 
families  and  founded  Skenesborough  (White- 
hall )  settlement. 

In  1763  peace  was  declared,  and  under  the 
royal  proclamation  issued  offering  land  in 
America  without  fee  to  all  British  officers  and 
soldiers  serving  in  the  French  and  Indian 
war,  large  tracts  were  set  aside  in  Washington 
county  for  them. 

Two  years  later  quite  a  tide  of  emigration 
set  in  toward  Washington  county.  The  chil- 
dren of  Captain  Laughlin  Campbell  settled 
on  ten  thousand  acres  granted  them  in  Argyle. 
Major  Skene  had  brought  quite  a  number  of 
negroes  to  his  settlement,  where  part  of  his 
colon)'  had  died  from  an  unhealthy  location, 
and  was  pushing  forward  his  work  with  en- 
ergy. James  Bradshaw  had  settled  in  Kings- 
bury. The  advance  of  the  colony  from  Pel- 
ham,  Massachusetts,  had  arrived  in  the  Salem 
country,  which  they  named  White  Creek  ; 
and  at  the  same  time  Dr.  Thomas  Clark  came 
with  a  colony  of  Scotch-Irish  and  settled 
among  them,  called  the  section  New  Perth. 
Scotch  Highlanders,  mostly  of  the  77th  regi- 
ment, commence  to  settle  on  the  military 
patents  granted  in  the  county. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


II 


In  1768  Albert  Baker  settled  at  Sandy  Hill. 
In  the  next  year  a  colony  of  Irish  Methodists 
located  near  Ash  Grove,  and  the  smoke  from 
the  settler's  cabin  rose  in  every  valley  in  the 
county  by  1767,  so  rapidly  had  population 
poured  from  New  England  and  New  York, 
and  from   Scotland  and  the  north  of  Ireland. 

PROVINCIAL    AND    ARTILLERY    PATENTS. 

The  Saratoga,  Hoosick,Walloomsac,  Schuy- 
ler and  Bayard  patents,  all  granted  by  1740, 
were  still  in  force. 

The  Cambridge  patent  for  thirty-five  thous- 
and five  hundred  acres  in  Cambridge  and 
White  Creek  was  granted  to  a  Connecticut 
colony  on  July  21,  1761. 

The  Anaquassacook  patent  for  ten  thousand 
acres  in  Jackson  and  White  Creek  was  granted 
to  ten  parties  from  Schenectady  on  May  11, 
1762. 

The  Kingsbury  patent  of  twenty-six  thous- 
and acres  in  the  town  of  Kingsbury  was 
granted  to  James  Bradshaw  and  others  on 
Mav  11,  1762. 

The  Campbell  patent  for  ten  thousand  acres 
in  Argyle,  now  in  Greenwich,  was  granted  to 
the  children  of  Captain  Laughlin  Campbell 
in  the  autumn  of  1763. 

The  Turner  patent  of  twenty-five  thousand 
acres  in  Salem  was  granted  to  James  Turner 
and  others  in  1764. 

The  Provincial  patent  for  twenty-six  thous- 
and acres  in  the  town  of  Hartford  was  speci- 
ally granted  to  twenty-six  New  York  infantry 
officers  in  Ma}',  1764. 

The  Artillery  patent  of  twenty-four  thous- 
ang  acres  in  Fort  Ann  was  granted  to  twenty- 
four  New  York  artillery  officers  in  1764. 

The  Argyle  patent  of  forty-seven  thousand 
four  hundred  and  fifty  acres  in  Argyle  was 
granted  to  the  descendants  of  Captain  Camp- 
bell's colony  in  May,  1764. 

The  Skenesborough  patent  of  twenty-five 
thousand  acres,  now  in  the  town  of  Whitehall, 
was  granted  to  Major  Skene  in  the  spring  of 
1765- 


The  rest  of  the  county,  aside  from  the  patents 
named,  was  nearly  all  set  apart  to  British  offi- 
cers and  soldiers  under  the  royal  proclama- 
tion. 

Some  of  these  patentees  in  addition  to  the 
fees  of  seventy-five  dollars  per  each  thousand 
acres,  had  to  deed  an  undivided  half  as  a  bribe 
to  the  New  York  authorities  in  order  to  secure 
any  patent  at  all.  No  price,  however,  was 
■asked  for  any  of  the  land,  only  a  small  quit 
rent  each  year  was  to  be  paid  in  addition  to 
the  fees. 

NEW    HAMPSHIRE    GRANTS. 

After  the  close  of  the  French  and  Indian 
war  the  old  boundary  trouble  between  New 
York  and  New  Hampshire  was  revived, and  the 
eastern  part  of  the  territory  of  Washington 
county  was  in  the  disputed  strip.  The  con- 
troversy arose  in  1749,  when  New  Hampshire 
put  forth  her  claim  of  her  western  boundary 
being  within  eighteen  miles  of  the  Hudson 
river,  and  New  York  claimed  eastward  to  the 
Connecticut  river  above  the  colony  of  Massa- 
chusetts. New  Hampshire  asked  a  very  low 
quit  rent  of  nine  pence  per  hundred  acres, 
while  New  York  assessed  for  the  same 
amount  of  land  the  sum  of  two  shillings  six 
pence. 

In  1751  both  colonial  governments  appealed 
to  the  "  Lords  of  Trade  "  in  London  to  decide 
the  controversy,  which  that  remarkably  dila- 
tory body  naturally  delayed  doing  until  1764, 
when  George  III.  issued  an  order  in  council 
declaring  that  New  York  extended  to  the  Con- 
necticut river.  But  afterward  the  Crown  or- 
dered New  York  to  issue  no  more  grants  until 
further  orders.  This  kept  the  dissention  alive 
between  the  adherents  of  each  side,  and  on 
October  29,  1 77 1 ,  Ethen  Allen  and  others  of 
the  New  Hampshire  settlers  invaded  east 
Hebron  and  tore  down  the  house  of  Corporal 
Charles  Hutchinson,  beside  driving  away 
some  eight  or  nine  families.  A  squire's  war- 
rant was  issued  and  twenty  pounds  reward 
were  offered  for  the  raiders,  but  they  laughed 


42 


BIO  OJ!  A  PHY  AND  HISTORY 


at  both  and  remained  unmolested  on  the  east- 
ern border  of  the  county. 

The  final  result  of  the  controversy  was  the 
establishment  of  the  disputed  land  east  of 
Washington  county  as  an  independent  territory 
that  afterward  under  the  name  of  Vermont,  be- 
came the  first  State  admitted  into  the  Union. 


CHAPTER    X. 


COUNTY     FORMATION     UNDER    NAME     OK 
CHARLOTTE. 

The  supposition  has  been  advanced  that  the 
idea  of  getting  a  new  set  of  officers  nearer  to 
the  Hampshire  Grant  troubles,  than  the  Al- 
bany county  officials,  might  have  had  some- 
thing to  do  with  the  erection  of  Washington 
county  under  the  name  of  Charlotte  by  legis- 
lative enactment,  on  March  12,  1772.  The 
county  was  taken  from  Albany  and  received 
the  name  of  Charlotte,  in  honor  of  Queen 
Charlotte,  of  England,  the  wife  of  George  III., 
and  a  native  of  Mecklenburg-Strelitz. 

The  north  line  of  the  county  was  the  south 
boundary  line  of  Canada  until  it  struck  the 
Green  Mountains,  which  formed  the  eastern 
boundary  down  to  the  west  line  of  Cumber- 
land count)',  and  then  west  to  the  south  line 
of  Princetown,  in  which  it  struck  the  Batten 
Kill,  and  from  a  point  on  that  stream  ran  north 
to  a  point  three  and  three-sixteenths  miles  east 
of  the  mouth  of  Stony  run.  From  there  it 
ran  west  to  the  mouth  of  Stony  run  on  the 
Hudson,  and  then  followed  that  river  up  to 
the  northwest  corner  of  the  town  of  Luzerne, 
Warren  county,  ran  west  along  the  north  line 
of  Saratoga  county,  its  northwest  corner,  and 
north  along  the  present  west  line  of  Warren 
county,  extended  to  the  Canada  line. 

Thus  constituted  Charlotte  county  contained 
all  of  the  present  Washington  county,  except 
the  towns  of  Easton,  Cambridge,  Jackson, 
White    Creek,    and     the     southwest    part    of 


Greenwich,  which  remained  in  Albany  county, 
while  to  the  northward  it  included  all  Warren, 
Essex,  and  Clinton,  and  the  eastern  part  of 
Franklin  county,  and  eastward  embraced  all 
the  western  part  of  Vermont,  north  from  the 
corner  of  Jackson.  The  Green  mountains  was 
its  eastern  boundary  line,  and  its  territory  was 
sufficiently  ample  to  have  constituted  a  State. 

A  year  passed  away  before  any  effort  was 
made  toward  the  appointment  of  count}'  offi- 
cers and  the  location  for  the  seat  of  justice. 
Major  Skene  sought  to  have  the  county  seat 
located  at  Skenesborough,  and  also  desired  to 
receive  the  appointment  of  first  judge,  but  was 
disappointed  in  both  objects,  as  Philip  Schuy- 
ler received  the  judgeship  and  Fort  Edward 
was  designated  as  the  temporary  county  seat. 

The  first  court  convened  with  Judge  William 
Durer  on  the  bench,  in  place  of  Schuyler,  who 
was  sick.  Philip  Lansing  was  sheriff,  Patrick 
Smith  clerk,  and  Ebenezer  Clark,  Alex.  Mc- 
Naughtori  and  Jacob  Marsh  were  the  justices 
present.  The  grand  jury  was  Archibald  Camp- 
bell, foreman  ;  Michael  Huffnagle,  Robert 
Gordon,  Albert  Baker,  David  Watkins,  Joseph 
McCracken,  Joshua  Conkey,  Jeremiah  Bur- 
rows, Levi  Stockwell,  Levi  Crocker,  Moses 
Martin,  Alex.  Gilchrist,  and  Daniel  Smith. 

In  the  meantime  the  border  troubles  in- 
creased and  criminals  of  many  kinds  became 
so  numerous  as  to  defy  the  civil  authorities. 
In  March,  1775,  Judge  Durer  held  a  court 
under  the  bayonets  of  •  Captain  Mott's  com- 
pany of  British  regulars, who  had  been  stopped 
by  him  on  their  way  to  Ticonderoga,  and  in- 
dictments were  found  against  the  guilty  par- 
ties, who  were  never  apprehended  on  account 
of  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolutionary  strug- 
gle. These  outlaws  had  broken  up  the  Cum- 
berland county  court,  but  found  William 
Durer,  the  East  Indian  soldier,  a  man  not 
easily  to  be  intimidated. 

The  leading  men  of  the  new  county  were  : 
Major  Skene,  Dr.  Clark,  Judge  William  Durer, 
Mr.  Embury  and  Dr.  John  Williams,  a  young 
English  physician,  who  had  settled  at  Salem 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


4:1 


in  1773-  Dr.  Williams  and  Judge  Durer,  al- 
though but  recently  from  England,  both  em- 
braced the  cause  of  the  colonial  struggle  then 
rapidly  gathering  force  for  the  Revolutionary 
trial  by  arms.  It  is  a  question  with  some  that 
if  Skene  had  been  treated  more  leniently  at 
the  start  that  he  would  have  cast  in  his  for- 
tunes with  the  Continental  cause. 


CHAPTER    XI. 


COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  REVOLUT.ON  — 
BURGOYNE'S  INVASION  —  BAT  TLE  OF 
FORT  ANN  —  BURGOYNE'S  SLOW  AD- 
VANCE—MURDER OF  JANE  McCREA  — 
BENNINGTON-SARATOGA— UNION  CON- 
VENTION—REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS. 

COMMENCEMENT    OF    THE    REVOLUTION. 

The  French  and  Indian  war  was  the  splen- 
did training  school  in  which  the  thirteen  col- 
onies fitted  themselves  for  their  oncoming 
magnificent  and  successful  struggle  for  inde- 
pendence from  Great  Britain. 

From  weight  of  numbers  and  aggressive- 
ness of  character,  three  elements  of  Ameri- 
can civilization  —  the  Puritan,  the  Cavalier 
and  the  Scotch  -  Irish  —  were  predominent 
factors  in  organizing  armed  resistance  to  par- 
liamentary usurpations  and  carrying  on  in 
America  the  Revolutionary  struggle  against 
the  armies  of  England. 

The  Dutch  of  New  York,  the  Catholics  of 
Maryland,  and  French  Huguenots  of  Georgia 
and  the  Carolinas,  in  proportion  to  their  num- 
bers, bore  well  their  part  in  the  great  contest. 

The  Puritan  of  New  England  received  the 
first  shock  of  the  contest  that  was  carried 
southward  to  its  termination.  The  Cavalier, 
like  the  Puritan,  fought  chiefly  in  his  own  ter- 
ritory, but  the  Scotch-Irish  from  their  center 
in  western  North  Carolina  spread  along  the 
Allegheny  mountains  both  northward  and 
southward,   and   fought   from    Bennington  to 


King's  mountain,  at  which  places  they  turned 
the  tides  of  war  that  led  to  the  surrenders  of 
Burgoyne  and  Cornwallis. 

The  spring  of  1775  was  one  of  event  in 
Washington  count}'. 

Fast-flying  steeds  along  the  forest  roads  of 
the  county  carried  the  news  of  Lexington  to 
every  settlement,  and  the  mass  of  the  people, 
under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  Williams  and 
Judge  Durer,  resolved  to  support  the  cause 
of  the  men  of  New  England.  Event  rapidly 
followed  event,  and  on  the  10th  of  May  canoes 
came  up  Lake  Champlain  with  the  tidings  of 
the  fall  of  Ticonderoga  to  the  forces  of  Ethan 
Allen  and  Benedict  Arnold. 

A  respectable  minority  of  the  citizens  were 
slow  to  give  up  their  loyalty  to  the  king. 
They  were  mostly  Scotch  and  English,  and 
among  their  number  were  Dr.  Clark  and 
Major  Skene,  who  was  then  absent  in  England 
it  was  asserted  to  secure  the  establishment  of 
a  new  province,  by  the  name  of  Ticonderoga, 
and  obtain  the  governorship  of  the  same. 
His  tenantry,  on  the  13th  of  May,  were  sur- 
prised by  the  arrival  in  their  midst  of  Captain 
Herrick's  company  of  west  Massachusetts 
men,  who  assumed  the  major's  absence  as  an 
indisputable  evidence  of  Toryism  and  confis- 
cated a  considerable  portion  of  his  property, 
including  the  splendid  Spanish  horse  which 
was  shot  under  Arnold  when  he  was  wounded 
at  the  second  battle  of  Stillwater.  They  also 
took  his  son,  Andrew  P.,  fifty  of  his  tenants, 
and  twelve  of  his  negroes  as  prisoners,  and 
carried  to  Arnold  the  major's  schooner,  which 
became  the  flag-ship  of  the  miniature  Ameri- 
can navy  on  Lake  Champlain.  Shortly  after 
this  Major  Skene  arrived  at  New  York,  where 
he  was  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison,  while 
his  papers  were  seized  and  examined.  If  they 
contained  his  commission  as  governor  of 
Ticonderoga,  embracing  northern  New  York 
and  the  New  Hampshire  grants,  it  would 
have  been  destroyed  or  kept  secret  by  the 
Continental  authorities  in  order  not  to  offend 
New  York  and  New  Hampshire. 


44 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


The  county  committee  met  on  the  15th  of 
August,  1775,  at  Dorset's  in  the  "Grants," 
but  only  acted  for  the  western  part  of  the 
county,  and  provided  that  every  able-bodied 
man  from  sixteen  to  sixty  should  be  enrolled 
and  drilled  once  a  month.  It  also  recom- 
mended the  raising  of  a  regiment  of  militia 
in  the  western  part  of  the  county,  to  be  com- 
manded by  Dr.  John  Williams. 

During  1775,  General  Montgomery  and 
General  Schuyler  passed  through  the  county 
on  their  way  to  join  the  northern  army  in 
Canada,  and  were  followed  during  the  autumn 
by  small  bodies  of  troops  and  scanty  supply 
trains.  The  capture  of  Montreal  raised  hope, 
but  the  death  of  Montgomery  and  the  defeat 
at  Quebec  sickened  anticipation  in  the  hearts 
of  the  Whigs. 

The  year  1776,  although  it  gave  definite 
purpose  and  a  grand  object  to  the  men  of  the 
colonies  by  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
yet  closed  in  Charlotte  county  with  ominous 
threatenings  of  British  raids  over  the  old  War- 
path of  America.  The  Charlotte  County 
Rangers  guarded  the  lake  frontier,  and  the 
county  assessed  a  home  bounty  for  volunteers 
for  the  northern  army  as  follows  in  the  differ- 
ent districts  in  proportion  to  their  number  of 
voters  : 

Districts.  Voters.  Bounty. 

Argyle 90        £6   14  3. 

Black  Creek .36  214 

Camden 12  10 

Granville .30  2     o 

Kingsbury 75  5     7 

New   Perth 160  12     o 

Skenesborough 41  3      i}4 

Total 464        32   ey2 

There  was  a  small  property  qualification  on 
voters  for  the  legislature  which  this  list  rep- 
resented, and  making  allowance  for  the  few 
non-freeholders,  the  population  of  the  county 
must  have  been  about  three  thousand. 

While  the  New  Englanders  and  a  small 
portion  of  the  Scotch  were  ardent    patriots, 


yet  the  larger  body  of  the  Scotch  preserved 
neutrality  in  the  Revolutionary  struggle,  and 
a  portion  of  them  became  active  Tories.  The 
disaffected  and  British  element  were  mainly 
resident  in  Wood  Creek  valley,  and  the  north- 
ern part  of  them  settled  part  of  the  county. 

Jonathan  and  David  Jones  were  Tory  lead- 
ers in  Kingsbury  and  Fort  Edward,  where 
they  raised  a  company  of  fifty  men,  ostensibly 
to  serve  at  Ticonderoga,  but  which  they 
marched  past  that  fort  to  join  the  British  in 
Canada,  where  Jonathan  was  commissioned 
as  a  captain  and  David  as  a  lieutenant  in  the 
English  forces. 

This  company  came  with  Burgoyne's  army 
of  invasion,  and  David  Jones  attained  a  world- 
wide celebrity  in  connection  with  the  tragic 
fate  of  Jane  McCrea. 

Another  Tory  or  Royalist  company  was 
raised  in  Washington  county  by  Capt.  Justus 
Sherwood  and  joined  the  English  army,  serv- 
ing in  Colonel  Peter's  regiment.  Some  of 
Sherwood's  men  were  from  the  southern  part 
of  the  county. 

burgoyne's   INVASION. 

In  the  meantime  the  New  Hampshire  grants 
had  declared  themselves  an  independent  State 
under  the  name  of  New  Connecticut,  which 
was  soon  changed  to  that  of  Vermont,  and  al- 
though Congress  refused  to  recognize  them 
and  New  York  was  unable  to  enforce  author- 
ity over  them,  yet  considerable  local  trouble 
existed  over  the  matter  in  Charlotte  county, 
whose  officers  finally  confined  their  jurisdic- 
tion to  the  western  part  of  their  territory. 

Great  uneasiness  prevailed  among  theWhigs 
on  the  report  of  an  advancing  English  and 
Indian  army,  but  they  placed  great  hopes  on 
the  fortress  of  Ticonderoga  being  strong 
enough  to  stay  the  dark  and  deathful  wave  of 
threatened  invasion. 

They  were,  however,  doomed  to  a  dreadful 
disappointment. 

The  English  projected  two  grand  campaigns 
for    1777,  the    first    under    Howe    to    capture 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


43 


Philadelphia,  and  the  second  under  Burgoyne 
to  move  from  Canada,  and  in  connection  with 
the  forces  of  Clinton  at  New  York,  secure  the 
line  of  the  Hudson  river,  thus  separating  com- 
munication between  the  New  England  and 
the  Middle  States. 

Gen.  John  Burgoyne  landed  in  Canada,  and 
in  June  came  up  Lake  Champlain  with  an 
army  of  nearly  ten  thousand  men,  composed 
of  the  gth,  20th,  21st,  24th,  47th,  53d  and  62d 
regiments  of  British  regulars,  dismounted 
German  dragoons,  Hessian  rifles,  mixed 
Brunswickers,  some  Canadians,  and  five  hun- 
dred Indians  under  the  partisan  Saint  Luc, 
then  sixty-six  years  of  age. 

Schuyler,  commander  of  the  northern  de- 
partment, made  his  headquarters  at  Fort  Ed- 
ward, and  engaged  energetically  in  collecting 
and  hurrying  up  men  and  provisions  from  the 
colonies,  while  he  placed  the  command  of 
Ticonderoga  under  Saint  Clair,  who  had  two 
thousand  five  hundred  regulars  and  six  hun- 
dred militia  under  him  on  July  1st.  The 
Charlotte  county  regiment, under  Colonel  Wil- 
liams, was  ordered  out  and  stationed  at  Cas- 
tleton  and  Ticonderoga. 

General  Burgoyne  profiting  by  one  mistake 
of  General  Abercrombie,  did  not  assault  Ticon- 
deroga, and  taking  advantage  of  another  mis- 
take made  by  Generals  Amherst,  Schuyler  and 
Saint  Clair  and  their  engineers  in  not  fortify- 
ing Mount  Defiance,  only  fifteen  hundred  feet 
away,  took  possession  of  that  frowning  height 
during  the  night  of  the  4th.  On  the  5th  Brit- 
ish cannon  were  being  placed  in  position  to 
open  fire  into  the  great  fortress,  and  on  the 
night  of  the  same  day  Saint  Clair  retreated. 
He  left  Ticonderoga  with  some  of  its  stores  to 
the  peaceable  possession  of  the  English. 

Schuyler  and  Saint  Clair  were  denounced 
all  through  the  country  for  the  loss  of  Ticon- 
deroga. They  were  both  patriotic  and  brave, 
yet  in  this  case  it  would  have  been  better  gen- 
eralship of  Schuyler  to  have  been  at  Ticon- 
deroga than  at  Fort  Edward,  and  Saint  Clair 
should  have  consulted   his  engineer   and    not 


allowed  a  frowning  height  within  fifteen  hun- 
dred feet  of  his  fort  to  have  been  peaceably 
occupied  by  the  British. 

General  Saint  Clair's  line  of  retreat  from 
Hubbardstown,  Vermont,  was  through  Hart- 
ford and  Greenville  to  Fort  Edward. 

The  stores  were  brought  in  a  fleet  of  two 
hundred  batteaux,  protected  by  five  galleys, 
on  the  6th,  to  Skenesborough.  Colonel  Long's 
force  then  was  largely  composed  of  invalids, 
but  he  completed  the  transfer  of  the  stores  to 
Wood  creek  before  the  arrival  of  the  British 
frigates  Royal  George  and  Invincible.  Three 
of  the  galleys  were  blown  up  and  two  sur- 
rendered, while  Long  dismantled  his  fort, 
which  he  set  on  fire,  together  with  the  mills, 
iron  works  and  shipping,  unable  to  escape  up 
Wood  creek,  and  retreated  to  Fort  Ann.  A 
detachment  of  the  English  went  in  boats  up 
South  bay,  with  the  idea  of  crossing  the  ridge 
from  there  and  striking  Wood  creek  in  time 
to  cut  off  Long's  retreat,  but  failed  to  accom- 
plish their  design. 

BATTLE    OF    FORT    ANN. 

Col.  Henry  K.  Van  Rensselaer,  the  father 
of  Gen.  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer,  of  the  war 
of  1812.  commanded  at  Fort  Ann,  and  with 
five  hundred  militia  from  the  manor  of  Rens- 
selaer and  five  hundred  of  Long's  convales- 
cent Continentals,  met  the  British  advance 
one-half  mile  below  the  fort  on  July  8.  The 
British  force  consisted  of  eight  hundred  of 
the  gth  regiment,  commanded  by  Colonel  Hill. 
Long  received  the  British  attack  while  Van 
Rensselaer  crossed  the  creek  and  poured  in  a 
heavy  fire.  The  British  then  charged,  were 
repulsed,  and  the  Americans,  following  that 
advantage,  encircled  and  drove  them  slowly 
up  a  steep,  rocky  hill,  from  which  perilous 
position  they  were  rescued  by  the  arrival  of  a 
band  of  Indians.  The  Americans,  now  scant 
of  ammunition,  fell  back  on  the  approach  of 
the  Indians,  while  the  British,  glad  of  the 
opportunity,  retreated  rapidly  toward  Skenes- 
borough.     The  fighting  was  very  severe,  and 


■Hi 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


a  British  officer  in  his  testimony  before  Par- 
liament, declared  the  firing  was  the  heaviest 
he  had  heard  in  America,  except  at  Stillwater. 
Fort  Ann  was  the  most  important  battle  that 
has  ever  taken  place  in  the  count}',  and  but 
few  details  are  to  be  found  anywhere  concern- 
ing it.  In  the  heat  of  the  fight  Colonel  Rens- 
selaer fell,  badly  wounded,  and  would  not 
allow  his  men  to  stop  to  pick  him  up.  He 
lay  on  the  field  until  the  battle  was  over. 
For  the  number  of  men  engaged,  Fort  Ann 
has  been  pronounced  one  of  the  most  hotly 
contested   battles  of  the   Revolutionary  war. 

hurgoyne's  slow  advance. 

Colonel  Long  burnt  Fort  Ann  and  retreated 
to  Fort  Edward,  which  General  Schuyler  left 
on  the  22d  of  July,  with  four  thousand  four 
hundred  men.  On  the  27th  Schuyler  was  at 
Moses  creek,  and  his  force  had  decreased  to 
two  thousand  seven  hundred  Continentals  and 
a  few  militia.  The  decrease  was  caused  by 
the  almost  wholesale  desertion  of  the  militia. 

Schuyler  soon  crossed  the  Hudson  and  re- 
treated to  the  Mohawk,  where,  on  August  1, 
he  was  relieved  of  his  command. 

Burgoyne  had  displayed  fine  generalship  in 
the  capture  of  Ticonderoga,  and  manifested 
unusual  energy  in  his  advance  to  Skenesbor- 
ough,  but  there  he  unaccountably  delayed  for 
three  weeks  and  allowed  the  opportunity  of 
scattering  Schuyler's  army  to  slip  from  his 
grasp.  Four  days  march  brought  Burgoyne 
to  Fort  Edward,  where  he  passed  into  a  sec- 
ond inactive  state  that  lasted  four  weeks  and 
gave  the  demoralized  Continental  forces  time 
to  rally  and  receive  sufficient  reinforcements 
to  become  a  formidable  army.  On  September 
13th  the  British  crossed  the  Hudson  and 
pressed  vigorously  forward  until  the  19th, 
when  they  were  brought  to  a  standstill  by 
Morgan  and  Arnold.  Falling  back  a  short 
distance,  Burgoyne  had  his  third  and  last 
resting  spell,  which  proved  fatal  to  all  his 
hopes  of  conquest  and  led  to  the  surrender 
of  his  army.      After   the  first    battle   of   Still- 


water he  could  have  retreated,  but  after  the  sec- 
ond battle  of  Stillwater  retreat  was  out  of  the 
question,  and  his  surrender  at  Saratoga  that 
followed  was  the  turning  point  in  favor  of  the 
colonies  in  their  glorious  struggle  for  political 
independence  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
While  Burgoyne's  forces  were  in  Washington 
county  two  events — the  murder  of  Jane  Mc- 
Crea  and  the  battle  of  Bennington  —  occurred 
that  led  to  his  defeat. 

MURDER  OF  JANE  M'cREA. 

Burgoyne  attempted  to  check  the  ferocity 
of  his  savage  allies,  and  so  far  succeeded  that 
before  his  campaign  closed  they  had  all  de- 
serted his  standard.  His  error  was  in  ever 
allowing  them  to  join  his  army. 

Before  leaving  him,  they  however  contribu- 
ted their  full  share  toward  his  final  defeat  by 
the  murder  of  Jane  McCrea,  on  July  27,  1777, 
near  Fort  Edward.  Her  untimely  death  has 
received  more  versions  than  any  other  event 
in  ancient  or  modern  warfare.  She  was  visit- 
ing at  a  house  close  to  Fort  Edward  and  dis- 
regarded her  brother,  Col.  John  McCrea's  re- 
quest to  go  down  the  Hudson  .to  a  place  of 
safety,  as  it  is  supposed  that  she  had  an  ar- 
rangement to  meet  and  wed  Lieut.  David 
Jones,  a  former  acquaintance  and  then  a  Tory 
officer  in  Burgoyne's  advancing  army.  On 
the  27th  Jane  McCrea  left  her  stopping  place 
and  went  to  the  house  of  Mrs.  McNeil,  a  rel- 
ative of  General  Frazer,  and  who  lived  one 
hundred  rods  north  of  the  fort.  At  nine 
o'clock  in  the  forenoon  a  band  of  Indians  sur- 
prised and  routed  an  American  picket  force 
of  a  dozen  men  beyond  the  McNeil  house, 
into  which  another  band  then  rushed  and  car- 
ried off  Mrs.  McNeil  and  her  youthful  guest. 
A  quarrel  ensued  among  the  Indians  and  one 
of  them  killed  Jane  McCrea,  although  one  ac- 
count states  that  she  was  killed  by  the  fire  of 
the  Americans  upon  the  Indians. 

The  sober  truth  of  history  is  that  Jane  Mc- 
Crea was  really  a  very  handsome  woman,  and 
thus   it  argrees  with  romance   and    tradition 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


47 


that  in  this,  as  in  other  tragic  deaths  of  a 
woman,  makes  the  victim  beautiful  and  at- 
tractive. 

The  next  day  the  scalped  and  mangled  re- 
mains of  Jane  McCrea  were  found  and  buried 
temporarily  in  a  spot  three  miles  down  the 
river,  from  which  they  were  afterward  removed 
and  now  lie  in  their  present  resting  place  in 
Union  cemetery,  between  Fort  Edward  and 
Sandy  Hill. 

Gates  wrote  sharply  about  her  murder  to 
Burgoyne,  who  attempted  to  punish  the  mur- 
derers of  Jane  McCrea  with  death,  but  was 
compelled  to  forego  his  purpose  by  the  force 
of  circumstances. 

The  tragic  death  of  Jane  McCrea  aroused  a 
storm  of  indignation  throughout  the  colonies 
that  contributed  largely  to  Burgoyne's  defeat, 
and  is  a  sad  memory  of  the  Revolution  that 
will  live  unto  the  end  of  time. 

BENNINGTON. 

Another  event  that  was  a  weight  in  the  turn- 
ing scale  against  Burgoyne  was  the  defeat  of 
his  foraging  expedition  at  the  battle  of  Ben- 
nington, which  was  fought  in  New  York  just 
outside  the  boundary  line  of  Washington 
county,  and  not  at  Bennington,  Vermont,  for 
which  point  the  marauders  were  heading. 
Colonel  Baum  led  this  plundering  expedition 
of  nearly  six  hundred  Germans,  Canadians, 
Tories  and  Indians,  which  left  Fort  Miller  on 
August  nth.  Their  first  camp  was  near  old 
Fort  Saraghtoga,  which  they  left  on  the  13th, 
to  camp  near  Wait's  Corners,  in  Cambridge, 
and  from  which  he  moved  to  be  attacked  by 
Stark  on  the  16th,  in  the  town  of  Hoosick, 
Rensselaer  county.  Col.  John  Stark,  with  his 
Vermont,  New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts 
militia,  together  with  some  men  from  the 
southern  part  of  Washington  county,  made 
such  a  successful  attack  that  Baum  was  mor- 
tally wounded  and  his  force  entirely  routed. 
Baum,  on  the  14th.  had  sent  a  messenger  for 
reinforcements,   and   Burgoyne,  on   the   15th, 


started  Colonel  Breymann  with  five  hundred 
Hessian  light  infantry  and  two  cannon.  Brey- 
mann unwisely  halted  for  the  night  at  a  point 
seven  miles  northeast  of  Cambridge,  and  on 
the  1 6th  marched  to  Little  White  Creek  bridge, 
which  William  Gilmore  and  some  others  had 
just  succeeded  in  unplanking.  The  delay  too 
in  crossing  occasioned  by  the  unplanking  of 
the  bridge  gave  Warner  time  to  arrive  in 
season  for  the  second  fight  and  was  the  pivot 
on  which  Burgoyne's  fortunes  turned  at  Ben- 
nington. 

Breymann  encountered  Stark's  pursuing 
forces  ere  he  knew  there  had  been  a  battle,  and 
was  driving  them  back  when  Seth  Warner  rein- 
forced Stark  with  a  regiment  of  Green  Moun- 
tain boys,  and  made  complete  the  victory  of 
the  morning.  Breymann  was  repulsed  and  re- 
treated, and  Bennington  passed  into  history 
as  the  first  check  Burgoyne  received  in  his 
invasion.  It  roused  the  spirits  of  the  Ameri- 
cans. Raw  militia  had  defeated  British  sold- 
iers; the  Indians,  enraged  at  being  restrained, 
began  to  desert  from  the  English  army,  and 
the  inevitable  result  in  defeat  and  surrender 
followed  at  Saratoga. 

Before  Baum  had  marched  southward  the 
Whigs  of  New  Perth  and  White  Creek  tore 
down  their  log  church  to  make  a  stockade 
around  their  frame  church,  which  they  forti- 
fied, but  later  abandoned  when  the  German 
raiding  force  marched  through  the  Cambridge 
valley.  The  church  fort  was  burned  by  the 
Tories,  who  also  attacked  Captain  McNitt 
and  a  part  of  the  Black  Creek  Whig  militia, 
in  a  plank  house,  but  were  repulsed. 

During  Burgoyne's  advance  Sclruyler  or- 
dered the  Whigs  to  retire  from  the  country 
and  leave  their  harvests,  while  the  English 
general  ordered  all  who  remained  and  desired 
his  protection  to  fall  in  the  rear  of  his  army. 
These  non-combatants,  and  all  others  who  re- 
moved to  the  rear  of  the  British  army,  were 
called  '-protectioners,"  and  afterward  were 
often  subjected  to  harsh  treatment  at  the 
hands  of  the  Whigs. 


48 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


CARLETON  S    RAID. 

The  surrender  at  Saratoga  gave  peace  to 
the  county,  and  the  northern  frontier  re- 
mained quiet  until  1780,  when  in  April  a 
threatened  invasion  was  reported  by  an  es- 
caped prisoner.  The  militia  was  ordered  out, 
and  Governor  Clinton,  with  a  large  militia 
force,  hastened  from  Albany  to  Fort  George. 
The  alarm  soon  passed,  and  the  forces  were  all 
either  disbanded  or  withdrawn. 

During  the  autumn  the  threatened  invasion 
became  a  reality.  In  October,  Maj.  Christo- 
pher Carleton,  a  nephew  of  Sir  Guy  Carleton, 
with  eight  hundred  regulars  and  royalists  and 
a  small  party  of  Indians,  came  up  Lake 
Champlain,  and  landed  from  his  fleet  of  eight 
vessels  and  twenty-six  boats,  at  Skenesbor- 
ough.  From  there  he  advanced  rapidly  to 
Fort  Ann,  which  surrendered  to  him  on  Octo- 
ber 10,  17S0.  The  captured  garrison  con- 
sisted of  seventy-five  men,  commanded  by 
Captain  Sherwood.  From  Fort  Ann  Clinton 
marched  to  Fort  George,  which  also  surren- 
dered to  him,  and  on  the  12th  sailed  down 
Lake  Champlain.  The  militia  were  not  ral- 
lied in  time  to  prevent  his  retreat,  and  thus 
ended  the  last  expedition  that  has  marched 
over  the  War-path  of  America. 

UNION    CONVENTION. 

In  1 781  Vermont  still  claimed  all  the  pres- 
ent territory  of  Washington  county,  and  di- 
rected that  a  convention  be  held  at  Cambridge 
to  decide  whether  and  on  what  terms  the  dis- 
tricts of  that  county  and  part  of  Rensselaer 
should  be  united  with  the  "Green  Mountain 
State." 

The  Seceders,  mostly  New  Englanders, 
elected  delegates  to  this  convention,  while 
the  New  York  supporters  paid  no  attention  to 
these  proceedings. 

The  "Union  Convention"  met  at  Cambridge 
on  May  9,  1781,  and  after  seceding  from  New 
York,  chose  delegates  to  the  Vermont  legisla- 
ture. Vermont  was  to  defend  them  and  sub- 
mit any  state  boundary  line   dispute   to   Con- 


gress or  any  other  tribunal  mutually  agreed 
on  by  New  York  and  Vermont. 

County  and  town  secession  was  not  a  fav- 
orably received  doctrine  with  any  State  be- 
yond Vermont,  and  a  majority  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  county  were  opposed  to  the 
movement,  and  so  the  work  of  the  convention 
never  amounted  to  anything. 

Vermont  parties  were  then  negotiating  with 
England  to  acknowledge  Vermont  as  a  neutral 
State,  but  Yorktown  was  the  death-knell  of 
this  move,  and  the  Green  Mountain  State 
never  attempted  to  take  possession  of  the 
county.  One  year  later  Vermont  renounced 
all  claim  to  all  of  the  present  territory  of 
eastern  New  York. 

Yorktown  not  only  gave  the  county  peace 
on  the  northern  frontier  from  England,  but 
led  to  the  peaceful  relinquishment  of  all  her 
present  territory  by  the  Vermont  authorities. 

REVOLUTIONARY    SOLDIERS. 

At  this  late  date  it  is  impossible  to  secure 
but  a  fragmentary  list  of  those  noble  settlers 
of  Washington  county  who  bore  arms  in  the 
War  of  the  Revolution,  but  we  present  the 
names  of  what  few  could  be  secured. 

Colonel  Williams'  Charlotte  county  regi- 
ment served  in  the  Burgoyne  campaign.  It 
consisted  of  five  or  six  companies,  of  which 
we  have  only  an  account  of  Captain  Charles 
Hutchinson's  company  of  fifty-two  men,  Cap- 
tain Thomas  Armstrong's  company  of  thirty 
men,  and  Captain  John  Hamilton's  company 
of  thirty-two  men.  No  complete  roster  can 
be  presented  of  these  companies  that  are 
named,  and  but  a  few  scattering  names  of 
others  of  the  county  that  served  in  other  regi- 
ments can  be  obtained.  The  following  scant 
list  of  names  has  been  obtained,  together 
with  some  little  information  as  to  some  of 
those  named  : 

NEW    PERTH    OR    SALEM     COMPANY. 

Captain  Charles  Hutchinson's  company  was 
largely  from  New  Perth,  or  Salem,  and  there 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY 


(9 


is  record  of  it  being  in  service  from  June  20 
to  October  20,  1777,  and  again  serving  in 
March,  1778. 

captain  Hutchinson's  company. 
officers. 
Charles  Hutchinson,  captain. 
Edward  Long,  first  lieutenant. 
Robert  Stewart,  second  lieutenant. 
Alexander  Turner,  ensign. 
Daniel  McNitt,  sergeant. 
James  Stewart,  sergeant. 
Thomas  Williams,  sergeant. 
Thomas  Lyons,  sergeant. 
Isaac  Gray,  corporal. 
David  McNitt,  corporal. 
Robert  Hopkins,  corporal. 
James  Tomb,  corporal. 


PRIVATES. 


Chambers,  John. 
Creighton,  Robt. 
Dunlap,  John. 
Gray,  John,  sr. 
Gray,  John,  jr. 
Gray,  Nathan. 
Hamilton,  James. 
Harsh  a,  John. 
Henderson,  Alex. 
Henderson,  James. 
Hopkins,  David. 
Hopkins,  David  (2d). 
Hopkins,  Isaac. 
Hopkins,  John. 
Hopkins,  Robert. 
Hopkins,  Samuel. 
Hunsden,  Alex. 
Lyon,  Samuel. 
McAllister,  John. 

The  above  fifty-two  names  of  officers  and 
privates  are  on  a  pay-roll  of  November  10. 
1777,  and  a  memorandum  attached  states  that 
twenty-two  of  this  company  had  marched  to 
Ticonderoga. 

On  another  pay-roll  of  the  same  company 

we  find  the  following  additional  names  :  Isaac 
4 


McClure,  John. 
McMichael,  John. 
McNitt,  Alex. 
McNitt,  Alex.,  sr. 
McNish,  Alex. 
Martyn,  Hugh. 
Miller,  John. 
Moore,  James,  jr. 
Rogers,  William. 
Rowan,  John. 
Simson,  Andrew. 
Simson,  Alex. 
Simson,   John. 
Thompson,  James. 
Thompson,   John. 
Webb,  David. 
Williams,  John. 
Williams,  Lewis. 
Wood,  Reuben. 


and  John  Gray,  jr.;  Alex.  McNish,  John  Liv- 
ingston, Joseph  Tomb,  John,  William,  Andrew 
and  John  Lytle  (2d);  William  Sloan,  Andrew 
Simpson,  Turner  and  James  Hamilton,  jr.; 
Lewis,  Thomas  and  Lewis  Williams,  jr.; 
Robert  Stewart,  James  and  Samuel  Hopkins, 
sr. ;  Francis  Lemon,  John  Chambers,  Samuel 
Lyon,  John  Rowan,  Ebenezer  Russell,  and 
James  Moore,  sr.  and  James  Moore,  jr. 

On  a  third  pay-roll  of  this  company,  in 
1778,  appear  the  following  additional  names  : 
Thomas  Bar,  William  Campbell,  George 
Easton,  Alex.  Garrett,  Nathan  Gray,  Robert 
Gilmore,  Richard  Hoy,  Daniel  Livingston, 
William  and  Robert  Matthews,  Hamilton 
McCollister,  Matthew  McClaughery,  Daniel 
Mathison,  William  Moffit,  William  Miller,  jr., 
George  Miller,  Peter  McQueen,  Thomas 
Oswald,  David,  Archibald  and  Alexander 
Stewart,  George  Robinson,  Timothy  Titus, 
Samuel  Wilson,  and  John  Webb. 

From  memoranda  attached  to  this  last  pay- 
roll we  find  that  the  company  was  afterward 
commanded  by  Captain  Edward  Long,  and 
that  Reuben  Wood  became  a  sergeant,  Thomas 
Williams  clerk  of  the  company,  while  John 
Gray  and  David  Hopkins,  the  one  exempt 
and  the  other  above  age,  yet  served. 

CAVT.  THOMAS    ARMSTRONG'S    COMPANY. 
OFFICERS. 

Thomas  Armstrong,  captain. 
John  Armstrong,  first  lieutenant. 
Daniel  McCleary,  second  lieutenant. 
John  Martin,  ensign. 
Zebulon  Turner,  sergeant-major. 
John  Gibson,  sergeant. 
John  Hunsden,  sergeant. 
David  McKnight,  sergeant. 
Robert  Caldwell,  sergeant. 
William  Lytle,  corporal. 
William  Smith,  corporal. 
Jonathan  Nivens,  corporal. 
William  Huggins,  corporal. 
Robert  Armstrong,  drummer. 
James  Turner,  fifer. 


50 


BIOGRAPHY  AXD  HISTORY 


Blakeney,  George. 
Boyd,  John. 
Boyd,  Robert. 
Cleveland,  Benjamin. 
Gibson,  Thomas. 
Lytle,  Isaac. 
Lytle, William,  jr. 
Lytle,  Robert. 


PRIVATES. 

Moncrief, William. 
McMichael,  Robert. 
McArthur,  Robert. 
McFarland,James,sr. 
Means,  James. 
Wilson,  John. 
Wilson,  Joseph. 


These  names  are  taken  from  a  pay-roll  from 
June  20  to  October  20,  1777. 

capt.  john  Hamilton's  company, 
officers. 

John  Hamilton,  captain. 
James  Wilson,  first  lieutenant. 
George  H.  Nighton,  second  lieutenant. 
Samuel  Croget,  ensign. 
David  Hopkins,  sergeant. 
R.V.Wilson,  sergeant. 
Nathaniel  Munson,  sergeant. 
William  Smith,  sergeant. 
Jonathan  Barber,  corporal. 
Robert  Getty,  corporal. 
Isaac  Hopkins,   corporal. 
David  Wheaton,  corporal. 


privates. 


Brown,  James. 
Duncan,  John. 
Fisher,  Daniel. 
Fisher,  John. 
Getty,  Adam. 
Getty,  David. 
Getty,  John. 
Gammis,  Samuel. 
Harmon,  Martin. 
Harmon,  Selah. 


Harmon,  Alpheus,  sr. 
Lytle,  Isaac. 
McCloud,  Daniel. 
Sharp,  Abel. 
Parrish,  Josiah. 
Tirrell,  Samuel. 
Wilson,  David. 
Whitten,  David. 
Wade,  Solomon. 


Captain  Hamilton's  company  was  largely 
from  Hebron. 

The  following  persons,  from  the  towns 
named,  served  in  the  Revolutionary  war : 


John  Smith. 


argyle. 

John  Taylor. 


CAMBRIDGE. 

Capt.   Geo.   Gilmore.  Azor  Bouton. 

James  McKie.  Elisha  Gifford. 

Joseph  Volentine.  John  Weir. 

Jesse  Averill.  John  Wait. 
Earl  Durfee. 

GRANVILLE. 

The  following  soldiers  served  in  Capt.  Silas 
Child's  company : 

Ebenezer  Danforth.        Henry  Watkins. 
Daniel  Stewart. 

HARTFORD. 

Capt.  Samuel  Taylor.  Nathan  Taylor. 

Col.  John  Buck.  Samuel  Bowen. 

Capt.  Asahel  Hodge.  Doctor  Jones. 

Alexander  Arnold.  Asher  Ford. 

HEBRON. 

Col.  Alex.  Webster.        Guile  Wilson. 
Capt.  John  Getty.  John  Wilson. 

Isaac  Morehouse.  Robert  Getty. 

WHITE  CREEK. 

Colonel  Tiffany.  William  Gilmore. 

Capt.  Jon.  Gardner.         Isaac  Fowler. 
Hiram  Hathaway.  Aaron  Perry. 

The  revolutionary  period  had  now  drawn  to 
a  close,  and  the  settlement  period,  which-  it 
rudely  terminated,  was  to  find  its  successor  in 
a  pioneer  period,  following  the  war  and 
stretching  till  the  closing  of  the  eighteenth 
century. 

The  story  of  the  Revolution,  that  has  so 
often  and  so  eloquently  been  told  by  the  au- 
thors of  America  as  not  to  need  repetition 
here ;  yet  it  might  be  well,  before  leaving  the 
subject,  to  correct  two  once  prevalent  errors 
concerning  that  struggle. 

The  German  troops  in  America  were  not  all 
Hessians.  The  latter  were  not  such  a  blood- 
thirsty people  as  represented,  only  being  con- 
scripts against  their  will  to  fight  a  ferocious 
set  of  rebels. 

The  leading  statesman  and  the  intelligent 
mass  of  the  people  of  Great  Britain  were  not 
in  favor  of  the  measures  of  the  Parliamentary 


BIOGRAPHY  AN  J)  HISTORY 


51 


party  in  power  that  provoked  the  Revolution- 
ary war.  Taxation  without  representation  in 
America  was  a  violation  of  the  Magna  Charta 
of  England,  that  Englishmen  would  have 
fought  against  as  quick  as  the  Americans. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

CHARLOTTE  BECOMES  WASHINGTON 
COUNTY— CAMBRIDGE  AND  EATON  AN- 
NEXED—CANALS—COUNTY SEAT 
STRUGGLES  —  TURNPIKES—  WARREN 
COUNTY  ERECTED— BATTLE  OF  PLATTS- 
BURG. 

CHARLOTTE    BECOMES    WASHINGTON    COUNTY. 

When  the  Revolution  closed,  the  stream  of 
settlement,  which  it  had  interrupted,  poured 
again  into  the  southern  and  central  part  of 
the  county,  and  by  1784  settlers  were  securing 
farms  in  the  north  in  Dresden  and  Putnam. 
The  three  thousand  inhabitants  of  1774  grew 
to  fourteen  thousand  in  1790,  and  this  great 
increase  was  nearly  all  from  1784. 

The  Revolutionary  war  left  the  Americans 
at  its  close  with  a  hatred  of  everything  Eng- 
lish. The  names  of  Tryon  and  Charlotte 
were  unendurable  to  the  people  of  the  coun- 
ties so  called,  as  the  one  recalled  the  last  Eng- 
lish governor  and  the  other  recalled  the  name 
of  the  Queen  whose  husband  sent  his  armies 
to  ravage  the  last-named  county.  This  dis- 
gust took  form  in  public  expression,  and  on 
April  2,  1784,  the  legislature  passed  an  act 
changing  these  names,  and  which,  after  the 
enacting  clause,  read  as  follows  : 

"From  and  after  the  passage  of  this  act  the 
county  of  Tryon  shall  be  known  by  the  name 
of  Montgomery,  and  the  count)7  of  Charlotte 
by  the  name  of  Washington." 

Thus  the  first  Washington  county  in  the 
United  States  came  into  existence,  and  the 
name  of  Queen  Charlotte  was  left  for  preserva- 


tion in  the  United  States  to  the  county  in  Vir- 
ginia that  is  still  called  Charlotte. 

Courts  had  ceased  to  be  held  in  the  county 
m  J775>and  although  ordered  in  1779  to  be 
convened  again,  yet  there  is  no  record  of  any 
court  under  the  State  being  held  until  1786. 

On  February  5,  1787,  an  act  was  passed  di- 
recting the  courts  to  be  held  at  Salem  —  which 
had  been  formerly  known  as  Scottish  New 
Perth,  and  Puritan  White  Creek  —  but  the  in- 
fluence of  Fort  Edward  was  such  that  on 
April  21,  1788,  the  law  was  so  changed  that 
one  of  the  three  yearly  terms  was  to  be  held 
at  the  house  of  Adiel  Sherwood,  in  the  village 
of  Fort  Edward. 

In  the  meantime  the  lands  of  the  Tories  had 
been  forfeited  by  an  act  of  the  legislature, 
passed  May  12,  1784,  and  Col.  Alex.  Webster, 
commissioner  under  this  law  for  eastern  New 
York,  sold  many  tracts  of  land  in  Washington 
county.  He  sold  one  hundred  and  sixty-two 
tracts  of  Philip  Skene's  land  ;  one  hundred 
and  thirty-one  of  Oliver  De  Lancy's ;  ten 
Jessup  tracts  ;  three  Jones  tracts,  and  many 
other  tracts.  Col.  John  Williams  was  the  larg- 
est purchaser  of  these  forfeited  lands,  buying 
sixty-five  tracts  in  different  parts  of  the  county. 
Major  Skene  sought  to  regain  his  forfeited 
lands  and  resume  his  residence  at  Skenesbor- 
ough  (Whitehall),  but  his  effort  was  of  no 
avail  and  he  remained  in  England. 

CAMBRIDGE    AND    EASTON    ANNEXED. 

During  the  year  1791  the  town  of  Cam- 
bridge, including  the  present  territory  of  Jack- 
son and  White  Creek,  was  transferred  from 
Albany  to  Washington  county,  to  which  was 
also  annexed  the  parts  of  Saratoga  and  Still- 
water towns  on  the  east  side  of  the  Hudson 
as  a  town  by  the  name  of  Easton.  This  trans- 
fer of  territory  was  likely-  secured  by  Gen.  John 
Williams  in  order  to  strengthen  the  chances  of 
SaLm  to  secure  the  permanent  location  of  the 
county-seat. 

In  March,  1791,  some  of  the  residents  of 
Salem  and  Cambridge,  whose  markets  were  in 


52 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Rensselaer  county,  got  an  act  passed  in  the 
assembly  annexing  them  to  that  county,  but 
General  Williams  defeated  it  in  the  senate. 

CANALS. 

About  1794  considerable  interest  was  awak- 
ened in  the  subject  of  canals,  and  two  com- 
panies were  formed  to  build  one  canal  from 
the  Mohawk  river  to  Lake  Oneida,  and  an- 
other canal  to  connect  the  waters  of  the  Hud- 
son river  with  Lake  Champlain. 

The  Northern  Inland  Lock  Navigation 
Company  was  formed  to  construct  the  Hud- 
son and  Champlain  canal,  and  among  its  pro- 
moters were  General  Schuyler  and  General 
Williams.  The  company  commenced  clearing 
out  the  obstructions  in  Wood  creek,  but  had 
to  cease  for  want  of  funds,  and  their  great 
work  was  not  completed  until  thirty  years 
later. 

COUNTY   SEAT    STRUGGLES. 

In  1792  three  places — Salem,  Fort  Edward 
and  Fort  Miller  —  were  rivals  for  the  county 
seat.  The  legislature  left  the  matter  to  the 
board  of  supervisors,  who  met  and  located 
the  count}'  seat  at  Salem.  Fort  Edward 
sought  to  have  the  vote  reconsidered,  but 
while  failing  in  that  direction  made  a  success: 
ful  move  to  retain  the  holding  of  the  courts 
for  a  part  of  each  year  at  that  place,  and  se- 
cured the  passage  of  a  law  to  that  effect. 
A  court  house  and  jail  were  commenced  at 
Salem  in  1792,  but  were  not  completed  till 
1796.  In  the  last  named  year,  Adiel  Sher- 
wood, at  whose  house  the  court  held  its  Fort 
Edward  session,  one  day  near  the  dinner  hour 
ordered  the  judges  to  vacate  the  court-room, 
which  was  his  dining-room,  so  that  the  table 
could  be  set  for  dinner.  The  judges  resented 
this  insult  by  fining  Sherwood  and  passing  a 
sentence  of  fifteen  days  imprisonment  against 
him,  and  three  of  the  honorable  body  being 
State  Senators,  procured  a  law  at  the  next 
session  of  the  legislature  which  removed  the 
holding  of  courts  from  Fort  Edward  to  Sandy 
Hill,  where  the}'  have   been   held   ever   since, 


and  where,  in    1806,  a  two-story  frame   court 
house  was  completed. 

The  county  clerk's  office  was  kept  at  neither 
court  house,  but  at  the  clerk's  residence  until 
1806,  when  it  was  located  by  law  within  one- 
half  mile  of  Peleg  Bragg's  house  in  Argyle. 

TURNPIKES. 

The  first  important  movement  toward  good 
roads  was  the  incorporation,  on  April  1,  1799, 
of  the  Northern  Turnpike  Company,  which 
built  a  turnpike  from  Lansingburg,  in  Rens- 
selaer county,  through  Cambridge,  Salem, 
Hebron,  Granville  and  Hampton,  to  the  State 
line,  and  connecting  with  a  similar  road  to 
Burlington,  Vermont.  This  company  also 
built  a  branch  from  Salem  northeastward  to 
the  State  line,  and  another  from  Granville  to 
Whitehall.  Seven  years  later  the  Waterford 
and  Whitehall  turnpike,  sixty  miles  long,  was 
built,  and  crossing  the  Hudson  ran  from  Fort 
Miller,  by  the  way  of  Fort  Edward  and  Fort 
Ann,  to  Whitehall,  from  which  the  Whitehall 
and  Fair  Haven,  and  the  Whitehall  and  Gran- 
ville pikes  were  built,  beside  the  Mitchell 
and  Shaftsbury,  and  the  East  Salem  roads, 
constructed  about  the  same  time. 

Closing  the  pioneer  period  of  the  old  cen- 
tury, in  whose  last  year  the  turnpikes  had 
their  beginning,  we  see  the  county  with  a 
newspaper,  the  Northern  Centinel,  that  was 
started  in  1798  as  the  second  successor  of  the 
pioneer  sheet,  the  Times  or  National  Courier, 
whose  existence  was  confined  to  the  year 
1794  ;  and  also  having  five  militia  regiments, 
under  the  command  of  General  Williams. 

In  the  opening  decade  of  the  nineteenth 
century  we  see  the  county  equipped  with  three 
great  pikes  running  north  and  south,  one  from 
Whitehall  to  the  Hudson,  a  second  from 
Whitehall  to  Salem  and  Lansingburg,  and  the 
third  from  Lansingburg  to  Bennington.  Over 
these  roads  often  passed  north  long  lines,  of 
teams,  carrying  grain  and  pot  and  pearl  ashes 
to  be  shipped  by  Lake  Champlain  to  Montreal, 
Canada,  while  south  they  bore  the  same  arti- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


53 


cles  (especially  when   the  lake  was  frozen)  to 
the  local  markets  of  Lansingburg. 

During  this  pike  period,  that  extended  from 
1799  to  1824,  when  it  began  to  decline,  several 
events  of  importance  occurred,  among  which 
were  the  introduction  of  merino  sheep  in  1809, 
the  raising  of  flax  in  181 2  for  manufacturing 
purposes,  the  great  loss  of  territory  by  the 
erection  of  Warren  county,  and  Prevost's 
threatened  invasion,  that  was  stayed  by  the 
battle  of  Plattsburg. 

WARREN  COUNTY  ERECTED. 

On  March  12,  1813,  Warren  county  was 
erected  whereby  the  county  of  Washington 
lost  all  her  territory  west  of  Lake  George  and 
the  Hudson  river,  and  in  the  neighborhood  of 
eight  thousand  population.  This  was  her 
second  great  loss  of  territory,  the  first  being 
when  Vermont  became  a  State  and  she  lost 
all  the  lands  east  of  the  Green  Mountains. 

BATTLE    OF    PLATTSBURG. 

For  three  years  the  second  war  of  Inde- 
pendence had  been  dragging  its  weary  way  on 
the  Niagara  frontier,  but  nothing  had  occurred 
to  disturb  the  Champlain  region  until  August, 
1 814,  when  the  cry  of  invasion  over  the  old 
War-path  of  America  spread  on  the  very 
wings  of  the  wind  all  over  the  county.  The 
militia  was  called  out  en  masse  and  marched 
northward,  but  ere  they  reached  Plattsburg 
McDonough's  naval  victory  over  the  "cream 
of  Nelson's  marines"  had  caused  Prevost's 
land  forces,  called  the  "flower  of  Welling- 
ton's army,"'  to  beat  a  hasty  retreat,  and  their 
services  were  not  needed.  The  Washington 
county  men  mostly  went  by  the  way  of  Bur- 
lington, Vermont,  where  they  were  very  poorly 
equipped  with  arms. 

For  ten  years  after  the  close  of  the  war  of 
181 2,  the  turnpikes  were  the  main  avenues  of 
traffic  and  principal  routes  of  travel  in  the 
county,  and  then  came  a  change  wherein 
Washington  county  took  her  first  important 
step  in  the  great  material  progress  of  this 
most  wonderful  nineteenth  centurv. 
4a 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

NEW  INDUSTRIES  — CHAMPLAIN   CANAL— 
PLANK-ROADS  — EARLY  RAILROADS. 

NEW    INDUSTRIES. 

The  pike  period,  toward  the  close  of  its 
most  active  years,  was  noted  for  the  long  pro- 
cessions of  teams  and  the  large  number  of 
big  yellow  stage  coaches  that  passed  over  the 
three  great  roads  of  the  country.  In  the  lat- 
ter part  of  the  pike  period  the  log  cabin  and 
hewed  log-house  had  given  away  largely  to 
frame  dwellings,  and  the  people  turned  their 
attention  to  the  development  of  several  new 
industries,  although  not  neglecting  the  manu- 
facture of  potash  and  the  raising  of  grain  for 
home  use  and  exportation.  Hats,  caps,  and 
shoes  were  largely  manufactured  at  every  vil- 
lage, and  fulled  cloth,  flannel,  tow  cloth  and 
linen  were  made  in  nearly  every  farm  house. 
But  to  new  and  increased  home  manufactures 
was  added  the  business  of  wool-raising. 

Wool-raising  soon  became  the  leading  in- 
dustry of  the  count)',  a  position  which  it  held 
for  nearly  thirty  years.  Granville,  Salem  and 
Cambridge,  and  one  or  two  other  places  in  the 
county,  became  such  noted  markets  for  com- 
mon and  merino  wool  that  large  quantities  of 
wool  were  brought  to  them  for  sale  from  Ver- 
mont and  several  New  York  counties. 

CHAMPLAIN  CANAL. 

The  active  pike  period  was  succeeded  by 
the  canal  period,  which  commenced  with  the 
construction  of  the  Champlain  canal,  and  ex- 
tended from  1823  to  1848,  when  it  was  suc- 
ceeded (although  it  has  never  been  superse- 
ded) by  the  railroad  period. 

The  Champlain  canal  is  next  in  importance 
to  the  Erie  canal,  and  runs  from  Waterford, 
seven  miles  from  Albany,  to  Whitehall,  com- 
pleting the  water-way  between  the  Atlantic 
seaboard  and  the  navigable  Saint  Lawrence. 
The  construction  of  the  canal  was  authorized 


54 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


in  1817,  and  on  June  10,  1818,  work  was  com- 
menced on  this  great  avenue  of  commerce. 
The  canal  crossed  the  Hudson  at  Schuylerville, 
by  means  of  a  seven  hundred  foot  dam,  and 
followed  the  east  bank  of  the  river  to  Fort 
Edward,  where  it  left  the  Hudson  and  passed 
over  a  ridge  to  the  valley  of  Wood  creek, 
down  which  it  passed  (running  part  of  the 
time  in  the  bed  of  the  creek)  to  Whitehall, 
where  it  united  with  the  headwaters  of  Lake 
Champlain. 

On  September  10,  1823,  the  whole  work 
was  completed  and  commerce  had  a  water- 
route  from  New  York  to  Montreal.  In  1825, 
Gov.  DeWitt  Clinton  recommended  to  the 
legislature  that  the  Hudson  be  made  naviga- 
ble for  steamboats  to  Fort  Edward,  and  that 
the  Batten  Kill  be  made  navigable  for  steam- 
boat travel  to  the  Vermont  line,  but  both  pro- 
jects failed.  The  next  year  the  canal  was  im- 
proved by  the  abandonment  of  slack-water 
navigation  and  the  construction  of  a  boat 
channel,  independent  of  the  river,  all  the  way 
from  opposite  Schuylerville  to  Fort  Edward. 
Other  improvements  were  made  in  succeeding 
years. 

The  length  of  the  Champlain  canal  is  sixty- 
six  miles,  including  Waterford  side-cut  and 
the  Cohoes  and  Saratoga  dams.  When  con- 
structed the  size  of  prism  was  forty  feet  wide 
on  the  top  water-line,  narrowing  to  twenty-six 
feet  at  the  bottom,  and  having  four  feet  depth 
of  water.  In  1870  the  size  was  increased  to 
fifty-eight  feet  width  at  the  top,  forty-four  feet 
at  the  bottom  and  six  feet  depth  of  water. 
Boats  drawing  five  feet  of  water  and  the  same 
size  as  those  on  the  Erie  were  then  placed  on 
this  canal.  From  its  junction  with  the  Erie 
canal  to  one  mile  north  of  Waterford  the  sup- 
ply of  water  is  from  the  Mohawk  river  at 
Cohoes  ;  from  Northumberland  to  Whitehall* 
the  supply  of  water  is  from  the  upper  Hudson 
through  the  Glens  Falls  feeder,  supplemented 
on  the  north  by  Wood  creek  at  Fort  Ann. 
Droughts  and  the  destruction  of  the  forests  on 
the  water  sheds  of  the  upper  Hudson  decreased 


the  supply  of  water  there  to  such  an  extent 
that  in  1880  no  surplus  could  be  retained, 
and  there  was  barely  quantity  enough  to  meet 
the  demand.  The  canal  has  thirty-three  locks, 
cost. nearly  two  and  one-half  million  dollars, 
and  in  1880  carried  one  million  two  hundred 
thousand  tons  of  freight,  yielding  an  income 
of  over  fifty-one  thousand  dollars. 

When  the  canal  was  built  farmers  feared 
that  there  would  be  no  sale  for  horses  or  oats, 
and  that  hauling  would  be  destroyed,  but  they 
soon  found  that  their  fears  were  groundless. 

PLANK    ROADS. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  canal  period  the 
"plank  road  fever"  broke  out  in  Washington 
county,  and  four  of  these  roads  were  con- 
structed between  1847  and  some  time  prior  to 
i860.  These  roads  were  as  follows:  White- 
hall and  Hampton,  Fort  Edward  and  Fort 
Miller,  Fort  Edward  and  Argyle,  and  Hart- 
ford and  Sandy  Hill.  The  first:  two  went 
down  in  less  than  twenty  years,  and  the  others 
were  in  operation  in  1880. 

EARLY    RAILROADS. 

The  period  of  the  canal's  supremacy  in  the 
material  history  of  the  county  drew  toward  a 
close  in  1848,  when  the  first  railroad  train  ran 
from  Saratoga  to  Whitehall.  Washington 
county  had  entered  upon  the  second  epoch  of 
her  progress  from  pioneer  days  to  her  present 
prosperity  and  advancement. 

The  railroad  movement  in  the  county  dates 
back  as  early  as  1834.  On  May  2,  of  that 
year,  the  Saratoga  and  Washington  Railroad 
Company  was  incorporated,  with  a  capital  of 
six  hundred  thousand  dollars,  but  did  not 
fully  organize  until  April  20,  1835,  and  its 
operations  were  checked  by  the  panic  of  1837. 
An  increase  of  stock  to  eight  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  an  extension  of 
time  until  1850  were  secured,  and  the  com- 
pany, in  April,  1848,  commenced  laying  their 
track,  which  was  completed  in  December  of 
that  year.     The   road  was   soon   extended  to 


niOGL'M'iry  and  iiistohy 


55 


the  Vermont  State  line,  and  in  1855  was  sold 
on  a  mortgage  to  parties  who  formed  a  new 
company,  whose  corporate  name  of  Saratoga 
and  Whitehall  is  now  borne  by  the  road. 

The  second  railroad  of  the  county  was  built 
in  1 85 1  and  1852,  under  the  name  of  the  Troy 
and  Rutland  Railroad,  running  through  the 
towns  of  Cambridge,  Jackson  and  Salem  to 
the  village  of  Salem.  It  was  opened  June  28, 
1852,  and  then  leased  by  the  Rutland  and 
Washington  Railroad  Company,  whose  road 
ran  from  Salem  to  Rutland, Vermont.  Three 
years  later  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  re- 
ceiver and  was  operated  in  connection  with 
the  Albany  Northern. 

The  canal  and  the  remaining  pikes  of  the 
county  now  had  a  formidable  rival  for  the 
freight  of  the  one  and  the  freight  and  passen- 
gers of  the  other. 

But  a  dark  shadow  was  falling  on  railroad 
and  canal  alike,  and  on  every  farm  and  shop, 
and  the  country  from  a  peace  dream  of  half  a 
century  was  rudely  summoned  to  meet  the 
shock  of  civil  war. 

The  latter  part  of  the  pike  and  the  canal 
and  railroad  periods,  stretching  for  a  half  cen- 
tury through  peaceful  times,  were  now  to  be 
succeeded  by  the  civil  war  period,  that  was  to 
become  an  important  chapter  in  the  history  of 
every  county  in  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 


COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR- 
REGIMENTAL  HISTORIES  AND  MORTU- 
ARY  LISTS  — PEACE. 


COMMENCEMENT    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR. 

On  that  dark  April  day  in  1861,  when  the 
storm  of  civil  war  burst  upon  the  Nation,  and 
the  Union  was  apparently  rent  in  twain,  there 
was  no  county  in  the  United  States  more  de- 
votedly loyal  to  the  Federal  government  than 


Washington  county,  New  York.  All  through 
the  war  it  gave  no  uncertain  support  to  the 
Union,  and  every  call  for  troops  received  a 
prompt  support  from  each  town  and  village. 

The  county  sent  its  sons  by  hundreds  to  the 
battle  field,  but  most  of  them,  and  in  many  in- 
stances, whole  companies  of  them,  were  en- 
rolled in  regiments  recruited  in  other  counties 
of  the  State. 

One  distinctively  Washington  county  regi- 
ment was  in  the  Federal  service,  and  while  its 
record  is  one  of  imperishable  glory,  yet  every 
company  that  went  in  other  regiments  made 
for  itself  a  history  of  splendid  and  brilliant 
achievements. 

REGIMENTAL    HISTORIES.  . 

We  give  a  brief  account  of  each  regiment 
or  some  mention  of  its  career,  in  which  were 
any  companies  from  Washington  count}'. 

TWENTY-SECOND    NEW    YORK    INFANTRY. 

This  regiment  was  organized  June  6,  1861, 
and  being  fired  on  by  a  Baltimore  mob  on  the 
28th,  when  passing  through  that  city,  returned 
the  fire.  The  22d  fought  with  great  bravery  at 
Second  Bull  Run,  out  of  which  it  came  with  only 
one  hundred  men  fit  for  duty.  It  also  fought 
at  South  Mountain,  Antietam,  Chancellors- 
ville,  and  Fredericksburg,  and  was  mustered 
out  of  the  service  on  June  19,  1863.  Capt. 
Thomas  J.  Strong  became  lieutenant-colonel, 
and  Duncan  Cameron  and  Lucius  E.  Wilson 
were  mustered  out  as  captains  of  companies 
G  and  D. 

Four  companies  of  this  regiment  were  re-, 
cruited  in  Washington  county,  as  follows : 

Company.  Recruited.  Captain. 

B Fort  Edward,  Robt.  E.  McCoy. 

D Cambridge,  Henry  S.  Milliman. 

G Whitehall,  Edmund  Boynton. 

H Sandy  Hill,  Thomas  J.  Strong. 

MORTUARY    LIST. 

Company  G — Capt.  H.  S.  Milliman,  Cam- 
bridge,  wounds ;   Lieut.   W.   T.   Beattie,   Sa- 


56 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


lem,  killed;  Corp.  J.  W.  Arnold,  White 
Creek,  died  •  Sergt.  C.  S.  Eaton,  White 
Creek,  died. 

Company  B — Lieut.   D.  Lendrum, , 

killed  ;  Edward  Blanchard,  Kingsbury,  died  ; 
L.  Chamberlain,  Kingsbury,  died ;  C.  H. 
Bowen,  Kingsbury,  died  ;  Rollin  Wyman, 
Kingsbury,  killed ;  Stephen  Podoin,  Kings- 
bury, wound;  James  Wythe,  Hartford,  killed  ; 
G.  W.  Miner,  Hartford,  killed  ;  S.  L.Whitney, 
Kingsbury,  killed. 

Company  D — Louis  LaDoo,  Fort  Ann, 
killed  ;   Isaac  Plue,  Fort  Ann,  killed. 

Company  G — L.  Y.  Johnson,  Greenwich, 
killed  ;   C.   J.  Greene,  Cambridge,  . 

Company  D — C.  D.  Whittaker,  Greenwich, 
died. 

FORTY-THIRD   NEW  YORK   INFANTRY. 

The  43d  was  raised  in  the  summer  of  1861; 
suffered  terribly  in  the  Peninsular  campaign, 
especially  in  the  Seven  Days'  Fight ;  and  bore 
well  its  part  at  Fredericksburg,  Chancellors- 
ville,  Gettysburg,  and  Second  Winchester.  It 
was  mustered  out  of  the  service  June  27, 
1865. 

One  company  —  F  —  was  raised  at  Sandy 
Hill  and  vicinity,  under  Capt.  James  C.  Rog- 
ers, and  suffered  such  loss  that  it  finally  be- 
came a  part  of  Company  B.  No  list  could  be 
found  of  its  loss.  Lieut.  Hugh  Knicker- 
bocker, of  this  company,  was  killed  at  Chan- 
cellorsville,  and  Sergt.  Charles  H.  Davis,  of 
Company  G,  and  a  native  of  Greenwich,  died 
of  wounds  ;  R.  W.  Walker,  of  Company  F, 
of  Dresden,  died. 

FORTY-FOURTH  NEW  YORK  INFANTRY. 

This  regiment  was  known  as  the  "Ells- 
worth Avengers,"  and  was  intended  to  be  com- 
posed of  two  picked  men  from  every  town  in 
the  State.  It  served  in  all  of  the  battles  of 
the  Arm}'  of  the  Potomac  from  1862  to  Octo- 
ber, 1864. 

From  twenty  to  thirty  men  from  Washington 
county  served  in  its  companies,  and  of  these 
men   we  have  record  that   three   died.      Two 


were  John  H.  Pullman  and  Charles  Van  Val- 
kenburg,  both  of  the  town  of  Greenwich,  the 
former  of  Company  B,  and  the  latter  of  Com- 
pany G.  The  third,  James  F.  Burnett,  of 
Putnam,  and  a  member  of  Company  C,  died 
in  1863.  John  Brackett,  of  Company  K,  and 
James  Clements  of  E,  died  of  wounds.  Wil- 
liam Craig,  of  Greenwich,  was  in  Company 
C  and  died  of  wounds. 

I>'  El'INEUIL'S  ZOUAVES    (FIFTY-THIRD  NEW   YORK 
INFANTRY). 

Count  Lionel  J.  D'  Epineuil,  of  France, 
the  author  of  a  new  drill,  came,  in  1861,  to 
New  York  and  endeavored  to  raise  a  brigade 
of  French  Americans,  but  failed,  and  his 
men,  including  some  Germans,  were  mustered 
in  as  the  53d  regiment,  whose  weakness  of 
numbers  led  to  its  being  mustered  out  of  the 
service  early  in  1862. 

Some  fifty  of  his  men  were  recruited  at 
Whitehall,  but  we  have  not  been  able  to  ob- 
tain any  list  of  those  who  never  returned. 

SEVENTY-SEVENTH    NEW    MIRK    INFANTRY. 

This  regiment  participated  in  several  hard 
battles,  and  of  the  men  in  its  ranks  from  this 
county  we  have  record  of  six  that  never  re- 
turned. From  Greenwich,  and  in  Company  I, 
were  :  Lieutenant-Colonel  N.  E.  Franklin, 
who  died  of  wounds  ;  Sergeant  Pat.  Gilroy, 
missing,  and  J.  E.  Davidson,  killed.  Peter  S. 
Taylor,  Erastus  Wade,  and  S.  H.  Warner, 
who  died,  were  from  Easton. 

EIGHTY-SEVENTH    NEW    YORK    INFANTRY. 

This  regiment  was  raised  principally  in 
Brooklyn,  in  1861,  and  served  gallantly  on 
the  Peninsula,  where  it  was  so  depleted  by 
battle  and  disease  that  it  was  consolidated,  in 
September,  1862,  with  the  40th  regiment,  into 
which  it  was  merged,  and  served  until  June 
27,  1865. 

Company  A,  of  the  87th,  was  raised  in  the 
towns  of  Dresden  and  Putnam,  this  count)', 
and  we  find  record  of  three  of  its  members 
from  Dresden  who  died.      They  were  :   Leon- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


57 


ard    W.    Barrett,    A.     P.    Chase    and    J.    J. 
Wetherby. 

NINETY-THIRD    NEW    YORK    INFANTRY. 

This  regiment  was  raised  at  Albany  in  1861 
by  Col.  John  S.  Crocker,  of  Cambridge,  and 
contained  three  Washington  count}-  compan- 
ies. It  did  headquarter  and  provost  guard  duty 
during  the  Peninsular  campaign  and  until  May, 
1864,  when  it  was  relieved  from  guard  duty, 
and  fought  bravely  through  the  Wilderness 
battles.  It  suffered  heavily  at  Spottsylvania, 
Cold  Harbor  and  Petersburg.  The  regiment 
was  at  Deep  Bottom  and  served  under  Sheri- 
dan in  the  closing  hours  of  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy, when  it  was  commanded  by  Lieut.  - 
Col.  Haviland  Gifford,  of  Easton. 

The  three  companies  of  this  regiment,  re- 
cruited in  Washington  county,  were  as  fol- 
lows : 

Company.  Recruited.  Captain. 

F Fort  Edward,     Wm.  B.  Moshier. 

G Cambridge,         M.  S.  Gray. 

I '. ,        N.J.Johnson. 

Company  I  was  recruited  at  Granville,  Argyle 
and  other  points  in  the  count}". 

MORTUARY    LIST. 

Company  D — Thomas  McGwerk,  Easton, 
wounds. 

Company  G —  Serg.-Maj.  N.W.  Gray,  Cam- 
bridge,   ;  First  Serg.W.B.  Barber, Hamp- 
ton, wounds  ;  Lieut.  R.  L.  Gray, White  Creek, 
killed. 

Company  E  —  Lieut.  E.  W.  Gray,  White 
Creek,  killed. 

Company  G  —  Corp.  A.  M.  Lawton,  White 
Creek,  killed;  James  Smith.  White  Creek, 
disease;  Corp.  W.  H.  Pierce,  White  Creek, 
disease  ;  Corp.  A.  McGeoch,  Jackson,  disease  ; 
P.  A.  Goodell,  Hartford,  died  ;  A.  J.  Beattie, 
White  Creek,  killed  ;  L.  N.  Ford,  White 
Creek,  died. 

Company  H  —  I.  Fairbrother, White  Creek, 
died. 

Company  G  —  D.  Millington, White  Creek, 
killed. 


Company  I  —  Welcome  Thomas,  Granville, 
disease  ;  William  Searles,  Hampton,  disease  ; 
Jerome  Sears,  Greenwich,  killed ;  Albert 
Honey,  Hampton,  disease ;  V.  W.  New, 
Hampton,  disdase. 

Unknown  companies —  Dan'l  Morgan, Gran- 
ville,   ;  Thomas  Clark,  Putnam,  disease; 

C.  B.  Pitney,  . 

NINETY-SIXTH    NEW    YORK    INFANTRY. 

This  regiment  was  raised  in  1861  and  served 
with  great  gallantry  in  the  armies  of  the  James 
and  the  Potomac,  and  made  a  desperate  charge 
at  Cold  Harbor,  in  which  it  lost  nearly  half  its 
officers  and  men.  It  served  until  1866,  and 
company  E  was  raised  by  Capt.  James  S. 
Cray  at  Sandy  Hill  and  Fort  Edward. 

Company  E  was  in  the  dreadful  Cold  Har- 
bor charge  of  its  regiment,  and  lost  its  captain, 
James  S.  Cray,  who  fell  mortally  wounded,  and 
twenty  of  its  rank  and  file  that  were  killed 
or  wounded.  We  find  no  record  of  its  fallen 
heroes  and  have  obtained  only  three  of  their 
names  beside  that  of  Captain  Cray,  and  they 
were  William  Ansment,  of  Granville,  who  died; 
Francis  A.  Granger,  of  the  same  town,  who 
died  at  Andersonville,  and  G.  R.  Hopkins, 
Dresden,  who  died. 

ONE     HUNDRED    AND    TWENTY-THIRD    NEW    YORK 
INFANTRY. 

The  regiment  of  which  Washington  county 
may  be  justly  proud  until  the  end  of  time  was 
the  one  which  bore  her  honored  name  and  was 
known  as  the  123d  New  York  Infantry.  It  was 
raised  in  Washington  county  after  the  disas- 
trous Peninsular  campaign,  in  response  to  Lin- 
coln's call  for  three  hundred  thousand  men  in 
the  summer  of  1862.  War  meetings  were  held 
all  over  the  county  after  Lincoln's  call,  and  it 
was  resolved  that  the  men  raised  should  con- 
stitute a  Washington  county  regiment.  Camp 
Washington  was  established  at  Salem,  and 
companies  were  recruited  in  every  part  of  the 
county.  The  regiment  was  practically  full  by 
the  last  of  August,  and  its  companies  were  : 


58 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Company 

Recruited. 

Captain. 

A  .... 

Greenwich, 

Abram  Reynolds. 

B  ..  .. 

Kingsbury, 

Geo.  \\T.  W'arren. 

C 

Whitehall, 
[    Ft.  Ann, 
j    Dresden, 
'    Putnam, 

Adolph  H.  Tanner 

D  ..  .. 

r  John  Barron. 

j 

E  ..  .. 

\    Hartford, 
(    Hebron, 

-  Norman  F.  Weer. 

F  ..  .. 

Argyle, 

Duncan  Robertson 

G  ..  .. 

H  ..  .. 

\    White  Creek, 
1    Jackson, 
Salem, 

'    Henry  Gray. 
John  S.  Crary. 

I 

j    Cambridge, 
(    Easton, 

[-  Orrin  S.  Hall. 

K  ..  .. 

\    Granville, 
1    Hampton, 

1  Henry  O.  Wiley. 

The  field  and  staff  officers  were  :  Colonel,  A. 
L.  McDougal ;  lieutenant  colonel,  Franklin 
Morton;  major,  James  C.  Rogers;  adjutant, 
George  H.  Wallace  ;  surgeon,  John  Money- 
penny  ;  assistant  surgeons,  LysanderW.  Ken- 
nedy and  Richard  S.  Connelly;  quartermaster, 
John  King  ;  and  chaplain,  Henry  Gordon. 

The  non-commissioned  staff  were:  Sergeant- 
major,  Walter  F.  Martin  ;  quartermaster  ser- 
geant, Charles  D.  Warner;  commissary  ser- 
geant, Clark  Rice  ;  and  hospital  steward, 
Seward  Corning. 

On  September  4th,  1862,  the  Washington 
county  regiment  was  mustered  into  the  United 
States  service  as  the  123d  New  York  volunteer 
infantry.  It  reached  Washington  on  the  9th, 
and  in  October  was  assigned  to  the  22d  brig- 
ade, 1  st  division  of  the  12th  corps. 

The  regiment  was  in  the  "  mud  march  "  on 
Richmond,  and  received  its  baptism  of  fire 
and  blood  at  Chancellorsville,  where  it  lost 
one  hundred  and  fifty  men  killed,  wounded 
and  missing.  The  123d  was  engaged  at  Get- 
tysburg, and  on  September  24th,  1863,  was 
sent  west  as  a  reinforcement  to  General  Rose- 
crans,  whose  base  of  supplies  it  guarded  for 
several  months.  Under  Sherman,  in  the 
spring  of    1864,  the    123d  entered   upon    the 


Atlanta  campaign,  through  which  it  passed 
after  fighting  several  hard  battles. 

From  Atlanta  the  Washington  county  regi- 
ment swung  loose  with  Sherman  in  his  "  March 
to  the  Sea,"  and,  after  reaching  Savannah, 
marched  north  into  North  Carolina,  where 
Sherman  received  the  surrender  of  Johnston's 
army.  The  regiment  took  part  in  the  grand 
review  at  Washington,  was  mustered  out  on 
June  8th,  1865,  and  left  for  home  the  next 
day. 

Quite  an  interesting  history  of  this  regiment 
has  been  written  by  Rev.  Seth  C.  Carey,  one 
of  its  adjutants. 

MORTUARY    LIST. 

Company  A — Capt.  W.  H.  Dobbin,  Green- 
wich, disease  ;  Sergt.  W.  J.  Hamilton,  Green- 
wich, killed  ;  Albert  Allen,  Greenwich,  dis- 
ease ;  Evander  Bertis,  Greenwich,  disease  ; 
William  Bartlett,  Greenwich,  killed  ;  Oscar 
Baumes,  Greenwich,  killed  ;  Charles  Lapoint, 
Greenwich,  killed  ;  John  H.  Lampson,  Green- 
wich, wounds  ;  Alexander  Mitchell,  Green- 
wich, disease  ;  Albert  Potter,  Greenwich, 
killed  ;   Leroy  Wright,  Greenwich,  killed. 

Company  C — Sergt.  William  Hutton,  jr., 
Putnam,  wounds. 

Company  D — Corp.  R.  O.  Fisher,  Fort 
Ann,  killed;  Sergt.  J.  L.  Cummings,  Put- 
nam, wounds  ;  Sergt.  A.  C.  Thompson,  Put- 
nam, disease;  William  Anderson,  jr.,  Put- 
nam, disease  ;  H.  A.  Dedrick,  Putnam,  dis- 
ease ;  Darwin  Easton,  Putnam,  disease  ;  Jere. 
Finch,  Fort  Ann,  killed  ;  Charles  Grout,  Fort 
Ann,  disease  ;  J.  H.  Haynes,  Putnam,  dis- 
ease ;  James  H.  Loomis,  Fort  Ann,  disease  ; 
John  Lapraine,  Fort  Ann,  disease  ;  Isaac  Mc- 
Nutt,  Fort  Ann,  wounds  ;  J.  M.  Mattison, 
Fort  Ann,  disease  ;  Edward  Rice,  Fort  Ann, 
disease  ;  A.  Ward,  Dresden,  disease. 

Company  E— Capt.  Norman  F.  Weer, 
wounds  ;  Lieut.  John  H.  Daicey,  killed  ;  F. 
Archambolt,  Hartford,  killed  ;  Alexander  Bev- 
eridge,  Hebron,  disease  ;  Byron  Briggs,  Hart- 
ford,   killed  ;    John    Bell,    Hartford,    killed  ; 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


59 


James  Dickenson,  Hartford,  disease  ;  George 
Donley,  Hebron,  killed  ;  W.  J.  Gilchrist, 
Hebron,  disease  ;  Smith  Hewitt,  Hebron, 
disease  ;  A.  Jeffaway,  Hartford,  killed  ;  Sam- 
uel Johnson,  Hebron,  disease  ;  Ira  Munson, 
Hebron,  disease  ;  James  McEchron,  Hebron, 
disease  ;  John  Patrick,  Hebron,  disease  ; 
Nath.  Raymond,  Hebron,  disease  ;  Philo 
Smith,  Hebron,  disease  ;  H.  L.  Thomas, 
Hartford,  killed  ;  John  Wright,  Hartford, 
killed. 

Company  F — Sergt.  J.  M.  Ronan,  Argyle, 
wounds  ;  James  Cartwright,  Argyle,  disease  ; 
W.  H.  Emerson,  Argyle,  disease  ;  Theo. 
Hogart,  Argyle,  disease  ;  T.  A.  Hopkins,  Ar- 
gyle, killed  ;  George  McKibben,  Argyle,  kill- 
ed ;  J.  H.  Morrish,  Argyle,  disease  ;  H.  M. 
Reid,  Argyle,  disease  ;  D.'  G.  Stewart,  Ar- 
gyle, wounds  ;  George  L.  Taylor,  Argyle, 
wounds  ;  W.  J.  Wood,  Argyle,  killed. 

Company  G — Clarence  Coulter,  Jackson, 
wounds  ;  A.  J.  Coon,  White  Creek,  disease  ; 
Peter  Cromby,  White  Creek,  wounds  ;  Thos. 
Dickenson,  Hartford,  disease  ;  John  McUm- 
ber,  White  Creek,  wounds  ;  W.  H.  Martin, 
White  Creek,  killed  ;  Chancey  Parker,  White 
Creek,  disease  ;  H.  W.  Welch,  Jackson,  killed. 

Company  H  —  Corp.  J.  H.  Cowan,  Salem', 
disease  ;  Corp.  J.  C.  Gray,  Salem,  disease  ; 
Corp.  W.  H.  Stewart,  Salem,  wounds  ;  Corp. 
F.  I.  Williamson,  Salem,  disease  ;  J.  L. 
Beattie,  Salem,  killed  ;  M.  H.  Brown,  Salem, 
disease  ;  Charles  Billings,  Salem,  disease  ; 
Henry    Danforth,      Salem,    wounds ;     Jacob 

Heber,   Salem,  ;    A.   Johnson,    Salem, 

wounds;  J.  A.  Mains,  Salem,  killed  ;  Charles 
Marshall,  Salem,  killed;  J.  McMurray,  Hart- 
ford,   ;     P.    McNasser,    Salem,    killed  ; 

W.  J.  Orcutt,  Salem,  disease  ;  W.  L.  Rich, 
Salem,  killed  ;  George  Sweet,  Salem,  disease  : 
H.  G.  Sweet,  Salem,  disease  :  D.  H.Warner, 
Salem,  disease;   Rich.  West,   Salem,  disease. 

Company  I — Joseph  R.  Beade,  Easton, 
disease  ;  Alonzo  Morehouse,  Hebron,  disease. 

Company  K  —  Capt.  Henry  O.Wiley,Gran- 
ville,  killed  ;  Serg.  H.  E.  Howard,  Granville, 


wounds  ;  W.  C.  Allard,  Hampton,  disease  ; 
Visti  Bodevin,  Granville,  disease  ;  D.  S.  Car- 
mody,  Granville,  disease  ;  Horace  Dowd, 
Granville,  disease;  A.  W.  Doane,  Granville, 
killed  ;  James  Gordon.  Granville,  disease  ; 
R.  E.  Hall,  Granville,  disease  ;  George  Os- 
borne, Granville,  disease  ;  A.  C.  -Osborne, 
Hampton,  killed  ;  John  Pitts, Granville,killed  ; 
William    Reardon,    Hampton,  disease  ;   Milo 

Shaw,     Granville,   ;     W.    A.    Tooley, 

Granville,  killed  ;  H.  H.  Tooley,  Granville, 
killed  ;  Edward  Tanner,  Granville,  killed  ;  N. 
G.  Thayer,  Granville,  killed  ;  William  Walter, 
Dresden,  killed  ;  Edson  Whitney,  Granville, 
disease  ;  C.  H.  Waite,  Granville,  disease  ;  B. 
F.  Wright,  Granville,  disease. 

On  the  soldiers'  monument  in  Woodlands 
cemetery  in  the  town  of  Cambridge  appears 
the  following  names  of  "  fallen  heroes  "  who 
were  members   of   the  123d  regiment  :   Serg. 

C.  Darrow,  Corp.  C.  L.  Coulter,  J.  Herman, 
W.  Skellie,  C.  C.  Parker,  W.  J.  Scott,  J.  P. 
Wood,  A.  ].  Coon,  R.  K.  Bishop,  ].  ].  Mc- 
Comber,  J.  Foster,  R.  Hennelly,  J.  L.  Skellie, 

D.  Baldwin,  jr.;  W.  H.  Martin,  R.W.  Skellie, 
P.  Crombie,  W.  H.  Welch,  W.  H.  Phelps, 
and  H.  King. 

ONE    HUNDRED    AND     TWENTY- FIFTH     NEW    YORK 
INFANTRY. 

The  125th  was  raised  in  1863  in  Rensselaer 
county;  fought  in  the  principal  battles  of  the 
army  of  the  Potomac  from  Gettysburg  to 
Petersburg,  and  was  mustered  out  June  5th, 
1865. 

Part  of  one  company  was  raised  in  the  town 
of  Easton,  and  Capt.  Lewis  H.  Crandell  of 
the  regiment  was  from  Easton. 

ONE    HUNDRED    AND    SIXTY-NINTH    NEW    YORK 
INFANTRY. 

Like  the  125th  regiment,  so  the  169th  was 
raised  in  Rensselaer  county,  excepting  com- 
pany F,  commanded  by  Capt.  Warren  B.  Col- 
man,  that  was  recruited  at  Sandy  Hill.  The 
regiment  was  in  the  siege  of  Fort  Wagner, 
fought  at  Cold  Harbor  and  around  Petersburg, 


60 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


was  in  the  storming  of  Fort  Fisher,  and  served 
until  July  19,  1865. 

MORTUARY    LIST. 

Corp.  J.  D.  Warren,  Granville,  killed. 

Company  F  —  Serg.  S.  O.  Benton,  Fort 
Ann,  wounds ;  Serg.  H.  Chamberlain,  Fort 
Ann,  killed ;  Alex.  P.  Blowers,  Fort  Ann, 
killed  ;  W.  H,  Chase,  Fort  Ann,  disease  ;  Len. 
Fish,  Fort  Ann,  killed  ;  Amos  Green, Fort  Ann, 
disease  ;  Albert  Keech,  Fort  Ann,  disease. 

Company  C  —  Alanson  Lewis,  Easton,  dis- 
ease ;  Michael  McBryan,  Granville, . 

SECOND    NEW    YORK    CAVALRY.       (BLACK    HORSE 
CAVALRY). 

This  regiment  was  organized  in  1861,  and 
was  mustered  out  of  the  service  March  31, 
1862,  because  the  War  Department  concluded 
that  there  was  too  much  cavalry  in  the  field  at 
that  time. 

Company  A  of  this  regiment  was  recruited 
at  Salem,  but  contained  men  from  several 
towns.  It  was  raised  and  commanded  by 
Capt.  Solomon  W.  Russel,  jr. 

SECOND     NEW      YORK      CAVALRY      (HARRIS      LICHT 
CAVALRY.) 

This  regiment  was  known  as  the  Harris 
Light  Cavalry  for  some  time  after  the  Second 
Cavalry  was  mustered  out  of  the  service,  and 
then  received  its  name.  The  regiment  was 
raised  in  1861,  and  saw  the  last  days  of  its 
active  service  at  Appomattox.  It  did  a  large 
amount  of  skirmishing  and  raiding,  but  did 
splendid  fighting  at  Brandy  Station  and  Get- 
tysburg, was  in  the  two  celebrated  raids  on 
Richmond,  and  served  in  the  valley  under 
Phil.  Sheridan. 

Company  E  of  this  regiment  was  raised  at 
Fort  Edward,  but  contained  men  from  other 
towns. 

MORTUARY    LIST. 

Company  F  —  N.  L.  Allard,  Hampton,  . 

Company  K  —  Lorenzo  Palmer,  Fort  Ann, 
wounds. 

Company  L  —  Lent.  Smith,  Fort  Ann,  dis- 


ease; J.  H.  Smith,  Fort  Ann,  disease;  J.  L. 
Perry,  Fort  Ann,  disease;  William  Keech, 
Fort  Ann,  disease. 

SECOND  NEW  YORK  VETERAN  CAVALRY. 

In  1863  many  veteran  soldiers  desired  to 
re-enter  the  cavalry  service,  and  two  New 
York  regiments  were  organized  to  accommo- 
date them.  One  of  these  regiments  was  the 
2d  Veteran  cavalry.  It  served  in  the  Red 
River  expedition,  where  it  did  splendid  fight- 
ing at  Pleasant  Hill ;  afterward  made  two  dar- 
ing raids  in  Mississippi  and  Florida,  and  ren- 
dered efficient  service  in  Alabama  from  the 
siege  of  Mobile  until  November,  1865,  when 
it  was  mustered  out. 

Company  D,  commanded  by  Capt.  Thomas 
F.  Allen,  was  from  Whitehall,  and  parts  of 
Companies  A,  E,  and  M  were  from  Washing- 
ton county. 

The  Cambridge  Soldiers'  monument  bears 
the  names  of  M.  L.  Moore,  J.  Smith  and  W. 
Pratt,  of  this  regiment. 

FIRST    NEW    YORK    MOUNTED    RIFLES. 

In  July,  1862,  the  mounted  battalion  known 
as  Wool's  Body  Guard  was  made  the  nucleus 
of  a  regiment  that  was  raised  in  Rensselaer 
county,  and  became  the  First  New  York 
Mounted  Rifles.  The  regiment  was  engaged 
in  scouting,  raiding  and  picket  duty,  under 
General  Butler,  and  around  Petersburg,  until 
the  fall  of  Richmond.  In  July,  1865,  it  was 
consolidated  with  the  3d  New  York  cavalry, 
and  the  new  organization  became  the  4th 
Provisional  cavalry,  which  was  mustered  out 
in  November,  1865. 

Twenty  or  thirty  men  of  Company  E  were 
recruited  at  Salem,  and  Cornelius  S.  Masten, 
of  that  village,  was  one  of  the  captains  of  the 
company. 

THIRTIETH    NEW    YORK    CAVALRY. 

This  regiment  served  in  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  and  was  engaged  at  Second  Bull 
Run  and  in  other  hard  battles.  Several  men 
from  the  county  served  in  its  ranks. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


ill 


MORTUARV    LIST. 

Company  I — Sergt.  J.  M.  Burdick,  Green- 
wich, disease. 

Company  B — D.  B.  Cunningham,  Easton, 
killed  ;   A.  E.  Gage,  Cambridge, . 

Company  H — S.  P.  Milliard,  Easton,  dis- 
ease. 

SIXTEENTH    NEW    YORK     HEAVY    ARTILLERY. 

In  December,  1863,  Col.  Thomas  J.  Strong 
sought  to  raise  a  new  regiment  but  was  re- 
fused, as  no  new  regiments  were  being  author- 
ized. He  then  made  an  arrangement  to  raise 
four  companies  for  Colonel  Morrison's  16th 
Heavy  Artillery  that  was  not  yet  full.  Col- 
onel Strong  agreed  to  serve  as  Major  of  this 
regiment.  The  16th  numbered  four  thousand 
men  when  it  assembled  in  Virginia,  and  was 
the  largest  regiment  that  was  ever  seen  in  the 
new  world. 

About  eight  hundred  of  these  men  came 
from  Washington  county.  Company  I,  com- 
manded by  Capt.  Henry  C.  Sherrill,  was  or- 
ganized at  Sandy  Hill.  Thirty  men  from  Sa- 
lem and  Cambridge  were  in  Company  K,  and 
the  remainder  of  the  men  from  the  county 
were  transferred  to  other  regiments,  as  the 
government  had  to  send  hundreds  of  this 
mammoth  regiment  to  other  organizations. 
The  regiment  was  left  with  fourteen  compa- 
nies and  two  thousand  eight  hundred  men, 
and  then  had  been  more  than  once  mistaken 
for  a  brigade.  The  government  could  not 
furnish  them  cannon  at  that  time  and  they 
were  mostly  armed  as  infantry.  The  16th 
lost  heavily  by  battle  and  disease  around  Pe- 
tersburg, and  one  part  of  it  was  given  cannon 
and  did  good  service  in  the  attack  on  Fort 
Fisher  and  afterward  on  Cape  Fear  river.  The 
regiment  was  mustered  out  on  August  21, 
1865. 

MORTUARY    LIST. 

Company  H  —  W.  J.  Graham,  Hebron,  dis- 
ease ;  William  Armstrong,  Argyle,  disease  ; 
George  Congdon,  Argyle,  disease  ;  John  Scott, 
Argyle,  disease. 


Company  K  —  Geo.  F.  Burke,  Greenwich, 
wounds  ;  John  Shields,  Greenwich,  disease  ; 
Rufus  Hall,  Greenwich,  disease;  Ira  Haw- 
thorne, Jackson,  disease  ;  A.  E.  Higby,  Hart- 
ford, disease. 

OTHER    NEW    YORK    REGIMENTS. 

Second  Regiment  — C.  H.  Westcot,  Hamp- 
ton, wounds. 

Second  Rifles  —  G.  C.  Fairbrother,  Salem, 
disease. 

Third  Cavalry  —  A.  McLaughlin,  Putnam, 
disease. 

Seventh  Cavalry  —  M.  L.  Moore,  Jackson, 
killed. 

Twelfth  Infantry  —  Jas.  Cassidy,  Hampton, 
killed. 

One  Hundred  and  Seventy-Sixth — J.  M. 
Austin,  White  Creek,  disease  ;  N.  Tucker, 
White  Creek,  disease. 

One  Hundred  and  Seventy-Seventh  — C.  W. 
Billings,  Easton,  killed;  Elisha  Hurley, 
Easton,  ■. 

One  Hundred  and  Ninety-Second  —  George 
Parrish,  Easton,  disease. 

VERMONT    REGIMENTS. 

First  —  Thomas  Cassidy,  Hampton,  killed. 

Fifth — T.W.  Taylor, White  Creek,  wounds. 

Seventh  —  Lieut.  R.  M.  Green,  Hampton, 
disease. 

Tenth  —  J.  S.  McBride,  Hebron,  disease. 

Eleventh  — C.B.Russell,  Hampton,  wounds; 
N.  Coda, White  Creek,  wounds  ;  E.  C.  Allard, 
Hampton,  disease  ;  Isaac  Susment,  Granville, 
wounds. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Corp.  A.  Wilson,  Granville,  wounds;  Corp. 
John  A.  Wiley,  Granville,  wounds. 

Serg.  J.  A.  Norton,  Hartford,  killed  ;  Henry 
Orcutt,  Hartford,  killed  ;  John  Wright,  Hart- 
ford, killed  :  Barney  Shandy,  Fort  Ann, 
wounds  ;  Jos.  Kearney,  Salem,  wounds. 

COLORED    TROOPS. 

Twentieth  United  States  —  S.  P.  Chase, 
disease. 


62 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Thirtieth  United  States  —  Henry  Jones,  dis- 
ease. 

Thirty-first  United  States  —  Abner  Jackson, 
killed. 

No  mortuary  lists,  at  this  writing,  can  be 
obtained  of  the  towns  of  Cambridge,  Fort 
Edward  and  Whitehall  ;  and,  despite  the  most 
zealous  efforts  of  many  citizens  of  the  count}', 
it  has  not  been  possible  to  secure  but  a  ma- 
jority of  the  names  of  those  from  Washing- 
ton county  who  yielded  their  lives  as  a  sacri- 
fice for  their  country's  liberties. 


Peace  has  her  victories  as  well  as  war  ;  and, 
with  the  close  of  hostilities,  we  turn  to  trace 
again  the  progress  of  the  count)'  so  sadly  in- 
terrupted by  four  years  of  war,  of  bloodshed, 
and  of  ruin. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

LATER  RAILWAYS— PRESENT  INDUSTRIES 
—COUNTY  PROGRESS. 

LATER    RAILWAYS. 

With  the  end  of  the  war  business  revived 
throughout  the  county,  and  manufactures  and 
agriculture  again  received  their  full  share  of 
attention.  Hundreds  of  soldiers  returned 
from  the  army  to  the  field,  the  workshop  and 
the  manufacturing  establishment,  and  every 
industry  was  quickened  into  new  life  and  in- 
creased production. 

The  railroad  period  had  been  suddenly 
checked  by  the  war,  and  the  latter  was  suc- 
ceeded by  a  period  of  development  into  which 
the  old  and  some  new  railways  were  import- 
ant factors. 

The  Greenwich  and  Johnsonville  railway, 
the  earliest  of  the  new  railways,  was  projected 
as  far  back  as  1857,  but  the  war  stopped  its 
building,  and  it  was  not  completed  until  1870. 
Its  length  is  fourteen  miles,  running  through 
the  towns  of  Cambridge  and   Easton.      This 


road,  in  1880,  carried  ten  thousand  six  hun- 
dred and  sixty-two  passengers  and  nine  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  and  thirty-nine  tons  of 
freight. 

The  Glens  Falls  railway,  running  from  Fort 
Edward  to  Glens  Falls,  in  Warren  county, 
a  distance  of  five  and  three-quarter  miles,  was 
projected  in  1867.  It  was  built  soon  after- 
ward. 

The  New  York  and  Canada  railway,  run- 
ning from  Whitehall  north,  along  the  west 
shore  of  Lake  Champlain  to  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  county,  and  connecting  there 
with  another  railroad  running  to  Montreal, 
Canada,  was  built  in  1874  and  1875. 

By  the  centennial  year  of  the  Republic  the 
county  possessed  good  communication  by  rail 
and  water  with  the  leading  cities  of  the  Uni- 
ted States. 

PRESENT    INDUSTRIES. 

Sheep  raising  and  wool  growing  has  ceased 
to  be  the  profitable  industry  that  it  once  was, 
and  the  great  wool  trade  of  the  county  since 
the  late  war  has  dwindled  to  small  proportions, 
although  there  are  many  fine  flocks  of  sheep 
to  be  found  in  the  different  towns.  Corn,  oats, 
potatoes,  apples,  and  dairy  products  are  now 
the  main  resources  of  the  farm. 

Turning  from  agricultural  pursuits  to  the 
mining  interests  of  the  county,  we  find  that 
lime  burning  in  Greenwich  could  be  made  a 
source  of  wealth. 

Iron  ore  lies  within  the  hills  of  the  northern 
peninsula,  and  the  furnace  production  in  1880 
was  very  creditable  to  the  county. 

Slate  and  marble  quarrying  have  been  de- 
veloped in  the  eastern  part  of  the  count}'.  In 
Granville  fine  roofing  slate  and  excellent  block 
marble  quarries  have  been  opened. 

Ticonderoga  black  lead  is  obtained  in  Put- 
nam in  considerable  quantities. 

Manufacturing  establishments  are  situated 
at  many  places  in  the  county,  and  prominent 
in  this  great  branch  of  material  wealth  are 
agricultural  and  carriage  works,  iron  foundries 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


and  steel,  hosiery,  flouring,  paper,  cotton  and 
woolen  mills. 

The  garden  seed  business  was  started  in  the 
Cambridge  valley  as  early  as  1816,  and  the 
first  manilla  paper  mill  in  the  United  States 
was  built  in  1846. 

With  good  soil  and  considerable  water 
power,  and  lying  on  the  great  inland  route  of 
commerce  the  county  should  be  noted  for  the 
prosperity  of  the  present  industries  and  fine 
facilities  for  future  enterprises. 

COUNTY     PROGRESS. 

The  growth  of  the  county  has  been  slow 
but  substantial  through  its  century  and  a  third 
of  white  inhabitation,  while  the  history  of  its 
territory  extends  through  nearly  three  centur- 
ies of  time.  The  Indian  war  period  of  eight}' 
years  was  followed  in  1689  by  the  inter-colon- 
ial war  period,  whose  ending  in  1763  was  two 
years  beyond  the  first  permanent  settlement 
beginnings.  Ten  years  of  an  early  settlement 
period  was  distinguished  for  the  incoming  of 
three  thousand  white  settlers,  and  a  county 
formation,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Revolu- 
tionary period  of  eight  years,  during  which  the 
county  was  severely  ravaged.  Following  the 
Revolution  was  a  pioneer  period  of  nearly 
twenty  years,  in  which  the  earlier  industries 
sprang  up  and  emigration  sent  the  volume  of 
population  from  about  three  thousand  to  thir- 
ty-five thousand.  Then  came  a  pike  period, 
during  which  Warren  county  was  cut  off  and 
the  population  fell  off  nearly  six  thousand. 
After  nearly  twenty-five  years  of  pre-eminence 
the  pike  yielded  to  the  canal,  and  the  first 
great  stride  of  progress  was  taken  by  the 
county.  Wool  growing  and  other  industries 
came  with  it,  and  passed  in  1848  into  the  rail- 
road period,  that  was  terminated  by  the  Civil 
war  period,  whose  disastrous  effects  on  the 
county  retarded  its  advancement  for  some 
time.  Succeeding  the  Civil  war  has  followed 
the  third  great  material  advance  of  the  people 
of  Washington  county,  which  may  be  designa- 
ted the  progressive  period  noted  for  invention, 


the  introduction  of  labor-saving  machinery, 
and  a  spirit  of  general  improvement. 

The  financial  panic  of  1873  had  some  de- 
pressing effect  upon  the  county,  and  occasion- 
ally the  dullness  of  times  may  temporarily 
check  the  flow  of  business,  but  will  never  stop 
the  march  of  improvement. 

Washington  county,  rich  within  her  own 
agricultural  resources,  her  manufacturing  in- 
terests and  her  commercial  facilities,  need 
never  occupy  any  but  a  proud  and  prominent 
position  in  the  wealth  and  development  of  the 
mighty  State  that  stretches  from  the  Hudson 
to  the  great  lakes. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

STATISTICS  OF  POPULATION,  MANUFAC- 
TURES, AGRICULTURE,  MINING,  AND 
TRADE  AND  TRANSPORTATION. 

Census  statistics  have  been  specially  intro- 
duced in  this  volume  to  supply  a  feature  that 
is  largely  wanting  in  so  many  county  histories 
published  in  the  United  States.  While  num- 
bers are  not  essentially  necessary  to  the  de- 
velopment and  progress  of  a  county,  yet  their 
increase  stands  for  growth  in  industries  as 
well  as  population,  and  their  decrease  tells 
the  story  of  abandoned  enterprises  and  the 
loss  of  territory  as  well  as  every  great  drain 
by  emigration.  The  condensed  statistics  of 
agriculture,  manufactures,  mining  and  trade 
and  transportation  will  forcibly  tell  their  own 
story  without  need  of  illustration  or  explana- 
tion. 

The  census  of  1S90  has  been  issued  so 
slowly  that  many  statistics  of  interest  con- 
cerning the  county  have  not  yet  been  pub- 
lished. 

STATISTICS  OF  POPULATION. 

AGGREGATE  POPULATION. 

V.  S.  Census.          White.                     Colored.  Aggregate. 

1790                    I3-992                         50  14,042 

1800                35.393                  399  36,792 

i8ig                4I.I59              3>i3°  44-289 


64 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


U.S.  Census.           White.  Colored.  Aggregate. 

1820  38,427  404  38>83! 

1830  42,242  393  42>635 

1840  40,808  272  41,080 

1850  44,400  350  44.75° 

i860  45>643  259  45.9°4 

1870  49,186  379  49.568 

1880  47.523  340  47,87i 

1890  45>687  252  45,939 

Washington  county  had  two  Indians  re- 
ported in  i860,  three  in  1870,  and  six  in  1880. 
Its  Chinese  inhabitants  in  1880  were  two.  The 
3,130  colored  population  reported  in  1 810  is 
undoubtedly  a  mistake,  and  is  more  likely  313. 

NATIVITY. 

1870.  1880. 

Born  in  the  State 27,253  37,568 

Vermont 2,605  2,678 

Massachusetts 432  338 

Connecticut 180  136 

Pennsylvania      114  127 

New  Jersey   29  53 

Total  native  born 41,274     4i,5J7 

Born  in  Ireland 5,°24  4>°46 

British  America i,999  *.323 

England  and  Wales 888  661 

Scotland 198  137 

Germany 124  125 

France 14  8 

Sweden  and  Norway 3  17 

Total  foreign  born.  ..  .      8,294       6,354 

In  i860  the  the  native  population  was  re- 
ported at  39,248  and  the  foreign  as  6,656. 

POPULATION    OF    MINOR    CIVIL    DIVISIONS. 

Towns.  1870.  1SS0.  1890. 

Argyle 2,850  2,775  2,313 

Argyle  village 351  316  158 

Cambridge 2,589  2,324  2,162 

Dresden 684  730  636 

Easton 3,072  2,740  2,500 

Fort  Ann,  including  vil- 
lage   3,329  3,263  2,996 

Fort  Edward,  including 

village   5,125  4,680  4,424 


Towns.  1870.  1880.  1890. 

Granvillle 4,003     4, 149     4,715 

Greenwich 4,030     3,860     4,196 

Greenwich  village 1,231      1,663 

Hampton 955         833         791 

Hartford 1,989     1,760     1,470 

Hebron   2,399     2,383     2,044 

Jackson  1,662     1,562     1,278 

Kingsbury 4>277     4,614     4,677 

Sandy  Hill 2,347     2,487     2,895 

Putnam 603        611         568 

Salem 3,556     3,498     3,127 

Salem  village 1,239     1,410 

White  Creek,  excluding 

part  Cambridge  village  2,881      2,742     2,690 
Cambridge  village  (a  part)  I.I53 
Whitehall,  including  vil- 
lage  5.564     5.347     5.4°2 

Whitehall  village 4.322     4,27°     4.434 

Town  of    Queensbury..  11,849 

Glens  Falls  village 9,5°9 

In  1880  there  were  23,955  males  and  23,916 
females  in  the  county.  Of  school  age  —  from 
five  to  seventeen  years  —  there  were  6,380 
males  and  6,143  females;  and  of  military 
age  —  from  eighteen  to  forty-four  years  — 
there  were  9,312,  while  of  citizenship  age  the 
number  was  13,656. 

STATISTICS  OF  MANUFACTURES. 
The  statistics  of  manufactures  in  any  census 
of  the  United  States  so  far  have  never  em- 
braced the  full  production  of  the  hand-trades  of 
mason,  carpenter,  blacksmith,  cooper,  plum- 
ber, and  others  of  less  importance  ;  but  the 
tables  for  1880  include  every  establishment  of 
mechanical  or  manufacturing  industry  which 
was  returned  at  the  Tenth  census  as  having 
had  during  that  census  year  a  product  of  five 
hundred  dollars  or  more  in  value. 

In  all  comparisons  between  values  reported 
in  1870  and  in  1880,  it  should  be  recollected 
that  the  values  of  the  former  year  were  ex- 
pressed in  a  currency  which  was  at  a  great 
discount  in  gold.  For  purposes  of  compar- 
ison the  values  of  1870  should  be  reduced  one- 
fifth. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


65 


SELECTED    STATISTICS    OF    MANUFACTURE. 

Establishments.         Capital.       Employees. 

1870 427    $3,561,980     2714 

1880 355     2,658,188    2205 

The  introduction  of  machinery  will  explain 
the  decrease  in  the  number  of  establishments 
and  employees  in  1880. 

Wages.  Material.  Products. 

1870 $928,398  $2,927,615  $5,028,391 

1880 565-335       2,208,225     3>597>5I2 

In  1870  there  were  twenty-eight  steam  en- 
gines and  two  hundred  and  fourteen  water 
wheels  in  Washington  county. 

Of  the  four  hundred  and  thirty-seven  estab- 
lishments mentioned  there  were  twenty-six 
cheese  and  butter  factories,  seven  foundry  and 
machine  shops,  twenty-eight  flouring  and 
grist  mills,  four  tanneries,  three  lime  works, 
eleven  carriage  and  wagon  factories  or  shops, 
one  hosiery  mill,  eight  woolen  goods  factories, 
four  marble  and  stone  works,  one  malt  liquor 
manufactory,  one  iron  and  steel  mill,  thirty- 
one  sawed  lumber  plants,  one  slate  and  marble 
mantel  works,  and  nine  paper  mills. 

AGRICULTURAL  STATISTICS. 

CEREAL    PRODUCTIONS,     1870    AND    l88o. 
Cereals.  Busbs.  1870*.        Bushs.  1880. 

Wheat 24,091  16,809 

Corn 384.7°^  537>o6o 

Oats 761,489  889,834 

Barley 6,021  4j4:4 

Buckwheat 5X>479  52,660 

Rye 105,932  100,981 

There  were  four  thousand  two  hundred  and 
seventeen  farms  with  an  average  size  of  one 
hundred  and  sixteen  acres  in  1880. 

LIVE    STOCK,    1870   AND     1 880. 

Nn.  1S70.  No.  1880. 

Horses 10,222  11,360 

Milch  Cows 18,352  21,762 

Oxen 554  307 

Sheep 102,045  64,606 

Swine 9j3°i  17,908 

5 


Other  cattle,  in  1880,  in  addition  to  milch 
cows  and  oxen,  were  reported  at  thirteen 
thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-two.  In 
1880  the  spring  clip  of  wool  was  given  at  three 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  eleven  pounds. 

POTATOES   AND   DAIRY  PRODUCTS,   1870AND   1880. 
1870.  1880. 

Bus.  Potatoes 2,141,464         2,216,648 

Lbs.    Butter 1,606,457  1,793,243 

Lbs.    Cheese 225,002  104,914 

In  1879  there  were  one  hundred  thousand 
four  hundred  and  forty-two  tons  of  hay  cut  ; 
fifty-nine  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty- 
seven  pounds  of  honey,  and  one  thousand 
one  hundred  and  forty-two  pounds  of  wax 
taken  ;  and  five  thousand  twenty-five  bushels 
of  beans  harvested.  Orchard  products  were 
worth  eighty  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty- 
five  dollars,  and  market  garden  products  nine 
thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty-three  dollars, 
in  that  year,  while  there  were  one  hundred 
and  thirty-six  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty- 
seven  poultry  fowls  in  the  county,  whose  pro- 
duct of  eggs  was  five  hundred  and  twenty-five 
thousand  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  dozen. 

MINING  STATISTICS. 

SELECTED    STATISTICS    OF    MINIM;. 
Ores.  Tons  in  1880. 

Magnetite  iron  ore  . 18,892 

Quartz  and  feldspar !,907 

There  were  two  mines  in  which  two  hun- 
hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars  capital  was  invested,  and  ninety-two 
hands  employed.  Twenty-six  thousand  dol- 
lars yearly  wages  was  paid,  and  the  value  of 
the  output  was  forty-seven  thousand  two  hun- 
dred dollars.  The  maximum  yearly  capacity 
of  these  mines  was  forty-four  thousand  eight 
hundred  tons. 

There  were  four  quartz  and  feldspar  mines 
in  which  fifty-two  thousand  dollars  capital  was 
invested,  and  seventeen  hands  employed.  The 
wages  paid  was  three  thousand  three  hundred 
and  fifty-two  dollars,  and  the  value  of  the  out- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


put  was  seven  thousand   eight   hundred    and 
twelve  dollars. 

STATISTICS    OF    TRADE    AND    TRANSPORTATION. 

In  1880  New  York  had  seven  canals,  whose 
aggregate  length  was  six  hundred  and  seven 
miles,  with  four  hundred  and  eleven  miles  of 
slackwater,  that  were  built  between  181 7  and 
1862,  at  a  cost  of  nearly  sixty-nine  million 
dollars.  Those  canals  were  :  Erie,  Oswego, 
Cayuga  and  Seneca,  Champlain,  Black  River, 
Oneida  River,  and  Delaware  and  Hudson. 

The  fou/th  named  canal,  the  Champlain 
canal,  with  its  feeder  and  dam,  was  built  be- 
tween 1817  and  1837,  at  a  cost  of  two  million 
three  hundred  and  seventy  -  eight  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  ten  dollars.  It  runs  from 
Whitehall  to  Waterford,  is  eighty-one  miles 
in  length,  and  has  a  width  of  fifty-eight  feet 
at  the  surface  and  forty-four  feet  at  the  bot- 
tom, being  six  feet  in  depth.  It  has  thirty- 
three  locks,  one  hundred  and  ten  feet  long 
and  eighteen  feet  wide,  with  a  rise  and  fall  of 
one  hundred  and  seventy-nine  and  one-half 
feet.  In  1880  its  freight  traffic  was  one  mil- 
lion two  hundred  thousand  five  hundred  and 
three  tons  ;  gross  income,  fifty-one  thousand 
two  hundred  and  sixty-seven  dollars  ;  and  ex- 
penditures, one  hundred  and  thirty-six  thous- 
and five  hundred  and  twenty  dollars. 

Of  the  railways  of  the  county  we  can  se- 
cure no  statistics  in  1880,  beyond  the  Green- 
wich and  Johnson  road,  whose  length  was  fif 
teen  miles  and  its  transportation  expenses 
twenty-eight  thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  and  fifty-nine  cents.  It  employed 
thirty-five  persons,  and  carried  ten  thousand 
six  hundred  and  twenty-two  passengers  and 
nine  thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirty-nine 
tons  of  freight  in  1879. 

VALUATION,    TAXATION,    AND    PUBLIC 
INDEBTEDNESS. 

Ig70.  1880. 

Real  estate 815,866,649 

Personal  property 3,091,234 

State  tax $65,791  57,577 


1870.  1880. 

County  tax $45,347    $         50,194 

Local  and  school  taxes,  46,483  107,771 

County  debt 63,000  23>525 

Local  debt 67,800  12,944 

Total  wealth 18,957,883 

Total  taxes 157,621  215,542 

Total  debt 130,800  36,469 

In  1880  instead  of  count}'  and  local  debt 
the  headings  in  the  census  were  bonded  and 
floating  debt,  and  with  net  debt  for  total  debt. 
The  valuation  given  is  the  assessed  valuation. 


CHAPTER    XVII 


AGRICULTURAL  AND  MEDICAL  SOCIETIES 
—  THE  EARLY  PRESS  —  CHURCHES  — 
SCHOOLS  —  EARS.Y  BANKS  —  SECRET 
SOCIETIES. 

AGRICULTURAL    SOCIETIES. 

It  is  an  encouraging  fact  that  the  ratio  of 
increase  of  the  principal  agricultural  products 
of  Washington  county  has  more  than  kept 
pace  with  its  increase  of  population,  while 
every  indication  warrants  an  abundant  supply 
for  all  future  contingencies.  It  is  also  a  mat- 
ter of  gratification  that  the  enterprising  farm- 
ers of  the  county  have  been  fully  in  sympathy 
with  the  progressive  agricultural  spirit  of  the 
age  for  over  three-quarters  of  a  century. 

The  people  recognizing  the  value  of  an 
agricultural  society  as  early  as  December  2, 
1 81 8,  met  at  the  Sandy  Hill  court  house  for 
the  purpose  of  considering  how  the  interests 
of  agriculture  could  be  best  promoted.  Hon. 
Asa  Fitch  was  chairman,  and  Isaac  Bishop 
secretary  of  that  meeting,  which  resolved  to 
organize  a  county  agricultural  society,  and 
then  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  a  con- 
stitution and  by-laws.  This  committee  con- 
sisted of  Hon.  Asa  Fitch,  Isaac  Bishop,  Gar- 
rett Wendell,  Zebulon  R.  Shipherd,  David 
Russell,  and  Roswell  Weston. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  BXSTOMY 


(57 


An  adjourned  meeting  was  held  at  Argyle, 
in  the  house  of  Joseph  Rouse,  on  February 
ii,  1819.  There  the  meeting  gave  organized 
form  to  the  effort,  and  the  first  Washington 
county  agricultural  society  came  into  exist- 
ence then  and  there,  with  a  membership  of 
fort}'.  Hon.  Asa  Fitch  was  elected  president, 
and  a  series  of  meetings  were  held  at  differ- 
ent places  in  September. 

The  first  "Farmers'  Holiday"  or  county 
fair  was  held  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  Oc- 
tober, 1822,  at  Major  Andrew  Freeman's 
hotel,  at  Salem.  In  1825  the  fair  was  held 
at  Greenwich,  and  in  1826  at  Argyle,  where 
the  premiums  offered  only  amounted  to  two 
hundred  and  eighty-three  dollars.  The  badge 
of  membership  was  a  spear  of  wheat  and  a 
ribbon. 

Under  the  general  apathy  concerning  agri- 
cultural matters  that  prevailed  in  the  State 
about  1826,  the  society  went  down,  and  its 
successor  did  not  appear  until  fifteen  years 
later. 

On  August  4,  1 84 1,  the  second  Washington 
count}-  agricultural  society  was  organized  at 
Argyle,  with  Henry  Holmes  as  president.  Its 
first  fair  was  held  at  Salem,  in  1842,  and  at 
the  next  fair  at  Argyle  two  days  were  given 
to  the  exhibition.  From  1844  to  1861  the 
fairs  were  held  as  follows  :  Salem,  1845.  1858; 
Cambridge,  1846,  1855,  i860  ;  Greenwich, 
1847,  1852,  1856  ;  Argyle,  1848,  1S50  ;  White- 
hall, 1849;  South  Hartford,  1851  :  Granville, 
1853;  North  White  Creek,  1854;  Hartford, 
1857  ;  Fort  Ann,  1859.  In  1861  and  in  1862 
the  excitement  of  the  war  prevented  the  hold- 
ing of  any  fair,  but  in  1863,  Salem  agreed  to 
erect  the  buildings  and  furnish  the  grounds 
for  a  fair,  if  the  society  would  exhibit  at  that 
place  yearly  until  1872.  This  proposition 
was  accepted,  and  during  that  time,  on  March 
25,  1865,  the  society  was  incorporated  under 
the  law  of  1855,  as  "The  Washington  County 
Agricultural  Society."  The  fair  was  also  in- 
creased to  four  days,  and  in  1867  Horace 
Greeley  delivered  the  address.      In  1872  Fort 


Edward  and  Sandy  Hill  agreed  to  furnish 
twenty-five  acres  in  their  vicinity  and  two 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars  if  the  society 
would  hold  their  fairs  there  until  1882.  This 
proposition  was  accepted,  and  the  county 
fairs  have  been  held  there  regularly  until  the 
present  time;  and  have  grown  in  importance, 
both  in  the  quality  of  their  exhibitions  of 
blooded  cattle,  horses,  sheep,  swine,  etc.,  and 
in  the  number  of  attendance  of  the  people, 
second  only  to  the  State  Agricultural  society. 
In  connection  with  the  County  Agricultural 
society,  two  other  agricultural  associations 
were  formed.  The  Stock  Breeders'  associa- 
tion, February  20,  1816,  and  the  Northern 
New  York  Poultry  association,  organized 
February  26,  1878,  with  headquarters  at  Sandy 
Hill. 

THE    WASHINGTON    COUNTY  MEDICAL    SOCIETY. 

The  pioneer  physician  of  the  county  was 
Rev.  Thomas  Clark,  M.  D.,  who  came  to 
Salem  in  1765,  when  the  oldest  settlements 
had  not  been  made  more  than  four  years.  He 
was  the  only  physician  in  the  county  for  eight 
years,  and  then  Gen.  John  Williams,  M.  D., 
came  to  Salem.  Clark  and  Williams  were  na- 
tives of  England,  and  attended  to  all  the  home 
practice  of  the  county  until  1780.  when  Dr. 
Peletiah  Fitch  arrived  at  Salem  from  Vermont, 
although  a  native  of  Connecticut.  The  first 
native  and  the  fourth  physician  of  the  county 
was  Dr.  Joseph  Tomb,  of  Salem,  who  read 
with  General  Williams.  Among  the  prominent 
physicians  succeeding  them  were:  Zina  Hitch- 
cock, M.  D.,  of  Connecticut,  who  settled  at 
Sandy  Hill  about  1783.  Hon.  Asa  Fitch,  M.D., 
son  of  Dr.  Peletiah  Fitch,  commenced  practice 
at  Salem  in  1795  ;  the  same  year,  Dr.  Andrew 
Proudfit,  a  student  of  Benjamin  Rush,  and  a 
native  of  Pennsylvania,  became  a  resident  at 
Sandy  Hill.  Jonathan  Dorr,  M.  D.,  of  Lyme, 
Connecticut,  and  Hon.  James  Stevenson,  M. 
D..  of  Kilsyth,  Scotland,  read  medicine  at 
Salem,  and  entered  upon  practice  about  1797. 
Cornelius  Holmes,  M.  D.,  of  Plymouth,  Mas- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


sachusetts,  in  1805,  was  one  of  the  first  physi- 
cians of  the  present  century  and  the  last  in  the 
county,  ere  we  come  to  the  record  of  a  county 
medical  society  with  the  year  1806,  although 
a  medical  organization  is  said  to  have  had  an 
earlier  existence  than  the  year  given. 

The  Medical  Society  of  the  county  of  Wash- 
ington held  its  first  meeting  at  the  Sandy  Hill 
court  house,  July  1,  1806.  Dr.  Andrew  Proud- 
fit  was  president  of  the  society  during  1806, 
and  the  charter  members  were  twenty-three 
in  number,  as  follows :  Drs.  Zina  Hitchcock, 
Philip  Smith,  Andrew  Proudfit,  Isaac  Sar- 
gent, Leonard  Gibbs,  Asa  Stover,  Cyrus  Bald- 
win, William  Livingston,  Asa  Fitch,  Abram 
Allen,  James  Green,  Ephraim  Allen,  Jonathan 
Mosher,  John  McKinney,  Robert  Cook,  Daniel 
Hervey,  Thomas  Patterson,  Liberty  Branch, 
Israel  P.  Baldwin,  Artemus  Robbins,  Asahel 
Morris,  PenfieldGoodell  and  Cornelius  Holmes. 

The  Society  soon  took  high  rank. and  has  done 
much  since  toward  establishing  the  medical 
profession  of  the  State  upon  an  honorable  and 
firm  foundation. 

THE    EARLY    PRESS. 

The  newspaper  of  to-day,  with  its  command- 
ing position  and  wide  influence,  has  grown 
from  very  small  and  very  humble  beginnings. 

The  press  of  Washington  county  is  repre- 
sentative of  the  best  interests  of  the  people  in 
every  department  of  thought  and  field  of  ac- 
tivity, and  aids  largely  in  giving  standing  and 
moral  and  religious  character  to  the  county. 

It  is  interesting  as  well  as  instructive  to  trace 
the  early  beginnings  and  slow  growth  of  this 
press,  now  so  active  and  potent  for  the  progress 
of  the  county. 

The  pioneer  of  journalism  in  Washington 
county  was  George  Gerrish,  who  on  Wednes- 
day, June  18,  1794,  issued  the  initial  number 
of  The  Times  or  National  Courier.  It  was 
issued  at  Salem,  and  bore  the  motto:  ,L  May 
we  never  seek  applause  from  party  principles, 
but  always  desire  it  from  public  spirit."  This 
paper  was  printed   "three  doors  south  of  the 


court  house,"  at  12s.  per  annum,  and  its  his- 
tory is  summed  up  in  seven  months  of  a  pre- 
carious existence. 

The  second  paper  of  the  county  was  the 
Washington  Patrol,  to  which  fortune  was  no 
more  propitious  than  to  its  predecessor.  It  was 
published  at  Salem,  by  William  Wand,  and 
edited  by  Saint  John  Honeywood,  a  lawyer  of 
talent  and  education.  The  first  number  came 
out  on  May  27,  1796,  and  its  last  issue  was  at 
some  time  within  the  same  year.  Its  mottoes 
were  "  Impartial  and  Uninfluenced."  "All  is 
well."  "La  unit  est  passee,"  and  "  Watch  for 
the  Republic." 

Following  the.  Patrol  at  Salem  came  the 
Northern  Ceniinel,  the  first  permanent  pa- 
per of  the  county.  Its  first  issue  was  on  Mon- 
day, January  1,  1798,  and  its  publisher  and 
editor,  Henry  Dodd,  was  a  man  of  remark- 
able business  ability.  In  May,  1803,  the 
Ceniinel  ceased,  but  was  succeeded  by  the 
Northern  Post, under  the  management  of  Henry 
Dodd  and  David  Rumsey.  James  Stevenson, 
jr.,  and  Edward  and  Henry  W.  Dodd,  sons  of 
Henry  Dodd,  were  afterward  associated  with 
the  paper  that  subsequently  changed  its  name 
to  that  of  Washington  County  Post.  The  Dodds 
were  able  editors  and  their  connection  with 
the  paper  ceased  January  7,  1835,  when  Wil- 
liam A.  Wells  bought  it  and  consolidated  it 
with  the  Whitehall  North  Star,  under  the  name 
of  County  Post  and  North  Star.  On  May  17, 
1837,  the  paper  passed  into  the  hands  of 
Thomas  G.  Wait,  who  changed  its  name  back 
to  that  of  Tlie  Washington  County  Post,  and  in 
1838  sold  it  to  James  Gibson,  who  made  it 
intensely  whig  through  the  presidential  cam- 
paign of  1840.  Its  successive  proprietors 
were:  William  B.  Harkness,  1841;  F.  B. 
Graham,  1846;  and  Graham  &  Martin,  1847- 
48.  The  Post  was  strongly  federal  and  whig 
in  politics,  and  a  year  after  its  death,  in  1848, 
the  press  and  type  were  sold  to  Robert  G. 
Young,  who  gave  another  paper  to  the  public 
by  the  name  of  The  Washington  County  Post, 
at  Cambridge,  where  it  has  been  successively 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  IIISTOR  Y 


true  american  and  republican  in  politics, 
under  the  management  of  Mr.  Young,  Edward 
Gardner,  R.  K.  Crocker,  James  K.  Smart,  and 
others. 

The  Washington  Register  was  the  second 
permanent  paper  in  the  county,  and  made  its 
appearance  in  October,  1803,  at  Salem,  as  the 
advocate  of  democratic  principles,  and  was 
established  by  Hon.  Edward  Savage  and  oth- 
ers to  counteract  the  influence  of  the  federal 
doctrines  put  forth  by  the  Post.  It  was  pub- 
lished from  1803  to  1830,  arid  its  press  and 
type  were  then  used  to  print  the  Anti-Masonic 
Champion,  of  Greenwich,  which  existed  but  a 
short  time.  The  editors  of  the  Register  were: 
John  M.  Looker,  John  P.  Reynolds,  Timothy 
Hoskin,  James  B.  Gibson,  Beriah  Stiles,  John 
P.  Reynolds,  and  Alexander  Robertson. 

The  Post  and  Register  for  twenty  years  con- 
stituted the  press  of  the  county,  although  the 
Cambridge  Gazette  was  started  but  it  had  only 
an  ephemeral  existence. 

In  1 8 19  the  Sandy  Hill  Times  was  issued  by 
Adonijah  Emmons,  in  the  interests  of  the 
Federal  party.  Five  years  later  it  passed  into 
the  hands  of  James  Wright,  who  called  it 
The  Political  Herald,  and  in  1S25  the  name 
was  changed  to  that  of  Sandy  Hill  Times,  and 
its  politics  became  democratic.  It  remained 
democratic  until  1865,  when  its  political  com- 
plexion became  republican. 

The  Sandy  Hill  Sun  was  started  in  1826  by 
Mr.  Emmons,  but  only  run  a  short  time. 

For  six  years  after  the  start  of  the  Sun  there 
were  no  new  papers  in  the  county,  and  then  in 
1832  there  were  three  new  ventures  in  journ- 
alism at  Sandy  Hill.  First  came  the  Temper- 
ance Advocate,  next  the  Independent  Politician, 
a  Henry  Clay  paper,  by  C.  J.  Haynes  and  S. 
P.  Hines  :  and  third,  the  Free  Press,  an  anti- 
masonic  sheet,  by  A.  Emmons.  Short  life 
was  the  fate  of  the  Politician  and  Press,  but 
the  Advocate  was  destined  to  some  length  of 
years,  and  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  being 
the  first  total  abstinence  paper  published   in 

the   United  States.      S.    P.    Hines  edited  the 
5« 


Advocate  at  Sandy  Hill  for  some  time,  and 
then  removed  it  to  New  York  city,  where  he 
published  it  under  the  patronage  of  the  State 
Temperance  society. 

From  1832  to  1855  we  have  record  of  the 
following  papers  in  Washington  county:  The 
Whitehall  Republican,  by  J.  K.  Averell,  1833; 
Whitehall  Chronicle,  byH.  T.  Blanchard,  June 
18,  1840;  TheWashingtonian,  of  Salem, W.  B. 
Harkness  and  John  W.  Curtis,  1842;  White- 
hallDemocrat ',  1845;  Whitehall  Telegraph,  1847; 
Washington  Telegraph  of  Granville,  Zebina 
Ellis,  1847,  afterward  Granville  Telegraph  and 
Granville  Times  ;  The  Whitehaller,  W.  S. 
Southmaid,  1849  ;  The  Granville  Register, 
1849;  The  Salem  Press,W.  B.  Harkness,  1850  ; 
The  Granville  News,  1851  ;  The  Public  Ledger, 
of  Fort  Edward,  T.  A.  Blanchard,  1854; 
American  Sentinel  { afterward  Whitehall  Times), 
John  E.  Watkins,  June,  1855. 

During  this  period  Greenwich  had  eleven 
sheets,  all  of  which  went  down  prior  to  1850, 
except  the  People's  Journal,  founded  in  1842 
by  John  W.  Curtis.  The  ten  defunct  papers 
between  1832  and  1850  were  :  The  Banner, 
The  Union  Village  Courant,  The  Union  Village 
Democrat,  The  Democratic  Champion,  The  Wash 
ington  County  Sentinel,  The  Union  Village  Jour- 
nal, The  Champion,  The  Eagle,  The  Union  Vil- 
lage Eagle,  and  the  Union  Village  Democratic 
Standard. 

CHURCHES. 

The  pioneer  settlement  but  scarcely  pre- 
ceded the  pioneer  church  and  school  house  in 
the  county. 

The  United  Presbyterian  church  is  the  old- 
est religious  denomination  of  Washington 
county,  being  planted  at  Salem  in  1766  by 
Rev.  Thomas  Clark  and  his  colony  from  Bali- 
bay,  Ireland,  and  in  1875  numbered  thirteen 
churches  and  two  thousand  five  hundred  and 
twenty-nine  members. 

The  Presbyterian  church  is  second  in  order 
of  age,  and  was  founded  but  two  years  later, 
at  Salem,  by  the  Massachusetts  colony,  whose 
church    faith   would   have  been   supposed   to 


7U 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


have  run  in  Congregational  grooves.  In  1875 
there  were  nine  Presbyterian  churches  and 
eight  hundred  and  ninety-three  members. 

The  third  place  in  order  of  age  of  the  relig- 
ious denominations  is  contested  for  by  the 
Baptist  and  Methodist  Episcopal  churches. 

The  Baptists  claim  the  foundation  of  Botts- 
kill  church  of  Greenwich,  as  early  as  1770, 
while  some  hold  for  1767,  and  none  later  "than 
1775.  The  Baptists,  in  1875,  had  twenty-one 
churches  and  two  thousand  two  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  members. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  dates  its 
existence  to  the  year  1770,  when  Philip  Ems- 
bury,  the  founder  of  Methodism  in  the  new 
world,  organized  Ash  Grove,  the  second  Meth- 
odist church  in  America.  The  Methodists,  in 
1875,  had  twenty-three  churches  and  two 
thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty-five  mem- 
bers. 

The  Moravian  mission  and  church  of  Salem 
were  established,  and  a  century  later  went  out 
of  existence  as  a  religious  body. 

The  Friends, or  Quakers,  established  Easton 
meeting  or  church  in  1775,  and  one  hundred 
years  later  numbered  three  churches,  or  meet- 
ings, with  one  hundred  members. 

The  Revolutionary  struggle  stopped  settle- 
ment and  church  growth,  and  the  first  new 
church^rafter  its  close,  to  be  established  in  the 
county  seems  to  have  been  the  Congregation- 
alist.  A  society  of  this  church  was  organized 
in  Granville  in  1782.  The  denomination  in 
1875  numbered  five  churches  and  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty-one  members. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  church  was  or- 
ganized, as  early  as  1790  in  Kingsbury,  where 
the  Hitchcock  family  was  prominent  among 
its  members.  In  1875  there  were  six  Episco- 
pal churches  and  five  hundred  and  seventy- 
seven  members. 

We  have  record  of  the  Reformed  church, 
of  Easton,  as  being  organized  in  1807.  This 
denomination,  in  1875,  had  four  churches, 
with  a  membership  of  two  hundred  and  four- 
teen. 


The  Free  Will  Baptists  were  organized  in 
1817  in  Putnam. 

The  next  denomination  of  which  we  have 
trace  as  being  organized  in  the  county  is  the 
Catholic.  Christ,  now  Saint  Mary's,  Catholic 
church,  of  Sandy  Hill,  was  formed  in  1830. 
The  Catholic  churches  of  the  county  in  1875 
numbered  ten,  with  a  membership  of  four 
thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty. 

The  Second  Adventist  church  was  organized 
in  Hebron  in  1849,  and  a  quarter  of  a  century 
later  numbered  three  congregations  and  two 
hundred  and  five  members. 

Three  denominations  that  went  down  in 
the  county  were  :  the  Reformed  Protestant 
Dutch  church,  organized  in  Argyle  in  1809  ; 
the  Argyle  Reformed  Presbyterian  church, 
formed  in  1828  ;  and  the  West  Fort  Ann 
Protestant  Episcopal  church,  organized  in 
1832. 

In  the  census  of  1875  no  mention  is  made 
of  the  existence  of  the  Universalists,  whose 
First  Society  of  Hartford  was  formed  in  1834; 
or  the  Wesleyan  Methodists,  whose  Granville 
church  was  organized  in  1843. 

SCHOOLS. 

With  the  planting  of  the  New  Perth  colony 
of  Dr.  Clark  at  Salem,  in  1767,  the  school 
house  was  built  by  the  side  of  the  church, 
and  other  log  school  houses  were  built  in  the 
county  prior  to  the  Revolutionary  war.  After 
that  struggle  private  schools  were  maintained 
until  State  legislation  provided  for  a  public 
school  system,  under  whose  continued  im- 
provements the  district  and  Union  graded 
schools  of  the  county  have  made  good  pro- 
gress. 

Higher  education  was  introduced  into  the 
county  at  an  early  day.  Washington  academy 
was  commenced  in  1780,  as  a  classical  school, 
and  in  1791  became  the  fourth  incorporated 
academy  in  the  State.  Fairville  academy,  at 
North  Granville,  was  opened  in  1807,  and 
there  the  celebrated  Salem  Town  did  normal 
school  work  in  training  teachers   that   made 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


71 


his  name  famous  in  this  and  adjoining  coun- 
ties. Other  academies  were  soon  established 
in  other  places  and  higher  education  has  been 
well  provided  for  ever  since  in  numerous 
academies,  seminaries,  and  collegiate  insti- 
tutes. 

EARLY    BANKS. 

Whitehall  was  the  earliest  center  of  bank- 
ing operations  in  the  county.  The  old  Na- 
tional bank  of  Whitehall  was  chartered  as 
the  bank  of  Whitehall  in  18-29.  The  Com- 
mercial bank  of  Whitehall  came  into  exist- 
ence August  15,  1849.  The  National  bank 
of  Fort  Edward  was  organized  in  1851,  and 
the  bank  of  Salem  in  1853.  The  Cambridge 
Valley  bank  was  chartered  in  1855,  and  the 
Farmers'  bank  of  Washington  county  came 
into  existence  at  Fort  Edward  in  1856,  while 
Sandy  Hill,  the  western  county  seat,  did  not 
have  banking  privileges  until  as  late  as  1864, 
when  the  First  National,  of  that  place,  was 
organized. 

SECRET    SOCIETIES. 

Of  all  secret  societies  in  the  county  the 
Free  Masons  are  the  oldest.  Nearly  all  the 
prominent  American  officers  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  from  Washington  down,  were 
Free  Masons,  and  floating  bodies  called 
"  military  lodges"  were  often  held  within  the 
different  regiments  stationed  in  the  county. 
But  permanent  Free  Masonry  dates  its  exist- 
ence in  Washington  county  to  Fort  Edward, 
where  in  July,  1785,  Washington  Lodge,  No. 
1 1 ,  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  was  instituted, 
with  Colonel  Adiel  Sherwood  as  master. 

The  following  thirteen  lodges  were  instituted 
in  the  county  from  1785  to  1813  : 

No.  Name.  Place.  Year. 

11....  Washington  ....  Fort  Edward   .  .  .  1 785 

Aurora Hampton 1793 

28. .  .  \  Livingston Kingsbury :793 

32  . .  .    Rural Cambridge    1793 

51..  . .  North  Star Salem 1 796 

Liberty Granville 1 796 

Herschel Hartford 1800 


No.  Name.  Place.  Year. 

Farmers' Easton 1802 

Rising  Sun Greenwich 1805 

Brothers' Fort  Ann 1806 

96 ...  .  Social  Hall Whitehall 1806 

Hebron Hebron 1813 

Argyle Argyle. 181 3 

All  of  these  lodges  went  down  in  the  anti- 
masonic  war  of  1828-32.  For  twenty  years 
every  lodge  fire  was  out,  and  during  the  period 
from  1844  to  1866  but  eight  of  the  given 
lodges  were  revived,  and  nearly  all  under  dif- 
ferent names,  and  but  two  new  lodges  insti- 
tuted. Phoenix,  No.  96,  came  first  at  White- 
hall, followed  by  Granville,  No.  55,  in  1851  ; 
Mount  Hope,  No.  260,  Fort  Ann,  1851  ; 
Fort  Edward.  No.  267,  1852;  Sandy  Hill, 
No.  372,  1855  ;  Salem,  No.  391,  1855  ;  Cam- 
bridge Valley,  No.  481,  Cambridge,  i860; 
Herschel,  No.  508,  Hartford,  1861  ;  Argyle, 
No.  567,  1865  ;  and  Ashlar,  No.  584,  Green- 
wich, 1866. 

Previous  to  the  anti-masonic  war  Royal 
Arch  chapters  and  Mark  lodges  had  been  es- 
tablished as  follows  :  De  La  Fayette  Chapter, 
No.  9,  at  Fort  Edward,  in  1801  ;  Federal, 
No.  10,  Cambridge.  1801  ;  Hartford  Mark 
Lodge,  No.  45,  Hartford,  1808;  Social  Friends 
Mark  Lodge,  No.  62,  Whitehall,  1810,  suc- 
ceeded by  Williams  Chapter,  No.  37,  in  1829; 
Washington,  No.  49,  Easton,  1816,  removed 
to  Greenwich,  1819  ;  and  Fort  Ann  Mark 
Lodge,  No.  83,  from  1819  to  1823. 

No  chapters  were  revived  until  1850,  but  in 
the  sixteen  years  following  four  chapters  were 
opened  as  follows  :  Champlain  Chapter,  No. 
25,  at  Whitehall,  in  1850  ;  Fort  Edward,  No. 
171,  in  i860;  Sandy  Hill,  No.  189,  1866; 
and  Hartford,  No.  192,  1866. 

Of  the  other  secret  and  beneficial  societies 
existing  in  the  county  but  little  definite  infor- 
mation could  be  secured. 

The  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows 
seem  to  have  had  an  existence  in  Washington 
county  as  early  as  1844,  at  Whitehall.  Hart- 
ford and  Greenwich.      Whitehall   Lodge,  No. 


72 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


5,  was  instituted  July  ig,  1844,  by  the  same 
name  but  bearing  54  as  its  number  under  a 
former  grand  lodge  jurisdiction.  North  Hart- 
ford Lodge  was  instituted  February  12,  i<s44, 
but  soon  went  down.  Union  Village  Lodge, 
No.  122,  was  organized  August  15,  1844,  at 
Greenwich.  In  1846  Arcturus  Lodge,  No.  55, 
was  organized  at  Sandy  Hill,  and  Salem,  No. 
45,  at  Salem.  The  last  of  the  early  Odd  Fel- 
low lodges  of  which  we  find  account  was  Jane 
McCrea  Lodge,  No.  267,  instituted  at  Fort 
Edward,  August  10,  1848.  The  earliest  en- 
campment was  Horicon,  No.  29,  established 
at  Whitehall  about  1846.  It  became  extinct  in 
later  years,  and  was  succeeded  by  Whitehall 
Encampment,  No.  69, organized  April  29,1872. 
The  Knights  of  Pythias  organized  North 
Star  Lodge,  of  their  order,  at  Whitehall,  on 
December  27,  1871. 

Seven  years  later  the  Ancient  Order  of 
United  Workmen  had  an  organization  at 
Fort   Edward. 

Temperance  societies  were  numerous  in 
the  count}'  in  the  early  years  of  temperance 
organization.  Champlain  Division,  No.  267, 
Sons  of  Temperance,  was  organized  in  1847, 
at  Whitehall,  and  a  Tent  of  Rechabites 
formed  there  at  the  same  time.  Temperance 
organizations  were  formed  at  other  places, 
but  have  all  become  extinct.  The  Good 
Templars  organized  at  several  places  in  later 
years,  but  most  of  their  organizations  met 
with  the  fate  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 
COUNTY  POLITICAL  AND  CIVIL  LISTS. 

POLITICAL    LIST. 

Under  this  heading  will  be  given  the  State 
senators  and  members  of  assembly. 

STATE    SENATORS 1777- 

1777.  —  William  Duer. 

1777-79. — JohnWilliams  ;  also  served  1783- 
1795- 


1777-85. —  Alex.  Webster. 
1778-82.  —  Ebenezer    Russell;    also     1784- 
88,  1795-1803. 

1779.  —  Elishama  Tozer. 

1786-90. —  David  Hopkins;   also  1809-13. 

1788-02. — Edward  Savage;  also  1801-07. 

1793-1803.  —  Zina  Hitchcock. 

1796-1802. — Ebenezer  Clark. 

1796-98.  —  James  Savage. 

1804-08.  —  Stephen  Thorn  ;  also  1823-26. 

1807-11. — John  McLean;   also  1836-37. 

1812-15.  —  Gerritt  Wendell. 

Allen  Hascall. 

1817-21.  —  Roger  Skinner. 
1821. —  David  Shipherd. 
1823-25. — Melanchthon  Wheeler. 
1825-29.  —  John  Crary. 
1829-33.  —  John  McLean,  jr. 
1S34-36. —  Isaac  W.  Bishop. 
1838-42. —  Martin  Lee. 
1844-48.— Orville  Clark. 
1852-54.  —  Daniel  S.  Wright. 
1856.  —  Justin  A.  Smith. 

— Ralph   Richards. 

— James  Gibson. 

—  Isa^c  V.  Baker,  jr. 

—  Charles  Hughes. 

—  A.  C.  Comstock. 

—  M.  F.  Collins. 

—  J.  H.  Derby. 


1862 
1866 
1871 
1878 
1884 


The  unusual  number  of  State  senators  from 
1777  to  1791  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
the  Vermont  territory  sent  no  senator  to  Albany 
for  their  part  of  the  senatorial  district,  includ- 
ing Washington  and  a  part  of  that  State,  and 
the  whole  number  was  elected  in  Washington 
county. 

MEMBERS   OF    ASSEMBLV,    1 777. 

1777-78. —  John  Barnes,  Ebenezer  Clark, 
John  Rowan,  Ebenezer  Russell. 

1778-79. —  Elishama  Tozer,  Albert  Baker 
(served  to  1781),  and  David  Hopkins,  who 
served  until  1786. 

1779-80. — John  Grover,  Noah  Payne. 

1780. —  Hamilton  McCollister,  served  until 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


73 


1785,  and  Matthew  McWhorter,  who  served 
until  1782. 

1781-82.  —  John  Williams. 

1782-83. —  Benjamin  Baker,  Joseph  Mc- 
Cracken,  who  served  in  1786. 

1784-85.  —  Edward  Savage, Adiel  Sherwood. 

1785  86.  — Albert  Baker. 

1786.  —  Joseph  McCracken,  who  also  served 
in  1788  89. 

1 786  87.  —  Ichabod  Parker,  Peter  B. Tearse, 
who  served  until  1790. 

1787. —  Adam  Martin,  Edward  Savage,  who 
served  from  1795  to  1802. 

1788-89.— Alex.  Webster. 

1789-91.  —  John  Rowan,  Zina  Hitchcock, 
who  served  until  1794. 

1 79 1. —  Thomas  Converse,  Daniel  Curtice, 
who  served  until  1794. 

1792.  —  John  Conger. 

1792  93.  —  David  Hopkins,  served  1795-96. 

1794.  —  William  Whiteside,  Benj.  Colvin, 
Philip  Smith,  David  Thomas. 

1796.  —  Thomas  Smith,  served    1798. 

1796-97.  —  Timothy  Leonard,  A.  L.  Blanch- 
ard,  G.  G.  Lansing,  Andrew  White,  Daniel 
Mason,  served  1798. 

1898. —  Reuben  Pride,  MelanchtonWheeler. 

1798-99 — Charles  Kane,  Seth  Crocker, 
Philip  Smith,  David  Thomas. 

1800. —  Micajah  Pettit,  Isaac  Sargent,  Ben- 
jamin Colvin. 

1 800-1.  —  Gerrit  G.Lansing, Timothy  Leon- 
ard, William  McAuley. 

1802.  —  Micajah  Pettit. 

1802-3. — -Alex.  Cowen,  Jason  Kellogg, John 
McLean,  Isaac  Sargent. 

1803-4. — David  Austin,  John  McLean. 

1804. — Stephen  Thorn,  Dr.  John  McKinney. 

1804-5. —  Isaac  Harlow,  Jason  Kellogg, 
Solomon  Smith,  James  Sarbuck. 

1804-6. —  William  Livingston,  John  Mc- 
Lean. 

1806. —  Isaac  Sargent,  Nathaniel  Pitcher, 
Daniel  Shipherd. 

1807. —  Jason  Kellogg,  Peleg  Bragg,  John 
Gray. 


1807-9. —  James  Hill. 

1808. — Thomas  Cornell,  Lyman  Hall, Henry 
Matteson,  Gideon  Taft. 

1808-9.  —  Alex.  Livingston,  Reuben  Whal- 
lon. 

1808-10. —  Roger  Skinner. 

1S10.  —  John  Gale,  Win.  Livingston. 

181 1. —  John  Baker,  John  Richards,  Isaac 
Sargent,  Reuben  Whallon,  David  Woods. 

1812. —  Lyman  Hall,  James  Hill,  John  Kirk- 
land,  Alex.  Livingston. 

1812-13.  —  John  Beebe,  Jason  Kellogg, 
Francis  McLean,  M.  Wheeler. 

1S14. —  Paul  Dennis,  Samuel  Gordon,  John 
Savage,  Charles  Starbuck,  John  White. 

1814-15.  —  John  Richards,  Henry  Matteson, 
John  Gale,  Nath.  Pitcher,  Isaac  Sargent. 

1S16. —  Michael  Harris,  John  Reid,  David 
Russell,  Jas.  Stevenson,  Roswell  Weston. 

1816-17.  —  John  Gale,  Nath.  Pitcher,  David 
Woods. 

1816-18. —  Isaac  Sargent. 

1818.  —  Jason  Kellogg,  Alex.  Livingston, 
John  McLean,  jr. 

1819.  —  William  McFarland,  John  Gale, 
John  Doty,  Wm.  K.  Adams. 

1820. —  David  Austin,  Peleg  Bragg,  James 
Hill,  John  Kirtland. 

1820-21.  —  Wadsworth  Bell,  James  Mallory, 
John  Moss,  William  Richards,  John  Baker. 

1822.  —  Silas  D.  Kellogg,  James  Tefft. 

1823.  —  Timothy  Eddy,  John  King,  Martin 
Lee,  Jas.  McNaughton. 

1824.  —  John  Crary,  Silas  D.  Kellogg. 
1824-25.  —  David  Campbell,  Ezra  Smith. 

1825.  —  Lemuel  Hastings,  Samuel  Stevens. 

1826.  —  Hiram  Cole,  Jas.  Stevenson,  Israel 
Williams,  David  Woods. 

1827.  — John  McDonald,  P.  J.  H.  Myers, 
Samuel  Stevens. 

1828.  —  Jonathan  Mosher,  Henry  Thorn, 
Henry  Whiteside. 

1829.  —  John  McDonald,  Robert  McNiel, 
Richard  Sill. 

1830.  —  David  Russell,  Robert  Wilcox,  David 
Sill. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


1 83 1.  —  George  W.  Jermain,  Henry  Thorn, 
William  Townsend. 

1832. —  Isaac  W.  Bishop,  John  McDonald, 
James  Stevenson. 

1833.  —  Walter  Cornell,  Charles  Rogers, 
David  Russell. 

1834.  —  Charles  F.  Ingalls,  Melanchthon 
Wheeler,  James  Wright. 

1835.  —  Jonathan  K.  Horton,  George  Mc- 
Kie,  Allen  R.  Moore. 

1836. —  Aaron  Barker,  Alex.  Robertson, 
Stephen  L.  Viele. 

1837.  —  Joseph  W.  Richards,  Charles  Rob- 
erts. 

1838. —  Erastus  D.  Culver,  Leonard  Gibbs. 

1839.  —  Salmon  Axtell,  Jesse  S.  Leigh. 

1840.  —  John  H.  Boyd,  Anderson  Simpson. 

1841.  —  Erastus  D.  Culver,  Reuben  Skinner. 

1842.  —  James  McKie,  jr.,  Daniel  S.Wright. 

1843.  —  Anson  Bigelow,   James  W.  Porter. 

1844.  — John  Barker,  John  W.  Proudfit. 

1845.  —  James  Rice,  John  Stevenson. 

1846.  —  James  S.  Foster,  L.  S.  Viele. 
1847. — A.F.  Hitchcock,  Samuel  McDonald. 

1848.  —  Benjamin  Crocker,  Elisha  A.Martin. 

1849.  —  Leroy  Mowry,  Alex  Robertson. 
1850. — David  Sill,  Calvin  Pease. 

1851.  —  Thomas  C.  Whiteside,  James  Farr. 

1852.  —  Elisha  Billings,  David  Nelson. 
1853. —  Charles  R.  Engalls,  Samuel  S.  Bea- 

man. 

1854.  —  Ebenezer  McMurray,  George  W. 
Thorn. 

1855.  —  James  J.  Lowrie,  Justin  A.  Smith. 
1856. —  John  S.Crocker,  Henry  S.  Northup. 

1857.  —  Anson  Ingraham,  Henry  W.  Beck- 
with. 

1858.  —  Thad.  H.  Walker,  Ralph  Richards. 
1859. — =James  M.  Northup,  James  Savage. 
i860.  —  James  Savage,  Peletiah  Jackway. 
1861.  — Peter  Hill,  Nicholas  M.  Catlin. 
1862. —  George  H.  Taylor,  Philip  H.  Neher. 
1863. —  Asa  C.  Tefft,  Ervin  Hopkins,  jr. 
1864. —  R.  King  Crocker,   And.  G.  Meikle- 

john. 

1865. —  Sylvester  E.  Spoor. 


1865-66. —  Alex.  Barkley. 

1866.  —  James  C.  Rogers. 

1867. —  Thomas  Shiland,  Adolp.  F.  Hitch- 
cock. 

1868. —  David  Underwood,  Nath.  Dailey. 

1869. —  William  J.  Perry. 

1869-71.  Isaac  V.  Baker,  jr. 

1870-71. —  Thomas  J.  Stevenson. 

1872. —  George  W.  L.  Smith. 

1872   73. —  Edward  W.  Hollister. 

1873. —  Eleazer  Jones  died,  and  William  FI. 
Tefft  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

1874-75.  —  Alex.  B. Law, Emerson  E.Davis. 

1876. —  Henry  G.  Burleigh. 

—  Isaac  V.  Baker,  jr. 
77.  —  Townsend  J.  Potter. 

—  Abraham  Reynolds,  Geo.  L.  Terry. 

—  A.  Reynolds,  G.  L.  Terry. 

—  G.  L.  Terry,  Hiram  Sisson. 

—  Hiram  Sisson,  J.  E.  Goodman. 

—  Robt.  Armstrong,  jr.,   George  Nor- 


1S77 
1876 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 

thup. 
1SS3 

thup. 
i88| 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1888 
1889 
1890 
1891 
1892 
1893 


1773 
1777 
1778 
1800 
1810 
1823 
1825 

1833 
1836 


—  Robt.  Armstrong,  jr.,    George  Nor- 

—  D.  M.Westfall,  Charles  K.  Baker. 

—  George  Scott,  Charles  K.  Baker. 

—  D.  M.  Westfall,  J.  H.  Manville. 
-J.  Warren  Fort,  J.  H.  Manville. 

—  J.  Warren  Fort,  O.  W.  Sheldon. 

—  C.  W.  Larman,  W.  H.  Tefft. 

—  C.  W.  Larman,  J.  A.  Johnson. 

—  W.  D.  Stevenson,  J.  A.  Johnson. 

—  W.  D.  Stevenson,  William  Reed. 

—  W.  R.  Hobbie. 

CIVIL    LIST. 
FIRST    JUDGES,   COMMON    PLEAS. 

—  Philip  Schuyler. 

—  William  Duer. 

—  Ebenezer  Russell. 

—  Ebenezer  Clark. 

—  Anthony  I.  Blanchard. 

—  John  P.  Wendell. 

—  Roswell  Weston. 

—  John  Willard. 

—  John  McLean,  jr. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


COUNTY    JUDGES. 

1847. —  Martin  Lees. 
1852.  —  James  Gibson. 
1S56.  —  A.  Dallas  Wait. 
i860. —  Oscar  F.  Thompson. 
[864. —  Joseph  Potter. 
1872.  —  A.  Delias  Wait. 
1884.— R.  C.  Betts. 
1887.  —  J.  M.  Whitman. 
1888.—  T.  A.  Lillie. 

SPECIAL     COUNTY     JUDGES. 

1859. —  Oscar  F.  Thompson. 
i860. —  Henry  Gibson. 
1864.— Royal  C.  Betts. 
1871. —  Samuel  Thomas. 
1875.—  C.  L.  Allen,  jr. 

SURROGATES. 


I775-- 

—  Patrick  Smith. 

1778.- 

—  Ebenezer  Clark. 

1783- 

—  Edward  Savage. 

1786.- 

—  Melanchthon  Woolsey 

1787.- 

—  Edward  Savage. 

1808.- 

—  Isaac  Sargent. 

1810. 

—  Edward  Savage. 

1S11. 

—  Isaac  Sargent. 

1812. 

—  Nathaniel  Pitcher. 

1813. 

—  Edward  Savage. 

1816. 

—  Henry  C.  Martindale. 

1819. 

—  Calvin  Smith. 

1821. 

—  Leonard  Gibbs. 

1824. 

—  Samuel  Standish,  jr. 

1832. 

—  John  Willard. 

i*37- 

—  Alexander  Robertson. 

1 841. 

—  John  C.  Parker. 

>S45- 

—  Luther  Wait. 

[847. 

—  Joseph  Boies. 

1852. 

—  David  A.  Boies. 

1856. 

—  Marinus  Fairchild. 

i860. 

—  Urias  G.  Paris. 

1868. 

—  James  J.  Lowrie. 

1S72 

78. —  Lonson  Frazer. 

[880. 

—  I.  V.  Baker. 

1884. 

—  H.  D.  W.  C.  Hill. 

SPECIAL  SURROGATES. 

i857-  —  John   H.  Boyd. 
i860. —  Leonard  Wells. 
1866.— Daniel  M.  Westfall. 
1873-78. —  Leonard  Fletcher. 
1879. —  L.  Flether. 
1880.  —  J.  K.  Larmon. 
1882.—  C.  L.  McArthur. 
1888.—  A.  D.  Arnold. 
1889.— C.  G.  Davis. 

DISTRICT    ATTORNEYS. 

1 801. —  Anthony  L.  Blanchard,  who  served 
as  assistant  attorney  general  from  1796. 
1803.  —  John  Russell. 
1806.  —  John  Savage. 
181 1. —  Roger  Skinner. 
1812.  —  John  Savage. 
1813. —  David  Russell. 
1815. —  Jesse  L.  Billings. 
1818. —  John  Savage. 
1820.  —  Jesse  L.  Billings. 
1 82 1. —  Henry  C.  Martindale. 
1828. —  Leonard  Gibbs. 
1836. — Cornelius  L.  Allen. 
1843. —  Charles  F.  Ingalls. 
1847. —  Henry  B.  Northup. 
1851. —  Joseph  Potter. 
1857.— Archibald  L.  McDougall. 

1862.  —  Joseph  Potter. 

1863.  — A.  Dallas  Wait. 
1869.— Royal  C.  Betts. 
1875. —  Samuel  Thomas. 
1S78. —  Marinus  Fairchild. 
1881.— Edcar  Hill. 

SHERIFFS,    1772-1894. 
1772. —  Philip  P.  Lansingh. 


1774 
1777 
1781 
1785 

17S9 

1793 
1796 
179S 
1802 


—  Jonathan  Parker. 

—  Edward  Savage. 

—  Joshua  Conkey. 

—  Hamilton  McCollister. 

—  Peter  B.  Tearse. 

—  Andrew  White. 

—  Philip  Smith. 

—  Abner  Stone. 

—  Nathan  Wilson. 


76 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


1806.  —  David  Woods. 

1810. —  Simon  Stevens,  jr. 

181 1. —  John  Doty. 

18 1 3.  —  Wadsworth  Bull. 

1819.  —  John  Doty. 

1821. — John  Gale. 

1826.  —  William  McFarland. 

1829.  —  Warren  F.  Hitchcock. 

1832. —  Darius  Sherrill. 

1835.  —  Benjamin  Ferris. 

1838. —  Philander  C.  Hitchcock. 

1841.  —  Leonard  Wells. 

1844. —  Horace  Stowell. 

1847. —  Daniel  T.  Payne. 

1850.  —  William  A.  Russell. 

1853.  —  James  R.  Gandall. 

1856. —  Hugh  R.  Cowan. 

1859.—  Oliff  Ab'ell. 

1862. —  Benjamin  F.  McNitt. 

1865. —  Dennis  P.  Nye. 

1868. —  James  C.  Shaw. 

1871.— Orria  S.  Hall. 

1874. —  John  Larmon. 

1877. —  George  W.  Baker. 

1880.  — James  Hill. 

1883. —  David  Johnson. 

1886. —  George  Marshall. 

1889.— F.  D.  Hill. 

1891.  —  G.  N.  Finch. 

COUNTY    CLERKS,     1773     1894. 

1773. —  Patrick  Smith. 
1777. —  Ebenezer  Clarke. 
1785. —  John  McCrea. 
1797. —  Saint  John  Honeywood. 
1798. —  Gerrett  L.  Wendell. 
1806. —  Daniel  Shipherd. 
1821. —  Matthew  D.  Danvers. 
1826. —  Jesse  S.  Leigh. 
1835. —  Edward  Dodd. 
1844. —  Henry  Shipherd. 
1853. —  Nathaniel  B.  Milliman. 
1859. —  Philander  C.  Hitchcock. 
1871. —  William  H.  Kincaid. 
1877. —  Charles  W.  Taylor. 
1888. —  Rodney  Van  Wormer. 


COUNTY    TREASURERS,    1807-1894. 

1 807-1 847. —  Ebenezer  Russell,  held  by  ap- 
pointment of  the  supervisors. 
1847. —  Calvin  L.  Parker. 


1850 
1856 

l859 
1662 
1868 

1871 
1874 

1879 

1885 
1888 
1893 


—  Edward  Bulkley. 

—  John  M.  Barrett. 

—  John  King. 

—  Nelson  G.  Moor. 

—  Samuel  W.  Crosby. 

—  Asahel  R.  Wing. 
-James  M.  Northup. 

—  H.  Davis  Northup. 

—  John  King. 

— James  O.  LaVake. 

—  W.  H.  Hughs. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

COUNTY  HOME  —  EARLY  IRON  ENTER- 
PRISES—LAFAYETTE'S VISIT  — STEAM- 
BOAT NAVIGATION  — INDIAN  NAMES- 
HISTORIANS. 

COUNTY    HOME. 

While  one  court  house  was  fixed  in  the  east 
and  the  other  located  in  the  west,  the  other 
county  buildings  were  placed  in  the  center, 
the  clerk's  office  being  established  at  Argyle 
in  1806,  and  the  county  home  located  two 
miles  south  of  that  village,  on  a  farm  of  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres.  A  substantial  brick 
building  was  erected  in  1827,  and  Joseph 
Stewart  became  the  first  keeper. 

EARLY    IRON    ENTERPRISES. 

The  use  of  iron  can  be  traced  back  to  Asia 
and  the  days  of  Tubal  Cain.  The  Phcenecians 
are  said  to  have  introduced  the  art  of  iron 
working  into  Europe  about  the  time  of  Moses. 
Iron  was  made  about  the  middle  of  the  first 
century  in  England,  and  in  1620  the  first  iron 
works  in  the  United  States  were  built  near  the 
site  of  Richmond,  Virginia.  The  first  iron 
works  in   New  York  consisted  of  a  blast  fur- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


7? 


nace  and  refinery  forge  built  on  Ancram  creek, 
in  Columbia  county,  a  short  time  prior  to 
1740,  by  Philip  Livingston. 

The  introduction  of  the  manufacture  of  iron 
into  Washington  county  has  always  been 
placed  at  about  1802,  when  Ephraim  Griswold 
erected  a  forge  for  the  manufacturing  of 
chains  and  anchors  at  Griswold's  Mills,  in  the 
town  of  Fort  Ann.  But  in  the  history  of 
Colonel  Long's  retreat  from  Whitehall,  John- 
son speaks  of  the  Americans  setting  fire  to  the 
mills  and  iron-works.  This  retreat  was  in  1777, 
and  if  Johnson's  information  is  correct  about 
iron-works  then  being  in  existence  at  White- 
hall, they  must  have  been  erected  some  time 
prior,  and  the  iron-producing  period  of  the 
county  must  be  earlier  than  its  commonly  ac- 
cepted beginning,  by  nearly  forty  years,  and 
would  rank  Washington  as  one  of  the  earlier 
iron-producing  counties  of  the  State. 

Griswold's  forge  was  succeeded  by  a  fur- 
nace, whose  recorded  history  is  limited  to  the 
mere  fact  of  its  existence.  In  1827  Mix,  Has- 
kins  and  Spaulding  erected  a  forge  and  an 
anchor  shop  at  West  Fort  Ann,  but  the  iron 
venture  was  short  lived,  and  the  works  went 
to  ruin. 

The  Fort  Edward  blast  furnace  was  built  by 
George  Harvey  &  Co.  in  1854. 

LAFAYETTE'S    VISIT. 

In  1824,  when  LaFayette  revisited  the  land 
whose  freedom  his  sword  had  helped  to  win, 
he  passed  through  the  count}' on  his  way  from 
Burlington,  Vermont,  to  Albany,  New  York. 
LaFayette  came  on  the  steamer  "  Phoenix"  to 
Whitehall,  where  he  was  received  with  great 
display,  and  after  being  handsomely  enter- 
tained at  Wish  well's  hotel,  took  his  departure 
by  land  for  the  State  capital. 

STEAMBOAT    NAVIGATION. 

Steamboat  navigation  in  the  county  has 
been  chiefly  on  Lake  Champlain,  and  its 
southern  terminal  point  for  over  half  a  century 
was  the   port    of  Whitehall,  created  in   1799, 


but  not  recognized  till  1849.  For  a  period  of 
sixty-five  years  passenger  travel  continued 
north  by  boat.  The  end  came  in  1875,  when 
the  Canada  railroad  carried  passengers  to  Ti- 
conderoga,  which  then  became  the  southern 
lake  terminal  for  steam  passenger  boats.  The 
following  boats  run  during  this  period  :  Ver- 
mont, 1810-17  ;  Phcenix,  1816 -19  ;  Cham- 
plain,  1816-17  ;  Congress,  1819  ;  Phcenix  (2d), 
1822;  Franklin,  1826  ;  Washington,  1727-29; 
Burlington,  1830  ;  Whitehall,  1833  ;  Saranac, 
1833  ;  Francis  Saltus,  1845  ;  United  States, 
1847;  Canada,  1852;  R.  W.  Sherman,  1852; 
Montreal,  1857-75  '■>  Adirondack,  1865-75  ; 
Vermont  (2d),  1871-75.  A  short  line  of  steam- 
ers ran  from  Whitehall  to  Ticonderoga,  from 
1875  to  1877,  when  they  were  withdrawn. 

When  the  passenger  boats  were  withdrawn, 
boats  and  barges  were  towed  by  three  steamer 
lines  :  The  Northern  Transportation,  estab- 
lished in  1857  ;  The  Whitehall,  that  was  put 
on  in  1865  ;  and  H.  G.  Burleigh's  private  line. 

INDIAN    NAMES. 

Many  a  mountain  and  river  of  this  broad 
land  will  carry  its  Indian  name  down  to 
the  end  of  time,  through  the  English  lan- 
guage. Mrs.  Sigourney  has  truthfully  said  of 
the  Indians  : 

"  But  their  name  is  on  your  waters  ; 
Ye  may  not  wash  it  out." 

"Your  mountains  build  their  monuments, 
Though  ye  destroy  their  dust  " 

The  Indians  passing  through  Washington 
county  gave  names  to  rock  and  stream,  and  to 
the  mountain  and  plain  ;  and  seventy  years 
ago  a  majority  of  these  names  might  have 
been  secured  in  New  York  and  Canada  from 
persons  then  living. 

From  different  sources  we  have  collected 
the  following  list  of  Indian  names  of  places, 
with  the  meanings  assigned  to  some  of  them 
by  different  authors  : 

Adirondack,  Bark-eaters. 

Andiatorocte,  The  place  where  the  lake  con- 
tracts, name  of  Lake  George. 


78 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Apalachian,  Endless  mountains. 

Astorenga,  Hills  at  Little  Falls. 

Caniaderi  Oit,  Tail  of  the  lake  :  a  name 
of  Lake  George. 

Cossayuna,  The  lake  at  our  pines. 

Dionondehowa,  Lower  falls  of  the  Batten 
Kill. 

Kahchoquahna,  Fish  dipping  place.  The 
site  of  Whitehall  village. 

Kingiaquahtonec,  A  stone-throw  portage 
between  Fort  Edward  and  Wood  creeks,  near 
Mors  street  in  Kingsbury. 

Mettowee,  Pawdet  river. 

Ondawa,  White  creek. 

Onderiguegon,  Wood  creek,  drowned  lands 
near  Fort  Ann.  The  word  meaning  contlux 
of  waters. 

Ossaragas,  Wood  creek. 

Saratoga.  There  are  seventeen  spellings 
of  this  word,  with  three  meanings  given  : 
Salt  place,  swift  water,  and  track  of  the  heel. 

Tacundewide,  Harris  bay,  on  Lake  George. 

Ticonderoga.  Twenty  spellings,  and  mean- 
ing where  two  rivers  or  waters  meet. 

Tightilligaghticook,  South  branch  of  the 
Batten  Kill. 

Wahcoloosencoochaleva,  Fort  Edward. 

Wampachookglenosuck,  Whitehall. 

The  Dutch  called  Wood  creek  Hout  Kill. 
and  named  Lake  Champlain,  Corlar,  while 
nearly  every  Indian  tribe  had  a  particular 
name  for  Lake  Champlain  and  the  Hudson 
river. 

HISTORIANS. 

Dr.  Asa  Fitch  and  Hon.  James  GibsOn, 
with  other  local  writers,  did  much  to  create 
an  interest  in  securing  the  history  of  Wash- 
ington count}'  in  permanent  shape  by  con- 
tributing articles  to  the  press  concerning  the 
early  settlers  and  the  growth  of  the  count}7. 

In  1874  A.  W.  Holden  issued  his  "History 
of  Queensbury,"  in  which  he  devotes  consid- 
erable space  to  those  military  operations  of 
the  French  and  Indian  and  Revolutionary 
wars  that  occurred  on  the  present  territory  of 
Washington   county.      Dr.    Holden's  work  is 


well  written  and  contains  a  large  amount  of 
valuable  information. 

Judge  Nathaniel  Bartlett  Sylvester,  in  his 
"History  of  Saratoga  County,"  in  1878, 
traces  at  length  the  track  of  marching  armies 
through  the  territory  of  Washington  county, 
from  the  impolitic  invasion  of  Champlain  to 
the  fateful  march  of  Burgoyne.  The  Judge 
is  a  fine  descriptive  writer,  and  at  times  grows 
eloquent  in  portraying  the  beauty  and  the 
glory  of  the  "old  wilderness"  country  that 
was  an  unbroken  sea  of  foliage  in  summer, 
from  the  Hudson  to  the  Green  mountains. 
Speaking  of  the  discovery  of  Lake  Champlain 
Sylvester  describes  it  as  follows:  "Cham- 
plain entered  the  lake  —  the  far-famed  'wil- 
derness sea  '  of  the  Iroquois,  whose  tranquil 
waters,  studded  with  islands,  stretched  far 
beyond  the  southern  horizon.  From  the  for- 
est-covered shores  on  either  side  rose  lofty 
mountain  chains,  whose  highest  peaks  were 
yet  covered  with  patches  of  snow.  Over  all 
was  flung  the  soft  blue  haze  called  mountain 
snake,  that  served  to  temper  the  fierce  sun- 
shine of  our  American  summer,  and  to  fill  all 
the  landscape  with  spectral -like  forms  of 
shadowy  beauty." 

To  meet  an  urgent  demand  for  an  exhaustive 
general  history,  Crisfield  Johnson,  in  1878, 
wrote  his  "  History  of  Washington  County." 
The  work  was  well  and  conscientiously  done, 
and  the  volume  is  a  reliable  standard  of  refer- 
ence in  regard  to  all  historical  events  that 
have  occurred  in  the  county.  Mr.  Johnson  is 
an  able  and  accurate  writer,  whose  style  is 
pleasing  and  interesting.  At  times  when  the 
subject  allows  he  indulges  in  a  keen  irony,  as 
when  speaking  of  Ethan  Allen's  capture  of 
Ticonderoga,  he  says,  "that  Allen  had  de- 
manded and  received  its  surrender  'in  the 
name  of  the  Great  Jehovah  and  the  Conti- 
nental Congress,'  to  neither  of  which  authori- 
ties had  he  ever  before  been  supposed  willing 
to  yield  obedience." 

In  the  introductory  chapter  of  his  history 
Johnson  draws  a  very  fine  and  beautiful  pic- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


ture  of  Washington  county  territory,  as  circled 
by  the  fortunes  of  war  with  famous  battles. 
He  says,  "Had  a  cordon  of  sentries  been 
patrolling  the  boundaries  of  the  county  during 
the  eventful  quarter  of  a  century  which  suc- 
ceeded the  great  French  and  English  war, 
some  of  them  would  have  learned,  by  eye  or 
ear,  of  the  occurrence  of  all  the  important 
contes's  for-the  mastery  of  this  great  strategic 
locality  while  they  were  being  fought.  Those 
who,  in  the  autumn  of  1755,  had  been  guard- 
ing the  western  line  of  the  present  towns  of 
Fort  Ann  and  Kingsbury,  would  have  heard 
the  thunder  of  General  Johnson's  artillery  as 
he  repulsed  the  columns  of  Dieskau  from  the 
rude  breast  works  on  the  shore  of  Lake 
George,  only  four  miles  to  the  westward  ; 
those  who  occupied  the  same  posts  two  years 
later  might  often  have  stayed  their  course  to 
listen  to  the  roar  of  Montcalm's  guns,  and  the 
more  feeble  replies  of  the  ill-fated  Fort  Wil- 
liam Henry;  while  they  who,  in  July,  1758, 
had  stood  on  the  northermost  peaks  of  Put- 
nam, would  have  known  by  the  terrific  can- 
nonade that  a  desperate  battle  was  being 
fought  five  miles  northward,  around  the  ram- 
parts of  Ticonderoga.  In  the  Revolution  the 
famous  fields  were  still  closer.  The  sentries 
on  the  southern  line  of  the  town  of  White 
Creek,  in  August,  1777,  would  have  seen  close 
before  them,  in  the  valley  of  the  Walloomsac, 
the  rude  farmers  of  New  England  and  New 
York  driving  in  disastrous  rout  the  disciplined 


mercenaries  of  Brunswick  and  Hesse  ;  those 
who,  a  month  later,  had  stood  where  the  west- 
ern border  of  Easton  is  washed  by  the  placid 
Hudson,  might  have  watched  the  red-coated 
battalions  of  England  on  the  other  shore  re- 
coiling before  the  terrible  fire  of  the  Conti- 
nentals in  the  first  battle  of  Saratoga;  while 
those  who  stood  there  on  the  12th  day  of  Oc- 
tober, would  have  seen  those  same  proud 
battalions,  English  and  Hessian  alike,  fleeing 
before  their  despised  antagonists  to  the  shelter 
of  their  intrenchments,  and  the  fate  of  Amer- 
ica decided  in  favor  of  Independence." 

The  long  struggle  of  one  hundred  and  seven- 
ty-four years,  from  1609  to  1783,  for  national 
dominion  over  the  territory  of  Washington 
county  and  of  New  York  State,  may  be  com- 
pared to  a  great  game  of  chess,  in  which  the 
Indian  wars  constituted  the  pawn  opening, 
the  Inter-colonial  wars  exhibited  the  deploy- 
ment of  the  minor  pieces,  and  the  Revolu- 
tionary war  represented  the  late  development 
and  desperate  struggle  of  the  major  pieces  for 
supremacy. 

The  spirit  of  change  is  such  and  the  march 
of  progress  has  always  been  so  wonderful  that 
the  prophecy  of  the  present  but  seldom  be- 
comes the  history  of  the  future  ;  yet  if  material 
development  has  meaning,  and  if  mental  cul- 
ture and  moral  growth  stand  for  life  and  prog- 
ress, then  will  the  future  career  of  Washing- 
ton county  be  as  splendid  as  her  past  record 
is  brilliant. 


Historical  Notes 


UPON    THE 


Village^  and  ^oumf  of  Washington  Gounty. 


CHAPTER    I. 

VILLAGE  AND  TOWN   OF  SALEM. 

VILLAGE    OF    SALEM. 

Solid,  substantial  and  progressive  is  the 
quiet  and  peaceful  village  of  Salem,  the  eastern 
seat  of  justice  for  Washington  count)',  and 
whose  early  growth  was  the  result  of  New 
England  thrift  and  Scotch-Irish  prudence. 

The  site  of  the  village  of  Salem  was  the 
initial  point  of  settlement  in  the  town  of  Salem, 
and  is  claimed  to  have  been  the  first  perma- 
nently settled  spot  in  the  county,  a  claim  that 
can  only  be  disputed  by  Cambridge  and  White- 
hall, whose  chances  of  greater  antiquity  de- 
pend upon  whether  Turner  and  Conkey  built 
a  cabin  or  not  when  they  came  out  in  1761  to 
locate  their  land. 

James  Turner  and  Joshua  Conkey  came  to 
the  site  of  Salem  in  the  sping  of  1761,  and  in 
the  fall  went  back  to  their  native  place  of  Pel- 
ham,  Massachusetts.  In  the  spring  of  1762 
they  returned  to  Salem,  accompanied  by  Ham- 
ilton McCollister.  Their  hut  or  cabin  stood 
on  the  site  of  the  Ondawa  house.  They  brought 
their  families  in  1763  or  1764,  and  several 
other  settlers  from  Massachusetts  came  with 
them  at  the  time,  or  shortly  afterward.  The 
NewEnglanders  called  the  place  White  Creek, 

(80 


which  name  was  used  without  opposition  until 
1767,  when  Dr.  Clark's  colony  came,  and  set- 
tling in  and  around  the  little  hamlet,  sought 
to  have  it  known  as  New  Perth.  Settlers  now 
came  in  rapidly,  and  the  double  named  ham- 
let soon  grew  into  an  important  village,  and  in 
1773  there  appeared  at  the  place  a  young  En- 
glish physician,  Dr.  John  Williams,  who  was 
to  have  much  to  do  with  its  future  growth  and 
importance.  The  Revolutionary  war  inter- 
rupted its  growth,  but  before  its  close  the  vil- 
lage assumed  its  present  name  of  Salem, 
either  from  the  name  of  a  fort  erected  in  1777, 
by  the  inhabitants,  or  as  a  compromise  desig- 
nation of  the  place  between  White  Creek 
adherents  and  New  Perth  supporters. 

After  the  Revolution  Salem  became  an  as- 
pirant for  the  county  seat,  and  through  the 
efforts  of  Gen.  John  Williams,  partly  secured 
the  coveted  honor.  The  construction  of  the 
first  court  house  was  commenced  in  1792,  and 
ever  since  then  Salem  has  remained  as  one  of 
the  two  county  seats  provided  by  law  for 
Washington  county. 

In  1803  the  village  had  attained  such  a  size 
that  it  was  incorporated  on  April  4th  of  that 
year.  Its  growth  from  then  was  slow,  but 
substantial,  up  to  the  late  war,  that  checked 
all  village  growth.  At  the  first  census  after 
the  war  the  village  showed  a  population  of 
one  thousand  two  hundred  and  thirty-nine, 
) 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


81 


and   since   then  has  enjoyed  a  steady  growth 
and  satisfactory  progress. 

The  fire  department  of  the  viljage  dates 
back  to  1803,  when  one  hundred  dollars  were 
voted  by  the  freeholders  to  purchase  fire  im- 
plements, and  an  additional  one  hundred  dol- 
lars to  buy  a  fire  engine.  These  authorized 
expenditures  were  never  made,  and  in  1804 
the  fire  apparatus  of  the  village  consisted  of 
four  ladders,  a  number  of  leather  buckets, 
and  a  few  hooks.  About  this  time  Major 
James  Harvey  owned  a  small  fire  engine,  and 
two  years  later  the  first  fire  com  pan)',  con- 
sisting of  seven  members,  was  formed.  A 
small  engine  was  purchased  in  18 10,  which 
was  replaced  in  1838  by  a  larger  one  that  was 
used  in  the  two  great  fires  of  September  and 
October,  1840.  Old  Union  Fire  Company, 
No.  1,  was  organized  in  1861,  and  purchased 
Cataract  engine,  No.  8,  of  Troy,  for  eight 
hundred  dollars,  but  the  fires  of  1874  showed 
the  necessity  for  more  than  one  engine,  and 
Osoma  fire  steamer  was  bought  in  1875.  The 
Osoma  Steamer  Company  was  organized 
January  23,  1875  ;  the  A.  M.  Wells  Hook 
and  Ladder  Company  on  the  same  date  ;  and 
the  Marion  Hose  Company,  No.  2,  May  1, 
1875. 

The  first  hotel  in  the  village  was  opened  by 
James  Turner  in  a  log  house  that  was  built 
by  him  in  1766,  and  on  the  site  of  which  was 
built  the  Ondawa  house,  that  was  first  known 
as  the  Washington  coffee  house.  Another 
old  hostelry  of  the  village  was  the  Salem 
hotel,  opened  by  James  Rowan  in  a  log  house 
that  was  torn  down  in  1802  by  General  Wil- 
liams, who  erected  the  handsome  Salem  hotel 
that  burned  in  1877. 

While  providing  for  the  wants  of  the  trav- 
eling public,  the  mercantile  interests  of  the 
village  also  received  early  attention.  The 
pioneer  store  was  opened  by  James  Turner  in 
1773,  on  the  site  of  the  Fitch  &  Beattie  store. 
Major  Harvey  built  the  store  building,  in 
1822,  owned  by  L.  M.  Liddle  in  1877.    Priest 

Nichols  erected  a  store   building   before    1800 
6 


on  the  site  of  the  McNaughton  &  Beattie  es- 
tablishment, and  the  "Corner  Store"  was 
opened  between  1801  and  1803,  by  Ebenezer 
Proudfit. 

Rev.  Thomas  Clark  was  the  pioneer  physi- 
cian, followed  in  1773  by  General  John  Wil- 
liams, who,  in  1780,  had  a  competitor  to  some 
slight  extent  in  the  person  of  Dr.  Peletiah 
Fitch.  Among  the  early  physicians  of  Salem 
who  became  eminent  in  their  profession  were: 
Drs.  Joseph  Tomb,  Hon.  Asa  Fitch,  Abram 
Allen,  and  Ephraim  Allen. 

Salem  village  took  an  active  interest  in  the 
early  railroad,  building  of  the  county,  and 
that  part  of  the  Troy  and  Rutland  railroad 
from  Eagle  Bridge  to  Salem  was  commenced 
at  Eagle  Bridge,  June  3,  1850.  About  1850 
the  Rutland  and  Washington  railroad,  from 
Salem  to  Rutland,  Vermont,  was  put  under 
construction,  and  two  years  later  both  roads 
were  in  full  operation.  The  Troy  and  Rut- 
land Railroad  Company,  in  1850,  purchased 
five  acres  of  land  at  Salem,  on  which  they 
erected  their  depot  and  machine  shops,  the 
latter  of  which  were  partly  destroyed  by  fire 
in  1876. 

Financial  matters  have  also  received  due 
attention  by  the  village.  The  Bank  of  Salem 
was  organized  in  1853,  with  a  capital  of  one 
hundred  and  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  its  first 
officers  were  :  Bernard  Blair,  president;  Isaac 
W.  Bishop,  vice-president  ;  and  B.  F.  Ban- 
croft, cashier  ;  while  A.  L.  McDougall  was 
employed  as  attorney.  The  bank  advanced 
funds  to  the  town  and  county  in  the  raising  of 
troops  during  the  late  war,  and  closed  a  highlv 
honorable  career  in  July,  1865,  when  it  dis- 
solved. Its  successor,  the  National  Bank  of 
Salem,  was  organized  in  1865,  with  a  capital 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 
The  first  officers  were  :  C.  L.  Allen,  president; 
D.  Woodward,  jr.,  vice-president;  and  B.  F. 
Bancroft,  cashier. 

The  church  history  of  the  village  of  Salem 
is  extremely  interesting.  The  first  church  in 
order  of  age  is  the  United  Presbyterian  church, 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


which  was  rather  transplanted  to  than  founded 
at  Salem,  in  1766,  by  Rev.  Thomas  Clark, 
M.  D.  This  church  was  organized  at  Bali- 
bay,  Ireland,  previous  to  1747,  and  religious 
persecution  led  them  to  come  to  America  in  a 
body  in  1764.  They  halted  at  Stillwater  in. 
1765,  until  Dr.  Clark  chose  Salem  as  their 
future  home.  In  1766  this  congregation,  two 
hundred  strong,  including  baptized  children, 
removed  to  Salem,  where  they  had  erected  a 
church  building  out  of  small  round  logs,  and 
having  a  bark  roof  and  a  dirt  floor.  No  list 
of  this  congregation  can  be  found.  Its  dea- 
cons were  :  George  Oswald,  David  Tomb, 
William  Thompson,  William  Moncrief,  Wil- 
liam Wilson,  Richard  Hoy,  John  Foster,  and 
David  Hanna.  The  little  log  church  was 
abandoned  in  1770  and  a  larger  church  build- 
ing erected  by  its  side.  Seven  years  later  the 
logs  of  the  pioneer  church  were  used  for  mak- 
ing a  breastwork  around  the  Presbyterian 
church  that  was  fortified  by  the  whigs  and 
afterward  burned  by  the  tories.  Dr.  Clark 
performed  a  vast  amount  of  labor,  and  in 
1782  went  to  South  Carolina,  where  he  died 
in  1792,  while  in  charge  of  two  congregations. 
Rev.  James  Proudfit  succeeded  Dr.  Clark  as 
pastor  in  1783.  In  1795  Rev.  Alexander 
Proudfit  was  installed  as  assistant  pastor  to 
his  father,  and  after  the  death  of  the  latter  in 
1802,  served  the  church  until  1835.  During 
his  pastorate,  in  1797,  a  new  church  was 
erected,  at  a  cost  of  four  thousand  dollars. 
Rev.  James  Lillie,  D.  D.,  followed  Rev. 
Proudfit,  and  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Halley, 
T.  B.  Farrington,  J.  C.  Forsythe,  W.  A.  Mc- 
Kenzie,  and  others. 

The  Presbyterian  church  was  organized  in 
1769  by  members  of  the  New  England  colony, 
who  once  seemed  on  the  point  of  uniting  with 
Dr.  Clark's  church.  The  Presbyterian  church 
had  fifty-two  members  when  it  organized,  and 
the  elders  were  :  Alexander  Turner,  Edward 
Savage  and  Daniel  McCleary.  No  list  of  these 
members  can  be  obtained,  and  their  first  house 
of  worship   was  not  built  until    1774.      Three 


years  later,  in  an  uncompleted  state,  it  was 
turned  into  a  stockade  fort  by  the  whigs,  and 
afterward  burned  by  the  tories.  A  second 
church  was  built,  which  burned  in  1836,  and 
its  successor  was  erected  in  1837.  Rev.  John 
Warford  became  pastor  in  1787,  and  served 
until  1802.  His  successors  were  :  Revs.  Samuel 
Tomb,  1806  to  1832  ;  John  Whiton,  A.  B. 
Lambert  ;  J.  Henry  Brodt,  1865  ;  and  others. 

The  Welsh  Presbyterian  church  was  organ- 
ized in  1868  by  Griffith  Jones  and  John  Ed- 
wards. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  only  dates 
back  to  the  Salem  mission,  established  in 
1844,  yet  Methodist  services  had  been  held  at 
the  court-house  as  early  as  1821.  Rev.  John 
Fassett  was  the  first  minister  in  charge,  and 
the  first  church  edifice  was  built  in  1.846.  The 
present  fine  church  structure  was  erected  in 
1876. 

Saint  Paul's  Episcopal  church  was  organized 
February  18,  i860,  and  the  corner-stone  of 
the  church  structure  was  laid  on  September 
10th  of  the  same  year.  Rev.  Charles  Purvi- 
ance  was  the  first  rector. 

The  Holy  Cross  Catholic  church  was  organ- 
ized, and  its  church  edifice  erected  in  1859. 
It  was  the  successor  of  the  Salem  mission, 
and  its  first  resident  pastor  was  James  S. 
O'Sullivan. 

The  village  graveyard,  set  apart  by  Dr. 
Clark,  became  so  filled  with  graves  that  Wil- 
liam McKie  and  Asa^  Fitch,  M.  D.,  agitated  a 
cemetery.  Their  views  were  carried  out,  and 
nearly  twenty  years  ago  Evergreen  cemetery 
was  laid  out  one  mile  south  of  the  village, 
where  taste  and  skill  and  art  have  wrought, 
and  a  beautiful  city  of  the  dead  greets  the 
gaze. 

TOWN    OF    SALEM. 

Salem  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Hebron  ; 
on  the  east  by  the  State  of  Vermont ;  on  the 
south  by  Jackson  ;  and  oil  the  west  by  Jack- 
son, Greenwich  and  Argyle.  Salem  has  fifty 
square  miles  of  area,  and  its  surface  consists 
of  moderately   elevated  ridges,  separated  by 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


S3 


narrow  valleys.  It  is  drained  by  the  Batten 
Kill  and  Black,  White  and  Trout  creeks. 
Lytle's  pond  is  in  the  north,  and  McDougall's 
lake  on  the  west  boundary.  Roofing  slate 
quarries  have  been  opened  in  the  north,  and 
other  industries  have  been  projected. 

Salem  consists  mostly  of  the  Turner  patent 
of  twenty-five  thousand  acres,  one-half  of 
which  had  to  be  given  to  the  colonial  officials 
as  a  bribe.  The  bribed  officials  sold  their 
share  to  Dr.  Clark,  and  the  Scotch  and  New 
Englanders  divided  the  entire  patent  by  lot. 

No  list  of  the  members  of  the  two  colonies 
can  be  found.  With  Alexander  Turner,  James 
Conkey  and  Hamilton  McCollister  were  :  John 
Savage  and  his  sons,  Edward  and  James,  Gid- 
eon Safford,  and  Matthew  McWhorter. 

Among  those  who  came  with  Dr.  Clark  were: 
Robert  Clark,  Thomas  Beattie,  John  Harsha, 
William,  John,  and  Daniel  McCleary;  John 
Rowan,  David  Hanna,  William  Thompson, 
James  Thompson  and  David  Edgar. 

Other  settlers  besides  the  New  England  and 
Dr.  Clark  colonies  came  from  Ireland,  Scot- 
land, and  the  New  England  provinces  and  set- 
tled in  the  Camden  valley  and  other  parts  of 
the  town. 

In  1789  two  schedules  of  the  Turner  patent 
contained  one  hundred  and  twenty  family  names 
and  two  hundred  and  eighty- two  proprietors, 
which  embraced  the  larger  part  of  the  popula- 
tion of  the  town.  Among  the  families  were 
the  Armstrongs,  Beattys,  Blakeleys,  Bartletts, 
Bells,  Boyds,  Browns,  Carswells,  Conkeys, 
Clarks,  Clevelands,  Chambers,  Collances, 
Covenhovens,  Conners,  Craigs,  Crossets, 
Cruikshanks,  Duncans,  Edgars,  Fitches, 
Gaults,  Gibsons,  Gettys,  Grays,  Gilmores, 
Harshas,  Hannas,  Hopkins,  Hunsdens,  Hen- 
dersons, Huggins,  Henrys,  Hoys,  Linceys, 
Lyons,  Lytles,  Longs,  McCarters,  McFar- 
lands,  Moors,  McMichaels,  McCollisters,  Mc- 
Nitts,  Moncriefs,  McNishes,  McCrackens, 
Mulchenas,  McMurrays,  McMillans,  Martins, 
McDougalls,  Nelsons,  Oswalds,  Orrs,  Ram- 
ages,  Rowans,  Rogers,    Robinsons,  Stewarts, 


Sloans,  Savages,  Stones,  Steeles,  Stevensons, 
Scotts,  Smiths,  Terrals,  Turners,  Tombs, 
Thomases,  Willsons,  Williamses,  Webbs,  and 
Wrights. 

The  Camden  valley  was  covered  principally 
with  land  grants  made  by  the  king  in  1770  to 
English  soldiers,  whose  lands  in  a  couple  of 
years  came  into  possession  of  James  Duane. 
On  May  1, 1773, Duane  leased  the  most  of  these 
lands  to  Philip  Embury  and  his  Irish  colony. 

The  civil  organization  of  the  town  was  by 
act  of  legislature,  passed  March  7,  1788,  and 
the  first  officers  were:  John  Rowan,  super- 
visor; James  Tomb,  Clerk  ;  and  Elisha  Fitch, 
collector. 

The  unincorporated  villages  of  the  town  of 
Salem,  are  :  Shushan,  Eagleville,  Clapp's 
Mills,  and  Fitch's  Point. 

Shushan  is  six  miles  south  of  Salem,  on  the 
Batten  Kill,  and  takes  its  name  from  the  post- 
office  which  was  so  called  by  the  postal  au- 
thorities to  avoid  the  title  of  South  Salem, 
proposed  by  the  inhabitants.  It  has  a  rail- 
road station,  a  factory,  mills,  and  shops,  and 
in  1880  had  a  population  of  three  hundred  and 
twenty-eight.      The  place  was  settled  prror  to 

1775- 

Eagleville  is  on  the  Batten  Kill  and  two 
miles  east  of  Shushan.  Its  postoffice  name  is 
East  Salem,  and  a  grist  mill  was  built  there 
prior  to  the  Revolution.  A  woolen  factor}' 
was  erected  about  1820,  and  the  place  enjoys 
a  good  local  trade. 

Clapp's  Mills,  or  Baxterville,  is  three  miles 
south  of  Salem,  on  the  Batten  Kill.  Its  early 
industries  were  a  grist  mill,  saw  mill,  Reid's 
nail  mill,  and  clothing  works  ;  its  later  manu- 
factures are  the  sawed  marbles  of  the  Baxter 
Manufacturing  company,  who  built  a  marble 
mill  in  1865  to  saw  their  Rutland  marble. 

Fitch's  Point,  at  the  confluence  of  Black 
creek  and  Batten  Kill,  is  an  old  settled  place, 
and  has  been  the  residence  of  the  Fitch  family 
for  many  years,  besides  being  the  home  of  Dr. 
Asa  Fitch,  the  noted  physician,  naturalist  and 
author. 


84 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


The  churches  in  the  town  outside  of  Salem 
village  are  not  many. 

The  First  Baptist  church  of  Salem  was  con- 
stituted at  Shushan,  June  19,  1790.  Asa  and 
Silas  Estee  and  Oliver  Brown,  and  Sarah 
Huff  were  of  the  original  members.  The 
house  of  worship  was  erected  between  1800 
and  1803,  and  was  enlarged  and  improved  in 
1845,  and  again  in  1876.  The  first  minister 
was  the  Rev.  Obed  Warren,  and  in  eighty- 
eight  years  twenty-two  pastors  had  labored 
with  the  church. 

The  Moravian  church  had  its  origin  in  1770, 
in  the  "valley  of  Camden,"  where  its  life 
record  numbered  one  hundred  years.  The 
first  of  its  eight  pastors  was  Rev.  Father  Abra- 
ham Bininger,  and  its  last,  Rev.  Benjamin 
Ricksecker,  whose  departure  virtually  dis- 
solved the  church. 

The  United  Presbyterian  church  of  East 
Salem  was  organized  in  1820,  with  twenty 
members.  A  church  edifice  was  built  in  1S22, 
at  a  point  one  mile  east  of  Shushan,  and  a 
parsonage  was  erected  five  years  later.  The 
first  pastor  was  Rev.  James  Whyte. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Shu- 
shan was  organized  in  1846,  with  fifteen  mem- 
bers, and  Rev.  Edward  Noble  served  as  the 
first  pastor.  A  church  edifice  was  built  in 
1847.  But  three-quarters  of  a  century  before 
this  organization  had  been  effected  Philip 
Embury  preached  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
town  of  Salem,  and  for  fifty  years  prior  that 
section  had  been  traversed  by  circuit  riders, 
one  of  whom  was  the  celebrated  Lorenzo  Dow. 

The  schools  of  the  town  were  subscription 
until  1813,  when  the  system  of  public  schools 
was  introduced.  In  1843  there  were  six  hundred 
and  eighteen  children  between  five  and  sixteen 
years  of  age,  and  in  1877  that  number  had  in- 
creased to  one  thousand  three  hundred  and 
forty-eight.  At  the  present  time  the  public 
schools  are  in  good  condition. 

Higher  education  was  looked  after  at  an 
early  day,  and  in  1780  a  classical  school  was 
in  operation  in  which  four  students  were  pre- 


pared for  college.  This  school  was  taught  by 
Rev.  Thomas  Watson,  and  afterward  by  Saint 
John  Honeywood,  and  in  1791  had  attained 
such  rank  that  it  was  incorporated  as  an  acad- 
emy by  the  regents  of  the  university  of  the 
State,  under  the  name  of  Washington  acad- 
emy. A  long  line  of  competent  principals 
have  had  charge  of  this  institution  of  learning, 
and  its  influence  for  good  has  extended  far  be- 
yond the  limits  of  the  county. 


CHAPTER    II 


VILLAGE  OF    SANDY   HILL  AND    TOWN   OF 
KINGSBURY. 

VILLAGE    OF    SANDY    HILL. 

On  the  Hudson,  in  the  southeastern  part  of 
the  town  of  Kingsbury,  is  Sandy  Hill,  the  west- 
ern seat  of  justice  of  Washington  county,  and 
one  of  the  foremost  manufacturing  villages 
north  of  Albany.  By  the  provisions  of  chap- 
ter XL.  of  the  laws  of  1810,  passed  March  9th 
of  that  year,  it  was  enacted  that  ' '  All  that  part 
of  the  town  of  Kingsbury,  in  the  county  of 
Washington,  known  by  the  name  of  lot  No.  93, 
lying  on  the  Hudson  river,  and  all  that  part  of 
the  plat  of  said  town  lying  south  of  lots  Nos. 
33  and  34,  and  west  of  the  great  or  middle 
road  of  said  town  plat,  as  laid  down  on  the  map 
of  the  division  of  the  said  town,  shall  be  known 
and  distinguished  by  the  name  of  the  village  of 
Sandy  Hill." 

The  boundaries  were  considerably  extended 
by  the  act  of  March  21,  1856,  which  also 
granted  additional  powers  and  privileges,  which 
are  recorded  in  chapter  XLVIII.  of  the  act. 

The  incorporation  of  the  village  of  Sandy 
Hill  was  fully  completed  by  the  action  taken 
at  the  annual  meeting  held  on  February  23, 
1875,  when  it  was  "Resolved,  That  this  village 
become  a  corporation  under  the  provisions  of 
chapter  CCXCI.  of  the  laws  of  1870,  and  pos- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


85 


sess  the  powers  given  thereby."  This  resolu- 
tion passed  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and  forty- 
six  ayes  to  thirty-eight  noes,  and  the  return 
was  recorded  in  the  clerk's  office  as  the  last 
step  in  the  course  of  perfecting  the  corpor- 
ation. 

There  are  no  village  records  to  be  found  back 
of  1856,  in  which  year  Orson  Richards  was 
president  of  Sandy  Hill. 

The  site  of  Sandy  Hill  was  passed  over  by 
an  Indian  trail  from  the  Hudson  to  Lake 
George,  and  through  what  is  now  the  public 
park  ran  the  greaj:  military  road  from  Fort  Ed- 
ward to  Fort  William  Henry,  which  was  cut 
out  through  "an  unbroken  forest  of  mighty 
white  pine  trees  into  whose  gloomy  shadow 
the  sun's  rays  seldom  penetrated  and  in  whose 
dim  recesses  innumerable  deeds  of  horror  and 
massacre  were  done." 

Over  the  founding  and  early  history  of  the 
old  Indian  trail  oblivion  has  settled  such  an 
impenetrable  gloom  that  even  tradition  has 
not  dared  to  penetrate  its  depths,  and  only 
imagination  can  vainly  conjecture  the  swift 
march  of  avenging  war  parties  and  the  fear- 
ful scenes  enacted  around  the  torture  stake 
and  in  the  gauntlet  running.  The  earliest 
event  in  the  recorded  history  of  Sandy  Hill 
was  the  tragedy  of  murder  and  massacre,  from 
which,  by  some  strange  freak  of  fancy,  a  prac- 
tically inclined  northern  Pochahontas  was  ac- 
tuated to  save  John  Quackenboss.  Impressed 
as  a  teamster  to  haul  supplies  from  Fort  Ed- 
ward to  Lake  George,  Quackenboss  was  cap- 
tured, together  with  Lieutenant  McGinnis  and 
the  train  guard  of  fifteen  men.  Their  Indian 
captors  halted  on  the  site  of  the  public  park 
of  Sandy  Hill,  where  the  seventeen  unfortu- 
nate men  were  seated  on  the  trunk  of  a  fallen 
tree.  The  Indians  soon  resolved  to  murder 
their  close-bound  captives,  and  commencing 
at  one  end  of  the  line,  tomahawked  each  one 
in  succession  until  the  lieutenant  and  Quack- 
enboss were  the  only  ones  left.  As  they  ap- 
proached the  lieutenant  he  dodged  the  blow, 
and  throwing  himself  back  on  the  ground  tried 
60 


to  burst  his  bonds  ;  but  death  came  in  the  whir 
of  a  dozen  tomahawks.  Quackenboss  then 
closed  his  eyes  to  receive  his  death  blow,  but 
was  unexpectedly  saved  by  the  interposition 
of  a  squaw,  who  demanded  that  as  he  was  no 
soldier  he  should  be  spared  and  given  to  her 
for  a  slave.  Her  request  was  granted,  and 
Quackenboss  was  spared,  although  he  was 
afterward  made  to  run  the  gauntlet.  He  after- 
ward obtained  his  freedom  in  Canada,  and 
finally  settled  in  the  town  of  Cambridge. 

When  the  Kingsbury  patent  was  laid  out 
into  lots,  the  last  one,  No.  93,  covering  the 
corporate  limits  of  the  village,  was  not  sold, 
but  held  in  common  by  the  patentees  because 
it  covered  the  entire  river  frontage  at  the 
"Falls." 

The  third  settler  in  the  town,  and  the  pioneer 
at  Sandy  Hill,  was  Albert  Baker,  of  New  York 
city,  who,  in  1768,  came  with  his  wife  and  two 
children  —  Albert  and  Charles — to  the  site  of 
the  Hiram  Allen  residence,  and  near  the  falls 
that  now  bear  his  name.  He  built  a  short 
wing  dam  and  put  up  a  saw  mill,  and  was  soon 
jo'ned  by  Michael  Huffnogle,  who  built  a 
house  near  the  site  of  the  Waite  residence. 
The  Revolution  came,  and  in  1780  Baker  and 
Huffnogle  were  compelled  to  fly  before  the 
Indian  bands  of  Carleton's  invasion  of  that 
year.  When  peace  was  declared,  or  probably 
sooner,  Baker  returned  to  find  his  improve- 
ments in  ashes  and  ruins.  He  went  to  work, 
however,  energetically,  and  in  a  short  time 
had  erected  another  mill  and  dwelling. 

In  1784  John  Moss  built  a  dam  and  saw- 
mill above  the  village.  Dr.  Zina  Hitchcock, 
Jonathan  Harris  and  others  also  came  about 
1784  and  the  little  hamlet  soon  grew  into  some 
size  and  considerable  importance. 

In  1793  Washington  passed  through  the 
place  on  a  visit  of  inspection  to  the  northern 
lake  posts. 

By  the  year  1800  the  village  had  a  postoffice, 
two  taverns  and  several  stores  and  shops,  and 
sessions  of  the  courts  of  the  county  had  been 
held  at  the  tavern  of  Mary  Dean  since    1797. 


si; 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


It  now  commenced  a  steady  career  of  progress, 
that  has  continued  ever  since.  In  1806  the 
old  court  house  •  was  completed  on  grounds 
donated  by  Dr.  Hitchcock,  and  the  Moss  grist 
mill  was  built  at  the  dam,  while  in  the  next 
year  Albert  Baker  built  a  new  grist  mill,  and 
changed  his  old  mill,  put  up  in  1795.  into  a 
carding  and  fulling  mill.  About  the  same 
time  of  Baker's  improvements  Ahijah  Jones 
erected  a  carding  mill  and  clothiery. 

Four  years  later,  in  181 1,  "the  public 
square  "  or  present  park  was  surveyed,  and  for 
some  time  went  by  the  name  of  the  -'Green." 
The  commissioners  were  Russel  Cole,  William 
High  and  Thomas  Bradshaw,  and  the  date  of 
the  survey  was  August  4,  181 1. 

Then  clustered  on  three  sides  of  this  square 
and  extended  along  the  main  street  above  and 
below  it,  all  the  buildings  of  the  village  of 
Sandy  Hill  in  the  second  year  of  its  corporate 
existence.  The  residents  of  that  year  and  the 
business  and  public  houses  of  the  place  are 
nearly  all  embraced  in  the  following  account  : 

The  corner  tavern  was   kept  by Ashley, 

whose  predecessor  was  Daniel  Cook,  who  kept 
as  early  as  1800.  This  tavern  was  burned  in 
1855.  The  Eagle  tavern  was  on  the  site  of 
Clark's  store,  and  also  burned  in  the  fire  of 
1855.  Its  earliest  proprietor  was  a  Mr.  Dean, 
from  New  York  city,  and  it  was  headquarters 
for  the  Cleveland  &  Taylor  stage  line.  The 
Doty  tavern  was  kept  in  1800  by  Alpheus 
Doty  and  afterward  until  1834  by  his  widow, 
whose  successor,  Thomas  Toole,  changed  its 
name  to  that  of  the  Bull's  Head.  The  Bull's 
Head  in  1850  was  enlarged  and  became  the 
Park  hotel.  It  burned  in  1873,  and  on  its  site 
was  erected  the  Rexford  house,  whose  fate 
was  to  burn  three  years  later.  Captain  Wil- 
liam High  had  a  tavern.  The  residences  were 
those  of  John  Lamb,  Henry  C.  Martindale, 
Capt.  John  Thomas,  Mr.  Rood,  Capt.  Solo- 
mon Day,  Darius  Sherril,  Dr.  Russel  Clark, 
Judge  Roswell  Weston,  Jonathan  Harris,  Dr. 
Zina  Hitchcock,  Israel  Hand,  Judge  John 
Baker,  Micajah   Pettit,  Brannock,  Clark 


Colton, Curtis,    Luther  Johnson,  Bogar- 

dus  Pearson, Bird,  Squire  Collamer,  Maj. 

Thomas  Bradshaw,  and  Albert  and  Caleb 
Baker.  The  stores  were  kept  by  John  Lamb, 
Carmi  Dibble,  Samuel  M.  Hitchcock  and  an- 
other merchant  whose  name  has  been  lost. 
Rood's  pottery,  Johnson's  tannery,  Hand's 
currier  shop,  Amos  Call's  wagon  shop,  An- 
drew's blacksmith  shop,  and  Thomas' saddlery 
shop,  with  the  mills,  made  up  the  industries 
of    181 1. 

During  the  war  of  1812  a  toll  bridge  was 
erected.  It  stood  from  1813  to  1835,  when  it 
was  swept  away  by  a  flood.  Progress  was 
slow  until  1819,  when  the  village  made  a  long 
stride  ahead  by  the  establishment  of  the  Sandy 
Hill  Times,  and  the  Washington  and  Warren 
bank  that  afterward  went  down  in  disaster. 
Jacob  Barker  was  president  and  Benjamin  F. 
Butler  cashier,  while  the  celebrated  poet, 
Fitz  Greene  Halleck,  was  a  temporary  cashier 
for  a  short  time.  Between  1824  and  1832  the 
construction  and  enlargement  of  the  Glens 
Falls  feeder  was  completed,  and  has  been  a 
source  of  material  prosperity  ever  since. 

Prosperity  of  an  abundant  character  seemed 
to  hover  over  the  place  in  1836,  when  the 
Washington  and  Saratoga  railroad  was  pro- 
jected through  Sandy  Hill.  Six  heavy  stone 
piers  were  built  in  the  river  below  the  dam 
for  a  bridge,  but  the  panic  of  1837  suspended 
operations,  and  afterward  the  route  was 
changed.  Had  the  road  been  built  through 
Sandy  Hill  it  has  been  asserted  that  Glens 
Falls,  Sandy  Hill  and  Fort  Edward  would 
have  all  been  consolidated  into  one  village,  or 
rather  city.  From  that  unfortunate  day  Sandy 
Hill  has  grown  steadily  by  means  of  her  mills, 
factories  and  other  industries,  and  on  July  5, 
1869,  the  village  secured  railroad  communica- 
tion by  the  opening  of  the  Glens  Falls  rail- 
road through  the  western  part  of  her  corporate 
limits.  Toward  this  road  the  village  voted 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars  of  bonds.  Four 
years  later  the  enterprising  citizens  of  the 
place  secured  the  erection  of  the  present  beau- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


87 


tiful  court  house,  toward  whose  construction 
the  town  of  Kingsbury  issued  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars  worth  of  bonds.  And  to- 
day the  western  county  seat  is  holding  well 
its  own  in  material  advancement  with  the 
other  villages  of  equal  size  in  the  State. 

The  population  of  Sandy  Hill  in  1855  was 
1,360;  in  1865,  1,939;  'n  I^7°>  2>35°;  in 
I,s75>  2>5C)I  i  in  1880,  2,487;  and  in  1890, 
2,895. 

The  industries  of  Sandy  Hill  during  its 
early  years  were  about  summed  up  in  the 
mills  and  factories  of  Baker  and  Jones,  and 
the  second  stage  of  manufacturing  commenced 
in  1844,  when  Stephen  Howland  purchased 
the  Baker  mills,  then  gone  to  ruin,  and  erected 
the  first  manilla  paper  mills  of  the  United 
States.  In  1845  the  Wilber  &  Witpen  and  the 
Tarter  &  Luther  carriage  factories  were  built, 
and  the  succeeding  year  Benjamin  Ferris 
erected  a  manilla  paper  mill  that  afterward 
was  changed  to  the  Waite  wall  paper  mill. 
A  shoddy  mill  was  started  in  i860,  and  then 
changed  to  a  straw  printing  paper  mill  that 
was  burned,  rebuilt,  burned  again,  and  rebuilt, 
a  third  time  to  become  a  prey  to  the  flames. 
The  Washington  Mowing  Machine  works 
were  built  in  1868.  Howland  &  Co.'s  paper 
mill  was  built  in  1S66,  the  Baker  Fails  Iron 
Machine  works  were  started  afterward,  and 
the  Halm  Art  Pottery  works  were  erected  in 
1877. 

Orsen  Richard's  upper  and  lower  saw  mills 
succeeded  several  old  saw  mills,  and  in  1872 
were  connected  by  a  railroad  track  at  a  cost  of 
thirty  thousand  dollars.  Other  industries  have 
come  into  existence,  and  not  over  one-tenth  of 
the  vast  water  power  at  Baker's  Falls  has  yet 
been  used.  The  clear  fall  of  the  Hudson  at 
this  point  is  fully  seventy  feet,  and  affords  the 
opportunity  for  the  future  establishment  of 
some  great  manufacturing  plant. 

The  fire  department  of  Sandy  Hill  has  been 
in  existence  since  1833,  when  the  first  fire  com- 
pany was  organized  and  purchased  a  small  ro- 
tary engine  of  but  little  force.      A  small  brake 


engine  equally  as  worthless  replaced  the  rotary 
in  1850,  and  was  succeeded  in  1858  by  the 
Rescue  engine  that  did  duty  up  to  1872,  when 
it  gave  way  to  the  Independent,  a  second-class 
engine,  purchased  in  that  year.  In  1878  the 
the  fire  department  consisted  of  Rescue  Fire 
Company,  No.  1 ;  Eber  Richards  Independent 
Fire  Company,  No.  2  ;  Rescue  Hose  Com- 
pany, and  Wakeman  Hose  Company.  Sandy 
Hill  had  her  first  great  fire  October  n,  1876, 
and  after  that  loss,  the  purchase  of  a  fire 
steamer,  or  the  introduction  of  the  Holly  Sys- 
tem, was  warmly  urged. 

Sandy  Hill  has  moved  slowly  forward  in 
many  lines.  The  Sandy  Hill  Gas  Light  com- 
pany was  incorporated  in  1876.  The  First  Na- 
tional bank  of  Sandy  Hill  was  established  Jan- 
uary 1,  1864,  and  various  societies  and  benefi- 
cial organizations  have  been  formed.  The 
postoffice,  established  in  1798,  with  Roswell 
Weston  as  postmaster,  has  grown  to  an  office 
of  quite  large  dimensions. 

Likewise  the  church  growth  of  the  village 
has  been  one  of  interest.  The  Presbyterian 
church  at  Sandy  Hill  was  organized  in  1803  by 
Rev.  Lebbens  Armstrong,  at  the  house  of 
Capt.  William  Smith,  some  four  miles  north 
of  the  village.  The  court  house  was  their 
first  place  of  worship  at  Sandy  Hill,  and  so 
continued  until  1827,  when  they  erected  a 
church  edifice.  The  pews  of  the  church  were 
declared  free  in  1869,  and  a  flourishing  Sab- 
bath school  was  organized  at  an  early  day. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Sandy 
Hill  was  organized  in  1825,  with  thirteen 
members  :  Benjamin  Clark,  Nathaniel  Wrickes, 
Jacob  Lattimer,  Seth  Smith  and  George  Har- 
vey and  their  wives,  and  Mary  M.  Lee,  Katy 
Carrier  and  Carmi  Dibble.  The  court  house 
and  school  house,  No.  16,  served  as  their 
places  of  worship  until  1840,  when  they  erected 
a  church  edifice  on  Main  street  at  a  cost  of 
four  thousand  dollars.  A  parsonage  was  pur- 
chased in  1S55  for  twelve  hundred  dollars. 

Saint  Mary's  Catholic  church,  the  mother 
church  of  Catholicity  in  Washington,  Warren, 


BIOGMAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


and  Essex  counties,  was  organized  about  1830 
as  Christ's  church,  by  emigrants  who  came 
from  different  parts  of  Ireland.  The  name 
was  afterward  changed  to  Saint  Mary's.  The 
resident  pastor  was  Rev.  John  Kelly,  S.  J.  A 
stone  church  was  built,  and  the  congregation 
became  so  strong  in  numbers  in  1873  that 
Saint  Paul's  church  was  formed  of  the  French 
members,  under  Rev.  G.  Huberdault.  The 
members  of  Saint  Paul  purchased  the  first 
Baptist  church  building  at  Park  Place  for  a 
house  of  worship. 

Sandy  Hill  Baptist  church  was  constituted 
in  April,  1840,  with  forty  members.  Rev.  J. 
B.  Murphy  was  the  first  pastor,  and  the 
church,  on  December  5,  1872,  dedicated  their 
second  and  present  beautiful  church  structure 
at  a  cost  of  fifty-seven  thousand  dollars.  The 
church  is  Gothic  in  style  and  cruciform  in 
shape. 

The  Advent  Christian  church  was  organized 
with  about  twenty  members  in  1859,  by  Rev. 
Joseph  Parry,  who  became  its  first  pastor. 
Their  church  on  Main  street  was  built  in  i860. 
In  education  as  in  religion  the  village  is 
favorably  known  for  its  interest  and  its  first 
class  school  buildings.  The  Union  Free 
school  was  opened  in  1869  in  the  handsome 
school  building  at  the  head  of  Oak  street,  un- 
der Prof.  William  McLaren,  as  principal.  An 
academical  department  was  established  in 
1871.  The  building  cost  twenty-three  thous- 
and dollars.  Private  schools  of  high  grade 
have  been  taught  in  the  village,  and  one  of 
merit  was  that  of  Rev.  Dr.  Bostwick. 

TOWN    OF    KINGSBURY. 

The  form  of  the  town  of  Kingsbury  is  that  of 
a  square,  and  its  boundaries  are  :  Fort  Ann  on 
the  north,  Hartford  on  the  east,  Argyle  and  Fort 
Edward  on  the  south, and  Warren  and  Saratoga 
counties  on  the  west.  The  surface  is  level 
and  rolling,  with  hills  in  the  east.  Its  drain- 
age is  by  Wood,  Half- Way  and  Bond  creeks. 
Its  surface  was  once  crossed  by  the  old  Indian 
war  trails,  from  the  Hudson  to  the  lakes,  and 


an  important  canal  and  railway  now  pass 
through  its  territory  along  Wood  creek,  while 
the  canal's  main  feeder  crosses  its  southwest 
corner.     It  was  originally  heavily  timbered. 

The  territory  of  the  town  is  embraced  in 
the  Kingsbury  patent,  that  was  granted  to 
James  Bradshaw,  of  New  Milford,  Connecti- 
cut, on  May  n,  1762.  There  were  twenty- 
two  associates  in  the  patent  with  Bradshaw. 
They  were  Daniel  and  Nathaniel  Taylor,  Sam- 
uel Brownson,  Comfort  Star,  John  Warner, 
Kent  and  Abel  Wright,  Benjamin  and  Eben- 
ezer  Seelye,  Preserved  Porter,  Gideon  and 
Thomas  Noble,  Partridge  Thatcher,  Daniel 
Bostwick,  Samuel  Canfield,  Isaac,  John  and 
Jonathan  Hitchcock,  John  Prindle,  Benjamin 
Wildman,  Amos  Northup  and  Israel  Camp. 
Nearly  all  of  these  were  residents  of  Connecti- 
cut. 

The  first  settler  was  Bradshaw,  who  came 
in  1763,  but  did  not  bring  his  family  until  two 
years  later.  Oliver  Colvin,  sr.,  the  second 
settler,located  in  the  north,  and  Albert  Baker, 
the  third  pioneer,  made  his  home  at  Sandy 
Hill,  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  tract. 
Michael  Huffnogle  joined  Baker  in  a  short 
time,  and  of  other  early  settlers  we  have 
record  of  Samuel  Brownson  (a  patentee),  Jo- 
seph, Moses  and  William  Smith,  Thomas 
Grant,  Benjamin  Underbill,  Solomon  King, 
Henry  Franklin,  S.  Dillingham,  Ennis  Gra- 
ham, George  Wray,  John  Moss,  Timothy, 
Moses,  Samuel  and  Gilbert  Harris,  Nehemiah 
Seelye,  John  Griffith,  John  Munroe,  Leonard 
Decklyn,  Amos  McKeney,  Asa  Richardson, 
John  Phillips,  Adam  Wint,  Samuel,  Andrew, 
Adiel  and  Samuel  Sherwood,  and  the  widow 
Jones,  from  New  Jersey,  and  her  six  sons, 
John,  Jonathan,  Dunham,  Daniel,  David  and 
Solomon.  David  Jones  became  noted  as  the 
affianced  lover  of  Jane  McCrea.  John  Moss 
settled  at  Moss  street. 

When  the  Revolution  broke  out  the  Jones', 
Adam  Wint,  Gilbert  Harris  and  many  others 
became  tories,  and  took  up  arms  for  the  Eng- 
lish.     Many  of  these   tories   were  with   Bur- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY 


89 


goyne  when  he  crossed  the  town  in  1777,  and 
some  of  them  three  years  later  came  with 
Carleton  when  his  track  through  Kingston  was 
marked  with  murder,  fire  and  pillage. 

After  the  Revolution,  the  town  was  not 
changed  in  either  name  or  territory  from  the 
patent  grant  of  1762,  and  received  State  re- 
cognition March  23,  1786. 

The  unincorporated  villages  of  Kingsbury 
are:  Kingshury  Street,  Patten's  Mills,  Smith's 
Basin,  Dunham's  Basin,  Adamsville,  Moss 
Street,  Vaughn's  Corners  and  Langdon's  Cor- 
ners. 

Kingsbury  Street,  five  miles  northeast  of 
Sandy  Hill,  is  a  place  of  nearly  two  hundred 
inhabitants  and  was  early  settled.  Several 
stores  and  taverns  have  heen  kept  there,  and 
the  postoffice  was  established  in  1810,  with 
Jonathan  Bellamy  as  postmaster. 

Patten's  Mills  is  a  small  village  in  the  north- 
west, and  was  known  as  Jones'  mill-place  until 
Edward  Patten  came  and  built  a  later  mill, 
thus  giving  his  name  to  the  hamlet,  where  a 
postoffice  was  opened  in  1825,  with  James  Pat- 
ten as  postmaster.  There  have  been  several 
stores  but  no  hotel  at  Patten's  Mills. 

Smith's  Basin,  five  miles  northeast  from 
Sandy  Hill,  came  into  existence  with  the  open- 
ing of  the  canal  in  1822.  It  is  named  for  Eze- 
kiel  Smith,  the  proprietor  of  the  first  store 
and  hotel.  The  postoffice  was  established  in 
1849,  with  L.  C.  Holmesas  postmaster.  The 
village  has  about  two  hundred  population  and 
is  a  railroad  station. 

Dunham's  Basin  is  like  Smith's  Basin,  a 
station  on  the  railroad  and  canal.  It  is  named 
for  Daniel  Dunham,  an  early  settler,  lies  two 
miles  east  of  Sandy  Hill,  and  has  a  hotel  and 
store. 

Adamsville,  named  for  John  Ouincv  Adams, 
is  six  miles  east  of  Sandy  Hill.  The  post- 
office  was  established  in  1827  and  gave  name 
to  the  hamlet.  The  first  postmaster  was  Cal- 
vin H.  Swain. 

Moss  Street  is  a  rural  settlement  one-half 
mile  north  of  Sandy  Hill,  and  was  named  for 


Deacon   John   and   Captain    Isaac    Moss.      A 
hotel  was  once  kept  there. 

Vaughn's  Corners  was  founded  by  William 
M.  Vaughn,  \\\\o  opened  a  tavern  and  hotel 
there  at  an  early  day.  The  hamlet  is  five 
miles  north  from  Sandy  Hill,  and  once  had  a 
postoffice. 

Langdon's  Corners  is  a  farming  neighbor- 
hood four  miles  north  of  Sandy  Hill,  in  the 
western  part  of  the  town. 

Church  history  goes  back  over  a  century,  to 
1790,  when  an  Episcopal  church  was  organized 
in  Kingsbury.  Twenty-three  years  later  the 
church  was  reorganized  under  the  name  of 
Zion  church,  and  in  1854  a  beautiful  stone 
rural  church  edifice  was  erected.  From  a 
missionary  station  the  church  has  become  a 
self-supporting  parish,  and  has  sent  mission- 
aries to  China,  the  Sandwich  islands,  and  the 
Indian  territory.  Rev.  S.  B.  Bostwick  served 
as  rector  from  1846  to  1877. 

The  Kingsbury  Baptist  church  was  organized 
about  1790,  and  two  years  later  had  a  mem- 
bership of  ninety-three,  with  Rev.  Ebenezer 
Willoughby  as  pastor.  They  helped  to  build 
a  Union  church  edifice  on  the  Joseph  Adams 
farm,  and  this  building,  in  1843,  was  removed 
to  Kingsbury  street  and  became  known  as  a 
Baptist  meeting  house. 

The  Adamsville  Baptist  church  was  consti- 
tuted in  1795  by  the  name  of  the  Second 
Hartford  Baptist  church,  with  thirty  -  two 
members.  The  name  was  changed  in  181 3  to 
that  of  Hartford  and  Kingsbury,  and  then  in 
1827  to  Adamsville,  from  the  name  of  the 
postoffice  established  near  in  that  year.  Dur- 
ing 1832  a  portion  of  the  members  left  and 
formed  Hartford  and  Kingsbury  church,  which 
disbanded  ten  years  later  and  the  members 
returned  to  the  Adamsville  church. 

About  1800  Sandford's  Ridge  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  was  organized,  with  Daniel 
Brayton  in  charge.  A  church  building  was 
erected  in  1832. 

The  school  interests  of  the  town  have  been 
well  protected,  and  in  1878  the  sixteen  school 


90 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


districts  of  the  town  contained  one  thousand 
five  hundred  and  thirteen  children  of  school 
age. 

Kingsbury  is  noted  for  its  unusually  large 
proportion  of  improved  land  and  its  stead)' 
increase  of  population. 


CHAPTER    III. 

VILLAGE  AND  TOWN   OF  WHITEHILL. 

VILLAGE    OF    WHITEHALL. 

A  monument  to  the  ungratified  ambition  of 
Philip  Skene,  whose  name  if  once  bore,  is 
Whitehall,  that  to-day  ranks  as  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  important  villages  of  the 
county. 

Whitehall  was  incorporated  as  a  village  in 
1820,  and  thirty  years  later,  on  March  16, 
1850,  an  act  of  legislature  was  passed,  revis- 
ing and  consolidating  previous  laws  in  regard 
to  the  village  of  Whitehall.  This  charter  was 
amended  in  1853,  1859,  1869  and  1876. 

Whitehall  was  founded  in  1761,  under  the 
name  of  Skenesborough,  by  Major  Philip 
Skene,  an  English  half-pay  officer,  who  is  de- 
scribed in  the  Gentleman 's  Magazine  as  being 
the  grandson  of  John  Skene,  of  Halyards,  in 
Fifeshire,  Scotland,  and  as  a  relative  of  the 
famous  Sir  William  Wallace.  Skene  entered 
the  English  army  in  1739,  was  at  the  taking 
of  Carthagena,  and  in  the  battles  of  Fontenoy, 
Culloden  and  Laffeldt.  He  came  to  America 
in  1756,  was  promoted  to  a  company  in  the  En- 
niskillen  foot,  and  a  year  after,  being  wounded 
under  Howe,  at  Ticonderoga,  was  appointed 
major  of  brigade  by  General  Amherst,  who 
encouraged  him  to  project  the  settlement  he 
made  in  1761   at  Whitehall. 

When  Skene  and  his  colony  of  about  thirty 
families  arrived  at  Whitehall,  they  found  an 
old  stockade  fort  of  the  French  and  Indian 
war  standing  in  what  is  now  the  southeast 
angle  of  High  and  Church  streets. 


The  next  year  he  was  ordered  on  the  expe- 
dition against  Martinico  and  Havana,  and  was 
among  the  first  to  enter  the  breach  at  the 
storming  of  Moro  castle. 

On  his  return  to  his  colony  he  brought  a 
number  of  slaves  with  him,  but  to  his  aston- 
ishment found  his  settlers  nearly  all  gone.  Be- 
ing a  man  of  energy  and  business  ability,  he 
set  about  to  make  his  colony  what  he  intended 
it  to  be.  Having  considerable  private  means 
he  soon  placed  the  affairs  of  the  infant  settle- 
ment on  a  firm  basis!  In  1768  his  regiment 
was  ordered  to  Ireland,  but  he  exchanged  into 
the  10th  foot,  and  soon  sold  out  so  as  to  be 
able  to  establish  his  residence  at  Skenesbor- 
ough and  carry  out  his  ambitious  design  of  at- 
taining a  prominent  position  in  the  colonies. 
He  now  gave  his  whole  attention  to  the  devel- 
opment of  his  colony,  and  with  the  labor  of 
his  negroes,  his  colonists  and  some  discharged 
soldiers,  he  built  a  sloop  to  open  transportation 
on  the  lake,  constructed  a  passable  road  of 
thirty  miles  to  Salem,  and  improved  another 
road  to  Bennington.  He  built  a  saw  and  grist 
mill,  and  erected  a  two-and-one-half  story 
stone  mansion  on  the  present  roadway  of  Wil- 
liams street.  His  massive  stone  barn,  as  it 
was  pierced  with  port  holes,  was  probably  in- 
tended for  defense  in  time  of  danger  as  well  as 
for  housing  horses  and  feed  during  periods  of 
peace. 

During  the  county-seat  struggle  in  1772, 
Skenesborough  had  so  increased  in  size  and 
importance  that  Major  Skene  sought  to  have 
the  seat  of  justice  established  there,  and  him- 
self commissioned  as  judge  of  the  courts.  Fail- 
ing in  these  objects,  it  is  thought  that  he  then 
entertained  the  loftier  ambition  of  making  his 
village  a  colonial  capital  and  himself  the  gov- 
ernor of  a  new  province  of  Ticonderoga,  em- 
bracing the  territory  of  northern  New  York 
and  the  present  State  of  Vermont.  When  the 
Revolution  opened  Skene  was  in  England, 
where  it  is  said  he  was  then  successful  in  secur- 
ing the  grant  of  the  new  province  and  its  gov- 
ernorship,   but   the    same     parties    who     had 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


91 


thwarted  his  earlier  scheme  of  a  county  seat 
now  defeated  his  more  matured  scheme  of 
colonial  establishment  by  fanning  the  spark  of 
discontent  against  parliamentary  impositions 
into  the  fierce  name  of  armed  rebellion  against 
all  English  authority. 

Skene  returned  but  to  hear  of  the  confisca- 
tion of  his  schooner,  his  slaves  and  his  other 
property  by  the  soldiers  of  Captain  Herrick 
and  other  New  England  leaders,  and  to  be 
arrested  as  a  tory.  He  was  exchanged  in  1 776, 
and  the  next  year  served  as  a  volunteer  with 
Burgoyne,  being  at  the  battles  of  Bennington 
and  the  Saratogas.  Skene  was  attainted  and 
his  property  confiscated  by  New  York  in  1779, 
and  after  failing  to  recover  his  property  he 
made  his  residence  in  England,  wliere  he  died 
October  9,  1810,  at  Addersy  Lodge,  Stoke 
Goldington,  Bucks.  In  his  obituary  notice 
Philip  Skene  was  styled,  "formerly  lieutenant- 
governor  of  Crown  Point  and  Ticonderoga, 
and  surveyor  of  his  majesty's  woods  and  for- 
ests bordering  on  Lake  Champlain." 

Skenesborough  was  held  by  the  Continental 
troops  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  except 
when  occupied  by  Burgoyne  and  Carleton  for 
a  few  weeks  and  a  couple  of  days  respec- 
tively. 

In  1786  the  name  of  the  place  was  changed 
from  Skenesborough  to  Whitehall,  and  four 
years  later  its  houses  were  said  to  only  num- 
ber eight  or  ten.  The  postoffice  was  estab- 
lished in  1796,  and  in  1812  the  place  became 
a  base  of  supplies  and  a  stragetic  point  for  the 
American  operations  against  Canada.  Mc- 
Donough  anchored  his  captive  fleet  and  some 
of  his  own  vessels  in  1814  in  East  bay,  where 
they  decayed  and  sunk,  one  by  one,  in  the 
succeeding  years.  In  1  Si 7  Whitehall  con- 
tained about  fifty  houses,  a  fulling  and  a  stave 
mill,  a  saw  and  grist  mill,  and  the  government 
houses  and  a  school  house.  The  taverns  were: 
Anthony  Rock's,  Henry  Wiswell's,  and  the 
Bellamy  house;  while  the  stores  were  con- 
ducted by  James  H.  Hooker,  Capt.  Archibald 
Smith,  James  Perry,  Ezra   Smith,    and    Rock 


&  Fonda.  Five  years  later  the  Champlain 
canal  was  opened  and  the  first  newspaper, 
77iii  Whitehall  Emporium,  came  into  existence. 
In  1824  the  canal  was  completed  and  the  same 
year  Whitehall  entertained  LaFayette  at  the 
Wiswell  hotel  when  he  was  passing  on  his 
way  from  Burlington  to  Albany.  Steamboat 
navigation,  that  commenced  in  1810,  was  .now 
attaining  respectable  proportions. 

The  village  grew  slowly  until  1848,  when  the 
Washington  and  Saratoga  railroad  was  opened 
and  a  period  of  great  prosperity  commenced. 
The  next  year  Whitehall  was  first  recognized 
as  a  port  by  congress,  although  the  district  of 
Champlain,  including  Whitehall,  was  created 
by  act  of  congress,  approved  March  2,  1799. 
In  1875  passenger  traffic  on  the  lake  from 
Whitehall  as  the  southern  terminal  was  closed 
by  the  opening  of  the  New  York  and  Canada 
railroad,  which  has  made  Ticonderoga  the 
successor  of  Whitehall.  Freight  traffic  still  is 
carried  northward  on  the  lake  from  the  village 
by  means  of  company  and  private  transporta- 
tion lines.  Since  1875  the  population  of  the 
village  has  decreased  some,  but  present  indi- 
cations warrant  future  development  and  pros- 
perity as  the  result  of  the  healthy  growth  set- 
ting in  to-day. 

The  fire  department  of  Whitehall  com- 
menced in  the  year  1835,  when  the  small  Tor- 
rent fire  engine  was  purchased,  although  a 
small  hand  engine  had  been  presented  to  the 
village  by  Col.  John  Williams.  The  Torrent 
cost  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars,  and  additional  engines  and  fire  equip- 
ments have  been  purchased  from  time  to  time 
until  Whitehall  now  has  an  efficient  fire  de- 
partment. In  1878  there  were,  the  Empire 
hook  and  ladder,  Whitehall  steamer,  W.  F. 
Bascom  engine,  and  W.  H.  Cook  engine  com- 
panies: and  the  James  Doren,  George  Brett, 
jr.,  B.  F.  Lacca,  and  A.  C.  Hopson  hose 
companies.  In  i860,  1864,  1875  and  in  1876, 
there  were  fires  at  which  the  fire  and  hose 
companies  rendered  efficient  service.  The 
canal  is  one  main  dependence  for  water  in  case 


92 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


of  fire,  as  the  water  works  cannot  furnish  an 
adequate  supply. 

The  early  water  supply  was  by  the  aqueduct 
of  1828,  and  a  later  source  of  supply  was  the 
three  reservoirs  receiving  the  waters  of  Smith's 
and  Adam's  ponds. 

The  Whitehall  gas  works  were  started  in 
i860.  Hall's  opera  house  was  opened  in  1875, 
and  various  public  improvements  have  been 
made  since  then. 

The  pioneer  church  of  Whitehall  is  the 
Whitehall  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  or- 
ganized in  1822.  The  church  was  organized 
under  Rev.  Philo  Ferris,  and  a  house  of  wor- 
ship was  erected  in  1832  on  Church  street. 
This  church  has  since  been  remodelled  and 
improved. 

Trinity  Episcopal  church  was  organized 
about  1834,  and  a  church  edifice  was  erected 
in  1837,  on  Division  street.  A  second  church 
was  built  in  1843  on  Church  street,  and  their 
third  church  edifice,  a  fine  structure,  was 
erected  in  1866,  on  the  west  side  of  Church 
street,  at  a  cost  of  thirteen  thousand  dollars. 

The  First  Baptist  church  of  Whitehall  was 
formally  organized  July  15,  1840,  with  ten 
members  :  W.  W.  Cooke,  Hearty  C.  Cooke, 
Stephen  N.  Bush,  Salome  Bush,  Henry  J. 
Day,  Lester  Leach,  Mindwell  Leach,  Mrs. 
Phebe  Blinn,  Laura  Chalk,  and  Mrs.  Jane 
Stephens.  There  were  meetings  held  as  early 
as  1838,  and  after  the  church  was  organized 
it  bought  the  Episcopal  church  on  Division 
street.  That  building  was  burned  in  1874, 
and  the  second  house  of  worship  was  erected 
in  1876  on  the  east  side  of  the  creek. 

The  Catholic  church  of  Our  Lady  of  Angels 
was  organized  at  the  house  of  Antoine  Renois 
as  Saint  Anthony's  church.  A  church  build- 
ing was  erected  in  1841,  in  what  is  now 
Saunder's  street,  and  when  that  highway  was 
opened  in  1867,  the  congregation,  being  large, 
divided  into  two  parts,  the  English  and  the 
French.  The  English  part  erected  their  pres- 
ent handsome  church  in  1870,  at  a  cost  of 
thirty  thousand  dollars. 


Notre  Dame  De  La  Victoire  church  was 
organized  by  the  French  catholics  of  Saint 
Anthony's  church  in  1868,  and  the  same  year 
the}'  purchased  the  second  Episcopal  house 
of  worship  for  a  church,  at  a  cost  of  nearly 
four  thousand  dollars. 

The  banking  institutions  of  Whitehall  have 
always  been  safe  and  reliable.  The  Bank  of 
Whitehall  was  chartered  in  1829,  and  became 
a  national  bank  May  4,  1865,  with  H.  G.  Bur- 
leigh, president,  and  A.  C.  Sawyer,  cashier. 
The  First  National  bank  of  Whitehall  was 
organized  February  22,  1864,  with  A.  H.  Gris- 
wold,  president,  and  William  Keith,  cashier. 
The  Commercial  bank  of  Whitehall  went  into 
operation  August  15,  1841,  and  continued 
until  State  bank  circulation  was  taxed  by  the 
United  States.  TheBank  of  Whitehall  was  char- 
tered in  1873,  and  on  March  12,  1875,  became 
the  Merchants'  National  bank  of  Whitehall. 

The  manufacturing  interests  of  the  village 
have  never  been  what  they  should  be,  as  the 
falls  of  Wood  creek  furnish  fine  water  power. 
Wait's  ingrain  carpet  factory,  that  run  from 
1848  until  destroyed  by  fire  in  1864,  was  the 
earliest  manufacturing  of  any  importance  run 
by  this  water  power.  The  most  important  in- 
dustry succeeding  Wait's  has  been  the  saw 
and  planing  mill  plant  of  W.  W.  Cook  &  Son, 
which  has  been  twice  destroyed  by  fire  and 
twice  rebuilt. 

Education  in  the  village  of  Whitehall  has 
been  properly  cared  for  by  its  public  spirited 
citizens.  The  earliest  recollected  school  was 
in  1814,  and  the  next  year  the  village  became 
one  of  the  districts  into  which  the  town  was 
divided.  The  public  school  system  is  well 
sustained  at  the  present  time.  It  was  organ- 
ized in  1866,  as  Whitehall  Union  free  school. 
In  1878  the  buildings  occupied  were  Central 
High  school,  on  Pierce's  knoll,  costing  twenty 
thousand  dollars,  and  Wheeler  avenue,  Bell, 
and  Adams  houses.  The  want  for  academic 
education  at  home  for  nearly  twenty  years  was 
met  by  the  Whitehall  academy,  which  ran  from 
1848  to  1865. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


93 


The  population  of  the  village  in  1870  was 
four  thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty-two, 
composed  of  three  thousand  one  hundred  and 
thirty-six  native  and  one  thousand  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-six  foreign  inhabitants.  There 
were  four  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
three  white  and  forty-nine  colored  people.  In 
1880  the  population  was  four  thousand  two 
hundred  and  seventy,  a  slight  decrease  in  a 
decade,  but  the  manufacturing  power  and 
transportation  facilities  of  Whitehall  village 
should  give  it  wealth,  population,  size  and 
importance  in  the  years  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury to  come.  The  population  in  1890  was 
four  thousand  four   hundred  and  thirty-four. 

TOWN    OF    WHITEHALL. 

The  town  of  Whitehall  is  bounded  on  the 
north  by  the  State  of  Vermont ;  on  the  east  by 
Hampton  ;  on  the  south  by  Granville  and  Fort 
Ann;  and  on  the  west  by  Fort  Ann  and  Dresden. 

The  surface  is  rolling  in  the  center  and  east, 
but  in  the  west  is  hilly  and  becomes  moun- 
tainous about  the  head  of  Lake  Champlain. 
The  drainage  is  by  Wood  creek  and  Pawlet, 
or  Mettowee  river  into  Whitehall  harbor  and 
the  head  of  Lake  Champlain. 

The  town  of  Whitehall  was  patented  to 
Maj.  Philip  Skene,  by  royal  grant,  on  March 
13,  1765,  as  the  township  of  Skenesborough. 
No  trace  however  can  be  found  of  any  town 
organization  until  1778,  and  eight  years  later, 
in  1786,  the  town  was  .reorganized  under  its 
present  name  of  Whitehall.  The  western  part 
of  Whitehall  is  historic  ground,  where  the 
earth  almost  constantly  felt  the  tread  of  march- 
ing and  warring  hosts  for  nearly  two  centuries. 
The  hideously  painted  savage  bands,  the  white 
and  blue  uniformed  regiments  ol  France,  the 
red  coated  battalions  of  Great  Brittain,  and 
the  yellow  and  blue  half  clothed  Continentals, 
alternately  advanced  and  retreated  over  its 
hills  and  through  its  valleys,  while  the  whir  of 
arrows,  the  rattle  of  musketry  and  the  boom 
of  cannon  mingled  with  the  charging  cheer 
and  the  terrific  war-whoop  often  made  strange 


and  fearful  music  on  its  waters,  and  through 
the  lone  depths  of  its  great  forests.  The  his- 
tory of  these  past  scenes  of  bloodshed  and 
marching  armies  have  been  related  in  the 
general  history,  and  our  attention  now  will  be 
entirely  confined  to  the  settlement  and  growth 
of  the  town. 

The  twenty-four  patentees  associated  with 
Skene  were:  John  Maunsel,  Thomas  Moncrief, 
John  and  Nathaniel  Marston,  Hugh  and  Alex- 
ander Wallace,  Lawrence  Read,  Thomes 
White,  John  Gill,  Robert  Alexander,  Robert 
Stevens,  John  Moore,  Joseph  Allicock,  Gerard 
and  Evert  Bancker,  Richard  Curson,  John 
Lamb,  James  Deas,  Boyle  Roche,  Atcheson 
Thompson,  Peter  Kettletas,  John  R.  Meyer, 
Levinus  Clarkson,  and  Abraham  Brazier.  The 
interests  of  these  twenty-four  patentees  were 
only  nominal,  and  Skene  was  the  real  owner. 
On  July  6,  1771,  Skene  obtained  his  "Little 
Patent  "  of  nine  thousand  acres  to  the  north- 
east of  the  original  grant,  and  it  extended  into 
Hampton.  These  two  patents  covered  all  of 
the  present  town  of  Whitehall  except  the  Mc- 
intosh patent  of  four  thousand  acres  on  the 
east  side. 

The  settlement  and  history  of  the  town  was 
during  its  early  years  centered  in  the  history 
of  the  village  already  given,  and  all  that  we 
can  obtain  of  the  early  settlers  are  the  names 
of  the  following  persons,  many  of  whom 
most  likely  came  after  1781:  Zebulon  Fuller, 
Daniel  Brundage,  Elisha  Martin,  Levi  Stock- 
well,  Zeb.  Tubbs,  Josiah  Farr,  John  Conner, 
James  and  Jeremiah  Burroughs,  Joseph,  Dan- 
iel and  Nathaniel  Earl,  Silas  Childs,  William 
Graham,  John  Gault,  Gideon  Taft,  Cornelius 
Jones,  William  Higley,  Levi  Falkenbury,  Joel 
Adams, Thomas  Lyon,  George  Douglass,  Sam- 
uel Hatch,  Rufus  Whitford,   Simon  Hotchiss, 

John    Coggswell,  Pangborn,    Stephen 

Knowles,  Joseph  Bishop,  Thomas  McFarren. 
Eph.  Thomas,  Andrew  Law,  Enoch  Wright, 
Lemuel  Bartholomew,  Stephen  Parks,  Silas 
Baker,  Israel  Warner,  and  Robert,  Samuel, 
and  Thomas  Wilson. 


94 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


The  town  has  slowly  filled  up  with  an  agri- 
cultural population  outside  of  the  village  of 
Whitehall,  and  while  cereal  crops  are  raised 
in  paying  quantities,  yet  the  land  is  better 
suited  to  grazing.  Many  farmers  have  turned 
their  attention  in  that  line,  and  prior  to  1877 
the  Rogers  and  Hollister  cheese  factories  and 
the  Rathbun  creamery  were  in  successful  op- 
eration. Some  tobacco  has  been  raised,  and 
a  few  vineyards  planted  in  the  limestone  sec- 
tion of  the  town. 

Slate  formations  exist  in  the  eastern  part, 
and  the  Eureka  and  Spink  were  among  the 
first  quarries  opened. 

It  is  asserted  that  Major  Skene  had  a  fur- 
nace on  the  west  side  of  Wood  creek  for  melt- 
ing crude  iron  ores. 

The  First  Congregational  church  of  East 
Whitehall  was  organized  in  1805,' with  twelve 
members  and  Rev.  James  Davis  as  pastor. 
Their  first  church  was  burned,  and  its  suc- 
cessor was  built  in  i836,at  a  cost  of  two  thou- 
sand dollars. 

The  First  Presbyterian,  which,  through  the 
efforts  of  General  Williams,  was  to  have  its 
home  two  miles  south  of  the  village,  but  after 
his  death  it  built  a  house  on  Williams  street, 
in  Whitehall  village,  where  it  only  existed  two 
years. 

The  oldest  church  in  the  town  is  the  East 
Whitehall  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  organ- 
ized in  1796  with  ten  members,  by  the  cele- 
brated Lorenzo  Dow.  They  erected  a  brick 
structure  in  1826. 

The  public  school  system  of  the  town  went 
into  operation  in  i8i5,and  has  been  judiciously 
sustained  ever  since. 

The  population  of  Whitehall  was  five  thou- 
sand five  hundred  and  sixty-four  in  1870  ;  and 
five  thousand  three  hundred  and  forty-seven 
in  1880. 

In  1875  there  were  eight  hundred  and  fifty 
frame,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  brick,  and 
six  stone  houses  in  the  town,  valued  at  one 
million  eight  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
dollars.       In    the  same  year  the  acres  of  im- 


proved land  was  given  at  twenty  thousand 
four  hundred  and  eight,  and  the  unimproved 
as  seven  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty. 
The  milch  cows  were  one  thousand  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  in  number,  and  the  sheep  shorn 
were  four  thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
nine,  with  a  clippage  of  twenty-four  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  ninety-four  pounds  of  wool. 
Before  closing  this  account  of  the  town  of 
Whitehall  we  give  the  reported  tory  raid  of 
1779  into  Whitehall,  as  stated  by  Dr.  A.  B.' 
Holden  in  his  "History  of  Queensbury": 
"Before  the  ice  had  cleared  out  from  Lake 
Champlain,  and  while  it  still  remained  pass- 
able, it  was  made  available  by  a  band  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  Indians,  led  by  the  infa- 
mous Joe  Bettys  and  two  Canadian  French- 
men, who  made  an  attack  upon  the  little  set- 
tlement at  Skenesborough,  then  garrisoned  by 
a  body  of  militia  sixty  in  number,  drafted 
from  the  towns  of  New  Perth,  now  Salem, 
and  Cambridge  on  the  eastern  border  of  Char- 
lotte county.  The  assailants  approached  the 
settlement  from  East  bay,  crossing  the  moun- 
tain east  of  Whitehall  village.  A  man  and 
his  wife,  who  lived  a  short  distance  from  the 
stone  house  built  by  Skene,  were  tomahawked 
and  scalped  ;  a  part  of  the  garrison,  perceiv- 
ing their  approach,  attempted  to  escape  by 
swimming  across  the  icy  waters  of  Wood 
creek,  but  their  fleet-footed  pursuers  were  too 
quick  for  them.  When  midway  of  the  stream 
they  were  sternly  ordered  to  return  or  they 
would  be  shot.  They  accordingly  went  back 
and  surrendered  themselves.  The  attack  was 
made  about  two  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of 
the  2istof  March  (1779),  and  before  sundown 
the  party,  loaded  with  plunder  and  accom- 
panied by  their  prisoners,  had  started  on  its 
retreat.  In  this  raid  three  persons  (the  two 
already  named  and  one  soldier)  were  killed, 
and  ever}7  building  in  the  settlement  was  fired, 
so  that  of  the  once  flourishing  hamlet  of 
Skenesborough  not  a  roof  was  left,  and  -Fort 
Anne  for  a  brief  period  became  the  frontier 
post  at  the   north.      The    Indians   comprising 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


95 


this  marauding  party  were  the  Caughnawaga 
or  Saint  Regis  tribes,  and  the  prisoners,  after 
reaching  Saint  Johns,  were  conducted  through 
the  wilderness  to  the  Indian  settlements  at 
Cliateaugay  and  French  Mills,  whence,  after 
a  short  detention,  being  robbed  of  all  their 
valuables,  even  to  clothing,  they  were  con- 
veyed to  Montreal,  where  they  were  ransomed 
by  the  British  officers  for  eight  dollars  apiece, 
and  imprisoned  until  they  were  exchanged, 
some  of  them  in  the  meantime  making  their 
escape  and  some  remaining  prisoners  for  two 
years  or  more." 

Dr.  Holden  says  :  "For  this  narrative,  not 
hitherto  published  in  any  of  our  local  or  gen- 
eral histories,  the  author  is  indebted  to  Dr. 
Asa  Fitch,"  of  Salem,  by  whom  a  full  account 
was  published  in  the  Salem  Press  of  Novem- 
ber 5  and  12,  1867." 


CHAPTER    IV. 

VILLAGES  OF  FORT  EDWARD  AND  FORT 
MILLER  AND  TOWN  OF  FORT  EDWARD. 

VILLAGE    OF    FORT    EDWARD. 

The  village  of  Fort  Edward  was  incorpor- 
ated by  an  order  of  court  on  August  28,  1849, 
which  also  provided  for  its  ratification  or  re- 
jection by  a  vote  of  the  electors.  On  Septem- 
ber 28th  the  vote  was  taken  at  the  house  of 
Gideon  Carswell,  and  the  act  of  incorporation 
was  ratified  by  a  vote  of  eighty-one  to  sixty- 
seven.  The  incorporated  territory  included 
one  thousand  acres,  beside  the  greater  part  of 
Freeman's  island  in  the  river.  The  first  offi- 
cers were  :  Edward  Washburn,  H.  W.  Ben- 
nett, and  George  H.  Taylor,  assessors  ;  Edwin 
Crane,  collector  ;  E.  B.  Nash,  treasurer,  and 
William  Wright,  clerk.  The  trustees  were  : 
F.  D.  Hodgeman,  Charles  Harris,  J.  R.  Gan- 
dull,  D.  S.  Carswell,  and  John  Williams.  The 
charter  was  soon  allowed  to  die,  and  had  to  be 
revived  by  a  special  legislative  act  passed  Feb- 


ruary 26,  1857.  On  March  30,  1859,  an  act 
was  passed  to  enlarge  the  village  and  confer 
additional  powers  on  the  trustees  so  they  could 
facilitate  the  construction  of  a  bridge  across 
the  Hudson  to  the  town  of  Moreau,  in  Sara- 
toga county.  An  amendatory  act  was  passed 
April  14,  1866,  and  on  February  25,  1873,  the 
electors  voted  to  adopt  the  act  of  April  20, 
1870,  for  the  incorporation  of  villages. 

Fort  Edward,  Fort  Lyman,  Fort  Lydius, 
Fort  Nicholson,  and  the  "Great  Carrying 
Place,"  are  names  that  carry  the  history  of  the 
village  and  its  site  back  through  a  long  and 
stormy  war  period  from  the  closing  of  the  Rev- 
olution to  the  days  of  the  first  inter-colonial 
war. 

Wahcoloosencoochaleva,  the  Indian  name 
of  Fort  Edward,  carries  the  historic  record  of 
the  site  of  the  village  back  into  tradition,  the 
border  land  of  oblivion.  Unnumbered  warrior 
bands  advanced  and  retreated  over  its  site  dur- 
ing the  centuries  of  Indian  occupation. 

General  Winthrop  marched  over  the  site 
of  Fort  Edward  in  1790,  and  the  expeditions 
of  the  two  Schuylers  and  Nicholson's  two 
expeditions  passed  over  its  site,  and  during 
Nicholson's  first  campaign,  Fort  Nicholson 
was  both  built  and  destroyed.  The  Del- 
lius  and  Bayard  patents  of  1696  and  1743  in- 
cluded the  village  site,  and  not  later  than  1 744. 
Col.  John  Henry  Lydius  settled  under  the  an- 
nulled Dellius  patent,  and  erected  an  Indian 
trading  post  on  the  ruins  of  Fort  Nicholson. 
His  trading  post  was  called  Fort  Lydius,  and 
was  destroyed  by  the  French  in  1745.  Fort 
Edward  then  lay  desolate  and  waste  for  ten 
years.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  in  1755,  Gen. 
Phineas  Lyman  erected  Fort  Lyman,  on  the 
ruins  of  Forts  Nicholson  and  Lydius,  in  the 
northern  angle  formed  by  the  creek  and  the 
river  at  their  confluence.  Fort  Lyman  was  an 
earth  and  timber  structure,  with  ramparts  six- 
teen feet  high  and  twenty-two  feet  thick,  pro- 
tected by  a  deep  moat  on  the  front  extending 
from  stream  to  stream.  <  hiadrangular  in  form, 
it  had  three  bastions,  the  fourth   angle  being 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


covered  by  the  river  and  mounted  six  guns. 
Within  its  inclosure  were  barracks,  hospital, 
store  house  and  magazine,  while  barracks  and 
store  houses  were  also  erected  on  the  island  in 
the  river.  At  the  rear  angle,  a  postern  gate 
opened  on  the  river  and  a  bridge  was  thrown 
across  the  creek  near  its  mouth.  Johnson 
changed  the  name  of  the  fortification  from 
Fort  Lyman  to  Fort  Edward,  in  honor  of  Ed- 
ward, Duke  of  York. 

Gen.  Phineas  Lyman,  whose  name  the  fort 
should  have  borne,  was  a  lawyer  and  graduate 
of  Yale  college.  He  was  born  at  Durham, 
Connecticut,  about  1716,  really  fought  the 
battle  of  Lake  George,  for  which  Johnson  got 
the  honors,  and  served  under  Abercrombie 
and  Amherst.  He  commanded  the  provincial 
troops  in  the  expedition  against  Havana  in 
1762,  and  the  next  year  went  to  England, 
where  in  1774  he  obtained  a  grant  of  land  on 
the  Mississippi  river.  He  died  in  West  Florida 
in  1775. 

From  Fort  Edward,  now  the  outpost  on  the 
northern  frontier,  a  road  was  cut  to  Lake 
George,  and  over  it  marched  the  armies  of 
Johnson,  Abercrombie  and  Amherst.  Within 
its  intrenchments  lay  the  cowardly  Webb  when 
the  butchery  of  Fort  William  Henry  occurred, 
and  beneath  its  sheltering  walls  were  brought 
the  hundreds  who  were  wounded  in  Aber- 
crombie's  rash  attack  on  Ticonderoga.  It  was 
the  scene  of  two  of  Putnam's  daring  exploits. 
In  1757  he  saved  Captain  Little's  party  from 
massacre,  when  the  gates  of  the  fort  had  been 
closed  against  them  through  fear  of  a  pursu- 
ing army  being  at  their  heels ;  and  in  1758  he 
prevented  the  fire  of  the  burning  barracks 
from  reaching  the  powder  magazine,  only 
twelve  feet  away,  when  everyone  else  was 
ready  to  quit  the  struggle  and  let  the  ammu- 
nition be  blown  up  and  the  fort  wrecked. 

Fort  Edward  had  become  dilapidated  in 
1775,  and  then  it  was  repaired  and  a  cordon  of 
block-houses  erected  around  it. 

From  the  walls  of  Fort  Edward  was  wit- 
nessed the  murder  of  Jane  McCrea,  and  a  few 


days  later  its  ramparts  were  manned  by  the 
soldiers  of  Burgoyne,  whose  occupation  was 
of  short  duration.  With  the  days  of  the 
Revolution  the  tread  of  the  sentinel  passed 
away,  and  the  gates  stood  wide  open  until  the 
ravages  of  time  had  leveled  alike  bastion  and 
wall.  Its  fast  disappearing  ruins  will  soon  be 
gone,  and  but  the  memory  of  the  great  fortress 
will  remain. 

After  the  destruction  of  the  Lydius  settle- 
ment, there  is  no  record  of  any  settler  until 
1765,  when  Patrick  Smyth,  either  by  purchase 
or  lease,  became  a  resident  at  Fort  Edward, 
and  built  a  large  and  substantial  house,  which 
afterward  served  successively  as  the  head- 
quarters of  Schuyler  and  of  Burgoyne,  as  a 
court  room,  a  store  and  a  hotel. 

From  1765  down  to  1800  but  little  can  be 
learned  of  who  settled  or  what  was  done  at 
Fort  Edward.  John  Eddy  was  an  early  land 
owner,  having  seven  hundred  acres  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  village,  and  William 
Finn  had  a  large  tract  in  the  southern  part 
and  about  the  old  fort.  The  McNiel  house, 
at  No.  in  Broadway  street,  from  which  Jane 
McCrea  went  forth  to  her  death,  is  said  to 
have  been  built  by  Major  Peter  B.  Tearse. 
The  McCrea  spring,  where  the  unfortunate 
and  beautiful  maiden  met  her  untimely  fate, 
is  on  the  George  Bradley  land  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  village. 

The  first  store  was  probably  kept  in  the 
Smyth  house,  or  by  Colonel  John  Kane  ;  and 
James  Rogers,  Peter  Hilton,  and  Dr.  John 
Lawrence,  a  surgeon  in  Burgoyne's  army, 
were  among  the  early  merchants  of  the  place. 
Livy  Stoughton  had  a  store  in  181 1,  and  in 
1820  Daniel  W.  Wing  became  a  merchant  of 
Fort  Edward.  The  earlypracticing  physicians 
were  Drs.  Willoughby  and  Morton.  The  first 
tavern  was  kept  by  Russell  Rossiter  in  the  old 
Smyth  or  Yellow  house,  and  among  the  early 
hostelries  were  the  Baldwin,  Eddy  and  Man- 
sion houses. 

The  opening  of  the  Champlain  canal  in 
1822  gave  the  village  a  start,  and  the  comple- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


97 


tion  of  the  Saratoga  and  Washington  railroad 
in  1848  gave  transportation  and  an  outlet  to 
the  manufacturing  interests  that  had  their 
origin  in  1845,  and  that  have  since  been  in- 
strumental in  bringing  growth  and  prosperity 
to  the  village.  These  manufacturing  enter- 
prises are  the  results  of  a  company  of  public- 
spirited  and  far-sighted  citizens,  who,  in  1845, 
purchased  the  old  feeder  and  feeder-dam  from 
the  State,  and  bought  ten  acres  of  land  from 
Timothy  Eddy,  below  the  dam,  for  the  sites 
of  the  numerous  mills  that  have  since  been 
erected  there.  These  citizens  were  E.  B.  Nash, 
H.  W.  Bennett.  D.  W.  Wing,  James  Chees- 
man,  Morril  Grace,  Lansing  G.  Taylor,  E. 
Washburn,  A.  I.  Fort,  and  John  Doty,  who 
associated  themselves  with  J.  S.  Beach,  G. 
Kennedy,  Harvey  Chapman,  Roscius  Ken- 
nedy, and  Frederick  D.  Hodgeman,  as  the 
Fort  Edward  Manufacturing  Company.  This 
company  furnished  sites  to  all  who  desired  to 
engage  in  manufacturing,  and  reduced  the 
dam  from  twenty-eight  to  sixteen  feet. 

Timothy  Eddy  had  run  a  clothing  mill  prior 
to  1827.  As  soon  as  the  mill  sites  were  avail- 
able several  saw  mills  were  erected,  and  Mil- 
liman's  first  planing  mill  was  built  in  1861.  In 
1877  nearly  five  million  feet  of  lumber,  timber 
and  staves  were  cleared  at  Fort  Edward.  Im- 
mediately after  the  saw  mills  came  grist  mills, 
machine  shops  and  foundries,  and  in  1853  the 
Beach  &  Co.  paper  mill  started  in  a  building 
erected  three  years  before  for  a  cotton  factory. 
The  paper  mill  passed  into  other  hands,  was 
twice  burned  and  rebuilt,  the  second  time  un- 
der the  firm  of  Hodgeman  &  Palser.  The  Fort 
Edward  blast  furnace  was  started  in  1854  by 
George  Harvey  &  Co.,  and  afterward  became 
the  property  of  the  Albany  &  Rensselear  Iron 
and  Steel  company,  who  commenced  the  use 
of  Crown  Point  and  Fort  Ann  iron  ores  at  the 
village.  Stoneware  manufactories,  bridge 
works,  brick  kilns,  malt  houses,  and  breweries 
came  later, and  added  to  the  volume  of  business, 
which  was  affected  some  by  the  panic  of  [873. 

The  fire  department  of  Fort  Edward  was  or- 


ganized in  1857,  when  the  Relief  fire  engine 
was  purchased  and  a  fire  and  a  hook  and  lad- 
der company  formed.  This  engine  answered 
until  June,  1874,  when  the  steam  fire  engine, 
John  F.  Harris,  was  bought  at  a  cost  of  four 
thousand  dollars.  Four  years  later  the  fire  de- 
partment consisted  of  John  F.  Harris  Steam 
Company,  No.  1  ;  Satterlee  Hose  Company, 
No.  2  ;  and  John  R.  Durkee  Hose  Company, 
No.  3.  The  first  destructive  fire  of  the  village 
was  on  November  19,  1877,  when  the  Col- 
legiate institute  was  destroyed. 

The  early  water  supply  of  Fort  Edward  was 
obtained  by  an  acqueduct  from  springs  north 
of  the  village.  The  acqueduct  was  superseded 
in  1855  by  the  construction  of  the  water  works 
of  the  Fort  Edward  Water  Works  company, 
whose  supply  of  water  came  from  the  Case  cV. 
Mclntyre  reservoirs,  fed  by  perennial  springs. 

Fort  Edward  enjoys  good  postal  and  bank- 
ing facilities.  The  Fort  Edward  postoffice 
was  established  in  1800,  and  James  Rogers 
appointed  as  the  first  postmaster.  The  Bank 
of  Fort  Edward  was  chartered  in  1851,  and  in 
1865  became  The  National  bank  of  Fort  Ed- 
ward. The  Farmers'  bank  of  Washington 
county  was  organized  in  1856,  and  in  1865 
was  reorganized  as  the  Farmers'  National 
bank  of  Washington  county.  The  third  bank 
was  The  State  bank  of  Fort  Edward,  that  was 
chartered  April  1,  1871.  None  of  these  banks 
were  chartered  with  a  capital  of  less  than  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Methodist  Episcopal  services  were  held  as 
early  as  1788  at  Fort  Edward,  where  a  church 
organization  was  effected  in  1828  by  Rev. 
Julius  Field.  The  present  church  edifice  was 
erected  in  1S53. 

The  present  Presbyterian  church,  on  Eddy 
street,  was  organized  January  17,  1854,  with 
seventeen  members,  under  charge  of  Dr.  E. 
E.  Seelye.  Their  present  church  was  com- 
pleted in  1870.  This  congregation  is  the  suc- 
cessor of  an  early  Presbyterian  church  formed 
at  Fort  Edward  between  1820  and  1830,  but 
which  went  down  in  a  short  time. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


The  Baptist  church  was  organized  March 
17,  1842, with  the  following  fourteen  members  : 
James  Cheesman,  Nelson  Combs,  George 
Mills,  Lucinda  Van  Dusen,  Melissa  Hall, 
Electa  Shaw,  Isabel  Sanders,  Clarissa  Hen- 
derson, Polly  Sprague,  Lucinda  Bovee,  and 
Thomas,  Abigail,  Sally  and  Emma  Pike.  Rev. 
Solomon  Gale  was  the  first  pastor,  and  the 
church  edifice  was   erected  in   1851  and  1852. 

Saint  James  Episcopal  church  was  organ- 
ized in  1844,  the  members  prior  to  this  hav- 
ing formed  a  congregation  in  connection  with 
the  Episcopalians  of  Sandy  Hill.  The  first 
rector  was  Rev.  J.  A.  Spooner,  and  their 
brick  church  edifice  on  Broadway  street  was 
erected  between  1844  and  1M4N. 

Saint  Joseph's  Catholic  church  was  organ- 
ized in  1869  for  the  accommodation  of  about 
three  hundred  families  of  Fort  Edward  that 
were  then  worshiping  at  Sandy  Hill.  They 
purchased  the  East  Street  Methodist  church 
and  repaired  and  refitted  it  at  a  total  cost  of 
nearly  ten  thousand  dollars.  The  first  pastor 
was  Rev.  James  MoGee. 

Subscription  schools  were  succeeded  by  the 
free  schools  about  1814  or  1815,  and  in  1848 
Fort  Edward  became  one  of  the  first  villages 
in  the  State  to  organize  a  union  free  school. 
A  brick  union  school  building  was  erected  in 
1849,  at  a  cost  of  thirteen  thousand  dollars, 
and  the  Seminary  Street  school  house  was 
built  in  1868,  at  a  cost  of  four  thousand  dol- 
lars. Academic  education  commenced  with 
the  Hudson  River  academy  that  closed  in 
1864,  and  the  second  high  school  was  Fort 
Edward  Collegiate  institute,  which  was  erected 
in  1854,  with  buildings  equal  to  many  a  col- 
lege. Its  principal  was  Rev.  Joseph  E.  King, 
D.D.,  who  had  entire  charge  of  the  school 
from  its  opening  until  the  building  burned, 
November  19,  1877. 

The  garrison  Burgoyne  left  at  Fort  Edward 
when  he  moved  across  the  Hudson  was  cap- 
tured by  Gen.  John  Stark  and  one  thousand 
troops  from  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire. 
A  few  days  later  Stark's  force  was  increased 


by  reinforcements  to  two  thousand  five  hun- 
dred, when  he  moved  down  the  river  and 
helped  to  close  up  Burgoyne's  northern  ave- 
nues of  retreat. 

VILLAGE    OF    FORT    MILLER. 

Three  villages  in  Washington  county  owe 
their  early  prosperity,  and  much  of  their  after- 
ward progress  to  the  three  most  prominent  pub- 
lic men  in  the  county  at  the  commencement 
of  the  Revolution.  Major  Skene  founded 
Whitehall  as  Skensborough,  General  Williams 
secured  for  Salem  its  early  prosperity  and 
county  seat  honors,  and  Judge  Durer  devel- 
oped the  early  industries  of  Fort  Miller,  to 
whom  his  influence  brought  many  settlers. 
Skene  was  the  most  ambitious,  Williams  the 
most  successful,  and  Durer  the  least  fortunate 
of  these  village  builders. 

Fort  Miller  was  named  for  the  defensive  for- 
tifications thrown  up  opposite  the  site  of  the 
village  on  the  west  side  of  the  Hudson,  and 
named  Fort  Miller  in  honor  of  their  builder, 
Colonel  Miller,  whose  christian  name  has  not 
been  preserved  by  any  of  the  early  historians. 

Nathaniel  Gage  was  the  pioneer  settler, 
coming  in  1762.  In  1766  Noah  Payne,  Levi 
Crocker,  and  Timothy  Buel,  from  Connecticut, 
came  to  the  site  of  the  village,  and  two  years 
later,  Judge  William  Durer  purchased  a  tract 
of  land  including  the  falls  and  erected  a  saw 
and  a  grist  mill,  which  he  followed  some  time 
afterward  with  the  erection  of  snuff  mills  and 
a  powder  mill. 

William  Durer  was  the  son  of  John  Durer, 
one  of  the  King's  council  for  Antigua,  in  the 
West  Indias.  He  was  born  in  England,  March 
18,  1747,  and  in  1765  became  aide  decamp  to 
Lord  Clive,  governor  general  of  India.  After 
coming  to  Fort  Miller,  at  the  suggestion  of 
Philip  Schuyler,  he  became  prominent  and 
active  in  public  affairs,  and  was  elected  a  colo- 
nel of  militia  and  a  judge  of  the  county  court, 
which  positions  he  held  until  the  close  of  the 
Revolution.  In  1776  he  married  Katy,  daugh- 
ter of    Lord    Stirling,  of  New  York  city,  and 


BJOQBAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


99 


after  some  time  spent  at  his  spacious  mansion 
at  Fort  Miller,  lie  removed  to  Fishkill,  and 
afterward  went  to  the  site  of  Patterson,  New 
Jersey,  where  he  erected  the  first  cotton  mill. 
Later  in  life  he  erected  a  cotton  mill  in  West- 
chester county,  and  suffered  heavy  losses  by 
speculations  in  public  securities  and  military 
tracts  of  land.  He  died  May  7,  1799.  Judge 
Durer  held  several  public  offices,  the  most  im- 
portant of  which  was  that  of  assistant  secre- 
tary of  the  United  States  treasury  under  Ham- 
ilton. 

The  improvements  at  Fort  Miller  seemed  to 
have  been  made  first  at  the  lower  falls,  while 
the  utilization  of  the  upper  falls  for  motive 
power  for  manufacturing  purposes  did  not 
take  place  until  1822.  The  Wagman  Thorpe 
lV  Co.  paper  mill  was  started  in  1865,  and 
about  the  same  time  boat  building  was  com- 
menced on  a  small  scale   by  G.  W.  Kingsley. 

The  early  taverns  were  :  the  McAdou,  Viele 
and  Kittle  houses.  The  pioneer  stores  were 
those  of  Jesse  Patrick,  Ashbel  Meacham,  and 
Thomas  Carpenter.  The  first  physician  was 
Ur.  John  De  Garmo.  The  postoffice  was  es- 
tablished in  1815,  with  S.  G.  Bragg  as  post- 
master. 

The  Reformed  church  of  Fort  Miller  was  or- 
ganized in  1822,  with  fifteen  members,  and  the 
first  minister  was  Rev.  Philip  Duryea.  This 
congregation  met  in  a  union  church  built  in 
1816. 

The  Fort  Miller  Presbyterian  church  was  or- 
ganized September  6,  1853,  with  twelve  mem- 
bers. The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  A.  G.  Coch- 
ran, and  the  church  became  extinct  about 
[868. 

The  Baptist  church  was  organized  in  De- 
cember, 1858,  as  a  branch  of  the  Fort  Edward 
Baptist  church.  They  erected  a  house  of  wor- 
ship in  1868. 

TOWN    OF    FORT    EDWARD. 

Lying  on  the  west  boundary  of  Washington 
county,  Fort  Edward  is  bounded  on  the  north 
by  Kingsbury  ;  on  the  east  by  Argyle  ;  on  the 


south  by  Greenwich  ;  and  on  the  west  by  Sar- 
atoga county,  from  which  it  is  separated  by 
the  Hudson  river. 

The  surface  is  rough  in  the  east,  hilly  in  the 
center,  and  level  in  the  west.  The  main  stream 
of  the  town  is  the  Moses  Kill,  which  flows  into 
the  Hudson.  The  latter  has  five  islands  along 
the  Fort  Edward  border  :  Muro,  Bell,  Taylor, 
Galusha's  and  Payne's.  The  Champlain  canal 
runs  the  entire  length  of  the  town, and  is  joined 
by  the  Glen's  Falls  feeder  near  the  northern 
boundary  line.  The  Rensselaer  &  Saratoga 
railroad  crosses  the  northwest  corner,  and 
passes  into  Saratoga  county.  Four-fifths  of 
the  town  lies  in  the  Schuyler  and  Bayard  pat- 
ents, and  the  area  of  the  town  is  six  thousand 
three  hundred  and  seventy-six  acres. 

While  the  red  tide  of  battle  never  ebbed  and 
flowed  within  the  borders  of  the  town  of  Fort 
Edward,  yet  armies  of  invasion  and  defense 
passed  over  her  soil,  and  the  greatest  frontier 
fortress  between  Albany  and  the  lakes  was  on 
her  territory. 

The  town  of  Fort  Edward  was  formed  from 
Argyle  on  April  10,  1818,  by  an  act  of  legisla- 
ture, but  of  the  movement  leading  to  its  erec- 
tion we  have  no  history.  The  first  town  meet- 
ing was  held  at  the  house  of  Solomon  Emmons, 
on  May  22,  1818,  and  the  following  officers 
were  elected  :  Moses  Carey,  supervisor  ;  Wal- 
ter Rogers,  town  clerk  ;  James  Durkee  and 
Daniel  Payne,  assessors  ;  Nicholas  Mclntyre, 
collector  ;  Noah  Pa)  ne,  jr. ,  and  David  Bristol, 
constables  ;  and  Alex.  Gilchrist,  overseer  of 
highways. 

The  earliest  settlements  were  at  Fort  Ed- 
ward and  Fort  Miller,  and  beyond  the  names 
of  the  pioneers  given  in  the  history  of  those 
places,  but  little  can  be  gained  of  those  who 
settled  elsewhere  in  the  town. 

In  addition  to  the  churches  described  at 
Fort  Edward  and  Fort  Miller,  there  is  one 
other  church  in  the  town,  being  the  First  Bap- 
tist church,  at  Durkeetown,  whose  organiza- 
tion was  effected  April  4,  1832.  Rev.  Calvin 
H.    Swain   was  pastor  until   1833,    and  soon 


100 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


after  the  organization  a  house  of  worship  was 
built. 

The  public  schools  were  opened  about  1818, 
and  have  been  in  successful  operation  ever 
since. 

Fort  Edward  has  a  clay  soil,  except  a  small, 
sandy  area  on  the  northeast,  and  while  pro- 
ducing good  crops  of  rye,  oats,  hay  and  pota- 
toes, is  excellently  adapted  to  grazing  and 
dairying.  A  cheese  factory,  some  years  ago, 
was  started  at  Durkeetown,  and  there  were 
seven  hundred  and  thirty  three  milch  cows  in 
the  town  in  1875,  whose  product  of  butter 
was  nearly  fifty-eight  thousand  pounds. 

The  county  fair  ground,  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  town,  was  laid  out  and  the  first 
improvements  made  on  it  in  1872. 


CHAPTER    V. 


VILLAGE  AND    TOWN   OF  GREENWICH. 

VILLAGE    OF    GREENWICH. 

On  the  old-time  southern  boundary  of  Wash- 
ington county,  and  five  miles  up  the  Batten 
Kill  from  its  confluence  with  the  Hudson  river, 
is  Greenwich,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and 
flourishing  villages  of  its  class  in  the  State. 

Greenwich,  originally  known  as  Whipple 
City,  was  incorporated  March  2,  1809,  as 
Union  village.  Its  first  president  and  clerk 
were  Job  Whipple  and  Jonathan  K.  Horton. 
Public  opinion,  in  1867,  changed  the  name  of 
Union  village  to  that  of  Greenwich,  as  the 
growth  of  the  place  was  principally  on  the 
Greenwich,  and  not  on  the  Easton,  side  of 
the  Batten  Kill.  The  fact  of  its  corporate 
limits  being  in  two  towns,  led  to  the  former 
name  of  Unionville.  The  village  is  hand- 
somely shaded  and  beautifully  ornamented 
with  shrubbery  and  statuary  indicative  of  the 
fine  taste  of  its  citizens. 

The    earliest    settler    at    Greenwich    was   a 


Mr.  Carbine,  of  Albany,  who,  in  1780,  built 
a  house,  opened  a  store  and  built  a  saw  mill 
and  dam.  Not  having  a  strong  relish  for 
pioneer  life  he  sold  in  1791  to  Job  Whipple, 
an  industrious  and  energetic  Rhode  Islander. 
While  Carbine  was  the  nominal,  Whipple 
and  his  son-in-law,  William  Mowry,  became 
the  real  founders  of  the  village.  His  first 
move  was  to  make  his  water  power  a  center 
of  profitable  industries,  and  to  accomplish  this 
he  secured  the  services  of  William  Mowry, 
an  experienced  operative  and  manager  of 
Samuel  Slater,  the  father  of  American  cotton 
manufactures,  at  Pawtucket,  Rhode  Island. 
Mowry  left  Slater  because  an  increase  of  sal- 
ary was  refused  him,  and  engaged  with  Whip- 
ple,whose  daughter  he  afterward  married.  He 
came  to  Greenwich  and  set  up  spinning  frames 
there  in  the  year  1800.  His  yarn  was  jobbed 
out  for  weaving,  during  several  years,  to  the 
farmers'  wives  and  daughters,  some  of  whom 
came  from  a  great  distance.  The  enterprise 
became  a  success,  a  strong  company  was 
formed  in  1812,  and  four  years  later  Mowry 
sailed  for  Liverpool,  England, with  a  Mr.  Wild, 
who  was  a  skilled  mechanic,  for  the  purpose 
of  inspecting  the  improved  cotton  machinery 
then  being  introduced  into  that  city.  In  de- 
fiance of  all  rules  Mowry  and  Wild  forced 
themselves  into  factories  and  spent  a  few 
moments  by  the  machines  they  most  desired 
to  see,  before  they  could  be  forcibly  ejected. 
Thus  Wild  in  a  few  seconds  obtained  such  a 
clear  idea  of  the  double-speeder  that,  on  their 
return,  he  successfully  constructed  at  Green- 
wich the  first  one  of  those  machines  used  in 
this  country.  The  cotton  manufacturing  in- 
dustry brought  prosperity  to  the  village  and 
flourished  until  1845,  when  competition  else- 
where led  to  the  abandonment  of  the  factory, 
then  under  charge  of  Henry  Holmes,  a  son- 
in-law  of  Mowry. 

Other  industries  in  the  meantime  had  been 
established,  and  -new  ones  were  soon  to  be 
inaugurated.  Saw  mills  and  grist  mills  were 
erected  during  the  first  quarter  of  the  present 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


101 


century.  Perry  Miller  opened  a  plow  shop 
in  1800,  and  thirty-two  years  later  Eddy, 
Reynolds,  Langdon  &  Co.  commenced  the 
manufacture  of  the  '-Old  Rough  and  Ready 
Wrought  Iron  Beam"  plow.  In  a  few  years 
they  built  up  a  large  business.  The  boot  and 
shoe  manufacture  was  carried  on  extensively 
from  1848  until  1870.  Tea  tray  stamping  was 
commenced  in  1851,  the  Batten  Kill  Knitting 
works  were  erected  in  1862  at  the  upper  dam, 
and  Ballou  &  Craig  built  the  Angell,  Safford 
&  Company  paper  mill  in  1863.  In  1868  a 
third  dam  and  a  factory  were  built  for  the 
Greenwich  Linen  Company,  which  failed  to 
operate  them.  In  1870  William  Weaver 
opened  the  Greenwich  Machine  works  for  the 
manufacture  of  wood-working  machines  of 
his  own  invention. 

Araspaes  Folsom  opened  the  first  store  in 
1800,  William  Tefft,  jr.,  kept  one  of  the  first 
taverns  about  that  time,  and  the  postoffice  was 
established  soon  afterward,  with  John  Har- 
rington as  postmaster.  Moses  Cowan,  Lewis 
Younglove,  and  Edwin  Andrews  had  early 
stores,  and  David  Whipple  and  John  Bassett 
were  hotel  keepers  about  1810.  The  first 
lawyer  at  Greenwich  was  Charles  Ingalls,  of 
Andover,  Massachusetts ;  and  the  pioneer 
physicians  were  Dr.  Hiram  Corliss,  whose  son, 
George  Corliss,  was  the  constructor  of  the 
great  centennial  Corliss  engine  ;  and  Dr.  Cor- 
nelius Holmes,  of  Plymouth,  Massachusetts, 
who  gave  the  first  impulse  to  tree  planting  at 
Greenwich. 

The  fire  department  dates  back  to  1819, 
when  a  small  engine  was  ordered,  and  in 
1837  fire  company  No.  1  was  formed.  Rough 
and  Ready  Fire  Company,  No.  2,  was  organ- 
ized August  8,  1851,  and  a  No.  3  Button  and 
Blake  engine  was  purchased  in  1859. 

The  banking  interests  of  the  village  have 
always  been  well  cared  for  by  reliable  banks. 
The  Washington  county  bank  was  organized 
in  1838,  with  Henry  Holmes  as  president.  In 
1865  this  institution  became  the  Washington 
County  National  bank.  The  Peoples'  bank 
la 


ran  from  1868  to  1872,  and  then  disposed  of 
its  interests  to  other  banks. 

Soon  after  the  establishment  of  the  village 
we  find  that  the  Bottskill  Baptist  church  pre- 
pared to  erect  a  house  of  worship  there.  This 
church  was  established  some  time  between 
1767  and  1775.  The  first  meetings  were  held 
at  the  house  of  Nathan  Tefft  below  the  Mid- 
dle falls.  The  Tefft,  Rogers,  Bentley,  Rose, 
Tanner,  Kenyon,  Petteys,  and  Burdick  famil- 
ies were  among  the  early  attendants  of  its  ser- 
vices. With  no  ministers  except  an  occasional 
visiting  brother,  the  congregation  kept  up  the 
organization  for  several  years,  and  in  1783 
built  its  first  house  of  worship  one  mile  south 
of  Greenwich,  where  Elder  Nathan  Tanner, 
the  first  pastor,  preached  until  1794,  having 
been  ordained  in  1782.  The  second  church 
building  was  built  at  Greenwich  in  1795,  which 
was  succeeded  in  1866  by  their  present  fine 
brick  church  structure.  This  church  has  al- 
ways opposed  Masonry  and  other  secret  orders. 

The  "Reformed  Church  of  Union  Village" 
was  formed  in  1807,  with  Rev.  Philip  Duryea 
as  pastor.  The  first  house  of  worship  was 
built  in  1810,  and  five  years  later  Rev.  James 
Christie  became  the  first  regular  pastor.  The 
present  fine  church  edifice  was  dedicated  Jan- 
uary 29,  1874. 

The  Orthodox  Congregational  church  of 
Greenwich  came  into  existence  March  15, 
1837,  with  thirteen  members  :  Daniel,  jr.,  and 
Roxana  Frost,  Hiram  and  Susan  Corliss, Wil- 
liam H.  and  Angelina  G.  Mowry,  Charles  J. 
and  Abigail  Gunn,  John  and  Martha  Clark, 
Roswell  Grandy,  James  and  Lydia  Watson, 
Edwin  Wilmorth,  Beulah  Downs,  Elizabeth 
Horton,  Mary  F.  Corliss  (Cook),  and  Lucy 
Pattison.  These  members  withdrew  from  the 
Reformed  church  upon  the  question  of  slavery. 
The  first  clergyman  was  Rev.  R.  A.  Avery, 
and  the  church  has  always  taken  advanced 
ground  on  questions  of  humanity  and  reform. 

Phineas  Langworthy  was  really  the  founder 
of  the  present  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  in 
the  town  of  Greenwich,  and  that  was  organ- 


102 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


ized  April  20,  18 18,  at  North  Greenwich.  In 
1838,  on  April  21,  a  society  was  formed  at 
Greenwich.  The  first  house  of  worship  was 
built  in  1839,  and  the  present  splendid  church 
edifice  was  dedicated  in  1870. 

Saint  Joseph's  Catholic  church  was  organ- 
ized in  1871  as  the  result  of  the  labors  of 
Father  Waldron.  The  congregation  purchased 
and  moved  the  old  Methodist  Episcopal  meet- 
ing house,  which  they  changed  into  an  invit- 
ing church  edifice. 

Saint  Paul's  Episcopal  church  was  formed 
as  a  mission,  under  the  care  of  Reverend 
Walker,  in  1872,  and  worship  was  held  for 
some  years  in  the  Congregational  meeting 
house. 

Good  educational  advantages  are  offered  by 
the  village.  The  Union  Free  school  has 
taken  the  place  of  the  old  public  schools,  and 
in  1868  Greenwich  academy,  that  had  been 
founded  in  1836,  was  merged  with  it,  but  re- 
tained its  individuality  and  academical  de- 
partments. 

TOWN    OF    GREENWICH. 

Greenwich  was  taken  from  the  town  of  Ar 
gyle  in  1803,  and  named  after  Greenwich, 
Rhode  Island.  The  first  supervisor  was  John 
Hay,  and  Araspaes  Folsom  served  as  the  first 
clerk. 

Greenwich  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Fort 
Edward  and  Argyle ;  on  the  east  by  Salem 
and  Jackson  ;  on  the  south  by  Jackson  and 
Easton;  and  on  the  west  by  Saratoga  county, 
from  which  it  is  separated  by  the  Hudson 
river. 

The  town  of  Greenwich  has  an  area  of 
nearly  twenty-seven  thousand  acres  of  land. 
The  surface  is  level,  except  in  the  east  where 
high  hills  abound.  Bald  mountain,  west  of  the 
center,  which  rises  nine  hundred  and  twelve 
feet  above  the  surrounding  plain,  and  contains 
one  thousand  five  hundred  acres  of  land. 
Drainage  is  principally  by  the  Batten  Kill,  on 
which  are  the  three  remarkable  falls  described 
in  the  general  history.      In   soil,    the  surface 


varies  from  a  sandy  loam  to  a  heavy  clay,  and 
is  fertile  and  productive.  Originally  the  town 
was  covered  with  heavy  forests  of  pine,  hem- 
lock, and  hard  woods. 

The  hunting  camp  of  the  Indian  was  on  the 
territory  of  Greenwich,  and  his  bark  canoe 
glided  over  its  waters,  but  its  soil  had  peace- 
ful rest  until  the  battalions  of  Baum  passed 
through  on  their  way  to  Bennington,  and  even 
then  fire  and  the  Indian  were  not  loosed  on  the 
affrighted  town.  Prior  to  human  habitation, 
a  straggling  band  or  two  of  Indians  may  have 
passed  southward  to  the  destruction  of  Sara- 
toga, or  on  some  other  scouting  raid  along  the 
Hudson,  but  no  trails,  no  war  paths,  no  great 
military  roads  were  broken  or  cut  through  its 
forests. 

The  land  in  the  town  is  nearly  all  embraced 
in  the  Saratoga,  Campbell  and  Argyle  pat- 
ents. The  first  known  permanent  settler  was 
a  desperado  named  Rodgers,  who  was  on  the 
Batten  Kill  as  early  as  1763.  Alexander 
McNaughton,  Archibald  Livingston,  Duncan 
Campbell  and  Rodger  Reid,  settled  near  the 
Batten  Kill  in  1765.  William  H.  McDougal 
came  about  this  time  on  the  Argyle  patent, 
and  brought  a  few  store  goods  from  New  York 
city.  In  1766  settlement  was  commenced  on 
the  Saratoga  patent  by  Judge  Nathan  Tefft, 
and  his  two  sons,  Stanton  and  Nathan,  the 
latter  of  whom  came  into  Greenwich  and  built 
the  first  saw  mill  on  the  Batten  Kill  at  Middle 
Falls.  The  next  year  Captain  Foster,  from 
Rhode  Island,  came  to  the  town,  and  a  man 
named  Bryant.  Samuel  Dickenson  settled  in 
1769  near  Center  Falls,  and  by  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Revolution  many  families  were 
residents  of  Greenwich.  After  the  Revolu- 
tion, settlement  was  rapid  and  lumbering  be- 
came quite  a  business. 

At  the  present  time  Greenwich  has  good 
shipping  facilities  in  the  west  by  the  Cham- 
plain  canal,  and  enjoys  first-class  railroad  ac^ 
commodations  by  the  Greenwich  and  John- 
sonville  railway  that  extends  from  the  village 
of  Greenwich   through   the  towns  of  Easton 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


103 


and  Cambridge  to  Johnsonville  on  the  Boston 
railroad. 

There  are  several  hamlets  and  unincorpora- 
ted villages  in  the  town  of  Greenwich. 

The  village  of  Battenville,  four  miles  from 
Greenwich,  and  on  both  sides  of  the  Batten 
Kill,  was  settled  about  1815,  by  John  McLean, 
Pardon  Tefft,  Nathan  Cottrell,  and  others. 
Saw  mills  were  operated,  and  a  cotton  factory 
built  that  burned  in  1868.  The  postoffice  was 
secured  about  1829,  with  Daniel  Anthony  as 
postmaster,  and  in  1872  the  Phoenix  Paper 
Company  erected  a  mill  whose  products  were 
soon  in  good  demand.  The  Methodist  church 
was  formed  in  August,  1829,  but  its  legal  or- 
ganization was  not  effected  till  December  2, 
1833.  The  population  in  1880  was  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-two. 

Center  Falls,  two  miles  above  Greenwich, 
was  settled  about  1790  by  Smith  Barber  and 
Nathan  Rogers.  Saw  mills,  a  grist  mill,  and 
a  paper  factory  were  built  on  the  Greenwich 
side  of  the  Batten  Kill.  The  paper  mill  was 
burned  in  1865.  On  the  Jackson  side  a  cot- 
ton factory  and  flax  mill  were  built  and  after- 
ward destroyed  by  fire. 

East  Greenwich  is  a  village  on  the  Batten 
Kill  near  the  Salem  line,  and  ranks  as  one  of 
the  oldest  places  in  the  town.  The  first  set- 
tlement was  by  Robert  Reid.  A  dam  and  saw 
mill  were  erected  in  1800,  and  millions  of  feet 
of  lumber  were  sawed.  The  place  was  called 
"  Slab  City  "  at  first.  Other  saw  mills  were 
built  and  two  woolen  factories  have  been  op- 
erated as  well  as  a  grist  mill  and  tannery. 
The  postoffice  was  established  in  1835,  with 
Moses  Robinson  as  postmaster.  The  United 
Presbyterian  congregation  of  East  Greenwich 
was  organized  May  30,  1849,  with  fifty-one 
members,  most  of  whom  had  withdrawn  from 
the  South  Argyle  congregation. 

Middle  Falls  is  two  miles  below  Greenwich 
on  the  Batten  Kill, and  its  settlement  was  com- 
menced before  the  year  1789.  A.  G.  Lansing 
built  a  house  and  mill  in  1790,  and  about  1810 
John  Gale  built   flouring  mills  on  the  Easton 


side,  and  the  place  was  known  as  Galesville 
until  1875,  when  J.  H.  Reynolds  got  the  name 
of  the  village  and  of  the  postoffice  changed  to 
Middle  Falls,  as  the  Hardscrabble  falls  were 
above  and  the  Dionondohowa  falls  below.  The 
falls  here  are  forty-five  feet  high,  and  afford 
great  water  power.  The  postoffice  was  first 
established  as  Galesville  in  1735,  with  Bryant 
Sherman  as  postmaster.  Woolen  factories, 
fulling  and  flouring  mills,  distilleries,  and  ce- 
ment and  plaster  mills  have  been  built  and 
operated  at  Middle  Falls  within  the  last  cen- 
tury. The  West  Greenwich  Baptist  church 
was  formed  at  Middle  Falls  June  10,  1837, with 
sixty  members,  mostly  from  the  Bottsville 
church. 

Clark's  Mills  is  at  the  first  water  power  on 
the  Batten  Kill  above  its  confluence  with  the 
Hudson  river,  and  was  improved  as  early  as 
1731.  A  planing  mill  and  store,  and  over 
twenty  houses  are  comprised  in  the  place. 

Lake,  nine  miles  northeast  of  Greenwich  on 
Cossayuna  creek  and  lake,  is  a  place  of  some 
manufacturing  importance.  It  was  settled 
prior  to  1782,  and  has  produced  some  eminent 
men,  such  as  Judge  William  Pratt,  and  Gov. 
John  L.  Beveridge,  of  Illinois.  Saw,  grist, 
and  fulling  mills  were  erected,  and  at  the 
present  time  the  place  has  several  success- 
ful industries.  The  postoffice  was  secured 
about  1840,  with  R.  W.  Richey  as  the  first 
postmaster.  TheLakeville  Baptist  church  is  a 
branch  of  the  Bottsville  church,  and  was  or- 
ganized September  10,  1834.  Their  house  of 
worship  was  built  in  1S37,  and  enlarged  in 
1874. 

North  Greenwich  is  on  the  Argyle  line,  and 
was  formerly  known  as  Reid's  Corners,  from 
William  Reid,  an  early  settler  there.  The 
place  was  settled  before  1800,  and  in  1825  the 
postoffice  was  established,  with  William  Reid  as 
postmaster.  Stores  have  been  kept  since  1800. 
The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  was  formed 
April  20,  1818,  at  school  house  No.  6,  and  in 
1S19  the  first  meeting  house  was  built  at  North 
Greenwich.      Near  the  village  G.    H.  Wells 


104 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


planted   an   apple   orchard   of  four   thousand 
trees. 

Bald  Mountain  village  lies  at  the  hase  of 
the  celebrated  mountain  of  the  same  name, 
and  owes  its  existence  to  Robert  W.  Lowber. 
Scattering  settlements  had  been  made  at  the 
base  of  the  mountain  as  earl)'  as  1785,  and 
some  lime  burned.  Limekilns  were  afterward 
erected,  and  a  few  houses  built,  but  nothing 
of  a  village  or  a  business  was  established 
until  1852,  when  Mr.  Lowber  purchased  the 
quarries  and  much  of  the  surrounding  land. 
He  built  sixty  houses,  made  a  three-mile  ma- 
cadamized road,  at  a  cost  of  ten  thousand 
dollars,  to  reach  the  canal,  erected  the  largest 
and  finest  of  kilns,  and  as  a  result  had  an 
annual  shipment  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  barrels  of  lime.  In  1872  the  Bald 
Mountain  Lime  company  purchased  Mr.  Low- 
ber's  plant,  aud  as  they  were  then  operating 
kilns  at  Glens  Falls,  allowed  the  village  and 
the  works  to  go  down,  only  operating  one  kiln 
there. 

Below  the  State  dam  on  the  Hudson,  Rich- 
ards &  Company,  in  1870,  erected  saw  mills, 
which  were  purchased  two  years  later  by  L. 
Thompson,  who  immediately  enlarged  the 
mills  until  they  became  one  of  the  most  com- 
plete plants  of  their  kind  in  the  county. 
Above  the  dam  the  Fort  Miller  wooden 
bridge,  a  thousand  feet  in  length,  had  been 
thrown  across  the  Hudson  before  the  building 
of  the  Thompson  mills.  In  1790  it  is  said 
that  seven  mills  were  operated  by  the  same 
stream  in  the  town  of  Greenwich. 

There  is  record  of  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
one  men  furnished  by  the  town  of  Greenwich 
for  the  Federal  army,  during  the  late  Civil 
war,  and  it  is  said  that  over  one  hundred  of 
these  lost  their  lives  in  the  service  of  their 
country.  The  town  expended  eighty-eight 
thousand  seventy-four  dollars  and  eighty-two 
cents  for  war  purposes,  and  extended  relief  to 
the  indigent  families  of  soldiers  in  the  service 
from  November  15,  1863,  to  the  close  of  the 
rebellion. 


Several  commissioned  officers  were  from 
Greenwich,  and  one  of  the  number  was  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Franklin  Norton,  who  was 
mortally  wounded  at  Chancellorsville  by  a 
Confederate  sharp-shooter,  while  raising  the 
flag  of  his  regiment  that  had  fallen  several 
times  in  a  few  minutes  by  the  fall  of  succes- 
sive color  bearers. 

Greenwich  has  partly  on  its  northern  border 
Lake  Cossayuna,  one  of  the  finest  sheets  of 
water  in  the  State,  and  capable  of  being  made 
a  first-class  summer  resort.  To  this  lake  the 
Massachusetts  Indians  resorted  to  fish,  before 
the  discovery  of  America,  and  their  trail  ran 
along  the  Cossayuna  creek. 

Of  the  early  patents  the  northeast  part  of 
the  Saratoga  patent  was  in  Greenwich,  and 
adjoining  it  William  Kettlehuyn  and  Cornel- 
ius Cuyler  obtained  a  grant  of  one  thousand 
six  hundred  acres  on  May  6,  1732. 

The  Campbell  patent  of  ten  thousand  acres 
was  north  of  the  last  two  named  grants,  and 
was  granted  to  General  Donald,  George,  and 
James  Campbell,  and  their  sisters,  Rose  Gra- 
ham, Margaret  Eustace,  and  Lilly  Murray; 
and  four  others,  Allan  Campbell,  John  Camp- 
bell, sr.,  James  Calder,  and  John  Campbell,  jr. 
General  Donald  Campbell  was  a  whig,  while 
his  two  brothers  were  tories,  and  after  the 
Revolution  all  trace  of  the  family  disappeared. 

The  Argyle  patent  extended  over  the  parts 
of  the  town  not  included  in  the  patents  named. 
The  lots,  owners  and  acres  of  the  Argyle  pat- 
ents in  Greenwich  were  : 
Lots.  Names.  Acres. 

29 Daniel  Clark 250 

30 Angus  McDougall 300 

31 Donald  Mclntyre 350 

32 Alexander  McNachten 600 

33 John  McCore 300 

34 William  Fraser 350 

35 Mar}-  Campbell 250 

36 Duncan  Campbell,  sr 450 

37 Neil  McFadden 300 

38 Mary  Torry 250 

39 Margaret  McAllister 250 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


105 


Lots.  Names.  Acres. 

40 Robert  Campbell,  jr 450 

41 Catherine  Shaw 250 

42 .John  McGuire 400 

43 Elizabeth  McNeil 200 

44 Duncan  McArthur 450 

50 John  McGowan,  sr 300 

55 Ann  Campbell 300 

56 Archibald  McCollum 350 

57 Alexander  McArthur 250 

58 Alexander  McDonald 250 

59 John  McEwen " 500 

62 Mary  Baine 300 

63 .  Margaret  Cargyle 300 

64 Neil  McEachern 450 

69 Hannah  McEven 400 

70 John  Reid 450 

71 Archibald  Nevin 350 


CHAPTER  VI. 

VILLAGE  AND  TOWN   OF  ARGYLE. 

VILLAGE    OF    ARGYLE. 

Beautifully  situated  on  an  elevated  plain  on 
on  the  Moses  Kill  and  a  few  miles  west  of  the 
center  of  the  town,  is  the  village  of  Argyle, 
one  of  the  important  places  of  Washington 
county. 

The  village  of  Argyle  was  incorporated  un- 
der a  special  act  of  legislature  March  27,  1838, 
providing  for  the  annual  election  of  five  trus- 
tees, from  whom  a  president  was  to  be  chosen. 
At  the  first  election,  held  June  5,  1838,  the  fol- 
lowing trustees  were  elected  :  Ransom  Stiles, 
George  Gillis,  John  M.  Stewart,  James  Caul, 
and  James  Savage.  At  the  same  election, 
William  H.  King  was  elected  clerk;  Benjamin 
Caswell  and  George  W.  Harsha,  assessors; 
Mason  Martin,  collector;  and  James  Stewart, 
constable.  The  incorporation  of  the  village 
has  added  much  to  its  appearance  and  con- 
siderable to  its  progress. 

The  earliest  settlement  at  Argyle  was  made 


by  George  Kilmer,  who,  although  not  a  paten- 
tee, yet  became  a  large  land  purchaser,  and 
owned  the  site  of  the  village  in  an  early  day. 
Kilmer  is  said  to  have  come  about  1 768.  There 
is  no  account  of  when  he  built  the  first  house 
of  the  village.  That  the  early  growth  of  Ar- 
gyle was  slow  is  attested  by  the  recollections 
of  John  Ross,  who  stated  that  there  were  only 
half  a  dozen  houses  in  the  place  in  1817.  Of 
these  buildings  one  must  have  been  the  county 
clerk's  office  that  was  established  there  in  1806, 
and  another  was  the  storehouse  of  Stiles  Ran- 
som. A  third  building  was  the  Peleg  Bragg 
tavern,  that  came  in  charge  of  Joseph  Rouse 
in  1800,  and  the  postoffice  established  in  1807 
was  kept  by  Rouse,  who  was  the  first  post- 
master, and  held  that  position  for  thirty-four 
years.  Within  some  of  these  six  houses  must 
have  resided  at  different  times,  Drs.  Andrew 
Proudfit,  Robert  Cook,  Robert  Clark,  Zebulon 
Rood  and  James  Green,  who  were  there  at  dif- 
ferent times  between  1790  and  1816. 

Of  the  early  merchants  were  Alexander 
Backup,  Stiles  Ransom,  Carl  &  Dodd,  and 
John  Ross  ;  and  in  the  number  of  hotel  keep- 
ers before  1830  were  Peleg  Bragg,  Joseph 
Rouse,  John  Ransom,  Daniel  Buck,  and 
James  Carroll.  From  1817  up  to  the  present 
time,  stores  and  hotels  have  continued  and 
increased  in  numbers,  and  carriage  factories 
and  other  industries  have  been  established. 

The  religious  history  of  the  village  goes 
back  to  about  1770,  when  those  who  lived  at 
Argyle  were  afforded  the  opportunity  of  at- 
tending meetings  held  there  or  at  houses  in 
the  neighborhood,  at  which  Dr.  Clark,  of 
Salem,  preached.  Dr.  Clark  left  in  1780,  and 
Rev.  James  Proudfit,  after  1783,  also  preached 
occasionally.  These  occasional  services  by 
Dr.  Clark  and  Rev.  Proudfit  culminated  in 
the  organization  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
church  of  Argyle  in  November,  1792.  One 
year  later  Rev.  George  Mairs,  of  Coothill, 
Ireland,  became  pastor  of  the  church,  which 
erected  a  log  meeting  house  one  mile  south  of 
their   present   church   edifice    at   Argyle.      In 


lOt  J 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


1800  the  church  had  increased  so  in  numbers 
that  a  larger  meeting  house  was  required,  and 
which  was  built  at  Argyle,  where  it  stood 
until  1S44.  A  second  church  then  erected 
was  burned,  and  a  third  church  was  built  in 
1845,  whose  successor,  the  present  handsome 
Gothic  structure,  was  consecrated  Jul}'  18  of 
the  centennial  year.  Rev.  George  Mairs 
served  as  pastor  until  1823,  when  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son,  Rev.  George  Mairs,  jr., 
whose  ministry  extended  till  1850. 

In  1814  the  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch 
Union  church  built  a  meeting  house  at  Argyle 
that  afterward  became  the  property  of  the 
Methodist  church.  Rev.  Isaiah  Johnson  and 
others  were  pastors  of  the  Reformed  church 
until  it  went  down  some  years  later. 

Another  church  whose  career  was  run  at 
Argyle  was  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  church, 
whose  legal  organization  was  effected  on  April 
14,  1828,  with  Rev.  James  Stewart  as  minister. 
This  church  was  generally  known  as  the  Cam- 
eronian  church,  and  in  a  short  time  after  its 
formation  went  down.  The  meeting  house 
was  removed  and  changed  into  a  furniture  shop 
by  John  Ross. 

Succeeding  the  Cameronian  in  order  of  for- 
mal organization  came  the  First  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  of  Argyle,  whose  incorpor- 
ate existence  commenced  on  November  20, 
1850.  The  record  of  Methodism  in  the  village, 
however,  goes  back  to  January  16,  1815,  when 
a  meeting  was  held  at  the  house  of  Ichabod 
Davis,  to  form  a  legal  societ}'.  No  records  of 
this  or  any  succeeding  class  up  to  1835  are  to 
be  found.  Then  Rev.  Daniel  Brayton  came 
on  the  circuit  and  urged  a  church  organiza- 
tion, that  was  effected  fifteen  years  later.  The 
first  meeting  house,  a  frame,  was  replaced  in 
1876,  with  their  present  fine  brick  structure, 
principally  through  the  efforts  of  the  Rev.  J. 
W.  Shank. 

After  the  Methodists  came  the  Presbyter- 
ians in  the  history  of  this  village,  the  First 
Presbyterian  church  of  Argyle  being  formed 
June    29,    1873,    with     thirty-eight    members. 


Rev.  George  Ainslie  became  the  first  pastor  in 
1874,  in  which  year  their  present  nine  thous- 
and dollar  frame  church  structure  was  com- 
menced.    The  church  edifice  was  finished  in 

1875- 

In  addition  to  the  churches  and  the  Sunday 
schools  in  connection  with  them,  Argyle  has 
supported  the  Argyle  Bible  and  Tract  society, 
which  was  formed  February  6,  1837,  as  the 
Young  People's  Bible  society. 

Argyle  village  made  its  first  provision  against 
fire  in  1845,  when  Argyle  Fire  Company,  No. 
1,  was  formed.  That  company  was  succeeded 
by  a  new  company  in  1866,  that  also  had 
charge  of  a  new  engine  costing  nine  hundred 
dollars,  and  a  good  engine  house,  but  which 
in  a  few  years  disbanded. 

In  addition  to  the  public  schools  the  village 
has  an  academy  and  had  two  organized  library 
companies  before  periodical  literature  was 
very  common. 

Argyle  academy  was  incorporated  May  4, 
1841,  although  the  building  had  been  erected 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  village  in  1840,  and 
in  that  year  the  school  had  been  opened  under 
Prof.  Earl  Larkins. 

The  early  libraries  were  the  Argyle  library, 
formed  at  the  house  of  Peleg  Bragg,  May  1, 
1805,  and  the  Argyle  Social  library,  formed  at 
the  house  of  Joseph  Rowe,  March  26,  1823. 
Both  of  these  libraries  went  down  a  good  many 
years  ago. 

TOWN    OF    ARGYLE. 

Bounded  on  the  north  by  Kingsbury  and 
Hartford,  on  the  east  by  Salem  and  Hebron, 
on  the  south  by  Greenwich,  and  on  the  west 
by  Fort  Edward,  is  the  town  of  Argyle,which 
lies  in  the  central  part  of  Washington  count}', 
and  was  named  for  the  Duke  of  Argyle  of 
Scotland.  Its  present  area  is  nearly  thirty- 
five  thousand  acres,  and  it  formerly  included 
the  territory  of  Greenwich  and  Fort  Edward, 
which  towns  were  taken  from  it  respectively 
in  1803  and  1818. 

The  surface  is  broken,  being  hilly  in  the 
west  and  mountainous  in  the  east,  while  pleas- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


107 


ant  valleys  are  along  the  streams  in  the  south, 
and  a  cedar  swamp  of  some  size  lies  in  the 
north.  The  soil  is  a  clay  loam  intermixed  in 
some  places  with  gravel  or  slate.  It  is  pro- 
ductive and  grain  and  grass  yield  well. 

The  principal  stream  is  Moses  Kill  (likely 
a  corruption  of  Moss'  Kill, after  Captain  Moss, 
an  early  settler  on  the  stream),  which  has 
several  tributaries  and  drains  to  the  westward, 
the  northern  and  central  parts  of  the  town. 
In  the  southeast  are  two  beautiful  lakes,  Ar- 
gyle  and  Cossayuna.  Lake  Argyle'  has  bright 
waters  and  charming  scenery,  that  has  made 
it  popular  as  a  pleasure  resort.  It  is  tributary 
to  Cossayuna  lake,  whose  length  is  three  and 
one-half  miles,  with  a  breadth  of  one-half 
mile.  Lake  Cossayuna  has  deep,  clear  waters 
stocked  with  fish,  and  is  surrounded  by  pine- 
covered  hills.  A  beautiful  island  is  in  the 
northern  part  of  Cossayuna,  whose  southern 
extremity  is  in  Greenwich.  If  the  Indian 
name  of  Lake  Argyle  could  have  been  pre- 
served, it  would  have  been  probably  as  soft 
and  beautiful  as  that  of  Cossayuna.  Care  and 
taste  could  make  these  two  lakes  —  so  near 
together,  the  one  sleeping  on  a  highland  and 
the  other  in  a  forest-embowered  vale  —  an  at- 
tractive summer  resort,  whose  popularity 
would  divide  honors  and  patronage  with  other 
and  more  famous  lake  resorts,  where  fashion, 
wealth  and  beauty  gather  yearly. 

On  March  2,  1764,  Alexander  McNaughton 
and  one  hundred  and  six  others  of  the  origi- 
nal Campbell  colony  and  their  decendants, 
petitioned  for  one  thousand  acres  of  land  each, 
all  to  be  in  a  single  tract  between  South  bay 
and  Kingsbury.  On  May  21st,  the  council 
recommended  that  forty-seven  thousand  seven 
hundred  acres  be  granted,  and  the  grant  was 
made  for  that  amount  and  covered  largely  the 
present  towns  of  Fort  Edward,  Greenwich, 
and  all  of  Argyle.  The  grant  or  patent  gave 
the  name  of  Argyle  to  the  township,  but  the 
first  record  of  a  town  meeting  bears  date  of 
April  2,  1  77 1 .  The  town  was  officially  organ- 
ized by  the  State  council  March  23,  1786,  and 


the  first  officers  elected  under  this  organiza- 
tion were:  Duncan  Campbell,  supervisor; 
Archibald  Brown,  town  clerk;  Roger  Reid, 
collector ;  Archibald  Campbell  and  Neal  Shaw, 
assessors  ;  John  Offrey  and  John  McNeil,  con- 
stables ;  and  a  number  of  others  as  roadmas- 
ttfrs,  fence  viewers,  and  poor  masters. 

The  granting  of  a  tract  to  Capt.  Laughlin 
Campbell's  children  in  Greenwich,  led  to  the 
application  for  the  Argyle  grant  by  the  one 
hundred  and  seven  others  mentioned  of  Cap- 
tain Campbell's  immigrants. 

The  Argyle  patent  specified  the  number  of 
acres  to  each  applicant,  and  those  lots  in  the 
present  town  of  Argyle,  on  the  south  side  of 
a  street  that  was  to  run  through  the  center 
from  the  Hudson  to  the  Salem  patent  were  as 
follows  : 
Lots.  Names.  Acres, 

1 Catherine  Campbell 250 

2 Elizabeth  Cargill 250 

3      Allan  McDonald 300 

4 .  .  Neil   Gillaspie 450 

5 Mary  Campbell 350 

6 Duncan  McKerwin 250 

7 Ann  McAnthony 300 

8 Mary  McGowne 300 

9 Catherine  McLean 300 

10 Mary  Anderson 300 

11 Archibald  McNeil 300 

12 Dougall  McAlpine 300 

13 David  Lindsey 250 

14 Elizabeth  Campbell 300 

15 Ann  McDuffie 350 

16 Donald  McDougall 300 

17 Archibald   McGowne 300 

18 Eleanor  Thompson 300 

19 Duncan  McDuffie 350 

20 Duncan  Reid 600 

21 John  McDuffie 250 

22 Dugall  McKallor 550 

2} Daniel  Johnson. 350 

24 Archibald   Campbell 250 

25 William   Hunter 300 

26 Duncan  Campbell. 300 

27    Elizabeth  Frazer 200 


108 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Lots.  Names.  Acres. 

28 Alexander  Campbell 350 

Glebe  lot 5°° 

29 Daniel  Clark 35° 

43 Elizabeth  Campbell 300 

44 Duncan  McArthur 450 

45 John  Torrey ' 3°° 

46 Malcom   Campbell 300 

47 Florence  McKenzie 200 

48 John  McKenzie 300 

49 Jane  Cargill 250 

50 John  McGowan 3°° 

59 John  McEwen 500 

60 John  McDonald 300 

61 James  McDonald 400 

62 Mary  Belton 300 

72 Rachel  Nevin 300 

73 James  Cargill 400 

This  stately  street,  twenty-four  rods  wide, on 
which  each  grantee  was  to  have  a  town  lot, 
•  and  the  remainder  of  his  land  was  to  be  sur- 
veyed back  of  it  for  a  farm,  was  found  to  do 
better  on  paper  than  on  land  where  hills  too 
rough  to  grade  and  uninhabitable  land  was  in 
its  pathway.  Archibald  Campbell  and  Chris- 
topher Yates  were  the  surveyors,  and  com- 
menced their  labors  June  19,  1  764. 

On    the    north    side   the   lots,   owners,  and 
acres  were  as  follows  : 

Lots.  Names.  Acres. 

74 John  Cargill 300 

75 Duncan  McDougall 300 

76 Alexander  Christie 350 

77 Alexander  Montgomery ....  600 

78 Marian  Campbell 250 

79 John  Gilchrist 300 

80 Angus  McDougall 300 

81 Duncan  McGuire 500 

82 Edward  McKallor 500 

83 Alexander  Gilchrist 300 

84 Archibald  McCollum 350 

85 Archibald  McCore 300 

86 John  McCarter 350 

87 ... Neil   Shaw 600 

88 Duncan  Campbell 300 

89 Roger  McNeil 300 


Lots.  Names.  Acres. 

90 Elizabeth  Ray 200 

91 .Jam.es  Nutt 300 

92 Donald  McDuffie 350 

93 George  Campbell 300 

94 Jane  Widrow 300 

95 John  McDougall 400 

96 Archibald  McCarter 300 

97 Charles  McAllister 300 

98 William  Graham 300 

99 Hugh  McDougall 300 

00 James  Campbell 300 

01 George  McKenzie 400 

02 John  McCarter 400 

03 Morgan   McNeil 250 

04 Malcom  McDuffie 550 

05 Florence  McVarick 300 

06 Archibald   McEwen 300 

07 Neil  McDonald 500 

08 James  Gillis 500 

09 Archibald  McDougall 450 

10 Marian  McEwen 200 

11 Patrick  McArthur 350 

12 .John  McGowne,  jr 250 

13 Jonn  Shaw,  sr 300 

14 Angus  Graham 300 

15 Edward  McCoy 300 

16 Duncan  Campbell,  jr 300 

17 Jenette  Ferguson 250 

18 Hugh  McElroy 200 

19 Dougall  Thompson 400 

20 Mary  Graham 300 

21 Robert  McAlpine 300 

22 Duncan  Taylor 600 

23 Elizabeth  Caldwell 250 

24 William  Clark 350 

25 Barbara   McAllister .......  300 

26 Mary  Anderson 300 

27 Donald  McMullen 450 

A  number  of  the  grantees  came  on  their  lots 
and  settled.  Others  never  claimed  their  lands, 
which  passed  into  the  hands  of  other  settlers, 
or  were  occupied  by  squatters.  Duncan  McAr- 
thur, who  drew  lot  No.  44,  James  Gillis, grantee 
of  lot  No.  108,  and  Duncan  Taylor,  allottee  of 
lot  No.  122,  came  in  1765,  and  settled  on  their 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


109 


land.  Other  settlers  came  in,  and  after  the 
Revolution  a  considerable  number  settled  in 
different  parts  of  the  town  and  became  owners 
of  land  by  purchase  of  the  grantees  or  by  years 
of  peaceable  possession.  In  1790  Dr.  Andrew 
Proudfit  and  Judge  Ebenezer  Clark,  sons  of 
Rev.  James  Proudfit  and  Doctor  Clark,  of  Sa- 
lem, settled  near  Argyle  and  became  promi- 
nent citizens  of  the  town.  By  181 5  the  jury 
list  showed  the  residence  in  the  town  of  thirty- 
seven  yeomen,  one  hundred  and  forty-five 
farmers,  three  joiners,  five  blacksmiths,  two 
saddlers,  three  shoemakers,  one  surveyor,  one 
inn-keeper,  one  doctor,  two  lawyers,  and  ten 
merchants.  Thirty  years  later  the  population 
was  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  forty-one, 
and  in  1880  numbered  two  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  seventy-five. 

Limited  water  power  has  made  agriculture 
the  main  pursuit  of  the  people,  yet  the  town 
has  had  a  few  mills  and  factories  on  the. Moses 
Kill  and  Lake  Argyle.  The  earliest  mill  was 
that  of  George  Kilmer,  on  the  site  of  the 
present  Argyle  mill,  on  the  Moses  Kill.  Sev- 
eral miles  below  Argyle  Thomas  N.  Clark  put 
up  saw  and  grist  mills  about  1807.  A  woolen 
factory  and  a  fulling  mill  were  erected  near 
Argyle  and  run  for  many  years.  Several  saw 
mills  were  erected  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Argyle 
and  operated  long  enough  to  cut  up  the  pine 
about  the  lake.  At  the  head  of  the  lake  Mrs. 
E.  Gifford,  a  woman  of  energy  and  business 
ability,  built  a  cotton  factory  and  dug  a  tun- 
nel from  the  lake  through  which  she  brought 
a  sufficient  stream  of  water  to  operate  her 
machinery.  This  draft  of  water  on  the  lake 
alarmed  the  saw  mill  owners  for  their  supply. 
They  procured  an  injunction  preventing  her 
from  thus  turning  the  course  of  the  lake,  and 
her  efforts  deserving  success  became  unavail- 
ing. Saw  and  feed  mills  are  at  North  Argyle, 
where  formerly  there  were  a  plaster  mill  and  a 
fulling  mill. 

Of  late  years  dairying  has  been  successfully 
carried  on  in  the  town,  and  several  cheese  fac- 
tories have  been  built. 


Of  the  early  schools  of  the  town  there  is  no 
record  to  be  found,  and  to  those  established 
under  State  provision  in  1 S 1 5 ,  not  much  atten- 
tion was  paid  for  a  few  years.  After  that  a 
proper  interest  was  awakened  in  education, 
and  has  been  maintained  ever  since. 

In  addition  to  several  small  private  bury- 
ing grounds,  the  town  contains  three  well  laid 
out  cemeteries.  The  Prospect  Hill  cemetery 
was  opened  at  Argyle  in  1855,  the  North  Ar- 
gyle cemetery  was  laid  out  in  1873,  and  the 
Cossayuna  Lake  cemetery  was  opened  in  1877. 

Good  roads  are  to  be  found  in  every  part  of 
Argyle,  and  in  1850  the  Argyle  and  Fort  Ed- 
ward plank  road  was  built,  and  became  a  prin- 
cipal thoroughfare. 

There  are  two  unincorporated  villages  and 
one  hamlet  in  the  town  of  Argyle. 

The  Hook,  formerly  called  Coot's  Hill,  is  a 
hamlet  two  miles  northeast  of  North  Argyle, 
where  a  store  and  a  tavern  were  kept  many 
years  ago.  A  postoffice  was  established  in 
1829,  but  removed  the  next  year  to  North  Ar- 
gyle. The  Hook  now  contains  some  mechanic 
shops  and  several  houses,  and  in  1880  had  a 
population  of  forty-one. 

North  Argyle,  two  and  one-half  miles  from 
Argyle,  was  first  called  Stevenson's  Corners, 
after  Daniel  Stevenson,  who  was  the  first  post- 
master in  1830.  Shops,  mills  and  stores  have 
been  continued  at  the  place  ever  since  Steven- 
son commenced  business  there.  The  popula- 
tion in  1880  was  ninety-five.  The  United  Pres- 
byterian church  of  North  Argyle  was  organized 
in  1830  with  the  following  members  :  Daniel 
Stevenson,  sr. ,  Robert  Robertson,  William 
Shepherd,  Duncan  Shepherd,  John  Stevenson. 
John  Tilford,  Alex.  McGeoch,  William  Swale, 
Nicholas  Robertson,  Robert  G.  Hale,  Alex. 
Bachop  and  Nathaniel  Reynolds  and  their 
wives,  and  Ann  and  Mary  Robertson,  Andrew 
Haggard,  Phebe  Coulter,  Sarah  Coulter,  Mrs. 
Archibald  Gillis  and  John  Robertson.  This 
church  was  organized  to  accommodate  mem- 
bers living  in  the  north  and  west  parts  of  the 
town.      Rev.  Duncan  Stalker  became  the  first 


110 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


pastor  in  1831,  and  the  present  church  edifice 
was  built  in  1866, to  take  the  place  of  the  first 
church  erected  in  1831.  The  North  Argyle 
Dairy  association  in  1875  erected  a  two  story 
cheese  factory  just  east  of  the  village,  which 
produced  forty-three  thousand  pounds  of 
cheese  in  1876. 

South  Argyle  was  founded  in  1824,  when 
John  Mitchel  opened  a  store.  A  carriage  fac- 
tory was  started  by  William  Congdon  in  1827, 
and  three  years  later  the  postoffice  was  estab- 
lished, with  Rev.  J.  P.  Miller  as  postmaster. 
Since  then  shops  and  stores  have  been  con- 
tinued, and  in  1874  the  South  Argyle  Dairy  as- 
sociation erected  a  four  thousand  dollar  cheese 
factory,  that  the  first  year  of  its  operation  pro- 
duced forty  thousand  pounds  of  cheese.  It  is 
the  pioneer  cheese  factory  of  the  county.  The 
population  of  South  Argyle  numbered  fifty  in 
1880.  The  South  Agyle  church  was  organized 
about  1785,  by  Rev.  Thomas  Beveridge,  under 
the  shade  of  a  tree  and  by  the  name  of  the 
Argyle  congregation.  Three  churches  have 
been  built,  the  present  fine  one  being  erected 
in  1852.  The  church  assumed  its  present  name 
in  1858.  It  is  the  mother  church  of  two  other 
prosperous  churches  and  has  given  many  able 
ministers  to  the  country. 

The  territory  of  Argyle  was  not  in  the  line 
of  march  or  the  path  of  foray  during  the  In- 
dian and  inter-colonial  wars  of  the  frontier, 
and  while  not  a  camping  ground  or  battle-field 
in  the  Revolution,  yet  it  was  the  theatre  dur- 
ing that  great  struggle  of  the  massacre  of  the 
Allen  family  by  the  same  band  of  ferocious 
savages  who,  two  days  later,  murdered  Jane 
McCrea. 

In  July,  1777,  Le  Loup,  an  Iroquois  chief, 
with  a  small  party  of  warriors,  left  the  vicinity 
of  Salem  to  rejoin  Burgoyne  at  Fort  Edward. 

The  Indians  had  one  prisoner  and  resolved 
to  murder  the  first  family  that  they  came 
across  in  their  march.  They  were  frightened 
away  from  Duncan  McArthur's  house  by  the 
appearance  of  too  many  men  being  about  the 
premises,  and  on  July  25th,  came  to  John  Al- 


len's residence,  which  they  attacked  when  the 
family  and  three  slaves  were  at  dinner.  The 
attack,  sudden  and  swift, was  only  too  success- 
ful, and  in  a  few  minutes  nine  scalped,  bleed- 
ing and  mutilated  forms  lay  cold  in  death.  Mr. 
Allen,  his  wife  and  three  children,  and  his 
wife's  sister,  and  three  slaves — two  men  and 
a  woman — were-the  victims  of  the  attack.  Al- 
len's wife  was  the  daughter  of  George  Kilmore, 
who  then  lived  at  Argyle,  and  the  slaves  be- 
longed to  Mr.  Kilmore,  who  had  sent  them  to 
help  Allen  with  his  wheat  harvest.  The  bodies 
lay  till  Sunday  before  they  were  discovered  and 
buried. 

The  massacre  of  the  Allen  family  sent  a 
thrill  of  dread  and  fear  all  through  the  town. 
Man}  left,  others  sought  protection  in  the  rear 
of  Burgoyne's  army,  and  some  families  resid- 
ing on  Lake  Cossayuna  sought  safety  by  se- 
creting themselves  on  the  island  that  is  in  the 
northern  part  of  that  sheet  of  water  and  which 
then  was  heavily  wooded. 


CHAPTER    VII 


TOWNS  OF   JACKSON   AND   WHITE    CREEK. 

TOWN    OF    JACKSON. 

Irregular  in  shape  and  named  for  the  hero 
of  New  Orleans,  is  the  town  of  Jackson,  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  county,  and  which  was 
formerly  a  part  of  Cambridge. 

Jackson  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Green- 
wich and  Salem  ;  on  the  east  by  the  State  of 
Vermont ;  on  the  south  by  White  Creek  and 
Cambridge  ;  and  on  the  west  by  Easton  and 
Greenwich. 

The  area  of  the  town  is  twenty-two  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-one  acres,  of  which 
nineteen  thousand  three  hundred  and  seven- 
teen acres  were  improved  in  1875,  and  the 
principal  productions  are  corn,  oats,  rye,  po- 
tatoes, and  hay. 

The  soil  is   a  slaty  loam    and   productive. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


111 


The  surface  is  broken  and  hilly,  several  par- 
allel ranges  of  the  Taghanic  mountains  pass- 
ing through  the  town,  with  hills  from  three  to 
eight  hundred  feet  above  the  intervening  val- 
leys. 

The  drainage  of  the  town  is  by  the  waters 
of  the  Batten  Kill  to  the  northward,  and  of 
those  of  the  Owl  Kill  to  the  southward.  The 
Batten  Kill  receives  eight  rivulets  from  the 
northern  and  central  parts,  while  the  Owl  Kill 
does  not  receive  any  number  of  tributaries  in 
the  southern  part.  There  are  four  ponds  in 
the  town.  Big  pond  is  drained  by  a  tributary 
of  the  Batten  Kill,  and  the  waters  of  Dead, 
McLean  and  Long  ponds,  on  the  slight  water 
shed,  south  of  the  center,  find  their  way  by 
the  Owl  Kill  to  the  Hoosic  river. 

Jackson,  from  its  situation  and  lack  of  water 
power,  is  necessarily  an  agricultural  township, 
where  profitable  returns  reward  the  labors  of 
the  industrious  and  thrifty  husbandman. 

The  town  of  Jackson  was  organized  by  act 
of  legislature  in  1815,  being  taken  from  the 
territory  of  Cambridge  and  named  for  Gen. 
Andrew  Jackson,  the  victor  of  New  Orleans, 
and  then  the  hero  of  the  nation.  Of  the  move- 
ment for  this  new  town  we  have  no  account, 
and  whether  it  was  originated  to  gratify  local 
political  ambition,  to  secure  the  enjoyment  of 
some  invaded  civil  right  by  the  parent  town, 
or  on  territorial  considerations,  its  early  his- 
torians are  silent. 

On  the  first  Tuesday  in  April,  1816,  the  first 
town  meeting  was  held,  and  the  following  offi- 
cers were  elected:  James  Irvin,  supervisor; 
Kirtland  Warner,  town  clerk  ;  William  Adams, 
James  Richardson  and  Edward  Cook,  asses- 
sors ;  Robert  Simpson  and  John  McDonal, 
collectors  ;  and  quite  a  number  of  others  as 
school  commissioners,  school  inspectors,  com- 
missioners of  highways,  overseers  of  highways 
and  fence  viewers  and  appraisers.  Benjamin 
Scott  was  elected  to  act  with  the  two  collec- 
tors as  constables. 

Well  provided  in  number  with  town  offi- 
cials, Jackson  entered  upon   the  threshold  of 


its  civil  history,  which  has  been  one  of 
substantial  progress.  The  railway  running 
through  the  eastern  part  affords  means  of  exit 
and  egress,  and  furnishes  shipping  facilities 
for  farm  and  market  garden  products. 

In  the  by-gone  ages  of  Indian  occupation 
and  supremacy  in  the  Upper  Hudson  valley, 
the  territory  of  Jackson  seems  to  have  been 
used  as  a  hunting  ground,  and  sometime  to- 
ward its  close,  and  probably  during  the  earlier 
of  the  inter-colonial  wars,  a  deadly  battle  was 
fought  by  hostile  Indian  tribes  at  the  water- 
shed or  highland  ponds  for  the  control  of  the 
pass  below  them.  The  tradition  of  this  forest 
struggle  is  silent  alike  as  to  its  result  or  the 
nationality  of  the  contending  tribes.  From 
this  time  on  peace  reigned  in  its  valleys  and 
on  its  hills  until  August  23,  1746,  when  Van 
Dreuil  with  nine  hundred  French  and  Indians 
camped  by  these  highland  ponds  and  near 
tradition's  Indian  battle-field.  Three  days  be- 
fore Van  Dreuil  had  stormed  and  captured 
Fort  Massachusetts,  in  the  town  of  Hoosic, 
and  had  brought  with  him  as  captives,  those 
of  the  inhabitants  who  were  spared  from  the 
knife  and  tomahawk.  A  sorrowful  night  it 
must  have  been  for  those  captives  whose 
march  the  next  day  was  to  be  resumed  for 
Canada,  where,  if  escaping  the  torture  stake, 
the  miseries  of  a  long  if  not  a  hopeless  capti- 
vity awaited  them. 

Thirty-one  years  later,  and  in  the  month  of 
August,  the  last  armed  force  that  has  entered 
the  territory  of  Jackson  made  its  appearance 
in  the  troops  of  Baum,  whose  axmen  cut  out 
his  way  along  the  southwestern  boundary  line 
of  the  town.  The  common  alarm  prevailing 
throughout  the  count}-  during  Burgoyne's  in- 
vasion was  felt  by  the  citizens  of  the  town. 

The  largest  portion  of  Jackson  is  on  the 
Cambridge  patent  of  July  21,  1761,  while  in 
the  east  is  the  lands  of  the  Schermerhorn  pat- 
ent of  ten  thousand  acres,  granted  to  Ray 
Schermerhorn  and  others,  May  11,  1762.  This 
last  patent  was  often  called  the  Anaquassa- 
cook   patent,    and  was  laid  out  in    1763    into 


112 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


twenty-five  lots,  commencing  at  the  north  end. 
The  owners  of  these  lots  were  Thomas  Smith, 
William  Smith,  Johannes  Quackenboss,  and 
Ryer  Schermerhorn,  who  each  owned  five  lots, 
and  Jacob  and  Barnardus  Vrooman  Scher- 
merhorn, who  owned  the  other  five  lots. 

The  pioneer  settlers  came  from  1 761  to  1765, 
and  were  from  New  England,  Scotland,  and 
Ireland.  Many  of  them  held  offices  in  Cam- 
den, where  their  names  appear  in  the  early 
records. 

Among  the  settlers  coming  between  177.0 
and  1790  were  Jobn  R.  Law, whose  grandson, 
George  Law,  of  New  York  city,  was  at  one 
time  named  prominently  as  a  candidate  for 
the  presidency  ;  Andrew  Thompson,  Ebenezer 
Billings,  Obadiah  Culver,  Isaac  Watters,  Seth, 
Eleazer,  Nathaniel  and  John  Crocker,  James 
and  John  Telford,  Alex.  Lourie,  John  and 
Walter  Maxwell,  Thomas  and  James  Green, 
Joseph  Archer  and  John  Ferguson. 

Jackson  by  its  shape  is  peculiarly  situated 
in  regard  to  places  of  business  and  churches. 
All  around  its  boundary  lines  are  villages, 
whose  stores  and  churches  its  citizens  have 
visited  for  the  last  century. 

No  churches  were  in  the  town  in  1880,  and 
the  only  church  ever  within  its  bounds  before 
that  time  was  the  Reformed  Dutch  church,  in 
the  western  part  and  opposite  Battenville  vil- 
lage. The  old  brick  meeting  house  there  was 
erected  in  1833,  through  the  influence  of  Judge 
John  McClean.  The  church  was  organized 
December  24,  1833,  and  on  February  19, 
1834,  Rev.  James  Stewart  was  installed  as 
pastor,  serving  in  that  relation  for  two  and 
one-half  years.  The  last  pastor  was  Rev. 
John  H.  Pitcher,  who  left  in  185 1,  and  soon 
afterward,  death  and  removal  had  so  thinned 
the  membership  that  the  church  became  dis- 
banded. 

The  schools  of  the  town  have  kept  up  in 
efficiency  and  progress  with  the  schools  of  the 
surrounding  towns.  In  1877  there  were  ten 
districts,  with  an  enumeration  of  over  five 
hundred  children  of  school  age. 


The  business  of  the  town  is  mostly  done  at 
villages  beyond  its  boundary  lines,  and  this, 
with  lack  of  water  power,  has  caused  but  few 
industries  to  be  established  in  the  town,  as 
they  would  have  to  depend  upon  steam  as 
motive  power,  and  the  enhanced  cost  of  thus 
operating  machinery  would  be  too  large  for 
the  possible  profits  that  could  be  realized. 

Of  late  years  flax  has  been  raised  in  some 
quantity,  and  potatoes  have  become  the  chief 
article  of  export. 

The  main  villages  of  Jackson  township  are 
Coila,  in  the  south,  and  Jackson  Centre,  south 
of  the  highland  ponds. 

Coila  is  on  the  northern  extremity  of  Cam- 
den, in  which  the  main  part  of  the  village  and 
its  mills,  stores  and  churches  lie. 

Jackson  Centre  is  south  of  the  highland 
ponds.  The  Pond  Valley  hotel  there  was 
opened  many  years  ago. 

At  Anaquassacook  there  are  a  few  dwellings, 
a  tannery  established  before  1800,  and  some 
shops  started  in  later  years. 

Opposite  East  Greenwich  is  a  place  of  some 
business,  where  a  woolen  mill  was  once  oper- 
ated on  the  waters  of  the  Batten  Kill. 

The  old  Reformed  church  opposite  Batten- 
ville once  promised  to  become  the  center  of 
a  small  village. 

Nearly  forty  years  ago  the  farmers  of  Jack- 
son made  a  move  to  protect  their  buildings 
against  fire  at  a  cheaper  rate  than  was  then 
given  by  leading  insurance  companies,  and  on 
November  27,  1858,  organized  the  Jackson 
Fire  Insurance  Company. 

TOWN    OF    WHITE    CREEK. 

The  southeastern  town  of  Washington  county 
is  White  Creek,  whose  boundaries  are  Jack- 
son, on  the  north  ;  the  State  of  Vermont,  on 
the  east ;  Rensselaer  county,  on  the  south  ; 
and  Cambridge,  on  the  west. 

The  area  of  White  Creek  is  twenty-eight 
thousand  three  hundred  acres  of  land,'  of  which 
twenty-one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  ninety- 
three  acres  were  improved  in  1875.      The  sur- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


113 


face  in  the  south  is  rolling,  and  the  central 
and  northern  parts  arc  mountainous,  while  the 
soil  in  the  tillable  parts  is  a  fine  gravelly  loam, 
being  fertile  and  productive.  The  hilly  dis- 
tricts are  well  adapted  to  pasturage.  Lime 
h;is  been  found,  and  had  was  discovered  on 
the  Noxon  farm,  near  Post's  Corners,  but  is 
not  in  paying  quantities,  although  twenty-two 
per  cent,  of  the  ore  is  silver. 

The  drainage  is  to  the  southwest  by  the 
Owl  Kill  and  its  numerous  tributaries.  The 
principal  tributary  is  North  White  creek,  then 
come  five  small  eastern  and  three  small  west- 
ern creeks,  below  which  in  the  southeastern 
part  of  the  town  is  received  the  last  tributary, 
Little  White  creek. 

The  town  of  White  Creek  was  taken  from 
Cambridge  in  1815  by  act  of  legislature,  and 
in  1 816  the  first  town  officers  were  elected. 
William  Richards  was  the  first  supervisor,  and 
Ira  Parmely  the  first  town  clerk.  An  attempt 
had  been  made  by  the  citizens  of  White  Creek 
to  obtain  a  separate  organization  as  early  as 
1775,  but  had  failed. 

One-third  of  White  Creek  is  on  the  Cam- 
bridge patent,  and  the  remainder  of  its  terri- 
tory is  included  in  the  Schermerhorn,  Lake  & 
VanCuyler,  Wilson  or  Embury,  Bain,  Grant, 
and  Campbell  patents. 

Settlement  commenced  between  1761  and 
1765,  but  we  find  no  account  of  the  pioneer 
settlers  whose  names  if  found  would  be  in  the 
lists  of  early  settlers  of  Cambridge.  Of  those 
who  came  between  1770  and  1790  there  is 
record  of  Thomas  and  James  Ashton,  from 
Ireland  ;  John  Allen,  a  Friend  from  New  Bed- 
ford, Connecticut  ;  Dr.  William  Richards, 
David  Sprague,  Seth  Chase,  and  Rev.  William 
Waite,  from  Rhode  Island  ;  John  and  Isaac 
Wood,  Jonathan  Hart,  Joseph  Mosher,  and 
Johnson  Perrine,  from  New  Bedford;  Amos 
Hoag,  and  John,  Aaron,  and  William  Perry, 
from  Dutchess  county;  and  Zebulon  Allen, 
who  lived  to  be  one  hundred  and  four  years 
of  age. 

Record  nor  tradition    assigns    anything    of 
8 


military  interest  to  the  territory  of  White 
Creek,  until  the  opening  of  the  Revolution, 
when  dread,  uneasiness,  and  a  spirit  of  rest- 
lessness was  awakened  there,  as  well  as 
throughout  the  whole  county  and  the  entire 
State. 

Baum's  route  to  Bennington  was  through 
White  Creek,  and  entering  at  the  northwest 
that  officer  probably  passed  through  North 
White  Creek  village.  His  night  camp  on 
August  13,  1777,  was  near  Waite's  Corners, 
and  south  of  a  small  rivulet  that  empties  into 
the  Owl  Kill.  The  next  day  he  marched  be- 
yond the  boundaries  of  the  town,  and  passed 
southward  into  the  valley  of  the  Hoosick. 
Just  beyond  the  White  Creek  line  was  fought 
the  battle  of  Bennington,  and  cannon  balls 
fired  at  that  engagement  are  said  to  have 
fallen  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  town  and 
caused  a  Quaker  and  his  sons  to  beat  a  precip- 
itate retreat  from  their  meadow.  It  is  also 
said  William  Gilmore,  working  that  day  on  the 
B.  B.  Kenyon  farm,  unyoked  his  oxen,  gath- 
ered up  a  few  Whigs,  and  started  for  the 
Hoosick.  Learning  of  Breyman's  approach 
with  reinforcements  for  Baum,  Gilmore  and 
his  companions  commenced  tearing  up  Little 
White  Creek  bridge,  and  as  the  last  plank  was 
barely  removed,  the  British  reinforcements 
arrived  in  sight.  Gilmore  and  his  compan- 
ions escaped  among  a  shower  of  bullets,  but 
the  slight  halt  occasioned  by  the  tearing  up  of 
the  bridge  caused  just  enough  delay  to  Brey- 
man  in  crossing  to  enable  Warren  to  reach  the 
Bennington  battle-ground  in  time  for  the  sec- 
ond struggle,  and  to  ensure  final  victory  to 
the  American  arms.  Thus  Gilmore's  patriotic 
act  made  certain  the  victory  that  othenvise 
might  have  been  a  defeat,  and  in  ensuring 
Bennington  had  an  indirect  effect  toward  tri- 
umph at  Saratoga. 

The  principal  villages  of  White  Creek  are  : 
White  Creek,  Martindale  Corners,  Pumpkin 
Hook, North  White  Creek, Dorr's  Corners,  Ash- 
grove,  Post's  Corners  and  Centre  White  Creek. 

White    Creek  village,    the   largest   place   in 


114 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


the  town,  is  situated  on  the  waters  of  White 
creek,  in  the  southeastern  part,  and  in  1880 
had  a  population  of  189.  It  was  settled  at 
an  early  day,  and  has  heen  a  place  of  business 
importance  ever  since  the  close  of  the  Revo- 
lution. The  first  house,  a  log  building,  was 
put  up  by  John  Allen,  and  stood  on  the  creek 
below  the  old  hat  factory,  while  the  first  store 
was  originally  established  southwest  of  the 
village  by  Jacob  and  Benjamin  Merritt,  who 
soon  removed  to  White  Creek,  where  they 
built  on  the  site  of  the  Sisson  store.  They  did 
a  wonderfully  extensive  business  for  their  day, 
buying  large  quantities  of  wheat  and  selling 
fifty-thousand  dollars  worth  of  goods  yearly. 
Edward  Aiken's  grist  mill  and  house  had  been 
erected  before  the  Merritts  brought  their 
store  to  the  place.  The  Aiken  grist  mill  build- 
ing was  successfully  used  as  a  cotton  factory, 
a  woolen  mill  and  a  flax  mill.  John  Allen 
and  Paul  Cornell  built  the  second  grist  mill, 
James  Allen,  Jonathan  Hart  and  Sylvanus 
Tabor  erected  tanneries,  and  John  Allen 
erected  a  hat  factory,  in  which  George  N. 
Briggs  worked  when  a  boy.  Two  trip  ham- 
mers were  operated  at  an  early  day  by  Paul 
Cornell,  who  made  scythes  and  hoes,  and 
George  Mann,  who  manufactured  scythes. 
Edwin  Hurd  built  an  ax  factory  and  Garner 
Wilkinson  had  a  scythe-snath  factory.  All 
of  these  business  enterprises  were  founded 
before  1820.  The  first  tavern  was  kept  by 
Garner  Wilkinson,  and  the  postoffice  dates 
its  establishment  to  1822,  when  Daniel  P. 
Carpenter  was  commissioned  as  the  first  post- 
master. White  Creek  with  Camden  were  the 
important  early  business  centers  of  the  south- 
eastern part  of  the  county. 

Center  White  Creek,  while  not  central  geo- 
graphically, yet  may  hold  claim  to  its  name 
as  being  half  way  between  White  Creek  and 
North  White  Creek.  This  village  is  in  the 
southwestern  part  of  the  town  and  for  many 
years  was  known  as  Waite's  Corners,  from  be- 
ing founded  by  Rev.  William  Waite,  a  Bap- 
tist preacher.    An  early  grist  mill  was  built  by 


James  Hay,  while  a  rope  factory  stood  near 
it,  but  both  have  passed  away.  A  saw  mill 
was  built  near  the  village  in  1790,  and  about 
the  same  time  a  flax  mill  was  put  up  a  short 
distance  above  the  small  collection  of  houses. 
Zerah  and  Ezra  Waite  opened  the  first  store, 
while  Ishmael  Gardner  swung  the  first  tavern 
sign  to  the  breeze.  The  village  was  a  favorite 
place  for  early  town  meetings.  The  postoffice 
was  removed  in  1866  from  Post's  Corner  to 
Center  White  Creek,  and  was  first  kept  there 
by  Thomas  Fowler. 

Pumpkin  Hook,  while  having  an  agricul- 
turally sounding  name,  yet  derives  its  more 
practical  than  euphonious  title  not  from  a  farm 
product  but  from  the  Pompanuck  tribe  of  In- 
dians, who  lived  at  its  site  for  a  time  and  were 
originally  from  Massachusetts.  The  corruption 
of  the  Indian  name  gave  rise  to  the  present 
designation  of  the  place.  A  mill  and  a  chair 
factory  were  among  the  first  buildings,  and 
about  1816  to  these  industries  were  added 
clock  and  comb  factories  and  a  woolen  mill. 
John  Warren,  a  Mr.  Glass,  and  Joseph  War- 
ren, were  among  these  early  manufacturers. 
Leonard  Darby  had  a  machine  shop,  and 
John  Rhodes  a  fulling  mill  in  operation  about 
the  time  the  woolen  mill  was  started.  In 
time  competition  elsewhere  in  the  county  led 
to  the  abandonment  of  all  these  enterprises, 
and  a  chair  factory  only  remained. 

North  White  Creek  is  the  old  name  for  the 
eastern  part  of  the  village  of  Camden,  and  its 
enterprises  are  described  in  the  historical  notes 
on  that  place. 

Dorr's  Corners  were  named  for  Dr.  Jona- 
than Dorr,  and  is  now  a  part  of  Cambridge 
village.  A  Mr.  Stillwell  was  the  first  merchant 
at  Dorr's  Corners,  and  a  mill  and  a  machine 
shop  are  near  the  place. 

Post's  Corners,  a  short  distance  east  of  Cen- 
tre White  Creek,  is  at  the  confluence  of  several 
roads,  and  derives  its  name  from  a  Dr.  Post. 
Formerly  a  store  was  kept  here.  A  postoffice 
was  established,  but  was  removed  in  1866  to 
Centre  White  Creek. 


BUXiUAPUY  AND  JUSTOIiY 


115 


Ashgrove,  two  miles  east  of  Camden  village, 
derives  its  name  from  Thomas  Ashton,  an 
earl)'  settler,  and  who  built  the  first  frame 
house  at  the  little  hamlet.  Ashgrove  has  be- 
come famous  in  connection  with  the  Methodist 
church  and  its  founder  in  the  new  world, 
Philip  Embury. 

Martindale  Corners,  near  the  eastern  town 
line,  takes  its  name  from  the  early  resident 
family  of  Martindale.  Kinkaid's  store  was 
there  in  an  early  day,  and  the  place,  from  its 
present  resident  family,  is  known  generally  as 
Briggs'  Corners. 

The  church  history  of  White  Creek  town  is 
important, for  within  its  borders  was  the  second 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  the  United 
States  and  America,  and  were  also  early  Bap- 
tist churches  and  Friends'  meetings. 

The  Baptist  church  of  White  Creek  was 
organized  in  1772,  by  Rev.  William  Waite, 
from  Rhode  Island.  Some  of  its  members 
fought  with  Baum's  forces  against  Stark,  at 
Bennington,  which  was  but  a  short  distance 
away,  and  this  action  of  theirs  led  to  the  tem- 
porary disbanding  of  the  church.  But  Elder 
Waite  gathered  three  members  the  next  year, 
and  in  1779  the  church  was  formally  reorgan- 
ized. In  1788  the  first  meeting  house  was 
built,  and  in  1796  the  second  church  was 
erected  at  Centre  White  Creek.  In  1855  a 
second  church  at  the  last  named  place  was 
erected. 

Friends'  White  Creek  meeting  has  record 
back  to  the  seventh  of  Tenth  month,  1783,  al- 
though the  meeting  is  supposed  to  have  been 
established  earlier  than  that  year.  Their  first 
meeting  house  west  of  White  Creek  was  built 
in  1785,  and  the  second  church,  erected  in 
1805,  was  burned  in  1874. 

The  first  Methodist  Episcopal  chapel  at 
Ashgrove  was  erected  in  1788,  and  rebuilt  in 
[832.  The  Ashgrove  church  afterward  went 
down,  and  the  ashes  of  its  celebrated  founder, 
Philip  Embury,  rest  in  the  cemetery  at  the 
village  of  Camden. 

Further    mention    here    is   appropriate    of 


Philip  Embury,  who  has  been  frequently  men- 
tioned elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

Philip  Embury  was  licensed  as  a  local 
preacher  in  Ireland,  where  he  married  Mary 
Switzer,  and  in  1760  left  Balligarrane,  that 
country,  for  New  York  with  several  Palatines 
or  Methodists.  For  five  years  Embury  did 
no  ministerial  work,  but  a  second  company  of 
Irish  Methodists  came  in  1765,  and  one  of 
their  number,  Mrs. '  Barbara  Heck,  induced 
the  young  retired  preacher  to  resume  his 
sacred  calling.  Embury's  preaching  in  New 
York  city  led  to  the  organization  of  the  John 
Street  church  there.  In  1769  Embury  trans- 
ferred his  congregation  —  the  First  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  on  the  continent  to  mission- 
aries sent  over  by  Mr.  Wesley,  and  removed 
to  Salem.  He  soon  made  his  purchase  of 
land  in  Camden,  but  kept  his  residence  in  the 
town  of  Salem,  where  he  died  in  1773  from  an 
overheat  in  the  hay  field.  Philip  Embury 
formed  the  Ashgrove  class  in  1770,  ancj 
preached  throughout  the  southern  part  of  the 
county  until  his  death.  He  lived  and  died 
with  apparently  but  a  frontier  fame,  and 
whatever  may  have  been  the  measure  of  his 
ambition,  his  name  is  enrolled  as  the  founder 
of  a  mighty  church  in  the  New  World,  and 
among  those  who  are  honored  of  men,  while 
the  story  of  his  life  has  been  eloquently  told 
in  the  pulpit,  on  the  platform  and  by  the  fire- 
side. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Post's 
Corners  was  organized  about  1856,  and  con- 
tinued in  existence  until   1875. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  at  White 
Creek  was  organized  in  1831,  and  held  their 
services  for  years  in  the  Union  church. 

The  public  schools  succeeded  the  subscrip- 
tion schools  in  this  as  in  other  towns.  In  1825 
there  were  twelve  districts  and  six  hundred 
and  twenty-five  pupils,  which  fifty  years  later, 
in  1875,  had  increased  to  fourteen  districts 
and  eight  hundred  and  eighty-nine  pupils. 

Union  academy  of  White  Creek  village  was 
established  in  1810  by  the  subscriptions  of  the 


116 


BIOGRAPHY  ASD  HISTORY 


prominent  citizens  of  the  community.  It  was 
opened  in  the  autumn  of  1810  by  Isaiah  Y. 
Johnson,  who  was  succeeded  successively  as 
principal  by  a  Mr.  Marsh  and  Ambrose 
Eggleston,  and  during  their  administrations 
some  eminent  men  were  students  at  this 
academy.  The  academy  went  down  about 
1IS75,  and  the  building  became  a  dwelling. 

Sheep  raising  was  an  extensive  industry  in 
the  town  of  White  Creek  until  late  years, 
when  it  has  been  largely  supplanted  by  dairy- 
ing and  the  raising  of  flax  and  potatoes. 
Flocks  of  sheep  as  high  as  three  thousand  in 
numbers  were  owned  by  single  persons  in 
1850,  when  there  were  over  thirty  thousand 
sheep  kept  in  the  town.  In  1875  White  Creek 
had  still  more  sheep  than  any  other  town  in 
the  county,  her  flocks  then  containing  nine 
thousand  six  hundred  and  forty-six  sheep. 

The  dairy  interests  of  the  town  were  ma- 
terially advanced  as  early  as  1877,  when  Jer- 
main's  White  Creek  village  creamery  was  es- 
tablished. It  took  the  milk  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  cows,  and  produced  two  thousand 
pounds  of  butter,  and  over  twenty-one  thous- 
and pounds  of  cheese  during  the  first  year  of 
its  operation. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

VILLAGE  AND  TOWN   OF  CAMBRIDGE. 
VILLAGE    OF    CAMBRIDGE. 

In  the  northeastern  part  of  the  town  of  Cam- 
bridge, in  a  small  and  beautiful  valley  horizon- 
bounded  with  surrounding  hills,  lies  the  old, 
populous,  and  thriving  village  of  Cambridge, 
one  of  the  railroad  and  business  centers  of 
Washington  county.  Since  its  incorporation, 
in  1866,  Cambridge  has  comprised  within  its 
chartered  bounds,  what  were  formerly  known 
as  Cambridge,  and  North  White  Creek,  and 
Dorr's  Corners,  which  are  on  the  territory  of 
the  town  of  White  Creek.  The  Owl  Kill  and 
other  streams   run    through    the   village,    and 


while  not  large  enough  there  to  afford  water 
power,  yet  give  good  drainage.  Fine  shaded 
streets,  fine  public  and  private  buildings,  and 
a  general  appearance  of  neatness,  make  Cam- 
bridge a  beautiful  and  pleasant  village. 

The  site  of  Cambridge  was  originally  owned 
by  James  and  Thomas  Morrison,  and  around 
the  cross  roads  there  settlement  was  first 
made  about  1770.  Soon  a  hamlet  came  into 
existence,  that  with  the  development  of  the 
country,  grew  into  a  village  sustained  by  the 
business  interest  of  a  surrounding  section  of 
rich  farming  lands.  The  completing  of  the 
Troy  &  Rutland  railroad  in  1852  through  Cam- 
bridge, gave  it  an  assured  future  and  secured 
it  connection  with  New  York,  Montreal,  and 
the  eastern  cities.  Since  then  a  slow  growth 
but  of  a  subtantial  character  has  marked  the 
history  of  Cambridge,  whose  population  in  1880 
numbered  one  thousand  four  hundred  eighty- 
two,  an  increase  over  the  census  return  of  ten 
years  earlier.  In  1890  the  population  was 
one  thousand  five  hundred  and  ninety-eight. 

But  little  account  is  to  be  obtained  of  the 
early  settlers.  Ruel  Beebe  kept  the  first  tav- 
ern where  the  Presbyterian  church  now  stands, 
and  opposite  Beebe,  Adonijah  Skinner  built 
a  tavern  in  1795,  which  in  later  years  became 
the  Fenton  house.  The  Irving  house  was 
partly  built  in  1842  by  James  Durwell,  its  first 
landlord.  The  Union  hotel,  destroyed  by  fire 
in  1875,  was  partly  built  about  1800,  by  a  man 
named  Peters.  Jeremiah  Stillwell,  at  Dorr's 
Corners,  was  the  first  store  keeper.  Among 
the  early  merchants  were  :  Rice  &  Billings, 
Eddy  &  Brown,  Paul  Dennis,  Clark  Rice,  jr., 
Ransom  Hawley,  J.  D.  Crocker,  Aaron  Cros- 
by, Leonard  Wells,  and  Carpenter  &  Liv- 
ingston. 

The  Cambridge  postoffice  was  established 
about  1797,  with  Adonijah  Skinner  as  post- 
master, and  the  office  being  moved  a  short 
distance  in  1829,  North  White  Creek  post- 
office  was  established  in  the  old  locality,  with 
L.  J.  Howe  as  postmaster.  In  1866  both 
offices  were  merged  and  moved  to  the  center 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


117 


of  the  united  villages,  under  the  present  name 
of  Cambridge. 

The  manufacturing  interests  of  the  village 
have  1800  as  their  initial  year.  Then  a  hat 
factory  was  built  and  a  saw  mill  was  erected 
on  the  Owl  Kill.  Forty  years  later  a  small 
furnace  was  erected  on  the  site  of  the  Beebe 
tavern.  It  was  afterward  changed  to  machine 
shops  and  moved  to  Dorr's  Corners,  where 
they  were  destroyed  by  fire  in  1875.  The 
shops  were  rebuilt  the  next  year  by  A.Walsh. 
In  i860  Alfred  Woodworth  and  William  Qua 
put  up  a  saw  mill,  to  which  they  attached  a 
planing  mill  and  sash  and  blind  factory,  and 
ran  up  to  1876,  when  part  of  their  plant  was 
burned.  Mechanic  shops  of  all  kinds  are 
carried  on  in  the  village. 

Judge  John  L.  Wendell  and  G.  Wendell 
were  pioneer  lawyers,  and  next,  in  1813,  came 
John  P.  Putnam,  a  grandson  of  Gen.  Israel 
Putnam,  and  who  practiced  law  and  was  other- 
wise engaged  at  Cambridge  until  his  death  in 
1867. 

John  P.  Putnam  was  the  owner  of  the  fa- 
mous Major  Pitcairn  pistols,  whose  shot  at 
Concord  in  April,  1775,  rang  round  the  world. 
Since  his  death  they  have  been  carefully  pre- 
served at  Cambridge. 

Dr.  Jonathan  Dorr  was  an  early  physician, 
and  his  second  daughter,  Elizabeth,  married 
John  P.  Putnam.  Two  other  early  physicians 
were  Drs.  William  Stevenson  and  Henry  C. 
Gray. 

One  of  the  first  moves  on  the  part  of  the 
board  of  trustees,  after  the  incorporation  of 
the  village,  was  to  organize  a  fire  department. 
The  J.J.  Gray  Fire  Company,  No.  1,  and  the 
].  J.  Gray  Hose  Company,  were  organized  in 
1866,  and  a  fire  hook  and  ladder  company  was 
formed  at  a  later  date.  A  good  second-hand 
fire  engine  of  a  peculiar  construction  and  un- 
couth in  appearance  was  bought,  yet  it  pos- 
sesses great  force  and  has  won  the  premium  in 
every  one  of  the  many  prize  contests  in  which 
it  has  been  pitted  against  some  of  the  finest, 
largest  and  most  expensive  fire  engines  made. 
8a 


Soon  after  the  railroad  was  built  to  Cam- 
bridge the  subject  of  a  home  bank  was  dis- 
cussed, and  led  to  the  organization  of  the  Cam- 
bridge Valley  bank,  on  September  15,  1R55, 
with  a  capital  stock  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen 
thousand  dollars  subscribed  by  one  hundred 
and  thirty-seven  persons.  Orrin  Kellog  was 
elected  president,  and  James  Thompson, cash- 
ier. In  May,  1865,  this  bank  became  a  Na- 
tional bank,  and  two  years  later  the  directors 
built  a  handsome  banking  house  on  Majn 
street. 

The  Cambridge  seed  business  was  originally 
started  by  Simon  Crosby,  in  1816,  at  Coila,  on 
a  small  scale,  and  in  1836  his  sons  established 
their  garden  and  vegetable  seed  house  at 
Dorr's  Corners.  Roswell  Rice  now  engaged 
in  the  seed  business,  and  in  1844  R.  Niles 
Rice  transferred  his  seed  business  from  Salem 
(where  he  started  in  1834)  to  Cambridge,  and 
bought  out  S.  W.  Crosby  and  Roswell  Rice. 
In  1865  R.  Niles  Rice  associated  his  son,  Je- 
rome B.  Rice,  with  him,  and  extended  his 
business  to  the  eastern  and  middle,  and  some 
of  the  southern  States. 

The  religious  history  of  the  village  is  of 
interest,  as  some  of  its  churches  have  entered 
upon  the  second  century  of  their  existence. 

The  oldest  church  is  the  United  Presby- 
terian church  of  Cambridge.  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas 
Clark  preached  in  the  town  in  the  fall  of  1765, 
and  that  year  the  synod  of  the  Secession 
church  of  Scotland  was  petitioned  for  a  min- 
ister. Rev.  David  Telfair  came,  but  did  not 
remain,  and  the  associate  synod  of  Pennsyl- 
vania was  then  petitioned.  They  directed  Dr. 
Clark,  on  April  19,  1769,  to  organize  a  con- 
gregation at  Camden,  which  it  is  supposed  he 
did,  as  William  Smith,  an  original  patentee, 
then  donated  a  glebe  lot  for  a  church,  which 
was  commenced  in  1775,  but  not  completed 
until  1783.  The  next  year  a  personal  petition 
for  a  minister  was  resolved  upon  to  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Pennsylvania,  and  a  pious  Irish  wo- 
man, Widow  Nancy  Hinsdale,  undertook  the 
mission.      She    walked    to    Philadelphia    and 


118 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


secured  the  appointment  of  Rev.  Thomas  Bev- 
eridge,  who  had  just  arrived  from  Ireland. 
Reverend  Beveridge  came  to  Camden,  and  on 
January  5,  1785,  the  church  was  legally  organ- 
ized as  the  Protestant  Presbyterian  Congrega- 
tion, of  Cambridge.  A  dissention  afterward 
took  place,  resulting  in  the  formation  of  the 
Coila  church.  In  1845  a  new  church  building 
was  erected  on  Main  street,  where  the  congre- 
gation has  since  worshiped. 

The  first  United  Presbyterian  congregation 
in  Cambridge  was  organized  August  17,  1793, 
and  their  first  pastor  was  Rev.  Gershom  Wil- 
liams. The  church  they  first  occupied  was 
built  in  1792.  Their  present  fine  church,  cost- 
ing thirty  thousand  dollars,  was  built  in  1870 
on  the  site  of  the  old  Beebe  tavern.  On  July 
12.  1836,  the  cornerstone  of  the  third  Ash- 
grove  church  was  laid  at  Cambridge,  on  land 
bought  of  Philip  Blair.  This  time-honored 
church  has  its  most  interesting  history  con- 
nected with  the  first  two  of  its  church  build- 
ings at  Ashgrove,  and  is  given  in  the  account 
of  White  Creek  town  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ter. Ashgrove  church  was  founded  by  Philip 
Embury,  in  1771,  afterward  served  in  1779  by 
the  celebrated  Lorenzo  Dow,  and  in  all  has  had 
over  one  hundred  pastors. 

The  First  Baptist  church  of  Cambridge  was 
organized  with  twenty-six  members,  at  the 
house  of  Benajah  Cook,  Jul}'  8,  1843.  Rev. 
Levi  Parmely  was  the  first  pastor,  and  the 
brick  church  structure  was  consecrated  June 
5,  1845. 

Saint  Patrick's  Catholic  church  was  organ- 
ized about  1853,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Hugh  Quigley, 
who  commenced  the  building  of  the  church 
structure  in  the  same  year. 

Saint  Luke's  Episcopal  church  was  duly  or- 
ganized September  23,  1866,  and  Rev.  Clar- 
ence Buel  became  its  first  rector. 

For  the  burial  of  its  dead,  Cambridge  has 
one  of  the  finest  cemeteries  in  the  county. 

Woodlands  cemetery,  one  mile  north  of  the 
village  was  chosen  in  1852  by  J.  C.  Sidney,  a 
civil  engineer  and  rural  architect  of  Philadel- 


phia, who  six  years  later  upon  its  purchase 
surveyed  it  into  walks  and  lots.  It  has  since 
been  enlarged  and  beautified.  Of  its  many 
monuments  there  are  two  deserving  more  than 
passing  notice — the  one  erected  by  patriotism, 
the  other  built  by  love. 

The  Soldiers'  monument  was  erected  in 
1868  by  the  citizens  of  the  "old  town  of  Cam- 
bridge." The  monument, twenty-one  feet  high, 
is  a  beautiful  shaft  of  Italian  marble,  sur- 
mounted by  a  draped  urn.  Below  is  a  marble 
die  bearing  the  names  of  the  fallen  heroes,  and 
the  whole  rests  on  a  granite  base. 

The  other  monument  is  a  shapely  pile  of 
Barre  granite,  thirty-one  feet  high,  erected  by 
the  Preacher's  National  association  in  1873  to 
the  memory  of  Philip  Embury.  This  monu- 
ment cost  two  thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars,  and  was  unveiled  October  20,  1873,  by 
Bishop  Simpson  in  the  presence  of  a  vast  as- 
sembly. In  front  of  the  monument,  which 
bears  only  the  simple  inscription  "  Philip  Em- 
bury," is  the  old  Ashgrove  tablet  placed  over 
the  remains  and  bearing  the  eloquent  inscrip- 
tion dictated  by  the  brilliant  Maffit, 

"PHILIP     EMBURY, 

the  earliest  American  minister  of  the  Metho- 
dist church,  here  found  his  last  earthly  resting 
place. 

"  Born  in  Ireland,  an  emigrant  to  New  York. 
Embury  was  the  first  to  gather  a  little  class  in 
that  city,  and  to  set  in  motion  a  train  of  meas- 
ures which  resulted  in  the  founding  of  John 
Street  church,  the  cradle  of  American  Meth- 
odism, and  the  introduction  of  a  system  which 
has  beautified  the  earth  with  salvation  and  in- 
creased the  joys  of  heaven." 

The  early  settlers  at  Cambridge  appreciated 
the  true  value  of  learning,  and  the  log  school 
house  was  succeeded  in  the  year  181 5  by  the 
Cambridge  Washington  academy,  built  by 
subscriptions,  some  of  which  were  taken  as 
early  as  1799.  Two  thousand  three  hundred 
dollars  of  a  permanent  fund  was  obtained  after 
the   house   was   built,  and   Cambridge  Wash- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  JIISTOI'Y 


11<J 


ington  academy  was  in  due  time  incorporated 
by  the  board  of  regents.  The  academy  was 
opened  August  16th,  and  dedicated  Septem- 
ber 5,  i8i6.  The  institution  was  organized 
with  a  classical  and  an  English  department, 
and  opened  with  fifty-one  scholars.  A  new 
academy  building  was  erected  in  1844,  and 
the  school  with  varying  fortunes  continued  its 
existence  until  1H73,  when  its  portals  were 
closed  after  a  long  and  useful  career,  during 
which  time  it  sent  forth  many  students  who 
made  their  mark  in  life.  The  building  in  1873 
was  leased  to  the  school  trustees  of  the  west 
district,  who  promised  to  maintain  an  acad- 
emic department.  The  principals  of  the  acad- 
emy were:  David  Chassell,  Rev.  Alex.  Bul- 
lions, Rev.  N.  S.  Prime,  Rev.  John  Monteith, 
William  D.  Beattie,  Addison  Lyman,  Russell 
M.  Wright,  Rev.  T.  C.  McLaurie,  Rev.  E.  H. 
Newton,  Rev.  A.  M.  Beveridge,  Rev.  C.  I. 
Robinson,  C.  H.  Gardner,  J.  H.  Burtis,  A. 
P.  Beals,  D.  M.Westfall, William  S.  Aumock, 
Rev.  George  I.  Taylor,  Daniel  Marsh,  jr.,  J.  P. 
Lansing,  and  Miss  Amelia  Merriam.  The 
presidents  were:  Rev.  John  Dunlap,  Alex. 
Bullions,  and  E.  H.  Newton,  J.  M.Stevenson, 
and  Rev.  Henry  Gordon. 

TOWN    OF    CAMBRIDGE. 

Cambridge  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Jack- 
son ;  on  the  east  by  White  Creek  ;  on  the 
south  by  Rensselaer  county  ;  and  on  the  west 
by  Easton.  When  erected  Cambridge  em- 
braced its  present  territory  and  that  of  Jack- 
son and  White  Creek  with  a  part  of  Vermont. 
It  was  organized  as  a  district  of  Albany  county, 
March  12,  1772,  became  a  town  in  1788,  and 
as  such  was  annexed  to  Washington  county 
in  1791.  The  present  area  of  Cambridge  is 
twenty-two  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  acres  of  land,  of  which  eighteen  thous- 
and eight  hundred  and  seventy-five  acres 
were  improved  in  1875. 

The  first  town  officers  of  which  we  have  an}' 
record  were  those  of  1774,  m  which  year  Sim- 
eon Covell  was  elected  supervisor  ;   William 


Brown,  town  clerk  ;  and  Edward  Aikin,  collec- 
tor. At  a  town  meeting  in  1812,  one  hundred 
and  four  pathmasters  were  appointed. 

The  surface  of  the  town  is  hilly  in  the  north 
and  west,  level  along  the  Hoosick  river,  and 
on  the  eastern  border  is  a  part  of  the  Owl  Kill 
or  famous  Cambridge  valley,  noted  for  fertile 
soil  and  beautiful  scenery.  Originally  covered 
with  heavy  forests,  a  part  of  the  uplands  are 
yet  well  wooded.  The  soil  varies  from  a  heavy 
s,and  to  a  light  clay  loam,  with  some  few  small 
gravel  areas.  This  soil  is  productive,  and 
flax  and  potatoes  are  raised  in  large  quanti- 
ties, while  the  production  of  garden  seeds  has 
been  an  important  industry  for  nearly  half  a 
century. 

The  drainage  of  the  town  is  by  several  small 
streams,  chiefly  flowing  into  the  Hoosick  river. 

About  four  thousand  acres  of  the  Hoosick 
patent,  granted  in  1688,  lie  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  town.  The  Cambridge  patent, 
issued  in  1671,  embraces  the  remainder  of  the 
town,  and  gave  name  to  the  beautiful  valley 
stretching  northward  along  the  waters  of  the 
Owl  Kill.  The  Cambridge  patentees  were  : 
Isaac  Sawyer,  Edmund  Wells,  Jacob  Lansing, 
William  Smith,  Alex.  Colden,  Goldsboro 
Bangor,  and  others. 

Between  1761-63  among  those  who  came 
on  the  Camden  patent  were  :  John  McClung, 
James  and  Robert  Cowan,  Samuel  Bell,  Col- 
onel Blair,  George  Gilmore,  George  Duncan, 
David  Harrow,  William  Clark,  John  Scott 
and  Thomas  Morrison,  some  of  whom  were 
in  what  is  now  the  town  of  White  Creek. 
Other  early  settlers  were  :  Ephraim  Cowan, 
Robert  Gilmore,  Austin  Wells,  Samuel  Clark, 
Jonathan  Morrison,  Edwin  Wells,  John  Allen, 
David  Sprague,  Seth  Chase,  John  Woods, 
John  Harroun,  Thomas  McCool,  Thomas 
Ash  ton,  Simeon  Fowler,  John  Young,  Josiah 
Dewey,  Rael  Beebe,  Samuel  Clark,  William 
Eager,  William  Selfridge,  John  Younglove 
and  John  Corey,  of  whom  some  resided  onWhite 
creek.  In  addition  to  these  we  have  the 
names  of  the   following   early  settlers    taken 


120 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


from  the  record  of  those  disturbed  in  the  pos- 
session of  their  lands  during  the  Revolution  : 
Ephraim  Bessey,  Benj.  Smith,  John  Morrison. 
William  Cooper,  Isaac  Gibbs,  George  Searl, 
William  Bleck,  Archibald,  John  and  William 
Campbell,  George  Telford.  Winslow  Heath, 
William  King,  Timothy  Heath,  Amos  Buck, 
John  Austin,  James  and  Eben  Warner,  and 
James,  Samuel,  James  S.  and  David  Covvden. 
Some  of  these  settlers  were  in  White  Creek 
and  a  few  in  Jackson. 

Edmund  Wells,  one  of  the  Cambridge  pat- 
entees, came  in  1773,  and  settled  on  the 
Thomas  Cornell  farm.  He  was  the  only 
patentee  that  became  a  settler.  Capt.  Daniel 
Wells  came  in  1779,  and  the  Cowdens  and 
Longs  settled  on  the  Owl  Kill  several  miles 
below  Cambridge.  James  Long  opened  the 
first  tavern  in  the  town,  and  Major  Cowden 
built  and  painted  the  original  "Checkered 
House."  Phineas  Whiteside  came  into  the 
southwestern  part  of  the  town  in  1766.  Hugh 
Larmouth  (now  Larmori),  from  Scotland,  was 
an  earl}'  settler,  as  was  also  Capt.  Elihu 
Gifford,  who  served  on  a  privateer  in  the  Rev- 
olution and  commanded  a  company  in  the 
war  of  1S12.  While  privafeering;  Captain 
Gifford  was  captured  by  a  British  seventy-four, 
and  escaped  from  her  off  the  coast  of  Cuba  by 
swimming  three  miles  to  shore.  The  Lees, 
Gilmores,  Stevensons,  Ackleys,  Bowens, 
Websters,  Greens,  Weirs,  Averills,  Englishes, 
Waites,  Wrights  and  Coulters  were  among 
the  early  families  of  prominence  and  note. 

Of  the  pre-historic  history  of  the  town  of 
Cambridge,  there  are  neither  ruins  to  indicate 
its  character  or  tradition  to  tell  of  the  people 
who  made  it.  The  Indian  hunter  came  and 
passed  away,  and  the  pioneer  clearing  appeared 
on  the  stream  and  in  the  forest,  but  ere  the 
early  settlement  had  attained  any  proportions 
the  Revolution  burst  upon  the  land.  In  1777 
Baum's  foraging  column  passed  along  the  pres- 
ent northern  boundary  line  of  Cambridge  to 
seek  for  plunder,  but  to  find  annihilation  at 
Bennington. 


The  unincorporated  villages  of  the  town  of 
Cambridge  are:  North  Cambridge,  Centre 
Cambridge,  Buskirk's  Bridge,  and  Coila. 

North  Cambridge  is  on  Lot  No.  70,  and  four 
miles  west  of  Cambridge.  Esek  Brownell  and 
John  Willis  settled  there  at  an  early  day,  and 
Brownell  opened  a  store  and  afterward  se- 
cured a  postoffice,  of  which  he  was  commis- 
sioned postmaster.  Years  later  the  postoffice 
was  discontinued,  and  the  business  of  the 
place  became  limited  to  a  few  mechanic  shops. 
Near  North  Cambridge  in  1838,  a  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  was  organized,  whose  first 
trustees  were  Peter  Hill, sr., Isaiah  Darrow.and 
Edward  F.  Whiteside.  A  meetinghouse  cost- 
ing one  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  was 
built,  and  the  Rev.  Reuben  Wescott  served  as 
the  first  pastor. 

Centre  Cambridge  lies  in  the  heart  of  a  rich 
and  beautiful  country,  and  is  near  the  centre 
of  the  town  on  the  old  thoroughfare  locally 
known  as  the  "Shun  pike."  The  Whitesides, 
Kenyons,  Aliens,  Shermans,  Hills,  Skinners, 
Pratts,  Burrows,  Millers,  Halls  and  Willetts, 
were  among  the  early  settlers  at  that  place. 
Valentine  Randall  opened  a  public  house 
about  1800,  Joseph  Palmer  kept  the  pioneer 
store,  and  James  H.  Hall  was  the  first  post- 
master of  North  Cambridge  postoffice,  which 
was  established  in  1829.  Dr.  Morris  was  the 
first  physician.  A  mile  west  of  the  village  is 
the  station  on  the  Greenwich  &  Johnsonville 
railroad. 

The  Whiteside  church,  on  a  hill  near  the 
village,  was  built  in  1800  by  the  Whiteside 
family.  Mrs.  Phineas  Whiteside  left  by  will 
one  hundred  pounds  toward  its  erection,  and 
other  members  of  the  family  contributed  suffi- 
cient to  ensure  its  completion.  In  1825  the 
house  was  rebuilt,  and  although  no  regular 
church  organization  was  effected,  yet  preach- 
ing has  always  been  steadily  maintained.  Rev. 
Mr.  Dunlap  was  the  first  minister,  and  after 
him  Rev.  Henry  Gordon  held  regular  services. 

As  early  as  181 3  Fenner  King  was  leader  of 
a   Methodist   class  at  Centre  Cambridge,  and 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY 


121 


on  March  15,  1823,  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  of  East  Cambridge  was  formed.  The 
first  preacher  was  Rev.  Samuel  Draper,  and 
the  church  edifice  was  erected  at  a  cost  of 
one  thousand  dollars. 

Buskirk's  Bridge  is  partly  on  the  Rens- 
selaer county  side,  to  which,  of  late  years,  the 
business  interests  of  the  place  have  passed. 
Martin  Buskirk,  from  whom  the  place  derives 
its  name,  kept  a  pioneer  tavern  on  the  Cam- 
bridge side,  and  built  the  first  bridge  across  the 
stream.  Two  early  Cambridge-side  stores 
were  kept  by  Carpenter  and  Allen,  whose 
Christian  names  are  not  recollected. 

Coila,  once  Stevenson's  Corners,  and  later 
named  for  Coila,  in  Scotland,  is  one  mile  from 
Cambridge  village,  and  lies  partly  in  the  town 
of  Jackson.  The  locality  was  first  known  as 
the  Green  settlement,  from  early  settlers  of 
that  name,  and  subsequently  became  Steven- 
son's Corners,  in  honor  of  William  Stevenson, 
who  had  a  store  there  at  an  early  day.  His 
successors  were  McNeil  and  McNaughton. 
John  Gow  opened  a  store  in  1840,  and  be- 
came the  first  postmaster.  Rich's  tannery 
started  in  1806,  came  into  the  possession  of 
the  Robertsons  in  1816,  and  in  1879  was  oper- 
ated by  J.  E.  Robertson. 

The  United  Presbyterian  church  of  Coila 
was  formed  in  1786,  under  the  name  of  the 
Associate  Presbyterian  congregation  of  Cam- 
bridge, being  the  part  of  the  old  Cambridge 
church  that  withdrew  with  the  pastor,  Rev. 
Thomas  Beveridge,  in  the  Burgher  and  anti- 
Burgher  contest.  The  "old  yellow  meeting 
house"  was  the  first  church  built,  and  in  it 
there  were  no  fires  in  winter.  Reverend  Bev- 
eridge served  as  pastor  until  his  death,  in 
in  July,  1798.  In  1833  a  new  brick  church 
was  built,  which  in  late  years  has  been  repaired 
and  refitted,  making  a  very  .fine  and  well  fur- 
nished building. 

Along  the  line  of  the  Greenwich  and  John- 
sonville  railway  several  hamlets  sprang  up  be- 
tween 1870  and  1880.  Some  of  them  promise 
to  be  of  size  and  importance  in  the  future. 


West  Cambridge  secured  a  postoffice,  which 
was  kept  at  first  in  the  depot  building,  and  a 
steam  saw  mill  was  erected  about  1875. 

South  Cambridge,  another  of  these  promis- 
ing hamlets,  soon  possessed  a  store,  postoffice 
and  several  mechanic  shops.  The  country 
surrounding  South  Cambridge  is  very  beauti- 
ful and  was  formerly  known  as  Quakerhood, 
on  account  of  the  Aliens  and  other  Quaker 
families  that  were  early  settlers  there. 

The  early  roads  in  the  town  of  Cambridge 
were  such  as  neighborhood  wants  required, 
but  soon  after  the  close  of  the  Revolution  the 
need  of  a  substantial  highway  leading  south- 
ward was  felt,  and  led  to  the  formation,  in 
1799,  of  the  Northern  Turnpike  company,  of 
which  William  Hay,  Edmund  Wells,  jr.,  Da- 
vid Long,  Martin  Van  Buskirk,  John  Williams, 
Edward  Savage,  and  others,  were  directors. 
The  road  was  constructed  from  Lansingburg 
to  Cambridge,  and  then  was  carried  forward 
to  Burlington,  Vermont.  This  turnpike  was 
the  main  thoroughfare  of  travel  until  1852, 
when  the  Rutland  railroad  was  built  along  its 
general  course,  and  took  its  trade  and  travel. 

While  this  railway  does  not  run  through 
Cambridge,  yet  it  is  sufficiently  near  it  in 
western  White  Creek  so  as  to  supply  it  with 
good  shipping  facilities,  and  within  the  last 
few  years  a  station  has  been  established  at  the 
village  of  Cambridge. 

The  Greenwich  &  Johnsonville  railroad  was 
completed  in  the  western  part  of  the  town  in 
1870,  in  a  general  course  along  Wampecack 
creek.  Its  stations  in  Cambridge  are  at  Sum- 
mit, West  Cambridge,  South  Cambridge,  and 
Lee. 

The  earliest  school  report  of  the  town,  made 
in  1821,  shows  six  hundred  and  fifty-nine  chil- 
dren between  five  and  fifteen  years  of  age  to  be 
in  Cambridge.  In  1876  there  were  fifteen  dis- 
tricts and  nearly  nine  hundred  children 
enumerated. 

The  first  Sunday  school  was  organized  at 
Cambridge  village, where  a  missionary  society, 
called   the  Cambridge  Circuit    branch   of  the 


122 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Troy  Missionary  society,  was  formed  January 
7,  1832. 

A  temperance  society  was  organized  at  Cam- 
bridge in  1 83 1, under  the  auspices  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

VILLAGES  OF    EASTON    AND    NORTH    EAS- 
TON,  AND  TOWN   OF  EASTON. 

VILLAGE    OF    EASTON. 

Easton  is  the  oldest  village  in  the.  town  of 
Easton,  and  lies  near  the  center  of  the  south- 
ern half  of  the  town.  Jacob  Benson  was  the 
first  settler,  and  Dr.  Jonathan  Mosher  was  the 
first  physician.  The  northern  part  of  the  vil- 
lage was  first  settled,  and  the  southern  part  is 
sometimes  called  Barker's  Grove.  The  first 
blacksmith  shop  was  started  by  Stephen  and 
George  Allen  about  1800,  and  a  store,  hotel, 
and  mechanic  shops  came  into  existence  dur- 
ing the  early  years  of  the  present  century. 

Friends'  meeting  of  Easton  dates  back  to 
1773,  at  the  house  of  Zebulon  Hoxie,  who  had 
come  that  year  from  Dutchess  count)',  accom- 
panied by  his  brother  in-law,  Rufus  Hall, who 
was  also  a  Friend.  Several  Quaker  families 
soon  came  from  Rhode  Island,  and  other 
Quakers  from  Dutchess  county,  and  in  1775 
the  first  preparative  meeting  was  established, 
and  a  log  meeting  house  was  built  one  mile 
east  of  Easton.  During  the  Revolution,  on 
account  of  their  peace  principles  and  neutral- 
it)',  they  suffered  much  in  loss  of  property  and 
persection  by  soldiers  of  both  armies.  After 
the  Revolution  the  society  grew  in  numbers 
and  influence,  and  in  1787  erected  a  frame 
meeting  house  on  the  site  of  the  log  one.  In 
1838  a  preparative  meeting  was  established  in 
the  north  part  of  the  town,  where  a  brick 
church  was  built,  and  while  this  branch  pros- 
pered and  flourished,  the  parent  meeting  lost 
in  numbers  and  finally  ceased  to  exist. 


Marshall  seminary  was  established  at  Easton 
in  1863,  and  derived  its  name  from  Benjamin 
Marshall,  one  of  the  principal  stockholders. 
The  building  cost  over  four  thousand  dollars, 
and  in  1868  was  sold  to  the  Easton  and  Sara- 
toga Quarterly  meeting  of  Friends  for  three 
thousand  dollars.  Five  years  later  the  build- 
ing burned,  but  was  rebuilt  the  next  year  by 
the  Easton  meeting  at  a  cost  of  twelve  thous- 
and dollars.  The  early  principals  of  the 
school  were  :  Rev.  A.  G.  Cochran,  Miss  Maria 
Shepherd,  and  Andrew  J.  Qua. 

In  1880  Easton  had  two  stores,  a  hotel,  a 
large  carriage  factory,  and  several  mechanic 
shops. 

VILLAGE    OF     NORTH    EASTON. 

Two  miles  north  of  Easton  is  the  village  of 
North  Easton, formerly  called  Easton  Corners. 
The  site  of  the  village  was  principally  owned 
by  Nathaniel  Starbuck,  who  became  one  of  its 
carl)  business  men.  For  some  years  after  the 
first  houses  were  built  the  place  was  called 
Starbuck's  Corners,  and  then  as  it  increased 
in  size  the  name  of  Easton  Corners  came  into 
use,  and  finally  to  designate  it  from  the  older 
Easton  it  was  named  North  Easton.  Garrett 
Lansing  kept  the  fifst  store  in  1794.  He  had 
as  competitors  and  successors  in  the  mercantile 
business,  Jacob  Van  Buren,  Charles  Starbuck, 
and  John  Gale,  who  served  as  the  first  post- 
master in  the  early  years  of  the  present  century. 

North  Easton  has  two  churches,  a  Reformed 
and  a  Methodist  Episcopal. 

The  Reformed  church  of  Easton  was  organ- 
ized at  North  Easton  in  1803,  under  the  name 
of  "The  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  church 
of  Easton."  It  was  reorganized  under  its 
present  title  February  8,  1872.  The  first  pas- 
tor was  Rev.  Philip  Duryea.  The  first  church 
structure  was  built  between  1803  and  1807, 
repaired  in  1845,  and  some  years  later  torn 
down  to  make  room  for  the  present  church 
edifice. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Easton 
was  originally  organized   near  CrandalPs  Cor- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


123 


ners  at  an  early  day,  and  in  1835  the  society 
left  that  point  as  a  worshipping  place  and 
erected  a  church  near  North  Easton.  This 
church  was  replaced  by  a  larger  and  better 
structure  in  1850.  The  first  pastor  at  North 
Easton  was  Rev.  Roswell  Kelly. 

North  Easton  has  grown  but  slowly,  yet  has 
never  gone  back,  and  is  now  one  of  the  most 
important  business  places  in  the  town,  con- 
taining a  carriage  factory,  store,  hotel,  and 
various  mechanic  shops.  The  town  meet- 
ings of  late  years  have  been  usually  held  at 
the  village. 

TOWN    OF    EASTON. 

Easton,  the  southwest  town  of  Washington 
county,  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Green- 
wich ;  on  the  east  by  Jackson  and  Cambridge  ; 
on  the  south  by  Rensselaer  county  ;  and  on 
the  west  by  Saratoga  county,  from  which  it  is 
separated  by  the  Hudson  river. 

The  town  of  Easton  was  organized  in  1789, 
from  the  parts  of  the  towns  of  Saratoga  and 
Stillwater  lying  east  of  the  Hudson  river,  and 
remained  in  Albany  county  until  February  7, 
171)1,  when  it  was  transferred  to  Washington 
county.  The  town  records  only  go  back  to 
to  1793,  when  Philip  Smith  was  elected  super- 
visor, and  Richard  Macomber,  clerk. 

The  area  of  Easton  is  thirty-eight  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  thirty-four  acres.  The  sur- 
face is  level  along  the  Hudson,  then  rolling 
and  hilly,  and  finally  mountainous  in  the  east. 
The  principal  peaks  are  Willard's  and  Swain's 
mountains,  and  Harrington,  Whelden,  and 
Louse  hills.  The  soil  is  a  rich  loam  variously 
intermixed  with  clay,  gravel  and  sand.  There 
is  scarcely  an  acre  of  waste  land  in  the  town. 
Farming  is  the  main  occupation,  although 
manufacturing  establishments  are  operated  at 
Galesville  and  Greenwich.  Cement  mountain 
in  the  north  contains  heavy  veins  of  fine  ce- 
ment, rock  and  limestone. 

The  drainage  is  by  the  small  streams  falling 
into  the  Batten  Kill  and  the  Hudson  river. 
The   valley   of  the  Hudson   has  made  the 


western  territory  of  Easton  war  trail  and  battle 
ground  for  every  rival  race  or  nation  struggling 
for  mastery  of  the  Upper  Hudson.  Some  of 
the  great  military  expeditions  of  the  inter-col- 
onial wars  passed  through  the  town  of  Easton. 
Fort  Saraghtoga  was  built  on  the  eastern  bank 
of  the  Hudson  in  1709,  and  was  destroyed  in 
1745.  Its  successor,  Fort  Clinton,  was  erected 
some  distance  back  from  the  river  in  1746,  and 
its  walls  were  razed  to  the  earth  during  the 
next  year.  All  traces  of  these  fortresses  have 
disappeared,  but  judging  from  the  most  relia- 
ble sources  of  information,  Fort  Clinton  stood 
about  half  a  mile  south  of  Galesville  or  Mid- 
dle Falls.  With  the  destruction  of  the  earlier 
fort  was  swept  away  the  first  settlement  of 
Washington  county.  Some  of  these  dispersed 
settlers  may  have  wandered  back  to  their 
wasted  fields,  but  they  made  no  stay,  and  the 
tide  of  settlement  did  not  return  to  the  county 
till  1761. 

Of  the  settlers  in  Easton  from  1761  to  1774, 
we  have  very  little  account.  Nathan  Tefft  and 
his  son,  Stanton,  a  surveyor,  came  from  North 
Kingston,  Rhode  Island,  in  1766,  and  pur- 
chased land  on  both  sides  of  the  Batten  Kill, 
near  Middle  Falls.  Killian  De  Ridder  came 
from  Holland  and  settled  in  the  north  part 
about  1766  or  1767.  Of  the  settlers  from 
1 773  to  1789  we  have  record  of  Thomas  Bea- 
dle, Elijah  Freeman,  Thomas  Dennis,  Jacob 
Haner,  Jonathan  Wilbur,  John  Fish,  George 
Deul,  Abner  Fuller,  Richard  Davenport, 
Charles  Russell,  Peter  Becker,William  Abeel, 
Abraham  Wright,  Rensselaer  Schuyler,  Wil- 
liam Thompson,  Gerrett  Wendell,  Nathaniel 
Potter,  Jacob  and  Peter  Miller,  Garrett  Van 
Buren,    Peter    Rundel,    Captain    Van    Yorst, 

Samuel    Sheldon,    Yandenburgh,    James 

Storms,  Rufus  Hall,  Zebulon  Hoxsie, William 
Foster,  David  and  David  Pettys,  jr.,  Stephen 
Anthony, Benjamin  and  Ephriam  Fish. Samuel 
Cook,  Morton  and  Henry  Van  Buren,  Gideon 
Bowditch,  Joseph  Potter,  Abel  Coon,  Elihu, 
Edmund  and  Jedediah  Robinson,  Robert 
Dennis,     Richard    Macomber,     Barzilla    and 


124 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Abraham  Pease,  Benjamin  Starbuck,  James, 
Philip  and  Joseph  Smith,  Eleazer  Slocum, 
Elisha  Freeman,  Sylvester  Satterlee,  Jacob 
Benson,  Tyler  Wilcox,  Abraham  Russell, 
Greeve  Hall,  Garrett  Lansing,  Squire  Thomas 
Smith,  Sterling  Waters,  Asa  and  Ezra  Cran- 
dall,  Roswell  Osborn,  Alex.  Case,  Francis 
Brock,  John  Pettys,  and  David  Remington. 

Some  time  previous  to  the  Revolutionary 
war  the  following  captains  of  whaling  vessels 
at  Nantucket  and  Dartmouth  came  toEaston: 
Daniel  Folger,  William  Coffin, William  Swain, 
Robert  Meader,  BarzillaHussey,  David  Beard, 
John  Swain,  and  Nathan  Coffin. 

Garrett  Lansing  was  the  pioneer  merchant 
of  the  town;  John  Gale  built  the  first  grist 
and  woolen  mills,  the  former  in  1810,  and  the 
latter  in  1846,  and  both  at  Galesville.  The 
first  foundry  and  the  first  flax  mill  were  put 
up  at  Greenwich,  where  the  pioneer  paper 
mill  was  erected  in  1863  by  Ballou  and  Craig. 
Greenwich  is  also  entitled  to  the  credit  of  the 
first  knitting  mill,  which  was  erected  in  1862. 

In  addition  to  the  principal  villages  of 
Easton  and  North  Easton  already  mentioned, 
the  town  of  Easton  contains  the  villages  of 
South  Easton,  Crandall's  Corners,  and  Fly 
Summit,  and  a  part  of  the  incorporated  vil- 
lage of  Greenwich,  and  a  part  of  Galesville. 

South  Easton  is  two  miles  east  of  Easton 
and  near  the  Cambridge  line.  Five  brothers 
of  the  name  of  Cook  were  the  first  settlers, 
and  the  locality  was  known  for  some  years  as 
Cook's  Hollow.  Isaac  Merritt  kept  the  first 
store  before  1800,  and  his  successor,  Thomas 
D.  Beadle,  remained  long  enough  to  give  the 
name  of  Beadle  Hill  to  the  little  hamlet. 
Beadle  was  also  the  first  postmaster.  In  the 
course  of  years  Beadle  Hill  became  South 
Easton. 

Crandall's  Corners,  two  and  a  half  miles 
south  of  Easton,  and  near  the  town  and  county 
line,  was  named  in  honor  of  Holden  Crandall, 
an  early  merchant  and  hotel  keeper  of  the 
place.  The  postoffice  was  established  in  1867 
with  Warren  Crandall  as  the  first  postmaster. 


The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  was  formed 
at  Crandall's  Corners,  Rev.  Roswell  Kelly 
being  the  first  pastor,  and  services  were  held 
in  the  school  house  until  1834,  when  the  so- 
ciety built  a  small  church.  The  year  follow- 
ing the  society  erected  a  church  at  North 
Easton.  The  old  church  building  was  finally 
purchased  by  Warren  Crandall,  who  repaired 
it  thoroughly  in  1868,  when  it  was  dedicated 
as  a  union  church. 

The  southern  part  of  the  incorporated  vil- 
lage of  Greenwich  is  in  Easton,  and  includes 
a  furnace,  carriage  factory,  and  paper,  knit- 
ting and  flax  mills. 

That  part  of  Galesville,  or  Middle  Falls,  in 
Easton,  contains  a  few  dwellings,  a  woolen 
factory,  and  saw,  plaster  and  grist  mills. 

An  embryo  village  in  an  early  day  was  started 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  south  of  Greenwich, 
where  Benjamin  Prosser  had  a  saw  mill  and  a 
store,  and  Andrew  Ferguson  ran  a  wheelright 
shop,  but  the  near  and  larger  village  drew 
away  its  business  and  killed  its  growth. 

On  the  Hudson,  coming  north  from  the  town 
line,  are  three  ferries, Searl, Smith, and  Hogan, 
and  opposite  Schuylerville  a  toll  bridge  eight 
hundred  feet  long  was  built  in  1837.  A  cheese 
factory  was  built  two  miles  north  of  North 
Easton  in  1874,  by  Job  H.  Wilbur  and  John 
Pratt. 


CHAPTER    X. 


VILLAGE    OF  WEST    HEBRON    AND  TOWN 
OF  HEBRON. 


VILLAGE    OF    WEST    HEBRON. 

West  Hebron  is  the  largest  village  in  the 
town  of  Hebron,  and  lies  at  the  junction 
of  the  two  branches  of  Black  creek.  "On 
all  sides  excepting  the  road  valleys,  it  is 
guarded  by  wooded  mountains.    On  the  south- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


125 


east  Wilson's  mountain  stands  perpetual  guard ; 
the  fury  of  the  western  winds  is  broken  by 
Patterson's  range,  and  the  ragged  side  of  the 
'  Devil's  Threshing  Floor 'stands  like  a  sentinel 
of  protection  on  the  north  and  east.  The  val- 
ley just  north  of  the  village  is  the  finest  in  the 
county.  For  half  a  mile  the  road  passes 
through  a  narrow  defile  that  in  the  distance 
closely  resembles  an  Alpine  pass." 

West  Hebron  was  settled  at  an  early  day 
on  account  of  the  water  power  there.  Bev- 
eridge's  saw  mill  was  built  at  an  early  day, 
and  one  mile  above  the  village  a  carding  ma- 
chine was  operated  half  a  century  ago.  Gar- 
rett Quackenbush  built  an  early  grist  mill, 
which  was  equipped  with  a  single  run  of  rock 
stone.  The  postoffice  was  established  in  1816, 
with  George  Getty  as  the  first  postmaster. 
Stores,  hotels  and  shops  came  in  due  time, 
and  dwellings  increased  in  number  until  in 
1880  West  Hebron  contained  a  population  of 
two  hundred  and  five,  and  had  one  hotel,  three 
stores,  a  drug  store,  harness  shop,  two 
churches,  clothing  store,  blacksmith  shop, 
marble  works,  cheese-box  factor}',  saw  mill 
and  starch  factory.  The  starch  factory  was 
built  in  1866,  by  Rae  and  McDowell,  who 
used  annually  six  thousand  bushels  of  pota- 
toes, and  produced  forty-eight  thousand 
pounds  of  starch. 

Around  the  village  are  superior  roads,  fine 
scenery  and  man)'  delightful  drives. 

The  Associate,  now  United  Presbyterian 
church  of  West  Hebron  has  records  running 
back  to  1790,  when  a  meeting  was  held  at 
Andrew  Beveridge's,  three  miles  north  of  the 
village.  Rev.  Robert  Laird,  of  Argyle, 
preached  for  this  congregation  as  early  as 
1807,  and  the  first  trustees  of  whom  there  is 
any  account  were:  Andrew  Beveridge,  Hugh 
Moncrief  and  William  McClellan.  The  first 
.  church,  a  frame,  was  completed  in  1S02,  and 
stood  one  mile  east  of  the  village.  The  next 
church  structure  was  erected  at  the  village 
in  1 831,  and  was  repaired  in  1859.  The  par- 
sonage was  built  about  i860. 


The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  West 
Hebron  dates  back  to  a  class  organized  in 
1859  with  nine  members,  as  a  part  of  the 
Belcher  church.  The  third  chapel  of  the 
Ashgrove  church  was  bought  and  moved  in 
1859.  This  class  separated  from  the  parent 
church,  and  was  formally  organized  under  the 
name  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of 
West  Hebron,  November  29,  1869.  Rev. 
Cyrus  Meeker  was  the  first  pastor,  and  in  1874 
a  new  frame  church  was  erected,  the  old  build- 
ing becoming  a  hall.  The  new  church  struct- 
ure is  a  handsome  frame  building,  costing 
over  seven  thousand  dollars. 

The  West  Hebron  Classical  school  was  char- 
tered March  22,  1855,  by  the  regents  of  the 
university  of  New  York.  The  school  build- 
ing was  erected  during  1855,  and  the  institu- 
tion was  opened  with  Prof.  G.  D.  Stewart  as 
principal  ;  Miss  Harriet  Rowan,  preceptress, 
and  J.  K.  McLean,  assistant.  Ten  years  later 
it  was  found  expedient  to  change  it  into  a 
union  free  school,  but  the  academical  depart- 
ment was  retained. 

TOWN    OF    HEI1RON. 

Hebron  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Hart- 
ford and  Granville  ;  on  the  east  by  the  State 
of  Vermont  ;  on  the  south  by  Salem,  and  on 
the  west  by  Argyle  and  Hartford.  The  town 
has  an  area  of  thirty-two  thousand  six  hundred 
and  fifty-three  acres.  The  soil  is  a  "slaty 
gravel  "  loam,  of  a  porous  nature,  easy  of  cul- 
tivation, well  calculated  to  stand  extremes  of 
weather,  and  very  productive  of  potatoes  and 
most  of  the  cereal  crops.  Potatoes  are  the 
chief  article  of  production  for  export;  white 
corn,  oats,  buckwheat  and  rye  are  raised. 

A  broad  mountain  range  extends  through 
the  center,  and  a  series  of  high  hills  running 
through  the  eastern  and  western  sections  are 
separated  by  the  valleys  of  Black  creek  and 
other  streams. 

The  drainage  of  the  town  is  mostly  to  the 
south  and  southwest  by  Black  creek  and  its 
tributaries. 


126 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


From  its  location  the  territory  of  Hebron 
escaped  being  either  a  war-path  or  a  military 
road,  and  its  inhabitants  have  never  been  dis- 
turbed by  raid  or  battle,  only  being  annoyed 
and  distressed  in  the  Revolutionary  war  when 
Burgoyne  lay  at  Whitehall  and  at  Fort  Ed- 
ward. 

The  town  of  Hebron  is  largely  embraced  in 
the  Campbell,  Kempe,  Munro,  DeForest,  Lin- 
tot,  Blundel,  DeConti,  Farrant,  Sheriff  and 
Williams  patents.  The  Campbell  patent'of 
two  thousand  acres  was  first  granted  to  Lieut. 
Nathaniel  McCullough,  who  sold  to  Duncan 
Campbell  in  1765.  Kempe's  patent  of  ten 
thousand  two  hundred  acres  was  granted  to 
John  Tabor  Kempe,  May  3,  1764.  Munro's 
patent  of  two  thousand  acres  and  the  most  of 
the  other  patents  named  were  granted  about 
1764. 

The  early  settlements  in  the  northern  and 
eastern  parts  of  the  town  were  made  by  New 
Englanders,  while  those  in  the  southern  and 
western  parts  were  planted  by  Scotch  and 
Scotch-Irish. 

The  first  settlement  was  made  in  1769-70 
by  David  Whedon,  John  Hamilton  and  Robert 
Creighton.  In  1772  John  and  Joseph  Hamil- 
ton, Robert,  Thomas,  James  and  John  Wilson, 
and  David  Hopkins,  of  Rhode  Island,  settled 
on  one-half  of  the  Campbell  patent,  lying  be- 
tween the  old  pike  and  Chamberlain's  mills, 
which  was  purchased  the  preceding  year  of 
Duncan  Campbell,  for  four  hundred  pounds, 
by  Capt.  John  Hamilton  and  Robert  Wilson. 
Amos  and  Samuel  Tyrrell,  of  Connecticut, 
came  in  1772,  and  in  that  year  also  came  James 
and  Robert  Wilson,  and  Hon.  David  Hopkins, 
from  Rhode  Island,  and  Jedediah  Darrow  from 
Connecticut. 

Hon.  Alex.  Webster  came  from  Scotland  in 
1772,  and  settled  north  of  West  Hebron,  and 
settlers  were  coming  in  rapidly  when  the  Rev- 
olution stopped  all  emigration. 

From  the  fragment  of  a  tax  list,  whose  date 
must  have  been  between  1780  and  1786,  we 
find  at  the  time  it  was  made  out  that  the  fol- 


lowing families  were  in  Hebron:  The  Afleshs, 
Bellowses,  Cases.  Cluffs,  Cutlers,  Crossetts, 
Clarks,  Coltons,  Cummings,  Duncans,  Dicks, 
Dickinsons,  Fowlers,  Fosters,  Hamiltons, 
Harveys,  Hopkinses,  Gears,  Gambles,  Gettys, 
Gibbses,  Kinneys,  Lyttles,  Millses,  More- 
houses,  McKnights,  McLeods,  McDonalds, 
Munsons,  Osgoods,  Parrishs,  Pecks,  Rays, 
Rosses,  Robinsons,  Shipherds,  Smiths,  Stew- 
arts, Tyrrells,  Websters,  Whedons,  Wades, 
Wilsons,  Wilcoxes,  and  Whittemores. 

Hebron  was  known  as  the  district  of  Black 
Creek  until  1786,  when  the  town  commenced 
its  existence  under  its  present  title  of  Hebron, 
named  for  the  town  of  that  name  in  Connecti- 
cut. 

The  first  road  in  the  town  was  the  one  cut 
by  Major  Skene  from  Whitehall  to  Salem,  and 
passed  through  the  town  close  to  North  Heb- 
ron and  Chamberlain's  Mills  to  the  south 
boundary  line.  It  was  known  as  the  "Skene 
Road."  The  next  road  on  record  was  from 
David  Whedon's  to  the  Granville  line,  in 
1783,  followed  soon  after  by  a  road  from  the 
Provincial  line  to  Lytle's  mills. 

The  villages  of  the  town  of  Hebron  are  : 
West  Hebron  (already  described),  East  Heb- 
ron, North  Hebron,  or  Munro's  Meadows, 
Slateville,  Belcher,  and  Chamberlain's   Mills. 

East  Hebron  is  in  the  southeastern  part  of 
the  town,  and  on  the  old  turnpike.  Dr.  David 
Long  opened  a  store  there  before  1800.  The 
first  postofnee  under  the  name  of  Hebron  was 
established  at  East  Hebron  about  the  com- 
mencement of  the  present  century,  and  Wil- 
liam Porter  was  the  first  postmaster.  Jacob 
Braymer  had  a  tannery,  in  early  times,  two 
miles  north  of  the  place.  The  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  of  East  Hebron  was  organ- 
ized August  2,  1847,  under  the  pastoral  charge 
of   Rev.  B.  O.  Meeker. 

North  Hebron,  or  Munro's  Meadows,  was 
founded  by  the  Rev.  Harry  Munro,  an  Epis- 
copal minister  and  chaplain  in  a  Highland 
Scotch  regiment.  In  1774  he  laid  his  grant 
of    two    thousand    acres    of    land    here,    and 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


127 


settled  on  it  six  Highland  families.  Of  the?e 
Highlanders  were  John  McDonald,  Norman 
and  Donald  McLeod,  and  John  Duncan.  A 
marsh  of  twenty-five  acres  was  on  the  center 
uf  the  tract,  and  Munro  set  high  store  by  this 
marsh  as  being  fit  to  be  made  into  fine  meadow 
land.  Munro  married,  for  his  second  wife,  a 
sister  of  Governor  Jay,  and  went  to  England, 
and  his  son  afterward  sold  the  tract  to  occu- 
pants and  others.  The  old  Skene  road  passed 
near  it,  and  in  1833  the  postoffice  was  estab- 
lished by  the  name  of  North  Hebron,  with 
William  Reynolds  as  postmaster.  A  store  and 
shops  are  there,  and  if  there  were  sufficient 
water  power,  manufacturing  establishments 
could  be  built  and  operated.  The  Baptist 
church  of  North  Hebron  was  formed  January 
1,  1818,  and  the  first  pastor  was  Rev.  W.  P. 
Reynolds.  The  present  church  structure  was 
built  in  1826,  and  remodelled  in  1873. 

Belcher  is  in  the  western  part  of  the  town, 
and  derives  its  name  from  Belchertown,  Mas- 
sachusetts, the  early  home  of  many  of  its  pio- 
neer settlers.  The  village  grew  up  around  the 
junction  of  several  roads,  and  although  having 
no  water  power  to  develop  manufacturing  in- 
terests, yet  has  made  substantial  growth. 
There  are  stores,  a  hotel,  shops,  and  numerous 
dwelling  houses.  The  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  of  Belcher  has  had  an  interesting  his- 
tory,as  from  it  has  grown  three  other  churches. 
It  was  organized  in  1836,  when  a  fifteen  hun- 
dred dollar  house  was  erected.  Growing 
strong,  Argyle  and  Hartford  charges  were 
taken  from  it,  and  later  West  Hebron  church 
was  organized  from  its  members.  In  1875  the 
church  building  was  moved  to  the  village  and 
repaired.  The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  Mr.  Brey- 
ton. 

Slateville  is  a  small  hamlet  in  the  northeast 
that  owes  its  existence  to  the  efforts  of  the 
New  York  Slate  and  Tile  Company  to  operate 
slate  quarries  in  that  section. 

Chamberlain's  Mills  is  a  short  distance  west 
of  East  Hebron,  and  its  valuable  water  power 
was  utilized  at  an  early  day.      The  first  build- 


ings were  erected   in    1778,  and   Asa    Putnam 
built  a  cloth  dressing  mill  prior  to  1800. 

In  noticing  these  villages  we  find  an  account 
of  all  the  churches  in  the  town  except  two, 
the  United  Presbyterian  and  the  East  Presby- 
terian. 

The  United  Presbyterian,  once  the  Associ- 
ated Reformed  church,  was  organized  about 
1780,  as  the  result  of  the  preaching  of  Dr. 
Clark  and  others.  The  first  members  were  : 
Hon.  Alex.,  George,  Alex,  and  JamesWebster  ; 
John  Francis,  Joseph,  William,  Robert,  Sam- 
uel, Benjamin  and  Mary  Livingston  ;  Adam, 
Robert,  John,  David  and  Ebenezer  Getty; 
Alex.,  James  and  William  McClelland  ;  Sam- 
uel, William  and  Isaac  Lytle  ;  Edward,  Wil- 
liam and  Oliver  Selfridge ;  Stephen  and 
James  Rowan  ;  Daniel  and  John  McDonald  ; 
John  Wilson,  Isaac  Gray,  Andrew  Proudfit, 
Thomas  Gourley,  Robert  and  John  Qua, 
Boyd  Donaldson,  Samuel  and  William  Cros- 
set,  James  Flock,  sr.,  and  James  Flock,  jr. 
The  first  meeting  house  was  built  in  1792,  and 
stood  until  1855,  when  a  new  church  edifice 
was  erected  at  a  cost  of  three  thousand 
dollars. 

The  East  Presbyterian  church  was  formed 
February  24,  1804,  as  the  outgrowth  of  a  re- 
ligious society  organized  ten  or  fifteen  years 
earlier.  The  first  house  of  worship  was  built 
about  1790,  and  the  first  minister  was  Rev. 
Walter  Fullerton,  who  served  from  1805  to 
1809.  In  1846  the  old  house  was  replaced  by 
a  second  and  larger  church  structure. 

Sheep  raising  in  Hebron  has  been,  to  some 
extent,  limited  by  the  development  of  dairy- 
ing. Among  the  cheese  factories  started,  are  : 
North  Hebron,  West  Hebron,  East  Hebron, 
Valley,  and  one  near  West  Pawlet. 

The  schools  of  the  town  of  Hebron  are  in 
good  condition,  and  in  1877  the  school  com- 
missioners' report  showed  seventeen  districts 
with  seven  hundred  and  ninety  one  children. 
In  higher  education  the  West  Hebron  clas- 
sical school  and  the  North  Hebron  institute 
are  the  pioneer  institutions. 


128 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


CHAPTER  XI 


VILLAGE  AND  TOWN   OF  GRANVILLE. 
VILLAGE    OF    GRANVILLE. 

Granville,  in  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Paw- 
let  river,  and  the  farthest  eastern  and  one  of 
the  more  important  villages  of  the  county,  had 
its  beginning  in  the  closing  years  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary war. 

Drawn  by  the  beauty  of  the  spot  and  im- 
pressed with  its  future  importance  as  a  busi- 
ness center,  John  Champion  Bishop  settled  on 
the  site  of  Granville  in  1780,  and  built  a  house 
on  the  site  of  the  Marcus  Allen  residence.  Be- 
ing a  man  of  energy  Mr.  Bishop  soon  opened 
a  store,  and  was  joined  by  Eliphalet  Petty  and 
other  settlers.  A  saw  mill,  grist  mill  and  full- 
ing mill  were  erected  at  an  early  day.  Mr. 
Bishop  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Isaac  Bishop, 
who  changed  the  business  part  of  the  village 
from  the  west  to  the  east  side  of  the  river, 
and  secured  the  construction  of  the  shun  pike 
through  Granville.  Isaac  Bishop  had  for  mer- 
cantile partners  his  brother  Arch.,  Wadsworth 
Bull  and  Howell  Smith.  An  early  merchant 
was  Reuben  Skinner,  from  181 1  to  1830,  who 
was  also  a  manufacturer.  Other  early  mer- 
chants from  1825  to  1850  were  :  Jonathan 
Todd  and  Col.  L.  T.  Rowley,  Rufus  Graves 
and  Dr.  McClure,  William  Graves,  Rufus  G. 
Fordish,  Joseph  Allen,  Morgan  Duel,  and 
Samuel  Smith. 

The  Bishops  had  an  ashery  and  afterward  a 
foundry  on  the  site  of  the  Burdick  property, 
and  an  early  hemp  mill  was  replaced  in  1840 
by  a  woolen  mill,  which  was  afterward  con- 
verted into  a  knitting  mill.  Charles  Kellogg 
kept  a  hotel  in  1800  on  the  site  of  the  Central 
house,  and  the  early  small  shops  so  common 
in  villages  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  present 
century  were  well  represented  at  Granville. 

A  partial  incorporation  of  the  village  to  se- 
cure adequate   protection  from  fire  was  made. 


but  in  a  later  election  the  friends  of  the  cor- 
poration measure  were  defeated. 

The  population  of  Granville  in  1880  was 
one  thousand  and  seventy  one. 

The  National  bank  of  Granville,  was  organ- 
ized April  21,  1875,  and  the  first  officers  were  : 
Daniel  Woodard,  jr.,  president;  Edwin  B. 
Temple,  vice-president  ;  George  R.  Thomp- 
son, cashier,  and  D.  D.  Woodward,  teller. 

Granville  was  the  headquarters  for  the  Mu- 
tual Insurance  company  of  Washington  county 
from  its  origin  until  it   retired   from  business. 

The  religious  interests  of  the  village  of 
Granville  are  well  cared  for  by  several  church 
organizations. 

Trinity  Episcopal  church  of  Granville  was 
organized  July  15,  1815,  of  Episcopalians  re- 
siding there  and  in  the  adjoining  towns  of 
Pawlet  and  Wells,  in  Vermont.  Rev.  Stephen 
Jewett  was  the  first  rector,  and  the  first  church 
structure  was  erected  in  1815.  It  cost  three 
thousand  dollars,  and  was  taken  down  in  1850, 
when  a  frame  edifice, costing  five  thousand  dol- 
lars, was  commenced.  The  second  edifice 
burned  in  1854,  and  the  next  year  another  five 
thousand  dollar  edifice  was  erected  on  the  site 
of  the  first  church  structure. 

On  June  15,  1843,  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
church  was  organized  by  Rev.  Lyman  Prin- 
gle,  on  the  grounds  of  decided  opposition  to 
slavery,  intemperance,  and  secret  societies. 
The  congregation  met  in  the  school  house  but 
never  built  a  church,  and  went  out  of  exis- 
tence shortly  after  1850.  Its  membership  was 
formed  largely  of  seceding  Methodists,  Epis- 
copalians, and  Congregationalists,  who  had 
become  radical  upon  the  slavery  question. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  was  or- 
ganized in  1827,  and  the  first  pastor  was  Rev. 
Joseph  Ames.  A  house  of  worship  was  built 
in  1832. 

The"  name  of  Mettowee  City  has  been  sug- 
gested from  Mettowee,  the  Indian  name  of  the 
Pawlet  river,  as  a  more  romantic,  historic  and 
beautiful  designation  for  the  village  than  that 
of  Granville. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


129 


TOWN    OF    GRANVILLE. 

The  town  of  Granville  is  bounded  on  the 
north  by  Whitehall  and  Hampton  ;  on  the 
east  by  the  State  of  Vermont  ;  one  the  south 
by  Hebron  ;  and  on  the  west  by  Hartford  and 
Fort  Ann.  It  contains  thirty-three  thousand 
one  hundred  and  forty-three  acres,  or  nearly 
fifty-two  square  miles. 

The  surface  of  Granville  is  undulating  and 
hilly,  and  "there  is  a  quiet  pastoral  beauty, 
very  attractive  and  charming,  in  the  natural 
scenery  of  the  town."  The  soil  is  a  slaty, 
gravelly  loam,  specially  adapted  to  potatoes, 
which  are  raised  in  large  quantities  for  expor- 
tation. This  soil  is  also  well  adapted  to  every 
product  of  this  latitude.  Roofing  slate  is 
abundant,  and  brick  clay  has  been  found  in 
many  places. 

The  drainage  is  to  the  north  and  northeast, 
by  the  Pawlet  or  Mettowee  river  and  its  trib- 
utaries. A  large  amount  of  water  is  furnished 
by  the  river  and  its  main  branches,  which  are 
clear  and  limpid,  and  are  fringed  by  alluvial 
meadows. 

No  trace  can  be  found  of  the  year  of  the 
organization  of  Granville  as  a  district,  but  it 
is  presumed  that  the  district  was  organized 
twelve  or  fifteen  years  prior  to  the  first  town 
meeting  of  which  we  have  record.  The  lat- 
ter was  in  1787,  one  year  after  the  forming 
of  the  town  by  legislative  enactment.  At  the 
first  town  meeting,  held  April  2,  1787,  Capt. 
Daniel  Curtis  was  elected  supervisor,  Gurdon 
Johnson,  clerk,  and  Daniel  H.  White,  collec- 
tor. 

Alexander  Menzies,  on  September  11,  1764, 
received  a  patent  for  two  thousand  acres  of 
land  in  the  northern  part  of  the  town,  and  the 
same  day  his  brother,  Thomas,  received  a 
patent  for  an  equal  amount  in  the  same  part 
of  Granville.  John  Maunsell,  on  March  7. 
1771,  was  granted  five  thousand  acres  in  the 
northeastern  part.  On  September  5,  1764, 
Erick  Sutherland  obtained  two  thousand  acres, 
and  on  March  2,  1775,  John  Watkins  received 
two  thousand  acres  northward  of  the  site  of 
0 


North  Granville.  The  other  patents  in  the 
town  were  the  Berry,  Byrnes,  Farquar,  Suth- 
erland, Dupason,  Hutchinson,  Atlas,  Camp- 
bell and  Grant.  It  is  doubtful  if  any  of  the 
patentees  ever  settled  on  their  manorial  tracts. 
It  is  said  that  these  patentees  were  captains 
and  lieutenants  in  the  French  and  Indian  wars, 
and  that  their  tracts, passing  into  the  hands  of 
land  jobbers,  retarded  settlement  until  the 
close  of  the  Revolution. 

Many  of  the  early  settlers  being  New  Eng- 
enders sided  with  Vermont  in  the  contest  of 
that  State  with  New  York  for  supremacy  over 
the  territory  of  Washington  county.  These 
settlers  afterward  returned  to  their  allegiance, 
and  asking  both  pardon  and  protection,  were 
called  submissionists. 

On  April  4,  1782,  the  following  submission- 
ists petitioned  the  New  York  authorities  for 
immunity  of  past  offences  :  Moses  Sawyer, 
Daniel  Curtice,  Asaph  Cooke,  Henry  Watkins, 
Benjamin  Baker,  David  Doane,  Gideon  Allen, 
Eliphalet  Parker,  Aaron  Smith,  Micah  Grif- 
fith, Peter  Harrington,  Moses  Powers,  Joseph 
Barker,  Thomas  Griffith,  Josiah  Mix,  Samuel 
Harnden,  James  Covel,  Isaiah  Bennett,  Theo- 
dorus  Norton,  Jon.  Harnden, EbenezerWalker, 
Ichabod  Parker,  John  Bateman,  James  Otis, 
Peter  Grover,  Abraham  Van  Dursee,  John 
Grover,  John  Barnes,  David  Blakeslee,  John 
Walker,  John  Spring,  Solomon  Baker,  Thos. 
Grefes,  Joseph  Herrington,  Ebenezer  Gould, 
Jesse  Atwater,  and  Hein  Williams.  Many  of 
these  submissionists  were  among  the  pioneer 
settlers. 

Among  other  early  settlers  were:  Nathaniel 
Spring,  Timothy  Allen,  David  Skinner,  Chris- 
topher Potter,  Gurdon  Johnson,  Maj.  Thomas 
Corners,  Capt.  John  McWhorter,  Lt.  Henry 
Watkins,  Capt.  Seth  Wheeler,  Daniel  H. 
White,  Benjamin  Wait,  Joseph  Wait,  Zach. 
Loomis.  Richard  Barns,  Timothy  Case.  Jos- 
eph Andrews,  Joseph  Woodworth,  Joseph 
Northup,  Joseph  Cook,  Elijah  White,  Amos 
Beard,  John  Champion  Bishop,  Coomer  Ma- 
son, Lewis  Hatch,  and  Noah  Day. 


130 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Asaph  Cooke,  who  supported  the  claims  of 
Vermont,  was  an  early  resident,  and  one  of 
his  grandsons  was  Jay  Cooke,  the  noted  finan- 
cier. 

Of  the  aboriginal  history  of  the  town  of 
Granville,  there  is  but  little  to  be  found.  The 
Saint  Francis  Indians  of  Canada  give  it  as  the 
tradition  of  their  people  that  their  ancestors 
for  ages  hunted  and  fished  on  the  Mettowee 
river,  and  also  at  the  site  of  Granville  had 
one  of  their  favorite  camps  and  best  places 
for  making  their  stone  hatchets  and  arrow 
heads. 

During  the  Revolution  nothing  occurred  of 
special  military  interest  in  the  town. 

The  principal  villages  of  the  town  of  Gran- 
ville are:  Granville  (ahead)'  described), 
Middle  Granville,  North  Granville  and  South 
Granville. 

Middle  Granville,  the  earliest  business 
point  in  the  town  according  to  tradition,  was 
founded  by  Capt.  David  Rood,  who  built  the 
first  house  and  erected  a  saw  mill  on  the  site 
of  the  present  paper  mill.  Capt.  Abraham 
Dayton  and  William  Hollister  were  early  tan- 
ners, who  carried  their  leather  to  Canada, 
where  they  received  gold  coin  for  it.  Capt. 
Cowan  had  another  early  tannery,  and  a  trip- 
hammer and  blacksmith  shop  were  run  by  a 
Mr.  Kingsley,  while  the  Goodrich  grist  mill 
was  then  standing  on  the  site  of  the  present 
Ellis  mill.  In  1800  Asa  Rood  had  a  saw  mill, 
a  cider  mill  and  a  clothier's  shop,  for  which 
latter  he  refused  five  thousand  dollars  offered 
him  by  Roger  Wing.  Rood  afterwards  put  a 
carding  machine  into  his  clothier  shop,  but 
did  not  realize  a  fortune.  A  cotton  mill  was 
next  built  and  operated  until  1847,  when  it 
was  burned.  Paint  works  and  a  flax  mill  suc- 
ceeded the  cotton  mill,  and  the  flax  mill  was 
changed  in  1868  into  a  paper  mill.  Of  late 
years  the  carding  machine  factory  was 
changed  into  a  cheese  box  factory.  Middle 
Granville  lies  between  Granville  and  North 
Granville,  and  has  sufficient  manufacturing 
facilities,  if  utilized,  to  give  it  importance  and 


prosperity.  The  flourishing  Union  school 
there  was  opened  in  1868,  with  Prof.  Edward 
C.  Whittemore  as  principal,  and  three  assist- 
ant teachers. 

The  Congregational  church  was  formed  in 
i860  under  Rev.  Griffith  Jones,  and  the  same 
year  the  congregation  erected  a  good  church 
edifice. 

The  Catholic  church  of  Our  Lad)'  of  Mount 
Carmel  was  established  in  1867.  A  church 
edifice  costing  five  thousand  dollars  had  been 
built  in  advance,  and  Father  W.  B.  Hannet 
became  the  first  pastor.  A  pastoral  residence 
worth  seven  thousand  dollars  was  added  to 
the  church  edifice,  and  both  are  fine  structures. 

North  Granville,  including  the  hamlet  of 
Truthville,  which  is  but  a  suburb  of  the  village 
proper,  lies  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the 
town.  Benjamin  Baker  kept  an  inn  at  North 
Granville  in  1790,  and  five  years  later  a  Mr. 
Jenks  opened  a  store.  The  manufacturing  in- 
terests are  represented  by  two  saw  mills,  a 
hub  factory,  two  grist  mills,  a  cotton  bat  fac- 
tory, and  a  cough  syrup  manufactory. 

The  North  Granville  Baptist  church  was 
formed  August  18,  1784,  at  the  house  of  John 
Stewart,  with  twenty-two  members.  Rev. 
Richard  Sill  became  the  first  pastor.  The 
first  house  of  worship  was  erected  in  1802,  at 
a  cost  of  seven  hundred  dollars.  The  church 
suffered  from  divisions  over  Masonry  in 
1829-30.  Nearly  a  thousand  members  were 
received  by  letter  and  baptism  into  the  church 
during  the  first  century  of  its  existence.  The 
deacons  from  1784  to  1876  were  :  Joseph 
Calkins,  Benjamin  Baker,  John  Savage,  John 
Leonard,  Samuel  Standish,  Truman  Mason, 
Zach.  Waldo,  Coomer  Mason,  Linas  R.  Ma- 
son, John  B.  Brown,  William  Nelson,  Sardis 
Otis,  Silas   Beecher,  and  William  A.  Grimes. 

The  Presbyterian  church  at  North  Granville 
was  organized  February  22,  1810,  as  a  Con- 
gregational society.  Thirteen  years  later  it 
became  Presbyterian.  The  corporate  name  of 
the  society  was  "  The  Fair  Vale  Religious  so- 
ciety," and  its  first  members  were  Sylvanus  and 


BIOGKAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


131 


Charity  Cone,  David  Martin,  Joseph  and 
Esther  Chandler,  Peter  and  Esther  Parker, 
Joseph,  Asenath, Benjamin  and  Hannah  Town, 
David  Graves,  Obediah  and  Elizabeth  Archer, 
Butler  and  Hannah  Bcckwith,  Ichabod,  Anna 
and  Sally  Morse,  Triphena  Huggins,  Susanna 
Leavins,  and  Elizabeth  Cady.  The  first  regu- 
lar minister  of  this  church  was  Rev.  R.  Robin- 
son, and  the  organizing  minister  was  Rev. 
Nathaniel  Hall. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  North 
Granville  was  formed  in  i860,  and  a  house  of 
worship  costing  five  thousand  dollars  was  com- 
pleted the  same  year.  The  first  class  was 
formed  under  the  leadership  of  Peter  Grant, 
and  consisted  of  twenty  members. 

Saint  Patrick's  Catholic  church  of  North 
Granville  was  founded  about  1852,  although 
meetings  had  been  held  for  several  previous 
months  at  the  house  of  Miles  Cahoes.  The 
present  church  edifice  was  built  in  1866  at  a 
cost  of  four  thousand  dollars.. 

Fairville  academy  was  established  in  1807  at 
North  Granville,  and  under  the  celebrated 
Salem  Town  did  the  work  of  normal  schools 
for  many  years.  This  academy  was  continued 
until  1870,  when  the  "building  was  purchased 
by  the  school  district.  The  North  Granville 
Ladies'  seminary  was  established  by  the  re- 
gents in  1854,  and  buildings  were  erected  in 
the  same  year  which  were  afterward  burned. 
W.  W.  Dowd  rebuilt  and  sold  the  seminary 
building  in  1876  to  Prof.  Wallace  C.  Wilcox, 
who  started  the  present  North  Granville  Mili- 
tary school,  where  a  president  and  five  pro- 
fessors constitute  the  corps  of  instructors. 

The  North  Granville  bank  commenced  busi- 
ness in  1871. 

South  Granville  is  a  pleasant  little  village 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  town  and  has  a 
postoffice, school  house, cheese  factor}',  church, 
some  shops  and  several  dwellings. 

A  Methodist  Protestant  church  was  organ- 
ized at  South  Granville  April  18,  1830.  They 
had  a  meeting  house  on  the  hill  southwest  of 
the  village,  but  meetings  having  been  discon- 


tinued about  1870,  the  house  was  taken  down 
two  years  later. 

The  Welsh  churches  of  the  town  of  Gran- 
ville came  into  existence  by  the  settlement  of 
Welsh  immigrant  miners,  who  came  to  the 
slate  works-  between  1850  and  1870.  Mr. 
Davies  and  John  Pritchard  formed  a  union 
society,  but  an  addition  of  Presbyterian  Welsh 
immigrants  in  i860  led  to  the  founding  of  two 
churches,  the  Welsh  Presbyterian  church,  and 
the  Welsh  Congregationalist  church. 

The  Friends'  society  of  Granville  was  or- 
ganized in  1800  by  John  C.  Bishop  and  others, 
with  twenty-six  members.  The  first  meeting 
house  was  built  in  1806.  In  1828  another  so- 
ciety of  Friends  was  formed  a  mile  south  of 
Granville,  and  a  brick  meeting  house  erected. 
In  1872  this  last  society  dissolved,  and  the 
meeting  house  was  sold  for   school    purposes. 

There  were  log  school  houses  and  fair 
schools  in  the  town  of  Granville  as  early  as 
1784.  The  Friends  at  a  very  early  day  estab- 
lished a  school,  and  their  present  school  of  an 
academic  character  was  started  about  1873, 
with  Lulu  Trump,  of  Baltimore,  as  principal. 
The  present  free  school  system  in  Granville 
has  been  brought  up  from  its  crude  state  in 
18 1 3.  to  an  efficient  condition  at  the  present 
time. 

The  Mettowee  Valley  Agricultural  society 
was  formed  at  Granville  April  4,  1874,  and 
provided  for  the  holding  of  annual  fairs.  The 
Union  Musical  association  of  Granville  was 
organized  in  December,  1861.  The  North 
Granville  National  bank,  that  commenced 
business  in  1871,  was  originally  the  Farmers' 
bank  of  Washington  county,  and  was  first  or- 
ganized at  Fort  Edward  in  1855. 

Of  late  years  the  sheep  husbandry  of  the 
town  has  not  increased,  but  the  dairy  interest 
has  made  marked  progress.  Cheese  factories 
are  at  Granville,  Middle  Granville,  and  South 
Granville,  and  are  a  manufacturing  center  for 
a  large  surrounding  territory  in  other  towns 
and  in  Vermont. 

Commercial    facilities   are   within   reach  of 


132 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


every  section,  as  one  railroad  running  the  en- 
tire length  of  the  town  in  the  east  with  two 
stations,  and  a  canal  and  railroad  within  easy 
reach  from  the  western  boundary  afford  near 
markets  to  the  farmer,  the  tradesman,  the 
merchant  and  the  manufacturer. 

The  slate  interests  of  the  town  of  Granville 
are  of  importance.  Slate  was  discovered  in 
1850,  near  Middle  Granville,  and  the  Empire 
Slate  Company  was  soon  formed,  but  went 
down  before  i860.  The  Middle  Granville 
Slate  Company  was  formed  in  i860,  the  Pen- 
rhyn  Slate  Company  about  the  same  year,  and 
the  Warren  Slate  Company  at  Granville  about 
1864.  The  quarries  produce  large  quantities 
of  the  finest  quality  of  roofing  and  school  slates, 
and  an  article  excellent  for  marbleized  work. 


CHAPTER    XII. 


VILLAGE  OF    HARTFORD,   AND  TOWNS  OF 
HARTFORD   AND   HAMPTON. 


VILLAGE    OF    HARTFORD. 

Pleasantly  situated  in  the  central  and  eastern 
parts  of  the  town  of  Hartford,  chiefly  on  lot 
48,  and  partly  on  lands  once  owned  by  De  Witt 
Clinton,  is  the  village  of  Hartford,  formerly 
known  as  North  Hartford.  The  village  is  on 
elevated  ground,  with  some  beautiful  scenery 
surrounding  it,  and  has  a  branch  of  East 
creek  near  it.  Col.  John  Buck  is  said  to  have 
been  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  the  place. 

Ethel  Cummings  kept  the  first  tavern,  Col. 
John  Buck  had  the  first  store  on  the  site  of 
the  Hiram  Swain  house,  and  William  Covel 
operated  the  first  saw  and  grist  mill,  which 
was  east  of  the  village,  on  a  branch. of  East 
creek.  Nearer  the  village  clothing  works  and 
carding  machines  were  next  started  by  Joel 
and  Samuel  Downs,  and  close  to  them  were 
built  Hoffman's  distillery  and  Higby's  tannery. 

Soon  after  1800  business  increased  rapidly 
at   the  village,    and    many  new   houses  were 


erected.  In  1807  the  postoffice  was  estab- 
lished, and  Aaron  Norton  became  the  first 
postmaster.  A  few  years  later  Amasa  Rug- 
gles  opened  an  extensive  hat  factor}',  Parks 
lV  Carlisle  started  a  shoe  factory,  and  Nathan 
Hatch  and  others  engaged  in  the  cabinet  man- 
ufacturing business.  The  first  physician  was 
Dr.  Cutter,  and  the  first  lawyer  was  Slade  D. 
Brown. 

A  bank  of  exchange  was  started  in  1850, 
and  in  a  few  years  became  a  bank  of  issue, 
under  Charles  Wesley  and  brother,  who  after- 
ward moved  it  to  Buffalo,  New  York. 

Since  1850  the  village  has  gradually  in- 
creased in  wealth  and  population,  and  is  now 
well  supplied  with  stores,  shops,  mills  and 
churches.  The  population  in  1880  was  three 
hundred  and  ninety-two. 

The  Baptist  church  of  Hartford  was  organ- 
ized about  1787,  in  a  barn  near  the  present 
church  building, as  the  Baptist  church  in  West- 
field.  In  1789  Rev.  Amasa  Brown,  of  Swan- 
sea, Massachusetts,  was  chosen  as  the  first 
settled  pastor.  In  1830  the  church  took  ex- 
treme grounds  against  Masonry,  and  eighty  of 
its  members  withdrew  to  organize  the  South 
Baptist  church.  The  seceders  called  Rev.  B. 
F.  Baldwin  as  their  pastor,  built  a  meeting 
house  and  existed  as  a  separate  church  until 
1S43,  when  they  reunited  on  a  satisfactory 
basis  with  the  old  church  and  sold  their  meet- 
ing house  to  the  Methodists.  The  present 
Baptist  church  edifice  stands  on  a  lot  deeded 
for  church  purposes  by  DeWitt  Clinton. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Hart- 
ford was  legally  organized  in  1844,  and  pur- 
chased the  lower  Baptist  church  through  the 
efforts  of  Rev.  Ensign  Stover,  then  on  the 
circuit  to  which  the   Hartford  class  belonged. 

TOWN    OF    HARTFORD. 

This  town  was  erected  March  12,  1793,  from 
Westfield,  now  Fort  Ann,  and  was  named  for 
Hartford,  Connecticut.  The  town  of  Hartford 
is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Fort  Ann  ;  on  the 
east   by  Granville  and   Hebron  ;   on  the  south 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


133 


by  Afgyle,  and  on  the  west  by  Kingsbury.  It 
has  an  area  of  twenty-seven  thousand  five 
hundred  acres,  of  which  twenty-two  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  thirty-two  acres  were  im- 
proved in  1875. 

The  soil  on  the  hills  is  slaty,  producing 
good  wheat  and  grass,  and  in  the  valleys  are 
found  dark  loams  and  heavy  clays  noted  for 
their  fertility  and  productiveness. 

The  general  surface  is  uneven.  In  the  south- 
east and  northwest  are  the  highest  hills,  some 
of  which  are  seven  hundred  feet  above  Lake 
Champlain.  In  the  south  exists  a  cedar 
swamp,  extending  into  Argyle  and  containing 
peat  deposits. 

The  drainage  is  westwardly  to  Wood  creek 
by  East  creek  and  its  small  tributary  streams. 
Several  calybeate  springs  have  been  found  in 
the  town. 

The  town  of  Hartford  was  formally  organ- 
ized at  the  first  town  meeting,  held  April  1, 
1794,  at  the  house  of  Daniel  Mason,  near 
South  Hartford.  At  that  meeting  Daniel  Ma- 
son was  elected  supervisor ;  Asahel  Hodge, 
clerk,   and  Ezekiel  Goodell,  collector. 

The  town  of  Hartford  is  embraced  in  the 
Provincial  patent  granted  May  2,  1764,  to  the 
following  twenty-six  officers  of  the  New  York 
infantry :  Peter  Dubois,  William  Cockroft, 
Bernard  Glazier,  Charles  Le  Roux,  Michael 
Thody,  George  Brewerton,  sr. ,  George  Brew- 
erton,  jr  ,  Robert  McGinnis,  Peter  Middleton, 
Isaac  Corsa,  Joshua  Bloomer,  Tobias  Van- 
Zandt,  George  Dunbar,  Barak  Snethew,  Jona- 
than Ogden,  Richard  Rea,  Verdin  Ellsworth, 
Barnaby  Byrne,  Cornelius  Duane,  Abraham 
De  Forest,  Joseph  Bull,  Tennis  Corsa,  Thomas 
Jones,  David  Johnson,  Henry  Dawson  and 
Alexander  White.  Each  officer  received  one 
thousand  acres,  and  the  patent  was  surveyed 
in  1764,  into  one  hundred  and  four  lots  con- 
taining three  hundred  acres,  more  or  less. 

The  earliest  settlement  in  the  town,  it 
seems,  was  not  made  until  after  the  Revolu- 
tionary war.  It  is  probable  that  Col.  John 
Buck  was  the  first  settler.  He  located  on  lot 
Da 


31,  and  at  the  same  time  Manning  Bull 
settled  on  lot  43.  Other  early  settlers  were  : 
Stephen,  Laban  and  Wanton  Bump,  on  lot 
89;  Aaron  and  Eber  Ingalsbe,  in  1782,  on  lot 
87;  and  Lt.  Nathaniel  Bull,  on  lot  6.  David 
Austin  was  the  agent  of  DeWitt  Clinton,  and 
came  to  the  North  village  at  an  early  day. 
Jabez  Norton  was  an  early  settler,  as  were  : 
John  H.  Kincaid,  Ezekiel  Goodell,  Daniel 
Mason,  Daniel  Brown,  A?ahel  Hodge,  Jona- 
than Wood,  Dr.  Isaac  W.  Clary,  Calvin 
Townsend  and  Thomas  Thompson,  whom 
tradition  says  settled  near  South  Hartford  in 
1776. 

The  town  of  Hartford  has  three  main  vil- 
lages, Hartford  (already  described),  South 
Hartford,  and  East  Hartford. 

South  Hartford  village  dates  its  first  settle- 
ment to  1790,  when  a  man  named  Foster  made 
an  improvement,  and  commenced  the  erection 
of  a  grist  mill.  Foster  sold  to  Daniel  Brown, 
who  completed  the  mill,  and  in  1810  trans- 
ferred it  to  William  Covel,  who  added  a  saw 
mill.  The  place  then  was  known  for  many 
years  as  Covel's  mills.  Below  the  village, 
distilleries,  saw  and  grist  mills,  a  carding  ma- 
chine and  a  woolen  factory  was  erected  at 
different  times  between  1800  and  1850,  but 
most  of  them  have  been  destroyed,  or  are  in 
ruins. 

While  Daniel  Brown  was  at  South  Hart- 
ford he  built  a  tannery,  which  he  sold  about 
1800  to  Calvin  Townsend.  and  which  in  1846 
became  the  property  of  Levi  Hatch.  A  plaster 
mill  was  in  existence  for  a  time,  and  on  its 
ruins  a  planing  mill  was  erected.  Various 
mechanic  shops  have  been  built  and  oper- 
ated until  the  present.  Maj.  Caleb  Brown 
in  1797  opened  the  first  tavern.  In  1800 
Daniel  Brown  and  John  P.  Webb  opened  tav- 
erns. The  first  stores  were  kept  in  1795  by 
Caleb  Brown  and  Daniel  Mason,  and  the  first 
physician  was  Dr.  Isaac  W.  Clary.  The  post- 
office  was  established  in  1820,  with  Joseph 
Harris  as  postmaster. 

The  First  Congregational   church   of  Hart- 


134 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


ford  was  legally  organized  September  18,  1810, 
although  it  seems  to  have  been  in  existence 
since  1800,  and  a  church  building  had  been 
erected  in  1805,  which, enlarged  and  improved, 
was  in  use  in  1880.  This  church  is  now  asso- 
ciated with  the  Hudson   River  conference. 

The  First  Universalist  society  of  Hartford 
was  formed  at  South  Hartford,  June  20,  1 S 3 4 , 
with  forty-six  members.  In  1838  a  plain  brick 
meeting  house  was  erected,  and  services  were 
held  until  about  1870,  when  the  society  went 
down. 

Hartford  academy  was  established  in  De- 
cember, 1865,  in  the  lower  part  of  the  Congre- 
gational church  at  South  Hartford.  Lewis 
Hallock  was  the  first  principal,  and  the  school 
became  prosperous. 

East  Hartford  is  a  small  village,  but  was 
settled  at  an  early  day.  Laban  Bump  put  up 
a  saw  mill,  Hezekiah  Mann  built  a  grist  mill, 
and  John  Park  commenced  the  tanning  busi- 
ness about  1800.  Earl)-  stores  were  kept  by 
Fred  Baker  and  John  Carlisle. 

The  earliest  school  in  the  town  of  Hartford 
of  which  there  is  record,  was  at  North  Hart- 
ford in  1790,  with  Thomas  Payne  as  teacher. 
The  present  public  schools  are  such  as  to  re- 
flect credit  on  the  town. 

Agricultural  pursuits  have  always  been  pre- 
dominent  in  the  town,  and  of  late  years  the 
dairying  interest  has  been  pushed  forward 
toward  the  front.  The  oldest  cheese  factory  in 
Hartford  is  the  old  Hartford  factory,  erected 
in  1869.  The  South  Hartford  cheese  factory 
was  built  in  1878. 

Bee  keeping  as  a  paying  industry  of  Hart- 
ford, was  commenced  by  John  H.  Martin,  of 
North  Hartford. 

TOWN    OF    HAMPTON. 

The  town  of  Hampton  is  bounded  on  the 
north  by  the  State  of  Vermont  :  on  the  east  by 
Vermont :  on  the  south  by  Granville,  and  on 
the  west  by  Whitehall.  The  area  of  Hamp- 
ton is  twelve  thousand  six  hundred  and  sixty- 
four  acres,  of  which  eight   thousand  five  hun- 


dred and  eighty-three  acres  were  improved  in 
1875. 

The  western  part  of  Hampton  is  mountain- 
ous, while  in  the  east  are  hills  and  small  val- 
leys, and  along  the  Poultney  river  are  alluvial 
flats.  The  soil  is  well  adapted  to  potatoes  amd 
grass,  and  all  of  the  cereal  grains  are  raised. 

The  drainage  in  the  central  and  northern 
parts  of  Hampton  is  by  the  Poultney  river, 
and  in  the  south  principally  by  the  tributaries 
of  the  Pawlet  river. 

The  town  of  Hampton  was  organized  by  act 
of  legislature,  March  3,  1786,  having  been 
previously  called  Greenfield  by  the  early  set- 
tlers. The  first  town  meeting  was  held  at  the 
school  house  near  Col.  Gideon  Warner's,  May 
2,  1786,  and  Capt.  Lemuel  Hyde  and  John 
Howe  were  elected  as  supervisors ;  James 
Kellogg  as  clerk,  and  Asa  Tyler  as  collector. 

The  north  part  of  the  town  embraces  about 
two  thousand  acres  of  "  Skene's  Little  pat- 
ent," and  the  remainder  of  the  territory  is 
largely  included  in  patents  granted  to  pro- 
vincial officers  after  the  French  and  Indian 
war. 

The  early  settlers  of  Hampton  were  mainly 
from  Massachusetts,  and  some  came  from 
Connecticut.  They  settled  as  early  as  1781, 
if  not  earlier.  Among  the  early  Massachusetts 
settlers  were  1  Col.  Gideon  Warner,  Capt. 
Benjamin  C.  Owen,  Jason  Kellogg  and  Shubal 
Pierce,  From  Connecticut  came  in  pioneer 
days,  Rufus  Hotchkiss,  Abiather  Millard  and 
Col.  Pliny  Adams.  Other  early  settlers  were: 
Ashbel  Webster,  William  Morris,  Elisha  Kil- 
bourne,  Enoch  Wright,  Samuel  Waterhouse, 
Samuel  Hooker,  William  Miller,  Squire  Sam- 
uel Beaman,  Major  Peter  P.  French,  Mason 
Hulett,  and  Squire  Jason  Kellogg. 

The  town  of  Hampton,  from  its  location 
and  the  nature  of  its  surface,  was  not  a  very 
favorable  locality  for  inhabitation  or  military 
movements  on  the  part  of  the  pre-historic 
peoples  of  this  country.  In  the  Revolution 
it  largely  escaped  visitation  by  the  English  or 
Indians. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   KISTOMY 


135 


The  town  contains  two  villages,  Hampton 
Corners  and  Low  Hampton. 

Hampton  Corners  is  in  the  southeast,  on 
the  Poultney  river,  and  one  mile  west  of 
Poultney,  Vermont.  Solomon  Norton  built  a 
saw  and  grist  mill  on  the  Vermont  side  of  the 
river  at  an  early  day,  and  this  led  to  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  village.  Col.  Pliny  Adams 
kept  the  first  store,  and  a  distillery  was  built 
about  the  same  time  by  Miner  Webster. 

Christ's  Episcopal  church  of  Hampton  was 
organized  in  1798.  A  church  building  was 
erected  between  1798  and  1800,  on  la,nd  given 
by  Col.  Gideon  Warner.  Among  the  early 
supporters  of  the  church  were  Major  French, 
Squire  Samuel  Beaman,  Jason  Kellogg,  and 
Col.  Pliny  Adams. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Hamp- 
ton was  formed  in  1841,  when  the  Methodists 
of  Hampton  withdrew  from  the  Poultney  so- 
ciety. The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  Mr.  Cooper, 
and  the  first  church  edifice  was  erected  in 
1842.  A  Methodist  society  in  Hampton  had 
been  organized  prior  to  1773  by  Philip  Em- 
bury and  Barbara  Heck,  and  to  it,  at  Hamp- 
ton Hill,  Bishop  Ashbury  preached  when  he 
visited  New  York. 

Low  Hampton  is  a  small  village  on  the 
Poultney  river,  and  five  miles  above  Hampton 
Corners.  A  store  and  a  woolen  factory  were 
established  there  a  number  of  years  ago. 

The  Baptist  church  of  Low  Hampton  was 
organized  prior  to  1799  by  Elder  Elnathan 
Phelps,  and  its  first  pastor,  Rev.  Elisha  Mil- 
ler, served  from  1799  to  1821.  A  majority  of 
the  church,  in  1845,  followed  William  Miller, 
the  celebrated  Adventist,  and  were  expelled 
from  the  Baptist  denomination.  This  left  the 
minority  too  weak  to  continue  their  organiza- 
tion, and  the  church  disbanded. 

The  Second  Advent  church  was  organized 
September  n,  1850,  with  thirty  members,  and 
Elder  Leonard  Kimball  as  pastor.  A  church 
edifice  was  built  in  1848,  but  in  a  few  3  ears 
the  society  went  down. 

William  Miller  was  a  minister  in  the  Hamp- 


ton Baptist  church  from  1832  to  1845,  and  in 
a  biography  of  him,  Lossing  says  :  "The  au- 
thor of  Millerism,  familiarly  known,  like  the 
founder  of  Mormonism,  as  The  Prophet,  was 
William  Miller,  a  plain,  uneducated,  religious 
zealot,  who  was  born  in  Pittsfield,  Massachu- 
setts, in  1 77 1.  Of  his  early  life  we  have  no 
important  record.  He  seems  not  to  have  been 
distinguished  from  his  fellow  men  by  anything 
remarkable,  except  that  he  was  an  honest  man 
and  good  citizen.  When  war  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain  was  kindled 
in  1812,  Mr.  Miller  was  captain  of  a  company 
of  volunteers  on  the  northern  frontier,  and 
did  good  service  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  Wil- 
liamsburg and  Plattsburg.  When  peace  came 
he  resumed  his  farm  labors,  and  we  hear  noth- 
ing more  of  him  until  about  1826,  when  he  be- 
gan to  promulgate  his  peculiar  views  concern- 
ing prophecy.  It  was  not  until  1833  that  he 
commenced  his  public  ministry  on  the  subject 
of  the  approaching  millennium.  Then  he  went 
forth  from  place  to  place  throughout  the 
northern  and  middle  States,  boldly  proclaim- 
ing the  new  interpretation  of  Scripture,  and 
declaring  that  Christ  would  descend  in  clouds, 
the  true  saints  would  be  caught  up  into  the 
air,  and  the  earth  would  be  purified  by  fire,  in 
1843.  No  doubt  the  aged  zealot  was  sincere. 
He  labored  with  great  fervor;  and  during  the 
ten  years  of  his  ministry  he  averaged  a  sermon 
every  two  days.  As  the  time  for  the  predicted 
consummation  of  all  prophecy  approached, 
his  disciples  rapidly  increased.  Hundreds 
and  thousands  embraced  his  doctrine,  with- 
drew from  church  fellowship,  and  banded  to- 
gether. Other  preachers  appeared  in  the 
field.  The  press  was  diligently  employed  ; 
and  an  alarming  paper,  called  The  Midnight 
Cry,  was  published  in  New  York,  embellished, 
sometimes,  with  pictures  of  hideous  beasts, 
and  the  image  seen  by  the  Babylonian  Em- 
peror in  his  dream;  at  others  with  represen- 
tations of  benignant  angels.  The  appointed 
day  passed  by.  The  earth  moved  on  in  its 
accustomed  course  upon  the  great  highway  of 


130 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


the  ecliptic.  Full  thirty  thousand  people  em- 
braced the  doctrine  of  Miller,  and  had  un- 
bounded faith  in  his  interpretation  of  all 
prophecy.  In  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  the 
excitement  subsided,  and  soon  the  rushing 
torrent  of  delusion  dwindled  into  an  almost 
imperceptible  rill.  Mr.  Miller  acknowledged 
his  error,  and  seldom  preached  about  the 
millennium.  He  died  at  Hampton, Washing- 
ton county,  New  York,  on  the  29th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1849,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years." 

The  manufacturing  industries  of  Hampton 
commenced  with  the  establishment  of  iron  in- 
dustries at  an  early  day  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  town.  The  Leonard,  Carver,  and  Smith 
forges  ran  on  iron  ore  brought  from  the  west 
side  of  Lake  Champlain.  The  Quackenbush 
&  Steere  powder  mills  were  built  about  1850.. 
Low  Hampton  had  a  woolen  mill,  and  all  the 
slate  factories  of  the  town  are  situated  near 
Hampton  Corners.  The  Hampton  Cheese 
Manufacturing  Company  was  organized  in 
May  1869. 

The  public  schools  are  in  good  condition, 
and  the  earliest  report  to  be  obtained  was  made 
in  1849,  when  there  were  six  districts  in  the 
town. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

VILLAGE  AND  TOWN   OF  FORT  ANN. 

VILLAGE    OF    FORT    ANN. 

The  old  and  historic  village  of  Fort  Ann 
was  incorporated  March  7,  1820,  and  since 
then  its  boundaries  have  twice  been  enlarged. 
The  first  village  election  was  held  May  9,  1820, 
and  the  following  officers  elected  :  William  A. 
Moore,  president ;  Lemuel  Hastings,  William 
A.  Moore,  Henry  Thorn,  George  Clark,  and 
John  Root,  trustees  ;  Amos  T.  Bush,  treas- 
urer, and  Charles  McCracken,  collector.  In 
1867  the  corporation  became  a  separate  road 
district,  and  on  September  11,  1873,  the  char- 


ter was  rescinded  and  the  village  incorporated 
under  the  general  law  passed  on  April  20th  of 
that  year.  Fort  Ann  had  its  postoffice  estab- 
lished in  the  year  1800,  with  George  Clark  as 
postmaster.  The  village  has  built  up  princi- 
pally on  its  mercantile  trade.  Stores,  shops, 
and  a  hotel  were  started  at  an  early  day.  A 
tannery,  bank,  and  other  enterprises  were 
started  later,  and  in  1865  a  cheese  factory  was 
erected. 

The  village  has  a  station  on  the  Rensselaer 
&  Saratoga  railroad,  and  the  Champlain  canal 
passes  through  its  corporate  limits.  Well  situ- 
ated on  the  great  water-way  from  the  Hudson 
to  the  northern  lakes,  and  being  on  the  line  of 
a  main  railway  from  New  York  to  the  Domin- 
ion of  Canada,  increased  size  and  prosperity 
are  only  questions  of  time. 

The  history  of  the  old  Fort  Anne  from  which 
the  village  is  named,  has  been  given  in  the 
general  history,  as  well  as  the  battle  fought 
near  it  in    1777,  and  needs  not  repetiton  here. 

The  Baptist  church  of  Fort  Ann  village  was 
organized  June  12,  1822,  with  twenty-seven 
members.  The  first  settled  minister  was  Rev. 
Bradbury  Clay.  The  congregation  first  wor- 
shipped in  the  school  house,  and  afterward 
helped  build  a  union  church,  which  they  pur- 
chased entire  in  1836. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Fort 
Ann  was  formed  some  time  prior  to  1826,  in 
which  year  they  helped  build  a  union  church. 
After  1836,  when  the  Baptists  bought  the 
building,  they  held  services  for  a  time  in  the 
old  Presbyterian  church  and  in  the  hotel  ball 
rooni.  Their  present  church  edifice  was  ded- 
icated March  8,  1838. 

The  Presbyterian  church  of  Fort  Ann  was 
organized  about  1823,  but  some  years  later 
the  membership  was  so  small  that  the  church 
became  extinct,  and  their  building  was  taken 
down  and  removed  to  Kingsbury. 

A  Universalist  church  was  in  existence  at 
Fort  Ann  in  1826. 

A  northern  suburb  of  Fort  Ann  village  is 
Kane's  Falls,  where  Major  Skene  built  mills 


lillHUiAPlTY  AND   iriSTOh'Y 


m 


before  1773.  Charles  Kane  purchased  the 
mills  and  manufactured  iron  and  cables. 
Woolen  mills  and  the  Bridgeport  Wood  Fin- 
ishing Company's  works  are  located  there. 

TOWN    OF     FORT    ANN. 

Fort  Ann,  the  largest  town  in  the  county, 
is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Dresden  and 
Whitehall  ;  on  the  east  by  Dresden,  White- 
hall and  Granville  ;  on  the  south  by  Hartford 
and  Kingsbury  ;  and  on  the  west  by  Warren 
count)-,  from  which  it  is  partly  separated  by 
Lake  George.  The  town  has  an  area- of  fifty- 
six  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty-six 
acres. 

The  soil  varies  from  a  sand  to  a  clay  loam 
on  the  hills  and  in  the  valleys,  but  in  the 
mountains  is  sterile.  The  surface  in  the  south 
consists  of  rolling  and  level  land,  while  the 
remainder  of  the  town  is  divided  by  three 
mountain  ranges,  between  which  lie  two  fer- 
tile valleys.  These  mountain  ranges  coming 
from  the  east  are  Fort  Ann,  Putnam  and  Pal- 
mertown.  The  valleys  are  Tuttle  or  Welch, 
and  Furnace.  The  highest  peak  is  Buck 
mountain,  which  is  two  thousand  five  hundred 
feet  above  Lake  Champlain. 

Drainage  is  by  Wood,  Half-Way  and  Fur- 
nace creeks.  Half-Way  creek  was  formerly 
known  as  Scoon  creek  or  Clear  river.  Numer- 
ous ponds  are  in  the  western  valley,  and 
Kane's  Falls  are  in  Half-Way  creek,  a  mile 
above  the  village  of  Fort  Ann. 

Iron  ore  is  found  in  the  mountains,  and  the 
Mount  Nebo  mine  was  worked  from  1825  to 
1877. 

The  town  of  Fort  Ann  was  formed  March 
23,  1786,  under  the  name  of  Westfield,  and 
included  its  present  area  and  the  territory  of 
Hartford,  Dresden  and  Putnam.  In  1808  the 
name  was  changed  from  Westfield  to  Fort 
Ann  in  honor  of  the  old  Fort  Anne  named  for 
Queen  Anne  of  England.  By  some  strange 
freak  of  fortune  the  spelling  of  Anne  was 
changed  to  that  of  Ann.  At  the  first  regular 
town  meeting  of  Fort  Ann,  on  April  4,  1786, 


Stephen  Spencer  and  Silas  Childs  were  elected 
supervisors  ;  Isaiah  Bennett,  clerk, and  George 
Scranton,  collector. 

The  town  of  Fort  Ann  embraces  the  Artil- 
lery patent,  part  of  the  Lake  George  tract  in 
the  west,  part  of  the  Saddle  mountain  tract  in 
the  northeast,  and  the  Westfield,  Fort  Ann 
and  Ore  Bed  tracts  in  the  central  part. 

The  territorial  history  of  the  town  prior  to 
its  settlement,  is  a  record  of  nearly  all  the 
expeditions  of  the  Indian,  inter-colonial  and 
Revolutionary  wars  that  crossed  Washington 
county.  Beside  the  great  military  road  from 
Fort  Edward  to  Whitehall  that  passed  through 
the  town,  there  was  another  military  road 
from  Fort  Ann  to  Queensbury,  and  a  trail 
from  that  post  to  South  Bay.  The  story  of 
Fort  Ann  as  a  military  post  and  the  desperate 
struggle  on  its  near-by  battle-field,  is  history  of 
such  importance  that  fort  and  battle-field  will 
never  be  forgotten. 

The  record  of  early  settlement  is  meagre. 
Prior  to  1773  Major  Skene  erected  mills  at 
Kane  Falls,  and  in  that  year  the  Harrisons 
and  Braytons  settled  in  the  town.  The  Revo- 
lution then  checked  all  further  settlement 
until  the  winter  of  1781,  when  Joseph  Hen- 
negan,  Isaiah  Bennett,  Hope  Washburn, 
Ozias  Coleman,  John  Ward,  Joseph  Bacon, 
George  Scranton,  Caleb  Noble,  Josiah  Welch, 
Samuel  Ward  and  Samuel  Hurlburt  came  on 
the  Artillery  patent  as  actual  settlers..  They 
were  joined  in  1784  by  Silas  Tracy,  Elijah 
Backus,  Andrew  Stevenson,  Joseph  Kellogg 
and  James  Sloan.  In  1785  Medad  Harvey, 
Nathaniel  Osgood  and  Zephaniah  Kingsley 
came  to  the  Artillery  patent,  and  in  the  suc- 
ceeding year  were  joined  by  Silas  Childs,  Al- 
pheus  Spencer,  Samuel  Wilson,  Elijah  Bills, 
Israel  Brown  and  Samuel  Chapin.  Among 
other  early  settlers  who  became  prominent  in 
the  town  were:  Ephraim  Griswold,  Jacob 
Van  Wormer,  Benjamin  Copeland,  Thaddeus 
Dewey,  George  Wray  and  Daniel  Comstock. 

The  unincorporated  villages  of  Fort  Ann 
are  West   Fort  Ann,   South   Bay,  Comstock's 


138 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Landing,  Griswold's  Mills   and    Kane's  Falls, 
which  is  a  suburb  of  Fort  Ann. 

South  Bay,  in  the  northern  part,  has  a 
church  and  store,  and  is  headquarters  for 
lumbermen.  The  church  is  the  Second  Bap- 
tist, organized  January  10,  1810.  The  first 
pastor  was  Rev.  C.  H.  Swain,  and  the  church 
edifice  was  built  in  1868. 

West  Fort  Ann,  once  Van  Wormer's,  is  in 
the  southwestern  part  of  the  town,  and  has 
some  manufacturing  establishments.  The 
place  was  started  about  1800  by  Jacob  Van 
Wormer,  who  built  the  first  saw  mill  there. 
Stephen  Palmer  built  a  grist  mill  about  1815, 
a  forge  was  erected  in  1827,  and  Kingsley's 
tannery  was  built  in  1843.  The  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  of  West  Fort  Ann  was 
formed  about  1820,  and  fifty  years  later  was 
incorporated  under  the  name  of  the  "  Evan- 
gelical Union  church  of  West  Fort  Ann." 
Their  present  church  structure  was  built  in 
1833  as  a  Union  church,  but  the  Baptists, 
Presbyterians  and  Universalists,  who  aided  in 
its  construction,  have  used  it  but  little  of  late 
years.  The  Protestant  Methodist  church 
formed  at  Fort  Ann  about  1830,  went  down 
in  1858,  and  their  church  building  was  torn 
down  in  1872. 

Comstock's  Landing  is  named  for  Daniel 
Comstock,  who  settled  near  the  place  about 
1790.  The  postoffice  was  established  in  1832 
with  Peter  Comstock  as  postmaster.  A  bote', 
store,  Baptist  church  and  numerous  dwellings 
constitute  the  place.  The  First  Baptist 
church  of  Fort  Ann  has  been  at  Comstock's 
Landing  since  1858,  when  the  present  church 
edifice  was  built  there.  The  church  was  or- 
ganized in  1789,  and  Rev.  Sherman  Babcock 
was  the  first  pastor.  The  first  church  was 
three  miles  east  of  the  present  house,  and  the 
second  building  was  at  Polley's  Landing. 

Griswold's  Mills  are  in  the  southwest,  and 
were  founded  about  1791  by  Ephraim  Gris- 
wold,  who  put  up  a  grist  mill  the  next  year. 
A  pottery,  woolen  mill  and  furnace  were  after- 
ward built  and  run.        The  postoffice  was  es- 


tablished in    1833,  with  Elisha   M.  Forbes  as 
postmaster. 

It  is  said  that  Podunk  brook  takes  its  name 
from  the  eastern  Indians  called  the  Podunk 
tribe.  A  remnant  of  this  tribe  was  in  the 
Furnace  Valley  for  several  years. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 
TOWNS   OF  DRESDEN   AND   PUTNAM. 

TOWN    OF     DRESDEN. 

Dresden,  the  first  of  the  two  peninsula 
towns  of  Washington  county,  is  bounded  on 
the  north  by  Putnam  ;  on  the  east  by  Lake 
Champlain  ;  on  the  south  by  Fort  Ann  ;  and 
on  the  west  by  Lake  George.  Dresden  has 
an  area  of  thirty-one  thousand  two  hundred 
and  thirty-six  acre6. 

The  soil  of  the  arable  lands  along  the  lakes 
is  a  hard  clay,  mixed  in  places  with  gravelly 
or  sand}'  loam.  It  is  a  productive  soil  and 
well  adapted  to  grazing  and  stock  raising. 
The  general  character  of  the  surface  is  rough 
and  mountainous,  and  the  chief  occupations 
of  the  inhabitants  are  lumbering,  farming,  and 
boating. 

Dresden  was  originally  a  part  of  Westfield. 
In  1806  it  was  set  off  as  a  part  of  Putnam. 
On  March  15,  1822,  it  was  organized  as  South 
Bay,  but  on  April  17  of  the  same  year  it 
was  re-named  Dresden.  In  1 823  Isaac  Boomer 
was  elected  supervisor,  and  Doty  Allen  clerk. 
In  1875  all  the  town  records  up  to  that  year 
were  burned. 

The  town  of  Dresden  is  formed  from  parts 
of  the  six  following  patents  :  Turner's  great 
patent,  Turner's  little  patent,  Thomas  and 
Turner  patent,  Stewart  patent,  Lake  George 
tract,  and  South  Bay  tract. 

The  pioneer  settler  of  Dresden  was  Joseph 
Phippeny,  of  Connecticut,  who  located  in 
1784  at  the  mouth  of  South  Bay,  on  a  part 
of  the   Stewart  tract.      Among   the  early  set- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


139 


tiers  were  :   Ebenezer  Chapman, Boggs, 

Daniel  Ruff,  Roger  Barrett,  James  Snody, 
Palmer  Blunt,  Abraham  Clemons,  Daty  Allen, 
Orin  Brewster,  Israel  Woodcock,  John  Bur- 
gess, Harvey  Hulett,  Amariah  Toft,  Elijah 
Nobles,  Amos  Slater,  Welcome  Hulett,  Charles 
Nobles,  John  H.  Waters,  Isaac  Hurlburt,  Dr. 
Nathaniel  Rhoads,  Levi  and  Solomon  Belden, 
Nathan  Curtis,  Jonathan  Mclntyre,  Elnathan 
Duthan,  and  Walter  Benjamin. 

Dresden  Center  is  the  only  village  in  the 
town.  It  is  a  station  on  the  New  York  and 
Canada  railroad,  and  has  a  church,  store,  and 
numerous  dwellings.  The  First  Baptist  church 
of  Dresden  was  organized  in  1823,  at  the  house 
of  Deacon  Huntingdon,  with  twenty-one  mem- 
bers from  the  Huntingdon, Guilford,  Bosworth, 
Stockwell,  Wetherbee,  Blunt,  and  Barker 
families.  The  church  building  at  Dresden 
Center  was  erected  in  1850.  The  Dresden 
Center  postoffice  was  established  in  1872,  with 
Thomas  Bartholomew  as  postmaster. 

Chubb's  Dock  is  another  station  on  the  New 
York  and  Canada  railroad,  and  at  Bosom  and 
Knowlton  bays  on  Lake  George  popular  sum- 
mer resorts  have  been  established. 

The  first  inn  in  the  town  was  kept  by  Solo- 
mon Belden,  the  earliest  store  was  opened  by 
John  Chubb,  and  the  pioneer  sawmill  was  built 
by  Amos  Collins. 

An  interesting  cave  was  discovered  on  Spruce 
mountain  in  1877.  The  only  pond  in  the  town 
is  Long's  Pond.  Deer  still  gambol  in  the 
mountains,  but  wolves  and  bears  have  passed 
away. 

TOWN    OF    PUTNAM. 

Putnam,  named  for  the  brave  Israel  Putnam 
of  Revolutionary  fame,  who  performed  some 
of  his  most  daring  exploits  on  her  soil,  is  the 
second  of  the  peninsula  townships  of  Wash- 
ington county.  Putnam  is  bounded  on  the 
north  by  Essex  county  ;  on  the  east  by  Lake 
Champlain  ;  on  the  south  by  Dresden,  and  on 
the  west  by  Lake  George.  Putnam  has  an 
area  of  nineteen  thousand  two  hundred  and 
seventy-nine  acres  of  land. 


The  tillable  soil  is  mostly  a  hard  gravelly 
loam  intermixed  with  clay,  but  productive. 
The  surface  is  rough  and  mountainous.  It  is 
divided  into  three  ranges  by  the  valleys  of 
Mill  and  Charter  brooks. 

The  drainage  is  by  several  small  streams 
into  Lakes  Champlain  and  George.  In  the 
southern  part  Mud  pond  lies  three  hundred 
feet  above  Lake  George. 

Putnam  was  erected  from  Westfield,  (now 
Fort  Ann)  February  28,  1806,  and  at  that  time 
included  the  territory  of  the  town  of  Dresden. 
The  first  town  meeting  was  held  at  the  house 
of  James  Burnet,  on  April  4,  1806,  when  John 
Gourly  was  elected  supervisor  ;  George  Wdley, 
clerk,  and  Peter  Hutton,  collector. 

The  western  half  of  the  town  is  embraced 
in  the  Turner  patent,  and  the  eastern  half  is 
included  in  the  Hutton's  Bush  patent.  The 
eastern  half  was  first  owned  by  one  Hodgson, 
and  then  by  a  firm,  one  of  whose  members, 
William  Hutton,  came  from  Scotland  to  Wash- 
ington county.  John  Williams  contested  Hut- 
ton's  claim  for  a  time.  Hutton  employed  a 
lawyer  named  Dickenson  to  defend  his  title, 
and  a  surveyor  named  William  Cockburn  to 
survey  and  lay  out  the  land  into  lots.  After 
the  survey  was  completed  in  1801,  Hutton 
gave  the  lawyer  one  third  and  the  surveyor  an- 
other third  of  the  land  for  their  pa)'. 

The  first  settler  was  Joseph  Haskins  on  lot 
22,  in  1782.  William  Hutton  came  on  his 
land  in  1784,  and  the  next  year  George  Easton 
came  from  Cambridge.  Between  1789  and 
1803  a  large  number  of  settlers  came  to  Hut- 
ton Bush,  of  whom  were  :  Robert  Cummings, 
Alexander  Corbet,  Alex.  McLaughlin,  James 
Burnet,  John  Gourly,  Robert  Patterson,  Pela- 
tiah  Bugbee,  William  Jones,  George  Willey. 
James  McArthur.  and  Luther  Grant.  During 
the  same  period  of  time  the  following  persons 
settled  in  the  western  or  hill  settlement :  George 
Rickert,  Aaron  Backus,  Chris.  Burgess,  Levi 
and  Asahel  Harrington,  Abiathur  and  Jonas 
Odell,  Samuel  and  Philo  Rogers,  Samuel  Mc- 
Carl,     Dyer     Perry,      Josiah     Clark,     Lemon 


140 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Bunce,  Frederick  Dedrich,  John  and  John 
Hale,  jr.,  Eph.  Case,  Peleg  Durfee,  John  But- 
terfield,  and  Ords  B.  Johnson. 

Putnam  is  the  only  village  in  the  town,  and 
it  has  not  attained  to  much  size  yet.  Putnam 
academy  was  built  in  1854,  and  the  first  prin- 
cipal was  Joseph  McKirahan. 

Black  Point,  on  Lake  George,  tradition  says 
was  owned  by  Prince  Taylor  or  Black  Prince, 
and  that  its  first  settlers  were  negroes. 

Six  Mile  Point,  on  Lake  Champlain,  is 
sometimes  called  Negro  Point,  because  the 
body  of  a  negro  was  buried  there. 

There  are  two  churches  in  the  town  of  Put- 
nam. 

The  Free  Will  Baptist  church  of  Putnam 
was  organized  April  7,  1823,  as  a  Baptist 
church,  but  in  the  same  year  became  Free 
Will  Baptist.  The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  John 
S.  Carter,  and  the  twenty-eight  organizing 
members  were  from  the  Carter,  Woodstock, 
Fish,  Backus,  Congdon.  Shear,  Bugbee,  Mor- 
ton and  Dedrich  families.  The  present  church 
building  was  erected  in  1841,  and  repaired  in 
1876. 

The  United  Presbyterian  church  of  Putnam 
was  organized  at  the  house  of  William  Hut- 
ton  in  the  year  1803,  with  seventeen  members, 
from  the  Hutton,  Gourly,  Easton,  Corbet, 
Cummings,  Willey,  Robertson,  Shiel  and  Mc- 
Laughlin families,  which  had  mostly  come 
from  Scotland.  The  first  minister  was  Rev. 
James  Miller,  and  the  third  and  present 
church  edifice  was  built  in  1857. 

Within  the  boundaries  were  performed  some 
of  the  most  daring  exploits  of  Putnam,  who 
fought  at  Bunker  Hill,  of  Stark  who  won 
Benmington,  and  of  Rogers  whose  effort  to 
support  Royalty  seemed  to  have  cost  him  his 
personal  bravery  and  his  military  genius. 

"Gen.  Israel  Putnam  was  born  at  Salem, 
Massachusetts,  on  the  7th  of  January,  1718. 
He  was  descended  from  one  of  the  first  set- 
tlers of  that  ancient  New  England  town.  His 
education  was  neglected,  and  he  grew  to  man- 
hood with  a  vigorous  but  uncultivated  mind. 


He  delighted  in  athletic  exercises,  and  gener- 
ally bore  the  palm  among  his  fellows.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-one  years  he  commenced  the 
the  life  of  a  farmer,  in  Pomfret,  Connecticut, 
where  he  'pursued  the  even  tenor  of  his  way  ' 
until  1754,  when  he  was  appointed  to  the  com- 
mand of  a  company  of  Connecticut  troops, 
destined  for  the  war  with  the  French  and  In- 
dians on  the  northern  frontier.  He  performed 
essential  service  under  General  Johnson  at 
Lake  George  and  vicinity  during  that  cam- 
paign ;  and  the  following  year  he  had  com- 
mand of  a  corps  of  rangers,  and  bore  the 
commission  of  a  captain  in  the  provincial 
army.  He  had  many  stirring  adventures  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Lake  Champlain.  In 
August,  1758,  he  was  near  the  present  White- 
hall, at  the  head  of  the  lake,  watching  the 
movements  of  the  enemy,  and  had  a  severe 
encounter  with  the  French  and  Indians,  in  the 
forest.  Putnam  was  finally  made  prisoner, 
and  the  savages  tied  him  to  a  tree,  and  pre- 
pared to  roast  him  alive.  A  shower  of  rain 
and  the  interposition  of  a  French  officer,  saved 
his  life,  and  he  was  taken  to  the  headquarters 
of  the  enemy  at  Ticonderoga.  From  thence 
he  was  sent,  a  prisoner,  to  Montreal,  in  Can- 
ada, where,  through  the  kindness  of  Colonel 
Peter  Schuyler,  of  Albany  (who  was  also  a 
prisoner),  he  was  humanely  treated.  The  fol- 
lowing spring  he  was  exchanged,  and  returned 
home.  He  joined  the  army  again,  soon  after- 
ward, and  was  promoted  to  lieutenant-colonel. 
He  was  a  bold  and  efficient  leader  during  the 
remainder  of  the  war,  and  then  he  returned 
to  his  plow  and  the  repose  and  obscurity  of 
domestic  life  in  rural  seclusion.  Colonel  Put- 
nam was  an  active  friend  of  the  people  when 
disputes  with  government  commenced  ten 
years  before  war  was  kindled  ;  and  when  the 
intelligence  of  bloodshed  at  Lexington  reached 
him,  while  plowing  in  the  field,  he  had  no 
political  scruples  to  settle,  but,  unyoking  his 
oxen,  he  started,  with  his  gun  and  rusty  sword, 
for  Boston.  He  soon  returned  to  Connecti- 
cut, raised  a  regiment,  and  hastened  back   to 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY 


HI 


Cambridge,  then  the  headquarters  of  a  motley 
host  that  had  hurried  thither  from  the  hills 
and  valleys  of  New  England.  When,  six 
weeks  afterward,  Washington  was  appointed 
commander-in-chief  of  the  Continental  army, 
Putnam  was  chosen  to  be  one  of  four  major- 
generals  created  on  that  occasion.  He  per- 
formed bravely  on  Bunker  Hill  before  his  com- 
mission reached  him,  and  from  that  time, 
throughout  the  whole  struggle,  until  the  close 
of  1779,  General  Putnam  was  a  faithful  and 
greatly  esteemed  leader.  His  services  were 
too  numerous  to  be  detailed  here  —  they  are 
all  recorded  in  our  country's  annals,  and  re- 
membered by  every  student  of  our  history. 
At  West  Point,  on  the  Hudson,  his  military 
career  was  concluded.  Late  in  1779  he  set 
out  to  visit  his  family  in  Connecticut,  and  on 
the  way  he  suffered  a  partial  paralysis  of  his 
system,  which  impaired  both  his  mind  and 
bod}'.  At  his  home  in  Brooklyn,  Connecti- 
cut, he  remained  an  invalid  the  remainder  of 
his  days.  With  Christian  resignation,  and  the 
fortitude  of  a  courageous  man,  he  bore  his 
afflictions  for  more  than  ten  years,  and  then, 
at  the  close  of  the  beautiful  budding  month 
of  May  (29th),  1790,  the  veteran  hero  died, at 
the  age  of  seventy-two  years.  His  memoir, 
prepared  by  Col.  David  Humphreys,  from 
narratives  uttered  by  the  patriot's  own  lips, 
was  first  published,  by  order  of  the  State  So- 
ciety of  the  Cincinnati  of  Connecticut,  in 
1788,  and  afterward  published  in  Humphrey's 
collected  writings,  in  1790.  A  neat  monu- 
ment, bearing  a  suitable  inscription,  marks  his 
grave  in  Brooklyn,  Connecticut." 

"  Gen.  John  Stark  was  the  son  of  a  Scotch- 
man, and  was  born  in  Londonderry  (now  the 
city  of  Manchester),  New  Hampshire,  on  the 
28th  of  August,  1728.  His  early  childhood 
was  spent  in  the  midst  of  the  wild  scenery  of 
his  birth-place,  and  in  youth  he  was  remark- 
able for  expertness  in  trapping  the  beaver  and 
otter,  and  in  hunting  the  bear  and  deer.  Just 
before  the  breaking  out  of  the  French  and  In- 
dian war,  he  penetrated  the  forests  far  north- 


ward, and  was  captured  by  some  St.  Francis 
Indians.  He  suffered  dreadfully  for  a  long 
time,  and  then  was  ransomed  at  a  great  price. 
This  circumstance  gave  him  good  cause  for 
leading  a  company  of  Rangers  against  these 
very  Indians  and  their  sometimes  equally  sav- 
age French  allies,  four  years  afterward.  He 
became  a  captain,  under  Major  Rogers,  in 
1756,  and  in  that  school  he  was  taught  those 
lessons  which  he  practiced  so  usefully  twenty 
years  later. 

"  When  intelligence  reached  the  valleys  of  the 
North,  that  blood  had  been  shed  at  Lexing- 
ton, Stark  led  the  train-bands  of  his  district  to 
Cambridge,  and  was  commissioned  a  colonel, 
with  eight  hundred  men  under  his  banner. 
With  these  he  fought  bravely  in  the  battle  of 
Bunker's  Hill.  He  went  to  New  York  after 
the  British  evacuated  Boston,  in  the  spring  of 
1776.  Then,  at  the  head  of  a  brigade  in  the 
northern  department,  under  Gates,  he  per- 
formed essential  service  in  the  vicinity  of  Lake 
Champlain  ;  and  near  the  close  of  the  year,  he 
commanded  the  right  wing  of  Sullivan's  col- 
umn in  the  battle  at  Trenton.  He  shared  in 
the  honors  at  Princeton  ;  but,  being  overlooked 
by  congress  when  promotions  were  made,  he 
resigned  his  commission  and  retired  from  the 
army.  But  when  the  invader  approached 
from  the  North,  his  own  State  called  him  to 
the  field,  in  command  of  its  brave  sons  ;  and 
on  the  Walloomscoik,  a  few  miles  from  Ben- 
nington, he  won  that  decisive  battle  which 
gave  him  world-wide  renown.  Then  it  was 
that  he  made  the  rough  but  effective  speech 
often  quoted,  that  indicated  the  alternative  of 
death  or  victory.  Congress  was  no  longer 
tardy  in  acknowledging  his  services,  for  he 
had  given  that  crippling  blow  to  Burgoyne, 
which  insured  to  Gates'  arm}-  a  comparatively 
easy  victory.  The  national  legislature  gave 
him  grateful  thanks,  and  a  brigadier's  commis- 
sion in  the  Continental  army.  He  joined  Gates 
at  Saratoga,  and  shared  in  the  honors  of  that 
great  victory.  In  1779  he  was  on  duty  on 
Rhode  Island, and  the  following  year  he  fought 


142 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


the  British  and  Hessians  at  Springfield,  in 
New  Jersey.  In  the  autumn  of  1780  he  was 
one  of  the  board  of  officers  that  tried  and  con- 
demned the  unfortunate  Major  Andre  ;  and 
until  the  last  scenes  of  the  war,  he  was  in  ac- 
tive service.  When  he  sheathed  his  sword, 
he  left  the  arena  of  public  life  forever,  though 
he  lived  almost  forty  years  afterward.  General 
Stark  died  on  the  8th  of  May,  1822,  at  the  age 
of  almost  ninety-four  years.  Near  his  birth- 
place, on  the  east  side  of  the  Merrimac,  is  a 
granite  shaft,  bearing  the  simple  inscription, 
Major-General  Stark.  His  eulogium  is  daily 
uttered  by  our  free  institutions  —  his  epitaph 
is  in  the  memory  of  his  deeds." 

"The  French  and  Indian  war  developed 
much  military  genius  among  the  American 
colonists,  which  was  afterward  brought  into 
requisition  by  the  demands  of  the  revolution- 
ary contest.  It  did  not  always  take  its  place 
on  the  side  of  republicanism,  as  in  the  case  of 
Ruggles  and  many  others.  Major  Robert 
Rogers,  the  bold  commander  of  a  corps  of 
Rangers,  and  a  companion-in-arms  with  Put- 
nam and  Stark,  was  another  example  of  de- 
fection to  the  cause  of  freedom  in  America. 
He  was  a  native  of  Dunbarton,  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  having  entered  the  military  service 
in  1755,  became  an  eminent  commander  of  a 
corps  which  performed  signal  services  as 
scouts,  and  executors  of  small  but  important 
enterprises,  when  not  engaged  with  the  main 
army.  After  the  peace  in  1 763,  he  returned  to  his 
native  place,  and  received  the  half  pay  of  a 
regular  British  officer  of  his  rank,  until  the 
war  for  Independence  broke  out.  In  1766, 
he  was  made  governor  of  Michillimackinac, 
in  the  far  North-west,  where  he  had  confronted 
the  confederates  of   Pontiac,  a  few  years   be- 


fore. He  was  accused  of  a  design  to  plunder 
his  own  fort,  and  was  sent  in  irons  to  Mon- 
treal. After  his  release  he  went  to  England, 
was  presented  to  the  king,  and  met  with  royal 
favor ;  but  extravagant  habits  led  him  into 
debt,  and  he  was  cast  into  prison.  He  finally 
returned  to  America,  and  when  the  revolution- 
ary contest  began,  the  color  of  his  politics 
was  doubtful.  His  movements,  toward  the 
close  of  1775,  gave  reason  to  suspect  him  of 
being  a  spy  ;  and  in  June,  1776,  Washington 
had  him  arrested,  at  South  Amboy,  and 
brought  to  New  York,  where  he  professed  great 
friendship  for  his  native  country.  He  was  re- 
leased on  parole,  by  Congress,  and  directed 
to  return  to  New  Hampshire,  which  he  did. 
He  soon  afterward  boldly  espoused  the  royal 
cause,  raised  a  corps,  which  he  called  the 
Queen's  Rangers,  and  was  with  Howe,  in 
Westchester,  previous  to  the  battle  at  White 
Plains.  He  soon  afterward  left  his  corps  in 
command  of  Lieutenant-colonel  Simcoe,  and 
went  to  England.  By  an  act  of  his  native 
State,  he  was  banished,  and  never  returned  to 
America.  When,  and  where  he  died,  is  not 
on  History's  record.  He  was  a  brave  soldier; 
but,  according  to  his  own  confession,  his  half- 
pa)7  from  the  crown  made  him  an  adherent  of 
royalty." 

The  territory  of  Putnam  is  historic  ground, 
and  on  her  soil  was  the  tread  of  the  warrior, 
the  scout  and  the  soldier,  from  Champlain's 
attack  on  the  Iroquois,  in  1609,  on  her  eastern 
lake  border,  until  the  October  sun  of  1777 
shone  down,  just  across  her  border,  on  the 
field  of  Saratoga,  "  Upon  whose  hoof-beaten 
bosom,  red  battle  so  deeply  stamped  his  foot 
and  made  it  famous  forever." 


]4lST0HlGflLi  J^OTES 

UPON    THE 

Village  of  Qkns  Jaill^  and  tfye^oiion  of  (gueengbuF£, 


WARREN  COUNTY,   NEW  YORK. 


From  a  forest  hamlet  to  the  proportions  of 
a  nineteenth  century  city  tells  the  story  of  the 
growth  of  Glens  Falls,  during  its  one  hundred 
and  thirty  years  of  existence. 

Glens  Falls,  once  Wing's  Falls,  a  place  of 
nearly  twelve  thousand  population,  is  situated 
on  the  Hudson  river,  in  the  town  of  Queens- 
hury,  Warren  county,  New  York. 

While  the  town  of  Queensbury  was  largely 
in  the  Kayaderosseras  patent,  and  some  claim 
was  laid  to  its  territory  under  the  Dellius  pat- 
ent, yet  it  seems  from  the  confused  accounts 
of  the  early  historians  that  the  site  of  Glens 
Falls  village  was  at  the  edge  of  the  Glen  pat- 
ent, which  is  mentioned  as  early  as  1769. 

On  May  29,  1762,  Daniel  Prindle  and  twenty- 
two  others  became  the  patentees  of  the  town 
of  Queensbury,  six  by  eight  miles  in  extent, 
and  so  named  in  honor  of  the  lately  wedded 
consort  of  King  George  III.  When  the  town 
was  surveyed  in  1762,  Abraham  Wing  drew 
lots  29,  36,  and  37,  on  which  the  more  thickly 
settled  portion  of  Glens  Falls  is  situated. 

In  1763  or  1765,  Abraham  Wing  and  Icha- 
bod  Merritt  commenced  improvements  at 
Glens  Falls,  where  Wing  erected  at  consider- 
able expense  a  saw  and  a  grist  mill.  Three 
years  later  Wing  was  given  thirty  acres  of  un- 
appropriated land  at  the  falls  by  the  proprie- 
tors of  the  town  of  Queensbury  for  building 

(1 


these  mills,  whose  existence  was  an  incentive 
to  settlement  in  the  town,  as  well  as  a  source 
of  profit  to  their  owner. 

Wing  opened  a  store  and  an  inn,  and  be- 
came the  prominent  man  of  the  place,  which 
was  then  known  throughout  the  province  as 
Wing's  Falls.  Wing,  it  seems,  between  1765 
and  1773,  had  Ichabod  Merritt,  Samuel  Brown- 
son  and  Daniel  Jones  as  partners  in  his  mill 
enterprises.  In  1776  irresponsible  parties  of 
Continental  soldiers  visited  Queensbury  and 
Wing's  Falls,  and  carried  away  considerable 
property.  A  Capt.  Marion  Lamar's  company 
seems  to  have  been  the  worst  depredators. 

The  next  year  came  Burgoyne's  invasion, 
and  as  General  Schuyler  retreated  before  the 
British  he  sent  out  detatchments  of  Continen- 
tal troops  to  gather  up  all  the  grain,  cattle  and 
mill  irons  of  the  surrounding  country  to  pre- 
vent them  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy.  One  of  these  detachments  visited 
Wing's  Mills  and  despoiled  Abraham  Wing  of 
horses,  cattle  and  sheep,  to  the  value  of  nearly 
five  hundred  dollars,  while  they  dismantled 
his  mills  of  irons  worth  about  seven  hundred 
dollars.  His  losses  did  not  stop  with  his  cat- 
tle and  mill  irons,  but  included  the  taking  of 
over  one  hundred  and  fifty  bushels  of  grain 
and  three  tons  of  hay. 

When  Burgoyne  arrived  at  Fort  Edward  in 
43) 


144 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Washington  county,  flying  parties  of  Indians 
and  tories  ravaged  the  country  and  visited 
Wing's  Mills  in  common  with  all  other  places 
in  the  town  of  Queensbnry. 

The  Baroness  Riedesel  passed  through  the 
village  on  August  14,  1777,  to  join  her  hus- 
band at  Fort  Edward. 

During  1778  requisitions  for  supplies  were 
made  on  Wing's  Mills,  or  Wing's  Corners,  as  it 
was  sometimes  named,  and  Abraham  Wing, 
his  sons-in-law,  and  his  neighbors  never  re- 
ceived adequate  recompense  from  the  Conti- 
nental authorities  for  their  losses  of  this,  or 
the  preceding  year. 

Two  years  later,  in  1780 — called  in  local  tra- 
ditions the  year  of  the  burning — Carleton  made 
his  raid  into  what  are  now  Washington  and 
Warren  counties,  and  his  tories  and  Indians 
laid  waste  the  whole  country  with  fire  and 
sword.  All  the  buildings  in  Queensbnry  were 
burned,  and  Wing's  Corners,  with  its  houses 
and  mills,  were  destroyed.  Before  the  arrival 
of  the  miscreant  bands  the  inhabitants  had  fled 
and  for  fifteen  months  the  country  was  waste 
and  desolate. 

A  visitor  to  the  site  of  Glens  Falls,  or 
Wing's  Corners,  in  1780,  thus  describes  the 
falls :  "  It  is  not  a  sheet  of  water,  as  at  Cohos, 
and  at  Totohaw  ;  the  river, confined  and  inter- 
rupted in  its  course  by  different  rocks,  glides 
through  the  midst  of  them,  and  precipitating 
itself  obliquely,  forms  several  cascades.  That 
of  Cohos  is  more  majestic.  This,  more  terri- 
ble. The  Mohawk  river  seemed  to  fall  from 
its  own  dead  weight ;  that  of  the  Hudson  frets 
and  becomes  enraged ;  it  foams  and  forms 
whirlpools,  and  flies  like  a  serpent  making  its 
escape,  still  continuing  its  menaces  by  horri- 
ble hissings." 

By  1783  the  village  was  partly  rebuilt,  and 
in  1784  Abraham  Haviland  erected  a  dwelling 
at  the  corner  of  South  and  Glen  streets. 

Five  years  later,  in  1788,  Abraham  Wing 
had  a  store  and  inn  on  the  corner  of  Ridge 
and  Warren  streets.  At  this  inn  the  choicest 
liquors     from     Albany,    Montreal    and     Nova 


Scotia  were  furnished,  and  the  wealthier  resi- 
dents and  prominent  men  of  that  day  often 
held  high  revel  there.  At  one  of  these  con- 
vivial entertainments  in  1788,  Col.  John  Glen 
proposed  to  pay  all  the  expenses  of  a  wine 
supper  if  Abraham  Wing  would  transfer  to 
him  all  claim  and  title  to  the  name  of  the  falls. 
For  some  reason  unknown  Wing  assented,  the 
supper  was  held,  and  while  the  landlord  gath- 
ered in  quite  a  little  sum  of  money  on  the  en- 
tertainment, Glen  acted  with  rapidity  on  the 
proposed  change  of  name  of  the  place.  He 
had  bills  printed,  announcing  the  change  of 
name  from  Wing's  Falls  to  Glens  Falls,  and 
posted  on  every  road  and  bridle  path  between 
Albany  and  Queensbury. 

From  that  time  on  the  village  has  been 
known  as  Glens  Falls.  The  church  history 
of  Glens  Falls  is  one  of  interest,  and  goes 
back  over  a  century.  Abraham  Wing  and  his 
other  Quaker  neighbors  worshiped  according 
to  their  faith,  but  as  the  village  grew  many 
braved  the  danger  of  crossing  the  Hudson  on 
string  pieces  to  attend  a  Congregational  church 
in  Saratoga  county. 

The  Presbyterian  church  of  Glens  Falls  was 
originally  organized  December  18,  1808,  with 
the  following  members  :  Mary  Folsom,  Naomi 
Ranger,  Amy  Sandford,  John,  Elizabeth,  and 
Gl.  Folsom,  Solomon  P.  and  Ann  Goodrich, 
and  John  Moss.  A  church  building  had  been 
commenced  in  1803,  but  was  not  completed 
till  shortly  before  the  organization  of  the 
church.  The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  William 
Boardman,  who  served  from  1808  to  181 1. 
The  present  and  third  church  structure  was 
completed  in  1867,  at  a  cost  of  nearly  thirty 
thousand  dollars. 

The  Baptist  church  of  Glens  Falls  was  or- 
ganized March  11,  1834,  and  its  first  regular 
pastor  was  Elder  Amos  R.  Wells,  who  served 
from  1839  to  1846,  and  secured  the  building 
of  the  church,  which  was  completed  in  1842, 
and  afterward  repaired  in  1866. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Glens 
Falls  was  organized  with  twelve  members  in 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


145 


1824,  by  Rev.  John  Lovejoy.  The  first  church 
structure  was  built  in  1829,  and  the  present 
church  edifice  was  commenced  in  1865,  and 
completed  in  1873,  at  a  cost  of  over  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars. 

The  Episcopal  church  of  the  Messiah  was 
organized  February  10,  1840,  and  the  first 
church  building  was  erected  in  1844. 

Catholic  and  Universalist  churches  were 
started  half  a  century  ago,  but  of  their  history 
we  have  no  account. 

In  the  late  civil  war  Glens  Falls  was  well 
represented  in  the  Union  armies.  Volunteers 
from  the  village  served  in  the  91st,  93d,  96th, 
115th,  1 1 8 1  h ,  125th,  126th,  153d,  156th,  169th 
and  i92d  New  York  volunteer  regiments,  and 
an  entire  Glens  Falls  company  was  recruited 
for  a  District  of  Columbia  regiment. 

The  town  of»Queensbury,  including  Glens 
Falls,  raised  over  one  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars to  encourage  enlistments,  and  when  the 
war  closed  there  was  an  unexpended  balance 
of  several  thousand  dollars.  Halsey  R.  Wing 
secured  the  appropriation  of  eight  thousand 
dollars  of  this  money  toward  the  erection  of 
the  present,  beautiful  Soldier's  Monument  at 
Glens  Falls.  The  contract  for  this  monu- 
ment was  let  to  R.  T.  Baxter,  a  marble  manu- 
facturer of  the  village,  and  a  public  spirited 
citizen,  who  completed  the  great  work  at  a 
loss  of  four  thousand  dollars  to  himself.  This 
beautiful  monument,  that  has  been  so  often 
praised  and  so  much  admired,  stands  on  a 
choice  and  selected  spot  at  Glens  Falls,  and 
was  dedicated  on  Decoration  Day,  1872,  when 
a  large  concourse  of  citizens  and  visitors  were 
present.  On  the  monument  thus  erected  by 
the  town  of  Cjueensbury,  is  inscribed  the 
names  of  the  following  battles  in  which  her 
soldiers  fought :  Bull  Run,  Antietam,  Gettys- 
burg, Hanover,  Wilderness,  South  Mountain, 
Yorktown,  Cold  Harbor,  Drewry's  Bluff,  Fair 
Oaks,  Fort  Fisher  and  Bermuda  Hundred.  A 
list  of  the  names  of  the  soldiers  of  the  town 
who  lost  their  lives  from  1861  to  1865,  is  given 
on  the  different  sides  of  the  graceful  marble 
10 


shaft,  and  a  tablet  on  one  side  is  inscribed 
with  the  names  of  Capt.  Edward  Riggs  and 
Daniel  V.  Brown,  who  perished  at  sea,  Jan- 
uary 8,  1865,  off  the  Virginia  coast,  while  in 
the  discharge  of  their  duties  as  military 
agents  of  the  town  of  Cjueensbury. 

Since  the  late  civil  war,  Glens  Falls  has 
grown  in  wealth,  population  and  importance. 

The  population  in  1870  was  four  thousand 
five  hundred,  and  ten  years  later  was  reported 
at  four  thousand  nine  hundred.  In  1890  the 
population  was  nine  thousand  five  hundred 
and  nine. 

Glens  Falls  has  outstripped  many  of  its 
contemporaries  ;  its  present  is  full  of  possi- 
bilities, its  future  is  one  of  hope.  The  village 
has  water  power,  and  is  situated  within  reach 
of  the  coal  fields  of  eastern  Pennsylvania,  and 
the  forest  region  of  northern  New  York,  and 
manufacturing  might  be  made  the  keynote  of 
its  future  progress,  as  it  is  connected  by  canal 
and  rail  with  many  leading  markets. 

Glens  Falls,  the  hamlet  of  the  past,  the 
village  of  the  present,  and  the  city  of  the 
future. 

There  is  much  of  interest  in  the  early  history 
of  the  village  and  in  the  lives  of  its  pioneer 
settlers. 

Dr.  A.  W.  Holden,  in  his  valuable  "  History 
of  Queensbury,"  has  preserved  much  informa- 
tion of  the  early  families  of  Glens  Falls,  that 
without  his  zealous  labors  would  have  passed 
into  oblivion. 

Abraham  Wing,  the  pioneer  settler  and 
founder  of  the  village,  was  of  Welch  descent, 
and  tradition  states  that  the  Wing  family  in 
Wales  wrote  their  name  Winge.  John  Wing 
came  from  London,  in  1632,  and  settled  at 
Lynn,  Massachusetts.  He  afterward  removed 
to  Sandwich.  His  eldest  son,  Daniel,  married 
Hannah  Swift,  and  their  eldest  son,  Daniel, 
wedded  Deborah  Dillingham,  and  became  the 
father  of  Edward  Wing,  whose  son,  Edward, 
by  his  second  wife,  Sarah  Tucker,  was  the 
father  of  Abraham  Wing,  whose  birthplace 
was    Dartmouth,    Bristol   county,    Massachu- 


U6 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


setts.  Abraham  Wing  wedded  AnstisWood, 
and  at  an  early  age  removed  to  Oblong,  in 
Dutchess  count}',  where  he  remained  until 
1763.  In  that  year  he  came  to  the  site  of 
Glens  Falls,  and,  as  founder  and  chief  citizen 
of  the  village,  passed  the  remaining  years  of 
his  life,  which  drew  to  its  close  on  May  3, 
1765.  He  was  born  August  4,  1721.  His  life 
was  one  of  activity,  event,  and  usefulness. 

The  next  most  important  personage  in  the 
early  history  of  the  village,  after  Abraham 
Wing,  the  founder,  was  Col.  John  Glen,  whose 
name  the  place  now  bears.  The  immigrant 
ancester  of  Col.  John  Glen  was  Sander  Leen- 
dertse  Glen,  a  servant  of  the  West  India  Com- 
pany, at  Fort  Nassau.  He  came  to  New 
York,  bought  land,  and  traded  to  some  extent 
with  the  Indians.  He  married  Catalyn  Don- 
cassen,  or  Dongan,  and  his  eldest  son,  Jacob, 
was  the  father  of  Johannes,  whose  son,  Jacob, 
married  Elizabeth  Cuyler,  and  was  the  father 
of  Col.  John  Glen,  who  was  born  July  2,  1735. 
Col.  John  Glen  served  as  a  quartermaster  in 
the  French  and  Revolutionary  wars.  He  mar- 
ried Catharine  Veeder,  bought  land  of  Daniel 
Park,  near  Wing's  Falls,  and  in  1788  paid  for 
a  wine  supper  to  have  the  privilege  of  giving 
his  name  to  Wing's  village.  Colonel  Glen 
died  at  Schenectady,  September  23,  1828. 

The  postoffice  was  established  in  1808,  while 
the  village  does  not  seem  to  have  been  incor- 
porated until  1840. 

TOWN    OF    QUEENSBURY. 

The  town  of  Queensbury,  patented  May  29, 
1762,  to  Daniel  Prindle  and  twenty-two  others, 
originally  comprised  in  addition  to  its  present 
territory  the  towns  of  Bolton,  Caldwell,  Ches- 
ter, Hague,  Johnsonburg,  Luzerne  and  Thur- 
man.  It  was  one  of  the  original  townships 
erected  March  7,  1788.  The  northern  and 
eastern  parts  of  the  town  are  hilly,  while  the 
western  part  is  a  sandy  plain  extending  to  the 
foot  of  the  Palmerton  mountains. 

The  town  occupies  a  plateau  on  the  great 
watershed  between  the  Hudson  and  the  Saint 


Lawrence  rivers,  while  its  drainage  in  the 
northern  and  central  parts  is  through  Half-way 
brook  into  the  waters  of  Lake  Champlain,  but 
the  Harrissena  part  is  to  Lake  George,  and  the 
remainder  is  to  the  Hudson  riy.er.  The  more 
important  of  the  creeks,  brooks  and  runs  of 
the  town  are  :  Reed's  Meadow  creek  ;  Cold 
brook,  noted  for  a  terrible  massacre  during  the 
French  and  Indian  war;  Meadow  run,  some- 
times called  Four  Mile  run;  Rocky  brook,  on 
which  stood  Fort  William;  Butler  brook; 
Roaring  brook  ;  and  the  celebrated  Half-way 
brook,  on  the  old  military  road  from  Fort  Ed- 
ward to  the  head  of  Lake  George.  On  Half- 
way brook  was  laid  out  in  1762  the  site  of  a 
town  village  that  never  got  beyond  the  paper 
state  of  its  existence. 

The  principal  places  in  the  town  beside 
Glens  Falls  are  :  Oneida,  where  Joshua  Chase 
erected  the  first  house  about  1793  ;  Goodspeed- 
ville,  founded  in  1845  by  Stephen  Goodspeed  ; 
and  the  Harrissena,  Sandford  Ridge  and  Brown 
settlements,  so  thickly  dotted  with  dwellings, 
churches  and  school  houses  as  almost  to  be 
counted  as  hamlets. 

The  Baptist  church  was  first  organized  in 
the  town  of  Queensbury  in  a  log  building  on 
Round  pond  that  served  for  a  school  house 
and  church  for  several  years.  The  Round 
Pond  Baptist  church  was  organized  in  1795 
by  Elder  Hezekiah  Eastman,  of  Danby,  Ver- 
mont, and  had  an  existence  of  thirty  years. 

The  first  Baptist  church  of  Queensbury, 
or  Oneida,  was  organized  November  13,  1832, 
with  the  following  thirteen  members  :  James 
and  Betsey  Fuller,  Franklin  and  Samantha 
Guilford,  Aaron  and  Amanda  Kidder,  Isaac 
and  Amy  Nelson,  A.  M.  and  Maria  Odell,  Ellis 
and  Lucy  Pettis,  and  William  Niles.  A  church 
structure  was  built  at  Oneida,  and  reguiar 
services  were  held  until  1853. 

The  second  Queensbury  or  West  Mountain 
Baptist  church  was  formed  in  1837,  and  the 
next  year  had  a  membership  of  forty-nine, 
with  Deacon  Moses  Randall  as  minister.  Ser- 
vices were  held  as  late   as   1870,  in   the   old 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


147 


church  building  erected  between  1838  and 
1841. 

The  fourth  Baptist  church  in  the  town  of 
Queensbury  was  the  Baptist  church  at  Glens 
Falls,  which  has  been  described  in  connection 
with  that  village. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Thur- 
mantown,  or  Johnsburg,  was  organized  about 
1798,  by  Rev.  David  Noble. 

The  Friends,  or  Quakers,  built  a  log  meet- 
ing house  in  1787.  on  the  Bay  road,  just  south 
of  the  Half-way  brook,  and  services  were  held 
there  for  many  years. 

The  population  of  the  town  of  Queensbury 
and  the  village  of  Glens  Falls,  at  the  three  last 
United  States  censuses,  has  been  as  follows: 


1870. 

Queensbury, 8,387 

Glens  Falls, 4,500 


1880.  1890. 

9,805  11,849 

4>9oo  9,509 


We  have  account  of  the  following  saw  mills 
in  the  town  of  Queensbury  :  Phineas  Austin's 
saw  mill  was  built  on  the  outlet  of  Big  pond 
in  1808,  and  in  the  same  year  Solomon  Austin 
built  his  saw  mill  on  the  same  outlet.  Bald- 
win's mill,  near  the  left  bank  of  the  Hudson, 
was  built  between  1854  and  1857;  David  Bar- 
ber's mill,  on  Trout  brook  and  near  West 
mountain,  was  put  up  in  1837,  and  Fuller's 
mill  built  between  1786  and  1794,  was  on  tne 
outlet  of  the  Big  pond.  Joseph  Hull's  saw 
mill,  on  Trout  brook,  was  built  in  1826  ;  Moon's 
mill,  on  Long  pond  outlet,  in  1808, and  Odell's 
mill  in  the  last  named  year  on  Big  pond  out- 
let. Nichol's  saw  mill,  below  Little  bay,  was 
built  between  1824  and  1835  ;  Odell's  mill,  on 
Ogden  brook,  in  1823,  and  Micajah  Pettit's 
mill,  that  was  near  the  river  bridge,  dated 
back  to  1802.  Job  Wilbur  had  a  saw  mill  in 
1785  on  Cold  brook.  The  following  list  in- 
cludes some  of  the  most  prominent  and  im- 
portant localities  in  the  town  of  Queensbury  : 

Big  bay,  an  expansion  of  the  Hudson  river 
above  the  Big  bend. 

Little  bay, an  expansion  of  the  Hudson  river 
above  the  Big  bay. 


Big  bend,  a  curve  in  the  Hudson  resembling 
the  letter  U,  and  inclosing  a  peninsula  of  three 
square  miles. 

Blind  rock  is  a  gneiss  boulder,  along  the 
route  of  the  old  military  road  from  Fort  Ed- 
ward to  Fort  William  Henry,  and  was  used  as 
a  sacrificial  stone  by  the  Indians, who  tortured 
and  burnt  a  large  number  of  prisoners  on  its 
surface.  One  tradition  says  that  the  name 
came  from  a  blind  man  being  burned  there. 

Block  Island  swamp  is  the  western  part  of 
the  Big  Cedar  swamp,  and  contains  Block 
island,  on  which  a  block  house  was  built  dur- 
ing the  Revolutionary  war. 

Hunter's  bridge  was  a  famous  runway  for 
deer  and  other  game,  in  pioneer  days,  and  is 
on  a  small  rivulet  west  of  the  Bay  road. 

The  Caves  are  passages  through  the  bed 
rock  at  Glens  Falls,  by  the  action  of  water. 
They  are  very  small,  and  figure  in  Cooper's 
novel,  the  "Last  of  the  Mohicans." 

Big  Dam  is  a  structure  fourteen  feet  in 
height  that  was  originally  built  across  the 
Hudson  river,  two  miles  above  Glens  Falls, 
by  the  State,  for  the  purpose  of  creating  a 
pond  for  the  canal.      It  was  rebuilt  in  1872. 

Dunham's  bay,  at  the  southern  extremity  of 
Lake  George,  was  named  for  Elijah  Dunham, 
an  early  merchant  and  lumberman. 

Park's  ferry  was  established  just  above  the 
falls  by  the  Parks  family,  and  just  prior  to  the 
Revolution. 

Forbes  and  Johnson's  charcoal  forge  was  at 
the  outlet  of  Forge  pond,  and  was  built  about 
1811. 

Sand  Beach  ford  was  a  ridge  of  bed  rock 
making  a  rough  fording  at  low  water. 

Morgan's  ford,  at  the  old  Morgan  place,  be- 
tween Glens  Falls  and  Sandy  Hill,  was  a  cross- 
ing place  for  a  portion  of  Burgoyne's  army  in 
1777. 

Fort  George  was  planned  and  partly  built 
by  Col.  James  Montressor,  in  June,  1759.  It 
was  on  an  elevation  six  hundred  yards  south 
from  the  lake,  and  about  the  same  distance 
east  of  the  ruins  of  Fort  William  Henry.      It 


148 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


was  often  called  Montressor's  folly.  Near  it, 
in  1 776,  was  erected  the  two  hospitals  in  which 
over  three  thousand  smallpox  patients  from 
Schuyler's  army  were  treated.  When  Bur- 
goyne's  advance  occupied  Fort  George,  there 
were  only  two  of  its  fourteen  cannon  that  were 
mounted. 

Harrissena  is  the  northern  part  of  Queens- 
bury,  and  derives  that  name  from  the  numer- 
ous Harris  families  settling  there  at  an  early 
day. 

Harris's  bay  is  the  southeastern  extremity 
of  Lake  George,  and  was  named  for  old  Bill 
Harris,  whom  tradition  says  killed  eight  In- 
dians at  one  time,  by  stratagem,  near  this  part 
of  the  lake. 

Hendrick's  rock,  a  large  boulder  determined 


by  Judge  Hay's  measurement  as  the  spot 
where  King  Hendrick  fell  on  the  morning  of 
the  bloody  morning  scout. 

Jessup's  Falls  are  ten  miles  above  Glens 
Falls,  and  there  the  Hudson  river  has  a  sheer 
descent  of  seventy  feet. 

Northwest  bay  is  on  Lake  George,  and  often 
goes  by  the  names  of  North  arm  and  Kan- 
kusker  bay.  Norman  Shelden,  Van  Wormer, 
and  Phelps  bays  are  on  the  southeastern  part 
of  Lake  George. 

Wild-cat  swamp  was  just  west  of  Glens 
Falls,  and  in  early  days  was  a  harbor  for  wild 
beasts  of  prey. 

William's  rock  is  a  huge  boulder,  where 
tradition  says  Col.  Ephraim  Williams  fell. 


II    :  [ASTER.     186  8-6  9 


Washington  County  and  the  Town  of  Queensbury 


BIOGRAPHIES. 


HON.  J  A  M  ES  (J  I  BSON,  lawyer,  editor 
and  historian, is  descended  from  John  Gib- 
son, of  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  and  by  his 
grandmother  is  ninth  in  descent  from  John 
Brown,  the  assistant  of  the  Plymouth  colony, 
and  by  his  mother  seventh  in  descent  from 
John  Townsend,  of  Warwick,  Rhode  Island, 
afterward  of  Oyster  Bay,  Long  Island.  His 
parents  were  James  B.  Gibson  and  Margaret 
Townsend  ;  and  he  was  born  at  Salem,  New 
York,  September  5,  1S16.  James  B.  Gib- 
son was  a  lawyer  of  distinction,  and  was 
held  in  high  esteem  by  his  fellow-towns- 
men. His  wife  was  a  lady  of  rare  attain- 
ments, highly  cultured  and  deeply  versed  in 
literature.  She  died  July  20,  1825,  and  her 
husband  on  May  10,  1S27.  James  Gibson  at 
the  time  of  his  father's  death  was  only  eleven 
years  old.  He  was  educated  in  the  Washing- 
ton academy,  and  while  a  student  there  entered 
the  law  office  of  his  uncle,  Samuel  Stevens,  a 
former  partner  of  his  father,  who  was  at  that 
time  an  eminent  lawyer,  and  who  afterward 
became  one  of  the  leading  members  at  the  Al- 
bany bar.  After  the  departure  of  Mr.  Stevens, 
young  Gibson  studied  in  the  office  of  Cyrus 
Stevens,  at  Salem, and  subsequently  with  Hon. 
John  H.  Boyd,  of  Whitehall.  In  1836  Mr. 
Gibson  was  admitted  to  practice,  and  on  the 
first  of  January  of  the  following  year  he  formed 
a  partnership  with  Cyrus  Stevens,  which  con- 


tinued one  year,  until  the  latter  removed  to 
Albany.  From  that  time  on  he  practiced  his 
profession  alone  in  his  native  village,  where  he 
has  ever  since  resided.  In  October,  1839,  he 
was  admitted  as  a  counselor  at  law.  He  was 
successful  from  the  outset  in  his  profession. 
"  His  qualifications,"  to  quote  the  language  of 
another,  "  were  such  as  to  attract  the  attention 
of  the  public,  and  in  a  brief  time  he  gathered 
to  himself  an  expended  practice."  Very  many 
important  cases,  civil  and  criminal,  have  been 
intrusted  to  him  during  the  fifty  years  of  his 
professional  life.  From  1853  Judge  Gibson 
has  been  largely  engaged  in  railroad  suits,and 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  '70's  he  was  the  attor- 
ney for  the  Boston,  Hoosic  Tunnel  &  West- 
ern Railway  company  in  several  important 
causes,  and  especially  in  re-opening  the  Al- 
bany Northern  railroad.  After  reaching  his 
majority  he  entered  with  great  spirit  into  poli- 
tics, joining  the  Whig  party,  with  which  he 
remained  until  the  organization  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  in  1856.  In  1838  he  assumed  the 
editorial  chair  of  the  Washington  County  Post, 
at  Salem,  and  continued  as  editor  through  the. 
presidential  campaign  of  1840,  and  till  Janu- 
ary 1,  1 84 1,  when  he  sold  the  paper.  At  the 
first  judicial  election  after  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution  of  1846,  he  was  nominated  as  a 
candidate  for  justice  of  the  supreme'court  by 
the  whigs,  but  was   defeated.       He   owed  his 


10a 


(151  ) 


152 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


defeat  to  his  connection  with  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  as  at  that  time  the 
feeling  against  secret  societies  was  of  consid- 
erable force,  and  he  encountered  the  tide  be- 
fore its  ebb.  In  November,  1850,  Mr.  Gibson 
was  elected  count}'  judge,  serving  four  years, 
the  duties  of  which  office  he  discharged  with 
marked  ability.  In  November,  1866,  he  was 
elected  State  senator  from  the  district  com- 
posed of  Rensselaer  and  Washington  coun- 
ties. His  reputation  preceded  him,  and  led  to 
his  appointment  as  chairman  of  the  committee 
on  claims,  and  a  member  of  the  judiciary,  two 
of  the  most  important  committees  in  the  sen- 
ate. In  the  senate  body  he  took  an  active 
part  in  legislation,  making  several  speeches, 
the  most  notable,  perhaps,  being  the  one  sus- 
taining the  policy  of  the  National  government 
on  the  then  pending  issues.  He  was  an  active 
member  of  the  Republican  party  from  its  birth 
to  the  presidential  canvass  of  1871,  when  he 
became  a  liberal  republican,  and  labored 
earnestly  during  that  campaign  for  the  success 
of  the  principles  of  the  liberal  party.  For 
many  years  Judge  Gibson  has  been  identified 
with  the  Democratic  party.  In  early  life  he 
manifested  great  interest  in  military  affairs, and 
in  1840  raised  and  was  made  captain  of  a  com- 
pany of  light  infantry,  attached,  by  special 
order,  to  the  50th  regiment  of  infantry  in  the 
State  militia,  subsequently  became  major, 
thence  promoted  to  lieutenant-colonel,  and  on 
the  disbandment  of  this  regiment  he  was  at- 
tached to  the  30th  regiment  of  the  New  York 
State  National  guard,  of  which  he  was 
promoted  to  colonel.  During  the  war  of  the 
Rebellion  the  30th  regiment  was  twice  filled 
up  by  draft,  in  readiness  for  service,  but  many 
of  its  members  volunteered  into  the  United 
States  army  and  thus  reduced  its  membership. 
In  1867  he  became  brigadier-general  of  the 
1 2th  brigade,  which  disbanded  in  1874.  This 
brigade  was  one  of  the  best  drilled  and  best 
disciplined  in  the  State.  He  became  an  Odd 
Fellow  in  1845,  served  as  district  deputy 
grand  master   during    1856   and   '57  ;    elected 


grand  warden  of  the  grand  lodge  of  northern 
New  York  in  1857  ;  deputy  grand  master  in 
1858,  and  grand  master  in  the  year  following. 
In  i860  he  was  elected  worshipful  master  of 
Salem  Lodge,  No.  391,  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons  ;  appointed  senior  grand  deacon  of  the 
Grand  lodge  of  New  York  in  1862,  elected 
junior  grand  warden  in  1863,  and  again  in 
1865  ;  senior  grand  warden  in  1865,  holding 
the  office  for  three  years  ;  grand  master  in 
1868,  and  was  re-elected  in  1869.  As 
grand  master  he,  on  June  8,  1870,  assisted 
by  the  Grand  lodge  and  twelve  thous- 
and of  the  craft,  laid  the  corner-stone  of  the 
Masonic  temple  in  the  city  of  New  York.  It 
appears  that  he  has  been  grand  master  of  both 
these  great  fraternities.  In  this  he  stands 
alone  in  this  State,  as  no  other  person  who 
has  been  grand  master  of  Free  Masons  has 
ever  been  at  the  head  of  Odd  Fellows,  and  vice 
versa.  During  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  his 
voice  was  often  heard  in  public  debate, urging 
the  people  of  his  county  to  do  all  in  their 
power  toward  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 
The  same  spirit  that  filled  the  hearts  of  "the 
fathers  "  during  the  dark  days  of  the  Revolu- 
tion animated  him  at  this  time.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  war  committee  at  Salem, which 
by  the  way  did  its  duty  so  well  that  the  town 
had  its  quota  raised  in  advance  of  every  draft, 
except  on  the  occasion  of  the  first  one.  The 
old  court  house  in  Salem  was  erected  about 
1790,  and  after  standing  for  sixty-seven  years 
had  outlasted  its  usefulness, and  was  only  valu- 
able as  a  relic.  The  circuit  judges, lawyers  and 
laymen  complained  of  it,  and  it  was  proposed, 
in  1867,  to  make  needed  repairs,  and  an  order 
therefor  was  granted.  This  started  a  discus- 
sion as  to  the  advisability  of  the  erection  of  a 
new  edifice  ;  Mr.  Gibson  being  strongly  in  fa- 
vor of  this,  he  was  in  the  spring  of  1868  elected 
supervisor  of  Salem  for  the  purpose  of  carry- 
ing out  the  desires  of  his  constituents  on  that 
subject.  But  other  towns  wanted  a  court 
house,  and  a  strong,  though  unsuccessful  ef- 
fort was  made  to  get  it  away  from  Salem.     In 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


153 


December,  1868,  Judge  Gibson  brought  the 
matter  before  the  board  of  supervisors, where- 
upon a  committee  was  appointed  with  Mr. 
Gibson  to  obtain  plans,  etc.  In  January  fol- 
lowing it  was  resolved  to  build  at  Salem,. and 
he  was  appointed  as  chairman  of  the  building 
committee,  and  they  were  to  use  not  to  exceed 
thirty  thousand  dollars  in  its  construction, 
which  they  did.  On  June  17,  1845,  Judge 
Gibson  was  chosen  as  a  member  of  the  board 
of  trustees  of  Washington  academy,  one  of  the 
oldest  educational  institutions  in  the  State.  He 
drew  the  charter  of  the  village  of  Salem,  which 
wentinto  effect  in  1851.  He  takes  a  deep  inter- 
est in  educational  matters,  and  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  board  of  education  soon  after 
its  organization.  Notwithstanding  his  long 
service  he  still  frequently  visits  the  academy, 
and  assists  at  examinations,  and  in  every  pos- 
sible way  shows  his  love  for  the  institution 
wherein  he  received  his  education.  In  i860 
he  assisted  in  the  organization  of  Saint  Paul's 
Episcopal  church,  and  was  chosen  one  of  the 
wardens  of  the  congregation  ;  was  licensed  as 
a  lay  reader  by  Bishop  Potter,  of  the  New 
York  diocese,  in  i860.  Judge  Gibson  has  for 
several  years  devoted  much  of  his  time  to  the 
collection  of  facts  pertaining  to  the  history  of 
Washington  county,  and  at  the-  organization 
of  the  Washington  County  Historical  societ}', 
in  1876,  was  elected  its  president.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  American  Geographical  society; 
director  of  the  National  bank  at  Salem  ;  trus- 
tee of  the  Evergreen  Cemetery  association,  and 
is  interested  in  nearly  all  public  matters  con- 
cerning his  native  town.  On  October  17,1841, 
he  wedded  Jane,  the  daughter  of  Ira  Wood- 
worth  and  Wealthy  Ann  Gilbert,  his  wife. 
They  have  had  three  children  :  Mary,  wife  of 
T.  A.  Wright,  of  New  York  city  ;  James,  who 
was  a  practicing  lawyer  at  Salem,  is  now  dead. 
In  "Life  Sketches  of  Members  of  the  Leg- 
islature," published  in  1S67,  we  find  the  fol- 
lowing :  "  Senator  Gibson  is  a  gentleman  of 
quiet  dignity.  His  long,  flowing  hair  and 
whiskers,  tinged  with  gray,  his  mild  eye, which 


seems  to  be  overflowing  with  kindly  feelings, 
his  low,  persuasive  voice,  which  is  seldom 
brought  up  to  a  high  pitch,  unite  in  throwing 
around  him  a  personal  atmosphere,  which 
renders  his  presence  both  pleasant  and  pow- 
erful." 


JAMES  L.  McARTHUR,  editor  and 
proprietor  of  the  Granville  Sentinel,  has 
been  for  a  number  of  years  a  prominent  leader 
in  the  Republican  party  of  Washington  county. 
At  present  he  is  the  head  clerk  of  the  Corpor- 
ation department  in  the  State  treasury,  under 
Hon.  A.  B.  Colvin.  He  is  a  son  of  William 
and  Elsie  (Lillie)  McArthur.  William  McAr- 
thur  (father)  was  a  native  of  the  town  of  Put- 
nam, this  county,  where  he  was  born  in  the 
year  1824,  and  resided  up  to  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1874.  He  was  a  man 
of  considerable  prominence  in  his  neighbor- 
hood, having  held  the  office  of  supervisor  for 
a  period  of  twenty  consecutive  years,  and  also 
for  many  years  acted  as  justice  of  the  peace. 
By  occupation  he  conducted  a  carriage  manu- 
factory, practiced  law,  and  also  managed  his 
farm.  A  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church, 
and  in  his  political  tenets  he  wTas  identified 
with  the  Republican  part}'.  James  L.  McAr- 
thur's  grandfather,  James  McArthur,  found  his 
way  from  the  Highlands  of  the  same  interest- 
ing land  to  settle  down  permanently  on  Amer- 
ican soil.  He  belonged  to  that  strong  Scottish 
family  known  as  the  McArthur  clan,  of  which 
ex-Senator  MacArthur,  of  the  Troy  Budget ',has 
the  original  coat  of  arms.  His  grandfather 
Lillie  was  a  highly  educated  man,  and  a  grad- 
uate of  the  University  of  Glasgow.  He  was 
a  pioneer  of  whom  any  new  country  might 
have  been  proud.  And  it  may  be  stated  here 
that  Scotchmen  have  the  chief  honor  of  hav- 
ing been  the  first  settlers  of  the  town  of  Put- 
nam, New  York.  Numbers  of  them  emigrat- 
ing from  their  highland  homes  to  this  pictur- 
esque mountainous  region,  found  something 
here  to  remind  them  of  the  early  scenes  of 
their    lives    beyond    the    ocean,    and  as  they 


154 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


looked  upon  the  lovely  waters  of  Lake  George 
and  Lake  Champlain  they  must  have  often 
thought  of  the  beautiful  "lochs"  of  their  na- 
tive land.  And  so  they  became  attached  to 
their  new  pioneer  homes  in  the  northern  wilds 
of  old  Washington  county. 

William  McArthur  married  Elsie  Lillie,who 
was  one  of  fifteen  children,  and  a  member  of 
an  early  settled  family  in  the  town  of  Putnam. 
She  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church, 
and  is  now  in  the  sixtieth  year  of  her  age. 
Her  parents  came  from  Glasgow,  Scotland. 

James  L.  McArthur  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Putnam,  Washington  county,  NewYork, March 
16,  1844.  Here  he  grew  to  manhood,  and  re- 
ceived the  rudiments  of  his  education  in  the 
common  schools.  Possessing  a  natural  taste 
for  newspaper  work,  he  established,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-one  years,  the  Granville  Sentinel,  in 
1875.  For  a  period  of  forty  years  various  at- 
tempts had  been  made  to  establish  a  paper  in 
that  village,  but  without  success.  The  Sentinel 
at  once  took  rank  among  the  leading  papers 
of  the  count)',  and  is  considered  to  be  the  ablest 
and  most  influential  journal  in  northeastern 
New  York,  and  having  a  circulation  larger 
than  any  two  other  leading  papers  of  the 
county.  In  18S0  he  sold  the  paper  to  his 
brother-in-law,  George  Weller,  and  went  to 
Plattsburg,  New  York,  where  he  started  the 
first  daily  morning  newspaper  that  village  ever 
had,  and  was  called  the  Morning  Telegram. 
He  managed  it  very  successfully  for  one  year, 
when  he  sold  it  to  a  stock  company,  going 
from  there  to  Schenectady,  where  he  worked 
for  three  years  on  the  Daily  Star  of  that  city. 
During  the  presidential  campaign  of  1884, Mr. 
McArthur  did  editorial  work  on  the  Schenectady 
Union,  the  leading  republican  paper  of  that 
place.  In  1886  he  went  to  Albany,  where  he 
became  a  member  of  the  editorial  staff  of  the 
Argus,  holding  the  position  for  two  years.  Re- 
turning to  Granville  in  1888,  he  again  as- 
sumed charge  of  the  Granville  Sentinel,  which 
has  ever  since  been  ably  edited,  widely  circu- 
lated, and  is  one  of  the  best  advertising  medi- 


ums in  this  section  of  the  State.  After  A.  B. 
Colvin  was  elected  State  treasurer  in  the  fall 
of  1893,  he  made  Mr.  McArthur  head  clerk  of 
the  Corporation  department,  a  very  deserving 
compliment  to  one  who  has  labored  long  and 
earnestly  for  the  success  of  the  Republican 
party.  Mr.  McArthur  took  charge  of  this  de- 
partment on  January  1,  1894.  In  February, 
1878,  Mr.  McArthur  wedded  Anna  W.,  a 
daughter  of  Nathan  Lewis,  deceased,  of  the 
village  of  Granville.  To  their  marriage  has 
been  born  one  child,  a  daughter,  Belle. 

James  L.  McArthur  is  a  charter  member  of 
the  Mettowee  Lodge,  No.  559,  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows;  of  Whitehall  Encamp- 
ment, and  Sandy  Hill  Council  of  the  Royal 
Arcanum.  Of  many  newspaper  notices  in 
reference  to  making  the  Sentinel  a.  semi-weekly 
paper,  we  quote  the  following  from  the  Glens 
Falls  Times: 

"With  characteristic  foresight  and  an  in- 
domitable zeal,  Editor  J.  L.  McArthur  has 
plunged  into  his  latest  venture  —  the  weekly 
special  edition  of  the  Granville  Sentinel.  That 
the  giant  of  the  Washington  county  press  will 
make  a  success  of  his  pet  scheme  no  one  will 
gainsay.  The  Sentinel  possesses  much  prestige 
on  account  of  its  immense  country  circula- 
tion ;  the  territory  is  so  well  adapted  to  pro- 
mote the  circulation  of  a  semi-weekly  country 
paper,  and  Brother  McArthur  has  such  splen- 
did success  in  developing  bright  journalistic 
ideas,  we  feel  that  it  becomes  us  to  congratu- 
late our  Washington  county  readers  on  the 
fact  that  they  are  no  longer  dependent  upon 
Glens  Falls  papers  for  speedy  disbursement 
of  home  news.  Welcome  to  the  Semi-weekly 
Sentinel." 

/CHRISTOPHER  UNDERWOOD, 

^^  the  grandson  of  John  Underwood, who  was 
a  native  of  England,  and  the  founder  of  this 
branch  of  the  Underwood  family  in  the  United 
States,  who  located  in  the  vicinity  of  Cam- 
bridge and  Boston,  Massachusetts,  and  subse- 
quently   removed    to  the  town   of     Millbury, 


BIOOBAPMY  AND  HISTORY 


155 


Windsor  count)',  Vermont, where  he  purchased 
two  farms  and  followed  the  occupation  of 
farming  until  his  death,  which  occurred  some 
years  previous  to  the  war  of  1812.  He  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  fought 
at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  where  he  received 
a  bayonet  wound  in  the  thigh,  but  he  served 
through  the  entire  war  and  lived  to  see  the 
crowning  glory  of  a  permanent  and  final  sepa- 
ration from  the  mother  country.  His  wife  was 
a  Miss  Morgan,  by  whom  he  had  a  family 
of  children  :  Oliver,  father  to  Christopher; 
Jonathan,  James,  Erastus,  and  Polly.  Chris- 
topher Underwood  was  engaged  in  the  lum- 
bering business  nearly  all  his  life,  retiring 
from  business  in  1883.  On  July  3,  1841,  he 
wedded  Mahala  Griffin,  by  whom  he  had  two 
children  :  George  F.  and  Myron  S.  The 
father  of  Christopher  Underwood,  Oliver  Un- 
derwood, was  born  in  Millbury,  Windsor 
county, Vermont,  where  he  received  the  bene- 
fits of  a  common  school  education,  and  lived 
in  that  town  the  greater  part  of  his  life,  remov- 
ing in  his  latter  years  to  the  town  of  Bolton, 
Warren  county,  this  State,  thence  to  the  town 
of  Horicon,  the  same  county,  where  he  fol- 
lowed the  pursuits  of  farming  until  his  death. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Whig  part)',  and  he 
and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  and  in  the  war  of  181 2  he  was  one  of 
many  who  left  Washington  county  for  the  bat- 
tle of  Plattsburg,  but  who  arrived  there  after 
the  battle  had  ended.  His  wife  was  Maria 
Nichols,  and  had  a  family  of  eleven  children, 
nine  sons  and  two  daughters:  Oliver,  jr.,  Da- 
vid, John,  Christopher,  whose  name  heads 
this  sketch  ;  Samuel,  Thomas  H.,  Lemuel, 
Miles,  Sydney,  Rosanna,  and  Lucie,  all  of 
whom  are  now  deceased,  excepting  Thomas 
and  Rosanna. 

Oliver  Underwood,  sr. ,  lived  to  be  eighty- 
four  years  of  age.  His  son,  Christopher,  was 
born  September  6,  1814,  in  the  town  of  Mill- 
bury,  Widsor  county,  Vermont,  and  has  been 
engaged  in  the  lumbering  business  all  his  life, 
residing  with   his  father  up  to  the  time  of  his 


marriage,  when  he  removed,  in  1847,  to  the 
village  of  Fort  Edward, where  he  accepted  em- 
ployment with  the  firm  of  Underwood  &  Brad- 
ley, with  whom  he  continued  until  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  late  Civil  war.  On  August  27, 
1862,  he  enlisted  in  the  169th  New  York  vol- 
unteer regiment,  Co.  E,  and  served  two  years 
and  four  months, doing  duty  mostly  in  Florida, 
and  was  at  the  siege  of  Charleston,  and  after- 
ward, on  account  of  ill  health,  was  confined 
in  the  hospital  and  was  discharged  from  the 
service  at  Washington,  District  of  Columbia. 
He  was  in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  Harrison's 
Landing,  and  did  duty  along  the  coast.  After 
the  close  of  the  war,  he  returned  to  NewYork 
and  was  for  five  years  engaged  in  farming  in 
Fulton  county,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he 
returned  to  Fort  Edward,  where  he  now  re- 
sides. 


£1  NDRUS  DEARSTYNE,  a  well  known 
and  prosperous  resident  of  Sandy  Hill, 
who  has  spent  a  lifetime  on  the  saw  mills  of 
eastern  New  York,  and  is  an  expert  in  lumber 
making  machinery,  isasonof  Johnand  Hannah 
(Van  Vorst)  Dearstyne,  and  a  native  of  the 
town  of  Greenbush,  Rensselaer  county,  New 
York,  where  he  was  born  on  the  25th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1822.  The  family  is  of  German  ex- 
traction, but  have  been  natives  of  New  York 
since  early  times.  John  Dearstyne  (father)  was 
born  and  reared  in  Greene  county,  this  State, 
but  while  yet  a  young  man  removed  to  Rensse- 
laer county,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his 
life  and  died  in  1827,  aged  fifty-six  years.  He 
was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  a  democrat  in  pol- 
itics, and  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812. 
He  married  Hannah  Van  Vorst,  of  the  county 
of  Rensselaer,  and  to  them  was  born  a  family  of 
nine  children.  Mrs.  Dearstyne  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Greenbush,  Rensselaer  county,  this 
State,  in  1789,  and  died  in  1S70,  when  well 
advanced  in  the  eighty-first  year  of  her  age. 

Andrus  Dearstyne  grew  to  manhood  in  his 
native  town  of  Greenbush,  and  obtained  his 
education    in    the    common    schools.       When 


156 


BUHIRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


twenty-one  years  of  age  he  began  work  for  a 
saw  mill  firm,  taking  charge  of  all  work  outside 
of  the  mill.  From  that  day  to  the  present  he  has 
been  connected  with  the  saw  mill  and  lumber 
business,  generally  as  foreman  or  superintend- 
ent of  some  part  of  the  work.  In  1852  he  came 
to  Sandy  Hill,  and  began  work  in  the  saw  mill 
owned  by  Orson  Richards.  In  one  capacity  or 
another  he  remained  in  the  employ  of  Mr.  Rich- 
ards for  a  period  of  twenty-six  years,  during  part 
of  which  time  he  had  entire  charge  of  the  mills 
at  Sandy  Hill.  Since  that  time  Mr.  Dearstyne 
has  worked  for  a  number  of  lumbering  firms 
on  the  saw  mills  in  and  around  Sandy  Hill. 

On  April  2,  1S61,  Mr.  Dearstyne  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Mary  J.  Downs,  a  daughter  of 
David  Downs,  of  West  Haven,  Vermont.  To 
this  union  was  born  one  child,  a  daughter  named 
Florence  E.,  now  living  at  home  with  her  par- 
ents in  Sandy  Hill.  Politically  Mr.  Dearstyne 
is  a  democrat  ;  a  member  of  the  Royal  Arcanum, 
and  is  esteemed  very  highly  as  a  gentleman  and 
a  citizen.  He  owns  considerable  real  estate  in 
Sandy  Hill,  and  has  always  taken  an  interest  in 
matters  concerning  the  public  welfare. 


nOWLAND  S.  BULLOCK,  a  success 
ful  business  man  and  a  highly  respected  cit- 
izen of  the  village  of  Granville, is  a  son  of  Smith 
R.  and  Eunice  (Duel)  Bullock,  and  was  born 
in  the  village  of  North  Hartford,  Washington 
county,  New  York,  December  20,  1838.  The 
family  comes  of  sturdy  English  stock,  and  the 
American  branch,  which  was  transplanted  in 
the  new  world,  has  been  characterized  by 
those  substantial  traits  for  which  the  name 
has  been  honored  for  centuries  in  England. 
Elkanah  Bullock,  the  founder  of  the  family 
in  Washington  county,  who  was  a  native  of 
Connecticut,  coming,  in  early  life,  to  this 
county,  where  he  followed  agricultural  pur- 
suits until  his  death.  He  married  and  raised 
a  family  of  eleven  children.  One  of  his  sons 
was  Smith  R,  Bullock,  the  father  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch.       He  was  a   native  of   the 


town  of  Hartford,  this  county,  during  the  first 
decade  of  the  present  century.  He  was  reared 
on  the  farm,  and  at  the  age  of  thirty-four 
years  he  removed  to  the  town  of  Granville, 
where  he  followed  the  same  occupation  dur- 
ing the  remaining  active  years  of  his  life.  His 
death  occurred  in  1875,  when  well  advanced 
in  the  sixty-fifth  year  of  his  age.  In  his  politi- 
cal opinion  he  was  a  whig  and  a  republican, 
and  married  Eunice  Duel,  who  was  born  in 
the  town  of  South  Granville,  and  was  also 
one  of  eleven  children  born  to  her  parents. 
Mrs.  Eunice  Bullock  (mother)  was  born  on 
the  same  day,  month  and  year  that  records  the 
birth  of  her  husband,  and  whose  death  oc- 
curred in  1863,  in  the  fifty-third  year  of  her 
age. 

Rowland  S.  Bullock  grew  to  manhood  on 
his  father's  farm,  receiving  his  education  in 
the  ordinary  district  schools  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  afterward  followed  farming  until 
1882,  when  he  retired  from  all  active  business 
pursuits,  and  removed  to  the  village  of  Gran- 
ville. In  1865  he  was  wedded  to  Frances 
Lee,  of  South  Granville,  and  has  one  child,  a 
daughter,  Stella. 

In  political  opinion  Mr.  Bullock  is  a  stanch 
republican.  He  is  a  stockholder  of  the  First 
National  bank,  and  owns  a  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  acres  immediately  across  the 
State  line,  in  Vermont,  and  located  on  this 
farm  are  two  slate  quarries  that  have  been  suc- 
cessfully operated  by  him  for  a  number  of  years. 
Mr.  Bullock  has  won  success  in  business  life 
by  his  energy,  prudence  and  good  judgment, 
and  has  an  enviable  standing  in  the  community 
in  which  he  lives. 


HON.  HIRAM  SISSOX,  a  successful 
produce  dealer  and  trader  and  a  well 
known  business  man  of  Eagle  Bridgets  a  son  of 
Ira  and  Betsy  M.  (Hill)  Sisson,and  was  born  in 
the  town  of  White  Creek,  at  the  place  where  he 
now  resides,  on  December  1 1,  1829.  IraSisson 
(father)  was  a  native  of  the  town  of  Hoosick, 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY 


157 


Rensselaer  county,  and  was  born  on  April  21, 
1799.  He  received  a  good  common  school  edu- 
cation, and  early  came  into  the  town  of  White 
Creek,  this  county,  and  commenced  farming, 
his  original  farm  containing  only  twenty-nine 
acres,  but  kept  adding  on  to  this  tract,  by  his 
industry  and  good  judgment,  until  he  owned 
one  hundred  and  five  acres,  constituting  one  of 
the  best  farms  of  its  size  in  the  town.  He  be- 
came successful,  and  at  his  death  had  consider- 
able money  at  interest.  Politically  he  was  a 
whig  and  later  a  republican,  and  in  about  1825 
he  married  Betsy  M.,  a  daughter  of  Thomas 
Hill,  a  farmer  of  the  town  of  Hoosick.  To  this 
union  were  born  two  sons  and  three  daughters: 
Thomas  H. ,  who  died  in  1837,  at  the  age  of  ten 
years  ;  Hiram,  whose  name  heads  this  sketch  ; 
Sarah  M.,  the  widow  of  the  late  Isaac  Durfee, 
of  the  town  of  Cambridge  ;  Julia  A.  and  Mary 
J.  Sisson.  Ira  Sisson's  death  occured  March 
12,  1872  ;  his  wife  followed  him  March  14,1877, 
and  who  was  born  in  1806.  She  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Baptist  church. 

Gideon  Sisson  (grandfather)  was  a  native  of 
the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  removing  when  a 
boy, with  his  father,  to  the  town  o£  Hoosick, and 
there  he  afterward  became  one  of  the  thrifty 
farmers  of  that  section.  He  took  to  wife  Anna 
Cornell,  of  Washington  county,  and  by  whom 
he  had  thirteen  children  :  Willard  ;  Abner ; 
Leonard  ;  William  ;  Ira  ;  Ann  (who  became 
the  wife  of  Joseph  Wallace,  of  the  town  of 
White  Creek)  ;  Ruby  (who  became  the  wife 
of  Jerome  B.  Mosher,  of  the  same  town)  ;  Eliza 
(who  became  the  wife  of  Thomas  Mapes  of  the 
town  of  Hoosick);  Benjaman,  and  Prudence 
(who  became  the  wife  of  Philip  Henington,  of 
Hoosick)  ;   Willard,  and  one  other. 

Gideon  Sisson's  father  was  born  in  Rhode 
Island,  and  became  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Hoo- 
sick, Rensselaer  county,  where  he  lived  and  died 
following  the  occupation  of  a  farmer.  This 
family  of  Sissons  are  of  Puritan  stock. 

Hiram  Sisson  was  reared  upon  the  farm  and 
after  leaving  the  district  schools  of  the  neigh- 
borhood he  became  a  pupil  at  the  Greenwich 


academy,  and  after  taking  the  required  course 
of  study  in  that  institution  he  returned  to  the 
farm  in  the  town  of  White  Creek,  where  he  was 
engaged  in  general  farming  up  to  the  year  1879. 
In  connection  with  farming,  in  the  year  1862, 
he  dealt  in  coal,  lumber,  grain,  wool,  pork,  flax, 
and  did  a  general  merchandising  business  at 
Buskirk's  Bridge.  In  1879  he  removed  from 
his  farm  to  the  village  of  Eagle  Bridge,  where 
he  still  carries  on  the  same  business,  dealing  in 
all  articles  above  named,  excepting  flax,  and 
handles  produce  of  all  kind,  doing  a  business 
of  about  $30,000  annually.  In  1879  he  turned 
his  entire  attention  in  this  channel,  turning  the 
management  of  his  farm  over  to  his  son, 
Walter  M.  Sisson.  In  politics  Mr.  Sisson  is  a 
leading  republican  of  his  section  of  the  county. 
He  served  six  terms  as  supervisor  of  the  town 
of  White  Creek  ;  in  1867-8-9  and  1877-8-9,  and 
was  chairman  of  the  board  in  1869.  In  1879 
he  was  elected  to  the  State  assembly,  and  re- 
elected in  1880,  and  as  a  member  of  that  body 
took  an  active  and  influential  part  in  its  pro- 
ceedings. 

On  September  2,  1851,  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Mary  E.,  daughter  of  Pardon  Mosley, 
a  farmer  of  the  town  of  Hoosick,  Rensselaer 
county.  To  this  marriage  were  born  three 
children  :  Emily  J.,  wife  of  Edgar  B.  Chase, 
a  farmer  of  the  town  of  Cambridge;  Walter 
M.,  who  wedded  Mary,  daughter  of  D.  W'ait, 
of  the  town  of  Easton  ;  and  Frances  L.  (dead), 
who  was  the  wife  of  F.  D.  Mosher.  Mrs.  Mary 
E.  Sisson  died  April  24,  1893,  having  been 
born  January  26,  1830. 


CVLVAMS  II.  KEXYOX,  one  of  the 

many  successful  business  men  of  Sandy 
Hill,  is  a  gentleman  who  commenced  life  with 
little,  but  now  controls  large  and  diversified 
business  interests.  He  is  general  manager  of 
the  Kenyon  Lumber  company, one  of  the  larg- 
est lumber  firms  in  northern  New  York,  and 
is  descended  of  a  family  who,  for  several  gen- 
erations back,  on  both  sides,  have  been  prom- 


158 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


inently  identified  in  the  lumber  and  saw  mill 
business.  He  is  a  son  of  Hiram  Kenyon  and 
Hannah  A.  Griffin,  and  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Chester,  Warren  county,  New  York,  No- 
vember 14,  1834.  Hiram  Kenyon  was  a  native 
of  the  same  county,  born  in  the  town  of  Lu- 
zerne, where  he  grew  to  manhood  and  received 
the  rudiments  of  a  common  school  education. 
During  his  whole  life  he  was  engaged  in  the 
lumber  business,  and  in  1842  located  in  the 
town  of  Monroe,  just  across  the  Hudson  from 
Sandy  Hill,  in  Saratoga  county,  where  he 
owned  and  operated  a  saw  mill.  Here  he  suc- 
cessfully conducted  a  lumber  business,  manu- 
facturing lumber  and  boating  it  across  the 
river  to  the  Glens  Falls  feeder  of  the  Cham- 
plain  canal,  whence  it  was  shipped  to  market. 
In  1846  he  removed  his  plant  to  this  village, 
where  he  was  not  long  in  building  up  a  pros- 
perous trade,  and  where  he  continued  to  re- 
side until  his  death  in  1884,  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enty-five years.  From  1852  to  1872,  the  year 
he  retired  from  all  active  business,  covering  a 
period  of  twenty  busy  and  successful  years, 
he  was  the  leading  lumber  dealer  at  Sandy 
Hill.  He  owned  extensive  tracts  of  timber 
land  in  the  northern  counties  ;  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  church,  a  democrat  in  his 
political  principles,  and  filled  the  office  of 
supervisor  of  his  town  some  two  or  three 
terms.  He  was  a  man  well  liked  and  highly 
respected  in  the  community,  and  commanded 
general  recognition  as  a  successful  business 
man,  and  for  having  performed  all  the  duties 
of  good  citizenship.  His  early  business  ad- 
vantages were  very  limited,  remaining  at  home 
until  he  had  arrived  at  the  age  of  twenty  years, 
when  he  paid  his  father  one  hundred  dollars 
for  the  remaining  one  year,  when  he  went  to 
work  at  fourteen  dollars  per  month.  William 
Kenyon,  the  grandfather  of  the  subject,  was  a 
native  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  having 
migrated  from  there  and  settled  in  Warren 
county,  New  York.  He  was  a  farmer  by  occu- 
pation, owned  and  conducted  a  small  saw  mill, 
and  died  in  that  county.      The  Kenvoiis  trace 


their  ancestry  back  to  Scotland,  but  for  many 
generations  have  resided  in  this  country.  Han- 
nah A.  (Griffin)  Kenyon  resides  in  the  village 
of  Sandy  Hill,  born  in  the  town  of  Queens- 
bury,  Warren  county,  and  was  a  daughter  of 
Jonathan  Griffin,  who  was  a  native  of  Rhode 
Island,  removing  to  the  town  of  Queensbury 
in  an  early  day,  where  he  farmed,  owned  a  saw 
mill,  and  died.  Mrs.  Kenyon  is  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  church. 

Sylvanus  H.  Kenyon  has  been  a  resident  of 
Sandy  Hill  since  1846.  Here  he  attended  the 
common  schools,  and  afterward  Glens  Falls 
academy  and  a  seminary  at  Poultney,  Vermont, 
where  he  remained  until  1853.  Leaving  school 
he  assisted  his  father  in  his  lumber  business, 
where  he  remained  until  1853.  In  1855  he  was 
taken  in  as  partner  with  his  father,  and  the 
firm  was  then  known  by  the  title  of  Kenyon. 
Robinson  &  Company.  This  firm  continued 
business  up  to  1872,  when  Mr.  Robinson  died, 
and  the  partnership  was  dissolved.  In  the 
same  year  this  plant  was  purchased  by  Mr. 
Kenyon  and  William  B.  Baldwin,  and  the  firm 
name  became  Kenyon  &  Baldwin,  and  so  con- 
tinued until  January  1, 1894,  when  it  was  formed 
into  a  stock  company,  under  the  name  of  Ken- 
yon Lumber  Company,  with  a  paid-up  capital 
of  S20o,ooo,  of  which  Mr.  Kenyon  is  general 
manager.  This  business  has  steadily  grown 
and  extended,  and  is  at  present  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  favorably  known  lumber  firms 
in  this  section  of  the  State.  In  connection 
with  keeping  a  large  supply  of  all  kinds  of 
lumber,  they  conduct  the  excelsior  steam, saw, 
planing  and  moulding  mills,  where  they  man- 
ufacture pine,  spruce  and  hemlock  lumber  and 
lath;  also  make  a  specialty  in  doors,  sash  and 
blinds,  window  and  door  frames. 

In  addition  to  his  lumber  interests,  Mr. 
Kenyon  is  vice  president  and  manager  of  the 
Sandy  Hill  Power  Company,  which  is  a  pulp 
mill,  having  a  capacity  of  about  four  thousand 
dry  tons  of  pulp  yearly,  and  employs  forty 
hands. 

Sylvanus   H.  Kenyon,  in  i860,  was  wedded 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


150 


to  Josephine  McFarland,  who  was  a  daughter 
of  Joseph  McFarland,  of  Sandy  Hill.  Two 
children  have  been  born  to  this  union,  one  son 
and  a  daughter  :  William  M.  and  Anna  A.  In 
his  political  sentiment  Mr.  Kcnyon  has  always 
been  a  stanch  democrat,  and  while  his  town 
has  always  been  strongly  republican,  he  has 
twice  filled  the  office  of  supervisor,  and  for 
twenty-five  years  has  served  as  treasurer  of 
the  Union  school,  in  whose  welfare  he  takes  a 
deep  interest.  The  father  of  Mrs.  Kenyon, 
Joseph  McFarland,  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Luzerne,  Warren  county.  Mr.  McFarland 
came  to  Sandy  Hill  in  1848,  and  was  engaged 
in  the  lumber  and  planing  mill  business  for 
many  years.  His  death  occurred  at  the  age 
of  fifty-nine  years,  in  December,  1871.  A 
democrat,  prominent  in  politics,  he  was  for 
many  years,  while  residing  at  Sandy  Hill, 
superintendent  of  the  Champlain  canal. 


JAMES  M.  RIDER,  a  well  known  and 
highly  respected  citizen  of  the  village  of 
Coila,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Salem,  Wash- 
ington county,  New  York,  November  28,  1827, 
and  is  a  son  of  Zerah  and  Sarah  (Coggswill) 
Rider.  The  family  of  Riders  is  an  early  set- 
tled one  in  this  count}',  as  Zerah  Rider,  we 
find,  was  born  in  the  same  town  in  1799.  His 
education,  for  that  earl}7  day,  was  above  the 
average,  writing  an  elegant  hand,  and  a  man 
possessing  good  general  information.  Reared 
on  the  farm  he  followed  farming  for  a  few 
years,  when  he  gave  it  up  and  turned  his  at- 
tention to  auctioneering,  and  later  he  was  en- 
gaged in  buying  and  selling  stock  and  pro- 
duce. In  1836  he  removed  to  the  town  of 
Cambridge,  where  he  resided  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  He  wedded  Sarah,  a  daughter  of 
Clark  Coggswill,  a  native  of  Newport,  Rhode 
Island.  To  them  were  born  seven  children, 
all  of  whom  received  a  good  education.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Cambridge  Baptist 
church,  and  died  in  1868  ;  his  wife  preceded 
him  to  the  grave  in  1854.  at  the  age  of  fifty- 


six  years,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Epis- 
copal church.  The  names  of  their  children 
are  :  Zerah,  a  prominent  farmer  of  the  town 
of  Cambridge;  George  W. ,  of  Providence, 
Rhode  Island,  who  died  in  1882  :  James  M.  and 
George  W.,  were  twins  ;  Henry  and  Elizabeth 
also  twins  ;  Henry  M.,  has  been  at  the  head  of 
the  machinery  department  of  the  appraiser's 
office  at  the  port  of  New  York  for  several  years; 
Elizabeth,  the  widow  of  William  Mason,  of 
Cambridge  ;  Phcebe  A.,  died  in  1863.  Zerah 
Rider  (grandfather)  was  one  of  the  early  school 
teachers  of  the  county,  and  a  native  of  Con- 
necticut. He  came  into  the  county  in  about 
1795,  and  located  at  Camden,  in  the  town  of 
Salem,  where  he  carried  on  farming  quite  ex- 
tensively, also  run  a  dairy  and  taught  school. 
Jared  Spark,  the  American  historian  and  bio- 
grapher, and  president  of  Harvard  college  at 
one  time,  was  one  of  his  pupils.  He  was  a 
man  of  splendid  ability,  public  spirited,  and 
highly  esteemed  in  the  community  in  which 
he  lived.  He  married  in  Connecticut, and  was 
the  father  of  the  following  children  :  Zerah, 
Hiram,  Sarah,  who  married  B.  W.  Walkley, 
a  merchant  of  Cambridge  ;  Phcebe,  who  be- 
came the  wife  of  A.  Webb,  of  the  same  town, 
and  Mary,  who  became  the  wife  of  Calvin 
Skinner,  a  prosperous  farmer  of  the  town  of 
Cambridge.  Zerah  Rider  (father)  died  in  1810. 
The  family  was  of  English  extraction,  and 
among  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Connecticut. 

James  M.  Rider  received  his  education  at  the 
common  schools,  most  of  which  was  received 
under  the  tutelage  of  Regina  Arthur,  who  was 
a  sister  of  the  late  President  Arthur,  whose 
father  at  that  time  was  pastor  of  the  Baptist 
church  at  Greenwich,  New  York.  After  leav- 
ing school  Mr.  Rider  was  apprenticed  to  Mer- 
rit  Lumis,  of  Cambridge,  to  learn  the  trade  of 
painting,  and  in  1848  he  went  to  New  York 
city,  where  he  found  employment  with  Boot- 
man  &  Smith,  who  were  then  the  most  exten- 
sive steamboat  painters  of  the  city.  He  re- 
mained with  them  for  three  years, and  this  firm 
made  him  manager  of  their  works,  which  po- 


100 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  ITISTORY 


sition  he  held  for  about  seventeen  years.  Dur- 
ing the  Civil  war  they  painted  a  number  of 
war  ships,  among  the  number  being  the 
"  Monitor."  On  account  of  ill  health  in  1865, 
Mr.  Rider  was  forced  to  relinquish  his  work 
here,  and  for  the  next  five  years  was  not  regu- 
larly employed  in  any  business.  Having  re- 
gained sufficient  health,  in  1870  he  engaged  in 
the  same  line  of  work  on  his  own  account, 
conducting  quite  an  extensive  and  prosperous 
business  up  to  1884,  when  his  health  again 
failed  him  and  he  was  forced  to  retire  from  ac- 
tive business.  In  the  same  year  he  located  in 
the  village  of  Coila,  where  he  has  ever  since 
lived  a  retired  life.  He  was  an  old  line  whig 
and  is  now  a  republican,  and  takes  an  active 
interest  in  his  party's  success.  On  February 
13,  1853,  he  wedded  Susan  C,  a  daughter  of 
Samuel  W.  Allen,  a  farmer  of  Connecticut. and 
had  born  to  their  marriage  one  son,  who  is 
now  deceased. 

Benjamin  Rider,  a  brother  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  not  above  mentioned,  was  born 
in  1844,  and  died  at  Jacksonville,  Florida,  in 
1871.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Cooper's  insti- 
tute, of  New  York  city,  and  afterward  became 
professor  of  penmanship  in  some  of  the  lead- 
ing colleges. 


JUDGE  LYMAN  HALL  NORTHUP, 

one  of  the  oldest  and  best  known  practi- 
tioners at  the  Washington  county  bar,  is  a  na- 
tive of  the  town  Hebron,  Washington  county, 
New  York,  and  was  born  December  18,  1821. 
He  is  a  son  of  John  H.  and  Anna  (Wells) 
Northup,  who  were  natives  respectively  of 
Rhode  Island  and  Saint  Lawrence  count)', New 
York. 

John  H.  Northup  settled  in  this  county  in 
1773,  and  followed  the  occupation  of  farming, 
and  died  in  the  town  of  Hebron  in  1834. 

Judge  Northup  never  attended  any  college 
and  had  the  advantages  of  none  but  the  com- 
mon schools,  working  on  the  farm  until  he  had 
reached  the  age  of  twenty-one  years, and  going 


to  school  a  few  months  in  the  winter.  At  the 
age  of  about  twenty- one  he  received  an  injury 
which  incapacitated  him  for  physical  labor, 
which  was  principally  the  reason  for  his  taking 
up  the  study  of  law.  He  became  a  student  at 
law  in  the  law  office  of  his  brother,  H.  B. 
Northup,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  De- 
cember, 1847,  and  in  April,  i85o,formed  a  part- 
nership with  Hon.  Chas.  Hughs,  which  lasted 
until  the  latter's  death  in  August,  1887.  From 
1888  to  1892  Judge  Northup  was  associated 
with  the  firm  of  Young  &  Kellogg,  as  senior 
counsel.  Since  1892  he  has  been  engaged  in 
practice  alone.  Under  the  tutelage  of  Judge 
Northup  there  have  probably  more  young  men 
been  prepared  for  admission  to  the  bar  to  prac- 
tice law  than  under  any  other  lawyer  in  North- 
ern New  York. 

In  1843  he  wedded  Eliza  Hall, of  this  county. 
Her  death  occured  in  1884,  and  in  the  follow- 
ing year  Judge  Northup  married  for  his  second 
wife  Mrs.  Lydia  A.  M.  Lewis.  Judge  Northup 
has  always  been  public  spirited  and  identified 
with  every  movement  for  good  as  far  as  his 
means  would  allow.  A  man  in  whose  integrity 
and  sincerity  the  public  have  the  utmost  con- 
fidence, further  eulogy  would  be  irrelevant. 


JOHN  AKIN  FERRISS,  a  prominent 
and  successful  business  man  of  Glens 
Falls,  was  a  son  of  Edward  and  Mary  (Akin) 
Ferriss,  and  a  grandson  of  Reed  Ferriss,  who 
came  from  Great  Britain  to  Dutchess  county 
about  1750. 

John  Akin  Ferriss  was  born  at  the  Oblong, 
in  Dutchess  county,  October  17,  1772,  and 
after  learning  the  trade  of  hatter,  removed 
about  1794  to  Glens  Falls,  where  he  died  Sep- 
tember 8,  1840.  He  was  a  man  of  push  and 
energy,  and  did  much  in  building  up  the  vil- 
lage during  its  early  years,  while  he  also  con- 
tributed to  its  development  in  a  later  period. 
He  served  as  the  first  postmaster  of  the  village, 
was  an  influential  politician,  and  commanded 
the  respect  of  all  who  knew  him. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY 


161 


HON.  WILLIAM  M.  CAMERON, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  State  assem- 
bly of  New  York'  in  1890,  and  a  prominent 
lawyer  of  Glen  Falls,  is  a  son  of  Wiiliam  J. 
and  Jane  (Gallup)  Cameron,  and  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Thurman,  Warren  county,  New 
York,  July  27,  1859.  William  J.  Cameron  is 
also  a  native  of  the  same  town,  where  he  was 
born  in  1824,  and  at  present  resides,  engaged 
in  farming.  He  is  a  democrat  in  politics  and 
very  acceptably  filled  the  office  of  supervisor 
of  his  town  for  three  terms. 

Duncan  Cameron  (grandfather)  was  born  in 
the  parish  of  Blair,  County  Perth,  Scotland,  who 
emigrated  prior  to  the  breakingoutof  the  Revo- 
lutionary war  to  the  United  States,  and  settled 
in  Warren  county.  He  followed  farming  and 
contracting  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1832. 
A  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  he  also 
affiliated  with  the  Democratic  party  and  served 
three  terms  as  a  member  of  the  assembly,  his 
district  being  composed  of  Washington  and 
Warren  counties.  His  services  as  a  law  maker 
were  so  acceptable  to  the  people,  that  the  Dem- 
ocratic party  made  him  their  candidate  for  the 
State  senate,  but  on  the  morning  of  the  elec- 
tion, in  1832,  his  death  occurred.  His  father 
was  John  Cameron,  who  did  not  leave  his 
native  Scotland  for  America  until  a  few  years 
after  his  son  had  arrived.  Duncan  Cameron 
wedded  a  Miss  Griffin,  whose  father,  John 
Griffin,  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  war. 

William  J.  Cameron  married  Jane  Gallup, 
who  was  born  in  Warren  county,  and  is  still 
living. 

Hon.  William  Marshall  Cameron  grew  to 
manhood  on  a  farm  in  his  native  town,  where 
he  remained  until  he  was  eighteen  years  of  age 
and  received  his  education  in  the  Warrensburg 
and  Glens  Falls  academies.  Leaving  school 
he  became  a  student  in  the  law  office  of  Judge 
A.  D.  Wait,  of  Fort  Edward,  and  finished  his 
studies  with  Judge  Urias  G.  and  C.  R.  Paris, 
of  Sandy  Hill.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1884,  and  remained  with  Judge  Paris  and 
son  in  the  practice  till  in  March,  i<ssj,  when 


he  located  in  the  village  of  Glens  Falls,  where 
he  has  been  actively  engaged  in  the  work  of 
his  profession  ever  since.  On  May  1,  1886, 
Mr.  Cameron  formed  a  law  partnership  with 
Thomas  W.  McArthur,  the  title  of  the  firm 
being  Cameron  &  McArthur,  who  have  a  large 
general  practice  and  is  one  of  the  well  known 
legal  firms  of  the  county.  Mr.  Cameron  was 
married  December  23,  1884,  to  Elizabeth  A., 
a  daughter  of  Charles  H.  and  Delila  A.  Pasco, 
of  the  town  of  Thurman.  Her  death  occurred 
on  July  1,  1893.  Mr.  Cameron  is  connected 
with  several  of  the  leading  secret  societies  : 
member  of  Senate  Lodge,  No.  456,  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons  ;  Glens  Falls  Chapter,  No. 
55  ;  Washington  Commandery,  No.  33,  of  Sara- 
toga Springs,  and  the  Oriental  Temple  of  Troy. 
Also  Horicon  Lodge,  No.  349,  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and  is  a  past  grand 
of  this  order,  and  member  of  Chepontuc  Tribe 
of  Red  Men,  No.  139,  of  which  he  was  the  first 
man  to  take  a  degree  in  this  order  in  the 
county  ;  he  is  also  a  member  of  Laphen  Hose 
company,  No.  3,  and  the  Social  Club  of  Glens 
Falls. 

Mr.  Cameron's  political  careerbeganin  1887, 
when  he  was  defeated  by  J.  Freeman  Wells, 
for  school  commissioner  of  the  county  by  only 
seventy-five  votes.  In  1890  he  was  the  nom- 
inee of  the  Democratic  party  and  was  elected 
supervisor  of  his  town,  which  contains  the  vil- 
lage of  Glens  Falls,  the  metropolis  of  the 
county,  over  James  W.  Morgan,  by  five  hun- 
dred and  eighty-five  majority,  and  in  the  fall 
of  the  same  year  was  elected  to  the  assembly 
from  Warren  county  by  a  majority  of  three 
hundred  and  thirty-nine  over  A.  Willard  Hitch- 
cock, of  the  same  town.  In  the  fall  of  the  fol- 
lowing year  he  was  defeated  for  the  same 
office  by  Howard  Conkling(nephew  of  Roscoe 
Conkling),  by  33  votes  ;  the  county  giving 
Fassett.  republican  nominee  for  Governor  in 
the  same  election,  1200  majority.  Mr.  Cam- 
eron while  a  member  of  the  assembly  served 
on  the  judiciary  committee,  also  on  the  pub- 
lic  lands  and  forrestry  committees.      He  has 


L62 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


obtained  considerable  eminence  and  popular- 
ity in  bis  profession  and  in  the  field  of  politics, 
and  bis  friends,  who  are  numbered  by  legions, 
confidently  predict  for  him  a  brilliant  future. 
Mr.  Cameron  took  an  active  part  in  the  sena- 
torial contest  between  Hon.  Smith  M.  Weed 
and  Hon.  David  B.  Hill,  candidates  for  the 
United  States  Senate,  and  supported  Mr.  Hill 
in  preference  to  Mr.  Weed,  although  the  latter 
was  a  resident  of  Mr.  Cameron's  senatorial 
district.  Mr.  Hill  was  elected  by  a  majority 
of  two  votes  in  caucus,  Mr.  Cameron's  vote 
being  one  of  them,  and  the  next  day,  January 
20,  1891,  was  elected  United  States  Senator 
from  New  York  for  the  full  term  of  six  years. 


T^IIOMAS  W.  3Io  ARTHUR,  a  well 
read  and  popular  young  attorney,  and 
member  of  the  law  firm  of  Cameron  &  Mc Ar- 
thur,' and  a  brother  of  J.  L.  McArthur,  of 
Granville  [see  his  sketch  for  ancestry],  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Putnam,  Washington 
county,  New  York,  on  March  14,  i860.  He 
received  his  early  education  in  the  common 
schools  of  his  town,  and  afterward  attended 
two  terms  at  the  State  Normal  school,  at  Al- 
bany, and  subsequently  was  graduated  from 
the  Albany  Law  school  in  1883.  He  then  went 
into  the  office  of  Robert  Dornburg,  of  Ticon- 
deroga,  where  he  read  law,  and  later  read 
with  Charles  R.  Patterson,  of  Glens  Falls.  In 
January,  1885,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,and 
on  May  1,  1886,  formed  a  partnership  with 
William  M.  Cameron,  and  since  which  time 
has  been  actively  and  successfully  engaged  in 
the  practice  of  his  profession.  On  September 
26,  1893,  Mr.  McArthur  was  married  to  Jean 
B.,  a  daughter  of  William  Pesinger,of  Brook- 
lyn, New  York.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Arcanum,  and  the  Tribe  of  Red  Men.  In 
politics  Mr.  McArthur  is  a  stanch  and  influ- 
ential republican,  and  while  residing  in  the 
town  of  Putnam  filled  the  office  of  justice  of 
the  peace.  In  the  fall  of  1893  he  was  elected 
delegate  to  the  Constitutional  convention  o( 


1894,  from  the  twenty-first  senatorial  district. 
He  has  already  won  an  honorable  place  at  the 
bar,  and  appears  to  be  on  the  threshold  of  a 
successful  and  brilliant  career. 


KjlCHOLAS  L.  JENKINS,  one  of  the 

\  leading  business  men  of  the  village  of 
Cambridge,  and  dealer  in  harness  and  saddles, 
horse  blankets,  and  all  kinds  of  horse  furnish- 
ing goods,  is  a  son  of  John  and  Sallie  Ann 
(Howard)  Jenkins,  and  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Hebron,  Washington  county,  New  York, 
November  1,  1844.  John  Jenkins  (father)  was 
a  native  of  the  same  town,  where  he  was  born 
September  19,  1814.  He  learned  the  trade  of 
carpenter,  and  afterward  followed  contracting 
and  building  for  a  number  of  years,  having 
built  the  Methodist  church  of  Cambridge, and 
many  other  buildings,  which  have  added  to  his 
reputation  in  this  line.  In  late  years  he  has 
followed  the  trade  of  wagon  making.  [For 
further  facts  see  sketch  of  son,  Dr.  Charles  A. 
Jenkins,  of  Cambridge.] 

Nicholas  L.  Jenkins  received  his  education 
principally  at  the  Washington  Cambridge  aca- 
demy, and  after  leaving  here  he  was  apprent- 
iced to  James  Barr,  to  learn  the  trade  of  har- 
ness and  saddler.  After  completing  his  trade 
he  did  journey  work  up  to  1873,  when  he 
started  in  business  for  himself  at  his  present 
stand,  No.  88  West  Main  street,  where  he  car- 
ries on  an  extensive  business, his  stock  amount- 
ing, on  an  average,  to  about  two  thousand 
three  hundred  dollars,  and  does  an  annual 
business  of  about  five  thousand  dollars.  Mr. 
Jenkins  is  a  republican  in  his  political  opin- 
ion, and  has  held  most  of  the  principal  offices 
of  the  village  and  town.  At  present  he  is  one 
of  the  trustees  of  the  Cambridge  Union  Free 
school,  and  for  two  years  served  as  supervisor 
of  the  town  of  Cambridge.  On  November  24, 
1875,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Eliza- 
beth Hill,  of  the  village  of  Cambridge.  To 
their  marriage  has  been  born  one  child,  a  son, 
Gu\   G. 


C.  <^£.  <%. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


165 


QRRIN  KELLOGG  RICE,  of  Green- 
^^  wich,  a  prominent  citizen  of  the  county, 
and  extensively  known  throughout  the  United 
States,  was  born  at  Cambridge,  Washington 
county,  New  York,  December  27,  1815.  He 
is  a  son  of  Daniel  Rice,  a  native  of  the  state 
of  Connecticut,  and  a  grandson  of  Thomas 
Rice,  born  in  the  same  State,  from  whence  he 
removed  to  the  State  of  New  York,  over  a  cen- 
tury ago,  and  located  on  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
acres,  in  the  town  of  Cambridge.  He  followed 
farming  all  his  life.  After  a  few  years'  farm- 
ing in  Cambridge,  he  traded  his  farm  there,  of 
one  hundred  acres,  for  a  tract  of  two  hun- 
dred acres  in  the  town  of  Salem,  where  he 
ever  afterward  continued  to  reside.  He  was 
a  soldier  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and 
assisted  in  building  the  fort  at  Lake  George. 
He  was  a  man  of  remarkable  strength  and 
prowess,  and  even  retained  a  considerable 
amount  of  strength  and  activity  when  in  his 
eightieth  year.  He  died  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
eight  years.  Daniel  Rice,  son  of  Thomas, 
and  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  a  farmer  all  his  life,  started  to  the  war  of 
1812,  and  after  arriving  at  Plattsburg,  peace 
was  declared,  when  he  returned  to  the  farm. 
Orrin  Kellogg  Rice,  a  son  of  Daniel  Rice  and 
Zina  Kidder,  both  natives  of  Connecticut,  was 
reared  on  the  Cambridge  farm  until  at  the  age  of 
fifteen,  when,  with  his  parents,  he  removed  to 
the  farm  in  the  town  of  Salem.  In  1838  he  en- 
tered the  academy  at  Poultney,  Vermont, 
where  he  pursued  the  regular  studies  of  that 
institution,  with  the  object  of  entering  the 
legal  profession.  Here  he  remained  until 
1840.  In  that  year  he  went  to  Kentucky, 
and  began  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of 
Socrates  Holbrook,  of  Clarksburg,  the  seat  of 
justice  of  Lewis  county,  that  State,  with 
whom  he  remained  two  years.  At  the  end  of 
that  time,  in  1842,  Mr.  Rice  was  admitted 
to  practice  in  all  the  inferior  and  superior 
courts  of  the  State  of  Kentucky.  For  a  short 
time    after   his    admission    he    practiced   law 

there,  when  he  returned  home.      Coming   to 
11 


Greenwich,  in  1843,  going  into  the  law  office 
of  Judge  Ingalls,  remaining  with  him,  as  a 
student,  the  required  time  necessary  for  his 
admission,  the  term  of  four  years,  when, 
accordingly,  in  1847,  he  was  admitted  to 
practice  before  all  the  courts  of  the  State  of 
New  York.  He  then  practiced  in  the  office 
of  his  preceptor,  and  being  more  or  less  dis- 
satisfied with  indoor  life,  and  the  tedious  de- 
tails incident  to  the  practice  of  law,  he,  in 
1848,  began  to  handle  patent  rights.  His 
first  experience  in  this  line  was  selling  terri- 
tory for  a  wheat  fan,  for  cleaning  grain,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  some  extent  did  some  law 
business.  But  his  greatest  success  has  been 
as  a  patent  right  man,  and  to-day  probably 
stands  without  an  equal,  everything  consid- 
ered, in  this  country.  He  has  managed  the 
sales  of  some  dozen  of  the  most  important 
patents  of  the  United  States,  one  sale  amount- 
ing to  $250,000,  on  a  sewing  machine.  His 
operations  in  this  line  have  been  carried  into 
almost  every  state  of  the  Union,  and  he  is  pop- 
ularly known  by  people  throughout  the  coun- 
try as  the  great  American  travelers  having  in 
one  year  traveled  over  36,000  miles,  and  in 
eight  successive  years  covered  a  distance  of 
over  nine  times  the  circumference  of  the 
globe.  For  over  fifty  years  Mr.  Rice  has 
kept  a  daily  journal,  chronicling  the  important 
events  of  his  business  career  and  other  mat- 
ters of  importance  that  came  under  his  obser- 
vation. The  patents  he  has  so  successfully 
handled  have  all  been  invented  by  other  peo- 
ple, and  he  has  been  the  instrument  in  build- 
ing up  many  large  fortunes,  and  made  a  suc- 
cess of  every  one  he  has  ever  worked.  His 
labors  have  been  useful  in  other  directions. 
For  many  years  he  carried  excursions  of  peo- 
ple west,  to  find  homes  in  the  boundless  West, 
being  first  employed  by  the  land  department 
of  the  Union  Pacific  railroad,  and  making 
homes  for  the  excursionists,  mainly  in  the 
State  of  Nebraska.  He  afterward  was  em- 
ployed in  the  same  work  for  the  Chicago  and 
Northwestern.       Retiring  from   this  business 


166 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


several  years  ago,  he  now  lives  the  life  of  a 
farmer,  owning  a  farm  of  ninety  acres  adjoin- 
ing the  village  of  Greenwich,  some  of  it  lying 
within  the  corporation,  and  it  is  one  of  the 
most  valuable  farms  in  the  county.  He  here 
breeds  the  finest  blooded  horses  and  cattle  in 
his  section.  The  cattle  are  the  brown  Swiss 
breed,  and  he  never  yet  sold  one  for  less  than 
one  hundred  dollars.  His  horses  are  of  the 
Hambletonian  breed,  one  of  the  best  breeds  of 
horses  in  the  world. 

O.  K.  Rice,  on  October  3rd,  1842,  wedded 
Mary  Augusta  Wheeler,  of  Ontario,  New 
York,  who  died  in  1891.  To  this  union  eight 
children  were  born:  Charles  I.,  who  is  a 
clerk  in  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific 
railroad  office,  at  Chicago  ;  he  married  Sarah 
Orson,  of  Indianapolis,  and  has  three  children. 
George  C,  a  college  graduated  veterinary  sur- 
geon, residing  on  the  farm  at  Greenwich.  He 
married  Amelia  Bayle,  of  Greenwich,  and  has 
six  children ;  Catherine  Augusta,  wife  of 
William  R.  Peters,  a  shoe  manufacturer,  of 
Rochester — they  have  two  children;  Ella 
Mariah,  wife  of  William  T.  Moore,  of  Me- 
chanicville  —  they  have  two  children;  Lil- 
lie  (deceased),  wife  of  S.  S.  Spencer  —  she 
was  the  mother  of  four  children  ;  Edmund  J. 
and  Edna  J.  (twins).  Edmund  J.,  profes- 
sional acrobat,  married  Henrietta  Scott,  of 
Cambridge,  and  has  one  child.  Edna  J.  is 
the  wife  of  M.  H.  Robertson. 

In  1893  O.  K.  Rice  married,  for  his  second 
wife,  Mrs.  Mary  Kennedy,  of  Easton,  this 
county.  He  is  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  of  Greenwich, 
having  held  many  of  the  offices  of  the  same  ; 
of  the  village  he  has  served  as  president, 
trustee,  and  other  offices.  Of  the  town  of 
Easton  he  was  commissioner  of  highways, 
and  was  one  of  the  most  efficient  the  town  ever 
had.  He  has  always  been  public  spirited  and 
in  earnest  in  all  movements  calculated  for  the 
betterment  and  improvement  of  his  commu- 
nity, and  stands  pre-eminent  as  a  self-made 
and  a  successful  business  man. 


nEV.  JAMES  McDERMOTT,  the 
present  popular  pastor  of  Saint  Mary's 
church  of  Glens  Falls,  and  dean  of  the  diocese 
under  Bishop  Francis  McNierney,  is  a  native  of 
the  town  of  Enniskillen,  County  Fermaugh, 
Ireland,  where  he  was  born  December  23, 
1836.  He  is  a  son  of  Patrick  McDermott  and 
Ann  McDevitt,  both  born  in  the  same  county, 
where  they  resided  until  their  final  summons 
came.  Patrick  McDermott  was  a  man  of  con- 
siderable influence  and  wealth,  and  a  consist- 
ent member  of  the  Catholic  church,  whose 
death  occurred  in  the  year  1838.  His  wife 
outlived  him  fifty-one  years,  dying  in  1889,  in 
the  eighty-eighth  year  of  her  age. 

Father  McDermott  grew  to  manhood  in  his 
native  county,  receiving  there  a  classical  edu- 
cation, and  in  1854  sailed  for  the  United 
States  and  located  in  Baltimore.  Here  he 
entered  Saint  Mary's  Theological  seminary, 
where  he  completed  his  classical  education. 
On  August  22,  1862,  he  was  ordained  priest 
at  Albany,  New  York,  by  Bishop  McClosky. 
Three  days  after  his  ordination  he  was  ap- 
pointed rector  of  Saint  Mary's  church  at 
Glens  Falls,  where  he  has  since  labored. 
Since  then,  beside  administering  to  the  spir- 
itual welfare  of  his  congregation,  Father  Mc- 
Dermott has  built  a  handsome  church  edifice, 
a  large  school  building,  and  commodious  con- 
vent. 

It  is  here  very  appropriate  to  add  a  brief 
history  of  this  church,  in  with  the  life  sketch 
of  Father  McDermott,  who  has  given  the  best 
years  of  his  life  to  give  it  the  influence  the 
church  wields  over  the  community  to-day. 

"In  the  year  1848  the  Rev.  M.  Olivette, 
who  at  that  time  resided  at  Whitehall,  pur- 
chased a  small  stone  building,  which  had  been 
used  as  a  Methodist  church,  for  the  sum  of 
$801.  It  was  appropriately  dedicated  and 
opened  for  worship  the  same  year.  Prior  to 
that  date  there  were  few  Catholics  living  at 
Glens  Falls,  their  spiritual  wants  being  min- 
istered by  pastors  at  Sandy  Hill  —  Revs. 
Guerdet,  Coyle,   Doyle,   and  Kelly  —  each  of 


^ 

'•  ■-■•■        -V  "■ '.  • 

^ 

k 

/TI^^^^X. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


167 


whom  in  succession  was  placed  in  charge  of 
that  village  of  extensive  surrounding  district. 
The  first  resident  pastor  at  this  place  was 
Rev.  John  Murphy,  who  officiated  from  1848 
to  1865,  being  succeeded  by  Rev.  McDer- 
mott." 

The  present  splendid  brick  edifice  was  built 
in  1867  and  dedicated  in  the  year  following. 
In  1882  he  built  the  large  brick  parsonage, 
adjacent  to  the  church,  and  in  the  same  year 
built  the  Saint  Mary's  academy,  also  Saint 
Mary's  convent.  This  school  has  an  average 
attendance  of  about  eight  hundred.  The  con- 
vent is  presided  over  and  taught  by  fifteen  Sis- 
ters of  Saint  Joseph's  and  Saint  Mary's 
churches,  of  a  membership  of  about  630  fam- 
ilies. 

Father  McDermott,  in  addition  to  his  pas- 
torage  of  Saint  Mary's  church  and  his  remark- 
able record  in  the  interest  of  his  church  and 
faith,  is  dean  of  his  diocese.  When  he  first 
arrived  at  Glens  Falls,  Father  McDermott 
held  services  at  Fort  Edward,  Sandy  Hill, 
and  other  points  in  Washington  county,  be- 
side at  places  in  Warren  county.  He  preached 
in  private  houses  at  many  places,  and  has  ac- 
complished great  good  wherever  he  has  gone. 
Among  the  people  of  the  village  of  his  adopted 
home  nobody  is  personally  more  popular  and 
beloved  among  members  of  all  denominations 
than  Father  McDermott,  and  his  remarkable 
accomplishments  toward  making  his  church  a 
power  in  the  community,  attests  his  strong 
personality  and  influence. 


/"JEORGE  B.  CULVER,  cashier  of  the 
^^  North  Granville  National  bank,  well  and 
favorably  known  among  the  business  men  of 
the  county  and  vicinity,  is  a  son  of  James  and 
Kezia  (Lee)  Culver,  and  was  born  January 
16,  1835,  at  Sandy  Hill,  Washington  county, 
New  York.  His  father,  James  Culver,  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Hebron,  September  11, 
1796,   but  lived  nearly  all  his  life   in   Sandy 


Hill,  where  he  died  April  15.  1872.  His  wife, 
Kezia  Lee,  was  born  May  12,  1803,  at  Sandy 
Hill,  where  she  died  May  23,  1886.  Her 
great-great-grandfather  was  Thomas  Lee,  who 
came  from  England  in  1641,  and  settled  in 
Lyme,  Connecticut.  Her  father,  Stephen 
Lee,  came  to  Sandy  Hill  about  the  close  of 
the  last  century,  and  there  married  Mary 
Little  in  1802.  The  Culvers  were  among  the 
early  settlers  of  the  town  of  Hebron,  and  were 
of  English  descent.  James  Culver's  great- 
great-grandfather  came  from  England  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
settled  in  Southampton,  Long  Island.  From 
thence  George  B.  Culver's  grandfather,  David 
Culver,  moved  to  Hebron,  Connecticut, whence 
his  father,  whose  name  was  also  David,  moved 
in  1795,  to  Hebron,  this  county.  Both  Davids 
fought  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 

George  B.  Culver  spent  his  boyhood  at 
home  in  Sandy  Hill,  and  was  educated  in  a 
private  school  taught  in  that  village  by  Rev. 
Dr.  Samuel  B.  Bostwick,  who  was  a  prom- 
inent educator  of  his  day,  and  a  man  of 
scholarly  attainments.  In  1850  Mr.  Culver 
went  to  New  York,  where  he  lived  over  four 
years  in  the  family  of  Abram  Wakeman,  a 
rising  young  lawyer  and  politician,  then  a 
member  of  the  legislature,  and  whose  first 
wife,  Mary  Harwood,  was  a  cousin  of  Mr. 
Culver.  Leaving  New  York,  he  attended  Pro- 
fessor Fowler's  school  at  Poughkeepsie,  and 
afterward  the  law  department  of  the  University 
of  Albany,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in 
1856,  and  was  admitted  to  practice.  He  read 
law  with  Wakeman  &  Latting,  of  New  York, 
and  Hughes  &  Northup,  of  Sandy  Hill. 

When  the  rebellion  broke  out,  Mr.  Culver 
enlisted,  on  August  24,  1861,  as  first  lieuten- 
ant in  Co.  F,  43d  New  York  volunteer  regi- 
ment ;  serving  with  his  regiment  for  about  one 
year,  when  he  contracted  the  typhoid  fever  in 
the  Chickahominy  swamps,  in  the  campaign 
on  the  peninsula,  and  was  sick  in  the  navy 
yard.  Washington,  under  the  care  of  the  late 
C.  D.  Maxwell,  surgeon,   U.  S.  N..  until  the 


168 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


following  autumn.  The  43d,  at  Harrison's 
Landing,  Virginia,  was  found  to  be  reduced 
by  losses  to  about  three  hundred  and  fifty 
men,  and  upon  Colonel  Vinton's  proposal  to 
recruit  by  consolidating,  taking  in  outside 
companies,  fully  officered,  was  adopted,  and 
which  resulted  in  the  resignations  of  ten  or 
more  officers  of  the  43d,  field  and  line,  Lieu- 
tenant Culver  among  that  number,  he  at  the 
time  being  very  ill.  Returning  home  as  soon 
as  he  was  sufficiently  convalescent,  he  ac- 
cepted a  position  in  the  New  York  postoffice, 
under  his  friend,  Abram  Wakeman,  who  was 
then  postmaster  of  that  city ;  this  position 
Mr.  Culver  held  five  years,  excepting,  by  con- 
sent of  the  postmaster,  an  absence  of  about 
one  year,  when  he  joined  the  army  again,  in  the 
pay  department,  and  was  stationed  in  Wis- 
consin and  Illinois.  Soon  after  the  close  of 
the  war  he  returned  to  New  York,  and  re- 
sumed his  old  place  in  the  postoffice.  From 
New  York  he  went  to  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  the  lumber  business, 
in  which  pursuit  he  continued  up  to  1871.  In 
May  of  the  same  year  he  came  to  North  Gran- 
ville and  accepted  the  cashiership  of  the  North 
Granville  National  bank,  a  place  he  has  filled 
very  satisfactorily  ever  since,  and  also  that  of 
one  of  the  bank's  directors. 

George  B.  Culver  was  married  in  1869  to 
Lucy  Comstock  Baker,  daughter  of  Isaac  Y. 
Baker  and  Laura  D.  (Comstock)  Baker,  of 
Comstock's,  this  county.  Mrs.  Culver  is  the 
oldest  grandchild  of  the  late  Peter  Comstock, 
and  belongs  to  the  fourth  generation  of  the 
Baker  family  and  the  Comstock  family  in  this 
count}'.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Culver  are  the  parents 
of  one  child,  Laura  Baker  Culver.  Mr.  Cul- 
ver is  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  church;  a 
republican  in  his  political  opinion,  and  be- 
longs to  the  Masonic  fraternity,  the  Society  of 
the  Sons  of  the  Revolution,  and  the  M.  O. 
Loyal  Legion  of  the  United  States.  For  over 
twenty  years  he  has  been  one  of  the  trustees 
of  the  North  Granville  seminary,  under  the 
Regents. 


nOBERT  HAMILTON,  proprietor  of 
the  well-known  and  popular  Hamilton 
House,  of  Greenwich,  this  county,  and  a 
veteran  of  the  civil  war,  is  a  son  of  Joseph 
and  Jane  (Moore)  Hamilton,  and  a  native  of 
Schaghticoke,  Rensselaer  county,  this  State, 
where  he  was  born  September  7,  1838.  His 
father,  Joseph  Hamilton,  was  born  and  reared 
in  County  Tyrone,  Ireland,  which  he  left  when 
twenty-two  years  of  age  to  find  a  new  home 
in  America.  Soon  after  arriving  in  this  coun- 
try he  settled  at  Schaghticoke,  New  York, 
where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
dying  in  1856,  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight  years, 
having  been  born  in  1798.  He  was  a  linen 
weaver  by  trade,  and  worked  at  that  occupa- 
tion in  the  factories  at  Schagticoke  for  a  num- 
ber of  years.  Politically  he  was  a  whig,  and 
in  religion  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church.  A  short  time  previous  to  sail- 
ing for  America  he  married  Jane  Moore,  a 
daughter  of  Charles  Moore,  of  County  Ty- 
rone, Ireland,  and  by  that  union  had  a  family 
of  eight  children,  five  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters :  James,  Mary,  Eliza  Jane,  Hugh,  who 
was  killed  in  the  last  day's  fight  at  Peters- 
burg, Virginia,  leaving  a  wife  and  children  in 
Massachusetts;  William  H.,  Charles,  Robert, 
and  Ann  Jane.  They  are  all  now  deceased 
except  Robert,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
Mrs.  Jane  Hamilton  died  in  1849,  in  the 
fiftieth  year  of  her  age. 

Robert  Hamilton  was  reared  in  his  native 
county  of  Rensselaer,  and  obtained  an  excellent 
English  education  in  the  public  schools.  In 
1856  he  came  to  the  village  of  Greenwich, 
where  he  learned  the  trade  of  shoemaker,  and 
followed  that  occupation  until  1861.  He  then 
enlisted  in  the  Federal  army,  as  a  member  of 
Co.  D,  22d  New  York  Infantry,  being  one  of 
the  first  to  enlist  from  this  town,  and  partici- 
pated in  the  historic  battles  of  Granville, 
Cedar  Mountain,  and  the  second  Bull  Run, 
where,  on  August  30,  1862,  he  was  wounded 
by  a  ball,  which  tore  its  way  through  his  right 
wrist,  thus  making  him  a  cripple  for  life.      On 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


169 


account  of  this  wound  he  was  discharged  from 
the  service  February  14,  1863,  and  at  once  re- 
turned to  Greenwich.  Being  unable  to  work 
at  his  trade,  he  engaged  in  the  saloon  busi- 
ness, but  after  three  years  abandoned  that  and 
removed  to  Middle  Falls,  where  he  embarked 
in  the  hotel  business.  There  he  remained 
until  1869,  when  he  returned  to  Greenwich, 
and  became  proprietor  of  the  Greenwich 
House,  which  he  successfully  conducted  until 
1881.  He  then  purchased  what  was  known 
as  the  Bulson  House,  changed  its  name  to 
the  Hamilton  House,  and  has  ever  since  de- 
voted his  time  and  attention  to  conducting 
this  hotel.  It  is  the  largest  and  best  hotel  in 
the  village  of  Greenwich,  and  is  located  in 
the  business  center  of  the  place.  As  a  land- 
lord Mr.  Hamilton  is  popular,  and  his  hostelry 
is  now  widely  known  and  liberally  patronized 
by  the  traveling  public. 

On  October  4,  1865,  Mr.  Hamilton  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Ellen  M.  Lee, only  daugh- 
ter of  Edward  Lee,  of  Rockville,  Connecti- 
cut, and  to  them  was  born  a  family  consisting 
of  one  son  and  three  daughters :  Frances, 
Nellie,  Edward  and  Jennie,  the  latter  now  de- 
ceased. 

In  his  political  affiliations  Mr.  Hamilton  is 
a  stanch  democrat.  He  is  a  member  of  Ash- 
land Lodge,  No.  584,  Free  and  Accepted  Ma- 
sons, of  Greenwich  ;  Home  Chapter,  No. 
158,  Royal  Arch  Masons,  of  Schuylerville  ; 
and  Washington  Commandery,  No.  33, 
Knights  Templar,  of  Saratoga  Springs.  He 
is  also  a  member  and  past  grand  of  Union 
Village  Lodge,  No.  253,  Independent  Order 
of  Odd  Fellows  :  and  of  Albert  Cook  Post, 
No.  326,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 


JUDGE  THOMAS  A.  LILLIE, county 
judge  of  Washington  county  since  1887, 
to  which  office  he  was  re-elected  in  1893,  has 
long  been  a  prominent  and  successful  lawyer 
of  Whitehall.  He  is  a  son  of  Thomas  and 
Jane  (McLaughlin)  Lillie,  and  was  born 
11a 


February  20,  1852,  in  the  town  of  Putnam, 
this  county.  He  is  of  Scotch  descent,  on  both 
paternal  and  maternal  sides,  and  his  ancestors 
belonged  to  two  old  families  of  Scotland. 
Judge  Lillie  remained  on  his  father's  farm 
until  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  obtained  his 
elementary  education  in  the  public  schools  of 
his  native  town.  In  1869  he  entered  the 
State  Normal  school,  at  Albany,  from  which 
institution  he  was  graduated  with  honors  in  the 
spring  of  1871.  He  then  accepted  a  position 
as  teacher  in  Cedar  Grove  academy,  Cald- 
well, New  Jersey,  where  he  remained  for  two 
years.  Meanwhile  he  had  determined  on  law 
as  a  profession,  and  in  the  fall  of  1873  he  en- 
tered the  law  department  of  Union  university, 
at  Albany,  New  York,  and  began  preparing 
for  the  bar.  Here  he  studied  industriously 
until  1875,  when  he  was  duly  graduated,  and 
on  May  20th  of  that  year  was  admitted  to 
practice  in  the  courts  of  this  county.  He  at 
once  located  at  Whitehall,  for  the  practice  of 
law,  and  was  soon  in  the  enjoyment  of  a 
profitable  business.  From  that  time  to  the 
present  he  has  been  regularly  engaged  in  ac- 
tive practice,  and  in  a  few  years  has  won  dis- 
tinction at  the  bar  and  an  honorable  position 
among  the  legal  fraternity  of  Washington 
county.  In  1883  Judge  Lillie  was  elected 
supervisor  of  the  town,  and  in  the  following 
year  was  re-elected  by  an  increased  majority, 
and  upon  the  organization  of  the  board  of  su- 
pervisors was  unanimously  selected  as  its  pre- 
siding officer.  In  1886  he  was  nominated,  on 
the  republican  ticket,  and  elected  to  the  re- 
sponsible position  of  judge  of  Washington 
county,  taking  the  office  in  1887.  So  well  did 
he  perform  the  important  duties  of  his  posi- 
tion, that  in  1893  he  was  renominated  without 
opposition,  and  again  elected  to  the  office  of 
county  judge,  the  functions  of  which  post  he 
is  now  performing  with  an  ability  and  imparti- 
ality that  reflects  credit  on  himself,  and  gives 
entire  satisfaction  to  the  people  whom  he 
serves.  An  indication  of  his  popularity  as 
a  judge  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  he  has 


170 


BIOGRAPHY  AXD  HISTORY 


been  called  upon  to  hold  courts  in  six  coun- 
ties outside  his  own,  including  those  of  Al- 
bany and  Rensselaer. 

Judge  Lillie  has  always  taken  a  prominent 
part  in  the  politics  of  this  section,  and  for 
fifteen  years  has  been  among  the  most  elo- 
quent and  convincing  advocates  of  his  party 
on  the  stump,  and  a  most  successful  cam- 
paigner. He  is  a  member  of  Whitehall 
Lodge,  No.  5,  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows,  in  which  he  has  filled  all  the  chairs, 
and  since  1880  has  been  a  trustee  of  the  First 
Baptist  church  of  this  village,  and  is  now 
president  of  this  board. 

In  1879  Judge  Lillie  was  married  to  Flor- 
ence L.  Broughton,  a  daughter  of  James  R. 
Broughton,  a  merchant  of  Whitehall.  To 
the  Judge  and  Mrs.  Lillie  have  been  born  four 
children,  one  son  and  three  daughters  : 
Louise,  Alice,  Annie  and  Thomas  A.,  jr. 

The  paternal  grandfather  of  Judge  Lillie, 
Thomas  Lillie,  was  a  native  of  Scotland, 
where  he  resided  until  after  his  marriage, 
when  he  came  to  the  United  States,  and  set- 
tled in  the  town  of  Putnam,  Washington 
county,  New  York.  Here  he  continued  to  re- 
side, engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits,  and  as 
a  veterinary,  (being  a  graduate  of  the  univer- 
sity of  Edinburgh,)  until  his  death  in  1856,  at 
an  advanced  age.  Among  his  children  was 
Thomas  Lillie  (father),  who  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Putnam,  in  1821,  where  he  still 
resides,  being  now  in  the  seventy-second 
year  of  his  age,  and  still  engaged  in  farming, 
to  which  he  has  devoted  his  entire  life.  He 
has  been  very  successful  in  agricultural  pur- 
suits, and  has  always  been  known  as  among 
the  most  progressive  farmers  of  his  section. 
He  is  a  member  and  deacon  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian church  of  Putnam,  and  in  political  faith 
an  ardent  republican.  At  one  time  or  another 
he  has  filled  all  the  offices  of  his  town,  and 
served  as  supervisor  for  a  number  of  years. 
In  1848  he  married  Jane  McLaughlin,  a 
daughter  of  Alexander  McLaughlin,  and  a 
native  of    the  town  of  Putnam.      She  was  a 


member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  in 
her  daily  life  exemplified  the  religion  she  pro- 
fessed. Her  father,  Alexander  McLaughlin, 
was  born  and  reared  in  the  Scottish  highlands, 
where  he  married.  About  1820  he  emigrated 
to  America,  with  his  family,  and  settled  in 
Putnam,  this  county,  where  he  passed  the 
remainder  of  his  days. 


.  JURDEX  E.  SEELEY,  the  well  known 
lawyer  of  Granville,  who  has  been  in 
practice  since  1881,  is  a  son  of  John  I.  and 
Avis  A.  (Oatman)  Seeley,  and  a  native  of 
Hartford,  this  county,  where  he  was  born 
July  30,  1858.  The  family  is  of  English 
descent,  but  have  been  residents  of  America 
since  the  revolutionary  period.  The  paternal 
great-grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  a  resident  of  Massachusetts,  where  he 
married  an  English  lady,  who  came  to  this 
country  during  the  Revolutionary  war.  Among 
their  children  was  J  urden  Seeley  (grandfather), 
who  was  born  in  Connecticut  in  1797,  and 
when  only  four  years  of  age  was  brought  by 
his  parents  to  Hartford,  Washington  county, 
New  York,  where  he  grew  to  manhood  and 
passed  the  remainder  of  his  life  engaged  in 
agricultural  pursuits.  He  died  here  in  1836, 
at  the  early  age  of  forty  years.  He  married 
Philinda  Oatman,  and  reared  a  family  of 
twelve  children.  One  of  his  sons,  John  I. 
Seeley  (father),  was  born  at  Hartford,  this 
county,  in  1822,  and  resided  here  all  his  life. 
He  was  a  prosperous  farmer,  and  became 
prominent  in  the  local  affairs  of  this  section. 
Politically  he  was  a  republican,  and  served  as 
justice  of  the  peace  continuously  for  a  period 
of  twenty-eight  years,  beside  occupying  numer- 
ous other  positions  of  trust  and  responsibility. 
He  was  an  active  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  which  he  served  as  steward 
for  many  years  ;  his  death  occurred  in  April, 
1893, when  he  was  well  advanced  in  theseventy- 
first  year  of  his  age.  In  1844  he  married  Avis 
A.  Oatman,  a  daughter  of  Elisha  Oatman,  and 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


171 


native  of  Batavia,  New  York.  To  them  were 
born  three  children.  Mrs.  Seeley  resides  with 
her  son,  Jurden  E.,  at  Granville.  She  has 
been  a  life-long  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  and  her  life  has  been  char- 
acterized by  all  the  virtues  of  genuine  Chris- 
tian womanhood. 

Jurden  E.  Seeley  was  reared  on  his  father's 
farm,  and  obtained  his  education  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Hartford.  After  completing  his 
studies  he  taught  in  the  public  schools  for 
two  winters,  working  on  the  farm  during  the 
summer  season.  He  then,  at  the  age  of 
eighteen,  entered  the  law  office  of  Pond,  French 
&  Brackett,  at  Saratoga  Springs,  and  began 
preparing  for  the  bar.  On  May  4,  1881,  he 
was  admitted  to  practice,  and  in  September  of 
the  same  3'ear  located  at  Granville,  where  he 
has  been  engaged  in  active  general  practice 
ever  since.  Soon  after  locating  here  he  formed 
a  law  partnership  with  Levi  D.  Temple,  who 
had  also  been  admitted  to  the  bar  that  year, 
and  they  conducted  a  legal  business  together 
for  one  year,  when  Mr.  Seeley  purchased  his 
partner's  interest,  and  Mr.  Temple  entered 
the  ministry  of  the  Baptist  church.  Mr.  See- 
ley continued  his  legal  business  alone  until 
September,  1892,  when  he  admitted  John  Gil- 
roy,  of  Ritchfield  Springs,  New  York,  into 
partnership,  under  the  present  firm  name  of 
Seeley  &  Gilroy.  Mr.  Gilroy  had  studied  law 
in  Mr.  Seeley's  office,  and  has  won  good 
standing  at  the  bar.  These  gentlemen  have  a 
fine  general  practice,  and  the  firm  is  alreadj' 
well  known.  In  addition  to  his  property  at 
Granville,  Mr.  Seeley  also  owns  the  old  home- 
stead of  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  val- 
uable land  in  Hartford. 

In  June,  1885,  Mr.  Seeley  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Cora  A.  Collins,  a  daughter  of 
Thomas  M.  Collins,  of  Dorset,  Vermont. 
Politically  he  is  a  stanch  republican,  taking  an 
active  part  in  local  politics,  and  being  now  a 
member  of  the  county  committee  and  of  the 
executive  board.  For  seven  years  he  filled 
the  position  of  justice  of  the  peace  at  Gran- 


ville, and  has  held  other  positions  of  honor 
and  emolument.  He  is  at  present  clerk  of 
the  village  of  Granville,  and  is  recognized  as 
among  the  trusted  local  leaders  of  his  party. 
He  is  a  member  of  Sandy  Hill  Council,  No. 
587,  Royal  Arcanum,  and  sachem  of  Illini 
Tribe,  No.  256,  Improved  Order  of  Red  Men. 
For  nearly  ten  years  Mr.  Seeley  has  been 
foreman  of  the  Henry  Hose  Company,  No.  1, 
of  Granville,  and  to  his  sagacity  and  ability  is 
due  much  of  the  efficiency  of  that  organization. 


\kt  ATSON  N.  SPRAGUE,  president  of 
the  Battenkill  Paper  Mill  Company,  of 
Middle  Falls,  this  county,  is  a  veteran  of  the 
Civil  war  whose  military  record  is  unique  and 
perhaps  without  a  parallel.  He  is  indus- 
trious and  enterprising,  and  as  a  businessman 
and  manufacturer  has  met  with  great  success. 
He  is  a  son  of  Nathan  and  Sarah  (Andrews) 
Sprague,  and  was  born  January  13,  1844,  at 
Hinsdale,  New  Hampshire.  The  Spragues  are 
of  English  descent,  and  trace  their  American 
ancestry  back  to  three  brothers  who  came  over 
early  in  the  seventeenth  century.  One  of  these 
brothers  settled  in  Rhode  Island,  and  from 
him  was  descended  Governor  Sprague.  An- 
other settled  in  New  York  and  became  the 
progenitor  of  the  large  family  of  Spragues  in 
this  State.  The.  third  settled  in  Massachu- 
setts, and  from  this  one  is  descended  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch.  Old  Governor  Sprague 
of  Rhode  Island,  was  a  second  cousin  to  Wil- 
liam Sprague,  paternal  grandfather  of  Watson 
N.  Sprague.  William  Sprague  was  born  and 
reared  at  Templeton,  Massachusetts.  He 
was  a  blacksmith  by  trade  and  a  member  of 
the  Baptist  church.  His  son,  Nathan  Sprague 
(father),  was  also  a  native  of  Templeton, 
where  he  was  born  in  1803.  After  attaining 
manhood  he  learned  the  trade  of  shoemaker, 
and  worked  at  that  occupation  for  a  number 
of  years.  In  1S33  he  removed  to  Hinsdale, 
New  Hampshire,  where  he  followed  shoe- 
making  and   farming,    owning   a   small    farm 


172 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


upon  which  he  resided  until  1865.  In  the 
latter  year  he  sold  out,  removed  to  Winches- 
ter, that  State,  and  purchased  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  acres.  The  latter  part  of 
his  life  was  devoted  wholly  to  agricultural 
pursuits,  in  which  he  became  very  successful, 
and  which  he  continued  to  follow  until  his 
death  in  1866,  when  in  the  sixty-third  year  of 
his  age.  He  was  a  member  and  deacon  of 
the  Hinsdale  Baptist  church,  and  in  politics 
was  a  whig,  abolitionist  and  republican.  In 
1831  he  married  Sarah  Andrews,  a  daughter 
of  Elisha  Andrews,  of  Templeton,  Massachu- 
setts. Their  union  was  blessed  by  the  birth 
of  four  children,  three  sons  and  a  daughter  : 
Ellen,  married  Alfred  Mansfield,  of  Keene, 
New  Hampshire;  Frank  L.,  also  a  resident 
of  Keene;  Andrew  T.,  of  Middle  Falls,  New 
York  ;  and  Watson  N.  Mrs.  Sprague  died  in 
1869,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight  years. 

Watson  N.  Sprague  was  reared  and  educa- 
ted at  Hinsdale,  New  Hampshire.  After 
leaving  school  he  learned  the  trade  of  wool 
sorter,  and  worked  at  that  for  a  short  time. 
On  September  15,  1861,  when  only  seventeen 
years  of  age,  he  enlisted  in  Co.  F,  or  the  Ver- 
mont company  of  the  first  regiment  Berdan 
sharpshooters,  and  served  with  that  organiza- 
tion for  three  years.  He  participated  in  the 
heroic  struggles  of  Yorktown,  Hanover  Court- 
house, Mechanicsville,  Gaines'  Mills,  Malvern 
Hill,  second  Bull  Run,  Antietam,  Blackburn's 
Ford,  Fredericksburg,  Chancellorsville,  Get- 
tysburg, Kelly's  Ford,  Mine  Run,  the  Wilder- 
ness, Spottsylvania  Courthouse,  and  Peters- 
burg. He  was  wounded  twice,  but  not  seri- 
ously. The  company  (F)  was  organized  at 
West  Randolph,  Vermont,  and  left  there  Sep- 
tember 15,  1861,  with  one  hundred  and  seven- 
teen men.  Exactly  three  years  later  it  was 
mustered  out  at  the  same  place,  and  only  nine 
of  the  original  members  remained.  Of  these 
nine  Mr.  Sprague  was  the  only  one  who  had 
never  missed  a  day's  duty  on  account  of 
wounds  or  sickness  during  the  entire  three 
years  the  company  was  in  active  service.    This 


record,  taken  all  in  all,  is  perhaps  without  a 
parailel  in  the  history  of  the  civil  war. 

After  the  war  closed  Mr.  Sprague  returned 
to  New  Hampshire  and  engaged  in  the  sieve 
hoop  business  at  Keene,  that  State.  Three 
years  later  he  removed  to  Marlow,  New  Hamp- 
shire, where  he  embarked  in  the  lumbering 
business  and  the  manufacture  of  shoe  shanks, 
and  followed  that  occupation  some  four  years. 
About  1 87 1  he  returned  to  Keene,  where  he 
manufactured  shoe  shanks  for  two  years  and 
then  transferred  his  operations  to  Boston, 
where  he  was  successfully  engaged  in  the  same 
business  for  six  years.  In  1880  he  came  to 
Greenwich,  where  he  began  the  manufacture  of 
leather  board  and  paper.  The  mills  are  loca- 
ted at  Middle  Falls,  two  miles  northwest  of 
Greenwich,  and  are  known  as  the  Battenkill 
Paper  mills.  The  works  have  a  capacity  of 
six  tons  per  day,  and  employ  some  thirty  peo- 
ple the  year  round.  This  plant  is  owned  by 
a  joint  stock  company,  of  which  Mr.  Sprague 
is  president.  The  capital  invested  is  about 
eighty  thousand  dollars,  and  the  annual  pro- 
duction of  goods  amounts  to  nearly  one  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars.  Mr.  Sprague  is  also  a 
stockholder  and  director  in  the  Ondawa  Paper 
Mill  Company  at  Middle  Falls,  which  manu- 
factures manilla  paper  exclusively,  and  it  may 
be  said  that  to  his  untiring  efforts  is  largely 
due  the  development  and  improvement  of 
Middle  Falls. 

On  March  14,  1870,  Watson  N.  Sprague  was 
united  by  marriage  to  Melissa  M.  Reed,  a 
daughter  of  Edwin  Reed,  of  Marlow,  New 
Hampshire.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sprague  was 
born  one  child,  a  daughter  named  Mabel  S. 
Politically  he  is  an  ardent  republican,  taking 
an  active  part  in  local  politics,  and  earnestly 
supporting  the  protection  policy  of  his  party. 
He  has  served  as  supervisor  of  the  town  for 
two  years,  and  was  president  of  the  board  of 
supervisors  for  one  year.  He  is  a  member  of 
Ashland  Lodge,  No.  584,  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons,  and  one  of  the  public  spirited  and 
useful  citizens  of  the  county. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


173 


FRANCIS  M.  VAN  WORMER,  who 
served  in  the  army  of  the  Potomac  dur- 
ing the  late  Civil  war,  and  is  now  one  of  the 
principal  owners  of  the  well  known  Sand}' 
Hill  Iron  and  Brass  works,  was  born  at  Fort 
Ann,  Washington  county,  New  York,  in  1846, 
and  is  a  son  of  Henry  F.  and  Jane  M.  (Fuller) 
Van  Wormer.  On  his  paternal  side  he  is  a 
descendant  in  the  fourth  generation  from  Jacob 
Van  Wormer,  a  revolutionary  soldier,  who 
came  from  Schaghticoke,  and  was  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  the  town  of  Fort  Ann.  His 
son,  Henry  Van  Wormer,  who  served  in  the 
American  army  at  the  battle  of  Plattsburg, 
was  the  father  of  Henry  F.  Van  Wormer,  who 
is  still  living  at  Fort  Ann.  Henry  F.  Van 
Wormer  was  born  in  1812,  and  married  Jane 
M.  Fuller,  a  native  of  Washington  county. 
The  Van  Wormers  are  of  Dutch  descent. 

Francis  M.  Van  Wormer  was  reared  at  Fort 
Ann  until  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age,  when 
he  enlisted  in  Co.  D,  123d  New  York  volun- 
teers, and  served  as  a  musician  until  the  close 
of  the  war  in  1865.  He  participated  in  the 
battles  of  Chancellorsville,  Gettysburg,  Sher- 
man's campaign  to  Atlanta,  march  to  the  sea, 
and  through  the  Carolinas  and  Johnston's 
surrender.  One  year  later,  in  1866,  he  came 
to  Sandy  Hill  and  soon  became  one  of  the 
proprietors  of  the  Sandy  Hill  Iron  and  Brass 
works.  These  works  were  founded  about 
i860,  known  then  as  Baker's  Falls  Iron  Ma- 
chine works,  and  after  several  changes  they 
were  purchased  in  1874  by  Mr.  Van  Wormer 
and  Thomas  E.  Wells.  They  continued  un- 
der their  administration  up  to  the  commence- 
ment of  the  year  1882,  when  N.  E.  Packer  and 
O.'A.  Tefft  became  members  of  the  firm.  In 
September,  1883,  O.  A.  Tefft  was  succeeded 
by  R.  C.  Tefft,  and  in  a  short  time  Messrs. 
Wells  and  Packer  sold  their  interests  to  F.  M. 
Van  Wormer  and  R.  C.  Tefft,  who  have  con- 
ducted the  works  very  successfully  ever  since. 
The  present  buildings  of  the  company  were 
erected  in  1882,  at  a  short  distance  from  the 
first    buildings   and   just    south    of    Howland 


Paper  Company's  paper  mill,  and  since  known 
as  the  Sandy  Hill  Iron  and  Brass  works.  They 
consist  of  a  foundry  thirty  by  seventy- two  feet 
in  dimensions ;  a  machine  shop  forty  by  one 
hundred  and  fifteen  feet,  with  a  wing  thirty  by 
forty  feet,  and  a  construction  room  fifty-two 
by  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  feet.  The 
buildings  are  all  brick,  being  substantially 
built  and  well  arranged  for  the  business  in 
hand  with  all  the  skill  that  experience  could 
suggest.  They  are  well  lighted  and  illumin- 
ated with  electric  light  at  night,  and  the  works 
are  operated  by  water  power,  aggregating 
forty-five  horse-power  ;  the  works  when  run- 
ning full  force  require  sixty-five  men,  and  are 
equipped  with  every  device  and  appliance  for 
expeditiously  executing  work.  The  present 
firm,  while  doing  a  general  business  as  machin- 
ists, are  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  special- 
ties. Their  main  work  is  the  making  of  paper 
machines,  and  two  of  their  Harper-Fourdrinier 
machines  are  in  operation  close  to  the  works, 
where  they  have  given  the  best  of  satisfaction. 
One  of  their  specialties  is  the  manufacture  of 
turbine  water  wheels,  which  are  used  in  nearly 
every  State  in  the  Union.  The  firm  of  Van 
Wormer  &  Tefft  manufacture  paper  and  pulp 
machinery  of  all  kinds,  including  fourdrinier 
and  cylinder  paper  machines,  paper  engines, 
rag  and  jute  cutters,  and  dusters  and  wet 
machines ;  also  manufacture  the  Hercules 
friction  clutch,  together  with  a  variety  of  gen- 
eral machinery,  and  have  a  large  demand  for 
their  work  on  account  of  its  durability  and 
splendid  workmanship. 

In  1869  Mr.  Van  Wormer  was  married  to 
Sarah  M.  Cornell,  of  Washington  county. 

Francis  M.  Van  Wormer  is  a  member  and 
past  commander  of  William  M.  Cullen  Post, 
No.  587,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  He 
is  also  a  member  of  the  Royal  Arcanum,  and 
deputy  grand  regent  of  that  order  for  the  dis- 
trict composed  of  the  counties  of  Warren  and 
Washington  ;  also  been  identified  with  the 
village  fire  department  for  the  past  thirteen 
years,  for  several  years  president  and  foreman 


174 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


of  the  J.  W.  Wait  Hose  company,  which  is 
one  of  the  best  organizations  in  this  part  of 
the  State.  His  excellent  reputation  as  a 
manufacturer  is  due  to  his  skill  and  energy 
and  to  the  fact  that  he  always  adopts  every 
new  improvement  in  the  working  or  style  of 
the  machines  which  he  manufactures. 


TA/ILLIAM  CRONKHITE,  a  promi- 
nent  merchant  of  Glens  Falls,  and  a 
representative  of  an  old  and  honored  family 
of  Washington  county,  is  a  son  of  George 
Cronkhite  and  Permelia  Persons,  and  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Fort  Ann,  Washington 
county,  New  York,  December  8,  1815.  The 
grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  James 
Cronkhite,  served  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  re- 
moved to  the  town  of  Queensbury,  where  he 
died  at  the  age  of  fifty  years.  He  married, 
and  among  his  children  by  this  marriage  was 
George  Cronkhite  (father),  who  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Greenwich  in  1790,  and  who  be- 
came prominent  in  business  affairs  and  well 
known  in  Washington,  Warren,  and  Saratoga 
counties.  For  a  few  years  he  owned  and  ran 
a  grist  mill  in  Sandy  Hill,  which  he  afterward 
removed  to  this  village,  where  he  resided  and 
carried  on  milling  for  man)'  years.  He  was  a 
whig  and  republican  in  politics,  and  a  strict 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  His 
death  occurred  in  the  village  of  Glens  Falls 
in  1878,  in  his  eighty-eighth  year.  He  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Permelia  Persons,  who 
was  a  native  of  West  Fort  Ann,  and  whose 
sad  death  occurred  in  1855,  by  being  run  over 
by  a  train  at  Schenectady.  She  was  a  con- 
sistent member  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

William  Cronkhite  principally  grew  to  man- 
hood in  Sandy  Hill,  where  he  attended  school 
until  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  when  he  became 
an  employee  in  a  general  merchandising  store 
in  that  village,  where  he  remained  until  1837. 
In  that  year  he  came  to  Glens  Falls  and  en- 
gaged in  the  same  line,  in  which  he  continued 
until    1839,   when    he    removed   his    stock    of 


goods  to  Salem,  but  in  a  short  time  sold  out 
and  went  to  farming  just  across  the  line  from 
Salem,  in  Vermont.  In  1844  Mr.  Cronkhite 
returned  to  Sandy  Hill,  where  he  again 
branched  out  in  the  merchandising  business, 
in  which  he  remained  successfully  engaged 
until  1853.  During  his  residence  at  Sandy 
Hill  he  served  two  years  as  town  clerk,  and 
for  four  years  was  postmaster  under  President 
Fillmore.  In  the  fall  of  1853  he  came  to 
Glens  Falls,  where  he  has  since  resided  and 
is  known  as  one  of  the  leading  merchants  of 
the  village.  In  the  big  fire  that  occurred  at 
Glens  Falls  in  1864,  Mr.  Cronkhite  was  burned 
out,  and  in  1865  he  built  and  had  his  present 
stand  equipped  and  ready  for  occupancy.  He 
then  took  his  son,  Henry  Orville,  in  as  a  part- 
ner, under  the  title  of  William  Cronkhite  & 
Son,  which  has  existed  ever  since,  and  is 
known  as  one  of  the  most  successful  dry  goods 
firms  in  northern  New  York.  On  November 
6,  1837,  William  Cronkhite  was  married  to 
Esther  Ann  Milliman,  a  daughter  of  Thomas 
Milliman,  of  Salem.  To  this  union  were  born 
two  children  :  Henry  Orville,  and  Harriet, 
now  deceased. 

William  Cronkhite  is  a  Presbyterian  in  re- 
ligious faith  and  a  republican  in  politics ; 
served  one  term  as  village  trustee,  but  he  has 
always  been  too  much  engrossed  in  his  business 
affairs  to  ever  accept  office.  His  son  and 
business  partner,  Henry  Orville  Cronkhite, 
was  born  in  the  village  of  Salem,  Washington 
county,  New  York,  May  4,  1839,  and  educated 
in  the  Glens  Falls  academy.  At  the  first  call 
for  troops  by  the  president,  in  1861,  he  en- 
listed in  July  of  that  year  as  a  private  in  Co. 
E,  22d  New  York  volunteer  regiment,  and 
served  two  years.  He  was  wounded  by  a 
piece  of  shell  striking  him  in  the  head  at  the 
battle  of  Bull  Run.  At  the  expiration  of  his 
term  of  service  he  was  honorably  discharged 
at  Albany  and  returned  home.  He  has  been 
a  life-long  republican,  and  has  served  as  town 
clerk  of  Queensbury  for  thirteen  years.  At 
present  he  is  a  member  of  the  board  of  health  ; 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


175 


for  eight  years  he  was  register  of  vital  statis- 
tics and  permit  officer,  and  is  now  serving  his 
fourth  term  as  notary  public.  In  1864  Mr. 
Cronkhite  was  married  to  Mary  A.,  daughter 
of  Capt.  John  Bailey,  who  was  killed  in  the 
battle  of  the  Wilderness  ;  he  resided  in  the 
town  of  Honey  Creek,  Warren  county.  To 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cronkhite  have  been  born  four 
children,  two  living:  Minnie  and  Helena,  the 
latter  now  the  wife  of  Elmer  E.  Pepper, 
of  Glens  Falls.  Mr.  Cronkhite  is  a  member 
of  Edgar  M.  Wing  Post,  147,  Grand  Army  of 
the  Republic,  and  ranks  among  the  useful 
citizens  and  successful  merchants  of  his  village. 


JOHN  F.  HARRIS,  a  descendant  of  an 
old  New  England  family,  and  retired  iron 
manufacturer  of  New  York,  is  one  of  the 
leading  business  men  of  Fort  Edward.  He 
was  born  at  Stowe,  Vermont,  in  1832,  and  is 
a  son  of  Moses  and  Relief  (Flanders')  Harris. 
The  Harris  family  of  New  York  is  of  Eng- 
lish origin,  and  traces  its  American  ancestry 
back  to  one  of  four  Harris  brothers,  who  came 
to  America,  and  settled  respectively  in  New 
England,  the  Middle  States,  the  South,  and  the 
West.  From  the  New  England  brother  was 
descended  Ira  Harris,  of  Sharon,  Connecticut, 
who  was  known  as  one  of  the  early  railroad 
kings  of  the  United  States.  His  son,  Hon. 
Ira  Harris,  so  prominent  in  the  legislature  of 
New  York  since  the  war,  was  a  descendant 
of  Samuel  Harris  (grandfather),  who  was  a 
native  of  New  Hampshire,  and  a  resident  of 
Stowe,  Vermont,  where  he  died  at  eighty-nine 
years  of  age.  Samuel  Harris  was  a  carpenter 
and  joiner  by  trade,  and  a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion. He  married  and  reared  a  family  of 
eight  children :  Moses,  James,  Sarah,  Har- 
lowe,  Horace,  John,  Matilda  and  Joseph. 
Moses  Harris  (father)  was  born  in  New  Hamp- 
shire in  1800,  and  died  in  1878.  He  was  an  iron 
manufacturer,  and  in  earl}'  life  operated  the 
first  two  furnaces  owned  by  Charles  C.  Alger, 
who    in    that    day   was   the   iron   king  of  the 


United  States.  After  fifteen  years  spent  with 
Mr.  Alger,  he  went  to  Ontario,  New  York, 
where  he  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land,  and 
operated  an  iron  and  charcoal  furnace  for 
some  time,  of  which  he  was  half  owner.  He 
then  removed  to  Smytheport,  Pennsylvania, 
and  opened  up  iron-ore  mines,  which  he  dis- 
posed of  a  few  years  later  to  return  to  New 
York,  where  he  died  in  Columbia  county, 
Hudson  city,  May  12,  1871,  when  in  the  sev- 
enty-first year  of  his  age.  He  was  originally 
a  democrat,  and  after  the  late  civil  war  be- 
came a  republican  in  politics.  He  was  twice 
married.  By  his  first  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Relief  Flanders,  he  had  five  chil- 
dren :  Samuel,  who  was  a  well-known  iron 
manufacturer  of  New  York  and  Alabama  ; 
Loran  W.,  who  was  a  blast  furnace  operator 
in  Missouri  and  New  York  ;  John  F.  ;  Hor- 
ace, who  was.  in  California  during  the  early 
gold  excitement,  and  served  as  surgeon  of  the 
Harris  light  cavalry  regiment,  of  New  York, 
in  the  late  civil  war  ;  and  Mary  E.,  wife  of 
William  Daniels,  a  retired  iron  manufacturer 
of  Missouri. 

John  F.  Harris  received  his  early  education 
in  the  private  schools  of  Stockbridge,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  later  took  a  full  college  course 
in  one  of  the  leading  educational  institutions 
of  that  State.  Leaving  school  he  was  en- 
gaged for  some  time  in  practical  engineering, 
and  then  entered  the  employ  of  the  Hudson 
Iron  Company  as  manager  of  its  furnaces, 
which  position  he  held  until  1856.  In  that 
year  he  came  to  Fort  Edward,  and  assumed 
management  of  the  Griswold  blast  furnace  of 
that  place,  which  he  superintended  until  it 
was  sold  to  Erastus  Corning,  of  Albany. 
After  the  sale  he  went  to  Breaker's  Island, 
where  lie  was  superintendent  for  several  yeais 
of  the  three  large  blast  furnaces  then  owned 
by  the  Troy  Iron  &  Steel  Company.  Retiring 
from  the  furnace  business  at  the  close  of  his 
work  at  Breaker's  Island,  Mr.  Harris  turned 
his  attention  to  dealing  in  real  estate,  and  at 
the    present    time    owns    "Harris    Place,"    a 


176 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


large  and  well  arranged  block  of  buildings 
containing  a  fine  public  hall  and  the  offices  of 
several  of  the  leading  manufacturing  compa- 
nies of  the  county.  He  is  a  stockholder  and 
one  of  the  main  organizers  in  the  Fort  Ed- 
ward furniture  factory  ;  he  owns  the  Appen- 
heimer  clothing  establishment,  a  large  mill 
property,  two  stores,  the  old  canal  basin,  a 
hotel  and  forty  building  lots.  He  is  a  demo- 
crat in  politics,  and  has  served  as  president 
of  the  village  and  a  member  of  the  school 
board  for  several  terms  ;  is  also  a  member 
and  the  chairman  of  Fort  Edward  Baptist 
church  board. 

On  November  20,  1852,  Mr.  Harris  married 
Olive  E.  Carey,  and  to  their  union  was  born 
three  children  :  George  D.,  whose  sketch  ap- 
pears elsewhere  in  this  volume  ;  Delia  M., 
wife  of  George  E.  Rogers,  a  furniture  dealer 
of  Fort  Edward;  and  Sarah  E.,  who  died  in 
infancy.  Mrs.  Harris  received  her  education 
at  Walworth  academy,  and  is  a  member,  with 
her  husband,  of  Fort  Edward  Baptist  church. 
She  is  a  daughter  of  Isaac  and  Sarah  Ann 
Wyatt,  natives  of  New  York. 


|DEV.  JOHN  F.  DONAHOE,  the  pas 

r  tor  of  the  Catholic  church  at  Salem,  was 
born  in  Utica,  New  York,  in  1854.  The  rudi- 
ments of  his  education  were  received  in  the 
public  schools  and  at  West  Win  field  academy. 
After  some  experience  in  teaching  he  took  up 
the  study  of  medicine,  but  not  finding  it  con- 
genial to  his  tastes  he  abandoned  it  after  one 
year,  and  entered  Manhattan  college,  New 
York  city,  where,  at  the  end  of  four  years,  he 
graduated  with  honor,  and  received  the  de- 
gree of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  On  leaving  college 
he  went  to  Montreal,  Canada,  where  he  en- 
tered the  Grand  Seminar}'  of  Saint  Sulpice  of 
that  city,  and  remained  there  three  years  as  a 
theological  student.  He  then  went  to  Saint 
Mary's  seminary,  Baltimore,  Maryland,  to 
continue  his  studies  for  the  priesthood,  and  at 
the  end  of  two  years  was  ordained  by  Cardinal 


Gibbons,  at  the  famous  Jesuit  college  at  Wood- 
stock, Maryland.  After  his  ordination  he  did 
light  missionary  work  in  Baltimore  for  a  short 
time,  when  he  came  to  Albany,  New  York, 
and  was  assigned  by  Bishop  McNierney  to  be 
assistant  priest  at  the  cathedral,  where  he 
labored  assiduously  for  nearly  a  year.  He 
was  then  transferred  by  the  bishop  to  Rock 
City  Falls,  Saratoga  county,  to  build  up  the 
abandoned  parish  at  that  place.  This  was  a 
scattered  and  laborious  mission  field,  compris- 
ing large  portions  of  Saratoga,  Fulton  and 
Hamilton  counties.  His  predecessor  had 
been  obliged  to  abandon  the  arduous  under- 
taking some  months  previously,  but  Father 
Donahoe,  although  not  in  robust  health,  threw 
himself  heart  and  soul  into  the  work,  and  in 
a  short  time  had  brought  order  out  of  chaos. 
He  remained  in  this  charge  less  than  four 
years,  but  during  that  time  he  repaired  the 
old  church  at  Rock  City  Falls,  and  left  the 
congregation  in  a  flourishing  condition.  In 
addition  he  founded  two  new  congregations, 
built  two  new  churches,  one  in  Galway,  Sara- 
toga county,  and  the  other  in  Broadalbion, 
Fulton  county.  These  churches  were  neat 
and  well  furnished,  the  congregations  being  in 
a  growing  and  prosperous  condition,  with 
scarcely  five  hundred  dollars  debt  on  the  entire 
property.  Father  Donahoe  had  arrangements 
nearly  completed  to  build  a  new  church  at 
Wells,  Hamilton  county,  also,  when  he  was 
transferred  to  Salem  in  May,  1888,  where  he 
has  since  resided.  Here  he  found  a  scattered, 
dispirited  and  dissatisfied  congregation.  They 
had  an  old  dilapidated  frame  church,  hardly 
worthy  the  name,  in  a  town  like  Salem,  cold 
and  cheerless,  standing  on  a  beautiful  but  neg- 
lected lot,  the  lot  being  the  only  thing  the 
church  possessed.  Rev.  Father  O'Sullivan 
had  recently  died  in  his  own  rented  house, 
almost  in  as  cheerless  condition  as  was 
his  church.  Directly  on  the  coming  of  Father 
Donahoe,  it  was  evident  that  a  master's 
hand  was  energetically  at  work  reorgan- 
izing   and  consolidating  the  latent   elements 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  IIISTOR  Y 


177 


and  resources  of  the  congregation.  His  atti- 
tude was  at  once  recognized  in  the  community 
as  that  of  the  self-respecting,  high-minded 
gentleman,  who  bore  himself  in  a  kindly  and 
gracious  manner  toward  all,  and  rapidly  made 
friends  among  all  classes.  In  less  than  three 
years  a  marvelous  change  had  taken  place  in 
the  affairs  of  the  congregation ;  a  new  and 
commodious  brick  church,  with  fine  appoint- 
ments, welcomed  the  thankful  worshippers, 
and  an  elegant  parochial  residence  had  been 
erected;  in  all  a  property  worth  not  less  than 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  with  not  over 
three  thousand  dollars  of  debt.  The  parish- 
ioners are  united,  happy  and  prosperous,  and 
Father  Donahoe  claims  that  he  has  the  best 
congregation  for  its  size  and  the  easiest  to 
manage  in  northern  New  York.  He  has  done 
much  toward  elevating  the  intellectual  and 
social  standard  of  his  young  people,  and  is 
ever  on  the  alert  to  advance  their  happiness 
and  welfare.  Father  Donahoe  has  been  some- 
what of  an  extensive  traveler ;  beside  short 
trips  to  some  of  the  western  and  southern 
States,  he  has  made  an  extended  trip  to  the 
West  Indies,  visiting  among  other  places  the 
old  city  of  Santo  Domingo,  founded  by  Colum- 
bus in  1494,  near  the  spot  where  he  first 
touched  the  soil  of  the  new  world.  In  1891 
he  made  an  extended  tour  through  Europe 
and  the  East,  beingabsent  aboutseven  months, 
visiting  nearly  all  the  great  continental  cities: 
Paris,  Nice,  Genoa,  Rome,  Naples,  Florence, 
Milan,  Venice,  Berne,  Munich,  Vienna,  Carls- 
bad, Cologne  and  Brussels,  besides  spending 
six  weeks  in  Jerusalem,  and  among  the  holy 
places  in  Palestine.  On  his  return  he  visited 
England  and  Ireland.  Father  Donahoe  is  a  keen 
and  appreciative  observer  of  men  and  things, 
and  looks  below  the  surface.  He  is  eminently 
a  practical  man,  both  in  religious  and  business 
affairs ;  a  zealous  priest  in  his  own  church, 
broad-minded  and  kind  in  his  attitude  toward 
his  fellow  Christians  not  of  his  fold.  He  is 
emphatically  American  in  all  his  ideas,  and 
aims  at  and  believes  in  equal   rights   for  all. 


He  is  a  close  student,  and  keeps  himself 
abreast  of  the  times  in  current  affairs  and  liter- 
ature, and  is  on  the  right  side  of  temperance 
and  every  moral  question  which  affects  the 
well  being  of  the  community.  A  genial  and 
loyal  friend,  he  sincerely  detests  hypocricy 
and  dishonesty.  A  clear  and  logical  thinker, 
an  earnest  and  convincing  speaker,  he  carries 
his  hearers  more  by  the  force  of  the  truth  pre- 
sented than  by  mere  dependence  upon  ora- 
tory. 

HENRY  L.  MOWRY,  a  well-known  pa- 
per manufacturer  of  Greenwich,  and  a 
prominent  citizen  of  Washington  county,  is  a 
son  of  William  H.  and  Angelina  ( Gifford ) 
Mowry;  and  is  a  man  whose  achievements  in 
the  business  world  entitles  him  to  rank  among 
the  leading  citizens  of  his  village. 

William  H.  Mowry  (father)  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Greenwich,  this  county,  in  the 
year  181 1,  and  died  October  28,  1850,  at  the 
early  age  of  thirty-nine  years.  He  was  a 
man  of  frail  constitution,  being  an  invalid  the 
most  of  his  life  ;  one  of  the  original  agitators 
of  the  anti-slavery  question,  he  earl)'  became 
an  active  partisan  in  the  cause  of  emancipa- 
tion, and  his  home  became  a  resort  for  many 
fugitive  slaves.  Being  a  man  of  abstemious 
habits  he  was  an  active  and  zealous  promoter 
in  the  temperance  cause.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Congregational  church  of  his 
village,  and  served  as  one  of  its  trustees. 
He  wedded  Angelina,  a  daughter  of  Gideon 
Gifford,  of  Easton.  His  marriage  was 
blessed  by  the  birth  of  five  children,  three 
sons  and  two  daughters:  Jane  M.,  widow  of 
D.  D.  Haskell,  of  Greenwich  ;  Henry  L.  Le- 
roy  (  dead  )  ;  William  G. ,  of  the  same  village  ; 
and  Mrs.  Sarah  G.,  wife  of  J.  O.  LaVake,  of 
this  place.  His  wife,  and  the  mother  of  this 
subject,  died  on  May  19,  1853,  aged  thirty- 
nine  years. 

William  Mowry  (grandfather )  was  born  at 
Slaterville,  Rhode  Island,  but  in  earl)-  man- 
hood migrated  to  and  settled  in  the  village  of 


178 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Greenwich  ;  and  according  to  statistics 
he  erected  the  first  cotton  mill  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  and  the  second  one 
built  in  the  United  States,  and  which  busi- 
ness he  successfully  followed  the  greater  part 
of  his  life.  After  he  had  his  mill  started  in 
successful  operation  he  went  to  England,  with 
the  object  in  view  of  visiting  the  leading  cot- 
ton mills  of  that  country  in  order  to  better 
equip  himself  in  making  a  permanent  success 
of  this  new  American  industry  ;  and  of  which 
he  should  have  the  credit  of  being  one  of  its 
pioneers  and  earliest  promoters.  Upon  his 
arrival  he  was  refused  entrance  to  any  of  the 
mills,  but  resorted  to  a  subterfuge  in  the  dis- 
guise of  a  day  laborer,  and  was  admitted, 
gaining  valuable  information  in  the  manufac- 
tory of  cotton  goods,  and  thus  accomplished 
his  aim.  Some  time  afterward  his  mission 
was  discovered  by  the  English  manufacturers, 
who  it  is  supposed  forwarded  to  him  a  box  of 
deadly  explosives,  but  he,  with  true  Yankee 
shrewdness,  did  not  open  it  in  a  manner  that 
would  cause  any  serious  damage.  For  many 
years  after  his  return  to  America  he  was  suc- 
cessfully engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  cloth, 
sheeting,  etc.  He  was  an  old  line  whig,  and 
took  an  active  part  in  the  political  measures 
of  his  day.  A  prominent  Mason  in  his  time, 
he  became  the  founder  of  the  lodge  of  his 
village.  He  wedded  Lydia  Whipple,  who 
was  a  member  of  one  of  the  pioneer  families 
of  Greenwich.  Four  children  were  born  to 
them  :  Leroy,  Anna  C. ,  wife  of  Henry  Holmes  ; 
William  H.  (father),  and  Mary  E.,  who  is 
the  wife  of  John  T.  Masters. 

The  Mowrys  are  of  Anglo-Saxon  descent, 
their  progenitor  having  early  emigrated  from 
England  to  the  United  States,  and  settled  in 
Rhode  Island  long  before  the  war  of  the  Revo- 
lution. 

Henry  L.  Mowry  was  born  in  the  village  of 
Greenwich,  on  December  13,  1837,  and  in 
which  he  has  always  resided.  He  attended 
the  Phillips  academy  at  Andover,  Massachu- 
setts, and  afterward  the  Williston  seminar}', 


located  at  East  Hampton,  in  the  same  State. 
In  1872,  in  conjunction  with  W.  R.  Hobbie, 
erected  the  Phcenix  paper  mill,  in  which  they 
have  since  been  engaged.  The  capacity  of 
these  mills  is  three  and  one-half  to  four  tons 
of  straw  wrapping  paper  daily,  and  which  re- 
quires sixteen  hands  steadily  employed.  Mr. 
Mowry  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  lodge  of 
Greenwich,  and  of  the  Commandery  Knights 
Templar  of  Saratoga  Springs.  He  is  a 
member  and  warden  of  the  Episcopal  church. 
Henry  L.  Mowry,  on  November  19,  1879, 
was  married  to  Jane  F.,  daughter  of  Rev.  W. 
W.  Dowd,  now  of  La  Junta,  Colorado. 


to     R.  HOLCOMB,  M.  D.,  one  of  the 

•  leading  physicians  of  Washington 
county,  who  served  as  surgeon  of  the  157th 
New  York  infantry  during  the  civil  war,  and 
now  has  a  large  practice  in  the  village  of 
Whitehall,  where  he  has  been  successfully 
engaged  in  his  profession  for  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  is  a  son  of  Diadorus  S. 
and  Maria  (Cole)  Holcomb,  and  was  born 
November  1,  1840,  at  Westport,  Essex  county, 
New  York.  The  Holcombs  trace  their  trans- 
atlantic origin  back  to  England,  but  have  been 
settled  in  America  since  early  in  the  seven- 
teenth century.  Diadorus  Holcomb,  paternal 
grandfather  of  Dr.  Holcomb,  was  a  native  of 
New  Hampshire,  where  he  was  reared  and- 
educated.  He  studied  medicine,  and  soon 
after  beginning  practice  removed  to  Essex 
county,  New  York,settling  at  Westport.  There 
he  won  prominence  in  his  profession,  and  for 
man}'  years  enjoyed  a  large  and  lucrative 
practice.  He  died  at  Westport  in  1855,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-three  years.  One  of  his 
sons  was  Diadorus  S.  Holcomb  (father),  who 
was  born  at  Westport,  New  York,  in  the 
initial  year  of  the  present  century.  There  he 
grew  to  manhood  and  received  a  superior 
English  education.  After  his  marriage  he 
engaged  in  the  hotel  business,  and  in  1861 
removed  to  Plattsburg,  this  State,  where  he 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


179 


became  proprietor  of  a  leading  hotel,  and  suc- 
cessfully conducted  that  business  until  com- 
pelled to  relinquish  the  active  duties  of  life 
by  the  increasing  infirmities  of  age.  He  died 
at  Plattsburg,  New  York,  in  1873,  in  the 
seventy-third  year  of  his  age.  Politically  he 
was  an  ardent  democrat,  and  in  religion  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  church.  In  1837  he 
married  Maria  Cole,  a  native  of  New  Hamp- 
shire and  a  daughter  of  Stephen  Cole.  They 
reared  a  family  of  four  children.  Mrs.  Hol- 
comb  was  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  church, 
and  died  in  1883,  in  the  seventieth  year  of 
her  age. 

Dr.  Benjamin  R.  Holcomb  was  principally 
reared  in  the  village  of  Champlain,  Clinton 
county,  this  State,  and  received  an  academic 
education  in  the  Champlain  academy.  After 
completing  his  English  studies  he  began  read- 
ing medicine  with  Dr.  Dodge,  of  Rouse's 
Point,  and  finished  reading  with  Dr.  Alden 
March,  of  the  city  of  Albany.  He  then  en- 
tered the  Albany  Medical  college,  from  which 
he  was  graduated  with  the  degree  of  M.  D.,  in 
the  fall  of  1864.  In  the  same  autumn  he  was 
appointed  assistant  surgeon  of  the  157th  New 
York  infantry,  then  doing  duty  in  the  valley 
of  Virginia,  and  served  as  such  until  the  close 
of  the  war  in  1865.  In  the  fall  of  that  year 
Dr.  Holcomb  located  at  Whitehall,  where  he 
has  ever  since  conducted  a  large  and  success- 
ful general  practice,  which  is  now  one  of  the 
most  extensive  and  lucrative  in  the  county. 

Dr.  Holcomb  is  a  member  of  the  Tri-county 
Medical  society  and  of  the  Washington  County 
Medical  society.  He  is  a  constant  reader, 
and  endeavors  at  all  times  to  keep  abreast  of 
all  true  progress  made  in  the  profession  to 
which  he  has  devoted  his  life.  The  marked 
success  he  has  attained  is  the  best  commentary 
on  the  fidelity,  ability  and  skill  which  he  has 
brought  into  his  practice  of  medicine,  and  it 
speaks  more  eloquently  of  his  professional 
fitness  than  any  words  on  this  page  could  do. 
Politically  Dr.  Holcomb  is  an  ardent  demo- 
crat, but   has  never  taken  an   active   part  in 


politics,  preferring  to  devote  his  time  and  at- 
tention to  the  exacting  duties  of  his  profession. 
He  is  a  member  of  Phoenix  Lodge,  No.  96, 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons. 

In  1868  Dr.  Holcomb  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Helen  Davis,  a  daughter  of  Hon.  E. 
E.  Davis,  of  Whitehall,  who  once  represented 
this  district  in  the  State  assembly.  To  the 
Doctor  and  Mrs.  Holcomb  were  born  two  chil- 
dren, one  son  and  a  daughter:  Marian  and 
George  B. 

HOX.  WILLIA3I  H.  TEFFT,  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Washington  county  bar,  the 
editor  of  The  Whitehall  Chronicle,  and  a  law 
student  of  President  Chester  A.  Arthur,  is  a 
son  of  Gardner  and  Sarah  (  Potter)  Tefft,  and 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Greenwich,  Washing- 
ton county,  New  York,  October  6,  1833.  The 
Tefft  family  is  of  English  lineage,  and  the  New 
York  branch  was  founded  by  Nathan  Tefft, 
sr.,  who  came  from  Kingston,  Rhode  Island, 
to  the  town  of  Greenwich  in  the  year  1766. 
His  son,  Nathan  Tefft,  born  in  the  same 
town,  was  the  father  of  Capt.  Benjamin  Tefft, 
who  served  in  the  second  war  with  England. 
Captain  Tefft  was  born  in  1776,  followed  farm- 
ing and  contracting,  and  died  in  1846,  at 
seventy  years  of  age.  His  son,  Gardner  Tefft, 
who  was  a  well  known  citizen  of  Greenwich, 
was  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
Gardner  Tefft  was  born  in  1805,  and  passed 
away  in  1888.  He  was  a  farmer,  a  member 
of  the  First  Baptist  church  of  Greenwich,  and 
a  whig  and  republican  in  politics.  Mr.  Tefft 
wedded  Sarah  Potter,  a  native  of  Greenwich, 
and  a  daughter  of  John  Potter,  whose  father 
came  from  Rhode  Island.  Mrs.  Tefft,  who 
was  born  in  1814,  was  a  consistent  member  of 
the  Baptist  church,  and  died  in  1867,  when  in 
the  fifty-third  year  of  her  age. 

William  H.  Tefft  at  an  early  age  entered 
the  Troy  Conference  acadeni)',  of  Poultney, 
Vermont,  and  after  finishing  his  studies  there 
and  at  the  Greenwich  academy  of  this  State,  en- 
tered Brown  university,  of  Providence,  Rhode 


180 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Island,  pursuing  a  special  coarse  at  that  old 
and  famous  institution  of  learning  in  the 
sophomore,  junior,  and  senior  years  of  the  class 
of  1854.  Leaving  Brown  university,  he  read 
law  with  the  legal  firm  of  Culver.  Parker  & 
Arthur,  the  latter  of  whom  afterward  became 
the  twenty-first  president  of  the  United  States. 
Mr.  Tefft  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1856,  and 
soon  afterward  formed  a  partnership  with 
George  W.  Parker,  one  of  his  legal  precep- 
tors. This  firm  practiced  in  New  York  city 
until  1861,  when  Mr.  Tefft  withdrew  from  the 
partnership,  and  after  practicing  by  himself 
in  the  metropolis  for  four  years,  he  came,  in 
1865,  to  Whitehall,  where  he  has  built  up  a 
large  law  practice.  In  1866  Mr.  Tefft  pur- 
chased The  Whitehall  Chronicle,  which  he  edited 
until  the  office  was  burned  in  1870.  Three 
years  later,  on  January  1,  1873,  he  bought 
The  Whitehall  News,  a  small  paper  that  had 
been  started  after  the  burning  of  the  Chronicle. 
He  enlarged  the  News,  and  soon  changed  its 
name  to  that  of  The  Whitehall  Chronicle.  His 
paper  is  a  four-page,  thirty-six  column  weekly 
sheet.  The  Chronicle  is  republican  in  politics, 
and  has  a  wide  circulation.  Its  columns  con- 
tain all  the  general  news  of  any  importance, 
and  give  the  latest  happenings  of  the  county, 
together  with  everything  of  local  interest. 
The  Chronicle  was  established  in  1840,  and 
has  been  made  a  power  in  the  county  under 
the  administration  of  Mr.  Tefft. 

In  i860  William  H.  Tefft  married  Sarah  V. 
Cooke,  a  daughter  of  the  late  W.  W.  Cooke, 
of  Whitehall.  They  have  one  child,  a  son, 
named  Lawrence  H.  Tefft. 

In  politics  Mr.  Tefft  is  a  republican.  He 
served  three  years  and  a  half  as  school  com- 
missioner of  Washington  county,  and  was 
deputy  collector  of  customs  at  the  port  of 
Whitehall  during  Grant  and  Hayes'  adminis- 
trations. In  1873  he  was  elected  to  fill  a 
vacancy  in  the  New  York  assembly  from  Wash- 
ington county,  and  was  again,  in  1888,  elected 
for  the  full  term  of  the  legislature  of  1889. 
He  is  a  member  of  Phcenix   Lodge,  No.  96, 


Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  of  Whitehall. 
Mr.  Tefft  and  all  the  members  of  his  family 
are  members  of  Trinity  Episcopal  church. 
He  has  been  identified  with  the  progress  of 
Whitehall  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and 
during  all  of  his  life  has  been  energetic  and 
persevering  in  every  enterprise  or  calling  in 
which  he  has  been  engaged. 


COLOMON  W.  RUSSELL,  a  member 
^^  of  the  Washington  County  Bar  and  a 
wounded  veteran  officer  of  the  army  of  the 
Potomac,  and  a  son  of  Solomon  W.  and 
Zada  (Totman)  Russell,  was  born  at  Luzerne, 
Warren  county,  New  York,  July  5,  1836. 
His  paternal  grandfather,  Captain  Abel  Rus- 
sell/was a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  died  at 
Petersburgh,  Rensselaer  county,  New  York, 
on  the  13th  day  of  February,  181 2,  in  the 
seventieth  year  of  his  age.  He  married  Sarah 
Wright,  who  died  at  Salem,  New  York,  Octo- 
ber 16,  1826,  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of  her  age, 
and  whose  ancestor,  Solomon  Wright,  was  the 
first  judge  of  Bennington  county,  Vermont. 
Abel  Russell,  the  grandfather,  was  the  de- 
cendant  of  Richard  Russell,  born  in  Here- 
fordshire, England,  in  1612,  came  to  this 
country  in  1640,  was  a  representative  in  1646, 
speaker  of  the  House  1648-9,  1654,  1656  and 
1658,  assistant  in  1659-76,  and  treasurer  of 
Massachusetts  from  1644  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  at  Charlestown,  Massachu- 
setts. Solomon  W.  Russell,  father  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  a  son  of  Captain 
Abel  Russell,  who  was  born  in  Petersburgh, 
New  York,  and  died  at  Salem,  New  York, 
October  28,  1866,  in  the  sixty-seventh  year  of 
his  age.  Pie  was  a  farmer  for  many  years  in 
the  town  of  Greenwich,  Washington  county, 
New  York.  He.  was  a  member  of  the  first 
incorporated  Presbyterian  church  at  Salem, 
and  wedded  Zada  Totman,  who  was  a  native 
of  Warren  county,  New  York,  May  2,  1832, 
and  who  died  in  the  town  of  Greenwich, 
September  10,  1840. 


f£JL.  #.  9f. 


JUL 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


183 


Solomon  W.  Russell  was  reared  principally 
on  his  father's  farm  in  the  town  of  Greenwich, 
and  after  attending  the  district  school  in  North- 
umberland, county  of  Saratoga,  New  York  city 
ward  School  No.  2,  the  academy  at  Fort  Mil- 
ler, Rev.  A.  G.  Cockran,  principal,  and  at 
Schuylerville,  the  seminary  at  Cooperstown, 
Charlottesville,  and  the  institute  at  Fort  Ed- 
ward, where  he  finished  his  preparation  for 
college.  He  entered  Union  college,  but  in  the 
middle  of  his  college  course  and  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1 861,  at  Salem,  he  raised  the  first  com- 
pany of  volunteers  raised  in  that  town  for  the 
war  of  1861-5,  Co.  A,  2d  New  York  volun- 
teer cavalry,  which  was  mustered  into  the  ser- 
vice of  the  United  States  in  September,  1861, 
He  was  elected  captain  of  the  company, which, 
with  the  regiment,  was  mustered  out  at  Wash- 
ington, District  of  Columbia,  March  30,  1862. 
He  was  afterwards  commissioned  adjutant  of 
the  1 8th  New  York  volunteer  infantry,  and 
at  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  service  of  that 
regiment,  he  was  commissioned  first  lieuten- 
ant of  Co.  B,  49th  New  York  volunteer  in- 
fantry. In  that  regiment  he  was  promoted 
successively  to  captain  and  major.  He  was 
brevetted  major  United  States  volunteers  for 
services  at  the  battle  of  Cedar  Creek,  Virginia, 
and  was  also  brevetted  lieutenant-colonel  of 
United  States  volunteers  for  gallant  and  meri- 
torious services  before  Petersburg,  and  at  the 
battle  of  Sailor's  Creek,  Virginia.  Colonel 
Russell  was  honorably  mustered  out  of  the 
service  of  the  United  States  at  Buffalo,  New 
York,  in  June,  1865.  His  entire  military  ser- 
vice was  with  the  army  of  the  Potomac.  He 
belonged  to  the  Sixth  army  corps.  Novem- 
ber 7th,  1863,  at  the  battle  of  Rappahannock 
Station,  Virginia,  while  taking  part  in  a  charge 
of  the  earth  works  of  the  enemy,  he  was  shot 
through  the  body  as  he  was  jumping  his  horse 
into  the  enemy's  works,  and  fell  to  the  ground 
insensible.  He  was  taken  from  the  field  and 
to  Armory  Square  hospital,  Washington,  Dis- 
trict   of    Columbia,    afterwards    to    Seminary 

hospital,    Georgetown,    and    in    May,    1864, 
12 


again  reported  for  duty  at  the  front,  reaching 
the  army  at  Spottsylvania,  Virginia,  and  served 
continuously  until  the  war  closed.  He  has 
never  fully  recovered  from  the  wound  received 
at  Rappahannock  Station.  He  read  law  with 
Hon.  C.  L.  Allen  at  Salem,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  December,  1862.  Re- 
turning from  the  war,  though  a  great  sufferer 
on  account  of  his  injuries  received  in  the  ser- 
vice, he  commenced  the  practice  of  the  law  at 
Salem,  in  the  office  of  Judge  Allen,  and  he 
has  ever  since  been  engaged  in  the  active 
and  successful  practice  of  his  profession  at 
Salem.  August  16,  1866,  Colonel  Russell  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Anna  A.  Dixon,  of 
Warrenton,  Virginia,  a  daughter  of  Lucius 
and  Rosena  Ashton  Dixon.  To  Colonel  and 
Mrs.  Russell  have  been  born  eight  children, 
two  sons  and  six  daughters:  Solomon  W. ,  jr. , 
Dixon  P.,  Anna  A.,  Rosena  E.,  Alice  F., 
Zada  T.,  Mary  S.  and  Sarah  H.  Anna  A. 
Russell  married  Benjamin  C.  Haggart,  teller 
of  the  Peoples'  National  Bank,  of  Salem. 
Solomon  W.  Russell,  jr.,  is  a  practicing  lawyer 
of  Salem,  and  married  Anna  C.  Wheeler,  of 
New  York  city.  Politically  Colonel  Russell 
up  to  the  first  election  of  President  Cleve- 
land was  a  democrat,  since  he  has  become  a 
republican.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Na- 
tional convention  of  1876,  at  Saint  Louis, 
Missouri,  which  nominated  Hon.  Samuel  J. 
Tilden,  and  was  always  a  warm  supporter  of 
him.  He  has  never  held  a  civil  salaried  office. 
He  has  been  president  of  the  village  of  Salem 
and  also  of  the  school  board  continuously  for 
more  than  twenty-five  years.  He  is  one  of  the 
trustees  of  Washington  academy,  in  whose 
progress  and  prosperity  he-  has  ever  since  his 
residence  in  Salem  taken  a  deep  interest.  He 
is  an  Episcopalian,  and  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Masonic  fraternity  ever  since  he  became 
twenty-one  years  of  age.  He  is  past  master 
of  Salem  Lodge,  No.  391,  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons,  and  Past  High  Priest  of  Federal 
Chapter,  No.  10,  Royal  Arch  Masons,  and 
past  commander  of  A.  L.  McDougal  Post,  No. 


184 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


570,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  Colonel 
Russell  has  a  good  law  practice,  and  is  pleas- 
ant and  genial,  easily  approached  and  com- 
mands the  respect  of  all  who  know  him. 


.JA3IES  31.  ORDWAY,  a  well  known 
and  respected  citizen  of  the  village  of 
Sandy  Hill,  and  a  descendant  of  Revolu- 
tionary ancestry,  is  a  son  of  James  and  Sarah 
(Buzzle)  Ordway,  and  was  born  in  .Orange 
county,  Vermont,  December  18,  1830.  The 
Ordways  are  of  Scotch  descent,  and  Moses 
Ordway  (grandfather)  served  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war.  His  son,  James  Ordway,  was 
born  in  New  Hampshire,  and  removed  in 
1869  to  this  county,  where  he  died  three 
years  later.  James  Ordway  was  a  stonema- 
son by  trade,  but  followed  farming,  and  mar- 
ried Sarah  Buzzle,  whose  father  was  a  native 
of  Massachusetts,  and  served  as  a  Conti- 
nental soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  struggle. 

James  M.  Ordway  was  reared  on  his 
father's  Vermont  farm,  receiving  but  three 
month's  schooling  in  each  year,  and  assisting 
in  farm  work  until  he  was  twenty-one  years 
of  age.  He  chopped  cord  word  for  the  first 
pair  of  boots  that  he  ever  wore,  and  upon 
attaining  his  majority  came  to  Warren  county, 
this  State,  where  he  worked  for  some  time  at 
lumbering,  and  then  became  a  jobber  in  get- 
ting pine,  hemlock  and  spruce  lumber  from 
the  logging  camps  and  mills  into  market.  In 
this  latter  business  he  was  so  successful  that 
in  a  few  years  he  acquired  sufficient  means  to 
purchase  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Moreau,  Sara- 
toga county,  on  which  he  lived  until  1889. 
In  that  year  Mr.  Ordway  came  to  Sandy  Hill, 
where  he  owns  a  handsome  residence,  also  a 
store  building  in  that  village,  another  at  Fort 
Edward,  and  some  valuable  property  at  Glens 
Falls,  besides  two  excellent  farms  in  the  town 
of  Moreau,  Saratoga  count}'. 

In  1862  Mr.  Ordway  married  Mary  An- 
drews, a  daughter  of  David  Andrews,  who 
drove  for  many  years  one  of  the   coaches   on 


the  famous  old  stage  line  between  Sandy  Hill, 
Whitehall  and  Troy.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ordway 
have  one  child,  a  daughter,  named  Sarah. 

James  M.  Ordway  is  a  democrat  in  political 
opinion.  He  is  energetic,  reliable  and  in- 
dustrious, and  has  acquired  a  comfortable 
competency  through  his  own  efforts. 


JOSEPH  HAVILAND,  a  prominent 
farmer  and  blooded  stock  raiser,  of  the 
town  of  Queensbury,  is  a  native  of  the  town 
in  which  he  now  resides,  and  was  born  in 
Sanford  Ridge,  three  miles  north  of  Glens 
Falls,  October  25,  1826.  After  leaving  the 
common  schools  of  his  neighborhood  his  ed- 
ucation was  supplemented  by  a  term  or  two 
at  the  Glens  Falls  Academy.  When  he  had 
come  of  age  he  engaged  in  farming,  which  he 
has  most  successfully  pursued  a  greater  portion 
of  the  time  ever  since.  On  February  5, 
1849,  Mr.  Haviland  was  married  to  Eliza 
Staples,  of  Pawlet,  Vermont,  and  immedi- 
ately afterward  left  the  old  homestead,  and 
went  to  occupy  a  farm,  known  as  the  Harvey 
farm,  about  one  mile  from  where  he  was 
born.  Eliza  Staples  was  a  daughter  of  Jona- 
than and  Sylvia  Staples  (the  latter  a  daugh- 
ter of  Stephen  Rogers),  who  owned  a  large 
dairy  in  the  State  of  Vermont.  Mr.  Havi- 
land remained  on  this  farm  until  1859,  when 
he  purchased  the  farm  where  he  now  resides, 
known  as  the  Reuben  Newman  farm.  He  is 
engaged  in  general  farming,  making  a  spec- 
ialty, to  some  extent,  of  breeding  and  raising 
superior  blooded  stock,  and  gives  much  of 
his  attention  to  Holstein  cattle.  For  three 
years  Mr.  Haviland  served  as  president  of  the 
Warren  County  Agricultural  society,  in  whose 
welfare  he  is  deeply  interested,  and  has  been 
one  of  its  chief  factors. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Haviland  have  been 
born  four  children:  Willis  J.,  born  January 
1,  1852;  Merritt  E.,  born  April  11,  1855; 
Elm  a  S.  and  Emma  L. ,  twins,  born  April  21, 
1858.     Merritt   E.    is   a  graduate    of    Cornell 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


185 


university,  in  the  class  of  1877,  studied  law 
with  Brown  &  Sheldon,  then  entered  Colum- 
bia law  school  in  September,  1878,  and  in 
May  the  following  year  was  admitted  to  the 
bar,  and  is  now  practicing  law  in  the  city  of 
New  York;  and  Willis  J.  is  a  farmer  on 
Sanford  Ridge. 

The  progenitors  of  the  Havilands  in  Amer- 
ica came  from  France,  and  spelled  the  name 
DeHavery.  The  earliest  record  we  have  of 
this  family  is  that  of  three  brothers  who  emi- 
grated from  France  to  England,  and  it  was 
agreed  among  them  that  the  first  of  the  three 
who  discovered  land  from  the  vessel  should 
exclaim  "Haviland,"  which  from  that  time 
became  the  family  name.  The  ancestors  in 
direct  line  from  Joseph  Haviland,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  were  Joseph  (father),  Roger 
Haviland  (grandfather),  the  latter  a  son  of 
Benjamin  Haviland,  who  was  born  in  1698, 
and  died  in  1757.  He  was  the  first  to  settle 
in  northern  New  York,  and  had  four  sons : 
David,  Solomon,  Joseph  and  Roger.  They 
were  all  Quakers  of  the  Orthodox  faith,  and 
have  been  among  the  most  numerous  and 
foremost  of  that  faith  in  the  town  of  Queens- 
bury.  Benjamin  Haviland  (third)  wedded 
Charlotte  Parks,  and  had  thirteen  children  : 
Benjamin,  Roger,  Thomas,  Daniel,  Solomon, 
Isaac,  John,  Sophia,  Charlotte,  Althea,  Sarah, 
Abigail  and  Mary.  Benjamin  third  was  a 
son  of  Benjamin  second,  who  was  born  in 
1654  and  died  in  1724,  and  was  the  father  of 
two  other  sons  :  John  and  Isaac.  Benjamin 
Haviland  first,  the  founder  of  the  American, 
branch  of  the  family,  came  from  England  in 
1647.  He  was  the  father  of  five  children  : 
Benjamin,  Adam,  Abigail,  Bathia  and  John. 
They  settled  in  Flushing,  Long  Island.  The 
father  of  Benjamin  first  was  John  Haviland, 
mayor  of  Bristol,  England,  who  married 
Mary  Knightly.  The  latter  was  a  son  of 
Christopher  De  Haviland,  who  married  a 
daughter  of  King  Edward  the  IV.,  of  Eng- 
land :  and  he,  James  De  Haviland,  was  a  son 
of  Thomas  De  Haviland,   who  became   illus- 


trious   at    the    recovery    of     Mount    Orgal, 
Jersey. 

Joseph  Haviland  was  a  son  of  Joseph  and 
Lydia  Sisson  Haviland,  the  former  having 
been  born  at  Feeder  Dam,  September  12, 
1793,  and  married  May  3,  1814.  His  wife 
was  a  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Sisson,  who  re- 
sided at  New  Bedford,  and  was  of  English 
extraction.  Joseph  Haviland  (father)  pur- 
chased a  farm  in  1826  on  Sanford  Ridge, 
where  he  lived  until  his  death,  November  26, 
1875.  He  was  one  of  the  most  intelligent 
and  successful  farmers  of  his  day.  He  was 
the  father  of  three  children  :  Daniel  S.,  Jo- 
seph and  Lydia  Ann.  He  led  a  long  life  of 
usefulness,  filled  with  kind  deeds  and  many 
liberal  acts.  The  wife  of  Joseph  Haviland 
died  in  June,  1893.  His  two  daughters, 
Elma  S.  and  Emma  L.,  are  both  married: 
the  former  to  J.  Corwin  Jacks,  of  Batavia, 
New  York,  and  the  latter  to  Francis  March, 
of  Surbitton,  England,  now  deceased. 


CA3IUEL  PRUYN,  one  of  the  proprie- 
tors of  the  Glens  Falls  Company,  dealers 
in  lime,  lumber,  grain  and  stone,  and  a  man 
whose  successful  career  in  business  has  been 
characterized  by  abundant  energy  and  sound 
judgment,  and  who  has  for  many  years  occu- 
pied an  influential  position  in  the  industrial 
affairs  of  Glens  Falls,  is  a  native  of  the  town 
of  Cambridge,  Washington  county,  New  York, 
where  he  was  born  June  19,  1820.  He  is  a 
son  of  Henry  V.  N.  and  Hannah  Morton 
Pruyn.  Henry  V.  N.  Pruyn  was  born  in 
Rensselaer  county,  New  York,  but  lived  the 
greater  portion  of  his  life  in  Washington 
county  as  a  farmer  in  the  town  of  Cambridge, 
where  he  died  in  1864,  aged  seventy-seven 
years.  Francis  Pruyn  (grandfather),  was  a 
native  of  Albany,  New  York,  removing  from 
there  in  an  early  da}'  to  Rensselaer  count}', 
where  he  was  engaged  in  farming  until  his 
death.  The  Pruyns  are  of  Holland  Dutch 
descent,  and  were  among  the  earliest  settlers 


186 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


in  the  now  city  of  Albany.  The  mother  of 
Samuel  Pruyn  was  a  native  of  New  Haven, 
Connecticut,  who  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-two 
years  in  1864.  Samuel  Pruyn  was  brought  to 
manhood  upon  the  farm  in  Washington  county, 
where  he  remained  until  he  had  arrived  at  the 
age  of  thirty  years,  when  he  removed  to  the 
village  of  Stillwater,  Saratoga  count}',  where 
for  three  years  he  was  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture and  sale  of  lumber,  going  thence  to 
Brooklyn,  where  he  became  a  clerk  in  a  lum- 
ber yard  for  one  year,  at  the  expiration  of 
which  time  he  went  to  Newaygo,  Michigan,  on 
the  Muskegon  river,  and  was  there  engaged 
in  the  same  capacity  for  one  year.  This 
brought  him  down  to  the  year  1856,  when  he 
returned  to  his  native  State  and  located  in  the 
village  of  Glens  Falls,  where  he  has  since  re- 
sided, and  successfully  engaged  in  the  lumber 
business.  In  1865  Mr.  Pruyn  formed  a  part- 
nership with  J.  W.  Finch,  and  bought  out  the 
property  of  the  Glens  Falls  Company,  which 
company  was  organized  as  far  back  as  1835, 
engaged  in  the  sale  of  lime,  lumber,  grain  and 
stone,  and  proprietors  of  the  celebrated  Glens 
Falls  Black  Marble  Company.  Since  the 
formation  of  this  partnership  in  1865  it  has 
been  most  prosperous,  and  is  at  the  present 
time  doing  the  largest  lumber  business  on  the 
Hudson  river.  This  firm  manufacture  about 
forty  million  feet  of  lumber  per  year,  and  own 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres 
of  timber  land,  mostly  located  in  the  Adiron- 
dacks  and  the  Cedar  river  country.  They 
manufacture  spruce,  hemlock  and  pine  lum- 
ber exclusively,  which  they  sell  and  ship  them- 
selves. Their  capacity  for  the  manufacturing 
of  lime  is  one  thousand  barrels  per  day. 
Their  black  marble  quarries  are  located  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  their  mills  on  the  Hud- 
son river.  In  addition  to  these  extensive  in- 
terests of  this  firm  they  own  a  large  grain 
elevator,  located  on  the  canal,  directly  oppo- 
site their  saw  mill,  and  they  are  also  the  pro- 
prietors of  some  thirty  odd  canal  boats,  which 
are   used  in   transporting  their  lumber,  lime, 


stone,  grain,  etc.,  to  New  York  city.  Around 
their  works  they  use  about  one  hundred  wag- 
ons, and  some  hundred  head  of  horses,  and 
give  employment  to  about  one  thousand  men 
the  year  round.  This  company  has  a  branch 
office  in  New  York  city,  and  own  a  great  deal 
of  real  estate  in  and  around  Glens  Falls. 
There  is  another  firm  of  Finch  &  Pruyn  which 
superintends  the  timber  land  and  sells  the 
manufactured  lumber,  made  by  the  Glens  Falls 
Company,  but  it  is  a  wheel  within  a  wheel,  so 
to  speak. 

Since  i860  Mr.  Pruyn  has  been  one  of  the 
leading  directors  in  the  First  National  bank 
of  Glens  Falls,  and  owns  stock  in  the  Glens 
Falls  Insurance  company. 

In  i860  Samuel  Pruyn  was  married  to  Eliza, 
daughter  of  James  Baldwin,  of  Washington 
county,  and  has  three  daughters  living  by  this 
marriage  :  Charlotte,  Mary  and  Nellie.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  a 
democrat  in  his  political  opinion,  and  for  many 
years  has  been  a  member  of  the  board  of  edu- 
cation of  his  village. 


nEV.  THOMAS  A.  FIELD,  O.  S.  A., 
a  classical  scholar  and  cultured  gentleman, 
and  the  popular  pastor  of  Saint  Joseph's  Catho- 
lic church,  is  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Margaret 
(Daley)  Field,  and  was  born  in  County  Cork, 
in  the  south  of  Ireland,  February  5,  1829. 
The  Field  family  is  of  English  descent,  and 
removed  about  a  century  ago  from  England  to 
Ireland,  where  Thomas  Field  was  born  in 
1794,  and  died  in  1859,  at  sixty-five  years  of 
age.  Thomas  Field  was  a  large  farmer  in 
County  Cork.  He  was  a  Catholic,  married 
Margaret  Daley,  and  reared  a  family  of  five 
sons  and  three  daughters,  of  whom  but  three 
are  now  living  :  John,  of  Beverley,  Massachu- 
setts ;  Mary,  wife  of  Daniel  Moriarty,  of  the 
same  place;  and  Rev.  Thomas  A.,  whose 
name  appears  at  the  head  of  this  sketch. 

Rev.  Thomas  A.  Field  received  his  elemen- 
tary   education    in     the    excellent    National 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


187 


schools  of  Ireland,  and  then  came  to  this 
country,  where  he  first  entered  Notre  Dame 
university  of  Indiana,  and  afterward  went  to 
Villanova  college,  near  Philadelphia,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  in  1869.  While  pur- 
suing his  classical  studies  he  took  a  full  theo- 
logical course,  and  on  April  3,  1871,  was  or- 
dained to  the  priesthood  by  Archbishop  Wood. 
His  first  charge  was  at  Lawrence,  Massachu- 
setts, where  he  served  two  and  one-half  years. 
At  the  end  of  that  time  he  came  to  Cambridge 
and  had  charge  of  the  church  there  up  to  1875, 
when  he  was  sent  to  take  charge  of  a  mission 
at  Ogdensburg,  New  York.  At  that  place  he 
remained  but  eight  months,  and  then  was 
transferred  to  Mechanicville,  this  State,  where 
he  labored  zealously  and  with  good  success 
for  two  years  and  a  half.  His  pastoral  labors 
closed  there  in  1878,  when  the  church  at  Green- 
wich asked  for  a  resident  pastor  and  named 
Father  Field  as  their  unanimous  choice.  The 
petition  was  granted  and  he  immediately  en- 
tered upon  the  numerous  and  arduous  duties 
of  his  present  and  important  charge.  By  zeal 
and  energy  he  has  accomplished  good  results 
in  building  up  his  church  membership,  and 
bettering  the  spiritual  condition  of  his  people. 
He  has  twice  enlarged  the  church  edifice  un- 
til it  has  now  a  seating  capacity  of  five  hun- 
dred. He  has  also  beautifully  frescoed  the 
church  and  built  a  neat  and  handsome  parson- 
age. While  accomplishing  all  these  desirable 
results  he  has  zealously  counseled  his  people 
to  be  independent  and  self-sustaining,  and  to- 
day the  church  stands  clear  of  debt,  and  has 
the  proud  and  unusual  record  of  having  asked 
assistance  of  no  other  church. 

Father  Field's  labors  are  highly  appreciated 
by  his  people,  and  has  their  love  and  respect. 
He  opposes  all  church  fairs  or  festivals  on  the 
ground  that  they  tend  to  demoralize  the  young 
people,  and  exert  an  injurious  influence  on  the 
older  persons  who  take  part  in  them.  An  ac- 
tive worker  in  the  cause  of  temperance,  he  is 
earnest  in  every  movement  for  the  improve- 
ment and  happiness  of  his  fellow  men. 
12a 


rjMlLLARD  H.  COTTON,  dentist,  a 
^Jy-i*-  representative  of  two  of  the  early 
settled  families  of  Washington  county,  and  a 
prominent  citizen  of  Salem,  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Hartford,  this  county,  December  18, 
1836.  He  is  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Clarissa 
(Pearce)  Cotton.  Thomas  Cotton  was  a  na- 
tive of  the  town  of  Hartford,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  reside  during  his  entire  life.  He 
was  a  farmer  and  wheelwright  in  business,  a 
whig  in  politics,  and  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812, 
and  died  in  1844,  at  the  age  of  fifty-one  years. 
He  married  Clarissa  Pearce,  a  daughter  of 
Daniel  Pearce,  who  came  from  New  England 
at  an  early  day  and  settled  in  the  town  of 
Hartford.  The  Pearce  family  is  of  English 
origin.  Silas  Cotton  (paternal  grandfather) 
came  from  Connecticut  with  a  colony  from 
that  section  several  years  prior  to  the  Revo- 
lution, and  settled  in  the  town  of  Hartford. 
He  followed  farming,  and  his  antecedents  run 
back  to  England.  The  progenitor  and  founder 
of  the  American  branch  of  the  Cotton  family 
was  an  Episcopal  minister,  who  came  from 
England.  Mrs.  Clarissa  Cotton  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Hartford  in  1798,  dying  in  1848, 
aged  fifty  years.  She  was  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  church. 

Willard  H.  Cotton,  D.D.  S.,  was  left  an 
orphan  in  early  life,  and  remained  in  his  native 
town  until  he  was  thirteen  years  of  age,  when 
he  went  to  Rensselaer  county.  He  received 
a  common  school  education,  and  upon  leaving 
school  he  applied  his  time  in  learning  the 
trade  of  making  fanning  mills  and  grain  cradles. 
After  working  at  this  for  some  time  he  aban- 
doned that  trade  in  order  to  learn  that  of  car- 
penter and  joiner,  which  he  soon  relinquished 
to  begin  the  study  of  dentistry  with  his  brother, 
Zina  Cotton,  of  Salem,  New  York.  In  1867 
his  brother  removed  to  Cambridge,  and  in  the 
same  year  he  opened  out  in  the  practice  of 
his  profession,  at  which  he  has  very  success- 
fully continued  ever  since.  He  has  succeeded 
in  building  up  a  substantial  and  lucrative  prac- 


188 


BIOOBAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


tice,  and  enjoys  the  esteem  and  confidence  of 
the  entire  public.  Dr.  Cotton  during  the  re- 
bellion responded  to  the  first  call  for  troops, 
and  on  June  i,  1861,  he  enlisted  as  second 
leader  of  a  regimental  band  in  the  2d  Vermont 
volunteers,  serving  six  months,  when  the  band 
was  discharged.  On  January  4,  1864,  he  re- 
enlisted  in  Co.  A,  1st  New  York  mounted 
rifles,  but  was  soon  detailed  to  regimental 
band  duty.  In  this  capacity  he  served  until 
his  regiment  was  discharged,  December  5, 
1865,  and  was  mustered  out  of  the  service  at 
Albany,  New  York. 

Dr.  Cotton  is  a  director  of  the  People's 
National  bank  of  Salem,  and  a  member  of  the 
Episcopal  church  of  the  same  village.  He  is 
also  a  member  of  Lodge  No.  391,  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons  ;  Federal  Chapter,  No.  10  ; 
and  of  the  A.  L.  McDougal  Fost,  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic. 


CDGAR  31.  PETTEYS,  a  resident  of 
"^^  Middle  Falls,  and  one  of  the  substantial 
and  prosperous  farmers  of  the  county,  is  a  son 
of  John  D.  and  Mary  (Rogers)  Petteys,  and 
was  born  at  Cambridge,  Washington  county, 
New  York,  October  2,  1843.  He  was  reared 
on  the  farm,  attended  the  public  schools 
and  Greenwich  academy,  and  has  followed 
general  farming  ever  since.  His  home  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  is  in  the 
northwestern  part  of  the  town  of  Easton, 
and  on  the  old  Troy  and  Whitehall  road.  He 
also  owns  a  good  farm  of  ninety  acres  about 
one-quarter  of  a  mile  south  of  his  home 
place,  and  has  expended  considerable  money 
in  draining  and  improving  his  farms,  which 
now  rank  among  the  most  fertile  and  produc- 
tive land  in  the  neighborhood.  Mr.  Petteys 
is  a  republican  in  politics,  and  has  been  a 
member  and  trustee  of  the  West  Greenwich 
Baptist  church  for  many  years. 

In  December,  1866,  Edgar  M.  Petteys  mar- 
ried Elsie  Slade,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Is- 
rael Slade,  of  the  town   of  Easton,  and  who 


died  in  January,  1873,  and  left  two  children  : 
John,  and  a  daughter  who  died  in  infancy. 
Three  years  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife, 
he,  in  September,  1876,  wedded  Frances  Da- 
vidson, daughter  of  James  Davidson,  a  farmer 
of  Middle  Falls.  By  his  second  marriage 
Mr.  Petteys  has  one  child,  a  son,  Jay  D. 

Ephraim  Petteys,  the  paternal  grandfather 
of  Edgar  M.,  was  a  native  of  Washington 
county,  and  owned  a  farm  of  four  hundred 
acres  of  good  farming  and  grazing  land  in 
the  town  of  Cambridge.  He  served  in  the 
war  of  1812,  and  died  in  1864,  at  about  eighty 
years  of  age.  He  was  twice  married.  By 
his  first  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Debo- 
rah James,  he  had  five  children,  four  sons  and 
one  daughter:  Harvey,  John  D.  (father), 
James,  Horace,  and  a  daughter  who  died  in 
infancy.  He  married  for  his  second  wife, 
Elizabeth  Ferris,  who  bore  him  seven  child- 
ren, six  sons  and  one  daughter:  Albert, 
Lewis,  Jacob,  Frederick,  William,  Arthur, 
and  a  daughter  who  died  in  infancy.  John 
D.  Petteys,  the  second  son  by  the  first  mar- 
riage, was  born  in  1812,  and  died  January  23, 
1877.  He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and 
in  1852  purchased  the  farm  on  which  his  son, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  now  resides.  He 
was  a  well  respected  man,  a  member  and  deacon 
of  the  Botskill  Baptist  church,  and  ranked 
among  the  most  successful  farmers  of  his  sec- 
tion. He  was  a  republican  in  politics,  served  as 
assessor  of  his  town  for  several  years,  and  in 
1841  married  Mary  Rogers,  a  daughter  of 
James  Rogers,  of  Middle  Falls,  who  was  a 
farmer  and  a  Baptist,  and  died  in  1866,  at 
eighty  years  of  age. 


.JOHN  B.  FOSTER,  a  resident  of  Green- 
wich,  and  who  has  been  engaged  in  con- 
nection with  the  mercantile  business  for  over 
ten  years,  is  a  son  of  Asel  and  Phebe  (Jack- 
son) Foster,  and  was  born  at  Easton,  Wash- 
ington county,  New  York,  July  6,  1865.  He 
was  reared  on  the  farm,  received  his  educa- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


189 


tion  in  the  public  schools  and  Greenwich 
academy,  and  served  as  a  clerk  for  six  years, 
one  year  of  that  time  being  spent  in  the  em- 
ploy of  James  McLean,  and  the  remainder  of 
the  period  with  the  mercantile  firm  of  A. 
Griffin  &  Son.  Leaving  the  employ  of  the 
firm  named,  he  formed,  in  1887,  a  partnership 
with  S.  B.  Wheelock,  and  they  were  engaged 
for  six  years,  under  the  firm  name  of  Wheelock 
&  Foster,  in  the  grocery  and  provision  busi- 
ness at  Greenwich.  Retiring  from  this  firm 
in  1893,  he  accepted  his  present  position  as  a 
traveling  salesman  for  the  wholesale  grocery 
and  provision  firm  of  Squires,  Sherry  &  Ga- 
lusha,  of  Troy,  this  State.  Mr.  Foster  is  a 
member  of  Ashlar  Masonic  and  Unionville 
Odd  Fellow  lodges,  of  the  village  of  Green- 
wich. 

On  June  10,  1883,  John  B.  Foster  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Kittie  Fitzgerald,  a  daughter 
of  John  Fitzgerald,  of  Shushan,  this  county. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Foster  have  four  children  : 
Edith,  Madge,  Helen,  and  Marion. 

The  Foster  family  of  this  county  are  de- 
scendants of  Amos  Foster,  sr. ,  who  came  from 
Rhode  Island,  and  became  the  owner  of  a  very 
large  and  valuable  tract  of  land  in  one  of  the 
towns  in  Washington  count}'.  His  son,  Amos 
Foster  (grandfather),  was  a  native  of  the  town 
of  Greenwich,  where  he  owned  a  large  farm, 
and  was  a  prominent  whig  and  Baptist,  being  a 
member  of  the  old  Botskill  Baptist  church. 
He  married  a  Miss  Tefft,  and  reared  a  family 
of  twelve  children.  One  of  his  sons,  Asel 
Foster,  was  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  and  passed  his  life  as  a  farmer  in  his 
native  town.  He  was  born  in  1823,  and  died 
at  the  village  of  Greenwich,  August  3,  1893, 
having  reached  man's  allotted  age  of  three 
score  and  ten  years.  He  was  a  republican 
and  Methodist,  and  married  a  Miss  Robinson, 
who  died  in  a  few  years  and  left  one  child,  a 
daughter,  named  Elizabeth,  now  the  wife  of 
George  Lee,  of  Philadelphia.  For  his  second 
wife  Mr.  Foster  wedded  Phebe  Jackson,  a 
daughter  of  John  Jackson,  of  Warrensburg, 


New  York,  and  a  relative  of  General  Jackson. 
Mrs.  Phebe  (Jackson)  Foster  died  February 
14,  1882,  aged  fifty-four  years.  To  Asel  and 
Phebe  (Jackson)  Foster  were  born  five  chil- 
dren :  Emma,  wife  of  Frederick  Tefft ;  Harriet 
A.,  wife  of  Fred.  C.  Willett  ;  Edith  J.,  George 
A.,  and  John  B.,  whose  name  heads  this  sketch. 


nEV.  EVERETT  REUBEN  SAW- 
YER, D.  D.,  pastor  of  the  Sandy  Hill 
Baptist  church,  is  a  son  of  Rev.  Reuben  Saw- 
yer, a  well  known  Baptist  minister  of  New 
England,  and  was  born  at  the  village  of  New 
London,  New  Hampshire,  October  20,  1838. 
He  was  reared  partly  in  the  "Granite  State," 
and  was  prepared  for  college  at  Lowville 
academy,  Lewis  county,  New  York.  At  the 
completion  of  his  academical  course  he  en- 
tered Union  college  at  Schenectady,  and  was 
graduated  from  that  celebrated  educational 
institution  in  the  class  of  i860,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years.  Immediately  after  leaving 
college  he  studied  for  the  ministry,  and  was 
ordained  at  Cooperstown.  His  first  charge 
was  at  that  village,  in  that  lake  section  of  New 
York  State  made  famous  for  all  time  to  come 
by  Coopers'  volume  of  Indian  romances. 
After  five  years  profitably  spent  at  Coopers- 
town,  Dr.  Sawyer  was  pastor  for  two  years  at 
Albion,  New  York.  In  1870  he  received  and 
accepted  a  call  from  the  Sandy  Hill  Baptist 
church,  where  he  has  labored  ever  since. 

In  1871  Dr.  Sawyer  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Sarah  E.  Lord,  of  Lewis  county.  They 
have  two  children,  both  sons  :  W.  L.  and  J.  E. 

During  Dr.  Sawyer's  pastorate  of  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  the  Sandy  Hill  Baptist 
church  has  had  a  good  degree  of  prosperity. 
The  present  number  of  members  is  two  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five.  Its  offerings  for  benev- 
olence have  been  very  generous.  Dr.  Sawyer 
was  largely  instrumental  in  securing  the  erec- 
tion of  the  present  Baptist  church  edifice, 
which  is  one  of  the  finest  church  structures  in 
the  county,  and  cost  over  fifty-six   thousand 


190 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


dollars.  The  church  is  free  of  debt,  and  in 
addition  to  their  sanctuary  they  have  a  hand- 
some brick  parsonage.  Beside  discharging 
his  pastoral  duties  in  connection  with  the 
church,  Dr.  Sawyer  takes  a  deep  interest  in 
the  Sabbath  school  of  his  church,  which  is  in 
a  flourishing  condition.  He  is  chairman  of 
the  missionary  committee  of  the  Washington 
Union  Baptist  association,  in  whose  interests 
he  has  frequently  served.  Dr.  Sawyer  has 
broken  the  bread  of  life  acceptably  to  his 
church  for  nearly  twenty-five  years,  and  has 
labored  faithfully  during  all  that  time  in  the 
cause  of  Christianity.  He  is  a  courteous  and 
sociable  gentleman,  and  has  the  respect  and 
good  will  of  all  who  know  him,  regardless  of 
church  creed  or  denomination. 


□  SAHEL  CLARK,  a  descendant  of  one 
"^^  the  most  prominent  and  honored  families 
of  Washington  county,  and  a  cousin  of  Dr.  E. 
G.  Clark,  of  Sand}'  Hill,  was  born  in  the  same 
village  on  May  20,  1830.  He  is  a  son  of  Or- 
ville  and  Delia  M.  Clark.  The  former  was  a 
lawyer  by  profession,  prominent  in  the  busi- 
ness affairs  of  his  section,  and  a  native  of 
Mount  Holly,  where  he  was  born  in  the  year 
1800.  In  about  1828  he  came  to  Sandy  Hill, 
and  here  he  made  his  home  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1862,  at  the  age  of  sixty-two 
years.  A  democrat  in  his  political  tendencies, 
he  was  elected  State  senator  from  his  district, 
and  served  in  the  session  of  1846.  He  was 
afterward  president  of  the  Des  Moines  Navi- 
gation Company,  located  at  Des  Moines,  Iowa, 
and  it  was  here  that  he  died  while  on  a  business 
trip.  While  schooled  in  the  law,  his  natural 
inclination  led  him  into  business  channels,  and 
for  the  greater  part  of  his  life  he  was  engaged 
extensively  in  contracting.  He  received  im- 
portant contracts,  which  he  would  promptly 
and  successfully  execute,  for  railroad  and  other 
large  corporations.  He  was  a  brother  of  Rus- 
sell Clark,  a  prominent  physician,  and  uncle 
of  Dr.  E.  G.  Clark,  and  for  the  ancestry  of 


the  family  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  sketch 
of  the  latter,  found  on  another  page  of  this 
book.  Hon.  Orville  Clark  was  a  man  of  di- 
versified resources,  a  leader  in  many  of  the 
progressive  movements  of  his  county,  of  un- 
impeachable integrity,  and  no  citizen  was  more 
highly  respected  by  his  neighbors  and  by  all 
who  knew  him.  In  physique  he  was  tall  and 
commanding,  and  his  memory  will  long  be 
cherished  by  many  with  whom  he  came  into 
business  and  social  contact.  His  wife,  who 
was  an  estimable  woman,  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Kingsbury,  and  was  a  daughter  of 
Henry  C.  Martindale,  of  Washington  county, 
New  York,  an  old  line  whig  and  member  of 
Congress.  Her  death  occurred  at  the  age  of 
seventy-five  years,  in  February,  1881. 

Asahel  Clark's  boyhood  years  were  spent  in 
Sandy  Hill  and  the  surrounding  neighborhood, 
receiving  the  rudiments  of  his  education  in  the 
village  school,  and  later  entered  Union  college, 
at  Schenectady,  New  York,  and  was  graduated 
with  his  class  in  1849.  He  then  went  to  Ro- 
chester and  became  a  law  student  under  the 
preceptorship  of  his  uncle,  Gen.  John  H.  Mar- 
tindale, who  was  a  general  in  the  late  civil 
war,  but  relinquished  the  law  before  his  ad- 
mission to  the  bar,  and  became  engaged  with 
his  father  in  railroad  contracting.  For  a  num- 
ber of  years  he  was  engaged  in  this  business 
in  the  State  of  Iowa,  continuing  in  the  same 
up  to  1884,  when  he  branched  out  in  farming 
in  Story  county,  that  State,  which  he  followed 
up  to  1890.  In  that  year  he  came  back  to 
Sandy  Hill,  and  has  since  been  retired  from 
all  active  business.  He  is  an  Episcopalian  in 
religious  belief,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Chi 
Psi  Soc  fraternity  of  Union  college.  Like  his 
father  before  him,  he  is  a  stanch  and  earnest 
democrat.     He  has  never  married. 


7jMlLLIAM    H.    MILLER,    M.    D., 

^-**-&  Was  one  of  Sandy  Hill's  most  suc- 
cessful physicians  and  useful  citizens ;  a  son 
of  Abram  and  Rebecca   (Akin)   Miller;   and 


lilOGEAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


191 


was  born  at  Pittstown,  near  Troy,  New  York, 
in  February,  1821.  He  was  reared  on  his 
father's  farm,  and  at  sixteen  years  of  age  en- 
tered Amenia  seminary.  At  the  close  of  his 
academical  course  he  became  a  medical  stu- 
dent with  Dr.  Lyon,  of  Schaghticoke,  and 
after  reading  for  some  time,  entered  Albany 
Medical  college,  from  which  he  was  gradu- 
ated in  the  class  of  1843.  After  graduating 
he  practiced  successively  at  Hoosic,  Poultney, 
in  Vermont,  and  Granville.  In  1854  he  came 
to  Sandy  Hill,  and  was  a  general  practicioner 
here  until  his  death,  although  he  desired  to 
retire  from  practice  during  the  latter  years  of 
his  life,  but  was  constrained  not  to  do  so  by 
many  of  his  patients.  His  knowledge  was 
such  that  he  was  called  to  lecture  on  anatomy 
at  Fort  Edward  seminary,  and  at  Troy  Con- 
ference academy,  at  Poultney,  Vermont. 
After  becoming  a  resident  of  Sandy  Hill,  Dr. 
Miller  was  not  only  a  popular  physician  but 
was  a  successful  manufacturer,  an  extensive 
farmer,  and  an  efficient  public  official,  serving 
for  some  time  as  supervisor  of  the  town  of 
Kingsbury.  He  was  a  charter  member  of  the 
First  National  bank,  of  which  he  served  as 
vice-president  during  the  year  preceding  his 
death.  He  owned  four  hundred  acres  of  land 
in  the  town  of  Moreau,  Saratoga  count)'. 

In  1846  Dr.  Miller  married  Frances  A. 
Wentworth,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  and  a 
member  of  the  old  and  honorable  Wentworth 
family  of  New  England,  founded  in  1639  by 
four  brothers  by  that  name,  who  came  from 
England. 

Dr.  Miller  died  in  1873,  and  his  remains 
rest  in  Sandy  Hill  Union  cemetery.  He  was 
a  self-made  man,  in  the  true  sense  of  that 
term,  and  whatever  he  laid  his  hand  to  do  he 
did  with  great  concentration  of  energy  and 
determination  to  succeed.  Sandy  Hill  is 
largely  indebted  to  him  for  its  present  growth 
and  prosperity.  It  was  through  his  efforts 
that  Baker's  Falls  was  built  up  and  made  a 
prosperous  annex  to  the  village.  To  him 
Sandy  Hill  is  also  indebted  for  its  court  house, 


its  railroad,  and  its  first  bank,  as  much  so  as 
to  any  other  man  ;  beside  his  encouraging 
and  urging  into  life  a  score  of  private  enter- 
prises that  added  to  the  wealth  and  business 
of  the  place.  Dr.  Miller's  mind  was  so  com- 
prehensive that  he  could  instantly  turn  from 
the  consideration  of  gigantic  business  enter- 
prises to  complicated  and  intricate  medical 
cases  :  and  it  was  to  this  he  was  most  de- 
voted, and  to  which  the  best  years  of  his  life 
were  given. 

HON.  ORSON  W.  SHELDON,  prom 
inent  and  active  in  financial  affairs  in 
New  York  and  Kansas  for  over  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  and  who  enjoys  the  popular  distinc- 
tion of  being  one  of  the  few  democrats  that 
have  ever  carried  the  republican  stronghold  of 
Washington  county,  is  a  son  of  Uriah  and 
Calista  (Spicer)  Sheldon,  and  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Cjueensbury,  Warren  county,  this 
State,  September  2,  1828.  At  four  years  of 
age  he  was  brought  by  his  parents  to  Fort 
Ann,  where  he  grew  to  manhood  and  has  re- 
sided ever  since.  He  received  his  education 
in  the  common  school,  and  early  in  life  en- 
gaged in  canal  boating,  which  he  followed  to 
1862,  when  he  embarked  in  his  present  lumber 
business.  In  addition  to  lumbering  Mr.  Shel- 
don has  for  the  last  twenty-five  years  given 
considerable  attention  to  financial  matters. 
He  served  for  several  years  as  president  of  the 
bank  of  John  Hall  &  Co.,  and  is  now  presi- 
dent of  the  Smith  County  National  bank,  of 
Smith  Centre,  Kansas.  He  is  a  member  of 
Mount  Hope  Lodge,  No.  260,  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Masons. 

On  March  19,  1850,  Mr.  Sheldon  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Esther  B.  Broughton,  daugh- 
ter of  Amos  Broughton,  of  Fort  Ann.  They 
have  two  children,  a  son  and  a  daughter  : 
Albert  U.  and  Helen  M. 

The  political  career  of  Orson  W.  Sheldon 
commenced  in  1872,  when  he  was  elected  by 
the  democrats  as  supervisor  of  the  town  of 
Fort  Ann,  an  office  to  which  he  was  re-elected 


192 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


in  the  years  1873,  1877,  1878,  1879,  and  1887. 
His  course  as  a  town  officer  having  been  so 
satisfactory  to  all  parties,  led  to  his  nomina- 
tion by  the  Democratic  party  of  his  district 
for  the  assembly.  Strong  within  his  own 
party,  and  popular  with  the  general  masses, 
he  carried  Washington  county,  which  has 
always  been  one  of  the  great  republican  strong- 
holds of  the  State,  by  a  handsome  vote,  over- 
coming the  average  three  thousand  majority 
given  to  the  other  nominees  on  the  republican 
ticket.  Mr.  Sheldon  served  very  creditably 
in  the  general  assembly  of  New  York  in  the 
session  of  1887-88,  and  then  withdrew  in  a 
large  measure  from  politics  to  give  needed 
attention  to  his  business  affairs,  although  he 
is  still  active  in  the  interests  of  the  Democratic 
party,  and  in  any  political  emergency  is  always 
found  at  the  front,  working  for  the  success 
and  supremacy  of  the  party  of  Jackson  and 
Cleveland. 

Nathan  Sheldon,  the  founder  of  the  Sheldon 
family  in  this  county,  was  a  native  of  Dutchess 
county,  and  in  early  life  removed  to  the  town 
of  Fort  Ann,  where  he  died  at  an  advanced 
age.  He  served  in  the  second  war  with  Eng- 
land for  independence.  His  son,  Uriah  Shel- 
don (father),  was  born  December  23,  1799,  in 
the  town  of  Fort  Ann,  where  he  died  June  23, 
1836,  when  in  the  thirty-seventh  year  of  his 
age.  He  was  a  Jacksonian  democrat  and  a 
powder  manufacturer,  and  married  Calista 
Spicer,  who  was  born  Jul}7  3,  1801,  and  passed 
away  August  15,  1854.  The  Sheldon  family 
is  of  English  lineage,  and  possesses  many  of 
the  commendable  traits  of  that  powerful  race. 


|3EV.  ERASTUS  WENTWORTH, 
T  D.D.,  a  prominent  minister  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church,  was  a  son  of  Erastus 
and  Esther  (States)  Wentworth,  and  was  born 
at  Stonington,  Connecticut,  August  5,  1813. 
He  was  of  Dutch  and  Pilgrim  ancestry,  a  grad- 
uate of  Wesleyan  university,  and  in  1841  be- 
came a  Methodist  clergyman.      He  was  presi- 


dent of  McKendree  college  in  1846,  acted  as 
professor  of  natural  sciences  in  Dickenson  col- 
lege in  1850,  and  served  as  a  missionary  in 
China  from  1858  to  1862.  From  1862  until 
his  death  in  1886,  he  was  engaged  largely  in 
ministerial  duties,  his  last  charge  being  at  Fort 
Edward.  He  received  his  degree  of  D.  D. 
from  Allegheny  college  in  1858. 

Dr.  Wentworth  in  1839  married  Mary  Alex- 
ander, who  was  a  daughter  of  Seth  Alexander, 
of  De  Kalb,  New  York,  and  died  in  1852.  Two 
years  later  he  wedded  Anna  M.  Lewis,  a 
daughter  of  Joseph  Lewis,  a  lawyer  of  West 
Chester,  Pennsylvania.  He  afterward  mar- 
ried Phebe  E.  Potter,  of  Dutchess  county,  New 
York. 

Dr.  Wentworth  died  at  Sandy  Hill,  May  25, 
[886,  when  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his 
age.  He  was  a  man  of  varied  attainments,  a 
fine  preacher,  a  well  known  newspaper  corre- 
spondent and  editor,  and  a  man  whose  amount 
of  information  was  encyclopaedic. 


f^AVID  O.  BRIGGS,  who  has  achieved 
considerable  success  in  the  business 
world,  is  a  native  of  Steuben  county,  New 
York.  He  was  early  in  life  brought  to  Fort 
Ann  by  his  parents,  where  he  grew  up,  and 
attended  the  common  schools  of  that  village. 
On  leaving  school  he  went  to  Rutland  county, 
Vermont,  where  he  worked  on  a  farm  for  four 
years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  returned 
to  the  village  of  Fort  Ann,  where  he  engaged 
in  canal  boating,  at  which  he  also  continued 
for  four  years.  In  March,  1848,  while  blast- 
ing in  rock  on  the  Delaware  &  Hudson  Canal 
Company  railroad,  near  this  village,  he  met 
with  the  sad  accident  of  losing  both  arms  by 
the  premature  explosion  in  the  rock.  In  1849 
he  engaged  in  the  grocery  business,  but  in 
1857,  however,  he  returned  to  canal  boating 
on  his  own  account,  which  he  followed  very 
successfully  up  to  1864.  In  that  year  he  en- 
gaged in  the  grocery  business,  which  he  has 
since  followed,  and  for  the  last  seven  or  eight 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Wi 


years,  in  addition  to  his  mercantile  duties,  he 
has  been  in  the  employ  of  the  State,  running 
the  repair  boat  on  the  Champlain  canal.  In 
1856  Mr.  Briggs  was  married  to  Fannie. 
Chestnut,  daughter  of  Thomas  Chestnut,  the 
latter  being  a  native  of  Ireland.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Briggs  have  been  born  seven  chil- 
dren, two  sons  and  five  daughters:  Sarah  J., 
present  wife  of  Abner  Scott,  of  Fort  Ann  ; 
Carrie  E.,  now  the  widow  of  Cornelius  Gor- 
man; Frank  W.,  Harriett  L.,  Julia  E.,  mar- 
ried to  Claude  Bailey  ;  Mary  A.  and  David 
O.  They  have  also  five  sons  deceased.  Mr. 
Briggs  is  a  democrat  in  his  political  affilia- 
tions, and  for  many  years  has  served  as  town 
collector. 

David  O.  Briggs  is  a  son  of  Daniel  and 
Sarah  (Hall)  Briggs.  His  father  was  a  na- 
tive of  the  town  of  Hartford,  having  been 
born  in  1794,  and  died  in  Fort  Ann,  at  the 
age  of  forty-six,  in  1840.  He  was  a  democrat 
in  politics,  and  followed  the  occupation  of 
farming.  His  father,  Jeremy,  was  born  in 
Rutland  county,  Vermont,  and  became  one  of 
the  early  settlers  of  the  town  of  Hartford, 
where  he  died,  aged  sixty-nine  years.  The 
Briggs  family  are  of  Scotch  and  English 
origin.  Sarah  Hall  Briggs  was  also  a  native 
of  Rutland  county,  Vermont,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  fifty-eight,  in  1855. 


HARRY  S.  BL, ACKFAN,  M. D.,  who 
is  a  physician  by  inheritance  as  well  as 
the  right  of  adoption,  as  both  his  father  and 
grandfather  and  several  other  members  of  the 
family  have  been  disciples  of  Esculapius.  He 
is  a  son  of  Edward  Blackfan  and  Susan  W. 
Trego,  and  was  born  in  Orion,  Henry  count}', 
Illinois,  June  13,  1857.  His  father  was  a  na- 
tive of  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  who  was  a 
graduate  of  the  medical  department  of  the 
university  of  Pennsylvania,  and  he  with  his 
brother  Benjamin,  who  was  also  a  practicing 
physician,  when  young  men  went  west,  locating 
in  Henry  county,  Illinois,  where  they  became 


early  settlers  of  that  section.  Dr.  Edward 
Blackfan  died  at  Orion  in  1866,  at  the  age  of 
forty-seven  years.  His  father  was  Joseph 
Blackfan,  a  physician  by  profession,  who  was 
a  native  of  Bucks  county,  Pennsylvania,  and 
practiced  medicine  in  Philadelphia  for  many 
years  ;  his  death  occurred  at  the  age  of  eighty 
years.  His  father  was  a  relative  of  William 
Penn,  coming  from  Lancashire,  England,  and 
was  a  Quaker  in  religion.  The  mother  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  Susan  W.  Trego,  is  a 
native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  now  residing  at 
Orion. 

Harry  S.  Blackfan  grew  to  manhood  in  his 
native  village,  receiving  his  primary  education 
in  the  high  school  of  that  village.  In  1879 
he  came  to  Washington  county  and  com- 
menced the  study  of  medicine  in  the  office  of 
Dr.  D.  H.  Chase,  of  Cambridge,  and  was 
graduated  from  the  Eclectic  Medical  college 
of  Cincinnati  in  1885,  and  in  the  same  year 
located  at  Shushan,  where  he  has  succeeded 
in  building  up  a  substantial  practice.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  New  York  State  Eclectic 
Medical  society.  At  the  beautiful  little  sum- 
mer resort,  Lake  Lauderdale,  two  miles  from 
the  village  of  Shushan,  Dr.  Blackfan  owns  a 
summer  hotel,  where  he  spends  his  summer 
months.  He  was  married  in  1880  to  Estella 
L.,  who  is  a  daughter  of  D.  A.  Chase,  of 
Cambridge.  To  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Blackfan  have 
been  born  three  children  :  Hallie  M.,  Kenneth 
D.,  and  Harry  C.  Dr.  Blackfan  is  a  member 
of  the  United  Presbyterian  church  of  his  vil- 
lage, and  Cambridge  Valley  Lodge,  No.  481, 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  and  isarepublican. 


JWrVRON     I>.    INGALSBE,    the    well 

\  known  and  successful  merchant  of  Fort 
Ann,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Hartford,  Wash- 
ington county,  New  York,  July  1,  1846,  and  is 
a  son  of  David  Ingalsbe  and  Emily  E.  May- 
nard.  The  Ingalsbe  family  were  among  the 
first  to  settle  in  the  town  of  Hartford,  which 
was  founded   by  Aaron    and    Eber    Ingalsbe, 


194 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


two  young  unmarried  men  who  came  from 
Massachusetts  in  1782,  and  settled  on  lot  87. 
Here  they  built  a  shanty  near  where  A.  Gil- 
christ's now  stands  ;  went  back  to  Massachu- 
setts in  the  fall,  but  returned  the  next  spring. 
Eber  removed  to  the  north,  but  Aaron  married 
Polly  Hicks,  of  Granville,  by  whom  he  had 
ten  children,  his  sons  being:  James,  Silas, 
Belas,  Aaron,  Reuben,  Levi,  Elias  and  Lewis. 
James  was  born  in  July,  1789,  and  had  four 
sons:  Milo,  Royal,  Homer  and  James  L., 
who  became  prominent  citizens  of  that  town. 
David  Ingalsbe  was  a  native  of  the  town  of 
Hartford,  but  removed  to  the  town  of  Gran- 
ville, where  he  died  in  August,  1880,  aged 
sixty  years.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church,  a  republican  in  political  sentiment, 
and  a  farmer  by  occupation  :  he  resided  in 
the  town  of  Granville  about  fifteen  years  prev- 
ious to  his  death.  He  was  a  son  of  Zachariah 
Ingalsbe,  who  was  also  born  in  the  town  of 
Hartford,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
five  years  ;  a  cooper  by  trade,  and  was  a  sol- 
dier in  the  war  of  181 2.  Emily  E.  Maynard, 
also  a  native  of  Hartford,  dying  at  the  age  of 
sixty-seven  years,  in  1886,  and  was  a  member 
of  the  Baptist  church. 

Myron  D.  Ingalsbe  remained  on  the  farm 
in  his  native  town  until  he  arrived  at  the  age 
of  thirteen,  when  he  removed  with  his  parents 
to  the  town  of  Granville.  He  received  a  com- 
mon school  education  and  continued  to  farm 
until  he  had  arrived  at  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years,  when  he  engaged  as  a  clerk  in  general 
stores  at  Truthville  and  Granville,  where  he  re- 
mained three  years.  Then  he  formed  a  part- 
nership with  Isaac  Finch,  under  the  firm  name 
of  Finch  &  Ingalsbe,  who  did  a  general  mer- 
chandising business  at  Fort  Ann  for  one  year, 
when  Mr.  Ingalsbe  sold  his  interests  and  the 
following  fall  took  a  position  as  bookkeeper 
in  O.  G.  How's  sash  and  door  factor)-,  of  the 
same  village.  Here  he  remained  until  the 
next  year,  in  the  fall  of  which  he  engaged  as 
partner  with  H.  C.  Clements  in  the  same  line 
of  business,  the  title  of  the  firm  being  H.  C. 


Clements,  Ingalsbe  &  Co.  This  firm  did  busi- 
ness for  three  years,  when  Mr.  Ingalsbe  again 
sold  his  interest,  and,  in  1879,  opened  out  at 
his  present  stand,  which  is  a  grocery  and  meat 
market,  where  he  carries  on  a  successful  and 
prosperous  trade.  In  addition  he  handles  ice 
during  the  summer  season  and  owns  ten  acres 
of  land  inside  the  corporation  of  Fort  Ann, 
which  he  farms.  In  1871  Mr.  Ingalsbe  was 
married  to  Mary  S.,  daughter  of  Harvey  Oat- 
man,  of  the  town  of  Hartford.  To  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Ingalsbe  have  been  born  four  children, 
Harvey  D.,  Densy  A.,  Julia  E.  and  Emily  D. 
He  is  a  republican  in  politics  and  a  popular 
business  man,  who  commands  the  esteem  and 
respect  of  all  who  come  in  contact  with  him. 


CRNEST  A.  (JREENOUGH,  captain 
"^■^  of  the  9th  separate  company  of  the  Na- 
tional Guard,  State  of  New  York,  was  born  in 
the  village  of  Whitehall,  Washington  county, 
New  York,  June  11,  1864.  Here  he  grew  up, 
attending  the  public  schools,  and  later  on  en- 
tered the  North  Granville  Military  academy, 
and  after  leaving  this  institution  was  in  the 
employ  of  contractors  on  public  works  in  the 
capacity  of  book-keeper,  superintendent,  etc., 
up  to  1888.  In  that  year  he  engaged  in  the 
piano  business,  in  which  he  has  been  exten- 
sively engaged  ever  since.  On  January  10, 
1881,  Captain  Greenough  enlisted  as  a  private 
in  the  9th  separate  company,  and  since  then 
has  gone  through  all  the  grades  of  promotion  of 
this  company,  and  on  May  12,  1893,  was 
elected  captain,  and  is  now  serving  in  that 
office.  This  company  was  organized  April  27, 
1876,  and  is  one  of  the  efficient  and  well  dis- 
ciplined companies  of  the  State.  In  June. 
1891,  he  was  married  to  Frances  S.  Allen, 
a  daughter  of  Hannibal  Allen,  of  Whitehall. 
Captain  Greenough  is  a  member  of  the  Epis- 
copal church,  and  a  democrat  in  political  opin- 
ion, and  takes  an  active  part  in  politics. 

Capt.  Ernest  A.  Greenough   is   a  son  of  J. 
Henry  and  Mary  L.  (Allen)  Greenough,   the 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


195 


former  having  been  born  in  this  village  on 
February  4,  1830,  and  has  resided  in  his  native 
village  ever  since,  engaged  in  the  carriage 
making  business.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Episcopal  church,  and  Phoenix  Lodge,  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons,  a  democrat  in  his  po- 
litical sentiment,  and  is  now  holding  the  office 
of  village  assessor.  His  father  was  James 
Greenough,  who  was  a  native  of  Lebanon, 
New  Hampshire,  coming  to  this  village  in 
1829,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
dying  in  1884,  aged  eighty-four  years.  He 
was  a  Jacksonian  democrat,  served  as  trustee 
and  poor  master  of  the  village,  and  was  for 
many  years  engaged  in  the  carriage  manufac- 
turing business.  He  was  a  descendant  of  an 
old  New  England  family.  The  mother  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  Wells, Ver- 
mont, April  1,  1832,  and  died  December  16, 
1892.  She  was  a  devoted  member  of  the 
Episcopal  church  of  Whitehall. 


QHARLES  HUGHES  was  born  Febru- 
^^  ary  27,  1822.  In  1837  he  began  the  study 
of  law  in  the  office  of  H.  B.  Northup,  at  Sandy 
Hill,  New  York.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  January,  1845.  In  1852  he  was  elected  to 
Congress.  In  1857  he  was  elected  clerk  of 
the  court  of  appeals.  In  1862  he  took  an 
active  part  in  raising  and  organizing  thefamous 
Washington  county  regiment,  123d  New  York 
volunteers.  Ill  health  prevented  his  taking 
command  of  the  regiment  and  going  to  the 
field.  In  1863  he  was  appointed  provost 
marshal,  and  was  in  command  at  the  time  of 
the  July  (1863)  riots  in  Troy.  The  mob,  wisely 
for  themselves,  left  his  office  alone.  They 
knew  he  was  prepared  for  them. 

In  1877  he  was  elected  senator  of  the  State 
of  New  York.  He  filled  all  public  offices  with 
ability  and  with  great  credit.  On  April  26, 
1850,  the  law  firm  of  Hughes  &  Northup  was 
formed.  Charles  Hughes  and  Lyman  H. 
Northup  composed  the  firm.  That  firm  ex- 
isted until  the  death  of  Mr.  Hughes,  August 


10,  1887,  a  period  of  more  than  thirty-seven 
years. 

Mr.  Hughes  was  the  advocate  and  trial 
member  of  the  firm.  He  was  an  able  advocate 
and  a  great  orator.  He  had  a  wonderful 
knowledge  of  human  nature,  and  rarely  erred 
in  his  judgment  of  a  juror.  He  was  engaged 
in  nearly  every  important  case,  civil  and  crim- 
inal, in  the  county  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
century.  His  summing  up  in  the  Billings 
murder  trial,  in  the  Willett  murder  trial,  and 
in  the  Clements  bank  case  were  marvels  of 
eloquence.  No  poor  man  ever  applied  to  him 
for  professional  aid  and  was  refused  for  his 
poverty.  His  was  a  genial  nature.  The  world 
would  be  better  were  there  more  men  like 
Charles  Hughes. 


HON.  JOHN  H.  DERBY,  ex  state  sen 
ator  and  manufacturer  of  Sandy  Hill,  is 
the  only  child  born  to  George  F.  Derby  and 
Jane  F.  Howland  (see  sketch  of  Amasa  How- 
land).  The  former  was  a  son  of  John  Derby, 
who  was  born  in  the  town  of  Hebron,  this 
county,  in  1787,  and  belonged  to  the  Massa- 
chusetts family  of  Derbys,  whose  progenitors 
came  to  the  new  world  in  about  the  year 
1700;  he  died  early  in  life.  George  F. 
Derby  was  a  native  of  Glens  Falls,  and  was 
born  in  1817;  he  was  a  railway  contractor, 
and  died  in  1873.  He  wedded  Jane  How- 
land,  a  sister  of  Amasa  Howland,  of  Sandy 
Hill,  and  whose  death  occurred  in  1871. 

John  H.  Derby  was  born  at  Sandy  Hill, 
Washington  county,  New  York,  June  20, 
1845,  and  there  grew  to  manhood.  At  the 
age  of  sixteen  Mr.  Derby,  accompanied  by 
his  father,  went  to  western  New  York,  Ohio 
and  Pennsylvania,  where  his  father  was 
called  as  a  railway  contractor.  His  splendid 
business  talent  had  already  begun  to  develop 
itself,  and  he  proved  a  read}'  and  valuable  as- 
sistant to  his  father  ;  also  as  clerk  employed 
by  the  Atlantic  &  Great  Western  Railroad 
Company,    with  which    his  father  was  for    a 


196 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTOBY 


time  connected.  In  1873,  after  an  absence 
of  twelve  years,  Mr.  Derby  returned  to  Sandy 
Hill,  then  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight,  and 
has  ever  since  resided  here.  The  firm  of 
Howland  &  Co.  was  formed  to  succeed  How- 
land  &  Miller,  and  consisted  of  Amasa  How- 
land,  L.  M.  Howland  and  John  H.  Derby, 
and  continued  to  1892,  wheh  it  was  succeeded 
by  the  Howland  Paper  Co.  But  this  by  no 
means  measures  the  limit  of  his  usefulness  or 
the  extent  of  the  trust  reposed  in  him. 
There  is  hardly  an  interest  in  the  thriving 
village  of  Sandy  Hill  with  which  John  H. 
Derby  is  not  connected.  Perhaps  first  in  im- 
portance as  affecting  the  higher  welfare  of 
the  place  may  be  mentioned  the  schools  of 
his  native  place.  Sandy  Hill,  with  its  popu- 
lation of  three  thousand  or  more  progressive 
and  enterprising  people,  takes  great  pride  in 
its  public  schools.  It  has  an  excellent  system, 
including  a  high  school,  from  which  graduates 
may  pass  directly  to  college.  Its  scholars  are 
housed  in  four  well-equipped  buildings,  and 
a  force  of  about  twenty  capable  teachers  is 
under  the  control  of  the  board  of  education. 
This  system  has  not  been  the  growth  of  a 
day.  It  represents  the  result  of  intelligent, 
well-directed  effort,  inspired  by  the  laudable 
ambition  to  provide  the  best  and  most  prac- 
tical education  for  the  children,  with  a  view 
to  developing  useful,  honorable  man-  and  wo- 
manhood. In  this  work  Mr.  Derby  has  borne 
a  leading  part,  for  he  has  been  for  fifteen 
years  a  member  of  the  school  board,  and  is 
now  its  vice-president.  For  three  years  in 
succession  he  was  elected  supervisor  of  the 
town  of  Kingsbury.  The  first  year  the  demo- 
crats nominated  a  candidate  against  him,  but 
the  following  year  he  had  the  field  to  himself, 
and  the  last  time  was  again  returned  with 
practically  no  opposition.  The  last  year  his 
colleagues  in  the  Washington  county  board  of 
supervisors  attested  their  apprec:ation  of  his 
worth  when  he  was  made  chairman.  When 
the  Sandy  Hill  Power  Company  was  organized 
Mr.  Derby  was  chosen  its  president,  an  office 


he  still  retains  ;  he  is  also  a  director  and  sec- 
retary of  the  Howland  Paper  Co.,  director  of 
Spring  Brook  Water  Co.,  and  the  Electric 
Light  Co.  Of  course  financial  interests  also 
enlist  Mr.  Derby's  support,  and  are  benefited 
by  his  counsel,  and  the  First  National  bank 
of  Sandy  Hill  numbers  him  among  its  most 
active  and  efficient  directors.  He  has  been 
for  years  a  communicant  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  and  a  short  time  ago  was  ordained  as 
an  elder,  the  highest  honor  to  which  a  layman 
can  attain  in  that  denomination.  He  is  a 
charter  member  and  treasurer  of  the  Royal 
Arcanum  council  of  Sandy  Hill,  organized 
twelve  years  ago,  and  stands  high  in  this  suc- 
cessful benevolent  order,  having  been  for 
seven  years  a  member  of  the  grand  council 
for  the  State,  and  for  five  years  one  of  the  fi- 
nance committee  of  that  body.  Politically 
Mr.  Derby  has  been  an  earnest  republican, 
and  besides  filling  the  offices  above  enumer- 
ated he  has  twice  been  a  delegate  to  the  re- 
publican State  conventions. 

He  was  married  at  Meadville,  Pennsylvania, 
September  6,  1870,  to  Margaret  F.  Steuart. 
To  that  union  three  children  have  been  born  : 
Archibald  F.,  Anna  Louise  and  John  H.,  jr. 

John  H.  Derby  was  elected  State  senator 
from  the  sixteenth  senatorial  district,  com- 
posed of  the  counties  of  Rensselaer  and 
Washington. 


HIRAM  SHIPMA1V,  an  expert  mine  in- 
spector and  a  man  who  has  extensively 
traveled  over  two  continents,  was  born  in  the 
village  of  Fort  Ann,  Washington  county,  New 
York,  March  8,  1834.  He  is  descended  from 
English  and  Dutch  ancestry,  and  is  a  son  of 
Hiram  Shipman  and  Mary  Anne  T.  Bush,  the 
former  a  native  of  Vermont,  having  been  born 
in  the  vicinity  of  Montpelier,  and  was  of  Eng- 
lish origin.  He  was  a  tanner  by  trade,  and 
built  and  operated  the  first  tannery  in  Fort 
Ann.  This  tannery  stood  across  the  canal 
where  the  house  of  Myron   Ingalsbe  stands, 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


1JI7 


but  was  removed  soon  after  the  canal  was 
completed  to  the  location  where  the  present 
one  is  now  situated.  He  afterward  became  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Pike  &  Shipman,  en- 
gaged in  tanning  and  shoe  making,  where  he 
continued  until  his  death.  He  died  in  1847. 
His  wife  was  Mary  Anne  T.  Bush,  who  was  a 
native  of  Fort  Ann.  She  was  of  Holland- 
Dutch  descent.  The  name  Bush  was  Angla- 
cised  from  Ter  Bosch,  the  original  way  of 
spelling  the  name.  She  was  a  daughter  of 
Lemuel  T.  Bush,  who  came  to  Fort  Ann,  and 
was  engaged  in  farming.  Hiram  Shipman, 
by  his  marriage  to  Mary  Anne  T.  Bush,  had 
two  children :  Margaret,  who  married  the 
Rev.  Wallace  Sawyer,  and  now  resides  at 
Milford,  Ohio,  and  Hiram. 

Hiram  Shipman,  jr.,  was  left  an  orphan  at 
the  age  of  fourteen,  when  his  father  died,  his 
mother  having  preceded  his  father  to  the  grave 
when  he  was  only  three  years  of  age.  In  the 
winter  of  1850  Mr.  Shipman  went  to  White- 
hall, where  he  attended  school,  and  in  the 
following  summer  went  into  the  forwarding 
office  as  an  employee  of  Nathan  Jillson.  In 
the  spring  of  1852  he  went  to  California  by 
the  way  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  paying  a 
fare  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  taking 
second  cabin  passage  on  this  side  of  the  Isth- 
mus, and  steerage  on  the  other  until  he  reached 
San  Francisco.  After  arriving  at  San  Fran- 
cisco he  worked  in  a  mine  near  that  city  for 
three  years,  when  he  returned  east,  but  soon 
recrossed  the  continent  to  California  and  ac- 
cepted work  in  the  same  mine.  For  a  short 
time  Mr.  Shipman  served  as  one  of  Lincoln's 
body  guards.  In  1861  he  went  to  Honduras 
and  engaged  in  mining  and  coffee  growing, 
but  was  soon  compelled  to  leave  that  section 
on  account  of  a  severe  attack  of  the  Panama 
fever.  In  1862,  leaving  St.  Louis,  he  went 
by  the  way  of  the  Missouri  river  to  Fort  Ben- 
ton, thence  to  Walla  Walla,  a  distance  of  eight 
hunered  miles,  traveling  on  mule  back,  and 
from  there  to  Boise  City,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged in  mining  until  the  close  of  the  war. 


In  1865  he  visited  New  York,  returning  to 
California  by  the  way  of  the  Isthmus,  where 
he  again  engaged  in  mining,  the  last  mine  he 
owned  and  operated  being  the  Clip  mine,  of 
Arizona. 

In  1884,  having  sold  his  interests  in  mining, 
he  returned  to  his  native  village  of  Fort  Ann, 
where  he  was  married  to  Mrs.  Sarah  Dewey 
Pike,  by  whom  he  has  had  one  daughter  : 
Mary  Bush  Shipman.  On  August  13,  1886, 
Mr.  Shipman  sailed  for  Rio  Janeiro  in  the  in- 
terest of  a  New  York  syndicate  for  the  pur- 
pose of  inspecting  their  mines,  located  in  the 
interior  of  South  America.  He  traveled  from 
San  Paulo,  about  twelve  hundred  miles  to  the 
head  waters  of  the  Tocantine  river,  in  the 
golden  diamond  region.  This  journey  he 
made  mostly  on  mule  back,  which  required 
three  months  to  complete  the  trip. 

Mr.  Shipman,  beside  receiving  the  rudi- 
ments of  a  good  common  school  education, 
attended  the  school  of  mines  in  the  city  of 
San  Francisco.  In  the  business  world  Mr. 
Shipman  has  been  successful,  possessed  of  a 
handsome  competency,  and  now  living  a  quiet 
and  retired  life,  but  for  several  years  past  has 
been  in  poor  health.  His  wife  was  a  daughter 
of  Thaddeus  N.  Dewey,  of  Fort  Ann.  She 
was  the  widow  of  Silas  P.  Pike,  a  lawyer  of 
Fort  Ann,  by  whom  she  had  one  son,  John  M. 
Mr.  Shipman's  father's  and  mother's  deaths 
occurred  on  the  following  dates  respectively, 
February  27,  1847,  aged  fifty-two  years  ;  Oc- 
tober 4,  1836.    The  latter  was  born  in  1804. 


QA3IALAEL  JENKINS,  a  prominent 
inventor  and  a  man  of  diversified  business 
and  legal  attainments,  was  born  on  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides,  in  the  town  of  Queens- 
bury,  Warren  county,  New  York,  December 
5,  [824.  He  is  the  son  of  Palmer  B.  Jenkins 
and  Louisa  Brayton.  The  former  was  born 
in  Dutchess  county,  New  York,  in  1792,  and 
removed  to  the  town  of  Queensbury  in  1795 
with  his  father,  Simon  Jenkins,  who  was  born 


198 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


in  Rhode  Island,  and  of  Welsh  descent.  He 
was  born  on  November  n,  1760,  died  June  9, 
1831,  and  removed  to  this  town  in  the  same 
year  as  his  son,  Palmer  B.,  in  1795.  from 
Dutchess  county.  He  became  one  of  the 
thrifty  and  successful  farmers  of  Warren 
county,  and  married  Sarah  Carey,  who  was  of 
the  Wyoming  Valley,  Pennsylvania,  and  had 
two  nieces,  Phcebe  and  Alice  Carey,  who  be- 
came quite  famous  as  poetesses  in  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania.  Palmer  B.  Jenkins  was,  dur- 
ing his  active  business  career,  engaged  in 
farming  and  lumbering,  which  he  successfully 
followed  until  his  death,  March  26,  1877.  A 
successful  business  man  and  popular  and  well 
liked  by  his  neighbors.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Universalist  church,  a  democrat  in  his 
political  opinion,  and  acceptably  filled  a 
number  of  the  town  offices,  among  the  num- 
ber being  that  of  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
was  a  soldier  in  the  battle  of  Plattsburg  dur- 
ing the  war  of  181  2. 

The  progenitors  and  founders  of  this  branch 
of  the  Jenkins  family  in  this  country,  were 
three  brothers,  who  came  over  from  Wales  in 
the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  set- 
tled on  Nantucket  island.  One  of  these  broth- 
ers afterward  migrated  to  this  State  and  set- 
tled in  Dutchess  county,  and  from  him  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  is  descended.  Gamalael 
Jenkins  is  the  eighth  in  direct  line  from  the 
immigrant  who  settled  in  Dutchess  county. 
His  mother  was  a  native  of  the  town  of  Queens- 
bury,  and  was  a  daughter  of  John  Brayton, 
who  was  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  that 
town,  and  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  a  dea- 
con in  the  Baptist  church,  and  was  of  Irish 
extraction.  Mrs.  Jenkins  (mother)  was  a 
member  of  the  Universalist  church,  and  died 
in  1886,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-one 
years. 

Gamalael  Jenkins  grew  to  manhood  on  the 
farm  on  which  he  now  resides,  receiving  his 
education  in  ordinary  schools  of.  the  neighbor- 
hood, supplemented  by  a  term  at  a  select 
school,   and   one  term    at  the. State    Normal 


school  at  Albany.  Leaving  school  he  was  for 
two  years  engaged  in  merchandising  in  the 
village  of  Queensbury,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  he  relinquished  this  and  began  farming 
and  lumbering,  owning  a  saw  mill,  and  has 
been  more  or  less  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  lumber  ever  since.  From  1857  to  1861  Mr. 
Jenkins  was  engaged  in  the  making  of  hubs, 
spokes  and  felloes,  and  is  at  present,  in  addi- 
tion to  his  saw  mill,  conducting  a  grist  mill ; 
he  also  owns  and  resides  upon  the  old  home- 
stead, which  contains  one  hundred  acres  of 
pleasantly  situated  and  well  improved  land. 
On  March  28,  1893,  Mr.  Jenkins  patented  his 
automatic  car  coupler,  which  does  away  with 
the  old  fashioned  link  motion  coupler,  and  is 
destined  to  become  in  general  use  by  all  the 
great  railroad  systems  of  the  civilized  world  ; 
he  has  patents  from  Canada  also.  In  regard 
to  this  important  patent,  we  quote  from  the 
Glens  Falls  Star  : 

"Gamalael  Jenkins,  Queensbury,  has  in- 
vented and  is  the  patentee  of  a  new  automatic 
car  coupler  which  is  destined  to  supersede  the 
old  link  and  pin  coupling  which  has  hereto- 
fore been  the  only  connection  that  could  be 
made  between  freight  cars.  The  model  is  a 
very  ingenious  device,  and  is  applicable  to 
either  freight  or  passenger  cars.  Its  construc- 
tion is  such  that  any  number  of  cars  can  be 
connected  or  coupled  by  one  move  of  the  en- 
gine without  the  aid  of  any  trainmen  except 
the  engineer.  Connection  is  made  by  a  knuckle 
joint,  which  is  always  positive  in  its  action, 
and  which  will  wholly  do  away  with  the  old 
coupling  and  all  danger  to  human  life  and  limb, 
as  no  person  is  required  to  oversee  its  work  or 
place  themselves  in  danger  between  connect- 
ing cars.  The  cars  can  be  instantly  discon- 
nected while  standing  or  in  motion  at  the  will 
of  the  trainmen,  but  at  no  other  time.  The 
coupling  is  very  simple,  strong  and  complete, 
and  will  be  hailed  with  delight  by  the  general 
community,  who  have  been  so  often  horrified 
by  the  mangling  process  of  the  old  link  and 
pin  system.      It  is  to  be  hoped  that  it  may  be 


<".  Of.  (&~~£Au~. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


201 


adopted  by  the  railroad  officials.      The  sooner 
the  better." 

Gamalael  Jenkins  was  united  in  marriage  in 
1853  to  Augusta  W.,  a  daughter  of  Ansel 
Winship,  of  the  town  of  Oueensbury.  Mr. 
Jenkins  is  also  vice-president  of  the  New  York 
State  Farmers'  Union  League,  a  growing  and 
influential  organization,  that  has  already  re- 
sulted in  much  good  to  the  farming  commun- 
ity of  the  State. 


[LEONARD    W.    CRONKHITE,    one 

^^  of  the  prominent  men  of  affairs  in  this 
county,  residing  in  the  village  of  Sandy  Hill, 
was  born  in  the  same  village,  Washington 
county,  New  York,  May  3,  1826.  His  parents 
were  Woolsey  and  Ann  Freeman  Cronkhite, 
who  settled  in  the  town  of  Kingsbury,  coming 
from  Dutchess  county,  New  York,  about  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century.  Woolsey 
Cronkhite  was  a  merchant  and  manufacturer, 
a  man  of  sterling  worth  and  prominence  in 
the  community  in  which  he  resided.  Leonard 
W.  Cronkhite  attended  the  schools  of  that 
neighborhood  and  in  due  time  enjoyed  the  ad- 
vantages somewhat  rare  in  those  early  days,  of 
an  English  and  classical  education,  at  Barnes' 
Classical  school,  and  later  in  the  Granville 
academy.  Upon  leaving  school  he  became  a 
salesman  in  a  dry  goods  store.  At  the  end  of 
his  five  years'  engagement  in  this  capacity  he 
went  into  business  on  his  own  account,  as  a 
merchant,  at  Sandy  Hill ;  in  this  he  continued 
successfully  for  twelve  years.  In  1852  he  mar- 
ried Bessie  A.  Green,  daughter  of  Henry  and 
Anna  Green,  of  Queensbury,  New  York,  who 
is  still  his  life  partner. 

In  i860  he  engaged  in  the  sheep  husbandry 
in  Illinois,  afterward  in  the  ship  timber  busi- 
ness on  Lake  Huron,  Michigan,  in  both  of 
which  he  was  successful.  Subsequently  he 
turned  his  attention  to  the  banking  business, 
both  at  Sandy  Hill  and  in  Michigan.  He  is 
president  of  the  National  bank  of  Sandy  Hill 

and  a  director  of  the  First  National  bank  of 
13 


Fort  Edward.  The  National  bank  of  Sandy 
Hill  was  organized  in  1864  and  reorganized 
in  1883.  During  the  thirty  years  since  its  or- 
ganization it  has  always  paid  a  semi-annual 
dividend  and  has  earned  for  its  stockholders 
an  average  of  over  twenty  per  cent,  per  annum. 

Mr.  Cronkhite  is  a  deacon  of  the  Baptist 
church  and  a  member  of  its  Board  of  Trustees. 
He  has  been  several  times  elected  as  presiding 
officer  of  the  Washington  Union  Baptist  asso- 
ciation ;  has  been  a  trustee  and  the  secretary 
and  treasurer  of  the  Board  since  its  organiza- 
tion. Mr.  Cronkhite  has  for  many  years  taken 
great  interest  in  education  ;  is  president  of  the 
Board  of  Education  of  his  native  village. 
During  many  years  he  has  been  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Colgate  university, 
and  until  disabled  by  sickness,  chairman  of 
its  finance  committee.  He  has  also  been  a 
director  of  the  New  York  State  Baptist  Edu- 
cation society.  This  society  financially  aids 
more  than  one  hundred  young  men  annually 
in  their  preparation  for  the  Christian  ministry. 
For  seventeen  years  he  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Washington 
County  Agricultural  society,  and  has  served 
two  terms  as  president  of  that  society. 

Mr.  Cronkhite  has  been  invited  to  be  a  can- 
didate for  important  official  positions  in  civil 
life,  but  has  uniformly  declined,  preferring 
what  to  him  is  a  more  congenial  and  indepen- 
dent sphere  of  usefulness  than  the  atmosphere 
and  turmoil  of  politics. 

Leonard  W.  Cronkhite  has  been  the  archi- 
tect of  his  own  fortune  ;  his  father  dying  when 
he  was  four  years  of  age,  leaving  to  his  family 
the  priceless  heritage  of  a  spotless  name  and 
an  exalted  Christian  character. 


OOL03ION  H.  PARKS,  a  union  officer 
*"^  in  the  late  civil  war  and  the  senior  mem- 
ber of  the  well  known  business  firm  of  Parks 
&  Mosher,  of  Sandy  Hill,  is  a  son  of  M.  B. 
and  Gertrude  A.  (Cooper)  Parks,  and  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Monroe,  Saratoga  county, 


202 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


New  York,  October  29,  1841.  He  was  reared 
on  the  farm  ;  received  his  education  in  public 
and  private  schools  and  Glens  Falls  academy. 
Leaving  the  academy  he  was  variously  en- 
gaged until  1863,  when  he  enlisted  in  Co.  A, 
2d  New  York  veteran  cavalry.  Some  time 
after  enlisting  he  was  promoted  from  a  private 
to  sergeant,  and  served  until  October  8,  1865, 
being  honorably  discharged  from  the  Federal 
service  at  Talladega,  Alabama.  Returning 
from  the  army  he  accepted  the  position  of 
shipping  clerk  and  time  keeper  at  the  saw 
mill  of  Finch,  Pryne  &  Co.,  on  the  Hudson 
river  in  Saratoga  county,  where  he  remained 
six  years  with  that  firm  and  one  year  longer 
with  their  successors.  In  1873  he  went  to 
South  Glens  Falls,  where  he  formed  a  part- 
nership with  T.  Z.  Adams,  and  they  were  en- 
gaged there  in  the  general  mercantile  business 
for  three  years.  He  then  disposed  of  his 
mercantile  interests  and  spent  one  year  with 
the  firm  of  Finch,  Pryne  &  Co.  At  the  end  of 
that  time,  in  1877,  he  came  to  Sandy  Hill, 
and  formed  a  partnership  with  his  father-in- 
law,  James  P.  Buck,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Buck  &  Parks.  They  engaged  in  the  hard- 
ware business,  and  the  next  year  opened  a 
coal  yard.  This  firm  continued  up  to  1888, 
when  Mr.  Buck  withdrew  and  was  succeeded 
by  William  E.  Mosher,  and  the  firm  name 
was  changed  to  the  title  of  Parks  &  Mosher, 
now  S.  H.  Parks.  The  present  firm  do  a 
profitable  hardware  business  and  have  large 
coal  yards. 

On  January  4,  1870,  Mr.  Parks  married 
Laura  J.  Buck,  and  their  union  has  been 
blessed  with  one  child,  Eliza  G.  Solomon 
H.  Parks  is  a  warden  of  Sandy  Hill  Episcopal 
church,  and  has  always  been  independent  in 
politics.  He  is  a  member  of  Sandy  Hill  Ma- 
sonic Lodge,  No.  372  ;  Sandy  Hill  Masonic 
Chapter,  No.  189,  and  William  M.  Collin 
Grand  Army  Post,  No.  587,  of  which  he  was 
commander  for  six  years,  and  has  served  as 
adjutant  since  1891.  He  was  master  of  his 
Masonic  lodge  for  seven  years  in  succession, 


and  served  as  high  priest  of  his  chapter  for 
two  years.  Mr.  Parks  has  been  successful  in 
his  business  operations  and  well  deserves  his 
present  reputation  for  energy,  activity  and 
correct  business  methods. 

The  Parks  are  of  English  extraction,  and 
the  earliest  member  of  the  family  in  this 
country,  of  which  we.  have  mention,  was 
Daniel  Parks,  who  served  as  an  American 
officer  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  after- 
ward removed  to  Saratoga  county.  Daniel 
Parks  married  and  reared  a  family.  One  of 
his  sons  was  Solomon  Parks,  the  grandfather 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Solomon  Parks 
served  as  a  teamster  in  the  Revolutionary  war, 
and  after  peace  was  declared,  removed  to 
Monroe  township,  Saratoga  county,  where  he 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  farming. 
He  married  and  reared  a  family  of  children, 
one  of  his  sons  being  M.  B.  Parks,  who  was 
born  in  Saratoga  county.  M.  B.  Parks  was  a 
farmer  by  occupation  and  died  in  his  native 
town  in  1888,  at  seventy-three  years  of  age. 
He  was  a  Presbyterian  and  a  democrat,  and 
held  the  office  of  assessor  of  his  town  for 
many  years. 


ltlT  AJOR  JAMES  WRIGHT,  the 

4  founder  of  the  Sandy  Hill  Herald,  and 

one  of  the  early  business  men  of  Washington 
county,  was  a  son  of  John  Tidd  Wright  and 
Hannah  Proctor  Wright,  and  was  born  at 
Westfield,  Massachusetts,  in  1802.  He  was 
reared  in  his  native  State  until  he  was  fourteen 
years  of  age.  He  then  went  to  live  with  ex- 
Governor  Slade,  of  Vermont,  with  whom  he 
learned  the  trade  of  a  printer.  After  com- 
pleting his  apprenticeship  lie  came  to  Ballston 
Spa,  Saratoga  county,  but  in  a  short  time 
settled  at  Sandy  Hill,  where,  in  1821,  he 
founded  the  Herald.  He  edited  the  Herald 
for  twenty  years,  and  then  sold  it  to  Elisha 
Baker.  During  that  period  he  served  as  post- 
master for  fourteen  years,  and  established  a 
drug  store,  which  he  conducted   until    1845, 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


203 


when  he  removed  to  New  York  city,  where  he 
resided  until  his  death,  which  occurred  at 
Sandy  Hill,  September  17,  1858. 

Major  Wright  was  a  prominent  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  church,  and  an  active  and 
useful  citizen  during  his  many  years  of  busi- 
ness life  at  Sandy  Hill.  He  was  married 
twice.  His  first  wife,  Emerine  Caldwell,  of 
Kingsbury  Street,  died  in  1828.  For  his  sec- 
ond wife  he  wedded  Charity  T.  Baker.  To 
them  were  born  three  boys  —  James  Caldwell, 
William  E.,  and  Silas  —  and  four  girls,  Mar- 
garet, Frances  M.,  Elizabeth  Baker,  and  Abbe 
A.,  three  of  whom,  Silas,  Elizabeth  B.  Denton 
and  Abbe,  still  survive. 

Silas  Wright,  a  cousin  of  Major  Wright, 
was  a  distinguished  statesman,  who  honored 
the  offices  of  comptroller,  United  States  sen- 
ator, and  governor  of  New  York  State.  He 
was  a  law  student  with  Martindale  &  Muzzy, 
at  Sandy  Hill,  from  1815  to  1819. 

Mrs.  Charity  T.  (Baker)  Wright  was  born 
at  Sandy  Hill  in  1804,  and  is  remarkably  well 
preserved,  both  mentally  and  physically,  for 
one  of  her  advanced  years.  Her  grandfather, 
Hon.  Albert  Baker,  was  a  native  of  West- 
chester county,  where  he  married  Rachel  Sut- 
ton. He  removed  to  New  York  city  and  fol- 
lowed carting  sugar  until  1768,  when  he  came 
to  the  site  of  Sandy  Hill  and  built  a  house 
near  the  falls  of  the  Hudson,  which  now  bears 
his  name,  Baker's  Falls.  He  was  the  second 
settler  at  Sandy  Hill,  where  he  took  up  six 
hundred  acres  of  land,  and  built  at  the  falls 
the  earliest  grist  and  saw  mill  of  the  town  of 
Kingsbury.  He  served  in  the  Revolutionary 
war,  and  was  one  of  the  representatives  of 
Washington  county  to  the  convention  of  del- 
egates, which  assembled  at  Kingston  in  1777 
and  framed  the  first  State  constitution.  He 
died  in  1805,  and  his  widow  passed  away  in 
1815.  They  had  four  sons:  Lieutenant  Al- 
bert, who  served  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and 
was  a  farmer  and  miller  ;  Charles,  who  never 
married,  followed  farming  and  milling  ;  Caleb, 
the  first  child  born  in  the  town,  was  a  prom- 


inent politician  and  justice  of  the  peace  ;  and 
John,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Charity  T.  Wright. 
Hon.  John  Baker  was  a  miller  and  a  contractor, 
and  served  as  coroner  and  associate  judgeof  his 
county,  and  as  a  member  of  the  State  legisla- 
ture in  181 1,  and  from  1821  to  1823.  While 
engaged  in  contracting  he  erected  the  finest 
locks  and  bridges  on  the  canal  ever  built  up 
to  that  time.  He  died  in  1824,  at  forty-four 
years  of  age. 

E.  D.  Baker  was  a  son  of  E.  D.  and  Mary 
(  Buckbee)  Baker,  and  was  born  in  New  York 
city,  November  9,  1812.  His  father  was  a 
native  of  Massachusetts  and  his  mother  of 
New  York.  E.  D.  Baker  received  a  common 
school  education,  and  at  seventeen  years  of 
age  entered  the  Herald  printing  office,  where 
he  learned  the  printer's  trade.  In  1841  he 
bought  that  paper  and  owned  and  edited  it 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  '  He  was  a  dem- 
ocrat, and  in  1834  wedded  Ellen  Matthews,  a 
daughter  of  David  Matthews,  of  Salem,  and  a 
soldier  of  the  war  of  1812.  David  Matthews 
was  a  son  of  William  Matthews,  who  came 
from  Ireland,  and  served  as  an  American  sol- 
dier in  the  war  of  the  revolution.  Mrs.  Charity 
Wright  died  in  1894. 


HENRY  CRANDALL,  one  of  the  most 
enterprising  arid  public  spirited  citizens 
of  the  village  of  Glens  Falls,  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Caldwell,  Warren  county,  New  York, 
February  13,  1821.  He  received  onty  the  ad- 
vantages of  a  common  school  education,  and 
when  at  the  age  of  twenty-four  years  went  to 
work  by  the  month  in  the  lumber  woods,  where 
he  remained  as  a  common  laborer  for  a  period 
of  ten  years.  At  the  expiration  of  this  time, 
in  1855,  he  formed  a  partnership  in  the  lumber 
business  at  Glens  Falls  with  James  C.  Finch 
and  John  J.  Harris,  which  partnership  carried 
on  a  very  successful  trade  until  1880,  when  he 
withdrew  from  the  lumber  business,  and  has 
since  been  engaged  in  real  estate  and  building. 
Mr.  Crandall  is  a  director  in  the  Glens  Falls 


204 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


National  bank,  and  is  a  trustee  of  the  board 
of  education  ;  he  is  a  republican  in  his  political 
opinion,  and  owns  considerable  real  estate  in 
Glens  Falls.  He  built,  and  is  the  present 
proprietor  of  the  Crandall  block,  one  of  the 
most  artistic  and  tastefully  built  blocks  in  the 
village.  The  Glens  Falls  public  library  has 
free  use  of  this  building,  and  not  only  in  this, 
but  in  many  other  particulars,  has  Mr.  Cran- 
dall evinced  his  philanthropy  and  progres- 
siveness. 

He  was  married,  in.  1858,  to  Betsie  Waters, 
of  Warren  county.  As  a  citizen  and  friend, 
Mr.  Crandall  occupies  an  enviable  position  in 
his  community  :  his  rise  from  poverty  to  afflu- 
ence is  a  splendid  example  for  the  struggling 
and  ambitious  youths  of  to-day  ;  having  fol- 
lowed through  all  his  successful  business 
career  the  one  avenue,  only,  that  leads  to  per- 
manent and  honorable  success,  which  is  con- 
centrating of  mind  and  devotion  to  duty,  en- 
twined with  truth  and  unblemished  character. 


nEV.  JAMES  J.  O'BRIEN,  a  popular 
and  scholarly  gentleman,  and  the  present 
pastor  of  St.  Mary's  Catholic  church  of 
Sandy  Hill,  was  born  January  16,  1856,  in 
Oswego,  New  York,  where  his  parents  still 
reside.  He  is  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Ellen 
O'Brien,  who  came  from  Ireland.  Father 
O'Brien  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of 
his  native  city  of  Oswego,  and  was  graduated 
from  its  high  school  in  187 1,  at  the  age  of 
fifteen  years  delivering  the  Latin  salutatory. 
He  afterward  entered  and  completed  his  col- 
legiate course  of  studies  in  the  Niagara  uni- 
versity, conducted  by  the  Lazarist  Fathers, 
located  at  Niagara  Falls,  New  York,  and 
entered  St.  Joseph's  seminary,  at  Troy,  New 
York,  in  September,  1874.  There  he  re- 
mained until  1879,  when  he  was  ordained 
priest  by  the  Right  Reverend  Francis  Mc- 
Nierny,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  Albany,  and  as- 
signed to  the  curacy  of  St.  Mary's  church, 
Syracuse,  New  York,  where  he  was  assistant 


to  the  late  Reverend  Dr.  O'Hara,  in  which 
capacity  he  remained  for  three  years.  In 
1882  Bishop  McNierny  selected  him  for  the 
new  mission  of  Fonda  and  Tribes  Hill,  where 
he  labored  most  devotedly  for  five  years,  and 
in  1887  was  promoted  to  his  present  important 
charge  at  Sandy  Hill.  During  his  able  pas- 
torate at  this  place  the  debt  on  the  church 
and  parochial  residence  has  been  liquidated, 
and  in  addition  to  that  he  has  purchased  and 
paid  for  a  magnificent  new  pipe  organ  at  the 
cost  of  three  thousand  four  hundred  dollars, 
and  placed  it  in  the  church. 

The  Catholics  of  Fort  Ann,  although  few 
in  number,  reverence  Father  O'Brien,  for  the 
erection  in  that  village  of  one  of  the  hand- 
somest and  most  substantial  country  churches 
in  the  Albany  diocese.  Within  two  years  this 
handsome  church  edifice,  at  a  cost  of  five 
thousand  dollars,  has  been  completed,  and 
only  a  few  hundred  dollars  of  indebtedness 
remain. 

Father  O'Brien  is  popular  with  all  classes, 
energetic  and  progressive  in  his  work,  and  de- 
voted to  his  church.  The  success  that  he 
has  already  achieved  at  this  early  period  of 
his  life,  and  the  esteem  in  which  he  is  held  by 
his  congregation  and  by  the  public  generally 
give  assurance  of  the  larger  work  yet  remain- 
ing to  be  done  by  him  for  the  greater  glory  of 
God.  Since  his  coming  to  Sandy  Hill  he  has 
labored  and  been  active  in  the  advancement 
of  religion  and  civilization.  He  was  the 
chief  promoter  and  organizer  of  the  Young 
Men's  Catholic  Union,  the  Young  Ladies' 
B.  V.  M.  society,  Holy  Name  society  for 
men,  a  Catholic  Mutual  Benefit  association, 
Branch  No.  120,  and  several  smaller  societies 
for  children. 


HENRY  GRAY,  M.  D.,  a  prominent 
physician  of  Greenwich,  who  is  descended 
from  a  long  line  of  successful  practitioners, 
and  who  served  during  the  civil  war  as  cap- 
tain and  major  in  the  Federal  army,  was  born 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


205 


at  Cambridge,  Washington  county,  New  York, 
September  6,  1842,  and  is  the  eldest  son  of 
Dr.  Henry  C.  and  Jeannette  (Bullion)  Gray. 
Dr.  Joseph  Gray,  great-grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  an  Englishman  by 
birth  and  education,  who  came  to  America 
and  settled  in  New  Hampshire,  early  in  the 
eighteenth  century.  His  son  Henry  Gray, 
M.  D.  (grandfather),  was  a  native  of  New 
Hampshire,  studied  medicine,  and  while  yet  a 
young  man  located  at  White  Creek,  New 
York,  where  he  followed  his  profession  nearly 
all  his  life.  He  acquired  a  large  practice  and 
became  prominent.  Politically  he  was  a 
Jacksonian  democrat,  and  married  Ruby  Car- 
penter, a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  by  whom 
he  had  a  family  of  eight  children.  One  of 
his  sons  was  Henry  C.  Gray,  M.  D.  (father), 
who  was  born  in  New  Hampshire,  in  January, 
181 1,  but  was  reared  and  educated  in  New 
York.  His  medical  studies  were  conducted 
at  Andover,  Massachusetts,  and  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  where  he  received  his  degree. 
For  nearly  half  a  century  he  lived  and  prac- 
ticed his  profession  in  the  village  of  Cam- 
bridge, where  he  became  very  successful  and 
was  regarded  as  one  of  the  leading  physicians 
of  the  county,  and  he  became  widely  known 
and  was  greatly  esteemed.  He  was  com- 
missioned surgeon  of  the  114th  New  York  in- 
fantry by  Gov.  William  G.  Marcy.  Politi- 
cally he  was  a  democrat,  and  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  church.  He  married  Jeannette  Bul- 
lion, a  daughter  of  Rev.  Alexander  Bullion, 
of  Corla,  this  county,  and  by  that  union  had 
a  family  of  eight  children,  three  sons  and 
five  daughters:  Mary  B.,  married  Rev.  John 
Anderson,  of  Cambridge;  Eliza  N.,  wife  of 
Dr.  B.  F.  Ketchum,  of  Brattleboro,  Vermont ; 
Dr.  Henry,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  ; 
Robert  L.,  who  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  the 
Wilderness,  May  5,  1864;  Dr.  Charles  A.,  a 
practicing  physician  of  Hinsdale,  New  Hamp- 
shire ;  Florence  G.,  wife  of  J.  J.  Estey,  the 
well-known  organ  manufacturer  of  Brattle- 
boro, Vermont  ;  Fannie  G.,  "married  Thomas 
13a 


Cull,  D.  D.,  of  the  village  of  Greenwich  ; 
and  Anna  R.,  widow  of  the  late  M.  L.  Cobb, 
of  Sing  Sing,  New  York.  Mrs.  Jeannette 
Gray  died  in  1849,  aged  thirty-nine  years. 

Dr.  Henry  Gray  grew  to  manhood  in  this 
county,  receiving  his  education  in  the  Cam- 
bridge academy,  Princeton  and  Jonesville, 
and  was  graduated  from  the  New  York  Col- 
lege of  Physician  and  Surgeons  in  1867.  In 
the  autumn  of  the  same  year  he  located  in 
Greenwich  for  the  practice  of  his  profession, 
and  has  remained  here  ever  since.  Inheriting 
from  a  long  line  of  ancestors  many  of  the 
leading  characteristics  of  the  true  physician, 
and  having  carefully  prepared  himself  for  the 
duties  of  his  profession,  it  was  not  long  until 
he  found  himself  in  the  enjoyment  of  an  ex- 
tensive practice,  which  has  steadily  increased 
until  it  may  now  be  said  to  be  among  the  lar- 
gest in  this  section.  Dr.  Gray  is  a  member 
of  the  New  York  State  Medical  society,  and 
of  the  Washington  County  Medical  society, 
in  the  latter  of  which  he  has  held  all  the 
offices  from  secretary  to  president. 

In  politics  Dr.  Gray  adheres  to  the  tradi- 
tions of  his  family,  and  is  an  ardent  demo- 
crat, believing  implicitly  in  a  government 
of  the  people  by  the  people,  and  opposed  to 
all  legislation  intended  to  benefit  certain 
classes  at  the  expense  of  others.  In  1862  he 
enlisted  in  the  Federal  service,  was  made  cap- 
tain of  Co.  G,  123d  New  York  infantry,  and 
was  afterward  promoted,  for  gallant  conduct, 
to  the  rank  of  major.  He  participated  in  the 
battles  of  Chancellorsville,  May,  1-4,  1863; 
Gettysburg,  July  1-3,  1863;  beside  a  num- 
ber of  others,  and  was  with  Sherman  in  his 
famous  march  to  the  sea.  During  his  service 
Major  Gray  was  thrice  wounded,  in  the  leg, 
on  the  arm,  and  on  the  head,  but  none  of 
these  injuries  proved  serious.  He  was  dis- 
charged with  his  command  in  the  summer  of 
1865,  and  returned  to  Washington  county, 
where  he  took  up  the  study  of  medicine,  and 
prepared  himself  for  practice  as  previously 
mentioned. 


206 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


On  May  7,  1867,  Dr.  Gray  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Annie  B.  Buell,  a  daughter  of 
Eliakim  Buell,  of  the  city  of  Troy,  New 
York.  To  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Gray  was  born  an 
only  child,  a  son  named  Harry  C. ,  who  be- 
came an  electrician,  and  is  now  superintendent 
of  the  Consolidated  Electric  Light  &  Power 
Company  of  the  village  of  Greenwich. 


.TAMES  H.  TH03IPSOX,  superinten- 
dent  and  general  manager  of  the  Green- 
wich &  Johnsonville  railroad,  and  one  of  the 
most  successful  and  highly  esteemed  citizens 
of  the  village  of  Greenwich,  where  he  has  re- 
sided since  1872,  is  a  son  of  Colonel  Andrew 
and  Eliza  (Stevens)  Thompson,  and  was  born 
February  13,  1844,  in  the  town  of  Easton, 
Washington  county,  New  York.  The  Thomp- 
sons are  of  Scotch  extraction,  and  the  family 
was  first  planted  in  Connecticut  prior  to  the 
Revolutionary  war.  From  that  State  members 
of  it  came  into  New  York  about  1780,  and 
settled  in  Washington  county,  which  was  then 
comparatively  a  new  and  unimproved  country. 
Andrew  Thompson,  paternal  grandfather  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  and  reared 
in  the  town  of  Jackson,  this  county.  After 
securing  such  education  as  was  afforded  by 
the  country  schools  of  that  day,  he  engaged 
in  farming,  the  occupation  of  his  ancestors, 
and  devoted  all  his  life  to  agricultural  pursuits. 
He  owned  and  cultivated  a  farm  of  three 
hundred  acres  in  the  town  of  Jackson,  and  be- 
came quite  prosperous.  He  was  an  old  line 
whig  in  politics  and  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian church.  His  death  occurred  in  1844, 
at  which  time  he  was  about  eighty  years  of 
age.  One  of  his  sons  was  Colonel  Andrew 
Thompson  (father),  who  was  born  on  the  old 
homestead  in  the  town  of  Jackson,  in  1808, 
where  he  grew  up  and  received  an  excellent 
English  education  in  the  district  school.  He 
then  engaged  in  farming  in  the  town  of  Easton, 
where  he  owned  a  fine' farm  of  two  hundred 
and  seventy  acres  of  valuable  land.      At  dif- 


ferent times  he  was  also  engaged  in  a  number 
of  other  business  enterprises,  and  was  very 
successful  in  everything  he  undertook  to  do, 
being  endowed  with  great  energy  and  sound 
judgment.  Politically  he  was  a  whig  and  re- 
publican, and  always  took  an  active  interest 
in  local  politics.  He  was  several  times  elected 
supervisor  of  his  town,  and  held  a  number  of 
minor  offices.  In  1857  he  was  nominated  and 
elected  to  a  seat  in  the  State  assembly,  and 
re-elected  in  1858.  His  influence  was  felt  in 
that  honorable  body,  where  he  exerted  him- 
self to  carry  through  measures  required  by 
his  constituents  and  demanded  by  the  public 
welfare.  There  was  also  a  strong  military 
side  to  his  nature,  and  he  early  identified  him- 
self with  the  30th  New  York  State  militia,  of 
which  he  was  made  colonel  when  only  twenty- 
one  years  of  age.  At  the  age  of  twenty-three 
he  was  a  candidate  for  the  rank  of  brigadier 
general,  and  came  within  one  vote  of  securing 
the  election.  He  was  a  member  and  deacon 
of  the  Reformed  church,  in  which  he  was  al- 
ways active,  and  in  1840  married  Eliza  Stev- 
ens, a  native  of  Washington  county  and  a 
daughter  of  Simeon  Stevens,  a  prosperous 
farmer  of  the  town  of  Jackson.  To  them 
was  born  a  family  of  six  children,  five  sons 
and  a  daughter  :  Simeon  A.,  a  farmer  of  the 
town  of  Cambridge;  James  H.,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch ;  Margaret,  who  died  in  youth ; 
LeRoy,  a  merchant  of  Greenwich,  a  sketch 
of  whom  appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume  ; 
William  A.,  now  a  civil  engineer  in  the  em- 
ploy of  the  government  at  Rock  Island,  Illi- 
nois ;  and  Frank,  a  farmer  living  on  the  old 
homestead  in  the  town  of  Easton,  of  which 
town  he  is  at  present  serving  as  supervisor. 
Colonel  Thompson  died  August  10,  1891,  aged 
eighty-three,  and  his  wife  still  survives,  being 
now  in  the  seventy-eighth  year  of  her  age. 
She  is  a  member  of  the  Reformed  church, 
and  resides  in  the  village  of  Greenwich. 

James  H.  Thompson  was  reared  on  his 
father's  farm  in  the  town  of  Easton,  and  re- 
ceived liis  education  in  the  district  schools, 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


207 


the  Greenwich  academy  and  the  Eastman 
Business  college,  of  Poughkeepsie,  New  York. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-eight  he  entered  the 
employ  of  the  Greenwich  &  Johnsonville  Rail- 
road Company,  as  station  agent  in  the  village 
of  Greenwich,  which  position  he  acceptably 
filled  until  1879.  In  that  year  the  road  was 
reorganized  by  the  stockholders,  and  Mr. 
Thompson,  being  one  of  them,  was  elected 
superintendent  and  general  manager,  which 
office  he  has  held  ever  since,  discharging  its 
duties  in  a  manner  at  once  creditable  to  him- 
self and  advantageous  to  the  interests  of  the 
road  and  its  general  business. 

In  politics  James  H.  Thompson  is  a  stanch 
republican,  taking  an  active  interest  in  the 
success  of  his  party  at  the  polls,  and  has 
served  as  president  of  the  village.  In  1892 
he  served  as  alternate  in  the  National  conven- 
tion that  nominated  Benjamin  Harrison  for 
president  the  second  time.  All  his  life  Mr. 
Thompson  has  been  deeply  interested  in  the 
great  cause  of  popular  education,  and  for 
twenty  years  has  been  a  member  of  the  board 
of  education.  In  religion  he  is  a  member  of 
the  Reformed  church,  of  Greenwich,  and 
actively  supports  its  various  interests. 

On  February  10,  1870,  Mr.  Thompson  was 
united  by  marriage  to  Cornelia  Coulter,  the 
youngest  daughter  of  James  Coulter,  of  the 
town  of  Jackson.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomp- 
son have  been  born  two  daughters  :  Blanche 
D.  and  Nancy  C,  both  living  at  home  with 
their  parents  in  their  handsome  residence  in 
the  village  of  Greenwich. 


JTOHN  T.  MASTERS,  who  died  at  his 
•  home  in  Greenwich  in  1894,  was  for  many 
years  a  prominent  citizen  of  northern  New 
York,  and  a  well  known  and  estimable  gentle- 
man of  the  old  school.  He  was  the  only  son  of 
JudgeNicholas  Merrittand  AnnaT.  (Thomas) 
Masters,  and  was  born  March  25,  1819,  in  the 
city  of  Troy,  New  York.  His  paternal  great- 
great-gfTandfather,    Nicholas    Masters,   was   a 


native  of  the  island  of  Guernsey,  where  he  was 
reared  and  lived  until  after  his  marriage.  He 
was  a  wealthy  shipowner,  married  the  daugh- 
ter of  a  Rev.  Mr.  Sheldon,  a  clergyman  of  the 
church  of  England,  and  came  with  his  wife  on 
his  own  ships  to  visit  this  country.  Pleased 
with  America,  they  determined  to  remain  here, 
and  settled  in  Connecticut,  where  they  passed 
the  remainder  of  their  lives.  Their  son, 
Nicholas  Masters  (great-grandfather),  was 
born  and  grew  to  manhood  in  Connecticut, 
but  while  yet  a  young  man  removed  *o  Rens- 
selaer county,  New  York,  where  he  engaged 
in  farming  and  became  a  large  land  owner. 
One  of  his  sons  was  Nicholas  Masters  (pater- 
nal grandfather),  who  also  devoted  himself  to 
agricultural  pursuits,  and  became  one  of  the 
large  land  owners  in  that  section.  He  and 
his  brother,  Judge  Josiah  Masters,  built  and 
operated  the  famous  powder  mills  at  Valley 
Falls,  Rensselaer  county,  which  enterprise 
they  undertook  at  the  personal  solicitation  of 
President  Madison.  Judge  Josiah  Masters 
was  a  very  prominent  man  in  his  day,  and  was 
sent  to  England  by  President  Madison  on  a 
business  mission. 

Judge  Nicholas  Masters  (father),  the  fourth 
of  the  same  name  in  regular  line  of  descent, 
was  born  at  Schaghticoke,  Rensselaer  county, 
in  the  initial  year  of  the  present  century.  He 
studied  law,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  due 
course,  and  became  one  of  the  most  promin- 
ent attorneys  of  eastern  New  York.  He  served 
as  master  in  chancery,  surrogate  of  Rensselaer 
county,  and  member  of  the  State  assembly. 
He  was  also  a  member  of  one  of  the  constitu- 
tional conventions  of  New  York.  Politically 
he  was  a  democrat  until  1850,  when  he  became 
a  republican.  He  owned  an  interest  in  the 
Schaghticoke  powder  mills  at  Valley  Falls, 
and  during  the  Civil  war  they  manufactured 
powder  exclusively  for  the  Federal  govern- 
ment, turning  out  five  hundred  kegs  every 
twenty-four  hours.  Judge  Masters  was  a  mem- 
ber and  the  principal  officer  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian  church   of  Schaghticoke   for  more   than 


208 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


4- 


forty  years.  He  married  Anna  T.  Thomas,  a 
daughter  of  John  Thomas,  of  Sandy  Hill,  and 
by  that  union  had  two  children,  one  son  and  a 
daughter  :  Sarah  Ann,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
six  years  ;  and  John  T.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  Judge  Masters  died  March  28,  1873, 
in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his  age,  and  his 
wife,  who  was  also  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian church,  passed  from  earth  July  23,  1878, 
aged  seventy-three. 

John  Thomas  Masters  was  educated  at  Ben- 
nington, Vermont,  and  at  Union  college.  He 
then  studied  law,  but  never  engaged  in  prac- 
tice. He  owned  a  large  interest  in  the  pow- 
der mills  at  Valley  Falls,  and  for  many  years 
was  president  of  the  company  which  operated 
them.  He  continued  the  manufacture  of  pow- 
der until  1878.  In  1869  Mr.  Masters  was  ap- 
pointed collector  of  internal  revenue  for  the 
fifteenth  district  of  New  York,  which  office  he 
held  for  nine  years.  In  August,  1878,  he  was 
appointed  by  President  Arthur  to  an  import- 
ant clerkship  in  the  war  department  at  Wash- 
ington, the  duties  of  which  he  continued  to 
discharge  until  1888.  He  then  resigned,  re- 
turned to  Greenwich,  where  he  lived  a  retired 
life  until  his  death,  in  the  seventy-fourth  year 
of  his  age. 

Politically  John  T.  Masters  was  a  democrat 
until  1850,  when  he  joined  the  republican 
ranks,  and  was  sent  as  a  delegate  from  New 
York  to  the  first  National  convention  ever  held 
by  that  party.  He  was  also  a  delegate  to  the 
convention  which  nominated  Abraham  Lincoln 
for  president  the  second  time.  In  religion  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
church,  and  while  his  health  permitted  was  al- 
ways active  in  church  affairs,  serving  as  ves- 
tryman and  warden  for  many  years. 

In  the  spring  of  1840  Mr.  Masters  was  united 
by  marriage  to  Mary  Elizabeth  Mowry,  a 
daughter  of  William  Mowry,  of  the  village  of 
Greenwich,  and  to  them  was  born  a  family  of 
four  children:  William  M.,  Nicholas  Merritt, 
Elizabeth  and  Leroy,  all  now  deceased.  Mrs. 
Masters  was  born   November  21,    1821,   and 


died  November  11,  1882,  aged  sixty-one.  She 
was  a  member  of  the  Congregational  church. 
Her  father,  Col.  William  Mowry,  erected  and 
put  into  operation  the  first  cotton  factory  ever 
built  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  the  sec- 
ond in  the  United  States. 


J"  MELVIN  ADAMS,  cashier  of  the 
*  banking  house  of  John  Hall  &  Co.,  and 
a  financier  of  considerable  ability  and  experi- 
ence, was  born  in  the  town  of  Fort  Ann,  Wash- 
ington county,  New  York,  April  16,  1857,  and 
is  a  son  of  John  G.  and  Sallie  M.  (McMore) 
Adams.  The  Adams  family  is  of  English  de- 
scent, and  John  Adams,  the  grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  a  son  of  Jonathan 
Adams,  a  native  of  England,  and  came  from 
New  Hampshire  to  the  northern  part  of  the 
town  of  Fort  Ann,  where  he  resided  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death.  His  son,  John  G.  Adams 
(father),  was  born  in  1825,  and  has  been  en- 
gaged in  the  general  mercantile  business  for 
the  last  thirty-eight  years.  He  is  a  democrat 
in  politics,  and  has  been  a  member  for  man}' 
years  of  the  Second  Baptist  church  of  Fort 
Ann,  in  which  he  is  now  serving  as  deacon. 
Mr.  Adams  married  Sallie  M.  McMore,  who 
died  in  1878,  at  the  age  of  forty-seven  years. 
Mrs.  Adams  was  a  daughter  of  Eleazer  Mc- 
More, a  native  of  Connecticut,  who  came  in 
early  life  to  the  town  of  Fort  Ann,  where  he 
followed  farming  up  to  his  death,  in  1886,  at 
seventy-eight  years  of  age.  Eleazer  McMore 
was  a  son  of  Alexander  McMore,  a  native  of 
Ireland,  and  who  settled  in  this  country  pre- 
vious to  the  Revolutionary  war,  in  which  he 
was  engaged  as  a  soldier. 

J.  Melvin  Adams  was  reared  in  his  native 
town,  received  his  education  at  Fort  Edward 
Collegiate  institute,  and  taught  in  the  district 
schools  for  two  terms.  In  1879  he  became  a 
clerk  in  the  banking  house  of  John  Hall  & 
Co.,  where  he  was  promoted  to  his  present 
position  of  cashier  in  1880. 

In  1893  Mr.  Adams  was  united  in  marriage 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


209 


with  Mina  S.  Belden,  daughter  of  George 
Belden,  of  Whitehall.  In  the  affairs  of  his 
village  Mr.  Adams  has  always  taken  a  deep 
interest.  For  some  time  he  has  served  as 
treasurer  of  the  village  corporation.  He  is  a 
member,  and  past  master  and  the  present  sec- 
retary of  Mount  Hope  Masonic  Lodge,  No. 
260.  He  also  is  a  member  of  Fort  Edward 
Chapter,  No.  171.  Mr.  Adams,  while  active 
in  business  and  political  matters,  and  prom- 
inent in  Masonic  circles,  yet  takes  a  deep  in- 
terest in  church  and  Sunday  school  affairs, 
being  a  member,  trustee  and  the  treasurer  of 
the  Fort  Ann  Village  Baptist  church,  of  whose 
Sunday  school  he  has  served  as  superintendent 
for  three  years. 


QHARLES    G.    DAVIS    is    one  of    the 

leading  members  of  the  Washington 
county  bar,  and  at  present  holding  the  office 
of  special  surrogate  of  the  same  county.  He 
is  a  son  of  Nicholas  and  Almira  (Wilcox) 
Davis,  and  was  born  in  the  town  of  Saratoga, 
Saratoga  county,  New  York,  May  27,  1847. 
The  family  from  which  Charles  G.  Davis  is 
descended  is  of  Welsh  origin.  George  Davis 
(grandfather)  was  a  native  of  New  Bedford, 
Massachusetts,  where  the  family  was  planted 
in  an  early  day,  and  where  he  grew  to  man- 
hood and  received  an  ordinary  education.  He 
was  one  of  the  early  settlers  and  pioneers  in 
the  town  of  Saratoga,  having  removed  there 
soon  after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war, 
in  1788.  He  became  prominent  in  the  early 
affairs  of  his  town,  was  a  Quaker  in  his  re- 
ligious principles,  and  died  in  the  year  1829. 
The  lineal  ancestor  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  and  the  progenitor  of  the  American 
branch  of  the  Davis  family,  according  to  tra- 
ditions and  the  records  in  the  possession  of 
his  descendants,  came  from  Wales  in  the  clos- 
ing years  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Nicholas 
Davis  (father)  was  born  in  Saratoga  count)7, 
New  York,  having  first  seen  the  light  of  day 
in  the   town  of   Saratoga,  in    1798,  where  he 


died  in  May,  1873,  in  the  seventy-fifth  year  of 
his  age.  He  married  Almira  Wilcox,  who  was 
born  in  the  same  county  as  her  husband,  in 
1806,  and  died  in  November,  1874,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-eight  years.  She  was  a  consistent 
and  life-long  member  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal church.  She  was  of  French  descent,  her 
ancestors  coming  from  France  and  landing  at 
Quebec  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  By  trade  Nicholas  Davis  was  a 
blacksmith,  but  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he 
followed  the  pursuit  of  farming.  A  Quaker 
in  religion,  in  political  tenets  he  was  a  whig 
and  ardent  abolitionist,  and  joined  the  Repub- 
lican party  soon  after  its  birth,  in  1854. 

Charles  G.  Davis  spent  the  early  years  of 
his  life  on  the  farm  where  he  was  born,  at- 
tended the  common  schools  of  his  neighbor- 
hood, and  afterward  entered  the  Connecticut 
Literary  institute,  at  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
from  which  he  was  graduated  in  the  class  of 
1870.  Upon  leaving  this  literary  institute, 
and  having  decided  on  the  profession  of  law 
as  his  life  vocation,  he  immediately  commenced 
the  study  in  the  offices  of  Pond  &  French,  in 
the  village  of  Saratoga  Springs,  and  subse- 
quently studied  in  the  office  of  Judge  Joseph 
Potter,  of  the  village  of  Whitehall.  Here 
Mr.  Davis  carefully  prepared  himself  for  the 
general  practice  of  his  profession,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  at  Albany,  New  York,  in 
January,  1876,  since  which  time  he  has  been 
in  active  and  successful  practice,  engaged  in 
many  of  the  leading  cases  that  have  come  be- 
fore the  courts  in  Washington  county.  In 
1873-74  he  was  deputy  collector  of  customs 
at  the  port  of  Whitehall,  and  is  now  serving 
his  second  term  of  four  years  each  as  special 
surrogate  of  the  county.  Mr.  Davis,  previous 
to  having  held  this  position  of  honor  and 
trust,  served  as  justice  of  the  peace,  and  sev- 
eral terms  as  police  justice  of  Whitehall.  He 
is  an  earnest  republican  in  politics,  and  in 
every  important  political  campaign  is  on  the 
platform,  advocating  the  principles  of  his 
party.      In  1880  he  married  Libbie  E.,  who  is 


210 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


a  daughter  of  A.  T.  Lyon,  of  this  village. 
Mr.  Davis  is  a  Methodist  in  religion,  and 
active  in  all  branches  of  church  work  that 
pertain  to  good  Methodism. 


CTEPHEN  LEWIS  STILLMAN,  for 

many  years  a  leading  dentist,  and  the 
present  postmaster  of  the  village  of  Green- 
wich, was  born  May  16,  1832,  in  the  city  of 
Newburg,  New  York,  being  the  youngest  of 
four  sons  born  to  Stephen  Lewis  and  Sarah 
(Sperry)  Stillman.  Rev.  Stephen  L.  Stillman 
(father)  was  a  native  of  the  village  of  YYeath- 
ersfield,  Connecticut,  where  he  was  born  in 
1795,  but  at  the  age  of  about  twenty- two, 
left  Connecticut  and  came  to  New  York  and 
located  at  Schenectady,  where  he  was  for  sev- 
eral years  engaged  in  gun  making  and  the 
manufacture  of  surgical  instruments.  Born 
and  reared  in  the  Baptist  faith,  he  at  the  age 
of  about  twenty-three  years,  joined  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church,  and  in  a  few  years 
thereafter  became  a  licensed  minister  in  that 
denomination.  His  first  work  in  the  ministry 
was  in  the  New  York  conference,  his  princi- 
pal appointments  being  in  Brooklyn,  New- 
burg, Hudson,  Poughkeepsie  and  New  Haven, 
Connecticut,  and  was  subsequently  transferred 
to  the  Troy  conference,  where  he  labored  suc- 
cessfully as  pastor  at  the  following  places: 
Garretson  Station, Washington  street,  Albany, 
the  North  Second  street  church  in  the  city 
of  Troy,  Ballston  Spa,  Greenwich,  Waterford 
and  Salem.  Retiring  from  his  work  in  the 
church  in  1865,  he  died  at  Albany  in  1869,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-four  years.  Originally  a 
democrat  he  became  a  republican.  At  about 
the  age  of  twenty  years  he  wedded  Sarah 
Sperry,  of  Weathersfield,  Connecticut.  To 
this  marriage  were  born  four  children,  all 
sons  :  H.  F.,  who  resided  in  Chicago  and  is 
now  dead;  William  S.;  deceased,  at  the  age 
of  twenty  years ;  George  Henry,  lives  at 
Portsmouth,  Ohio,  and  Dr.- Stephen  L. 

Rev.  Stillman  was  a  native  of  Connecticut, 


and  was  born  in  1795.  Ethan  Stillman  (grand- 
father) was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  a  machin- 
ist by  trade,  and  a  Seventh-day  Baptist  in  re- 
ligion. The  Stillmans  are  of  English  extrac- 
tion, and  the  name  was  originally  Prichard. 
Three  brothers  by  the  latter  name  came  to 
America  in  early  colonial  times  on  account  of 
religious  and  other  persecutions,  and  after 
their  arrival  dropped  the  name  Prichard,  and 
adopted  that  of  Stillman,  as  a  gentle  and  sig- 
nificant reminder  that  religious  controversies, 
if  engaged  in  at  all,  should  be  conducted 
very  quietly. 

Dr.  Stephen  L.  Stillman  received  his  edu- 
cation in  the  Jonesville  academy,  Saratoga 
county,  New  York,  and  in  the  schools  of  the 
city  of  Albany.  In  1846  he  began  the  study 
of  dentistry  in  the  office  of  Dr.  Allen  Clark,  of 
Lansingburg,  New  York.  Remaining  there 
for  one  year  he  went  to  Ballston  Spa,  where 
his  father  then  lived.  In  1848  Dr.  Stillman 
removed  to  Greenwich,  where  he  has  ever 
since  resided.  Here  he  finished  his  dental 
studies  with  Dr.  J.  B.  Crosby,  and  with  whom 
he  was  associated  until  the  death  of  the  latter 
in  1865  ;  buying  Dr.  Crosby's  interest  in  the 
office,  Dr.  Stillman  has  since  conducted  the 
business  alone  with  remarkably  good  success. 
During  the  Civil  war  Dr.  Stillman  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  war  committee  of  the  town,  and  ac- 
tive in  his  support  in  securing  volunteers  for 
the  Union.  For  thirty  years  he  has  been  a 
member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and  was 
one  of  the  organizers  and  founders  of  Ashlar 
Lodge,  No.  584,  of  Greenwich  ;  for  ten  con- 
secutive years  he  served  as  master  of  this 
lodge,  and  for  two  years  was  district  deputy 
grand  master  of  the  thirteenth  Masonic  dis- 
trict. He  is  also  a  member  of  Home  Chapter, 
No.  176,  Royal  Arch  Masons,  Schuylerville, 
New  York;  Washington  Commandery,  No.  33, 
Knights  Templar,  Saratoga  Springs,  and 
Oriental  Temple  of  Nobles  of  the  Mystic 
Shrine,  of  Troy;  and  is  a  past  grand  and 
member  of  the  Encampment,  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and  was  at  one  time  a 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


211 


member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias.  Reared 
a  democrat,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  he 
became  a  republican^  and  cast  his  first  presi- 
dential vote  for  Lincoln  in  1864,  and  since 
that  time  has  been  identified  with  that  party. 
He  was  chairman  of  the  Republican  county 
committee  in  1889  and  1890,  in  which  he 
served  for  two  years,  and  in  1891  he  was  ap- 
pointed postmaster  by  President  Harrison  at 
Greenwich.  He  is  an  attendant  and  vestry- 
man of  the  Episcopal  church. 

On  October  20,  1888,  Dr.  Stillman  was  uni- 
ted in  marriage  to  Ruth,  daughter  of  Elisha 
and  Cynthia  McGown,  of  Wayne  county,  New 
York,  and  to  them  have  been  born  one  child, 
a  son,  Paul  Roscoe,  who  is  at  present  assist- 
ing his  father  in  the  business  of  dentistry. 


rjEORGE  D.  GETTY,  the  present  post- 
^^  master  at  Middle  Granville,  and  a  young 
man  of  varied  business  experience,  is  a  son  of 
Chester  L.  and  Marilla  B.  (Woodward)  Getty, 
and  was  born  in  the  town  of  Hebron,  Wash- 
ington county,  New  York,  September  29,  1862. 
His  father,  Chester  L.  Getty,  was  born  in  the 
same  town,  where  he  lived  all  his  life,  follow- 
ing farming,  and  dying  in  1879,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-six  years.  He  was  a  republican  in  poli- 
tics, serving  two  terms  as  supervisor  of  his 
town,  and  was  a  man  of  intelligence,  highly 
respected  and  honored  by  his  neighbors.  His 
farm  contained  two  hundred  acres  of  highly 
improved  land,  and  he  was  one  of  the  pros- 
perous and  successful  farmers  of  his  section. 
The  Getty  family  was  prominent  in  the  early 
settlement  of  the  town  of  Hebron  :  as  early 
as  January  1775,  we  find  the  names  of  David 
and  John  Getty,  among  several  others,  peti- 
tioning the  Colonial  assembly  for  the  privilege 
of  electing  a  representative  from  Charlotte 
county.  James,  John  any  Robert  Getty  came 
from  Newry,  Ireland,  soon  after  the  colony 
under  Dr.  Clark  settled  in  Salem.  James 
settled  in  Salem,  where  the  name  is  frequent 
in  the  early  records.     John,   with   his   family. 


removed  to  Pennsylvania  and  founded  Gettys- 
burg. Robert  moved  into  Hebron,  and  settled 
there  permanently.  He  left  four  sons  :  Adam, 
Robert,  John  and  David  ;  and  one  daughter, 
Jane.  Two  of  the  sons  of  James  Getty,  of 
Salem,  came  into  Hebron  :  Ebenezer,  who 
settled  one  mile  south  of  Monroe's  Meadows, 
and  Robert,  one  mile  northeast  of  Belcher. 
The  latter  afterward  moved  to  Lansingburg. 
Of  the  family  of  Ebenezer  there  are  now  liv- 
ing, Mrs.  J.  S.  McClelland  and  Mrs.  J.  W. 
Beatty.  Ebenezer,  jr. ,  is  deceased  ;  it  is  his 
grandson,  John,  who  resides  on  the  homestead. 
John,  David  and  Ebenezer  were  members  of 
the  first  Presbyterian  congregation  organized 
in  Hebron  about  the  year  1780.  The  grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  James 
Getty,  was  son  of  Ebenezer,  sr. ,  and  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Hebron,  where  he  resided  up  to 
his  death  in  1836.  Marilla  B.  (Woodward) 
Getty  was  a  native  of  the  same  town,  and  a 
daughter  of  Benjamin.  She  resided  here 
until  her  death  in  1884,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
one  years.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church,  and  led  a  devoted  Christian  life. 

George  D.  Getty  remained  on  the  farm  in 
his  native  town  until  he  arrived  at  the  age  of 
manhood,  receiving  his  education  in  the  pub- 
lic schools.  He  successfully  followed  the  oc- 
cupation of  farming  in  that  town  until  1887, 
when  he  removed  to  the  village  of  Granville, 
and  embarked  in  the  boot  and  shoe  business. 
Selling  out  his  stock  in  18S8,  he  came  to  Mid- 
dle Granville,  where  he  purchased  the  general 
store  of  the  C.  H.  Bull  estate,  which  he  ran 
up  to  1890,  when  he  burned  out.  For  one 
year  and  a  half  after  his  fire  he  traveled  for  a 
creamery  firm  at  Middle  Granville,  and  on 
November  25,  1889,  was  appointed  postmas- 
ter, and  has  since  filled  the  office  to  the  gen- 
eral satisfaction  of  the  people.  In  addition 
to  his  other  interests,  he  is  engaged  in  the 
manufacturing  business,  being  treasurer  and 
director  of  the  Carver  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany. In  1886  he  wedded  Helen  M.,  who  is 
a  daughter  of  Edgar  O.  Barden,  of  the  town 


212 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


of  Wells,  Vermont.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Getty  are 
the  parents  of  two  children  :  Ethel  and  G. 
Douglass.  George  D.  Getty  is  a  member  of 
Hershall  Lodge,  No.  508,  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons,  of  Hartford,  this  county  ;  he  is  also 
a  member  of  the  Illini  Tribe,  Independent 
Order  of  Red  Men,  and  Sandy  Hill  Council 
of  the  Royal  Arcanum.  He  is  a  leading  re- 
publican of  the  county,  and  prominent  in  the 
councils  of  his  party.  He  is  one  of  nine 
children  born  to  his  parents,  four  sons  and 
five  daughters,  the  eight  others  being  :  Mary, 
the  wife  of  Judson  F.  Barker;  Sarah,  the  wife 
of  William  Fleming  ;  Maggie,  married  R. 
Slorah  ;  Adella  A.,  James  A.  and  Benjamin  F. 
Two  are  deceased,  Chester  and  Ann  Maria. 


/"JEORUE  E.  TRUMBULL,  a  success 
^^  ful  merchant  and  business  man  of  Bald 
Mountain,  in  the  town  of  Greenwich,  and  a 
very  well  known  citizen  of  the  county,  is  a  son 
of  George  F.  and  Mary  H.  (Sheldon)  Trum- 
bull, and  was  born  at  the  village  of  Rupert, 
Vermont,  August  20,  1852.  His  father,  George 
F.  Trumbull,  was  born  May  4,  1822,  and  was 
a  native  of  the  same  village  in  Vermont.  He 
was  a  well-to-do  farmer  of  his  day,  owned  a 
tract  of  three  hundred  acres  of  land  in  the 
vicinity  of  his  native  village,  which  he  always 
kept  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  and  also 
dealt  extensively  in  meats  and  potatoes.  He 
removed  to  New  York  State  in  1866,  and  lo- 
cated in  the  town  of  Greenwich,  where  he 
followed  that  occupation  until  his  retirement 
from  business,  in  1880.  A  soldier  in  the  war 
of  the  rebellion,  enlisting  in  Co.  B,  7th  New 
York  heavy  artillery,  he  served  as  detached 
guard  at  Hart's  Island,  and  during  this  time 
he  contracted  a  severe  case  of  typhoid  fever, 
which  ever  afterward  affected  his  health.  For 
sixteen  months  he  performed  his  duties  as  a 
soldier,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  was  hon- 
orably discharged  at  Hart's  Island.  He  was 
a  stanch  republican.  In  1845  he  was  married 
to  Mary  H.,  a  daughter  of  Titus  Sheldon,  of 


Rupert,  the  latter  a  prominent  farmer  and  in- 
fluential citizen  of  that  locality,  and  for  thirty 
years  a  deacon  in  the  Congregational  church. 
Four  sons  and  three  daughters  were  born  to 
their  union,  of  whom  four  are  living  :  Titus 
S.  and  George  E.,  of  Greenwich;  Arthur  S. , 
residing  at  Fort  Miller  ;  and  Eliza  J. ,  the  wife 
of  Thomas  Wheelwright,  of  Harvey,  Illinois. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Trumbull  reside  in  the  town  of 
Greenwich,  and  the  latter  is  a  member  of 
the  Congregational  church.  David  Sheldon 
(maternal  grandfather)  was  among  the  first  to 
settle  in  the  town  of  Rupert,  and  for  many 
years  held  the  office  of  county  judge.  He  re- 
moved from  Connecticut,  where  he  was  born. 
The  paternal  grandfather,  Horace  S.  Trum- 
bull, was  a  farmer  by  occupation  and  a  native 
of  Vermont,  and  who  married  Dorothy  Spear, 
by  whom  he  had  twelve  children,  six  sons  and 
six  daughters.  Both  he  and  his  wife  were 
members  of  the  Congregational  church.  His 
death  occurred  in  1856,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
two  years.  Levi  Trumbull,  the  great-grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born 
in  the  State  of  Connecticut,  was  a  farmer  by 
occupation,  and  came  of  Puritan  ancestry. 

George  E.  Trumbull  grew  up  on  the  farm, 
receiving  the  greater  part  of  his  education  in 
a  select  school  at  Glens  Falls,  and  after  leav- 
ing this  school  he  returned  to  the  farm,  where 
he  remained  for  a  short  time.  Soon  afterward 
he  left  the  farm  and  engaged  in  the  carpen- 
ter's trade,  at  which  he  worked  for  two  years, 
when  he  abandoned  this  and  began  dealing  in 
produce  and  meats,  at  which  he  successfully 
continued  until  1878.  In  the  latter  year  he 
branched  out  into  the  mercantile  business  at 
Bald  Mountain,  where  he  has  since  lived,  and 
has  succeeded  in  building  up  a  profitable 
trade.  Here  he  keeps  a  general  store,  carry- 
ing a  large  stock  of  goods,  and  from  1882  up 
to  1888,  in  connection  with  his  general  mer- 
chandising, he  was  engaged  in  selling  coal, 
which  he  abandoned  in  the  latter  year.  He 
is  half-owner  in  the  Trout  Brook  farm,  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty-eight  acres,  constituting  one 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


213 


of  the  best  bodies  of  land  and  the  most  val- 
uable farm  in  the  town.  He  also  owns  an  in- 
terest in  another  farm  of  eighty  acres  in  the 
same  town,  which  he  manages  and  farms  him- 
self. Mr.  Trumbull  is  a  director  in  the  Green- 
wich Town  Fire  Insurance  Company,  and  is  an 
active  and  influential  republican  of  his  section 
of  the  county. 

On  March  17,  1883,  he  was  married  to  Car- 
oline A.  Edwards,  who  was  a  daughter  of 
Daniel  Edwards  and  Amy  Hunt.  The  former 
was  an  extensive  farmer,  and  for.  many  years 
a  heavy  speculator  in  grain  and  potatoes  ;  a 
highly  respected  citizen,  who  died  in  March, 
1889.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Trumbull  have  been 
born  two  children  :   Jennie  C.  and  George  Lee. 


IjEROY  THOMPSON,  the  well-known 
coal  and  produce  merchant  of  Green- 
wich, who  is  also  a  director  in  the  Greenwich 
&  Johnsonville  Railroad  Company,  and  trus- 
tee of  the  Consolidated  Electric  Light  & 
Greenwich  Union  Water  Company,  was  born 
May  13,  1849,  in  the  town  of  Easton,  and  is 
the  third  son  of  Col.  Andrew  and  Eliza  (Ste- 
vens) Thompson.  He  grew  to  manhood  on 
his  father's  farm  in  that  town,  and  obtained 
his  education  in  the  public  schools  and  the 
Greenwich  academy.  Immediately  after  at- 
taining his  majority  Mr.  Thompson  went  to 
Kansas,  where  he  pre-empted  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Butler  county,  and 
remained  in  that  State  about  fifteen  months. 
At  the  end  of  that  time  his  health  began  to 
fail,  and  he  was  compelled  to  return  east.  He 
soon  afterward  established  himself  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  where  for  seven  years  he  was 
successfully  engaged  in  the  wholesale  produce 
and  commission  business.  In  1871  Mr. 
Thompson  returned  to  Washington  county, 
and  locating  in  the  village  of  Greenwich  he 
embarked  in  the  coal  and  produce  business  in 
partnership  with  his  brother,  James  H. 
Thompson  (see  his  sketch),  under  the  firm 
name  of  J.  H.  &  L.    Thompson.      They   con- 


tinued the  business  together  until  1893,  when 
LeRoy  purchased  the  interest  of  his  brother, 
and  since  that  time  has  conducted  the  enter- 
prise alone  and  in  his  own  name.  Prompt 
and  careful  in  his  dealings,  Mr.  Thompson 
has  built  up  a  large  and  lucrative  business, 
and  is  one  of  the  best  known  and  most  popu- 
lar citizens  of  Greenwich. 

On  December  7,  1881,  LeRoy  Thompson 
was  united  in  wedlock  with  Ella  Eddy,  a 
daughter  of  Waldron  Eddy,  an  extensive 
manufacturer  of  agricultural  implements,  of 
the  village  of  Greenwich.  To  them  have 
been  born  three  children,  one  son  and  two 
daughters  :   LeRoy,  jr.,  Katie  Eliza  and  Myra. 

In  political  faith  Mr.  Thompson  is  an  ar- 
dent republican,  well  grounded  in  the  princi- 
ples of  his  party  and  a  firm  friend  to  the  policy 
of  protection  to  American  industries.  He  is 
a  trustee  of  the  Consolidated  Electric  Light 
&  Greenwich  Union  Water  Company,  of 
Greenwich,  and  a  director  in  the  Greenwich 
&  Johnsonville  Railroad  Company. 

The  family  from  which  Mr.  Thompson  is 
descended  is  of  Scotch  ancestry,  and  among 
the  oldest  in  America,  having  been  settled  in 
the  colon}'  of  Connecticut  prior  to  the  Revo- 
lutionary war.  From  that  State  they  came  to 
Washington  county,  New  York,  about  1780. 
Here  Andrew  Thompson  (paternal  grand- 
father) was  born  and  passed  a  long  and  active 
life  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits.  He  was 
a  whig  and  Presbyterian,  and  lived  to  be 
eighty  years  old.  His  son,  Col.  Andrew 
Thompson  (father)  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Jackson,  in  1808,  and  died  here  August  10, 
1891,  aged  eighty-three.  He  was  a  farmer 
and  general  business  man,  accumulated  con- 
siderable property,  and  was  twice  elected  to 
the  State  assembly,  beside  occupying  many 
other  positions  of  trust  and  responsibility. 
When  only  twenty-one  years  of  age  he  was 
elected  colonel  of  the  30th  New  York  State 
militia.  In  1840  he  married  Eliza  Stevens,  a 
daughter  of  Simeon  Stevens,  of  this  county, 
and  by  that  union  had  a  family  of  six  children  : 


214 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Simeon  A.,  James  H.,  Margaret,  LeRoy, 
William  A.  and  Frank.  Margaret  died  in 
early  youth,  but  the  sons  all  attained  manhood 
and  are  still  living.  For  additional  facts  see 
sketch  of  James  H.  Thompson,  found  else- 
where in  this  volume.  Mrs.  Eliza  Thompson 
survives  her  husband,  and  now  resides  in  the 
village  of  Greenwich,  in  the  seventy-ninth 
year  of  her  age.  She  is  a  member  of  the 
Reformed  church,  as  was  Colonel  Thompson, 
and  in  her  long  and  active  life  has  abundantly 
exemplified  the  characteristics  which  distin- 
guish true  Christian  womanhood. 


HIRAM  W.  VANDEWERKER, 
M.  D.,  of  Sandy  Hill,  who  now  ranks 
with  the  most  successful  and  skillful  physi- 
cians of  the  county,  and  of  northeastern  New 
York,  was  born  at  Fort  Miller,  Washington 
county,  October  8,  1855.  He  is  a  son  of 
James  H.  and  Mary  (Wheeler)  Vandewerker, 
both  natives  of  Saratoga  county.  Martin  M. 
Vandewerker  (grandfather)  was  one  of  four 
brothers,  who  emigrated  from  Holland  to  this 
country  in  early  colonial  days  and  took  up  a 
tract  of  land  and  settled  in  the  town  of 
Northumberland,  Saratoga  county  ;  and  from 
them  all  the  Vandewerkers  of  this  section 
have  descended.  Hiram  Wheeler  (maternal 
grandfather)  was  a  son  of  Alonzo  Wheeler, 
and  was  born  and  reared  in  Saratoga  county, 
New  York,  and  in  the  early  stage  days,  kept 
the  old  Wheeler  tavern,  located  midway  be- 
tween Saratoga  Springs  and  Glens  Falls,  and 
a  number  of  years  later  on  he  owned  and  con- 
ducted a  store  at  Fortsville.  James  Vande- 
werker was  born  in  1829,  at  Northumberland, 
and  learned  the  trade  of  jeweler,  and  was  for 
many  years  a  prominent  jeweler  at  Fort  Mil- 
ler, where  he  now  lives  a  retired  life. 

Dr.  Hiram  W.  Vandewerker  was  reared  to 
manhood  in  his  native  village,  attending  the 
schools  of  that  place,  and  afterward  entered 
King's  institute  at  Fort  Edward,  from  which  he 


was  graduated  in  1875,  and  immediately  began 
teaching  school.  With  the  desire  of  better 
equipping  himself  with  a  literary  education, 
he  went  to  Albany  and  became  a  student  in 
the  State  Normal  school,  located  at  that 
place,  graduating  therefrom  in  1877.  In  the 
same  year  he  went  to  Poughkeepsie,  New 
York,  and  took  a  thorough  business  course  in 
Eastman's  Business  college,  and  was  the  third 
time  graduated  in  1880.  For  two  years  he 
taught  in  the  seminary  at  Glens  Falls.  In 
1884  he  went  to  New  York  city,  where  he  be- 
came an  apothecary  of  the  Homeopathic  hos- 
pital, and  during  the  first  year  of  his  connec- 
tion with  that  institution,  served  as  apothe- 
cary, and  for  the  two  succeeding  years  he 
was  both  apothecary  and  assistant  house  sur- 
geon. He  matriculated  at  the  New  York  Homeo- 
pathic Medical  college  and  hospital,  and  after  a 
thorough  course  of  study  was  graduated  from 
that  prominent  institution  in  1888.  In  Octo- 
ber of  the  same  year  he  went  to  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  and  took  a  course  known  as  a 
doctor's  practice,  remaining  there  until  1890, 
when  he  came  and  located  at  Sandy  Hill, 
where  he  met  with  immediate  success  and 
soon  had  a  large  and  lucrative  practice.  After 
his  graduation  he  did  not  begin  practice  with 
the  idea  that  he  knew  it  all.  On  the  contrary 
he  remained  and  still  is  an  earnest  student  of 
the  healing  art,  keeping  in  touch  with  the 
leaders  of  his  profession,  and  alive  to  every 
new  thought  or  improved  method  discovered 
or  suggested  by  the  experienced  men  of  the 
medical  world.  To  this  end  he  early  became 
an  active  member  of  the  State  Homeopathic 
society  of  New  York,  and  of  the  American 
Association  of  Homeopathy,  and  is  a  constant 
reader  and  frequent  contributor  to  some  of 
the  leading  medical  journals  of  his  school  of 
practice. 

Dr.  Vandewerker,  on  June  20,  1883,  wedded 
Mary  Andrews,  of  Patten's  Mills,  this  county; 
He  is  medical  examiner  for  several  of  the 
leading  life  insurance  companies  doing  busi- 
ness in  this  section. 


BIOGRAPHY  AXD  HISTORY 


215 


JAMES  DOREN,  one  of  the  prominent 
and  active  business  men  of  the  county, 
and  deputy  collector  of  customs  at  Whitehall, 
was  born  in  Pomfret.  Connecticut,  February 
16,  1822.  In  1837  he  came  to  Whitehall, 
where  he  has  made  his  home  ever  since.  He 
received  a  common  school  education  and 
learned  with  his  half-brother,  Oliver  L.  Steere, 
the  trade  of  carpenter  and  joiner,  which  he 
followed  in  connection  with  contracting  up  to 
1852.  In  that  year  he  engaged  in  the  furni- 
ture and  undertaking  business  and  carries  a 
larger  and  better  assorted  stock  of  furniture 
and  burial  caskets  than  is  usually  found  out- 
side of  a  city.  He  does  a  large  and  lucrative 
business,  having  a  patronage  that  is  rapidly 
increasing  each  year. 

In  1846  Mr.  Doren  married  Lovina  Fran- 
cisco, of  West  Haven,  Vermont,  who  died  in 
1855,  leaving  three  children  ;  a  son,  George 
D.,  surviving.  In  1857  Mr.  Doren  was  uni- 
ted in  marriage  with  Arabella  Francisco,  also 
of  West  Haven,  Vermont,  and  by  his  second 
marriage  has  four  children  :  John  J.,  Charles 
A.,  James  E.  and  Fred  C.  Charles  A.  is  a 
contractor  and  builder ;  the  other  sons  are 
engaged  with  their  father  in  the  furniture  and 
undertaking  business. 

In  politics  James  Doren  is  a  strong  repub- 
lican, and  his  services  have  been  in  constant 
demand  by  his  party.  He  has  served  repeat- 
ed!}' as  a  member  of  the  Republican  county 
committee,  of  which  he  was  chairman  several 
times.  He  was  deputy  sheriff  for  nine  years, 
held  the  office  of  coroner  for  six  years,  and 
served  as  canal  collector  for  seven  years.  He 
was  appointed  as  deputy  collector  of  customs 
of  his  district  in  1885  by  President  Harrison, 
and  still  holds  that  position.  Mr.  Doren  has 
served  for  nearly  thirty  years  as  a  member  of 
the  board  of  education  of  his  village,  where  he 
was  a  member  for  fourteen  years  of  the  fire 
department,  being  assistant  and  chief  engineer 
for  eight  years.  In  connection  with  operating 
his  furniture  and  undertaking  establishment, 
he  has    been   successfully  engaged  for  thirty 


years  in  the  fire  insurance  business,  represent- 
ing the  old  and  reliable  Etna  Fire  Insurance 
Company,  of  Hartford,  Connecticut.  Mr. 
Doren  is  a  member  and  past  grand  of  White- 
hall Lodge,  No.  5,  and  a  member  and  past 
chief  patriarch  of  Whitehall  Encampment, 
No.  69,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 
He  is  among  the  oldest  and  most  reliable  busi- 
ness men  of  the  village  ;  energetic  and  enter- 
prising, he  discharges  all  of  his  transactions 
with  promptness  and  fidelity. 


TlANSING  M.  HOWLAXD,  treasurer 
of  the  Howland  Paper  Company,  and 
prominently  identified  with  the  manufacturing 
interests  of  Sandy  Hill,  is  a  son  of  Enos  and 
Susan  C.  (Murphy)  Howland.  (See  sketch 
of  Amasa  Howland.)  He  was  born  in  the 
village  of  Sandy  Hill,  Washington  county,  New 
York,  August  19,  1850.  His  father,  Enos 
Howland,  was  a  brother  of  Amasa  Howland, 
and  a  native  of  the  town  of  Galway,  Saratoga 
county,  and  when  a  young  man  removed  with 
his  father  to  Sandy  Hill,  where  for  a  few  years 
he  was  engaged  in  the  book  binding  business. 
A  few  years  later,  with  his  father  and  brother, 
he  engaged  in  the  paper  manufacturing  busi- 
ness, and  they  were  among  the  pioneer  paper 
makers  of  the  Upper  Hudson. 

Enos  and  Amasa  Howland  removed  their 
business  to  Fort  Ann,  where  they  were  suc- 
cessfully engaged  in  paper  making  until  1867. 
In  that  year  the  former  retired  from  active 
business.  He  died  at  his  home  in  Fort  Ed- 
ward in   1877,  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven  years. 

Lansing  M.  Howland  was  principally  reared 
in  Fort  Edward,  excepting  a  period  of  ten 
years'  residence  at  Fort  Ann.  Since  1867  he 
has  resided  between  Fort  Edward  and  Sandy 
Hill,  where  he  has  recently  completed  one  of 
the  most  costly  and  tastily  arranged  residences 
in  Washington  count}'.  His  education  was 
mainly  received  in  the  Fort  Edward  institute, 
and  in  the  year  1873  Mr.  Howland  became  a 
partner  of    his   uncle's   in   the   old    Howland 


216 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Paper  Company,  at  Baker  Falls.  He  is  presi- 
dent of  the  Fort  Edward  Electric  Light  Com- 
pany, and  a  director  of  the  First  National 
bank  of  Fort  Edward.  For  many  years  Mr. 
Howland  has  been  prominently  identified  with 
the  various  industrial  enterprises  of  his  sec- 
tion, and  has  given  his  vaid  and  influence  to 
every  movement  for  the  development  or  im- 
provement of  the  same. 

In  December,  1871,  Mr.  Howland  married 
Harriet  C,  a  daughter  of  David  M.  O'Dell,  of 
Fort  Edward.  He  is  a  member  and  deacon 
of  the  Baptist  church  of  Fort  Edward.  In 
his  political  tenets  he  is  a  republican,  taking 
an  active  interest  in  the  success  of  his  party. 
For  three  years  he  filled  the  office  of  super- 
visor of  his  town,  and  since  1892,  the  reor- 
ganization of  the  paper  company,  he  has 
served  as  treasurer  of  the  Howland  Paper 
Company. 

TlIEUT.  JOHN  KING,  one  of  the  old 

■^"^  est  business  men  of  Salem,  and  ex-treas- 
urer of  Washington  county,  is  a  son  of  Henry 
and  H-uldah  (Cook)  King,  and  was  born  at 
Salem,  Washington  county,  New  York,  Janu- 
ary 18,  1823.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Henry 
King,  sr. ,  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and 
came  to  Whitehall,  where  he  died  at  an  ad- 
vanced age.  His  son,  Henry  King  (father), 
was  born  at  Whitehall,  and  in  early  life  re- 
moved to  Salem,  where  he  died  in  August, 
1822.  Henry  King  was  a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion, and  married  Huldah  Cook,  who  was  a 
native  of  Dorset,  Vermont,  and  died  in  1854, 
at  seventy-one  years  of  age.  Mrs.  King  was 
a  daughter  of  Shubal  Cook,  of  Connecticut, 
who  served  in  the  Revolutionary  war  and  had 
two  sons  who  were  soldiers  in  the  American 
army  during  the  second  war  with  England. 

John  King  was  reared  at  Salem,  received 
his  education  in  the  common  schools  and 
Washington  academy,  and  at  an  early  age 
became  a  clerk  in  a  store,  where  he  remained 
for  seven  and  one-half  years.  At  the  end  of 
that  time,  in  1847,  he  succeeded   the   firm    at 


Salem  in  the  general  mercantile  business,  with 
the  late  Dr.  J.  H.  Guild  as  partner,  and  after- 
ward with  several  other  partners,  which  he 
followed  up  to  1876,  when  he  disposed  of  his 
establishment  on  account  of  ill  health.  In 
two  years  after  retiring  from  the  store  his 
health  was  so  far  recruited  that  he  established 
his  present  fire  insurance  business,  in  which 
he  has  been  successfully  engaged  ever  since. 

In  1863  Mr.  King  married  Elizabeth  C. 
Shepard,  a  daughter  of  Chauncey  L.  Shepard, 
of  St.  Lawrence  county,  New  York.  She 
died  in  1887.  They  had  three  children,  one 
son  and  two  daughters  living:  John  S.,  Julia 
and  Fannie.  The  son,  John  S.  King,  is  now 
engaged  in  the  banking  business  in  Omaha, 
Nebraska. 

In  1862  Mr.  King  enlisted  in  the  123d  regi- 
ment. New  York  volunteers.  He  was  pro- 
moted to  first  lieutenant  and  quarter  master, 
and  served  from  July  23  to  November  12,  1862. 
He  is  now  a  member  and  the  adjutant  of 
A.  L.  McDougall  Post,  No.  570,  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic.  John  King  was  a  democrat 
up  to  the  birth  of  the  Republican  party,  and 
since  then  has  been  active  in  its  councils  and 
success.  He  has  served  in  various  village, 
town  and  county  offices,  beside  holding  the 
position  of  deputy  collector  of  revenue  of 
Warren  and  Washington  counties  from  1878 
to  1883.  He  has  served  as  village  trustee, 
member  of  the  school  board,  and  postmaster 
of  Salem,  and  was  treasurer  of  Washington 
county  from  January  1,  1859,  to  January  1, 
1862,  and  from  January  1,  1885,  to  January  1, 
1888.  Mr.  King  is  a  member  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  church,  and  has  been  active  and 
useful  in  religious  and  moral  work,  serving 
for  the  last  fifteen  years  as  financial  agent  for 
the  Presbytery  of  Argyle,  and  for  forty  years 
as  treasurer  of  the  Washington  County  Bible 
society.  He  has  always  been  active  and  en- 
ergetic in  whatever  enterprise  he  has  engaged, 
and  at  the  present  time  does  a  fire  insurance 
business,  representing  reliable  and  leading 
companies. 


=»t* 


r 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


219 


FTMASA  HOWLAND,  president  and 
**"  founder  of  the  Howland  Paper  Company, 
of  Sandy  Hill,  is  one  of  the  pre-eminently 
successful  business  men  and  public  spirited 
citizens  of  Washington  county  and  northern 
New  York.  He  has  been  for  nearly  four 
decades  closely  identified  with  the  industrial 
and  moral  progress  of  his  village,  and  is  the 
eighth  in  direct  line  from  Henry  Howland,  a 
Quaker  immigrant,  who  became  the  progeni- 
tor and  founder  of  the  Howland  family  in 
America.  He  arrived  in  1625  and  joined  the 
Plymouth  colony,  accompanied  by  his  brother 
Arthur,  his  brother  John  having  preceded 
them,  and  was  one  of  that  immortal  little 
band  of  pilgrim?  who  left  their  native  land  on 
account  of  religious  and  political  intolerance 
and  landed  at  Plymouth  rock  in  the  Mayflower 
in  1620.  Henry  Howland's  death  occurred  in 
1671,  and  among  his  children  was  Zoeth 
Howland  in  direct  line,  who  was  born  at 
Duckbury,  Massachusetts.  Zoeth  Howland 
suffered  much  oppression  on  account  of  his 
devotion  to  the  Quaker  religion.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Plymouth  colony,  and  was 
killed  in  the  King  Philip  war  in  1676.  Among 
his  children  one  in  direct  line  was  Henry 
Howland,  who  was  born  on  the  30th  day, 
sixth  month,  1672,  and  took  to  wife  Deborah 
Briggs.  Of  his  children,  one  was  Stephen 
Howland,  the  great-grandfather  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  who  was  born  at  Dartmouth, 
Massachusetts,  on  the  14th  day  of  fifth  month, 
1716,  and  wedded  Mary  Briggs.  Of  this 
marriage  was  born  Stephen  Howland  (grand- 
father) on  the  21st  day  of  sixth  month,  1754, 
in  Dutchess  county,  New  York,  from  whence 
he  removed  to  Saratoga  county  and  became 
one  of  the  first  settlers  in  the  town  of  Galway. 
He  married  Anna  Reynolds,  and  died  in  1831, 
ninth  month,  twentieth  day.  Of  his  children 
was  a  son,  Stephen,  the  father  of  Amasa 
Howland,  and  who  was  a  native  of  Dutchess 
county,  New  York,  where  he  was  born  in  1793, 
fifth  month,  twenty-ninth  day.  He  wedded 
Susan  McOmber  in  1S12,  who  was  born  in 
14 


1789,  eighth  month,  twelfth  day,  and  died  in 
1879,  on  the  8th  day  of  the  seventh  month. 
She  was  a  devoted  Friend  and  a  daughter  of 
Garner  McOmber,  who  was  of  Scotch  descent. 
Stephen  Howland  left  the  town  of  Galway  in 
1844  and  came  and  settled  in  Sandy  Hill. 
Here  he,  with  his  sons,  built  the  paper  mills 
at  Baker's  Falls,  the  first  of  the  kind  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  thus  becoming  the  pio- 
neers in  one  of  the  most  important  industries 
at  Sandy  Hill.  He  rented  his  half  interest  to 
Amasa  Howland,  the  other  half  being  owned 
by  his  son  Enos,  and  retired  from  all  active 
business  in  1852.  He  died  in  1862,  and  was 
known  as  an  industrious  and  enterprising 
manufacturer  who  commanded  the  esteem 
and  friendship  of  all. 

Amasa  Howland  was  one  of  eleven  children, 
and  was  born  in  the  town  of  Galway,  Saratoga 
county,  New  York,  June  29,  1827.  He  wedded 
Mary  L.  Green,  who  died  in  1864.  By  her 
he  had  one  child,  Mary  Louise,  who  is  also 
deceased.  Mr.  Howland  married  for  his 
second  wife,  Lydia  Groesbeck,  of  Fort  Ann, 
by  whom  he  has  two  children,  both  sons  : 
James  Edward,  who  was  born  March  17,  1861, 
married  Jennie  E.  Ottman,  of  Fort  Edward, 
and  is  vice-president  of  the  Howland  Paper 
Company;  and  Frederick  Derby,  born  June  17, 
1865,  married  Cora  Woodward,  of  Saratoga 
count}',  and  is  also  a  stockholder  in  the  How- 
land Paper  Company. 

In  1855  Amasa  Howland,  with  his  brother 
Enos,  disposed  of  their  paper  interests  at 
Sandy  Hill  and  went  to  Fort  Ann,  where  they 
built  a  mill  which  they  successfully  operated 
until  1865,  when  Mr.  Howland  sold  his  inter- 
ests there  to  his  brother  Enos  and  returned  to 
Sandy  Hill.  In  the  same  year  he  associated 
with  himself  in  business  Guy  Clark  and  Dr. 
Miller,  under  the  firm  name  of  Howland, 
Clark  &  Company,  and  built  one  of  the  pres- 
ent immense  paper  mills  at  Baker's  Falls. 
In  1873  Dr.  Miller  died  ;  Mr.  Clark  having 
retired  from  the  firm  in  the  same  year,  Mr. 
Howland    became    sole    proprietor,   and    the 


220 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


name  of  the  firm  was  succeeded  by  that  of 
Howland  &  Company,  taking  into  partnership 
his  two  nephews,  L.  M.  Howland  and  John 
H.  Derby.  On  December  i,  1893,  this  com- 
pany was  succeeded  by  the  Howland  Paper 
Company;  Amasa  Howland  was  chosen  presi- 
dent ;  J.  E.  Howland,  vice-president;  John 
H.  Derby,  secretary,  and  L.  M.  Howland, 
treasurer,  and  the  stock  of  the  company  cap- 
italized at  one  million  dollars.  These  mills, 
including  the  bag  factory,  furnish  employment 
to  about  three  hundred  operatives. 

Amasa  Howland  has  permanently  linked 
his  name  with  the  most  successful  manufac- 
turers of  New  York,  being  a  man  of  fine  ex- 
ecutive ability  and  great  capacity  for  looking 
after  the  various  details  of  an  immense  busi- 
ness. In  his  religious  belief  he  adheres  to 
the  Friends'  religion,  as  did  all  his  ancestors 
back  to  the  member  who  joined  the  Plymouth 
colony  and  founded  the  American  branch  of 
the  family.  But  in  his  religious  opinion,  as 
on  many  other  important  questions,  Mr.  How- 
land is  very  liberal  in  his  views,  and  is  not 
actively  connected  with  any  church. 


HOBERT  A.  LIXENDOLL,  A.  M., 
M.  D.,  who  has  been  engaged  in  the  con- 
tinuous and  successful  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion at  Fort  Edward  for  the  last  fifteen  years, 
was  born  at  Fort  Edward,  Washington  county, 
New  York,  September  15,  1845,  and  is  a  son 
of  John  and  Hannah  (Caldwell)  Linendoll. 
His  paternal  grandfather,  Capt.  John  Linen- 
doll,  came  with  his  mother  from  Prussia  in 
1775  or  1776,  and  settled  at  Rhinebeck,  Dutch- 
ess county.  He  served  as  a  captain  of  cav- 
alry in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  lived  to  be 
ninety-two  years  of  age.  He  was  a  saddler 
and  harness  maker  by  trade,  but  was  chiefly 
engaged  during  his  active  years  of  life  in  farm- 
ing and  lumbering.  Captain  Linendoll  was  a 
Lutheran,  and  married  Catherine  Shoemaker, 
by  whom  he  had  eight  children  :  John,  George, 
Jacob,  Walter,    Thomas,  Helena  Bell,  Maria 


Robinson  and  Serena  Stewart.  John  Linen- 
doll served  as  a  private  in  the  war  of  181 2, 
and  then  engaged  in  lumbering,  which  he  fol- 
lowed for  many  years.  He  was  a  democrat 
and  an  Episcopalian,  and  died  in  May,  1869, 
at  seventy-eight  years  of  age.  He  wedded 
Hannah  Caldwell,  and  their  children  were: 
John,  who  is  in  the  lumber  business  at  Gar- 
land, Pennsylvania  ;  Stephen,  now  dead,  who 
served  on  the  police  force  of  New  York  city 
for  twenty-five  years;  William,  who  died  at 
twenty-eight  years  of  age  ;  Antoinette,  and 
Dr.  Robert  A. 

The  early  education  of  Dr.  Robert  A.  Linen- 
doll was  in  the  Fort  Edward  public  schools. 
He  attended  Fort  Edward  collegiate  institute 
and  afterward  finished  his  education  in  Mon- 
treal, Canada.  Returning  from  Canada,  he 
taught  in  New  York  as  a  private  tutor  for  three 
years,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time,  in  1875, 
commenced  the  study  of  medicine  with  Drs. 
Cornell  and  Little.  At  the  close  of  his  office 
reading  he  took  a  course  in  Homeopathy  at 
the  Boston  Medical  college  and  another  course 
at  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  and  then  entered 
Albany  Medical  college,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  the  class  of  1879.  After  gradua- 
tion he  returned  to  Fort  Edward,  where  he 
has  practiced  his  profession  successfully  ever 
since.  He  is  democratic  in  political  senti- 
ment, and  for  several  years  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  New  York  State  Homeopathical 
society. 

On  January  18,  1884,  Dr.  Linendoll  wedded 
Anna  L.  Nash.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Linendoll  have 
two  children  :   Mildred  and  Edith. 


QEORGE  FREDERICK  UNDER- 
^^  AVOOD,  a  prominent  business  man  of 
Fort  Edward,  and  who  carries  on  the  most 
extensive  lumbering  operations  in  the  Adiron- 
dack mountains,  is  a  son  of  Christopher  C. 
and  Mahala  (Griffin)  Underwood,  and  was 
born  at  Horicon,  Warren  county,  New  York, 
July    18,     1845.       His    paternal    grandfather, 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


231 


Jonathan  Underwood,  was  a  native  of  Massa- 
chusetts, but  spent  the  larger  part  of  his  life 
at  Mulberry,  Vermont,  where  he  had  a  grist 
and  saw  mill  and  did  considerable  of  a  lum- 
bering business.  His  children  were  :  Oliver, 
David,  John,  Christopher  C. ,  Samuel,  Hooton, 
Mills  and  Rosanna,  wife  of  Lorenzo  Hem- 
minway.  Christopher  Underwood  married 
Miss  Griffin,  and  removed  to  New  York. 

George  F.  Underwood  received  his  educa- 
tion in  Fort  Edward  Union  school  and  Fort 
Edward  collegiate  institute,  and  afterward 
took  the  full  course  of  Eastman's  Business 
college,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in  the 
class  of  1867.  Leaving  the  college  be  became 
general  manager  for  the  lumber  firm  of  Bradley 
&  Underwood,  at  Fort  Edward,  and  remained 
with  them  for  fourteen  years.  At  the  end  of 
that  time  he  assumed  the  management  of  the 
Bloomingdale  lumber  business  at  Sandy  Hill, 
which  he  left  in  1880,  to  engage  in  lumbering 
wholly  for  himself.  From  year  to  year  he  in- 
creased his  working  force  and  widened  out 
his  field  of  work,  until  he  now  employs  as 
high  as  two  to  three  hundred  men  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  teams,  and  owns  large  tim- 
ber tracts  in  various  parts  of  the  State.  He 
has  valuable  tracts  of  timber  on  Schroon  and 
Indian  lakes,  Canadaqua  creek,  Saguendago 
river,  and  in  various  parts  of  the  Adirondack 
mountains,  with  all  of  whose  gorges  he  is  ac- 
quainted. He  is  one  of  the  largest  contract 
lumber  dealers  in  the  State,  while  he  also 
speculates  in  timber,  selling  in  1892  over  ten 
thousand  acres  of  timber  land.  Mr.  Under- 
wood takes  interest  in  the  material  prosperity 
and  advancement  of-  his  own  village,  and  has 
invested  there  largely  in  real  estate,  owning 
the  Hotel  Hudson  and  much  other  valuable 
property.  Republican  in  politics,  and  a  strong 
supporter  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  he  has 
served  as  trustee  of  the  village  and  has  aided 
considerably  in  religious  work  for  the  good  of 
the  co  mm  unit)-. 

On  June  24,  1875,  George  Frederick  Under- 
wood   was    united    in    marriage    with    Jennie 


Gregory,  of  Lewis  county.  To  their  union 
have  been  born  four  children  :  Grace  F., 
Maud  S.,  Harry  G.,  and  an  infant  that  died 
when  but  a  few  days  old.  Mrs.  Underwood 
is  a  daughter  of  Simeon  R.  Gregory,  a  native 
of  Pawlet,  Vermont,  who  was  a  hatter  by  trade, 
and  removed  to  Martinsburg,  in  Lewis  county, 
where  he  was  a  deacon  in  the  Presbyterian 
church,  "and  where  he  resided  until  his  death. 
Samuel  R.  Gregory  wedded  Jane  D.  Underbill, 
whose  mother  was  a  Miss  Cushman  before 
marriage,  and  who  was  a  lineal  descendant  of 
Robert  Cushman,  who  tradition  says  came 
over  in  the  Mayflower  and  preached  the  first 
sermon  to  the  Pilgrims  after  landing  at 
Plymouth  rock. 


CAMUEL  K.  GRISWOLD,  one  of  the 

representative  business  men  of  Washing- 
ton county,  is  a  son  of  Isaac  C.  and  Eliza  G. 
(Ketelas)  Griswold,  and  was  born  at  White- 
hall, Washington  county,  New  York,  January 
28,  1844.  He  was  reared  in  his  native  village 
and  received  his  education  in  the  common 
schools,  and  pursued  a  special  course  in  a 
school  at  Claverick,  this  State.  Leaving 
school  he  entered  his  father's  store,  where  he 
served  as  a  clerk  until  1866.  In  that  year  he 
succeeded  his  father,  and  has  conducted  ever 
since  one  of  the  largest  general  mercantile 
businesses  in  northern  New  York.  Mr.  Griswold 
owns  a  large  amount  of  real  estate  at  White- 
hall, including  eight  store  buildings  and  the 
opera  house. 

On  June  19,  1867,  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Martha  Eddy,  daughter  of  W.  S. 
Eddy,  of  Whitehall.  The}'  have  one  child, 
Morgan  Billings,  who  is  now  in  his  senior 
year  at  the  Cornell  university. 

Samuel  K.  Griswold  is  a  democrat,  but  his 
large  business  interests  have  always  possessed 
a  charm  for  him  greatly  superior  to  all  the 
allurements  of  office  seeking  or  office  holding. 
However,  deeming  it  a  duty  of  good  citizen- 
ship to  serve  the  true  interests  of  his  village 


223 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


when  possible  to  do  so,  he  accordingly  ac- 
cepted the  office  of  trustee  for  one  term  at  the 
time  the  water  works  were  constructed.  Pos- 
sessed of  a  capacity  for  work,  and  a  natural 
aptitude  for  business,  he  has  achieved  well 
deserved  success  in  the  line  of  his  chosen 
pursuit.  Essentially  a  man  of  action  his 
knowledge  of  affairs  has  not  been  derived 
merely  from  intuition,  but  from  actual  obser- 
vation and  experience  and  after  careful  reflec- 
tion. Mr.  Griswold  is  a  member  and  trustee 
of  the  Whitehall  Presbyterian  church,  and 
ranks  in  the  county  as  a  man  of  character  and 
business  ability. 

The  Griswolds  are  of  English  lineage,  and 
honorable  mention  of  the  family  occurs  at  an 
early  day  in  the  history  of  New  England. 
Isaac  C.  Griswold,  the  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  a  native  of  Benson,  Ver- 
mont, and  in  1827  came  to  Whitehall,  where 
he  served  for  five  years  as  a  clerk  in  a  store. 
He  then  engaged  in  the  general  mercantile 
business,  which  he  followed  successfully  until 
1866,  when  he  retired  from  all  active  life  pur- 
suits. Mr.  Griswold  was  a  man  of  promi- 
nence and  influence  in  his  neighborhood.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
church  ;  and  a  whig  and  afterward  a  democrat 
in  politics.  He  held  several  of  the  village 
offices,  and  was  vice-president  of  the  First 
National  bank.  He  was  a  large  real  estate 
holder,  and  died  in  1879,  at  sixty-nine  years 
of  age.  Mr.  Griswold  wedded  Eliza  G.  Ket- 
telas,  who  passed  away  in  1892,  when  in  the 
seventy-fifth  year  of  her  age.  Mrs.  Griswold 
was  a  native  of  Whitehall  ;  reared  and  died 
in  the  faith  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  of 
which  she  was  a  life-long  member. 


f^HARLES  R.  PARIS,  a  member  of  the 
^^  Washington  county  bar,  and  an  influen- 
tial and  respected  citizen  of  Sandy  Hill,  is  the 
eldest  son  of  Hon.  U.  G.  and  Cordelia  (Rog- 
ers) Paris,  and  was  born  at  Sandy  Hill,  Wash- 
ington county,   New  York,   in   1851.      He  re- 


ceived his  education  principally  in  the  schools 
of  Sandy  Hill,  read  law  with  his  father,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Washington  county 
in  1880.  Immediately  after  admission  to  the 
bar  he  opened  an  office  in  his  native  village, 
where  he  has  been  engaged  in  active  and  suc- 
cessful practice  ever  since. 

In  1879  Mr.  Paris  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Alma  Biggart,  of  Sandy  Hill. 

Charles  R.  Paris  is  a  republican  in  politics, 
and  served  for  several  years  as  a  member  of 
the  board  of  supervisors  of  Washington  county, 
representing  the  town  of  Kingsbury,  and  dur- 
ing his  last  term  was  chairman  of  that  body. 
Mr.  Paris  is  well  known  for  his  legal  ability 
and  substantial  business  qualities.  He  takes 
an  active  interest  in  the  affairs  of  Sandy  Hill, 
and  is  prominent  in  the  law  and  the  business 
life  of  his  county. 


lWTAJ.  JAMES  McCARTY,  who  made 

A  a  brilliant  record  during  the  great  Civil 

war,  and  now  living  a  retired  life  at  Sand}7 
Hill,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Hartford,  Wash- 
ington county,  New  York,  January  6,  1840.  He 
received  a  common  school  education  in  his 
native  town,  where  his  parents,  then  engaged 
in  farming,  resided.  He  attended  school  at 
the  North  Granville  academy  one  term,  in  the 
fall  of  i860.  He  is  a  son  of  Patrick  and  Mary 
(  Donavan)  McCarty.  His  father  was  a  native 
of  Ireland,  who  came  to  the  United  States 
when  a  young  man,  and  located  on  a  farm  in 
the  town  of  Hartford,  where  he  continued  to 
live  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1886, 
aged  eighty-three  years.  His  wife,  Mary 
Donavan,  was  also  born  in  Ireland,  whom  he 
married  in  that  country.  James  McCarty,  after 
leaving  the  academy  at  North  Granville,  en- 
tered the  Fort  Edward  Collegiate  institute, 
and  when  the  president  of  the  United  States 
called  for  five  hundred  thousand  volunteers, 
Mr.  McCarty  volunteered,  from  this  collegiate 
institute,  on  the  4th  day  of  November,  1861. 
He  became  a  private  in  Co.  E,  96th  regiment 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


223 


New  York  volunteers,  then  being  organized 
under  Col.  James  Fairman,  at  Plattsburg, 
New  York.  The  officers  of  the  company  then 
being  recruited  at  Fort  Fdward  were  :  captain, 
Hiram  Eldridge ;  first  lieutenant,  A.  J.  Rus- 
sell ;  and  second  lieutenant,  James  L.  Cray. 
Mr.  McCarty  was  appointed  sergeant,  Novem- 
ber 22,  1861,  and  in  March,  1862,  was  assigned 
to  duty  as  commissary  sergeant  of  his  regi- 
ment ;  promoted  to  second  lieutenant  Sep- 
tember 25,  1862,  and  to  first  lieutenant  and 
regimental  quartermaster  on  July  17,  1863. 
In  May,  1864,  he  was  assigned  to  duty  as 
brigade  commissary  on  the  staff  of  Brigadier- 
General  Gilman  Marston.  He  served  on  staff 
duty  in  different  capacities  in  the  "Army  of 
the  James"  until  the  close  of  the  war.  On 
May  15,  1865,  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  captain.  After  the  close  of  the  war  he 
served  on  the  staff  of  Brevet  Major-General 
N.  M.  Curtis  as  assistant  adjutant-general  in 
the  department  of  Virginia,  and  received  com- 
mission as  major  by  brevet  from  the  president, 
and  also  from  the  governor  of  the  State  for 
gallant  and  meritorious  service.  Major  Mc- 
Carty served  nearly  five  years  in  the  war,  and 
during  which  time  he  participated  in  some 
sixty  odd  engagements.  He  was  honorably 
discharged  from  the  service  at  Hart's  Island, 
New  York,  in  February,  1866.  Returning 
home,  he  spent  two  years  in  learning  the  lan- 
guages, and  soon  thereafter  came  to  Sandy 
Hill.  In  1868  he  became  the  manager  of  the 
Washington  Mowing  Machine  Company  of 
this  village,  a  position  he  held  for  ten  years. 
At  the  expiration  of  this  time,  he,  with  James 
T.  Outterson,  purchased  this  plant,  which 
they  owned  and  conducted  up  to  1891,  when 
they  sold  out.  This  company  was  first  or- 
ganized for  the  purpose  of  manufacturing 
mowing  machines,  which  they  did  for  one  year 
only,  after  which  they  made  milling  machinery. 
Major  McCarty  was  married,  in  1867,  to 
Mary  C,  daughter  of  William  Johnston,  of 
Hartford,    this    county.       To    their    marriage 

have  been  born  one  son  and  three  daughters  : 
14« 


Sarah  J.,  Alice  H.,  Le  Roy  }.,  and  Grace  W. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
church  of  Sandy  Hill  ;  member  of  Hershal 
Lodge,  No.  387,  Free  and  Accepted  Masons  ; 
and  a  republican  up  to  four  years  ago,  when 
he  identified  himself  with  the  People's  party. 
Major  McCarty  has  served  as  a  member  on  the 
school  board  and  other  village  offices. 


HON.  U.  G.  PARIS  was  one  of  the  most 
prominent  lawyers  and  successful  busi- 
ness men  of  Washington  county,  in  whose  his- 
tory his  name  will  always  occupy  a  high  and 
honorable  place.  He  was  born  at  Fairfield, 
Herkimer  county,  New  York,  August  14,  1819, 
and  was  of  German  descent.  When  he  was 
quite  young  his  parents  removed  to  Harris- 
burg,  in  Lewis  county,  where  he  grew  to  man- 
hood on  the  farm  that  he  helped  to  transform 
from  the  wilderness.  He  enjoyed  but  limited 
opportunities  for  obtaining  an  education,  and 
at  twenty-one  years  of  age  went  to  Watertown, 
in  Jefferson  county,  where  he  learned  the  trade 
of  carpenter.  Mr.  Paris  while  learning  his 
trade  gave  his  leisure  hours  and  evenings  to 
reading  and  study  with  such  encouraging  re- 
sults that  he  soon  decided  to  leave  carpenter- 
ing at  the  earliest  opportunity,  and  seek  his 
life  vocation  in  a  profession  more  congenial  to 
his  tastes,  although  possessing  mechanical 
ability  of  a  high  order.  In  a  short  time  his 
opportunity  came,  when  he  entered  the  office 
of  Judges  Rosekrans  and  Ferris,  of  Glens 
Falls,  with  whom  he  read  law.  At  the  end  of 
his  required  course  of  reading  he  was  admit- 
ted to  the  bar  and  soon  removed  to  Sandy  Hill, 
where  during  a  lifetime  of  devotion  to  his 
profession,  he  won  success,  fame  and  fortune. 
At  the  very  opening  of  his  legal  career  he  en- 
countered some  of  the  ablest  members  of  the 
northern  New  York  bar.  He  always  made  an 
exhaustive  preparation  of  his  cases  and  fought 
them  to  completion.  He  soon  secured  a  re- 
munerative practice  and  rose  to  the  front  rank 
of  his  profession.      He  held  the  confidence  of 


224 


BIOGEAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


the  solid  business  men  of  the  county,  and  so 
judiciously  invested  his  earnings  that  he  be- 
came one  of  the  wealthiest  men  of  his  section. 
He  was  prominent  in  the  business  enterprises 
of  his  village, and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Peoples'  National  bank  of  Sandy  Hill.  Mr. 
Paris  was  a  man  of  strong  and  earnest  con- 
victions, and  fearless  in  his  expression;  being 
a  hater  of  shams  and  frauds  and  an  enemy  to 
all  hypocrisy.  He  was  the  soul  of  sincerity, 
and  his  devotion  to  a  friend  or  a  cause  stop- 
ped at  no  effort  that  he  could  make.  In  pol- 
itics Mr.  Paris  was  imbued  with  a  strong  Na- 
tional feeling  that  caused  him  to  ally  himself 
with  the  whig  party,  and  afterward  support 
its  successor,  the  republican.  He  was  nomi- 
nated and  elected  in  1859  as  surrogate  of 
Washington  county,  and  in  1863  was  elected 
for  a  second  term,  which  he  also  filled.  As  a 
surrogate  he  was  able  and  satisfactory,  as  his 
decisions  were  based  on  justice  and  the  law. 

In  1850  Mr.  Paris  married  Cordelia  Rogers, 
a  daughter  of  Hon.  Charles  Rogers,  of  Sandy 
Hill,  who  was  a  prominent  citizen  of  the 
county,  and  served  in  the  State  legislature, 
and  as  a  member  of  the  twenty-eighth  Con- 
gress. (See  sketch  of  Mr.  Rogers  on  another 
page.)  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Paris  were  born 
eig'ht  children,  two  of  whom  died  young  ;  six 
are  now  living,  viz.:  Charles  R.,  Dr.  Russell 
C.j  a  prominent  physician  of  Albany;  Preston, 
of  Kansas  ;  Lincoln,  of  the  same  State  ;  and 
two  daughters,  one  of  whom  was  graduated 
from  Vassar  college,  and  the  other  from  a 
Boston  institution. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  of 
1891  Mr.  Paris  became  enfeebled  in  health, 
after  returning  from  a  tour  through  the  south- 
ern States  and  the  West  Indies,  he  grew 
worse,  and  at  sunrise  on  September  15,  1892, 
his  final  summons  came.  His  funeral  was 
very  impressive,  and  his  remains  were  en- 
tombed with  appropriate  ceremonies  in  Union 
cemetery,  between  Sandy  Hill  and  Fort  Ed- 
ward. 

Of  U.  G.  Paris  it  was  eloquently  and  truth- 


fully said  by  one  who  knew  him  :  "Mr.  Paris 
was  an  illustration  of  what  a  man  of  character, 
ability  and  determination  can  accomplish  in 
the  face  of  adverse  circumstances,  and  his 
career  is  a  perpetual  encouragement  to  strug- 
gling young  men.  He  fought  the  battle  of 
life  honorably  and  manfully,  and  obtained  a 
full  share  of  its  honors  and  fortune,  and  at  its 
close  could  serenely  retire  '  like  one  that  wraps 
the  drapery  of  his  couch  about  him  and  lies 
down  to  pleasant  dreams. '  " 


ROBERT  CRUIKSHANK,  editor  of 
V  the  Salem  Axiom,  and  one  of  the  public 
spirited  citizens  of  Salem,  is  a  son  of  Peter 
and  Elizabeth  (McKnight)  Cruikshank,  and 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Salem,  in  which  he 
now  resides,  September  1,  1836.  His  father, 
Peter,  was  a  native  of  the  same  town,  where 
he  resided  up  to  his  death,  in  1887,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-one  years.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  United  Presbyterian  church,  and  a  demo- 
crat in  his  political  opinion.  Peter  Cruik- 
shank, sr.  (grandfather),  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Salem,  where  he  followed  the  occupation 
of  farming  all  his  life,  dying  in  1856,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-four.  In  the  early  settlements 
of  Washington  county  he  served  as  captain 
of  a  company  of  mounted  troops,  and  was 
ever  after  known  as  Captain  Cruikshank.  His 
father,  who  was  the  founder  of  the  family  in 
America,  was  William  Cruikshank,  who  came 
from  Scotland  about  the  time  of  the  emigra- 
tion of  Dr.  Clark's  congregation.  He  pur- 
chased a  tract  of  land  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  town  of  Salem,  and  of  his  sons,  Peter 
settled  in  Salem.  Elizabeth  McKnight,  the 
mother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Hebron,  and  was  a  member  of 
the  United  Presbyterian  church,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  eighty  years,  in  1892.  James  Mc- 
Knight (paternal  grandfather)  was  born  in 
Salem,  and  settled  in  the  town  of  Hebron, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  tilling  the  soil  the 
remainder  of  his  life. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


225 


Robert  Cruikshank  grew  to  manhood  on 
his  father's  farm,  receiving  the  advantages  of 
a  common  school  education,  and  on  leaving 
school  he  learned  the  trade  of  carpenter  and 
joiner.  He  was  afterward  engaged  in  con- 
tracting and  building,  which  he  successfully 
carried  on  until  1867,  when  he  was  compelled 
to  give  it  up  on  account  of  ill  health.  In 
August  of  1862  Mr.  Cruikshank  enlisted  in 
Company  H,  123d  New  York  infantry  ;  after 
six  months  he  was  promoted  from  private  to 
second  lieutenant,  and  in  the  fall  following 
made  first  lieutenant  of  his  company.  Imme- 
diately after  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  was 
fought  his  regiment  was  transferred  from  the 
army  of  the  Potomac  to  that  of  the  Cumber- 
land. In  the  winter  of  1863  his  regiment 
guarded  the  Nashville  &  Chattanooga  Rail- 
way, and  in  the  spring  of  the  following  year 
it  started  on  the  Atlanta  campaign.  In  all 
the  battles,  until  after  the  capture  of  Atlanta, 
lieutenant  Cruikshank  was  the  commanding 
officer  of  his  company.  On  arriving  at  At- 
lanta he  was  detailed  as  acting  adjutant  of  the 
regiment,  in  place  of  the  regular  one  who  had 
recently  been  wounded.  Just  before  leaving 
Atlanta  with  Sherman,  on  his  march  to  the 
sea,  he  was  detailed  provost-marshal,  first 
brigade,  first  division,  20th  army  corps,  and 
in  which  capacity  he  served  until  the  close  of 
the  war.  He  was  honorably  discharged  at 
Washington,  D.  C,  and  mustered  out  of  the 
service  at  Albany,  New  York. 

Lieutenant  Cruikshank,  in  1867,  after  giv- 
ing up  building  and  contracting,  embarked  in 
the  harness  business  at  Salem,  New  York, 
where  he  continued  for  seven  years.  In  1874 
he  was  commissioned  postmaster  of  his  vil- 
lage, which  office  he  held  for  twelve  years 
and  four  months.  In  1885  he  founded  his 
present  newspaper,  a  weekly  eight-column 
folio  sheet,  republican  in  politics,  which  is 
well  filled  with  local  news  of  the  count}',  and 
ably  edited.  Its  circulation  is  steadily  in- 
creasing, and  in  connection  with  the  paper  he 
conducts  a  job  printing  department. 


Robert  Cruikshank,  in  i860,  wedded  Mary 
E.,  daughter  of  Henry  M.  Wells,  of  Salem. 
His  marriage  has  been  blessed  by  the  birth  of 
six  children,  five  sons  and  one  daughter: 
Ella,  Harry  B.,  Robert  A.,  Everett  and 
Earnest  W.  Ella  is  now  the  wife  of  Dwight 
P.  Cruikshank,  who  is  an  importer  of  spices 
in  New  York  city.      A  son  died  in  infancy. 

Robert  Cruikshank,  with  his  wife  and  three 
sons,  is  a  member  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
church  ;  a  member  of  Salem  Lodge,  45,  I. 
O.  O.  F.,  and  is  at  present  commander  of  A. 
L.  McDougall  Post,  No.  570,  Grand  Army  of 
the  Republic.  He  is  a  stanch  republican, 
and  has  always  taken  an  active  and  leading 
part  in  politics. 


QEORGE  N.  FINCH,  the  present  pop- 
^^  ular  sheriff  of  Washington  county,  was 
born  in  Schuylerville,  Saratoga  county,  New 
York,  August  12,  1856,  He  is  the  son  of 
Charles  B.  Finch  and  Sarah  M.  Slade,  both 
natives  of  Saratoga  county.  Charles  B.  Finch 
was  reared  and  educated  in  his  native  county, 
and  was  afterward  engaged  in  the  livery  busi- 
ness at  Troy,  New  York,  and  in  1861  removed 
to  this  county,  and  located  at  Granville.  Here 
he  continued  to  reside  until  1871,  when  he  "re- 
moved with  his  family  to  Eagle  Bridge,  in 
Rensselaer  county,  where  he  continued  to  re- 
side until  1882,  engaged  in  the  hotel  business. 
He  wedded  Sarah  M.  Slade,  and  for  eleven 
years  has  been  the  proprietor  of  the  Central 
House  at  Granville,  which  is  one  of  the  popu- 
lar and  well  known  hostelries  of  this  county, 
returning  from  Eagle  Bridge  in  1882  to  Gran- 
ville, which  has  since  been  the  home  of  the 
family.  He  was  born  in  1829,  and  is  at  pres- 
ent acting  in  the  capacity  of  under  sheriff. 
He  was  the  son  of  Rev.  Finch,  who  was  an 
early  settler  in  Saratoga  count)',  where  he  be- 
came one  of  the  pioneer  ministers  of  the  Bap- 
tist church. 

George  N.  Finch  received  the  rudiments  of 
an  education  in  the  schools  of  Granville,  and 


226 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


later  pursued  special  studies  at  the  Friends' 
seminary  at  Easton,  this  county.  From  1877 
to  1881  he  was  engaged  in  the  wholesale  pro- 
duce business  at  Eagle  Bridge,  and  in  the 
latter  year  went  to  New  York  city,  embarking 
in  the  same  line,  and  where  he  continued  suc- 
cessfully for  two  years.  Returning  to  Gran- 
ville in  1882  he  became  manager  of  the  Cen- 
tral House  in  partnership  with  his  father, 
under  the  firm  name  of  C.  B.  Finch  &  Son, 
which  firm  existed  up  to  the  spring  of  1891. 
In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  George  N.  Finch 
was  elected  on  the  republican  ticket  sheriff  of 
Washington  county,  and  was  conducted  into 
office  on  January  1,  1892.  Mr.  Finch  takes 
an  active  and  leading  part  in  the  politics  of 
his  county,  and  is  influential  in  the  councils 
of  his  party,  and  is  a  capable  officer  and  pop- 
ular with  members  of  both  parties.  He  is 
still  the  proprietor  of  the  Central  House,  which 
he  has  leased.  George  N.  Finch  wedded 
Helen  B.  Hunt,  a  daughter  of  John  P.  Hunt, 
of  Eagle  Bridge,  in  1S82.  To  their  marriage 
has  been  born  one  child,  a  son,  Royal  G.  He 
is  prominent  in  Masonry,  being  a  member  of 
Granville  Lodge,  No.  55,  Poultney  Chapter, 
No.  10,  and  Washington  Commandery,  No.  33, 
Saratoga  Springs,  and  also  of  the  Oriental 
Encampment  at  Troy. 


CHERMAN  AVILLIAMS,  superinten- 
dent  of  the  Union  school  of  the  village 
of  Glens  Falls,  and  a  man  of  extensive  liter- 
ary and  scholarly  attainments,  was  born  at 
Cooperstown,  Otsego  county,  New  York,  No- 
vember 21,  1846.  He  is  a  son  of  Justin  Wil- 
liams and  Mary  Sherman.  Justin  Williams 
was  also  a  native  of  Otsego  county,  and  now 
resides  at  Cooperstown,  that  county,  in  the 
seventy-third  year  of  his  age  ;  a  farmer  by 
occupation,  and  a  republican  in  his  political 
belief.  He  was  a  son  of  Isaac  Williams, 
pioneer,  and  one  of  the  most  prominent  men 
in  the  early  history  of  Otsego  county  ;  born 
at  Lebanon,  Connecticut,  and  while  yet  a  boy 


he  drove  an  ox  team  from  his  native  town  to 
Cooperstown,  where  the  remainder  of  his  life 
was  spent  in  advancing  the  interests  of  his 
adopted  county,  and  as  a  member  of  congress. 
He  died  in  December,  i860,  in  his  eighty- 
third  year.  He  ran  a  farm  and  hotel,  and 
was  a  whig  and  afterward  a  republican  in 
politics.  He  was  a  member  of  three  con- 
gresses ;  he  also  served  as  sheriff  and  surro- 
gate of  Otsego  county,  and  being  a  man  of 
wonderful  resources  and  great  natural  attain- 
ments, he  became  very  popular  and  strong 
before  the  people.  The  Williams  family  is  of 
Welch  extraction,  and  the  founder  of  this 
branch  of  the  Williams  family  in  America 
was  Robert  Williams,  who  emigrated  from 
Wales  in  1638,  and  settled  in  Massachusetts 
for  several  generations,  thence  into  Connecti- 
cut, and  from  there  migrated  to  the  State  of 
New  York.  Mrs.  Mary  (Sherman)  Williams 
was  born  in  Cooperstown  in  1821,  and  is  now 
in  her  seventy-third  year. 

Sherman  Williams  was  reared  on  the  farm 
in  the  vicinity  of  Cooperstown,  where  he  at- 
tended the  common  schools;  subsequently  en- 
tered the  Albany  State  Normal  school,  from 
which  institution  he  was  graduated  in  the 
class  of  1871.  He  immediately  engaged  in 
teaching  school,  first  at  Little  Neck,  Long 
Island,  where  he  taught  for  seven  months  ; 
giving  up  this  position  he  went  to  Flushing, 
Long  Island,  where  he  successfully  acted  in 
the  capacity  of  superintendent  of  public 
schools  of  that  city  for  a  period  of  over  eleven 
years.  Leaving  there  in  1882,  he  came  to 
Glens  Falls,  where  he  has  ever  since  remained 
as  superintendent  of  the  Union  school.  The 
schools  of  this  village  are  organized  under 
the  free  school  act,  having  two  large  school 
buildings,  erected  since  Mr.  Williams'  incum- 
bency. For  nine  years  Prof.  Williams,  asso- 
ciated with  Charles  F.  King,  of  Boston,  sus- 
tained by  some  of  the  most  prominent  busi- 
ness men  of  Glens  Falls,  conducted  a  sum- 
mer normal  school  for  the  benefit  of  the 
teachers  of   this  county  and  those  adjoining. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


229 


In  the  early  history  of  the  village,  a  Mr.  Wil- 
liam J.  Ballard,  of  Jamaica,  Long  Island, 
originated  the  idea  of  running  a  school  for 
teachers,  of  three  weeks  duration,  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  July  and  August,  obtaining  special 
instructors  from  all  over  the  country  ;  the 
cost  of  running  this  school  is  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  five  thousand  dollars  per  year. 
Teachers  from  fort)'  states  and  territories  of 
the  Union  have  been  in  attendance,  and  there 
have  been  about  four  thousand  teachers  in 
attendance  since  its  inception  and  organiza- 
tion. 

Prof.  Sherman 'Williams  was  married  in 
1874  to  Margaret,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Wilbur, 
of  Pine  Plains,  Dutchess  county,  New  York. 
To  his  marriage  have  been  born  two  children, 
Henry  W.  and  Paul.  Mr.  Williams  is  a  mem- 
ber and  steward  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  and  of  the  Senate  Lodge,  No.  456, 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  of  Glens  Falls, 
and  is  a  liberal  republican  in  his  political 
belief. 


I*T  J.  LONCr.  In  the  year  1694  Joseph 
*  Long  moved  from  Hartford,  Connecti- 
cut, to  Coventry,  Tolland  county,  Connecticut, 
where  he  purchased  a  farm,  which  still  remains 
in  the  Long  family,  and  which  has  never 
passed  out  of  its  possession,  two  centuries  the 
present  year.  He  was  present  at  the  organi- 
zation of  the  first  Congregational  church  in 
Coventry,  and  for  several  years  one  of  its 
deacons,  and  his  remains  lie  buried  in  that 
town.  Before  his  descendants  took  any  in- 
terest in  their  genealogy,  the  bleak  New  Eng- 
land climate  had  so  wrought  upon  his  grave 
stone  that  the  inscription  could  not  be  de- 
ciphered. Whether  he  came  from  France  as 
De  Long,  or  the  north  of  Ireland  of  Scotch- 
Irish  descent,  or  from  England,  cannot  be 
definitely  established.  But  the  Bible  given 
names  in  the  Long  family,  and  their  faith  in 
the  doctrine  and  practice  of  Calvanism  strong]  v 
indicate  their  Puritan  descent.  To  Joseph 
Long  was  born  Lemuel  Long,  July  12,  1727, 


who  married  Martha  Baker,  who  was  born 
September  23,  1730.  To  Lemuel  and  Martha 
Long,  in  Coventry,  were  born  Lemuel,  Martha, 
Joseph,  Rufus,  Levi,  Jesse,  Driadema,  Ste- 
phen, and  Reuben  Long.  Of  the  above  chil- 
dren, Joseph  and  Rufus  served  in  the  war  of 
the  Revolution,  and  died  in  the  army.  Levi, 
the  fourth  son  of  Lemuel  Long,  was  born  in 
Coventry,  Connecticut,  July  23,  1758.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-five  he  married  Abigail  Baker, 
and  removed  to  Rutland,  Vermont,  in  1783. 
To  Levi  and  Abigail  Long,  in  Rutland,  were 
born  Pamela  (who  died  in  infancy),  Rufus, 
Levi,  Joseph,  Jared,  Pamela,  Harvey,  Lyman, 
and  Clark  Long.  Jared  Long,  the  fourth  son 
of  Levi  and  Abigail  Long,  and  the  father  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Rut- 
land, Vermont,  October  13,  1791.  In  the  war 
of  1812  the  militia  of  Vermont  was  called  out 
to  defend  their  northern  frontier.  The  com- 
pany in  which  Jared  Long  served  was  sta- 
tioned in  the  town  of  Highgate,  and  was  com- 
posed of  the  yeomanry  of  Vermont.  And  no 
invasion  from  Canada  being  threatened  at  that 
point,  left  the  Green  Mountain  boys  leisure  to 
indulge  in  things  not  strictly  in  line  of  mili- 
tary duty.  One  of  the  results  was  that  Jared 
Long  won  the  heart  of  a  farmer's  daughter, 
by  the  name  of  Martha  Barr,  and  brought  her, 
as  a  rich  trophy  of  that  campaign,  to  Rut- 
land. They  were  married  December  25,  1814. 
She  was  the  third  daughter  of  Conrad  and 
Elizabeth  (Weaver)  Barr,  who  emigrated  from 
Wurtemberg,  German)',  in  1775,  and  located 
in  Dutchess  county,  New  York.  In  1780  they, 
with  several  German  families,  who  were  in- 
clined to  a  monarchical  form  of  government, 
moved  to  Canada,  as  they  supposed,  but  when 
the  line  was  settled  between  the  States  and 
Canada,  they  found  themselves  in  Vermont. 
To  this  accident  Vermont  is  indebted  for  some 
of  her  most  enterprising  citizens  in  that  part 
of  the  State:  the  Hogabomes,  Stearnes.  Sti- 
mets,  Meigs,  Hinkleys,  Barrs,  Saxes,  Stein- 
hours,  etc.,  were  all  well-to-do  farmers  and 
business    men.      Peter    Sax   was    the    grand- 


230 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


father  of  John  G.  Sax,  the  poet.  To  Con- 
rad and  Elizabeth  Barr  were  born  John, 
Margaret,  Catherine,  and  Martha.  Mar- 
tha, the  youngest,  and  mother  of  A.  J. 
Long,  was  born  June  n,  1792,  in  Highgate, 
Vermont.  Jared  and  Martha  Long  resided 
sixteen  years  in  Highgate,  and  the  remainder 
of  their  lives  in  Rutland,  bringing  up  to  man- 
hood and  womanhood  four  sons  and  three 
daughters,  and  fulfilling  life's  great  mission 
in  its  highest  and  best  sense,  full  of  years, 
good  deeds  and  charitable  acts,  and  rest  from 
their  labors,  each  in  the  ninetieth  year  of  their 
age.  They  are  buried  in  Evergreen  cemetery, 
Rutland,  Vermont.  To  Jared  and  Martha 
Long  was  born  Charles  Conrad,  who  married 
Sarah  A.  Fern,  and  died,  without  issue,  in 
Highgate,  September  9,  1891,  aged  seventy- 
six  years;  Martha  P.,  married  John  Hoga- 
bome,  died  in  Highgate,  December  31,  1892, 
aged  seventy-five  years,  leaving  a  husband, 
one  son,  and  three  daughters;  Julia  A.,  mar- 
ried Asahel  Cleveland,  and  now  resides  in 
Rutland,  a  widow,  with  her  only  child,  George 
Herbert  ;  Benjamin  F.  was  born  in  Highgate, 
August  9,  1827,  married  Lovina  Martin,  and 
moved  to  Rockford,  Illinois.  He  enlisted  in 
Co.  K,  100th  Illinois  volunteer  regiment,  died 
in  the  army  at  the  age  of  thirty-five  years,  and 
was  buried  in  Cave  Hill  cemetery,  Louisville, 
Kentucky ;  he  left  one  son,  Carlos  Long,  who 
now  resides  in  Joliet,  Illinois.  Levi  C. ,  born  in 
Highgate,  June  2,  1831,  married  Eliza  Mer- 
riam,  and  now  resides  in  Rutland  ;  they  have 
one  son  and  three  daughters.  Mary  E.,  born 
in  Highgate,  March  25,  1834,  married  William 
H.  Crawford,  a  resident  of  Louisiana,  by 
whom  she  had  four  daughters ;  she  died  in 
Mount  Enterprise,  Texas,  aged  fifty-four  years. 
A.  J.  Long,  second  son  and  fourth  child  of 
Jared  and  Martha  Long,  and  the  subject  of 
this  notice,  was  born  in  Rutland,  Vermont, 
August  5,  1824.  He  worked  on  his  father's 
farm  until  he  was  eighteen  years  of  age,  when 
he  commenced  preparation  for  college  at  Cas- 
tleton  seminary,  and  during  his  entire  course 


of  study  he  taught  school  winters.  He  grad- 
uated at  Middlebury  college,  in  a  class  of  fif- 
teen, in  1851.  Eight  of  his  classmates  are 
still  living.  He  attended  his  first  course  of 
medical  lectures  at  Castleton,  and  his  second 
at  the  university  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
from  which  institution  he  graduated,  with  the 
degree  of  M.  D.,  March  9,  1853,  in  a  class  of 
one  hundred  and  one.  July  28th  of  the  same 
year  he  opened  an  office  in  Whitehall,  and 
from  that  day  to  this,  (with  the  exception  of 
1879,  which  he  spent  in  Colorado,)  he  has 
been  in  continuous  and  active  practice  of  his 
profession  in  Whitehall,  and  to  one  who  has 
endeavored  to  keep  abreast  of  the  times  and 
in  touch  with  the  developments  and  progress 
of  the  art  and  science  of  medicine,  what 
varied,  rich  and  profound  experiences  have 
not  been  realized  during  the  last  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  The  doctor  is  a  member 
of  the  county,  State  and  national  medical 
societies,  honorary  member  of  the  California 
State  Medical  society,  and  his  alma  mater 
conferred  upon  him  the  M.  A.  degree.  Al- 
though not  an  active  politician,  the  town  of 
his  adoption  has  elected  him  to  nearly  all  the 
offices  within  its  gift,  from  village  clerk  to  su- 
pervisor of  the  town. 

On  December  6,  1855,  he  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Susan  Eleanor  Coulson,  who 
was  born  in  Baltimore,  Maryland,  in  1833, 
and  was  the  third  daughter  of  Thomas  and 
Jane  (Watson)  Coulson.  Her  father  was  a 
native  of  St.  Johns,  New  Brunswick,  and  her 
mother  of  Sussex,  England.  They  were 
married  in  Albany,  New  York,  November  15, 
1827,  and  to  them  were  born  twelve  children, 
five  sons  and  seven  daughters.  Mrs.  Coulson 
died,  aged  fifty-two  years,  in  1862,  and  Mr. 
Coulson  in  1871,  aged  sixty-eight  years.  To 
the  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Long  was  born  Mary 
Jane,  November  17,  1857.  She  married  Dr. 
B.  C.  £enton,  now  an  active  practitioner  in 
Rutland,  Vermont.  They  have  one  son  and 
four  daughters  :  Charles  Jared,  born  July  17, 
i860,  and  died  July,  10,  1878  ;   Freddie  Coul- 


BIOGRAPHY  AXD  HISTORY 


231 


son,  born  August  15,  1S62,  and  died  Novem- 
ber 17,  1864;  Benjamin  Alfred,  born  Septem- 
ber 12,  1867,  and  now  resides  in  Whitehall; 
Clymer  BO-rr,  born  December  23,  1873,  is  now 
a  student  in  the  medical  department  of  Mc- 
Gill  university,  Montreal,  Province  of  Que- 
bec. In  1879  Mrs.  Long's  health  began  to  be 
seriously  affected,  and  the  Doctor  sought  a 
change  of  climate;  with  his  wife  and  two  sons 
he  went  to  Buena  Vista,  Colorado.  For  a  time 
the  change  seemed  to  do  her  good,  but  on  the 
nth  of  May,  1880,  she  was  attacked  with 
pleuro-pneumonia,  which  in  one  week  proved 
fatal.  She  died  May  iSth,  1880,  aged  forty- 
seven  years.  Her  remains  were  brought  east 
and  buried  with  her  kindred  in  Albany  Rural 
cemetery.  Mrs.  Long  was  a  lady  of  refine- 
ment and  culture.  In  her  character  were 
harmoniously  blended  all  the  good  sense,  wo- 
manly virtue  and  Christian  grace  which  make 
the  ideal  wife,  mother  and  friend.  The  Doc- 
tor returned  to  Whitehall,  after  an  absence  of 
little  more  than  a  year,  and  took  up  his  pro- 
fessional duties,  in  the  fall  of  1880,  and  has 
endeavored  to  fulfill  them  with  credit  to  him- 
self and  satisfaction  to  his  patients. 

October  1,  1885,  the  Doctor  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Mary  M.  Dickinson,  daughter 
of  Hiram  and  Huldah  (Merrill)  Dickinson. 
Her  grandfather  was  a  native  of  Glastonbury, 
Connecticut.  He  emigrated  to  Queensbury, 
New  York,  where  her  father  was  born  Sep- 
tember 5,  1798.  He  died  in  Whitehall,  Janu- 
ary 15,  1881.  Her  grandfather  Merrill  emi- 
grated from  Canaan,  Connecticut,  to  Addison, 
Vermont,  where  her  mother  was  born  Novem- 
ber 5,  1812.  She  died  in  Whitehall,  January 
3,  1884.  They  left  two  children:  May  M. 
and  Hiram  W.,  who  now  reside*  in  West 
Union,  Adams  county,  Ohio. 

Now,  at  the  end  of  forty-one  years  of  prac- 
tice, the  Doctor  looks  back  with  some  satis- 
faction on  his  work  accomplished.  He  had 
in  one  year  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
cases  of  small-pox  under  his  care,  served 
through  two  epidemics  of  cholera,  been  pre- 


sent at  nearly  two  thousand  child  births,  and 
many  thrilling  experiences  in  emergencies, 
is  still  in  harness,  and  considers  work  as  man's 
great  mission  on  earth. 


HON.  FRANK  BYRNE,  vice-president 
of  the  Merchants'  National  bank,  and 
president  of  the  board  of  health  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Glens  Falls,  is  one  of  the  most  public 
spirited  and  successful  business  men  of  that 
village.  He  was  born  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  October  25,  1839,  and  is  a  son  of  Peter 
and  Catherine  (Byrne)  Byrne.  The  Byrne 
family  is  of  ancient  Irish  origin.  The  father 
and  mother  of  Mr.  Byrne  were  both  natives 
of  County  Wexford,  and  soon  after  their  mar- 
riage jthey  set  sail  for  Canada,  and  after  a 
three  months'  voyage,  landed  at  Quebec. 
From  there  they  removed  to  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  soon  after  the  birth  of  their  son, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  came  to  northern 
New  York  with  the  intention  of  making  their 
permanent  home  at  Chester,  Warren  county, 
arriving  at  Glens  Falls  while  en  route  to  that 
place,  Peter  Byrne  sickened  and  died  ;  his 
wife  died  in  this  village  in  the  seventy-sixth 
year  of  her  age.  Both  she  and  her  husband 
were  worthy  members  of  the  Catholic  church. 
Frank  Byrne  was  reared  to  manhood  in  the 
town  of  Queensbury,  where  he  attended  the 
common  schools,  which  was  afterward  sup- 
plemented by  a  few  terms  at  the  old  Glens 
Falls  academy.  After  leaving  school  young 
Byrne  commenced  his  active  business  career 
as  a  clerk  in  a  dry  goods  store,  where  he  re- 
mained for  a  while,  when  he  formed  a  part- 
nership with  Clark  J.  Brown  (now  deceased), 
of  this  village,  and  engaged  in  general  mer- 
chandising. This  firm  continued  most  sue 
cessfully  up  to  the  year  1S72,  when  Mr.  Byrne 
sold  his  interest  and  at  once  embarked  in  the 
manufacturing  of  lime.  He  is  at  present  the 
senior  member  of  the  Keenan  Lime  Company, 
of  this  village.  The  quarries  and  kilns  of 
this   company  are    located    at    Smith    Basin, 


232 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Washington  county,  and  have  a  capacity  of 
turning  out  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
barrels  of  lime  annually.  These  works  employ 
eighty  to  one  hundred  hands,  and  the  principal 
market  for  their  product  is  in  New  York  city. 
In  addition  to  their  quarries  they  own  six 
hundred  acres  of  land,  which  is  adjacent  to 
their  works.  Mr.  Byrne  is  one  of  the  founders 
and  organizers  of  the  Merchants'  National 
bank,  of  Glens  Falls,  and  is  now  serving  as 
vice-president.  In  the  present  construction 
of  a  line  of  sewers  at  Glens  Falls  he  is  one  of 
the  commissioners  of  that  improvement,  and 
is  president  of  the  board  of  health,  and  is 
more  or  less  identified  with  all  movements 
calculated  for  the  improvement  of  his  village. 

In  his  political  affiliations  he  is  a  stanch 
democrat,  and  in  1884  was  elected  by  over  two 
hundred  majority,  overcoming  one  thousand 
republican  majority  in  the  county,  member 
of  the  general  assembly.  He  has  also  served 
as  village  trustee. 

Mr.  Byrne  was  married  in  1871  to  Elizabeth 
A.  Keenan,  daughter  of  John  Keenan,  de- 
ceased, of  this  village.  In  1887  he  married 
for  his  second  wife  Margaret  O.  Sullivan,  of 
New  York  city,  and  by  her  has  one  son,  John. 

Mr.  Byrne  is  a  member  of  the  Catholic 
church,  and  a  self-made  man  in  the  truest 
sense  of  that  term. 


IjIEUT.-COL.  HENRY  ROOT,  A.M., 

31.  D.,  of  Whitehall,  who  served  as  sur- 
geon of  the  54th  and  58th  New  York  volun- 
teers during  the  Civil  war,  was  brevetted 
lieutenant -colonel  for  his  devotion  to  the 
Union,  and  has  been  vice-president  of  the 
Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  is  a  son 
of  Dr.  Leonard  and  Caroline  (Dayton)  Root, 
and  was  born  at  North  Granville,  Washington 
county,  New  York,  April  5,  1835.  The  family 
is  of  Norman-English  extraction,  and  among 
the  early  settlers  of  New  England.  Near 
Stratford  on  the  Avon  was  the  home  of  John 
Roote,  whose  marriage   with  Ann    Russell  in 


the  year  1600  is  recorded  in  the  parish  regis- 
ter, and  who  were  the  progenitors  of  the 
Rootes  and  Roots  in  America.  Colonel  Wil- 
liam Root,  paternal  grandfather  of  Dr.  Henry 
Root,  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  served 
as  a  colonel  in  the  American  army  during  the 
war  of  1812,  and  was  among  the  early  settlers 
of  Hebron,  this  county.  He  married  and 
reared  a  family  of  children,  one  of  his  sons 
being  Dr.  Leonard  Root  (father),  who  was 
born  in  Washington  county  in  1803,  studied 
medicine  and  became  a  practicing  physician 
of  the  county,  and  was  successfully  engaged 
in  the  practice  until  his  death  in  1851,  at  the 
age  of  forty-eight  years.  He  died  at  White- 
hall, where  he  had  resided  since  1842,  in  the. 
house  now  occupied  by  his  son,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch.  In  1828  he  married  Caroline 
Dayton,  a  native  of  Fort  Ann,  and  a  daughter 
of  Jehiel  Dayton.  They  had  a  family  of  five 
children.  Mrs.  Root  was  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  and  died  in  1893,  in  the 
eighty-sixth  year  of  her  age..  Her  father, 
Jehiel  Dayton,  was  a  native  of  Great  Barring- 
ton,  Massachusetts,  who  came  to  Wa.-hington 
county  when  a  young  man.  He  served  as 
captain  of  artillery  during  the  war  of  1812, 
and  an  old  musket  owned  by  him  is  now  in 
possession  of  Dr.  Root.  He  died  in  North 
Granville,  this  county,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
six.  By  occupation  he  was  a  farmer,  and  also 
owned  and  conducted  a  store,  grist  mill  and 
saw  mill. 

Dr.  Henry  Root  was  reared  principally  in 
Whitehall,  where  he  obtained  his  elementary 
education  in  the  public  schools.  He  after- 
ward entered  Williams  college,  and  was  grad- 
uated from  that  institution  in  August  of  1856. 
After  graduation  he  became  principal  of  the 
high  school  at  Southbridge,  Massachusetts, 
where  he  remained  for  one  year.  He  then 
began  reading  medicine  with  Dr.  Daniel  S. 
Wright,  a  prominent  physician  of  Whitehall, 
and  later  matriculated  in  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  the  university  of  New  York,  from 
which    he   was   duly  graduated  in    1859,  with 


BI0OJRAPJ3Y  AND  HISTORY 


233 


the  degree  of  M.  D.  In  the  same  year  he 
went  to  Liverpool,  England,  as  a  ship's  sur- 
geon, and  while  in  Europe  visited  the  hos- 
pitals of  Paris  and  other  cities,  in  order  to 
acquaint  himself  with  the  methods  in  use  in 
the  old  world.  While  in  Paris  Dr.  Root,  in 
1863-64  interested  himself,  along  with  Hon. 
John  Bigelow,  Rev.  Dr.  McClintock  and 
T.  G.  Dale,  in  establishing  the  European 
branch  of  the  -Sanitary  commission  of  the 
United  States.  Returning  to  the  United 
States,  Dr.  Root  located  in  the  village  of 
Whitehall  for  the  practice  of  his  profession, 
and  was  building  up  a  good  general  practice 
when  the  Civil  war  broke  out.  In  the  year 
1861  he  was  appointed  by  the  governor  of 
New  York  as  assistant  surgeon  of  the  54th 
New  York  infantry,  and  in  January,  1863, 
upon  the  recommendation  of  Gen.  Chester  A. 
Arthur,  he  was  promoted  to  be  surgeon  of 
the  58th  New  York  infantry.  While  serving 
in  this  capacity  he  was  wounded  at  the  battle 
of  Chancellorsville,  by  a  minnie  ball  which 
struck  him  on  the  head  and  unfitted  him  for 
duty  for  the  space  of  nine  months.  In  August, 
1863,  Dr.  Root  was  honorably  discharged  from 
the  service  on  account  of  this  wound,  and  im- 
mediately went  to  Europe,  where  he  visited 
England,  Germany  and  France,  seeking  for 
restoration  to  health.  In  Paris  he  again  visi- 
ted the  French  hospitals,  and  during  these 
visits  was  exposed  to  and  took  the  small  pox, 
with  which  he  was  confined  some  time  to  his 
hotel.  Returning  to  America  in  1S64,  he  be- 
came assistant  surgeon  in  the  command  of 
General  Sheridan,  and  while  quartered  at 
Winchester,  Virginia,  received  a  commission 
as  surgeon  of  the  54th  New  York  infantry,  in 
his  old  regiment,  and  served  until  August, 
1866,  during  the  latter  part  of  this  time  act- 
ing as  post  surgeon  at  Orangeburg  and  Co- 
lumbia, in  South  Carolina,  at  the  request  of 
Secretary  Stanton.  In  1866  the  governor  of 
South  Carolina  forwarded  a  highly  commend- 
atory letter  to  the  president,  advising  the  pro- 
motion of   Dr.  Root  to  a  lieutenant-colonelcy 


by  brevet,  for  his  devotion  to  the  Union  cause, 
but  his  personal  friend,  James  A.  Garfield, 
afterward  president,  had  already  recommended 
him  for  that  honor,  and  the  president  sent  the 
nomination  to  the  senate,  by  which  it'  was 
unanimously  confirmed. 

After  quitting  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  Dr.  Root  returned  to  this  count)'  and 
again  began  the  practice  of  medicine  at  White- 
hall. For  several  years  he  has  been  health 
officer  of  the  town,  is  an  active  member  of 
the  Washington  County  Medical  society,  and 
has  been  its  secretary  for  twelve  years.  He 
is  also  a  member  of  the  New  York  State 
Medical  society,  and  of  the  Congregational 
church,  of  Williams  College,  Massachusetts. 
He  was  president  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian association  of  this  place  in  1892,  and 
takes  an  active  part  in  its  work.  Politically 
he  is  a  stanch  republican,  and  for  some  time 
served  as  vice-president  of  the  Society  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac. 


toURDICK  G.  SWEET,  deceased,  was 
one  of  the  prominent  and  well-to-do 
farmers  of  the  town  of  South  Hartford  ;  a  son 
of  Stephen  and  Freelove  (Potter)  Sweet,  and 
was  born  in  Hoosick,  Rensselaer  count)',  New 
York,  in  the  year  18 18.  At  the  age  of  six 
years  he  came,  with  his  father,  to  Granville, 
this  county,  and  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years  he 
removed,  with  his  parents,  to  a  farm  in  West 
Hartford:  after  his  marriage  he  purchased  a 
farm  near  South  Hartford.  Here  he  farmed 
successfully  up  to  1868,  when  he  retired  from 
all  active  business,  going  to  the  village  of 
South  Hartford,  where  he  lived  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1877,  aged  fifty-nine 
years. 

In  1849  Burdick  G.  Sweet  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Laura  A.,  a  daughter  of  Xurey 
Maynard,  of  this  town.  His  widow  only  sur- 
vives him,  who  resides  at  the  old  homestead 
in  South  Hartford,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Univcrsalist    church.      She    was    born   in  the 


234 


BIOOBAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


village  of  South  Hartford,  where  she  has  al- 
ways resided.  Her  father  was  also  a  native 
of  the  town  of  South  Hartford,  and  who  died 
in  the  thirty-ninth  year  of  his  age. 

He  and  his  brother  were  soldiers  in  the  war 
of  1812.  They  were  sons  of  Elisha  Maynard, 
who  was  among  the  pioneer  settlers  of  the 
town. 

QLEXAJfDER  WILLIAMSON,  who 

^^  has  risen  from  the  humble  position  of  a 
boot-black  to  that  of  proprietor  of  a  plan- 
ing mill  at  Whitehall,  was  born  in  the 
county  of  Derry,  Ireland,  July  14,  1842,  and 
is  a  son  of  James  Williamson  and  Elizabeth 
Moore.  His  parents  were  natives  of  the 
same  county,  but  both  were  of  Scotch  ex- 
traction, and  emigrated  from  the  Emerald 
Isle  to  the  United  States  in  1852,  locating  at 
Whitehall,  where  his  mother  died,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-two  years,  in  1885;  she  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Ireland. 

Alexander  Williamson  was  brought  to 
Whitehall,  with  his  mother,  in  1852,  where 
he  has  made  his  home  ever  since.  He  received 
only  the  rudiments  of  a  common  school  edu- 
cation, but  after  he  had  learned  the  trade  of 
carpenter  with  Joseph  Wilson,  of  this  village, 
he  went  to  Memphis,  Tennessee,  March  5, 
1859,  and  remained  there  until  after  the  war 
broke  out,  and  Tennessee  had  passed  ordi- 
nances of  secession.  Trained  in  the  home 
guards  of  the  city,  he  was  given  a  choice 
to  join  the  Confederate  army  or  leave  the 
place.  He  left  the  Confederate  States,  going 
to  Chicago,  and  finally  returned  home  to 
Whitehall  in  the  summer  of  i860.  He  rather 
favored  the  Confederate  cause,  and  was  called 
at  home  a  "fire-eater,"  "  secesh,"  etc.,  and 
was  threatened  a  number  of  times  being  sent 
to  Fort  Lafayette,  but  the  threats  were  never 
executed.  He  continued  to  work  up  to  the 
winter  of  1864-5,  when  he  went  to  Albany, 
where  he  took  a  commercial  course  in  the  Al- 
bany Commercial  college.  In  1865  he  returned 
to  Whitehall,  and  founded  his  present  extensive 


planing  mill  business,  and  after  successfully 
running  it  for  one  year,  sold  a  half  interest  to 
N.  H.  Ames,  of  New  York  city.  The  name 
of  the  firm  was  then  changed  to  N.  H.  Ames 
&  Co.  He  remained  with  Mr.  Ames  up  to 
1870,  when  the  mill  burned,  which  was  imme- 
diately rebuilt  and  operated  until  1876,  when 
the  mill  was  stopped  running  on  account  of 
the  death  of  Mr.  Ames,  and  for  several  years 
afterward  it  was  leased  and  run  by  Mr.  Wil- 
liamson. In  1886  he  bought  his  deceased 
partner's  interest,  and  has  since  been  the  sole 
proprietor  of  the  mill.  His  business  from  the 
time  he  started  it,  in  1865,  has  steadily  in- 
creased and  expanded,  and  at  present  has  a 
substantial  patronage  and  extensive  trade, 
giving  employment  to  several  men.  He  man- 
ufactures sash,  blinds,  doors,  frames,  mould- 
ing and  casing,  beside  dealing  in  glass,  putty, 
etc.;   also  turning  and  gig  sawing. 

Mr.  Williamson,  in  1869,  wedded  Lydia  S. 
Morris,  of  this  village,  who  is  a  woman  of 
superior  business  foresight,  and  to  whom  is 
due  a  great  deal  of  the  credit  for  the  business 
success  of  her  husband.  Mr.  Williamson  has 
for  many  years  been  a  leading  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  and  is  an  elder  ;  also  for 
a  number  of  years  was  assistant  superintendent 
of  the  Sunday  school,  and  for  eight  years  su- 
perintendent of  the  same.  He  is  a  stanch 
democrat,  but  has  never  offered  for  any  politi- 
cal office. 


HDAA  IS  NORTHRUP,  ex  treasurer 
•  of  Washington  county,  and  a  successful 
manufacturer  of  Fort  Edward,  is  a  son  of 
Hon.  James  M.  and  Julia  (Davis)  Northrup, 
and  was  born  October  9,  1842,  at  Hartford, 
Washington  county,  New  York.  He  received 
his  education  at  Fort  Edward  institute,  and  at 
eighteen  years  of  age  engaged  in  the  produce 
business  with  his  father,  at  a  point  on  the  line 
of  the  Champlain  canal.  Three  years  later  he 
succeeded  his  father,  and  afterward  formed  a 
partnership  with  his  uncle,  W.  B.  Northrup, 
being  engaged  in  the  business  altogether  for 


BIOGJiArifY  AND  HISTORY 


235 


twenty-two  years.  During  this  time  he  became 
a  member  of  the  shirt  and  collar  company, 
known  as  Davis  &  Co.,  which  did  a  large 
manufacturing  business  at  Troy,  and  then  at 
Fort  Edward  up  to  1890.  In  that  year  Mr. 
Northrup  became  a  member  and  the  secretary 
of  the  present  company  that  is  manufacturing 
ale  taps  and  faucets  at  Fort  Edward.  They 
have  a  branch  office  in  New  York  city,  and 
average  fifty  thousand  dollars  of  sales  per 
year.  This  company  is  known  as  the  Auto- 
matic Tap  and  Faucet  Company.  Mr.  North- 
rup is  a  republican  in  politics.  He  served  six 
years  as  deputy  county  treasurer  under  his 
father,  and  then  was  elected  twice  as  county 
treasurer.  He  is  a  member  of  Hartford  Bap- 
tist church  and  Masonic  lodge,  and  a  promi- 
nent Knight  Templar  of  Washington  Com- 
mandery  of  Saratoga. 

In  January,  1864,  Mr.  Northrup  married 
Parmelia  E.  Wait,  who  was  a  daughter  of 
Mansur  K.  Wait,  of  Granville,  and  died  in 
January,  1879,  aged  thirty-seven  years.  For 
his  second  wife  he  wedded,  on  September  10, 
1885,  Kate  I.  Hopping,  of  New  York  city. 
By  his  first  wife  Mr.  Northrup  has  three  chil- 
dren, two  sons  and  a  daughter:  James  M., 
who  married  Lillie  Hodgman,  and  is  traveling 
for  the  Automatic  Tap  and  Faucet  Company; 
Mansur  W. ,  telegraph  operator  for  the  Dela- 
ware &  Hudson  Canal  Company,  in  their  gen- 
eral office  in  New  York  city;  and  Maud  E. 

Mr.  Northrup  traces  his  paternal  ancestry 
back  four  generations  to  Joseph  Northrup,  a 
farmer  of  Hebron,  this  county,  whose  son, 
John  Northrup  (grandfather),  served  as  a 
drummer  in  the  war  of  181 2.  John  Northrup 
was  a  very  fine  carpenter,  and  married  Laura 
Baker,  of  English  descent.  They  had  seven 
children,  two  sons  and  five  daughters.  The 
elder  son,  Hon.  James  M.  Northrup  (father), 
was  in  early  life  the  pioneer  potato  buyer  of 
the  State,  some  years  buying  and  shipping  to 
New  York  city  as  high  as  half  a  million  bushels 
of  that  great  root  crop.  In  later  life  he  was 
engaged    in   banking,  being    president  of   the 


First  National  bank  of  Fort  Edward.  A  Bap- 
tist and  a  republican,  he  became  useful  in  his 
church  and  active  in  his  party.  He  served 
two  terms  as  supervisor  of  the  town  of  Hart- 
ford, was  county  excise  commissioner  for  six 
years,  served  two  terms  as  county  treasurer, 
and  represented  Washington  county  in  the 
general  assembly  for  one  term.  Mr.  North- 
rup married  for  his  first  wife  Julia  Davis,  who 
died  in  June,  1850,  aged  twenty  seven  years." 
His  second  marriage  was  with  Martha  Dun- 
ham, who 'died  in  1873,  and  for  his  third  wife 
wedded  Harriet  D.  Sill.  By  his  first  wife  he 
had  two  children  :  H.  Davis,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  ;  and  Clayton,  who  died  in  infancy. 
To  his  second  union  was  born  one  child,  Min- 
nie J.,  who  died  at  twelve  years  of  age;  and 
by  his  third  marriage  two  children  have  been 
born:  Charles  S.,  a  student  at  school;  and 
William,  who  died  in  infancy. 


T  kOYAL  L.  DAVIS,  a  promising  young 
lawyer  of  Glens  Falls,  was  born  at  Bolton 
Landing,  Warren  county,  New  York,  July  11, 
1862,  and  is  a  son  of  F.  J.  W.  and  Eliza  A. 
(Heist)  Davis.  F.  J.  W.  Davis  was  a  native 
of  the  same  place  and  died  at  Pleasant  Hill, 
Missouri,  at  the  age  of  thirty  five  years,  in 
1866.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  and  removed  from  New 
York  in  1866,  to  Pleasant  Hill,  where  he  died 
three  months  after  his  arrival.  He  was  a  sold- 
ier in  the  1st  Vermont  cavalry  in  the  late  Civil 
war,  and  was  also  a  member  of  the  regulars, 
and  had  the  rank  of  sargeant.  He  was  on 
duty  in  Washington,  District  of  Columbia,  and 
for  a  while  in  the  quartermaster's  department 
as  citizen's  clerk  in  the  States  of  Virginia  and 
West  Virginia.  His  father  was  Lindsey  Davis, 
who  was  born  at  Clarendon,  and  removed  into 
Warren  county,  New  York,  early  in  the  twen- 
ties. He  has  always  followed  the  life  of  a 
farmer,  and  at  present  resides  in  Oswego 
county  with  his  youngest  son,  in  the  ninety- 
second  j  ear  of  his  age.     This  family  of  Davises 


236 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


probably  came  originally  from  Wales  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  or  in  the 
early  part  of  the  seventeenth.  The  mother  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  a  native  of  Wash- 
ington county,  New  York,  and  resides  at  Glens 
Falls. 

Loyal  L.  Davis  was  principally  reared  in 
the  village  of  Glens  Falls,  receiving  his  edu- 
cation in  the  private  schools  and  the  Glens 
Falls  academy,  and  subsequently  entered  the 
Troy  Conference  academy  at  Poultney,  Ver- 
mont, from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1878. 
He  afterward  went  to  Wesleyan  university  at 
Middletown,  Connecticut.  This  was  in  the 
year  1883,  and  in  1885  he  took  a  course  in 
the  Albany  Law  school,  and  has  been  in  active 
practice  in  the  courts  of  Warren  county  ever 
since. 

Loyal  L.  Davis  was  married  September  26, 
1888,  to  MaryF.,  a  daughter  of  John  Walker, 
of  Albany,  New  York.  Mr.  Davis  is  vice- 
president  of  the  Glens  Falls  Printing  company 
and  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.  He  is  also  a  member  of  Senate 
Lodge  of  Masons,  of  Glens  Falls  Chapter,  of 
Bloss  Council,  and  Washington  Commandery 
Knights  Templar.  He  is  also  a  member  of 
Delta  Lodge  of  Perfection,  the  Delta  Council 
of  Rose  Croix,  and  Delta  Chapter,  P.  of  J., 
and  Albany  Sovereign  Consistory,  Oriental 
Temple  of  the  Mystic  Shrine,  aad  is  the  local 
secretary  in  the  State  of  New  York  for  the 
Quatuor  Coranate  Lodge,  2076,  London. 


J30BERT    WILSON    LOWBER,   of 

T  Bald  Mountain,  son  of  John  and  Marga- 
ret Lowber,  was  born  November  2,  1816,  at 
the  plantation  of  his  father,  near  Smyrna, 
Delaware.  The  Lowbers  are  descendants  of 
Gustav  Lowdar,  one  of  the  privileged  barons 
of  Denmark,  an  active  Roman  Catholic  in 
the  religious  war  of  pi6i6,  between  the  Cath- 
olics and  Protestants  ;  the  success  of  the 
Protestants  forced  him  to  flee  from   Denmark 


to  England,  and  in  1623  he  joined  a  colony  of 
Catholics,  who,  under  Sir  George  Calvert, 
immigrated  to  Avalon,  in  Newfoundland  ; 
from  thence,  in  1632,  under  Sir  Cecil  Calvert, 
removed  with  the  colony  to  Saint  Marys,  on 
the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland,  assuming  the 
name  of  Lowber.  Margaret  Lowber  was  a 
descendant  of  Robert  Wilson,  a  Quaker  who, 
with  a  colony  under  Clariborn,  in  1631,  settled 
at  Kent,  on  the  northern  shore  of  Chesapeake 
bay.  John  Lowber  was  the  son  of  Peter 
Lowber,  a  tanner  carrying  on  business  near 
Smyrna,  who  died  in  1808.  John  was  educa- 
ted at  William  and  Marys  college,  studied  law 
in  the  office  of  John  Sargent,  in  Philadelphia, 
and  on  the  death  of  his  father,  removed  to 
Smyrna,  to  carry  on  and  settle  up  the  business 
of  the  tannery.  He  married  Margaret  Wilson, 
at  Smyrna,  in  February,  1812  ;  and,  in  1821, 
transferred  the  tannery  and  business  to  his 
brother  Peter,  and  returned  to  Philadelphia, 
and  resumed  the  practice  of  law  with  his 
cousin,  John  Cole  Lowber.  While  residing 
in  Delaware,  he  was  for  four  years  sheriff  of 
Kent  county.  In  1823  he  removed  to  Batavia, 
Genesee  county,  to  act  as  attorney  and  legal 
advisor  of  the  agent  of  the  Holland  Land 
Company. 

Robert  W.  Lowber  was  educated  at  the 
Franklin  institute,  of  Philadelphia,  the  Caz- 
enovia  seminary  and  Lima  institute.  In  1833 
he  was  placed  by  his  father  in  the  office  of  the 
Holland  Land  Company,  at  Batavia.  In  the 
spring  of  1837  he  went  to  Chicago,  from 
thence  to  Mackinaw,  and  with  a  party  up 
Lake  Superior,  in  an  open  batteau,  to  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Louis  river,  from  thence 
across  the  country  to  Fort  Snelling,  and  spent 
several  days  with  General  Sibley,  agent  of 
the  American  Fur  Company,  at  his  post, 
where  the  city  of  Minneapolis  now  stands. 
While  at  General  Sibley's,  the  glowing  ac- 
counts by  the  trappers  of  the  country  induced 
him  to  go  with  them  to  Pembina,  and  thence 
to  the  Gulf  of  Fuca,  traversing  much  of  what 
is  now  the  route  of  the  Northern  Pacific  rail- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  1IIST0BY 


239 


road.  Returning  to  General  Sibley's,  he 
went  down  the  Mississippi  river  to  St.  Louis 
in  an  Indian  canoe.  In  1839  he  again  went 
to  Chicago,  thence  to  Galena,  and  from  there 
to  St.  Croix  river,  joining  a  party  of  Chip 
pewa  Indians,  intending  to  cross  to  the 
month  of  Copper  river.  While  encamped  on 
Lake  St.  Croix,  the  Chippewas  were  attacked 
by  a  band  of  Sioux,  and  a  bloody  fight  took 
place,  the  Sioux  being  finally  driven  off. 
Mr.  Lowber,  returning  to  St.  Louis,  started 
with  a  party  to  go  to  the  Pacific,  but  the  hos- 
tility of  the  Crow  and  Blackfoot  tribes  caused 
the  party  to  give  up  the  attempt. 

In  the  spring  of  1840  Mr.  Lowber  was  re- 
quested by  the  Farmers'  Loan  and  Trust 
Company  to  come  to  New  York  and  take 
charge  of  the  land  trusts  held  by  them  ;  from 
that  time  until  1844  he  was  engaged  in  ex- 
amining the  properties  held  in  trust,  and  in 
settling  and  closing  up  the  same,  amounting 
to  over  four  million  dollars.  After  the  settle- 
ments were  made  with  the  Ceteraque  trust, 
the  company,  in  August,  1844,  sent  him  to 
Europe  to  arrange  for  the  settlement  of. the 
trust  bonds  issued  by  the  company.  The 
bonds  were  principally  held  by  the  Bank  of 
England,  the  Rothschilds,  and  the  East  India 
Company,  of  London,  Hope  and  Company, 
of  Amsterdam,  and  Hottingus,  of  Paris. 
Satisfactory  settlements  were  made  and  car- 
ried out.  Quite  an  amusing  incident  occurred 
at  the  first  meeting  held  at  the  office  of  the 
Rothschilds  :  the  meeting  was  appointed  for 
two  o'clock  p.  m.  Mr.  Lowber  was  promptly 
at  the  meeting,  being  accompanied  by  Sir 
John  Wilson,  president  of  the  Bank  of  Eng- 
land. A  little  after  the  hour  appointed,  Mr. 
Fastenrath,  attorney  for  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, inquired  "  why  the  agent  of  the  New 
York  company  was  not  present,"  and  was  in- 
formed by  Mr.  Wilson  that  he  was  sitting  by 
his  side.  Mr.  Fastenrath,  after  looking  at 
Mr.  Lowber  a  moment,  exclaimed,  "What, 
that  boy  !"     After  Mr.   Lowber  had  stated  the 

object  of  his  mission  and  explained  the  situa-  . 
15 


tion  of  matters  in  the  United  States,  Mr. 
Fastenrath  came  to  him,  shaking  his  hand, 
saying,  "I  congratulate  you,  and  beg  to  apol- 
ogize for  my  remark  ;  but  really  you  Ameri- 
cans begin  life  early  and  mature  rapidly." 
(In  appearance  Mr.  Lowber  did  not  seem  to 
be  twenty  years  of  age.)  Mr.  Wilson  took  a 
warm  interest  in  Mr.  Lowber,  had  him  pre- 
sented to  Queen  Victoria,  accompanied  him 
to  Amsterdam  and  Paris,  and  had  him  pre- 
sented to  King  William,  at  the  Hague,  and 
Louis  Phillipe,  at  Versailles.  Mr.  Lowber 
returned  in  January,  1845,  to  New  York,  in 
the  Cunarder  Cambria,  Captain  Judkins,  hav- 
ing a  most  stormy  passage  of  nearly  twenty 
days,  to  Halifax.  While  upon  the  business 
of  the  company,  in  1843,  at  the  city  of  Wash- 
ington, much  discussion  was  being  had-about 
the  boundary  line  and  Lord  Ashburton's  claims 
for  Great  Britain.  Mr.  Lowber's  description 
of  the  country  claimed  by  Great  Britain  was 
such  as  to  induce  Mr.  Douglas  and  other 
democrats  to  adopt  the  slogan  of  "540  40'  or 
fight."  In  March,  1844,  Mr.  Lowber  pur- 
chased an  invention  for  making  lead  pipe  by 
hydraulic  pressure  and  coating  the  inside  of 
the  pipe  with  pure  tin,  obtained  a  patent  for 
the  same,  established  works  in  West  street, 
New  York  city,  putting  the  same  in  charge  of 
his  brother,  Edward  J.  During  his  absence  in 
Europe,  Mr.  Robert  J.  Cornell,  president  of 
the  Farmers'  Loan  and  Trust  Company,  sup- 
ervised the  business  for  him.  In  the  summer 
of  1845  Mr.  Jacob  LeRoy  became  his  partner, 
and  under  the  firm  name  of^  Lowber  &  LeRoy 
the  business  was  conducted  until  1849,  when 
Mr.  Lowber  disposed  of  his  interest  to  Mr. 
LeRoy,  whose  sons  carried  it  on  thereafter, 
in  the  works  erected  by  Mr.  Lowber  in  Water 
street. 

In  1849  Mr.  Lowber  entered  into  an  ar- 
rangement with  Dr.  Eliphalet  Nott,  and  in 
the  spring  of  1850  went  to  Cuba  to  look  after 
his  interests  in  the  Cobra  copper  mines,  which 
he  disposed  of  to  English  capitalists.  In 
1S50  and  1 85 1   he  investigated  and   managed 


240 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


for  him  the  business  of  the  Perkiomen  mine, 
with  General  Cadwallader  and  Mr.  McAllister, 
of  Philadelphia,  disposing  of  Dr.  Nott's  in- 
terest to  them  in  1852.  In  1850  he  purchased 
of  Dr.  Nott  the  one-half  interest  in  the  Stuy- 
vesant  Cove  property,  in  New  York  city,  and 
in  December,  1853,  purchased  the  entire 
property  undisposed  of.  In  July,  1852,  at 
the  request  of  and  in  connection  with  Dr.  Nott, 
he  purchased  the  Bald  Mountain  Lime  Quarry 
and  erected  thereon  eleven  lime  kilns,  twenty 
double  and  thirty-two  single  dwelling  houses, 
a  store,  machine  and  blacksmith  shop,  cooper 
shops,  barns  and  store-houses,  giving  employ- 
ment to  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  workmen. 
An  engine  of  sixty  horse  power  was  used  for 
driving  the  machinery  required  in  cutting  up 
lumber  and  making  staves,  etc.  In  December, 
1 887,  Mr.  Lowber  purchased  Doctor  Nott's  one- 
half  interest  in  the  works  for  one  hundred  and 
fifty-seven  thousand  dollars, and  continued  the 
manufacture  of  lime  until  January,  1872,  when 
he  disposed  of  the  works  and  part  of  the  pro- 
pertyto  the  Glens  Falls  Lime  Company.  During 
the  ownership  of  the  property  from  1852  to  1872 
Mr.  Lowber  manufactured  over  two  million  five 
hundred  thousand  barrels  of  lime,  of  which 
over  two  million  three  hundred  and  fifty  thous- 
and were  sent  to  and  sold  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  In  1854  Mr.  Lowber  became  associated 
with  Cyrus  W.  Field  in  forming  the  New  York, 
Newfoundland  &  London  Telegraph  Company, 
and  was  secretary  of  the  company  until  it  dis- 
posed of  its  stock  and  franchises  to  the  At- 
lantic Telegraph  Company  of  London.  Of 
all  the  original  promotors  of  the  New  York, 
Newfoundland  &  London  Telegraph  Company, 
namely,  Peter  Cooper,  Cyrus  W.  Field,  Moses 
Taylor,  Marshall  O.  Roberts,  Chandler  White, 
Wilson  G.  Hunt  and  David  Dudley  Field,  Mr. 
Lowber  is  the  only  one  now  living.  In  1854 
Mr.  Lowber  was  active  in  organizing  the  Min- 
nesota &  Northwestern  Railroad  Company, 
and  was  elected  vice-president  and  manager 
of  the  same.  Congress  having  made  a  grant 
of  land  to  the  territory  of  Minnesota,  the  ter- 


ritory conveyed  the  land  granted  to  the  com- 
pany. A  survey  of  the  route  for  the  road  from 
Dubuque  to  Saint  Paul,  and  in  part  from  Saint 
Paul  to  Superior  City,  was  made  in  1855  and 
1S56.  Caleb  Cushing  had  purchased  a  large 
tract  of  land  adjoining  lake  Saint  Croix,  and 
upon  the  refusal  of  the  company  to  locate  the 
line  from  Saint  Paul  to  Superior  City  by  lake 
Saint  Croix  and  donate  to  him  a  large  amount 
of  paid  stock,  used  his  position  and  influence 
to  prevent  congress  from  ratifying  the  grant 
by  Minnesota  to  the  company,  and  the  secre- 
tary of  the  interior  from  withdrawing  from 
sale  the  land  selected  by  it.  The  continued 
opposition  of  government  officials  induced  the 
company,  in  1858,  to  suspend  further  efforts, 
and  in  1864  Mr.  Lowber  sold  the  rights  and 
franchises  to  some  gentlemen  of  Minnesota. 
Efforts  were  made  to  have  congress  repeal  the 
grant  made  on  the  ground  that  fraud  had  been 
used  in  its  passage.  An  investigating  com- 
mittee was  appointed,  who  reported  that  no 
fraud  had  been  committed. 

Just  after  the  passage  of  the  grant  by  con- 
gress, a  man  named  Tyler  appeared  in  New 
York  with  five  drafts  of  five  thousand  dollars 
each,  payable  to  his  order,  alleging  they  were 
for  moneys  promised  by  persons  for  the  com- 
pany in  securing  the  passage  of  the  grant. 
Never  having  heard  of  such  promises  Mr. 
Lowber  refused  to  sign  the  drafts.  Mr.  Tyler 
then  sought  the  aid  of  Mr.  Thurlow  Weed, 
who' advised  Mr.  Marshall  O.  Roberts,  a  di- 
rector of  the  railroad  com  pan}',  to  have  the 
drafts  signed,  thereby  saving  the  company 
much  trouble  and  loss.  The  drafts  were  not 
signed,  and  three  days  after  Mr.  Tyler's  return 
to  Washington,  Mr.  Solomon  G.  Havens,  of 
Buffalo,  offered  (as  he  stated),  at  the  request 
of  Mr.  Lewis  D.  Campbell,  of  Ohio,  a  resolu- 
tion asking  for  a  committee  to  investigate  the 
alleged  fraud  in  passing  the  grant.  A  com- 
mittee was  appointed,  of  which  Lewis  D, 
Campbell  was  chairman.  The  proceedings  of 
Tyler  having  been  brought  out  before  the 
committee,  Mr.  Campbell  resigned  the  chair- 


UIoaiiArilY  AND   JIIKTOL'Y 


241 


manship,  and  Mr.  Washburn  was  placed  in  his 
stead.  The  investigation  brought  out  who 
the  parties  were  for  whom  Tyler  was  acting. 
The  committee  reported,  by  Major  J.  C.  Breck- 
enridge,  that  there  had  been  no  fraud  prac- 
ticed. 

In  1856,  Mr.  Lowber's  elder  brother  having 
invented  a  machine  for  hulling  and  clean- 
ing cotton  seed,  Mr.  Lowber  secured,  in  1856 
and  1857,  patents  for  the  same,  and  had  the 
necessary  machines  constructed  for  mills  in 
New  Orleans,  Montgomery,  and  Selma.  They 
were  all  in  active  operation  when  the  rebellion 
broke  out,  and  were  all  confiscated  and  the 
property  sold,  in  June  and  July,  1861,  to  a 
party  of  Confederate  Jews,  who  secretly  car- 
ried on  the  work  of  hulling  seed,  and  ulti- 
mately formed  the  Cotton  Seed  Trust.  The 
property  confiscated  cost  Mr.  Lowber  over 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars. 

Mr.  John  A.  Dix  having  applied  to  the  New 
York  banks  for  a  loan  to  the  government  of 
#15,000,000,  Mr.  Lowber  was  requested  to  visit 
Washington  and  advise  as  to  the  proceedings 
of  the  border  States  and  Peace  Conference. 
While  there  an  amusing  incident  occurred  on 
the  22d  of  February.  General  Scott  had 
issued  an  order  for  the  parade  of  all  the  Uni- 
ted States  troops  in  and  about  Washington, 
in  which  the  District  militia  were  to  join. 
While  Mr.  Lowber  was  in  the  room  of  Gen. 
Daniel  E.  Sickles,  with  E.  M.  Stanton,  en- 
gaged in  drafting  resolutions  of  compromise 
to  be  submitted  to  the  Peace  Conference,  a 
gentleman  came  hastily  in  and  requested  Gen- 
eral Sickles  to  go  up  to  the  White  House, 
saying  "Old  Buck  was  on  a  tear."  General 
Sickles  went  at  once.  On  his  return  he  told 
Mr.  Stanton  and  myself  that  the  President 
had  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Tyler,  presi- 
dent of  the  Peace  Conference,  stating  that 
unless  the  order  of  General  Scott  was  recalled 
and  the  parade  stopped,  the  South  would  con- 
sider it  a  declaration  of  war.  Buchanan  called 
the  cabinet  together  with  General  Scott,  and 
proposed  to  countermand  the  order  to  parade. 


The  opposition  of  Generals  Dix  and  Scott  and 
Mr.  Holt  only  added  to  the  determination  of 
the  President,  and  in  this  condition  of  things 
Sickles  was  sent  for.  Holt  was  arguing  the 
point  when  Sickles  arrived.  In  his  attempt 
to  change  the  determination  of  Buchanan, 
Sickles  lashed  him  unmercifully  over  the 
shoulders  of  Holt,  and  in  attempting  to  pre- 
vent Buchanan's  escape  from  the  room,  Sick- 
les caught  him  by  the  coat  tail  and  tore  it  up 
to  the  collar.  The  result  was  a  modification 
of  General  Scott's  order,  by  allowing  only 
two  companies  of  infantry  to  parade.  The 
resolutions  drawn  were  presented  to  the  con- 
ference by  Mr.  Tuck,  of  New  Hampshire,  and 
refused  consideration. 

Mr.  Lowber  was  present  at  the  inauguration 
of  Mr.  Lincoln.  At  the  request  of  Mr.  Stan- 
ton, Mr.  Lowber  visited  Canada  directly  after 
the  Trent  affair,  and  reported  upon  the  pre- 
parations of  Great  Britain  to  secure  control 
of  the  lakes.  He  spent  much  of  the  summer 
of  1864  in  visiting  the  provinces  and  New- 
foundland on  behalf  of  the  government.  In 
the  winter  of  1863  and  1864  he  favored  the 
passage  of  an  act  by  the  legislature  authoriz- 
ing the  general  government  to  enlarge  any  of 
the  canals  of  the  State  for  passing  from  the 
seaboard  to  the  lakes  gunboats  and  troops 
and  munitions  of  war. 

In  1864,  having  furnished  G.  W.  Billings 
with  means,  and  aided  him  in  carrying  on  his 
experiments  for  rhetting  flax  and  other  fibrous 
substances,  and  for  obtaining  patents  for  the 
same,  the  invention  and  patents  were  sold  to 
a  Boston  company  for  the  sum  of  three  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars,  paid  for  mostly  in  the 
stock  of  the  company.  Since  the  sale  of  the 
lime  works  Mr.  Lowber  has  devoted  his  at- 
tention to  farming. 

Mr.  Lowber  has  been  married  twice.  In 
November,  1840,  to  Maria,  daughter  of  John 
T.  Bergen,  of  Brooklyn,  who  died  in  April, 
1842;  and  on  the  15th  of  February.  1845,  to 
Elizabeth  G.,  daughter  of  Herman  J.  Red- 
field,  who  died  August  10th,  1890. 


242 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


TA/lLLIAM    W.   CLEVELAND,    one 

of  the  leading  and  prominent  business 
men  of  the  village  of  Shushan,  who  is  suc- 
cessfully engaged  in  the  fire  insurance  busi- 
ness, and  in  the  sale  of  various  kinds  of 
vehicles,  harness  supplies,  mowers,  reapers, 
etc.,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Salem,  Wash- 
ington count}-,  New  York,  on  June  17,  1851. 
He  is  a  son  of  William  C.  and  Minerva  (Lyon) 
Cleveland,  and  the  father,  William  C.  Cleve- 
land, was  a  native  of  the  town  of  Jackson, 
but  later  in  life  removed  to  the  town  of  Salem, 
where  he  died  in  1884,  at  sixty-two  years  of 
age.  For  over  forty  years  he  had  been  a  suc- 
cessful woolen  manufacturer  in  his  native 
town,  and  was  a  republican  in  his  political 
opinion.  Associated  with  his  brother-in-law, 
Charles  Lyon  (whose  sketch  appears  on  an- 
other page),  as  a  partner,  he  assisted  in  the 
management  of  the  woolen  mills  at  East 
Salem,  and  much  of  the  success  of  these  mills 
is  due  to  his  able  supervision  and  skill.  He 
was  a  son  of  James  H.  Cleveland,  who  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Salem,  and  when  a  young 
man  removed  to  the  town  of  Jackson,  where 
he  resided  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
1876,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine  years.  An 
enterprising  and  influential  citizen  of  the 
neighborhood,  he  became  prosperous  and  suc- 
cessful as  a  merchant  and  farmer.  He  was  a 
leading  member  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
church  of  Salem,  and  in  his  political  belief  a 
democrat.  Abel  Cleveland  (great-grand- 
father), was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  town 
of  Salem,  coming  from  his  native  State  of 
Rhode  Island.  The  mother  of  William  W. 
Cleveland,  Minerva  (Lyon)  Cleveland,  was  a 
member  of  the  old  and  substantial  Lyon  family, 
of  the  count}',  and  was  a  sister  of  Charles 
Lyon,  -of  this  village.  She  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Peru,  Bennington  county,  Vermont, 
and  died  in  1889,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years. 
William  W.  Cleveland  received  only  the 
rudiments  of  a  common  school  education  in 
the  schools  of  his  native  town.  In  1879  he 
bought  a  farm  and  followed  farming  with  very 


good  results  until  1890,  when  he  rented  his 
farm,  which  he  still  owns,  and  removed  to  the 
village  of  Shushan,  where  he  has  ever  since 
resided.  In  1892  he  purchased  the  carriage 
and  insurance  business  belonging  to  C.  T. 
Hatch, of  the  same  village, to  which  he  has  ever 
since  devoted  his  energies  and  enlarged  the 
volume  of  the  business  from  year  to  year  ; 
and  at  the  present  time  has  the  largest  fire  in- 
surance business  in  his  section  of  the  county. 
Mr.  Cleveland  was  married  in  1872  to  Laura 
E.,  a  daughter  of  Henry  Denforth,  residing 
in  the  town  of  Jackson.  To  their  marriage 
has  been  born  one  daughter  :   Maud  B. 


f^APT.  A.  15.  CONTRYMAN,  who  did 

^^  brave  and  gallant  service  during  the  war 
between  the  States,  and  a  popular  citizen  of 
Fort  Edward,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Pam- 
elia,  Jefferson  county,  New  York,  April  3, 
1838.  He  is  a  son  of  Henry  and  Elizabeth 
Contryman.  His  grandfather  was  a  native  of 
Herkimer  county,  New  York,  where  he  fol- 
lowed farming,  married,  and  had  a  family  of 
eight  children,  four  sons  and  four  daughters. 
Henry  Contryman  was  born  in  the  same 
county  in  1800.  He  was  a  carriage  builder 
by  trade,  and  carried  on  farming  extensively 
for  several  years.  In  1824  he  removed  to 
Jefferson  county,  where  he  died  June  13,  1876, 
in  the  seventy-sixth  year  of  his  age,  in  the 
faith  of  the  Universalist  church,  and  his  wife 
departed  this  life  December  25,  1872,  aged 
seventy-two  years.  He  was  an  old-line  dem- 
ocrat until  the  formation  of  the  Republican 
party,  when  he  identified  himself  with  that 
organization  ;  and  for  ten  years  filled  the  office 
of  justice  of  the  peace  in  the  town  of  Pamelia. 
He  wedded  and  was  the  father  of  nine  chil- 
dren :  Alexander,  Katy,  George  H.,  Louisa, 
Ludentia,  Lucy,  Amos  B.,  Wilson  H.,  and 
Oscar,  who  died  during  the  war,  at  the  age  of 
twenty  years. 

A.    B.    Contryman     attended     the     district 
schools  of  his  native  town,  and  subsequently 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


243 


at  Evans  Mills  academy  and  the  Saint  Law- 
rence academy  at  Potsdam,  the  latter  having 
since  been  converted  into  a  State  Normal 
school.  Leaving  school  he  afterward  became 
a  salesman  in  stores  at  Potsdam  and  Ogdens- 
burg,  where  he  remained  until  September  2, 
1S62,  when  he  enlisted  in  Co.  E,  i42d  New- 
York  volunteers,  and  participated  in  the  fol- 
lowing engagements  :  John's  Island,  Drury's 
Bluff,  Bermuda  Hundred,  Cold  Harbor,  Pe- 
tersburg, Fort  Gilmore,  Darleytovvn  Road ; 
was  in  both  expeditions  against  Fort  Fisher, 
all  the  battles  in  front  of  Petersburg,  his  divis- 
ion making  the  first  charge  against  this  strong- 
hold, beside  many  other  less  important  en- 
gagements. At  the  battle  of  Fort  Gilmore 
Captain  Contryman  received  a  slight  wound 
by  a  small  piece  of  shell  striking  him  in  the 
hip.  He  made  some  very  narrow  escapes, 
however,  as  his  clothes  on  several  occasions 
were  pierced  by  the  enemy's  bullets.  For 
three  years  he  never  missed  a  roll  call  nor  was 
off  duty  a  single  day,  which  is  a  record  few 
veterans  can  boast  of,  being  honorably  dis- 
charged and  was  mustered  out  of  the  service 
at  Ogdensburg  in  June,  1865.  Returning 
home  he  was  engaged  in  the  boot  and  shoe 
business  at  Potsdam  for  twelve  years,  and  at 
the  end  of  that  time,  1877,  came  to  Fort  Ed- 
ward. Here  he  associated  himself  in  business 
with  L.  H.  Wing,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Contryman  &  Wing, and  who  at  present  are  the 
proprietors  of  one  of  the  best  stocked  drug 
houses  to  be  found  in  the  country.  Mr.  Con- 
tryman, in  addition  to  his  drug  interests,  is 
secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Fort  Edward 
Electric  Light  and  Power  Company.  On 
June  6,  1876,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Isabella  H.  Matthews,  of  Philadelphia,  Penn- 
sylvania. In  politics  Captain  Contryman  is  a 
stanch  republican,  Episcopalian  in  religious 
belief,  Knight  Templar  in  masonry,  and  a 
member  of  Mills  Post,  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic.  In  his  three  years'  service  as  a 
soldier  in  the  federal  army,  he  was  soon  pro- 
moted from  private  to  sergeant,  from  sergeant 
15a 


to  sergeant-major,  and  sergeant-major  to  first 
and  second  lieutenant,  and  thence  captain  of 
the  company.  At  the  time  he  received  his 
captain's  commission  he  was  acting  as  adju- 
tant of  his  regiment.  He  has  filled  the  office 
of  village  trustee  of  Fort  Edward  for  one 
term.  Captain  Contryman  is  as  popular  as  a 
citizen  and  business  man  as  he  was  brave  and 
daring  as  a  fighter  ;  unassuming  and  modest 
in  his  deportment  toward  his  fellow  men,  he 
commands  universal  respect  from  everybody 
with  whom  he  comes  in  contact. 


JAMES  W.  WALLACE,  vice-president 
and  treasurer  of  the  Dunbarton  Flax 
Spinning  Company,  of  Greenwich,  was  born 
in  the  North  of  Ireland  on  February  8,  1859. 
Mr.  Wallace  is  the  eldest  son  of  Hugh  and 
Elizabeth  Frances  Wallace,  nee  Hunter.  The 
Wallace  family  came  from  Scotland  in  1611, 
four  brothers  of  that  name  having  settled  in 
Ulster,  under  patents  from  the  English  crown, 
and  for  several  generations  the  family  have 
been  connected  with  the  linen  trade  of  Ulster. 
One  branch  of  the  family,  on  the  maternal 
side,  came  to  the  American  colonies  early  in 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  during  the  Revo- 
lutionary war  one  member,  a  Colonel  Nesbit, 
of  General  Washington's  staff,  was  sent  to 
France  to  secure  financial  assistance  for  the 
struggling  colonies. 

Mr.  Wallace  was  educated  partly  in  the 
public  schools,  completing  his  studies  in  the 
private  school  of  Mr.  Andrew  Mullan,  and  at 
the  age  of  fifteen  entered  the  offices  of  Dun- 
bar, McMaster  &  Co.,  Limited,  Flax  Spinners, 
Gilford,  Ireland.  After  the  Morrill  tariff  act 
of  1S78,  which  increased  the  duty  on  imported 
goods,  the  Gilford  company  decided  to  erect 
factories  in  the  United  States,  and  Mr.  Wallace 
was  sent  by  the  company  to  Greenwich,  New 
York,  to  look  after  the  financial  part  of  the 
undertaking.  Since  that  time  Mr.  Wallace 
has  been  with  the  company,  and  on  merging 
the  concern  in  America  into  an   incorporated 


244 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


company  Mr.  Wallace  was  elected  to  the 
offices  which  he  now  holds.  In  Ireland  and 
America  the  company  employ  two  thousand 
operatives,  principally  in  linen  thread  manu- 
facturing. In  the  United  States  and  Canada 
they  have  warehouses  and  offices  in  the  larger 
cities. 

Mr.  Wallace  is  a  member  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  church,  and  in  politics  is  a  repub- 
lican. In  1889  Mr.  Wallace  married  Jennie 
May,  only  daughter  of  Mr.  Sylvanus  Arnold, 
of  Mechanicville,  Saratoga  county,  and  has 
one  daughter,  Florence  A. 


FRED  E.  HILL,  ex-sheriff  of  Washing- 
ton county,  and  who  has  been  engaged 
in  various  business  enterprises,  is  a  son  of 
Enoch  and  Anna  (Monroe)  Hill.  He  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Easton,  this  county, April 
.14,  1839.  Enoch  Hill  (father)  was  a  native 
of  Saratoga  count)',  New  York,  and  when  a 
young  man  came  and  made  his  permanent 
home  in  the  town  of  Easton,  this  county,  and 
followed  the  trade  of  blacksmith,  dying  in 
this  town  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven  years,  in 
1867.  He  was  a  whig  and  republican  in  his 
political  belief,  and  filled  some  town  offices. 
He  married  Anna  Monroe,  by  whom  he  had 
thirteen  children,  eleven  of  that  number  who 
reached  man  and  womanhood.  Mrs.  Hill  was 
a  native  of  this  county,  where  she  was  born 
in  1802,  and  died  May  17,  1853.  The  grand- 
father Hill  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
born  in  Saratoga  count}',  and  lived  to  be 
nearly  one  hundred  years  old.  The  Hills  are 
of  English  extraction. 

Fred  E.  Hill  worked  on  the  farm  until  the 
age  of  seventeen,  receiving  a  common  school 
education,  when  he  engaged  as  a  salesman  in 
a  mercantile  house.  Remaining  here  for  a 
few  years,  he  branched  out  for  himself  in 
merchandising  in  the  village  of  Easton,  where 
he  continued  successfully  up  to  1880.  In  that 
year  he  came  to  Salem  and  accepted  the  place 


of  under-sheriff  with  his  brother,  James  Hill, 
who  had  been  elected  sheriff  of  the  county  in 
the  fall  of  the  previous  year.  During  this 
term  Mr.  Fred  E.  Hill  served  in  the  capacity 
of  under-sheriff  under  his  brother,  at  the  end 
of  which  time  he  engaged  in  the  mercantile 
business  at  Salem,  in  which  he  continued  for 
a  few  years.  Relinquishing  this  business,  he, 
in  1S85,  became  under-sheriff  under  George 
L.  Marshall,  and  remained  with  Mr.  Marshall 
until  1888,  the  close  of  his  term.  At  the  fall 
election,  in  the  latter  year,  Mr.  Hill  was 
elected  sheriff  of  the  county  as  the  regular 
nominee  of  his  party,  which  office  he  efficiently 
and  acceptably  filled  for  one  term  of  three 
years.  Leaving  the  office  of  sheriff  he  engaged 
in  the  meat  business  at  Salem,  and  has  suc- 
ceeded in  building  up  a  profitable  trade. 

Fred  E.  Hill  was  married  to  Sarah  Run- 
dell  in  1861,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Jarvis 
Rundell,  of  the  village  of  Cambridge.  To 
their  marriage  have  been  born  two  sons  and 
one  daughter  :  Amy  T.,  who  died  April  26, 
1872,  at  the  age  of  five  years  ;  Frank  A.,  born 
November  8,  1875,  and  Fred  R. ,  who  was  born 
September^,  1877.  Mr.  Hill  is  a  Presbyterian 
in  his  religious  belief,  and  while  he  attends  and 
contributes  to  the  support  of  that  church,  he  is 
not  a  member.  He  is  a  member  of  Cambridge 
Valley  Lodge,  481,  Free  and  Accepted  Masons, 
and  is  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  of  his  village.  In  the  councils  of  the 
Republican  party  of  the  county,  he  is  an  ac- 
tive and  influential  leader,  and  has  an  enviable 
standing  as  a  citizen  throughout  his  section. 

His  brother,  James  Hill,  who  had  pre- 
viously filled  the  office  of  sheriff,  was  one  of 
the  most  popular  and  successful  politicians 
the  county  ever  produced  ;  genial  and  pleasant 
in  his  nature,  he  commanded  the  high  respect 
of  all  classes.  For  two  or  three  terms  he 
served  his  fellow  citizens  of  his  native  town 
of  Easton  as  supervisor.  His  death  occurred 
May  7,  1893,  having  been  born  July  4,  1830. 

Ex-sheriff  Frederick  E.  Hill  died  July  25, 
1894. 


BIO  QUA  I'll  \ '  AND  UISTOR  Y 


245 


pill  LIP  CHARLES  THEBO,  a  sue 

cessful  merchant  of  Fort  Edward,  and  a 
grandson  of  one  of  Napoleon's  trusted  gene- 
rals, is  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Louisa  Thebo, 
and  was  born  in  New  York  city,  September  22, 
1835.  He  was  reared  to  manhood  in  his  na- 
tive State,  but  never  attended  an}'  institution 
of  learning,  and  secured  his  education  at  home 
and  by  self  stud}'.  At  an  early  age  he  com- 
menced to  do  for  himself,  and  after  working 
at  the  tobacco  and  match  business,  was  en- 
gaged in  speculating  in  different  lines  of  com- 
mercial enterprises,  and  about  1S64  came  to 
Fort  Edward,  where  he  embarked  in  the  fruit, 
fish  and  grocery  business.  Six  years  later  he 
opened  his  present  establishment  on  Broad- 
way street, and  his  salesroom,  thirty  by  seventy- 
five  feet,  is  heavily  stocked  with  crockery  and 
china  ware,  and  the  finest  assortment  of  fancy 
groceries  to  be  found  in  the  State,  outside  of 
the  principal  cities.  He  employs  five  assis- 
tants and  has  a  large  and  remunerative  trade, 
including  among  his  patrons  the  leading 
families  of  the  village  and  the  surrounding 
country. 

Mr.  Thebo  is  a  democrat  in  politics,  has 
been  auditor  of  the  town,  and  is  now  serving 
on  a  second  term  as  a  member  of  the  board  of 
village  trustees.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen,  Masonic 
Lodge,  No.  267,  and  Fort  Edward  Episcopal 
church,  of  which  he  is  a  vestryman.  He  is 
also  a  member  of  the  J.  F.  Harris  Steamer 
Company  and  the  Setterlee  Hose  Company, 
and  Durkee  Hose  Company,  and  served  for 
some  time  as  a  corporal  in  the  Fort  Edward 
Home  Guards. 

On  November  4,  1862,  Mr.  Thebo  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Henrietta  Chitty,  and 
to  their  union  have  been  born  seven  children, 
five  sons  and  two  daughters  :  Mary  Louise 
(deceased),  George  W.,  Philip  C. ,  jr. ,  William 
H.,  Frederick,  BenjamimF.,  and  Annie  Mary. 

The  name  of  Thebo  indicates  that  the 
family  is  of  French  lineage,  and  the  paternal 
grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was 


General  Joseph  Thibult,  one  of  Napoleon's 
trusted  generals, who  served  under  the  "Little 
Corporal "  during  the  days  of  the  consulate 
and  the  existence  of  the  first  empire.  When 
fate  and  fortune  decided  against  the  "Man  of 
Destiny  "  at  Waterloo,  General  Thibult,  who 
was  in  the  midst  of  the  carnage  of  that  great 
battle,  withdrew  from  military  life  and  engaged 
in  peaceful  pursuits  and  the  management  of 
his  tobacco  estate.  He  had  eight  children  : 
Celestia,  Joseph,  Josephine,  Philip  Charles, 
Julia,  Sofphona,  Sarah,  and  Ida.  Joseph 
Thebo  (father),  born  and  roared  at  Paris, 
France,  was  a  man  of  good  education  and  a 
very  fine  linguist,  and  conducted  a  cabinet 
making  establishment  at  Havre,  in  his  native 
country.  In  1827  he  came  to  New  York  city, 
where  he  spent  the  remaining  years  of  his  life. 
He  was  a  democrat  in  politics  after  he  came 
to  the  United  States,  and  lived  and  died  in 
the  faith  of  the  Catholic  church,  in  which  he 
was  reared  and  taught.  He  was  born  in  1806 
and  died  in  1851.  He  married,  and  by  his 
marriage  had  three  children  :  Joseph,  Ida 
(deceased),  and  Philip  Charles,  whose  name 
appears  at  the  head  of  this  sketch. 


tDEV.  ANDREW  JACKSON   FEN- 

T  NEL,  who  labored  faithfully  and  con- 
scientiously for  over  forty-five  years  as  a  min- 
ister of  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Glens 
Falls,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Ira,  Rutland 
county,  Vermont,  June  21,  1815.  He  is  a 
son  of  Calvin  and  Abigail  (Gorham)  Fennel, 
(some  times  spelled  Finel).  Calvin  Fennel 
was  a  native  of  the  same  county.  Leaving 
home  before  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
born,  he  died  suddenly  in  Batavia,  New  York. 
This  son,  therefore,  never  saw  his  father.  He 
was  a  tanner  by  trade  and  a  soldier  in  the  sec- 
ond war  with  England.  His  father  was  Ed- 
ward Fennel,  a  native  of  Granville,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  who  removed  to  Poultney.  Ver- 
mont, where  his  children,  ten  in  number,  were 
born,  all  of  whom   are  now  dead  except  the 


216 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


youngest,  who  is  in  his  ninety-second  year, 
and  resides  in  Wisconsin.  The  Fennel  fam- 
ily, of  which  Dr.  Fennel  is  a  member,  is  sup- 
posed to  be  of  English  extraction.  Edward 
Fennel  (i),  the  father  of  Edward  (2),  resided 
at  Granville,  Massachusetts,  and  was  no  doubt 
the  founder  and  progenitor  of  the  American 
branch  of  the  family.  Abigail  (Gorham)  Fen- 
nel was  born  in  Poultney,  Vermont,  in  1796, 
and  died  in  Illinois  in  1864. 

Mr.  Fennel  spent  the  first  seventeen  years 
of  his  life  on  the  farm  and  in  the  district 
school.  The  next  eight  years  he  spent  in 
teaching  and  study,  principally  at  Castleton 
seminar}',  Vermont ;  entering  the  Auburn  Theo- 
logical seminary  in  1840,  he  was  graduated  in 
the  year  1843.  In  the  following  year  he  was 
ordained  to  preach  by  the  Rutland  county 
association  of  Congregational  ministers.  From 
1843  to  1846  he  was  stationed  at  Groton. 
,Tompkins  count}',  New  York,  as  minister  in 
the  Congregational  church.  Middlebury  col- 
lege conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  Master 
of  Arts,  and  a  few  years  later  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Divinity  was  given  him  by  the  same 
institution.  In  1846  Dr.  Fennel  was  called 
by  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Glens  Falls, 
whence  he  removed,  and  became  pastor  of 
that  church.  He  labored  here  most  success- 
fully for  forty-five  consecutive  years.  In  1891, 
on  account  of  breaking  down  of  health  and 
failure  of  strength,  he  resigned  his  pastorship 
to  which  the  best  years  of  his  life  had  been 
most  earnestly  devoted.  On  arriving  at  Glens 
Falls,  in  1846,  Dr  Fennel  found  an  old, white 
dilapidated  wooden  church  building,  known  in 
that  early  day  as  "Old  White,"  which  stood 
for  some  forty  years.  In  1848  it  was  torn 
down  and  upon  its  site  was  erected  a  fine 
brick  edifice,  which  stood  for  fourteen  years, 
when  in  1S64,  in  the  great  fire  of  Glens  Falls, 
it  was  burned  to  the  ground.  It  was  super- 
seded by  another  fine  brick  structure,  and  in 
just  twenty  years  from  the  time  of  its  com- 
pletion it  was  consumed  by  the  flames  in  1884. 
The  present  handsome  and  fine  church  edifice 


is  one  of  the  most  costly  and  tastily  con- 
structed buildings  in  northern  New  York. 

Dr.  Fennel  was  married  in  1843  to  Racilla 
A.,  a  daughter  of  Philo  M.  Hackley,  Esq.,  of 
Herkimer,  New  York.  To  his  marriage  has 
been  born  three  sons,  all  living  :  Andrew 
Hackley,  George  Hawley,  and  Charles  Henry. 

Dr.  Fennel  is  a  man  of  fine  scholarship,  high 
ideals  and  culture,  pleasing  manners  and  an 
unselfish  nature,  and  has  given  the  best  years 
of  his  life  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his  fel- 
low men,  as  well  as  to  the  moral  and  religious 
uplifting  of  the  human  race.  At  his  home  in 
Glens  Falls  he  is  popular  and  beloved  as  a 
citizen  and  neighbor,  where  for  nearly  half  a 
century  he  has  been  closely  identified  with  the 
moral  and  religious  progress  of  the  village. 


.JOHN  BROOKS,  secretary  of  the  Con- 
solidated  Electric  Company,  of  Green- 
wich, and  largely  interested  in  the  cattle  busi- 
ness in  the  State  of  Wyoming,  is  the  eldest 
son  of  Silas  N.  and  Melissa  (Burrows)  Brooks, 
and  was  born  May  31,  1852,  at  Bernardston, 
Franklin  county,  Massachusetts.  His  pater- 
nal grandfather,  Dr.  John  Brooks,  was  a  na- 
tive of  Vermont,  but  for  many  years  resided 
and  practiced  his  profession  at  Bernardston, 
where  he  died  in  1864,  aged  eighty-four.  He 
was  one  of  the  leading  physicians  of  Franklin 
county.  In  religion  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Universalist  church,  in  which  he  frequently 
preached,  and  in  political  faith  was  a  whig 
and  republican.  Dr.  Brooks  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  assembly  from  Franklin  county, 
and  served  for  a  number  of  years.  He  mar- 
ried Mafy  Bascom,  by  whom  he  had  a  family 
of  one  son  and  five  daughters.  His  only  son, 
Silas  N.  Brooks  (father),  was  born  at  Bernard- 
ston, Massachusetts,  in  1825,  and  was  reared 
and  educated  at  that  place.  After  attaining 
manhood  he  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
agricultural  machinery  in  his  native  village, 
and  followed  that  business  successfully  until 
1872.    He  then  removed  to  the  city  of  Chicago, 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY 


249 


and  became  a  member  of  the  manufacturing 
firm  of  Sargeant,  Greenfield  &  Brooks,  with 
factories  at  Chicago,  Rochester,  New  York, 
and  other  places.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  order,  a  stanch  republican  in  politics, 
and  while  a  resident  of  Franklin  county  was 
elected  and  served  three  or  four  terms  in  the 
State  legislature.  In  1847  he  married  Melissa 
Burrows,  a  daughter  of  Isaac  Burrows  and  a 
sister  to  George  Burrows,  of  the  New  York 
Central  Railroad  Company.  To  that  union 
was  born  a  family  of  four  children,  three  sons 
and  a  daughter  :  John,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  ;  Halburt  G.,  in  business  with  his 
father  at  Chicago  ;  Bryant  B.,  a  partner  with 
his  brother  John  in  a  cattle  ranch  in  the  State 
of  Wyoming,  at  present  member  of  the  legis- 
lature of  that  State  ;  and  Jennie  M.,  living  at 
home  with  her  parents  in  Chicago.  Both 
Silas  N.  Brooks  and  his  wife  are  active  mem- 
bers of  the  Universalist  church. 

John  Brooks  was  reared  in  his  native  village 
and  obtained  a  superior  English  education  in 
the  Powers  institute,  of  Bernardston,  Massa- 
chusetts. In  1868  he  engaged  with  Bradford, 
Thomas  &  Co.,  wholesale  dry  goods  merchants 
of  Boston,  as  a  traveling  salesman,  and  has 
remained  with  that  company  ever  since.  He 
and  his  brother,  Bryant  B.,  own  one  of  the 
largest  cattle  ranches  in  the  State  of  Wyoming, 
containing  forty  thousand  acres  of  pasture 
land,  five  thousand  of  which  are  irrigated. 
This  ranch  is  stocked  with  the  largest  and 
best  herd  of  Galloway  cattle  to  be  found  in 
the  United  States.  Mr.  Brooks  is  also  secre- 
tary of  the  Consolidated  Electric  Company, 
of  Greenwich,  where  he  resides,  which  posi- 
tion he  has  held  since  1891.  This  company 
lights  the  villages  of  Greenwich,  Cambridge, 
Schuylerville  and  Middle  Falls,  their  power 
station  being  located  at  the  last  named  place. 

In  1S89  John  Brooks  was  united  by  marriage 
to  Lena  M.  Haskell,  a  daughter  of  D.  D. 
Haskell,  of  the  village  of  Greenwich.  To 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brooks  have  been  born  two 
children,  sons,  named  Johu  B.  and  Kenneth  B. 


Politically  Mr.  Brooks  is  inclined  to  indepen- 
dence, voting  for  those  he  considers  the  best 
men.  He  is  a  member  of  John  Abbott  Lodge, 
of  Summitville,  Massachusetts. 


HON.  HENRY  (J.  BURLEIGH,  who 
served  with  credit  in  the  forty-eighth  and 
forty-ninth  congresses,  is  one  whose  success- 
ful efforts  to  develop  the  great  transportation 
system  of  the  Hudson  rrver  valley  make  it 
proper  that  some  account  of  his  life  and  la- 
bors should  be  placed  upon  the  permanent 
historical  record  of  the  count)7.  He  is  a  son 
of  Gordon  and  Elizabeth  (Weeks)  Burleigh, 
and  was  born  at  Canaan,  New  Hampshire, 
June  2,  1834.  The  Burleigh  family  is  of 
English  descent,  and  was  planted  in  New 
England  in  1640,  by  four  Burleigh  brothers, 
who  settled  respectively  in  Massachusetts, 
New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island  and  Maine. 
From  the  brother  who  settled  in  New  Hamp- 
shire was  descended  General  Joseph  Burleigh, 
the  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
General  Burleigh  was  a  native  of  Dorchester, 
New  Hampshire,  in  which  State  he  died  on  his 
farm  at  Franklin,  when  in  the  seventy-fourth 
year  of  his  age.  He  held  an  important  com- 
mand under  General  Stark,  and  participated 
in  the  battle  of  Bennington.  His  son,  Gordon 
Burleigh  (father), was  a  native  of  Canaan,  New 
Hampshire,  and  at  the  age  of  fifty-two  years, 
removed  to  Ticonderoga,  Essex  county,  this 
State,  where  he  was  engaged  in  the  lumbering 
business  until  his  death,  which  occurred  when 
he  was  in  the  sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age. 
He  married  Elizabeth  Weeks,  who  died  at 
Ticonderoga  in  1872,  at  seventy-one  years  of 
age.  Mrs.  Burleigh  was  of  English  lineage, 
and  one  of  her  ancestors  built  the  "Weeks 
House,"  the  first  brick  house  erected  in  New- 
England. 

Henry  G.  Burleigh  was  reared  at  Concord, 
New  Hampshire,  received  his  education  in 
the  common,  schools,  and  at  fourteen  years  of 


250 


BIOGIIAPHY  AND  IIISTOMY 


age  removed  to  Ticonderoga.  He  gradually 
enlarged  his  operations  until  1866,  when  he 
found  Ticonderoga  did  not  control  the  volume 
of  transportation  that  he  was  then  prepared 
to  handle,  and  accordingly  came  to  White- 
hall as  a  better  terminal  to  the  large  trans- 
portation business  which  he  wished  to  estab- 
lish. He  has  continued  successfully  at  White- 
hall in  the  transportation  business  ever  since, 
and  continually  enlarging  the  scope  of  his 
operations  until  he  now  requires  from  one 
hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  canal  and 
steamboats  to  carry  the  immense  amount  of 
freight  which  he  handles.  His  transportation 
line  extends  from  the  cities  of  Ottawa,  Quebec 
and  Montreal,  Canada,  to  New  York  and 
Philadelphia.  He  owns  iron  ore  mines  «on 
Lake  Champlain,  from  which  he  ships  large 
quantities  of  ore,  beside  shipping  lumber 
from  Canada  to  New  York,  and  coal  from 
Pennsylvania  to  Canada.  Mr.  Burleigh  em- 
ploys a  large  force  of  hands,  and  has  built 
up  one  of  the  great  transportation  systems 
of  this  country,  which  has  stimulated  activity 
and  awakened  enterprise  at  numerous  places. 
When  he  entered  into  his  present  business 
it  was  not  a  field  full  of  brilliant  promise 
or  great  expectation,  but  possessed  only  un- 
seen possibilities  and  plenty  of  hard  work. 
That  he  has  made  the  most  of  these  possi- 
bilities is  attested  by  his  present  success,  and 
that  he  has  worked  hard  to  win  commercial 
supremacy  in  his  business  stands  recorded  in 
the  many  severe  struggles  through  which  he 
has  passed.  The  record  of  his  business  life 
would  be  incomplete  if  it  only  made  mention 
of  his  transportation  work,  and  while  it  is 
needless  to  speak  in  detail  of  his  many  other 
business  enterprises,  3'et  a  reference  to  some 
of  them  is  not  out  of  place.  He  is  presi- 
dent of  the  old  National  bank  of  Whitehall, 
and  a  director  of  the  Commerce  Insurance 
Campany,  of  Albany,  the  Bay  State  Furnace 
Company,  of  Port  Henry,  and  the  Lake 
Champlain  and  Port  Henry  Towing  com- 
panies.     In  business  operations  Mr.  Burleigh 


has  very  fixed  views  and  acts  on  any  new  ven- 
ture only  after  mature  deliberation. 

In  1869  Mr.  Burleigh  married  Jennie  E. 
Richards,  of  Ticonderoga, and  they  have  three 
children  :  Henry  Gordon,  Charles  Richards 
and  James  Weeks.  Mrs.  Burleigh  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  and  Elizabeth  Richards.  Henry 
G.  Burleigh,  in  politics,  has  always  been  an 
active  and  leading  republican.  He  was  sec- 
retary of  the  first  Republican  convention  held 
in  northern  New  York,  and  served  as  a  dele- 
gate to  the  Republican  National  convention 
of  1884  that  nominated  Blaine.  In  this  con- 
vention Mr.  Burleigh  moved  that  the  nomina- 
tion of  Mr.  Blaine  be  made  unanimous  at  the 
request  of  President  Arthur.  Mr.  Burleigh 
was  also  a  delegate  to  the  National  Republican 
convention  of  1888,  which  nominated  Presi- 
dent Harrison  the  first  time,  and  again  in  1892 
that  placed  Harrison  in  nomination  for  the 
second  time.  In  1861  Mr. Burleigh  was  elected 
supervisor  of  the  town  of  Ticonderoga,  and 
remained  supervisor  of  that  town  during  the 
rebellion.  The  full  quota  of  men  were  always 
raised  in  that  town  under  each  call  of  the 
President  made  there,  thereby  preventing  any 
draft.  After  coming  to  Washington  county 
he  was  nominated  and  elected  to  the  State 
assembly,  serving  in  that  body  during  the 
session  of  1876,  and  was  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee on  canals,  Samuel  J.  Tilden  being  gov- 
ernor. In  18S3  Mr.  Burleigh  was  elected  from 
his  district,  composed  of  the  counties  of 
Washington  and  Renssalaer,  to  the  forty- 
eighth  congress,  and  at  the  end  of  his  term  he 
was  re-elected  and  served  through  the  forty- 
ninth.  Being  a  clear-headed  and  able  business 
manager,  Mr.  Burleigh  was  amply  able  to 
fully  protect  the  industrial  and  commercial 
interests  of  his  district,  and  to  serve  with 
ability  and  credit  on  different  congressional 
committees  appointed  to  look  after  the  gen- 
eral business  affairs  of  the  country.  For  over 
thirty  years  Henry  G.  Burleigh  has  been  one 
of  the  republican  leaders  of  northern  New 
York  and  the  State. 


BlOGRArilY  AND  HISTORY 


251 


niiFKEI)  C.  HODGMAN,  the  present 

proprietor  of  the  oldest  clothing  house 
at  Fort  Edward,  is  a  son  of  Lebbens  and 
Amanda  (Stearns)  Hodgman,  and  was  born  at 
Fairfax,  Vermont,  January  2,  1842.  His  pa- 
ternal ancestors  were  of  English  extraction, 
and  his  father  was  a  native  of  Vermont, where 
he  followed  farming  chiefly  up  to  the  time  of 
his  death,  which  occurred  June  14,  1889. 

Lebbens  Hodgman  was  a  Methodist  and 
republican,  and  wedded  for  his  wife  Amanda 
Stearns,  by  whom  he  had  six  children  :  Martha 
J.  Meech  ;  F.  L.,  a  furniture  dealer  and 
undertaker  in  the  State  of  Iowa;  Clifton  H., 
Alfred  C.  (subject);  Homer  A.,  a  clothing 
merchant  of  Bellevue,  Michigan,  and  Flor- 
ence, who  died  in  infancy.  After  the  death 
of  his  first  wife,  Lebbens  Hodgman  married 
Mrs.  Lucy  Luscomb,  but  had  no  children  by 
his  second   marriage. 

Alfred  C.  Hodgman  was  reared  on  a  farm, 
and  after  receiving  a  good  English  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  his  native  State,  chose 
for  himself  a  business  life  instead  of  embark- 
ing in  some  agricultural  pursuit.  Leaving  the 
farm  in  1857  he  came  to  Fort  Edward,  where 
he  was  engaged  as  a  clerk  for  three  years  in  a 
store  next  to  his  present  business  establish- 
ment, on  Broad  street.  Three  years  later  he 
embarked  in  the  clothing  and  gentlemen's 
furnishing  goods  business,  in  the  establish- 
ment which  he  afterward  enlarged  and  still 
occupies. 

With  years  of  patient  effort  came  an  ample 
measure  of  success,  and  at  the  present  time 
he  has  the  largest  house,  in  his  line  of  busi- 
ness, in  Fort  Edward. 

In  politics  he  has  been  a  republican  since 
President  Lincoln's  first  election,  but  gives  his 
time  largely  to  his  business  interests. 

On  August  17,  1864,  Mr.  Hodgman  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Fannie  A.  Fowler, 
then  a  resident  of  Brooklyn,  New  York,  and 
whose  father,  Samuel  J.  Fowler,  a  lamp  man- 
ufacturer, died  in  iSSS.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hodgman  were  born  five  children,  three  sons 


and  two  daughters  :  Dr.  A.  Frederick,  a  prac- 
ticing physician  of  Auburn,  New  York,  for 
the  last  five  years;  Fannie  L.,  A.  Harry, 
in  the  clothing  business  with  his  father  ;  Lil- 
lian, wife  of  James  M.  Northrop,  a  business 
man  of  New  York  City  ;  and  Herbert  A., who 
died  in  infancy. 


t>EV.  JOHN    JOHNSTON,    pastor  of 

V  the  Baptist  church  of  Fort  Ann  village, 
was  born  in  the  city  of  Peterborough,  in  the 
Province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  on  April  11, 
1865.  He  is  a  son  of  Samuel  and  Elizabeth 
(Furgerson)  Johnston.  His  father  was  a  na- 
tive of  Belfast,  Ireland,  emigrating  from  the 
land  of  his  birth  in  1836,  and  settled  in  the 
city  of  Toronto,  and  afterward  changed  his 
residence  to  Peterborough,  where  he  resided 
until  his  death  in  1 871,  at  sixty-one  years  of 
age.  He  was  a  British  sea-captain  in  the 
Royal  Navy,  and  was  of  Scotch-Irish  extrac- 
tion. He  married  Elizabeth  Furgerson  in 
1858,  who  was  also  born  in  Belfast,  of  Scotch- 
Irish  origin,  a,nd  now  resides  in  the  city  of 
Toronto,  where  she  has  lived  since  1871. 

Rev.  John  Johnston  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated in  the  city  of  Toronto,  where  his  mother, 
with  the  family,  removed  after  the  death  of 
her  husband.  Here  Reverend  Johnston  at- 
tended the  Jarvis  Street  college,  where  he  took 
a  three  years'  course  of  special  studies,  pre- 
paratory to  his  entering  the  active  ministry, 
and  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  began  active 
work  in  the  cause  of  Christ  and  humanity. 
His  first  pastoral  charge  was  at  Grafton,  Rens- 
selaer county.  He  remained  here  a  short 
time,  when  he  went  to  Lebanon  Springs,  in 
Columbia  county,  where  he  efficiently  labored 
for  his  denomination  until  March  30,  1891, 
when  he  received  the  call  to  Fort  Ann.  He 
is  the  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  of  this 
place,  and  also  has  charge  of  the  church  at 
Comstof  k.  The  combined  membership  of  the 
two  churches  number  nearly  three  hundred, 
and  they  are  in  a  prosperous  condition. 


252 


BIOGRAPHY  AXD  HISTORY 


Reverend  Johnston  was  united  in  marriage 
in  October,  1888,  to  Susie  M.  Scriven,  who 
was  a  daughter  of  Supervisor  Alva  H.  Scriven, 
of  Grafton,  Rensselaer  county,  '-who  repre- 
sented his  borough  for  seven  consecutive 
years,  acting  as  its  chairman."  He  died  in 
Mount  Vernon,  New  York,  in  December,  1893. 
His  family  were  among  the  early  settlers  of 
the  town  of  Grafton.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John- 
ston three  children  have  been  born,  one  son 
and  two  daughters  :  Robert  A.,  Ruth  S.,  and 
Leone  P. 

Reverend  Johnston  has  four  brothers  who 
are  citizens  of  Toronto,  Canada:  Joseph, 
Maxwell,  Samuel  and  Robert,  and  one  sister, 
Jennie.  Joseph  Johnston  is  a  wholesale  book- 
binder, printer  and  stationer,  of  105  Church 
street.  Maxwell  owns  and  operates  one  of 
the  best  equipped  job-printing  establishments 
in  Canada,  at  78  Wellington  street,  Toronto. 
Samuel  is  a  machinist  by  trade,  and  is  con- 
nected with  his  brother,  Maxwell,  in  business. 
Robert  is  a  professional  man,  and  for  the  last 
five  years  has  been  engaged  in  lecturing,  and 
is  joint  debator  for  the  conservative  party. 


HON.  WILLIAM  D.  STEVENSON' 
who  is  one  of  the  prominent  men  of  the 
county,  and  president  of  the  Washington 
County  Agricultural  society,  was  born  in  the 
village  of  North  Argyle,  Washington  county, 
New  York,  December  ix,  1847.  He  is  a  son 
of  William  and  Susan  (Terry)  Stevenson. 
William  Stevenson  was  a  native  of  the  town 
of  North  Argyle  ;  born  in  1806,  and  died  in 
1852,  aged  forty-six  years.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  United  Presbyterian  church,  and  a 
whig  in  his  political  principles.  He  carried 
on  a  general  merchandising  business  in  North 
Argyle,  and  was  a  son  of  John  Stevenson,  a 
native  of  Scotland,  who  came  to  this  country 
when  a  young  man  with  his  two  brothers,  Wil- 
liam and  Daniel.  John  Stevenson,  soon  after 
his  arrival  here,  located  in  the  town  of  Argyle, 
where  he  carried  on  farming  until  his  death. 


Mrs.  Susan  Stevenson,  the  mother  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  the  same 
town  in  1826,  died  in  1872,  and  was  a  consist- 
ent member  of  the  United  Presbyterian  church. 
She  was  twice  married ;  her  second  marriage 
was  to  William  Orr,  of  Troy,  and  in  that  city 
she  afterward  made  her  home  until  her  death. 

William  D.  Stevenson  grew  to  man's  estate 
in  his  native  town  and  in  Troy.  On  leaving 
the  common  schools  he  attended  the  Troy 
academy  and  a  select  school  at  Geneva,  New 
York,  taught  by  Dr.  Reed.  Leaving  the 
school  room  Mr.  Stevenson  returned  to  the 
village  of  North  Argyle.  He  has  not  been 
regularly  engaged  in  any  particular  calling. 
He  owns  several  valuable  farms  in  the  county 
and  handles  a  great  deal  of  real  estate.  In 
addition  to  his  varied  investments  he  is  presi- 
dent of  the  Fort  Edward  and  Argyle  Plank 
road  and  of  the  Argyle  and  Fort  Edward 
Telegraph  Company,  and  is  at  present  serving 
for  the  fourth  time  as  president  of  the  Wash- 
ington County  Agricultural  Society. 

In  1869  Mr.  Stevenson  was  married  to  Eliza- 
beth Livingston,  daughter  of  Samuel  Wallace, 
deceased,  and  has  one  child,  a  daughter,  Anna 
May. 

William  D.  Stevenson  is  a  prominent  repub- 
lican of  Washington  county,  and  wields  a 
strong  influence  in  the  councils  of  his  party. 
For  two  terms  he  had  the  important  local  office 
of  supervisor  of  his  town,  and  was  honored  by 
his  fellow  members  with  the  chairmanship  of 
the  board.  He  was  twice  elected  to  the  gen- 
eral assembly  of  the  State,  and  served  in  the 
sessions  of  1891  and  1892.  Mr.  Stevenson 
resides  at  the  old  homestead  in  the  town  of 
North  Argyle,  about  two  miles  from  the  vil- 
lage of  Argyle.  The  house  having  been  built 
by  his  father,  which  is  a  large  and  handsome 
brick,  is  one  of  the  model  country  residences 
of  the  county. 

Mr.  Stevenson  is  an  affable  gentlemen,  and 
both  socially  and  in  his  business  intercourse 
with  his  neighbors,  is  popular  and  highly  re- 
spected. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY 


253 


f^ROF.  WILBER  W.  HOWE,  superin- 

tendent  of  the  Wliitehall  Union  school 
and  an  educator  of  State  reputation,  is  a  son 
of  John  and  Maria  (Wilber)  Howe,  and  was 
born  at  St.  Johnsville,  Montgomery  county, 
New  York,  July  29,  1862.  His  paternal  grand- 
father, Eli  Howe,  was  of  English  descent,  and 
removed  in  early  life  from  his  native  State  of 
Connecticut,  to  Otsego  county,  New  York. 
His  son,  John  Howe,  the  father  of  Prof.  W. 
W.  Howe,  was  born  in  Otsego  county,  and 
has  been  a  resident  for  the  last  forty  years  of 
St.  Johnsville,  this  State,  where  he  follows 
hydraulic  engineering.  He  married  Maria 
Wilbur,  who  was  a  daughter  of  David  Wilbur, 
of  Otsego  count}*,  and  who  died  June  14,  1877, 
when  in  the  forty-fourth  year  of  her  age. 

Wilber  W.  Howe  was  reared  at  St.  Johns- 
ville, New  York,  and  received  his  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  that  place  and  at  the 
State  Normal  school  at  Albany.  Leaving 
school,  he  taught  Prang's  system  of  drawing 
and  Holt's  system  of  vocal  music  for  some 
time  in  connection  with  the  principalship  of 
the  graded  schools  of  Cleveland,  New  York, 
and  North  Bennington,  Vermont.  In  i8go  he 
resigned  his  position  in  those  graded  schools 
to  become  State  instructor  of  drawing  in  the 
county  institutes  of  New  York  and  Vermont, 
in  which  he  did  efficient  work  until  1891,  when 
he  resigned  to  accept  his  present  position  as 
superintendent  of  the  Whitehall  Union  school. 
This  institution  occupies  five  large  buildings 
and  employs  a  corps  of  twenty-one  teachers, 
and  under  the  intelligent  and  able  manage- 
ment of  Mr.  Howe  is  rapidly  pushing  for- 
ward to  the  front  rank  of  the  graded  schools 
of  the  State. 

On  December  25,  1883,  Professor  Howe 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Florence  A.  Wil- 
son, daughter  of  Simon  B.  Wilson,  of  Chase- 
ville,  Otsego  county,  New  York.  They  have 
one  child,  a  daughter,  named  Majorie  W. 

W.  W.  Howe  is  a  democrat  in  politics,  and 
has  been  a  member  for  several  years  of  Garoga 
Masonic  Lodge,  of  Rockwood,  this  State.    He 


is  well  liked  as  a  citizen  and  popular  as  the 
superintendent  of  the  village  Union  school. 
In  May,  1893,  at  the  teachers'  institute  at 
Wliitehall,  Professor  Howe  gave,  "in  a  most 
intelligent  and  satisfactory  way,  his  theory  of 
teaching,  and  exemplified  it  by  the  actual 
performance  of  pupils  from  the  Whitehall 
schools."  His  lecture  and  the  admirable 
work  of  his  pupils  were  warmly  applauded. 
He  believes  in  intelligent  reading  as  the  basis 
of  a  good  education,  and  his  aim  in  the  low- 
est reading  grade  is  to  get  at  the  thought, 
leaving  other  things  of  minor  importance  to 
take  care  of  themselves.  He  also  has  his 
pupils,  in  all  of  the  branches  taught,  to  get  a 
clear  idea  of  what  their  subject  is  before  they 
commence  work  on  any  lesson  or  subject. 
His  advanced  methods  of  instruction  are  fully 
appreciated  at  Whitehall,  and  the  intelligent 
reading  and  improved  work  in  all  the  branches 
in  the  Union  school  attest  his  ability  as  an 
educator  of  rare  attainments. 


QOKNELIUS  YOUNG,  an  experienced 
paper  manufacturer  and  the  superinten- 
dent of  the  Ondawa  paper  mills,  of  Middle 
Falls,  is  a  son  of  John  and  Jennie  (Fisher) 
Young,  and  was  born  in  the  city  of  Amster- 
dam, Holland,  August  2,  1844.  Jomi  Young 
was  a  native  of  the  same  city,  born  Septem- 
ber 20,  1813,  and  came  in  1847  to  Rochester, 
New  York,  where  he  was  an  engineer  in  a 
paper  mill  until  1862.  In  that  year  he  pur- 
chased a  farm  in  Livingston  count)',  on  which 
he  remained  seven  years.  He  then  returned 
to  his  position  as  engineer  in  the  paper  mill 
and  served  in  that  capacity  until  1882.  In 
September,  1893,  Mr.  Young  retired  from  all 
active  business  pursuits.  He  is  a  republican, 
and  a  member  and  deacon  of  the  Reformed 
church,  and  in  1836,  married  Jennie  Fisher, 
who  was  born  in  Amsterdam  in  1816,  and  is 
still  living.  They  have  eight  children  living: 
John,  jr.,  a  paper  mill  superintendent  ;  Mor- 
ean,    a    furniture    dealer    of    Rochester    city  : 


254 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Maggie,  wife  of  Abram  Shought  ;  Samuel  D., 
now  in  the  furniture  business  at  Rochester  ; 
Cornelius  ;  Jennie,  wife  of  Albert  Lusick ; 
Ellen,  wife  of  Frank  Laroy,  and  Annie,  wife 
of  Matthew  VanDame,  all  of  Rochester. 

Cornelius  Young  was  reared  in  Rochester, 
where  he  became  an  errand  boy  in  a  match  fac- 
tory at  seven  years  of  age,  and  two  years  later 
went  to  work  in  a  paper  mill.  He  attended 
the  common  schools  a  part  of  the  time  until 
he  was  ten  years  of  age,  and  at  fifteen  became 
an  apprentice  to  a  large  shoe  manufacturing 
firm,  with  which  he  remained  four  years.  He 
then  returned  to  paper  making,  and  in  1881 
became  superintendent  of  the  Howland  paper 
mills,  at  Sandy  Hill,  which  position  he  re- 
signed in  1888  to  accept  the  superintendency 
of  the  Bellows  Falls  paper  mills,  of  Vermont. 
At  that  place  he  remained  one  year,  and  then 
removed  to  Fort  Edward,  where  he  served 
one  year  as  superintendent  of  a  paper  mill. 
He  then,  in  1890,  came  to  Middle  Falls  and 
assumed  charge  of  the  Ondawa  paper  mills, 
which  he  has  superintended  ever  since.  These 
mills  have  a  daily  output  of  eight  tons  of 
manilla  and  box  board  paper,  and  furnish 
regular  employment  for  a  force  of  forty-eight 
operatives. 

On  March  4,  1866,  Mr.  Young  married 
Mary  E.  O'Neil,  daughter  of  James  O'Neil, 
of  Greenwich.  They  have  had  seven  children: 
John  F.,  M.  H.,  Cornelius  J.,  Mabel,  Sarah 
(dead),  Mary,  and  Grace.  Of  these  children, 
John  F.  is  eagaged  at  a  paper  mill  in  Tyrone, 
Pennsylvania,  and  M.  H.  is  employed  with 
his  father. 

On  November  8,  1861,  Mr.  Young  enlisted 
in  Co.  K.  98th  New  York  infantry,  and  served 
sixteen  months,  being  discharged  at  the  end 
of  that  time  on  account  of  disability.  He  is 
a  stanch  republican,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Royal  Arcanum  and  a  past  vice-commander 
of  the  William  M.  Callen  Post,  587,  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic.  He  is  an  honorary' 
member  of  the  J.  W.  Wait  Hose  Company, 
of  Sandy  Hill,  of  which   he  served   as  presi- 


dent for  one  year,  and  has  been  an  active 
member  for  several  years.  While  in  active 
service  as  a  fireman  he  served  one  term  as 
assistant  chief  of  the   fire   department  of  the 

same  village. 


JAMES  I).  8HERKILL,  a  member  of 
the  leading  contracting  firm  of  Flood  & 
Sherrill,  was  born  in  the  city  of  Albany,  New 
York,  September  3,  1848,  and  is  a  son  of 
James  H.  and  Ellen  A.  (Lewis)  Sherrill.  The 
Sherrills  are  of  Scotch  descent,  and  Darius 
Sherrill,  the  paternal  grandfather  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  was  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers of  the  village  of  Sandy  Hill,  and  who 
afterward  served  as  sheriff  of  Washington 
county.  He  ran  the  old  coffee  house  at  Sandy- 
Hill  at  the  time  when  the  old  stage  line  from 
Whitehall  to  Albany  passed  through  the  vil- 
lage. His  son,  James  H.  Sherrill  (father), 
was  born  in  1812  at  Sandy  Hill,  where  he  died 
in  1886,  when  well  advanced  in  the  seventy- 
fourth  year  of  his  age.  James  H.  Sherrill  was 
a  republican,  and  an  Odd  Fellow,  and  served 
for  several  years  as  superintendent  of  the 
Champlain  canal  at  Sandy  Hill.  He  was  a 
contractor  on  public  works,  in  which  line  of 
business  he  was  very  successful.  Mr.  Sherrill 
married  Ellen  A.  Lewis,  a  native  of  Mobile, 
Alabama,  who  was  born  in  1826,  and  has  con- 
tinued to  reside  at  Sand}'  Hill  since  the  death 
of  her  husband. 

James  D.  Sherrill  was  reared  in  his  native 
village,  received  his  education  in  the  common 
schools  and  Glens  Falls  academy,  and  then 
engaged  with  his  father  in  the  contracting 
business,  which  he  has  followed  ever  since. 

In  1890  Mr.  Sherrill  married  Elnora  Nash, 
daughter  of  Harvey  B.  Nash,  of  Sandy  Hill. 

In  political  opinion  Mr. 'Sherrill  has  always 
been  a  republican,  while  in  religious  belief  and 
church  membership  he  is  an  Episcopalian. 
Within  the  last  twenty  years  he  has  been  con- 
nected with  the  erection  of  some  very  exten- 
sive and  important  village,  city  and  govern- 


BIOGL'AI'JIY  AND  HISTORY 


255 


ment  works.  He  erected  the  reservoir  at 
Rutland,  Vermont,  which  lias  a  capacity  of 
six  million  gallons  of  water;  built  the  large 
water  works  system  at  Ticonderoga,  and  con- 
structed the  fine  water  works  in  Pittsford,  Ver- 
mont. He  is  now  a  member  of  the  contract- 
ing firm  of  Flood  &  Sherrill.  They  have  held 
several  State  and  government  contracts  on 
canal  work,  and  at  the  present  they  are  en- 
gaged in  building  a  coverly  post  called  Fort 
Ethan  Allen,  near  Burlington,  Vermont. 


QHARL.ES  TRUMBULL  WRIGHT, 

^^  popularly  known  as  Deacon  Wright,  is 
one  of  the  most  intelligent  and  progressive 
farmers  in  the  town  of  Kingsbury.  He  is  a 
son  of  Abncr  and  Pamelia  (Trumbull)  Wright, 
and  was  born  in  the  town  of  Hebron,  Wash- 
ington county,  New  York,  March  31,  1831. 
Abner  Wright  was  a  native  of  Williamstown, 
Massachusetts.  He  came  to  this  county  in 
1808,  and  married  for  his  first  wife  a  daughter 
of  Dr.  Oliver  Brown,  a  practicing  physician 
in  the  town  of  Salem.  He  was  a  farmer,  and 
settled  first  in  the  town  of  Salem,  then  in  Ru- 
pert, Vermont,  then  in  Hebron,  then  in  Green- 
wich, and  then  he  removed  to  the  town  of 
Hartford,  and  died  there  in  1870,  in  the 
eightieth  year  of  his  age.  He  reared  a  family 
of  ten  children  that  lived  to  the  age  of  man 
and  womanhood.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  war 
of  1S12  ;  a  leading  member  and  deacon  in  the 
Baptist  church  ;  he  did  a  great  deal  of  suc- 
cessful evangelical  work,  and  bore  an  envia- 
ble Christian  name  throughout  his  neighbor- 
hood. He  was  a  whig  and  republican,  and 
was  a  son  of  Thomas  Wright,  who  was  a  na- 
tive of  Massachusetts  ;  he  was  a  fisherman  by 
occupation,  and  died  in  Boston  Harbor  when 
his  son,  Abner  Wright,  was  quite  young. 
Pamelia  (Trumbull)  Wright  was  born  in  Ru- 
pert, Rutland  county,  Vermont ;  she  is  now  in 
the  eighty-fifth  year  of  her  age,  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Baptist  church. 

Charles  T.  Writrht  t*rew  to  manhood  on  the 


farm,  in  this  county,  receiving  a  good  English 
education  in  the  common  and  a  select  school 
at  Hartford,  and  when  he  became  of  age  en- 
gaged in  teaching  school :  Two  terms  in  South 
Hartford,  one  in  Jackson,  and  one  term  at 
Slyborough,  Granville;  but  the  greater  part 
of  his  life  has  been  spent  in  tilling  the  soil.  He 
removed  to  his  present  finely  improved  farm 
of  four  hundred  acres,  at  Smith's  Basin,  from 
Granville  in  1866,  where  he  has  ever  since  re- 
sided. On  March  24,  1857,  he  was  married 
to  Julia  E.  Moone,  of  Yates,  Orleans  county, 
New  York,  daughter  of  Lyman  Moone,  for- 
merly of  Hebron.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wright 
have  been  born  three  children:  Lyman  M., 
Ella  P.  and  Lillian  B.  Ella  P.  being  the  wife 
of  Leonard  Johnson,  of  Pawlet,  Vermont; 
Lillian  B.  married  A.  K.  Cross,  jr.,  of  the 
town  of  Kingsbury;  Lyman  M.  is  a  farmer, 
and  resides  in  the  town  of  Hartford.  Mrs. 
Julia  E.  Wright  died  April  20,  1876.  Charles 
T.  Wright  wedded  for  his  second  wife,  in 
1878,  Lydia  A.,  daughter  of  Hiram  Waller,  of 
Hartford.  To  this  last  union  has  been  born 
six  children:  Alice  E.,  Charles  A.,  Fannie  E., 
Nelson  W.,  Helen  and  Rollin  T.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Wright  are  both  members  of  the  Fort 
Ann  Baptist  church,  the  former  being  senior 
deacon  of  his  church,  and  in  his  political 
opinion  is  a  stanch  republican.  For  six  years 
he  served  in  the  office  of  town  assessor,  and 
was  afterward  elected  justice  of  the  peace, 
which  office  he  refused  to  accept.  His  grand- 
father, Horace  Trumbull,  was  a  native  of 
Connecticut,  and  when  a  young  man  removed 
to  Rupert,  Bennington  county, Vermont, where 
he  resided  all  the  remainder  of  his  life,  and 
where  he  reared  a  large  family  of  children. 
He  was  a  farmer  and  a  member  of  the  same 
family  of  Trumbulls  as  was  Governor  Trum- 
bull, who  served  as  governor  of  the  State  at 
the  time  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  After 
arriving  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years, 
Charles  T.  Wright  worked  eight  months  of 
each  year,  for  four  years,  for  his  father,  on  the 
farm,  for    which    he   received,  for    the    entire 


256 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


time,  three  hundred  and  forty-one  dollars,  at 
the  expiration  of  which  time  he  purchased  his 
father's  farm  of  one  hundred  and  seven  acres  ; 
two  years  later  he  bought  an  additional  forty 
acres,  and  in  1866  sold  both  of  these  tracts 
and  purchased  the  Baker  farm,  in  the  town  of 
Kingsbury,  near  Smith's  Basin,  and  where  he 
has  since  resided.  This  is  one  of  the  most 
valuable  farms  in  the  county;  itconta:ned  then 
four  hundred  and  sixty-six  acres,  for  which  he 
paid  six  thousand  dollars  at  the  time  of  the 
purchase,  and  went  in  debt  to  the  amount  of 
seventeen  thousand  dollars  for  farm  and  stock. 
He  sold  off  sixty-six  acres  of  the  outskirts  of 
the  farm,  and  settled  the  last  of  his  indebted- 
ness in  1889.  Charles  T.  Wright  has, through 
his  honesty,  industry  and  Christian  manhood, 
truly  earned  the  title  of  a  self-made  man.  and 
it  can  be  safely  asserted  that  no  one  stands 
higher  in  his  entire  community  than  he,  for 
having  more  of  the  prerequisites  that  go  to 
make  up  a  man. 


.JOHN  BRAYTOX  was  born  in  the  town 
Hartford,  on  what  is  called  Brayton  street, 
Washington  count}-.  New  York,  June  12,  1840, 
and  is  a  son  of  William  Brayton  and  Mariah 
Hoyt.  William  Brayton  was  also  a  native  of 
the  town  of  Hartford,  where  he  was  born  in 
1802.  He  was  an  engineer  by  occupation  and 
for  five  years  ran  on  the  Hudson  river,  and 
fifteen  years  he  spent  at  his  trade  on  some  of 
the  principal  steamers  that  ply  the  Chesapeake 
bay.  He  died  in  his  native  town  in  1871.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church,  and  a 
republican  in  his  political  opinion. 

His  father  was  Thomas  Brayton,  who  was  a 
native  of  Rhode  Island,  and  with  his  two 
brothers  came  into  the  town  of  Hartford  and 
were  among  the  early  settlers.  They  took  up 
land  and  here  made  their  homes  until  their 
deaths.  The}'  were  tories.  The  Braytons 
are  of  English  lineage. 

The  mother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
born  in  Virginia,  and  died  July  4,  1889,  aged 


seventy-seven  years.  For  forty-two  years  she 
was  a  devoted  member  of  the  Baptist  church. 
Her  father  was  Captain  Hoyt,  a  native  Vir- 
ginian. He  served  as  captain  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  and  was  a  member  of  Washing- 
ton's staff. 

John  Brayton  was  reared  in  his  native  town 
and  received  the  benefit  of  only  a  common 
school  education.  At  the  age  of  eighteen 
years  he  went  to  Whitehall,  where  he  learned 
the  jeweler's  trade  with  George  Barney,  with 
whom  he  continued  to  work  up  to  the  spring 
of  1861,  when  he  returned  to  his  father's  farm. 
Among  the  first  call  for  troops  by  the  presi- 
dent in  1861,  he  early  enlisted  in  Co.  G,  44th 
New  York  regiment,  as  a  private,  and  was 
discharged  in  the  latter  part  of  December, 
1862.  During  this  term  of  service  he  was 
engaged  most  of  the  time  on  detached  duty. 
He  was  taken  prisoner  at  the  seven  days'  fight 
at  Savage  Station,  Virginia.  On  the  28th  of 
I  uly.  i862,Mi".  Brayton, with  Lieutenant  Kelly, 
of  Co.  B,  made  good  their  escape.  After  get- 
ting back  into  the  Union  line  Mr.  Brayton,  by 
special  order  of  General  McClellan,  was  sent 
north  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  was  discharged 
on  account  of  ill  health.  After  recuperating 
his  health  to  some  extent  he  engaged  in  the 
United  States  Secret  service,  and  did  duty  on 
the  Potomac  river,  being  transferred  from 
one  post  to  another,  his  boat  carrying  the  mail 
from  Fortress  Monroe  to  Hilton  Head,  South 
Carolina,  and  three  months  between  Hilton 
Head  and  Saint  Augustine.  His  crew  was 
then  detailed  as  a  flag  ship  going  up  the  Saint 
John's  river  and  captured  Jacksonville,  Flor- 
ida. One  month  afterward  going  up  the  river 
some  sixty  miles  from  Jacksonville,  their  boat 
was  blown  up  by  a  torpedo  from  the  rebels 
and  sunk.  After  returning  east  Mr.  Brayton 
went  to  Baltimore  and  was  second  engineer 
on  a  tug  boat  for  a  short  time,  when  he  en- 
gaged on  a  government  vessel  as  assistant  en- 
gineer, running  from  Boston  to  New  Orleans 
and  Cuba,  where  he  remained  up  to  1868. 
He  returned  to  Hartford  in   that  year,  where 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


257 


he  has  worked  at  his  trade  ever  since.  Since 
December,  1873,  Mr.  Brayton  has  in  addition 
to  his  other  business  interests  kept  the  Empire 
House  of  Hartford,  which  is  a  well  managed 
country  hotel. 

In  1873  Mr.  Brayton  was  married  to  Arlesta 
I.,  daughter  of  Richard  Smith,  of  the  town  of 
Hartford.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
fraternity,  Hcrshall  Lodge,  of  his  village,  and 
Norman  F.  Weer  Post,  No.  453,  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic.  Since  the  organization  of 
this  post  he  has  been  its  commander.  He  is  a 
stanch  republican,  and  has  filled  the  office  of 
town  clerk  and  town  collector,  and  takes  an 
active  part  in  politics. 


QKVILLE  If.  MOTT,  M.  I).,  a  physi- 
cian of  good  standing  in  his  profession, 
residing  at  Fort  Ann,  is  a  native  of  the  town 
of  Saratoga,  Saratoga  county,  New  York,  and 
was  born  April  30,  1851.  He  is  a  son  of  La 
Fayette  and  Mary  A.  (Weston)  Mott.  La 
Fayette  Mott  was  also  born  in  the  town  of 
Saratoga,  where  he  lived  all  his  life,  dying  in 
1S72,  in  the  sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age.  He 
was  a  republican  in  politics,  and  a  farmer  by 
occupation.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Dutch- 
ess county,  New  York,  where  he  took  up  a 
grant  of  land  that  the  government  had  con- 
fiscated from  the  tories.  He  was  among  the 
early  settlers  of  Dutchess  county,  as  well  as 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  town  of  Saratoga. 
The  Motts  who  first  settled  in  this  country 
were  French  Huguenots;  the  great-great- 
grandfather of  Dr.  Mott  came  over  from 
England  and  settled  on  Long  Island,  whose 
son  (great-grandfather)  afterward  settled  in 
Dutchess  count}-.  La  Fayette  Mott  married 
Mary  A.  Weston,  who  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Saratoga,  and  who  died  in  1867. 

Orville  H.  Mott,  M.  D.,  grew  up  on  the 
farm  in  his  native  town,  attended  the  common 
schools  of  the  neighborhood,  and  afterward 
attended  the  Connecticut  Literary  institute, 
at  Suffield,  Connecticut.  Leaving  this  insti- 
ll. 


tution,  he  took  up  the  study  of  medicine  in 
the  New  York  Homeopathic  Medical  college, 
completing  his  studies  there  in  the  spring  of 
x^73>  when  he  went  to  Glens  Falls,  and  was 
there  engaged  in  the  practice  with  Dr.  D.  H. 
Bullard  until  the  following  October,  going 
thence  to  Fort  Ann,  where  he  has  succeeded 
in  building  up  a  substantial  and  paying  prac- 
tice. Dr.  Mott  is  a  member  of  the  Homeo- 
pathic Medical  society  of  northern  New  York; 
he  is  also  a  member  of  Mt.  Hope  Lodge,  No. 
260,  Masonic  fraternity,  Chapter  of  the  Royal 
Arch  Masons,  and  Washington  Council  of 
Royal  Arcanum.  The  greater  part  of  Dr. 
Mott's  time  and  attention  is  devoted  to  his 
profession,  while  he  never  neglects  any  oppor- 
tunity to  widen  his  knowledge  of  medicine  or 
to  study  closely  the  most  successful  methods 
of  treating  diseases.  He  occupies  a  useful 
position  in  Fort  Ann,  being  a  well-read  and 
successful  physician,  and  a  pleasant  and  gen- 
ial gentleman. 


FRANCES  A.  TEFFT,  a  prominent 
educator  and  a  woman  of  remarkable  in- 
dividuality, is  the  daughter  of  John  H.  and 
Dyantha  (Winchip)  Tefft,  and  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Kingsbury,  Washington  county,  New 
York;  August  1,  1845.  John  H.  Tefft  was  a 
native  of  the  county  and  for  many  years  a  lead- 
ing farmer  in  the  town  of  Kingsbury,  owning 
a  farm  in  the  vicinity  of  Sandy  Hill,  where  his 
death  occurred  in  March,  1878,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-six  years.  For  many  years  he  was  a 
consistent  and  respected  member  of  Sandy 
Hill  Baptist  church,  and  a  life-long  republican. 
His  father,  Joseph  Tefft,  was  born  in  Rich- 
mond, Washington  county,  Rhode  Island, 
March,  1779,  removed  to  Easton,  Washington 
county,  New  York,  in  1787,  where  he  followed 
the  occupation  of  farming  for  man}'  years. 
He  died  March  1,  1870,  in  the  ninety-first 
year  of  his  age.  The  Teffts  were  probably  of 
English  extraction,  and  among  the  early  set- 
tlers of   this   county,  the  first  to  settle  in  this 


258 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HI STORY 


section  being  William  Tefft,  the  paternal 
great-grandfather  of  Miss  Tefft,  For  addi- 
tional facts  in  the  ancestry  of  this  pioneer 
family,  see  the  sketch  of  R.  C.  Tefft,  on  an- 
other page.  DyanthaWinchip  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Queensbury  ;  she  is  a  devoted  mem- 
ber of  the  Christian  church,  and  now  residing 
in  the  village  of  Sandy  Hill.  Her  father, 
John  Winchip,  lived  all  his  life  in  the  towns 
of  Queensbury  and  Kingsbury,  where  he  fol- 
lowed farming.  He  was  a  native  of  Queens- 
bury, and  a  drafted  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812. 
He  died  in  October,  1857,  aged  sixty-nine 
years.  The  Winchips  are  of  English  origin, 
but  for  many  generations  have  lived  in  this 
country. 

Frances  A.  Tefft  was  brought  up  in  Sandy 
Hill  and  received  a  good  education  at  the  Fort 
Edward  institute,  and  under  the  tutelage  of  a 
private  instructor,  William  McLoren,  who  was 
a  graduate  of  the  university  of  Glasgow,  and 
one  of  the  famous  mathematicians  of  his  day. 
Miss  Tefft  was  graduated  from  the  Fort  Ed- 
ward institute  in  the  class  of  1864.  Leaving 
the  institute  she  became  an  assistant  to 'Prof. 
William  McLoren,  jr.,  in  the  Argyle  academy, 
in  which  she  remained  for  three  years,  suc- 
ceeding Mr.  McLoren  as  principal.  Subse- 
quently she  became  an  instructor  in  a  private 
school  at  Sandy  Hill,  conducted  by  Mr.  Mc- 
Loren, where  she  remained  for  one  year.  In 
1868,  the  year  the  Union  school  was  organ- 
ized at  Sandy  Hill,  William  McLoren,  jr. , 
was  selected  principal,  and  she  preceptress, 
and  here  they  labored  together  until  1876.  In 
the  latter  year  they  both  went  to  Glens  Falls, 
becoming  principals  and  joint  owners  of  the 
Glens  Falls  academy,  in  which  capacity  she 
remained  for  eleven  years,  when  in  1887  she 
returned  to  Sandy  Hill,  soon  after  becoming 
principal  of  the  Union  school  of  that  village, 
a  position  she  has  ever  since  held  to  the  gen- 
eral satisfaction  of  all  the  patrons  of  the  school. 
During  the  last  few  years  the  school  under  her 
competent  supervision  has  increased  to  such 
an  extent  that  in  1892  there  was  a  new  high 


school  building  erected,  and  the  corps  of 
teachers  increased  from  thirteen  to  seventeen, 
and  during  this  year's  term  there  is  an  enroll- 
ment of  about  nine  hundred  pupils.  In  at- 
tendance at  this  school  there  are  many  schol- 
ars who  are  non-residents  of  the  village  and 
immediate  vicinity,  who  prepare  here  for 
teaching  and  admission  to  colleges.  Scholars 
have  been  graduated  from  here  and  gone  to  the 
leading  universities  of  the  country  :  Syracuse 
university,  Rochester,  Middlebury,  Cornell, 
Trinity,  Union,  and  Leland  Stanford,  jr.,  uni- 
versities being  among  the  number. 

Frances  A.  Tefft  is  at  present  occupying  the 
principalship  of  this  Union  school,  and  will 
long  be  remembered  as  one  of  the  most  com- 
petent and  able  instructors  of  her  time. 


nEV.  CHARLES  D.  KELLO(i(i, 
pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at 
Sandy  Hill  since  1880,  and  one  of  the  most 
prominent  ministers  and  eloquent  divines  of 
his  denomination  in  northern  New  York,  is  a 
son  of  Dan  W.  and  Esther  A.  (Bull)  Kellogg, 
and  was  born  at  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  July 
3,  1842.  The  Kelloggs  are  of  Scotch  extrac- 
tion, and  the  family  was  planted  in  America 
early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  soon  after 
the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth  Rock. 
The  original  Scotch  orthography  of  the  name 
was  Kolloch,  but  it  was  changed  in  America 
to  the  present  spelling.  Hon.  Charles  A. 
Kellogg,  paternal  grandfather  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  a  native  of  Connecticut, 
and  settled  at  an  early  day  in  Cayuga  county, 
New  York.  He  was  an  ardent  whig,  a  strong 
supporter  of  Henry  Clay,  and  served  one  term 
in  congress  from  the  Cayuga  district.  In  later' 
life  he  removed  to  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan, 
where  he  died  about  i844,atthe  age  of  seventy- 
five.  One  of  his  sons  was  Day  Otis  Kellogg, 
at  one  time  mayor  of  the  city  of  Troy,  and 
father  of  Charles  D.  Kellogg  (cousin),  who  is 
now  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  leading  charity 
associations  of  New  York  city.      Another  son 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


259 


was  Dan  W.  Kellogg  (father),  who  was  born 
and  reared  at  Galway,  New  York.  For  a  num- 
ber of  years  he  was  a  wholesale  hardware 
merchant  of  Troy,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Kellogg  &  Co.,  but  in  1S52  the  firm  removed 
to  the  city  of  New  York,  where  they  engaged 
in  the  same  business.  There  Mr.  Kellogg 
continued  the  hardware  business  until  1870, 
when  he  sold  out,  and  the  next  year  removed 
to  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  where  he  resided 
until  1883.  In  that  year  he  returned  to  New 
York  and  located  at  Sandy  Hill,  where  he  lived 
until  his  death  in  1885,  when  in  the  seventy- 
third  year  of  his  age.  He  was  very  successful 
in  business,  and  accumulated  a  handsome  for- 
tune. In  religion  he  was  an  Episcopalian, 
and  in  politics  an  ardent  republican.  In  1833 
he  married  Esther  A.  Bull,  a  daughter  of 
Judge  Archibald  Bull,  and  a  native  of  the  city 
of  Troy.  She  died  in  August,  1842,  when  her 
son,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  only  five 
weeks  old.  Judge  Archibald  Bull  (maternal 
grandfather)  was  of  English  extraction.  He 
was  three  times  elected  judge  of  Rensselaer 
county,  and  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
Free  Masons  of  New  York.  He  became  sov- 
ereign grand  inspector  general  of  the  western 
hemisphere,  and  in  that  capacity  introduced 
and  first  organized  Free  Masonry  in  the  island 
of  Hayti. 

His  mother  having  died  while  he  was  yet 
an  infant,  Charles  D.  Kellogg  was  reared  by 
his  father's  sister,  Mrs.  E.  S.  Abel,  of  Peeks- 
kill-on-the-Hudson.  His  education  was  re- 
ceived in  the  Peekskill  academy,  a  polytech- 
nical  institute  at  Brooklyn,  and  Princeton  col- 
lege, from  which  well  known  institution  he  was 
graduated  in  1861.  He  immediately  entered 
the  Princeton  Theological  seminary, and  began 
preparing  himself  for  the  ministry  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church.  In  April,  1863,  he  was  li- 
censed to  preach  by  the  Second  New  York  (old 
school)  Presbytery,  having  previously  con- 
nected himself  with  the  Presbytery  at  the 
Scotch  Presbyterian  church  on  Fourteenth 
street,  near  Sixth  avenue,  New  York  city. 


Rev.  Charles  D,  Kellogg's  first  charge  was 
at  Wilmington,  Delaware,  where  he  officiated 
from  June,  1863,  to  April,  1867.  He  next  as- 
sumed the  pastorate  of  two  churches,  at  Bacon 
Hill  and  Fort  Miller,  in  New  York,  where  he 
remained  until  September,  1872,  after  which 
he  had  charge  of  the  North  Reformed  church 
at  Passaic,  New  Jersey,  until  October,  1879. 
He  then  came  to  Sandy  Hill  and  took  charge 
of  the  Presbyterian  churches  here  and  at  Fort 
Edward.  After  serving  these  churches  for 
nearly  one  year  he  was  regularly  installed  as 
pastor,  which  position  he  has  acceptably  filled 
ever  since.  The  old  Presbyterian  church  in 
Sandy  Hill,  which  was  built  in  1826,  has  been 
torn  down,  and  in  its  place  a  handsome  stone 
edifice  is  being  erected,  which  will  shortly  be 
completed  and  dedicated.  Since  being  located 
in  this  village  Reverend  Kellogg  has  refused 
calls  to  take  charge  of  churches  in  Boston, 
Wilmington  and  Philadelphia.  In  his  minis- 
terial work  he  has  been  very  successful,  and  is 
most  highly  esteemed  by  the  people  as  a  gen- 
tleman of  lofty  ideals,  sympathetic  character 
and  scholarly  attainments. 

On  October  28,  1863,  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Mary  J.  Baucus,  a  daughter  of  Hon. 
Joseph  Baucus,  ex-sheriff  and  ex-assembly- 
man of  Saratoga  county,  and  a  sister  of  Hon. 
A.  B.  Baucus,  ex-sheriff  and  ex-State  senator 
of  the  same  county.  To  the  Rev.  and  Mrs. 
Kellogg  was  born  a  family  of  four  children, 
two  sons  and  two  daughters:  Joseph  Augus- 
tus, who  was  the  democratic  candidate  for 
the  State  assembly  from  this  district  in  1891, 
and  has  served  two  years  as  third  assistant  of 
the  attorney  general  of  New  York ;  Florence 
Grace,  married  Preston  Paris,  son  of  Hon.  U. 
G.  Paris,  of  this  village,  and  now  resides  at 
Gaylord,  Kansas;  Charles  W. ,  a  banker  of 
Cawker  City,  Kansas;  and  Kate,  living  at 
home  with  her  parents.  In  his  political  opin- 
ions Rev.  Mr.  Kellogg  is  a  republican,  and  a 
most  excellent  citizen  and  gentleman,  in  addi- 
tion to  being  one  of  the  best  known  and  most 
popular  pulpit  orators  in  this  part  of  the  State. 


260 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


CRSKINE    G.    CLARK,  who  died   at 
his  home  in  Sandy   Hill,   May  27,  1894, 
was  a  distinguished  physician,  prominent  citi- 
zen and  a  representative  man.      His  personal 
merits  and   his  identification  with   the  whole 
county,  by  his  erection  of  a  monument  to  her 
soldiers  who  participated  in  the  war  for  the 
suppression   of    the  rebellion,   entitle  him   to 
elaborate  space  on   these   pages.      Dr.   Clark 
was    born    in    Hubbardton,    Rutland   county, 
Vermont,  Octobers,  1807.     His  parents  were 
Russell  Clark,  a   native  of  the  same   county, 
and  Aurinda  Wheeler,  who  was  a  daughter  of 
Seth  Wheeler,  a  revolutionary  soldier.      Rus- 
sell Clark  started  for  the  battle  at  Plattsburg, 
in  the  war  of   1812,  but  the  war  closed  before 
he  arrived   there.      He  was  a  graduate  of  the 
old  Medical  college  at  Philadelphia,  and  came 
to   Sandy    Hill    in    1810,  where  he   practiced 
medicine  the  remainder  of  his  life.      He  was 
the   father  of  two   children  :   Dr.  Erskine  G. 
and    Susan,    who     was    the    wife    of    Charles 
Rogers.      Dr.  Russell   Clark  became  eminent 
in  his  profession  in  his  day,   and    his   talent 
was  inherited  by  his   more  eminent  son,  who 
attained  a  greater  prominence   and  develop- 
ment than  even  his  distinguished  father. 

Dr.  Erskine  G.  Clark  had  for  some  years 
been  in  feeble  health,  and  had  gradually  re- 
tired from  professional  and  active  public  life, 
from  the  decease  of  his  wife  in  1872.  His 
funeral  services  were  held  on  memorial  day,  a 
fitting  day  for  the  funeral  of  one  who  had 
done  so  much  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of 
the  soldiers  of  this  county  and  had  erected 
such  a  splendid  monument  to  their  patriotic 
service.  Though  he  had  never  identified 
himself  with  any  church  organization,  he  was 
nevertheless  a  man  of  Christian  character,  in 
sympathy,  and  a  firm  believer  in  the  sacred 
truths  of  the  Bible.  His  sympathies  were 
with  the  Universalist  doctrines  and  interpre- 
tation of  the  scriptures,  and  the  Rev.  J.  D. 
Corby,  of  Troy,  an  eminent  clergyman  of  that 
denomination,  was  engaged  to  conduct  the 
services  and  pronounce  his  funeral  discourse. 


His  family  was  one  of  character  and  of  dis- 
tinguished talent.  The  late  General  Orville 
Clark,  one  of  the  great  men  of  -the  county  in 
his  day,  was  his  "father's  brother.  The  only 
sister,  Susan  A.,  became  the  wife  of  the  late 
Honorable  Charles  Rogers.  Dr.  Clark  mar- 
ried a  Miss  McDonalds,  of  Glens  Falls. 

Dr.    Erskine    G.    Clark   was    pre-eminently 
successful  in  his  profession,  he  was  correct  in 
his  diagnoses,  prompt  and  skillful  in  treatment 
and  kind  and  gentle  at  heart,  though  at  times 
apparently   brusque   and    abrupt    in    manner. 
His   patients,  however,  learned   to   trust   him 
and   to    have  confidence   in   him.      He   was  a 
good    practical    business   man,  as   well    as  an 
excellent     physician,    and     acquired    a    large 
competency.       He    had    one    of     the     largest 
farms  in  Kingsbury,  and  carried  it  on  success- 
fully  until   his   wife's   death,    which,  with  his 
declining  years,   caused  an  abatement  of  in- 
terest, to   some   extent,    in   business   matters. 
He    was   a   stockholder   and    director    in    the 
Glens  Falls  National  bank  and  in  the  Peoples' 
National  bank,  of  Sandy   Hill,  and    was  also 
president  of  the  Sandy  Hill  and  Adamsville 
Plank  road  company.      Dr.  Clark  was  an  in- 
tense union  man  ;    he  raised  and  equipped,  at 
his    own    expense,    the    company    which     his 
nephew,    General    Rogers,    first    led     to    the 
front,  and  a  few  years  ago  erected  the  beauti- 
ful monument,  at  the  cost  of  many  thousand 
dollars,   to   the    soldier-dead    of    the    county, 
which  stands  in  the  park   in   the  heart  of  the 
village  of  Sandy  Hill.      It  was  a  great  day  in 
that  village  when  it  was  dedicated.     Corporal 
Tanner  was  there  and  made  one  of  his  most 
effective  speeches,  and  other  men  of  national 
reputation.       An    interesting    camp    fire    was 
held  in  the  evening,  and  the  venerable  patriot 
who  had  inspired  this  tribute  to  his  country's 
defenders  was  there,  and  seemed  wrapped  in 
thought  of  the  events   which   the   monument 
was     intended    to    commemorate.       He     was 
wholly  unmoved  by   the  compliments   which 
were  so  lavishly  showered  upon  him.      Sandy 
Hill  has  the  right   to    be   proud  of  the  monu- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


261 


ment    and  of  her  liberal,  public    spirited   and 
patriotic  citizen  who  erected  it. 

The  deceased  was  a  straightforward,  honest- 
hearted  man,  firm  and  positive  in  his  convic- 
tions, endowed  with  strong  and  vigorous 
sense,  sincere  and  hearty  in  his  friendships, 
and  perhaps  to  some  extent  in  his  enmities  ; 
of  mental  activity,  and  yet  of  shrewd  and 
practical  capacity  for  business  affairs  ;  a  valu- 
able and  a  worthy  citizen  of  high  moral  char- 
*  acter,  and  an  honest  man.  What  higher 
eulogy  can   be  pronounced? 


QEORGE  II.  WHITCOMB,  a  graduate 
of  the  medical  department  of  the  univer- 
sity of  the  city  of  New  York,  and  member  of 
the  Washington  County  Medical  association, 
is  a  physician  who  has  rapidly  attained  suc- 
cess within  the  sphere  of  his  chosen  profes- 
sion. He  is  a  son  of  Jasper  H.  Whitcomb 
and  Louisa  A.  Harris,  and  was  born  at  Ful- 
ton, Oswego  county,  New  York,  January  10, 
1853.  His  father,  Jasper  H.  Whitcomb,  was 
a  native  of  Rutland,  Vermont,  but  who  in  early 
life  removed  with  his  father  to  Fulton,  where 
he  grew  to  manhood.  He  was  a  prominent 
fanner  and  real  estate  dealer  of  that  count}-, 
and  to  some  extent  dealt  in  lumber  and  to- 
bacco. In  1K49  he  married  Louisa  A.  Harris, 
of  Keene,  New  Hampshire,  by  whom  he  had 
eight  children,  six  sons  and  two  daughters  : 
George  H.,  Herbert,  Mary  L. ,  wife  of  Fred 
Randall,  of  Hannibal,  New  York  ;  Frank  J., 
Emma  F.,  who  wedded  Justus  Gere,  of  Ful- 
ton ;  James-  D.,  and  Charles,  at  present  re- 
siding on  the  old  Whitcomb  homestead  ;  and 
Fred,  who  is  residing  in  the  State  of  Wash- 
ington. Jasper  H.  Whitcomb  died  in  1NS3, 
at  sixty  years  of  age,  after  an.  honorable  and 
successful  business  life.  His  wife  died  in 
£888,  at  the  same  age.  His  home  was  the 
finest  country  place  in  his  town.  The  Whit- 
combs  are  of  English  origin,  and  were  early 
settlers  in  New  England. 

George  H.  Whitcomb  was  principally  reared 
16a 


in  his  adopted  village,  receiving  an  academical 
education  in  Valley  seminary,  at  Fulton,  and 
the  Cazenova  academy,  in  Madison  county, 
New  York.  On  leaving  the  academy,  he  com- 
menced the  study  of  medicine  in  the  office  of 
Dr.  Leslie  Martin,  of  Lysander  (now  of  Bald- 
winsville),  Onondaga  county.  After  careful 
preparation  under  his  preceptor,  he  entered 
the  Albany  Medical  college,  taking  one  course 
of  lectures,  after  which  he  entered  the  medi- 
cal department  of  the  university  of  the  city 
of  New  York,  from  which  he  was  graduated 
in  1S76.  Immediately  after  graduation  he 
entered  into  the  active  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion at  Phcenix,  New  York,  where  he  remained 
for  three  years,  and  in  1879  removed  to  Green- 
wich, where  he  has  built  up  an  extensive 
general  practice.  For  several  years  Dr.Whit- 
comb  has  been  an  active  and  leading  member 
in  the  Washington  County  Medical  associa- 
tion, and  has  represented  the  society  as  a  dele- 
gate in  the  State  Medical  association.  He  is 
also  a  member  of  several  other  medical  soci- 
eties. He  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
church,  and  a  republican.  On  August  22, 
1879,  Dr.  Whitcomb  wedded  Carrie  A.  Bying- 
ton,  daughter  of  Rufus  S.  Byington,  of  Han- 
nibal, New  York.  They  have  two  children, 
both  sons  :  Carol  B.  and  Homer  J.  He  is 
public-spirited,  and  ranks  well  as  a  skilled 
and  successful  physician,  devoted  to  his  pro- 
fession. His  tastes  are  pre-eminently  scientific 
and  habits  studious.  In  the  early  years  of 
his  practice  he  was  instrumental  in  organizing 
the  Phcenix  Science  association,  of  which  he 
became  president,  and  before  which  he  deliv- 
ered two  courses  of  lectures,  each  on  the  sub- 
jects of  Chemical  Analysis  and  Physiology. 
He  was  one  of  the  three  selected  by  this  so- 
ciety to  give  a  course  of  popular  science  lec- 
tures. During  the  eighteen  years  of  his  prac- 
tice he  has  acquired  a  library  and  surgical 
armamentarium  which,  for  their  scope  and 
completeness,  are  rarely  equalled  outside  large 
cities.  Medical  literature  has  gained  by  sev- 
eral articles  from  his  pen,  some  of  which  have 


262 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


secured  permanent  abiding  places  in  leading 
text-books  and  works  of  reference.  His  article 
on  Artificial  Infant  Foods  and  Scorbutus 
(Scurvy),  with  the  report  of  a  case,  was  the 
first  American  case  in  type.  Dr.  Whitcomb 
has  been  invited  to  read  papers  before  several 
of  the  leading  medical  societies  of  the  United 
States.  At  the  instance  of  the  American 
Electro-Therapeutic  association,  he  prepared 
a  paper  which  was  read  at  their  meeting  in 
the  Philadelphia  Acacemy  of  Medicine  in 
September,  1891,  which  was  extensively 
copied  in   medical  journals. 


QHARLES  A.  ROCHON,  specialist  on 
^^  the  eye  and  ear,  of  Glens  Falls,  was  born 
in  Saint  Jerome,  Terrebonne  county.  Prov- 
ince of  Quebec,  Canada,  August  19,  i860,  and 
grew  to  manhood  in  the  city  of  Montreal, 
where  he  received  his  education  at  the  college 
of  Montreal,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in 
the  class  of  1880.  On  leaving  there  he  en- 
tered Laval  university  of  the  same  city  and 
was  graduated  from  the  medical  department 
of  that  institution  in  1883  and  again  in  1884. 
After  a  short  practice  there  in  1885  he  came 
to  New  York  State,  locating  in  Glens  Falls, 
where  he  has  been  engaged  in  active  general 
practice  ever  since  ;  also  making  a  specialty 
ipl  the  diseases  of  the  eye  and  ear,  and  has 
succeeded  in  building  up  a  large  and  lucrative 
practice.  Dr.  Rochon  has  been  twice  mar- 
ried :  first,  on  January  3,  1887,  to  Olda  Rouil- 
liard,  whose  death  occurred  in  March,  1890  ; 
his  second  marriage  was  in  1892  to  Flora  La 
Rocque,  of  the  same  city,  and  a  niece  of  the 
Rev.  J.  S.  Ethier,  the  pastor  of  the  French 
Catholic  church  of  Glens  Falls.  By  his  last 
marriage  he  has  had  one  child,  a  son  :  H. 
Emile. 

Dr.  Rochon  is  a  member  of  the  French 
Catholic  church,  and  the  director  of  its  choir. 

Charles  A.  Rochon  is  a  son  of  Charles  A. 
and  Adele  (David)  Rochon.  Charles  A.  Rochon 
was   a   native  of   the  Province  of  Quebec,  a 


lawyer  by  profession,  removed  into  the  city  of 
Montreal,  where  he  was  actively  engaged  in 
the  practice  of  law  up  to  the  time  of  his  death 
in  1880,  aged  fifty-two  years.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Catholic  church,  and  acted  as  agent 
for  the  Crown's  lands.  He  was  a  good  lawyer 
and  stood  high  at  the  bar. 

He  wedded  Adele  David,  who  was  born  in 
the  Province  of  Quebec,  and  at  present  re- 
sides in  the  city  of  Montreal. 


Q APT  UN  JAMES  HENRY  MAN- 
VILLE,  a  valued  citizen  of  Whitehall 
and  a  man  of  long  experience  in  steamboating 
on  the  lakes,  was  born  in  that  village,  on  Octo- 
ber 17,  1841.  He  is  a  son  of  Murray  and 
Asenath  (Searles)  Manville,  the  former  a  na- 
tive of  the  town  of  Whitehall,  and  when  a  boy 
accepted  a  position  on  a  sloop  traversing  the 
waters  of  Lake  Champlain.  He  continued  to 
follow  the  waters  from  his  boyhood  days  up 
to  the  year  1875,  duringwhich  time  he  became 
master  and  owner  of  a  sloop,  and  captain  of  a 
number  of  steamboats.  In  1875  he  quit  boat- 
ing and  engaged  in  the  wholesale  lumber  busi- 
ness at  Whitehall,  in  which  he  continued  suc- 
cessfully to  within  about  three  years  prior  to 
his  death,  when  he  retired  from  all  active  busi- 
ness. His  death  occurred  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
nine  years,  in  1891.  He  was  at  the  time  of  his 
demise,  a  member  and  deacon  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church  ;  a  republican  in  his 
political  opinion,  and  chairman  of  the  board 
of  education  of  his  village  for  a  number  of 
years  previous  to  his  death.  His  father 
(James  Manville)  was  a  native  of  Connecticut, 
who  came  and  settled  on  a  farm  in  the  town  of 
Whitehall,  and  was  among  the  early  pioneers 
that  made  homes  in  that  section.  He  died  at 
a  ripe  old  age  in  1848.  His  father  was  born 
in  France,  but  when  a  young  man  emigrated 
to  this  country  and  settled  in  Connecticut. 
Up  to  this  time  the  name  of  the  family  was 
spelled  Mandeville,  but  thinking  the  "de " 
superfluous,    it   was   dropped    by  the   grand- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


263 


father  of  the  suhject  of  this  sketch.  Mrs. 
Manville  (mother),  who  was  also  born  in 
Whitehall,  was  a  daughter  of  Jacob  Searle, 
and  is  now  residing  in  her  native  village  at  the 
age  of  seventy-four  years  ;  for  many  years  she 
has  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal church. 

Capt.  James  Henry  Manville  grew  up  in 
Whitehall,  attended  the  academy  of  that  vil- 
lage, and  afterward  took  a  thorough  commer- 
cial course  in  Bryant  &  Stratton's  Business 
college  at  Albany.  On  leaving  school  he  en- 
gaged with  his  father  in  steamboating.  He 
first  learned  engineering,  later  became  pilot, 
and  in  1864  was  made  captain,  which  position 
he  held  on  Lake  Champlain  until  1881  ;  and 
from  that  year  to  1891  was  commander  of 
steamboats  that  plied  the  waters  of  Lake 
George;  and  on  October  17,  1891,  he  became 
captain  of  the  "Dean  Richmond,"  one  of 
the  handsomest  steamers  of  the  "People's 
line,"  running  between  Albany  and  New  York 
city.  This  place  he  at  present  occupies,  and 
it  can  be  safely  said  that  there  is  no  one  better 
fitted  by  nature  and  experience  than  Captain 
Manville  for  this  important  position.  He  is  a 
stockholder  and  director  of  the  Saranac  & 
Lake  Placid,  a  mountain  railroad  twenty 
miles  long,  in  the  Adirondacks  ;  and  is  also  a 
stockholder  in  the  New  York  and  Pennsylva- 
nia long  distance  telephone  company. 

Capt.  James  Henry  Manville,  in  March, 
1865,  was  married  to  Elmira,  daughter  of 
Leonard  K.  Hatch,  of  Shelburne  Falls,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  to  this  marriage  has  been  born 
two  children,  both  daughters :  Lorett  and 
Clara.  Captain  Manville  is  a  member  of 
Phoenix  Lodge.  96, Free  and  Accepted  Masons, 
Champlain  Chapter,  25,  Royal  Arch  Masons, 
and  of  Washington  Commander}',  No.  33,  of 
Saratoga  Springs  ;  and  is  a  member  of  Orien- 
tal Temple  of  Troy.  He  is  also  a  member  of 
Lodge  5,  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows.  In  his  political  tenets  he  has  always 
been  a  consistent  republican,  and  represented 
his  district  as  a  member  of   the  New  York  as- 


sembly in  the  session  of  1886-7,  and  in  the 
session  of  1 890-1  was  elected  and  served  as 
sergeant-at-arms  of  that  body.  Also  was  ser- 
geant-at-arms  of  the  assembly  of  1894.  For 
seven  years  he  was  paymaster  of  the  State 
assembly,  prior  to  the  time  of  his  becoming  a 
member  ;  and  in  1887  was  the  nominee  of  his 
party  for  the  State  senate  in  the  district  com- 
posed of  the  counties  of  Washington  and 
Rensselaer,  but  was  engulfed  in  defeat  on  ac- 
count of  Troy's  tremendous  democratic  vote. 


QEORGE  SHERRILL,  superintendent 
of  the  Springbrook  Water  Company,  and 
one  of,  the  substantial  business  men  of  Sandy 
Hill,  is  a  son  of  George  B.  and  Angeline  (Ben- 
nett) Sherrill,  and  was  born  October  25,  1859, 
at  Sandy  Hill,  Washington  county,  New  York. 
His  paternal  grandfather,  Darius  Sherrill,  was 
of  Dutch  descent,  and  while  residing  in  the 
town  of  Kingsbury,  served  as  sheriff  of  Wash- 
ington county  from  1832  to  1835.  He  mar- 
ried, and  one  of  his  sons  was  George  B.  Sher- 
rill, the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
George  B.  Sherrill  was  born  at  Sandy  Hill, 
where  he  resided  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred in  1889,  when  he  was  in  the  sixty-sixth 
year  of  his  age.  He  was  a  Presbyterian  and 
democrat,  and  followed  contracting  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  previous  to  his  death.  Mr.  Sher- 
rill married  Angeline  Bennett,  who  is  a  Pres- 
byterian in  religious  belief,  and  still  resides 
at  Sandy  Hill.  Mrs.  Sherrill  is  a  daughter  of 
Robert  Bennett,  who  was  a  native  of  Fort 
Edward,  and  in  middle  life  removed  to  Ball- 
ston  Spa,  in  Saratoga  county,  where  he  died 
at  an  advanced  age. 

George  Sherrill  was  reared  in  his  native  vil- 
lage, receiving  his  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  that  place.  Leaving  school  he  was 
variously  engaged  until  1SS1,  in  which  year  he 
became  a  partner  in  the  hardware  business 
with  A.  C.  Vaughan  &  Co.  This  firm  con- 
tinued until  the  death  of  Mr.  Vaughan,  in 
[884,  when  Mr.  Sherrill  purchased   the  inter- 


264 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


est  of  the  Vaughan  heirs,  and  since  then  lias 
conducted  a  very  successful  hardware  busi- 
ness. Mr.  Sherrill  has  a  very  large  and  hand- 
some two-story  hardware  establishment, where 
he  carries  a  fine  and  well  assorted  stock  of 
hardware,  stoves,  and  tinware,  roofing,  and 
plumbing  and  heating  supplies.  His  trade  is 
not  confined  to  Sandv  Hill  and  its  immediate 
vicinity,  as  he  has  numerous  patrons  at  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  the  village.  Mr.  Sher- 
rill is  identified  with  the  public  interests  of 
Sandy  Hill,  and  has  served  for  some  time  as 
superintendent  of  the  Springbrook  Water 
Company.  He  is  a  Presbyterian  and  demo- 
crat, being  a  trustee  alike  of  his  church  and 
village.  Mr.  Sherrill  is  a  member  and  the 
present  master  of  Sandy  Hill  Lodge,  No.  372, 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons. 

In  1881  Mr.  Sherrill  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Carrie  B.  Vaughan,  daughter  of  the  late 
A.  C.  Vaughan,  of  Sandy  Hill.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Sherrill  have  three  children,  two  sons  and  a 
daughter:   George  V.,  Amos  C.  and  Julia  M. 


lUTlLO  INGALSBE  was  born  in  Kings 

A  bury,  New  York,  May  29,  1818,  and  was 
a  son  of  James  Ingalsbe  and  Fanny  Ingalsbe, 
the  daughter  of  Zadock  Harris  and  Abigail 
Harris,  nee  Dean,  representatives  of  two  old 
Connecticut  families,  who  shortly  after  the 
birth  of  their  daughter,  Fanny,  in  1795,  moved 
from  Plainfield,  Connecticut,  to  Hartford,  New 
York. 

James  Ingalsbe  (father)  was  born  in  Gran- 
ville, Washington  county,  New  York,  and  was 
one  of  the  eleven  children  of  Aa'ron  Ingalsbe 
and  Polly  Ingalsbe,  nee  Hicks.  The  Hicks' 
were  from  Vermont. 

Aaron  Ingalsbe  (grandfather)  was  one  of  the 
six  young  men  who  came  to  Hartford  together 
about  the  year  1780-81,  and  were  the  first 
white  settlers  of  the  town;  Aaron  was  the 
ninth  of  fourteen  children  of  Ebenezer  In- 
galsbe and  Susannah  Ingalsbe,  nee  Robins. 

Ebenezer  Ingalsbe  (great-grandfather)  was 


born  February  10,  1730,  and  his  wife  October 
iS.  1  729.  Their  earliest  known  residence  was 
Boylston,  Worcester  county,  Massachusetts. 
Afterward  they  lived  in  Worcester,  and  later 
in  Shrewsbury.  From  the  latter  place  they 
came  to  Hartford  about  1790.  Earlier  than 
Ebene/.er  Ingalsbe  the  history  of  the  family  is 
as  yet  hardly  removed  from  the  realms  of  tra- 
dition, but  at  Milo  Ingalsbc's  death  he  was 
actively  engaged  in  working  it  out,  and  this 
work  will  be  continued  by  his  son.  The  old 
world  home  of  the  family  was  on  the  Scottish 
border,  but  whether  in  Scotland  or  England 
has  not  yet  been  determined. 

From  there  they  emigrated,  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  to  Maine,  settling  at  the  point 
where  Bangor  now  stands.  From  there  they 
removed  to  Massachusetts,  representatives  of 
the  family  living  at  one  time  in  Boston.  In- 
ured to  warfare  from  their  location  on  the 
Scottish  border,  they  took  a  hand  in  the  King 
Philip  and  other  earl}'  Indian  wars. 

Ebenezer  Ingalsbe  was  a  sergeant  in  Capt. 
Robert  Andrews'  company  of  minute  men, 
which  marched  from  the  second  parish  of 
Shrewsbury  to  Cambridge  on  the  Lexington 
alarm,  April  19,  1775.  He  was  in  service  at 
different  times  during  the  Revolutionary  war, 
attaining  the  rank  of  captain  in  1777,  when  he 
was  in  the  field  several  months  on  the  Ben- 
nington alarm,  probably  reaching  the  Hudson 
river.  His  sons  as  soon  as  their  age  allowed, 
were  also  in  the  patriot  service.  A  man  of 
great  physical  vigor,  his  health  was  ruined  by 
his  exposure  in  the  service,  and  after  his  final 
discharge  he  was  never  well,  dying  in  Hart- 
ford, August  17,  1802. 

The  family  has  been  noted  for  its  longevity. 
Milo  Ingalsbe's  parents  died  at  the  ages  of  sev- 
enty-eight and  ninety-one  years;  his  grand- 
parents at  the  ages  of  eighty- three,  eighty-six, 
eighty-four,  and  eighty-seven  years,  and  his 
great-grandparents  at  the  ages  of  seventy-two 
and  seventy-six  years.  The  twelve  brothers 
and  sisters  of  parents  attained  the  average 
age  of  over  seventy-one  years,   and  the  four 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


267 


brothers  and   sisters  of  grandparents  of  over 
eighty-one  years. 

When  Milo  was  two  years  old  his  parents 
moved  from  Kingsbury  to  Hartford,  where  lie 
afterward  resided  till  during  his  last  illness. 
Three  weeks  before  his  death  he  was  moved 
to  the  residence  of  his  son,  Grcnville  M.  In- 
galsbe,  in  the  village  of  Sandy  Hill,  in  his  na- 
tive town  of  Kingsbury,  and  there  he  died  on 
November  28,  1893.  His  remains  were  in- 
terred in  Union  cemetery,  near  Sandy  Hill. 
Rev.  Dr.  Sawyer  paid  him  a  fitting  tribute  at 
his  funeral  in  Sand)'  Hill,  from  which  we  may 
quote  : 

"  In  what  I  may  say  at  this  time  of  our 
friend  who  has  been  taken  from  us,  my  aim 
will  be  to  direct  attention  to  some  facts  which 
speak  best  for  themselves,  and  to  lessons 
which  may  easily  be  drawn  therefrom.  Each 
one's  life  supplies  its  own  sufficient  testimony 
to  its  quality  and  worth,  and  neither  fervid 
eulogy  nor  frigid  criticism  can  affect  that  testi- 
mony. Words  of  public  commendation  are 
not  needed  for  the  living  ;  and  to  the  dead 
can  do  no  good.  Character  ever  makes  its 
own  sure  impress,  and  the  influence  of  years 
worthily  spent  can,  in  no  case,  be  lost.  No 
man  who  lives  rightly  and  truly  need  fear  that 
he  will  fail  of  that  place  to  which  he  is  enti- 
tled in  the  intelligent  judgment  of  his  fellows, 
and  the  higher  one's  ideal  of  living  the  less 
solicitude  felt  in  regard  to  what  that  judgment 
will  be. 

"The  prominent  facts  of  this  life  history,  run 
ning  through  a  period  of  more  than  three  score 
and  ten  years,  can  be  briefly  stated,  but  no  full 
statement  can  be  made  of  what  is  implied  in 
those  years  of  labor  performed,  of  duty  dis- 
charged, and  of  a  mission  fulfilled.  Some  of 
these  facts  have  already  been  given  by  the 
press  of  this  vicinity.  The  life  of  Milo  In- 
galsbe  began  in  this  town,  where,  last  Tuesday 
morning,  it  came  to  its  earthly  close.  He 
was  born  in  1818.  In  his  infancy  his  father 
moved  to  the  neighboring  town  of  Hartford, 
and    there,    except    some    brief  intervals,   his 


whole  life  was  passed.  His  early  education 
was  obtained  in  the  common  school,  and  at 
the  academy  in  Castleton,  Vermont.  At  the 
early  age  of  sixteen  he  began  teaching  school, 
and  to  that  work  he  devoted  parts  of  several 
succeeding  years.  For  a  time  he  pursued  the 
study  of  medicine,  attending  lectures  at  the 
medical  college  at  Albany. 

"The  life  work  which  he  mapped  out  for 
himself  was  that  of  a  physician  or  teacher, 
but  with  a  thoughtful  and  unselfish  regard  for 
the  education  of  the  younger  members  of  the 
family,  he  abandoned  his  chosen  plan,  and 
sacrificed  his  youthful  ambition  to  return  home 
and  work  on  the  farm.  There  he  settled  for 
life  and  there  he  established  for  himself  a 
home,  the  grateful  and  sacred  memories  of 
vvhich  extend  over  a  period  of  fifty-one  years. 

"Certain  features  of  Mr.  Ingalsbe's  life  and 
character  have  been  specially  impressed  on  my 
mind  ;  of  these  I  would  briefly  speak.  He  was 
a  pattern  of  industry.  Through  all  those 
years  he  was  busily  engaged  in  various  lines 
of  activity.  Never  physically  strong,  yet  by  a 
careful  and  strict  observance  of  the  laws  of 
health,  by  knowing  how  to  use  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage the  means  and  appliances  of  labor,  he 
was  able  to  accomplish  what  comparatively 
few  men  have  done.  He  was  impatient  of  all 
careless  and  slipshod  work,  and  whatever  he 
attempted  was  done  thoroughly  and  well.  In 
addition  to  the  constant  manual  labor  con- 
nected with  his  vocation,  he  did  more  brain 
work  than  that  of  many  a  man  in  a  successful 
professional  career.  Under  the  old  common 
school  system  of  our  State,  he  was  town  super- 
intendent for  several  years,  and  for  fifty  years 
he  was  clerk  of  his  school  district,  keeping  ac- 
curate records  which  have  been  of  much  value 
in  tracing  the  necrological  annals  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. For  twelve  years  he  served  as  jus- 
tice of  the  peace,  and  during  the  time  of  the 
war  he  was  supervisor  of  his  town,  giving  much 
time  and  active  interest  to  the  discharge  of 
the  duties  of  a  member  of  the  war  committee. 
He    was  one   of  the  founders   of   our  count}- 


268 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


agricultural  society,  and  twice  was  chosen  its 
president.  For  eleven  years  he  was  an  active 
member  of  the  executive  committee  of  the 
State  agricultural  society,  and  for  one  year  its 
president.  From  the  time  of  the  organization 
of  the  United  States  bureau  of  agriculture, 
thirty  years  ago,  to  the  time  of  his  death,  he 
was  the  county  correspondent, and  his  published 
papers  on  subjects  relating  to  the  agricultural 
interests  of  the  State  were  especially  instruc- 
tive and  valuable.  He  was  also,  for  a  long 
time,  correspondent  and  observer  of  the  Smith- 
sonian institute  and  signal  service  department. 
A  simple  reference  to  these  facts  enables  us  to 
judge  of  the  amount  of  work  crowded  into 
these  busy  years. 

"  Mr.  Ingalsbe  not  only  kept  abreast  with  the 
times,  but  his  progressive  spirit,  joined  with 
admirable  judgment,  made  him  a  leader  in 
the  community  in  education,  and  every  wise 
project  of  moral  reform.  Very  rarely,  indeed, 
does  one,  in  the  quiet  walks  of  country  life, 
exhibit  and  maintain  an  interest  so  deep  in 
all  that  is  going  on  in  the  busy  world  around. 

"Naturally  studious,  he  spent  no  little  time 
with  his  books,  of  which  he  gathered  a  large 
and  choice  collection.  From  their  first  pub- 
lication, the  Atlantic  Monthly  and  Harper's 
could  be  found  on  his  table  ;  and  he  conscien- 
tiously kept  informed  of  the  current  news  as 
supplied  by  the  daily  press.  The  taste  for 
study  and  habit  of  reading  were  kept  up  with 
advancing  years,  and  during  the  past  year  he 
was  engaged,  for  a  portion  of  his  time,  in  pre- 
paring and  writing  out  chapters  of  history 
which  he  felt  might  be  prized  by  those  who 
would  come  after  him.  It  is  only  a  little  while 
since  he  remarked  :  '  I  have  a  hundred  j'ears 
of  work  yet  mapped  out  to  do.'  I  speak  of 
these  things  more  particularly,  not  only  as  re- 
vealing the  character  and  habits  of  the  man, 
but  also  as  pointing  out  a  lesson  for  younger 
men,  as  showing  what  can  be  accomplished 
by  one  in  various  lines  of  useful  labor,  though 
in  the  comparative  retirement  of  country  life, 
and  as  illustrating  the  pleasure  and  profit  that 


may  be  found  in  a  life  so  far  freed  from  the 
feverish  excitements,  for  which  is  commonly 
felt,  in  the  present  day,  so  eager  a  craving. 

"No  small  portion  of  his  time  and  labor 
was  given  by  Mr.  Ingalsbe  for  the  benefit  of 
others.  Having  the  confidence  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  lived,  many  came  to  him 
for  advice  and  counsel,  and  it  is  a  significant 
fact,  which  may  be  maintained  in  this  con- 
nection, that,  as  an  executor,  confidential  ad- 
viser, he  settled  more  than  a  hundred  and 
fifty  estates,  performing  that  labor  usually 
without  any  pecuniary  reward.  In  the  com- 
mon use  of  the  term  he  was  not  a  politician. 
He  never  sought  office  for  himself,  and  re- 
fused it  beyond  such  a  service  as  he  felt  called 
upon,  from  time  to  time,  to  render  to  his  own 
town.  But  he  was  earnestly  interested  in  the 
history  and  principles  of  political  parties, and 
in  all  that  pertains  to  the  public  welfare.  His 
religious  thinking  was  along  the  lines  of  New 
England  Congregationalists,  but  his  was  that 
discerning  and  catholic  spirit  which  sees  and 
acknowledges  the  good  that  may  be  found 
under  varying  forms  of  religious  creed.  His 
faith  in  the  Bible  was  vigorous  and  clear. 
That  faith  was  impressively  affirmed  in  draw- 
ing near  life's  close,  as  he  remarked:  '  Any- 
body would  know  that  I  was  a  believer  in  the 
Bible.  One  who  read  it  so  much  could  not 
help  it.'  But  the  most  convincing  testimony 
to  his  belief  in  the  Scriptures  as  the  word  of 
God,  was  given  in  a  life  governed  by  its  di- 
vine teachings." 

The  country  schools  of  that'  day  were  the 
primitive  district  schools,  but  the  neighbor- 
hood where  Milo's  father  moved  when  Milo 
was  two  years  old,  and  the  one  where  he  made 
his  permanent  home,  two  years  later,  were 
noted  for  the  superiority  of  their  schools.  In 
attendance  before  school  age  was  reached,  be- 
ing able  to  read,  and  not  able  to  remember 
when  he  could  not  do  so,-he  proved  a  prodigy 
in  study,  mastering  every  branch,  which  the 
teachers  of  those  days  were  capable  of  teach- 
ing, and  taking  excursions  into  the  then  almost 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


2C9 


unknown  realms  of  the  higher  mathematics 
and  the  natural  sciences.  In  his  sixteenth  year 
he  commenced  teaching,  winters,  earning 
money  enough  thereby  to  enable  him  to  take 
a  short  course  of  study  at  the  Castleton 
Academy,  Castleton,  Vermont.  Here  he  took 
the  highest  rank,  standing  in  the  classes  on 
even  terms  with  those  who  had  been  for  years 
in  the  school.  In  1840-4]  he  took  a  partial 
course  in  medicine  at  the  Albany  (New  York) 
Medical  school,  then  newly  organized  under 
the  leadership  of  Drs.  March  and  Armsby. 
Seward  was  at  that  time  governor,  and  Albany 
was  enjoying  a  period  of  unexampled  intellec- 
tual and  political  activity.  The  young  man 
here  got  a  view  of  life  which  led  him  toward 
the  educational  field  for  his  life  work,  and 
flattering  positions  were  offered  him  in  various 
sections  of  the  country.  The  west  presented 
the  most  inviting  field.  But  his  father,  a  poor 
man,  heavily  in  debt  for  his  farm, with  several 
younger  sons  to  rear  and  educate,  besought 
him  to  return  to  the  farm  and  help  him  and 
his  younger  brothers  through. 

Probably  few  fiercer  conflicts  were  ever 
waged  in  the  human  bosom  than  the  one  that 
followed.  Finally,  Milo  Ingalsbe  renounced 
a  life  work  which  could  not  have  resulted  in 
other  than  the  highest  measure  of  success  on 
wide  and  public  fields  of  action,  and  returned 
to  the  farm.  His  after  life  was  a  sacrifice  for 
others,  but  he  did  not  repine.  He  spent  no 
time  in  idle  regrets.  Wherever  he  was,  what- 
ever his  work,  he  was  born  to  be  a  leader. 

For  some  winters  he  continued  to  teach 
school  with  great  success  ;  he  became  one  of 
the  organizers  of  the  county  agricultural 
society  ;  he  was  elected  school  inspector  and 
school  superintendent  of  his  town,  serving 
in  these  capacities  a  term  of  years  ;  he  was  a 
stanch  supporter  of  the  public  school  system, 
and  the  free  district  library  in  its  early  and 
critical  days,  and  he  sought  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  good  literature  and  the  circulation  of 
such  periodicals  as  the  Cultivator  and  Tribune 
to  raise  the  standard  of  general  intelligence. 


His  interest  in  educational  matters  continued 
throughout  his  life,  and  amid  the  phenomenal 
progress  of  the  half  century  he  kept  posted 
regarding  educational  movements  ;  he  wel- 
comed improved  methods  of  training,  and 
was  often  far  ahead  of  his  time  in  their  advo- 
cacy. He  was  district  clerk  of  his  school 
district  for  fifty  years,  resigning  in  the  sum- 
mer before  his  death,  after  having  made  the 
record  during  this  long  term,  not  merely  a 
record,  but  a  veritable  district  history. 

On  June  5,  1842,  he  was  married  to  Laura 
Cook  Chapin.  She  was  born  at  Chicopee, 
Massachusetts,  August  21,  1817,  but  her 
mother  dying  in  infancy,  she  was  adopted  by 
her  uncle,  Moses  Cook,  and  his  wife  Sophia, 
of  South  Hartford,  New  York,  and  knew  no 
other  home  than  theirs  until  her  marriage. 
She  was  a  granddaughter  of  Samuel  Cook,  a 
soldier  of  the  revolution,  whose  lineage  is 
traced  back  to  Francis  Cook,  who,  with  his 
Walloon  wife,  came  to  Plymouth  in  the  May- 
flower. They  celebrated  their  golden  wedding 
in  1892.  The  wife  survives  her  husband. 
The  newly  married  couple  immediately  com- 
menced house  keeping  on  the  farm  of  the 
groom's  father,  where  they  continued  to  re- 
side until  1 85 1,  when  they  moved  to  the  resi- 
dence of  Moses  Cook,  to  assume  charge  of 
his  farm  and  care  for  him  and  his  wife  in 
their  old  age.  One  child,  Grenville  Mellen, 
had  in  the  meantime  been  born  to  them  in 
1S46.  Mr.  Ingalsbe  bought  in  succession  two 
of  the  farms  adjoining  the  Cook  farm,  and 
devoted  himself  assiduously  to  agriculture. 

In  1853  he  was  elected  a  justice  of  the 
peace  of  his  town,  and  held  the  office  by  suc- 
cessive elections  for  twelve  consecutive  years, 
when  he  declined  a  re  election.  As  with 
every  thing  he  undertook  he  aimed  to  fit  him- 
self thoroughly  for  the  work  in  hand,  he 
purchased  the  statutes  and  a  choice  lot  of 
text-books,  and  studied  them  to  such  effect 
that  his  court  was  recognized  as  one  from 
which  an  appeal  would  be  unavailing,  either 
on    questions  of  law   or   fact.      He   was  soon 


270 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


noted  as  a  peacemaker,  a  discourager  of  liti- 
gation, an  advocate  of  arbitration  and  a  suc- 
cessful harmonizer  of  conflicting  interests. 

In  1863  he  was  elected  supervisor  of  his 
town,  and  held  that  office  for  three  successive 
years.  Upon  him  fell  the  full  burden  of  car- 
rying the  town  through  the  trying  days  of  the 
last  years  of  the  war,  filling  its  quotas  and 
adjusting  its  accounts.  This  took  very  largely 
of  his  time,  but  as  a  result  the  town's  quota 
was  always  full,  its  accounts  were  unimpeach- 
able, and  the  burden  of  taxation  was  reduced 
to  a  minimum.  The  stress  of  war  time  over, 
Mr.  Ingalsbe  declined  a  further  renomination 
and  retired  to  private  life.  He  did  not  after- 
ward hold  any  elective  official  position.  He 
was  often  besought  to  allow  his  name  to  be 
used  as  a  candidate  for  various  district  and 
county  offices,  but  he  invariably  and  positively 
refused. 

In  the  early  forties  he  aided  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  present  county  agricultural  society, 
occupied  various  positions  on  its  early  official 
lists,  and  soon  was  chosen  its  president.  He 
then  became  its  corresponding  secretary,  and 
continued  in  that  position  for  over  a  score  of 
years.  A  second  time  he  was  honored  by  the 
presidency.  At  the  reorganization  of  the  so- 
c;ety  in  1865  he  was  one  of  the  leading  spirits, 
and  from  that  time  until  his  death  he  was  a 
member  of  the  board  of  managers.  He  was 
always  in  attendance  at  its  meetings,  and  de- 
voted a  large  amount  of  time  to  the  interests 
of  the  society. 

In  1867,  aftera  thorough  preparation  for  the 
duties  in  subordinate  positions,  he  was  chosen 
a  member  of  the  executive  committee  of  the 
NewYork  State  Agricultural  society.  He  held 
this  position  for  five  years.  He  was  then,  in 
1872,  elected  its  president.  This  was  a  criti- 
cal year  in  its  history,  and  witnessed  a  suc- 
cessful change  of  policy,  from  that  of  migra- 
tory fairs  to  the  system  of  permanent  location, 
the  location  at  Elmira  being  that  year  inau- 
gurated. In  January,  1873,  in  accordance 
with  custom,  he  delivered   an  address  as  retir- 


ing president,  which  was  widely  distributed, 
in  pamphlet  form,  and  which  for  beauty  of 
diction,  breadth  and  thought  and  masterly 
grasp  of  the  agricultural  situation,  will  remain 
a  classic  among  agricultural  addresses.  Dur- 
ing the  five  succeeding  years  he  was  continued 
an  ex-officio  member  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee, and  these  years  found  him  in  attend- 
ance upon  the  meetings  of  the  board,  wher- 
ever held,  faithful  to  the  smallest  details  of 
duty. 

From  early  boyhood,  Mr.  Ingalsbe  took  the 
utmost  interest  in  public  affairs.  From  the 
first  issue  of  the  Weekly  Tribune,  in  1841,  he 
was  a  subscriber,  passing  to  the  semi-weekly 
edition, upon  the  birth  of  the  Republican  party, 
and  to  the  daily  at  the  opening  of  the  Civil 
war,  and  continuing  to  read  that  to  the  end  of 
his  life.  Always  a  whig,  until  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Republican  party, a  republican  after- 
ward, and  supporting  Horace  Greeley  for  the 
presidency  in  1872,  his  political  reading  was 
not  confined  to  one  paper,  or  the  papers  of  any 
one  section  or  party.  For  many  years  nearly 
a  score  of  papers,  representing  all  sections  and 
parties,  could  be  found  on  his  table.  In  gen- 
eral literature  he  was  an  omniverous  reader. 
Beside  an  untiring  devotion  to  standard  liter- 
ature, he  was  a  subscriber  to  Harper's  New 
Monthly  Magazine  and  the  Atlantic  Monthly, 
from  their  first  issue.  Graham,  the  Eclectic, 
North  American  Review,  Literary  World,  the 
Nation,  and  many  other  periodicals  of  like 
character  were  eagerly  absorbed  in  his  eager 
quest  for  knowledge. 

In  the  late  fifties,  under  his  tutelage,  his 
son  commenced  the  making  of  tri-daily  me- 
teorological observations  for  the  Smithsonian 
institution.  The  father  always  aided  in  the 
work,  assuming  the  entire  burden  when  the 
son  was  absent  at  school  and  college,  and  in 
1870,  when  the  son  removed  permanently  from 
the  old  homestead,  he  continued  the  work,  un- 
til its  transfer  to  the  signal  service  office  and 
from  that  time  to  a  few  weeks  prior  to  his 
death,  interrupted  only  b'y  his  absence,  during 


BH  )QRA  PHY  ,  I ND  HISTOM  Y 


271 


the  last  winters  of  his  life,  at  his  son's,  in 
Sandy  Hill.  He  lived  very  close  to  nature, 
was  an  attentive  observer  of  natural  phenom-' 
ena,  and  knew  her   in   all   her  varying  moods. 

Upon  the  formation  of  the  bureau  of  agri- 
culture in  1 860-61,  he  became  its  authorized 
representative  in  Washington  county,  and  con- 
tinued in  its  service  through  its  evolution  from 
bureau  to  department.  Upon  the  formation 
of  its  statistical  division  he  became  the  statist- 
ical correspondent  for  Washington  county, and 
so  continued  until  his  death.  Upon  the  or- 
ganization of  the  State  service  by  the  State 
agent,  he  became  and  was  thereafter  continued 
as  the  county  representative  of  the  State  agent. 

Commencing  with  the  settlement  of  the 
estate  of  Obadiah  Slade,  in  1854,  Mr.  In- 
galsbe  became  the  coveyancer,  the  drawer  of 
wills,  and  the  confidential  legal  adviser  of  his 
neighborhood,  and  he  bore  the  test  of  this 
confidence  so  truly  as  to  include  after  a  few 
years  almost  his  entire  town  as  his  clientele. 
From  the  close  of  his  services  as  justice  he 
held  the  position  of  notary  public  until  his 
death. 

His  ancestors  were  New  England  Congre- 
gationalists,  as  were  those  of  his  wife,  who 
was  a  member  of  that  church  at  South  Hart- 
ford, of  which  he  was  a  trustee  and  supporter, 
but  not  a  member.  His  thinking  and  acting 
were  on  lines  so  broad  that  he  saw  good  in 
varying  creeds.  His  faith  in  the  Bible  was 
clear  and  uncompromising,  but  he  preferred 
to  dwell  upon  the  principles  enunciated  in  the 
sermon  on  the  mount,  rather  than  spend  time 
upon  the  subtleties  of  doctrine. 

Mr.  Ingalsbe  was  the  master  of  a  pure  and 
forcible  literary  style.  He  prepared  a  large 
number  of  addresses  and  monographs  upon 
educational,  historical,  biographical,  meteor- 
olical,  and  agricultural  subjects,  which  were 
printed  in  the  local  newspapers  or  read  before 
various  societies.  During  the  last  years  of  his 
life  he  devoted  himself  mainly  to  biographical 
and  local  historical  subjects,  and  the  prepara- 
tion of   a  family  genealogy.      At  his  death  he 


had  large  plans  fully  matured  in  all  these 
fields,  for  which  his  remarkable  memory,  wide 
acquaintance  with  men  and  large  stores  of  col- 
lected material  peculiarly  fitted  him.  It  was 
with  this  work  specially  in  mind  that  he  re- 
marked on  his  death  bed  :  "I  have  a  hundred 
years  of  work,  all  thought  out,  yet  to  do."  His 
tributes  to  his  friends  and  associates  in  life, 
as  they  were  called  from  their  labors,  are 
marked  by  a  wonderful  appreciation  of  char- 
acter, a  discriminating  knowledge  of  human 
nature  and  tenderness  of  heart.  It  would 
be  invidious  to  distinguish  between  doz- 
ens of  these  tributes,  rendered  to  associates 
in  every  walk  of  life,  but  the  one  to  his  de- 
parted friend,  Samuel  W.  Crosby,  reveals  the 
personality  of  the  author,  quite  as  much  as 
any.  It  is  in  that  that  to  enforce  his  thoughts 
upon  one  of  the  great  problems  of  existence, 
he  quotes  : 

"  The  dead  alone  are  great. 
When  heavenly  plants  abide  on  earth, 
Their  soil  is  one  of  dewless  dearth  ; 
But  when  they  die,  a  mourning  shower 
Comes  down  and  makes  their  memories  flower, 
With  odors  sweet,  though  late. 

' '  The  dead  alone  are  dear. 
When  they  are  here,  strange  shadows  fall 
From  our  own  forms  and  darken  all  ; 
But  when  they  leave  us,  all  the  shade 
Is  round  our  own  sad  footsteps  made, 

Add  they  are  bright  and  clear. 

' '  The  dead  alone  are  blest. 
When  they  are  here,  clouds  mar  their  day, 
And  bitter  snow-falls  nip  their  May  ; 
But  when  their  tempest-time  is  done, 
The  light  and  heat  of  heaven's  own  sun 

Broods  on  their  land  of  rest." 

The  key  note  of  Mr.  Ingalsbe's  life  was 
contained  in  his  utterance  only  a  few  hours 
before  his  death,  -'I  have  always  tried  to 
stand  close  by  the  nearest  duty.  I  have 
known  no  better  way."  The  rich  fruitage  of 
such  living  was  revealed  in  that  other  remark, 
made  in  the  presence  of  death,  "I  do  not 
know  that  I  have  a  grudge  against  anyone. " 

Milo  Ingalsbe  was  a  man  ahead  of  his  age, 
in  his  thinking  and  doing.     At  the  time  of  his 


272 


BIOGRAPHY  AXD  HISTORY 


death,  along  man)' lines  of  thought  and  action, 
matters  were  just  maturing  into  fact  that  he 
had  eloquently  and  persistently  advocated  a 
half  decade  or  more  before.  And  so  it  had 
been  all  his  life. 

He  was  a  pioneer,  blazing  the  paths,  after- 
ward, man)'  years  afterward,  perhaps,  to  be 
trod  by  the  approving  multitude,  while  he  had 
gone  forward  into  new  fields,  ever  a  leader  in 
the  grand  forward  movement  of  the  peoples, 
in  the  evolution  of  humanity. 


JOHN    J.    ROBINSON    is   one   of    the 

successful  business  men  of  Fort  Edward. 
He  is  a  son  of  James  Robinson  and  Ann  Liv- 
ingston, and  was  born  February  5,  1830,  in 
Annsville,  Oneida  county,  New  York.  John 
Robinson  (grandfather),  founder  of  the  family 
in  America,  came  from  Count)'  Monaghan, 
Ireland,  when  only  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
and  settled  in  the  town  of  Argyle,  followed 
farming  and  worked  some  at  his  trade,  that  of 
stone-mason.  He  lived  the  remaining  years 
of  his  life  in  the  town  of  Argyle,  was  a  demo- 
crat up  to  the  time  of  the  National  bank  veto 
by  President  Jackson,  when  he  became  a  whig, 
and  for  forty-three  consecutive  years  held  the 
office  of  justice  of  the  peace.  In  the  war  of 
1812  he  was  in  the  battle  of  Plattsburg.  He 
was  tall  and  of  commanding  appearance,  and 
a  member  of  the  United  Presbyterian  church, 
was  prominent  in  church  work,  and  for  many 
years  was  an  elder  in  Rev.  George  Mair's 
church,  at  Argyle.  He  married  and  was  the 
father  of  ten  children  :  James,  Alexander  P., 
Christopher,  William,  George  M.,  Eliza,  Mrs. 
Paddock.  Mrs.  McCann,  and  two  others,  names 
not  known.  James  Robinson  (father)  was 
born  at  Argyle,  followed  farming  in  that  town 
until  1824,  when  he  removed  to  Oneida  county 
and  remained  there  for  ten  years,  in  the  town 
of  Annsville.  At  the  end  of  this  time  he 
came  back  to  Washington  county  and  located 
in  the  town  of  Hebron,  and  was  there  engaged 
in    farming    up    to    shortly   before  his   death, 


which  occurred  on  August  23,  1871.  He  was 
first  a  democrat  in  politics,  and  afterward  a 
whig  and  republican,  and  became  somewhat 
prominent  in  local  politics,  was  appointed 
loan  commissioner  by  Governor  William  C. 
Bouck,  an  office  in  which  he  acceptably  served 
for  five  years.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  church,  and  was  one  of 
the  exhorters  and  local  preachers  of  that  de- 
nomination. He  married  Anna  Livingstone, 
of  Hebron,  New  York,  who  was  a  daughter  of 
John  Livingstone,  and  had  ten  children  :  John 
R.  McClellan,  who  was  for  thirty-four  years 
connected  with  the  post  office  department  at 
Washington,  resigning  recently  on  account  of 
age,  but  still  resides  at  the  capital;  Jane  M., 
wife  of  Samuel  Irvin,  of  Hebron  ;  Anna  Eliza, 
who  died  June  29,  1841,  born  1825  ;  Mary, 
became  the  wife  of  Alexander  McGeoch,  of 
Argyle,  both  now  deceased  ;  William,  who 
resides  on  the  old  homestead,  in  the  town  of 
Hebron  ;  Martha  Fenton  ;  George,  who  en- 
listed in  the  Union  army  in  1861,  and  died  of 
consumption  in  1862,  before  seeing  active  ser- 
vice ;  James  A.,  died  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  in  i860  ;  O.  C,  whose  sketch  is  on  an- 
other page,  and  one  other,  whose  name  is 
not  given. 

John  J.  Robinson,  after  leaving  the  district 
schools,  attended  the  academy  at  Argyle,  but 
soon  had  to  leave  there  to  aid  in  the  support 
of  his  family,  becoming  a  clerk  in  a  store  at 
North  Argyle,  New  York,  where  he  remained 
two  years,  and  then  engaged  in  business  for 
himself,  in  partnership  with  Edwin  Gilchrist, 
at  West  Hebron,  which  lasted  until  1858.  In 
i860  he  purchased  a  farm  of  two  hundred 
acres  in  the  town  of  Argyle,  and  for  ten  years, 
up  to  1870,  followed  farming.  At  the  expira- 
tion of  this  time  he  engaged  in  the  meat  busi- 
ness, and  later  in  pulling  and  buying  fleece 
wool,  and  is  still  a  wool  dealer  at  Fort  Ed- 
ward. Mr.  Robinson  is  a  republican,  and  for 
eighteen  years  has  been  an  elder  in  the  Pres- 
byterian church.  He  wedded  Margaret  Cogg- 
shell  on  March    18,  1858,  and  has  had   seven 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


273 


children,  five  living  :  Willard,  John  J.,  born 
December  23,  i860;  Carrie,  born  November, 
1861,  died  September  12,  1863;  Clara  J., 
Minnie,  and  John  J.,  jr.,  born  July  15,  1876. 
Willard  is  a  lawyer,  a  justice  of  the  peace, 
village  clerk,  and  clerk  of  the  board  of  water 
commissioners.  Clara  is  a  teacher  in  the 
Cortland  Normal  school,  and  enters  upon  her 
duties  in  September  for  the  third  year.  Min- 
nie married  and  lives  in  New  York.  Annette 
and  John,  jr.,  are  at  home. 


CI) WIN  L.  BURDITT,  of  Sandy  Hill, 
"^^  New  York,  is  a  fine  example  of  the  thorough 
going  and  successful  business  man,  and  his 
straight-forward,  active  and  unpretentious  ca- 
reer is  well  worthy  of  imitation.  He  is  the  son 
of  Sylvester  P.  and  Mary(Sanders)  Burditt,  and 
was  born  in  Suesbury,  Rutland  county,  Ver- 
mont, July  2,  1846.  Sylvester  P.  Burditt  was 
also  born  in  the  same  place  in  Vermont,  as  was 
also  his  wife,  Mary  Sanders,  and  where  he 
died  at  the  age  of  twenty-six  years.  He  was  a 
farmer  and  miller  by  occupation,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Christian  church.  His  father  was 
Daniel  Burditt,  who  was  a  native  of  England, 
who  with  seven  of  his  brothers  emigrated  to 
the  United  States  when  quite  a  young  man, 
settled  in  the  State  of  Vermont,  and  was  a 
soldier  in  the  war  of  1812.  The  mother  of  tlxe 
subject  of  this  sketch  died  in  the  village  of 
Sandy  Hill,  July  26,  1891,  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enty-three years,  and  is  buried  alongside  her 
husband  at  Suesbury,  Vermont. 

Edwin  L.  Burditt  was  brought  up  at  Sues- 
bury, Vermont,  where  he  received  the  rudi- 
ments of  a  common  school  education.  He 
afterward  worked  on  the  farm  and  in  the  mill 
in  his  native  town,  when,  in  1875,  he  came  to 
Sandy  Hill.  Since  then  he  has  been  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  soap. 

Beginning  in  a  very  small  way  with  a  cash 
capital  of  only  a  dollar  and  eighty  cents,  and 
after  making  the  soap  would  peddle  it  from 
house  to  house,  and  in   this  way  he  built  up  a 


trade,  and  from  this  insignificant  capital  his 
business  has  grown  to  its  present  proportions. 
His  factory  now  has  a  capacity  of  turning  out 
one  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  soap  per  day, 
which  finds  a  ready  market.  He  manufac- 
tures a  superior  quality  of  soft,  toilet  and  gen- 
eral family  soaps.  Since  his  coming  to  Sandy 
Hill  he  has  erected  his  present  factory,  also 
his  residence,  which  he  owns. 

Edwin  L.  Burditt  was  married  on  January 
1,  1867,  to  Eliza  C,  daughter  of  Jerry  Wilkins, 
formerly  of  Granville.  To  their  union  has 
been  born  three  children,  now  living,  two 
daughters  and  one  son:  Mary  E.,  born  April 
5,  1868;  Carrie  E.,  born  August  16,  1870, 
and  Earnest  L.,  born  December  15,  1881. 

Mr.  Burditt  is  a  member  of  the  Advent 
church,  and  is  a  prohibitionist  .in  politics.  He 
has  served  as  collector  of  the  school  funds  of 
Sandy  Hill. 


I^ELIVERANCE  ROGERS,  proprie- 
tor of  the  leading  grocery  house,  vice- 
president  of  the  National  bank  of  Granville, 
and  a  man  of  remarkably  good  business  abil- 
ity, was  born  in  the  town  of  Granville,  Wash- 
ington county,  February  18,  1841.  He  was 
reared  on  the  farm,  obtaining  his  education  in 
the  common  schools  of  his  neighborhood,  and 
an  academic  course,  which  he  afterward  pur- 
sued in  the  seminary  at  Manchester,  Vermont. 
He  returned  to  the  farm,  where  he  continued 
to  carry  on  that  business  until  1867:  selling  his 
farm  in  that  year  he  came  to  Granville  and 
embarked  in  the  grocery  business.  Being  of 
an  enterprising  and  energetic  disposition  it 
was  not  long  until  his  business  swept  out  into 
the  broad  sea  of  popular  success,  and  he  now 
carries  at  his  elegant  store,  which  is  a  brick 
structure  twenty  six  feet  by  sixty-five  feet  in 
dimensions,  and  two  stories  in  height,  one  of 
the  largest  and  best  assortments  of  groceries 
to  be  found  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  county. 
Thus  before  reaching  middle  life,  Mr.  Rogers 
has  by  his  own  efforts  and  ability,  placed  him- 


274 


BIOGJRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


self  at  the  head  of  a  permanent  and  one  of  the 
most  prosperous  establishments  of  the  kind  in 
this  section. 

Deliverance  Rogers  was  married  in  1S61  to 
Antoinette,  who  was  a  daughter  of  John  C. 
Bishop,  of  this  town.  Her  death  occurred  in 
1875,  leaving  one  daughter,  Flora,  now  the 
wife  of  P.  J.  Staples,  of  Granville.  Mr.  Rogers 
wedded  for  his  second  wife,  in  1877,  Carrie 
A.,  a  daughter  of  J.  E.  Pratt,  resident  of  the 
village  of  Granville,  and  to  his  second  marriage 
was  born  two  daughters,  Mabel  D.  and  Dor- 
othy Tida.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  and  Granville  Lodge,  No. 
55,  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  and  Knights 
Templar,  Killington  Commandery,  No.  6, 
Rutland,  Vermont.  Being  a  stanch  republi- 
can in  his  political  belief,  he  has  filled  the 
office  of  justice  of  the  peace  of  his  town.  Two 
years  after  coming  to  Granville  he  erected  his 
present  store  building,  and  is  now  the  second 
oldest  merchant  and  longer  in  the  service  than 
any  other  man  in  the  village.  Mr.  Rogers  has 
descended  from  good  old  New  England  and 
Quaker  ancestry,  a  family  noted  for  its  integ- 
rity, honor  and  respectability. 

David  Rogers  (father)  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Granville,  Washington  county,  New  York, 
in  the  year  1806,  and  was  one  of  the  thrifty  and 
well-to-do  farmers  of  this  section.  He  was  a 
Friend  in  religion  and  a  republican  in  politics, 
having  died  in  1861,  aged  fifty-five  years. 
He  wedded  Hannah  Dillingham,  who  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Granville.  She  was  a 
member  of  the  same  church  as  her  husband, 
noted  for  her  intelligence  and  many  Christian 
graces,  and  as  a  preacher  of  that  denomination. 
She  died  in  1885  at  the  age  of  eighty  years. 
David  Rogers  was  a  leading  elder  of  the  Qua- 
ker church,  and  a  son  of  Deliverance  Rogers, 
(grandfather),  who  was  a  native  of  Vermont. 
He  migrated  from  his  native  State  and  located 
on  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Granville,  where  he 
continued  most  successfully,  and  was  recog- 
nized throughout  the  neighborhood  as  a  thor- 
ough business  man  and  successful  farmer.    He 


owned  a  dairy  and  kept  one  hundred  cows, and 
was  the  proprietor  of  eleven  hundred  and 
twenty-five  acres  of  land  in  this  town.  His 
death  occurred  in  1849,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
three  years.  The  Rogers  family  is  of  English 
extraction,  and  in  direct  line  has  descended 
from  John  Rogers,  who  was  burnt  at  the  stake 
on  account  of  his  religious  beliefs,  Deliverance 
Rogers  being  of  the  fourteenth  generation  who 
have  lived  in  this  country. 


rrNDREW  B.  COLE,  president  of  the 
Greenwich  National  bank,  who  has  had 
an  extensive  and  varied  experience  in  life  and 
won  reputation  as  an  educator  and  successful 
business  man,  is  a  native  of  Jackson,  this 
county,  where  he  was  born  June  10,  1834. 
lli^  parents  were  Curtis  and  Ann  (Ford)  Cole, 
the  former  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  and  the 
latter  born  and  reared  in  Washington  county, 
New  York.  The  Coles  are  of  English  extrac- 
tion, and  the  American  progenitor  of  the  fam- 
ily settled  at  Warren,  Rhode  Island,  long 
prior  to  the  Revolutionary  war.  In  that  col- 
ony Curtis  Cole,  paternal  grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  and  grew  to 
manhood.  He  was  a  ship-builder  by  occupa- 
tion, owning  a  ship-yard  at  Warren,  Rhode 
Island,  where  he  did  an  extensive  business  for 
several  years.  During  the  Revolutionary  war 
he  served  as  major  of  a  military  organization 
known  as  the  Rhode  Island  minute  men,  do- 
ing local  service  during  the  entire  war.  Soon 
after  its  close,  Major  Cole  removed  with  his 
family  to  Jackson,  this  county,  where  he  pur- 
chased a  large  farm  and  devoted  the  remainder 
of  his  life  to  agricultural  pursuits.  One  of 
his  sons  was  Curtis  Cole  (father),  who,  at  the 
age  of  ten  years,  accompanied  his  father  to 
Washington  county,  where  he  was  reared  and 
educated.  After  attaining  manhood  he  also 
engaged  in  farming,  which  he  carried  on  ex- 
tensively, owning  and  cultivating  a  farm  of 
three  hundred  acres  of  excellent  land  in  the 
town  of  Jackson.      Politically  he  was  a  whig 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


275 


and  republican,  well  posted  on  all  general 
topics,  but  of  a  retiring  disposition.  In  early 
manhood  he  married  Ann  Ford,  of  this  county, 
and  by  that  union  had  a  family  of  eight  chil- 
dren, five  sons  and  three  daughters  :  Charles, 
deceased;  Mary,  who  married  John  Herring- 
ton  and  is  now  dead  ;  Lewis,  also  deceased  ; 
Caroline,  wife  of  Anson  Collins,  now  living 
in  Ohio  ;  William  Henry,  also  residing  in 
Ohio  ;  Morgan,  who  studied  medicine  and 
was  a  practicing  physician  of  Greenwich,  but 
is  now  dead  ;  Amanda,  wife  of  Frank  M.  Paul, 
of  Nashville,  Tennessee;  and  Andrew  B., 
whose  name  heads  this  sketch.  Curtis  Cole 
died  August  26,  1862,  aged  seventy-eight,  his 
wife  having  preceded  him  to  the  grave  in  1840, 
at  the  age  of  fifty-one  years. 

Andrew  B.  Cole  was  reared  on  the  farm, 
and  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  and  at 
the  old  Cambridge  academy.  He  remained 
on  the  home  farm  until  he  was  twenty  two, 
when  he  went  to  Vermont  and  engaged  in 
farming  for  a  couple  of  years,  after  which  he 
removed  to  Iowa  and  embarked  in  sheep  hus- 
bandry. The  impaired  health  of  his  wife 
compelled  his  early  return  to  Vermont,  where 
he  purchased  a  large  stock  farm  and  again 
engaged  in  sheep  raising,  but  giving  a  portion 
of  each  year  to  teaching,  having  charge  of 
the  schools  of  Fair  Haven  and  Benson  during 
this  period.  In  1862  he  sold  his  property  in 
Vermont  and  removed  to  Sidney,  Ohio,  taking 
with  him  a  large  flock  of  Spanish  merino 
sheep,  which,  during  the  war  following,  was  a 
source  of  much  profit.  He  was  soon  called 
to  the  superintendence'  of  the  schools  of  the 
town,  and  was  also  made  a  member  of  the 
board  of  school  examiners  for  the  count)7, 
which  positions  he  filled  until  the  failing 
health  of  his  wife  made  necessary  his  return 
again  to  her  native  State  of  Vermont,  locating 
in  Shoreham,  and  taking  charge  of  Newton 
academy  at  that  place.  Here  he  spent  four 
pleasant  and  profitable  years,  and  then  return- 
ing to  his  native  State  of  New  York,  located 

in  Greenwich,  where  he  has  since  lived.      In 
17 


1889  he  was  elected  president  of  the  First 
National  bank  of  Greenwich,  and  has  con- 
tinued to  occupy  that  position  to  the  present 
time. 

In  1856  Mr.  Cole  was  married  to  Miriam 
Hitchcock,  a  daughter  of  Almon  Hitchcock, 
of  West  Haven,  Vermont.  To  them  was  born 
an  only  child,  Candace,  now  the  wife  of  James 
P.  Duncan,  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri. 
Mrs.  Cole  was  a  woman  of  brilliant  intellect, 
and  for  many  years  took  an  active  part  in  the 
efforts  made  for  the.  betterment  of  woman's 
condition  before  the  law.  For  some  time  she 
edited  a  paper  published  at  Dayton,  Ohio,  in 
the  interest  of  that  cause,  taking  an  active 
part  in  the  exciting  campaign  of  that  period, 
urging  woman's  enfranchisement  in  several 
addresses  before  the  State  senate  of  Ohio, 
and  speaking  from  the  same  platform  with 
such  distinguished  speakers  as  Mrs.  Stowe, 
Mary  A.  Livermore,  Lucy  Stone  and  others. 
She  was  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
church,  and  always  took  an  active  part  in  the 
interest  of  religion.  Her  life  was  singularly 
useful  and  beautiful,  and  her  death  occurred 
in  1887. 

On  June  11,  1890,  Mr.  Cole  was  again 
happily  married,  wedding  Helen  Wood,  a 
daughter  of  John  D.  Wood,  of  Fair  Haven, 
Vermont. 

In  his  political  affiliations  Mr.  Cole  has  al- 
ways been  republican,  casting  his  first  vote 
for  that  party,  and  taking  an  active  part  in 
the  various  campaigns  which  have  marked  its 
progress,  but  has  never  permitted  the  use  of 
his  name  for  any  office.  From  his  youth  Mr. 
Cole  has  had  deep  religious  convictions,  and 
wherever  he  has  lived  has  taken  an  active  in- 
terest in  the  religious  well-being  of  the  com- 
munity. 

v  TAMES  ADAMS,  a  prominent  business 
man  and  boat-builder  of  Whitehall,  is  a 
son  of  James  and  Kittie  (Wall)  Adams,  and 
is  a  native  of  Gastonbury,  Somersetshire, 
England,  where  he  was  born   June  16,  1828. 


270 


BIOOEAP1IY  AND  HISTORY 


James  Adams  (father)  was  born  in  London, 
and  on  July  9,  1830,  came  to  the  United  States 
and  located  at  Westhaven,  Vermont,  about 
one  mile  from  the  village  of  Whitehall, where 
he  resided  up  to  his  death  in  1887,  aged  ninety- 
three  years.  He  bought  this  farm  upon  his 
arrival,  on  which  he  always  resided,  engaged 
in  general  farming  ;  a  democrat  in  his  political 
affiliation,  and  served  for  several  years  as  jus- 
tice of  the  peace  of  Westhaven.  He  wedded 
Kittie  Wall,  who  was  a  native  of  Walton,  in 
Somersetshire,  and  died  at  eighty-four  years 
of  age. 

James  Adams  grew  upon  the  farm  at  West- 
haven, where  he  attended  the  district  school. 
Remaining  on  the  farm  until  he  became  of 
age,  when  he  went  to  Whitehall  and  began 
learning  the  trade  of  ship-carpenter,  at  which 
he  worked  for  two  years,  when  he  and  his 
brother,  Henry  Adams,  engaged  in  the  boat- 
building business,  under  the  firm  name  of  J. 
&  H.  Adams.  The  style  of  this  firm  existed 
up  to  1871,  when  another  brother,  George 
Adams,  was  taken  in,  and  the  firm  name  was 
succeeded  by  J-  &  H.  Adams  &  Company, 
which  continued  to  1884,  when  Henry  Adams 
withdrew,  and  the  firm  name  changed  to  J.  & 
G.  Adams,  which  lasted  up  to  1890,  when 
George  Adams  died. 

Since  1890  Mr.  Adams  has  carried  on  his 
business  alone,  and  manufactures  canal  boats 
exclusively,  and  has  completed  over  one  hun- 
dred of  these  boats,  and  gives  employment  to 
from  five  to  seventeen  men  steadily. 

In  1852  Mr.  Adams  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Charlotte  L.,  an  adapted  daughter  of  John 
Bennett,  of  Whitehall.  To  them  have  been 
born  three  daughters  and  two  sons,  one  now 
living  :  Ida  S.,  the  wife  of  M.  J.  Brown,  who 
is  teller  and  director  in  the  old  National  bank 
at  Whitehall  ;  Roderick  M.,  wedded  Bertha 
I.  Beckwith ;  Willie  Eugene,  who  died  in 
1879,  aged  eight  years  ;  Gertrude  W.  and  Es- 
ther Lee,  living  at  home. 

James  Adams  is  a  member  of  Whitehall 
Lodge,  No.  5,  Independent  Order  Odd  Fel- 


lows, and  of  Whitehall  Encampment,  No. 
68.  He  is  a  democrat  in  politics,  and  served 
as  assessor  and  trustee  of  the  village  of  White- 
hall, and  has  been  a  resident  and  more  or  less 
prominently  identified  with  the  industral  pros- 
perity of  Whitehall  since  1850,  and  with  the 
temperance  cause  for  forty-five  years,  having 
belonged  to  three  secret  temperance  societies. 


HENRY  A.  HOWARD,  an  able  lawyer, 
who  enjoys  the  popular  distinction  of  be- 
ing one  of  the  leading  lawyers  in  northern 
New  York,  and  a  resident  of  the  village  of 
Glens  Falls,  was  born  in  the  village  of  Wind- 
sor, Windsor  count)',  Vermont,  February  18, 
1845.  He  is  a  son  of  Ralph  and  Adelia  A. 
(Weaver)  Howard.  Ralph  Howard  was  a  na- 
tive of  Windsor,  where  he  resided  until  his 
death,  in  1887,  in  the  seventy-fourth  year  of 
his  age.  By  occupation  he  followed  tailoring, 
but  spent  the  latter  years  of  his  life  in  retire- 
ment. His  father  was  an  officer  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary war,  captured  at  Quebec,  by  the 
British,  and  died  there  while  in  captivity  ;  he 
was  also  a  native  of  Windsor,  Vermont.  The 
paternal  great-grandfather  of  Henry  A.  How- 
ard was  a  native  of  England,  who  emigrated 
to  this  country  and  settled  in  Vermont  in  the 
early  settling  of  that  State. 

Ralph  Howard  wedded  Adelia  Weaver,  who 
was  born  at  Fort  Ann,  Washington  county, 
and  whose  death  occurred  in  i860.  Her 
father  was  Andrus  Weaver,  and  a  native  of 
the  State  of  New  York.  Henry  A.  Howard's 
maternal  great-grandfather,  Aaron  Hoesing- 
ton,  lived  to  the  remarkable  age  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  years,  and  won  the  distinc- 
tion of  having  killed  two  Indian  chiefs  in  his 
day. 

Henry  A.  Howard  remained  in  his  native 
village  until  he  had  reached  manhood,  gradu- 
ating from  the  Windsor  High  school,  and  in 
1861  entered  the  Kimball  academy,  at  Meri- 
den,  New  Hampshire,  being  admitted  to  the 
senior  classical   department,   from    which    he 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


277 


was  duly  graduated  at  the  end  of  six  months. 
In  1862  he  entered  the  Norwich  university,  at 
Norwich,  Vermont,  and  was  graduated  from 
that  institution  in  1865.  In  1864,  with  thir- 
teen of  his  fellow  students  of  the  university, 
enlisted  in  Co.  G,  60th  Massachusetts  regi- 
ment, as  high  privates,  and  served  as  such 
until  they  were  honorably  discharged,  at  Bos- 
ton, in  December  of  the  same  year. 

Leaving  college,  Mr.  Howard  became  a 
student  at  law  in  the  office  of  J.  M.  Edmin-  ' 
ster,  at  Windsor,  Vermont,  and  in  1866  he  en- 
tered the  Albany  Law  school,  and  graduated 
from  that  well  known  institution  in  the  class 
of  1867.  One  of  his  fellow  graduates  was 
Governor  William  McKinley,  of  Ohio.  Soon 
after  receiving  his  diploma  to  practice  law,  in 
1867,  Mr.  Howard  located  at  Glens  Falls,  and 
for  one  year  was  in  the  office  of  Judge  Brown. 
From  that  time  to  the  present  he  has  remained 
at  Glens  Falls,  in  the  active  practice  of  his 
profession,  commanding  one  of  the  most  lu- 
crative law  businesses  in  Warren  county.  He 
owns  one  of  the  largest  and  most  valuable  law 
libraries  in  northern  New  York. 

Henry  A.  Howard  is  a  stanch  democrat,  and 
wields  considerable  influence  in  the  councils  of 
his  party,  and  has  twice  been  elected  to  the 
office  of  district  attorney,  filling  the  office  most 
acceptably  to  the  people  for  a  period  of  six 
years.  During  his  incumbency  he  secured 
over  one  hundred  convictions,  failing  in  but 
one  prosecution  in  all  that  time,  discharging 
his  duties  in  such  a  manner  as  to  add  to  his 
high  reputation  for  ability  and  uprightness. 

Making,  while  in  office,  one  of  the  best 
records  as  district  attorney  in  the  State ;  he 
never  had  a  jury  to  disagree  during  his  entire 
terms  of  six  years,  and  secured  more  convic- 
tions than  any  other  man  who  ever  filled  the 
office,  in  the  same  length  of  time.  He  is  one 
of  the  directors  of  the  Merchants'  National 
bank.  In  1875  he  was  married  to  Mary  E., 
a  daughter  of  Samuel  Robins,  of  Boston, 
Massachusetts,  who  was  a  granddaughter  of 
Joseph  Buckingham,  the  founder  of  the  Bos- 


ton Courier.  The  only  brother  of  Mr.  How- 
ard, Kenrick  R.  Howard,  served  as  a  soldier 
in  the  famous  Vermont  brigade,  and  was  at 
all  the  principal  battles  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac.  He,  with  thirty  others  from  Wind- 
sor, Vermont,  enlisted,  and  of  the  entire  num- 
ber who  enlisted,  but  two  returned  home,  he 
and  one  other. 


Joseph  b.  Mccormick,  one  of  the 

young  and  rising  lawyers  of  Washington 
county  and  the  upper  Hudson  valley,  is  a  son 
of  James  and  Catherine  (Keating)  McCormick, 
and  was  born  in  the  town  of  Fort  Ann,  Wash- 
ington county,  New  York,  March  3,  1863. 
James  McCormick  is  a  native  of  and  came  from 
Ireland  when  sixteen  years  of  age.  Catherine 
Keating,  his  mother,  was  a  native  of  Hamp- 
shire county,  Massachusetts,  from  whence  the 
family  removed  to  Fort  Ann,  where  he  re- 
mained until  1865.  In  that  year  he  came  to 
Granville  and  engaged  in  the  blacksmith  busi- 
ness, which  he  followed  until  1883,  when  he 
removed  to  his  present  farm  in  the  town  of 
Wells,  Rutland  county,  Vermont.  His  farm, 
which  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  three  miles 
from  Granville,  contains  several  valuable  slate 
quarries  that  are  actively  operated  by  parties 
who  pay  Mr.  McCormick  a  handsome  yearly 
royalty.  He  also  owns  some  valuable  prop- 
erty at  Granville.  He  is  a  man  of  liberal  views 
and  has  been  for  many  years  a  republican  in 
politics.  Mr.  McCormick  was  born  in  1828, 
and  married  Catherine  Keating,  who  died  in 
1886,  at  fifty-six  years  of  age. 

Joseph  B.  McCormick  was  reared  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Granville,  and  received  his  education 
in  the  public  schools  and  Cook  academy  of 
Havana,  New  York.  Leaving  the  academy 
he  entered  the  Spencerian  Business  college  of 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  took  the  full  course  of 
that  institution.  Having  thus  thoroughly 
qualified  himself  he  turned  his  attention  to  the 
study  of  law.  He  read  with  the  late  Judge 
Royal  C.  Betts,  of  Granville,  was  admitted  to 


278 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


the  Washington  county  bar  May  4,  1888,  and 
since  then  has  been  engaged  in  the  active  prac- 
tice of  his  profession  in  the  courts  of  his  na- 
tive county,  and  is  in  active  practice  in  all  the 
courts  of  the  State  of  Vermont,  and  in  Janu- 
ary, 1894,  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the 
United  States  court.  He  is  a  democrat  in  his 
political  opinion,  and  although  independent  in 
local  politics,  yet  he  does  not  take  any  active 
part  in  politics  in  county,  State  or  national 
contests.  In  1892  he  was  honored  with  the 
democratic  nomination  for  district  attorney  of 
Washington  count}',  and  while  polling  a  very 
handsome  vote,  yet  went  down  with  the  rest 
of  ticket  under  the  republican  majority  which 
has  prevailed  in  the  county  for  many  years. 
Mr.  McCormick  is  unmarried.  He  has  been  a 
member  for  some  time  of  Illini  Tribe,  Im- 
proved Order  of  Red  Men,  and  was  one  of  its 
charter  members. 

As  a  citizen  Mr.  McCormick  is  respected, 
and  as  a  lawyer  has  taken  his  place  in  the  front 
rank  of  the  legal  profession  in  the  county.  He 
has  a  large  practice  ;  is  clear,  logical  and  prac- 
tical in  handling  his  cases,  and  is  well  deserv- 
ing of  the  high  reputation  he  has  acquired  as 
a  safe  counsellor  and  successful  lawyer. 


TA>ILL    E.    LAWREXCE,    one  of    the 

leading  architects  of  northern  New 
York,  is  a  son  of  Oscar  and  Jane  E.  (Barnes) 
Lawrence,  and  was  born  at  Westport,  Essex 
county,  New  York,  February  9,  1850.  Oscar 
Lawrence  was  a  native  of  Middlebury,  Ver- 
mont, wedded  Jane  E.  Barnes,  who  was  a 
native  of  Westport,  where  she  now  resides. 
Will  E.  Lawrence,  at  the  age  of  seven 
years,  was  apprenticed  to  a  well-to-do  farmer 
of  Canton,  in  St.  Lawrence  county,  where  he 
remained  until  he  was  twenty-two  years  of 
age.  He  attended  the  common  schools,  and 
at  the  Canton  academy.  In  1872  he  wedded 
Estine  A.,  daughter  of  William  C.  Wait,  of 
the  town  of  Potsdam,  St.  Lawrence  county, 
New   York,    and   remained   on    the   farm   one 


year  after  his  marriage.  In  March,  1873,  he 
went  to  Marshall  county,  Kansas,  where  he 
passed  an  examination  before  the  count}' 
board  of  education  and  received  a  first  grade 
certificate  to  teach  school.  He  immediately 
began  teaching  in  that  county,  where  he 
taught  for  fifteen  months,  teaching  in  a 
Catholic  neighborhood.  In  September,  1874, 
he  returned  to  Canton,  where  he  attended  the 
Canton  academy  with  the  object  in  view  of 
better  preparing  himself  for  teaching.  Soon 
after  leaving  the  academy  he  entered  the  St. 
Lawrence  university,  but  being  short  of  funds 
he  applied  for  and  accepted  the  principalship 
of  the  Morley  graded  school,  and  at  the  same 
time  kept  up  his  studies  in  the  university. 
Before  his  school  closed,  however,  he  had  to 
give  it  up  on  account  of  ill  health,  which 
compelled  him  to  seek  outdoor  work,  taking 
up  the  carpenter  trade,  and  in  the  fall  of  1875 
removed  to  the  village  of  Potsdam,  and  there 
worked  at  his  trade  till  the  spring  of  1880, 
when  he  was  promoted  to  the  position  of 
superintendent,  by  his  employer,  in  the  erec- 
tion of  an  elegant  residence  in  the  village  of 
Morley.  At  the  completion  of  this  contract 
he  was  induced  by  his  employer,  George  B. 
Swan,  to  enter  the  office  of  G.  B.  Schellenger 
to  learn  architecture,  at  Ogdensburg,  and  in 
April,  1881,  was. advised  by  his  friends  to 
move  to  Glens  Falls,  where  he  has  since  re- 
sided. He  at  first  worked  at  his  trade  as 
carpenter,  up  to  the  spring  of  1882,  when  he 
engaged  with  D.  W.  Sherman  in  remodeling 
the  Marion  House  at  Lake  George.  In  the 
same  year  he  accepted  a  position  with  Hiram 
Krum,  one  of  the  leading  contractors  of  this 
section,  with  whom  he  remained  as  an  em- 
ploye for  two  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time 
he  entered  into  partnership  with  Mr.  Krum, 
which  lasted  for  three  years.  During  this 
time  this  firm  built  some  of  the  finest  resi- 
dences found  on  the  upper  Hudson  ;  among 
the  number  are  those  of  W.  E.  Spier,  D.  J. 
Finch  and  Walter  Rogers,  and  the  Presby- 
terian church.      Mr.  Lawrence  had  the  entire 


=^.  OfAu. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


281 


management  of  the  building  of  the  residences 
of  W.  E.  Spier  and  Walter  Rogers.  This 
firm  dissolved  in  the  spring  of  1887  ;  since 
this  time  Mr.  Lawrence  has  been  engaged  in 
the  contracting  and  building  business  alone, 
or  rather  up  to  the  spring  of  1893,  and  from 
that  time  to  this  he  has  solely  confined  him- 
self to  architectural  work.  In  the  years  1890 
and  1 89 1  Mr.  Lawrence  was  engaged  in  run- 
ning a  sash,  door  and  blind  factory,  on  Ridge 
street,  this  village,  associated  with  Herbert 
Van  Derwerker,  remaining  with  him  for  one 
year,  when  he  purchased  the  latter's  interest. 
Mr.  Lawrence  also  designed  and  erected  the 
residences  of  State  treasurer  A.  B.  Colvin, 
H.  S.  Crittenden,  Frank  Taft,  and  the  present 
residence  of  Clinton  Clothier  ;  and  also  built 
the  Union  school  building  number  two,  later 
designed  Union  school  buildings  at  South 
Glens  Falls,  and  Caldwell  on  Lake  George. 

Will  E.  Lawrence  is  a  republican  in  his 
political  belief,  was  town  auditor  of  the  village 
for  two  years,  1887-88,  and  was  a  member  of 
the  board  of  education,  to  which  he  was 
elected  in  1887,  and  served  efficiently  for 
three  years.  He  has  served  as  chairman  of 
the  republican  village  committee,  and  as  a 
delegate  to  county,  senatorial  and  State  con- 
ventions. He  is  a  member  of  Glens  Falls 
Masonic  Lodge  and  secretary  of  Glens  Star 
Chapter,  Order  of  the  Eastern  Star. 


JAMES  HYLAR  WHITE,  a  successful 
business  man  and  member  of  the  firm  of 
Joubert  &  White,  manufacturers  of  the  famous 
Glens  Falls  Buckboard,  at  Glens  Falls,  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Corinth,  Saratoga  county. 
New  York,  June  28,  1836.  He  is  a  son  of 
James  Madison  White  and  Charlotte  Willie. 
The  former  was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  and 
wedded  the  latter,  who  was  of  Saratoga  county. 
James  M.  White  removed  with  his  father  into 
Saratoga  county,  and  was  for  many  years  em- 
ployed in  farming,  lumbering,  and  merchan- 
dising in  the  village  of  Corinth,  and  for  a 
17a 


short  time  kept  a  hotel  there.  In  1850  here- 
moved  to  Glens  Falls,  where  he  kept  hotel,  and 
later  on  he  for  several  years  conducted  the 
half-way  road  house  midway  between  Glens 
Falls  and  Lake  George.  He  was  a  Univer- 
salist  in  his  religious  belief,  republican  in 
politics,  and  filled  the  town  offices  of  school 
commissioner  and  supervisor  of  Corinth.  His 
death  occurred  in  1872  in  Glens  Falls,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-two  years.  His  father  was  Isaiah 
White,  also  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  who  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  Saratoga  county, 
where  he  died.  Prior  to  his  coming  to  this 
State  he  was  engaged  in  the  woolen  manufac- 
turing business,  but  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
after  his  arrival  in  Saratoga  county,  was  spent 
on  the  farm.  He  lived  to  be  ninety-two  years 
of  age,  was  descended  from  Pemroys  White, 
who  came  over  in  the  Mayflower  in  1620. 

Mrs.  Charlotte  White  was  born  in  Saratoga 
county,  New  York.  She  died  in  1883,  aged 
seventy-five  years. 

James  H.  White  was  principally  reared  in 
Glens  Falls,  where  he  attended  the  common 
schools.  Leaving  school  he  commenced 
learning  carriage  building  with  his  brother- 
in-law,  Edward  Joubert,  and  remained 
with  him  until  1864.  In  that  year  Mr. 
White  and  Mr.  Joubert  formed  their  pres- 
ent partnership,  which  was  at  the  time  of 
this  formation  conducted  on  a  very  small 
scale,  but  it  is  due  to  the  fine  business  abil- 
ity of  each  member  of  this  firm  that  they 
have  gradually,  year  by  year,  built  up  their 
present  immense  and  prosperous  business. 
Since  1865  they  have  been  conducting  their 
business  at  their  present  stand,  adding  to 
their  buildings  as  their  trade  increased,  until 
now  their  factory  is  four  stories  high,  with  a 
fifty-foot  front  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
deep.  In  1880  they  received  a  patent  on  their 
"Glens  Falls  Buckboard,"  the  manufacture 
of  which  they  have  made  a  specialty  of  ever 
since,  and  is  sold  to  the  most  wealthy  and 
prominent  people  throughout  the  United  States 
and  to  many  of   the  nobility  of  the  old  world. 


282 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


This  popular  vehicle  was  on  exhibition  at 
the  mid-winter  fair  at  San  Francisco,  and 
wherever  introduced  it  becomes  a  favorite  on 
account  of  its  durability  and  beauty  of  con- 
struction and  splendid  workmanship.  The 
firm  of  Joubert  &  White  employ  in  the  manu- 
facturing of  these  carts,  thirty  to  thirty  five 
men  throughout  the  year  in  filling  orders  for 
these  buckboards  that  pour  in  on  them  from 
every  section  of  this  country  and  many  of  the 
fashionable  centers   of   Europe. 

In  1861  he  was  wedded  to  Susan  M.  Smith, 
of  Glens  Falls.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  White  have 
been  born  two  children,  a  son  and  a  daughter: 
J.  Beecher,  who  is  a  graduate  of  the  Glens 
Falls  academy,  and  after  leaving  the  academy 
spent  two  years  as  a  student  in  the  Homeo- 
pathic Medical  college  in  the  city  of  New  York. 
At  the  end  of  the  two  years  he  had  to  abandon 
the  further  study  of  medicine  on  account  of 
ill  health,  and  took  a  position  in  his  father's 
carriage  factory.  In  January,  1894,  he  was 
appointed  superintendent  of  public  docu- 
ments at  Albany  for  a  term  of  two  years, 
which  position  he  now  acceptably  fills.  Char- 
lotte A.  is  also  a  graduate  of  the  Glens  Falls 
academy  and  the  La  Salle  seminary  at  Auburn- 
dale,  Massachusetts.  She  is  now  studying 
vocal  and  instrumental  music,  German  and 
French,  at  Paris,  France.  Mr.  White  has 
frequently  been  solicited  to  accept  public 
office,  which  he  has  always  refused  to  do,  pre- 
ferring to  devote  his  entire  attention  to  his 
various  business  interests.  He  is  a  Mason, 
being  a  member  of  Glens  Falls  Lodge,  No. 
121,  and  with  the  other  members  of  his  family 
he  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 


nUFUS  R.  DAVIS,  a  democratic  presi- 
dential elector  in  1892,  and  a  prominent 
and  successful  young  lawyer  of  the  county,  was 
born  in  the  village  of  Whitehall,  September  7, 
1857,  and  is  the  son  of  Oscar  F.  and  Charlotte 
T.  (Rowe)  Davis.  [See  sketch  of  father,  O. 
F.  Davis,  on  another  page.] 


Rufus  R.Davis  was  brought  up  in  his  native 
village,  attending  the  public  schools  and  later 
the  Granville  seminary,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  1877.  Leaving  school,  he  began 
reading  law  with  his  father  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1881,  since  which  time  he  has 
been  actively  engagad  in  the  practice  with  his 
father,  under  the  firm  name  of  O.  F.  &  R.  R. 
Davis.  This  firm  has  a  good  general  law  prac- 
tice and  a  splendid  law  library.  R.  R.  Davis 
is  an  active  and  influential  democrat  of  his  sec- 
tion, and  for  the  past  five  years,  or  since  1889, 
he  has  filled  the  office  of  supervisor  of  his  town 
most  acceptably  to  the  business  men  of  both 
parties,  and  is  consequently  a  hard  man  to  de- 
feat for  office.  In  the  general  election  of  1892, 
he  was  chosen  by  the  State  democracy  as  one 
of  the  Cleveland  electors.  Mr.  Davis  is  a  man 
of  good  business  qualifications  and  has  a  bril- 
liant future  as  a  lawyer, and  enjoys  the  confi- 
dence and  esteem  of  all  who  know  him. 


TTXDREW  G.  HAINES,  the  youngest 
of  the  three  Haines  brothers,  builders  of 
street  railways,  telephone  lines  and  like  enter- 
prises, and  now  a  citizen  of  Sandy  Hill,  was 
born  on  what  is  known  as  the  Merritt  farm, 
near  Medusa,  Green  county,  New  York,  Jan- 
uary 10,  1863.  When  about  two  years  of  age 
his  parents  removed  to  Coxsackie,  New  York, 
where  he  received  his  education  in  the  public 
and  private  schools.  .  On  account  of  failing 
health  in  1879,  his  father  gave  up  active  busi- 
ness, and  went  to  reside  at  Sandy  Hill,  where 
he  died  in  June,  1881.  Andrew  then  joined 
his  brothers  in  New  York,  and  the  brother- 
hood thus  completed  was  made  the  firm  which 
afterward  gained  public  recognition  as  a  signal 
success.  In  April,  1881,  Mr.  Haines  sailed 
for  Mexico  with  his  eldest  brother,  David, who 
was  the  general  manager  of  the  Mexican  Tel- 
ephone company,  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico, 
and  of  which  his  brother,  John,  was  presi- 
dent. Mr.  Haines  remained  in  Mexico  some 
four  years,  when  he  returned  to  New  York  and 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


283 


again  joined  his  brothers  in  the  railroad  busi- 
ness. While  the  Haines  brothers  were  build- 
ing the  Newburg  Street  railroad,  in  1887, 
John  D.  Haines,  the  second  eldest  of  the 
brothers,  died  at  the  United  States  hotel,  on 
January  8  of  that  year.  He  had  contracted 
a  severe  cold  while  superintending  the  con- 
struction of  the  railway,  resulting  in  pleuro- 
pneumonia, and  finally  in  death.  Mr.  Haines, 
while  in  Mexico,  in  addition  to  his  telephone 
business,  held  the  position  of  administrator 
general  of  La  Compania  Telegrafica  Y.  While 
there  the  government  of  Mexico  became  so 
interested  in  him  that  they  gave  him  exclu- 
sive concessions  and  subsides,  and  placed  at 
his  disposal,  free  of  any  expense,  two  hun- 
dred workmen  to  carry  out  his  plans  ;  and  on 
its  completion  he  was  honored  with  one  of  the 
grandest  celebrations.  In  1887  he  became 
manager  of  the  Cayuga  Lake  Park  resort, 
which  he  managed  successfully  for  a  few  years, 
which  was  among  the  leading  summer  resorts 
of  the  country,  and  at  the  same  time,  although 
but  twenty-four  years  of  age,  he  was  vice- 
president  of  three  prominent  railroads;  in  fact 
the  early  life  of  this  young  man  would  afford 
a  veritable  romance.  While  acting  as  general 
superintendent  of  the  Seneca  Falls  and  Water- 
loo railroad,  he  won  the  confidence  of  the 
business  community  and  traveling  public. 
Few  people  seemed  to  realize  the  magnitude 
of  the  carrying  out  of  this  project,  and  giving 
to  that  part  of  the  country  a  resort  that  has 
all  the  attractions  of  a  Manhattan  beach  or 
Coney  Island. 

The  Lochmede  Weekly  paper,  published  at 
Winter  Park,  Florida,  said,  in  regard  to  the 
first  train  over  the  Orlando  &  Winter  Park 
railway,  on  the  25th  of  July,  1888:  "Every- 
thing passed  off  satisfactorily,  with  Col.  A.G. 
Haines,  vice-president  of  the  company,  in 
charge.  Mr.  Haines,  while  still  a  young  man, 
has  had  a  history  that  very  few  men  ever  have. 
Before  he  reached  his  majority  he  was  at  the 
head  of  the  entire  telephone  system  of  Mex- 
ico, Central  America   and   the   West    Indies. 


More  concessions  were  granted  him,  including 
the  work  of  two  hundred  men  free,  than  were 
ever  granted  a  foreigner  in  Mexico.  He  is  a 
restless,  energetic  worker,  and  we  look  for  a 
prompt  completion  of  the  Orlando  &  Winter 
Park  railway,  and  hope  for  the  same  of  the 
Orlando  &  Lake  Jesup  railroad."  The  Cox- 
sackie  News,  of  March  26,  1887,  gives  a  page 
to  the  history  of  the  Haines  family,  with  cuts 
of  all  the  Haines  brothers.  The  head  lines 
were:  "Home  talent  abroad  —  The  remark- 
able history  of  a  family  of  Coxsackie  boys 
who  went  out  into  the  world  and  made  them- 
selves famous  —  The  most  extensive  street 
and  short  line  railroad  builders  in  the  world  — 
a  most  unexampled  exhibition  of  enterprise 
and  pluck."  Hon.  Charles  D.  Haines,  who  is 
now  a  member  of  congress  from  the  nineteenth 
district,  was  one  of  the  originators  of  the 
Glens  Falls,  Sandy  Hill  and  Fort  Edward 
street  railway  company,  having  a  controlling 
interest,  and  was  elected  president  of  the 
Winooski  and  Burlington  Railway  company. 
He  is  now  serving  his  first  term  in  congress', 
where  he  took  a  prominent  part  from  the 
start. 

Andrew  G.  Haines  was  married  to  Mamie 
L.,  daughter  of  Captain  Merchant,  of  Savan- 
nah, Georgia.  His  father  was  David  T.  Haines, 
who  died  at  Sandy  Hill  in  1881,  having  been 
born  in  Albany  county,  New  York,  July  28, 
1820. 


QA3IUEL    LEROY  FINCH,  a    repre- 

sentative  of  an  old  and  honored  family  of 
Sandy  Hill  and  Glens  Falls,  was  born  in  the 
village  of  Sandy  Hill  on  August  21,  1859,  and 
is  a  son  of  Edwin  A.  and  Harriet  (Cooper) 
Finch.  His  father,  Edwin  A.  Finch,  is  a  na- 
tive of  the  town  of  Kingsbury,  and  is  at  pres- 
ent residing  in  Sandy  Hill,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
three  years.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  and  of  the  Ancient  Order 
of  United  Workmen.  In  political  opinion  he 
is  a  democrat  and  for  many  years  held  the 
offices  of  constable  and  street  commissioner  ; 


284 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


and  for  a  long  time  was  engaged  in  the  ice 
business.  He  wedded  Harriet  Cooper,  a  na- 
tive of  the  town  of  Kingsbury,  who  was  a 
daughter  of  John  H.  and  Lavinna  (Parks) 
Cooper,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church.  Edwin  A.  Finch's  father 
was  Samuel  Finch,  and  his  mother  Zilpha 
(Colvin)  Finch. 

Samuel  Leroy  Finch  was  reared  in  his  native 
village,  receiving  his  education  in  the  Union 
school,  and  soon  after  leaving  school  he 
started  in  the  ice  business  and  teaming, which 
he  has  very  successfully  continued  at  ever 
since.  In  1891  he  took  into  partnership  Guy 
R.  Clark,  under  the  firm  name  of  Finch  & 
Clark,  and  conducted  business  in  the  same 
channel  up  to  1893,  when  they  added,  in 
connection  with  their  ice  and  teaming,  coal 
and  wood,  keeping  twenty-two  horses,  and 
their  sales  have  steadily  grown  until  the  pres- 
ent, becoming  one  of  the  leading  firms  in  these 
lines  in  the  vicinity  of  Sandy  Hill. 

In  1879  Mr.  Finch  wedded  Julia  A.  Rich- 
ards, of  Sandy  Hill.  He  is  a  democrat  in 
politics,  and  holds  membership  with  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church. 


nO.  BASCOM,  lawyer  at  Fort  Edward 
•  and  a  representative  of  one  of  the  early 
settled  and  prominent  families  of  New  Eng- 
land, is  a  son  of  Samuel  H.  Bascom  and  Eliz- 
abeth Clark,  his  wife,  and  was  born  at  Orwell, 
Vermont,  November  18,  1855.  The  progeni- 
tor and  founder  of  the  Bascom  family  in  Amer- 
ica came  from  England  in  1734  or  '35,  and 
made  his  settlement  in  the  vicinity  of  Dorches- 
ter, Connecticut,  together  with  his  wife  and 
eldest  daughter.  He  remained  there  for  a 
time,  when  he  removed  from  Dorchester  to 
Northampton,  Massachusetts,  where  he  spent 
the  remainder  of  his  life  and  where  many  of 
his  descendants  now  reside.  Elias  Bascom 
(paternal  great-grandfather)  was  a  native  of 
Northfield,  Massachusetts,  where  he  lived  and 
followed  the  trade  of  clothier.      He  was  a  sol- 


dier in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  was  at  the 
battle  of  Saratoga,  and  witnessed  Burgoyne's 
surrender.  In  1792  he  removed  to  Orwell,  Ver- 
mont,where  he  made  his  home  until  his  death. 
He  served  as  deacon  in  the  Congregational 
church  of  Orwell,  and  was  the  father  of  four- 
teen children  :  Elias,  Reuben,  Eunice,  Jeru- 
sha,  Joseph  (1),  Joseph  (2),  Zina,  Arteme- 
dorus,  Elisha,  Cynthia,  Lucie,  Rebecca,  Ira, 
and  Lucinda.  Elias  Bascom  departed  this 
life  on  November  29,  1833,  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
six  years.  Artemedorus  Bascom,  the  grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born 
in  Northfield,  Massachusetts,  December  19, 
1774,  and  was  for  many  years  prominent  in  the 
Congregational  church  work  and  held  the 
office  of  justice  of  the  peace  of  his  town.  He 
wedded  Chloe  Hurlburd  on  March  n,  1800,  by 
whom  he  had  ten  children  :  Thankful  Cobb, 
Elvira  Wilcox,  Clarinda  H.,  Emily  Sanford, 
Oliver,  Samantha,  wife  of  Rev.  H.  H.  Bates  ; 
Dorus,  William  F.  and  Samuel  H.  The  last 
named  (father)  was  a  native  of  Orwell,  Ver- 
mont, where  he  at  present  resides  and  is 
engaged  in  farming.  He  was  born  on  Febru- 
ary 18,  1819,  and  prepared  himself  during  his 
earlier  manhood  for  college,  with  the  object  in 
view  of  entering  the  ministry  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church,  but  he  was  compelled  to  aban- 
don his  labors  on  account  of  ill  health.  While 
ex-Senator  Edmunds  was  speaker  of  the  house 
of  the  Vermont  legislature,  he  served  as  a 
member  from  his  county  in  that  body  and  took 
a  leading  part  in  its  proceedings,  and  took  a 
deep  interest  in  the  success  of  the  Republican 
party  in  his  county;  he  was  prominent  in  local 
affairs,  and  like  his  father  and  grandfather,  he 
held  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  formany 
years  ;  he  is  at  present  deacon  in  the  Congre- 
gational church  of  his  village  and  zealously 
looks  after  the  church's  welfare.  He  wedded 
twice  ;  by  his  first  wife,  Elizabeth  Clark,  he 
had  the  following  children:  Anna,  wife  of  C. 
N.  North,  of  Shoreham,  Vermont  ;  Samuel  J., 
who  resides  in  western  Kansas;  Wyman  H. 
(deceased),    Clarinda  (deceased),   George  B., 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


285 


of  Ticonderoga,  New  York,  where  he  is  super- 
intendent of  a  paper  mill;  Robert  O.,  Jesse 
(deceased),  and  Cassius  Clay,  of  Orwell,  Ver- 
mont. 

Robert  O.  Bascom  received  his  elementary 
education  in  the  high  school  at  Brandon,  and 
at  Newton  academy,  Shoreham, Vermont,  and 
was  afterward  graduated  from  the  Fort  Edward 
Collegiate  institute  in  1876.  In  the  same  year 
he  entered  the  office  of  Don  D.  Winn,  of  that 
village,  as  a  student  at  law,  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  to  practice  in  all  the  courts  of  New 
York  State  in  1883.  He  resides  at  Fort  Ed- 
ward, where  he  has  built  up  a  very  substantial 
practice  in  the  law. 

On  December  20,  1882,  Mr.  Bascom  was 
married  to  Mary  Larrabee  Piatt,  of  Larrabee's 
Point,  Vermont,  and  has  two  children  :  Wy- 
man  and  Robert  Piatt.  He  is  a  member  and 
vestryman  of  the  Saint  James  Episcopal 
church  of  Fort  Edward,  and  a  member  of  Jane 
McCrea  Lodge,  No.  267,  of  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  Mrs.  Bascom  is  a 
daughter  of  Myron  Piatt,  who  is  descended 
from  Richard  Piatt,  who  came  from  England 
in  1638,  and  settled  at  New  Milford, Connecti- 
cut ;  among  others  of  his  descendants  are  Sen- 
ator Orville  C.  Piatt,  of  Connecticut,  and  ex- 
Senator  Thomas  C.  Piatt,  of  NewYork,and  the 
Piatt  family  who  founded  and  settled  Platts- 
burg,  New  York. 


FlYMAN  EDWARD  MONTGOM- 
ERY, one  of  the  leading  business  men 
of  Fort  Edward  and  Washington  county,  is  a 
son  of  Adelman  and  Elizabeth  (Richmond) 
Montgomery,  and  was  born  at  Middle  Falls, 
Washington  county,  New  York,  December  13, 
1863.  The  Montgomery's  are  of  Irish  des- 
cent and  Colonel  Robert  Montgomery,  who 
served  in  the  war  of  181 2,  was  the  paternal 
grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
Colonel  Montgomery  married,  and  one  of  his 
sons  was  Adelman  Montgomery  (father),  who 


followed  coopering  at  Greenwich,  this  State, 
and  Middle  Falls,  this  county,  for  many 
years.  He  is  a  man  of  good  business  ability 
and  has  held  several  local  offices.  A  republi- 
can and  Baptist,  he  has  been  trusted  alike  by 
his  party  and  his  church,  in  which  he  is  now 
serving  as  trustee.  He  married  Elizabeth 
Richmond  and  their  family  consists  of  two 
children,  a  son  and  a  daughter  :  Nellie,  wife 
of  George  Wells,  a  liveryman  and  bottler  of 
Fort  Edward,  and  Lyman  Edward. 

Lyman  E.  Montgomery  received  his  early 
education  at  the  hands  of  private  teachers, 
and  then  after  attending  the  Island  Grove 
school,  from  which  he  was  graduated,  he  en- 
tered Union  College  in  1882,  with  the  inten- 
tion of  fitting  himself  for  the  profession  of 
civil  engineering.  After  some  time  spent 
profitably  in  studying  at  Union  College,  his 
eyesight  became  so  impaired  as  to  compel  him 
to  leave  school  and  abandon  all  thought  of 
civil  engineering.  He  then  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  business  pursuits,  and  after  serving  for 
four  years  as  book-keeper  for  the  lumber  firm 
of  Sherman  &  Green,  of  Glens  Falls,  this 
State,  he  came  to  Fort  Edward  and  became  a 
partner  with  his  father  in  the  firm  of  A.  Mont- 
gomery &  Son.  In  1889  he  succeeded  his 
father  and  has  constantly  enlarged  his  busi- 
ness, until  now  it  is  the  largest  of  its  kind  in 
the  village,  if  not  in  the  county. 

Mr.  Montgomery  has  his  main  office  on  No- 
tre Dame  street  and  his  up-town  office  at  the 
corner  of  Broadway  and  Mill  streets.  He 
does  a  large  wholesale  and  retail  business  in 
coal,  wood,  salt,  flour,  feed  of  all  kinds  and 
lime  and  cement,  being  agent  for  the  finest 
kinds  of  cement,  plaster  and  fertilizers.  He 
also  does  a  very  large  produce  shipping  busi- 
ness to  the  Boston  and  New  York  markets  by 
the  canal  and  railroads.  He  employs  as 
high  as  fifteen  men  in  his  business,  which  is 
continually  increasing.  Mr.  Montgomery  is 
a  republican  politically.  He  is  vice-president 
of  the  Satterlee  Hose  Company,  and  in  many 
other  ways  is  useful  to  his  fellow  townsmen. 


286 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


HON.  NELSON  W.  VAN  DUSEN, 
a  prominent  and  well-known  citizen  of 
Glens  Falls,  was  born  at  West  Mountain,  in 
the  town  of  Queensbury,  Warren  county,  New 
York,  February  27,  1843,  and  is  a  son  of  Wil- 
liam and  Betsy  M.  (Ward)  Van  Dusen.  He 
was  reared  to  manhood  in  his  native  town 
and  was  principally  educated  at  the  Glens 
Falls  academy.  After  leaving  school  he  as- 
sisted his  step-father,  Zenas  Van  Dusen,  in 
the  lumber  business,  with  whom  he  remained 
up  till  within  a  short  time  before  the  latter's 
death,  when  the  business  was  sold  to  George 
H.  Freeman,  of  Troy. 

Mr.  Van  Dusen  is  one  of  the  leading  demo- 
crats of  the  town  of  Queensbury,  and  served 
as  supervisor  of  that  town  in  1881,  and  again 
in  1884;  in  1882  he  was  elected  to  the  State 
assembly,  where  he  bore  a  conspicuous  part 
in  the  proceedings  of  that  body.  In  1868 
he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Mary  A  ,  a 
daughter  of  Alfred  E.  Metcalf,  of  Worcester, 
Massachusetts  ;  to  their  union  has  been  born 
one  son,  Alfred  M. 

Mr.  Van  Dusen  is  a  member  of  the  Glens 
Falls  Masonic  Lodge,  No.  121,  Glens  Falls 
Chapter,  No.  44,  and  Washington  Comman- 
der}', No.  33,  Knights  Templar,  at  Saratoga 
Springs. 

William  Van  Dusen,  the  father  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  was  also  a  native  of  the 
town  of  Queensbury,  where  he  was  born  in 
the  year  1807;  and  in  1842  associated  with 
his  brother  Zenas,  engaged  in  the  general 
lumber  manufacturing  business,  their  mill  be- 
ing located  on  the  upper  Hudson,  at  the 
feeder  dam.  He  continued  business  here  up 
to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  Oc- 
tober 15,  1847.  William  Van  Dusen  was  a 
son  of  John  Van  Dusen,  who  was  born  in 
Dutchess  county,  New  York,  on  February  16, 
1775.  He  removed  when  a  young  man,  with 
his  brothers,  Robert,  David  and  Abraham,  to 
the  town  of  Queensbury,  where  they  became 
early  settlers  in  that  section.  They  were  all 
engaged  in  farming,  and  Robert  served  in  the 


war  of  181 2.  The  family  is  of  Holland 
Dutch  descent.  William  Van  Dusen  wedded 
Betsy  M.  Ward,  who  was  a  native  of  Vermont, 
where  she  was  born  October  29,  181 7,  and 
died  in  1881.  After  the  death  of  her  husband 
she  married  his  brother,  Zenas  Van  Dusen. 
The  latter  was  born  March  6,  1809,  and  died 
at  the  feeder  dam,  February  22,  1S89. 


COWARD  REED,  sheriff  of  Warren 
county,  was  born  in  the  county  of  Wash- 
ington, New  York,  July  11,  1857.  He  re- 
mained in  his  native  county  until  he  had 
reached  the  age  of  ten  years,  when  he  went 
to  live  in  the  village  of  Glens  Falls,  where  he 
has  ever  since  resided.  He  attended  the  p.ub-- 
lie  schools  of  the  village  until  he  was  fourteen 
years  old,  when  he  became  an  employe  in 
the  grocery  store  of  Peck  &  De  Long,  remain- 
ing with  them  for  one  year.  After  leaving 
their  employ  he  commenced  to  learn  the 
butcher  business,  which  he  followed  most  of 
the  time  up  to  the  year  1879.  In  this  year  he 
was  appointed  to  the  police  force  of  the  vil- 
lage, discharging  his  duties  in  a  most  satis- 
factory way  to  the  authorities  of  the  village 
until  1885,  when  he  was  appointed  deputy 
sheriff  of  Warren  county,  by  George  F.  Bry- 
ant. He  served  in  this  capacity  one  year  and 
a  half,  when  he  was  promoted  to  the  place  of 
under-sheriff,  where  he  remained  until  the 
expiration  of  Mr.  Bryant's  term.  Bryant  was 
succeeded  in  office  by  Joseph  B.  Mills,  who 
continued  Mr.  Reed  as  his  under-sheriff  dur- 
ing nearly  his  full  term.  In  the  fall  of  1891 
Mr.  Reed  was  elected  sheriff  of  the  county, 
as  the  regular  nominee  of  the  Republican 
part}',  for  the  term  of  three  years.  He  is  the 
present  incumbent  of  the  sheriff's  office,  and 
is  popular  with  the  people  and  conscientiously 
discharges  every  duty  imposed  upon  him. 

On  May  29,  1878,  Mr.  Reed  was  married  to 
Mary  E.,  a  daughter  of  David  Norton,  of 
Glens  Falls.  To  their  union  has  been  born 
one  child,  Nellie  E. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


287 


Edward  Reed  is  a  stockholder  in  the  Glens 
Falls  Printing  Company,  in  the  Merchants' 
National  bank,  the  Glens  Falls  Agricultural 
society,  and  the  Glens  Falls  Breeding  associa- 
tion. He  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  frater- 
nity and  of  the  Horricon  Lodge  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows  ;  also  the  Red 
Men  and  Elks.  Mr.  Reed  has  for  many  years 
been  actively  engaged  in  politics,  and  enjoys 
the  fullest  confidence  of  the  people  of  both 
parties.  He  has  been  the  architect  of  his 
own  fortune,  and  deserves  considerable  credit 
for  having  won  his  way  to  the  front. 


IA/ILLIA3I  H.  GAYGER,  an  old  and 

*  prominent  citizen  of  the  village  of  Glens 

Falls,  and  a  retired  business  man,  is  a  son  of 
Beverly  Gayger  and  Elizabeth  (Ray)  Gayger, 
and  was  born  in  Willsborough,  Essex  county, 
New  York,  October  i,  1815.  Beverly  Gayger 
was  a  native  of  Rensselaer  county,  and  when 
a  young  man  removed  from  there  to  Essex 
county,  where  he  resided  until  1843,  when  he 
came  with  his  family  to  Glens  Falls  and  lived 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1868,  in  the 
eighty-third  year  of  his  age.  He  was  a  black- 
smith and  farmer  by  trade  and  occupation,  a 
whig,  and  afterward  a  republican  in  politics  ; 
and  was  of  Holland  Dutch  descent.  He  wed- 
ded Elizabeth  Ray,  who  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Greenwich,  and  lived  to  be  eighty-four 
years  of  age. 

William  H.  Gayger  remained  in  his  native 
county  until  he  had  reached  manhood,  attend- 
ing the  common  schools  of  the  neighborhood 
until  at  the  age  of  twenty,  when  he  com- 
menced to  learn  the  trade  of  blacksmith  with 
his  father.  Remaining  there  but  a  short  time, 
he  went  to  Keesville,  in  Essex  county, 
where  he  worked  at  his  trade  for  one  year.  In 
the  spring  of  1S36  he  came  and  located  in 
Glens  Falls,  where  he  followed  his  trade  for 
five  years,  when  he  opened  out  in  the  manu- 
facture of  carriages,  which  business  he  car- 
ried on  very  successfully  for  twenty-five  years. 


Some  of  his  carriages  were  shipped  as  far 
west  as  California,  but  on  account  of  failing 
health,  at  the  end  of  this  time,  he  had  to  close 
out  his  business,  and  has  since  lived  practically 
a  retired  life.  At  present  Mr. Gayger  deals  to 
some  extent  in  real  estate. 

William  H.  Gayger  has,  for  the  past  thirty- 
five  years,  been  a  director  in  the  First  National 
bank  at  Glens  Falls,  which  is  one  of  the  safe 
and  solid  financial  institutions  in  northern  New 
York.  He  is  also  a  stockholder  in  the  Glens 
Falls  Insurance  company,  a  company  known 
throughout  the  United  States  as  one  of  the 
most  reliable  and  conservative  insurance  com- 
panies in  existence. 

In  1 841  Mr.  Gayger  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Julia  A.  Newman,  a  daughter  of  Lewis 
Newman,  of  Glens  Falls  ;  she  died  December 
25,  189b,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian church.  William  H.  Gayger  is  a  repub- 
lican in  his  political  opinion,  and  is  one  of  the 
conspicuous  self-made  men  of  the  flourishing 
and  beautiful  little  city  on  the  falls  of  the 
Hudson. 


FRANK LIX  T.  PEMBER,  who  has 
made  a  fortune  as  a  fur  dealer  and 
orange  grower,  and  is  widely  known  as  a 
naturalist,  is  a  native  of  Washington  county, 
and  has  his  summer  home  at  Granville.  He 
is  of  English  descent,  and  comes  of  a  family 
planted  in  America  two  centuries  ago.  His 
paternal  grandfather,  Frederick  Pember,  was 
a  native  of  Connecticut,  and  was  taken  by  his 
parents  when  only  seven  years  of  age  to  Rut- 
land county,  Vermont,  where  he  grew  to  man- 
hood and  received  such  education  as  was  af- 
forded by  the  country  schools  of  that  day. 
After  attaining  his  majority  he  engaged  in  farm- 
ing, and  spent  a  long  and  active  life  in  agricul- 
tural pursuits  in  his  -adopted  State,  dying  in 
Rutland  county  at  an  advanced  age.  One  of 
his  sons  was  Reuel  Pember,  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  who  was  born  in  Rutland  county, 
Vermont,  in  1811,  and  was  reared  and  educa- 
ted there.      In  1833  he  married  Maria  R.  Tan- 


288 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


ner,  a  native  of  Washington  county,  and  a 
daughter  of  Joseph  Tanner,  and  soon  after- 
ward removed  to  this  county,  and  settled  in 
the  town  of  Granville.  Here  he  engaged  in 
farming  and  dealing  in  cattle  and  horses,  which 
he  followed  successfully  for  many  years,  and 
here  he  continued  to  reside  until  his  death  in 
1873,  when  in  the  sixty-second  year  of  his  age. 
He  was  a  whig  and  republican  in  politics,  and 
during  his  more  active  years  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  political  affairs  of  his  locality.  For 
many  years  he  served  as  justice  of  the  peace 
in  the  town  of  Granville,  and  occupied  other 
positions  of  trust  and  responsibility.  He  was 
a  strict  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  and  was  always  active  in  support  of 
the  various  denominational  interests  of  that 
body.  By  his  marriage  to  Maria  R.  Tanner 
he  had  a  family  of  children.  Mrs.  Pember 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Granville  in  1S16,  and 
died  at  her  home  here  in  1892,  aged  seventy- 
six  years.  She  was  a  life-long  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church. 

Franklin  T.  Pember,  son  of  Reuel  and  Maria 
(Tanner)  Pember,  was  born  on  the  old  home- 
stead in  the  town  of  Granville,  Washington 
county,  New  York,  November  2d,  1841.  His 
boyhood  days  were  spent  on  the  farm  and  his 
primary  education  was  received  in  the  public 
schools,  after  which  he  took  a  preparatory 
course  of  study  with  a  view  to  entering  college, 
but  did  not  do  so.  Leaving  school  he  en- 
gaged in  farming  in  the  town  of  Granville,  and 
followed  that  occupation  until  1874.  In  con- 
nection with  his  farming  operations  he  also 
began  dealing  in  furs,  which  latter  business 
increased  in  importance  until  by  1874  it  had 
become  so  large  as  to  demand  his  whole  at- 
tention, and  he  abandoned  farming  and  re- 
moved to  New  York  city, where  he  gave  his  en- 
tire time  to  the  fur  trade  until  1S85,  purchas- 
ing furs  from  all  parts  of  the  United  States  and 
exporting  them  in  large  quantities  to  the 
European  markets. 

Having  been  extremely  successful  in  this 
line,  and  built  up  a  large  trade,  he  disposed  of 


the  business  in  the  fall  of  18S5  and  went  to 
southern  California,  where  he  purchased  a  large 
tract  of  land.  He  at  once  began  planting 
orange  groves,  and  has  also  sold  a  large  quan- 
tity of  land  to  other  parties  for  similar  pur- 
poses, and  at  a  handsome  profit.  He  now  has 
fifty  acres  of  orange  groves  at  Riverside,  some 
sixty  miles  south  of  Los  Angeles,  which  are 
now  all  in  bearing  condition.  These  groves 
form  one  of  the  most  valuable  properties  in 
that  section,  and  were  all  set  out  and  brought 
to  their  present  state  of  perfection  by  Mr.  Pem- 
ber, who,  together  with  his  wife,  spends  the 
winter  season  among  his  California  groves, 
though  he  passes  his  summers  principally  in 
New  York,  having  a  handsome  residence  at 
Granville,  which  has  always  been  his  home. 
In  addition  to  his  orange  groves  Mr.  Pember 
also  has  some  banking  interests  in  California, 
and  owns  considerable  property  in  the  oil  and 
gas  fields  of  Ohio.  He  has  crossed  the  United 
States  from  the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic  some 
eighteen  times,  beside  other  extensive  travel 
in  this  country,  and  in  1882  he  visited  Europe 
and  spent  several  months  in  sight- seeing 
through  the  principal  countries  and  capitals  of 
the  continent. 

From  his  earliest  years  Mr.  Pember  was  in- 
terested in  birds  and  animals,  and  has  become 
a  naturalist  of  considerable  note.  He  has  one 
of  the  finest  collections  of  birds  and  bird's 
eggs  to  be  found  in  America,  gathered  at  great 
expense  of  time  and  money  from  all  parts  of 
the  world.  The  eggs  range  all  the  way  from 
that  of  the  ostrich  to  the  smallest  humming- 
bird, and  in  addition  to  these  collections  he 
also  has  a  number  of  others,  pertaining  to  and 
illustrating  various  branches  of  natural  history. 

In  1868,  Mr.  Pember  was  married  to  Ellen 
J.  L.  Wood,  a  daughter  of  David  Wood,  of 
Granville.  He  is  a  republican  politically, and 
while  residing  on  the  farm  held  the  office  of 
justice  of  the  peace  for  several  years.  He  is  a 
member  and  trustee  of  the  Baptist  church  in 
Granville,  and  president  of  the  Mittowee  Val- 
ley Cemetery  association  of  this  place,  of  which 


V 


■J2*  *^ 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY 


291 


association  he  was  one  of  the  principal  organ- 
izers. He  is  also  treasurer  and  general  mana- 
ger of  the  Carver  Manufacturing  company,  a 
young  but  successful  corporation,  doing  busi- 
ness in  Granville,  New  York. 


f^HAKLES  LYON,  who  has  been  'the 
^^  architect  of  his  own  fortune  in  the  truest 
sense  of  that  term,  and  now  president  of  the 
People's  National  bank  of  Salem,  was  born 
in  the  village  of  Bennington,  Vermont,  Janu- 
ary 4,  1817.  He  is  a  son  of  Freman  and  La- 
visa  (Pease)  Lyon,  and  for  many  years  has 
been  widely  known  throughout  the  county  for 
his  remarkable  business  ability  and  integrity. 
His  father,  Freman  Lyon,  was  a  native  of 
Westminster,  Massachusetts,  who  in  early  life 
was  brought  by  his  parents  to  Bennington 
county,  Vermont,  where  he  lived,  and  died  in 
the  fall  of  1866,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven 
years.  A  prominent  farmer  of  his  county  and 
a  whig  in  politics,  he  represented  his  county 
in  the  legislature  of  his  adopted  State,  and 
several  years  served  as  justice  of  the  peace  of 
his  town.  Deacon  Seth  Lyon,  grandfather, 
was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  town  of  Peru, 
Bennington  county,  having  settled  there  from 
Massachusetts,  his  native  State.  He  was  one 
of  the  organizers  of  the  Congregational  church 
in  his  town,  and  upon  its  completion  he  and 
his  brother-in-law,  Thomas  Wyman,  were 
elected  and  served  as  first  deacons,  which  of- 
fice the  former  filled  for  about  forty  years. 
He  led  an  exemplary  christian  life,  and  was  a 
man  well  liked  and  highly  respected  by  all 
who  knew  him.  He  died  in  1844  at  Peru,  aged 
eighty-two  years.  The  Lyons  are  of  English 
extraction,  but  the  family  has  long  been  resi- 
dent of  this  country.  Mrs.  Lavisa  (Pease) 
Lyon  was  born  at  Weston,  Windsor  county, 
Vermont,  in  1786,  dying  in  1828,  aged  forty- 
two  years,  and  leaving  seven  children. 

Charles  Lyon  was,  at  the  death  of  his  mother, 
only  eleven  years  of  age.      His  father  being  in 


rather  limited  circumstances,  he  was  com- 
pelled at  that  early  age  to  begin  the  struggle 
of  life  alone.  For  about  nineteen  years  he 
worked  by  the  month  and  piece,  principally  in 
woolen  factories  at  Hoosic,  Salem  and  other 
points,  giving  his  earnings  to  his  father,  and 
at  the  age  of  nineteen  years  he  sent  his  father 
a  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  to  recompense  him 
for  the  time  until  he  would  come  of  age.  He 
attended  school  but  little  on  account  of  his 
early  struggles  against  poverty,  and  while  his 
educational  advantages  were  limited,  his  sub- 
sequent learning  came  from  the  great  school  of  a 
successful  business  career.  In  1848  he  branched 
out  into  the  business  world  for  himself,  engag- 
ing in  the  woolen  manufacturing  at  Rexlie, 
this  count}',  which  he  carried  on  for  about  ten 
years,  when  he  sold  it,  and  in  1858  bought  a 
woolen  mill  at  East  Salem,  where  he  had  for- 
merly worked  as  an  employe.  This  he  suc- 
cessfully conducted  until  1869,  when  this  mill 
changed  hands  and  he  purchased  the  mill  at 
Shushan,  changing  his  residence  to  that  place, 
removing  from  East  Salem  in  1870.  Here  he 
ran  this  mill  until  1885,  when  he  sold  it  out  to 
his  nephews.  In  1890,  to  secure  himself,  he 
foreclosed  the  mortgage  on  the  East  Salem 
mill,  and  has  ever  since  owned  and  conducted 
this  plant.  For  twenty  years  previous  to  his 
becoming  proprietor,  he  acted  in  the  capacity 
of  foreman  in  a  woolen  mill,  a  position  he 
held  up  to  the  time  he  went  into  business,  and 
in  his  own  mills  he  has  always  filled  that  position 
himself.  Some  seven  or  eight  years  ago  he 
was  elected  president  of  the  Peoples'  National 
bank  of  Salem,  and  owns  stock  in  other  banks 
and  a  great  deal  of  valuable  real  estate.  In 
politics  he  is  a  liberal  republican,  and  has 
often  been  solicited  by  his  friends  to  accept 
town  offices,  and  this  he  has  always  refused  to 
do  with  one  exception,  when  he  was  appointed 
to  fill  a  vacancy  in  the  office  of  supervisor  of 
his  town. 

Charles  Lyon  was  married  in  1861  to  Mrs. 
Susan  Abbie  (Burton)  Hatch,  of  Manchester, 
Vermont      He  has  been  a  total  abstainer  from 


292 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


the  use  of  tobacco  or  whisky  during  his  whole 
life  ;  liberal  to  the  worthy  poor  of  his  neigh- 
borhood, and  contributor  to  the  Methodist 
church. 


.TAMES  WOOD  CARVER,  a  success 
ful  business  man  and  well  known  inventor 
of  the  county  and  promoter  of  manufacturing 
enterprises,  was  born  in  the  Town  of  Pawlet, 
Rutland  county,  Vermont,  November  26,  1858 
and  is  a  son  of  Chester  L.  Carver  and  Emeline 
(George)  Carver.  Chester  L.  Carver  was  a 
native  of  the  same  place  and  resided  in  that 
town  during  his  entire  life,  his  death  occurring 
in  the  sixty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  in  1863.  He 
followed  the  occupation  of  a  farmer,  and  at 
one  time  of  his  life  was  considered  a  very 
wealthy  man.  He  was  a  son  of  Nathaniel 
Carver,  who  was  a  native  of  the  State  of  Con- 
necticut, removing  from  Canterbury,  in  that 
State,  in  1780,  to  the  State  of  Vermont,  set- 
tling on  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Pawlet,  in  Ver- 
mont, where  he  resided  up  to  the  time  of  his 
death,  in  1805,  in  the  fifty-second  year  of  his 
age.  The  Carvers  are  of  English  descent,  and 
the  progenitor  and  founder  of  the  family  in 
this  country  was  John  Carver,  who  was  at 
one  time  Governor  of  Massachusetts.  In 
company  with  him,  in  his  voyage  over,  were 
two  of  his  brothers,  from  one  of  whom  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  has  descended. 

Chester  L.  Carver  wedded  Emeline  George, 
who  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  is  now  a 
resident  of  Pawlet,  and  is  in  the  seventy-first 
year  of  her  age. 

James  Wood  Carver  grew  up  in  his  native 
town  of  Pawlet,  on  the  farm,  and  after  reach- 
ing manhood  continued  on  the  farm  up  to 
1886,  since  which  time  he  has  been  devoting 
his  entire  attention  to  invention,  and  has  at 
the  present  time  two  hundred  and  thirty  in- 
ventions gotten  out  wholly  by  himself,  and  has 
had  issued  to  him  patents  from  the  different 
governments  on  a  great  many  of  them.  When 
the  Carver  Manufacturing  company  was  or- 
ganized in  1892,  he  was  elected  vice-president, 


but  he  has  since  sold  his  patents  that  this 
company  was  interested  in,  to  his  brother, 
George  H.  Carver,  the  sale  including  only 
patents  prior  to  June  4,  1891.  Mr.  Carver  is 
now  industriously  engaged  in  manufacturing 
in  Granville,  New  York,  of  farm  implements, 
fire  arms,  etc.  Nathaniel  Carver  (grand- 
father), reared  a  family  of  seven  children: 
John,  Betsy,  David,  Chester  L.,  Lucy,  Lydia 
and  Olivia. 

James  W.  Carver  in  1882  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Fannie  W.  Soullard,  of  Pawlet, 
Vermont.  To  them  has  been  born  three  sons, 
Chester  E.,  Merritt  and  Hascall;  the  two  last 
named  have  died.  Chester  E.  is  also  an  in- 
ventor and  has  several  valuable  patents,  and 
is  only  twelve  years  of  age  on  July  4th,  1894. 
Mr.  Carver  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
church,  and  in  his  political  belief  endorses  the 
principles  of  government  advocated  by  the  Re- 
publican party.  As  an  inventor  Mr.  Carver 
ranks  high,  and  is  destined  to  be  classed 
among  the  leading  inventors  of  his  day. 


HUGH  H.  WALLACE,  a  successful 
young  merchant  of  Greenwich,  and  who 
is  prominently  identified  with  the  business  in- 
terests of  that  village,  was  born  in  Count}' 
Down,  Ireland,  February  10,  1864,  and  is  a 
son  of  Hugh  and  Elizabeth  Frances  (Hunter) 
Wallace.  (For  facts  pertaining  to  ancestry, 
see  sketch  of  brother,  James  W.  Wallace.) 
He  was  educated  in  the  National  schools  of 
his  native  county,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
went  to  Staffordshire,  England,  where  he  ap- 
plied his  time  in  learning  civil  engineering 
under  the  tutelage  of  the  royal  engineers, 
where  he  remained  for  one  year.  At  the  end 
of  that  time,  owing  to  an  accident  which  hap- 
pened him,  he  was  unable  to  longer  pursue 
his  work,  so  he  returned  to  County  Down, 
where  he  accepted  a  clerkship  with  a  mercan- 
tile firm.  He  remained  in  that  capacity  for 
two  years,  when,  in  1883,  he  came  to  this 
country  and   located   in   the  village  of  Green- 


BIOGBAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


293 


wich,  where  he  was  first  engaged  as  a  book- 
keeper for  the  Dunbarton  Flax  Spinning  com- 
pany. He  remained  as  a  book-keeper  for  that 
company  until  1885,  when  he  associated  with 
his  brother,  J.  H.,  opened  a  dry  goods  store 
at  number  71  Main  street,  under  the  firm  name 
of  J.  H.  Wallace  &  Company,  where  they 
carry  a  full  line  of  dry  goods  and  all  other  ar- 
ticles found  in  a  first-class  store  of  the  kind. 
In  addition  to  their  Greenwich  stand,  they 
own  one  at  West  Hebron.  Hugh  H.  Wallace 
is  a  member  of  the  First  United  Presbyterian 
church,  and  is  a  prohibitionist  in  his  political 
belief.  Mr.  Wallace  is  a  young  man  of  intel- 
ligence and  energy,  and  has  taken  an  active 
part  in  promoting  the  best  interest  of  his 
town,  as  well  as  devoting  his  best  endeavors 
to  the  permanent  establishment  and  success- 
ful prosecution  of  his  mercantile  enterprises. 


ORNEST  T.  HORTON,  M.  D.,  a  lead 
ing  homeopathic  physician  at  Whitehall 
since  1882,  is  a  son  of  Dr.  A.  E.  and  Ellen 
(French)  Horton,  and  was  born  at  Mount 
Holly,  Rutland  county,  Vermont,  June  28, 
1858.  Dr.  A.  E.  Horton  was  a  native  of  the 
same  place,  and  was  a  graduate  of  the  medi- 
cal department  of  the  university  of  Vermont, 
at  Burlington.  Since  1864  he  has  been  prac- 
ticing his  profession  at  Poultney,  Vermont. 
He  was  born  in  1835,  and  was  at  one  time 
president  of  the  Vermont  State  Homeopathic 
Medical  society.  His  father  was  Alva  Horton, 
who  was  also  born  at  Mount  Holly,  and  now 
resides  at  Clarendon,  in  Rutland  county,  and 
is  in  the  eighty-second  year  of  his  age.  For 
many  years  he  was  engaged  as  a  lumber  mer- 
chant. The  Hortons  are  of  English  descent. 
Some  four  or  five  generations  of  them  have 
resided  in  Rutland  county  ;  the  first  of  the 
name  to  settle  in  Vermont  came  from  Massa- 
chusetts. 

Dr.  Ernest  T.  Horton  was  reared  at  Poult- 
ney, Vermont,  receiving  his  education  princi- 
pally at  the  public  schools   and    Saint   John's 


parish  school,  of  that  village;  the  latter  is  an 
Episcopalian  institution  taught  by  Rev.  E.  H. 
Randall.  Choosing  the  medical  profession  as 
his  life's  vocation,  after  leaving  school  Dr. 
Horton  commenced  reading  medicine  with 
his  father,  and  after  pursuing  the  regular 
course  of  study  he  entered  the  New  York 
City  Homeopathic  Medical  college,  from 
which  well-known  institution  he  was  gradu- 
ated in  the  class  of  1881,  when  immediately 
thereafter  he  located  at  Sandy  Hill,  where  he 
practiced  up  to  the  fall  of  1882,  removing 
thence  to  Whitehall,  and  has  continued  to 
practice  there  with  brilliant  success  ever  since. 
In  1882  Dr.  Horton  wedded  Cornelia,  a 
daughter  of  L.  J.  Eddy,  of  Rutland, Vermont. 
To  them  have  been  born  two  children  :  Mil- 
dred and  Gertrude. 


JDODNEY    VAN  WORMER   clerk  of 

T  Washington  county,  and  one  of  the  coun- 
ty's most  popular  citizens,  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Fort  Ann,  Washington  county,  New 
York,  December  9,  1850.  [For  family  history 
see  sketch  of  brother,  F.  M.  Van  Wormer,  of 
Sandy  Hill.] 

Rodney  Van  Wormer  grew  to  manhood  in 
his  native  town,  where  he  attended  the  com- 
mon and  select  schools  of  the  neighborhood. 
Leaving  school  he  soon  became  a  student  in 
the  law  office  of  Silas  P.  Pike,  of  Fort  Ann, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1882.  From 
his  admission  up  to  1SS9  he  was  actively  and 
successfully  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law  at 
Fort  Ann.  In  the  fall  of  18S8  he  was  elected 
to  the  office  of  county  clerk  for  a  term  of  three 
years,  taking  charge  of  the  same  January  1, 
1S89.  At  the  expiration  of  his  term  it  was 
through  his  popularity  and  efficiency  as  a 
county  official  that  he  was  re-nominated  by  ac- 
clamation and  re-elected  to  the  same  office  in 
the  fall  of  1892,  and  again  re-nominated  by  ac- 
clamation in  1894,  which  assures  his  re-elec- 
tion for  a  third  term. 

In    1871    Mr.    Van   Wormer  was    united    in 


294 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


marriage  to  Cornelia  L.,  a  daughter  of  Samuel 
and  Emma  Lamb,  of  Fort  Ann.  To  their 
union  has  been  born  one  child,  a  daughter, 
Letta  A.,  who  graduated  from  the  Fort  Ed- 
ward Collegiate  institute,  class  of  1894. 

Rodney  VanWormer  belongs  to  the  Masonic 
fraternity  and  is  a  member  of  Mount  Hope 
Lodge,  No.  260,  of  Fort  Ann.  He  is  a  stanch 
republican  and  an  active  and  effective  worker 
in  the  ranks  of  the  Republican  party. 


7jMlLLIAM  II.  POWELL,  a  retired 
^■J~*  merchant  of  Philadelphia,  and  a  man 
of  varied  business  experience  now  residing  in 
the  town  of  South  Hartford,  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Hartford,  Washington  county,  New 
York,  September  13-,  1822,  and  is  a  son  of  John 
and  Phoebe  Powell. 

John  Powell  was  a  native  of  the  town  of 
Hartford  and  was  one  of  the  town's  thrifty 
farmers  during  his  active  business  life.  His 
death  occurred  in  1856,  aged  fifty-eight  years. 
He  was  a  consistent  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian church,  and  a  whig  in  his  political 
principles.  He  started  to  the  war  of  1812, 
but  before  seeing  any  active  service  peace  was 
declared.  He  was  a  son  of  Thomas  Powell, 
who  was  a  native  of  Wales,  and  who  came  to 
the  United  States  when  a  young  man,  locating 
in  the  town  of  Hoosick,  Rensselear  county, 
New  York.  Of  this  town  he  was  one  of  the 
early  settlers,  taking  up  a  farm  on  which  he  re- 
sided until  he  met  his  death  by  accident,  at  the 
age  of  forty  years,  by  being  thrown  from  his 
wagon. 

Phoebe  was  born  in  the  town  of  Hebron 
in  1800,  and  died  in  1877.  She  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church. 

William  H.  Powell  grew  up  on  the  farm  and 
received  his  education  in  the  common  schools 
of  the  neighborhood.  In  1844  he  wedded 
Louisa,  daughter  of  Israel  McConnell,  of  He- 
bron. For  three  years  after  his  marriage  Mr. 
Powell  continued  to  farm  and  trade  in  live 
stock.      In  1848  he  went  to  the  State  of  Wis- 


consin, where  he  was  engaged  in  mercantile 
pursuits,  farming  and  lumbering  until  1852, 
when  he  went  to  California,  where  for  one 
year  he  was  engaged  in  meat  marketing  and 
buying  and  selling  cattle.  In  1853  he  removed 
to  New  York  city,  where  he  branched  out  in 
the  fruit  and  produce  business  at  which  he 
successfully  continued  up  to  1862,  when  he 
went  to  Philadelphia.  Here  he  carried  on  the 
same  line  doing  a  large  wholesale  business, 
also  buying  and  selling  fish  in  large  quantities, 
and  continued  to  reside  in  Philadelphia  up  to 
May,  1890,  covering  a  period  of  twenty-eight 
years  of  an  active  and  successful  business  ca- 
reer in  that  city.  In  that  year  he  returned  to 
South  Hartford  where  he  has  since  lived  re- 
tired, owning  one  of  the  most  beautiful  homes 
in  that  section  of  the  county. 

William  H.  Powell  is  a  Mason,  belonging 
to  Atlas  Lodge,  No.  116,  of  New  York  city, 
joining  this  lodge  some  forty  years  ago.  He 
is  a  stanch  democrat.  His  wife  is  a  member 
of  the  Universalist  church  of  Hartford,  and 
is  a  lady  of  many  accomplishments. 


r^IIARLES  H.  BUCK,  editor  of  the 
^^  Glens  Falls  Republican,  one  of  the  influ- 
ential democratic  organs  of  northern  New 
York,  was  born  at  Troy,  Bradford  county, 
Pennsylvania,  February  18,  1853,  and  is  a  son 
of  William  Russell  and  Betsy  C.  (Leonard) 
Buck. 

William  Russell  Buck  was  a  native  of  the 
same  State,  being  born  at  Ridgebury,  March  7, 
1819,  and  was  for  many  years  proprietor  and 
manager  of  a  large  tannery  at  Wellsboro,  on 
the  Chemung  river,  in  his  native  State.  Sub- 
sequently he  removed  to  Troy,  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  purchased  a  farm,  on  which  he  re- 
sided up  to  his  death,  on  January  5,  1889. 
He  was  a  leading  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  and  for  two  terms  served 
as  postmaster  of  East  Troy,  under  President 
Grant.  He  was  a  stanch  republican,  and  a 
member  in  good  standing  of  the  Independent 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTOR  Y 


295 


Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  His  wife  was  Betsy 
C.  Leonard,  who  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
being  born  at  Springfield,  Bradford  county, 
May  1 8,  1824,  and  died  August  3,  1887. 
Her  parents  settled  in  Bradford  county,  from 
Springfield,  Massachusetts.  The  Buck  family 
is  of  English  and  Scotch  origin. 

Charles  H.  Buck  was  reared  to  manhood  in 
his  native  village,  and  after  completing  his 
academical  education  entered  the  office  of  the 
Northern  Tier  Gazette,  of  that  village,  and 
three  years  later  became  foreman  of  the  office. 
And  after  leaving  there  did  reportorial  work- 
on  the  Williamsport  News  and  the  Lockhaven 
Record.  In  1876  Mr.  Buck  went  to  Buffalo, 
New  York,  where  he  accepted  the  place  as 
assistant  proof  reader  on  the  Buffalo  Commer- 
cial Advertiser,  and  in  1879  he  went  to  Yonkers, 
New  York,  and  did  general  work  on  the 
Yonkers  Gazette,  remaining  there  until  1887, 
when,  at  the  death  of  W.  A.  Wilkins,  editor 
of  the  Whitehall  Times,  Mr.  Buck  was  called 
to  that  village  to  take  charge  of  that  paper  as 
editor  and  manager.  He  remained  here  until 
September  1,  1888,  when  he  moved  to  the 
village  of  Glens  Falls  and  purchased  the 
Glens  Falls  Republican.  This  plant  is  the 
oldest  in  the  county,  being  a  weekly  sheet, 
and  is  thoroughly  democratic  in  principle,  and 
is  the  only  one  in  Warren  count)'.  .The  paper 
is  ably  edited  and  has  a  splendid  job  work 
department.  In  his  political  tenets  Mr.  Buck- 
is  a  consistent  democrat,  and  in  the  session 
of  r.892  and  1893  he  was  postmaster  in  the 
State  senate. 

In  October,  1883,  Charles  H.  Buck  was 
wedded  to  Anna  L.,  a  daughter  of  David 
Wiggins,  ex-postmaster  of  Greenport,  Suffolk 
county,  New  York.  To  their  marriage  have 
been  born  one  son,  Leonard  H.,  and  one 
daughter,  Beatrice  E. 


ROBINS  M.  WITHERBEE,  of  White 
\      hall,    and    a  leading  wholesale  and   re- 
tail    merchant     of    Washington     count)'     and 
18 


northern  New  York,  is  a  son  of  Waldron 
S.  and  Paulina  (Guilford)  Witherbee,  and 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Dresden,  Wash- 
ington county,  New  York,  November  16, 
1843.  Waldron  S.  Witherbee  was  a  native 
of  Connecticut,  who  came  into  this  county 
in  1818,  and  one  year  later  settled  in  the 
town  of  Dresden,  where  he  resided  up  to 
his  death,  which  occurred  in  1883,  in  the 
eighty -first  year  of  his  age.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Baptist  church  of  Dresden,  a  farmer 
by  occupation  and  a  republican  in  political 
opinion.  His  father  was  David  Witherbee, 
who  was  a  native  of  Maine  and  a  soldier  in  the 
war  of  1812.  His  death  occurred  in  Oswego 
county,  New  York,  where  he  had  resided  for 
many  years  previous  to  his  death.  The  fam- 
ily is  of  English  extraction.,  and  was  planted 
in  this  country  in  about  the  year  1620.  Wal- 
dron S.  Witherbee  married  Paulina  Guilford, 
who  was  a  native  of  Hampton,  this  county,  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  church,  and  died  in 
1876,  aged  sixty-six  years. 

Robins  M.  Witherbee  remained  on  the 
farm  in  his  native  town  until  he  had  reached 
the  age  of  seventeen  years,  receiving  his  edu- 
cation in  the  common  schools  of  the  neighbor- 
hood. On  September  2,  1861,  at  the  age  of 
seventeen,  he  enlisted  in  Company  A,  87th  New 
York  State  volunteer  regiment,  as  a  private, 
and  after  serving  for  one  year  was  discharged 
at  Philadelphia  on  account  of  disability.  He 
then  returned  home,  and  soon  went  to  Orwell, 
Vermont,  where  he  worked  for  one  year  and 
a  half  at  ship-  and  boat-building,  when  at  the 
end  of  that  time  he  accepted  a  position  as  a 
deck  hand  on  a  canal  boat,  in  which  capacity 
he  remained  for  three  seasons.  At  the  expira- 
tion of  this  time  he  purchased  a  canal  boat, 
and  was  successfully  engaged  in  canal  boating 
from  Canada  to  New  York  city  up  to  the  fall 
of  1872.  In  the  winter  of  the  same  year  he 
became  incapacitated  for  work  of  any  descrip- 
tion on  account  of  weak  eyes,  and  for  sixteen 
months  did  nothing.  On  February  26,  1874, 
he  bought   the   grocery   store   of   George   M. 


296 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Chubb,  of  Whitehall,  located  in  the  Polley 
block,  which  he  conducted  up  to  1881,  when 
he  removed  his  stock  of  goods  to  the  Dayton 
block,  where  he  added  a  separate  department 
of  clothing,  boots  and  shoes.  In  1885  he  pur- 
chased the  Grand  Union  Hotel  building,  and 
immediately  converted  it  into  a  store  room,  re- 
moving his  stock  of  goods  there  on  February 
1,  1886,  and  on  February  26  of  the  same  year 
the  building,  including  the  stock,  was  burned 
to  the  ground,  with  no  insurance,  and  in  addi- 
tion to  the  loss  of  the  building,  the  stock  of 
goods  was  valued  at  nineteen  thousand  dol- 
lars. He  immediately  rebuilt,  and  now  keeps 
the  largest  stock  of  groceries,  clothing,  boots 
and  shoes  of  any  firm  of  the  kind  in  White- 
hall or  in  the  entire  county.  He  does  consid- 
erable jobbing  business,  occupying  two  store 
rooms,  the  main  one  being  three  stories  high 
and  each  floor  filled  with  merchandise.  Mr. 
Witherbee  also  controls  one  of  the  leading 
meat  markets  of  the  village,  and  in  1882,  when 
the  Whitehall  grist  mill  company  was  formed, 
he  was  made  president  and  manager  of  the 
company,  which  position  he  held  for  several 
years.  In  September,  1890,  associated  with 
his  son-in-law,  he  bought  the  entire  stock  of 
this  company,  and  still  owns  and  manages  it. 
For  the  past  ten  years  he  has  been  extensively 
engaged  in  building  canal  boats,  and  owns 
several  boats  that  run  from  Canada  to  New 
York. 

In  1879  Mr.  Witherbee  was  married  to  Mary 
L.,  a  daughter  of  Daniel  McLaughlin,  who 
was  a  native  of  Wisconsin,  but  her  parents 
were  from  the  town  of  Putnam,  this  county. 
To  their  marriage  were  born  three  children, 
a  son  and  two  daughters:  Minnie  E.,  born 
December  14,  1871,  who  is  the  wife  of  Emmet 
J.  Gray;  Clayton  R.,  born  May  17,  1873, 
and  Ada  J.,  born  November  22,  1876,  died 
February  28,  1880. 

Robins  M.  Witherbee  is  a  member  of 
Phoenix  Lodge  of  Masons,  and  also  of  Cham- 
plain  Chapter.  He  is  a  member  of  Whitehall 
Lodge,    No.    5,    Independent    Order   of    Odd 


Fellows  and  Whitehall  Encampment,  No.  69. 
On  political  questions  Mr.  Witherbee  has 
always  been  a  stanch  republican,  but  has  been 
too  thoroughly  a  business  man  to  ever  seek  or 
hold  office.  He  is,  pre-eminently,  a  self-made 
man.  Starting  out  in  life  poor,  he  has,  through 
abundant  energy  and  self  confidence,  won  his 
way  to  wealth  and  affluence.  His  career  in 
the  mercantile  world  is  seldom  equalled,  con- 
sidering the  obstacles  he  has  had  to  overcome. 


rjEORtiE    SATTERLEE,  one   of    the 

^^  oldest  citizens  and  a  prominent  business 
man  of  Fort  Edward  for  nearly  half  a  cen- 
tury, is  a  son  of  Squire  William  H.  and  Ruth 
(Cady)  Satterlee,  and  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Ballston,  Saratoga  county,  New  York,  March 
12.  1S20.  The  Satterlee  family  is  from  Sat- 
terlee Parish,  Suffolk  county,  England, where 
its  coat  of  arms  was  a  stork  on  a  broad,  white 
band,  surrounded  by  buckles  and  arrows,  in- 
dicating fidelity  and  knighthood  attained  by 
military  service,  while  the  motto  was  Semper 
Fidelis,  meaning  always  faithful. 

Mr.  Satterlee's  paternal  grandfather,  with 
two  of  his  brothers,  came  to  Stonington,  Con- 
necticut, which  he  soon  left  to  purchase 
land  in  the  town  of  Ballston,  where  he  died 
in  1828,  aged  seventy-eight  years.  He  was  of 
Puritan  stock,  and  a  Baptist,  married  and  had 
eleven  children:  John,  Samuel,  Edward  R., 
Squire  William  H.,  Douglas,  George  C,  Val- 
entine, James,  Elizabeth,  Lucy  Tracy  and 
Sophia.  Squire  William  H.  Satterlee  (father) 
was  born  at  Ballston;  Saratoga  county,  New 
York,  and  died  at  Burnt  Hills,  the  same 
county,  in  1846,  aged  fifty-eight  years.  He 
served  in  the  war  of  1812,  was  engaged  in 
farming, canal  contracting  and  merchandizing, 
and  did  a  large  amount  of  legal  work  of  various 
kinds.  He  was  a  Baptist  and  a  democrat, and 
served  as  postmaster  at  Burnt  Hills,  beside 
acting  as  clerk  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  his 
church,  and  taking  part  in  every  public  move- 
ment in  his  neighborhood. 


BIOO Rjl U'JIY  A ND  HISTi )BY 


297 


He  married  Ruth  Cad),  daughter  of  Asa 
Cady,  of  near  Amsterdam,  New  York,  and  to 
their  union  were  born  four  children  :  William 
and  Angelina,  who  died  in  infancy  ;  Eliza,  who 
married  J.  Oakley  Nodyne,  of  Plainfield,  New 
Jersey,  and  died  Christmas,  i Sg i  ;  and 
George,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

George  Satterlee  was  born  at  Burnt  Hills, 
Saratoga,  where  he  attended  school  until  he 
was  fourteen  years  of  age.  He  then  became 
clerk  in  a  New  York  city  store,  and  after  it 
was  burned  returned  home  and  was  succes- 
sively engaged  as  a  clerk  in  his  father's  store, 
in  speculating,  as  a  deputy  clerk  in  the  county 
clerk's  office,  and  as  a  collector  of  tolls  on  the 
Champlain  canal,  at  Schuylerville,  New  York. 

In  1848  he  came  from  Schuylerville  to  Fort 
Edward,  where  he  was  first  engaged  in  the 
livery  business  and  running  a  stage  line.  He 
was  afterward  employed  in  the  First  National 
bank  of  Fort  Edward,  next  served  as  store 
keeper  for  Sing  Sing  prison,  and  then  engaged 
in  the  pottery  business,  which  he  followed  up 
to  1891.  In  that  year  Mr.  Satterlee  retired 
from  the  pottery  business  and  accepted  his 
present  position  as  general  foreman  of  Cham- 
plain  canal.  He  is  an  active  democrat  and  a 
useful  member  of  Fort  Edward  Presbyterian 
congregation,  which  he  helped  to  found.  Mr.- 
Satterlee  has  also  been  active  in  other  fields 
beside  those  in  which  his  business  enterprises 
have  called  him.  He  was  secretary  for  twelve 
and  marshal  for  eight  years  of  the  Washington 
County  Agricultural  society, during  which  time 
he  was  instrumental  in  giving  one  of  the  best 
fairs  in  the  State.  He  conducted  the  Empire 
hotel,  at  Syracuse,  New  York,  for  three  years, 
served  as  supervisor  of  his  town  and  as  pres- 
ident of  his  village  for  several  terms,  and  was 
collector  of  tolls  at  Fort  Edward  for  some 
time.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Royal  Arcanum 
and  Fort  Edward  Masonic  Lodge,  which  he 
helped  to  institute,  and  of  which  he  is  the 
oldest  living  member. 

On  January  12,  1841,  Mr.  Satterlee  married 
Mary  J.  Davidson,  of  Scotch  Bush,  Saratoga 


county.  To  their  union  were  born  four  chil- 
dren :  Margaret  D.,  wife  of  A.  J.  Russell,  a 
hotel  proprietor  of  Albany  county,  New  York  ; 
Anna,  widow  of  S.  W.  McCoy,  who  was  a 
jeweler  ;  George  W.,  who  wedded  Jennie 
Thomas,  and  died  October  16,  1892,  leaving 
three  children  ;  and  Josephine,  widow  of  My- 
ron G.  Patten,  and  who  now  resides  with  her 
father. 


wj  AMES  <).  LilVAKE,  treasurer  of  Wash- 
ington county,  and  veteran  of  the  Civil 
war,  is  the  eldest  surviving  son  of  Louis  and 
Abigail  (Wicker)  LaVake,  and  a  native  of  Cas- 
tleton,  Vermont,  where  he  was  born  March  14, 
1844.  The  LaYakes  are  of  French  extraction, 
as  the  name  would  indicate,  and  the  family 
was  planted  in  America  by  John  LaVake,  pa- 
ternal grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
who  was  exiled  from  his  native  France  on  ac- 
count of  his  republican  principles.  He  came 
and  settled  at  Northampton,  Massachussetts, 
where  he  died  at  an  early  age,  leaving  one  son, 
Louis  LaVake  (father),  who  was  born  at  North- 
ampton in  1S10,  and  was  reared  and  educated 
in  that  State.  Louis  LaVake  inherited  great 
musical  talent,  and  became  a  professor  in  that 
art.  In  1842  he  removed  to  Castleton,  Ver- 
mont, where  he  remained  for  several  years 
and  won  a  reputation  as  one  of  the  finest 
singers  in  that  section.  He  also  composed 
and  published  several  pieces  of  music,  which 
became  quite  popular  at  the  time.  In  1858  he 
was  called  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  to  take  charge 
of  a  large  musical  association  in  that  city, 
where  he  remained  for  a  number  of  years,  en- 
gaged in  various  enterprises.  Later  he  re- 
moved to  Troy,  that  State,  where  he  resumed 
his  profession,  and  afterward  went  to  Massillon, 
Ohio,  where  he  taught  music  until  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  Civil  war.  He  was  then  ap- 
pointed to  the  position  of  post  adjutant  at  Cin- 
cinnati, and  served  as  such  until  his  death  in 
that  city,  November  3,  1862,  when  in  the  fifty- 
second  year  of  his  age.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and  of 


298 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  in  which  he 
always  had  charge  of  the  music.  During  his 
residence  in  Cincinnati,  he  also  had  charge  of 
all  the  musical  conventions  of  the  different 
churches.  On  June  21,  1 841,  he  married  Abi- 
gail Wicker,  daughter  of  Lemuel  and  Sarah 
Wicker,  of  Ferrisburg,  Vermont,  and  by  that 
union  had  a  family  of  five  sons:  William  K., 
who  was  for  some  time  clerk  in  the  wholesale 
millinery  house  of  James  G.  Johnson  &  Co., 
on  Broadway,  New  York,  in  which  city  he  died 
March  31,  1893;  James  O. ;  Louis,  a  ranch 
owner  in  Idaho;  Charles  S.,  a  member  of  the 
millinery  firm  of  James  G.  Johnson  &  Co.,  of 
the  city  of  New  York,  and  Walter  H.,  a 
Methodist  minister,  now  stationed  in  southern 
California.  Mrs.  LaVake  died  in  1853,  July 
6,  aged  twenty-eight  years. 

James  O.  LaVake  was  principally  reared  in 
Ohio,  and  obtained  his  education  in  the  public 
and  private  schools  of  Massillon,  that  State. 
On  September  10,  1861,  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen, he  enlisted  in  Co.  A,  19th  Ohio  infantry, 
under  command  of  Capt.  Charles  F.  Mander- 
son,now  United  States  senator  from  Nebraska. 
On  January  1,  1862,  he  re-enlisted  in  the  field 
as  a  veteran,  at  Flat  Creek,  Tennessee.  He 
participated  in  the  battles  of  Shiloh,  Murfrees- 
boro,  Chickamauga,  and  Chattanooga.  He 
also  took  part  in  the  siege  of  Chattanooga, 
was  present  at  the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge, 
and  was  with  Sherman  in  his  march  to  the  sea. 
Other  battles  in  which  he  was  engaged  were 
those  of  Lovejoy's  Station,  Franklin,  and 
Nashville.  Later  he  was  sent  to  Texas  with 
the  third  division  of  the  fourth  army  corps, 
and  was  mustered  out  in  that  State  October  16, 
1865.  Soon  after  Mr.  LaVake  came  to  Wash- 
ington county,  New  York,  and  entered  the  em- 
ploy of  the  Greenwich  Boot  and  Shoe  Manu- 
facturing company,  with  whom  he  remained 
one  year.  The  factory  was  then  sold  to  H.  E. 
Weed,  of  Troy,  and  the  firm  name  became 
Weed,  Hascall  &  Co.  Mr.  LaVake  remained 
with  the  latter  firm  for  a  period  of  twelve  years. 
After  leaving  the  factory  he  became  traveling 


salesman  for  a  wholesale  shoe  house  in  New 
York  city,  and  has  successfully  continued  that 
business  more  or  less  to  the  present  time.  In 
the  fall  of  1887  Mr.  LaVake  was  elected  treas- 
urer of  Washington  county,  and  has  held  that 
office  ever  since.  He  also  owns  a  stock  farm 
in  Greenwich,  where  he  raises  blooded  horses 
and  cattle. 

On  January  17,  1872,  Mr.  LaVake  was 
married  to  Sarah  G.  Mowry,  a  daughter  of 
William  Mowry,  of  the  village  of  Greenwich. 
To  their  union  were  born  three  children  :  Elise, 
LeRoy  and  Abbie  C.  Elise  was  graduated 
from  the  Metropolitan  academy  of  music  of 
New  York  city.  Mr.  LaVake  is  a  republican 
in  politics,  and  by  that  party  was  elected  to 
his  present  office  of  treasurer  of  Washington 
county.  He  is  a  member  of  Mount  Zion 
Lodge,  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  and  of  the 
Reformed  church  of  Greenwich,  in  the  musi- 
cal services  of  which  he  still  takes  an  active 
part.  He  is  also  treasurer  of  the  Consolidated 
Electric  company  of  Greenwich,  and  a  direc- 
tor in  the  Greenwich  Water  company,  and  in 
the  Greenwich  &  Johnsonville  Railroad  com- 
pany.   

J  WARREN  GRAY,  an  old  and  highly 
*  respected  citizen  and  farmer  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Granville,  who  has  long  been  in  inde- 
pendent circumstances,  and  is  widely  known 
and  universally  esteemed  for  his  many  excel- 
lent traits  of  character,  is  a  son  of  John  and 
Dilly  (Caswell)  Gray,  and  was  born  January 
31,  1830,  at  Middletown,  Vermont.  The 
family  was  planted  in  America  long  prior  to 
the  Revolutionary  war,  in  which  David  Gray, 
paternal  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  actively  participated  and  personally 
underwent  many  of  the  privations  which  helped 
to  make  that  struggle  famous  in  history.  He 
was  born  in  Putnam  county,  New  York,  in 
1757,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life  removed 
to  New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey,  where  he 
died  at  an  advanced  age.  One  of  his  sons 
was  John  Gray  (father),  who  was  a  native  of 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


301 


Middletown,  Vermont,  where  he  lived  until 
1849.  In  that  year  he  removed  to  Saratoga 
county,  and  continued  to  reside  in  that  county 
until  his  death,  in  1874,  when  in  the  seventy- 
fourth  year  of  his  age,  having  been  born  dur- 
ing the  first  year  of  the  present  century.  Dur- 
ing the  early  part  of  his  life  he  was  employed 
in  the  woolen  mills  of  Vermont,  but  afterward 
turned  his  attention  to  farming  and  spent  the 
remainder  of  his  life  in  agricultural  pursuits. 
Politically  he  was  a  whig  and  republican,  and 
in  religion  a  devoted  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church.  On  August  21,  1821,  he 
married  Dilly  Caswell,  a  daughter  of  Jesse 
Caswell,  and  a  native  Of  Middletown,  Vermont. 

Mrs.  Gray  was  also  a  member  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church,  and  died  at  Poultney, 
Vermont,  in  1839,  aged  thirty-six  years. 

J.  Warren  Gray  was  reared  partly  at  Mid- 
dletown, Vermont,  and  partly  in  Saratoga 
county.  His  education  was  obtained  in  the 
common  schools,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
four  he  removed  to  Pawlet,  Vermont,  where 
he  engaged  in  farming  and  resided  for  a  period 
of  fourteen  years.  In  the  winter  of  1869  he 
removed  to  his  present  farm,  purchased  that 
year,  containing  one  hundred  and  forty  acres 
of  valuable  land,  and  now  lying  within  the  cor- 
porate limits  of  the  village  of  Granville.  Here 
he  has  resided  ever  since,  enjoying  the  inde- 
pendent life  of  a  farmer  and  surrounded  with 
all  the  comforts  and  conveniences  calculated 
to  make  such  existence  enjoyable.  He  has 
already  sold  off  a  number  of  lots  for  building 
purposes,  and  still  owns  a  large  quantity  of 
land  that  may  be  devoted  to  such  uses  and 
will  make  some  of  the  finest  building  sites  in 
the  village.  Some  years  ago  Mr.  Gray  re- 
tired from  active  business,  and  now  rents  his 
farm  to  others,  though  he  continues  to  reside 
upon  it. 

On  January  31,  1854,   J.  Warren  Gray  was 

united    in   marriage    to    Judith   Dillingham,    a 

daughter  of  Stephen  Dillingham,  of   the  town 

of  Granville.      They   have   a    family   of    three 

children,  two  sons  and  one  daughter,  of  whom 
18a 


only  the  sons  survive:  Stephen  D.,  a  furni- 
ture dealer  and  undertaker  of  the  village  of 
Granville,  and  William  P.,  book-keeper  for 
Norton  Brothers  Slate  company,  living  at 
home  with  his  father  ;  the  daughter,  Eliza, 
married  Charles  Kibling,  and  died  in  1879. 

In  political  faith  Mr.  Gray  is  a  stanch  re- 
publican, and  for  more  than  three  years  has 
held  his  present  office  of  trustee  of  the  village 
of  Granville.  In  early  life  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  while  con- 
nected with  that  society,  in  1869,  he  organ- 
ized the  first  Sunday  school  they  ever  had  in 
this  village,  and  served  as  its  superintendent 
for  twelve  years.  In  1885  he  withdrew  from 
the  society,  and  united  with  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  of  Granville,  in  which  he  is 
now  serving  as  trustee  and  steward.  He  is 
pleasant  and  sociable  in  disposition,  with  a 
kind  word  for  everybody,  and  may  be  justly 
regarded  as  a  fine  example  of  the  old-time  gen- 
tleman. 


|3  JAY  WILLIAMS,  senior  member  of 
\  *  the  well  known  slate  firm  of  Williams  & 
Edwards,  and  one  of  the  most  successful  and 
prominent  slate  operators  in  eastern  New  York, 
is  a  son  of  John  and  Ann  (Roberts)  Williams, 
and  a  native  of  Wales,  in  the  north  of  which 
principality  he  was  born  April  21,  1845.  His 
parents  both  came  from  prominent  Welsh 
families,  and  both  lived  and  died  in  their  na- 
tive country — the  father  dying  in  1859,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-four,  and  the  mother  in  1884,  aged 
eighty  two.  John  Williams  was  a  farmer  and 
a  member  of  the  Episcopal  church,  while  his 
wife  was  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
church.  They  had  a  family  of  six  children, 
of  whom  only  the  subject  of  this  sketch  came 
to  America. 

R.  Jay  Williams  was  reared  in  Wales,  and 
educated  in  the  common  schools  of  his  native 
country.  He  remained  on  the  farm  until 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  when  he  determined 
to  come  to  the  United  States  in  the  hope  of 
finding  a  broader  field  for  the  exercise  of  his 


302 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


ability  than  offered  at  home.  Landing  in 
America  he  settled  in  Pennsylvania,  and  spent 
one  year  in  the  Lehigh  valley  slate  region.  In 
1867  he  removed  to  Washington  county,  New 
York,  locating  at  Middle  Granville,  where  he 
lived  for  five  years,  after  which  he  came  to 
Granville,  and  has  resided  in  this  village  ever 
since.  After  coming  to  this  county  he  began 
working  in  the  slate  quarries,  and  followed 
that  occupation  for  three  or  four  years.  He 
then  opened  a  red  slate  quarry  at  Middle  Gran- 
ville and  began  operating  in  slate  on  his  own 
account.  Two  years  later  he  transferred  the 
base  of  his  operations  to  Granville,  and  opened 
what  is  now  known  as  the  Brownell  quarry, 
now  owned  by  W.  H.  Hughes,  just  across 
the  State  line,  in  the  town  of  Pawlet,  Rutland 
county,  Vermont.  This  proved  to  be  one  of 
the  best  sea-green  slate  quarries  in  the  entire 
slate  belt,  and  Mr.  Williams  operated  it  suc- 
cessfully for  seven  years,  after  which  he  sold 
it  to  Brownell  Slate  and  Flagging  Slate  Com- 
pany, with  whom  he  remained  .as  superinten- 
dent for  four  years. 

In  1881  Mr.  Williams  opened  another  sea- 
green  slate  quarry  just  east  of  the  Brownell 
quarry,  and  operated  it  for  about  three  years, 
after  which  he  purchased  an  interest  in  a  red 
slate  quarry  at  South  Granville,  and  also  opened 
a  black  slate  quarry  near  that  place.  He 
worked  both  these  quarries  for  a  year,  but  they 
proved  unprofitable  and  he  abandoned  them 
and  leased  some  land  just  south  of  the  Brow- 
nell quarry,  where  he  opened  the  third  sea- 
green  slate  quarry,  which  proved  unusually 
good.  After  running  this  alone  for  three  years 
he  sold  an  interest  in  it  to  John  W.  and  John 
Edwards,  and  under  the  firm  name  of  Williams 
&  Edwards,  they  have  successfully  conduc- 
ted the  business  ever  since.  In  1890  the  firm 
leased  the  James  McCormick  farm  in  the  town 
of  Wells,  and  opened  three  quarries,  which 
the}'  are  now  operating,  and  the  slate  produced 
there  is  among  the  best  to  be  found. 

In  1893  Mr.  Williams  purchased  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  thirty-four  acres  from  Luther 


Temple  in  the  town  of  Wells.  This  farm,  now 
the  property  of  Williams  &  Edwards,  has  a 
fine  vein  of  sea-green  slate  running  through  it, 
which  will  be  worked  when  occasion  requires. 
The  firm  gives  employment  to  a  large  number 
of  men,  and  the  roofing  slate  they  manufac- 
ture is  known  as  among  the  best  sent  out  from 
the  slate  regions  of  Vermont. 

In  1871  Mr.  Williams  was  married  to  Alice 
Baker,  who  died  in  1875,  leaving  two  children, 
only  one  of  whom,  a  daughter  named  Edith, 
now  survives.  In  1879  Mr.  Williams  was  mar- 
ried a  second  time,  wedding  Mary  J.  (Roberts) 
Jones.      They  have  one  daughter,  Bertha. 

Politically,  Mr.  Williams  is  a  republican, and 
has  served  as  trustee  of  his  village  and  presi- 
dent of  the  board  of  water  commissioners. 
He  is  a  member  and  deacon  of  the  Welsh 
Congregational  church  of  Granville,  and  a 
member  of  Wilde  Lodge,  No.  55,  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Masons,  of  this  village.  Although  he 
started  in  life  poor,  Mr.  Williams  has  fairly 
conquered  success,  and  is  now  among  the  most 
substantial  citizens  of  Washington  county,  and 
at  the  head  of  one  of  the  largest  slate  firms  in 
this  section. 


QHARLES  RUSSELL  TABER,arep 

^^  resentative  business  man  of  the  county, 
and  breeder  of  thoroughbred  Chester  white 
swine  and  Shropshire  sheep,  at  Maple  Row 
Stock  Farm,  is  a  son  of  Horace  and  Tabiatha 
(Sheldon)  Taber,  and  was  born  July  20,  1851, 
on  the  farm  on  which  he  now  lives.  He  re- 
ceived his  education  in  the  district  schools  of 
the  town  of  Easton,  supplemented  by  a  course 
at  the  Greenwich  academy,  where  he  was  a 
classmate  of  John  S.  Lambert,  one  of  the  pres- 
ent judges  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  State. 
When  he  left  school  he  was  twenty  years  of 
age,  returned  home  and  engaged  in  farming 
with  his  father,  when  in  a  short  time  he  aban- 
doned farming  and  turned  his  attention  to  the 
glove  and  mitten  business,  traveling  on  the 
road  and  selling  them,  and  continued  in  this 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


BOB 


up  to  1887,  relinquishing  it  alter  six  years' ex- 
perience. His  sales  amounted  to  from  seven 
hundred  to  nine  hundred  dollars  per  month. 
He  returned  home  and  assumed  charge  of  his 
father's  farm,  which  he  had  practically  had 
charge  of  since  fifteen  years  of  age.  Since 
1890  Mr.  Taber  has  been  extensively  engaged 
in  breeding  fine  hogs  and  sheep,  and  has  one 
of  the  best  stock  farms  in  northern  New  York, 
and  is  one  of  the  most  enterprising  and  pro- 
gressive farmers  as  well.  Mr.  Taber  is  a 
member  of  the  Greenwich  Baptist  church,  and 
is  a  charter  member  of  the  first  Christian  En- 
deavor society  formed  at  Greenwich.  He  has 
been  married  twice:  his  first  wife,  Elmira  A. 
Norton,  on  October  28,  1872,  and  who  died 
March  1,  1877.  He  was  again  married  on 
April  3,  1878,  to  Sarah  Johnston.  To  this  last 
marriage  has  been  born  one  child,  a  son, 
Horace  James. 

Shortly  previous  to  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Revolutionary  war  Jacob  Haner  came  from 
England,  going  to  the  town  of  Easton,  where 
he  made  his  permanent  heme,  located  on  the 
farm  now  occupied  by  Ephriam  Burdick,  and 
in  this  town  his  two  sons,  Jacob  and  Cornelius, 
settled.  Jacob  Haner  was  the  grandfather  of 
Mrs.  Taber,  the  grandmother  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  who  was  a  life-long  resident  of  the 
town  of  Easton,  and  lived  to  be  ninety-four 
years  of  age.  The  Tabers  are  also  of  English 
origin.  John  Taber  (great-grandfater),  the 
founder  of  the  Taber  family  in  Washington 
count}',  came  from  Rhode  Island  to  the  town 
of  Easton  prior  to  the  Revolution.  He  was 
a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  owned  a  small  firm 
in  the  town.  He  was  the  father  of  six  chil- 
dren :  William,  Martin,  John,  Henry  (grand- 
father), Nancy  and  Hammond.  Henry  Taber 
was  a  farmer,  and  in  an  early  day  taught 
school.  He  owned  and  occupied  the  farm, 
now  owned  by  Horace,  and  lived  there  for 
some  sixty  odd  years.  He  served  as  school 
commissioner  of  his  town,  and  was  also  sev- 
eral terms  road  commissioner.  He  was  a  whig 
in  politics,  and  was   a   soldier    in    the  war  of 


1812.  He  was  a  leading  member  of  the  Bap- 
tist church.  His  wife  was  Margaret  Haner, 
by  whom  he  had  five  children,  all  sons  :  James 
H.,  Horace  (father),  Russell,  Lewis  and  John 
M.  His  death  occurred  in  1862,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-two  years. 

Charles  R.  Taber  is  widely  known  through- 
out the  county  as  an  able  and  successful 
farmer  and  business  man,  and  has  evinced  a 
business  capacity  of  high  order,  while  his  ex- 
cellent stock  and  established  trade  are  char- 
acteristics as  creditable  as  they  are  indicative 
of  further  enlargement  and  prosperity  in  the 
future. 


.JAMES  E.  PRATT,  a  well  known  citizen 
of  Granville,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Paw- 
lett,  Rutland  county,  Vermont,  October  2, 
1833,  and  is  a  son  of  Ervin  and  Caroline  (El- 
well)  Pratt.  Ervin  Pratt  (father)  was  born 
on  the  same  farm,  in  the  town  of  Pawlet,  as 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  and  where  he  lived 
all  his  life.  For  his  day  he  was  a  well  educa- 
ted man,  receiving  an  academical  education, 
taught  district  school  for  several  winters,  and 
owned  one  square  mile  of  land  in  the  town  of 
Pawlet,  where  he  kept  a  dairy  and  owned  sixty 
milch  cows.  He  was  a  very  successful  farmer 
in  his  section  of  that  State  ;  was  a  regular  at- 
tendant and  a  liberal  contributor  to  the  Con- 
gregational church  ;  and  in  his  political  affilia- 
tion he  was  a  republican,  and  a  leader  in  the 
counsels  of  his  party,  representing  his  district 
twice  in  the  Vermont  legislature.  In  1807,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-three  years,  he  wedded 
Caroline,  daughter  of  Harrison  Elwell,  a  prom- 
inent farmer  of  Rupert,  Vermont,  and  of  New 
England  ancestry.  To  their  marriage  were 
born  four  sons  and  three  daughters  :  James  E. , 
Sarali  J.,  Byron  A.  (a  farmer  of  Pawlet,  Ver- 
mont); Henriette  C,  wife  of  Capt.  George  S. 
Orr,  of  Pawlet;  Quincy  A.,  a  druggist  of 
Pawlet;  Francelia,  and  Minor  E.,  the  latter 
a  sale  agent  of  Rutland.  Ervin  Pratt  died  at 
his  home  in  Pawlet,  from  the  effect  of  a  kick 
from  a  horse,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four.      His 


304 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


wife  is  still  living  in  Pawlet,  in  the  eighty-fifth 
year  of  her  age. 

Capt.  James  Pratt  (grandfather)  was  a  na- 
tive of  Colerein,  Vermont,  and  was  among  the 
pioneer  settlers  in  the  town  of  Pawlet,  where 
he  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  for  five  shil- . 
lings  per  acre,  all  covered  with  forest  except- 
ing one-half  acre,  which  had  been  cleared  by 
his  predecessor.  This  farm  is  still  known  as 
the  Pratt  mountain  farm.  He  served  as  a 
captain  in  the  Revolutionary  army;  a  member 
of  the  Congregational  church,  in  politics  a 
whig,  and  one  of  the  most  prominent  men  of 
his  day  and  section.  He  was  the  father  of  six 
children:  Rev.  Minor  Pratt,  a  Congregational 
minister,  who  was  educated  at  Middlebury 
college  ;  Alva,  who  was  a  deacon  in  the  same 
church  ;  Jane,  Elisha,  Esther,  and  Ervin 
(father).  Capt.  James  Pratt  died  in  Septem- 
ber, 1854,  m  tne  ninety-third  year  of  his  age, 
and  was  of  English  extraction. 

James  E.  Pratt  grew  to  manhood  on  the 
farm,  receiving  his  education  in  the  common 
schools,  North  Hebron  academy,  and  the  Burr 
seminar}'  of  Manchester,  Vermont.  After 
leaving  school  Mr.  Pratt  went  to  La  Crosse, 
Wisconsin,  where  he  split  rails  for  sixteen 
dollars  per  month,  and  with  the  first  fifty  dol- 
lars he  earned  he  bought  forty  acres  of  gov- 
ernment land  in  that  State.  He  kept  adding 
to  the  original  forty  acre  tract  until  he  owned 
one  quarter  of  a  section  in  that  vicinity.  In 
1854  he,  in  company  with  Isaac  Thompson,  a 
surveyor  and  land  agent  of  that  county,  took 
an  extended  trip  through  the  unsettled  part  of 
that  State,  being  for  two  weeks  exclusively 
among  the  "Red  lords  of  the  forest."  Mr. 
Pratt  remained  in  Wisconsin  for  three  years, 
returning  home  at  the  end  of  that  time,  where 
he  shortly  afterward  married.  Soon  after  his 
marriage  he  returned  to  Wisconsin,  where  he 
purchased  a  farm  and  continued  to  farm  for 
seven  years,  when  he  again  removed  east  and 
settled  in  the  town  of  Hebron,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  the  same  occupation,  his  farm  con- 
taining two  hundred  acres.      Subsequently  he 


sold  this  farm  and  moved  into  the  town  of 
West  Hebron,  where  he  bought  another  and 
built  a  cheese  factory,  conducting  both  the 
farm  and  the  factory  for  four  years.  In  1873 
he  left  the  farm  and  came  to  Granville  to  re- 
side, associated  in  partnership  in  the  grocery 
business  with  E.  B.  Temple,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Temple  &  Pratt,  which  partnership 
existed  for  four  years,  when  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  D.  Rogers  &  Co.,  general 
merchants,  of  the  same  village.  He  remained 
as  partner  with  this  firm  for  fifteen  years, 
commanding  one  of  the  most  extensive  trades 
of  any  firm  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  county. 
In  1893  he  sold  his  interest  to  Nelson  G.  Holis- 
ton,  and  immediately  started  a  grocery  and 
produce  store,  at  53  Main  street.  Mr.  Pratt 
is  a  member  and  class  leader  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  of  Granville,  and  one  of  the 
officers  of  its  board,  and  in  political  opinion 
he  is  a  stanch  republican.  Beside  consider- 
able buildings  and  real  estate  owned  by  Mr. 
Pratt  in  Granville,  he  is  a  stockholder  in  the 
Granville  National  bank,  and  owns  a  summer 
cottage  at  Lake  Saint  Catharine.  Mr.  Pratt 
has  great  confidence  in  the  future  development 
and  prosperity  of  the  town  in  which  he  lives, 
and  an  article  appearing  in  the  Granville  Se/i- 
tinel,  on  January  12,  1894,  written  by  him  on 
the  subject :  "  Have  faith  in  your  town,"  shows 
him  to  be  up  to  date  and  advanced  in  his 
ideas. 

James  E.  Pratt,  on  March  25,  1856,  was 
married  to  Phcebe  L.,  a  daughter  of  Daniel 
Woodward,  of  North  Hebron,  and  to  their 
marriage  has  been  born  one  daughter,  Carrie, 
who  is  the  wife  of  D.  Rogers,  his  former  part- 
ner in  business. 


.JOHN  H.  MEALEY,  head  of  the  gen- 
eral  mercantile  firm  of  Mealey  &  Becker, 
and  one  of  the  popular  and  successful  young 
business  men  of  the  county,  is  a  son  of  Cor- 
nelius and  Esther  (Hayden)  Mealey,  and  was 
born    September    13,    1859,    at    Fort    Miller, 


S TOO  RA  J'H \ ■  A  XI >  HISTOR  Y 


305 


Washington  county,  New  York.  The  Mealeys 
are  of  Irish  descent,  and  the  family  was 
planted  in  America  by  Cornelius  Mealey 
(father),  who  was  born  in  County  Clare,  Ire- 
land, in  October,  1812,  and  lived  there  until 
1834,  when  he  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  set- 
tled near  Ontario,  dominion  of  Canada, where 
he  engaged  in  railroad  contracting,  and  re- 
sided for  several  3  ears.  From  Canada  he  re- 
moved to  North  Creek,  Warren  county,  New 
York,  and  became  interested  in  the  tannery 
and  leather  business.  In  1850  he  purchased 
a  farm  at  Fort  Miller,  in  the  town  of  Fort  Ed- 
ward, Washington  county,  and  removed  his 
family  to  this  county.  He  followed  farming 
until  1889,  at  which  time  he  retired  from  all 
active  business,  and  moved  into  the  village  of 
Greenwich,  where  he  lived  quietly  and  com- 
fortably until  his  death,  in  1891,  when  in  the 
seventy-ninth  year  of  bis  age.  Before  com- 
ing to  America  he  had  taught  school  in  Ire- 
land, and  was  a  man  of  good  education  and 
fine  natural  ability.  In  religion  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Catholic  church,  and  about 
1852  married  Esther  Hayden,  a  member  of  the 
same  church,  and  a  daughter  of  Richard  Hay- 
den, of  Ireland.  She  came  to  America  in 
1842,  and  now  resides  in  the  village  of  Green- 
wich, in  the  sixty-second  year  of  her  age. 
They  reared  a  family  of  four  children,  all  sons: 
John  H.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Corne- 
lius, a  sketch  of  whom  appears  elsewhere  in 
this  volume  :   James,  and  Andrew. 

John  H.  Mealey  was  reared  principally  on 
his  father's  farm,  in  the  town  of  Fort  Edward, 
and  received  his  education  in  the  common 
schools,  Fort  Edward  collegiate  institute, 
and  the  high  school  at  Saratoga  Springs. 
When  thirteen  years  of  age  he  became  clerk 
in  a  store  at  Fort  Miller,  and  followed  that 
occupation  for  several  years.  Later  he  taught 
in  the  district  school  at  Fort  Miller,  and  was 
afterward  employed  as  clerk  in  a  general  store 
until  he  had  attained  the  age  of  nineteen.  He 
then  accepted  a  position  as  clerk  in  a  hotel  at 
Saratoga   Springs,  where    he   remained   three 


years,  after  which  he  came  to  Greenwich,  and 
for  seven  years  occupied  the  position  of  clerk 
in  the  hotel  conducted  by  Robert  Hamilton, 
in  this  village.  In  February,  1886,  Mr. Mealey 
was  appointed  postmaster  of  Greenwich,  and 
held  that  office  for  four  years,  discharging  his 
duties  in  a  manner  highly  satisfactory  to  the 
general  public.  In  1890  he  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  John  S.  Becker,under  the  firm  name 
of  Mealey  &  Becker,  and  they  purchased  the 
large  general  store  of  Convery  &  McCracken, 
in  the  Hill  block,  on  Main  street,  this  village, 
where  they  have  conducted  a  prosperous  and 
successful  business  ever  since.  They  have 
over  twelve  thousand  dollars  invested  in  the 
business,  and  their  annual  sales  amount  to 
more  than  forty  thousand  dollars. 

On  September  15,  1885,  Mr.  Mealey  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Jennie  E.  Scully,  a 
daughter  of  John  Scully,  of  the  village  of 
Greenwich.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mealey  have 
been  born  two  children  :  Ella  F.  and  Carl  E. 
In  political  sentiment  Mr.  Mealey  is  a  demo- 
crat, and  served  as  secretary  of  the  democratic 
county  committee  for  six  years.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Catholic  church,  in  which  faith  he 
was  reared,  and  a  member  and  president  of 
the  Ancient  Order  of  Hibernians,  No.  1,  of 
Greenwich.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Syl- 
via Hook  &  Ladder  company,  of  this  village, 
with  which  he  has  been  connected  for  twelve 
years,  and  was  for  some  time  chief  of  the  fire 
department.  For  three  years  he  has  been  a 
member  of  the  Merchant's  Protective  associ- 
ation, and  is  a  member  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  board  of  trade  of  Greenwich. 


T^IIOM  AS  C.  (ilFFOKD,  of  Cambridge, 
-*-  who,  since  1868,  has  been  extensively  and 
successfully  engaged  in  wool  buying,  operat- 
ing over  several  of  the  eastern  States,  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Easton,  Washington 
county,  New  York,  September  28,  1S15,  and 
is  a  son  of  Ira  and  Susannah  (Cornell)  Gilford. 
Ira  Gifford  was  a  native  of  the   town  of   Cam- 


300 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


bridge,  born  January  i,  1788,  and  was  one  of 
the  thrifty  and  well-to-do  farmers  of  the 
county,  following  that  occupation  during  his 
entire  life.  He  owned  and  operated  a  large 
farm  in  the  town  of  Easton,  where  he  raised  im- 
mense lots  of  grain  and  live  stock.  Like  man)' 
other  of  his  neighbors,  he  started  for  the  battle 
of  Plattsburg,  in  1812,  but  the  battle  had 
ended  when  he  arrived.  He  was  a  great 
reader  and  a  well  informed  man;  a  whig,  and 
later  a  republican  in  politics,  and  filled  some 
of  the  town  offices.  On  April  6,  1813,  he  was 
joined  in  wedlock  with  Susannah,  a  daughter 
of  Thomas  Cornell,  of  the  town  of  Easton,  the 
latter  formerly  of  Rhode  Island,  who  was  a 
blacksmith  and  farmer,  and  was  elected  to  the 
legislature  by  the  Whig  party.  To  that  union 
were  born  five  sons  and  three  daughters : 
Seneca  W.,  Thomas  C,  Mary  C.  (widow  of 
the  late  James  Tellmadge,  now  of  New  York 
city),  Jeddiah  P.,  Royal  C,  Ira  M.  (dead), 
Sarah  A.  (wife  of  Martin  Bancus,  of  Pitts- 
town,  New  York),  and  Jane  (widow  of  George 
Hayner,  of  Schaghticoke,  New  York).  Ira 
Gifford  died  May  12,  1867,  and  his  wife,  Feb- 
ruary 1,  1879  ;  she  was  a  member  of  the  So- 
ciety of  Friends.  Elihu  Gifford  (grandfather), 
was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island.  The  Gifford 
family  must  have  been  one  of  the  very  earliest 
to  make  homes  in  that  town.  He  was  a 
farmer,  and  a  Quaker  in  his  religious  belief, 
and  a  whig  in  politics.  He  was  an  extensive 
farmer  of  his  day,  owning  some  three  hundred 
acres  of  land,  making  a  specialty  of  hog  rais- 
ing. He  took  to  wife  Deborah  Wing,  by 
whom  he  had  nine  children,  five  sons  and  four 
daughters  :  Ira,  Abigail,  Hannah,  Sally,  Mrs. 
Potter,  Nathan,  Allen,  Jeddiah  and  Elihu. 
This  family  of  Giffords  is  of  Welsh  extraction, 
being  among  the  first  to  emigrate  to  find 
homes  in  the  New  World. 

Thomas  C.  Gifford  received  the  rudiments 
of  his  education  in  the  ordinary  schools  of  the 
neighborhood,  and  afterward  attended  the 
Chatham  Friends'  boarding  school  in  Colum- 
bia county,  New  York,  and  also  the  Westerloo 


Friends'  boarding  school.  Mr.  Gifford  fol- 
lowed farming  in  the  town  of  Schaghticoke, 
Rensselaer  county,  New  York,  and  from  1863 
to  1868  was  engaged  in  the  same  occupation 
in  the  town  of  White  Creek,  owning  a  farm  at 
that  time  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  acres 
in  Schaghticoke,  and  one  of  four  hundred  acres 
in  White  Creek,  and  made  a  specialty  of  sheep 
raising.  In  1868  he  removed  to  Cambridge, 
where  he  gave  his  time  exclusively  to  buying 
wool  throughout  the  States  of  New  York,  Ohio, 
West  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania,  and  has 
handled  as  high  as  two  hundred  and  fifty  thous- 
and pounds  of  wool  annually.  In  later  years 
he  has  become  practically  retired  on  account 
of  his  age,  but  still  owns  and  oversees  his  farm 
in  the  town  of  White  Creek.  In  addition  to 
his  farms  he  owns  four  good  dwellings  in  the 
village  of  Cambridge.  On  December  5,  1837, 
Mr.  Gifford  wedded  Lydia,  a  daughter  of  Be- 
nona  Kenyon,  of  Schaghticoke.  To  their 
union  were  born  three  children  :  Augustus 
(dead),  Edward  W.  and  Sarah  (wife  of 
Charles  Tingue,  of  this  village).  Mrs.  Gifford 
was  born  February  15,  1819,  and  died  Novem- 
ber 9,  i860,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian church.  In  1861  Mr.  Gifford  was  again 
married,  wedding  Eliza,  daughter  of  Truman 
Baker,  of  Schaghticoke. 

Thomas  C.  Gifford  is  a  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic fraternity,  holding  membership  in  Cam- 
bridge Valley  Lodge,  No.  481,  and  for  a  number 
of  years  has  been  chairman  of  the  board  of 
trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  of  which 
he  is  a  member.  He  is  a  stanch  republican, 
having  held  the  office  of  assessor  of  the  town 
of  White  Creek  for  fifteen  years.  His  last 
term  only  recently  expired. 


HENRY  DILLINGHAM,  a  retired 
farmer,  now  residing  in  the  village  of 
Granville,  is  a  son  of  Abram  and  Lydia 
(Rogers)  Dillingham,  and  was  born  in  Gran- 
ville, in  a  house  that  formerly  stood  on  the 
same   ground  that  his  present  residence  now 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


307 


stands,  on  July  17,  1833.  Abram  Dillingham 
was  a  native  of  the  town  of  Easton,  where  he 
was  born  March  10,  1800,  received  a  common 
school  education, and  afterward  followed  farm- 
ing. When  a  young  man  he  removed  from 
His  native  town  to  Granville,  New  York.  He 
moved  to  Danby,  Vermont,  in  1838,  where  he 
lived  two  years,  when  he  purchased  a  farm 
about  one  mile  west  of  Middle  Granville,  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  acres.  In  1886  he  sold 
this  property  and  purchased  that  now  owned 
by  his  son,  Henry,  and  where  his  death  oc- 
curred on  March  27,  1887.  In  connection  with 
fanning,  for  many  years  he  kept  a  dairy,  and 
manufactured  cheese.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Society  of  Friends,  politically  a  republi- 
can, and  for  two  years  was  overseer  of  the 
poor  of  his  town.  By  prudence  and  economy 
he  accumulated  considerable  wealth.  In  1827 
he  married  Lydia,  a  daughter  of  Aaron  Rog- 
ers, of  Danby,  Vermont,  and  was  the  father  of 
three  children:  Aaron, George  (died young)  and 
Henry.  Mrs.  Lydia  Dillingham  died  in  1839, 
and  in  1841  he  married  her  sister,  Eunice, who 
was  the  widow  of  his  brother.  By  his  second 
marriage  he  had  one  child,  Aaron  R.,  who  died 
young.  Mrs.  Eunice  Dillingham  died  in  1844. 
He  was  again  married,  this  time  to  Ruth  Bor- 
don,  of  the  town  of  Easton. 

Stephen  Dillingham  (grandfather)  was  a 
Quaker  in  religious  belief,  and  a  native  of  the 
town  of  Easton,  and  removed  from  his  native 
town  to  the  town  of  Granville,  where  he  owned 
a  large  farm  of  three  or  four  hundred  acres, 
adjoining  the  village  of  Granville.  He  was 
a  whig,  and  afterward  a  republican  ;  he  mar- 
ried Amy  Tucker,  by  whom  he  had  twelve 
children.  He  was  born  March  6,  1774,  and 
died  in  1859,  and  wedded  in  1794.  His  wife 
was  born  in  1775  and  died  in  1856.  The  foun- 
der of  this  family  in  Washington  county  was 
Joshua  Dillingham  (great-grandfather  1.  who 
settled  and  lived  in  Easton. 

Henry  Dillingham  grew  to  manhood  on  the 
farm,  receiving  his  education  in  the  district 
schools  and  the  North  Granville  academv,  and 


after  completing  his  academical  course  he  re- 
turned to  the  farm,  at  which  he  was  very  suc- 
cessfully engaged  up  to  1886,  when  he  retired. 
He  owns  considerable  property  in  the  village, 
and  has  accumulated  a  competency  through 
good  business  management,  abstemious  habits 
and  economy.  He  is  a  prohibitionist  in  politi- 
cal belief,  being  identified  formerly  with  the 
Republican  party,  and  served  one  term  as  vil- 
lage trustee,  and  is  now  president  of  the  vil- 
lage board  of  health.  . 

On  August  22,  1854,  Mr.  Dillingham  was 
married  to  Lillys,  a  daughter  of  Russell  S. 
Borden,  of  the  town  of  Easton.  To  their 
union  have  been  born  two  children  :  Lydia, 
wife  of  Dr.  B.  D.  Mosher,  of  Granville  ;  and 
Le  Moyne,  who  is  the  wife  of  G.  Myron  Allen, 
a  miller  and  lumber  merchant  of  the  same 
town. 


IWTICHAEL  H.  O'BRIEN,  A.M., 
\  TjL.  IS.,  who  stands  in  the  front  rank  of 
the  young  and  progressive  lawyers  of  the  State 
and  who  has  already  won  success  and  reputa- 
tion, is  a  son  of  Patrick  and  Alice  (Smith) 
O'Brien,  and  was  born  October  4,  1858,  at 
Olmsteadville,  in  the  town  of  Minerva,  Essex 
county,  New  York.  He  attended  the  Union 
school  of  Fort  Edward  and  the  Fort  Edward 
Collegiate  institute,  which  latter  institution  he 
represented  in  the  oratorical  contest  of  the 
"  Inter-Academic  Union"  at  Albany  in  1878, 
where  he  won  the  second  cash  prize.  Carrie 
A.  Turner,  the  celebrated  actress,  represent- 
ing the  Albany  High  school  in  that  contest  for 
the  ladies,  was  awarded  the  first  cash  prize.  The 
year  previous  Mr.  O'Brien's  brother,  Edward 
O,  carried  off  the  first  cash  prize.  These  two 
prizes,  won  by  the  O'Briens,  were  the  only 
substantial  honors  ever  won  by  the  Fort  Ed- 
ward Collegiate  institute  at  the  "Inter-Acad- 
emic Union   contest  in  oratory." 

After  this  he  entered  St.  John's  college  in 
New  York  city,  from  which  he  was  graduated 
in  1883,  receiving  the  degree  of  A.  B.  In 
1885  the  college  only  conferred  three  honorary 


308 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


degrees,  that  of  A.  M.  on  him  and  his  brother, 
Edward  C,  and  that  of  LL.  D.  on  Gen. 
Winfield  S.  Hancock.  Leaving  college  he 
took  up  the  study  of  jurisprudence  and  en- 
tered the  Columbia  college  law  school,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  in  the  class  of  1885, 
with  the  degree  of  LL.  B.  For  the  next 
five  years  he  engaged  in  general  reading, 
served  as  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  did  con- 
siderable practicing.  At  the  end  of  that  time, 
in  1890,  he  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  land 
department  of  New  York,  in  the  attorney  gen- 
eral's office.  The  year  before  he  was  ap- 
pointed chairman  of  the  democratic  county 
committee.  He  discharged  successfully  all  the 
duties  of  these  different  positions  with  prompt- 
ness and  with  satisfaction  to  the  State  authori- 
ties and  the  public,  but  at  the  end  of  two  years 
resigned  in  order  to  enter  upon  the  full  and 
active  practice  of  his  profession  in  the  courts 
of  record  of  this  State.  In  1892  he  was 
appointed  corporation  counsel  of  Fort  Ed- 
ward, and  has  since  resided  there.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  State  bar  association,  and  has 
obtained  prominent  standing  among  the  young 
and  progressive  lawyers  of  New  York. 

Mr.  O'Brien  is  a  democrat  in  politics,  and  a 
Catholic  in  religious  belief  and  church  mem- 
bership. He  has  always  retained  a  deep  in- 
terest in  collegiate  life  and  progress,  and  in 
1884  served  as  chairman  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  Cleveland  and  Hendricks  demo- 
cratic club  of  Columbia  university  of  New 
York,  representing  its  four  schools,  medicine, 
arts,  law  and  mines. 

The  O'Brien  family  was  prominent  in  the 
early  history  of  Ireland,  and  Peter  O'Brien 
(grandfather)  came  from  the  "Emerald  Isle" 
to  Essex  county,  this  State,  and  afterward  re- 
moved to  Fort  Edward,  where  he  died.  He 
was  a  democrat  and  Catholic  in  politics  and 
religion,  while  for  an  occupation  he  chiefly 
fo'lowed  farming.  He  wedded  Mary  Milligan, 
and  their  children  were  :  Patrick,  Michael, 
James,  Mary  Shaw,  Bridget  R\  an,  Julia  Deg- 
nan,   and   James.       Patrick    O'Brien   (father) 


was  educated  in  the  national  schools  of  Ire- 
land, where  he  was  a  school-mate  of  Monsig- 
nor  (Bishop)  Burke  of  Albany.  He  came 
about  1854  to  Fort  Edward,  where  he  was  in 
the  paper-making  and  lumber  business  for 
some  time,  and  conducted  the  O'Brien  hotel. 
He  was  a  democrat  and  Catholic,  and  after 
coming  to  Fort  Edward  held  many  of  the  im- 
portant civil  and  educational  positions  of  the 
village.  He  was  a  prominent  leader  in  the 
projected  Fenian  invasion  of  Canada  from 
New  York.  He  died  in  1888,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-seven  years.  Mr.  O'Brien  married  Alice 
Smith,  who  died  November  25,  1892,  aged 
fifty- two  years. 

To  their  union  were  born  twelve  children  : 
Edward  C,  a  lawyer  of  New  York  city,  and 
secretary  of  rapid  transit  commission  ;  Mich- 
ael H.  (subject),  James  E.,  New  York  city  ; 
Dr.  Frank  P.,  of  Albany  ;  Charles  P.,  and 
Thomas,  at  home  ;  Mary,  a  teacher  in  the  pub- 
lic schools ;  Alice,  professor  of  elocution  and 
English  literature  in  Plattsburg  State  Normal 
school  ;  Angeline,  a  sister  in  a  Convent  ;  Cath- 
arine, who  died  in  infancy  ;  Anna,  librarian  of 
Plattsburg  State  Normal  school,  and  a  daugh- 
ter that  died  in  infancy. 


.  TAMES  ELLIS,  an  old  antftime-honored 
citizen  of  the  village  of  Cambridge,  was 
born  in  the  same  village,  Washington  county, 
New  York,  January  16,  1816,  and  is  a  son  of 
Spencer  Ellis  and  Mary  Viall,  his  wife.  Spen- 
cer Ellis  was  a  native  of  Providence,  Rhode 
Island,  and  was  born  October  24,  1777.  Re- 
ceiving a  very  good  common  school  education, 
he,  after  leaving  school,  learned  the  trade  of 
comb  maker  in  Providence,  and  in  a  few  years 
migrated  to  this  village  where  he  worked  at 
his  trade  for  a  number  of  years.  In  1837  he 
went  to  New  York  city,  where  he  was  employed 
to  work  on  the  aqueducts,  remaining  there  but 
a  short  time,  drawing  his  pay  for  his  labor  and 
was  never  again  heard  of.  The  supposition 
among  the  members  of  his  family  was,  that  he 


RIOGBAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


311 


was  either  killed  or  drowned.  He  was  a  sol- 
dier in  the  war  of  1812,  his  widow  receiving  a 
warrant  for  one  hundred  sixty  acres  of  gov- 
ernment land  for  his  services.  Politically  he 
was  a  Jacksonian  democrat.  On  December  8, 
1812,  he  wedded  Mar}',  a  daughter  of  Na- 
thaniel Viall,  who  was  a  farmer,  formerly  lived 
at  Dorset,  Vermont.  To  their  union  were  born 
six  sons  and  two  daughters  :  Bennett  V. 
(dead),  James,  Thomas,  Horace  F.  (killed  in 
the  battle  of  the  Wilderness,  June  17,  1863), 
Alexander  (dead),  William  B.  (residing  at 
Cambridge),  Ada  Eliza  (wife  of  Jeremiah 
Haskins  of  this  village),  and  Mary  A.,  widow 
of  the  late  Mason  Prentice,  of  the  same  place. 
Mary  Viall  Ellis  was  a  native  of  Vermont, 
born  November  1,  1787,  died  in  Cambridge 
August  7,  1858,  and  was  at  the  time  of  her 
death  a  consistent  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian  church. 

The  Ellis  family  is  of  English  origin.  The 
founders  of  the  American  branch  of  the  family 
were  the  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  and  his  brother,  who  came  from  Eng- 
land and  settled  in  Rhode  Island.  The  grand- 
father had  three  sons :  Reuben,  Silas  and 
Spencer,  the  latter  the  father  of  James  Ellis. 

James  Ellis  received  his  education  in  the 
common  schools  of  his  native  village,  after- 
ward learned  the  trade  of  carpenter  and  joiner, 
following  that  business  for  thirty  years,  but 
from  twenty  to  twenty-five  years  of  -that  time 
however,  he  did  considerable  contracting  and 
building.  A  great  many  of  the  handsome 
structures  of  this  beautiful  village  are  the  pro- 
duct of  his  handiwork.  During  his  active 
business  career  he  employed  regularly  from 
ten  to  fifteen  men.  For  a  few  years  Mr.  El- 
lis was  foreman  in  the  lumber  yard  of  M.  D. 
Hubbard,  deceased,  of  this  village:  since  leav- 
ing his  employ,  he  has  devoted  the  most 
of  his  time  in  settling  estates  and  loaning 
money.  In  the  palm)-  days  of  the  old  State 
militia,  Mr.  Ellis  was  first  licutcncnt  of  a  Cam- 
bridge company,  known  as  the  Flood-Wood 
company  in  that  day.      In  political  opinion  he 


has  been  a  life  long  democrat,  believing  that 
the  principles  of  that  party  are  the  chief  corner 
stone  of  a  representative  form  of  government. 
He  has  held  all  the  most  important  town  of- 
fices ;  served  two  terms  as  supervisor  ;  president 
and  trustee  of  the  village  ;  also  has  been  as- 
sessor of  the  village.  For  over  fifty  years  he 
has  been  a  leading  and  official  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  filling  the  offices  of  trus- 
tee, elder  and  deacon. 

On  November  12,  1843,  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Laura  A.,  a  daughter  of  Joshua  Burt, 
a  farmer  of  near  Ridgefield,  Connecticut. 


HON.  GODFREY  R.  MARTINE, 
M.  D.,  of  Glens  Falls,  is  one  of  the  most 
successful  and  most  favorably  known  physi- 
cians of  northern  New  York.  He  is  a  son  of 
the  late  James  J.  Martine,  formerly  of  Troy 
New  York,  but  latterly  of  Caldwell,  Warren 
county,  where  he  died  in  1888,  aged  eighty- 
nine  years. 

Dr.  Martine,  the  only  survivor  of  six  broth- 
ers who  entered  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  was 
born  in  the  city  of  Troy,  New  York,  on  the 
27th  of  April,  1837,  coming  to  Warren  county 
at  the  age  of  eight  years.  He  received  his  early 
education  principally  at  the  Warrensburg  aca- 
demy, where  he  pursued  special  studies  under 
different  instructors,  among  whom,  and  who 
afterward  became  prominent  in  politics  and 
war,  was  Gen.  O.  E.  Babcock,  Grant's  secre- 
tary of  war,  and  who  accompanied  that  gen- 
eral in  his  trip  around  the  world  and  wrote  his 
life.  Dr.  Martine  subsequently  pursued  a 
Latin  course  under  the  direction  of  Rev.  R. 
C.  Clapp,  of  Chestertown,  and  attended  the 
Normal  school  at  Albany,  where  he  received  a 
teacher's  State  certificate.  He  afterward 
taught  in  several  of  the  towns  of  Warren 
county,  and  later,  several  terms  as  principal 
of  Warrensburg  academy.  On  leaving  here  he 
entered  the  medical  department  of  the  uni- 
versity of  Vermont,  and  was  graduated  from 
there  with  the  degree  of  M.  D.  in  1862. 


312 


HIOOIiAPHY  AND  IUSTOMY 


Immediately  after  leaving  college  he  re- 
turned to  Warren  count}'  and  began  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine  at  Warrensburg  ;  later  remov- 
ing to  Johnsburg,  where  he  practiced  until 
1882,  when  he  came  to  Glens  Falls,  where  he 
has  secured  a  wide  field  of  practice.  On  the 
gth  of  September,  1869,  Dr.  Martine  wedded 
Miss  Mary  E.  McDonald  Woodward,  of  War- 
rensburg. They  have  one  child,  a  son,  Byron 
A.,  who  was  born  April  8,  1883. 

Dr.  Martine  is  a  democrat  in  his  political 
opinion.  He  represented  the  town  of  Johns- 
burg on  the  board  of  .supervisors  from  1866  to 
1870,  inclusive,  and  has  also  held  the  offices  of 
health  officer  and  coroner.  In  the  fall  of  1869 
he  was  elected  to  the  State  assembly,  which 
position,  with  his  excellent  acquirements  and 
integrity,  enabled  him  to  discharge  the  duties 
of  that  important  trust  to  the  perfect  satisfac- 
tion of  his  constituents.  The  popularity  and 
magnificence  of  the  Blue  mountain  lake  region 
is  almost  solely  due  to  the  energetic  efforts  of 
Dr.  Martine  in  beautifying  and  giving  to  it  the 
present  enviable  reputation  as  one  of  the 
favorable  mountain  retreats.  In  1875,  when 
that  section  was  an  unknown  wilderness,  he 
purchased  the  site  and  erected  the  Blue  moun- 
tain lake  house,  a  splendidly  located  hotel, 
accommodating  with  its  surrounding  cottages 
four  hundred  guests.  Roads  were  opened  and 
this  famous  region  has  become  one  of  the 
most  popular  summer  resorts  in  the  great 
Adirondack  wilderness.  It  is  an  acknowledged 
fact  that  Dr.  Martine's  perseverance  and  faith 
in  this  enterprise  were  the  means  of  saving  the 
Adirondack  railroad  from  an  early  decline. 
The  lasting  benefits  thus  conferred  upon  the 
people  of  that  section  and  the  public  generally 
can  hardly  be  properly  estimated. 

Dr.  Martine  is  a  fellow  of  the  New  York 
State  Medical  association,  and  one  of  its 
original  members  ;  is  president  of  the  Warren 
County  Medical  society,  a  member  of  the 
American  Medical  association,  and  of  the 
World's  Medical  congress,  to  which  he  was 
elected  delegate  ;  has  served  five  years  as  sec- 


retary of  the  United  States  pension  board  of 
examining  surgeons  at  Glens  Falls.  He  estab- 
lished, in  1885, with  Dr.  Lemon  Thomson,  jr., 
the  Glens  Falls  hospital.  He  is  a  working 
member  and  one  of  the  originators  of  the 
Glens  Falls  lyceum,  and  one  of  its  ex-presi- 
dents ;  a  trustee  of  the  Crandall  Free  library, 
and  of  the  Glens  Falls  academy  ;  is  one  of  the 
original  stockholders  of  the  Glens  Falls  Sum- 
mer school  ;  one  of  the  originators  and  a  direc- 
tor of  the  Glens  Falls  board  of  trade  ;  one  of 
the  first  contributors  and  sustaining  members 
of  the  Glens  Falls  Young  Men's  Christian 
association.  He  is  a  life  member  of  the  Amer- 
ican Peace  society,  and  has  been  for  forty-five 
years  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church. 

He  is  an  active,  energetic,  public-spirited 
gentleman,  a  large-hearted  and  progressive 
citizen,  one  whom  no  community  can  afford 
to  lose.  It  has  been  said  that  the  doctor  has 
actually  earned  and  given  away  more  money 
than  any  man  in  northern  New  York,  his 
motto  being  "  There  is  something  in  life  bet- 
ter than  the  hoarding  of  riches."  Dr.  Mar- 
tine's  medical  labors,  with  an  exception  of  a 
short  term  of  service  as  a  volunteer  physician 
in  the  hospital  at  Annapolis,  Maryland,  during 
the  war  of  the  rebellion,  have  been  confined  to 
Warren  county  and  its  surroundings,  and  his 
career  throughout  has  been  crowned  with  suc- 
cess.and  honorable  distinction. 


COLON  C.  MASON,  one  of  the  well 
^^  known  and  successful  business  men  of 
Granville,  and  a  member  of  the  grocery  firm 
of  Temple  &  Mason,  is  a  son  of  Linus  R. 
and  Clarissa  (Barbour)  Mason,  and  was  born 
April  14,  1849,  in  the  town  of  Granville,  Wash- 
ington county,  New  York.  The  Masons  are 
of  Scotch  extraction, and  are  numbered  among 
the  earliest  settlers  of  Washington  county, 
where  their  energy,  industry  and  thrift  have 
done  much  toward  the  development  and  up- 
building of  the  agricultural  interests.    Truman 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


313 


Mason,  paternal  grandfather  of  Solon  C.  Ma- 
son, was  born  in  tliis  county  in  1778.  After 
attaining  manhood  he  engaged  in  farming, 
and  in  1819  purchased  and  moved  onto  a  farm 
in  the  town  of  Granville,  where  he  passed  the 
remainder  of  his  days,  dying  in  1869,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty-one  years.  He  mar- 
ried Esther  Parker,  and  reared  a  family  of 
eight  children,  one  of  his  sons  being  the  father 
of  Solon  C,  who  was  born  at  Fort  Ann  in 
1815,  and  when  only  four  years  of  age  was 
brought  by  his  parents  into  the  town  of  Gran- 
ville, where  he  grew  to  manhood  and  received 
such  education  as  was  afforded  by  the  com- 
mon schools  of  that  early  day.  Here  he  has 
resided  ever  since,  engaged  in  farming  and 
stock  raising,  and  has  become  prosperous  and 
well-to-do.  In  religious  faith  he  is  a  Baptist, 
and  in  politics  an  ardent  republican, with  whig 
antecedents.  He  has  been  elected  to,  and 
acceptably  filled, a  number  of  the  town  offices, 
and  is  a  man  highly  esteemed  by  his  neigh- 
bors and  all  who  know  him.  He  married 
Clarissa  Barbour,  a  native  of  the  town  of 
Granville.  To  them  was  born  a  family  of  four 
children. 

Mrs.  Mason  is  a  member  of  the  same  church 
as  her  husband,  and  is  now  in  the  seventy- 
eighth  year  of  her  age. 

Solon  C.  Mason  was  reared  on  the  old  Ma- 
son homestead,  in  the  town  of  Granville,  and 
obtained  an  education  in  the  excellent  public 
schools  provided  by  the  State.  He  remained 
on  the  farm  until  his  twenty-second  year, when 
he  entered  a  steam  mill  at  Fort  Ann,  and  was 
employed  there  for  the  space  of  a  year  and  a 
half.  After  leaving  the  mill  he  taught  district 
school  for  some  eighteen  months,  and  while 
thus  employed  learned  telegraphy.  In  1875 
he  entered  the  employ  of  the  Eastern  Railroad 
company, as  station  agent  and  telegraph  oper- 
ator, at  Chelsea,  Massachusetts,  where  he  re- 
mained for  a  period  of  six  years.  By  the  end 
of  that  time  his  health  had  become  so  poor 
that  he  was  compelled  to  resign,  and  he  then 
returned  to  Granville.        In  1SS3  he  formed   a 


partnership  with  Abraham  Temple,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Temple  &  Mason,  and  they  en- 
gaged in  the  grocery  business  in  this  village. 
Being  popular  gentlemen,  of  agreeable  man- 
ners, and  inclined  to  give  strict  and  careful 
attention  to  their  business,  the  new  firm  soon 
acquired  considerable  prestige  and  built  up  a 
profitable  trade,  which  they  have  ever  since 
conducted.  They  have  a  neat  and  carefully 
arranged  store,  and  keep  at  all  times  a  large 
and  varied  stock  of  everything  connected  with 
the  grocery  business. 

On  December  1,  1870,  Mr.  Mason  was  mar- 
ried to  Ellen  Vail,  a  daughter  of  Edwin  Vail, 
of  the  village  of  Granville.  In  politics  Mr. 
Mason  is  a  prohibitionist,  though  formerly 
identified  with  the  Republican  party.  He  is 
a  member  and  trustee  of  the  Baptist  church 
of  Granville,  in  which  he  has  also  served  as 
chorister  for  a  number  of  years. 


.JOSEPH  MILLER,  a  retired  carriage 
builder  of  Greenwich,  is  a  member  of  an 
old  family,  who  originally  came  from  France. 
Anthony  Miller  came  from  that  country  early 
in  the  eighteenth  century  and  located  at  Que- 
bec, Canada,  and  in  a  short  time  afterward 
removed  to  Montreal,  where  he  owned  and 
resided  upon  a  farm  for  a  while,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Point  Oliver,  where  he  lived  up  to 
the  time  of  his  death  :  being  a  farmer  the 
most  of  his  life,  and  a  man  of  considerable 
literary  attainments.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Catholic  church,  as  was  also  his  wife,  and 
one  of  his  brothers  was  a  Catholic  priest.  He 
was  in  the  war  of  181 2,  and  fought  with  Napo- 
leon in  his  European  wars.  On  his  voyage  to 
this  country,  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  a 
Miss  Duffy,  who  was  of  Holland  birth,  and 
whom  he  afterward  married,  and  then  settled 
in  Montreal.  His  wife  lived  to  the  remark- 
able age  of  one  hundred  and  seven  years. 
They  had  ten  children,  three  sons  :  Anthony. 
Peter,  and  Luther;  and  seven  daughters. 
The  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 


314 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Anthony  Miller,  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-six 
years. 

Joseph  Miller  was  born  September  3,  1816, 
.  in  the  district  of  Montreal,  Canada  ;  received 
his  education  in  the  ordinary  schools  of  that 
country,  and  later  became  proficient  in  French 
and  Latin.  After  leaving  school  he  became 
a  dry  goods  clerk  in  a  general  mercantile  estab- 
lishment, where  he  remained  until  during 
the  Canadian  rebellion,  and  then  he  came  to 
the  United  States.  During  this  war  he  acted 
as  messenger  for  the  officers  of  the  army, 
which  was  a  responsible  position  as  well  as 
risky  and  dangerous.  He  went  on  duty  in 
this  capacity  October  16,  1837,  and  being 
pursued  by  the  Loyalists,  he  escaped  and 
crossed  the  line  to  Saint  Albans,  Vermont,  and 
on  November  12,  1840,  he  located  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Greenwich,  and  found  employment 
with  J.  Fisher,  with  whom  he  remained  for 
one  year.  He  subsequently  worked  on  farms 
for  awhile,  when  he,  with  his  brother  Frank, 
engaged  in  the  carriage  manufactory  in  Green- 
wich, and  after  completing  his  trade  here,  he 
branched  out  extensively  in  this  line,  employ- 
ing twenty  men  in  the  wood,  blacksmith,  paint- 
ing and  trimming  departments.  For  many 
years  he  carried  on  one  of  the  largest  carriage 
manufacturing  businesses  in  the  county,  and 
continued  it  up  to  five  years  ago,  when,  in 
November,  1889,  he  rented  his  plant,  but  he 
is  still  more  or  less  interested  in  the  business 
affairs.  The  plant  occupies  a  large  three 
story  building,  and  is  well  and  favorably  known 
throughout  that  section  of  the  county.  Mr. 
Miller  is  a  republican  in  his  political  opinion 
and  has  always  been  an  active  partisan  in  the 
success  of  his  party's  principles,  and  has  filled 
many  of  the  town  offices.  For  the  past  twenty- 
one  years  he  has  been  a  member  and  is  one  of 
the  organizers  of  the  fire  department  of  Green- 
wich, of  which  he  has  served  as  captain.  He 
filled  the  office  of  trustee  of  the  village  two 
terms,  and  has  been  commissioner  of  high- 
ways and  school  trustee.  He  is  one  of  the 
charter  members  of  the  Ashley  Masonic  Lodge, 


No.  584,  being  one  of  the  original  nine  mem- 
bers who  founded  it;  and  is  also  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church. 

On  December  6,  1845,  Mr.  Miller  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Susan  Shaw,  and  has  four  chil- 
dren :  George  F.,  who  resides  in  North  Ad- 
ams, Massachusetts,  where  he  is  one  of  the 
leading  insurance  men  of  the  place,  married 
Delia  Adams,  and  is  to  some  extent  interested 
in  the  railroad  business.  He  was  born  Janu 
aryi6,  1847;  Lewis,  died  in  infancy;  MaryL. , 
wife  of  S.  B.  Welock,  a  merchant  of  Green- 
wich ;  and  Frederick,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
two-.years.  Mrs.  Miller  died  April  6,  1875,  in 
the  forty-eighth  year  of  her  age,  having  been 
born  April  5,  1827.  Mr.  Miller  married  for 
his  second  wife,  on  May  29,  1875,  Anna  M., 
a  daughter  of  Patrick  Silk,  a  native  of  Ireland. 
She  came  to  this  country  in  1870.  To  his 
second  marriage  Mr.  Miller  has  two  children: 
Burton  Allison  and  Joseph  Ransom. 


JOENJAMIN  F.  OTTAKSON,  who,  for 
-'■■'  many  years  was  an  active  and  prominent 
business  man  of  Granville,  but  now  practically 
retired,  was  born  in  Pawlet,  Rutland  county, 
Vermont,  May  17,  1816.  His  education  was 
received  in  the  district  schools  of  his  day,  and 
after  leaving  school  he  went  to  learn  the  trade 
of  tailoring  with  John  Hughes,  of  Cambridge, 
with  whom  he  remained  five  years.  In  1840 
he  returned  to  the  village  of  Granville,  where 
in  the  same  year  he  started  up  in  business  in 
the  same  line  for  himself,  which  he  carried  on 
very  successfully  until  1864.  In  1861  he  re- 
ceived the  appointment  of  postmaster  of  the 
village,  and  with  the  exception  of  three  years 
under  Johnson's  administration,  he  most  ac- 
ceptably filled  this  office  until  1889;  in  that 
year  he  retired  from  the  postofficcafter  a  serv- 
ice of  a  quarter  of  a  century.  In  politics  he 
is  a  stanch  republican,  and  for  twenty  years 
served  his  village  in  the  office  of  town  clerk. 
Mr.  Ottarson  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternitv,  and  is  the  oldest  member  of  Granville 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


315 


Lodge,  No.  50,  and  was  at  one  time  identified 
with  the  Sons  of  Temperance,  Rechabites  and 
Good  Templars  of  his  village,  the  latter  three 
of  which  have  all  come  and  passed  away. 

Benjamin  F.  Ottarson  was  united  in  mar- 
riage on  October  31,  1843,  with  Nancy  F., 
daughter  of  James  Richardson,  a  cabinet 
maker,  of  Poultney,  Vermont,  and  Mary 
Fisher,  his  wife.  Mr.  Ottarson  is  a  cousin  of 
Frank  Ottarson,  who  was  one  of  Greeley's  as- 
sistant editors  on  the  Tribune,  and  afterward 
editor  of  the  City  News  of  New  York  city. 

Benjamin  F.  Ottarson  was  a  son  of  John 
and  Margaret  (Mahar)  Ottarson.  John  Ottar- 
son was  born  in  Londonderry,  Vermont,  in 
1784.  He  was  a  carpenter  and  joiner  by  trade, 
and  followed  it  all  his  life.  In  April,  1820,  he 
came  to  Granville,  and  died  in  1828  in  the 
same  house  now  occupied  by  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.  He  was  a  member  of  the  State 
militia  of  Vermont,  also  of  the  Washingtonian 
Benevolent  society  and  the  Congregational 
church.  In  political  opinion  he  was  a  federal- 
ist. He  wedded  Margaret,  a  daughter  of  James 
Mahar,  who  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  but  left 
that  country  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years  to  keep 
from  being  forced  to  serve  in  the  English 
army,  and  came  to  the  United  States,  locating 
in  what  was  then  known  as  Middletown,  now 
Portland,  Connecticut.  To  John  Ottarson 
and  Margaret  Mahar  was  born  but  one  child, 
Benjamin  F.  Mrs.  Margaret  Ottarson  died  in 
this  village  in  1865,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five 
years,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
church.  B.  F.  Ottarson's  death  occurred, 
July  4,  1894,  aged  seventy-eight  years. 


fTDAM  ARMSTRONG,  Jr.,  a  promi- 
^^  nent  member  of  the  Warren  county  bar, 
was  born  at  Johnsburg,  Warren  county,  New 
York,  April  26,  1S41,  and  is  a  son  of  Adam 
and  Anna  (Williams)  Armstrong.  Adam  Arm- 
strong, sr. ,  was  a  native  of  County  Ferman- 
agh, Ireland,  where  he  was  born  in  1801,  and 
in  the  year  1809  he  with  his  parents  emigrated 
19 


to  this  country,  locating  at  Johnsburg,  where 
Adam,  sr.,  resided  up  to  his  death  in  1888,  in 
the  eighty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  During 
his  whole  life  he  was  engaged  in  farming  and 
lumbering  ;  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  and  a  democrat  in  his  po- 
litical tenets.  His  father  was  John  Armstrong, 
born  in  County  Fermanagh,  and  became  an 
early  settler  in  the  vicinity  of  Johnsburg,  where 
he  resided  from  1809,  engaged  in  farming,  up 
to  his  death.  He  was  of  Scotch-Irish  extrac- 
tion. Adam  Armstrong,  sr. ,  wedded  Anna 
Williams,  who  was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
and  died   in    1878,  having  been  born   in  1808. 

Adam  Armstrong,  jr.,  grew  up  in  his  native 
town,  where  he  attended  school  and  subse- 
quently went  to  Albany, where  he  took  a  course 
at  the  Albany  Law  school.  He  then  returned 
to  Glens  Falls,  where  he  entered  the  law  office 
of  Judge  Brown  in  1862,  where  he  remained 
as  a  student  at  law  until  his  admission  to 
the  bar  in  1S69.  Here  he  practiced  law  very 
successfully  until  1872,  when  he  removed  to 
the  village  of  Chester,  where  he  continued  to 
practice  up  to  1888,  when  he  returned  to  Glens 
Falls,  where  he  has  remained  ever  since.  He 
owns  a  fine  law  library,  and  has  a  steadily  grow- 
ing practice. 

In  1869  Mr.  Armstrong  was  married  to  Kate, 
adaughterof  Nathaniel  and  Hanorah  (Gilmore) 
Stackpole,of  Williamstown,  Massachuetts.  To 
their  marriage  has  been  born  one  child, a  son, 
Louis,  who  after  leaving  the  Union  school  and 
Glens  Falls  academy,  was  graduated  from  the 
law  department  of  the  university  of  Ann  Ar- 
bor, Michigan,  in  1892,  and  in  the  same  year 
was  admitted  to  practice  law.  He  was  born 
August  12,  1870,  and  is  now  in  business  with 
his  father. 

Adam  Armstrong,  jr.,  is  a  member  of  Senate 
Lodge,  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  of  Ches- 
ter town  Lodge,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows, of  Improved  Order  of  Red  Men,  and  is 
a  stanch  democrat.  From  1871  to  1874,  Mr. 
Armstrong  served  as   school  commissioner  of 


316 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


his  county;  and  also  from  1881  to  1884.  Was 
village  clerk  in  1890,  having  once  filled  the 
same  office  previous  to  his  removal  to  Ches- 
tertown.  In  1861  Mr.  Armstrong  was  enroll- 
ing officer  of  the  State  militia  for  the  towns  of 
Johnsburg,  Thurman  and  Stony  Creek,  and  is 
at  present  president  of  the  board  of  health  of 
the  village  of  Glens  Falls. 


TTHIRA  ELDRIDGE,  a  plumber  and 
^^  highly  respected  citizen  of  Cambridge, is 
a  son  of  Ahira  and  Polly  Rice,  his  wife,  and 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Salem,  Washington 
county,  New  York,  April  11,  1823.  Ahira 
Eldridge  (father)  was  a  native  of  the  State  of 
Connecticut,  and  was  born  in  the  year  1794. 
While  yet  a  young  man  he  migrated  to  Wash- 
ington county  and  located  in  the  town  of 
White  Creek, where,  for  some  years  afterward, 
he  was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  combs, 
commanding  quite  an  extensive  traffic  in  that 
line.  Later  he  turned  his  attention  to  farm- 
ing, first  owning  a  small  tract,  but  kept  adding 
additional  tracts  until  his  farm  numbered  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres.  When  the  British 
were  making  threatening  invasions  into  the 
State,  during  the  war  of  181 2,  he  started  to 
join  his  countrymen,  and  to  participate  in  the 
battle  of  Plattsburg,  but  before  he  arrived 
there  the  battle  had  ended.  He  became  a 
leading  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church, 
and  served  as  elder  for  twenty  years.  His 
wife  was  Polly  Rice,  a  daughter  of  Roswell 
Rice,  of  the  town  of  White  Creek.  They 
were  the  parents  of  three  sons  and  one  daugh- 
ter :  Ahira,  Mary  (dead), wife  of  Jehial  Baker, 
of  White  Creek  ;  William,  still  living,  born 
in  1835;  and  one  not  named.  Ahira  El- 
dridge, sr. ,  died  in  1879,  and  his  wife  in  1870, 
who  was  born  in  1798. 

Zoeth  Eldridge  (grandfather)  was  a  native 
of  England,  came  to  this  county  and  resided 
in  Tolland  county,  Connecticut,  and  was  a 
farmer  and  lumberman  by  occupation  ;  was 
twice  married,  and   the  father  of  eleven  chil- 


dren. The  Eldridge  family  is  of  English  ex- 
traction, and  the  founders  of  the  American 
branch  of  the  family  were  three  brothers, who 
came  to  this  country  from  England,  and  lo- 
cated at  Boston  :  one  remained  there,  one 
went  into  Connecticut,  and  the  other  went  on 
board  a  whaling  vessel  and  never  returned. 

Ahira  Eldridge  grew  to  manhood  on  the 
farm,  and  received  his  education  in  the  com- 
mon schools.  His  life  was  spent  upon  the 
farm,  up  to  the  year  1884, when  he  sold  it  and 
removed  to  the  village  of  Cambridge,  where 
for  three  years  he  was  engaged  in  selling  west- 
ern mortgages.  At  the  end  of  this  time  he 
started  in  the  plumbing  business,  in  which  he 
has  been  very  successfully  engaged  since.  For 
some  years  he  acted  as  first  sergeant  of  the 
old  State  militia. 

Ahira  Eldridge,  on  November  8,  1848, wed- 
ded Rhoda,  daughter  of  Elery  Staples,  of 
Danby,  Vermont.  To  this  union  have  been 
born  three  children :  Jane,  wife  of  Volney 
Kinyon,  of  Nebraska;  Mary  I.  and  Grace 
A.  (the  latter  who  died  young).  The  death  of 
Mrs.  Eldridge  occurred  in  March,  1863.  On 
January  20,  1873,  Mr.  Eldridge  was  again 
married  to  Carrie,  daughter  of  Dr.  D.  Wood- 
ward, of  Castleton,  Vermont. 


lWTARTIN  D.  HUBBARD,  deceased, 
A  was  one  of  Cambridge's  most  public  spir- 
ited and  useful  citizens.  During  his  life  he 
was  as  much  identified  with  the  industrial  de- 
velopment of  that  village,  and  moral  and  re- 
ligious progress,  probably  as  any  other  man. 
He  was  born  at  Salem,  Washington  county, 
New  York,  in  September,  1814,  and  was  a  son 
of  Jonathan  and  Ellis  (Archer)  Hubbard.  The 
family  is  one  of  the  pioneer  ones  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Salem,  as  Jonathan  Hubbard  (father), 
was  born  in  that  town,  January  2,  1784, where 
he  followed  farming  and  lumbering,  carrying 
on  quite  an  extensive  business  for  that  day. 
In  politics  he  was  a  member  of  the  Democratic 
party,  and  served  in  the  war  of  1812;  his  wife 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


317 


was  Ellis  Archer,  by  whom  he  had  eight  chil- 
dren :  Anna  Eliza  (died  unmarried),  Martin 
D.,  James  (now  residing  in  Michigan),  Julia 
(twin  of  James),  Sarah  (late  wife  of  John  Dob- 
bin of  Salem),  Margaret  (widow  of  Thomas 
Oviatt),  John  (dead),  Frances  Parmelia,  wife 
of  William  P.  Robertson.  Jonathan  Hub- 
bard died  July  9,  1870,  and  his  wife  passed 
away  April  15,  1864,  being  born  March  17, 
1786. 

Dr.  John  Hubbard,  grandfather,  who  was 
a  native  of  the  village  of  Shushan,  in  the  town 
of  Salem,  was  twice  married,  and  was  the 
father  of  fourteen  children,  having  three  by 
his  first  wife  :  John,  Daniel  and  Polly  ;  and 
eleven  by  his  second  wife,  a  Miss  Moore  : 
Jonathan,  Hugh,  Lyman,  Sallie,  Eli,  Betsey, 
Julia  Ann,  Rebecca,  Darwin,  Jabez  and  Peter. 

Martin  D.  Hubbard  was  a  self-educated  man, 
having  once  said  that  he  never  attended  school 
over  three  months  in  all,  which  was  mainly 
due  to  the  fact  of  his  father  needing  him  in  his 
lumber  work.  He  afterward  worked  on  a  farm 
in  this  count)'  a  few  years,  when  at  the  end  of 
that  time  he  went  to  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
and  became  an  employe  of  a  man  by  the  name 
of  Goodrich,  who  was  then  a  very  extensive 
general  merchant  of  that  place,  where  he  re- 
mained as  a  salesman  in  his  mercantile  estab- 
lishment for  a  number  of  years.  In  about 
1S44,  having  perfect  confidence  in  his  honesty 
and  business  integrity,  Mr.  Goodrich  sent  him 
to  Cambridge  to  buy  wool.  Being  pleased 
with  this  section  of  the  country,  he  concluded 
to  make  it  his  home,  and  soon  afterward  en- 
gaged in  business  for  himself  in  that  village. 
In  1853  he  erected  his  general  storehouse. 
He  erected  his  opera  house  in  1878.  It  was 
here  he  carried  on  a  general  mercantile  busi- 
ness, dealing  in  all  kinds  of  produce,  wool, 
etc..  commanding  one  of  the  most  extensive 
mercantile  trades  in  the  county,  and  in  addition 
to  that  conducted  an  extensive  lumber  yard. 
In  1874  he  gave  up  his  mercantile  interests, 
and  devoted  his  attention  mostly  to  his  lum- 
ber business.      The  fact  of  his  having  the  con- 


fidence of  his  neighbors  and  the  business  men 
generally  of  Cambridge  and  vicinity,  is  at- 
tested by  his  having  been  chosen  president  of 
the  Cambridge  Valley  National  bank,  in  which 
capacity  he  served  a  number  of  years.  He  al- 
ways lent  a  helping  hand  to  any  legitimate 
public  enterprise.  He  was  an  official  mem- 
ber and  a  liberal  contributor  to  the  life  and 
advancement  of  the  Presbyterian  church  for  a 
long  series  of  years. 

Mr.  Hubbard  was  twice  married  :  first,  on 
May  10,  1847,  to  Sophia  B.,  a  daughter  of 
Thomas  Rice,  of  Cambridge ;  one  child  was 
born  to  this  marriage:  Sophia  R. ,  who  died 
at  the  age  of  three  years  and  seven  months. 
Mrs.  Hubbard  died  December  2,  1849,  and  on 
October  19,  1853,  he  wedded  the  elder  sister 
of  his  first  wife,  Mary  N.  Rice,  who  still  sur- 
vives. Thomas  Rice,  father  of  Mrs.  Hubbard, 
was  born  at  Millington,  Connecticut ;  was  one 
of  the  early  settlers  of  the  town  of  White 
Creek,  removing  thence  with  his  parents  when 
at  the  tender  age  of  about  six  months.  He 
followed  the  occupation  of  farming  all  his  life, 
owning  two  hundred  acres  of  land.  His  wife 
was  Selina,  daughter  of  Ebenezer  Billings,  of 
the  town  of  Jackson.  To  that  marriage  were 
born  Mrs.  Mary  N.  Hubbard,  Mrs.  Sophia 
Billings  Hubbard,  George  and  Henry.  Thomas 
Rice  was  born  July  27,  1795;  died  February 
8,  1859,  and  was  a  son  of  Roswell  Rice,  who 
was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  came  to  the  town 
of  White  Creek  in  about  1797,  where  he  be- 
came a  farmer  and  a  highly  respected  citizen. 
His  first  wife  was  Mary  Nye,  to  whom  he  was 
married  March  22,  1792,  and  had  one  child,  a 
son :  Thomas  Rice.  Mrs.  Mary  Rice  died 
January  10,  1796,  and  in  January,  1797,  he 
married  Phcebe  Niles.  The  children  of  this 
marriage  were  :  Polly,  Roswell  J.,  died  in  in- 
fancy; Roswell  (2),  Phcebe,  Jerome  H.,  and 
Eliza  M.  The  Rice's  trace  their  ancestry 
back  to  the  landing  of  the  Mayflower  in  1620. 

Mrs.  Mary  N.  Hubbard  is  a  very  competent 
business  manager,  and  owns  considerable  val- 
uable  property  in   the  village  of  Cambridge, 


318 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


and  believes  in  the  emancipation  of  women, 
and  is  consequently  an  active  partisan  in  be- 
half of  the  woman's  suffrage  movement.  She 
is  a  member  of  the  Equality  Club  of  this  vil- 
lage, and  one  of  the  Equality  executives.  She 
was  a  delegate  to  the  convention  held  in 
Brooklyn  in  November,  1893,  and  was  also  a 
delegate  to  the  National  convention  convened 
at  Washington,  District  of  Columbia,  Febru- 
ary 15,  1894. 


QHARLES  H.  VAN  NESS,  a  success 
ful  lawyer  and  business  man  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Greenwich,  is  a  son  of  Matthew  and 
Elizabeth  (Hinchman)  Van  Ness,  and  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Greenwich,  March  4,  1859. 
His  father,  Matthew  Van  Ness,  is  a  native  of 
Waterford,  Saratoga  county,  New  York,  and 
was  born  May  5,  181 8,  and  has  followed  the 
occupation  of  farming  during  the  greater  part 
of  his  life,  coming  to  the  town  of  Greenwich 
in  1849,  where  at  the  present  time  he  owns  a 
farm  of  seventy-nine  acres.  He  is  a  republi- 
can in  politics  and  a  member  of  the  Dutch  Re- 
formed church.  In  1849  he  married  Elizabeth, 
a  daughter  of  Obediah  Hinchman,  of  Rhine- 
beck,  Dutchess  count)-.  To  their  marriage 
were  born  three  children,  two  daughters  now 
deceased,  and  Charles  H.  Hendrick  Van  Ness, 
(grandfather)  was  born  at  Waterford,  New 
York,  followed  farming,  and  was  a  member  of 
the  Dutch  Reformed  church.  He  was  a  son 
of  Abraham  Van  Ness,  also  a  native  of  Water- 
ford, and  who  also  followed  the  occupation  of 
farming.  The  Van  Ness  family  is  of  Holland 
descent.  Three  brothers  emigrated  from  their 
native  country  during  the  early  settling  of 
northern  New  York,  one  of  whom  located  in 
Saratoga  county  and  the  other  two  settled  in 
New  Jersey. 

Charles  H.  Van  Ness  received  the  rudiments 
of  his  education  in  the  Union  school,  after- 
ward read  law,  and  then  entered  the  law  de- 
partment of  Columbia  college  and  was  gradu- 
ated from  that  institution  in  1880.      He  imme- 


diately commenced  practice  in  his  native 
village  and  has  continued  in  it  with  a  consider- 
able degree  of  success  ever  since.  For  twelve 
years  Mr.  Van  Ness  was  treasurer  of  the 
Greenwich  &  Johnsonville  railroad,  and  was  at 
the  time  of  his  appointment  the  youngest  rail- 
road official  in  the  State.  He  is  also  agent  for 
some  of  the  leading  insurance  companies  of 
the  country  :  The  Fire  Association  of  Phila- 
delphia, American  of  New  York  city,  Orient 
of  Hartford,  Springfield  Fire  and  Marine, 
London  and  Lancashire,  also  the  Commercial 
Union  of  England,  the  Sun  of  the  same  coun- 
try, and  Caledonia  of  Scotland.  He  is  a  re- 
publican in  political  opinion,  and  a  member  of 
the  Reformed  church. 

On  September  14,  1887,  Mr.  Van  Ness  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Anna  H.,  daughter  of 
John  Woodruff  of  Newark,  New  Jersey.  To 
their  marriage  have  been  born  two  children  : 
Hendrick  and  Anneke. 


HOMER  B.  BATES  is  a  son  of  Henry  H. 
and  Eunice  S.  (Bascom)  Bates,  and  was 
born  March  27,  1845,  at  East  Windsor,  Con- 
necticut. James  Bates  settled  at  Saybrook, 
Connecticut,  in  1669,  latterly  living  at  Middle- 
town,  in  the  same  State.  His  children  were: 
John,  Nathaniel,  Jacob  and  David.  David 
(great-grandfather)  removed  to  Granville,  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  reared  a  family  of  eight  chil- 
dren. Nathaniel  Bates  had  a  son  Nathaniel, 
who  was  a  lawyer  by  profession  and  prominent 
at  the  bar  at  Westfield,  Massachusetts.  Isaac 
C,  son  of  Jacob  Bates,  became  a  prominent 
lawyer,  representative  and  senator  in  congress 
from  the  State  of  Massachusetts.  David  Ward 
Bates  (grandfather),  son  of  David  Bates,  was 
a  farmer  by  occupation,  who  resided  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  Granville,  Massachusetts.  He  mar- 
ried Susan  Howard  and  had  seven  children  : 
Eliza  A.,  Mary  A.,  Harris  Ward,  Harriet  S., 
Augustus  S.,  Almira  C.  and  Henry  Howard, 
all  of  whom  were  born  in  Granville,  Massa- 
chusetts, excepting  Henry  H.,  who  was  a  na- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


319 


tive  of  Benson,  Vermont,  where  he  was  horn  No- 
vember 23,  1808.  H.  W.  Bates  was  a  pioneer 
collar  and  shirt  manufacturer  in  the  city  of  Troy, 
New  York.  Rev.  Henry  H.  Bates,  the  youngest 
son,  was  an  Episcopal  clergyman.  He  became 
an  Episcopalian  while  at  Union  college, Schen- 
ectady ;  studied  theology  at  the  general  Theo- 
logical seminary  of  New  York,  and  afterward 
became  rector  of  the  Episcopal  church  at 
Blandford,  Massachusetts, remaining  with  that 
charge  for  four  years,  thence  to  Warehouse 
Point,  Connecticut,  where  he  labored  eight 
years ;  he  then  removed  to  Tariffville,  that 
State,  remaining  six  years,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  he  removed  to  Glens  Falls,  New  York, 
and  had  charge  of  the  Episcopal  church  of  that 
place  for  three  years.  At  the  breaking  out  of 
the  war,in  1861,  he  entered  the  army  as  chap- 
lain of  the  22d  New  York  volunteer  regiment, 
going  out  for  one  year,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  he  asked  permission  from  his  congrega- 
tion to  remain  one  year  longer,  which  was 
granted  him.  At  the  second  battle  of  Bull 
Run  he  was  taken  prisoner,  and  was  afterward 
released  by  the  confederate  General  Wilcox. 
Returning  home  at  the  end  of  two  years,  he, 
with  his  family,  removed  to  Oak  Hill,  Green 
county,  New  York,  where  after  four  years  ser- 
vice in  the  ministry  at  that  place  his  death  oc- 
curred,which  was  on  January  14,1868.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Republican  party  and  of  the 
Glens  Falls  Lodge,  No.  121,  of  Masons.  On 
March  17,  1840,  he  wedded  Eunice  S.  Bas- 
com,  who  was  born  at  Orwell,  Vermont,  De- 
cember 18,  181 1.  They  were  the  parents  of  the 
following  children  :  Henry  Bascom,  Homer 
Bryant  and  Mary  Maria.  Henry  Bascom 
served  in  the  2d  Massachusetts  cavalry  in  the 
late  Civil  war,  is  now  residing  in  New  York 
city,  and  is  in  the  employ  of  the  New  York  and 
Boston  Chemical  and  Dye  Works  company. 

Homer  Bryant  Bates  was  principally  edu- 
cated in  the  old  Glens  Falls  academy  ;  leaving 
school  at  the  age  of  sixteen  or  seventeen,  he 
entered  E.  E.  Safford's  store,  at  Glens  Falls, 
as  a  clerk,  and  after  the  great  fire  of  that  vil- 
19a 


lage  in  1864,  he  engaged  with  the  Jointa  Lime 
company  of  that  village.  He  is  at  present  in 
charge  of  the  lime  business  at  Bald  Mountain, 
New  York,  having  been  in  the  employ  of  this 
company  since  1865,  acting  as  the  company's 
cashier  up  to  the  time  of  his  removing  to  Bald 
Mountain  in  1872.  Since  then  he  has  filled 
the  office  of  secretary  and  superintendent  of 
the  Bald  Mountain  Lime  company,  making 
from  one  hundred  and  forty  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  barrels  per  day,  employing  about 
thirty  men  and  two  boats  to  deliver  lime,  prin- 
cipally to  New  York  city.  He  also  handles 
coal,  powder,  dynamite  and  building  material 
in  connection  with  his  lime  interest.  Mr.  Bates 
is  a  republican,  and  has  served  as  supervisor 
of  the  town  of  Greenwich,  is  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity,  and  also  a  member  and 
vestryman  of  Saint  Paul's  Episcopal  church  of 
Greenwich. 

September  1,  1869,  Mr.  Bates  wedded  Rosa- 
mond A.  Davis,  and  has  three  children  :  Helen 
Gertrude,  Henry  H.  and  Mary  Louise.  Mrs. 
Bates  died  December  19,  1890,  in  the  forty- 
eigthth  year  of  her  age.  On  December  28, 
1891,  Mr.  Bates  was  married  to  Fannie  J. 
McNeil.  Eunice  Samantha  Bascom  Bates 
(mother),  was  a  descendant  of  the  immigrant 
Thomas  Bascom,  who  came  to  this  country, 
probably  from  England,  about  the  year  1634, 
and  located  at  Dorchester,  Massachusetts.  In 
1639  he  removed  to  Windsor,  Connecticut, 
thence  to  Northampton,  Massachusetts,  where 
his  death  occurred  May  9,  1682.  Dorus 
Bascom,  maternal  grandfather  of  Mr.  Bates, 
was  born  at  Northfield,  Massachusetts,  De- 
cember 19,  1774  ;  married  Chloe  Hulburd, 
March  11,  1800;  his  death  occurred  August 
26,  1841;  his  wife,  October  1,  1851.  They  had 
nine  children:  Thankful, wife  of  Horace  Cobb  ; 
Priscilla  Elvira,  wife  of  Linus  Wilcox;  Clar- 
inda,  wife  of  Samuel  Howard,  of  Benson,  Ver- 
mont ;  Emily,  wife  of  William  R.  Sanford  ; 
Oliver;  Hulburd;  Eunice  S.,  wife  of  Rev. 
Henry  Howard  Bates:  Dorus,  William  Frank- 
lin, and  Samuel  H. 


320 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


QKENVILLE  MELLEX  IXGALSBE 

was  born  in  the  southern  part  of  the  town 
of  Hartford, New  York, on  the  26th  dayof  July, 
1846.  He  was  the  only  child  of  Milo  and  Laura 
C.  Ingalsbe,  nee  Chapin.  He  received  instruc- 
tion until  he  was  fourteen  at  home,  from  his 
father,  afterward  attending  the  district  school 
four  winters,  and  for  one  fall  term  he  was  a 
pupil  at  a  select  school.  During  one  year, 
1864-65,  he  was  a  student  at  the  Fort  Edward 
Collegiate  institute.  In  1866  he  entered  Union 
college  as  an  eclectic  student,  classed  with  the 
juniors  in  the  class  of  1868,  and  remained  one 
year.  In  1870  the  college  granted  him  the 
bachelor's  degree,  and  three  years  later  its  de- 
gree of  master  of  arts  was  conferred  upon  him. 

In  the  fall  of  1S67  he  assumed  charge  of 
the  Argyle  academy,  at  Argyle,  New  York, and 
was  its  principal  for  three  years.  Until  his 
retirement  from  the  teachers'  field,  his  sum- 
mers and  vacations  were  invariably  spent  upon 
the  farm,  engaged  in  the  active  duties  of  farm 
life,  for  which  he  developed  and.  still  holds  a 
great  affection. 

In  the  fall  of  1870  he  began  the  study  of  law 
in  the  office  of  Hughes  &  Northup,  at  Sandy 
Hill,  New  York,  where  he  remained  a  year. 
He  then  entered  the  Harvard  Law  school,  at 
Cambridge, Massachusetts,and  after  an  attend- 
ance of  one  year  he  passed  the  examinations 
upon  the  subjects  of  the  entire  course,  and 
received  from  Harvard  university,  in  June, 
1872,  the  degree  of  LL.B. 

He  then  became  managing  clerk  for  Hughes 
&  Northup  ;  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1874, 
and  in  1S75  opened  a  law  office  in  Sandy  Hill, 
where  he  has  ever  since  been  actively  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

For  four  years,  1874-8,  he  was  the  secretary 
of  theWashington  County  Agricultural  society, 
and  since  that  time  has  been  an  advisory  tnem- 
ber  of  its  board  of  managers.  In  1877  he  was 
appointed  a  justice  of  the  peace  for  the  town 
of  Kingsbury.  Afterward,  by  successive  elec- 
tions, he  held  the  office  over  eight  years,  and 
then  retired  because  of  its  interference  with 


his  professional  work.  For  three  years,  1875- 
78,  he  was  the  supervisor  of  his  town.  In 
1878  he  was  the  chairman  of  the  county  board 
of  supervisors.  At  the  expiration  of  his  third 
term  as  supervisor,  he  declined  a  unanimous 
re-election,  and  has  since  held  no  elective  office. 

Though  taking  an  active  part  in  local  poli- 
tics, he  has  persistently  refused  to  allow  the 
use  of  his  name  as  a  candidate  for  district  or 
county  offices.  In  1874  he  was  elected  village 
clerk  of  Sandy  Hill.  In  1875  the  office  be- 
came appointive,  and  by  successive  appoint- 
ments he  held  the  position,  with  the  exception 
of  a  single  year,  until  March,  1894,  when  he 
resigned,  that  he  might  thenceforth  devote 
himself  exclusively  to  his  profession  ;  to  his 
various  business  interests,  including  the  man- 
agement of  the  farm  homestead,  at  Hartford, 
and  to  study  along  certain  lines  which  have 
always  been  so  attractive  to  him,  that  amid 
the  duties  of  an  exacting  profession,  he  has 
always  preserved  the  mental  poise  of  a  student, 
and  many  of  the  habits  of  a  recluse.  On  Sep- 
tember 20,  1876,  Mr.  Ingalsbe  was  married 
to  Franc  E.  Groesbeck,  at  "Pine  Avenue," 
the  home  of  her  stepfather,  Mr.  Amasa  How- 
land,  of  Sandy  Hill,  New  York.  Miss  Groes- 
beck wasdaughter  of  Nathaniel  Barnett  Groes- 
beck~  of  Fort  Ann,  deceased,  and  Lydia  A. 
Groesbeck,  nee  Kingsley.  She  is  a  graduate 
of  the  Temple  Grove  seminary,  Saratoga 
Springs,  and  was  a  teacher  in  the  Sandy  Hill 
Union  Free  school.  They  have  one  child, 
Grenville  Howland,  born  November  8,  1878. 

Mr.  Ingalsbe  is  not  a  member  of  any  church, 
but  in  the  absence  of  a  Congregational  church 
at  Sandy  Hill,  has  been  connected  with  the 
Presbyterian  society,  of  which  he  was  a  trustee 
for  nineteen  years,  resigning  in  1893.  In  poli- 
tics he  has  always  been  and  is  a  republican, 
except  that  in  1872  he  espoused  the  Liberal 
Republican  cause.  He  is  not  a  partisan  to  the 
extent  of  placing  party  above  country,or  claim- 
ing that  his  party  can  do  no  wrong. 

At  present  Mr.  Ingalsbe  is  a  director  and  the 
secretary  of  the  "Spring  Brook  Water  Com- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


321 


pany,"  of  the  "  Sandy  Hill  Electric  Light  and 
Power  Company,"  and  of  the  "Sandy  Hill 
Power  Company ;  "  a  director  of  the  National 
Bank  of  Sandy  Hill,  and  of  the  Glens  Falls, 
Sandy  Hill  &  Fort  Edward  Street  Railway 
Company  ;  a  trustee  of  the  Glens  Falls  acad- 
emy; an  advisory  director  of  the  Washington 
County  Agricultural  society,  and  a  member  of 
the  executive  committee  of  the  New  York  State 
Bar  association.  He  is  a  life  member  of  the 
New  York  State  Agricultural  society,  and  a 
member  of  the  Union  College  Alumni  associ- 
ation, the  Harvard  Law  School  association, 
the  American  Bar  association,  the  American 
Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science,  and 
of  various  other  similar  societies. 


JOHN    CIPPERLEY,    M.  D.,   one  of 

^  the  well-known  physicians  and  citizens  of 
Greenwich,  is  a  son  of  Abraham  and  Maria 
(Chase)  Cipperley  and  was  born  at  Sand  Lake, 
Rensselaer  county,  New  York,  September  29, 
1830.  The  name  is  of  German  origin,  and  the 
founders  of  the  family  in  this  country  were 
Bernhard  and  his  three  sons,  religious  refu- 
gees from  the  Palatinate  on  the  river  Rhine, 
who  came  over  in  17 10,  settling  in  Rhinebeck, 
Dutchess  county,  New  York,  where  many  of 
his  descendants,  also  in  Rensselaer  county, 
reside.  He  was  the  chief  founder  of  the  First 
Lutheran  church  of  that  place.  The  old 
German  spelling  of  the  name  was  Ziperlin. 
Henry  Cipperley  (great-grandfather),  who  was 
a  grandson  of  the  immigrant  Bernhard,  fought 
at  the  battle  of  Saratoga  and  witnessed  Bur- 
goyne's  surrender.  A  relative  of  his,  who 
was  an  officer  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution, 
was  shot  from  his  horse,  by  the  enemy,  who 
were  lying  in  ambush.  George  Cipperley 
(grandfather)  was  a  prominent  man  of  his 
day,  understanding  the  German  and  English 
languages,  and  served  as  justice  of  the  peace 
and  supervisor  of  his  town.  He  was  promi- 
nent in  the  affairs  of  his  neighborhood,  a  mem- 
ber and  trustee  of    the  Lutheran  church,  and 


was  popular  and  well  liked  by  his  neighbors. 
His  wife  was  Polly  Coon,  a  daughter  of  Abram 
Coon  ;  the  latter  fought  through  the  entire  war 
of  the  Revolution.  By  this  marriage  George 
Cipperley  was  the  father  of  seventeen  children  : 
Henry,  Abraham,  Adam,  George,  Hiram, 
Jacob,  Michael,  Catharine,  Regina,  Maria, 
Hannah,  Elizabeth,  Louisa,  Elmira,  Savena, 
Clarissa,  and  all  of  whom  grew  to  man  and 
womanhood. 

George  Cipperley  died  November  4,  1847,  in 
the  seventy-third  year  of  his  age. 

Abraham  Cipperley,  who  was  the  greater 
part  of  his  life  engaged  in  the  occupation  of 
farming,  died  where  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
now  resides  ;  but  was  engaged  in  his  early  life 
in  the  manufacture  of  cloth  at  West  Sand 
Lake.  In  his  political  belief  he  was  a  demo- 
crat, and  served  as  assessor  of  Sand  Lake  and 
took  an  active  interest  in  the  public  affairs  of 
the  village  ;  was  also  a  member,  deacon  and 
trustee  of  the  Lutheran  church.  He  married 
Maria  Chase  and  had  two  children  :  Dr.  John 
and  Henry.  Abraham  Cipperley  died  April 
14,  1892,  having  been  born  in  1803. 

Dr.  John  Cipperley  received  his  elementary 
education  in  the  district  schools  of  West  Sand 
Lake  and  in  a  select  school  taught  at  West 
Sand  Lake,  and  afterward  attended  the  Willis- 
ton  seminary,  located  in  Massachusetts,  and 
subsequently  entered  and  took  a  course  at  the 
Albany  State  Normal  school.  Selecting  the 
profession  of  medicine  as  his  life's  work,  he 
accordingly  became  a  student  under  Dr.  P.  H. 
Thomas,  and  after  taking  the  required  course 
of  study,  he  graduated  at  Albany  Medical  col- 
lege in  1856.  He  began  the  practice  in  the 
vicinity  of  Greenwich,  where  he  has  practiced 
for  twenty-five  years.  At  present  Dr.  Cipper- 
ley is  a  member  of  the  Washington  County 
Medical  society.  He  is  a  member  of  Ashlar 
Lodge,  No.  584,  Free  and  Accepted  Masons, 
and  is  also  member  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal church.  He  is  joint  owner  and  member 
of  the  firm  of  Cipperley  and  Hegeman's  grist 
mill,   saw  mill   and   plaster   mills,   located   in 


32S» 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Middle  Falls,  including  a  number  of  tenement 
houses  and  four  acres  of  ground  in  the  same 
village.  He  has  been  for  a  number  of  years 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  cement,  at 
Middle  Falls.  He  is  a  prohibitionist  and  takes 
an  active  part  in  the  interests  of  his  party. 

In  1859  Dr.  Cipperley  was  wedded  to  Sa- 
lina  Hegeman.  To  their  marriage  have  been 
born  seven  children  :  William  H.,  born  June, 
i860,  and  resides  at  Greenwich;  Maria  L., 
Abraham  L.,  Augusta,  Fred,  Eddie,  who  died 
at  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  and  one  who  died 
in  infancy. 


t^ENNIS  J.  SULLIVAN,  a  resident  of 
^^  Sandy  Hill,  and  a  member  of  the  Wash- 
ington county  bar,  is  a  son  of  John  and  Cath- 
arine (O'Brien)  Sullivan,  and  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Horicon,  Warren  county,  New  York, 
April  2,  1857.  John  Sullivan  was  born  and 
reared  in  County  Kerry,  Ireland,  where  he  re- 
ceived his  education,  and  was  variously  en- 
gaged until  he  was  thirty  years  of  age.  He 
then,  in  July,  1850,  came  to  the  United  States, 
and  after  spending  about  nine  years  in  the 
town  of  Horicon,  became  a  resident  of  this 
county,  when  he  purchased  his  present  farm 
in  the  town  of  Fort  Ann,  where  he  has  been 
engaged  ever  since  in  farming  and  stock  rais- 
ing. He  is  a  member  of  the  Catholic  church, 
and  a  republican  in  politics,  and  has  held  sev- 
eral town  offices  since  his  coming  to  Fort  Ann. 
After  arriving  in  this  country  he  wedded 
Catharine  O'Brien,  who  was  born  in  County 
Cork,  Ireland,  in  1827,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Catholic  church. 

Dennis  J.  Sullivan  received  his  education  in 
the  public  schools  and  Glens  Falls  academy. 
Completing  his  studies  at  the  latter  institution 
in  1874,  he  taught  school,  and  in  1875  he  en- 
tered the  law  office  of  the  late  Hon.  U.G.  Paris, 
and  after  completing  the  required  course  of 
reading,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  at  the  November  term  of  1878. 
Since  his  admission  to  the  bar  Mr.  Sullivan 


has  been  engaged  in  the  general  practice  at 
Sandy  Hill.  He  is  energetic  and  active,  en- 
joys a  good  practice,  and  ranks  as  a  safe  coun- 
selor. He  is  a  republican  in  politics,  and  has 
been  clerk  of  the  board  of  education  of  his 
town  for  ten  years  successively. 

Mr.  Sullivan  has  also  served  as  justice  of  the 
peace  continuously  for  nine  years.  He  is  also 
village  clerk. 


f^APT.  EM3IETT  J.  OKAY,   a  mem 

^^  ber  of  the  milling  firm  of  Witherbee  & 
Gray,  of  Whitehall,  and  who  has  served  as 
captain  in  the  National  Guard  of  Vermont, 
and  is  now  first  lieutenant  of  the  gth  separate 
company,  National  Guard  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  is  a  son  of  Enoch  and  Helen  M.  (Ar- 
nold) Gray,  and  was  born  at  Glens  Falls,  New 
York,  December  7,  1865.  The  Grays  are  of 
Scotch  ancestry,  and  were  among  the  pioneers 
of  the  town  of  Hadley,  Saratoga  county,  where 
several  generations  of  the  family  have  lived. 
In  that  town  the  paternal  grandfather  of  Capt. 
Gray,  Asahel  Gray,  was  born  and  reared. 
After  attaining  manhood  he  engaged  in  farm- 
ing in  his  native  town,  where  he  followed  that 
occupation  successfully  until  his  retirement 
from  all  active  business.  He  then  removed 
to  the  village  of  Glens  Falls,  where  he  died 
about  1881,  aged  seventy-nine  years.  He 
married  Hanna  Heath  and  reared  a  family 
of  six  children,  one  of  his  sons  being  Enoch 
Gray  (father),  who  was  born  in  the  old  Gray 
homestead  in  the  town  of  Hadley  in  1832. 
In  his  earlier  years  he  was  engaged  in  the 
clothing  business  at  Glens  Falls,  but  the  lat- 
ter part  of  his  life  was  devoted  to  specu- 
lating. In  1857  he  removed  to  Glens  Falls 
and  continued  to  reside  in  that  village  until 
his  death  in  1884,  when  in  the  fifty-second 
year  of  his  age.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church  at  Glens  Falls  and  a  republican  in  poli- 
tics. In  1854,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  years, 
he  married  Helen  M.  Arnold,  a  native  of  the 
town  of  Wilton,  Saratoga  count}',  and  a  daugh- 


BIOGBAPHY  AND  HJSTOBY 


323 


ter  of  Zibra  Arnold.  Mrs.  Gray  is  a  member 
of  the  Baptist  church  and  now  resides  in  the 
village  of  Glens  Falls,  in  the  sixtieth  year  of 
her  age. 

Emmett  J.  Gray  was  reared  in  his  native 
village,  and  obtained  an  academic  education 
in  the  Glens  Falls  academy.  After  leaving 
school  he  entered  the  large  clothing  store  of 
the  Rochester  Clothing  company,  at  Glens 
Falls,  where  he  remained  for  more  than  two 
years,  and  was  then  sent  as  manager  of  the 
same  firm's  extensive  clothing  house  in  Rut- 
land, Vermont.  For  a  period  of  nearly  three 
years  he  successfully  conducted  the  large 
clothing  trade  of  the  Rochester  company  at 
Rutland,  but  in  1890  resigned  his  position,  and 
coming  to  Whitehall,  formed  a  partnership 
with  R.  M.  Witherbee,  his  father-in-law,  and 
engaged  in  the  milling  business.  Under  the 
firm  name  of  Witherbee  &  Gray,  these  gen- 
tlemen have  continued  to  do  a  large  and  lucra- 
tive business  here  ever  since,  operating  one  of 
the  largest,  best  equipped  and  best  paying 
grist  mills  in  Washington  count)'. 

On  the  26th  of  November,  1890,  Captain 
Gray  was  united  in  marriage  to  Minnie  E. 
Witherbee,  a  daughter  of  R.  M.  Witherbee, 
his  present  partner  in  business,  and  an  old  resi- 
dent of  Whitehall.  To  that  union  has  been 
been  born  two  sons  :  R.  Gerald  and  Howard  E. 

There  appears  to  have  been  a  strong  mili- 
tary element  in  the  character  of  Captain  Gray 
from  his  earliest  years,  nor  is  this  to  be  won- 
dered at  when  it  is  remembered,  that  he  was 
reared  amid  the  dying  echoes  of  the  Civil  war, 
while  all  classes  were  yet  familiar  with  the 
chief  aspects  of  that  struggle  and  its  results 
were  everywhere  being  discussed.  On  Febru- 
ary 11,  1884,  Mr.  Gray,  while  yet  in  his  nine- 
teenth year,  became  a  member  of  the  18th 
separate  company  of  the  National  Guards  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  at  Glens  Falls.  On 
June  6  of  the  next  year,  he  was  made  corpo- 
ral, and  was  promoted  to  be  second  lieutenant 
January  2.  1888.  On  March  21,  1889,  he  re- 
ceived a  full  and  honorable  discharge  from  the 


National  Guard  of  this  State,  and  on  February 
1 1,  1890,  was  commissioned  captain  of  Co.  A, 
of  the  National  Guard  of  the  State  of  Ver- 
mont, at  Rutland,  where  he  then  resided.  This 
commission  he  resigned  on  September  15  of 
the  same  year,  upon  his  removal  to  Whitehall. 
Here  he  again  connected  himself  with  the 
National  Guard  of  New  York,  and  on  October 
x3>  '^93>  was  rnade  first  lieutenant  of  the  9th 
separate  company  at  Whitehall,  which  rank 
he  still  holds.  He  is  a  member  and  trustee  of 
the  Baptist  church  of  Whitehall,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  Center  Lodge,  No.  34,  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Masons,  of  Rutland,  Vermont.  In 
politics  Captain  Gray  is  an  ardent  republican 
and  takes  an  active  interest  in  local  political 
affairs. 


TTLIiERT  C.  VAUGHAN,  the  present 
postmaster  of  Fort  Ann,  and  a  Union 
soldier  during  the  great  Civil  war,  was  born  at 
Massena,  St.  Lawrence  count)',  New  York, 
September  4,  1845.  He  is  a  son  of  John  and 
Ahnira  (Hovey)  Vaughan,  and  was  reared  at 
Plattsburg,  New  York,  where  he  received  his 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  that  place. 
He  left  school  in  1861,  at  sixteen  years  of 
age,  to  enlist  in  Co.  H,  60th  New  York  volun- 
teers, in  which  he  served  out  his  term  of  en- 
listment, two  years  and  nine  months.  He 
then  re-enlisted  in  the  same  company  and 
regiment,  and  served  until  August  25,  1865, 
when  he  was  honorably  mustered  out  of  the 
service  at  Ogdensburg,  New  York.  He  was 
wounded  at  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville,  and 
received  another  slight  wound  at  Lookout 
Mountain.  Returning  home  from  the  army 
he  soon  left  northern  New  York,  came  and 
settled  at  Fort  Ann,  where  he  has  continued 
to  reside  ever  since.  From  1865  to  1877  he 
was  engaged  in  boating  on  the  Champlain 
canal.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  was  ap- 
pointed deputy  sheriff  of  Washington  county, 
which  position  he  held  for  eight  years.  Since 
then  he  has  been  engaged  in  various  lines  of 
business  anddiflerent  speculative  enterprises. 


324 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


On  June  4,  1889,  Mr.  Vaughan  was  commis- 
sioned by  President  Harrison  as  postmaster 
of,  and  is  the  present  incumbent  of  that  office, 
at  Fort  Ann. 

On  May  6,  1868,  Albert  C.  Vaughan  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Elsie  M.  Vaughan, 
daughter  of  Washington  Vaughan,  of  Fort 
Ann. 

In  political  opinion  Mr.  Vaughan  is  a  pro- 
nounced republican,  and  is  a  trustee  of  his 
village,  and  a  member  of  its  board  of  educa- 
tion. He  has  been  a  member  of  Mount  Hope 
Lodge,  No.  260,  Free  and  Accepted  Masons, 
since  1868,  and  is  the  organizer  of  Lowe 
Washburn  Post,  No.  335,  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic,  and  has  filled  all  the  offices  of  this 
post.  In  political  and  business  affairs  at  Fort 
Ann,  Mr.  Vaughan  has  been  active  for  over  a 
quarter  of  a  century. 

The  Vaughans  are  of  English  descent,  and 
Benjamin  Vaughan  (grandfather)  was  one  of 
three  brothers  who  came  from  Rhode  Island 
to  northern  New  York  when  the  country  was 
largely  a  wilderness.  Benjamin  Vaughan 
served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Continental  army 
during  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  afterward 
removed  to  Plattsburg,  New  York,  where  he 
lived  to  reach  a  ripe  old  age.  His  son,  John 
Vaughan,  was  born  at  Plattsburg,  in  Clinton 
county,  and  died  there  on  February  9,  1891, 
at  seventy-eight  years  of  age.  He  was  a  shoe- 
maker by  trade,  and  had  been  a  consistent 
member  of  the  Baptist  church  for  many  years 
previous  to  his  death.  He  married  Almira 
Hovey,  a  resident  of  his  native  town,  and  who 
still  survives,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one  years. 


FRANKLIN  FISHLER,  editor  and 
proprietor  of  the  Whitehall  Times,  and  a 
gentleman  who  has  had  much  experience  in 
metropolitan  journalism  and  wields  a  vigorous 
and  trenchant  pen,  is  a  son  of  George  W. 
and  Sarah  (Sofield)  Fishier,  and  was  born  at 
Wellsburg,  Chemung  county,  New  York,  Jan- 
uary 9,  i860.      He  comes  of  the  sturdy  Ger- 


man race,  which  has  borne  such  a  conspicuous 
part  in  the  settlement  and  development  of  this 
country.  His  paternal  great-grandfather, 
George  Fishier,  was  born  and  reared  in  the 
Fatherland,  which  he  left  about  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  to  find  a  new  home  in 
the  western  world.  He  settled  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his 
life,  and  died  at  an  advanced  age.  Among 
his  sons  was  George  Fishier  (grandfather), 
born  in  Bucks  county,  Pennsylvania,  April  9, 
1797,  and  a  carpenter  by  occupation,  who, 
after  attaining  manhood,  removed  to  Chemung 
county,  New  York,  and  settled  at  Wellsburg, 
where  he  resided  until  his  death,  June  15,  1887, 
when  in  the  ninetieth  year  of  his  age.  He 
married  and  reared  a  family  of  five  children, 
one  of  his  sons  being  George  W.  Fishier 
(father),  who  was  born  in  Wallpack  township, 
Sussex  county,  New  Jersey,  August  22,  1827, 
and  now  resides  in  the  city  of  Elmira,  Che- 
mung county,  in  the  sixty-seventh  year  of  his 
age.  He  is  a  republican  in  politics,  a  con- 
tractor and  builder  by  occupation,  and  has 
resided  in  Elmira  since  1870.  In  1854  he 
married  Sarah  Sofield,  a  native  of  Wellsboro, 
Tioga  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  a  daughter 
of  John  Benjamin  Sofield.  To  them  was  born 
a  family  of  four  children,  of  whom  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  is  next  to  the  youngest.  Frank- 
lin Fishier  was  reared  principally  in  the  city 
of  Elmira,  New  York,  and  after  passing  through 
the  public  schools  there,  was  graduated  from 
the  free  academy  of  Elmira  in  the  spring  of 
1878.  After  careful  preparation  he  began 
teaching  in  the  latter  institution,  where  he  re- 
mained for  one  year,  and  then  entered  the 
law  office  of  Senator  David  B.  Hill,  at  Elmira, 
for  the  purpose  of  preparing  himself  for  the 
bar.  Senator  Hill  was  then  principal  propri- 
etor of  the  Elmira  Daily  Gazette,  and  soon 
after  Mr.  Fishier  entered  his  law  office  a  va- 
cancy occurred  in  the  counting  room  of  that 
paper,  and  Mr.  Hill  offered  the  place  to  his 
young  law  student.  Having  already  become 
interested  and  having  had  some  experience  in 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


325 


the  newspaper  business,  Mr.  Fishier  gladly 
accepted  the  position,  and  the  tripod  secured 
an  ornament  originally  intended  for  the  bar. 
Entering  upon  his  new  duties  with  the  en- 
thusiasm which  characterized  a  born  jour- 
nalist, it  was  not  long  until  Mr.  Fishier  had 
worked  himself  up  to  the  position  of  city  edi- 
tor of  the  Gazette,  a  place  he  acceptably  filled 
for  more  than  two  years  and  until  the  paper 
was  consolidated  with  the  Elmira  Free  Press, 
under  the  name  of  the  Elmira  Gazette  and 
Free  Press.  Upon  this  consolidation  I.  M. 
Gregory  became  editor  of  the  paper  and  Mr. 
Fishier  was  given  the  same  position  he  form- 
erly occupied  on  the  Gazette.  One  year  later 
Mr.  Gregory  resigned  and  removed  to  New 
York  city,  to  accept  his  present  position  on 
the  well-known  humorous  paper,  Judge,  and 
Mr.  Fishier  was  then  made  managing  editor 
by  Senator  Hill,  and  did  all  the  campaign 
work  on  the  Gazette  and  Free  Press  during 
1884.  When  Lieutenant  Governor  Dorsh- 
eimer  became  proprietor  of  the  New  York 
Star,  and  made  it  a  great  National  democratic 
paper,  Mr.  Fishier  went  to  New  York  city 
and  became  a  city  reporter  for  that  journal. 
After  six  months  he  was  assigned  to  city  hall, 
and  for  one  year  carefully  looked  after  all 
matters  concerning  municipal  politics.  He 
was  then  given  charge  of  the  Brooklyn  depart- 
ment of  the  paper,  which  he  ably  conducted 
for  a  year  and  a  half,  making  a  total  service 
of  three  years  on  that  great  metropolitan  daily. 
On  September  15,  1888,  Mr.  Fishier  pur- 
chased his  present  paper,  the  Whitehall  Times. 
This  is  a  six-column  quarto,  issued  every 
Thursday,  and  devoted  to  local  and  general 
news  and  to  the  advocacy  of  democratic  prin- 
ciples and  policy  in  both  national  and  local 
affairs.  It  was  established  in  1823,  and  during 
the  seventy  years  of  its  existence  has  always 
adhered  with  unflinching  courage  and  noted 
ability  to  the  great  cause  of  popular  govern- 
ment, as  represented  by  the  party  of  Jefferson 
and  Jackson.  It  now  has  one  of  the  largest 
circulations  of  any  paper  in  this  county,  and 


ranks  with  the  ablest  and  best  democratic 
journals  in  northern  New  York.  Much  of  its 
recent  popularity  and  growth  is  due  to  the 
able  management,  both  in  the  editorial  and 
business  offices,  which  characterizes  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  present  proprietor. 

On  July  25,  1884,  Mr.  Fishier  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Ellinor  J.  Smyth,  a  daughter  of 
Hon.  William  Smyth,  of  Owego,  New  York. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fishier  have  been  born  two 
children,  one  son  a  daughter  :  Bennett  Hill 
and  Dorothy  Smyth.  As  has  been  intimated, 
Mr.  Fishier  is  an  ardent  democrat  in  politics 
and  among  the  most  trusted  leaders  of  his 
party.  His  keen  intellect  and  ready  pen  con- 
stitute a  power  well  known  to  political  friends 
and  foes,  neither  of  whom  are  perhaps  in- 
clined to  underestimate  its  effects  during 
a  campaign.  He  is  a  trustee  of  the  Presby- 
terian church  at  Whitehall,  and  a  member  of 
Phoenix  Lodge,  No.  96,  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons.  For  three  years  he  has  been  serv- 
ing as  collector  of  canal  statistics,  to  which 
place  he  was  appointed  by  Superintendent 
Shanahan. 


HON.  WILLIAM  McDOXALl),  to 
whom  Glens  Falls  owes-mUchof  its  busi- 
ness prosperity, was  born  at  New  Milford, Con- 
necticut, February  29,  1784,  and  was  a  son  of 
Doctor  and  Mary  (Sanford)  McDonald.  He 
received  a  good  education,  was  a  fine  pen- 
man, and  soon  became  a  prominent  merchant 
at  Glens  Falls.  He  served  three  terms  in  the 
legislature,  secured  his  first  election  over  a 
strong  Clintonian  candidate  by  his  personal 
popularity,  and  secured  the  survey  and  appro- 
priation for  the  Glens  Falls  feeder  to  the  canal. 
He  was  an  Episcopalian,  and  a  Mason,  and 
served  for  many  years  as  president  of  the  old 
Commercial  bank. 

William  McDonald  did  much  to  advance 
the  material  interests  of  his  village,  and  died 
September  11,  1870,  at  the  ripe  old  age  of 
eighty-six  years. 


326 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


.TAMES  LAW,  a  prominent  and  retired 
farmer  of  the  town  of  Salem,  was  born  in 
the  town  in  which  he  now  resides,  Washington 
county,  New  York,  January  n,  1827,  and  is  a 
son  of  John  T.  and  Catharine  (Reid)  Law. 
The  Law  family  has  long  been  resident  of  this 
town  and  prominent  in  its  affairs  and  industrial 
and  moral  progress.  John  T.  Law  (father  1, 
was  born  in  the  town  in  the  year  1793, 
where  he  spent  his  lie  engaged  in  the  occu- 
pation of  farming  up  to  time  of  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1878,  in  the  eighty-fifth 
year  of  his  age.  For  many  years  he  was  a 
leading  and  honored  member  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  church  in  the  village  of  Shushan, 
and  was  for  many  years  a  leading  elder  in  that 
denomination.  In  political  opinion  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Whig  party  and  afterward  a 
republican.  Alexander  B.  Law,  a  brother, 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Salem  in  181 1.  He 
was  an  intelligent  and  well-to-do  farmer  of  his 
section  ;  prominent  in  politics  of  his  county, 
serving  for  thirty  years  as  justice  of  the  peace, 
and  for  nine  consecutive  years,  including  the 
years  of  the  Civil  war,  he  served  with  great 
credit  as  supervisor  of  his  town,  and  afterward 
was  elected  and  served  two  terms  as  a  member 
of  the  State  assembly,  where  he  took  a  lead- 
ing part  in  the  measures  that  came  before 
that  body.  He  died  with  the  smallpox  dur- 
ing the  time  that  epidemic  swept  through  this 
section  of  the  county  in  1881,  at  the  age  of 
seventy  years. 

Thomas  Law  (grandfather)  was  a  native  of 
Ireland,  and  whije  yet  a  child  emigrated  with 
his  father,  John  Law,  to  this  country  and  set- 
tled in  the  town  of  Salem  as  early  as  1770. 
John  Law  was  also  a  native  Irishman,  and  be- 
came one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  the  town 
of  Salem,  where  he  tilled  the  soil  and  carried 
on  general  farming  until  his  death.  John  T. 
Law  (father)  wedded  Catharine  Reid,  who 
was  a  native  of  the  town  of  Argyle  ;  born  in 
the  year  1794,  an(^  died  in  1876,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-two  years.  She  was  a  daughter  of 
John  Reid,  a  member  of  the  United  Presbyte- 


rian church,  and  was  of  Scotch  descent.  Two 
brothers  of  John  T.  Law  are  worthy  of  men- 
tion on  these  pages :  Robert  T.  and  Thomas, 
both  of  whom  became  successful  farmers  and 
well  respected  citizens  of  the  community  in 
which  they  lived.  Robert  T.  was  the  eldest 
of  the  children  born,  whose  death  occurred  in 
1880,  aged  eighty-eight  years;  and  Thomas, 
who  was  born  in  1802,  and  died  in  1872.. 

James  Law  has  always  resided  in  his  native 
town  and  has  become  one  of  the  town's  most 
influential  and  successful  farmers  and  business 
men.  His  education  was  received  in  the  or- 
dinary district  schools  of  the  neighborhood, 
which  has  since  been  supplemented  by  read- 
ing and  self  study.  After  arriving  at  the  age 
of  manhood  Mr.  Law  engaged  in  farming  on 
his  own  account,  which  he  carried  on  suc- 
cessfully up  to^SSS,  since  which  time  he  has 
been  practically  retired  from  all  active  busi- 
ness, having  accumulated  a  sufficient  compe- 
tency that  will  enable  him  to  live  the  remain- 
ing years  of  his  life  in  ease  and  comfort.  He 
still  owns  the  old  homestead  farm,  containing 
three  hundred  acres,  which  constitutes  one  of 
the  best  improved  and  most  valuable  farms  of 
the  town.  He  has  never  been  married.  His 
sister  Ellen  resides  with  him.  He  has  for 
many  years  been  a  member  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  church  of  Shushan,  and  is  now 
filling  the  offices  of  elder  and  trustee. 


tVYNIEL  D.  AVOODARD,  president  of 
^^  the  National  bank  of  Granville,  and  a 
financier  of  marked  ability  and  of  conservative 
tendencies,  is  a  son  of  Daniel  and  Marian 
(McNitt)  Woodard,  and  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Hebron,  this  county,  January  7,  1854.  The 
Woodards  are  of  Scotch  extraction,  and  the 
family  were  among  the  early  settlers  of  Wash- 
ington county.  Daniel  Woodard,  paternal 
grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
a  native  of  the  town  of  Hebron,  a  farmer  by 
occupation,  and  spent  a  long  and  active  life  in 
agricultural  pursuits  in  that  town.      He  was 


£  A  (SrtA. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


329 


very  successful,  and  some  time  previous  to  his 
death  retired  from  active  business  and  removed 
to  the  village  of  Granville,  where  he  died 
about  1880,  at  an  advanced  age.  His  son. 
Daniel  Woodard  (father),  was  born  on  the  old 
homestead  in  the  town  of  Hebron,  in  1823, 
where  he  grew  to  manhood  and  received  a 
good  English  education.  He  then  began  farm- 
ing, and  in  1855  removed  to  Salem,  where  he 
resided  for  twenty  years,  engaged  in  farming 
and  other  business  enterprises.  He  became 
1  vice-president  of  the  First  National  bank  of 
Salem,  and  retained  that  position  until  1875, 
when  he  removed  to  Granville  and  organized 
the  Granville  National  bank.  Of  this  institu- 
tion he  was  made  president  and  served  as  such 
until  his  death  in  1887,  in  the  sixty-fourth  year 
of  his  age.  He  was  a  clear  headed,  practical 
and  successful  business  man,  and  as  a  finan- 
cier ranked  with  the  ablest  in  northern  New 
York.  Politically  he  was  a  republican  and 
protectionist,  and  earnestly  supported  the 
general  policy  of  his  party,  and  especially 
every  measure  calculated  to  afford  protection 
to  American  industries. 

In  1845  he  married  Marian  McNitt,  a  native 
of  Salem  and  a  daughter  of  James  McNitt.  To 
them  was  born  a  family  of  ten  children,  five 
sons  and  five  daughters.  Mrs.  Woodard  is  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  church, and  now  resides 
in  the  village  of  Granville,  in  the  sixty-eighth 
year  of  her  age. 

Daniel  D.  Woodard  was  reared  partly  at  Sa- 
lem and  partly  in  the  village  of  Granville, 
where  he  obtained  an  excellent  English  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools.  At  the  age  of  fif- 
teen he  left  school  to  embark  in  the  general 
mercantile  business  at  West  Hebron,  and  after 
four  years,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  removed 
to  Chicago,  Illinois,  where  he  engaged  in  the 
dry  goods  business  as  a  clerk,  salesman  and 
manager,  until  1875.  In  that  year  he  returned 
to  Granville  to  assume  the  duties  of  teller  in 
the  National  bank  of  Granville,  and  has  been 
connected  with  this  institution  ever  since.  In 
1878  he  was  made  cashier  of  the  bank,  and  in 


1890  was  elected  president,  which  position  he 
has  ever  since  occupied,  administering  its  af- 
fairs with  distinguished  ability.  The  bank  has 
a  capital  stock  of  one  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars, a  surplus  of  twenty-five  thousand,  and  its 
total  resources  amount  to  four  hundred  thous- 
and dollars.  Its  affairs  have  been  conducted 
in  a  judicious  and  conservative  manner,  free 
from  entangling  alliances  with  speculative 
movements, and  asa  consequence  it  nowstands 
as  one  of  the  safest  and  most  trusted  financial 
institutions  of  the  county. 

On  January  28,  1879,  Mr.  Woodard  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Elizabeth  W.  Westcott, 
a  daughter  of  James  H.  Westcott,  of  Saratoga, 
New  York.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Woodard  have 
been  born  three  children,  one  son  and  two 
daughters:  Ethel  W.,  Alan  J.  and  Madeline 
E.,  all  living  at  home  with  their  parents  in 
their  handsome  residence,  in  the  village  of 
Granville.  In  political  faith  Mr.  Woodard  is 
a  stanch  republican,  and  in  religion  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Gran- 
ville, which  he  is  now  serving  as  steward. 


jpEV.  JOSEPH  S.  ETHIER,  the  able 

T  and  popular  pastor  of  the  Saint  Alfonsus 
French  Catholic  church,  of  Glens  Falls, 
where  he  has  labored  most  zealously  and  with 
much  success  since  1891,  was  born  at  Saint 
Eustache,  Province  of  Quebec,  Canada,  on 
May  11,  1842.  His  father  was  Noel  Etienne 
Ethier,  who  was  for  over  fort}'  years  director 
of  the  Catholic  church  choir  at  Saint  Eustache, 
who  succeeded  his  father,  Joseph  Ethier, 
who  had  occupied  the  same  position  for  fifty 
years,  and  the  place  is  now  filled  by  Daniel 
Ethier,  a  brother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
Noel  E.  Ethier  married  Margarite  Gooselin, 
a  native  of  the  Province  of  Quebec,  and  who 
resides  at  present  at  Glens  Falls, in  her  seventy- 
ninth  year.  The  family  to  which  she  belongs 
is  noted  for  its  longevity.  She  had  seven 
brothers  and  sisters,  none  of  whom  died 
under  ninty  years  of  age  :  four  lived  to  be  over 


330 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


one  hundred,  and  another  lived  to  be  one 
hundred  and  eight  years  of  age.  The  founder 
of  this  family  in  Canada  came  from  Limoges, 
France,  over  two  hundred  years  ago,  and  set- 
tled at  Repentiguy  and  Mascouche,  Canada; 
his  name  was  Leonard  Ethier,  who  was  born 
in  1641,  at  Limoges,  France,  and  came  to 
Montreal  in  1670,  and  was  for  many  years 
surgeon  in  the  French  army.  His  son,  Rene 
Ethier,  who  died  in  1752,  was  also  a  surgeon. 
One  of  his  sons,  Joseph,  who  was  born  in  1708, 
and  wedded  Catharine  Lanzon  in  1760,  was  a 
surgeon  also.  One  of  his  sons  was  Mone 
Ethier,  who  was  the  grandfather  of  Father 
Ethier,  and  was  born  April  11,  1745,  and  died 
in  1827.  During  the  war  of  1812  he  served 
as  captain  in  the  State  milita.  He  was  after- 
ward made  prisoner  and  sent  to  Albany, 
thence  to  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  where 
he  was  released.  After  he  volunteered  his  ser- 
vices and  joined  our  armies  he  was  natural- 
ized and  became  a  citizen  of  this  country.  He 
was  one  of  Bonaparte's  gallant  soldiers,  and 
was  with  that  renowned  and  ill-fated  general 
at  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  He  was  also  by 
profession  a  surgeon. 

John  H.  Ethier,  a  cousin  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  was  captured  while  fighting  for 
the  Union  in  the  late  Civil  war,  and  died  while 
in  prison. 

Rev.  Father  Ethier  grew  to  manhood  in  his 
native  place,  and  was  educated  for  the  minis- 
try at  Saint  Therese  college,  and  in  1867  was 
ordained  to  the  priesthood  in  Montreal  by 
Bishop  I.  Bourget.  For  five  years  Father 
Ethier  was  professor  in  his  Alma  Mater,  and 
at  the  end  of  that  time  he  began  his  minis- 
terial labors  at  Cape  Breton,  Nova  Scotia,  as 
pastor  at  Acadiaville  L'Ardoise's  French  Cath- 
olic church,  where  he  remained  for  fourteen 
years.  In  1884  he  came  to  Whitehall,  where 
he  assumed  charge  of  (N-D)oes  Victoires  con- 
gregation, and  remained  there  for  a  period  of 
eight  years,  when  in  1891  he  was  transferred 
to  his  present  charge,  where  he  has  assiduously 
looked  after  the  spiritual  welfare  of  three  hun- 


dred and  fifty  families.  Since  Father  Ethier's 
short  pastorage  at  Glens  Falls,  he  has  com- 
pleted his  present  fine  church  edifice,  at  a  cost 
of  sixty  thousand  dollars.  The  main  altar,  a 
full  page  view  of  which  can  be  seen  in  this 
work,  and  the  two  side  altars  were  manufac- 
tured in  Holland,  at  a  cost  of  six  thousand  dol- 
lars, being  especially  made  to  exhibit  at  the 
the  Columbian  fair,  Chicago,  where  they  were 
awarded  first  prize.  Had  it  not  been  with  this 
object  in  view  on  the  part  of  the  manufacturers, 
the  altar  would  not  have  cost  less  than  fifteen 
thousand  dollars.  A  description  of  Saint  Al- 
phonsus'  church  being  appropriate,  we  will 
speak  of  it  briefly  here  :  The  sanctuary  of  the 
church  was  completed  according  to  the  origi- 
nal plans.  A  curved  oak  wainscoating  eight 
feet  high  runs  entirely  around  it,  the  design 
being  very  elaborate  and  artistic  in  execution. 
Twenty-four  stalls  in  polished  oak  are  provided 
for  the  altar  boys  on  either  side,  and  a  massive 
brass  hand  rail  in  front  of  eight  of  them  lends 
an  added  effect.  In  the  top  of  the  wainscoat- 
ing a  number  of  incandescent  lamps  are  placed 
a  short  distance  apart,  and  the  ground  glass 
globes  shed  a  soft  and  mellow  light.  There 
are  three  altars.  On  the  left  is  the  altar  dedi- 
cated to  the  Virgin  Mary,  which  was  presented 
to  the  church  by  the  ladies  of  the  Altar  so- 
ciety. The  general  design  is  very  handsome. 
It  is  built  of  oak  around  an  alcove  in  the  wall, 
on  the  back  of  which  is  an  oil  painting  repre- 
senting Notre  Dame  de  Lourdes.  On  a  high 
covered  oak  pedestal  in  this  niche  stands  the 
statue  of  the  Virgin  and  the  child,  flanked  on 
either  side  by  tall  candelabra.  On  the  right 
of  this  altar  is  a  statue  of  Saint  Louis,  pre- 
sented by  Louis  Bayle.  On  the  other  side  of 
the  church  is  the  altar  of  Saint  Anne,  which 
was  presented  to  the  church  by  the  elderly 
ladies  of  the  parish.  In  style  and  architecture 
it  is  a  duplicate  of  the  other.  The  oil  paint- 
ing in  the  alcove  represents  the  presentation 
to  the  temple,  and  a  statue  of  Saint  Anne  fills 
the  niche.  On  the  left  is  a  statue  of  Saint 
Stanislaus  of  Koska,  presented  by  Miss  Lizzie 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


335 


Bayle.  The  main  altar  is  a  thing  of  beauty 
and  a  work  of  art.  It  is  large  and  massive, 
and  weighs  about  six  tons.  A  solid  foundation 
of  masonry  had  to  be  built  in  the  cellar  to  sup- 
port it.  The  tomb  or  base  of  this  altar  was 
made  in  Europe,  and  was  on  exhibition  at  the 
World's  fair,  where  it  took  the  first  premium. 
Itisrectangular  in  form, being  ten  feet  long  and 
six  feet  wide.  The  design  of  the  front  is  es- 
pecially striking.  From  a  marble  base  rise 
four  Corinthian  pillars  of  Mexican  onyx,  the 
base,  plinth  and  capital  in  gilt,  supporting  the 
top  of  the  altar,  a  solid  block  of  marble  six 
inches  thick,  the  beveled  edge  of  which  is  or- 
namented by  a  chevron.  Between  the  pillars 
are  three  panels  of  Belgium  white  stone,  on 
which  are  sculptured,  in  bas-relief  important 
events  in  the  lives  of  the  three  most  prominent 
figures  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  first  shows 
Abraham  offering  his  son  Isaac  as  a  sacrifice  ; 
the  second  represents  Moses  and  the  shower 
of  manna  in  the  desert ;  the  third  shows  Aaron 
serving  the  paschal  feast  just  before  leaving 
Egypt.  These  panels  are  all  emblematic  of 
the  eucharist,  and  the  work  of  one  of  the  lead- 
ing artists  in  this  line  in  Europe. 

The  upper  portion  of  the  altar  is  devoted  to 
the  New  Testament.  It  is  built  of  polished 
oak,  hand  carved,  and  it  rises  to  a  height  of 
twenty  feet.  There  are  three  elevations,  the 
taller  one  in  the  middle,  the  other  two  at  the 
ends.  The  base  of  the  center  tower  forms  the 
tabernacle,  which  is  built  of  steel  and  brass, 
and  weighs  seven  hundred  pounds.  In  reality 
it  is  a  small  safe,  with  top  and  bottom  locks, 
and  thoroughly  fire  proof.  The  exterior  of 
the  doors  are  very  handsome,  as  they  consist 
of  two  angels  in  bas-relief,  the  polished  brass 
giving  a  rich  effect.  In  a  niche  above  stands 
the  large  crucifix,  and  in  the  niche  above  that 
is  the  figure  of  the  patron  saint  of  the  church, 
Saint  Alphonsus.  The  smaller  towers  on  either 
side  are  uniform  in  style  with  the  center  one. 
The  one  on  the  left  forms  a  niche  for  Saint 
Joseph,  and  the  one  on  the  right  for  Saint 
John  the  Baptist.  The  space  between  the  three 


towers  forms  two  niches  on  either  side,  in 
which  are  placed  statues  of  the  four  evangel- 
ists. Over  these  niches  stand  two  seraphim. 
The  altar  is  flanked  on  either  side  by  two  high 
pedestals  of  oak,  on  which  stand  two  large 
seraphim,  each  supporting  candelabra.  At 
either  end  of  the  altar  are  two  oak  columns,  on 
which  stand  ornamental  brass  candelabra. 
On  the  top  of  the  two  partitions  separating  the 
side  altars  stand  two  large  candelabra  of  hand- 
some design,  with  a  novel  arrangement  for 
burning  the  candles  in  globes  of  a  rich  rose 
tint.  The  side  walls  of  the  sanctuary  are 
ornamented  with  two  large  guardian  angels, 
spear  in  hand,  and  by  two  smaller  ones  ex- 
pressive of  adoration.  There  are  thirty-six 
electric  lights  on  and  around  the  altars,  all  of 
which  will  be  shaded  with  ground  glass.  The 
wood-work  is  from  original  designs  of  Father 
Ethier,  arranged  and  elaborated  by  Architect 
E.  B.  Potter. 

The  church  of  Alphonsus  was  founded  in 
1842,  and  the  Rev.  Father  Ethier  is  the  fifth 
resident  pastor.  He  was  naturalized  and  be- 
came a  citizen  of  this  country  in  1888, at  White- 
hall. 


JA  ATHAN  E.  PACKER, superintendent 
4  of  the  Sandy  Hill  Iron  &  Brass  Works, 
and  one  of  the  enterprising  and  popular  citi- 
zens of  that  village,  is  a  native  of  the  town  of 
Providence,  Saratoga  county,  New  York, 
where  he  was  born  December  9,  1837.  His 
parents  are  Nathan  and  Eliza(Cadman)Packer, 
the  former  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  the  lat- 
ter born  and  reared  in  Saratoga  count)-.  The 
family  is  of  English  extraction,  and  was 
planted  in  America  at  an  earl}'  day  by  three 
brothers  of  the  name,  who  came  from  England 
and  settled  in  Vermont.  In  that  State  Ben- 
jamin Packer,paternal  grandfather  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  was  a  carpenter  and  builder 
by  occupation,  and  served  as  a  soldier  in  the 
war  of  181 2.  In  1829  he  removed  to  Sara- 
toga county.  New  York,  and  settled  in  the 
town  of   Providence,  where  he  resided  until  a 


336 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


short  time  previous  to  the  Civil  war.  He  then 
removed  to  Starke  count}',  Illinois,  where  he 
died  in  1883,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety 
years.  He  married  Mary  Johnson,  and  reared 
a  family  of  seven  children,  one  of  his  sons 
being  Nathan  Packer  (father),  who  was  born 
in  Vermont  in  1S14,  and  when  seventeen  years 
of  age  came  with  his  parents  to  Saratoga 
county,  where  he  has  resided  ever  since.  While 
yet  a  young  man  he  learned  the  trade  of  mill- 
wright, and  has  devoted  nearly  all  his  active 
life  to  that  business.  He  was  a  superior  work- 
man and  became  widely  known,  though  in 
recent  years,  on  account  of  age,  he  has  been 
compelled  to  abandon  all  active  labor.  He 
resides  in  the  town  of  Providence,  and  is  now 
in  the  eighty-first  year  of  his  age.  Politically 
he  is  a  republican,  and  in  religious  faith  a 
Christian.  His  wife, Eliza  Cadman, is  a  daugh- 
ter of  George  Cadman,  a  member  of  the  Chris- 
tian church,  and  is  now  in  her  seventieth  year. 
To  them  was  born  a  family  of  eight  children, 
five  sons  and  three  daughters. 

Nathan  E.  Packer  was  reared  in  the  town 
of  Providence,  Saratoga  county,  and  obtained 
a  good  English  education  in  the  public  schools 
of  that  town.  After  leaving  school  he  learned 
the  trade  of  millwright  with  his  father,  and 
worked  at  that  occupation  until  1868.  In  that 
year  Mr.  Packer  came  to  Sandy  Hill,  where 
he  has  resided  ever  since,  and  learning  the 
trade  of  machinist,  he  worked  at  that  business 
for  a  period  of  ten  years.  He  then  purchased 
an  interest  in  the  Sandy  Hill  Iron  &  Brass 
works,  of  this  place,  and  was  a  partner  in  that 
enterprise  for  five  years,  after  which  he  dis- 
posed of  his  interests  and  accepted  the  post 
of  superintendent  of  these  works,  a  position 
he  has  acceptably  filled  from  that  time  to  the 
present.  This  concern  is  now  owned  by  F. 
M.  Van  Wormer  and  R.  C.  Tefft,  of  Sandy 
Hill,  and  in  their  sketches,  elsewhere  in  this 
volume,  may  be  found  a  description  of  these 
important  works. 

On  August  1,  i860,  Mr.  Packer  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Sarah  J.  Marihew,  a  daughter 


of  James  Marihew,  a  prosperous  farmer  of  the 
town  of  Providence,  Saratoga  county,  New 
York.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Packer  were  born 
three  children,  two  sons  and  a  daughter: 
James  William,  Marietta  and  Frank  H. 

In  political  sentiment  Mr.  Packer  is  an  ar- 
dent republican,  and  has  filled  the  office  of 
village  trustee  of  Sandy  Hill  for  two  terms. 
He  now  occupies  a  handsome  residence  on 
Main  street,  which  he  erected  in  1893. 


CDWARD   HERBERT    BEMIS,  the 

distinguished  oculist  of  Glens  Falls,  whose 
remarkable  ability  in  his  field  of  labor  and 
wonderful  energy  have  made  a  deep  impression 
upon  the  medical  surgery  and  science  of  the 
day. 

He  is  a  son  of  Enoch  and  Abigail  (Bugbee) 
Bemis,  and  was  born  in  the  village  of  Bethel, 
Vermont,  March  4,  1849.  Enoch  Bemis, 
was  a  native  of  Marlsboro,  New  Hampshire, 
and  died  at  Bethel  in  1868,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
eight  years.  He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation, 
a  republican  in  politics  and  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  church.  Johnathan  Bemis  (grand- 
father) was  also  born  at  Marlsboro,  where  he 
died  at  the  same  age  as  his  son,  fifty-eight 
years.  The  Bemis  family  originally  came  from 
England,  the  founder  of  the  family  in  America 
being  among  the  earliest  settlers  in  this  country. 
The  mother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  be- 
longed to  an  old  and  honorable  Vermont  family, 
and  was  born  at  Bethel,  that  state,  where  she 
died  in  1873,  aged  fifty-three  years. 

Dr.  Edward  H.  Bemis,  was  principally 
reared  at  Marlsboro,  New  Hampshire,  where 
he  received  his  education  in  the  public  schools. 
Leaving  school  he  began  business  as  an  opti- 
cian ;  the  experience  he  received  in  this  line  of 
work  and  through  his  natural  adaptability  and 
aptitude,  led  him  to  assiduously  apply  himself 
to  the  special  study  of  the  eye  and  its  diseases. 

Relinquishing  his  work  as  an  optician,  he 
went  to  New  York   city,  where  he  became  a 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


337 


upil  under  Dr.  Rowland  B.  Gray,  specialist 
of  National  reputation  and  president  of  the 
Long  Island  Medical  society.  Dr.  Bemis  re- 
mained with  him  for  one  year,  and  in  1872  he 
located  at  Glens  Falls,  where  he  has  continu- 
ously labored  in  treating  diseases  of  the  eye. 
Here  his  efforts  have  been  crowned  with 
one  success  after  another,  until  his  reputation 
as  an  eye  specialist  has  become  confined  to  no 
particular  section  of  the  eastern  and  New 
England  States.  For  a  number  of  years  after 
locating  in  this  village,  Dr.  Bemis  would 
spend  his  summers  attending  to  his  patients 
at  Glens  Falls  and  the  winters  in  Florida; 
excepting,  however,  some  six  summers  spent 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Utica,  New 
York;  but  since  1887,  he  has  given  his  entire 
time  to  his   immense  practice  at    home.      In 

1893,  he  began  the  construction  of  a  large 
sanitarium  on  Glen  street,  to  which  has  just 
been  completed  an  annex  to  accommodate  his 
rapidly  increasing    business.      On   March   7, 

1894,  Dr.  Bemis  purchased  the  old  Sherman 
mansion,  where  he  resides  with  his  family,  and 
is  one  of  the  most  pleasant  homes  in  the  vil- 
lage. 

His  practice  amounts  to  about  thirty  thous- 
and dollars  annually,  and  in  addition  to  his 
home  office,  he  has  established  and  controls, 
through  assistants,  branch  offices  in  the  cities 
of  Boston  and  New  York,  which  he  him- 
self occasionally  visits.  The  remedies  used 
by  Dr.  Bemis  in  the  treatment  of  eyes  are  en- 
tirely his  own  inventions,  which  absorb  and 
remove  cataracts  from  the  eye  without  the 
use  of  the  knife.  Cases  which  have  been  pro- 
nounced positively  incurable  by  others,  have, 
after  coming  under  Dr.  Bemis' observation  and 
treatment,  been  permanently  cured.  The 
names  and  testimonials  of  those  who  have  left 
his  institution  cured,  we  have  not  the  space  on 
these  pages  to  give.  In  1872  he  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Marion  E.  French,  of  Burlington, 
Vermont.  To  their  union  have  been  born  six 
children  :  Myrtle,  Edward,  Etta  May.  Mattie 
E.,  Jennie  and  Avedna  L. 
20 


f"^R«  B.  J.  CLARK,  who  is  claimed  to 
have  originated,  in  1808,  the  first  tem- 
perance organization  of  the  United  States, was 
a  son  of  Ithamar  and  Sarah  (Simonds)  Clark, 
and  was  born  January  4,  1778,  at  Northamp- 
ton, Massachusetts.  He  read  medicine  with 
Dr.  Gibbs,  and  afterward  with  Dr.  Lemuel 
Wicker,  of  Easton,  Washington  county,  and 
located  at  Moreau,  in  Saratoga  county,  in 
1799.  For  forty  years  he  practiced  over  a 
wide  field  in  Saratoga  and  Warren  counties. 
Dr.  Clark  served  as  a  member  of  the  assembly 
and  was  a  presidential  elector  in  1848. 

Dr.  Clark  was  energetic  and  active  in  his 
profession,  and  led  in  many  of  the  reforma- 
tory movements  of  his  day.  He  secured  the 
incorporation  of  the  first  county  medical 
society  in  the  State,  and  in  April,  1808,  origi- 
nated the  first  temperance  organization  in  this 
country.  Dr.  Clark  died  at  Glens  Falls,  Sep- 
tember 20,  1866. 


CHARLES  H.  LOTRACE,  manager  of 


\J 


the  Whitehall  row-boat  manufactory,  and 


whose  reputation  as  an  artistic  and  skillful 
builder  of  row-boats  and  canoes  extends 
throughout  the  New  England  and  northern 
States,  is  a  son  of  James  and  Hannah  (Green- 
ough)  Lotrace,  and  a  native  of  Castleton,  Ver- 
mont, where  he  was  born  October  13,  1830. 
The  family  is  of  French  extraction,  as  indica- 
ted by  the  name,  and  its  first  representative 
in  America  was  Joseph  Lotrace,  paternal 
grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  who 
left  his  native  France  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century  to  settle  in  Upper  Canada. 
There  he  reared  his  family  and  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life,  dying  at  his  home  in  that 
province  when  lacking  only  two  years  of  being 
a  centenarian.  One  of  his  sons  was  James 
Lotrace  (father),  who  was  born  in  Canada  in 
1805,  and  when  twenty  years  of  age,  in  1825, 
left  that  country  and  came  to  the  United 
States.  Shortly  afterward  he  settled  at  Castle- 
ton.  Vermont,   where  he  resided  until   1835. 


338 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


In  that  year  he  removed  to  Schuylerville,  Sa- 
ratoga county,  New  York,  and  continued  to 
make  that  village  his  home  until  his  death  in 
1847,  when  well  advanced  in  the  forty-second 
year  of  his  age.  He  was  a  blacksmith  by  oc- 
cupation, a  democrat  in  American  politics,  and 
a  member  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church.  In 
1827  he  married  Hannah  Greenough,  a  native 
of  New  Hampshire,  and  a  daughter  of  Robert 
Greenough.  She  died  in  1832  at  the  age  of 
thirty-two  years,  and  leaving  behind  her  two 
children  :  Louise  Helen  and  Charles  H.,  both 
living. 

Charles  H.  Lotrace  was  reared  at  Schuyler- 
ville, Saratoga  county,  this  State,  until  he  had 
attained  his  eighteenth  year,  and  received  his 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  that  place. 
At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  came  to  Argyle  to 
learn  the  trade  of  blacksmith  with  Benjamin 
Carswell,  and  having  mastered  it  in  every  de- 
tail, continued  to  work  at  that  occupation  for 
a  third  of  a  century.  He  followed  the  trade 
in  various  places  until  1854,  when  he  finally 
settled  in  the  village  at  Whitehall.  Here  he 
continued  the  blacksmith  business  successful!)' 
until  1883,  when  he  engaged  in  building  row- 
boats,  cat-boats  and  canoes.  In  this  enter- 
prise he  met  with  immediate  and  most  gratify- 
ing success.  His  boats  may  now  be  found  on 
the  principal  waters  from  Maine  to  Chicago, 
and  are  especially  numerous  along  the  Hud- 
son river  and  the  lakes  of  northern  New  York. 
He  manufactures  a  superior  row-boat,  which 
has  already  won  deserved  reputation  wherever 
it  has  been  introduced,  and  is  always  guaran- 
teed by  the  manufacturer  to  be  "the  best  in 
the  market  for  the  money. "  As  a  consequence 
his  trade  is  constantly  increasing  and  is  be- 
coming large  and  lucrative. 

On  November  29,  1854,  Mr.  Lotrace  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Anna  E.  Lacca,  a 
daughter  of  Ira  and  Charlotte  Lacca,  of  the 
village  of  Whitehall.  To  them  was  born  a 
family  of  three  daughters  :  Minnie,  Lillian  and 
A.  Lula.  In  politics  Mr.  Lotrace  is  a  demo- 
crat, and  has  served  as  inspector  of  elections 


and  game  constable,  which  latter  office  he  is 
now  holding.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Epis- 
copal church  of  Whitehall,  in  whose  choir  he 
has  sung  for  a  number  of  years,  and  takes  an 
active  part  in  supporting  the  various  social  and 
religious  interests  of  his  denomination.  He 
is  also  a  member  of  Phcenix  Lodge,  No.  96, 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  of  Whitehall. 


HON.  ASA  FITCH,  M.  D.,  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  physicians  of  Wash- 
ington county,  was  a  son  of  Dr.  Peletiah  Fitch, 
and  was  born  at  Groton,  Connecticut,  Novem- 
ber 10,  1765.  The  Fitches  are  one  of  the  old 
Anglo-Saxon  families  of  England,  that  came 
to  that  country  from  Germany  in  the  days  of 
Hengist  and  Horsa.  The  family  record  in 
England  extends  back  without  a  break  for  four 
centuries.  In  1638,  a  widow  Fitch  with  five 
sons  came  from  Braintree,  England,  and  set-- 
tied  in  Connecticut.  One  of  these  sons,  Rev. 
James  Fitch,  founded  the  city  of  Norwich, 
where  he  was  pastor  of  the  first  church  for 
thirty-six  years.  His  second  son,  Samuel, 
married  Mary  Brewster,  a  great-granddaughter 
of  Elder  Brewster,  of  the  Mayflower  Pilgrim 
band.  Their  ninth  child  was  Jabez  Fitch,  the 
father  of  Dr.  Peletiah  Fitch,  of  Salem.  The 
youngest  of  Dr.  Peletiah  Fitch's  six  sons  was 
Dr.  Asa  Fitch,  the  subject  of  this  brief  sketch. 
Dr.  Asa-  Fitch  received  his  early  education 
from  his  father,  and  at  sixteen  years  of  age 
served  nine  months  as  sergeant  of  a  company 
doing  duty  on  the  northern  frontier  against 
British  invasions  from  Canada.  After  the 
close  of  the  Revolution,  he  read  medicine  suc- 
cessively with  his  father  and  with  Dr.  Philip 
Smith,  of  Easton.  In  1788  Dr.  Fitch  com- 
menced the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Du- 
anesburg,  and  three  years  later  wedded  Abigail 
Martin,  daughter  of  Adam  Martin.  Four 
years  after  his  marriage  he  purchased  his 
father-in-law's  mills  and  property  at  Fitch's 
Point,  where  he  resided  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  August  24,  1843.     Dr.  Fitch  received 


BI0G&APH7  AXJ>  HISTORY 


:m 


the  honorary  degree  of  M.  1).  from  the  regents 
of  the  university  during  the  latter  part  of  his 
life.  He  had  one  of  the  largest  medical 
libraries  of  his  day,  and  was  instrumental  in 
obtaining  the  incorporation  of  the  State  and 
County  Medical  societies  of  New  York.  Dr. 
Asa  Fitch  was  a  Presbyterian  and  a  high  de- 
gree Mason,  and  served  as  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  judge  of  the  county  court,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  congress,  being  one  of  the  congress- 
men who  voted  against  the  declaration  of  war 
against  England  in  1812. 


JOHN  OILROY,  a  leading  young  lawyer 
*■'  of  Granville,  a  member  of  the  law  firm  of 
Seeley  &  Gilroy,  who  for  a  number  of  years 
has  served  as  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  this 
village,  is  a  son  of  John  and  Catharine  (Law- 
ler)  Gilroy,  and  was  born  March  22,  1864,  at 
Richfield  Springs,  Otsego  count}'.  New  York. 
His  father  and  mother  are  both  natives  of  Ire- 
land, the  former  born  in  County  Longford 
and  the  latter  in  County  Carlow.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-one  and  still  unmarried,  John  Gilroy 
(father)  came  to  the  United  States  and  settled 
in  Otsego  county,  New  York.  He  now  resides 
at  Richfield  Springs,  that  county,  in  the  fifty- 
ninth  year  of  his  age.  He  is  a  farmer  by  oc- 
cupation, a  democrat  in  politics  and  a  member 
of  the  Catholic  church.  In  1863  he  enlisted 
in  the  2d  New  York  heavy  artillery  and  served 
as  a  member  of  that  organization  until  the 
close  of  the  war,  after  which  he  resumed  farm- 
ing and  has  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  life 
to  agricultural  pursuits.  In  i860  he  married 
Catharine  Lawler,  a  daughter  of  Patrick  and 
Ellen  Lawler,  who  had  come  to  America  from 
County  Carlow  about  1857.  To  them  was 
born  a  family  of  eight  children,  three  sons  and 
five  daughters.  Mrs.  Gilroy  is  also  a  member 
of  the  Catholic  church,  and  is  now  in  the  fifty- 
fourth  year  of  her  age. 

John  Gilroy  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm 
at  Richfield  Springs,  Otsego  county,  and  ob- 
tained his  elementary  education  in  the  public 


schools,  after  which  he  took  a  course  of  train- 
ing in  the  Union  school  at  Cooperstown,  that 
count)'.  Leaving  school  he  became  a  clerk  in 
a  leading  dry  goods  house  at  Richfield  Springs, 
where  he  remained  until  1886.  In  that  year 
he  came  to  Washington  county  and  accepted 
a  clerkship  in  one  of  the  dry  goods  stores  at 
Granville,  which  position  he  occupied  until 
1888.  He  then  engaged  in  the  general  insur- 
ance business  in  this  village,  and  was  thus 
employed  until  the  spring  of  1892.  In  1888 
he  had  begun  reading  law,  in  the  office  of  John 
S.  Warren,  of  Granville,  and  completed  his 
legal  studies  with  Jurden  E.  Seeley,  also  of 
this  village.  In  September,  1892,  Mr.  Gilroy 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Washington  county 
and  immediately  became  a  partner  with  Mr. 
Seeley,  under  the  firm  name  of  Seeley  &  Gilroy. 
He  has  been  in  the  active  practice  of  law  ever 
since,  and  the  firm  has  a  large  and  constantly 
increasing  business.  Mr.  Gilroy  has  already 
won  an  enviable  reputation  at  the  bar,  and 
stands  high  as  a  citizen  and  as  an  intelligent, 
cultivated  gentleman.  In  politics  Mr.  Gilroy 
is  an  ardent  and  active  democrat.  He  has 
long  taken  a  deep  interest  in  political  affairs, 
and  for  several  years  has  been  treasurer  of  the 
Washington  County  Democratic  committee. 
In  1889  he  was  elected  to  the  responsible  po- 
sition of  justice  of  the  peace,  and  is  now  serv- 
ing his  second  term  in  that  office.  Being  well 
acquainted  with  the  principles  of  law  and  en- 
dowed with  the  judicial  cast  of  mind,  he  has 
discharged  the  duties  of  the  position  with 
ability  and  in  a  manner  acceptable  to  the  gen- 
eral public. 

In  religion  Mr.  Gilroy  adheres  to  the  faith 
in  which  he  was  reared,  and  is  a  member  of 
the  Granville  Catholic  church. 


HON.  ENOCH  HUNTINGDON 
KOSEKKANS,  LL.  I).,  a  justice  of 
the  supreme  court  of  the  State  of  New  York 
from  1855  until  1871,  was  the  son  of  Benjamin 
and  Esther  Rosekrans,  and  was  born  at  Water- 


340 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


ford,  New  York,  October  16,  1808.  He  was 
graduated  with  honors  from  Union  college  in 
1826,  read  law  with  his  uncle,  Judge  Samuel 
D.  Huntingdon,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1829.  He  came  to  Glens  Falls  in  i83i,and 
the  next  year  after  his  marriage  to  Caroline 
Beach,  was  admitted  as  a  counsellor  and  re- 
ceived the  appointment  of  supreme  court  com- 
missioner and  master  in  chancer}'.  In  1855  he 
was  elevated  to  a  justiceship  in  the  supreme 
court  of  the  State,  and  at  the  close  of  his  term 
was  re-elected,  serving  in  all  two  terms  of  eight 
years  each.  Prominent  at  the  bar  and  able  on 
the  bench,  Judge  Rosekrans  ranked  high  as  a 
lawyer  and  a  jurist. 


JOHN  HALL,  of  the  banking  firm  of  John 
^  Hall  &  Co.,  comes  of  a  worthy  ancestry, 
and  some  of  the  members  of  his  family  were 
prominent  in  the  early  settlement  of  New 
England.  He  is  one  of  the  substantial  and 
representative  business  men  of  Fort  Ann 
and  the  county,  and  is  a  son  of  Ira  and  Rachel 
(Thompson)  Hall.  He  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Fort  Ann,  Washington  county,  New  York, 
March  19,  1833.  John  Hall  traces  an  honor- 
able ancestry  back  nine  generations  to  John 
and  Bethia  Hall,  who  came  in  1630,  from 
Coventry,  Warwickshire,  England,  and  settled 
at  Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  where  the}' 
were  among  the  founders  of  the  first  church 
in  Boston.  About  ten  years  later  they  re- 
moved to  Yarmouth,  on  Cape  Cod.  Their  son, 
Benjamin,  .was  the  father  of  Capt.  William, 
whose  son  Theophilus  married  Ruth  Sergeant. 
Their  son  Nathaniel  married  Mary  Storrs, 
and  was  the  father  of  Nathaniel,  jr.,  who 
wedded  Mehitabel  Storrs,  and  settled  in  Leb- 
anon, New  Hampshire,  where  their  son,  Dr. 
Ira  Hall  (grandfather)  was  born,  December 
20,  1772.  Dr.  Hall  was  graduated  from  Dart- 
mouth college  in  1793,  and  in  the  same  year 
became  a  resident  of  Granville,  this  county, 
where  he  died  in  1816.  Dr.  Hall  was  a  large 
landholder,  and  on  December   17,  1795,  mar- 


ried Rebecca  Parker,  who  was  born  in  1777 
and  died  in  1847.  Of  their  seven  sons,  one 
was  Ira  Hall,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  Ira  Hall  was  born  March  17,  1798, 
and  about  1820  came  to  Fort  Ann,  where  he 
died  August  29,  1868,  in  the  seventy-first  year 
of  his  age.  He  was  a  clothier,  then  a  leading 
business,  and  gave  employment  to  a  number 
of  hands.  Mr.  Hall  was  a  Presbyterian  and 
Henry  Clay  whig,  and  in  1819  wedded  Rachel 
Thompson,  daughter  of  Judah  and  Mary 
(Harris)  Thompson,  and  a  granddaughter  of 
Caleb  Thompson,  latter  of  Dutchess  count}', 
New  York.  Mrs.  Hall  was  born  in  1799  and 
died  in  1875.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hall  reared 
a  family  of  six  children  :  Edward,  Horace,  Si- 
las, Lyman,  John,  and  Abigail. 

John  Hall  was  reared  in  his  native  town, 
and  after  receiving  a  practical  English  edu- 
cation in  the  common  schools,  left  the  farm  to 
engage  in  the  general  mercantile  business  at 
Fort  Ann.  He  continued  successfully  in  that 
line  until  1873,  when  he  embarked  in  banking, 
founding  the  banking  house  of  John  Hall  & 
Co.,  at  Fort  Ann,  where  he  has  built  up 
a  large  and  prosperous  banking  business.  He 
is  considered  a  sound  and  able  financier.  For 
many  years  he  was  interested  in  the  purchase 
and  sale  of  western  lands  and  securities. 

In  1858  Mr.  Hall  married  Nancy  E.  Hop- 
kins, daughter  of  Robert  and  Ann  Hopkins, 
and  a  granddaughter  of  Robert  Hopkins,  sr. , 
who  was  captured  at  Fort  Ann  during  the 
Revolutionary  war,  and  after  being  held  pris- 
oner in  Canada,  was  exchanged  and  re- 
turned to  his  farm  in  Fort  Ann.  In  politics 
Mr.  Hall  has  always  been  an  active  and  influ- 
ential republican,  and  while  not  desirous  of 
political  preferment  has  served  in  several 
village,  town  and  county  offices.  He  is  a 
member  of  Mt.  Hope  Masonic  Lodge,  No.  260, 
Fort  Edward  Masonic  Chapter,  and  Wash- 
ington Masonic  Commandery,  No.  33,  Sara- 
toga Springs.  John  Hall's  family,  it  has  been 
said  by  one  well  acquainted  with  the  history 
of  the  county,  that   "In   all  the   long  list   of 


BIOGRAPHY  Ay  I)  HISTORY 


343 


.this  Hall  family,  we  find  none  extremely  poor, 
nor  one  not  prompt  in  all  payments  or  who 
failed  to  pay  every  debt  in  full.  This  con- 
servatism in  financial  matters  has  come  to  be 
a  family  trait,  of  which  they  are  justly  proud." 


t^OCTOR   DANIEL  C.  FARR,  of  the 

^^  old  Glens  Falls  academy,  was  born  in 
Ashby,  Middlesex  county,  Massachusetts, 
March  31,  1847,  and  is  a  son  of  Marshall  and 
Lois  (Wheeler)  Farr.  Marshall  Farr  was  a  na- 
tive of  Chesterfield,  New  Hampshire,  and  re- 
sided at  Ashby  for  over  thirty  years  ;  from 
thence,  in  1868,  he  went  to  Bedford,  Massa- 
chusetts, where  he  died  in  1874,  aged  sixty- 
eight  years.  He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation, 
but  retired  from  all  active  business  after  his 
removal  to  Bedford.  A  democrat  up  to  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war,  when  he  voted  for 
Lincoln,  becoming  quite  active  in  politics,  fill- 
ing many  of  the  town  offices  and  serving  as 
delegate  to  many  conventions.  His  father  was 
Capt.  Isaac  Farr,  a  native  of  Chesterfield,  New 
Hampshire,  and  a  captain  in  the  war  of  the 
Revolution.  His  death  occurred  in  1810,  at 
his  native  place,  of  Chesterfield. 

The  Farrs  are  of  Welch  extraction,  the 
family  being  planted  in  America  by  three 
brothers,  who  came  over  from  Wales  and  were 
among  the  early  settlers  of  Massachusetts. 
Capt.  Alpha  Farr,  who  distinguished  himself 
in  the  Baltimore  riots,  and  Brig-Gen.  Everts 
W.  Farr,  who  was  for  a  number  of  years  a 
member  of  congress  from  New  Hampshire, 
belonged  to  the  same  family  of  Farrs  as  the 
subject  of  this  sketch. 

Mrs.  Farr,  nee  Wheeler, was  born  at  Acton, 
Middlesex  county,  Massachusetts,  and  died  at 
Fort  Edward,  New  York,  in  1S77,  in  the  sixty- 
second  year  of  her  age.  She  was  a  daughter 
of  Nathan  Wheeler,  of  the  old  and  well  known 
family  of  Wheelers  of  Middlesex  county,  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  a.  relative  of  William  A. 
Wheeler,  who  was  vice-president  of  the  United 

States. 
20a 


Nathan  Wheeler  wedded  Catharine  Wether- 
bee,  who  was  a  native  of  Acton,  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  Edward  Wetherbee,who  belonged  to  an 
old  and  influential  family  of  Acton. 

Doctor  Daniel  C.  Farr  grew  to  manhood  in 
his  native  village,  where  he  prepared  himself 
for  college  by  attending  the  academy  of  Ashby, 
and  afterward  the  Lawrence  academy,  at  Gro- 
ton,  Massachusetts.  In  September,  1868,  he 
entered  Williams  college,  from  which  institu- 
tion he  was  graduated  in  1872.  He  came  to 
New  York,  and  for  a  short  time  taught  in  the 
Collegiate  institute  at  Fort  Edward,  when  he 
accepted  an  invitation  to  take  charge  of  the 
public  schools  of  that  village,  in  which  capa- 
city he  labored  for  five  years,  up  to  1877.  In 
the  fall  of  that  year  he  opened  a  private  school, 
known  as  the  Island  Grove  school,  of  Fort 
Edward.  He  conducted  this  school  for  two 
years,  when  on  account  of  impaired  health  he 
left  his  school  in  charge  of  an  assistant, and  in 
the  spring  of  1878  took  charge  of  the  Glens 
Falls  academy.  This  institution  is  one  of  the 
best  known  institutions  in  the  State  of  New 
York.  Doctor  Farr  has  conducted  this  school 
most  successfully  ever  since, and  has  seen  over 
a  hundred  of  his  scholars  enter  some  of  the 
leading  colleges  of  the  land  :  Harvard,  Yale, 
Wesleyan,  Williams,  Dartmouth,  Smith,  Yas- 
sar,  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  in 
New  York,  Cornell  university  and  Law  school, 
Albany  Law  school,  Bryn  Mawr,  Princeton. 
The  location  of  this  academy  is  one  of  the 
finest  and  most  healthy  in  the  village  and  the 
building  itself  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and 
best  arranged  found  in  northern  New  York. 
Doctor  Farr's  aim  is  to  keep  it  up  in  the  line 
of  progress  with  the  most  progressive  schools 
of  the  country.  The  school  contains  one  of 
the  finest  libraries  north  of  Albany,  the  students 
having  free  access  to  it. 

Doctor  Daniel  C.  Farr  is  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  and  has-  been  superin- 
tendent of  its  Sunday  school  for  many  years, 
and  is  a  member  of  the  executive  committee 
for  the  Sunday  school  society  of   the  State. 


344 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


He  is  active,  liberal  and  progressive,  and  al- 
ways keeps  in  view  the  prosperity  of  his  school 
and  its  intimate  relations  to  the  progress  of 
morality  and  religion. 


p-OKODOX  H.  PIERCE,  the  present 
^^  postmaster  of  Salem,  and  who  has  been 
largely  interested  in  the  manufacture  of  roof- 
ing slate  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  is 
a  son  of  Hiram  and  Lydia  (Harris)  Pierce, 
and  was  born  at  Guilford,  Vermont,  in  1841. 
Hiram  Pierce  was  of  English  extraction,  and 
a  native  of  Dummerston,  Vermont.  He  was 
born  in  the  initial  year  of  this  wonderful  nine- 
teenth century  of  progress,  invention  and 
achievement,  and  lived  two  years  beyond 
man's  allotted  age  of  three  score  and  ten.  He 
was  a  slate  manufacturer  and  a  republican  in 
political  affairs.  He  wedded  Lydia  Harris, 
who  was  born  in  1799,  at  Chesterfield,  New 
Hampshire,  who  survived  her  husband  twelve 
years,  dying  in  1884,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty-five  years. 

Corodon  H.  Pierce  was  reared  at  Guilford, 
Vermont,  received  his  education  in  the  com- 
mon schools  and  Claremont  academy,  New 
Hampshire,  and  then  was  engaged  in  the  gen- 
eral mercantile  business  in  Massachusetts  for 
some  time.  After  disposing  of  his  stock  of 
goods  he  left  Massachusetts  and  went  to  Guil- 
ford, Vermont,  then  Brattleboro,  Vermont. 
Was  engaged  in  the  same  business  in  both 
towns,  where  he  embarked  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  roofing  slate,  which  business  he  con- 
ducted there  up  to  1870.  In  that  year  he 
came  to  Salem,  where  be  continued  to  operate 
his  slate  quarries  successfully  until  1891,  when 
he  was  commissioned  postmaster  of  Salem 
by  President  Harrison,  resigning  the  man- 
agement of  his  slate  business  so  as  to  give  his 
time  fully  to  the  poslofnce. 

In"i86i  Mr. -Pierce  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Sarah  J.  Boyden,  of  Brattleboro,  Ver- 
mont, who  died  in  1868. 

Corodon  H.  Pierce  attends  the  Presbyterian 


church,  and  contributes  to  its  support.  He 
is  a  stanch  republican  and  an  active  worker 
for  his  party  whenever  occasion  requires  him, 
and  was  president  of  the  republican  organiz- 
ation in  the  presidential  campaign  of  1888. 


lUTELVIST  THOMAS,  breeder  of  Guern- 
A  sey  cattle, Ohio  improved  Chester  swine, 
Mammoth  Bronze  turkeys,  etc.,  of  Middle 
Falls,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Easton,  this 
county,  February  18,  1861,  and  is  a  son  of 
Smith  and  Phoebe  (Wilbur)  Thomas.  The 
name  is  of  Welch  origin,  the  founder  of  the 
family  in  New  England  coming  from  Wales, 
and  settling  in  Connecticut,  being  among  the 
early  settlers  of  that  State.  Jared  Thomas 
(great-grandfather)  is  supposed  to  have  been 
born  in  that  State.  His  son,  whose  name  was 
also  Jared,  was  born  in  Washington  county, 
New  York,  and  owned  and  operated  a  large 
farm  in  the  town  of  Easton.  He  was  a  zeal- 
ous Quaker  in  religious  belief,  strong  in  his 
anti-slavery  proclivities.  He  was  twice  mar- 
ried. His  first  wife  was  Matilda  Mead,  by 
whom  he  had  four  children  :  Abel,  Phoebe, 
Smith  and  Hannah.  His  second  wife,  Sail}' 
Mead,  was  a  sister  of  his  first  wife,  by  whom 
he  had  no  issue.  His  death  occurred  in  Jan- 
uary, 1864, aged  sixty-six  years.  Smith  Thomas 
(father)  was  born  August  14,  1829,  in  the 
town  of  Easton,  receiving  his  education  prin- 
cipally by  self  study,  and  remained  on  his 
father's  farm  until  he  had  come  of  age,  and 
has  since  been  engaged  in  general  farming. 
He  is  a  prohibitionist  in  political  opinion, and 
is  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and 
since  1870  has  been  one  of  the  trustees  of  Mar- 
shall seminary,  a  Quaker  institution,  located 
in  the  village  of  Easton.  He  wedded  Phoebe 
Wilbur,  and  by  her  has  had  three  sons  and 
three  daughters  :  Cora,  Melvin,  Jared,  Anna, 
Fones  and  Abbie. 

Melvin  Thomas  received  his  elementary  ed- 
ucation in  the  district  schools  of  his  native 
town,  and  afterward  took  an  academical  course 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  JIISTOHY 


345 


at  the  Marshall  seminar}'.  At  the  age  of 
twenty  he  commenced  teaching  school  during 
the  winter  season,  and  farmed  in  summer.  In 
the  spring  of  1885  he  rented  the  farm  on  which 
he  now  resides,  where  he  carried  on  general 
farming  until  1888',  since  which  time  he  lias 
made  a  specialty  of  blooded  stock  and  fowls, 
and  in  addition  to  his  cattle,  swine,  etc.,  he 
expects  to  breed  the  Lincoln  stock  of  sheep. 
He  sells  and  ships  his  stock  to  almost  every 
section  of  New  England  and  the  south  and 
west,  and  experiences  little  trouble  in  rinding 
ready  sale  for  all  he  raises.  At  the  New  York 
and  New  England  fair,  held  at  Troy,  in  1893, 
received  first  and  second  prizes  on  mammoth 
bronze  turkeys  raised  by  him  ;  and  also  at  the 
general  fair,  held  at  Cambridge  ;  and  first  at 
New  York  State  fair,  held  at  Syracuse  ;  and 
first,  second  and  third  at  Madison  Square, 
New  York  city.  He  made  some  forty  entries 
at  the  fairs,  taking  prizes  on  them  all.  He  is 
an  extensive  advertiser  in  the  leading  farm 
journals  throughout  the  country,  and  expects 
to  breed  on  his  farm  the  French  Coach  horse. 
He  has  probably  received  more  prizes  and  met 
with  more  encouragement  than  any  other 
blooded  stock  grower  in   northern  New  York. 

Mr. Thomas  is  trustee  of  Marshall  seminar}', 
is  a  leading  member  of  the  Patrons  of  Indus- 
try ;  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and 
of  the  political  Equality  club.  Formerly  he 
was  identified  with  the  Republican  party,  but 
now  is  a  prohibitionist,  and  was  one  of  the 
organizers  of  that  party  in  the  town  of  Eas- 
ton,  and  served  as  secretary  of  the  county 
Prohibition  convention, held  at  Salem  in  1885. 
He  helped  to  organize  the  Prohibition  club  in 
his  town,  and  of  which  he  is  secretary  and 
treasurer;  he  is  also  a  member  of  the  farmers' 
co-operative  association.  Mr.  Thomas  has 
always  been  identified  with  the  various  move- 
ments and  enterprises  intended  for  the  better- 
ment and  development  of  his  town. 

On  December  3,  1884,  he  married  Sarah  J. 
Lawton,  and  has  four  children:  Grace  L. , 
William  Saint  John,  Jared  Fayette  and  Edith 


Rosetta.  Mr.  Thomas  has  recently  purchased 
a  large  farm  near  Quaker  Springs,  New  York, 
and  has  moved  there,  and  will  continue  breed- 
ing the  choicest  stpck  in  the  county. 


TA/l  LBUR  FRYER,  ex-supervisor,  and  a 
member  of  a  well  known  family  of  the 
town  of  Easton,  is  a  son  of  Jacob  and  Sarah 
(  Wilbur)  Fryer,  and  was  born  October  10,1841, 
in  the  house  where  he  now  resides,  in  the  town 
of  Easton,  Washington  county,  New  York. 
The  family  originally  came  from  Holland,  the 
great-grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
coming  from  that  country  prior  to  the  war  of 
the  Revolution,  locating  in  the  vicinity  of  Al- 
bany, and  residing  there  all  his  life.  He  was 
the  father  of  a  number  of  children  :  Philip 
(grandfather),  John,  Jacob,  Agnes  Hush,  Ann 
Pierce,  and  Betsy  Cloud.  At  his  death  he  was 
over  eighty  years  of  age.  His  son,  Philip,  re- 
moved into  the  town  of  Easton,  where  he  re- 
sided several  years,  and  died  at  Easton  Cor- 
ners in  that  town.  He  was  a  whig  in  politics 
and  served  as  a  private  soldier  in  the  war  of 
181 2.  He  wedded  Bridget  Sweet, and  had  nine 
children,  five  sons  and  four  daughters  :  Valen- 
tine, John  (was  drowned  in  Saratoga  lake  at 
the  age  of  about  thirty-five  years),  Charles, 
William,  Jacob  the  oldest,  Mary  A.,  Susan, 
one  who  died  in  infancy,  and  Sarah.  Philip 
Fryer  died  at  the  age  of  eigthy  years  or  over,  in 
1872,  near  Easton  Corners. 

Jacob  Fryer  (father)  was  a  farmer  by  occu- 
pation, and  worked  with  his  father  some  at  the 
cooper  trade,  and  the  most  of  his  life  was  spent 
in  the  town  of  Easton.  After  accumulating 
two  hundred  dollars,  while  yet  a  very  young 
man,  he  purchased  a  small  tract  of  land,  where 
he  engaged  in  potato  raising  and  also  specu- 
lated considerably  in  that  product.  In  1840  he 
bought  the  farm  where  his  son  Wilbur  now  re- 
sides, comprising  one  hundred  and  seven  acres. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends 
and  a  republican  in  politics.  His  wife  was 
Sarah  Wilbur,  by  whom  he  had  two  children: 


346 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Thomas,  who  died  in  infancy,  and  Wilbur. 
Jacob  Fryer  died  January  8, 1894, in  the  eighty- 
second  year  of  his  age. 

Wilbur  Fryer  received  his  early  education 
in  the  common  schools  of  his  town,  and  after- 
ward attended  the  Greenwich  academy  then 
taught  by  Prof.  James  Dobbin.  Leaving 
school  at  the  age  of  twenty,  he  was  for  some 
thirty  years  engaged  with  his  father  in  farm- 
ing and  potato  buying.  He  is  one  of  the  lead- 
ing republicans  of  his  town,  having  served  one 
term  as  supervisor,  which  office  he  did  not 
seek,  but  at  the  earnest  solicitations  of  his 
friends  he  accepted  it,  giving  general  satisfac- 
tion to  the  business  men  of  his  neighborhood 
in  his  administration  of  that  office.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Patrons  of  Industry,  and  takes 
a  deep  interest  in  the  proceedings  of  that  order. 

On  November  13,  1866,  he  wedded  Patience 
Haviland,  daughter  of  Caleb  Haviland.  To 
this  marriage  have  been  born  two  children:  O. 
J.  and  W.  Byron.  Mrs.  Fryer's  family  are  of 
Pittston,  her  father  being  a  farmer  in  that 
section,  where  he  owns  a  large  farm.  Some 
members  of  the  family  are  members  of  the  So- 
ciety of  Friends  ;  being  eight  children  beside 
Mrs.  Fryer:  James  L.,  Elizabeth  Wilbur 
(dead),  Jane  New-comb,  EmmaLawson,  Anna 
(deceased),  H.  J.,  Nettie  Herrington  (dead), 
and  Cornelia  Hall. 


IjEMON  THOMSON,  M.  D.,  a  promi- 
nent physician  and  surgeon  of  Glens 
Falls,  is  a  son  of  Edward  and  Mariah  (More- 
house) Thomson,  and  was  born  at  Johnsburg, 
Warren  county,  New  York,  July  19,  1857. 
Edward  Thomson,  was  a  native  of  Athol,  in 
the  same  count}',  and  is  now  living  a  retired 
life  in  Glens  Falls,  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of 
his  age.  He  followed  the  trade  of  blacksmith 
in  connection  with  farming,  and  since  1885  he 
has  been  a  citizen  of  Glens  Falls.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
and  a  life-long  member  of  the  Republican  part}'. 
His  father,  Charles   C.   Thomson,   was  a  na- 


tive of  New  Jersey,  and  became  one  of  the 
early  settlers,  with  his  brother  Benjamin,  in 
the  town  of  Johnsburg.  They  went  there  to 
live  when  they  were  only  nine  and  eleven  years 
of  age  respectively,  with  John  Thurman, 
after  whom  the  town  of  Johnsburg  was  named. 
Charles  C.  Thomson  was  reared  in  that  town, 
where  he  learned  the  trade  of  blacksmith, 
dying  at  Johnsburg,  March  1,  i860,  having 
been  born  in  1790.  The  founder  of  the  Thom- 
son family  in  America  was  the  great-great- 
grandfather, who  came  from  the  north  of  Ire- 
land and  settled  in  New  Jersey  long  prior  to 
the  war  of  the  Revolution.  His  son,  who  was 
the  great-grandfather  of  Dr.  Thomson,  was  a 
graduate  of  Princeton  college,  and  afterward 
became  a  lawyer  and  died  early  in  life,  leaving 
the  two  sons  above  mentioned,  Charles  C.  and 
Benjamin.  Edward  Thomson  wedded  Mariah 
Morehouse,  who  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Hebron,  Washington  county,  and  is  now  in 
the  sixty-third  year  of  her  age.  Her  father, 
Thomas  Morehouse,  was  also  a  native  of 
Washington  county,  subsequently  removed  to 
Warren  county,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy  years. 

Lemon  Thomson,  M.  D.,  was  brought  up 
at  Johnsburg,  and  received  an  academical  edu- 
cation. After  leaving  school  he  commenced 
the  study  of  medicine  in  the  office  of  Dr.  John 
Svvinborne,  now  deceased,  of  Albany,  who  in 
his  day  was  one  of  the  most  eminent  surgeons 
in  the  State.  Dr.  Thomson  afterward  gradu- 
ated, on  March  1,  1882,  from  the  Albany  Medi- 
cal college,  and  then  remained  with  his  old 
preceptor  till  January  1,  1883,  when  in  April 
of  that  year  he  went  to  Europe,  where  he 
visited,  various  hospitals  in  London,  Paris, 
Christiana,  Copenhagen  and  Stockholm.  He 
then  studied  for  one  year  in  the  university  at 
Berlin,  and'also  one  year  in  the  university  at 
Vienna.  Returning  home  at  the  end  of  that 
time,  he  located  in  practice  at  Glens  Falls, 
and  on  December  1,  1885,  opened  the  Glens 
Falls  hospital  and  dispensary,  which  he  con- 
tinued to  manage  up  to   1888,   when  he  was 


BIOOMAPMY  AND  HIXTORY 


347 


appointed  under  the  Harrison  administration, 
United  States  pension  examiner,  in  which  ca- 
pacity he  served  till  Cleveland  came  into  office, 
when  Dr.  Thomson  sent  in  his  resignation, 
and  has  since  been  engaged  in  the  general 
practice  of  medicine. 

On  June  5,  1886,  Dr.  Thomson  was  married 
to  Luli  Rugge.  They  are  the  parents  of  two 
children:  George  Rugge,  aged  six,  and  Kath- 
leene  Louise,  aged  four.  Dr.  Thomson  is  a 
member  of  the  Glens  Falls  Lodge  of  Masons, 
No.  121,  of  Glens  Falls,  and  the  Red  Men's 
Tribe,  No.  139.  In  politics  he  is  an  active 
and  influential  republican.  Dr.  Thomson 
claims  that  he  learned  more  of  the  true  princi- 
ples of  surgery  under  his  old  preceptor,  Dr. 
Swinborne,  than  in  all  the  hospitals  of  Europe 
that  he  visited.  He  believed  in  conservative 
surgery  and  used  the  knife  only  when  it 
was  absolutely  necessary.  Dr.  Thomson  was 
closely  associated  with  him  for  three  years,  and 
the  last  year  was  first  assistant  in  his  dispen- 
sory. 

T^HEODORE  C.  WALLACE,  a  promi- 
nent and  the  oldest  physician  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Cambridge,  and  a  graduate  of  Yale  col- 
lege, in  the  class  of  1848,  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Easton,  Washington  county,  New  York, 
September  6,  1829,  and  is  a  son  of  James  and 
Patience  S.  (Anthony)  Wallace.  James  Wal- 
lace (father)  was  a  native  of  County  Down, 
Ireland,  who  came  to  the  United  States  in 
1820,  at  that  time  being  about  thirty  years  of 
age;  and  after  his  arrival  in  this  country  he 
first  located  in  Troy,  where  he  afterward  be- 
came a  contractor  on  public  works.  He  did 
extensive  contracting  and  accumulated  consid- 
erable wealth.  His  wife  was  Patience  S.  An- 
thony, who  was  a  daughter  of  John  Anthony, 
of  Rhode  Island.  To  this  marriage  were  born 
three  sons  and  three  daughters:  Dr.  Theodore 
C,  Eliza  B.,  widow  of  Henry  H.  Stevens,  re- 
siding at  Baltimore,  are  all  now  living  of  the 
children.  James  Wallace  died  in  1 S 3 3 ,  in  the 
city  of  Troy,  at  the  age  of  about  forty  years  ; 


his  wife  passed  away  in  1857, aged  seventy-two 
years.  She  was  an  active  member  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  the  last  ten 
years  of  her  life  were  spent  in  Wilmington, 
Delaware. 

Dr.  Theodore  C.  Wallace,  after  his  gradua- 
tion from  college,  commenced  the  study  of 
medicine  in  Wayne  count}',  under  the  tutelage 
of  Doctors  Hillman  and  Polloch,  and  later 
read  in  Troy  and  under  Prof.  Alden  March, 
of  Albany  Medical  college.  After  preparing 
himself  to  enter  college  he  matriculated  at  the 
Geneva  Medical  college,  from  which  institu- 
tion he  was  graduated  in  1850.  He  first  com- 
menced the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Pal- 
myra, Wayne  county,  New  York,  where  he 
was  engaged  in  the  practice  for  two  years,  when 
he  accepted  the  position  of  surgeon  on  the 
Collin's  line  of  steamers  running  between  New 
York  city  and  Liverpool,  England,  remaining 
in  this  capacity  for  four  years.  In  1859  he 
located  in  Cambridge,  where  he  has  remained 
ever  since,  excepting  a  time  he  was  serving  in 
the  United  States  army.  He  is  a  leading  mem- 
ber of  the  Washington  County  Medical  society, 
of  the  Union  Medical  association,  of  the  New 
York  State  Medical  society,  and  is  also  a  mem- 
ber of  Cambridge  Valley  Lodge,  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Masons.  He  has  been  a  member  of 
this  lodge  for  thirty-four  years,  and  for  five 
years  filled  the  office  of  master  ;  is  also  a  mem- 
ber of  Apollo  Chapter,  Royal  Arch  Mason=,  of 
Troy.  In  his  political  tenets  he  r3  a  stanch 
democrat,  and  has  served  as  health  officer  of 
the  village. 

On  December  20,  1861,  Doctor  Wallace  en- 
listed as  assistant  surgeon  of  the  93d  New  York 
regiment.  In  September  of  the  following  year 
he  was  promoted  to  surgeon  of  the  61st  New 
York,  and  on  March  7,  1864,  he  resigned  on 
account  of  ill  health,  receiving  his  discharge 
on  account  of  general  disability.  During  his 
service  in  the  army  he  participated  in  every 
battle  in  the  army  of  the  Potomac  :  was  in  the 
Peninsula  campaign,  first  fight  at  Antietem, 
Fredericksburg,  Chancellorsville,  Gettysburg, 


348 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Mine  Run  and  Cold  Harbor,  receiving  his  dis- 
charge from  the  latter  place.  While  at  Chan- 
cellorsville  he  was  taken  prisoner,  but  was 
held  only  about  one  hour,  when  he  was  rescued. 
On  December  6,  1859,  Doctor  Wallace  was 
wedded  to  Mary  J.,  a  daughter  of  Daniel  Rice, 
of  the  village  of  Cambridge. 


gAPT.  GEORGE  NEDDO,wbo  has  for 

^^  the  last  eight  years  held  the  important 
position  of  marine  insurance  adjuster  for  some 
of  the  best  companies  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  was  born  in  Rouse's  Point,  New  York, 
which  he  has  always  made  his  home,  on  April 
26,  1840.  He  is  a  son  of  Peter  and  Mary 
(Belele)  Neddo,  who  were  both  born  in  the 
Dominion  of  Canada,  and  where  they  were 
married,  coming  to  the  United  States  in  1837. 
Peter  Neddo  was  forced  to  leave  his  native 
country  on  account  of  his  being  one  of  Papin- 
eau's  soldiers, and  was  given  his  choice  to  leave 
the  country  or  be  hanged.  He  located  immedi- 
ately after  his  arrival  in  the  village  of  White- 
hall, where  he  resided  until  his  death  occurred 
in  1856,  having  been  born  in  1802.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Catholic  church,  and  by  oc- 
cupation was  a  boat-builder.  His  wife  died  in 
1885,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one  years  ;  she  was 
also  a  member  of  the  Catholic  church. 

Capt.  George  Neddo  grew  to  manhood  in 
Whitehall,  receiving  his  education  in  the 
schools  of  that  village,and  after  leaving  school, 
at  the  age  of  sixteen,  commenced  work  at  ship- 
carpentering,  at  which  he  continued  up  to  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war  in  1861.  In  that  year 
he  enlisted  in  Co.  A,  6th  Vermont  infantry,  as 
a  private,and  served  for  three  years  and  three 
months,  being  discharged  at  Brattleboro,  Ver- 
mont, October  20,  1864,  with  the  rank  of  cap- 
tain. In  1865  he  commenced  work  again  at 
boat-building  at  Whitehall,  where  he  has  con- 
tinued manufacturing  canal  boats  ever  since. 
He  has  completed  since  engaging  in  this  busi- 
ness himself,  one  hundred  and  sixty  canal 
boats,  which  is  a  greater  number  than  has  been 


built  by  any  other  man  in  Whitehall.  In  1888 
he  accepted  the  position  of  marine  insurance 
adjuster,  operating  north  of  Troy  and  in  Can- 
ada, for  some  of  the  best  insurance  companies. 
Captain  Neddo  has  been  twice  married  :  first 
in  1S65,  to  -Mary  Brown,  of  Whitehall;  her 
death  occurred  in  1806,  leaving  one  child,  a 
daughter,  Kate,  who  is  the  wife  of  John  Mor- 
ris, formerly  of  England,  but  now  a  resident 
of  Whitehall  ;  his  second  marriage  was  in  1867, 
to  Delia  Archabault,  of  Canada.  By  the  last 
marriage  there  have  been  born  four  sons  and 
six  daughters  :  Mary,  Oliver,  Delia,  Emma, 
Henry,  Eva,  Clara,  Thomas  L.,  Robert  C.,and 
Phronie,who  died  in  1893,  in  her  seventh  year. 
In  political  opinion  Captain  Neddo  is  a 
stanch  republican,  served  on  excise  board,  and 
has  been  village  trustee,  and  takes  an  active 
interest  in  the  success  of  his  party. 


HON.  CORNELIUS  LANSING  AL- 
LEN, who  served  from  1851  to  1859  as 
a  justice  of  the  supreme  court  of  New  York, 
from  the  fourth  judicial  district,  was  a  son  of 
Hon.  David  and  Elizabeth  (Lansing)  Allen, 
and  was  born  at  Lansingburgh,  New  York, 
July  17,  1800.  The  Allen  family  in  this  county 
trace  their  ancestry  back  to  Lieut.  Gideon 
Allen,  who  served  in  the  British  army  during 
the  reign  of  Queen  Anne.  Hon.  David  Allen 
(father)  was  an  eminent  lawyer,  served  in  both 
houses  of  the  legislature,  and  was  surrogate 
for  one  term  of  Rensselaer  county.  He  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Lansing,  a  daughter  of  Cor- 
nelius and  Hester  (Vanderhuyden)  Lansing. 

Judge  Allen  was  graduated  from  Princeton 
college  in  1818,  read  law  with  Hon.  David 
Russell,  of  Salem,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1821.  He  was  successively  in  partnership 
with  Mr.  Russell  and  Hon.  B.  Blair,  and  then 
was  by  himself  until  he  retired  from  the  active 
practice  of  his  profession.  Judge  Allen  was. 
elected  to  the  supreme  court  in  November, 
1 85 1,  and  served  for  eight  years.  His  career 
as  a  law}'er  and  a  judge  was  marked  by  zeal 


BIOanAPJfY  AND  HISTORY 


349 


and  quickness  to  grasp  t lie  salient  points  of  a 
law  case.  He  held  many  offices  of  trust  and 
responsibility  in  his  village,  being  president 
ot  Washington  academy  and  the  National 
bank  of  Salem. 

judge  Allen,  in  1828,  wedded  Sarah  H. 
Russell,  daughter  of  Hon.  David  and  Alida 
(Lansing)   Russell,  of  Salem. 


jA  ELS  ON  (i.  BAKER,  a  successful  busi- 
\  ness  man  at  Sandy  Hill,  since  1868,  and 
dealer  in  sewing  machines,  pianos  and  organs, 
is  a  son  of  Morrell  and  Elizabeth  (Taylor) 
Baker,  and  was  born  in  what  is  now  the  town 
of  Fort  Ann,  Washington  county,  New  York. 
April  14,  1841. 

Morrell  Baker  was  also  a  native  of  this 
county,  and  for  many  years  he  carried  on  the 
manufacturing  of  woolen  goods  at  Fort  Ann. 
and  afterward  removed  his  business  to  Oneida, 
Warren  count)',  where  he  continued  to  manu- 
facture goods  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  1855,  at  fifty-seven  years  of  age. 
He  was  a  man  of  prominence  and  influence  in 
his  community,  successful  in  business,  and  a 
leading  member  of  the  Baptist  church  ;  a  whig 
and  republican  in  his  political  opinion,  and 
held  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  and  other 
town  offices.  His  father,  Nathan  Baker,  was 
born  in  Massachusetts.  Morrell  Baker  was 
twice  married  :  his  first  wife  was  Lydia  Ann 
Baker,  of  Fort  Ann,  by  whom  he  had  three 
children,  two  of  whom  are  now  living  :  Mrs. 
Catharine  C.  Baker,  living  near  Chicago,  and 
Julia. who  married  Carver  Brewster,of  Kansas: 
his  second  wife  was  Elizabeth  Taylor, who  was 
a  native  of  the  town  of  Argyle,  and  whose 
death  occurred  in  1854.  in  the  fifty-fourth  vear 
of  her  age.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church,  and  a  daughter  of  John  Taylor,  who 
emigrated  from  Scotland  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  settled  in  the  town 
of  Argyle.  He  was  of  Scotch-Irish  extraction, 
and  a  member  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
church  of  Arsivle  :   being  engaged    in    farming 


during  all  his  life,  and  died  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
two  years. 

Nelson  G.  Baker  was  principally  reared  and 
educated  in  Lake  count)',  Illinois,  and  after 
leaving  the  common  schools  attended  an  aca- 
demy for  several  terms.  In  July,  1862,  he  en- 
listed in  Co.  B,  104th  Illinois  volunteer  regi- 
ment as  a  private,  and  remained  in  the  service 
for  one  year,  when  he  was  discharged  on  ac- 
count of  disability.  He  participated  in  the 
battle  of  Stone  river, where  he  was  taken  pris- 
oner, afterward  exchanged  and  discharged,  he 
returned  to  this  county  and  accepted  employ- 
ment with  his  cousins,  a  lumber  firm  at  Platts- 
burgh,  and  remained  with  them,  in  the  capa- 
city of  a  traveling  salesman,  with  headquarters 
at  Plattsburg,  for  a  period  of  five  years.  In 
1868  Mr.  Baker  located  at  Sandy  Hill,  and 
with  a  small  capital  started  in  his  present 
business,  which  has  steadily  prospered  year 
by  year.  Dealing  in  the  very  best  makes  of 
machines  and  musical  instruments,  he  has  suc- 
ceeded through  persistent  effort,  to  sell  the 
best  as  cheap  as  any  other  house,  thereby 
■  commanding  at  present  a  large  and  lucrative 
trade. 

Nelson  G.  Baker,  in  May,  1*67,  was  married 
to  Abbey  A.  Giddings,  daughter  of  William  B. 
Giddings,  of  Poultney,  Vermont,  and  has  three 
children  living  :  Wilbert  G.,  Arthur  G.,  and 
Herman  C.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Episcopal 
church  at  Sandy  Hill,  and  Collin  Post,  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic. 


TZ  W.  S  KEELS,  one  of  the  leading  busi- 
•  ness  men  and  well  known  dealers  in 
vegetables  and  meats,  of  the  village  of  White- 
hall, was  born  in  the  northern  part  of  the  town 
of  Whitehall,  Washington  county,  New  York, 
June  26,  1847,  and  is  a  son  of  Samuel  G.  and 
Hannah  (Beldeni  Skirls.  Samuel  G.  Skeels 
was  born  in  the  same  house  in  which  was 
born  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  in  the  vear 
[816,  and  for  the  past  four  years  has  been  a 
resident  of  the  village  of  Whitehall,  removing 


350 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


there  from  his  farm.  He  has  always  been  en- 
gaged in  general  farming  until  he  retired  from 
business  a  few  years  ago.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  is  a 
stanch  republican  in  politics.  He  wedded 
Hannah  Belden,  a  member  of  one  of  the  old 
and  early  settled  families  of  Washington 
county,  noted  for  its  longevity.  Her  native 
place  is  the  town  of  Dresden,  this  county, 
where  she  was  born  in  1821,  and  is  still  in  the 
enjoyment  of  good  health. 

William  Skcels  (grandfather)  emigrated 
from  Woodbury,  Connecticut,  to  Washington 
county,  and  became  one  of  the  early  settles  of 
the  town  of  Whitehall,  where  he  resided  for 
sixty-eight  years,  dying  in  i860,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-one.  His  wife,  Ann  Rich,  was  born  at 
Londonderry,  New  Hampshire,  and  also  be- 
longed to  one  of  the  pioneer  families  who 
early  made  homes  on  this  soil.  Her  death 
occurred  in  the  eighty  fourth  year  of  her  age. 
The  Skeels  are  of  Scotch  descent. 

E.W.  Skeels  was  reared  to  manhood  on  the 
farm,  and  after  leaving  the  district  schools  he 
went  to  Castleton,  Vermont,  where  he  attended 
the  Castleton  seminary.  Leaving  here  at  the 
age  of  sixteen  years,  he  began  teaching  dis- 
trict school,  which  he  followed  for  nine  win- 
ters. At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  gave  up 
teaching  to  engage  in  farming,  having  pur- 
chased a  farm  in  the  town  of  Whitehall.  He 
successfully  carried  on  farming  for  five  years, 
when  at  the  end  of  that  time  he  removed  to 
the  village  of  Whitehall,  where  he  has  since 
been  engaged  in  the  meat  and  vegetable  busi- 
ness, his  sales  aggregating  fifteen  thousand 
dollars  annually,  and  he  has  the  leading  estab- 
lishment of  the  kind  in  the  village. 

In  1870  Mr.  Skeels  was  married  to  Martha, 
a  daughter  of  Robert  Norton,  of  the  town  of 
Whitehall.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Skeels  are  the  par- 
ents of  two  children  :  William  M.  and  Milla. 
Mr.  Skeels  has  been  a  member  of  the  choir  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  for  sixteen 
years,  and  his  son  is  the  organist  in  the  Epis- 
copal church.      He  is  a  member  of  Whitehall 


Lodge,  No.  5,  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows,  and  of  Whitehall  Encampment,  P.  C. 
P.  He  is  a  republican  in  his  political  opin- 
ion, and  in  1887-8  served  in  the  office  of  as- 
sessor of  the  village  of  Whitehall. 


OILAS  B.  AMBLER,  a  partner  in  the 
well  known  insurance  and  real  estate  firm 
of  Cross  &  Ambler  (formerly  Durkee  &  Cross), 
of  Sandy  Hill,  and  a  prominent  Mason  of  the 
county,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Corinth,  Sar- 
atoga county,  New  York,  February  14,  1839. 
On  his  father's  farm,  in  his  native  town,  he 
grew  to  manhood,  and  attended  the  schools  of 
the  neighborhood.  Leaving  home  at  the  age 
of  sixteen  years,  he  went  to  Fort  Edward, 
where  he  spent  two  years  as  a  student  in  the 
Fort  Edward  institute.  In  i860  Mr.  Ambler 
went  to  Glens  Falls  and  accepted  the  position 
of  salesman  in  a  clothing  house,  where  he  re- 
mained for  three  years.  At  the  expiration  of 
this  time  he  engaged  in  the  same  line  of  busi- 
ness for  himself,  forming  a  partnership  with 
Enoch  Gray,  the  firm  name  being  Gray  & 
Ambler.  In  this  venture  he  was  successful 
until  the  great  fire  at  Glens  Falls,  in  1864, 
when  they  were  burned  out.  In  1865  Mr. 
Ambler  went  to  Wheeling,  West  Virginia, 
where  for  two  years  he  was  extensively  ex- 
gaged  in  life  insurance,  working  for  the  ^Etna 
Life  Insurance  Company,  of  Hartford,  Con- 
necticut. In  1867  he  came  to  Sandy  Hill  and 
entered  the  employ  of  O.  Richards  &  Son, 
who  were  then  prominent  lumber  merchants 
of  that  village,  and  with  whom  he  remained 
for  a  period  of  about  fourteen  years. 

After  leaving  this  firm  he,  associated  with 
William  Warren  and  Orson  Howe,  branched 
out  in  the  general  merchandising  business  at 
Sandy  Hill,  under  the  firm  name  of  Warren, 
Howe  &  Ambler,  and  who  continued  together 
until  1S90.  In  the  latter  year  Mr.  Ambler  en- 
gaged in  the  general  insurance  business,  and 
on  the  1st  of  August,  1893,  he  bought  the  in- 
terest of  Mr.   Durkee,   and  the    name  of  the 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


351 


firm,  Cross  &  Durkee,  became  Cross  &  Am- 
bler. This  firm  does  a  large  general  insur- 
ance, representing  some  of  the  best  com- 
panies, both  foreign  and  American,  and  in 
connection  do  an  extensive  real  estate  business, 
operating  in  three  towns:  Sandy  Hill,  Fort 
Edward  and  Glens   Falls. 

In  January,  1867,  Silas  B.  Ambler  wedded 
Martha  Richards,  who  was  a  daughter  of  his 
former  employer,  Orson  Richards.  She  died 
in  May,  1870,  and  in  1874  he  married,  for  his 
second  wife,  Julia  A.,  a  daughter  of  J.  F. 
Howe,  of  Sandy  Hill.  To  his  last  marriage 
have  been  born  five  children,  two  sons  and 
three  daughters  :  S.  Frank,  Julia  A.,  Lina  M., 
Ruth  E.  and  George  W.  V.  In  March,  1892, 
George  W.  V.  Ambler  died. 

Mr.  Ambler  is  a  member  and  trustee  of  the 
Sandy  Hill  Methodist  Episcopal  church  ;  a 
member  of  Lodge  372,  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons;  Sand}'  Hill  Chapter,  189,  and  is  also 
a  member  of  Washington  Commander}',  No. 
33,  of  Saratoga  Springs.  In  his  political 
opinion  he  is  a  republican,  and  some  twenty 
years  ago  held  the  office  of  supervisor  of  the 
town  of  Kingsbury.  In  the  spring  of  1893  he 
was  elected  justice  of  the  peace,  and  is  now 
the  incumbent  of  that  office.  For  four  years 
he  has  served  as  trustee  of  his  village,  and  is 
at  present  a  member  of  the  board  of  educa- 
tion. He  is  a  progressive  and  public  spirited 
citizen,  and  is  ever  ready  to  identify  himself 
with  any  movement  for  the  advancement  of 
the  public  good. 

Silas  B.  Ambler  is  a  son  of  Stephen  Am- 
bler and  Lovica  Laraway.  The  former  was  a 
native  of  Connecticut,  and  when  a  young  man 
removed  to  Saratoga  county,  New  York,  and 
settled  in  the  town  of  Corinth,  where  he  made 
his  home  up  to  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
i860,  at  the  age  of  eight}-  years.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  church,  and  a  whig  and 
republican  in  politics.  For  a  number  of  years 
he  held  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  in 
that  town,  and  was  for  several  years  town 
supervisor,  but  the  greater  part  of  his  life  was 


spent  in  tilling  the  soil.  The  Amblers  are  of 
English  extraction,  having  settled  in  the  eas- 
tern States,  many  of  them  in  Connecticut,  in 
a  very  early  day.  Mrs.  Ambler,  the  mother 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  a  native  of 
the  town  of  Corinth,  a  Baptist  in  church  mem- 
bership, and  died,  aged  eighty-six  years,  in 
1879.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Philip  Laraway, 
born  in  France,  and  who  came  to  this  country 
in  the  capacity  of  body  guard  to  General  La 
Fayette,  and  served  with  him  through  the 
Revolutionary  war.  After  the  close  of  that 
struggle  he  located  in  the  State  of  Vermont, 
and  died  near  Castleton,  in  that  State,  at  a 
ripe  old  age. 


HON.  JAMES  E.  GOODMAN,  presi- 
dent  of  the  Farmers'  National  bank  of 
Granville  since  its  organization,  and  ex-mem- 
ber of  the  State  assembly  of  New  York,  is  a 
son  of  Origin  and  Tryphosa  (Murrill)  Good- 
man, and  was  born  June  3,  1832,  at  Bolton, 
Warren  county,  this  State.  The  Goodmans 
are  of  English  extraction,  and  proud  to  trace 
their  American  ancestry  back  to  John  and 
William  Goodman,  brothers,  who  came  over 
in  the  Mayflower  in  1620.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  is  a  direct  descendant  of  William  Good- 
man. His  grandfather,  Eleazer  Goodman, was 
a  native  of  South  Hadley,  Massachusetts,  but 
removed  to  Warren  county,  New  York,  about 
1785,  and  settled  in  the  town  of  Bolton,  where 
he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life, dying  there 
when  quite  old.  He  was  a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion, and  among  his  children  was  Origin  Good- 
man (father),  who  was  born  at  South  Hadley 
in  1784,  but  was  brought  to  New  York  by  his 
parents  while  yet  a  small  child, and  was  reared 
and  educated  in  Warren  county,  this  State. 
After  attaining  manhood  he  also  engaged  in 
farming,  and  spent  most  of  his  life  in  agricul- 
tural pursuits.  He  served  as  a  soldier  in  the 
war  of  181 2,  reaching  the  front  on  the  day 
after  the  battle  of  Plattsburg  had  been  fought. 
After   peace  was  declared  he  returned   to  his 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


farm  in  the  town  of  Bolton,  upon  which  his 
father  had  originally  settled,  and  continued  to 
manage  it  until  his  death,  May  7,  1847,  when 
in  the  sixty-third  year  of  his  age.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  at 
different  times  filled  a  number  of  the  offices  of 
his  town.  His  wife  was  Tryphosa  Murrill,  a  na- 
tive of  Hartford, New  Hampshire, and  a  daugh- 
ter of  William  Murrill.  They  reared  a  family 
of  eleven  children,  two  sons  and  nine  daugh- 
ters. Mrs.  Goodman  survived  her  husband 
for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century, dying  in  1871, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-two.  She  was  a  life-long 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  in 
her  character  exemplified  all  the  virtues  and 
graces  of  true  Christian  womanhood.  Her 
father.  William  Murrill,  was  pressed  into  the 
British  service  under  General  Burgoyne,  and 
was  captured  by  the  American  forces  at  Sara- 
toga at  the  time  of  Burgoyne's  surrender.  After 
securing  his  passports  to  return  home,  on  ac- 
count of  his  youth,  being  only  sixteen  years 
of  age,  he  changed  his  mind,  enlisted  in  the 
American  army,  and  served  until  the  close  of 
the  Revolutionary  war.  He  died  at  Hartford, 
this  county,  at  an  advanced  age.  He  married 
a  lady  named  Williams,  a  direct  descendant  of 
Roger  Williams, the  famous  dissenter,  who  was 
banished  from  Massachusetts  in  1636,  and 
afterward  founded  the  colon)- of  Rhode  Island. 
James  E.  Goodman  was  reared  in  his  native 
village  until  seventeen  years  of  age,  receiving 
his  primary  education  in  the  public  schools. 
At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  entered  the  State 
Normal  school  at  Albany,  from  which  institu- 
tion he  was  graduated  in  the  spring  of  1852. 
He  then  went  to  Fishkill  Landing,  where  he 
taught  the  village  school  for  six  months,  and 
afterward  taught  one  term  at  Ovid,  Seneca 
county.  He  then  went  to  Nyack,  Rockland 
county,  where  he  took  charge  of  a  large  school, 
but  resigned  after  six  months  to  accept  the 
principalship  of  the  Twelfth  Ward  school  in  the 
city  of  Troy,  made  vacant  \>y  the  death  of  his 
brother,  Darwin  E.  Goodman.  This  position 
he  held  for  two  years,  when  he  was  compelled 


to  resign  on  account  of  ill  health,  and  soon 
afterward  he  entered  a  drug  store  in  Troy  as 
clerk  and  salesman.  Later  he  became  a  part- 
ner in  the  store,  and  was  in  the  drug  business 
in  that  city  for  two  years.  He  then  came  to 
Fort  Ann  and  engaged  in  farming,  in  hopes 
that  fresh  air  and  outdoor  exercise  would  re- 
establish his  health,  which  had  failed  to  im- 
prove as  rapidly  as  he  desired.  This  farm 
continued  to  occupy  his  time  and  attention 
until  1865,  when  he  sold  out  and  purchased 
another  farm  in  the  town  of  Hartford,  where 
he  continued  his  agricultural  pursuits  until 
1884.  In  that  year  the  Farmers'  National 
bank  of  Granville  was  organized,  and  Mr. 
Goodman  was  elected  its  first  president,  an 
office  he  has  continued  to  occupy  ever  since. 
He  is  a  large  stockholder  in  this  bank,  and  was 
one  of  its  promoters  and  organizers.  In  188S 
he  removed  his  family  to  Granville,  where  they 
have  since  resided,  though  he  still  owns  his 
farm,  which  is  now  occupied  by  his  eldest  son, 
Darwin  E.  Goodman.  In  the  conduct  of  the 
bank's  affairs  Mr.  Goodman  has  shown  good 
financial  ability  and  judgment,  and  its  present 
prosperous  condition  is  largely  due  to  his  care- 
ful and  conservative  management.  It  has  a 
capital  stock  of  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  a 
surplus  of  fifteen  thousand. 

In  1856  James  E.  Goodman  was  married  to 
Ellen  Humphries,  a  native  of  the  city  of  Troy. 
She  died  in  1858,  leaving  an  only  son,  Darwin 
E.,  of  whom  mention  has  been  made.  In  i860 
Mr.  Goodman  was  again  married,  wedding 
Sarah  E.  Beecher,  a  daughter  of  Deacon 
Beecher,  of  the  village  of  Granville.  To  this 
union  was  born  a  family  of  five  children,  two 
sons  and  three  daughters:  Jessie  E.,  married 
Clayton  E.  Gates,  and  resides  in  Nebraska  ; 
Mary  B.,  now  teaching  in  the  Union  school  of 
Granville;  Silas  B.,  is  engaged  as  clerk  in  a 
store  at  Granville  :  James  E.,  jr.,  now  attend- 
ing college  at  Middlebury.  Vermont, and  Sarah 
F.,  at  home. 

In  political  faith  Mr.  Goodman  is  a  stanch 
republican  and  protectionist.     He  served  as 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   JHSTOPY 


353 


supervisor  of  the  town  of  Hartford  from  1874 
to  1879,  and  was  a  member  of  the  State  assem- 
bly in  1881.  He  takes  a  deep  interest  in  na- 
tional and  State  politics,  and  is  anion"  the 
most  trusted  local  leaders  of  his  party.  In  re- 
ligion Mr.  Goodman  is  a  Baptist,  and. is  serv- 
ing his  church  as  clerk.  His  manner  is  affa- 
ble and  pleasing  in  the  extreme,  and  his  popu- 
larity extends  wherever  he  is  known. 


Q  C.  ROBINSON  was  born  in  the  town 
r^'*  of  Hebron,  Washington  count}',  New 
York,  January  13,  1843,  and  is  a  son  of  James 
Robinson  and  Anna  Livingstone  [see  sketch 
of  John  J.  Robinson  for  ancestral  history]  .  He 
attended  the  public  schools  and  West  Hebron 
academy.  Leaving  school  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen, he  was  engaged  with  his  brother  in  busi- 
ness until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  war, 
when,  on  August  7,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  the 
123rd  NewYork  volunteer  regiment, and  fought 
in  the  following  engagements  :  Chancellors- 
ville,  Gettysburg,  being  afterward  transferred 
to  the  western  division  and  fought  under 
'•  fighting  Joe  Hooker,"  and  was  in  the  battles 
of  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Culp's  Farm,  Peach- 
tree  Creek.  Atlanta,  in  the  march  to  Savan- 
nah, Bentley's  Mills,  and  in  all  was  in  seven- 
teen pitched  battles.  He  was  honorably  dis- 
charged at  Washington  in  1865,  and  returned 
to  Washington  count}"  and  engaged  in  farming 
in  the  town  of  Argyle,  in  which  he  continued 
up  to  1870,  when  he  engaged  in  the  wool  and 
pelt  business  at  Fort  Edward  with  his  brother, 
John  J.  Robinson.  He  remained  in  this  busi- 
ness for  ten  years,  when  he  engaged  in  the 
meat,  and  afterward  in  the  lumber  business. 
He  is  a  stanch  republican,  and  has  held  the 
offices  of  assessor  of  the  town  of  Argyle.  and 
that  of  justice  of  the  peace  at  Fort  Edward. 
Mr.  Robinson  was  appointed  by  President  Har- 
rison postmaster  at  Fort  Edward,  and  is  the 
present  incumbent  of  that  office.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  Jane  McCrea 
Lodge,  No.  267,  Ancient  Order  of  the  United 


Workmen,  and   Grand  Army  of  the  Republic 
post,  at  Fort  Edward. 

O.  C.  Robinson  was  married  November  7, 
1865,  to  Marian  McConelee,  of  Argyle,  New 
York.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robinson  have  been 
born  seven  children  :  Nellie,  Anna,  Georgia, 
Courtland,    Jennie,  Orville  C,  and  Sarah    M. 


J3ECK  FAMILY.  One  of  the  oldest  fami- 
lies of  the  town  of  Oueensbury  and  the 
village  of  Glens  Falls,  is  the  Peck  family, 
whose  immigrant  ancestor  was  William  Peck, 
a  native  of  London,  England,  and  a  man  of 
high  standing  in  the  New  Haven  colony, where 
he  died  in  1694, aged  ninety-three  years.  His 
grandson,  Peter,  the  son  of  Peter,  one  of  nine 
sons,  was  the  pioneer  of  the  family  in  Queens- 
bury.  Peter  Peck,  jr.,  married  Sarah  Terrill, 
daughter  of  Paul  Terrill.  Their  three  sons 
were:  Reuben,  Daniel  and  Edmund.  Reuben's 
eldest  son,  Hermon,  married  Martha  Ken- 
worthy  in  1830,  and  one  of  their  seven  children 
is  Daniel  Peck,  a  representative  business  man 
of  his  village  and  county,  and  who  served  as 
postmaster  at  Glens  Falls  from  1856  until  i860. 

7jM  ILLI A3I    ELDRIDGE,  one  of  the 

%^v"*  successful  business  men  of  Cambridge 
and  an  extensive  stock  and  produce  speculator, 
is  ason  of  Ahira  and  Polly  (Rice)  Eldridge,  [for 
the  early  history  of  this  family  see  sketch  of 
brother,  Ahira  Eldridge],  and  was  born  in  the 
town  of  White  Creek.  Washington  county, 
New  York.  He  was  reared  on  a  farm,  receiv- 
ing his  education  mainly  in  Cambridge,  Wash- 
ington academy  and  the  Fort  Edward  Collegi- 
ate institute.  After  leaving  the  school  room 
he  returned  to  the  farm,  where  he  continued 
successfully  in  that  calling  for  twenty-five 
years  in  the  town  of  White  Creek,  where  he 
still  owns  a  good  farm  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
acres,  adjacent  to  the  corporate  limits  of  the 
village.  For  the  past  four  years  Mr.  Eldridge 
lias  not  been  very  actively  engaged  in  farming. 


3.j4 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


but  he  has  through  nearly  all  his  business  ca- 
reer been  more  or  less  engaged  in  buying  and 
selling  live  stock  and  general  produce.  He 
also  owns  some  valuable  village  property. 

In  1859  William  Eldridge  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Elizabeth,  a  daughter  of  Alexander 
Maxwell,  a  farmer  of  the  town  of  Jackson.  He 
was  a  native  of  the  same  town, and  was  an  ex- 
tensive farmer.  His  wife  was  Jane  Alexander, 
by  whom  he  had  ten  children  :  Mary,  wife  of 
Robert  Graham, of  Jackson  ;  Elizabeth, Walter 
S.,  Robert  A.,  Kate  C,  wife  of  J.  H.  Alexan- 
der :  William  J.,  Jennie,  wife  of  H.  A.  Barbur, 
of  Greenwich  ;  George  H.,  Alexander  B.,  and 
Martin  D.  Alexander  Maxwell  died  in  Janu- 
ary, 1892,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years. 


ItlT  ITCIIEL  POTVIN,  deceased,  who  was 
\  for  many  years  one  of  the  highly  esteemed 
citizens  of  Sandy  Hill,  was  born  in  1832,  at 
Saint  Paul's  Bay,  Quebec,  Canada.  When 
sixteen  years  of  age  he  left  Canada  and  came 
to  Washington  county,  New  York,  locating  at 
Sandy  Hill,  which  was  destined  to  be  the 
principal  scene  of  his  after  life.  A  few  years 
afterward  he  repaired  to  New  York  city, where 
he  spent  some  time,  and  then  visited  several 
of  the  southern  States.  Returning  to  NewYork 
in  1853,  he  was  married  in  that  city  February 
19,  1854,  to  Catharine  Lee,  a  daughter  of 
Michael  Lee,  and  they  immediately  came  to 
Sandy  Hill,  where  they  Began  housekeeping 
in  the  autumn  of  that  year.  Mr.  Potvin  en- 
gaged in  farming  here,  and  also  ran  an  express 
wagon  from  Sandy  Hill  to  Fort  Edward  for  a 
number  of  years.  About  1878  he  embarked  in 
the  flour  and  feed  business  in  this  village, 
which  he  followed  successfully  until  1884, 
when  he  retired  from  all  active  business,  and 
passed  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  quiet  com- 
fort. By  his  marriage  to  Catharine  Lee, 
Mitchel  Potvin  had  a  family  of  four  children, 
two  sons  and  two  daughters  :  Lewis, Celestia, 
now  the  widow  of  Henry  Keenan,  of  Glens 
Falls;  William  L.,  who  continues  his  father's 


flour  and  feed  business,  and  Lovena,  all  resid- 
ing at  the  old  Potvin  homestead  in  the  village 
of  Sandy  Hill.  Politically  Mr.  Potvin  was  a 
democrat,  and  was  twice  elected  president  of 
Sandy  Hill,  in  1889  and  1890,  a  position  he 
filled  with  general  satisfaction  to  the  people. 
He  also  held  a  number  of  other  local  offices, 
including  those  of  trustee,  highway  commis- 
sioner, school  trustee,  and  village  assessor, 
the  last  two  of  which  he  occupied  at  the  time 
of  his  death.  He  was  endowed  with  much 
practical  ability  and  great  common  sense, 
which  rendered  him  not  only  successful  in  pri- 
vate business,  but  made  him  an  excellent  and 
popular  public  official.  During  his  more  ac- 
tive years,  he  took  a  decided  interest  in  politi- 
cal affairs,  and  was  an  upright  citizen  in  all 
the  relations  of  life,  a  kind  neighbor  and  a 
public  spirited  man  of  progressive  views.  For 
many  years  he  had  been  a  faithful  and  con- 
sistent member  of  Saint  Paul's  Catholic  church 
of  Sandy  Hill.  Apparently  in  his  usual  health, 
Mr.  Potvin  returned  from  a  visit  to  the  post- 
office  in  Sandy  Hill,  on  the  evening  of  Thurs- 
day, February  23,  1893,  and  seated  himself  in 
a  chair  by  his  own  fireside.  The  next  moment, 
without  warning  and  apparently  without  any 
suffering,  his  heart  ceased  to  beat  and  his  spirit 
had  fled.  On  Monday  following,  the  funeral 
services  took  place  in  the  French  church  of 
Sandy  Hill,  conducted  by  Revs.  Lize, O'Brien, 
and  Ethier,  of  Whitehall.  Every  part  of  the 
edifice  was  filled,  school  was  dismissed,  and 
the  board  of  education,  teachers  and  the  adult 
students  all  attended  the  obsequies.  His  re- 
mains were  laid  to  rest  in  Union  cemetery. 
His  age  was  sixty-one  years. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  board  of  education,  two 
days  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Potvin,  a  set  of 
resolutions  were  passed,  tendering  sympathy 
to  his  bereaved  family  and  testifying  to  the 
high  regard  in  which  the  deceased  was  held  by 
his  neighbors  and  official  associates.  The  pre- 
amble and  first  resolution  form  a  fitting  close 
to  this  brief  sketch. 

"Whereas:  It  has  pleased  God  in  his  infinite 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


355 


wisdom  to  remove  from  his  earthly  career, 
Mitchel  Potvin,  for  many  years  an  honored 
member  of  this  board  ;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  Mr.  Potvin 
the  cause  of  education  has  lost  an  earnest 
friend  and  supporter,  and  this  board  a  member 
whose  practical  business  qualifications  and 
sound  judgment  rendered  his  advice  at  all  times 
of  great  service,  and  whose  companionable 
qualities  of  mind  and  heart  endeared  him  per- 
sonally to  each  of  his  associates." 

These  resolutions  were  engrossed  and  a  cop}' 
printed  in  each  of  the  count}'  papers. 


QYLVANUS  GREGORY  and  Mary 
^"^  Hosford  were  both  born  in  Williamstown, 
Massachusetts,  in  1766.  They  were  of  English 
parentage,  and  emigrated  to  Pawlet,  Vermont, 
after  their  marriage.  He  was  given  the  title 
of  major,  and  held  prominent  positions  in  the 
local  organizations  of  his  town, where  he  spent 
the  remainder  of  his  life,  and  where  his  family 
were  all  born.  Their  names  in  regular  order 
were  :  Minerva  (the  eldest),  Silas,  Mary,  Al- 
fred. Clarissa,  Sophia,  Simeon,  Elmira. 

Simeon  Reed  Gregory  (the  father  of  Mrs. 
Underwood)  was  born  in  Pawlet,  Vermont, 
May  6,  1S04,  and  was  married  to  Jane  D.  Un- 
derbill, April  zi,  1827.  They  removed  from 
Malone,  New  York,  to  Martinsburg,  Lewis 
county,  where  Mr.  Gregory  established  his 
business  and  home.  He  was  a  man  of  strict 
integrity,  and  a  deacon  in  the  Presbyterian 
church  for  many  years.  Five  of  their  eight 
children  were  buried  there,  Mary  in  1841, 
Helen  in  1845,  George  in  1844,  Charles  in 
1846.  Mrs.  Sophia  Gregory  Porter  was  buried 
from  her  home  in  Seneca  count}-  in  1871.  The 
surviving  children  are  Henry  R.  Gregory, who 
resides  in  California;  Mrs.  Alice  G.  McClel- 
lan,  of  West  Hebron,  and  Mrs.  George  F. 
Underwood,  of  Fort  Edward.  Simeon  K. 
Gregory  died  April  19,  1859,  and  his  wife  died 
January  8,  [892. 
21 


1J  LBERT  V.  PRATT,  a  successful  mem- 
ber of  the  Washington  county  bar,  and 
a  resident  of  Fort  Edward,  is  the  youngest 
son  and  child  of  Myron  and  Elizabeth  (Van 
Ness)  Pratt,  and  was  born  at  Fort  Edward, 
Washington  county,  New  York,  June  30,  1858. 
The  Pratt  family  is  of  English  descent,  and 
tradition  says  that  the  immigrant  ancestors 
were  two  brothers,  who  came  to  Rhode  Island, 
where  Jobe  Pratt,  a  descendant  of  one  of  them, 
was  born.  Jobe  Pratt  came  from  Rhode  Is- 
land to  the  town  of  Bolton,  in  Warren  county, 
this  State,  in  1796.  He  was  contemporary 
with  the  Beswicks,  Putneys  and  Maxwells, 
and  followed  farming  and  lumbering  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  at  the  extreme  old  age 
of  one  hundred  and  four  years.  He  served 
in  the  war  of  1812,  being  at  the  battle  of 
Plattsburg.  He  had  three  sons,  one  of  whom 
was  named  Jediah  Pratt,  who  married  Ruth 
Lamb,  and  reared  a  family  of  ten  children,  six 
sons  and  four  daughters  :  Thomas,  Clarinda, 
Dennis,  William,  Betsy  Ann,  Elizabeth,  My- 
ron, Calvin  and  Levi.  Myron  Pratt  (father) 
was  born  September  26,  1828,  and  left  farm- 
ing and  lumbering  in  his  native  county  in  1846 
to  become  a  resident  of  Fort  Edward,  where 
two  years  later,  in  connection  with  farming, 
he  engaged  in  the  livery  business,  which  he 
has  conducted  ever  since,  excepting  two  years. 
He  is  a  democrat  in  politics  and  now  devotes 
his  time  principally  to  the  oversight  of  his 
livery  establishment. 

In  December,  1849,  Mr.  Pratt  wedded  Eliza- 
beth Van  Ness,  whose  father  was  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Plattsburg.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pratt 
were  born  five  children,  of  whom  the  three 
eldest,  William  (1),  William  (2),  and  Mary, 
died  in  infancy.  The  other  two  children  are  : 
George  W.  and  Albert  V. ,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

Albert  V.  Pratt  received  his  elementary 
education  in  the  Fort  Edward  Union  schools, 
from  which  he  graduated  in  the  class  of  1876. 
He  then  became  a  student  in  the  Island  Grove 
school,  was  graduated  there  in  1S7S.  and  then 


356 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


entered  Union  college,  taking  the  classical 
course.  He  was  graduated  from  that  time- 
honored  institution  of  learning  in  the  class  of 
1882,  and  two  years  later,  in  January,  1884, 
became  a  student  in  the  law  office  of  Robert 
Armstrong,  jr.,  of  Fort  Edward,  New  York. 
In  1886  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Albany, 
and  since  then  has  remained  with  Mr.  Arm- 
strong, making  a  specialty  of  negligence  cases 
and  the  law  in  connection  with  corporations. 
Mr.  Pratt  has  built  up  a  good  practice,  being 
active  in  his  profession.  He  is  a  democrat, 
served  as  president  of  the  village,  and  has  been 
justice  of  the  peace  of  the  town  of  Fort  Ed- 
ward for  about  eight  years,  and  is  active  in 
political  affairs. 

On  June  27,  1890,  Mr.  Pratt  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Nellie  L.  Hull,  of  Fort  Edward, 
New  York. 


p-USHMAX  FAMILY.  The  founder  and 
^'progenitor  of  this  branch  of  the  Cushman 
family  in  the  United  States,  was  Robert  Cush- 
man, the  immigrant,  who  was  born  in  England, 
probably  between  1580  and  1585.  He  was  a 
non-conformist  in  religious  opinion,  and  on 
that  account  joined  the  little  band  of  Pilgrims 
who  left  their  native  land  in  search  of  a  coun- 
try where  they  could  worship  God  according 
to  their  own  conscience,  as  well  as  to  enjoy 
social  and  political  liberty.  The  paternal 
grandfather  of  Mrs.  Underwood  was  Augus- 
tine Underhill,  who  married  a  Miss  Cushman, 
and  Mary  Underhill,  his  sister,  married  Charles 
Cushman,  a  brother  of  Desiah  Cushman. 
Among  Augustine  Underbill's  children,  was  a 
daughter  Jane,  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Geo.  Un- 
derwood. Augustine  was  a  man  of  good  busi- 
ness ability,  was  born  in  Dutchess  county,  New 
York,  and  early  in  life  removed  to  Hartford, 
this  count}',  where  he  followed  the  occupation 
of  farming.  He  became  prosperous  and  suc- 
cessful in  business,  and  in  his  political  tenents 
was  an  ardent  whig.  His  brother  John  served 
for  a  number  of  terms  as  a  member  of  the 
Vermont   State    assembly.       Samuel,    another 


brother,  was  a  prominent  citizen  of  his  town, 
holding  some  of  the  leading  town  offices,  and 
followed  farming.  Augustine  Underhill  lived 
to  be  ninety-six  years  of  age.  He  was  popu- 
larly known  throughout  his  section  of  the 
county,  a  large  land  owner,  and  an  intelligent 
citizen  and  early  settler  of  the  county.  The 
Underwoods  were  Friends,  immigrating  to  this 
country  in  an  early  day,  making  their  settle- 
ment on  Long  Island,  where  they  became  nu- 
merous and  influential  in  the  settlement  of  that 
section  of  the  country.  Charles  U.  Cushman, 
for  his  day,  possessed  a  very  good  English 
education,  chiefly  through  self  study.  He 
early  learned  the  printers'  trade,  and  afterward 
became  the  editor  of  the  Orange  Telegram,  of 
Newburg,  this  State.  He  married  Mary  Bird- 
sail,  the  fourth  daughter  of  Captain  Birdsall. 
The  Cushman  roll  of  honor  includes  the 
names  of  many  distinguished  men  in  various 
channels  of  activity  ;  they  have  filled  positions 
of  eminence  and  trust  in  most  of  the  higher 
avenues  of  life  ;  famous  in  the  pulpit  and  as 
statesmen,  soldiers  and  diplomats.  The  most 
illustrious  representative  of  the  family  and  the 
one  who  has  added  the  greatest  lustre  to  the 
name,  was  probably  the  Puritan  immigrant  and 
leader  of  the  dissenting  Pilgrims — Robert 
Cushman,  of  the  Mayflower  crew,  and  who  be- 
came one  of  the  first  men  in  the  Plymouth  col- 
ony. There  have  been  ten  generations  of  the 
Cushman  family  in  this  country,  making  an 
aggregate  total  of  three  thousand  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty-six  by  that  name,  and  who  have 
descended  from  Robert  Cushman  ;  among  the 
number, Charlotte  Cushman,  the  eminent  trage- 
dienne. One  has  been  Lieutenant-Governor 
of  New  York,  three  have  served  in  Congress, 
twenty  have  been  members  of  the  State  legis- 
ture,  one  United  States  commissioner  in  the 
late  reciprocity  treaty,  and  the  late  Lieutenant 
Cushman,  who  won  fame  and  renown  in  his 
naval  engagements  during  the  late  Civil  war. 
Robert  Cushman  was  instrumental  in  securing 
the  patent  whereby  Puritans  were  enabled  to 
emigrate  to  the  New  World.    He  was  one  of  the 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


357 


original  agitators  and  dissenters  that  brought 
about  the  Puritan  uprising  in  England,  and  was 
with  them  in  their  pilgrimage  to  Holland,  and 
who  finally  settled  in  America.  To  Robert  Cush- 
man  belongs  in  part  the  credit  of  securing  the 
charter  for  Plymouth,  and  making  the  first 
permanent  settlement  at  Cape  Ann,  in  the 
Massachusetts  colony,  and  through  his  zeal 
and  perseverance  the  Puritans  came,  and 
to  his  efforts  and  labor  should  be  credited  a 
great  deal  of  the  enjoyment  of  their  civil  and 
religious  liberty  which  formed  the  bulwark 
and  foundation  of  a  free  government  and  chal- 
lenged the  admiration  of  the  world. 

In  the  cause  of  Puritanism  and  religious  civ- 
ilization in  the  New  World,  Robert  Cushman 
probably  did  as  much,  or  more  than  any  of 
his  contemporaries,  and  in  1621  won  the  dis- 
tinction of  preaching  the  first  sermon  in  New 
En  "land. 


ltf  ATIIANIEL    EDSON  SHELDON, 

A  31.  D.,  a  successful  physician  of  Glens 
Falls  for  many  years,  and  who  first  detected 
the  cholera  in  New  York  city  in  1832,  was 
born  at  Barnet,  Vermont,  September  28,  1804. 
His  parents  were  Job  and  Joanna  C.  (Trippe) 
Sheldon,  natives  of  Cranston,  Rhode  Island. 

Dr.  Sheldon  commenced  studying  for  orders, 
but  soon  changed  from  theology  to  medicine. 
He  read  with  Dr.  Lang,  was  graduated  from 
a  New  York  Medical  college  in  1831,  and  in 
1832  saw  and  reported  the  first  case  of  cholera 
in  the  city  when  his  superiors  scouted  the  idea. 
A  medical  commission  soon  confirmed  his 
opinion,  and  the  board  of  health  afterward 
presented  him  with  a  massive  silver  pitcher 
for  his  gratuitous  professional  services  rendered 
the  poor  in  the  second  ward  during  the  pre- 
valence of  the  cholera  in  1832. 

Dr.  Sheldon  in  1833  removed  to  Glens  Falls, 
where  he  spent  the  remaining  active  years  of 
his  life  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He 
married  Elizabeth  Goodwin  Olive,  and  after 
her  death  wedded  Abigail  T.  Ferris. 


THOMAS  THOMPSON,  the  manager 
of  the  branch  office  at  Cambridge  for  the 
Smith  Brothers  Loan  and  Trust  company,  of 
Beatrice,  Nebraska,  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Jackson, Washington  county,  New  York,  June 
23, 1857, and  is  a  son  of  Isaac  and  Jane  (Whyte) 
Thompson.  Isaac  Thompson  (father)  was 
born  in  the  same  town,  and  received  a  very 
good  common  school  education  for  that  day, 
and  afterward  became  one  of  the  successful 
farmers  of  the  town,  where  he  and  his  brother, 
Thomas,  owned  a  farm  containing  two  hun- 
dred acres,  and  which  is  now  owned  by  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  Isaac  Thompson  was 
a  democrat  until  the  formation  of  the  Repub- 
lican party,  when  he  became  identified  with 
that  organization  until  his  death.  He  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Jane,  a  daughter  of 
James  Whyte,  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  a 
minister  of  the  Scotch  Presbyterian  church, 
who  came  to  this  country  in  1822  and  located 
in  East  Salem,  where  he  resided  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death.  To  his  marriage  to  Jane 
Whyte  were  born  two  sons  :  Andrew,  who  is 
now  engaged  in  farming  in  the  town  of  Jack- 
son, and  Thomas.  Isaac  Thompson  died  in 
1863,  at  the  age  of  forty-seven. 

Andrew  Thompson  (grandfather)  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Jackson,  and  was  engaged  in 
farming  on  the  old  Thompson  homestead  of 
two  hundred  acres,  located  on  the  Arlington 
road,  four  miles  northeast  of  Cambridge,  and 
where,  for  many  years  during  the  early  part  of 
his  life,  he  kept  a  hotel.  He  was  a  successful 
farmer  and  business  man.  In  the  war  of  1812, 
he  served  as  a  soldier,  and  was  a  democrat  in 
his  political  belief.  By  his  wife,  Hannah 
Stevens,  of  the  town  of  Jackson,  he  had  ten 
children. 

Andrew  Thompson  (great-grandfather)  was 
born  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  but  was  of  Scotch 
extraction,  and  when  a  young  man  emigrated 
to  this  country,  which  was  in  about  the  year 
1770,  and  located  in  the  town  of  Jackson, where 
he  purchased  a  farm  of  three  hundred  and  fifty 
acres.      He  was    the    father  of  six  children  : 


358 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Hugh,  Samuel,  Sarah,  Andrew,  Thomas,  and 
Nancy.  Two  of  these  sons  were  soldiers  in 
the  Revolutionary  army. 

Thomas  Thompson  grew  to  manhood  on  the 
old  homestead  farm,  receiving  his  education  in 
the  ordinary  district  school.  He  continued  to 
work  on  this  farm,  which  he  now  owns,  which 
has  been  in  the  Thompson  family  for  three 
generations,  until  1885,  when  he  removed  to 
the  village  of  Cambridge  and  accepted  his  po- 
sition above  mentioned.  In  political  senti- 
ment he  is  a  stanch  republican. 

On  June  14,  1888,  Mr.  Thompson  wedded 
Fannie  L.,  a  daughter  of  Charles  Rice, of  Cam- 
bridge. To  their  marriage  have  been  born 
two  children  :   Jennie  R.  and  Cameron. 


.JOHN  L.  W  ATKINS,  a  leading  florist 
and  market  gardener  of  Sandy  Hill,  is  an- 
other of  the  successful  men  of  the  county  who 
have  carved  out  their  own  fortunes  by  indus- 
try, thrift  and  enterprise.  He  is  a  native  of 
Longhope,  Gloucestershire,  England,  where 
he  was  born  September  4,  1827.  His  parents, 
John  and  Mary  (Long)  Watkins,  were  both 
natives  of  Gloucestershire,  where  they  passed 
all  their  lives,  the  former  dying  in  1852,  aged 
sixty-nine  years,  and  the  latter  in  1879,  in  her 
ninetieth  year.  John  Watkins  (father)  was  a 
farmer  by  occupation,  and  a  member  of  the 
established  church  of  England, as  was  his  wife. 
They  were  both  descended  from  old  and  well 
known  families  of  that  part  of  the  kingdom. 

John  L.  Watkins  was  reared  on  the  farm  at 
his  native  place,  and  obtained  his  education 
in  the  common  English  schools.  In  1852,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-five,  he  came  to  the  United 
States,  and  two  years  later  settled  at  Sandy 
Hill,  Washington  county,  New  York,  where 
he  has  ever  since  resided.  For  several  years 
after  locating  here  he  was  engaged  in  various 
small  enterprises.  For  five  years  he  was  an 
engineer  in  the  employ  of  the  Washington 
County  Mowing  Machine  company,  and  after- 
ward engaged  in  landscape  gardening  for  some 


of  the  best  people  of  Sandy  Hill.  In  1864  he 
began  market  gardening  on  his  own  account, 
and  by  industry  and  skill  in  his  business, soon 
made  a  remarkable  success  of  that  branch  and 
built  up  a  large  trade.  He  owns  six  acres  of 
valuable  land  in  the  village  of  Sandy  Hill, 
which  is  always  kept  in  the  best  condition,  and 
upon  which  he  produces  large  quantities  of 
fine  celery  and  choice  vegetables  for  the  home 
market.  Since  1887  he  has  given  much  of  his 
time  and  attention  to  floriculture,  in  which  he 
had  long  been  interested  and  in  which  he  takes 
great  delight  and  evinces  wonderful  skill.  He 
has  erected  several  greenhouses,  to  which  he 
is  still  adding,  and  is  justly  entitled  to  great 
credit  for  the  success  he  has  won  as  a  market 
gardener  and  florist.  In  1892  he  spent  several 
months  in  England,  where  in  addition  to  vis- 
iting the  home  of  his  boyhood  and  such  of  his 
friends  as  where  still  living,  he  spent  consid- 
erable time  in  examining  some  of  the  best  floral 
establishments  in  that  country,  and  acquiring 
a  knowledge  of  all  recent  improvements  in  use 
among  the  leading  florists  of  the  old  world. 

On  October  22,  1857,  Mr.  Watkins  was  mar- 
ried to  Loanna  Robinson,  a  daughter  of  An- 
drew Robinson,  of  the  town  of  Queensbury, 
Warren  county,  this  State.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Watkins  were  born  three  children,  one  son 
and  two  daughters  :  George  M.,  now  inter- 
ested with  his  father  in  the  florist  business  ; 
and  Sarah  E.,  also  living  at  home  with  her 
parents  and  assisting  in  general  floral  work  ; 
Mary  A.,  who  died  in  1873.  In  his  political 
affiliations  Mr.  Watkins  is  a  republican,  and 
while  always  yielding  his  party  a  loyal  support, 
has  never  taken  any  very  active  part  in  local 
politics.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  as  are  all  the  members  of 
the  family,  and  for  a  number  of  years  has 
served  as  trustee  and  steward  of  the  First 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  of  Sandy  Hill. 
Beginning  with  nothing,  Mr.  Watkins  has 
achieved  a  measure  of  financial  success  by  his 
own  ability  and  skill,  and  takes  his  place  nat- 
urally among  the  self-made  men  of  the  count}'. 


BIOGL'AJ'/fY  AND  HISTORY 


361 


*T*II  E  BANCROFT  PUBLIC  LI- 
BRARY.  This  library,  so  valuable  a 
possession  of  the  town  of  Salem,  owes  its  ex- 
istence to  the  late  Benjamin  F.  Bancroft, who, 
although  not  a  native  of  the  village,  was  for 
many  years  identified  with  the  banking  inter- 
ests in  Salem,  and  achieved,  both  at  home 
and  abroad,  a  high  reputation  as  a  banker  and 
a  financier.  Mr.  Bancroft  was  born  at  Gran- 
ville, Massachusetts,  October  27,  1S16,  and 
married,  on  June  12,  1844,  Mary  J.,  daughter 
of  Gen.  Edward  Bulkley,  of  Granville,  New 
York.  Ten  years  after  his  marriage  he  came 
to  Salem  (1854)  and  established  the  Bank  of 
Salem,  of  which  he  was  cashier  during  its  ex- 
istence. In  1S65  this  bank  was  closed  and 
the  National  bank  of  Salem  was  established  in 
its  place.  He  was  cashier  of  this  bank  till 
1878,  when  he  was  made  president.  In  1885 
this  bank  was  succeeded  by  the  First  National 
bank,  of  which  he  was  also  president,  his  con- 
nection with  it  ceasing  only  with  his  death, 
which  occurred  after  a  brief  illness  at  Salem, 
November  23,  1886.  Beside  his  labors  in  the 
bank,  Mr.  Bancroft  was  one  of  the  found- 
ers of  the  Evergreen  cemetery,  at  Salem, 
and  for  many  years  its  treasurer.  He  had  no 
children,  and  Mrs.  Bancroft  had  pre-deceased 
him,  dying  March  22,  1881. 

Mr.  Bancroft  left  a  bequest  of  about  twelve 
thousand  dollars,  to  which  the  village  of  Salem 
added  thirteen  thousand,  to  fulfill  the  con- 
ditions of  the  legacy,  and  the  fund  for  the  li- 
brary was  thus  secured.  The  first  movement 
toward  securing  the  legacy  was  made  in  the 
spring  of  1889  by  Dr.  A.  M.  Young.  Messrs. 
John  M.  Williams  and  Moses  Johnson  and 
the  board  of  trustees  of  the  village,  met  to 
consider  the  question  July  1st  of  that  year. 
The  bequest  was  accepted  and  an  obligation 
prepared  to  bond  the  village  for  the  added  sum 
required.  The  plans  for  the  building  were 
from  Messrs.  Sturgis  and  Cabot,  of  Boston, 
and  were  sent  and  accepted  in  the  spring  of 
1890;  on  July  30th  of  that  year  the  corner- 
stone was  laid  by  Salem  Lodge,  and  on  No- 
21a 


vember  24,  1890,  the  library  was  opened  for 
public  inspection.  During  the  summer  of 
i<S(jr  work  was  begun  by  a  committee  of  ladies 
appointed  by  the  trustees,  on  the.  library 
proper,  as  regarded  the  books,  periodicals, 
management,  etc.,  and  was  opened  to  the  pub- 
lic as  a  reading  room  and  circulating  library 
on  December  1,  1891.  Much  interest  was 
shown  in  the  work  and  valuable  gifts  of  books 
were  received,  the  largest  being  those  from 
Hon.  James  Gibson,  H.  E.  Cole  and  Rev. 
Dr.  William  Irvin.  To  these  gifts  and  the 
books  purchased  at  the  time,  continual  addi- 
tions are  made,  and  the  library  now  numbers 
(September,  1894)  some  five  thousand  volumes. 
A  small  fee  is  charged  to  those  who  wish  to 
take  books  to  their  own  homes,  but  the  read- 
ing room  and  use  of  the  books  while  in  the 
room  are  free  to  all,  and  the  benefits  thereof 
are  very  widely  felt  and  recognized.  The  li- 
brary is  open  each  Tuesday,  Thursday  and 
Saturday,  in  the  afternoons  and  evenings. 

The  room  is  well  lighted  by  windows  on 
three  sides,  and  in  winter  warmed  by  steam. 
It  is  of  good  size,  forty  feet  by  thirty-two  feet, 
and  beside  its  legitimate  calling, has  been  used 
as  a  lecture  room  for  the  University  Extension 
lectures,  which  have  both  helped  and  been 
helped  by  the  library.  In  addition  to  the  us- 
ual reading  matter  found  in  small  libraries, 
the  Bancroft  library  has  a  very  excellent  col- 
lection of  dictionaries  and  other  books  of  refer- 
ence, which  are  in  constant  demand  by  the 
pupils  of  the  Washington  academy,  and  dur- 
ing the  three  years  of  its  existence  has  proved 
itself  to  be  a  most  important  aid,  both  in  the 
education  and  elevation  of  those  who  have 
availed  themselves  of  its  advantages. 


.JOHN  MILL.INGTON,  31.  D.,  a  promi- 
nent  and  well  known  physician  of  Green- 
wich, is  a  son  of  Prosper  and  Clarissa  (Madi- 
son) Millington,  and  was  born  in  South  Shafts- 
bury,  Vermont,  December  27,  1846. 

Prosper  Millington  was  a  native  of  the  same 


363 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


town,  and  was  born  December  25,  1815.  He 
was  a  furniture  manufacturer  for  many  years, 
but  in  latter  life  he  was  engaged  in  farming. 
In  politics  he  was  a  democrat  until  the  for- 
mation of  the  Republican  party,  when  he  be- 
came identified  with  that  organization.  He 
wedded  Clarissa  Madison,  a  daughter  of  Jere- 
miah Madison,  a  contractor  and  builder  of 
South  Shaftsbury,  but  formerly  of  Rhode  Is- 
land. To  their  marriage  were  born  two  sons 
and  one  daughter:  Dr.  John;  Edward,  super- 
intendent of  the  wood  department  of  the  Eagle 
Square  company  of  South  Shaftsbury,  and 
Mary  E.  Prosper  Millington's  death  occurred 
in  his  native  town,  February  22,  1889.  His 
wife  is  also  deceased.  She  was  a  member  of 
the  Baptist  church. 

John  Millington  (grandfather)  was  born 
at  Shaftsbury,  and  was  a  pioneer  furniture 
manufacturer  at  that  place,  carrying  on  quite 
an  extensive  business  for  several  years.  His 
father  was  Samuel  Millington  (great-grand- 
father), who  was  born  September  27,  1749. 
There  is  some  doubt  as  to  where  he  was  born, 
but  it  was  most  probably  at  South  Shaftsbury, 
Vermont.  He  was  one  of  twelve  children. 
The  Millingtons  were  among  the  earliest  and 
most  prominent  people  who  settled  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  Shaftsbury.  The  family  is  of  English 
descent,  and  trace  their  ancestry  back  to  the 
reign  of  King  John  of  England.  John  Mil- 
lington, in  direct  line  from  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  lived  in  Yorkshire,  England,  where  he 
owned  six  square  miles  of  land.  Gilbert,  his 
brother,  was  a  man  of  great  learning  and  in- 
fluence in  his  day  in  England,  and  was  one 
of  the  signers  of  the  death  warrant  of  King 
Charles  I.  (History  of  England,  volume  4.) 
4).  John  Millington,  the  son  of  John  of  York- 
shire, emigrated  to  this  country,  and  settled 
at  Coventry,  Connecticut,  and  from  whom  all 
the  Millingtons  of  this  branch  have  descended. 
He  had  a  son  John  (in  direct  line),  whose  son 
David  removed  from  Coventry  to  Shaftsbury 
in  1768,  and  purchased  the  farm  which  was 
afterward  known  as  the  Millington  farm,  and 


his  son  John  became  the  first  resident  minister 
of  Shaftsbury. 

John  Millington,  M.  D.,  received  his  literary 
education  mainly  in  a  boarding  school  at  Ben- 
nington, Vermont.  In  1870  he  took  up  the 
study  of  medicine  under  Dr.  B.  F.  Morgan, 
of  Bennington  Center,  Vermont,  and  in  the 
following  year  entered  the  Michigan  university, 
and  was  graduated  with  the  degree  of  M.  D. 
in  1873.  He  began  the  practice  at  Dorset, 
Vermont,  where  he  remained  for  one  year  and 
a  half,  when  in  1875  he  removed  to  East 
Greenwich,  this  county,  and  pursued  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine  there  up  to  1892,  when  he 
came  to  the  village  of  Greenwich. 

Dr.  Millington  is  a  member  of  the  Wash- 
ington County  Medical  association,  and  of  Ash- 
lar Lodge  of  Masons;  is  also  a  member  of  the 
Reformed  church,  and  in  politics  is  a  republi- 
can and  held  the  office  of  county  coroner  for 
twelve  years.  On  November  9,  1875,  Dr. 
Millington  married  Charlotte,  a  daughter  of 
Gilbert  M.  Sykes,  of  Dorset,  Vermont. 


QILCHRIST  FA3IILY.  The  ancestor 
^^  of  the  American  branch  of  this  Scottish 
family  came  to  America  prior  to  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  and  the  Gilchrist  families  of 
Glens  Falls  and  Fort  Edward  are  descended 
from  one  of  his  sons. 

The  Gilchrists  claim  to  be  inheritors  by 
collateral  descent  of  the  castle  and  large  es- 
tates of  Balmoral,  in  Scotland.  The  only  link 
lacking  to  prove  their  heirship  was  contained 
in  the  old  family  Bible  and  records  destroyed 
at  the  old  Gilchrist  homestead  in  1777  by  a 
party  of  Indians. 

The  Balmoral  estates,  with  their  immense 
revenues,  lapsed  to  the  crown,  and  Queen 
Victoria  makes  the  castle  her  summer  resi- 
dence. This  is  one  of  the  many  striking  in- 
stances of  the  value  of  a  perfect  family  record 
and  the  need  of  biographical  sketches  to  pre- 
serve family  ancestry. 


HIOGIiAPHY  AND  JIISTOIiY 


363 


JOHN   L.  PRATT,  Jr.,  of  the  village  of 
Cambridge,'  and   a  descendant  of  the  old 
and   prominent  family  of  New  England,  was 
born  in  the  town   of  Cambridge,  Washington 
county,  New  York,  August  17,  1857,  and  is  a 
son  of  John   L.  Pratt  and   Mary  A.  (Bowen) 
Pratt.     John  L.  Pratt,  sr.,  was  a  native  of  the 
same  town, and  born  October  12,  1824.    Reared 
on   the  farm,  receiving   his  education  princi- 
pally at  the  Union  village  academy,  at  Green- 
wich, where  he  was  a  schoolmate  of  Chester 
A.   Arthur,  he  afterward  attended   the    Cam- 
bridge Washington  academy,   preparatory  to 
entering  college,  but  was  prevented  from  do- 
ing so  on  account  of  his  father's  death.    Leav- 
ing  school   he  returned   to  the  farm  and  was 
there  engaged  in  farming  until  1865,  when  he 
removed  to  Kent  county,  Delaware,  where  he 
resided  for  nine  years,  owning  a  peach  farm 
which  contained  three  thousand  five  hundred 
trees.      In  1874  he  returned  to  his  native  town 
and   purchased   a   farm   of   one   hundred   and 
eighty-five  acres,  where  he  at  present  resides, 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  town  of  Cambridge. 
In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  republican,  and  has 
filled  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  for  four 
years,  and  justice  of  sessions  for   two  years. 
He  still  takes  an  active  interest  in  politics, and 
has    made    a    number   of    political    speeches. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Loyal  Leage,  of  the 
State  of  Delaware,  in  whose  welfare  he  takes 
an  active   interest.      On    December  22,  1^47, 
he   married   Mary   A.    Bowen,  a   daughter   of 
Sylvester  Bowen,  and   to  this   marriage  were 
born   five   children:   Howard   B.,  of    Aurora, 
Illinois;  Amasa,  of  dishing,  Nebraska;  John 
L.,  jr.;  Charles  (dead);  and  Fannie  F.,  who 
is   the   wife   of  Charles   King,   of  Cambridge. 
Amasa   Pratt   (grandfather)  was   born   in   the 
town  of  Cambridge,  July  30,  1804.      After  re- 
ceiving a  good  common   school  education  he 
taught  school  for  several  terms,  and  served  as 
school   commissioner  of  the  town   for  six  or 
seven  years.    He  also  carried  on  farming  prin- 
cipally in  the  southern  part  of  the  town,  where 
he  owned  two  hundred  acres  of  land  and  was 


a  local  Methodist  minister.      He  was  licensed 
to  exhort  in   1829,  and  in  the  same  year  was 
licensed   to  preach   by  the   Methodist  confer- 
ence, in  the  Cambridge  circuit.       He  labored 
a  great  deal  for  the  good  of  his  church  and  in 
the  ministry, without  any  remuneration,  preach- 
ing almost  every  Sunday  up  to  the  day  of  his 
death.      He  was  popular  and  well  liked  in  his 
neighborhood,  and  was  a  man  of  the  strictest 
honesty  and  probity.      In  1838  he  engaged  in 
the   mercantile  business   at  Buskirk's  bridge, 
where  he  remained  but  one  year,  when  he  re- 
purchased  his   old   home   farm  and   removed 
there  and  lived  until  his  death.    In  politics  he 
was   a   whig.       In    1823  he  wedded  Fannie,  a 
daughter  of  Fenner  King.     To  their  marriage 
were  born  four  sons  and  three  daughters  :  John 
L.,  sr. ;   Fannie   L.  (dead);   Mary  C,  wife  of 
A.  Culver,  of  Lyons,   New  York  ;  A.  Clark,  a 
farmer  of  this  town  ;   DeMorris  (deadj;  Eme- 
line  (dead);  and  Amasa,  of  Buskirk's  Bridge. 
Amasa  Pratt  died  October  30,  1842,  and  his 
wife  February  12,  1889,  having  been  born  Oc- 
tober 18,  1802.   Jesse  Pratt  (great-grandfather) 
was  born  at  Oxford,  Massachusetts,  June  28, 
1780,    and   came    into    this    county    in    about 
1800,  with   his   father  and   family,  who   made 
their   settlement   in    the  town   of  Cambridge. 
Jesse  Pratt  was  justice  of  the  peace  and  super- 
visor of  the  town  for  a  number  of  years.      He 
was  twice  married.    His  first  wife,  Ruth  Shaw, 
was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  who  migrated 
to  this  county  with  her  parents  from  her  native 
State,  and  by  whom  he  had  eleven  children  : 
Amasa,  Polly,  Uriah  M.,  Philip,  Eliza,  Sallie, 
Jesse,    Ira  J.,    Horace   and  Malissa ;  the  last 
named  is  the  only  surviving  one,  and  now  re- 
sides in   Illinois.       His   second  wife  was   Mrs. 
Patience,  the   widow  of  Anthony  Browne,  of 
this  town.      Nathan   Pratt  (great-great-grand- 
father) was  also  a  native  of  Oxford,   Massa- 
chusetts, where  he   was  born   in   November, 
1745,  and  located  in  the  town  as  above  men- 
tioned.     He  was   one  of  the  minute   men  in 
the    Revolutionary    war,    and    fought    at    the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill.     His  brother,  Jonathan, 


364 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


acted  as  a  scout  during  the  French  and  Indian 
war,  and  died  at  Lake  George  in  about  the 
year  1755.  Nathan  Pratt  died  in  this  town  on 
February  27,  1828.  David  Pratt  (great-great- 
great-grandlather)  was  descended  of  old  Pur- 
itan stock,  who  came  to  America  from  England 
not  many  years  after  the  landing  of  the  May- 
flower. 

John  L.Pratt  grew  to  manhood  on  the  farm, 
receiving  his  education  mainly  in  the  Wes- 
leyan  academy,  in  Massachusetts,  graduating 
therefrom  in  1879;  he  then  entered  Cornell 
university,  and  was  graduated  from  that  insti- 
tution in  1883,  and  in  1884  he  entered  the  Al- 
bany Law  school,  and  was  graduated  from 
there  in  the  following  year.  On  account  of 
impaired  health  he  was  compelled  to  defer  the 
practice  of  law  until  1887,  when,  in  that  year, 
he  opened  an  office  in  the  village  of  Cambridge, 
where  he  has  since  practiced  with  good  suc- 
cess. He  is  a  member  of  the  Beta  Theta  Pi 
college  fraternity,  and  the  Phi  Delta  Phi  law 
fraternity.  Mr.  Pratt  is  a  member  of  the  Con- 
gregational church  of  his  village,  and  is  super- 
intendent of  its  Sabbath  school,  and  is  secre- 
tary of  the  Cambridge  Valley  Agricultural  as- 
sociation. 

On  February  16,  1886,  he  was  wedded  to 
Edith,  a  daughter  of  William  Gay,  a  farmer 
of  the  town  of  White  Creek.  To  this  mar- 
riage have  been  born  three  children  :  Helen 
G.,  Gerald  S.  and  Barbara  B. 


IjeROY  D.  Mc  WAYNE,  M.  D.,  one  of 

the  well  known  physicians  of  the  village 
of  Cambridge,  and  a  man  of  varied  experiences 
in  life,  was  born  in  Pawlet,  Rutland  count}', 
Vermont,  July  18,  1836.  He  is  a  son  of  El- 
hannan and  Lucy  (Tooley)  McWayne.  Elhan- 
nan  McWayne  was  a  blacksmith  by  trade, and 
a  native  of  Woodstock,  Vermont,  where  he 
was  born  June  4,  1803.  He  followed  his  trade 
in  Pawlet  in  the  earlier  part  of  his  life,  and 
afterward  removed  to  Wells,  in  the  same 
county,  where  he  became  quite  successful  in 


business.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  and  in  politics  a  democrat. 
In  1833  he  wedded  Lucy,  a  daughter  of  Ben- 
jaman  Tooley,  of  Wells,  Vermont.  They  had 
four  children  :  Louisa,  wife  of  Fletcher  Weir, 
a  carpenter  of  Cambridge;  LeRoy  D, Nathan- 
iel, and  Sylvanus.  Elhannan  McWayne  died 
in  1889,  and  his  wife  on  May  6,  1850,  in  the 
thirty-ninth  year  of  her  age.  Nathaniel  Mc- 
Wayne (grandfather)  also  followed  the  trade 
of  blacksmith,  and  was  a  native  of  Clarendon, 
Vermont,  and  had  the  following  children  : 
Arthusa  (deceased),  Violet,  Elhannan, Emily, 
widow  of  the  late  Elijah  Barrett,  of  Pawlet  ; 
Ahira  (dead),  Carolyn  (dead),  Orilla,  wife  of 
James  Lampson,  and  Titus,  of  Manchester, 
Vermont.  The  great-grandfather  of  Dr.  Mc- 
Wayne was  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  and  died 
at  the  remarkable  age  of  one  hundred  years 
and  four  days.  The  McWaynes  are  of  Scotch 
extraction,  the  name  being  Anglasized  from 
MacElwayne,  some  three  or  four  generations 
ago. 

LeRoy  D.  McWayne,  M.  D.,  received  his 
education  principally  from  self  study, as  he  left 
the  school  room  at  the  early  age  of  nine  years 
to  assist  his  father  in  the  shop,  who  was  in 
such  limited  circumstances  that  he  was  unable 
to  give  him  the  proper  schooling.  He  worked 
at  the  trade  of  blacksmithing  until  he  had 
reached  the  age  of  nineteen  years,  when  he 
left  there,  going  from  home,  and  was  engaged 
in  various  callings  until  1857,  when  he  went  to 
Wooster,  Ohio,  where  he  became  a  student  of 
dentistry.  He  soon  gave  up  the  study  of  dent- 
istry and  was  variously  engaged  up  to  1862, 
when  he  enlisted  in  the-Civil  war.  Returning 
home  from  the  field,  he  was  for  some  time  en- 
gaged in  both  the  study  of  law  and  medicine, 
but  in  a  short  time  concluded  to  take  the  latter 
profession  as  his  life's  work.  He  read  with  Drs. 
Smith  and  Chamberlain,  of  Akron,  Ohio,  and 
afterward  entered  the  Wooster  Medical  uni- 
versity, Cleveland,  Ohio,  attending  two  terms, 
and  later  entering  the  medical  department  of 
the  State  university  at   Nashville,  Tennessee, 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


365 


and  was  graduated  from  that  institution  in  1879, 
having  practiced  for  nine  years  previous  to  his 
graduation.  He  began  the  practice, after  leav- 
ing college  in  1880,  at  Akron,  removing  from 
there  to  Dorset,  Vermont,  shortly  afterward, 
remaining  there  only  about  six  months,  when 
in  the  fall  of  1882  he  went  to  the  village  of 
Cambridge,  where  he  practiced  most  success- 
fully up  to  1890.  In  that  year  he  moved  his 
office  to  No.  51  Church  street,  Hoosick  Falls, 
in  Rensselaer  county.  Dr.  McWayne  for 
many  years  has  made  a  specialty  of  all  forms 
of  chronic  diseases,  and  has  treated  over  two 
thousand  cases  of  diphtheria  without  loosing 
a  case,  and  immediately  knows  the  nature  of 
diseases  at  sight,  and  has  more  patients  than 
he  can  well  attend  to. 

On  August  12,  1862,  Dr.  McWayne  enlisted 
at  North  Hampton,  Ohio,  in  Co.  C,  115th 
Ohio  volunteer  infantry,  and  was  with  his  regi- 
ment until  the  following  February,  when  he 
was  discharged  on  account  of  disability.  He 
is  a  member  of  Post  Wood,  Grand  Army  of 
the  Republic,  at  Hoosick  Falls  ;  also  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Elks  and  Knights  of  Pythias,  of  the 
same  place.  He  is  an  ardent  republican  in 
politics,  casting  his  first  ballot  for  John  C. 
Freemont  for  president,  and  has  voted  for 
every  nominee  for  that  office  of  the  Republican 
party  since. 

On  February  14.  185S,  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Thusa,  a  daughter  of  Alvin  Doolittle, 
of  Alleghany  county,  New  York,  and  has  had 
four  children  :  Byron  A.  (dead),  Carrie  (dead), 
flattie,  wife  of  Randolph  Mains,  a  prominent 
inventor,  of  San  Francisco,  California,  and 
Allie  G.  (dead). 


JO  S  E  P  II  W  ILSOX,  architect  and 
builder,  who  is  prominently  identified 
with  the  business  interests  of  Whitehall,  was 
born  within  two  miles  of  that  village,  in  Wash- 
ington county.  New  York,  June  9,  1822,  and  is 
a  son  of  Joseph  and  Mabel  (Weller)  Wilson. 
Joseph  Wilson  ^father)  was  born  on  the  ocean 


while  his  parents  were  en  route  to  this  country 
from  Ireland.  He  grew  up  on  the  farm,  and 
was  engaged  in  farming  during  his  whole  life, 
dying  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years,  in  1832. 
The  father  of  Joseph,  sr.,  Robert  Wilson, was 
also  a  native  of  Ireland,  who  emigrated  to  the 
United  States  in  1767,  and  in  the  same  year 
settled  on  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Whitehall. 
Joseph  Wilson,  sr. ,  wedded  Mabel  Weller,  a 
native  of  Connecticut,  and  whose  death  oc- 
curred in  1 852, at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years. 

Joseph  Wilson  remained  on  his  father's 
farm  until  he  had  reached  the  age  of  fifteen 
years,  and  attended  the  common  schools  of  the 
neighborhood.  At  that  age  he  came  to  White- 
hall, where  he  commenced  learning  the  trade 
of  carpenter  with  Jeremiah  Lockwood,  and 
afterward  worked  at  his  trade  until  1840, when 
he  began  contracting  and  building  on  his  own 
account,  which  he  has  continued  most  suc- 
cessfully down  to  the  present  time.  In  addi- 
tion to  his  contracting  and  building  work  he 
also  does  architecturing,  having  designed  and 
constructed  a  large  majority  of  the  best  houses 
and  principal  buildings  in  the  town.  He  is 
the  oldest  contractor  in  active  business  proba- 
bly in  the  count}'.  For  a  few  years,  in  con- 
nection with  his  regular  work,  he  was  engaged 
in  running  a  sash  and  door  factory. 

In  1848  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Fannie 
Penfield,  a  daughter  of  John  Penfield,  who 
was  a  citizen  of  Pawlet,  Vermont,  until  1840, 
when  he  removed  with  his  family  to  White- 
hall To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilson  have  been  born 
three  children,  two  sons  and  one  daughter. 
The  daughter,  Florence  P.,  is  the  wife  of 
Charles  Emerson,  of  Yonkers.  New  York  ; 
Fred  and  Charles. 

Joseph  Wilson  is  a  democrat  in  politics,  and 
has  served  as  assessor  of  his  village, and  is  now 
a  member  of  the  village  trustees,  in  which 
body  he  has  served  for  the  past  ten  years. 
Whatever  best  subserves  the  true  interests  of 
his  village  satisfies  him.  In  business  he  is 
shrewd  and  successful,  and  is  an  affable  and 
pleasant  gentleman. 


366 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


f>  L.  3IOREY,  principal  of  the  Union 
^^  •  schools  of  the  village  of  Greenwich,  and 
one  of  the  leading  and  best  known  educators 
of  the  county,  was  born  in  the  village  of  Chap- 
inville,  Ontario  county,  December  13,  1859, 
and  is  a  son  of  Andrew  F.  and  Mary  J.  (Ben- 
nett) Morey.  Andrew  F.  Morey  was  a  native 
of  Schodack,  Rensselaer  county,  and  was  for 
many  years  a  minister  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church,  belonging  to  the  Genesee  confer- 
ence, and  after  thirty  years  of  successful  min- 
istry retired  in  1888.  He  filled  the  office  of 
presiding  elder  several  times,  and  was  pastor 
of  some  of  the  most  prominent  churches  in  the 
Genesee  conference.  His  wife  was  Mary  J., 
a  daughter  of  Stephen  Bennett,  residing  near 
Penn  Yan,  this  State.  To  their  marriage  were 
born  two  sons  and  one  daughter  :  Eugene,  who 
is  now  pastor  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  at  Fonda,  New  York  ;  Clayton  L. ,  and 
Grace  W.  Stephen  Bennett  resided  in  Renns- 
selaer  count)',  and  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of 
1812,  and  was  the  father  of  Mrs.  Mary  J.  Mo- 
rey. Benjamin  Morey,  the  paternal  grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  a  native 
of  Rensselaer  count}',  where  he  owned  and 
operated  a  large  farm. 

C.  L.  Morey  received  his  education  at  the 
Lockport  High  school,  at  Wesleyan  seminary, 
and  at  Syracuse  university,  and  later  took  a 
post-graduate  course  in  the  Wesleyan  univer- 
sity of  the  State  of  Illinois.  For  the  past 
thirteen  years  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  pro- 
fession of  teaching  —  the  first  year  as  princi- 
pal of  the  Warrensburg  academy,  when  at  the 
end  of  that  time  he  came  to  Greenwich  and  ac- 
cepted the  principalship  of  the  Union  High 
school  of  the  village,  making  twelve  years  he 
has  acceptably  filled  this  position.  During  this 
period  the  school  has  nearly  doubled  in  attend- 
ance, numbering  at  present  between  five  and 
six  hundred  pupils.  Pupils  are  prepared  for  col- 
lege in  these  schools,  and  many  from  outside 
of  the  school  district  attend.  Under  Prof. 
Morey's  supervision  these  schools  rank  among 
the  best  in  the  State,  and  employ  a  corps  of 


eleven  teachers.  Mr.  Morey  is  a  member  of 
Ashlar  Lodge  of  Masons,  and  is  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  church.  He  is  a  director  in  the 
Union  Water  Works  company,  and  a  repub- 
lican in  political  belief. 

On  December  23,  1885,  he  was  wedded  to 
Lillian  H.,  a  daughter  of  Nathan  Phelps,  of 
Lockport,  New  York.  To  their  marriage  have 
been  born  two  children  :  Lawrence  A.  and 
Willis  B. 


/CHARLES  R.  PATTERSON,  ex-dis- 
^^  trict  attorney  of  Warren  county,  and  a 
lawyer  of  enviable  standing  in  his  profession, of 
Glens  Falls,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Bethle- 
hem, a  village  suburb  of  the  city  of  Albany, 
New  York,  March  28,  1855.  His  parents  were 
Rev.  Robert  Patterson  and  Sarah  (Annesley) 
Patterson,  the  former  being  a  native  of  Ire- 
land, of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  who  came  to  the 
United  States,  locating  at  Albany  when  quite 
young,  where  he  was  principally  reared  and 
educated.  After  thoroughly  preparing  him- 
self he  entered  the  Methodist  ministry,  and 
labored  most  successfully  in  the  cause  of 
Methodism  at  various  places  over  northern 
New  York  until  some  two  or  three  years  ago, 
when  he  retired  from  his  work  in  the  cause  of  the 
Master,  and  removed  to  the  village  of  Glens 
Falls,  where  he  is  now  residing,  in  the  sixty- 
eighth  year  of  his  age.  His  father  was  a  native 
of  Ireland,  who  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Eng- 
lish army,  and,  while  en  route  to  the  United 
States,  where  he  intended  to  reside  in  the  fu- 
ture, he  sickened  and  died  at  Montreal,  Can- 
ada. Rev.  Robert  Patterson  married  Sarah 
Annesley,  who  was  a  native  of  Montreal,  but 
was  principally  reared  in  the  city  of  Albany, 
where  her  parents  removed  when  she  was  quite 
young.  She  is  now  in  the  sixty-seventh  year 
of  her  age,  and  a  valued  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church.  Her  two  brothers, 
William  and  Lawson,  were  leading  merchants 
of  the  cities  of  Albany  and  Montreal. 

Charles  R.  Patterson  grew  to  manhood  in 
the  vicinity   of  Albany,  New  York,  and   after 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY 


367 


receiving  an  academical  education,  he  entered 
the  State  Normal  school  of  that  city,  from 
which  institution  he  was  graduated  in  the  year 
1878,  and  was  the  youngest  member  of  h;s 
class.  After  graduation  for  some  two  or  three 
years  he  was  engaged  in  teaching  school  ;  for 
some  time  taught  in  one  of  the  city  schools  in 
Topeka,  Kansas,  and  afterward  taught  the 
village  school  in  Janesville,in  Saratoga  county, 
and  closed  his  career  as  a  teacher  at  Poultney, 
Vermont,  where  for  some  time  he  had  charge 
of  the  commercial  department  of  the  Troy 
Conference  academy.  Choosing  the  profes- 
sion of  law  as  his  future  field  of  work,  he  ac- 
cordingly commenced  the  study  in  the  office 
of  W.  S.  Kelley,  formerly  a  well  known  law- 
yer of  Albany,  but  is  now  deceased.  After 
taking  the  required  course  of  study,  he  entered 
the  well  known  Albany  Law  school,  and  from 
which  he  was  graduated  in  1878.  In  the  fol- 
lowing year  Mr.  Patterson  located  at  the  vil- 
lage of  Glens  Falls,  where  he  has  since  been 
engaged  in  the  active  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion, and  where  at  present  he  enjoys  a  very 
lucrative  and  extensive  general  law  business. 
He  has  served  two  terms  as  village  clerk  of 
Glens  Falls,  and  two  terms  of  three  years  each 
as  district  attorney  of  Warren  county,  filling 
the  last  named  office  with  rare  ability,  giving 
general  satisfaction  to  the  people.  Charles  R. 
Patterson,  in  1887,  was  married  to  Frances 
C.  Porter,  of  Chicago.  To  their  marriage  has 
been  born  two  children:  Allen  A. and  Robert. 


"K>  P.  CROCKER,  who  has  been  many 
^"^  *  years  identified  with  the  merchantile  in- 
terests of  the  village  of  Cambridge,  was  born 
in  the  town  of  White  Creek,  Washington- 
county,  New  York,  Jul)'  22,  1817,  and  is  a  son 
of  Benjamin  and  Cylinda  (Norton)  Crocker. 
Benjaman  Crocker  was  a  native  of  Tolland 
countv,  Connecticut,  and  was  brought  to  this 
country  with  his  parents,  when  one  year  old. 
He  received  a  good  common  school  education 
in  the  town  schools,  and  was  afterward  engaged 


in  general  farming,  owning  two  or  three  hun- 
dred acres  of  land,  which  he  got  from  his 
father,  and  was  an  extensive  wheat  raiser.  For 
a  number  of  years  he  was  a  member  and  an 
elder  in  the  Presbyterian  church  ;  also  for  a 
number  of  years  filled  the  office  of  justice  of 
the  peace  ;  he  also  filled  the  office  of  supervisor 
and  was  a  member  of  the  State  assembly  one 
term.  His  wife,  Cylinda,  was  a  daughter  of 
William  Norton,  of  the  town  of  White  Creek; 
he  was  an  officer  in  the  Revolutionary  war  of 
1776.  To  their  marriage  was  born  the  follow- 
ing children  :  N.  S.  P.,  who  died  in  Monroe 
county,  New  York,  in  1892;  Mary,  the  widow 
of  Nelson  R.  Simpson,  residing  in  the  village 
of  Cambridge;  B.  Porter;  R.  King,  a  lawyer 
and  editor,  was  on  the  Washington  Post,  also 
was  a  member  of  the  legislature,  and  died  in 
i8gi;Cylinda,of  thistown;  Harriet, wifeof  Hon. 
Frederick  Julian,  of  Greene,  Chenango  county, 
New  York;  Rev.  James,  who  is  a  minister  in 
the  Presbyterian  church,  and  William,  who 
died  in  infancy.  In  addition  to  the  family  of 
Benjamin  Crocker,  there  was  an  adopted  son 
(infant  Asahel  Buckingham),  who  knew  no 
other  parents,  was  always  as  one  of  their  own, 
by  the  name  of  Asahel  B.  Crocker,  who  was 
a  minister  and  pastor  of  the  Eastern  Congre- 
gational church,  New  York  city,  and  died  in 
1850.  Benjamin  Crocker  died  in  1874,  and 
his  wife  passed  away  at  the  age  of  eighty-nine 
years  in  1882  ;  she  was  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church.  Eleasor  Crocker  (grand- 
father) was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  who  immi- 
grated into  the  town  of  White  Creek  when  a 
young  man,  where  he  owned  a  large  farm, 
which  at  that  time  was  covered  with  forest, 
which  he  cleared  and  improved  and  cultivated. 
He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Presby- 
terian church,  and  was  a  whig  in  politics.  His 
wife  was  Susanna  Hirikley,  of  Connecticut. 
They  were  the  parents  of  five  children  :  Elea- 
sor;  Benjamin;  Francis;  Elizabeth  ;  Roena, 
who  was  the  wife  of  Eliakim  Akin, of  this  town. 
Francis  was  a  colonel  in  the  old  State  militia. 
B.  Porter  Crocker  grew  to  manhood  on  the 


308 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


farm,  and  received  his  education  mainly  in  the 
Cambridge  Washington  academy.  After  leav- 
ing this  institution,  he  taught  school  for  a  few 
years,  and  when  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years 
he  engaged  in  general  merchandising  in  the 
village  of  Cambridge,  associated  with  Oren 
Kellogg  as  a  partner,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Kellogg  &  Crocker,  and  Rice,  Walkley  & 
Crocker.  These  partnerships  lasted  for  ten 
years,  up  to  1851,  when  the  railroad  was  built 
through  Cambridge,  when  he  built  his  present 
storeroom  and  engaged  in  business  alone,  he 
was  principally  engaged  in  buying  and  for- 
warding produce  and  carried  on  an  extensive 
trade  up  to  1893,  since  which  time  he  has  de- 
voted himself  to  his  grocery  and  hardware 
department.  Mr.  Crocker  owns  a  number  of 
fine  village  lots  and  other  valuable  village 
property.  For  man}-  years  an  honored  mem- 
ber of  the  Presbyterian  church  and  one  of  the 
valued  directors  of  the  village  bank,  the  latter 
institution,  which  he  assisted  in  organizing, 
and  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Wood- 
land cemetery.  Of  this  bank  and  cemetery, 
Mr.  Crocker  is  the  only  one  living,  of  the  or- 
ganizers, that  have  an  interest  in  them.  In 
political  opinion  he  is  a  republican,  and  was 
postmaster  cf  the  village  for  sixteen  years, 
serving  longer  in  this  office  than  any  other  man 
since  its  establishment ;  and  was  for  four  years 
postmaster  of  North  White  Creek  postofhce. 
During  the  Rebellion  he  was  an  ardent  union 
man,  but  could  not  enlist  on  account  of  his 
health  ;  but  after  the  battle  of  Chancellorsvilie 
he  went  to  Washington  to  look  after  and  care 
for  the  wounded. 

On  June  18,  1S68,  he  wedded  Sarah  Jose- 
phine Weston,  of  Cohoes,  New  York,  a  na- 
tive of  New  Hampshire. 


TjEONARD  C.  PISER,  the  large  shirt 

^"^  manufacturer  of  Shushan,  who  has  given 
to  that  village  a  standing  in  the  business  world 
which  larger  and  more  highly  favored  commu- 
nities may  well  envy,  is  one  whose  life-work 


clearly  shows  what  great  results  energy  and 
perseverance  may  win.  He  is  a  son  of  Martin 
P.  and  MaryE.  (Church)  Piser,  and  was  born 
at  Pittstown,  Rensselaer  county,  New  York, 
October  1,  1849.  His  grandfather,  Peter  Piser, 
was  a  native  of  Germany,  and  came  to  America 
with  his  brother  Martin.  They  settled  on  the 
Hudson,  where  they  lost  their  land  through  a 
defective  title,  when  the}'  went  to  New  York, 
in  which  city  they  were  robbed  by  a  dishonest 
partner.  From  there  they  directed  their  steps 
to  Pittstown,  and  purchased  a  tract  of  Royal 
land,  on  which  they  resided  until  their  final 
summons  came.  Peter  Piser  married,  and  his 
son,  Martin  P.  Piser  (father)  was  born  at 
Pittstown,  this  State,  in  1804,  and  died  in  1866. 
He  was  a  farmer  and  a  republican,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Disciple  church.  He  married  Mary 
E.  Church,  who  died  at  Shushan  in  June,  1882, 
aged  sixty-two  years.  Her  father,  Leonard 
Church,  was  a  lawyer,  and  an  early  aboli- 
tionist :  her  grandfather,  Bethuel  Church,  was 
an  early  pioneer,  and  built  the  first  house  at 
Shushan. 

Leonard  C.  Piser  was  reared  on  the  farm, 
and  received  his  education  at  Fort  Edward 
Collegiate  institute.  In  1872  he  came  to  Shu- 
shan, where  he  has  resided  ever  since.  He  was 
employed  in  a  clothing  house  until  1877,  when 
he  engaged  in  selling  sewing  machines  and  in 
having  shirts  manufactured  by  many  of  those 
to  whom  he  sold  machines.  After  four  years 
thus  spent,  in  1881,  he  rented  and  remodeled 
Hedge's  mill  for  a  shirt  factory.  Mr.  Piser's 
venture  proved  successful,  and  to-day  he  em- 
ploys nearly  two  hundred  hands  and  furnishes 
employment  to  several  hundred  at  their  homes. 
In  1891  he  was  mainly  instrumental  in  securing 
the  present  electrical  light  plant  of  his  village. 

In  May,  1872,  Mr.  Piser  married  Emily 
Halstead,  a  daughter  of  James  ,Halstead,  of 
Pittstown,  this  State.  They  have  four  child- 
ren :  Theodore  H.,  Arthur  L. ,  Walter  N.  and 
Ralph  H. 

In  politics  Mr.  Piser  is  a  strong  republican, 
and  has  served  for  nine  years  as  justice  of  the 


BIOQMAPSY  AND  HISTORY 


3<;<j 


peace  for  li is  village.  We  condense  from  a 
published  account  of  Mr.  Piser's  life  the  fol- 
lowing of  his  struggles  and  triumphs  in  the 
business  world:  "The  unassuming  little  shirt 
business  thus  quietly  begun,  soon  increased  far 
beyond  the  expectations  of  its  projector.  In 
eight  years  from  the  time  the  first  machine  was 
put  in  motion  in  the  factory,  over  a  quarter  of  a 
million  of  dollars  was  paid  out  by  Mr.  Piser 
for  help  alone.  Public  spirit,  like  all  other 
healthy  manifestations  of  life,  grows  by  what 
it  feeds  on,  and  under  the  leadership  of  Mr. 
Piser,  the  Shushan  people  became  greatly  in- 
terested in  electric  lighting,  which  became  an 
accomplished  fact  on  July  4,  1891.  It  was  the 
first  electric  light  plant  erected  on  the  line  of 
the  railway  between  Troy  and  Rutland.  Perse- 
verance conquers  everything,  and  that  this  is 
a  true  saying  and  one  worthy  of  all  accepta- 
tion, Mr.  Piser's  life,  preaching  and  practice 
fully  exemplify." 


rrllLLIAM  H.  CRANDAL,  the  well 
*-**-**  known  and  popular  clothing  and  gen- 
tlemen's furnishing  goods  merchant  of  Green- 
wich, who  is  also  prominent  in  the  Masonic 
circles  of  this  section,  and  a  very  successful 
business  man,  is  the  only  surviving  son  of 
Thomas  and  Elizabeth  (Latham)  Crandal,  and 
was  born  November  9,  1861,  in  the  town  of 
Greenwich,  Washington  county,  New  York. 
The  Crandals  are  of  Scotch  descent,  and  the 
family  was  planted  in  America  by  Simeon 
Crandal,  great-grandfather  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  who  left  his  native  Scotland  while 
yet  a  young  man,  and  coming  to  America  set- 
tled in  Rhode  Island  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  He  was  a  farmer,  and 
married  Ann  Smith,  of  Rhode  Island,  by  whom 
he  had  seven  children  :  Mary,  who  married  a 
Mr.  Linn  ;  Asa,  John,  who  was  for  man}'  years 
keeper  of  Blackwell  Island  prison ;  Simon, 
Thomas  (grandfather)  Catharine,  who  mar- 
ried a  man  named  Ott,  and  James.  Thomas 
Crandal  (grandfather),  was  a  native  of  Rhode 


Island,  but  came  to  the  town  of  Easton  when 
a  young  man,  where  he  passed  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  He  was  a  farmer  and  small  law- 
yer, who  in  addition  to  conducting  an  exten- 
sive farming  business,  frequently  acted  as  at- 
torney and  legal  advisor  for  his  neighbors  and 
others.  In  politics  he  was  a  Jacksonian  demo- 
crat, and  married  Wealthy  Ann  Bell,  by  whom 
he  had  eight  children  :  Simeon,  Jonah,  John, 
Thomas,  Asa,  George,  Phoebe  A.,  who  mar- 
ried Samuel  Skiff,  of  this  town,  and  Elizabeth 
Eliza,  who  is  now  the  sole  survivor  of  the 
family. 

Thomas  Crandal  (father)  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Easton,  this  county,  in  1820,  where 
he  followed  farming  and  merchandising  until 
he  was  thirty-five  years  of  age.  He  then  re- 
moved to  the  village  of  Greenwich,  where  he 
was  employed  as  clerk  in  a  mercantile  estab- 
lishment for  the  space  of  five  years,  after  which 
he  embarked  in  the  hardware  business  and  fol- 
lowed that  until  his  death,  October  30,  1883, 
when  in  the  sixty-third  year  of  his  age.  He 
built  and  occupied  the  store  room  adjoining 
the  Hill  block  on  Main  street.  During  the 
Civil  war  he  served  as  recuiting  officer  for  his 
town,  and  was  a  stanch  republican  in  politics, 
tiking  an  p.ctive  interest  in  the  success  of  his 
part\-  at  the  polls.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he 
became  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  and  adhered  to  that  faith  all  his  life. 
He  was  always  active  in  support  of  denomi- 
national interests,  and  for  many  years  served  as 
Sunday  school  superintendent.  In  1843  he 
married  Ursula  Latham,  a  daughter  of  Benja- 
min Latham,  of  Port  Byron,  New  York.  She 
died  in  six  months  after  marriage,  and  some 
time  later  Mr.  Crandal  married  her  sister, 
Elizabeth  E.  Latham,  by  whom  he  had  two 
sons  and  two  daughters  :  Albert,  Ursula,  wife 
of  Frank  Hawthorne,  of  Hoosick  Falls,  this 
State  ;  Endora,  deceased,  and  Willam  H.  Mrs. 
Crandall  died  in  January,  1862,  at  the  age  of 
thirty-one,  and  in  1S64  Mr.  Crandal  married 
for  his  third  wife,  Sarah  Lewis,  daughter  of 
Samuel  Lewis,  a  farmer  of  the  town  of  Jack- 


370 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


son.  By  this  union  he  had  one  son,  Samuel 
L.  Mrs.  Sarah  Crandal  died  in  December, 
1891,  aged  sixty-three. 

William  H.  Crandal  was  reared  in  his  native 
place  and  obtained  his  education  in  the  graded 
school  of  Greenwich.  At  the  age  of  seven- 
teen he  entered  the  clothing  and  gentlemen's 
furnishing  store  of  D.  S.  Ensign  as  clerk,  in 
the  building  in  which  his  own  store  is  now  lo- 
cated, and  remained  with  him  some  six  months. 
At  the  end  of  that  time  Mr.  Crandal  went  to 
Kansas,  but  after  a  short  time  spent  in  that 
State  he  came  back  to  Chicago  and  obtained 
a  position  as  clerk  in  a  large  hardware  store 
in  that  city.  There  he  remained  for  some  time, 
when  sickness  necessitated  his  resignation, 
and  he  returned  to  his  home  at  Greenwich. 
Afterrecovering  his  health  he  became  a  clerk  in 
this  village  and  followed  that  occupation  until 
1888.  In  that  year  he  formed  a  partnership 
with  Joseph  H.  Sarard,  under  the  firm  name 
of  Crandal  &  Sarard,  and  engaged  in  the  cloth- 
ing and  gentlemen's  furnishing  goods  business 
at  No.  83  Main  street,  Greenwich.  These 
gentlemen  remained  in  partnership  until  No- 
vember 13,  1893,  when  Mr.  Crandal  purchased 
his  partner's  interest  and  has  since  conducted 
the  business  alone  and  in  his  own  name.  He 
still  occupies  and  now  owns  the  room  in  which 
he  began  business,  and  carries  a  stock  aggre- 
gating nearly  thirteen  thousand  dollars  in  value. 
His  annual  sales  amount  to  about  twenty 
thousand  dollars,  and  the  business  is  still  grow- 
ing. In  addition  to  his  business  property,  Mr. 
Crandal  also  owns  a  handsome  residence  on 
College  street,  this  village.  For  three  years 
previous  to  engaging  in  business  for  himself, 
he  had  charge  of  the  clothing  and  furnishing 
departments  of  W.  H.  Stewart's  large  store 
at  Glen's  Falls,  this  State. 

On  December  10,  1884,  Mr.  Crandal  was 
married  to  Anna  Bertha  Curtis,  a  daughter  of 
John  W.  Curtis,  of  the  village  of  Greenwich. 
To  them  have  been  born  two  children,  one  son 
and  a  daughter:  Mar}'  E.  and  Karl  C.  John 
W.  Curtis  (father-in-law")  came  to  Greenwich 


in  1840,  and  began  the  publication  of  the  Peo- 
ple's Journal  on  borrowed  capital.  He  met 
with  such  marked  success  that  within  two 
years  he  had  paid  off  the  entire  debt  and  owned 
the  paper.  He  died  in  Greenwich  in  1889, 
aged  sixty-seven  years. 

Politically,  William  H.  Crandal  is  a  republi- 
can, and  in  religion  a  member  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church,  which  he  is  now  serving 
as  financial  secretary.  He  is  a  member  of 
Ashlar  Lodge,  No.  584,  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons  ;  Schuylerville  Chapter,  Royal  Arch 
Masons  ;  Washington  Commandery,  Knights 
Templar,  of  Saratoga  Springs,  and  of  the  Ori- 
ental Temple,  of  Troy. 


FRED  W.  ALLEN,  of  Middle  Gran- 
ville, although  still  a  young  man,  has  had 
a  varied  and  successful  career  in  business,  and 
ranks  with  the  leading  young  business  men  of 
this  part  of  the  county.  He  is  a  son  of  Wil- 
liam H.  and  Helen  E.  (Smith)  Allen,  and  was 
born  April  11,  1868,  in  the  village  of  Middle 
Granville,  Washington  cbunty,  New  York. 
The  Aliens  rank  among  the  oldest  families  of 
New  York,  where  its  members  have  been 
prominent  citizens  for  more  than  a  century. 
Gilbert  Allen,  paternal  grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  a  native  of  Johns- 
town, Fulton  county,  this  State,  and  a  cloth 
manufacturer  by  occupation.  He  was  ener- 
getic and  enterprising  in  the  prosecution  of 
his  business,  and  to  him  belongs  the  honor,  it 
is  claimed,  of  having  introduced  and  put  into 
successful  operation  the  first  carding  machine 
ever  used  in  the  State  of  New  York.  Other 
improved  devices  were  also  brought  into 
requisition  by  him,  and  for  a  number  of  years 
he  stood  at  the  head  of  the  cloth  manufactur- 
ing business  of  this  section.  He  died  at  his 
home  here  in  1856,  at  an  advanced  age.  His 
son,  William  H.  Allen  (father),  was  born  at 
North  Granville,  in  1827,  but  spent  his  boy- 
hood days  principally  at  Schaghticoke,  Rens- 
selaer county,  and  came  to   Middle  Granville 


BIOGRAPHY  AND    HISTORY 


when  a  young  man.  Here  he  engaged  as 
clerk  in  the  general  merchantile  house  of  his 
brother-in-law,  George  N.  Bates,  but  soon 
became  a  partner  in  the  concern,  and  success- 
fully conducted  the  general  mercantile  busi- 
ness here  until  his  death,  February  2<S,  1885, 
when  in  the  fifty-eighth  year  of  his  age.  He 
also  engaged  for  a  time  in  the  manufacture  of 
red  slate  for  roofing  purposes,  and  was  one 
of  the  pioneers  in  that  line  of  production. 
Politically  he  was  an  ardent  democrat,  and 
during  President  Buchanan's  administration 
he  served  as  postmaster  of  Middle  Granville. 
He  also  served  for  three  years  as  supervisor 
of  the  town  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
Elm  wood  cemetery,  in  which  his  ashes  repose. 
At  one  time  he  was  a  prominent  candidate  for 
a  seat  in  the  State  assembly,  but  was  defeated 
because  his  party  was  greatly  in  the  minority. 
In  religious  faith  and  church  membership  he 
was  a  Presbyterian,  and  always  active  in  sup- 
port of  the  various  interests  of  his  denomina- 
tioe.  He  wedded  Helen  E.  Smith,  a  native 
of  Bristol,  Vermont.  They  had  a  family  of 
children.  Mrs.  Allen  was  a  member  of  the 
same  church  as  her  husband,  and  died  in 
August,  1S87. 

Fred  W.  Allen  was  reared  and  received  his 
elementary  education  in  the  \  illage  of  Middle 
Granville.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  left  the 
public  schools  of  his  native  place  and  took  a 
two  years'  course  of  training  in  the  Peekskill 
Military  academy.  At  his  father's  death  he 
returned  home  and  took  charge  of  his  interests 
in  the  store,  where  he  remained  until  July, 
1886.  In  1887  Mr.  Allen  went  to  Europe  and 
spent  considerable  time  in  sight  seeing,  visit- 
ing many  of  the  leading  countries  of  the  old 
world,  and  especially  points  of  great  historic 
interest  and  the  magnificent  art  collections  in 
many  European  capitals.  Upon  his  return  in 
the  fall  of  the  same  year,  he  accepted  the  post 
of  shipping  clerk  in  the  establishment  of 
James  B.  Lyon,  State  printer,  at  Albany,  and 
continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  that  posi- 
tion for  two  years. 


In  December,  1891,  Mr.  Allen  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Lu  M.  Brown,  eldest  daughter 
of  Clayton  E.  and  Amanda  Brown,  of  Middle 
Granville.  On  January  1,  i.Sip,  he  engaged 
in  the  grain  and  feed  business  at  the  latter 
village,  and  in  July  of  that  year  added  the 
grocery  business,  in  all  of  which  he  was  very 
successful.  In  April,  1893,  he  purchased  his 
present  grist  mill,  which  has  one  of  the  finest 
water  powers  in  Washington  county.  Since 
purchasing  the  mill  he  has  added  improve- 
ments to  the  plant  aggregating  more  than 
eleven  thousand  dollars,  and  it  is  now  con- 
ceded to  be  one  of  the  best  equipped  grist 
mills  in  the  county  and  one  of  the  most  valu- 
able mill  properties  in  this  part  of  the  State. 
On  account  of  the  growth  of  his  mill  and  feed 
business  requiring  nearly  all  his  time  and  at- 
tention, Mr.  Allen  sold  his  grocery  establish- 
ment in  July,  1893,  and  since  then  has  devoted 
much  of  his  energy  to  the  grist  mill  and  to  the 
manufacture  of  red  slate  flour,  which  is  used 
for  backing  oil  cloths  and  for  pigment  paint 
and  coating  out-buildings.  Mr.  Allen  is  also 
the  inventor  of  the  well  known  imperial  polish, 
and  is  now  treasurer  and  manager  of  the  Im- 
perial Polish  Company,  of  Middle  Granville, 
which  is  exclusively  engaged  in  the  manufac- 
ture and  sale  of  this  excellent  preparation. 
In  addition  to  these  various  business  enter- 
prises he  also  owns  considerable  real  estate  in 
that  village. 

Politically  Fred  W.  Allen  is  strictly  inde- 
pendent, voting  for  those  he  considers  the 
best  men,  without  regard  to  part}-  considera- 
tions. He  is  an  elder  and  trustee  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church,  and  trustee  of  the  union 
school  of  his  village.  He  is  also  trustee  and 
secretary  of  the  Elmwood  Cemetery  associa- 
tion, and  foreman  of  the  Penrhyn  Engine  and 
Hose  Company,  of  Middle  Granville.  Mr. 
Allen  is  a  public  spirited  citizen  and  takes  an 
active  interest  in  the  welfare  of  his  town,  vil- 
lage and  county.  He  is  affable  in  manner, 
and  among  the  most  popular  men  of  his  sec- 
tion. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


TAllLLIAM  II.  HUtiHES,  proprietor  of 
the  largest  slate  works  in  the  United 
States,  and  treasurer  of  Washington  county, 
w  ho  resides  in  the  village  of  Granville,  of  which 
he  is  president,  is  a  native  of  Chapmanville, 
Northampton  count}',  Pennsylvania,  where  he 
was  born  Septembers,  1863.  His  father, Hugh 
W.  Hughes,  was  born  and  reared  at  Nazareth, 
North  Wales,  where  he  lived  until  1857.  In 
that  year  he  came  to  the  United  States,  set- 
tling first  at  Dodgeville,  Wisconsin,  which  he 
soon  afterward  left  to  locate  in  the  copper 
region  of  Lake  Superior,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged in  copper  mining  for  a  time.  In  i860 
he  removed  to  Hampton,  this  count}-,  but  in 
a  short  time  went  to  Chapmanville,  North- 
ampton county,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  re- 
mained until  after  the  close  of  our  Civil  war. 
His  next  move  was  to  Rhinebeck,  on  the  Hud- 
son river,  where  he  engaged  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  black  slate.  Later  he  went  to  Hoosick, 
Rensselaer  county,  New  York,  where  he  also 
began  the  manufacture  of  black  slate,  but  in 
1868  abandoned  it -and  located  at  Granville, 
where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
After  coming  here  he  embarked  in  the  manu- 
facture of  red  roofing  slate,  but  in  a  year  or 
two  abandoned  that  and  opened  some  sea- 
green  slate  quarries,  in  Rutland  county,  Ver- 
mont, in  the  handling  of  which  he  became 
quite  successful.  He  continued  the  manufac- 
ture of  sea-green  slate  for  roofing  purposes 
until  his  death  in  February,  1890,  when  well 
advanced  in  the  fifty-fourth  year  of  his  age. 
At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  successfully 
operating  eleven  sea-green  slate  quarries, being 
the  largest  roofing  slate  manufacturer  in  this 
country,  and  was  widely  known  as  "the  Slate 
king  of  America."  His  enterprises  gave  em- 
ployment to  a  large  number  of  men  in  Gran- 
ville and  vicinity,  and  he  was  universally  re- 
spected by  the  people.  He  was  president  of 
the  Granville  National  bank  at  the  time  of  his 
death  ;  an  ardent  republican  in  politics,  and  a 
re'gular  attendant  and  liberal  contributor  to  the 
Welsh   Presbyterian    church    of    this   village. 


Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  his  education 
was  limited,  he  was  a  man  of  fine  natural  abil- 
ity, and  after  experimenting  with  the  different 
slates  of  this  country  until  he  struck  the  sea- 
green  roofing  slate,  he  finally  scored  a  remark- 
able success,  accumulated  a  fortune,  and  left 
a  large  estate  at  his  death.  Before  coming  to 
this  country  he  married  Sarah  Leming,  who, 
like  himself,  was  a  native  of  Wales,  and  a 
member  of  an  old  Welsh  family.  Mrs.  Hughes 
spends  her  time  partly  in  Granville  with  her 
son,  William  H.  Hughes,  and  partly  at  Eas- 
ton,  Pennsylvania.  She  is  a  member  of  the 
Lutheran  church. 

William  H.  Hughes  was  reared  principally 
in  the  village  of  Granville,  this  county,  and 
was  graduated  from  the  North  Granville  Mili- 
tary academy  in  1881.  During  the  next  year 
he  visited  Europe,  and  spent  some  time  in 
different  countries  and  capitals  of  the  old 
world.  Returning  to  the  United  States  in 
March,  1883,  he  went  to  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
where  he  established  a  commission  house  for 
selling  roofing  slate,  and  was  successfully  en- 
gaged in  that  business  for  a  period  of  five  years. 
He  then  traveled  for  one  year,  selling  roofing 
slate  in  all  parts  of  the  west  and  northwest, 
making  his  headquarters  at  Chicago.  In  1889, 
on  account  of  his  father's  declining  health,  he 
returned  to  New  York  and  became  a  partner 
with  the  elder  Hughes  in  his  various  slate  en- 
terprises here.  The  firm  name  became  H.W. 
Hughes  &  Son,  and  the  active  management 
was  largely  assumed  by  the  son.  This  firm 
continued  in  existence  until  the  father's  death 
in  1890,  when  William  H.  Hughes  purchased 
his  mother's  interest  in  the  business,  and  has 
since  that  time  conducted  this  vast  enterprise 
alone,  under  the  name  of  W.  H.  Hughes. 
Under  his  energetic  management  the  business 
has  increased  until  it  is  now  fully  one-third 
larger  than  that  done  at  any  time  by  his  father, 
and  being  far  in  advance  of  any  other  similar 
enterprise  in  this  country,  fairly  entitles  him 
to  the  designation  first  given  to  his  father  — 
Slate   king   of  America.      His    various    works 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


375 


give  employment  to  more  than  three  hundred 
and  fifty  men,  and  lie  is  treasurer  of  the  Ver- 
mont Slate  Company,  which  handles  all  the 
sea  green  slate  manufactured  in  the  State  of 
Vermont.  Mr.  Hughes  is  also  a  stockholder 
in  both  the  Granville  banks,  and  has  erected 
two  of  the  handsomest  blocks  in  that  village, 
one  a  brick  structure  and  the  other  a  large 
stone  building.  These  fine  business  blocks 
add  materially  to  the  appearance  of  Granville. 
One  is  occupied  by  the  Granville  National 
bank  and  the  other  by  the  Farmers'  National 
bank.  Mr.  Hughes'  office  is  in  the  stone 
structure,  and  is  elegantly  fitted  up  and  lux- 
uriously furnished. 

On  April  28,  1886,  William  H.  Hughes  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Julia  Forbes.  Politically 
Mr.  Hughes  is  a  stanch  republican  and  pro- 
tectionist, taking  an  active  interest  in  the  suc- 
cess of  his  party  and  its  principles.  He  was 
chairman  of  the  county  republican  committee 
in  1891,  and  is  now  serving  as  president  of  the 
village  of  Granville.  In  the  fall  of  1893  he 
was  elected  treasurer  of  Washington  county, 
and  entered  upon  the  duties  of  that  office  Jan- 
uary 1,  1894.  He  is  a  thirty-second  degree 
Mason,  a  member  of  the  Mystic  Shrine,  and  is 
also  connected  with  Mettowee  Lodge,  No. 
559,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and 
with  the  Improved  Order  of  Red  Men,  and 
the  Independent  Order  of  Elks.  Mr.  Hughes  is 
pleasant  and  genial  in  manner,  easily  ap- 
proached, and  one  of  the  most  popular  men 
in  Washington  county. 


HON.  JEROME  LAPHAM,  president 
of  the  First  National  bank  of  the  village 
of  Glens  Falls,  and  ex-State  assemblyman, 
and  one  of  the  most  prominent  and  successful 
business  men  of  that  village,  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Queensbury,  Warren  county,  New 
York,  December  4,  1823,  and  is  a  son  of  Jona- 
than Lapham  and  Elizabeth  Heeley  Lapham. 
Jonathan  Lapham  was  a  native  of  the  same 
town,  where  he  was  born  in   1798,  where  he 


afterward  resided,  in  the  town  and  village  of 
Glens  Falls,  up  to  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  i860.  For  several  years  in  the  latter  part 
of  his  life  he  lived  in  the  village  of  Glens  Falls, 
removing  there  from  the  town  of  Queensbury, 
where  he  had  been  engaged  in  farming  ;  a 
member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  a  whig 
and  afterward  a  republican  in  politics.  He 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Elizabeth  Heeley, 
who  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  whose 
death  occurred  in  January,  1877.  Stephen 
Lapham,  the  grandfather  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  became  an  early  settler  in  the 
town  of  Queensbury.  He  was  a  man  who 
commanded  considerable  influence  in  his  day. 
The   Laphams  are  of  Scotch  descent. 

Jerome  Lapham  grew  to  manhood  on  his 
father's  small  farm,  in  his  native  town  of 
Queensbury.  His  early  educational  advan- 
tages were  meagre,  including  only  the  facili- 
ties for  acquiring  knowledge  then  taught  in 
the  ordinary  district  schools,  which  he  after- 
ward supplemented  by  a  short  term  at  the 
Glens  Falls  academy  ;  but  it  was  on  the  farm 
where  he  gained  health,  strength  and  a  robust 
mental  and  moral  stamina,  which  have  stood 
in  good  stead,  in  the  years  of  his  maturity, 
and  added  thereto  abundant  tuition,  in  that 
greatest  and  most  practical  of  all  institutions — 
the  great  school  of  the  successful  and  active 
business  life.  After  leaving  the  farm,  for 
some  three  or  four  years  young  Lapham  was 
employed  in  the  capacity  of  salesman  in  a 
general  mercantile  establishment  at  Glens 
Falls.  At  the  expiration  of  this  time,  he 
associated  himself,  in  1845,  with  James  Mor- 
gan, who  constituted  the  firm  of  Morgan  & 
Lapham,  and  were  until  1856,  a  period  of 
eleven  years,  successfully  engaged  in  the 
general  mercantile  pursuits,  and  in  the  mean- 
time had  added,  in  connection  with  these 
interests,  the  buying  .and  selling  of  lumber. 
At  the  end  of  this  time  they  disposed  of  their 
store  and  confined  themselves  exclusively  to 
their  lumber  business.  This  firm  continued 
upon    their  prosperous  career,  devoting  their 


376 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


time  and  attention  exclusively  to  their  immense 
lumbering  trade,  up  to  the  year  1864,  when 
the  partnership  was  dissolved,  by  mutual  con- 
sent, and  Mr.  Lapham  then  practically  retired 
from  all  active  business  pursuits.  Being  a 
man  of  considerable  executive  force  and  ability 
as  a  financier,  financial  institutions  of  his  sec- 
tion have  enlisted  his  support  and  been  bene- 
fited by  his  advice.  Several  years  ago  he  was 
made  vice-president  of  the  First  National 
bank  of  Glens  Falls,  and  in  1885  was  chosen 
president  of  that  institution,  and  is  one  of  the 
able  and  conservative  directors  of  that  well 
known  banking  house.  In  addition  to  his 
bank  interests,  Mr.  Lapham  is  a  director  and 
vice-president  of  the  Glens  Falls  Insurance 
company,  which  is  one  of  the  most  ably 
managed  and  popularly  known  fire  insurance 
companies  now  doing  business  in  the  United 
States,  and  is  a  member  of  its  executive  com- 
mittee. Glens  Falls,  with  its  population  of 
some  thirteen  thousand,  has  an  excellent  and 
advanced  system  of  public  schools,  and  here 
is  located  the  old  Glens  Falls  academy,  whose 
popularity  and  fame  as  an  educational  institu- 
tion is  commensurate  with  the  life  and  growth 
of  the  village.  The  old  academy  building  has 
been  succeeded  in  recent  years  by  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  and  admirably  constructed 
buildings,  which  challenges  the  entire  country 
for  one  more  perfect  in  its  arrangements. 
Feeling  the  lack  of  a  thorough  educational 
training  in  his  younger  days,  Mr.  Lapham  has 
for  many  years  been  a  director  of  this  institu- 
tion, and  he  has  always  taken  an  active  and 
earnest  interest  in  its  welfare  ;  and  is  also  one 
of  the  trustees  of  the  Union  school  of  the 
village.  Mr.  Lapham  served  as  supervisor  of 
the  town  of  Queensbury  for  four  years,  filling 
the  office  most  acceptably  to  all  the  leading 
citizens  of  both  parties  ;  he  was  afterward 
nominated  and  elected  by  his  party,  the  re- 
publicans, a  member  of  the  State  assembly, 
serving  in  the  session  of  1864-5.  Several 
times  he  has  served  as  trustee  of  Glens  Falls 
and  also  as  president  of  that  village, 


In  1846  Hon.  Jerome  Lapham  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Hannah  Hoyt,  a  daughter  of 
C.  M.  Hoyt,  of  the  town  of  Greenfield,  Sara- 
toga county.  To  his  marriage  were  born  two 
children,  Byron  and  Helen  ;  the  latter  is  now 
the  wife  of  C.  L.  Rockwell,  proprietor  of  the 
Rockwell  House.  The  beautiful  home  of  Mr. 
Lapham,  which  was  erected  in  1872-3,  is  the 
center  of  a  happy  domestic  life,  after  many 
years  of  a  successful  business  career,  which 
has  been  synonomous  with  truth,  honor  and 
sincerity. 

HON.  C  HAR  LES  ROGERS,  who 
served  with  distinction  in  the  State  sen- 
ate and  the  congress  of  the  United  States, was 
born  in  Northumberland,  Saratoga  county, 
New  York,  April  30,  1800.  His  father,  James 
Rogers,  a  leading  merchant  and  business  man 
of  northern  New  York,  removed  to  Fort  Ed- 
ward, where  he  died  in  1810,  at  the  early  age 
of  thirty-four  years.  His  mother,  a  daughter 
of  Col.  Sidney  Berry,  afterward  married  Judge 
Esek  Cowan.  Charles  Rogers  attended  Gran- 
ville academy  until  he  was  fourteen  years  of 
age,  and  then  entered  Union  college,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  with  William  H.  Sew- 
ard and  other  prominent  New  Yorkers  in  the 
class  of  1818.  Leaving  college  he  read  law 
with  Judge  Cowan,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar,  but  never  practiced,  living  the  life  of  a 
country  gentleman,  except  when  engaged  in 
politics  and  serving  in  the  State  legislature  or 
in  congress. 

In  1827  Mr.  Rogers  wedded  Susan  A.Clark, 
only  daughter  of  Dr.  Russell  Clark,  and  reared 
a  family  of  three  sons  and  three  daughters. 

Charles  Rogers  entered  the  political  field  as 
a  supporter  of  DeWitt  Clinton,  and  afterward 
was  identified  with  the  whig  and  republican 
parties.  He  served  two  terms  in  the  assem- 
bly, was  barely  defeated  as  the  temperance 
candidate  of  his  district  for  the  State  senate, 
and  in  1842  was  elected  to  represent  Wash- 
ington and  Essex  counties  in  congress.  His 
congressional  career  was   short   but   brilliant, 


JUOdL'APlIY  AND  HISTORY 


3M 


and  his  defense  of  the  right  of  petition  against 
the  slave-holding  interest  of  the  District  of 
Columbia  was  a  speech  of  such  eloquence  and 
power  as  to  attract  general  attention.  Of  com- 
manding figure,  a  fine  voice  and  pleasing  man- 
ners, and  impressive  and  eloquent,  Charles 
Rogers  was  a  power  on  the  stump  or  in  a  pub- 
lic body,  while  as  a  conversationalist  he  had 
but  few  superiors.  Mr.  Rogers  was  an  enthu- 
siastic supporter  of  the  Union  cause  during 
the  late  Civil  war,  and  in  1872  supported  Hor- 
ace Greeley  for  president,  but  took  no  active 
part  in  the  campaign.  He  died  January  13, 
1874,  and  left  behind  him  a  reputation  upon 
which  the  breath  of  suspicion  never  rested  for 
a  moment. 


QOKXELIUS  3IEALEY,  proprietor  of 
the  Greenwich  Pharmacy,  is  another  of 
the  successful  young  business  men  who  de- 
serve mention  in  this  volume.  He  is  a  son  of 
Cornelius  and  Esther  (Hayden)  Mealey,  and 
was  born  at  Fort  Miller,  this  county,  Novem- 
ber 11,  1S61.  He  grew  to  manhood  on  Iris 
father's  farm,  near  Fort  Miller,  receiving  his 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  that  locality, 
and  the  graded  school  of  Saratoga  Springs. 
After  completing  his  studies  at  the  latter  insti- 
tution, he  accepted  a  position  as  clerk  in  a 
general  mercantile  establishment,  and  con- 
tinued to  follow  that  occupation  in  various 
places  until  1880,  when  he  entered  the  employ 
of  the  dry  goods  firm  of  Thomas  &  Coppins, 
at  Schuylerville.  There  he  remained  until 
this  firm  abandoned  the  business  at  that  place, 
and  then  Mr.  Mealey  went  to  Chautauqua  to 
take  charge  of  the  dry  goods  department  of 
the  general  store  conducted  by  the  Chautau- 
qua Ore  and  Iron  company.  After  one  year 
he  was  transferred  to  the  drug  department, 
and  successfully  conducted  that  branch  of  the 
business  until  1885.  In  the  latter  year  he  went 
to  Malone, Franklin  county,  this  State,  and  en- 
tered the  employ  of  a  leading  druggist  of  that 
place.  In  1SS6  Mr.  Mealey  accepted  a  posi- 
tion with   Rice  Brothers,  the   large  drug  firm 


of  Hudsonville,  this  State, where  he  remained 
until  1887.  In  the  spring  of  that  year  he  re- 
turned to  Washington  county,  and  leasing  his 
present  drug  store  in  the  Callamer  block,  Main 
street,  Greenwich,  he  opened  the  Greenwich 
pharmacy  and  embarked  in  the  drug  business 
on  his  own  account.  By  careful  attention  to 
business  he  soon  built  up  a  nice  trade,  which 
has  increased  as  the  years  passed  by,  until  it 
is  now  quite  important  and  lucrative.  Here 
Mr.  Mealey  keeps  at  all  times  a  full  line  of 
drugs,  medicines,  paints,  oils,  toilet  articles, 
stationery,  silverware,  and  the  thousand  and 
one  other  articles  pertaining  to  these  various 
departments. 

On  January  15,  1881,  Mr.  Mealey  was  mar- 
ried to  Harriet  Van  Buren,  youngest  daughter 
of  Joseph  Van  Buren,  proprietor  of  a  gentle- 
man's furnishing  store  in  the  city  of  NewYork. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mealey  has  been  born  one 
child,  a  son,  named  Clarence  C.  In  his  po- 
litical affiliations  Mr.  Mealey  is  a  stanch 
democrat,  but  has  never  taken  any  active  part 
in  politics,  preferring  to  give  his  time  and  at- 
tention entirely  to  business.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Catholic  church,  and  one  of  the  most 
highly  esteemed  young  business  men  of  the 
county. 

The  Mealeys  are  an  old  Irish  family,  for 
many  generations  resident  in  County  Clare, 
where  Cornelius  Mealey,  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  born  and  reared.  In  1834, 
when  twenty-two  years  of  age,  he  came  to 
America  and  settled  in  Ontario,  Canada. 
He  was  a  railroad  contractor  in  Canada,  but 
some  years  later  removed  to  North  Creek, 
Warren  count}',  New  York,  where  he  operated 
a  tannery  for  a  number  of  years.  In  1850  he 
came  to  this  county, and  purchasing  a  farm  at 
Fort  Miller  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  ac- 
tive life  to  agricultural  pursuits.  He  continued 
farming  until  1889,  when  he  removed  to  the 
village  of  Greenwich  and  retired  from  all  ac- 
tive business.  His  death  occurred  in  1891, 
when  he  was  well  advanced  in  the  seventy- 
ninth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  mind 


378 


BIOQKAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


and  good  education,  and  taught  school  in  his 
native  country  for  several  years  before  coming 
to  America.  In  1852  he  married  Esther  Hay- 
den,  a  native  of  Ireland,  who  had  come  to  this 
country  ten  years  previous  to  her  marriage. 
To  them  was  born  a  family  of  children.  Mrs. 
Mealey  is  a  member  of  the  Catholic  church, 
as  was  her  husband,  and  now  resides  in  the 
village  of  Greenwich,  in  the  sixty-second  year 
of  her  age.  Another  of  her  sons  is  John  H. 
Mealey,  a  sketch  of  whom  appears  on  another 
page  of  this  book. 


FREDERICK  FRAZER,  a  young  and 
sucessful  lawyer  of  Salem,  and  a  member 
of  the  New  York  State  Constitutional  conven- 
tion of  1893,  was  born  in  the  village  of  Salem, 
Washington  county,  New  York,  September 
25>  J^59-  He  is  a  son  of  Hon.  Lawson  and 
Elizabeth  M.  (Steele)  Frazer,  and  was  reared 
in  his  native  village,  where  he  received  his  ele- 
mentary education  in  the  public  schools. 
Leaving  the  public  schools  he  entered  Wash- 
ington academy, and  after  taking  its  full  course, 
became  a  student  in  the  law  office  of  his  father. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1887,  and  since 
then  has  been  engaged  in  the  active  and  con- 
tinuous practice  of  his  profession  at  Salem. 
He  has  a  fine  law  practice,  and  stands  in  the 
front  rank  of  the  young  and  rising  lawyers  of 
northeastern  New  York,  Mr.  Frazer  is  un- 
married, and  has  been  a  member  of  Salem 
United  Presbyterian  church  for  several  years  ; 
is  also  a  member  of  Salem  Lodge,  No.  391, 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons.  In  politics  he 
is  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  principles  and 
course  of  action  of  the  Republican  party. 
Mr.  Frazer  has  taken  an  active  part  in  the 
political  campaigns  of  the  last  ten  years  in 
Washington  and  adjoining  counties.  Al- 
though young  in  years,  yet  he  has  been  se- 
lected by  his  fellow  citizens  to  fill  various  offices 
of  responsibility;  was  supervisor  of  his  town 
for  three  terms,  served  as  justice  of  the  peace 
from  1885  to  1889,  and  in  1892  was  elected  as 


a  member  of  the  State  Constitutional  conven- 
tion from  Washington  county.  Mr.  Frazer 
gives  close  attention  to  his  law  business,  and 
stands  high  as  a  man  and  citizen  in  his  native 
village. 

The  Frazers  are  of  Scotch  descent,  and  the 
early  home  of  the  family  was  in  the  famous 
highlands  of  Scotland.  At  some  time  during 
the  last  century  the  family  in  this  country  was 
founded  by  Frazers  from  Scotland,  who  set- 
tled in  New  England.  A  descendant  of  one 
of  these  immigrant  Frazers  was  Isaac  Frazer, 
the  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
and  who  left  his  native  State  of  Connecticut 
to  settle  in  Hebron,  this  county,  where  his 
son, Hon.  Lawson  Frazer, was  born  and  reared. 
Hon.  Lawson  Frazer  (father),  after  complet- 
ing his  education,  read  law  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar.  He  came,  in  1855,  to  Salem, 
where  he  has  practiced  his  profession  ever 
since.  Mr.  Frazer  was  elected  surrogate  of 
Washington  county  in  1871,  and  at  the  end  of 
his  term,  in  1878,  was  re-elected,  serving  two 
terms,  or  twelve  years,  from  January  1,  1872, 
to  January  1,  1884.  He  is  an  active  republi- 
can and  a  respected  member  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  church.  Mr.  Frazer  was  married 
to  Elizabeth  M.  Steele,  who  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Salem,  and  is  a  United  Presbyterian 
in  religious  faith  and  church  membership. 


QLBERT  H.  LASHAVAY,  one  of  the 

leading  millers  and  successful  business 
men  of  Washington  county,  was  born  in  Saint 
Francis,  Dominion  of  Canada,  October  19, 
1835,  and  was  brought  by  his  parents,  in  the 
following  year,  to  the  town  of  Peru,  Clinton 
county,  New  York,  where  he  was  principally 
reared,  receiving  his  education  in  the  common 
schools.  After  leaving  school,  for  a  few  years 
he  was  a  salesman  in  a  general  store,  when  he 
left  there  and  went  to  learn  the  milling  busi- 
ness in  the  village  of  Peru,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged in  milling  up  to  1875.  In  that  year  he 
came  to  Patten's  Mill,  where  he  has  ever  since 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY 


879 


been  engaged  in  milling  at  his  present  stand. 
His  mill  is  of  water  power,  which  is  supposed 
to  have  been  built  in  i<Soo.  He  manufactures 
exclusively  feed  and  buckwheat  flour.  Mr. 
Lashway  has  been  a  resident  of  Washington 
county  since  the  fall  of  1804,  ami  three  years 
previous  to  his  coming  to  the  county,  he  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Mar)'  Doudlaw,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Silas  Doudlaw,  of  the  town  of  Peru, 
Clinton  county,  wliere  they  had  removed  to 
from  Canada.  Nine  children,  three  sons  and 
six  daughters,  have  been  born  to  their  union  : 
Albert  H.,  jr.,  Joseph,  Frederick,  Mary  M., 
Harriet  A.,  Jennie,  Sarah,  Lillie  and  Eva. 
Mr.  Lashway  is  a  democrat  in  politics  and  has 
served  as  school  trustee  and  collector  of  the 
school  tax  of  his  town.  He  has  several  times 
refused  to  accept  town  offices,  on  account  of 
his  private  business  requiring  all  his  time. 

Albert  H.  Lashway  is  a  son  of  Joseph  Lash- 
way and  Mary  (Duke)  Lashway.  Joseph  Lash- 
way was  born  at  the  same  place  as  Albert  H., 
and  came  to  the  United  States  in  1836,  locating 
in  the  town  of  Peru,  removing  from  there  to 
Trout  Pond,  in  Essex  county,  subsequently  to 
New  Sweden,  where  he  lived  only  a  few  months, 
going  thence  to  Au  Sable  Forks, Clinton  county, 
where  he  became  an  employee  in  the  J.  cv  J. 
Rogers  Iron  Works,  remaining  with  this  firm 
for  sixteen  years.  In  1850  he  removed  to  the 
village  of  Peru,  afterward  to  Plattsburg,  where 
he  died  in  1865,  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  his 
age.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Catholic  church. 
His  wife  was  a  native  of  the  same  place  in 
Canada,  and  died  in  Sandy  Hill,  this  count}', 
in  1891,  aged  eighty-eight  years.  She  had  re- 
sided in  Sandy  Hill  for  twenty-one  years  pre- 
vious to  her  death,  and  was  also  a  member  of 
the  Catholic  church.  The  Lashways  are  of 
French  origin. 


.JOHN   KEEN  AN,  a  son   of    Robert  and 
Anna  (Logan)  Keenan,  was  born  Novem- 
ber  11,    1809,    near    Castle    Dawson.    County 
Derry,  Ireland,  and  in  the  prime  of  life  became 
32a 


a  resident  of  the  town  of  Queensbury.  He 
was  successful  in  the  lime  business,  and  then 
retired  from  active  commercial  life..  No  one 
has  done  more  for  the  material  advancement 
of  Glens  Falls  than  John  Keenan,  who  secured 
the  railroad  to  the  village  and  aided  largely  in 
its  construction.  lie  was  also  foremost  in  se- 
curing the  present  water  works.  He  served 
as  president  of  tl.e  village,  was  one  of  the 
heaviest  stockholders  in  the  railroad,  and  iden- 
tified himself  with  all  measures  of  improve- 
ment and  reform.  A  Catholic  and  a  democrat, 
Mr.  Keenan  was  distinguished  in  public  and 
private  life  as  an  energetic  man  of  good  sense 
and  warm  attachments. 


FfLDEN  M.  CRAND ALL,  superinten- 
dent and  general  manager  of  the  Benning-> 
ton  Pulp  Company,  of  Middle  Falls,  who  has 
worked  his  way  up,  through  his  energy  and 
good  business  qualities,  to  his  present  position, 
was  born  at  Cohoes,  New  York,  March  17, 
1855,  and  is  a  son  of  Samuel  Crandall.  The 
Crandalls  came  into  the  State  of  New  York 
from  Rhode  Island,  where  the  grandfather  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born.  Samuel 
Crandall  spent  the  early  part  of  his  life  in 
Dutchess  county,  thence  he  removed  to  Cohoes, 
then  to  Johnsonville,and  died  in  Rhode  Island. 
He  possessed  a  very  good  education,  follow- 
ing the  occupation  of  farming  in  early  life, 
which  he  afterward  abandoned  to  engage  in 
the  manufacturing  business  at  Johnsonville. 
In  politics  he  was  a  member  of  the  Whig  party, 
and  also  of  the  Odd  Fellows  fraternity.  His 
wife  was  a  Miss  Shaw,  by  whom  he  hail  six 
children  :  Mary  A.,  Miller,  AKlen  M.,  William 
H.  ,and  two  who  died  in  infancy.  Samuel  Cran- 
dall's  death  occurred  about  1859. 

Alden  M.  Crandall  received  his  education  in 
the  schools  of  the  town  of  Fort  Ann.  Leaving 
school  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years,  he  became 
an  apprentice,  serving  a  term  of  three  years  in 
learning  the  trade  of  tinsmith  and  afterward 
worked  at  that  calling  for  thirteen  years.      At 


380 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


the  expiration  of  that  time  he  accepted  em- 
ployment in  the  pulp  mills  at  Bennington  and 
LockporJ,  remaining  with  them  up  to  1881, 
after  which  time  he  remained  with  them  in 
the  capacity  of  wood  buyer  up  to  1887,  when 
he  was  made  superintendent  and  general  man- 
ager of  the  entire  business,  which  constitutes 
two  pulp  mills  and  two  paper  mills,  one- hav- 
ing a  capacity  of  six  tons  daily  and  the  other 
ten  tons,  and  employ  on  an  average  about  forty 
men  and  use  in  the  neighborhood  of  three 
thousand  cords  of  wood.  Mr.  Crandall  is  a 
liberal  republican  in  his  political  opinion  and 
is  a  member  of  the  excise  board  of  the  town 
of  Greenwich. 

On  December  10,  1876,  Alden  M.  Crandall 
was  wedded  to  Julia,  a  daughter  of  George 
Kautz.  To  their  marriage  have  been  born  five 
children:  Willis,  Jennie,  Libbie,  Raymond  and 
Alden  M.,  jr. 


TSAAC  A.  UOODSOX,  a  member  of  the 
well  known  dry  goods  firm  of  Goodson 
Brothers,  of  Glens  Falls, was  born  in  the  same 
village,  Warren  county,  New  York,  January 
10,  1856,  and  is  a  son  of  Oliver  Goodson  and 
Julia  Hoague.  He  was  brought  up  in  this 
village,  attending  the  public  schools,  and  at 
the  age  of  nine  years  commenced  work  with 
his  father,  who  at  that  time  was  engaged  in 
running  a  stove  factory  at  this  place  ;  here  he 
worked  through  the  summer,  and  in  1872  en- 
tered the  mercantile  house  of  B.  B.  Fowler, in 
the  capacity  of  salesman,  in  whose  employ  he 
continued  without  intermission  for  seventeen 
years.  At  the  expiration  of  this  time  he  formed 
the  partnership  composed  of  himself,  his 
brother,  William  F.,  who  was  a  clerk  at  Fow- 
ler's for  thirteen  years;  George  E.,  of  the 
Boston  dry  goods  house,  and  Thomas  L.,  who 
for  six  years  was  with  G.  F.  Boyle  &  Co.  In 
this  firm  are  also  interested  three  sisters  of 
the  Goodsons,  and  the  wife  of  Isaac  A.  This 
firm  has  been  phenominally  successful  from 
its  inception  ;   bringing  into  their  business  the 


varied  mercantile  experience  of  many  years. 
Their  present  store  was  established  and  opened 
in  September,  1889,  where  they  handle  exclu- 
sively dry  goods,  and  do  a  business  in  the 
neighborhood  of  ninety  thousand  dollars  an- 
nually. They  employ  fifteen  salesmen,  and 
claim  to  be  the  only  strictly  one  price  house 
in  Glens  Falls.  The  Goodson  brothers  have 
one  among  the  largest  businesses  and  carry  one 
of  the  finest  and  most  careful  assortments  of 
stock  found  in  northern  New  York. 

Isaac  A.  Goodson  was  married  in  1880  to 
Anna  M.  Donnelly,  a  daughter  of  Patrick 
Donnelly,  of  this  village.  She  died  in  1MS4, 
leaving  one  child,  Mary  Helena.  In  1888 
Mr.  Goodson  wedded  for  his  second  wife 
Mary  J.,  daughter  of  Edward  Gay,  of  Dun- 
ham's Basin,  Washington  county.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Goodson  have  been  born  two  chil- 
dren, Mary  Geraldine  and  Joseph  Edward. 

Mr.  Goodson  is  now  serving  as  a  member 
of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  village,  and  is 
a  member  of  St.  Mary's  Catholic  church,  and  a 
democrat  in  politics.  Oliver  Goodson  (father) 
was  born  near  Three  Rivers,  Canada,  and 
came  to  the  United  States  before  he  came  of 
age  and  settled  in  Vermont.  In  1845,  on 
May  11,  he  came  to  this  village,  where  he  has 
ever  since  resided,  and  is  now  in  his  seventy- 
first  year.  He  is  a  member  of  Saint  Alfonsus 
Catholic  church,  a  democrat  in  his  political 
opinion,  and  since  coming  to  Glens  Falls  has 
worked  at  his  trade  —  that  of  stone-mason. 
Ambrose  Goodson,  the  grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  the  vicinity 
of  Three  Rivers,  in  the  district  of  Montreal, 
Canada.  He  came  to  the  United  States  in 
the  same  year  as  his  son  Oliver,  and  died  here 
in  1872,  at  the  remarkable  age  of  one  hundred 
and  seven  years.  He  was  very  abstemious  in 
his  personal  habits,  having  never  used  tobacco 
or  whiskey  in  any  form,  and  retained  all  his 
faculties  up  to  within  a  few  days  prior  to  his 
death.  His  father  was  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Quebec  during  the  Revolutionary  war.  The 
Goodsons  originally  came  from  France.    Mrs. 


BIOGRAPHY,  AND  HISTORY 


381 


Julia  Goodson  is  a  native  of  Heminsford, 
Canada,  and  is  now  in  her  sixtieth  year  ;  is  a 
member  of  St.  Alfonsus  Catholic  church,  and  a 
resident  of  Glens  Falls. 


QNDREWT.  SPRAGUE,  a  well  known 

citizen  of  Middle  Falls,  who  is  connected 
with  the  Battenkill  Paper  Mills  company  and 
other  industrial  enterprises,  is  a  son  of  Nathan 
and  Sarah  (Andrews)  Sprague,  and  first  saw 
the  light  of  day  at  Hinsdale,  New  Hampshire, 
February  13,  1841.  He  received  his  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  Hinsdale,  and  after- 
ward learned  the  trade  of  machinist,  which  he 
followed  for  many  years.  In  recent  times  his 
health  has  been  so  indifferent  as  to  compel  him 
to  abandon  all  hard  labor,  and  he  has  em- 
ployed his  time  principally  in  looking  after 
his  interests  in  the  Battenkill  paper  mills  and 
the  shank  mill,  in  both  of  which  he  is  part 
owner.  (For  description  of  these  mills  see 
sketch  of  W.  N.  Sprague,  elsewhere  in  this 
volume.) 

On  February  24,  1870,  Mr.  Sprague  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Josephine  L.  Mans- 
field, a  daughter  of  Charles  and  Lucy  (Bur- 
bank)  Mansfield,  of  Winchester,  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  a  sister  of  H.  M.  Mansfield,  treas- 
urer of  the  Battenkill  Paper  Mill  company  of 
Middle  Falls,  whose  sketch  appears  on  an- 
other page  of  this  work,  which  see  for  ances- 
tral history  of  Mrs.  Sprague's  family.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Sprague  was  born  a  family  of  four 
children,  only  one  of  whom  now  survives  : 
Jessie,  deceased  ;  Minnie,  deceased  ;  Charles 
H., living  at  home  with  his  parents  ;  and  Lulu, 
deceased.  Mrs.  Sprague  early  received  a  good 
musical  training,  and  afterward  studied  in  Bos- 
ton under  the  private  instruction  of  some  of 
the  best  musical  educators  of  that  city.  She 
has  been  church  organist  most  of  the  time  since 
her  thirteenth  year, and  now  occupies  that  posi- 
tion in  the  Greenwich  Episcopal  church.  She 
also  gives  private  lessons  in  both  vocal  and  in- 
strumental music,  and  is  regarded  as  one  of  the 


finest  musicians  in  this  section.  She  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Baptist  church,  and  served  as  post- 
master of  Middle  Falls  under  the  Harrison  ad- 
ministration. 

Andrew  T.  Sprague  is  a  stanch  republican 
in  politics,  and  has  held  a  number  of  local 
offices  in  the  town.  He  enlisted  in  the  Fed- 
eral service  as  a  member  of  Company  A,  14th 
New  Hampshire  infantry,  but  was  afterward 
discharged  on  account  of  ill  health.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  church,  and  of  the  So- 
ciety of  Christian  Endeavor,  in  the  affairs  of 
both  of  which  he  takes  an  active  and  promi- 
nent part.  He  ranks  with  the  best  citizens  of 
the  county,  and  enjoys,  in  an  eminent  degree, 
the  respect  and  esteem  of  all  who  know  him. 


T^HOMAS  FLOOD,  whose  usefulness  as 
a  builder  of  railways  and  public  works  in 
the  States  of  New  York  and  Vermont  and  the 
Dominion  of  Canada,  has  associated  his  name 
with  the  business  men  of  his  State,  is  a 
son  of  Owen  .and  Elizabeth  (Victory)  Flood, 
and  was  born  at  Sandy  Hill, '  Washington 
county,  New  York,  November  29,  1829. 

Owen  Flood  was  born  and  reared  at  Long- 
ford, Ireland, wherehe  left  when  a  young  man  to 
make  his  settlement  in  this  State.  In  a  short 
time  after  arriving  in  New  York  city  he  came 
to  Sandy  Hill, where  he  resided  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1885,  at  eighty-four  years 
of  age.  He  was  employed  for  over  forty  years 
by  the  State,  as  a  watchman  and  fireman  on 
the  Glens  Falls  feeder,  which  was  a  branch  of 
the  Champlain  canal.  Mr.  Flood  was  a  Cath- 
olic and  a  democrat,  and  married  Elizabeth 
Victory,  a  native  of  Longford,  Ireland;  she 
died  in  1S83,  at  seventy-three  years  of  age. 

In  his  native  village  Thomas  Flood  grew  to 
manhood,  and  after  attending  the  common 
schools  for  several  years,  went  on  the  canal, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  boating  for  seven- 
teen years.  During  this  period  he  owned  sev- 
eral boats,  which  he  ran  from  Sandy  Hill  to 
Albany,  Troy  and  New  York  city,  and  beside 


383 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   "HISTORY 


handling  freight  he  dealt  in  coal,  of  which  he 
furnished  all  that  was  used  at  Sand)'  Hill  for 
over  ten  years.  Leaving  the  canal  he  went  to 
Brooklyn, where  he  was  engaged  for  two  years 
in  the  manufacture  of  naval  supplies.  Dis- 
liking the  character  of  this  business  Mr. Flood 
sought  a  different  field  in  which  to  use  his 
energies.  Accordingly,- in  1867,  he  engaged 
in  contracting  and  building,  vinder  Col.  John 
M.  Wilson,  who  had  received  contracts  from 
the  government,  between  Albany  and  Troy, 
on  the  Hudson  river.  Completing  his  work- 
there  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  he  formed  a 
partnership  with  James  H.Sherrill  and  Thomas 
Strong,  and  they  built  the  present  stone  dam 
across  the  Mohawk  river,  at  Cohoes,  for  the 
State,  whose  construction  required  four  years' 
time.  This  work  was  so  well  done  that  it  es- 
tablished Mr.  Flood's  reputation  as  a  contrac- 
tor and  builder  of  public  works,  and  his  next 
venture  was  one  of  importance,  being  the  con- 
struction of  fifty-two  miles  of  a  branch  of  the 
Canadian  Pacific  railway.  In  that  enterprise 
he  associated  with  himself  Alfred  Charleboies, 
Mellette  and  Shanley,  of  Montreal,  J.  C. 
Monty,  of  Glens  Falls..  G.  M.  Monty,  of 
Sandy  Hill,  U.  B.  Cooper,  of  Fort  Edward, 
and  George  Shannan,  of  Argyle,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Flood  lV.  Charleboies.  Mr. Flood 
built  this  railroad  in  187S,  under  contract  with 
the  Canadian  authorities  at  Ottawa.  He  had 
to  cut  the  road  through  a  dense  forest,  while 
his  supplies  of  all  kinds  had  to  be  brought 
over  two  hundred  miles  by  water  from  the 
nearest  railroad  station.  These  supplies  had 
to  be  distributed  by  means  of  sleds  hauled  by 
dogs,  on  account  of  the  roughness  of  the 
country  through  which  the  road  was  to  pass. 
He  prosecuted  this  great  work  with  his  usual 
energy  and  perseverance,  and  built  a  first-class 
road  that  gave  entire  satisfaction  to  the  Cana- 
dian authorities.  Returning  from  Canada  Mr. 
Flood  formed  a  partnership  with  James  P. 
Buck  and  E.  H.  Crocker,  and  built  a  lock  on 
the  Glens  Falls  feeder  of  the  Champlain  canal. 
Since  the  completion  of  that  contract  he  has 


been  continuously  employed  on  public  works 
for  the  State  and  many  of  the  villages  of  New 
York,  and  at  the  present  time  is  associated 
with  his  son,  James  E.,  and  James  D.  Sherrill 
in  the  construction  of  water  works  for  Fort 
Ethan  Allen,  of  Vermont,  where  they  are  also 
macadamizing  the  principal  streets.  This  firm 
also  employs  a  regular  force  of  one  hundred 
men  upon  their  contract  work  in  various  places. 
Thomas  Flood  is  a  Catholic  and  a  democrat, 
and  has  frequently  served  as  a  trustee  of  his 
village,  where  he  is  well  known  as  a  substan- 
tial and  prompt  business  man. 

In  iSjcS  Mr.  Flood  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Rosa  Dougherty,  of  Fort  Ann.  To  their 
union  have  been  born  four  children,  one  son 
and  three  daughters:  James  E.,  Katie  M., 
Rose  E.  and  Grace  R.  The  son,  James  E. 
Flood,  is  now  actively  engaged  in  the  con- 
tracting business,  being  a  member  of  the  firm 
of   Flood  &  Sherrill. 


T7\  I  LLIAM  M.  PALMER,  a  success 

^-^*-*  ful  business  man  and  an  extensive  grist 
and  saw  mill  operator  of  the  village  of  Green- 
wich, is  a  son  of  Nathan  and  Olive  (Hotch- 
kiss)  Palmer,  and  was  born  in  Delaware 
county,  New  York,  October  3,  1817.  His 
early  school  advantages  were  meagre,  and 
in  early  life  he  was  apprenticed  to  learn  a 
trade  with  Caleb  T.  Winston,  at  Waterford, 
Saratoga  county,  New  York,  where  he  re- 
mained for  four  years  ;  he  afterward  came 
to  Middle  Falls, where  he  leased  the  gristmill 
of  that  place,  and  which  he  operated  for  eight 
years  on  the  shares.  In  1852  he  removed  to 
Greenwich  and  purchased  the  mill  property 
known  as  the  Greenwich  Village  mills,  which 
he  has  conducted  successfully  ever  since. 
These  mills  are  the  oldest  and  best  known  in 
the  county.  In  addition  to  owning  and  oper- 
ating the  grist  mill  he  purchased  a  saw  mill 
adjoining  at  the  same  time,  and  also  a  machine 
shop.  He  is  the  proprietor  of  six  dwelling 
houses   in   the  village,  and  from   them  he  re- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND    HISTORY 


383 


ceives  a  handsome  rental.  Mr.  Palmer  is  a 
republican  in  politics,  and  an  old  and  highly 
respected  member  of  the  Baptist  church  of  the 
village.  During  his  residence  in  Waterford 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Light  infantry  of  the 
State  militia. 

On  October  2,  1843, William  M.  Palmer  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Mary  McChesney,  a 
daughter  of  Adam  McChesney,  of  Brunswick, 
New  York.  To  their  marriage  has  been  born 
three  children.  Mr.  Palmer's  life,  now  extend- 
ing over  three  quarters  of  a  century,  has  been 
active  and  useful  in  his  community  and  to  the 
country.  He  has  accumulated  a  competency 
for  this  world's  needs;  has  won  the  respect 
and  good  opinion  of  his  neighbors,  and  wields 
an  influence  for  good  which  is  felt  throughout 
his  section. 


JAMES  H.  BURDETT,  a  member  of 
the  well  known  wholesale  lumber  firm  of 
Burdett  Brothers  &  Co.,  of  Whitehall,  and  a 
prominent  secret  society  man,  is  a  son  of  El- 
liott and  Mary  (Luther)  Burdett,  and  was 
born  September  19,  1855,  in  the  village  of 
Whitehall,  Washington  count}',  New  York. 
The  Burdetts  are  of  English  extraction,  and 
are  one  of  the  early  settled  families  of  this 
country,  having  originally  located  in  Massa- 
chusetts, where  they  remained  until  after  the 
Revolutionary  war,  when  Vermont  became 
their  adopted  State.  Ebenezer  Burdett,great- 
grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
born  and  reared  at  Lancaster,  Massachusetts. 
When  only  sixteen  years  of  age  he  enlisted 
with  an  older  brother  in  the  American  arm}', 
under  General  Washington,  but  was  soon 
afterward  attached  to  a  privateer  then  fitting 
up  for  the  protection  of  American  commerce. 
This  vessel  put  to  sea  and  soon  captured  a 
British  ship  which  had  been  making  trouble 
on  the  Massachusetts  coast.  The  ship  was 
blown  up  and  destroyed.  When  the  war  closed 
Ebenezer  Burdett  returned  to  Lancaster.  Mas 
sachusetts,  and    in  1785    married    Ruth  Love- 


land,  of  Gilson,  New  Hampshire,  and  settled 
in  that  town.  Later  he  removed  to  Vermont, 
and  died  at  Pittsford,  that  State,  in  1831, 
aged  seventy  years.  He  was  the  father  of  ten 
children,  of  whom  one  was  Israel  Burdett 
(grandfather),  who  was  a  native  of  Vermont, 
in  which  State  he  was  reared  and  educated. 
In  later  life  he  removed  to  Washington  count}-, 
New  York,  and  resided  at  Fort  Ann  for  many 
years.  He  died  at  Whitehall  at  an  advanced 
age.  He  was  a  democrat  politically, and  mar- 
ried and  had  a  family  of  children.  One  of  his 
sons  was  Elliott  Burdett  (father),  who  was 
born  at  Grafton,  Vermont,  in  1815,  and  died 
at  Whitehall  in  1886,  aged  seventy-one  years. 
He  was  a  boat-builder  by  occupation,  and 
made  that  the  principal  business  of  his  life. 
For  many  years  previous  to  his  death  he  had 
resided  at  Whitehall,  and  was  well  and  favor- 
ably known  throughout  this  part  of  the  State. 
Politically  he  was  a  democrat,  and  filled  a 
number  of  local  offices  here.  He  married  Mary 
Luther,  a  native  of  Castleton,  Vermont.  To 
them  was  born  a  family  of  children.  Mrs.  Bur- 
dett was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal church,  and  died  in  1876,  at  the  age  of  sixty 
years. 

James  H.  Burdett  was  reared  in  his  native 
village  of  Whitehall,  where  in  the  public  and 
private  schools  he  obtained  an  excellent  Eng- 
lish education.  In  1871  he  engaged  as  a  "  tally 
boy  "  in  the  lumber  yards  of  W.  W.  Cook  & 
Sons,  of  Whitehall,  and  remained  in  the  em- 
ploy of  that  firm  for  a  period  of  seventeen 
years.  He  rapidly  rose  from  one  position  to 
another  until  within  the  space  of  three  years 
from  the  time  he  began,  when  still  only  eigh- 
teen years  of  age,  he  was  made  bookkeeper 
and  general  superintendent  of  the  yards,  and 
from  that  time  until  1888  was  head  man  in  the 
lumber  office  of  Cook  &  Sons.  This  long  ex- 
perience amply  prepared  him  for  doing  busi- 
ness on  his  own  account, anil  in  1888  he  formed 
a  partnership  with  his  brother,  Allen  M.  Bur- 
dett, under  the  style  of  Burdett  Brothers,  and 
the  new  firm  embarked  in  the  lumber  trade  at 


384 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  JIISTOJiY 


the  village  of  Whitehall.  In  1891  their  cousin, 
William  H.  Havens, was  admitted  to  an  inter- 
est in  the  business,  and  the  firm  name  became 
Burdett  Brothers  &  Co.  They  do  a  large 
wholesale  and  retail  business  in  dressed  and 
undressed  lumber,  deal  in  everything  con- 
nected with  the  lumber  trade,  and  have  met 
with  the  most  gratifying  success.  In  1876 
James  H.  Burdett  was  married  to  Julia  F. 
Hyatt,  a  daughter  of  Louis  Hyatt,  of  White- 
hall. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burdett  have  three  chil- 
dren now  living  :  James  H.,  jr.,  May  and 
Lyda. 

Politically  Mr.  Burdett  is  a  stanch  republi- 
can and  protectionist.  He  has  served  as  trus- 
tee and  clerk  of  the  village  of  Whitehall,  and 
also  as  clerk  of  the  board  of  trustees  and  trus- 
tee of  the  village  school,  in  which  latter  office 
he  is  now  serving  his  second  term.  He  is  a 
member  and  trustee  of  the  Baptist  church  of 
Whitehall,  and  is  likewise  connected  with 
Phcenix  Lodge,  No.  96,  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons  ;  Champlain  Chapter,  No.  25,  Royal 
Arch  Masons,  and  Whitehall  Lodge,  No.  5, 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 


1WTAJ.  GEN.  DANIEL  E.  SICKLES, 

A  often  called  the  hero  of  Gettysburg,  is  a 
son  of  George  G.  Sickles,  and  was  born  at  or 
near  Glens  Fall.  He  studied  law  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  New  York  city,  where  he 
was  an  active  Tammany  leader  for  several  years. 
He  served  in  the  assembly  and  in  the  State 
senate,  and  represented  the  third  New  York 
district  in  the  XXXYth  and  XXXYIth  con- 
gresses of  the  United  States. 

General  Sickles  was  instrumental  in  raising 
the  celebrated  Excelsior  Brigade,  won  distin- 
guished honors  in  the  late  Civil  war,  and  lost  a 
leg  at  Gettysburg,  where  he  led  a  daring 
charge.  He  was  one  of  the  few  civilians  who 
succeeded  in  gaining  the  rank  of  major  general 
during  the  late  war.  He  served  as  minister  to 
Spain  in  1869,  and  has  been  more  or  less  con- 
spicuous in  the  political  field  since  1866. 


TOHN    C.    EARL,    who   is    prominently 

*"'  identified  with  the  general  insurance  and 
other  business  interests  of  the  village  of 
Whitehall,  is  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary 
(Brownell)  Earl,  and  was  born  in  the  village  of 
Florida,  Montgomery  county,  New  York, 
October  19,  1824.  Rev.  Joseph  Earl  was  a 
minister  in  the  Baptist  church,  and  a  na- 
tive of  Monroe  county,  New  York,  where  he 
was  born  in  the  year  1809.  He  removed  to 
Washington  county,  and  was  for  thirteen 
years  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  at  Fort 
Ann,  and  labored  for  nine  years  at  Granville. 
Afterward  he  removed  to  the  village  of  White- 
hall, where  he  resided  some  six  or  seven  years, 
dying  in  1886,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years. 
His  father  was  Joseph  Earl,  who  removed  to 
Monroe  county,  this  state,  where  the  greater 
part  of  his  life  was  spent,  and  died  at  the  age 
of  ninety-six  years.  He  was  a  Revolutionary 
soldier,  serving  in  the  capacity  of  body  guard 
to  General  Washington.  Joseph  married  Mary 
Brownell,  who  was  a  native  of  Florida,  Mont- 
gomery count)',  whose  death  occurred  in  1883, 
in  the  seventy-sixth  year  of  her  age. 

John  C.  Earl  removed  from  his  native 
county  in  1857,  and  located  at  Fort  Ann, 
where  he  remained  for  one  year,  he  then  went 
to  Whitehall,  where  he  has  since  resided, 
with  the  exception  of  four  years'  residence  at 
Ticonderoga,  Essex  county.  His  early  educa- 
tion was  received  at  the  public  schools,  and 
afterward  became  a  student  at  the  Amster- 
dam academy,  and  on  leaving  the  academy 
entered  the  Madison,  now  known  as  Colgate 
university.  Leaving  this  well  known  institu- 
tion of  learning,  he  engaged  in  teaching 
school,  at  which  he  continued  very  success- 
fully for  a  period  of  about  twenty  years,  and 
for  three  years  of  which  he  was  the  principal 
of  one  of  the  public  schools  of  Whitehall ; 
for  one  term  principal  of  the  academy  at  Ti- 
conderoga, and  the  remainder  of  the  time  he 
taught  in  Montgomery  and  Schenectady 
counties.  Mr.  Earl  was  elected  school  com- 
missioner of  Washington  county  in  i860,  and 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


885 


served  efficiently  in  that  office  for  the  term  of 
three  years.  He  then  accepted  the  position 
of  bookkeeper  with  H.  G.  Burleigh,  with 
whom  he  continued  for  three  or  four  years. 
At  about  this  time  he  began  to  do  a  general 
insurance  business  incidentally,  and  since  1871 
he  has  been  in  the  front  rank  of  insurance 
firms  doing  business  in  his  village.  In  addition 
to  this,  he  has  been  engaged,  for  the  past  fif- 
teen years,  in  the  boot  and  shoe  business,  and 
for  a  short  time  carried  on  quite  an  extensive 
wholesale  coal  trade. 

In  January,  1861,  Mr.  Earl  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Helen  M.  Day,  a  daughter  of 
Henry  J.  Day,  of  Hartford,  Connecticut.  To 
this  marriage  have  been  born  three  children  : 
Henry  J.,  Helen  M.,  and  Edward  B. 

John  C.  Earl  is  a  member  of  Phoenix 
Lodge,  No.  96,  of  Masons,  of  his  village, 
and  is  past  master  of  his  lodge.  He  is  an 
ardent  republican  in  political  opinion,  and  has 
filled  the  office  of  assessor  and  school  trustee 
of  Whitehall. 


HIRAM  L.  MASON,  the  efficient  general 
superintendent  of  the  Allen  Brothers'  pa- 
per mills,  and  a  well  known  citizen  of  Sandy 
Hill,  was  born  in  that  village,  Washington 
county,  New  York,  September  16,  i85i,andis 
a  son  of  Lyman  S.  and  Eliza  J.  (Johnson) 
Mason.  The  family  from  which  Mr.  Mason 
has  descended  is  one  of  the  old  and  early  set- 
tled families  of  this  county,  and  is  of  Scotch 
descent.  Isaac  Mason  (grandfather)  was  a 
native  of  Washington  county, born  in  iSi2,and 
died  in  187S,  in  the  sixty-sixth  year  of  his  age. 
He  was  a  carpenter  and  builder  by  occupa- 
tion, and  was  well  and  favorably  known  in  his 
day.  Lyman  S.  Mason  (father)  was  a  carpen- 
ter by  trade,  and  built  the  paper  mill  owned 
and  operated  by  the  Waits  of  Sandy  Hill, and 
also  erected  the  large  paper  mills  now  owned 
and  conducted  by  the  Allen  Brothers  of  the 
same  village.  For  thirty  years  he  was  the 
general    superintendent   and    manager   of  the 


mills  last  named,  and  only  relinquished  his 
association  with  the  Allen  Brothers  in  Febru- 
ary, 1893,  when  he  removed  to  his  farm  in  the 
town  of  West  Granville,  where  he  at  present 
resides,  in  the  sixty-sixth  year  of  his  age.  lie 
is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church,  and  in  his 
political  principles  is  a  republican.  He  wedded 
Eliza  J.  Johnson,  a  member  of  an  old  family 
of  the  county,  where  she  was  born  in  1829, 
and  died  in  1879,  aged  fifty  years. 

Hiram  L.  Mason  was  principally  reared  in 
his  native  village,  where  he  received  a  good 
practical  common  school  education  in  the  Un- 
ion school,  and  after  leaving  school  entered 
the  employ  of  the  Allen  Brothers  as  a  carpen- 
ter, and  has  remained  with  them  ever  since, 
and  on  the  retirement  of  his  father  in  Febru- 
ary, 1893,  he  succeeded  him  to  the  position  of 
superintendent  of  the  mills,  having  for  several 
years  previous  to  this  time  acted  in  the  capac- 
ity of  assistant  superintendent  to  his  father. 

On  May  11,  1871,  Mr.  Mason  was  married 
to  Elizabeth  Norton,  a  daughter  of  William 
Norton,  of  Granville.  Mr.  Mason  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Baptist  church,  of  the  Royal  Arca- 
num, and  a  republican   in  his  political  belief. 


HON.  OLIVER  BASCOM,  who  at  one 
time  served  as  State  canal  commissioner, 
was  a  son  of  Josiah  and  Betsy  (Bottom)  Bas- 
com,  and  was  born  at  West  Haven,  Vermont, 
June  13,  1815.  He  came  to  Whitehall  in  1823, 
and  after  serving  for  some  time  as  a  clerk, 
launched  for  himself  on  what  proved  to  be  a 
most  ^remarkable  business  career.  He  was  a 
self-made  man,  of  unquestioned  integrity  and 
great  firmness.  Mr.  Bascom  at  one  time  was 
one  of  the  original  thirteen  democrats  that 
were  in  the  town,  and  in  1S6S  he  was  elected 
canal  commissioner  upon  the  Democratic 
State  ticket,  an  office  that  he  held  with  honor 
to  himself  and  his  party.  Oliver  Bascom,  on 
January  4.  1S42,  married  Almira  Tanner,  and 
died  November  7.  1869.  He  was  greatly- 
missed  in  the  town  and  countv. 


:;sr, 


BIOGRAPHY  AND    HISTORY 


tyVVII)  FILKINS,  president  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Sandy  Hill,  and  one  of  the  lead- 
ing veterinary  surgeons  of  Washington  county, 
was  born  in  the  city  of  Troy,  Rensselaer 
county,  New  York,  March  20,  1840,  and  is  a 
son  of  Henry  and  Martha  (Dyer)  Filkins. 
Henry  Filkins  was  a  native  of  East  Nassau, 
Rensselaer  county, and  afterward  removed  into 
the  town  of  Galway,  Saratoga  county,  in  1844, 
where  he  died  in  1850.  He  followed  the  occu- 
pation of  farming,  and  wedded  Martha  Dyer, 
who  was  born  in  West  Troy,  New  York.  The 
grandfather  Filkins,  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  of 
German  descent. 

David  Filkins  was  principally  reared  in  his 
native  city,  where  he  attended  the  city  schools, 
and  after  leaving  school,  became  a  student  of 
veterinary  surgery  in  a  school  taught  at  Wells- 
boro,  Pennsylvania,  and  after  taking  the 
regular  three  years  course,  was  graduated 
from  that  institution  in  1859.  Prior  to  his  en- 
tering this  school  of  veterinary  surgery,  he  at- 
tended select  schools,  and  for  a  while  was  at 
the  academy  at  Warrensburg.  Dr.  Filkins 
has  been  actively  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
his  profession  at  Sandy  Hill  since  i860,  and 
he  has  a  large  and  lucrative  practice  and  an 
enviable  standing  in  his  line.  In  June,  1863, 
when  Lincoln  made  his  additional  call  for 
troops,  he  enlisted  in  the  2nd  New  York 
cavalry  regiment,  serving  in  that  body  as  a 
veterinary  surgeon,  receiving  an  honorable 
discharge  from  the  service  at  Talladega,  Ala- 
bama, on  November  9,  1865.  During  his  two 
years  and  five  months  service,  he  was  with  his 
regiment  in  all  the  principal  battles  in  which 
it  fought. 

In  the  fall  of  i860,  Dr.  Filkins  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Phoebe  Jane  Jackson,  a  daugh- 
ter of  George  Jackson,  of  the  town  of  Bolton, 
Warren  county.  To  their  marriage  have  been 
born  three  children :  George,  Lutheria  and 
Martha.  Dr.  Filkins  is  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  of  Collins 
Post,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.      In  his 


political  opinion  he  is  an  ardent  republican,  and 
in  the  village  election  of  March,  1892,  was 
elected  president  of  the  village,  and  re-elected 
to  the  same  office  in  March,  1893. 


QYMAN  JENKINS,  a  well  known  and 
successful  lawyer  of  the  village  of  Glens 
Falls,  and  the  present  district  attorney  of  War- 
ren county,  was  born  in  the  city  of  Schenec- 
tady, New  York,  April  26,  1852,  and  is  a  son 
of  Samuel  and  Almira  (Anderson)  Jenkins. 
Samuel  Jenkins  was  a  native  of  the  town  of 
yueensbury,  and  was  for  many  years  a  learned 
and  popular  minister  in  the  Universalistchurch. 
His  death  occurred  at  Glens  Falls  in  1872,  in 
the  fifty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  He  wedded 
Almira  Anderson,  who  was  a  native  of  the 
town  of  Bolton,  Warren  county,  and  resides 
at  present  at  Glens  Falls,  and  is  a  member  of 
the  Universalist  church  of  that  village.  Pal- 
mer B.  Jenkins  (grandfather)  came  from  his 
native  State  of  Connecticut  to  New  York 
State  when  a  young  man,  and  located  in  the 
town  of  Cjueensbury.  He  was  a  miller  and 
farmer,  carrying  on  a  successful  business  for 
many  years,  and  died  in  that  town.  He  was 
a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  of  Welch 
descent. 

Lyman  Jenkins  was  reared  to  manhood  in 
his  native  village,  where  he  received  the  ad- 
vantages of  only  a  common  school  education. 
After  leaving  school  he  removed  with  his  pa- 
rents to  the  town  of  Cjueensbury  in  1864,  and 
resided  and  worked  on  a  farm  for  several  years, 
and  was  later  engaged  in  the  saw  mill  and  lum- 
ber businessin  the  town  of  Cjueensbury.  Re- 
linquishing work  of  this  nature,  to  take  up  the 
study  of  law,  he  accordingly  entered  the  office 
of  H.  A.  Howard,  of  Glens  Falls,  and  after 
taking  the  required  course  of  study,  he  was 
duly  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1886,  and  has  ever 
since  been  actively  engaged  in  the  practice  at 
Glens  Falls.  His  political  career  commenced 
in  1 89 1,  when  he  was  nominated  by  his  party 
and  afterward   elected  to  the  office  of  district 


lUoah'M'llY  AND   HISTORY 


387 


attorney,  being  the  present  incumbent  of  that 
office,  the  duties  of  which  he  has  discharged 
with  signal  ability  and  great  fidelity  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  people.  Previously,  however, 
to  his  election  to  his  present  office,  he  served 
acceptably  two  terms  as  justice  of  the  peace 
of  the  town  of  Queensbury. 

In  1S71  Mr.  Jenkins  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Myra  Murray,  a  daughter  of  Nelson  Mur- 
ray, of  Washington  county.  Her  death  oc- 
curred in  1888,  leaving  one  daughter:  Mary 
C.  In  1894  Mr.  Jenkins  was  the  second  time 
married. 

Mr.  Jenkins  is  a  member  of  Glens  Falls 
Lodge,No.  121,  of  Masons  ;  Glens  Falls  Chap- 
ter, No  55,  and  Washington  Commandery,  No. 
33,  Knights  Templar,  of  Saratoga  Springs. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  Horicon  Lodge  of 
Odd  Fellows,  and  of  the  Tribe  of  Red  Men. 
Mr.  Jenkins  has  one  of  the  best  law  libraries 
found  in  this  count}',  a  rapidly  growing  prac- 
tice, and  is  destined  to  win  permanent  success 
at  the  bar. 


rMIARLES   S.    FENTON,   the    whole- 

^^  sale  dealer  in  grain,  wood,  timber,  north- 
ern white  plaster  and  paving  quartz,  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Fort  Ann,  Washington  county, 
New  York,  June  10,  1849,  and  is  the  son  of 
Clark  Fenton  and  Hannah  Ann  Washburn. 
Clark  Fenton  was  also  a  native  of  the  town  of 
Fort  Ann.andoneof  the  leading  farmers  of  that 
town  up  to  his  death  in  1 881,  aged  seventy  years. 
He  was  a  democrat  and  a  prosperous  and  suc- 
cessful farmer, who  was  also,  in  his  early  days, 
engaged  in  the  lumber  business.  Samuel  Fen- 
ton (grandfather)  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Cambridge,  and  removed  to  the  town  of  Fort 
Ann  when  he  was  twenty-six  years  of  age, 
where  he  carried  on  farming  and  lumbering  up 
to  his  death,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  old  home  militia, 
and  in  the  second  war  with  England  he  started 
to  Plattsburg,  but  the  war  was  closed  before 
he  got  there.      For  many  years  he  was  deacon 


in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  The  Fen- 
ton family  were  among  the  first  settlers  of 
Washington  county.  Clark  Fenton  married 
Hannah  Ann  Fenton,  a  daughter  of  E.Wash- 
burn, who  was  born  in  the  town  of  Fort 
Ann,  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church,  and 
is  now  in  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  her  age. 

Charles  S.  Fenton  grew  to  man's  estate  on 
the  farm  in  his  native  town,  receiving  an  or- 
dinary education  in  the  schools  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. Leaving  school  he  did  general  farm 
work  for  two  years,  when  he  engaged  in  spec- 
ulating in  potatoes,  cord  wood,  ice  and  grain, 
handling  about  one  thousand  five  hundred 
cords  of  wood  per  year,  and  at  present  he  is 
extensively  engaged  in  lumbering.  Mr.  Fen- 
ton has  been  a  resident  of  this  village  for  the 
past  six  years.  In  addition  to  his  other  inter- 
ests he  has  a  controlling  interest  in  the  north- 
ern white  plaster  stone  works,  which  is  the 
only  quarry  in  the  country  that  grinds  the 
stone,  and  which  is  used  on  land  to  enhance 
the  productiveness  of  the  soil.  This  plaster 
is  equal  to  the  celebrated  Nova  Scotia  plaster, 
and  there  is  a  great  deal  of  it  used. 

Mr.  Fenton,  with  his  mother,  owns  the  old 
homestead  farm,  which  is  managed  by  Mr. 
Fenton,  and  he  has  the  farm  well  stocked  with 
fine  horses  and  cattle.  In  1868  he  wedded 
Lucy  J.,  a  daughter  of  Phipps  H.  Lamb,  of 
the  town  of  Fort  Ann.  They  have  one  child. 
a  son,  Charles  L. 

Charles  S.  Fenton  is  a  member  of  Mount 
Hope  Lodge,  No.  260,  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons,  and  is  a  republican  in  politics. 


FREDERICK  A.  BR  ATT,  a  lawyer 
of  Fort  Edward,  is  descended  from  a 
Holland-Dutch  family.  His  great-grandfather, 
Daniel  Bratt,  resided  between  Albany  and 
Schenectady,  where  he  kept  a  tavern,  and 
where  the  grandfather  was  born.  He  was  a 
carpenter  and  farmer  by  occupation,  and  re- 
oved  to  the  town  of  Easton,  where  he  died. 
Charles,  Daniel  X..  Stephen,  V.    K..  William 


;:ss 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


P.,  George  and  Christiana  were  among  his 
children. 

William  P.  Bratt  was  born  in  1818,  and  died 
in  the  town  of  Easton,  where  he  had  removed 
with  his  father,  on  January  24,  1893,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-five  years.  He  wedded  Jemi- 
mah  Van  Antwerp.  Their  marriage  was 
blessed  with  the  birth  of  six  children,  all  sons, 
four  who  died  in  childhood,  and  Frederick  A. 
and  M.  E.,  who  is  a  farmer  by  occupation, 
married  Sarah  A.  Hall,  and  resides  at  Schagh- 
ticoke. 

Frederick  A.  Bratt  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Easton,  Washington  count)',  New  York,  De- 
cember 2,  1854,  and  received  the  rudiments  of 
his  education  in  the  schools  of  that  town  and 
Schaghticoke.  He  afterward  entered  the 
academy  at  Mechanicville,  which  was  supple- 
mented by  a  term  at  the  Fort  Edward  Colle- 
giate institute  ;  also  attended  Cleverick  col- 
lege and  Hudson  River  institute.  In  1878 
Mr.  Bratt,  having  determined  upon  the  law 
as  his  life's  calling,  entered  the  office  of  Judge 
Wait  as  a  student  at  law  at  Fort  Edward,  and 
while  here  he  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the 
courts  of  Washington  county,  at  Albany,  in 
1882.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  and  has  been  choir  instructor  for  sev- 
eral years  in  that  church. 

On  September  20,  1881,  Mr.  Bratt  was  mar- 
ried to  Fanny  Parish. 


QORNELIUS  HOLMES,  M.  D.,  a  lin- 
eal descendant  of  the  Holmes'  who  came 
over  in  the  Mayflower,  was  born  at  Plymouth, 
Massachusetts,  June  15,  1774,  and  died  at 
Greenwich,  January  29,  1865.  His  parents 
both  dying  when  he  was  only  three  years  of 
age,  he  was  taken  and  reared  by  his  uncle, 
Cornelius  Hood.  He  read  medicine  with  Doc- 
tor Graves,  of  West  Rupert, Vermont,  for  some 
time,  and  then  served  two  years  as  principal 
of  Washington  academy,  after  which  he  com- 
pleted his  medical  studies  with  Doctor  Fitch, 
and  was  licensed  to  practice  medicine  in  1809. 


In  the  same  year  Doctor  Holmes  wedded  Mary 
Gray,  daughter  of  Col.  David  and  Sarah 
(Smith)  Gray,  of  Salem,  and  commenced  the 
practice  of  his  profession  at  Greenwich,  where 
he  was  successful  as  a  physician,  and  spent  a 
long  and  useful  life. 


klEUT.    HARPER    N.   ROGERS, 

who  served  as  a  Union  cavalry  officer  from 
1863  to  1865,  is  the  senior  member  of  the  fur- 
niture and  undertaking  firm  of  Rogers  &  Carl- 
ton, of  Sandy  Hill.  He  is  a  son  of  Harper  N. 
and  Eliza  ( Reynolds)  Rogers,  and  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Moreau,  Saratoga  county,  New 
York,  October  22,  1839.  His  paternal  grand- 
father, Nathan  Rogers,  was  a  native  of  this 
county  and  a  farmer  in  the  town  of  Greenwich, 
where  he  died  in  1835.  He  was  of  English 
extraction,  and  his  family  was  one  of  the  old 
families  of  the  section  in  which  they  lived. 
His  son,  Harper  N.  Rogers,  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Greenwich,  which  he  left  soon  after 
attaining  his  majority  to  settle  in  the  adjoining 
town  of  Moreau,  in  Saratoga  county.  In  his 
new  home  he  prospered,  but  died  when  in  the 
midst  of  a  successful  career  and  in  the  early 
prime  of  life.  He  died  in  1847,  at  thirty-six 
years  of  age.  He  was  a  Presbyterian  ;  an  old- 
line  whig,  and  wedded  Eliza  Reynolds.  She 
was  a  Presbyterian  and  a  native  of  the  town  of 
Moreau,  and  died  in  1879,  aged  sixty-five  years. 
Harper  N.  Rogers  was  reared  on  the  farm, 
and  after  attending  the  public  schools  for 
several  years,  became  a  clerk  in  a  general  mer- 
cantile house  in  Saratoga  county,  which  he  left 
in  1863  to  enlist  in  Co.  F,  2nd  New  York 
veteran  calvary.  After  joining  Co.  F  he  was 
elected  lieutenant, and  served  as  such  for  several 
months,  when  he  was  transferred  to  Co.  M. 
In  the  last  named  company  he  was  promoted 
to  first  lieutenant, and  after  participating  in  all 
the  principal  battles  of  his  regiment,  was  honor- 
ably discharged  from  the  Federal  service  at 
Talladega,  Alabama,  in  December,  1865.  Re- 
turning home  from   the   army,  he  came  in  the 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY 


389 


early  spring  of  1866  to  Sandy  Hill,  where  he 
was  engaged  in  the  general  mercantile  business 
for  fifteen  years.  He  then,  in  1881,  embarked 
in  the  furniture  and  undertaking  business, 
which  he  conducted  by  himself  up  to  1888, 
when  he  associated  Arthur  H.  Carlton  with 
him,  under  the  present  firm  name  of  Rogers  & 
Carlton.  They  have  a  large  and  well  selected 
stock  of  furniture  and  are  the  leading  under- 
takers in  this  section  of  the  county.  Lieu- 
tenant Rogers  is  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army 
Post  at  Sandy  Hill,  and  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  of  which  he  is  a  trustee.  He  is  a  re- 
publican in  political  sentiment,  and  for  the  last 
six  years  has  held  the  office  of  town  clerk. 

In  1S70  Mr.  Rogers  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Sarah  A.  O.  M.  Bond,  of  Oswego,  New 
York. 


•fVVVID  C.  McKENSIE,M.D.,aprom 

ising  and  successful  young  physician  of 
Hartford,  was  born  in  Waterbury,  Vermont, 
December  9,  1864;  being  the  son  of  a  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  clergyman,  his  residence  was 
frequently  changed,  but  he  was  principally 
reared  in  New  York  State.  After  leaving  the 
common  schools,  he  entered  the  Troy  Confer- 
ence academy,  where  he  pursued  his  studies 
for  three  years,  and  afterward  attended  the 
State  Normal  school  at  Albany,  New  York. 
Deciding  upon  medicine  as  his  life  vocation, 
he  became  a  student  in  the  office  of  Dr.  Lans- 
ing T.  Vedder,  a  prominent  physician  of 
Schenectady,  New  York.  After  completing 
the  required  course  of  reading,  he  attended 
lectures  at  the  University  of  Maryland,  at  Bal- 
timore, and  was  graduated  from  the  medical 
department  of  that  institution  in  1891.  After 
his  graduation  he  returned  to  Schenectady, 
where  he  remained  for  one  year  with  his  pre- 
ceptor, Doctor  Vedder.  He  then  went  to 
Middle  Granville,  this  county,  where  he  prac- 
ticed for  one  year,  when  he  concluded  there 
was  a  better  opening  and  a  wider  field  of  use- 
fulness at  Hartford  ;  he  accordingly,  on  Feb- 
ruary 26,  1893,  removed  to  that  village, where 


he  has  succeeded  in  securing  an  enviable  prac- 
tice and  has  become  popular  and  successful 
as  a  physician.  The  greater  part  of  his  tine 
and  attention  is  devoted  to  his  profession, 
while  he  never  neglects  any  opportunity  to 
widen  his  knowledge  of  medicine,  or  to  study 
closely  the  most  successful  methods  of  treat- 
ment. Doctor  McKensie  is  a  member  of  the 
Schenectady  County  Medical  society,  and  is 
at  present  serving  as  health  officer  of  the  town 
of  Hartford. 

On  September  22,  1893,  Doctor  McKensie 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Beatrice,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Albert  Culver.of  Wells,  Rutland  county, 
Vermont. 

Dr.  David  C.  McKensie  is  a  son  of  David  B. 
and  Mary  E.  (Foote)  McKensie.  David  B. 
McKensie  is  a  native  of  Glasgow,  Scotland, 
and  in  1838  emigrated  to  the  United  States, 
and  at  present  resides  at  Gansevoort,  in  Sara- 
toga county.  He  is  a  minister  in  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church,  and  is  now  in  the  six- 
ty-ninth year  of  his  age.  He  wedded  Mary  E. 
Foote,  who  was  born  in  the  State  of  Vermont, 
and  died  in  1889,  aged  sixty-five  years. 

Doctor  McKensie  is  a  well  read  and  success- 
ful physician,  pleasant  and  genial  in  manner, 
and  is  popular  wherever  he  is  known. 


IWT AJ.  DANIEL  BROWN,  one  of  the 

\  pioneer  settlers  of  the  town  of  Hartford, 
came  of  a  family  noted  for  patriotism,  intelli- 
gence and  longevity.  Maj.  Daniel  Brown  was 
a  son  of  Capt.  John  and  Mary  (Jones)  Brown, 
and  was  born  at  Leicester,  Massachusetts,  De- 
cember 17,  1 761 .  In  1780  he  did  six  months 
service  in  the  Revolutionary  army,  in  which 
four  of  his  brothers  served.  In  1785116  be- 
came the  fifth  settler  in  the  town  of  Hartford. 
He  built  the  first  tanner}'  and  grist  mill  at  the 
south  village.  He  was  genial,  public-spirited 
and  liberal,  and  took  considerable  interest  in 
military  matters,  being  a  major  in  one  of  the 
militia  regiments.  Major  Brown  married  Janet 
Moore,  and  died  June  12,  1826. 


300 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTOMY 


tXR.  WALTER  R.  BARTLETT,  one 

of  the  leading  eclectic  physicians  of  Wash- 
ington county,  and  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  war, 
is  the  only  son  of  Orson  and  Electa  (Boyd  ) 
Bartlett,  and  was  born  in  the  town  of  Frank- 
lin, Delaware  count}-,  New  York,  January  29, 
1838.  The  Bartletts  are  of  English  extrac- 
tion, and  the  family  was  planted  in  America  by 
three  brothers  of  the  lame  who  came  over  in 
1620.  Two  of  these  remained  in  the  north, 
and  the  other  went  south,  where  all  trace  of 
him  was  lost.  The  paternal  great-grandfather 
of  Dr.  Bartlett  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts, 
a  silversmith  by  trade,  and  served  for  a  time 
in  the  American  army  during  the  Revolution. 
His  health  failed  on  account  of  exposure  in 
the  camp  and  field,  and  he  was  detailed  to 
work  in  the  shop,  repairing  guns  and  swords. 
Among  his  children  was  Asal  Bartlett  (  grand- 
father ),  who  was  born  and  reared  in  Massa- 
chusetts. He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation, 
and  a  soldier  in  the  American  army  during  the 
war  of  1 81 2.  After  the  war  he  settled  at  Frank- 
lin, Delaware  county,  New  York,  where  he 
died  at  the  age  of  seventy-three.  He  was  the 
father  of  twelve  children,  six  sons  and  six 
daughters.  Five  of  his  sons  and  three  of  his 
daughters  lived  to  maturity  and  reared  families. 
One  of  his  sons,  Orson  Bartlett  (father),  was 
born  in  Massachusetts,  in  October,  1813,  and 
while  yet  a  small  boy  was  brought  by  his  par- 
ents to  Franklin,  Delaware  county,  this  State, 
where  he  grew  to  manhood,  and  was  educated 
in  the  common  schools.  He  afterward  learned 
the  trade  of  harness  and  shoemaker,  but  after 
working  at  that  for  a  short  time  abandoned  it 
and  learned  milling  and  millwrighting.  While 
a  young  man  he  came  to  Washington  county, 
and  lived  there  several  years,  repairing  a  num- 
ber of  mills  while  in  this  county.  Later  he 
returned  to  Delaware  county,  where  he  was 
married,  and  lived  for  many  years.  His  busi- 
ness was  to  take  an  old  mill,  put  in  new  and 
improved  machinery,  and  thus  prepare  it  for 
doing  a  better  grade  of  work  than  had  been 
previously  done   in   this   part  of  the  country. 


In  this  way  he  rebuilt  many  of  the  old  mills  in 
Delaware  county  and  became  widely  known  as 
among  the  most  expert  and  successful  mill- 
wrights of  New  York.  He  and  Major  Fellows 
owned  a  flouring  and  grist  mill  in  the  town  of 
Sidney,  Delaware  county,  which  did  a  large 
business  for  many  years.  In  1862  Mr.  Bart- 
lett sold  his  interest  in  this  mill,  on  account 
of  failing  health,  and  bought  a  farm  in  the 
town  of  Walton,  that  county,  where  he  re- 
sided until  1865,  when  hedisposed  of  the  farm, 
and  in  partnership  with  his  son,  Dr.  Bartlett, 
purchased  a  large  farm  in  the  town  of  Thomp- 
kins,  that  county.  In  1880  the)'  sold  this  farm, 
and  Orson  Bartlett  removed  to  Burton,  Reno 
county,  Kansas,  where  he  followed  farming 
until  1882,  when  he  was  accidentally  struck  by 
a  piece  of  timber  while  moving  a  house,  and 
died  from  the  effects  of  the  blow  in  two  weeks 
afterward.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was 
in  his  sixty-ninth  year.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Masonic  and  Odd  Fellows' orders,  and  for 
many  years  had  been  a  deacon  in  the  Baptist 
church.  In  early  life  he  was  a  democrat,  but 
became  a  republican  upon  the  organization  of 
that  party,  and  served  as  town  clerk  of  Sidney 
for  a  number  of  years.  His  wife  was  Electa 
Boyd,  a  daughter  of  Reuben  Boyd,  of  Thomp- 
kins,  Delaware  county.  To  them  was  born 
three  children  :  Walter  R.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  ;  Dianna  A.,  who  married  Martin  Trask, 
and  after  his  death  wedded  Charles  Buckbee,  of 
Delaware  county;  and  Mary  A.,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  eleven  years.  Some  time  after  the 
decease  of  her  husband,  Mrs.  Bartlett  returned 
to  New  York,  and  later  was  married  to  Ran- 
som Stoodley,  who  occupied  the  place  of 
groomsman  on  the  occasion  of  her  first  mar- 
riage. Mrs.  Stoodley  died  in  1891,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-eight. 

Walter  R.  Bartlett  was  reared  in  his  native 
county  of  Delaware,  and  obtained  a  good  En- 
glish education  in  the  public  schools  of  Sid- 
ney. He  early  learned  the  trade  of  miller 
with  his  father,  and  when  only  fourteen  years 
of  age  received  a  diploma  from  the  Chenango 


BIOaiiAI'lIY  AND    HISTORY 


393 


County  Fair  association,  for  making  the  best 
wheat,  rye  and  buckwheat  flour  exhibited  at 
their  annual  exhibit.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  he  began  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr. 
Jared  Chase,  of  Warnersville,  Schoharie 
county,  this  State.  While  still  engaged  in  his 
medical  studies  the  great  Civil  war  broke  out, 
and  early  in  1862  Mr.  Bartlett  enlisted  as  a 
member  of  Co.  A,  144th  New  York  infantry,  with 
which  he  served  for  eighteen  months,  when  he 
was  discharged  on  account  of  physical  disa- 
bility, his  health  having  been  undermined  by 
exposure  incident  to  camp  duty.  After  re- 
maining at  home  one  year  he  again  enlisted, 
becoming  a  member  of  Co.  I,  13th  New  York 
heavy  artillery,  but  was  soon  afterward  trans- 
ferred to  battery  K,  of  the  same  organization. 
In  the  spring  of  1864  he  received  an  injury 
which  incapacitated  him  for  further  service  in 
the  artillery,  and  he  was  then  detailed  for  duty 
in  a  field  hospital  in  Virginia,  under  General 
Butler.  The  officers  in  charge,  learning  that 
Mr.  Bartlett  had  some  knowledge  of  medicine, 
made  him  steward  of  the  hospital,  and  he  was 
afterward  sent  to  the  Bellefont  hospital, Ports- 
mouth, Virginia,  where  he  became  assistant 
surgeon  and  occupied  that  position  until  the 
close  of  the  war.  During  his  service  in  the 
army  he  participated  in  the  battle  of  Fort 
"Fisher,  and  was  engaged  in  considerable  skir- 
mishing along  the  Maryland  border. 

One  year  after  returning  from  the  army,  Dr. 
Bartlett  began  the  practice  of  medicine  at 
Bainbridge,  Chenango  county,  this  State, 
where  he  remained  three  or  four  years,  and 
then  removed  to  Coventry,  that  county,  where 
he  practiced  for  three  years.  In  1S73  he  re- 
moved to  Jefferson,  Schoharie  count}',  where 
he  was  engaged  in  successful  practice  until 
November  20,  1876,  when  he  came  to  Wash- 
ington county,  and  located  in  the  town  of  Green- 
wich, where  he  has  conducted  a  good  general 
practice  ever  since.  Dr.  Bartlett  is  a  member 
of  the  State  Eclectic  Medical  society,  the 
American  Eclectic  Medical  society, and  the  Al- 
bany Eclectic  Medical  society, of  which  lie  has 
23 


been  vice-president.  He  has  also  served  as  a 
member  of  the  board  of  examiners  of  the 
State  Medical  society. 

On  the  29th  of  December,  1859,  Dr.  Bart- 
lett was  married  to  Mrs.  Sarah  A.  Blomers,  a 
daughter  of  Henry  Mclntyre,  a  prosperous 
farmer  of  Masonville,  Delaware  county,  New 
York.  To  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Bartlett  were  born 
two  daughters  :  Electa  Louise,  now  the  wife 
of  Lyman  Wilber,  a  painter,  of  the  town  of 
Greenwich,  and  Loie  H.,  living  at  home  with 
her  father.     Mrs.  Bartlett  died  March  3,  1894. 

In  his  political  affiliations  Dr.  Bartlett  is  an 
ardent  republican,  and  in  religious  views  a 
Baptist.  He  is  a  member  of  Union  Village- 
Lodge,  No.  253,  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows,  of  which  order  he  has  been  a  mem- 
ber since  attaining  his  majority,  having  joined 
the  fraternity  at  Unadilla,  Otsego  county,soon 
after  his  twenty-first  birthday.  Dr.  Bartlett  is 
also  a  charter  member  of  Albert  M.Cook  Post, 
No.  256,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  of 
Greenwich, in  which  he  has  served  as  surgeon. 


QEXERAL  JOHN  WILLIAMS.  The 

^"^  connection  of  Washington  county  with 
the  early  history  of  America,  and  its  relation 
to  our  Revolutionary  struggle,  are  not  gener- 
erallv  known,  and  are  appreciated  by  few. 
From  the  time  when  Samuel  Champlain  entered 
the  territory  of  New  York  by  way  of  Canada, 
July  4,  1 609, to  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  con- 
stitution, the  northeastern  section  of  New  York 
bore  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  history  and 
development  of  our  country.  It  was  the  only 
passage-way  from  Canada  to  the  south.  It 
was  the  scene  of  some  of  the  most  notable 
Indian  wars.  It  was  the  battle-ground  of  the 
three  French  and  English  wars,  in  which  En- 
glish and  American  domination  was  determined 
for  this  continent.  It  was  the  theatre  in  which 
some  of  the  first  and  most  decisive  battles  of 
the  Revolution  were  fought.  One  of  these,  the 
battle   of  Saratoga    Springs,   Crcssy    includes 


394 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


in  his  volume,  "  The  Twelve  Decisive  Battles 
of  the  World." 

The  population  of  Washington  county  pre- 
vious to  the  Revolution  was  composed  chiefly 
of  Scotch-Irish,  who  had  been  forced  to  leave 
the  north  of  Ireland  by  British  civil  and  ec- 
clesiastical oppression.  They,  with  other  ele- 
ments, as  the  Scotch  and  Welch,  had  been 
prepared,  by  a  rough  experience  in  Great 
Britain,  to  resist  British  tyranny  in  their  new 
home,  in  which  they  had  acquired  a  proprie- 
tary right. 

They  were  generally  an  industrious,  intelli- 
gent and  religious  community,  principally  Pres- 
byterians. In  1773  a  young  physician  and  sur- 
geon in  England  had  purchased  a  parcel  of 
land  in  this  vicinity,  then  Albany  county.  He 
arrived  in  the  latter  part  of  that  year,  and  was 
favorably  impressed  with  the  country  and  the 
prospect  it  presented  for  practice  in  his  profes- 
sion. He  was  born  in  Barnstaple,  county  of 
Devon,  1752  ;  was  liberally  educated,  had  pur- 
sued a  course  of  medicine, received  his  diploma 
and  a  license  to  practice  medicine  and  surgery. 
He  had  worked  one  year  in  the  hospital  of  St. 
Thomas,  London,  and  served  as  surgeon's 
mate  on  a  British  man-of-war.  He  brought 
with  him  a  complete  case  of  surgical  instru- 
ments. Thus  was  he  qualified  and  equipped 
for  service  in  the  war,  in  which  he  became  a 
prominent  and  efficient  participant. 

The  divine  purpose  in  his  coming  was  soon 
seen.  The  small-pox  had  bec6me  epidemic  in 
the  community,  and  there  were  few  who  pos- 
sessed the  knowledge,  skill  and  courage  to  con- 
tend with  and  control  the  dreadful  scourge. 
This  was  a  dire  calamity,  just  precedent  to  the 
long  and  severe  strife  into  which  the  colonies 
were  about  to  enter  with  the  mother  country, 
unseen,  except  to  the  eye  of  God.  Every  true 
man  and  woman  would  be  needed  for  that 
struggle  for  freedom.  Their  lives  were  more 
valuable  than  they  themselves  knew  at  that 
time.  This  young  physician,  thus  providen- 
tially prepared  and  sent,  proved  himself  to 
be  a  messenger  of  mercy,  a  minister  of  health, 


a  restorer  of  lives.  In  this  initiative  service 
he  rendered  inestimable  benefit  to  the  cause 
of  the  Revolution,  by  saving  lives  of  those  who 
participated  in  its  battles  and  contributed  to 
its  success.  His  skill,  his  devotion  and  his 
success,  during  this  scourge  and  in  his  general 
practice, endeared  him  to  the  people  and  spread 
his  name  throughout  the  surrounding  region. 
Having  determined  to  make  this  his  home  for 
life,  he  purchased  other  lands  and  began  prepar- 
ations for  erecting  a  residence  in  the  village 
(now  Salem).  This  residence,  a  colonial  man- 
sion, is  preserved  in  its  essential  features,  and 
with  surroundings  as  he  left  it,  by  his  immedi- 
ate descendants,  John  M.Williams  and  family, 
and  his  sisters,  Miss  Harriett  M.  and  Miss 
Fanny  H.  Williams. 

During  the  two  years  preceding  the  Revolu- 
tion, this  young  physician,  by  his  personal 
qualities  and  successful  practice,  obtained  the 
confidence  and  esteem  of  the  people.  Upon 
the  issues  that  were  agitating  the  colonies  with 
the  British  government,  he  manifested  such 
knowledge  and  patriotic  ardor  that  he  became 
a  recognized  leader  in  the  community.  The 
people  were  divided  in  sentiment  ;  a  consider- 
able portion  adhered  to  the  crown,  among 
which  were  some  prominent  men.  On  the 
arrival  of  the  news  from  Lexington  and  Bos- 
ton, there  was  great  excitement  in  the  county, 
and  a  wise  head  and  firm  hand  were  needed  to 
organize  and  control  the  patriots.  A  provin- 
cial congress  was  called,  to  meet  in  New  York 
city  on  May  20,  1775,  to  be  composed  of  dele- 
gates from  the  counties.  Fourteen  districts 
of  Charlotte  county  appointed  each  a  repre- 
sentative to  meet  and  elect  two  delegates  to 
the  congress.  Dr.  Williams  was  unanimously 
chosen.  He  was  then  less  than  twenty-three 
years  old.  This  was  sufficient  to  mark  him  as 
an  exceptional  man.  But  he  was  a  recent 
arrival  in  the  colony  from  the  mother  country. 
He  had  been  in  service  on  a  man-of-war,  and 
was  at  that  time  a  commissioned  officer  in  the 
British  navy,  on  half  pay.  He  must  have  given 
indubitable  evidence  of  his  loyalty  to  the  cause 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTOMY 


395 


of  the  people,  and  shown  a  knowledge  and 
comprehension  of  the  issue,  to  be  selected 
above  men  of  greater  age  and  longer  residence 
in  the  colony. 

The  locality,  its  proximity  to  Canada,  its 
exposure  to  the  British  forces  there,  its  im- 
portance to  Great  Britain  as  an  avenue  to  Al- 
bany and  the  Hudson  river, emphasize  the  fact 
that  Doctor  Williams  had  made  a  profound 
impression  upon  the  men  who  felt  the  respon- 
sibilities of  the  day,  and  of  selecting  their  rep- 
resentatives and  counsellors  through  the  trials 
of  the  war. 

GENERAL    WILLIAMS    AS    A    LEGISLATOR. 

He  took  his  seat  in  the  congress  May  24, 
1775.  He  was  elected  to  all  the  succeeding 
sessions,  serving  until  its  expiration.  He  was 
placed  upon  its  most  important  committees, 
and  often  assigned  special  work  that  required 
exceptional  abilities  and  prudence. 

He  was  on  the  committee  to  draft  a  letter  to 
the  northern  counties  concerning  invasion  from 
Canada  ;  the  committee  to  confer  on  the  cap- 
ture of  Ticonderoga;  to  organize  troops  and 
prepare  military  rules  and  regulations  ;  to  de- 
vise plans  for  the  adjustment  of  the  quarrel 
with  Great  Britain  ;  on  salt.  By  this  congress 
he  was  appointed  colonel  of  the  First  Char- 
lotte County  regiment,  and  surgeon  subject  to 
requisition  in  the  Continental  service. 

On  theexpiration  of  the  Provincial  congress, 
he  was  elected  to  the  assembly  of  the  New 
York  legislature,  its  successor  in  1781-82.  He 
served  with  such  acceptability  that  he  was 
elected  to  three  terms  in  the  senate  of  four 
years  each,  from  1783  to  1795.  In  the  legis- 
lature he  was  associated  with  and  oft  in 
controversy  on  the  floor  with  the  ablest  law- 
yers, jurists,  statesmen  and  financiers  of  the 
State,  and  he  displayed  surprising  ability  and 
knowledge  upon  the  various  subjects  of  legis- 
lation. This  was  specially  manifested  in  the 
New  York  Constitutional  convention  held  in 
Poughkeepsie,  June  17,  1788,  which  ratified 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, and  con- 


stituted New  York  a  member  of  the  Federal 
Union. 

In  that  convention  there  were  such  men  as 
John  Jay,  Richard  Morris,  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton, Robert  P.  Livingston,  Gov.  George  Clin- 
ton, Philip  Livingston.  Doctor  Williams' 
speech  followed  that  of  Alexander  Hamilton, 
whom  he  opposed.  He  administered  a  rebuke 
to  Chancellor  Livingston  for  his  levity  and  sar- 
casm, saying  "  The  question  under  discussion 
is  a  momentous  one.  The  chancellor's  speech 
is  unworthy  of  notice  in  point  of  argument.  I 
will  not  submit  to  have  my  own  arguments 
misstated.  I  will  not  enter  seriously  into  the 
subject  with  him  until  I  hear  serious  answers 
to  my  argument." 

That  his  rebuke  was  merited  appears  from 
the  remark  of  Melancthon  W.  Smith,  one  of 
the  greatest  men  in  the  convention.  "  The 
chancellor's  speech  is  like  a  farce  after  a  great 
tragedy." 

A  single  extract  from  General  Williams' 
remarks  indicates  his  grasp  of  the  subject 
under  discussion  and  his  patriotism:  "The 
present  difficulties  are  not  attributable  to  de- 
fects in  the  confederation.  Constitutions  must 
not  swallow  up  the  State  governments.  I  would 
not  establish  a  bad  government  in  the  fear  of 
anarchy."  "No  excise  should  be  imposed  on 
articles  of  growth  and  manufacture  in  the 
United  States.  No  taxes,  except  when  a  de- 
ficiency exists  in  money  from  imports  and  ex- 
cise, and  these  only  under  restrictions." 

While  a  member  of  the  New  York  senate, 
1793,  he  was  elected  against  determined  op- 
position, to  the  United  States  house  of  repre- 
sentatives, and  re-elected  to  the  second  term. 
Congress  was  then  sitting  in  Philadelphia. 
The  great  men  of  the  New  Republic  were  in 
it.  Great  questions  of  government  were  to  be 
settled,  great  questions  of  national  and  inter- 
national policy  to  be  determined.  General 
Williams  showed  himself  to  be  a  peer  in 
knowledge  and  the  science  of  government 
with  those  who  had  been  educated  to  the  law 
and  in  civil  economy.      A  letter  of   Rev.  Obed 


396 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Warren  expressed  the  sentiment  of  his  con- 
stituents of  his  course  in  congress.  He  wrote  : 
"  You  expect  shortly  to  resign  your  seat  in 
that  honorable  body  and  become  one  of  the 
sovereign  people  to  whom  you  have  been  a 
faithful  servant."  M.  D.  Woolsey,  one  of  the 
most  eminent  lawyers  of  the  district,  and  a 
former  opponent  of  General  Williams,  wrote  : 
"  I  thank  you  for  the  part  you  have  taken  in 
the  Federal  legislature,  at  least  on  all  ques- 
tions of  national  importance." 

Dr.  Williams'  legislative  career  comprised 
twenty-four  years,  from  the  provincial  con- 
gress of  New  York  through  the  congress  of 
the  United  States.  Beginning  at  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,  he  assumed  at  once  a  prom- 
inent place  in  legislation  and  government. 
While  in  these  bodieshe  was  frequently  called 
to  render  service  in  the  field  of  battle,  either 
in  command  of  his  regiment  or  as  surgeon 
after  battle  and  in  hospitals,  and  ofttimes 
public  affairs  of  his  county  and  district,  civil, 
social,  and  military,  demanded  his  presence 
and  direction.  Notwithstanding  this,  when 
in  the  halls  of  legislation,  he  evinced  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  subjects  of  legislation,  an  appreci- 
ation of  the  problems  which  confronted  the 
government,  and  a  range  of  information  that 
gave  him  prominence,  not  only  on  the  floor, 
but  at  the  head  of  important  committees. 
Thus  we  find  he  was  at  times  the  chairman  of 
the  New  York  Convention  of  Safety,  from  the 
letter  of  Francis  Livingston  to  him  as  such, 
thanking  him  for  permission  to  visit  New  York. 
He  was  foremost  in  many  measures  for  the 
encouragement  and  development  of  the  agri- 
culture, commerce,  and  industries,  both  of  the 
State  and  the  United  States  —  measures  that 
required  legal  lore  as  well  as  judgment.  Some 
of  these  were  the  inspiration  of  prospective 
wisdom,  and  have  resulted  in  great  and  perma- 
nent wealth  and  enterprise  to  the  State.  Chief 
among  these  was  canal  communication  between 
the  Hudson  river  and  the  north  and  west  by 
the  lakes.  He  first  introduced  this  scheme  in 
the  legislature,  by  offering  a  resolution  in  the 


senate,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  on  Febru- 
ary 15,  1791,  for  a  joint  committee  of  the  sen- 
ate and  assembly,  of  which  he  was  appointed 
chairman.  The  favorable  report  of  his  com- 
mittee having  been  referred  to  the  land  com- 
missioners, by  them  was  favorably  reported 
to  both  houses,  January  5,  1792.  On  General 
Williams'  motion,  this  report  was  referred  to 
a  special  committee.  On  February  7,  1792, 
he  introduced  a  bill  for  the  construction  of  the 
proposed  canals,  which  bill  became  a  law 
March  30,  1792.  He  became  a  stockholder 
and  director  in  the  Northern  Inland  Lock  Navi- 
gation company,  for  connecting  the  Hudson 
river  and  Lake  Champlain,  and  devoted  much 
time  and  money  to  its  construction.  This 
action  was  of  supreme  importance  to  New 
York  State  and  city.  We  know  not  who  first 
suggested  canal  transportation  in  this  country, 
but  we  know  who  formulated,  framed  and  in- 
troduced the  bill  which  did  more  than  any 
other  project  for  the  material  advance- 
ment and  supremacy  of  New  York  among 
the  States  of  the  Union.  It  deserves 
more  than  a  passing  record.  After  the 
close  of  the  Revolutionary  war  the  west 
was  being  rapidly  settled.  The  only  mode  of 
travel  and  traffic  was  by  wagon.  Baltimore, 
Philadelphia  and  New  York  became  rivals  for 
the  rapidly  growing  trade  of  the  west.  Their 
commercial  future  and  their  maritime  com- 
merce were  to  be  materially  determined  by 
their  western  communications.  Baltimore, 
at  the  head  of  the  Chesapeake  bay,  was  so  far 
inland  as  to  be  the  nearest  to  all  points  from  the 
lakes  southward  from  forty  to  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles.  New  York  was  the  most  distant 
even  from  her  own  western  border.  The  only 
highway  to  the  west  was  the  National  turn- 
pike from  Baltimore  across  the  mountains. 
With  its  large  fleet  of  Conestoga  wagons, 
Baltimore  was  securing  the  bulk  of  the  western 
trade.  It  had  become  the  entrepot  for  the 
foreign  trade,  and  its  fleet  of  Baltimore  clip- 
pers whitened  every  sea.  New  York  was  losing 
this  western  trade  and  her  commercial  marine 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY 


397 


was  seriously  impaired.  It  would  have  been 
a  permanent  loss  if  the  system  of  canal  com- 
munication had  not  been  effected.  The  water 
ways  of  the  State  were  favorably  located. 
Railroads  were  not  then  dreamed  of.  They 
were  not  within  the  range  of  scientific  vision. 
The  only  solution  was  canals,  and  canals  res- 
cued New  York  from  defeat  in  the  rivalry  by 
overcoming  her  disadvantage  in  distance  by  a 
quicker,  easier  and  more  commodious  method 
of  transportation.  The  inception  of  canal  en- 
terprise was  one  of  the  most  momentous  points 
in  the  history  of  this  country,  especially  of 
New  York,  which  was  the  pioneer.  No  enter- 
prise has  done  more  for  New  York.  Even 
the  railroad  has  not  supplanted  it  here  as  it 
has  in  other  sections.  The  canal  commission 
is  to  this  day  one  of  the  great  departments  of 
the  government  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

General  Williams  could  not  foresee  the  re 
mote  results  of  his  act  in  introducing  and  se- 
curing this  legislation.  But  that^  act  alone 
should  immortalize  him  in  the  annals  of  the 
State  as  one  of  its  greatest  benefactors. 

GENERAL    WILLIAMS    AS    A     SOLDIER. 

Having  identified  himself  with  the  people  in 
their  controversy  with  the  government  on  its 
aggressive  policy,  he  began  to  arouse  their  pa- 
triotism to  active  resistance.  He  proceeded 
with  other  leaders  to  organize  troops  and  pro- 
vide means  of  defense  against  incursions  from 
the  northern  border.  A  county  meeting  of 
delegates  was  called.  The  Provincial  congress 
was  petitioned  to  authorize  the  organization  of 
a  Charlotte  county  regiment,  with  Doctor  Wil- 
liams as  colonel.  This  was  done,  and  Colonel 
Williams  was  chiefly  instrumental  in  its  organ- 
ization.     This  was  in  1775. 

During  1775  and  1776  his  attention  was  di- 
vided between  his  duties  in  the  congress  and 
the  military  affairs  of  his  district.  The  latter 
included  the  organization  of  troops,  direction 
and  disposition  of  the  Charlotte  County  ran- 
gers, for  guarding  the  frontier  against  the  Brit- 
ish army  and  Indians  ;  devising  means  and 
23<t 


sustenance  for  the  troops, and  raising  bounties 
to  induce  men  to  enlist.  He  was  frequently 
called  upon  to  furnish  men  for  special  service, 
as  the  orders  of  Generals  Schuyler  and  St. 
Clair,  preserved  among  the  Williams  papers, 
show. 

In  the  midst  of  these  absorbing  occupations, 
General  St.  Clair  ordered  him  to  his  relief 
at  Fort  Ticonderoga,  remarking  in  the  order, 
that  with  him  and  others  specified,  "  he  could 
laugh  at  all  the  enemy  could  do."  When  Col- 
onel Williams  reached  Skeensboro  with  his 
battalion,  General  St.  Clair  had  abandoned 
the  fort.  The  American  forces  were  obliged 
to  retire  to  Fort  Ann,  whither  the  British 
forces  followed  them,  where  occurred  the  first 
battle  in  Washington  county,  resulting  in  the 
defeat  of  the  British.  Colonel  Williams  with 
his  battalion  did  effectual  work  in  harrassing 
the  enemy  in  its  march  and  retreat.  This  caused 
Burgoyne  to  retire  and  mass  his  forces  at 
Skeensboro.  This  sanguinary  battle  in  Wash- 
ington county  was  of  great  importance.  It  was 
initial  to  Bennington  Heights  and  Stillwater, 
or  Saratoga  Springs.  Had  the  British  won. 
they  would  not  only  have  possessed  Wash- 
ington county,  but  would  have  avoided  Ben- 
nington, and  carried  out  the  plan  of  joining 
forces  with  General  Howe  at  or  north  of  Al- 
bany, and  perhaps  have  suppressed  the  Rev- 
olution. This  was  the  plan  which  was  adopted 
by  King  George  and  his  advisers  with  Gen- 
eral Burgoyne  during  his  return  to  England 
to  confer  on  the  conduct  of  the  war.  We  can 
now  appreciate  the  immense  importance  of 
preventing  Burgoyne  from  marching  through 
Washington  county,  and  the  debt  we  owe  to 
Colonel  Williams  and  his  patriot  forces  and 
associates  in  frustrating  the  design  of  the 
enemy.  The  defeat  at  Fort  Ann  necessitated 
General  Burgoyne's  sending  a  portion  of  his 
army  to  Bennington  to  capture  the  American 
stores.  Near  by  occurred  the  disastrous  bat- 
tle of  Bennington  Heights.  This  threw  the 
scene  of  action  back  upon  the  Hudson  river, 
at    Stillwater   and    Schuylerville,    where    was 


;;<>s 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


fought  the  great  battle  of  the  war,  that  deter- 
mined more  than  an)'  other  the  independence 
of  the  Colonies.  In  both  of  these  Colonel 
Williams  was  engaged.  He  was  doubtless 
aware  of  the  plan  of  the  enemy's  campaign. 
As  a  member  of  the  committee  on  the  conduct 
of  the  war.  he  was  necessarily  furnished  with 
all  information  obtainable  of  the  movements 
and  designs  of  the  enemy. 

After  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  Colonel 
Williams  was  engaged  in  various  ways  with 
his  battalion.  He  divided  it  into  six  classes, 
each  being  required  to  be  on  duty  a  week  at  a 
time.  This  was  necessary  to  enable  the  men 
to  attend  to  their  horses  and  farm  affairs,  and 
in  the  approaching  spring  to  get  in  their  crops 
for  the  coming  season.  His  presence  and 
management  of  affairs  did  much  to  allay  ex- 
citement and  enable  those  who  had  fled  from 
their  homes  to  return.  He  interested  himself 
in  behalf  of  those  whose  loyalty  was  doubtful, 
or  who  had  tory  sympathies,  and  were  reputa- 
ble and  worthy  citizens,  to  secure  their  return 
to  their  families. 

Thus  we  read  in  General  Gates'  reply  to  a 
letter  of  his  on  this  subject.  The  date  is 
Camp  Behmer's,  September  29,  1777.  He 
writes  :  "It  does  not  remain  with  me  properly 
to  extend  the  time  prescribed  by  my  procla- 
mation for  the  return  of  the  tories  to  the  in- 
dulgent protection  of  the  Government.  But 
your  letter  shall  immediately  be  sent  to  Eso- 
pus,  to  be  laid  before  the  legislature  of  this 
State  now  sitting,  and  if  they  are  pleased  to 
grant  a  longer  day,  I  shall,  .upon  receiving 
their  answer,  immediately  acquaint  you  there- 
with. 

"  I  am,  sir,  your  most  obedient,  humble  ser- 
vant, Horatio  Gates.'' 

Colonel  Williams  was  at  times  assigned 
special  duty  that  required  prudence  as  well  as 
bravery,  as  the  following  order  of  General 
Heath  shows  : 

"  Headquarters,  Boston,  Nov.  9,  '77. 

Sir  —  You  will  please  return  back  on  the 
Albany  road  until  you  meet  the    British   hos- 


pital, with  which  you  will  come  forward  to 
Cambridge.  You  will  hire  such  teams  as  may 
be  absolutely  necessary  for  the  forwarding  of 
the  sick,  baggage,  etc.,  for  which  you  will  pay 
the  usual  rates,  as  you  will  also  for  such  for- 
age as  may  be  necessary,  of  which  you  will 
keep  a  particular  account,  which  you  will  ren- 
der on  your  return. 

I  am,  your  ob't  ser't, 

W.  Heath,  M.  G." 

The  complete  defeat  of  the  British  plans  in 
northern  New  York  shifted  the  great  battles  to 
the  middle  and  southern  sections  of  the  coun- 
try. 

We  next  read  of  Colonel  Williams  at  the 
battle  of  Monmouth,  New  Jersey.  Whether 
he  was  in  command  of  his  regiments  or  not, 
we  do  not  know.  Charlotte  county  troops 
were  engaged,  for  Maj.  Joseph  McCracken,  of 
Salem,  his  intimate  associate,  had  an  arm  shot 
off.  Colonel  Williams  found  him  thus  on  the 
field  and  by  his  surgical  skill  and  care  saved 
his  life.  Shortly  after  this  he  was  in  hospital 
service,  as  he  was  a  commissioned  surgeon  on 
the  Continental  line.  Dr.  Thacher,  assistant 
to  Dr.  John  Morgan,  Surgeon  General  of  the 
United  States  Army,  mentions  him  in  his  Mili- 
tary Journal  of  the  War,  as  his  associate  in  the 
hospital.  On  one  occasion  they  together  re- 
ceived General  Washington  on  the  occasion  of 
his  visit  to  the  hospital,  and  conducted  him 
through  the  wards. 

Dr.  Williams  was  very  jealous  of  his  repu- 
tation as  a  surgeon  and  of  his  rights  under  his 
commission.  Thus  in  a  letter  to  the  Provin- 
cial congress,  remonstrating  with  that  body 
for  having  sent  a  surgeon  to  his  field  without 
his  knowledge,  says  :  "As  to  my  abilities,  they 
are  known  well  in  this  part  of  the  country; 
my  practice  is  very  extensive,  particularly  in 
surgery.  I  have  now  a  wounded  man  from 
Ticonderoga  under  my  care,  who  has  been 
given  over  by  the  surgeons  there.  I  hope  in  a 
few  days  that  I  shall  discharge  him  perfectly 
sound." 

After  the  war,  the  military  spirit  of  the  men 


SIO (1  L'AJ'HY  A ND  IIISTOI! \ ' 


309 


survived  in  the  militia  of  the  States,  and  this 
was  exhibited  in  the  "general  training. "  Colo- 
nel Williams  was  appointed  by  Governor 
George  Clinton,  Brigade-General  for  Wash- 
ington county,  in  1789,  in  which  there  were 
then  two  regiments. 

GENERAL    WILLIAMS    AS    A    CITIZEN. 

During  his  entire  bus)'  public  life  in  the  ser- 
vice of  his  country,  in  the  halls  of  legislation, 
on  the  field  of  battle,  in  the  hospital,  General 
Williams  never  forgot  nor  was  neglectful  of 
the  people  of  his  town  and  count}'.  He  not 
only  was  interested  in  their  concerns,  but  was 
active  in  originating  and  promoting  enterprises 
and  institutions  for  their  welfare  and  advance- 
ment. 

He  was  generally  at  the  head  of  every  effort 
and  movement  that  meditated  the  growth  of 
the  town,  or  the  development  of  the  country. 
He  was  one  of  the  originators  of  the  Washing- 
ton academy  in  Salem,  and  obtained  its  char- 
ter, dated  September  29,  1791.  It  had  pre- 
viously been  a  school,  kept  for  a  while  in  the 
little  fort  called  "  Fort  Williams,"  and  in  one 
of  his  own  apartments,  without  rent.  It  was 
the  first  academy  chartered  north  of  Albany. 
It  soon  became,  and  continues  to  be,  one  of 
the  best  preparatory  English  and  classical 
schools  in  the  State.  General  Williams  do- 
nated to  it  a  parcel  of  ground  and  contributed 
a  sum  of  money  to  the  erection  of  the  first 
building,  which  was  destroyed  by  fire.  Many 
distinguished  scholars  in  science,  law',  and 
theology  emanated  from  this  academy.  This 
institution  is  not  among  the  least  of  the  bene- 
fits that  General  Williams  helped  to  bestow 
upon  the  county  and  State. 

He  was  very  efficient  in  the  religious  and 
ecclesiastical  life  and  enterprisesof  hisday.  He 
was  at  first  identified  with  the  Presbyterian  or 
"Brick"  church  in  Salem.  He  contributed 
liberally  to  its  support  and  work.  That  he 
was  personally  and  intimately  engaged  in  it, 
appears  from  his  presence  on  committees,  and 
his  personal  letters  to  the   Presbytery  in   ref- 


erence to  the  settlement  of  pastors.  After  the 
marriage  of  hisdaughter  to  Rev.  Alex.  Proud- 
fit,  pastor  of  the  Associate  Reformed,  now 
the  United  Presbyterian  church,  he  transferred 
his  connection  to  it.  He  and  his  wife  on 
leaving  executed  a  "deed  of  confirmation"  of 
the  lot  on  which  the  Presbyterian  church 
stood,  and  thus  secured  to  it  perpetual  pos- 
session. The  other  church  greatly  increased 
under  Dr.  Proudfit's  ministry,  and  a  larger 
building  was  demanded.  The  present  "White 
Church"  is  the  result  of  the  demand.  In  the 
erection  of  this  unique  and  noble  sanctuary 
on  its  beautiful  site,  General  Williams  was 
greatly  instrumental.  His  active  exertions  in 
settling  the  controversy  concerning  the  site, 
in  raising  material  for  its  construction,  and 
providing  the  finances,  have  given  to  Salem  a 
building  of  simple  and  antiqe  beaut)7,  and  a 
basis  on  which  has  grown  a  congregation  and 
pastorate  that  have  become  prominent  in  the 
United  Presbyterian  denomination,  and  whose 
good  works  and  influence  extend  to  distant 
lands.  Some  of  his  descendants  have  been, 
and  are  now,  among  the  most  devoted  work- 
ers and  supporters  of  this  church.  He  also 
contributed  to  other  churches  in  the  towns  of 
the  county. 

The  three  things  he  considered  essential  to 
the  country,  as  well  as  to  the  individual,  as 
his  letters  and  papers  show,  are  education, 
morality  and  religion.  His  influence  and 
means  were  ever  bestowed  in  advancing  these. 
Doubtless  the  high  position  that  Salem  holds 
to-day, in  these  respects,  is  in  part  the  result  of 
his  work  at  the  laying  of  the  foundation  of  its 
social  and  civic  life. 

By  his  private  and  public  enterprises  Gen- 
eral Williams  probably  did  more  than  any  other 
for  the  trade  and  agriculture  of  this  section  of 
the  State. 

He  was  one  of  the  originators  and  directors 
of  the  Northern  Turnpike  company,  which 
constructed  a  road  from  Lansingburg,  through 
Cambridge,  Salem,  Hebron  and  Hampton,  to 
the  State  line,  connecting  with  a  turnpike  to 


400 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Burlington,  Vermont.  It  also  built  a  road 
from  Salem  northeastward  to  the  State  line, 
and  one  from  Granville  to  Whitehall.  At  this 
latter  place  General  Williams  had  large  posses- 
sions, and  a  mill  and  other  enterprises.  He 
originated  or  encouraged  the  opening  of  roads 
and  the  improvement  of  rivers,  so  as  to  facili- 
tate the  transportation  of  crops  and  develop- 
ment of  the  country.  He  was  the  largest  land- 
holder in  the  county,  and  conducted  a  num- 
ber of  farms,  cut  timber  from  his  forests,  and 
shipped  grain  and  lumber  to  England  and  Can- 
ada, and  thus  brought  industry  and  wealth  to 
his  section. 

During  his  career  as  a  statesman  and  soldier, 
he  was  personally  superintending  his  business 
and  agricultural  affairs  and  real  estate  interests. 
Among  the  other  official  positions  he  held 
were  those  of  one  of  the  council  of  appoint- 
ment, January  2,  1789;  regent  of  the  State 
university,  May  1,  1784;  justice  of  the  peace 
in  Salem,  four  times  ;  and  judge  of  the  county 
court.  His  care  and  conscientiousness  in  the 
discharge  of  duty  are  seen  in  his  preparation 
in  writing  of  his  charges  and  instructions  to 
the  grand  and  petit  juries,  some  of  which  are 
preserved. 

General  Williams  was  twice  married.  His 
first  wife  was  Mrs.  Susanna  Turner,  the  mother 
of  his  children  :  Susan,  the  wife  of  Rev.  Alex- 
ander Proudfit,  for  forty  years  the  pastor  of  the 
Associate  Reformed,  now  the  United  Presby- 
terian, church  in  Salem  ;  Elizabeth,  who  mar- 
ried Ebenezer  Proudfit  ;  Maria,  who  married 
Hon.  Anthony  I.  Blanchard,  a  distinguished 
lawyer,and  first  judge  of  the  county  court  ;  and 
JohnWilliams,  who  was  appointed  by  Governor 
Morgan  Lewis,  second  lieutenant  of  the  first 
squadron  in  the  third  division  of  the  State 
cavalry,  and  by  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton, col- 
onel of  the  7th  regiment  of  the  State  cavalry, 
and  subsequently  aid-de-camp  to  the  brigadier- 
general  of  the  16th  brigade  of  infantry. 

General  William  married,  the  second  time, 
Mrs.  Mary  Townley,  of  New  York  city,  who 
died  without  issue.       He  died  July  22,  1806, 


aged  fifty-three  years  and  ten  months.  Col- 
onel John  Williams,  his  son,  married  Miss  Ann 
Wray  and  had  two  children  :  John,  who  mar- 
ried Miss  Harriet  B.  Martin,  and  Mary,  mar- 
ried to  the  Rev.  Dr.  George  W.  Bethune. 

The  children  of  the  last  John  are  :  Mr.  John 
M.  Williams,  who  married  Miss  Frances 
Schriver  ;  and  Miss  Harriet  M.  Williams  and 
Miss  Fanny  H.  Williams.  These,  with  Miss 
Marion,  the  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John 
M.  Williams,  reside  in  the  colonial  mansion, 
the  "Williams  home." 

There  is  missed  from  this  home  the  latest 
and  youngest  male  descendant  of  General 
Williams,  bearing  his  name,  the  late  Prof. 
John  Francis  Williams,  Ph.D.,  the  son  of  John 
M.  Williams.  He  died  November  9,  1891, 
universally  lamented.  His  early  death  was  a 
serious  loss  to  the  scientific  world,  in  which  he 
had  acheived  great  distinction, and  had  wrought 
valuable  works.  Every  one  who  knew  him 
felt  that  the  world  was  made  poorer  and  heaven 
richer  by  his  departure. 

The  lineal  descendants  of  General  Williams 
number  about  three  hundred,  comprising  fam- 
ilies of  honorable  station,  and  many  who  have 
become  prominent  in  social  and  professional 
ranks. 


f  }R.  JOHN  MONEYPENNY,  M.  D., 

a  well  known  physician  of  the  village  of 
Cambridge,  and  surgeon  in  the  United  States 
army  in  the  late  Rebellion,  is  a  native  of  the 
city  of  New  York,  where  he  was  born  April  3, 
1825,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Mary  A.  (Hill) 
Moneypenny.  He  received  his  education  at 
the  Trinity  school  and  Columbia  college,  both 
of  New  York  city,  and  was  graduated  from 
the  latter  institution  in  1847.  After  having 
finished  his  literary  education,  he  took  up  the 
study  of  medicine  under  Dr.  John  H.  Whit- 
taker,  of  No.  510  Broadway,  who  was  at  that 
time  a  professor  of  anatomy  in  the  medical 
college  of  that  city,  and  after  taking  the  re- 
quired course  of  study  here,  Doctor  Money- 
penny,  in  1850,  was   graduated  from  the  Col- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND    HISTORY 


401 


lege  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  the  State 
of  New  York.  After  his  graduation,  lie  served 
as  house  surgeon  in  Bcllevue  hospital,  New 
York,  for  a  period  of  twenty  months,  then  he 
studied  one  year  in  Paris,  and  after  serving  as 
physician  to  the  New  York  Dispensary,  and  as 
substitute  in  the  Lying-in  hospital,  he  com- 
menced private  practice  in  his  native  city, 
where  he  remained  until  1862.  In  that  yea'r 
his  family  removed  to  the  village  of  Cambridge, 
New  York,  and  he  enlisted  on  September  10th 
of  the  same  year,  in  the  123d  New  York  vol- 
unteer regiment  as  surgeon.  He  remained 
with  this  regiment  until  the  following  year, 
when  a  severe  attack  of  the  typho-malarial 
fever  compelled  his  resignation.  In  the  fall  of 
1H63  he  accepted  a  position  as  surgeon  in 
the  United  States  arm}-,  in  the  general  hospi- 
tal at  Hampton,- Virginia.  In  August,  1864, 
there  was  an  outbreak  of  yellow  fever  at  New 
Berne,  North  Carolina,  when  Doctor  Money- 
penny  was  one  of  four  physicians  who  volun- 
teered to  go  and  care  for  the  sick.  Two  of  the 
number  died,  but  Doctor  Moneypenny  re- 
mained until  the  epidemic  subsided,  and  was 
the  last  of  the  physicians  to  take  the  fever, and 
the  only  one  that  survived  it.  After  regaining 
his  health  he  returned  to  Hampton  and  re- 
mained until  the  close  of  the  war,  and  for  a 
while  afterward  was  held  there  for  the  purpose 
of  examining  soldiers  for  pensions.  He  then 
soon  returned  to  his  family  at  Cambridge, 
where  he  has  ever  since  resided,  practicing 
some,  mostly  in  the  capacity  of  a  consulting 
physician.  In  addition  to  the  work  in  his  pro- 
fession, he  has  dealt  some  in  real  estate  in 
New  York  city  and  the  west.  He  is  a  Mason, 
and  Psi-Upsilon,  Larnda  Chapter,  Col.  Call, 
and  is  a  vestryman  of  the  Episcopal  church. 
On  June  22,  1854,  he  was  married  to  Mar- 
garet, a  daughter  of  Peter  Hill,  a  farmer  of  the 
town  of  Cambridge.  To  them  have  been  born 
three  children  :  John  and  Fred,  who  died  in 
boyhood,  and  Marion,  who  is  the  wife  of  the 
Rev.  F.  H.  T.  Horsfield  [see  sketch],  rector 
of  the  Episcopal  church  of  Cambridge. 


Dr.  John  Moneypenny's  father,  John  Money  - 
penny,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Enniskiilen,. 
County  Fermanagh,  Ireland,  and  migrated  to 
New  York  city  in  1819,  where  he  afterward 
owned  one  of  the  leadingdyeing  establishments 
of  that  city;  but  his  greatest  success  was  in- 
troducing the  process  and  machinery  for  water- 
ing silk  in  this  country.  He  was  also  an  ex- 
tensive dealer  in  real  estate  in  the  city  and 
some  sections  of  the  west.  John  Moneypenny 
(great-grandfather)  was  a  potter  by  trade,  a 
native  of.  and  lived  and  died  in  Ireland.  He 
was  the  father  of  eight  children  :  Thomas,  who 
came  to  America  when  a  young  man  ;  James, 
who  joined  the  English  army,  and  was  killed 
at  the  battle  of  Waterloo  ;  William,  who  died 
in  New  York  ;  Anna,  Martha,  Mary  and  Jane. 
This  John  Moneypenny  died  while  yet  a  young 
man,  and  as  the  eldest  son  had  come  to  America, 
and  the  next  elder  had  joined  the  British  armv, 
the  responsibility  of  looking  after  the  remain- 
der of  the  family  fell  on  John  Moneypenny 
(father).  The  family  he  brought  to  this  country 
with  him  and  assisted  in  their  support.  He 
was  very  successful  in  his  business  under- 
takings. He  was  well  known  in  business  cir- 
cles in  many  of  the  leading  cities  of  this 
country  at  that  time.  Before  leaving  his  native 
country,  he  was  baptized  in  the  established 
church  of  England,  and  after  coming  to  New 
York  he  became  an  official  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  ;  and  was  a  demo- 
crat in  politics.  In  1823  he  married  Mary  A. 
Hill,  who  was  a  native  of  County  Antrim,  Ire- 
land, and  a  daughter  of  William  Hill,  who  mi- 
grated to  this  county,  where  he  followed  farm- 
ing for  manj-  years,  but  the  latter  part  of  his 
life  was  spent  in  the  city  of  New  York.  To 
that  marriage  were  born  nine  children,  only 
two  of  whom  are  living,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  and  Rosina  Hillis,  who  is  now  the  wife 
of  George  H.  McFarland,  of  the  town  of  Jack- 
son. John  Mone\  penny  (father)  died  in  New 
York  city,  February  14,1859,  in  thesixty-fourth 
year  of  his  age,  and  his  wife  passed  away  Jan- 
uary 24,  1862,  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  her  age. 


402 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  JflSTOIiY 


I^EV.  JOHN  ANDERSON,  a  Presby 
r  terian  clergyman  of  Cambridge,  who  is 
well  and  favorably  known  in  many  sections  of 
the  count)',  is  a  native  of  Port  Hope,  Province 
of  Ontario,  Canada,  where  he  was  born  July 
6,  1826,  and  is  a  son  of  William  and  Mary 
(Woods)  Anderson.  William  Anderson  (fath- 
er) was  born  in  the  north  of  Ireland  and  of 
Scotch-Irish  descent.  He  remained  in  his  na- 
tive country  until  after  his  marriage,  to  Mary 
Woods,  when  he  came  to  Port  Hope,  Canada, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  farming  up  to  1841. 
In  that  year  he  removed  to  the  town  of  Argyle, 
this  count}',  and  was  engaged  in  farming  until 
1856,  when  he  migrated  to  Wisconsin,  and  in 
i860,  to  Kosciusko  count}',  Indiana,  where  he 
lived  until  his  death,  in  1865,  at  the  age  of 
seventy  years.  He  was  an  active  and  influen- 
tial member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and 
by  his  marriage  he  had  nine  children,  six  sons 
and  three  daughters  :  Margaret  (dead),  was  the 
wife  of  Jeremiah  Lewis,  of  Green  county,  Wis- 
consin ;  Jane  (dead),  wife  of  Albert  Riley,  of 
Oswego,  New  York;  Rev.  John;  Mary  A. 
(dead),  wife  of  Joshua  Crouch,  of  Minnesota; 
William  H.  (deceased)  ;  Samuel,  who  was 
killed  in  the  battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing, 
April  6,  1862;  Elizabeth  (died  young),  and 
Thomas  G.,  of  North  Dakota,  where  he  is  en- 
gaged in  merchandising  and  farming.  Mrs. 
Mary  Anderson's  death  occurred  in  May,  1872, 
in  the  seventy-second  year  of  her  age. 

Rev.  John  Anderson  grew  to  manhood  on 
his  father's  farm, and  after  taking  the  academi- 
cal course  of  the  Argyle  academy,  he  entered 
Union  college,  at  Schenectady.and  was  gradu- 
ated from  there  in  1852.  He  subsequently 
entered  a  theological  institution  at  Newburg, 
New  York,  where  he  thoroughly  prepared  him- 
self for  the  ministry,  and  was  graduated  from 
there  jn  1856.  Rev.  Anderson  paid  for  his  edu- 
cation all  himself,  principally  by  working  by 
the  month  on  the  farm  and  teaching  district 
school  and  one  term  in  the  Greenwich  acad- 
emy. After  completing  his  theological  edu- 
cation,   he    commenced   the    active    work   of 


the  ministry,  his  first  charge  being  at  Oswego, 
Kosciusko  county,  Indiana,  where  he  had 
charge  of  the  United  Presbyterian  church  for 
a  period  of  twelve  years.  At  the  end  of  that 
time  he  accepted  a  call  at  Martin,  Michigan, 
where  he  labored  successfully  as  pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  for  nine  years,  going 
thence  to  Kalamazoo,  Michigan,  where  he 
preached  for  five  or  six  years,  when  on  account 
of  failing  health  he  resigned  his  charge  and 
was  for  a  while  retired.  He  next  accepted  a 
call  from  Schoolcraft,  Michigan,  remaining 
there  two  years  and  a  half,  when  in  1888  he 
removed  to  the  village  of  Cambridge,  where 
he  has  since  resided,  but  having  no  regular 
church,  only  occasionally  preaching  here  and 
there. 

On  May  27,  1857,  Rev.  Anderson  was  mar- 
ried to  Mary  B.,  a  daughter* of  Dr.  Henry  C. 
Gray,  of  the  village  of  Cambridge.  [For  his- 
tory of  the  Gray  family  see  sketch  of  Dr.  Henry 
Gray,  of  Greenwich.]  To  their  marriage  have 
been  born  seven  children  :  Mary  J.,  now  the 
wife  of  Fred  Goodman,  State  secretary  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  association,  and  resides 
in  the  city  of  New  York  ;  Lizzie  M.,  Dr.  Henry 
G.,  a  practicing  physician  of  the  city  of  New 
York  ;  Grace  E.,  a  teacher  in  the  city  schools 
of  Ottawa,  Canada  ;  John  B.,  a  student  in  Un- 
ion college,  and  Charles  G.  Mrs.  Anderson 
owns  the  old  Gray  homestead  farm, containing 
one  hundred  and  thirty  acres,  adjoining  the 
village  of  Cambridge  on  the  east,  on  which  is 
located  a  comfortable  old-fashioned  farm 
house,  and  which  constitutes  one  of  the  pleas- 
ant homes  of  that  locality. 

Rev.  Anderson  was  formerly  an  active  re- 
publican in  politics,  but  of  late  years  he  has 
identified  himself  with  the  Prohibition  party, 
and  has  frequently  spoken  in  the  cause  of  tem- 
perance. 

f^HARLES  SCALES,  secretary,  treas- 
^^  urer,  and  superintendent  of  the  Glens 
Falls  Terra  Cotta  &  Brick  company,  was 
born  in  England,    September   13,    1838.      His 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY 


403 


father,  Edward  Scales,  was  a  native  of  Cray- 
ford,  County  Kent,  England,  where  he  was 
born  in  1810,  and  died  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
two  years,  in  1882.  He  was  an  Episcopalian 
in  his  religious  belief,  and  a  brick  manufac- 
turer and  clay  worker  by  occupation.  Edward 
Scales  wedded  Frances  Webb,  who  is  now  a 
resident  of  Sittingbourne,  County  Kent,  Eng- 
land, and  is  in  the  seventy-sixth  year  of  her 
age. 

Charles  Scales  was  principally  reared  at  Sit- 
tingbourne, in  the  county  of  Kent,  receiving 
his  education  in  one  of  the  boarding  schools 
of  his  native  country.  After  leaving  the  school 
room  Mr.  Scales  began  to  learn  the  terra  cotta 
and  brick  manufacturing  business  under  his 
father,  with  whom  he  remained  in  various  ca- 
pacities in  business  until  1870,  when  he  emi- 
grated to  Canada  and  located  at  Ottawa.  He 
was  there  engaged  in  the  same  line  of  manu- 
facturing until  1879,  when  he  came  to  New 
York  State,  and  located  at  Glens  Falls.  In 
the  fall  of  the  same  year  he  branched  out  in 
his  old  business,  to  which  he  has  since  devoted 
his  entire  time  and  attention.  In  1884,  prin- 
cipally through  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Scales,  the 
Glens  Falls  Terra  Cotta  &  Brick  company 
was  organized  and  incorporated,  of  which  he 
was  immediately  elected  secretary  and  treas- 
urer, offices  he  has  ever  since  filled  most  sat- 
isfactorily to  all  concerned.  The  position  of 
superintendent  of  these  works  he  has  also 
filled  since  their  organization.  The  capital 
stock  of  this  growing  and  important  industry 
is  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 
The  company  owns  twenty-six  acres  of  land 
where  their  works  are  situated,  their  buildings 
covering  some  five  or  six  acres  of  the  tract, 
and  during  the  summer  months  of  the  year 
employs  about  one  hundred  operatives. 

In  icS6o  Mr.  Scales  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Mary  Ann.  a  daughter  of  Robert  Sargent,  of 
Stittingbourne,  England,  and  to  his  marriage 
have  been  born  three  children:  William  J., 
Edward,  and  Laura.  Mr.  Scales,  with  all  the 
other  members  of  his  family,  are  members  of 


the  Friends'  church  at  Glens  Falls.  William 
J.,  the  eldest  son,  is  quite  a  sculptur,  and  de- 
votes a  great  deal  of  his  time  to  his  art. 

The  Glens  Falls  Terra  Cotta  &  Brick  com- 
pany manufactures  pressed,  plain, and  moulded 
or  ornamental  brick  of  various  colors,  also 
architectural  terra  cotta  in  red  buff  and  other 
colors.  The  president  of  this  company  is  J. 
M.  Coolidge,  but  it  is  principally  through 
Mr.  Scales'  energy  and  well-directed  business 
tact  that  the  works  have  assumed  their  pres- 
ent size  and  command  their  present  patronage. 


TlEONARD  31.  RICH,  the  capable  tele- 
graph operator  and  railroad  ticket  agent, 
has  held  these  positions  at  Whitehall  since 
1865.  He  is  a  son  of  Lyman  and  Catharine 
(Daily)  Rich,  and  was  born  in  the  village  of 
Comstock,  Washington  county,  New  York, 
September  29,  1843.  Lyman  Rich  (father) 
was  a  native  of  this  county,  and  was  born  in 
1809.  He  resided  in  his  native  town  the  greater 
portion  of  his  life,  but  removed  to  Whitehall 
some  five  or  six  years  previous  to  his  death, 
where  he  died  in  1878,  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine 
years.  By  occupation  he  was  a  carpenter, and 
a  republican  in  his  political  belief.  His  father, 
Richard  Rich,  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  in 
the  county.  Mrs.  Catharine  Rich  (mother) 
was  born  in  this  county,  and  died  in  1869. 

Leonard  M.  Rich  grew  up  in  his  native  vil- 
lage of  Comstock,  where  he  received  the  ad- 
vantages of  a  common  school  education.  At 
the  age  of  fifteen  he  entered  the  employ  of  the 
old  Rensselaer  &  Saratoga  Railroad  company 
as  fireman,  and,  in  1861,  while  coupling  cars 
he  suffered  the  loss  of  his  right  arm.  After 
losing  his  arm  he  learned  telegraphy,  and  in 
the  fall  of  1865  he  was  stationed  at  Whitehall 
as  the  company's  operator  and  ticket  agent, 
which  position  he  has  acceptably  filled  ever 
since.  In  1880  he  was  given  the  appointment 
by  the  company  of  station  agent,  taking  charge 
in  connection  with  his  other  positions  of  that  of 
the    freight  department  for    the    Delaware  cS: 


404 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Hudson  Canal  Railroad  company,  the  suc- 
cessor to  the  old  Rensselaer  &  Saratoga  Rail- 
road company. 

Leonard  M.  Rich  was  married  in  1875  to 
Sarah  J.  Green,  of  Addison,  New  York.  His 
wife  died  August  23,  1893.  Mr.  Rich  is  a  re- 
publican in  politics,  and  has  for  a  number  of 
years  filled  the  office  of  school  trustee  of  his 
village.  He  is  a  member  of  Whitehall  Lodge, 
No.  5,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows, 
and  is  a  leading  member  and  trustee  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  ;  his  wife  was  also 
a  member  of  that  church  up  to  the  time  of  her 
death.  Mr.  Rich  is  pleasant,  affable  and  ac- 
commodating, and  is  popular  alike  with  his 
employers  and  the  traveling  public. 


HENRY  SMITH,  a  popular  citizen  and 
farmer  of  the  town  of  Jackson,  is  a  son 
of  Gideon  and  Betsy  (Styles)  Smith,  and  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Jackson,  Washington 
county,  New  York,  February  6,  1839.  Gid- 
eon Smith  was  a  native  of  Shaftsbury,  Ver- 
mont, and  followed  the  occupation  of  farming  ; 
a  member  of  the  Methodist  church,  and  an 
ardent  democrat.  His  wife  was  Betsy  Styles, 
also  a  native  of  Vermont.  To  their  marriage 
were  born  seven  sons  and  three  daughters  : 
Reuben,  of  Hoosick  Falls  ;•  Henry  ;  Elizabeth, 
of  Hoosick  Falls  ;  George,  also  of  Hoosick 
Falls,  and  William,  in  the  United  States  Arm}'. 
The  rest  died  in  youth.  Reuben  Smith  (grand- 
father) was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  in 
the  latter  years  of  his  life  removed  to  Wash- 
ington county.  He  was  a  member  of  an  inde- 
pendent military  company  that  started  for  the 
battle  of  Plattsburg,  in  the  War  of  1812,  but 
was  never  called  into  active  service.  His  wife 
was  a  Miss  Kenyon,  of  Massachusetts,  by 
whom  he  had  eight  children  :  Mar}',  the  wife 
of  D.  Hawthorne,  of  Hoosick  Falls;  Gideon  ; 
Job;  Lydia  ;  Charlotte,  wife  of  Asa  Colgrove, 
of  Hoosick  Falls  ;  Eliza,  wife  of  Norman  Har- 
den ;  John  and  William.  William  and  Eliza 
are  the  only  ones  living.    Gideon  Smith  (great- 


grandfather) was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island, 
who  afterward  removed  with  his  family  from 
there  into  Massachusetts".  The  Smiths  are  of 
Irish  extraction. 

Henry  Smith  was  reared  on  the  farm  and 
has  always  been  engaged  in  that  calling,  and 
received  his  education  in  the  schools  of  his  na- 
tive town.  In  December,  1866,  he  removed 
to  the  farm  where  he  has  ever  since  resided, 
which  is  one  of  the  best  farms  in  the  town, 
containing  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  acres. 

On  December  25,  1871,  Mr.  Smith  was  mar- 
ried to  Elizabeth  Malone,  by  whom  he  had 
three  children  :  Bessie,  May,  and  Henrietta 
(dead).  Mrs.  Smith  was  born  in  January, 
1839,  and  died  May  13,  1889  ;  she  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Episcopal  church.  Mr.  Smith  also 
owns  a  valuable  farm  of  fifty-five  acres  lo- 
cated one-half  mile  from  the  village  of  Cam- 
bridge, which  he  rents. 


FT  LEXANDER  M.  SHERMAN,  a  well 
known  business  man  and  farmer  of  the 
town  of  Cambridge,  was  born  on  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides  September  11,  1839, 
and  is  a  son  of  Zina  and  Elizabeth  (Marshall) 
Sherman.  Zina  Sherman  was  born  in  the 
same  town,  October  16,  1803,  and  where  he 
died  January  11,  1879,  and  his  wife,  Elizabeth 
Marshall,  was  also  a  native  of  the  same  town, 
bqrn  June  12,  1805,  and  where  her  death  oc- 
cured,  April  19,  1877.  Zina  Sherman  received 
his  education  at  the  Cambridge  Washington 
academy,  and  grew  up  on  the  farm.  He  pur- 
chased the  farm  where  his  son  now  resides, 
containing  one  hundred  and  twenty-nine  acres, 
soon  after  his  marriage,  where  he  continued  to 
till  the  soil  until  his  death.  For  a  number  of 
years  he  was  also  engaged  extensively  deal- 
ing in  cattle  and  sheep.  He  was  a  member 
and  elder  in  the  United  Presbyterian  church 
at  Cambridge,  being  ordained  elder  May  25, 
1845,  and  continued  as  such  until  the  time  of 
his  death.  In  politics  he  was  a  whig  and  re- 
republican,  and  held  the  office  of  supervisor  of 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY 


405 


the  town  for  a  number  of  "years,  and  that  of 
coroner  of  the  county  a  term  or  two.  On 
March  20,  1833,  he  married  Elizabeth,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Alexander  Marshall,  a  farmer  of  the 
town  of  Cambridge.  The  Shermans  and  Mar- 
shalls  are  both  of  Scotch  descent.  To  the 
marriage  of  Zina  Sherman  and  Elizabeth  Mar- 
shall were  born  four  children  :  Sarah  J.,  wife  of 
Edwain  L.  Bushnell,  of  Poughkeepsie  ;  Eliza- 
beth, wife  of  Hon.  James  S.  Smart,  of  Cam- 
bridge ;  Alexander  M.,  and  William,  of  Oska- 
loosa,  Iowa,  and  Emil  Sherman. 

Lemuel  Sherman  (grandfather)  was  a  native 
of  Connecticut,  and  who  became  one  of  the 
pioneer  settlers  of  the  town  of  Cambridge, 
where  he  afterward  became  one  of  the  thrift}' 
farmers  of  that  section.  He  owned  two  hun- 
dred acres  of  land,  and  in  that  early  da}'  was 
known  as  Captain  Sherman,  a  soldier  in  the 
Revolutionary  war.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
noted  colonial  Sherman  family  which  gave 
Roger  Sherman  to  the  republic.  He  was  an 
elder  in  the  Scotch  Presbyterian,  now  the 
United  Presbyterian,  church.  His  wife  was 
Sarah  Carswell,  by  whom  he  had  eight  chil- 
dren :  Fortunatus,  Zina,  Eunice,  wife  of  Gar- 
rett Fisher,  of  Cambridge,  and  both  dead  ; 
Rhoda,  wife  of  Courtland  Skinner,  a  farmer 
of  this  town,  and  both  dead  ;  and  Lemuel, 
Nathaniel,  Sarah  and  Rebecca,  who  are 
all  deceased.  Fortunatus  Sherman  (great- 
grandfather), was  a  native  of  England,  who 
immigrated  from  his  native  country  to  New 
Bedford,  Connecticut,  several  years  prior 
to  the  Revolution,  and  during  that  strug- 
gle was  a  sailor  in  the  "Continental  navy," 
and  while  serving  in  this  capacity  he  was  shot 
through  the  knee,  during  one  of  the  naval  en- 
gagements. 

Alexander  M.  Sherman  was  reared  on  the 
farm,  and  has  always  been  engaged  in  farm- 
ing, and  attended  the  Cambridge  Washington 
academy.  After  leaving  school  he  returned 
to  the  farm,  where  he  has  since  remained,  and 
belongs  to  a  family  of  successful  farmers.  Mr. 
Sherman  is  a  member,  elder  and  trustee  of  the 


Presbyterian  church  of  Cambridge.  In  poli- 
tics he  is  a  republican,  and  filled  the  office  of 
loan  commissioner  of  the  county  from  1873 
until  1883,  receiving  his  appointment  from 
Governor  Dix. 

On  December  5,  1866,  he  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Mar}'  Frances,  a  daughter  of 
Nelson  Simpson,  a  farmer  of  the  town  of  White 
Creek. 


|3  MLES  RICE,  vice-president  and 
\*  treasurer  of  the  well  known  Jerome  B. 
Rice  &  Company's  Cambridge  Valley  seed 
garden,  wholesale  dealers  in  garden,  field  and 
flower  seeds,  of  the  village  of  Cambridge,  and 
one  of  the  most  prominent  business  men  of 
that  section,  was  born  in  what  was  then  the 
town  of  Cambridge,  but  now  the  town  of 
White  Creek, Washington  county,  New  York, 
September  12,  181 3,  and  is  a  son  of  Daniel 
and  Zina  (Kidder)  Rice.  Daniel  Rice  (father) 
was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  where  he  was 
born  November  23,  1777.  He  was  reared  on 
the  farm,  which  occupation  he  afterward  fol- 
lowed, and  after  his  marriage  he  and  his  wife 
came  to  Washington  county,  New  York,  on 
horseback,  and  located  in  what  was  then  the 
town  of  Cambridge,  but  is  now  White  Creek, 
and  where  he  purchased  ninety-six  acres  of 
land  ;  he  afterward  added  more  to  that  tract, 
and  a  number  of  years  later  he  traded  it  for 
a  tract  of  two  hundred  acres  in  the  town  of 
Salem,  where  he  died  October  14,  1838.  April 
19,  1803,  he  married  Zina  Kidder,  by  whom 
he  had  a  family  of  ten  children  :  Harvey 
(dead),  born  September  16,  1804;  Daniel 
(dead),  born  February  21,  1806;  Anna(dead), 
born  October  8,  1808  ;  Jemima  (dead),  born 
November  28,  1810  ;  Roswell  M.,  born  Sep- 
tember 12,  1813-,  O.  K*.  Rice,  born  December 
27,  1815  ;  Sylvia  H.  (dead),  born  April  14, 
1818  ;  Lydia,  born  July  9,  1824;  Nathan  E. 
(dead),  born  July  4,  1826,  and  Sarah  E.(dead), 
born  December  2,  1828. 

Daniel  Rice  (father)  was   married  April  19, 
1803,  and   died   October   13,  1848.      His  wife. 


406 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Zina  Kidder,  was  born  December  24,  1787, 
and  died  February  12,  1865.  After  the  death 
of  Daniel  Rice  his  widow  married  Amoriah 
Fenton,  of  the  town  of  Jackson,  where  she 
was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church 
when  her  death  occurred.  Thomas  Rice 
(grandfather)  was  a  native  of  Connecticut, 
where  he  followed  farming  until  he  removed 
to  the  town  of  White  Creek,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  farm  until  his  death.  He  was  born 
September  1,  1745,  and  died  in  1833.  He  was 
a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  He  took 
to  wife  Thankful  Eldridge,  who  was  born  in 
Connecticut,  and  died  in  the  village  of  Cam- 
bridge at  the  age  of  seventy-one  years, in  1816. 
They  were  the  parents  of  four  children  :  Ros- 
well,  a  farmer  in  the  town  of  White  Creek  ; 
Daniel,  the  father  of  Rosvvell  N.;  Sarah  and 
Thankful  ;  Sarah,  wife  of  Ichabod  Eldridge, 
of  Cambridge.  The  Rice  ancestry  is  traced 
back  to  the  landing  of  the  "  Mayflower,"  and 
Mr.  R.  N.  Rice  has  in  his  possession  a  num- 
ber of  relics  that  were  brought  over  in  that  fa- 
mous little  boat. 

R.  Niles  Rice,  like  most  of  the  successful 
men  of  the  day,  grew  to  manhood  on  the  farm, 
receiving  his  education  in  the  old  Washington 
academy  at  Salem  and  the  Fort  Edward 
Collegiate  institute.  After  leaving  school  he 
taught  district  school  for  several  years,  and 
alternately  was  engaged  in  farming  and  rais- 
ing garden  seeds.  About  this  time  he  pur- 
chased two  farms  in  the  town  of  Jackson,  con- 
taining two  hundred  and  thirty-six  acres,  and 
also  owned  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  in  Kankakee  count}',  Illinois,  where  he 
built  a  comfortable  residence.  In  his  farming 
he  always  made  a  specialty  of  raising  garden 
seeds  and  speculated  extensively  in  grain  and 
potatoes.  In  1867  Mr.  Rice  sold  his  farms 
in  the  town  of  Jackson  and  removed  to  the 
village  of  Cambridge,  where  he  has  resided 
ever  since  ;  and  in  1882  sold  his  Illinois  farm. 
Since  coming  to  the  village  he  has  devoted  his 
entire  time  to  his  seed  business,  which  he  has 
been  more  or  less  engaged  in  since  arriving  at 


the  age  of  nineteen  years.  At  that  age  he 
commenced  raising  seed  and  putting  them  up 
in  packages  for  the  retail  trade,  continuing 
alone  in  this  industry  up  to  the  year  he  re- 
moved to  the  village,  when  he  took  in  his  son, 
Jerome  B.,  as  partner,  who  continued  the  busi- 
ness up  to  1889,  when  the  business  became  a 
stock  company,  with  a  capital  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  doing  a  busi- 
ness of  over  a  half  million  dollars  annually. 
This  immense  business,  which  is  due  princi- 
pally to  the  splendid  ability  of  Mr.  Rice,  was 
established  in  1832  and  incorporated  in  1886. 
The  present  officers  of  the  company  are  :  Je- 
rome B.  Rice,  president ;  R.  Niles  Rice,  vice- 
president  and  treasurer;  and  C.  E.  Smith, 
secretary.  The  seed  house,  located  on  a 
beautiful  spot  of  ground,  is  a  substantial  three 
story  brick  building,  of  which  the  main  build- 
ing is  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  by  eighty 
feet,  with  an  annex  the  same  height  as  the 
main,  one  hundred  and  fifty  by  forty  feet. 
The  company  employ  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  men  and  women  at  the  seed  house,  and 
twenty  traveling  men,  selling  these  goods  in 
all  parts  of  the  United  States. 

R.  Niles  Rice  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity, and  a  member  and  trustee  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  ;  he  is  also  chair- 
man of  the  board  and  superintendent  and  trus- 
tee of  the  Woodland  cemetery.  In  politics  he 
was  a  republican  up  to  1888,  when  he  identified 
himself  with  the  Prohibition  party.  While 
residing  in  the  town  of  Jackson,  he  served 
one  term  as  supervisor,  and  since  his  residence 
in  Cambridge  he  has  several  times  served  as 
village  trustee. 

On  May  14,  1840,  Mr.  Rice  wedded  Betsy 
Ann,  daughter  of  Abel  Hodges,  a  farmer  of 
the  town  of  Salem.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rice 
were  born  six  children:  Jerome  B.,  who  is 
president  of  the  Jerome  B.  Rice  &  Co.  Cam- 
bridge Valley  seed  gardens,  and  a  veteran  of 
the  Civil  war,  and  was  born  July  18,  1841  ; 
Josephine,  born  September  15,  1845,  and  the 
wife    of    Henry    B.   Wilcox,   a  custom  house 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY. 


407 


officer  of  Rochester,  New  York;  James  H., 
born  October  31,  1843,  a  stockholder  in  and 
traveling  salesman  for  the  seed  firm,  and  a 
veteran  of  the  Civil  war  ;  Mariette,  born  De- 
cember 11,  1847,  wife  of  Dr.  A.  S.  Newcomb, 
of  New  York  city  ;  Albertine,  born  October  g, 
1853,  and  the  wife  of  Edward  Fuller,  of  this 
village;  and  AnnaG.,  horn  October  31,  1859, 
the  late  wife  of  Fred.  Becker,  of  Troy,  New 
York;  she  died  December  30,  1893.  Mrs.  R. 
N.  Rice  was  born  March  27,  1817,  died  June 
2,  1876,  and  on  March  12,  1878,  Mr.  Rice  wed- 
ded for  his  second  wife  Mrs.  Mary  Motsiff,  a 
daughter  of  J.  Sniffin,  of  Onondaga  count)', 
New  York. 


1T\  A.  CHASE,  31.  D.,  a  resident  of  Cam- 
•  bridge,  was  born  at  Athens,  Vermont, 
January  13,  1830,  and  is  a  son  of  Daniel  and 
Parthenia  (Hadley)  Chase.  His  education 
was  principally  received  at  the  Bradford  acad- 
emy, Bradford,  Massachusetts,  and  was  grad- 
uated from  this  institution  in  1848.  In  a  short 
time  afterward  he  took  up  the  study  of  medi- 
cine with  his  grandfather  and  uncle,  Philip 
Chase,  and  graduated  from  the  Cincinnati 
Eclectic  Medical  institute  in  1852,  and  was 
regraduated  from  the  same  place  in  1878. 
After  his  graduation  in  1852,  he  began  the 
practice  of  his  profession  with  his  uncle,  Dr. 
Philip  Chase,  with  whom  he  remained  for  a 
short  time.  In  1858  he  removed  to  North 
Greenwich,  where  he  practiced  for  three  years, 
when  he  came  to  the  village  of  Cambridge, 
remaining  here  until  1874,  thence  to  Athol, 
Massachusetts,  practicing  there  until  the  latter 
part  of  1878,  when  he  returned  to  college. 
After  his  second  graduation  he  went  to  Orion, 
Illinois,  and  practiced  there  for  two  years,  and 
one  year  at  Peoria,  when,  at  the  solicitation  of 
some  of  his  old  patrons  at  Cambridge,  he  re- 
turned to  that  village,  where  he  has  built  up 
an  extensive  and  lucrative  practice.  Dr. Chase 
makes  a  specialty  of  all  chronic  diseases,  and 
has  a  large  practice  in  that  line  from  all  sec- 


tions of  the  county.  He  also  prepares  several 
patent  medicines:  Dr.  Chase's  Bronchial 
Troches,  Dr.  Chase's  Pain  Cure,  his  cough 
and  lung  syrup,  and  his  vegetable  worm  syrup, 
for  which  he  receives  orders  from  nearly 
every  State  in  the  Union.  Dr.  Chase  is  a 
member  of  the  following  medical  societies: 
New  York  State  Eclectical  society,  Massa- 
chusetts State  Eclectic  society,  Worcester 
West  Medical  society,  of  Massachusetts,  the 
Albany  County  Eclectic  Medical  society,  and 
the  National  Eclectic  Medical  society.  He  is 
also  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity.  On 
April  3,  1877,  Dr.  Chase  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Elvira  R. ,  a  daughter  of  Merritt 
Chase,  a  manufacturer  and  farmer  of  Wliit- 
ingham,  Vermont.  To  their  marriage  have 
been  born  three  children  :  Maria  P.,  wife  of 
A.  Holland,  of  Orange,  Massachusetts ;  Es- 
tella  L.,  wife  of  Harry  S.  Blackfan,  M.D.,  of 
Shushan  ;  and  Mary  Elizabeth  (dead).  Dr. 
Chase  owns  a  farm  containing  fifty-four  acres, 
situated  in  the  town  of  White  Creek,  near  the 
village,  where  he  raises  small  fruits ;  and  also 
owns  property  and  several  small  fruit  farms  in 
the  State  of  Florida. 

Dr.  Daniel  Chase  (father)  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Athens,  Vermont,  in  1808,  and  was  a 
graduate  of  the  South  Londonderry  academy  ; 
studied  medicine  with  his  father,  and  was  grad- 
uated from  the  medical  department  of  Har- 
vard university,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years. 
He  began  the  practice  of  his  profession  at 
Rockingham,  Vermont,  where  he  continued 
up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  March,  1830,  caused  by  an  accident.  In 
about  182S  he  wedded  Parthenia,  a  daughter 
of  Humphrey  Hadley,  a  farmer  of  Shrewes- 
bury,  Vermont.  To  them  was  born  but  one 
child,  a  son,  Dr.  Daniel  A.  Mrs.  Chase  mar- 
ried, for  her  second  husband,  Elias  F.  Eddi- 
son,  of  Andover,  Vermont.  To  this  second 
marriage  there  was  one  child  born,  a  son,Wil- 
lard  E.  Her  death  occurred  in  Vermont,  in 
March,  1S41,  having  been  born  in  1800.  Dr. 
Ebenezer  Chase  (grandfather)  was  a  native  of 


408 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


the  State  of  Maine  ;  read  medicine  with  his 
father,  and  practiced  in  Rockingham  and 
BriJgewater,  Vermont,  and  made  a  specialty 
of  all  chronic  diseases,  broken  limbs  and  long 
standing  dislocations,  and  had  a  high  reputa- 
tion for  reducing  fractures  after  other  doc- 
tors had  failed,  and  in  this  specialty  he  was 
often  called  from  Vermont  to  New  Hampshire, 
Massachusetts,  New  York  and  Canada.  He 
was  an  old-line  whig,  and  married  Betsy  Ter- 
rill,  by  whom  he  had  eleven  children,  seven 
sons  and  four  daughters  :  Ebenezer,  Daniel, 
Isaac,  Peter,  Philip  and  William,  were  all 
physicians  ;  one  that  died  in  infancy  ;  Maria, 
wife  of  Hiram  Rice,  of  Chester,  Vermont ; 
Almira,  wife  of  Reuben  Lippenwell,  of  West 
Munster,  Vermont  ;  Eusseba,  the  wife  of  R. 
Chilson,  of  Redding,  Vermont  ;  Alzina,  mar- 
ried Leonard  Cummings,  of  Chester, Vermont. 
Dr.  Ebenezer  Chase  (great-grandfather)  was 
a  native  of  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  and 
removed  to  Sebeck,  Maine,  where  he  com- 
manded a  large  practice,  and  was  drowned  in 
Sebeck  Lake.  The  Chase  family  trace  their 
genealogy  to  Sir  Thomas  Chase,  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  the  VIII., who  was  armor-bearer  for 
the  king  in  the  war  with  the  Saracens.  The 
name  originated  on  account  of  Sir  Thomas 
being  fond  of  the  chase,  and  was  afterward 
known  as  ';Sir  Thomas  of  the  chase." 


.JOHN  SHILAND,  a  highly  respected 
and  favorably  known  citizen  of  the  village 
of  Coila,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Jackson, 
Washington  county,  New  York,  December  10, 
1828,  and  is  a  son  of  James  and  Elizabeth 
(Maxwell)  Shiland.  James  Shiland  was  a  na- 
tive of  the  town  of  Cambridge,  where  he  was 
born  July  6,  1801.  He  received  an  academical 
education  at  the  Washington  Cambridge  acad- 
emy, and  was  the  most  of  his  life  engage  in 
farming  in  the  town  of  Jackson,  where  he 
owned  a  farm  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres. 
He  was  captain  of  a  light  infantry  company 
in  the  old  State  militia,  and  was  a  member  of 


the  American  Bible  society.  For  a  number 
of  years  he  was  a  leading  elder  in  the  United 
Presbyterian  church  of  Coila ;  a  whig  and 
afterward  a  republican,  and  held  many  of  the 
town  offices.  In  1827,  he  wedded  Elizabeth, 
a  daughter  of  John  Maxwell,  a  farmer  of  the 
town  of  Jackson.  To  them  was  born  one  son  : 
John.  James  Shiland's  death  occurred  Novem- 
ber 17,  1865.  His  wife  preceded  him  to  the 
grave  July  13,  1831.  His  second  wife  was 
Jane  McGoch.  To  them  were  born  five  chil- 
dren, four  sons  and  one  daughter:  James 
Alexander,  of  San  Francisco,  California  :  Wil- 
liam Thomas,  a  traveling  salesman  residing 
at  Sandwich,  Illinois  ;  Elizabeth  Jane,  wife  of 
John  A.  Stephenson,  of  Kansas;  Edward  G., 
a  farmer  of  Jackson,  and  David  B.,  of  Pon- 
tiac,  Illinois. 

John  Shiland  (grandfather)  was  a  native  of 
Scotland,  where  he  was  born  in  1772,  and  died 
in  Cambridge  May  25,  1844.  He  came  to  this 
country  with  his  father  and  located  in  the  town 
of  Cambridge,  where  he  afterward  owned  a 
farm  of  three  hundred  acres  of  land  and  be- 
came a  well-to-do  farmer.  He  was  an  elder 
in  what  was  then  known  as  the  Associate 
church,  but  is  now  the  United  Presbyterian. 
His  wife  was  Margaret  Eddy,  who  was  born 
in  1777  and  by  whom  he  had  nine  children  : 
John  ;  Jane,  wife  of  Daniel  McFarland,  of 
Jackson  ;  James  ;  William  ;  Mary,  wife  of  John 
Lemond, -of  Cambridge;  Ephraim  ;  David; 
Thomas  and  Ann,  all  of  whom  are  now.  de- 
ceased. John  Shiland,  who  was  the  great- 
grandfather of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  came 
from  Scotland,  into  the  town  of  Cambridge, 
prior  to  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  where  he 
first  located;  after  his  arrival  here  he  was  forced 
to  move  on  account  of  Indian  depredations 
and  then  came  to  the  town  of  Cambridge.  He 
followed  shoemaking  and  farming,  and  died  in 
Cambridge. 

John  Shiland  was  reared  on  the  farm,  and 
has  always  been  engaged  in  that  occupation, 
having  received  his  education  in  the  common 
schools   and    afterward     supplemented    by    a 


/;/')<,■ /,W/'/fV  AXf)    HISTORY 


409 


courbe  at  the  Poultney  academy,  at  Poultney, 
Vermont.  The  farm  he  formerly  owned  con- 
tained one  hundred  anil  fourteen  acres,  which 
in  1SS2  he  sold  to  Anna  F.  Wright,  and  has 
since  conducted  the  farm  for  her,  being  paid  a 
salary  for  his  services.  Mr.  Shiland  was 
identified  with  the  Republican  party  up  to  1888, 
when  he  became  an  ardent  prohibitionist  and 
takes  an'active  part  in  his  party's  principles. 
For  twenty  years  he  held  the  office  of  assessor 
of  the  town  of  Cambridge.  He  is  an  elder  of 
the  United  Presbyterian  church  of  Coila,  an 
office  he  has  acceptably  filled  for  thirty  years, 
and  a  member  for  forty-two  years  ;  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  American  Bible  society  and  is  a  di- 
rector of  this  organization. 

On  May  30,  1855,  Mr.  Shiland  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Cornelia,  a  daughter  of  James 
T.  Green,  a  farmer  of  the  town  of  Jackson. 


FRANK  MILLER,  a  prominent  business 
man  and  lumber  dealer  of  the  village  of 
Greenwich,  was  born  May  25,  1825,  and  is  a 
son  of  Peter  and  Sophia  (Noads)  Miller.  The 
family  is  of  French  extraction,  and  the  father 
and  the  paternal  grandfather  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  were  natives  of  Canada.  Peter 
Miller  came  to  Greenwich  in  1S48,  where  he 
resided  up  to  within  a  short  time  of  his  death, 
when  he  went  to  North  Adams,  Massachu- 
setts, where  his  death  occurred  in  1876,  in  the 
eighty-second  year  of  his  age.  He  latterly 
became  a  republican  in  politics.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Catholic  church,  and  was  in 
the  war  of  1812.  He  was  twice  married;  by 
his  first  wife  he  had  thirteen  children  :  Peter 
(1),  died  in  childhood;  Joseph,  deceased;  a 
girl,  who  died  in  infancy;  Peter  (2);  Frank, 
Matilda,  Sopha,  Alonzo,  Mary,  and  three 
others,  who  all  died  young.  His  first  wife 
died  at  the  age  of  forty-one  years.  By  his 
second  wife  he  had  eight  children.  Among  the 
number  were  :  Philoman,  Jackson,  Augustus, 
John  and  William. 

Frank   Miller  received  his  early  education 
•J  1 


chiefly  by  self  study,  having  few  opportunities 
to  attend  school.  At  the  early  age  of  twelve 
years  he  began  working  on  the  farm,  and  at 
sixteen  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  cabinet  maker, 
a  business  he  afterward  followed  for  twenty 
years,  with  a  Mr.  Fenton,  with  whom  he 
learned  his  trade.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the 
late  war,  Mr.  Miller  did  excellent  service  in 
recruiting  men  for  the  army  throughout  his 
town  ;  and  during  the  entire  war  he  was  en- 
gaged more  or  less  in  this  work.  After  the 
close  of  the  war  Mr.  Miller  abandoned  the 
undertaking  business,  and  engaged  in  dealing 
in  lumber,  in  which  he  has  ever  since  been 
engaged  —  a  period  of  about  thirty  years.  He 
owns  one  of  the  most  valuable  plants  of  this 
kind  in  his  section  of  the  county,  giving  em- 
ployment to  about  twenty-five  or  thirty  men. 
He  owns  a  valuable  home  in  this  village  ;  is  a 
stanch  republican  in  his  political  affiliations, 
and  a  member  and  trustee  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church. 

On  October  5,  1845,  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Jeannette  Moore,  by  whom  he  had 
one  child,  Louisa,  who  died  at  the  age  of  ten 
years.  Mrs.  Miller  died  August  16,  1890,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-seven  years.  Mr.  Miller  mar- 
ried, for  his  second  wife,  Margaret  Campbell, 
of  Greenwich. 


JDEV.  TH03IAS  CLARK,  M.  D.,  the 

T  founder  of  the  United  Presbyterian  church 
in  Washington  county,  New  York,  was  li- 
censed to  preach  in  1748  by  the  Associate 
Burgher  Presbytery  of  Glasgow,  Scotland, 
and  sent  as  supply  to  a  congregation  at  Mon- 
aghan  and  Ballibay,  Ireland.  He  was  twice 
imprisoned  on  account  of  his  religious  belief, 
and  in  1764  led  a  large  part  of  his  congrega- 
tion to  the  new  world  in  quest  of  a  place  to 
worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their 
conscience.  They  settled  at  Salem,  and  built 
immediately  a  church  and  school  house.  Doc- 
tor Clark,  in  addition  to  his  ministerial  duties, 
was  called  far  and   near  as  a  physician.      He 


410 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


founded  several  churches  in  different  parts  of 
the  country,  and  in  1782  left  Salem.  After  re- 
siding in  South  Carolina  and  at  Albany,  New 
York,  he  became,  in  1786,  pastor  of  two  con- 
gregations at  Abbeville,  South  Carolina,  where 
he  died  December  26,  1792. 


FLAVIUS  J.  CORNELL,  an  extensive 
farmer  of  the  town  White  Creek,  is  a  son 
of  Matthew  and  Lydia  (Ford)  Cornell,  and 
was  born  in  the  same  town  in  which  he  now 
resides,  Washington  county,  New  York,  May 
11,  1832.  Matthew  Cornell  was  a  native  of 
the  town  of  Cambridge,  where  he  was  born 
March  22,  1787,  and  died  in  the  town  of  White 
Creek,  January  30,  1854.  After  receiving  a 
common  school  education  he  was  engaged  in 
general  farming.  In  1826  he  purchased  the 
farm  known  as  the  Brownell  Hollow  farm,  in 
the  town  of  White  Creek,  containing  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  acres,  which  he  conducted 
with  very  good  success.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  White  Creek  Baptist  church,  and  an  old- 
line  whig.  On  February  14,  1807,  he  wedded 
Lydia  Ford,  who  was  born  in  Pittstown,  New 
York,  March  31,  1789  and  was  a  daughter  of 
Thomas  Ford,  a  farmer  of  Pittstown,  Rensse- 
laer county,  who  afterward  removed  to  Chau- 
tauqua county,  where  he  died.  They  were  the 
parents  of  twelve  children:  Merritt  J.,  born 
May  5,  1809,  died  August  27,  1883,  in  Ran- 
dolph county,  Kansas,  where  he  lived  with  his 
son;  Zina,  born  January  3,  181 1,  died  Febru- 
ary 3,  1893,  and  was  a  farmer  in  South  Cam- 
bridge ;  Charlotte,  born  April  13,  1813,  died 
January  8,  1857,  and  was  the  wife  of  Isaac  G. 
Parker,  of  Greenwich  ;  Cyrus,  born  Novem- 
ber 11,  1815,  died  August  1,  1818  ;  Thomas 
F.,  born  June  26,  1818,  died  February  18, 
1889,  and  was  a  farmer  of  Cambridge  ;  Walter, 
born  December  18,  1820,  and  died  December 
18,  1845  ;  Mahitable,  born  April  19,  1823,  died 
April  29,  1848,  and  was  the  wife  of  Humphrey 
K.  Brownell,  of  this  town ;  Elizabeth  Ann, 
born  January  17,  1825,  and  died  January  13, 


1854;  Mary  D.,  born  September  15,  1827,  and 
died  July  20,  1847,  and  Amy  and  Emma,  who 
were  born  January  6,  1830  ;  Emma  died  in  in- 
fancy and  Amy  died  August  6,  1849.  Mrs. 
Lydia  Cornell's  death  occurred  November  28, 
1N67.  The  immigrant  ancestor  and  founder 
of  this  family  of  Cornells  in  America,  was 
Thomas  Cornell,  who  emigrated  from  England 
in  1630  and  first  located  in  Boston,  Massachu- 
setts, residing  there  but  a  short  time,  when  he 
went  to  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  where 
the  early  records  show  that  he  was  admitted 
to  the  body  of  Free  men,  August  6,  1640.  He 
had  a  son  Thomas,  who  married  Martha  Freed- 
more,  of  Portsmouth,  by  whom  he  had  seven 
children  :  Thomas,  Susannah,  Gideon,  Wil- 
liam, George,  Gideon  (2),  and  Sarah.  In  di- 
rect line  from  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
George  Cornell,  who  was  born  May  26,  1704, 
wedded  Elizabeth  Thurston  and  had  seven 
children  :  Walter,  Thomas,  Lathan,  Lathan 
(2),  Gideon,  Edward  and  Matthew.  Matthew 
being  the  grandfather  of  F.  J.  Cornell,  who 
was  born  October  30,  1743,  in  the  town  of 
Portsmouth,  Rhode  Island,  married  Elizabeth 
Shrieve,  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  by  whom 
he  had  eight  children  :  Elizabeth,  John, 
Walter.  Hannah,  Matthew,  George  and  Milli- 
cent.  Matthew  Cornell  (grandfather)  removed 
from  Rhode  Island  to  the  town  of  Easton  in 
1783,  where  he  followed  farming,  and  died  in 
Cambridge. 

Flavius  J.  Cornell  was  reared  on  the  farm, 
receiving  his  education  in  the  district  schools, 
and  continued  to  farm  up  to  1862,  when  he 
enlisted  in  the  late  Civil  war,  on  the  13th  of 
August,  in  Co.  G,  123d  New  York  volunteer 
infantry,  as  a  private,  promoted  to  corporal, 
and  was  honorably  discharged  on  J.une  8,  1865. 
He  fought  at  Chancellorsville  and  at  Gettys- 
burg, was  with  Sherman  from  Chattanooga  to 
the  sea,  returning  through  the  Carolinas  to 
Washington,  where  he  received  his  discharge. 
He  received  a  slight  wound  in  the  head  at  the 
battle  of  Chancellorsville,  by  a  fragment  of  a 
shell  striking  him-.      After  returning  home  Mr. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


411 


Cornell  followed  farming  for  a  short  time, 
when  he  removed  to  Genesee  county,  where 
he  purchased  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  forty 
acres.  In  1872  he  sold  this  farm  and  bought 
another  in  the  same  neighborhood  ;  sold  the 
second  farm,  and  in  1876  removed  to  the  vil- 
lage of  Morganville,  in  the  same  town,  where 
for  two  years  he  was  engaged  in  carpentering 
work.  In  [878  he  removed  to  Maryland, where 
he  purchased  a  farm  and  resided  for  two  years, 
during  which  time  his  wife  died,  when  he  sold 
the  Maryland  farm,  returned  to  the  town  of 
White  Creek,  and  bought  the  Wallace  farm, 
and  at  the  end  of  three  years  sold  this  and 
bought  the  old  J.  Van  Rensselaer  farm,  going 
there  to  reside  in  1885.  This  farm  contains 
one  hundred  and  thirty-five  acres, and  is  known 
as  John  Van  Rensselaer  farm,  and  is  located 
one-half  mile>east  of  Eagle  Bridge,  where  he 
makes  a  specialty  of  raising  poultry,  chickens 
and  seed  potatoes.  Mr.  Cornell  is  a  member 
of  John  McKie  Post,  309,  of  Cambridge,  of 
the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  is  chap- 
lain of  the  post. 

On  July  4,  1855,  he  wedded  Mary  E.,  young- 
est daughter  of  Isaac  Deuel.  They  are  the 
parents  of  eight  children  :  Louis,  wife  of 
Daniel  Torie,  of  Genesee  county ;  Lydia  F., 
wife  of  Zina  Birch,  of  South  Cambridge  ; 
Flora,  wife  of  Alon/.o  Lee,  of  the  same  place; 
Lottie,  wife  of  William  Ga} ,  of  White  Creek  ; 
Zeruah,  wife  of  Arthur  Cornell,  of  Cambridge  ; 
Walter  G.,  Herbert  and  Edith.  Mrs.  Cornell 
died  July  24,  1880,  and  on  February  21,  1884, 
Mr.  Cornell  married,  for  his  second  wife,  Mrs. 
M.  Howden,  of  Cambridge,  New  York. 


HON.  IIALSEY  ROGERS  WING, 
prominent  for  many  years  as  a  lawyer  and 
business  man  of  Glens  Falls  and  Warren 
county,  was  born  at  Sandy  Hill,  New  York, 
and  was  a  son  of  Daniel  W.  and  Rhoda  A. 
(Stewart)  Wing.  He  attended  Lenox  acad- 
emy and  Yale  and  Middlebury  colleges, and  was 
graduated  from  the  latter  institution  of  learn- 


ing in  1832.  He  read  law  with  Hon.  Samuel 
Checver,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  prac- 
ticed successively  at  Brockport,  Buffalo  and 
Glens  Falls.  He  was  a  strong  democrat,  and 
served  one  term  each  as  county  superinten- 
dent of  common  schools  and  first  judge  of 
Warren  county.  In  1851  he  retired  from  the 
active  practice  of  law  and  launched  forth  upon 
a  remarkably  successful  business  career.  A 
man  of  sensitive  feelings,  of  kindliest  nature 
and  fine  literary  ability,  Judge  Wingt  lived  a 
life  of  worth  and  usefulness,  and  died  full  of 
honors  and  of  years,  on  January  26,  1870. 


QlRTON  H.  GRIFFIN,  a  resident  of 
Greenwich,  and  general  manager  of  the 
Greenwich  factory  of  Tim  Wallerstein  &  Co., 
shirt  manufacturers,  of  Troy,  New  York,  is  a 
native  of  Walpole,  Cheshire  count}',  New 
Hampshire,  and  was  born  February  13,  1835. 
He  is  a  son  of  Levi  H.  and  Lydia  (Gould) 
Griffin.  Levi  H.  Griffin  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Alstead,  New  Hampshire,  on  January  13, 
1809.  By  occupation  he  followed  contracting 
and  building,  was  a  member  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church,  and  was  a  prominent  and  highly 
esteemed  citizen  of  his  section.  He  was  a 
whig  in  political  opinion.  Lydia  Gould  was 
a  daughter  of  Benjamin  Gould,  of  Alstead, 
New  Hampshire.  Benjamin  Gould  was  a 
native  of  Alstead,  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  and 
served  as  captain  in  the  war  of  1812.  To  his 
marriage  with  Lydia  Gould  were  born  three 
children,  two  sons  and  one  daughter:  Burton 
H.  ;  Alonzo  J.  ;  and  Helen  (dead).  Levi  H. 
Griffin's  death  occurred  in  the  town  of  Ack- 
worth,  New  Hampshire,  on  April  25,  1^44. 
His  wife,  who  was  also  a  member  of  the  Con- 
gregational church,  passed  away  in  1855. 
The  family  is  of  pure  English  extraction,  and 
was  planted  in  America  by  three  brothers,  and 
the  one  in  direct  line  from  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  after  first  locating  in  Long  Island  with 
the  other  two  brothers,  subsequently  removed 
to  New  Hampshire.      Howard  Griffin  (grand- 


412 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


father)  was  a  native  of  the  town  of  Alstead, 
New  Hampshire.  Burton  H.  Griffin  was 
thrown  upon  his  own  resources  principally  by 
the  death  of  his  father,  at  the  age  of  nine 
years,  and  after  receiving  a  fair  common  school 
education,  commenced  to  learn  the  trade  of 
sash,  door,  and  blind  making  in  Winchester, 
New  Hampshire,  and  afterward  was  engaged 
in  various  places  at  his  trade  until  at  the  age 
of  forty-two  years,  working  for  some  two  years 
in  Wisconsin,  at  Fort  Edward  for  five  years, 
and  Hartford,  Connecticut,  for  six  years  ; 
thence  he  went  to  New  Haven,  where  for  two 
years  he  was  foreman  for  Lewis  Beach  cS;  Co. 
At  the  expiration  of  this  time,  after  spending 
four  years  at  Arlington,  Vermont,  Mr.  Griffin 
returned  to  Fort  Edward,  and  there  accepted 
a  position  as  traveling  salesman  and  collector 
for  the  Wheeler  &  Wilson  Sewing  Machine 
company,  and  remained  with  them  for  twelve 
years.  Leaving  their  employ,  he  for  a  short 
time  was  in  a  shirt  factory  at  Granville,  and 
on  July  i,  1890,  connected  himself  with  the 
above  firm  at  Greenwich,  as  general  manager 
of  their  factory.  This  firm  employs  on  an 
average  of  about  two  hundred  and  twelve 
hands,  and  makes  in  the  neighborhood  of  sixty- 
five  hundred  shirts  per  month.  In  politics 
Air.  Griffin  is  a  republican.  For  three  years 
while  at  Hartford  he  served  as  inspector  for 
the  Sharp  Rifle  Manufacturing  company. 

On  March  16,  1859,  he  wedded  Esther,  a 
daughter  of  Russell  Hickock,  of  Fort  Edward. 
To  their  marriage  have  been  born  four  chil- 
dren :  Fannie  G.,  wife  of  William  A.  Van- 
kirk,  of  Greenwich;  Frank  R. ;  William  H.; 
and  James  Burton.  James  B.  died  at  Glens 
Falls  at  the  age  of  seven  years. 


-0ROF.  ASA  FITCH,  M.  D.,  one  of  the 

-*-  most  distinguished  entomologists  that  the 
State  of  New  York  has  ever  produced,  was 
born  at  Salem,  February  24,  1809,  and  was 
the  second  son  of  Dr.  Asa  and  Abigail  (Mar- 
tin) Fitch.      He  received  an  academic  educa- 


tion, and  then  in  preference  to  entering  col- 
lege took  a  course  in  natural  science.  He 
read  medicine  with  Doctor  Freeman,  and  was 
graduated  from  the  Vermont  Medical  academy 
in  1829.  After  practicing  for  some  time  at 
Fort  Miller  and  at  Stillwater,  he  turned  his 
attention  largely  to  agriculture  and  entomol- 
ogy, being  appointed  State  entomologist  in 
1S54.  Doctor  Fitch  made  an  agricultural  sur- 
vey of  Washington  county,  and  published 
thirteen  annual  reports  on  the  injurious  insects 
of  the  State.  These  reports  received  the  com- 
mendation of  home  and  foreign  agricultural 
societies,  and  gave  him  world-wide  fame  as 
an  etomolosrist. 


JT  AMES  W.  ASHTON,  an  old  and  well 
known  citizen  of  Cambridge,  is  a  son  of 
Benjamin  and  Mary  (Foster)  Ashton,and  was 
born  at  East  Salem, Washington  count)',  New 
York,  January  22,  1828.  This  family  was 
planted  in  America  in  about  the  year  1772,  by 
Major  James  Ashton  (great-grandfather),  who 
came  from  Ireland  after  he  had  reached  man- 
hood and  married.  Immigrating  with  his 
family  in  the  year  above  mentioned  to  this 
country,  and  located  in  what  was  then  the 
eastern  part  of  the  town  of  Cambridge,  known 
as  "  Ash  Grove,"  but  now  in  the  town  of  White 
Creek,  where  he  purchased  a  farm  of  three 
hundred  acres,  at  twelve  shillings  per  acre. 
He  was  a  prominent  man  in  his  day,  and  we 
find  his  name  appearing  frequently  on  the  old 
town  records  as  holding  town  offices  ;  on  these 
same  records  we  find  that  at  a  town  meeting, 
held  at  the  house  of  Capt.  John  Wood, for  the 
purpose  of  electing  field  officers  for  the  18th 
regiment  of  the  old  State  militia,  that  they  se- 
lected Lewis  Van  Woert  first  colonel,  John 
Blair  second  colonel,  James  Ashton  first  major, 
Ebenezer  Allen  second  major,  John  Young- 
love  adjutant,  and  Ira  Flint  as  quartermaster. 
On  April  4,  1778,  James  Ashton  was  commis- 
sioned first  colonel  by  Gov.  George  Clinton. 
During  the  retreat  of  the  American  army  from 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


413 


Fort  Ticonderoga  to  Bemis  Heights,  he  com- 
manded the  rear  guard  until  he  arrived  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Fort  Edward,  when  he  re- 
ceived permission  from  his  superior  officer  to 
visit  his  family  at  "  Ash  Grove,"  and  while  at 
home  he  was  betrayed  by  his  tory  neighbors, 
who  informed  the  British  of  his  visit,  and  who 
sent  a  squad  of  troops  with  some  Indian  guides 
to  his  home,  who  made  good  his  capture.  He 
was  taken  back  to  Bemis  Heights  and  was 
there  held  as  a  prisoner  until  after  the  surren- 
der of  Burgoyne.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he 
returned  to  his  farm  at  "Ash  Grove,"  where 
he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  years  in  peace, 
and  his  bones  now  repose  in  the  old  Cambridge 
cemetery.  He  was  a  leading  member  in  the 
old  Scotch  Presbyterian  church,  and  was  the 
father  of  but  one  son  :  John  Ashton  (grand- 
father), who  was  born  in  Ireland,  July  8,  1763, 
and  came  with  his  father  to  this  country  at  the 
age  of  nine  years.  He  was  reared  on  his  fath- 
er's farm,  which  he  afterward  inherited.  He 
became  a  prosperous  farmer,  a  member  of  the 
Scotch  Presbyterian  church,  of  which  he  was. 
an  elder  for  a  number  of  years.  He  was  bene- 
volent and  charitable,  giving  one-tenth  of  all 
his  crops  to  the  worthy  poor  of  his  neighbor- 
hood. A  biographer  once  said  of  him  :  "He 
was  a  man  of  good  judgment  and  sound  mind, 
and  for  sincerity  and  honesty  he  had  no  supe- 
rior." He  married  Lydia  Morford,  by  whom 
he  had  six  sons  and  three  daughters  :  James. 
John,  William,  Isaac,  Thomas,  Benjamin,  Eliza- 
beth,Rebecca  and  Sarah.  John  Ashton  died  on 
his  farm  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years.  Ben- 
jamin Ashton  (father)  was  born  in  the  town  of 
White  Creek,  this  county,  receiving  a  good 
common  school  education,  and  was  reared 
upon  the  farm  and  followed  that  all  his  life. 
He  owned  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  thirty 
acres  in  the  town  of  Salem.  While  a  young 
man,  and  while  residing  on  this  farm,  he  had 
a  severe  attack  of  rheumatism, which  rendered 
him  a  cripple  for  life.  In  politics  he  was  a 
whig,  and  a  member  of  the  Associate  Re- 
formed church.  He  wedded  Mary,  a  daughter 
24a 


of  James  Foster,  "an  Irishman  by  birth,  who 
afterward  became  a  farmer  in  the  town  of 
Hebron.  To  that  marriage  there  were  born 
two  daughters  and  four  sons  :  Martha,  wife  of 
Rev.  JohnT.  Brownlee,of  Washington  county, 
Pennsylvania;  James  W.,  John  B.,  of  Minne- 
sota ;  David  (dead)  ;  Lydia,  wife  of  Michael 
Kerr,  of  the  town  of  Jackson,  and  Rev.  An- 
drew, a  minister  in  the  United  Presbyterian 
church,  at  Hamilton,  Ohio.  Benjamin  Ash- 
ton's  death  occurred  in  1867,  and  his  wife's 
death  in  1872,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years. 

James  W.  Ashton  grew  to  manhood  on  the 
old  homestead  at  "Ash  Grove,"  where  he  re- 
ceived his  education  and  was  engaged  in  farm- 
ing there  up  to  1873,  when  he  bought  his 
present  mill  property,  one  and  one-half  miles 
east  of  the  village  of  Cambridge,  in  the  town 
of  White  Creek.  For  four  years  he  was  en- 
gaged in  flax  milling,  but  as  flax  raising  be- 
came unprofitable  to  the  farmer,  he  changed  his 
mill  into  a  saw,  planing,  and  grist  mill.  Here 
Mr.  Ashton  owns  a  nice  home  and  commands 
a  good  trade.  In  political  belief  he  is  a  re- 
publican, and  an  active  worker  in  the  cause 
of  temperance  ;  and  is  also  a  member  and 
trustee  of  the  Cambridge  United  Presbyterian 
church. 

On  September  21,  1858,  he  wedded  Sarah 
J.,  a  daughter  of  George  Armstrong,  of  Sa- 
lem. To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ashton  have  been  born 
six  children  :  George  B.,  a  resident  of  the 
town  of  Jackson  ;  Elizabeth  A.,  wife  of  Rob- 
ert Maxwell,  of  the  same  town;  William  J., 
a  miller,  of  Cambridge;  Martha  J.,  a  gradu- 
ate of  the  State  Normal  school,  and  now  a 
teacher  at  Jamaica,  New  York  ;  Archie  A.,  and 
James  Everett. 

George  Armstrong  (the  father  of  Mrs.  Ash- 
ton) was  born  in  Argyle,  Washington  county, 
in  1S02.  He  was  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  at 
which  he  worked  for  a  number  of  years,  but 
the  latter  years  of  his  life  were  spent  upon  the 
farm  in  the  town  of  Salem.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  United  Presbyterian  church  ;  wed- 
ded Elizabeth   French,  and  had  six  children  : 


414 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


Alice,  late  wife  of  William  Skinner  ;  Anna  Eliza 
(dead);  Archie,  a  resident  of  Shushan  ;  Susan 
(dead)  ;  William  (dead)  ;  and  Mrs.  Ashton. 
George  Armstrong  died  in  November,  1889. 


HENRY  GILBERT  ROBERTSON, 
a  resident  of  the  village  of  Coila,  is  a  son 
of  William  and  Mary  (McDonal)  Robertson, 
and  was  born  in  the  same  village  in  which  he 
now  resides,  Washington  county,  New  York, 
May  11,  1837.  William  Robertson  was  a  na- 
tive of  the  town  of  Argyle,  this  count)',  and 
was  a  harness  and  saddle  maker  by  trade  and 
carried  on  his  business  at  East  Greenwich  un- 
til 1 82 1,  when  he  moved  to  the  village  of  Coila, 
where  he  did  business  for  nineteen  years,  go- 
ing thence  to  the  village  of  Cambridge  and  fol- 
lowed his  trade  there  for  ten  years,  when  at  the 
expiration  of  that  time  he  returned  to  Coila  and 
retired.  He  was  also  interested,  with  his 
brother  John,  in  the  tanning  business,  in  the 
town  of  Cambridge.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the 
war  of  181 2,  and  his  widow  now  draws  a  pen- 
sion for  his  services  in  that  war.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  United  Presbyterian  church  of 
Coila,  a  democrat  in  his  political  opinion  and 
a  trustee  of  the  Washington  Cambridge  acad- 
emy. In  1824  he  was  married  to  Mary,  a 
daughter  of  John  McDonal,  a  farmer  of  the 
town  of  Cambridge.  To  their  marriage  were 
born  three  sons  and  three  daughters :  Sarah 
M.  (died  young);  Alexander  L.  (dead);  Wil- 
liam J.,  a  resident  of  Coila;  Jane  Ann,  died 
in  infancy;  Henry  G.  and  Anna  Eliza  (dead). 
She  was  twice  married,  first  to  Dr.  Cannon,  of 
Texas,  and  after  his  death  became  the  wife  of 
Rev.  James  Price,  of  Philadelphia.  William 
Robertson  (father)  died  in  November,  1857, 
and  his  widow  at  present  resides  in  Coila.  She 
was  born  September  5,  1803,  and  is  a  member 
of  the  United  Presbyterian  church.  William 
Roberstson  (grandfather)  was  a  native  of 
Scotland,  who  came  to  this  country  some  years 
after  the  close  of  the  Revolution  and  located 
in  the  town  of    Argyle,   where  he  became  a 


prosperous  farmer.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  church,  and  married  his 
wife  in  the  town  of  Argyle,  by  whom  he  had 
nine  children  :  Archibald,  Alexander,  Gilbert, 
John,  William  and  Moses  ;  three  daughters  : 
Anna,  Jeannett  and  Mary. 

Henry  G.  Robertson  was  principally  edu- 
cated in  the  Washington  Cambridge  academy, 
and  afterward  taught  district  school  in  the 
winter  season  and  farmed  in  the  summer.  For 
the  last  ten  years  he  has  been  engaged  as  a 
clerk  in  a  store,  and  has  acted  as  overseer  of 
the  summer  residence  at  Coila  belonging  to 
G.  G.  Wright,  and  for  the  past  nineteen  years 
has  been  an  active  memberof  the  Presbyterian 
church  of  his  village. 


JsA  ATHANIEL  R.   NORTON  is  one  of 

A  the  intelligent  and  successful  farmers  of 
the  town  of  Greenwich.  W  illiam  Norton 
(grandfather)  was  born  at  Cambridge,  Wash- 
ington count)-,  and  afterward  lived  at  Ticon- 
deroga,  where  he  followed  the  trade  of  cloth 
dresser,  but  the  most  of  his  life  was  spent  in 
farming  in  the  town  of  Greenwich,  where  his 
death  occurred  May  8,  1861,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-five  years.  His  was  one  of  the  early 
settled  families  of  the  upper  Hudson,  and  was 
of  Welch  origin,  his  parents  having  come  from 
Wales.  He  was  a  whig  and  republican,  and  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  church.  He  was  mar- 
ried to  Polly  Tefft,  and  to  them  were  born  nine 
children:  James,  William,  Charles,  Esther, 
Mary,  Sarah,  Henry,  Edgar  and  LeRoy. 

Henry  Norton  was  born  at  Greenwich,  New 
York,  May  28,  1827.  During  seventeen  years 
of  his  life  he  resided  in  Greenwich,  but  the 
vocation  of  his  life  has  been  farming,  in  which 
he  is  now  engaged.  September  18,  1850,  he 
wedded  Dianna  Rood,  and  to  them  one  child 
was  born  :  Nathaniel  R. 

Nathaniel  R.  Norton  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Greenwich,  March  10,  1851.  After  leaving 
the  district  schools,  he  took  the  regular  course 
at  the  Greenwich   academy,  then   taught    by 


lUOanAPltY  AND  J II STORY 


415 


Prof.  E.  H.  Gibson.  Leaving  school  at  the 
age  of  nineteen,  the  next  four  years  of  his  life 
were  spent  in  general  farming.  On  March  5, 
1874,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Lydia 
C.  Williams,  and  to  them  have  been  born  three 
children:  Eva,  (deceased),  born  December  1, 
1874, and  died  in  1882  ;  Elmer  H. ,  born  August 
11,  1876,  and  Emma  C,  born  January  8,  1884. 
In  1877  Mr.  Norton  purchased  ninety  acres 
of  land  and  has  since  added  twenty-five  acres. 
He  makes  a  specialty  of  stock  raising,  owning 
a  fine  herd  of  Jersey  cattle,  also  the  best  grade 
of  sheep.  Mr.  Norton  is  a  stanch  republican 
and  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  of  Greenwich,  New  York,  and  has  been 
one  of  the  stewards  for  the  past  ten  years. 


QEORG  E  D.  HARRIS,  one  of  the  lead- 
^^  ing  business  men  of  Fort  Edward  and  the 
county,  is  a  son  of  John  F.  and  O.  Elizabeth 
Harris,  and  was  born  on  July  22,  1853,  at  On- 
tario, Wayne  county,  New  York.  He  received 
his  education  at  Fort  Edward  institute,  and 
two  first-class  educational  institutions,  one  of 
Glendale,  Massachusetts,  and  the  other  of 
Claverack,  Columbia  county,  this  State.  At 
twenty  years  of  age  he  left  school  to  engage 
with  his  father  in  the  manufacture  of  pig  iron 
at  Fort  Edward.  Two  years  later,  in  1875,  he 
embarked  in  the  wholesale  coal  business,  which 
he  conducted  for  some  time,  and  then  associa- 
ted with  himself  Henry  W.  Somers,  under  the 
firm  name  of  George  D.  Harris  &  Co.  They 
have  a  branch  office  at  No.  22  South  street, 
New  York,  and  in  addition  to  their  coal  busi- 
ness they  do  a  general  freighting  business  on 
Lake  Champlain  and  Erie  canal,  giving  em- 
ployment to  a  large  number  of  boats.  Mr. 
Harris  is  also  interested  in  various  other  en- 
terprises. 

On  February  3,  1876,  Mr.  Harris  wedded 
Marian  Barkley,  and  they  have  two  children  : 
Clarence  C.  and  A.  Barkley.  Mrs.  Harris  is  a 
daughter  of  the  late  Hon.  Alexander  Barkley, 
who  was  a  prominent  and  well  known  man  in 


the  State.  He  was  one  of  the  presidential 
electors  on  the  Lincoln  and  Hamlin  ticket  in 
i860,  was  member  of  the  State  legislature, 
canal  commissioner,  also  serving  in  several 
other  important    positions  during  his  lifetime. 


HARRY  L.  TIDMARSH,  one  of  the 
proprietors  of  the  Friction  Pully  &  Ma- 
chine Works,  and  one  of  the  present  trustees 
of  the  village  of  Sandy  Hill,  is  a  son  of  Wil- 
liam and  Harriet  (Wells)  Tidmarsh,  and  was 
born  at  Wauconda,  Lake  county,  Illinois,  Oc- 
tober 9,  1862.  His  father,  William  Tidmarsh, 
was  a  native  of  Teswith, Oxfordshire,  England, 
born  in  1833,  and  who  in  1856  emigrated  to 
the  United  States.  After  remaining  a  few 
years  in  the  cities  of  Cleveland  and  Toledo, 
Ohio, he  went  to  Wauconda,  Lake  count}',  Illi- 
nois, where  he  has  ever  since  resided.  For 
the  first  eight  or  ten  years  after  coming  to  the 
United  States  he  followed  the  profession  of 
teacher  of  music,  and  being  a  fine  musician, 
he  served  as  band  instructor  in  the  great  Civil 
war.  At  present  he  is  conducting  a  carriage 
and  blacksmith  shop  in  that  village. 

Harry  L.  Tidmarsh  was  reared  in  his  native 
village  of  Wauconda  until  seventeen  years  of 
age,  receiving  his  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  that  place.  In  August,  1880,  he 
came  to  the  village  of  Sandy  Hill,  and  learned 
the  trade  of  a  machinist  with  the  firm  of  Wells 
&  Van  Wormer,  and  afterward  worked  at  his 
trade  in  the  American  Steam  Boiler  Works  at 
Chicago.  In  1885  Mr.  Tidmarsh  engaged  in 
the  book  and  stationery  business  at  this  place, 
and  the  same  year  was  elected  town  clerk.  In 
[886  he  disposed  of  his  book  and  stationery- 
business,  and  engaged  with  the  Pratt  Manu- 
facturing company,  of  South  Boston,  in  the 
capacity  of  traveling  salesman.  After  a  short 
time  he  resigned  his  position  with  the  Pratt 
Manufacturing  company,  and  embarked  in  the 
hotel  business  at  Lake  George,  where  he  ran 
a  summer  resort  hotel  for  one  or  two  seasons. 
In  1888-89  he  was  employed  in  the  paper  mill 


416 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


of  Allen  Brothers  of  this  village,  and  in  Jul}', 
1890,  he,  with  George  W.  Doremus  and  W. 
W.  Wells,  started  their  present  Friction  Pul- 
ley and  Machine  works.  All  of  the  firm  being 
skilled  mechanics,  they  do  an  extensive  busi- 
ness, and  their  volume  of  trade  is  rapidly  in- 
creasing. 

In  1879  Harry  L.  Tidmarsh  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Elizabeth  Bernier,  daughter  of 
George  Bernier,  a  carriage  manufacturer  of 
Sandy  Hill.  Her  death  occurred  September 
8,  1890,  and  on  October  5,  1892,  Mr. Tidmarsh 
wedded  for  his  second  wife  Catharine  M.  Mur- 
phy, of  Patterson,  New  Jersey.  They  have 
one  son  :  William  R. 

Harry  L.  Tidmarsh  is  a  member  of  the 
Catholic  church,  a  republican  in  politics,  and 
is  one  the  present  trustees  of  the  village. 


JTLFRED  J.  NEWMAN,  a  resident  of 
^^  Sandy  Hill  since  1885,  and  who  has  been 
engaged  in  various  lines  of  business,  is  a  son 
of  John  G.  and  Sarah  (Parkins)  Newman,  and 
was  born  just  beyond  the  city  limits  of  Lon- 
don, England,  September  26,  1852.  His  par- 
ents were  natives  of  England,  and  members  of 
the  Episcopal  church.  The  father  died  in 
August,  1893,  and  the  mother  still  resides  at 
the  home  of  her  childhood. 

Alfred  J.  Newman  was  reared  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  London  until  he  was  twelve 
years  of  age,  when  he  was  apprenticed  to  learn 
the  trade  of  plasterer  at  Corydon,  a  place 
eight  miles  distant  from  his  home.  After  com- 
pleting his  trade  he  worked  as  a  journeyman 
until  1870,  in  which  year  he  left  England  to 
seek  his  fortune  in  the  new  world.  Arriving 
at  New  York  city  he  spent  one  year  there  and 
then  came  to  Washington  county.  Here  he 
was  employed  in  farming  for  one  year,  when 
he  engaged  in  mining  iron  ore,  which  business 
he  followed  up  to  1880.  In  that  year  he  bought 
a  general  mercantile  store  at  West  Fort  Ann, 
which  he  conducted  until  December,  1884.  In 
that  year  he  came  to  Sandy  Hill,  and  in  the 


following  year  engaged  in  his  present  success- 
ful restaurant  business. 

Mr.  Newman  is  a  republican  in  political 
opinion,  and  has  been  a. member  for  several 
years  of  Sandy  Hill  Masonic  Lodge,  No.  372. 
His  success  is  due  to  his  own  efforts,  as  he  had 
neither  friends, influence  nor  fortune  with  which 
to  commence  business. 

On  August  7,  1875,  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Elizabeth  Yole,  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam S.  Yole  of  this  county.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Newman  have  been  born  three  children,  two 
sons  and  one  daughter:  Wjlliam  L.,  Morris 
B.,  and  Flora. 


TA>ILLIA3I    W.    WELLS,   one    of    the 

stockholders  in  the  Franklin  Paint  Com- 
pany, and  also  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the 
Friction  Pulley  &  Machine  works,  of  this  vil- 
lage, is  a  self-made  man  in  the  true  sense  of 
that  term.  He  is  a  son  of  Theodore  and 
Sarah  A.  (Duers)  Wells,  and  was  born  in  Lake 
county,  Illinois,  on  February  24,  1855.  He 
was  reared  in  his  native  county,  and  received 
his  education  in  the  public  schools.  After 
leaving  school  he  went  to  the  city  of  Chicago, 
and  accepted  a  position  in  a  crockery  store, 
where  he  remained  three  years.  In  1878  he 
came  to  Sandy  Hill  and  learned  the  trade  of 
machinist  with  his  brother,  Thomas  Wells,  of 
this  village,  and  in  1890  he,  with  George  W. 
Doremus  and  H.  E.  Tidmarsh,  formed  a  part- 
nership, and  together  started  the  Friction  Pul- 
ley &  Machine  works,  which  business  they  are 
now  successfully  operating.  They  furnish  em- 
ployment to  about  fifty  men,  and  ship  their 
machinery  to  all  parts  of  the  country. 

William  W.  Wells  was  married,  in  1881,  to 
Hattie  Smith,  daughter  of  William  Smith,  of 
Sandy  Hill.  She  died  in  1889,  leaving  two 
children:  Grace  H.  and  Joseph  W.  In  1891 
Mr.Wells  wedded,  for  his  second  wife,  Carrie, 
a  daughter  of  David  Hall,  of  the  city  of  Chi- 
cago, but  a  native  of  this  village.  To  this 
union    was    born    one    child,    a    son,    named 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY 


■117 


Harold  D.  Mr.  Wells  is  a  member  of  the  Bap- 
tist church  of  the  village  of  Sandy  Hill,  and 
in  politics  is  a  republican.  The  Wells  family 
is  of  Scotch  extraction,  and  John  Wells,  the 
paternal  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  a  resident  of  Rhode  Island.  He 
married,  and  one  of  his  sons  was  Theodore 
Wrells  (father),  who  was  a  native  of  that  State, 
and  when  a  young  man  came  to  Sandy  Hill, 
New  York,  where  he  followed  his  trade  of 
blacksmithing.  Here  he  remained  until  about 
1S41J,  when  he  removed  to  Lake  county,  Illi- 
nois, where  he  resided  up  to  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1882,  at  the  age  of 
seventy  years.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Bap- 
tist church  of  Sandy  Hill,  and  a  republican  in 
political  belief,  and  during  his  residence  in 
Illinois  was  engaged  in  farming  and  black- 
smithing. 

Mr.  Wells  married  Sarah  A.  Duers,whowas 
a  native  of  Sandy  Hill,  and  a  consistent  mem- 
ber of  the  Baptist  church  of  that  village.  She 
died  in  1863,  at  the  age  of  forty-four  years. 


/"JEORGE  W.  DOREMUS,  one  of  the 

^^  successful  young  business  men  and  a  well- 
known  manufacturer  of  Sandy  Hill,  is  a  son 
of  John  R.  and  Eleanor  (Ackerman)  Doremus, 
and  was  born  at  River  Edge,  Burton  county, 
New  Jersey,  on  the  13th  of  March,  1862.  The 
name  of  Doremus  is  found  in  the  early  history 
of  New  Jersey,  where  the  family  was  founded 
by  an  immigrant  ancestor  from  France  or  Hol- 
land. John  R.  Doremus,  the  father  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  and  reared  in 
New  Jersey,  where  he  received  his  education 
and  passed  his  life  as  a  farmer  and  dairyman. 
He  was  a  republican  and  afterward  a  prohi- 
bitionist in  politics,  and  died  in  Patterson  in 
1887,  at  seventy  years  of  age.  Mr.  Doremus 
married  Eleanor  Ackerman,  of  Hackensack, 
New  Jersey,  who  is  of  German  descent,  and 
was  born  in  1826.  She  is  a  member  of  the 
Reformed  church,  and  has  continued  to  reside 
at  l'atterson  since  the  death   of  her  husband. 


George  W.  Doremus  was  reared  at  l'atter- 
son, in  his  native  State,  where  he  received  his 
education  in  the  public  schools,  and  specially 
fitted  himself  for  business  pursuits  by  taking 
a  thorough  course  in  a  commercial  college. 
Leaving  school  he  commenced  his  business 
career  by  becoming  a  clerk  in  the  wholesale 
grocery  house  of  David  Levi,  No.  154  Cham- 
bers street,  New  York  city.  He  was  with  Mr. 
Levi  for  four  years,  and  upon  attaining  his 
majority  became  a  partner  with  him,  under 
the  firm  name  of  David  Levi  &  Co.  This 
partnership  continued  one  year.  The  nephews 
of  Mr.  Levi  succeeded  him  as  members  of 
the  firm.  The  title  was  changed  from  David 
Levi  &  Co.,  and  succeeded  by  Seeman  Bros. 
&  Doremus.  The  latter  firm  continued  in  ex- 
istence until  1889,  when  Mr.  Doremus  with- 
drew and  came  to  Sandy  Hill,  where  he  be- 
came a  partner  with  James  McCarty  in  the 
manufacture  of  sawmill  machinery,  under  the 
firm  name  of  McCarty  &  Doremus.  After  a 
year  spent  in  that  special  line  of  manufactur- 
ing he  purchased  his  partner's  interest  in  the 
plant  and  changed  it  into  a  friction  pull}-  and 
machine  works,  associating  with  himself  as 
partners  W.  W.  Wells  and  H.  E.  Tidmarsh. 
The  firm  manufactures  suction  screens,  patent 
friction  pulleys,  cut-off  couplings,  self-sharp- 
ening paper  slitters,  and  special  paper  mill 
machinery.  They  have  been  successful  as 
manufacturers  and  enjoy  a  good  trade,  which 
is  steadily  increasing  in  volume.  In  politics 
Mr.  Doremus  is  independent. 

On  June  15,  1887,  George  W.  Doremus  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Charlotte  M.  Green- 
wood, of  Patterson,  New  Jersey.  To  their 
union  have  been  born  two  daughters:  Mary 
S.  and  C.  Eleanor. 


HON.  ROSWELL  WESTON,  who 
served  as  first  judge  of  Washington 
county  from  1825  to  1S27,  was  a  son  of  Zacha- 
riah  Weston,  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  and 
was  born    February    24.  1774.      He   read   law 


418 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


with  Hon.  John  Woodsworth,  of  Troy,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  commenced  prac- 
tice at  Fort  Edward,  but  soon  removed  to 
Sandy  Hill,  where  he  remained  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  August  18,  1861.  He  was 
successful  as  a  lawyer,  firm  as  a  judge,  and 
when  elected  to  the  legislature  in  1S16  he 
served  with  credit  to  himself  and  his  county. 
In  1801  Judge  Weston  married  Lydia  Wil- 
loughby,  a  daughter  of  Elijah  and  Alary  (Gal- 
usha)  Willoughby,  of  Lisbon,  Connecticut. 


rZllLL  B.TRAVIS,dealer  in  hardware 
^-A->*  ancj  crockery,  making  a  specialty  of 
glassware,  cutlery,  nails,  etc.,  at  No.  5  Broad 
street,  is  one  of  the  rising  and  most  success- 
ful young  business  men  of  Whitehall.  He  was 
born  at  Litchfield,  Medina  county,  Ohio,  No- 
vember 10,  1862;  received  the  advantages  only 
of  a  common  school  education,  and  after  leav- 
ing school  worked  for  awhile  as  a  farm  hand, 
when  he  went  to  Wallingford,  Vermont,  where 
he  learned  the  miller's  trade.  Leaving  Wall- 
ingford he  went  to  Minneapolis,  Minnesota, 
and  there  worked  at  his  trade  in  the  Pillsbury 
mills  until  those  mills  were  destroyed  by  an 
explosion.  He  then,  in  1882,  returned  to 
Whitehall,  and  went  to  work  in  the  hardware 
store  of  his  father  as  clerk,  in  which  capacity 
he  remained  up  to  1889,  when  he  purchased  a 
one-half  interest  in  the  store,  and  the  firm 
name  became  W.  D.  Travis  &  Son.  This  firm 
existed  up  to  August  17,1892,  when  Mr.  Travis 
bought  the  other  half  interest  of  his  father 
and  assumed  entire  control,  the  firm  name  be- 
ing changed  from  W.  D.  Travis  &  Son  to  W. 
B.  Travis.  Mr.  Travis  has  succeeded,  through 
his  splendid  business  ability  and  excellent 
judgment,  in  building  up  a  substantial  trade, 
and  has  brilliant  prospects  in  the  future. 

Will  B.  Travis  was  wedded  in  1885  to  Bula 
May,  a  daughter  of  A.  T.  Moon,  of  Ypsilanti, 
Michigan.  To  their  marriage  has  been  born 
one  child,  a  daughter,  Marjorie  A.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  First  Presbyterian  church  ;  of 


Whitehall  Lodge  of  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows,  and  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  and 
is  independent  in  politics. 

Will  B.  Travis  is  the  son  of  Walter  D.  and 
Nettie  U.  (Brooker)  Travis.  Walter  D.  Tra- 
vis is  a  native  of  Whitehall, where  he  was  born 
in  1838  ;  he  is  also  a  member  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian church,  and  not  a  devoted  partisan  to  any 
political  party.  In  former  years  he  was  en- 
gaged in  farming  in  the  town  of  Granville,  but 
in  1880  established  the  hardware  stand  which 
is  now  owned  by  his  son.  He  at  present  re- 
sides in  the  village  of  Whitehall,  where  he  is 
engaged  in  the  ice  business  ;  has  held  the 
office  of  village  trustee,  and  was  twice  elected 
assessor  of  the  town,  an  office  he  is  now  filling. 

His  father  was  Washington  A.  Travis,  who 
was  born  at  Moriah,  Clinton  county,  New 
York.  He  removed  to  this  county  some  time 
in  the  twenties,  and  was  here  engaged  for 
many  years  in  the  transportation  business. 
His  death  occurred  in  1874,  at  the  age  of  sixty 
years.  The  Travis  family  is  of  English  de- 
scent. The  mother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
died  in  1865. 


AUY  R.  CLARK,  a  member  of  one  of 
^"^  the  old  and  influential  families  of  the 
county,  was  born  in  the  village  of  Sandy  Hill, 
Washington  county,  New  York,  December  7, 
1858,  and  is  a  son  of  Guy  W.  and  Deborah 
A.  (Holland)  Clark.  He  was  reared  in  his 
native  village,  and  received  the  rudiments  of 
his  education  in  Union  school.  Subsequently 
he  entered  Oberlin  college,  Ohio,  arid  after- 
ward the  University  of  Michigan.  He  gradu- 
ated from  the  medical  department  of  the  Ann 
Arbor  university,  but  was  never  engaged  in 
practice.  After  leaving  school  Mr.  Clark  went 
to  New  York  city,  and  there  was  engaged  as 
a  broker  and  commission  merchant  in  paper- 
makers'  supplies,  which  he  continued  very 
successfully  up  to  1889,  when  he  was  forced 
to  close  out  on  account  of  combinations  made 
by  the  larger  concerns  of  this  business  through- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY 


■419 


out  the  country.  He  then  returned  to  Sandy 
Hill  and  accepted  a  position  as  head  book- 
keeper for  the  Howland  Paper  company,  at 
Baker's  Falls, a  position  he  has  held  ever  since. 
In  1891  Mr.  Clark,  associated  with  Samuel  L. 
Finch,  of  the  same  village,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Finch  &  Clark,  engaged  in  the  tim- 
ber, coal,  wood  and  ice  business.  This  firm 
also  keeps  a  large  stable  of  horses,  and  do  a 
great  deal  of  general  hauling  through  the  sum- 
mer season,  and  moving  lumber  through  the 
winter. 

Guy  R.  Clark,  in  1881,  was  wedded  to  Ella, 
a  daughter  of  Nathan  Burnap,  of  Canajoharie, 
Montgomery  county.  He  is  a  republican  in  poli- 
tics, and  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 


HORACE  D.  COLVIN,  merchant  and 
farmer  of  Kingsbury,  and  a  successful 
business  man,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Day, 
Saratoga  county,  New  York,  February  25, 
1845,  and  is  a  son  of  James  L.  and  Lucinda 
(Doubleday)  Colvin.  James  L.  Colvin  was  a 
native  of  the  same  town,  where  his  death  oc- 
curred in  1874,  at  the  age  of  about  seventy 
years.  His  father  was  William  Colvin,  who 
was  a  native  of  the  town  of  Kingsbury,  and 
where  he  was  for  many  years  in  the  merchan- 
dising and  lumbering  business,  afterward  re- 
moving from  the  town  of  Kingsbury  to  Clyde, 
in  Wayne  county,  where  he  became  an  exten- 
sive land  owner,  and  where  his  death  occurred. 
The  Colvin  family  is  of  Scotch-Irish  extrac- 
tion, and  were  among  the  first  to  make  homes 
in  the  town  of  Kingsbury.  During  the  Revo- 
lutionary war  they  were  torics.  Daniel  Dou- 
bleday, the  maternal  grandfather  of  Horace 
D.  Colvin,  was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  born 
November  17,  1773,  and  while  yet  a  young 
man  migrated  from  his  native  State  and  set- 
tled in  Kingsbury,  where  he  followed  farming 
up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
on  July  28,  1854.  He  was  a  relative  of  Bene 
diet  Arnold,  and  witnessed  the  burning  of 
New  London,    Connecticut,    by    that    general 


during  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  Among  his 
children  was  Lucinda,  who  wedded  James  L. 
Colvin.  She  was  born  in  the  town  of  Kings- 
bury in  1807,  dying  in  1893,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-six  years.  The  immigrant  and  founder 
of  this  branch  of  the  Doubleday  family  in  the 
United  States,  was  Elisha  Doubleday,  who 
came  from  Yorkshire,  England,  with  his  two 
sons,  Elijah  and  Elisha,  and  settled  in  Boston, 
Massachusetts.  The  coat  of  arms  of  the  family 
is  still  in  possession  of  the  descendants.  Two 
of  the  Doubledays  were  officers  in  the  late 
Civil  war,  one  of  whom,  Abner  Doubleday,  it 
is  claimed, fired  the  first  gun  from  Fort  Sumter. 

Horace  D.  Colvin  grew  to  manhood  in  his 
native  town,  and  recieved  his  education  mainly 
at  home.  From  1861  to  1867  he  was  engaged 
in  civil  engineering  at  Hoboken,  New  Jersey  ; 
in  the  latter  year  he  returned  home  and  en- 
gaged in  farming  and  lumbering.  In  1890  he 
commenced  merchandising  at  Kingsbury,  and 
also  owns  and  conducts  a  farm. 

In  1876  Mr.  Colvin  was  married  to  Ellen,  a 
daughter  of  Philo  Ordway,  of  Warren  county. 
To  their  union  has  been  born  seven  children  : 
Wallace,  Mary,  Olive,  Henry,  Charles,  Frank 
and  Ruth.  In  politics  Mr.  Colvin  is  a  re- 
publican, and  before  removing  from  the  town 
of  Day,  in  Saratoga  county,  he  held  the  office 
of  trustee. 

JJMILLIAM  L.  COZZENS,  the  lead 
>-'^-,*  ing  hardware  merchant  of  Greenwich, 
and  prominently  connected  with  a  number  of 
other  business  enterprises,  is  a  son  of  William 
F.  and  Elizabeth  (Taft)  Cozzens,  and  was  born 
August  9,  1824,  in  the  town  of  Easton,  Wash- 
ington county,  New  York.  The  Cozzens  family 
is  of  English  extraction,  and  were  among  the 
early  settlers  of  Rhode  Island,  where  they 
have  resided  for  several  generations.  In  that 
State  William  F.  Cozzens  (father)  was  born 
and  reared,  but  while  yet  a  young  man  he  came 
to  Greenwich  (then  known  as  Whipple  City) 
to  accept  a  position  as  foreman  in  the  spin- 
ning department  of  the  cotton  factory  owned 


420 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


by  his  uncle,  Col.  William  Mowry.  This  fac- 
tory was  the  first  of  the  kind  in  the  State,  and 
the  second  to  be  operated  in  the  United  States. 
Mr.  Cozzens  was  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
fraternity,  and  died  here  in  Greenwich  in  1856, 
aged  sixty-five.  He  married  Elizabeth  Taft. 
By  that  union  he  had  a  family  of  eleven  chil- 
dren, seven  sons  and  four  daughters  :  Earl  M. , 
deceased  ;  Clarissa,  who  married  John  Doyle, 
a  pioneer  lead  pipe  manufacturer  of  this  State, 
and  is  now  dead  ;  Lewis,  formerly  a  miller  at 
Fort  Ann,  but  now  deceased  ;  George  F.,  for 
years  a  paint  manufacturer  of  Saratoga  Springs, 
now  also  dead;  Thaddeus  T.,  a  miller  at 
Whitehall;  John  H.,  present  collector  of  the 
port  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island  ;  Olive,  late 
wife  of  Charles  Taft,  of  Saratoga  Springs  : 
William  L.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  ;  Mary 
E.,  widow  of  the  late  Byron  Bennett,  of  New- 
port, Rhode  Island  ;  Hannah,  late  wife  of  By- 
ron Hopkins,  of  the  city  of  Brooklyn  ;  and 
Frederick  W.,  a  clerk  in  the  store  of  his 
brother,  William  L. ,  at  Greenwich.  Mrs.  Coz- 
zens died  in  1865,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three. 
William  L.  Cozzens  received  his  education 
in  the  district  schools  and  at  Greenwich  acad- 
emy, after  which  he  learned  the  trade  of  tin- 
smith, and  in  1845,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one, 
enlisted  in  the  United  States  navy  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  crew  of  the  flag  ship  Cumberland, 
of  the  Mediterranean  squadron,  carrying  sixty 
guns.  This  was  the  vessel  that  took  the  Ameri- 
can minister  back  to  Tripoli  after  that  govern- 
ment had  ordered  him  home,  and  compelled 
them  to  receive  him  again.  During  the  Mexi- 
can war  the  Cumberland  was  ordered  back  to 
American  waters,  but  was  never  actively  en- 
gaged in  that  struggle.  In  1846  Mr.  Cozzens 
was  discharged  from  the  navy  at  Boston,  and 
soon  afterward  returned  to  his  home  in  New 
York.  Later  he  began  working  at  his  trade 
of  tinsmith  in  the  village  of  Granville,  where 
he  remained  for  a  period  of  seven  years.  In 
1853  he  removed  to  the  village  of  Greenwich, 
where  he  engaged  in  the  hardware  business 
one  door  above  his  present  store.      In  1861  he 


purchased  his  present  location,  No.  55  Main 
street,  where  he  successfully  conducted  the 
business  until  January  25,  1866,  at  which  time 
his  store  was  destroyed  by  fire.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  fire  Mr.  Cozzens  purchased  the 
brick  for  his  present  building,  which  was  im- 
mediately erected  on  the  old  site, and  is  twenty- 
eight  feet  front  by  eighty  feet  in  depth  and 
three  stories  high,  with  a  rear  building  twenty- 
four  by  sixty  feet.  Here  may  be  found  a  full 
line  of  hardware,  tinware,  and  every  article 
connected  with  that  trade,  and  the  establish- 
ment now  does  an  annual  business  amounting 
to  twenty  thousand  dollars. 

On  July  12,  1853,  Mr.  Cozzens  was  married 
to  Harriet  K.  Moon,  a  daughter  of  Archibald 
Moon,  a  prominent  carriage  manufacturer  of 
the  village  of  Greenwich.  Politically  Mr.  Coz- 
zens is  a  republican,  but  has  never  taken  much 
part  in  local  politics.  He  is  a  member  of 
Ashlar  Lodge,  No.  584,  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons  of  this  village,  and  has  served  as  treas- 
urer of  his  lodge  since  1875.  In  addition  to 
his  business  interests  already  mentioned,  he  is 
a  stockholder  and  director  in  the  Greenwich 
&  Johnsonville  Railroad  company,  and  a  stock- 
holder in  the  opera  house  and  the  electric  light 
plant  of  Greenwich. 


AEORGE  E.  DORR,  treasurer  of  the 
^■^  t)ndawa  Paper  Company,  and  who  is 
prominently  identified  with  the  business  and 
industrial  interests  of  the  village  of  Green- 
wich and  the  county,  is  a  son  of  William  and 
Jane  H.  (Hyde)  Dorr,  and  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Hebron,  Washington  county,  New 
York,  November  15,  1837. 

William  Dorr,  the  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  was  a  native  of  Weathersfield, 
Connecticut,  where  he  was  born  December  1, 
1799.  He  migrated  from  his  native  State  in 
1830,  and  locating  in  this  county,  engaged  in 
the  general  mercantile  business  at  Hebron, 
and   also    in  conducting  a  grocery  and  flour 


/!/<><;/,' A/'JfV  AX/>    HISTORY 


121 


store  in  what  is  now  the  city  of  Troy.  In 
1850  he  removed  to  the  village  of  Greenwich, 
where  he  resided  the  remaining  years  of  his 
life.  He  was  an  official  member  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church  for  a  number  of  years, 
and  was  politically  a  whig  and  afterward  a  re- 
publican. In  1832  he  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Jane  H.,  daughter  of  Benjamin  Hyde,  of 
this  county.  William  Dorr,  the  progenitor 
of  the  Dorr  family  in  Washington  county, 
came  from  England  in  1633,  and  made  his  first 
settlement  at  Hartford,  Connecticut,  but  after- 
ward removed  to  Norwich,  the  same  State, 
where  he  became  one  of  the  first  settlers  of 
the  latter  place.  Samuel  Dorr  (great-grand- 
father), a  farmer  by  occupation,  was  a  native 
of  Connecticut,  and  was  born  in  1760,  He 
served  for  six  years  in  the  Revolutionary  army 
under  Washington  as  an  "artificer."  He 
was  present  when  Washington  signed  Major 
Andres's  death  warrant,  and  afterward  said  that 
the  "  Father  of  our  country'*  wept  like  a  child 
while  doing  it.  His  discharge  from  the  army 
was  signed  by  Washington.  Edmund  Dorr 
(great-great-grandfather)  was  also  a  native  of 
Connecticut. 

George  E.  Dorr  recieved  his  education  prin- 
cipally in  the  Greenwich  academy,  and  after 
leaving  there  he  commenced  business  as  a 
clerk  in  a  store.  From  1S57  until  1864  he 
was  a  clerk  in  a  bank.  In  1882  he  and  a  few 
other  capitalists  organized  and  incorporated 
the  Ondawa  Paper  Company,  with  a  capital 
stock  valued  at  eighty  thousand  dollars,  for 
the  purpose  of  manufacturing  manilla  paper, 
located  at  Middle  Falls,  this  county.  At  the 
formation  of  this  company  Mr.  Dorr  was  made 
secretary  and  treasurer  of  it,  and  these  offices 
he  has  held  ever  since,  with  Edmund  H.  Gib- 
son as  president.  This  company  does  an  an- 
nual business  of  about  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  and  employs  on  an  average  about 
forty  operatives. 

On  June  1,  1870,  Mr.  Dorr  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Evelyn,  a  daughter  of  Edward  G. 
Wilbur,  of  Columbia  county,  New  York,  who 


twice  represented  his  district  in  the  State  sen- 
ate. To  this  marriage  was  born  two  children  : 
Cora  L.  and  Walter  F. ,  the  latter  of  whom 
died  in  1880. 


"IA>  ALTER  d.  ROGERS,  one  of  the 
most  popular  and  successful  young  busi- 
ness men  of  Glens  Falls,  and  a  stockholder  in 
the  J.  &  J.  Rogers  Company,  was  born  at  Au 
Sable  Forks,  Essex  county,  New  York,  August 
21,  1858,  and  is  a  son  of  James  and  Susan  C. 
(Geer)  Rogers.  James  Rogers  was  a  native  of 
Fort  Edward,  Washington  county,  and  when 
a  young  man  removed  to  Essex  county,  and 
died  at  Au  Sable  in  1880,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
four  years.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Episco- 
pal church,  and  on  political  questions  was  a 
democrat.  He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of 
the  J.  &  J.  Rogers  Iron  Company,  of  Au  Sable, 
who  were  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  horse- 
shoe nails,  and  with  whose  welfare  he  was 
closely  identified  until  his  death.  After  his 
death  the  J.  &  J.  Rogers  Iron  Company  was 
succeeded  by  the  J.  &  J.  Rogers  Company. 

James  Rogers  (grandfather)  was  a  native  of 
New  York  State,  and  for  several  years  resided 
at  Fort  Edward,  where  he  died  at  the  early- 
age  of  thirty-three  years.  The  Rogers  family 
are  of  English  origin.  James  Rogers  (father) 
married  Susan  C.  Geer,  who  was  born  in 
Schaghticoke,  Rensselaer  county,  whose  death 
occurred  in  1880,  aged  seventy  years.  She 
was  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  church,  and 
a  daughter  of  Walter  Geer,  who  was  a  native 
of  New  York  State,  and  removed,  many  years 
ago,  to  the  village  of  Glens  Falls,  where  he 
bought  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  seventy 
acres,  which  is  now  inside  of  the  village  cor- 
poration. He  was  a  lumber  merchant  and 
farmer  here  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which 
occurred  whin  he  was  sixty  years  of  age. 

Walter  Geer  Rogers  was  reared  in  his  native 
village  of  Au  Sable,  receiving  his  education  at 
a  boarding  school  at  Burlington,  Vermont,  and 
at  Gray  Lock  institute,  South  Williamstown. 


422 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  IIISTOPY 


Massachusetts,  and  for  a  while  was  at  Cornell 
university.  After  leaving  college  Mr.  Rogers 
visited  Europe,  and  in  1880,  after  the  death 
of  his  father,  he,  with  his  mother,  purchased 
the  old  Geer  homestead  from  A.  C.  Geer,  an 
uncle  of  Mr.  Rogers,  where  he  has  resided 
ever  since.  He  has  made  man}' improvements 
on  this  farm,  and  has  a  very  fine  residence, 
which  is  now  inside  the  village  limits.  There 
is  seventy-five  acres  left  of  the  original  one 
hundred  and  seventy  acre  tract  :  it  is  located 
inside  the  corporate  limits  of  the  village,  and 
is  being  rapidly  sold  off  in  building  lots.  Since 
his  moving  on  this  farm,  Mr.  Rogers  has  been 
engaged  principally  in  farming  and  breeding 
Jersey  cattle.  He  is  also  one  of  the  stock- 
holders in  the  J.  &  J.  Rogers  Company,  who 
are  now  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  sul- 
phite pulp.  Mr.  Rogers  is  a  member  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  church,  is  a  republican  in 
political  belief,  and  was  never  married.  At 
his  home  he  is  hospitable,  and  always  glad  to 
meet  his  friends,  and  nobody  can  number  more 
of  them  than  Mr.  Rogers. 


/■\SCAR  F.  DAVIS,  a  well  known  mem- 
^^  ber  of  the  Washington  county  bar,  who 
has  been  in  successful  practice  for  a  period  of 
forty-four  years,  during  all  of  which  time  he 
has  resided  at  Whitehall,  this  county,  is  a  son 
of  Jonathan  and  Elizabeth  (Preston)  Davis, 
and  was  born  at  Brattleboro,  Vermont,  Octo- 
ber 16,  1820.  The  Davis  family  is  of  Welch 
extraction  and  among  the  oldest  in  the  United 
States,  having  been  settled  at  Concord,  Mas- 
sachusetts, long  prior  to  the  Revolutionary 
war.  Capt.  Isaac  Davis,  great  uncle  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  the  first  American 
killed  at  the  battle  of  Concord  in  the  war  for 
independence  Jonathan  Davis  (father)  was 
a  native  of  Massachusetts,  born  near  Concord, 
where  he  resided  until  after  his  marriage,  when 
he  removed  to  the  State  of  Vermont.  After  a 
few  years'  residence  in  Vermont,  he  came  to 
New  York,  and  finally  settled   at   Granville, 


where  he  resided  for  forty  years,  dying  here  in 
April.  1869.  He  was  a  mechanic  and  farmer 
by  occupation,  and  became  quite  successful. 
His  wife,  Elizabeth  Preston,  was  a  native  of 
Massachusetts,  and  was  born  in  1793.  She 
died  in  1845,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two.  She  and 
her  husband  were  both  members  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church  of  Granville. 

Oscar  F.  Davis  grew  to  manhood  princi- 
pally at  Granville,  and  received  an  academic 
education  at  that  place.  He  then  read  law 
with  John  H.  Boyd,  of  that  village,  and  com- 
pleted his  legal  studies  with  Judge  James  Gib- 
son, of  Salem.  In  the  spring  of  1850  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar,  and  the  same  year  located 
at  Whitehall  for  the  practice  of  his  profession. 
Here  he  has  remained  in  the  active  practice 
of  law  to  the  present  time  —  a  period  of  nearly 
forty-five  years  —  during  which  he  has  had  a 
large  general  practice  in  the  courts  of  this  and 
adjoining  counties.  In  addition  to  his  law 
practice  he  was  also  engaged  in  the  lumber 
business  here  for  some  ten  years. 

In  1854  Mr.  Davis  was  married  to  Charlotte 
T.  Rowe,  a  daughter  of  Rufus  Rowe,  of  the 
village  of  Granville.  To  their  union  was  born 
one  son  and  two  daughters  :  Rufus  R.,  Char- 
lotte T.  and  Pauline  B. 

In  his  political  affiliations  Mr.  Davis  is  an 
ardent  democrat,  and  is  now  serving  as  one  of 
the  village  trustees,  which  office  he  has  held 
for  many  years.  He  is  also  president  of  the 
village,  and  has  held  that  office  about  six  years. 
As  a  lawyer  he  has  won  high  standing  at  the 
bar,  and  as  a  citizen  he  ranks  with  the  most 
public  spirited  and  useful  in  the  community. 
He  is  universally  respected  for  his  noble  man- 
hood and  uprightness  of  character. 


CAMUEL  M.  SKIFF,  dealer  in  coal, 
*"^  feed,  flour,  grain,  and  all  kinds  of  country 
produce,  and  shipper  of  potatoes,  hay  and 
straw,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Cambridge, 
Washington  county,  New  York,  May  19,  1850, 
and  is   a   son    of  John  F.  and    Lydia  (Butler) 


BKKiHM'lIY  A XI)  HISTORY 


423 


Skiff.  John  F.  Skiff  (father)  was  a  native  of, 
the  town  of  Easton,  where  he  was  born  Au- 
gust 29,  1820.  He  was  an  extensive  farmer  of 
that  town,  where  he  owned  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  three  hundred  acres  of  land,  and  made 
a  specialty  of  dairying.  He  was  a  man  of 
good  business  qualifications,  and  accumulated 
considerable  wealth.  In  about  1846  he  wed- 
ded Lydia,  a  daughter  of  Moses  Butler,  a 
farmer  of  the  town  of  Easton.  To  their  mar- 
riage were  born  four  daughters  and  three  sons  : 
Rhoda  B.,  wife  of  F.  E.  Hoxie,  of  the  village 
of  Cambridge;  Samuel  M.,  Mary  (dead): 
Etta  (dead),  the  late  wife  of  A.  Baker,  of  Gran- 
ville; Alonzo  M.,  of  Easton;  Emma,  wife  of 
Henry  Becker,  also  of  Easton,  and  Edward 
J.,  of  the  same  place.  John  F.  Skiff's  death 
occurred  May  4,  1890.  His  wife,  who  still 
survives  him,  was  born  in  1S29,  in  the  town  of 
Easton.  She  is  a  devoted  member  of  the 
Society  of  Friends.  John  F.  Skiff  was  an 
officer  in  the  old  State  militia,  and  a  son  of 
Samuel  Skiff  (grandfather),  who  followed  his 
trade,  that  of  blacksmith,  for  some  years  in 
the  town  of  Easton,  dying  there  when  a  com- 
paratively young  man,  and  leaving  a  widow 
and  two  children.  His  widow,  who  was  for- 
merly a  Miss  Fish,  married,  for  her  second 
husband,  Charles  Herrington,  of  the  town  of 
Easton,  by  whom  she  had  two  children  :  Mar- 
tha,who  became  the  wife  of  Edward  Brownell, 
of  Cambridge,  and  Charles.  The  pioneer  of 
the  Skiff  family  in  Washington  county  mi- 
grated from  Rhode  Island. 

Samuel  M.  Skiff  was  reared  on  the  farm, 
educated  in  the  district  school,  and  followed 
farming  up  to  1879.  From  that  date  up  to 
1883  he  was  engaged  in  operating  a  threshing 
machine.  In  the  last  named  year  he  branched 
out  in  his  present  business  at  the  village  of 
Buskirks,  where  his  business  has  steadily 
grown  until  it  now  amounts  to  between  thirty 
and  forty  thousand  dollars  annually.  He  owns 
a  comfortable  home,  located  on  thirteen  acres 
of  land  in  the  southwest  corner  of  the  town  of 
White  Creek,  and   also   owns   some   valuable 


property  just  across  the  line  in  Rensselaer 
county.  Mr.  Skiff  is  a  member  of  Cambridge 
Valley  Lodge,  No.  481,  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons.  In  politics  he  is  a  republican,  and 
has  filled  some  of  the  town  offices. 

On  January  1,  1872,  he  was  wedded  to  Mar 
tha  A.,  a  daughter  of  Peter  Eddy,  of  the  town 
of  White  Creek.  To  their  marriage  have  been 
born  three  children  :  Hattie  A.,  John  P.  and 
Charles. 


lT\i:  MORRIS  PRATT,  a  prominent  and 

well  known  business  man  and  merchant 
of  Buskirk's  Bridge,  is  a  son  of  Jesse  and 
Mary  E.  (Corey)  Pratt,  and  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Cambridge,  Washington  county,  New 
York.  July  27,  1S43.  Jesse  Pratt  was  a 'native 
of  the  same  town,  where  he  was  born  March 
7,  1818,  and  died  September  25,  1881.  Hewas 
reared  on  the  farm,  receiving  a  common  school 
education,  and  during  the  early  part  of  his 
life  followed  farming  in  his  native  town  of 
Cambridge.  In  1850  he  started  up  in  the  mer- 
cantile business  at  Buskirk's  Bridge,  in  the 
storeroom  now  occupied  by  his  son,  De  Mor- 
ris Pratt.  The  remaining  years  of  his  life 
were  spent  here  engaged  in  general  merchan- 
dising. He  was  a  good  business  man  and 
popular  as  a  citizen  in  his  community.  Hewas 
one  of  the  charter  members  of  Cambridge  Val- 
ley Lodge,  No.  481,  Free  and  Accepted  Ma- 
sons, and  was  also  a  member  of  the  Indepen- 
dent Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  In  politics,  in 
the  days  of  the  old  American  party  he  was  a 
warm  supporter  of  its  principles,  and  on  the 
death  of  that  party  he  became  an  ardent  re- 
publican, taking  an  active  interest  in  the  suc- 
cess of  that  organization.  He  filled  the  office 
of  postmaster  at  Buskirk's  Bridge  from  1862 
up  to  his  death.  On  May  7.  [842,  he  wedded 
Mary  E.,  a  daughter  of  Philip  Corey,  a  car- 
penter of  the  town  of  Easton.  To  this  mar- 
riage were  born  two  children  :  De  Morris  and 
Lucina.  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Pratt  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Easton.  February  2,  [823,  and  is  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  with 


424 


BIOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY 


her  daughter  resides  at  Buskirk's  Bridge.  For 
information  concerning  Jesse  Pratt  (grand- 
father), we  refer  the  reader  to  the  sketch  of 
John  L.  Pratt,  jr.,  of  Cambridge,  on  another 
page  of  this  work. 

De  Morris  Pratt  received  his  education  in 
the  common  schools, the  Washington  academy 
of  Cambridge,  and  Eastman's  Business  col- 
lege, of  Poughkeepsie,  New  York,  graduating 
from  the  latter  institution  in  1861.  He  then 
returned  home,  where  he  was  engaged  with 
his  father  in  the  store  up  to  1868.  In  that  year 
he  went  to  New  York  city,  and  was  there  en- 
gaged in  the  commission  and  produce  business 
on  the  corner  of  Thirty-third  street  and 
Eleventh  avenue,  where  he  carried  on  an  ex- 
tensive business  in  that  line  for  a  period  of  ten 
years,  with  the  exception  of  a  short  time  en- 
gaged in  general  merchandising  at  No.  64  Park 
Place.  On  account  of  his  father's  failing 
health  Mr.  Pratt,  in  1878,  sold  out  his  inter- 
ests in  the  city,  and  returned  home  to  take 
charge  of  his  father's  interests,  which  he  did 
up  to  1883,  when  he  purchased  the  other  heirs' 
part  of  the  estate,  and  has  successfully  carried 
on  the  business  up  to  the  present  time. 

In  1885  Mr.  Pratt  erected  a  handsome  resi- 
dence, which  is  one  of  the  most  comfortable 
homes  of  that  section.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity,  holding  membership  in  the 
Cambridge  Valley  Lodge,  and  is  a  member  of 
Apollo  Commandery  of  Troy,  New  York.  In 
his  political  opinion  he  is  a  stanch  republican, 
and  since  the  death  of  his  father,  has  held  the 
office  of  postmaster  of  his  village. 

On  September  25,  1867,  Mr.  Pratt  was  mar- 
ried to  Ada  A.,  a  daughter  of  Kinsley  Allen, of 
North  Hoosick,  New  York.  To  their  marriage 
were  born  two  children  :  Ada  Frances  and 
Mary  Leo,  both  now  deceased. 


"ELIJAH  CHASE,  one  of  the  leading 
"^^  and  successful  farmers  of  the  town  of 
White  Creek,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Hoo- 
sick, Rensselaer  county,   New  York,  January 


6,  1824,  and  is  a  son  of  Beverly  and  Elizabeth 
(Spaulding)  Chase.  Beverly  Chase  was  born 
in  the  same  town  July  6,  1786.  Both  his  pa- 
rents died  when  he  was  a  small  child,  and  he 
was  afterward  brought  up  by  a  farmer  by  the 
name  of  Mosley  in  the  town  of  Hoosick,  with 
whom  he  grew  to  manhood  and  received  a 
good  common  school  education.  He  taught 
district  school  at  times,  but  was  principally  en- 
gaged in  farming.  Removing  in  early  life  to 
the  town  of  Cambridge,  he  lived  there  on  a 
rented  farm  for  five  years.  He  then  went  to 
the  town  of  White  Creek  in  1834,  and  was 
there  for  six  years,  when  he  returned  to  his 
native  town  and  farmed  four  years.  Later 
with  his  son,  Elijah,  he  purchased  a  farm  in 
this  town,  which  they  conducted  for  a  few 
years, when  they  returned  to  the  town  of  White 
Creek,  and  there  Beverly  Chase  died,  March  7, 
1861.  He  was  an  officer  in  the  old  State  mili- 
tia, and  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church  at 
Wait's  Corners,  in  the  town  of  White  Creek, 
the  pastor  of  which,  Rev.  Turkham,  baptized 
him,  married  him  and  preached  his  funeral 
discourse.  In  political  belief  he  was  a  whig, 
and  held  some  town  offices.  He  wedded  Eliza- 
beth Spaulding,  and  had  nine  children  :  Hiram 
(dead);  Sallie,  the  widow  of  John  Abbott,  now 
residing  in  Wyoming  county,  this  State  ;  Polly 
(dead),  was  the  wife  of  Benjamin  Brown,  for- 
merly of  Cambridge;  Eliza,  widow  of  John 
Sherwood,  of  Johnsonville,  New  York;  Lu- 
cina,  widow  of  Jefferson  Chase,  of  Saratoga 
county  ;  Jane  (dead);  Caroline,  widow  of  Joseph 
Cronk,  of  Oklahoma;  Elijah,  and  Delia  M., 
wife  of  W.  Akin,  of  Pittstown,  New  York. 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Chase  was  born  January  6, 
1788,  and  died  August  30,  1850.  She  was  a 
devoted  member  of  the  Baptist  church. 

Elijah  Chase  grew  to  manhood  on  the  farm, 
attended  the  district  schools,  and  has  always 
been  engaged  in  general  farming.  In  1850 
he  located  on  the  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  acres  where  he  now  resides,  which  he 
farmed  for  six  years  before  purchasing  it,  and 
is  now    well   improved   and   one   of  the   most 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


"425 


valuable  farms  in  the  town  of  White  Creek. 
It  lies  in  the  vicinity  of  Buskirk's  Bridge,  in 
the  western  part  of  the  town.  Mr.  Chase  has 
for  some  years  past  made  a  specialty  of  sheep 
raising,  for  which  much  of  his  land  is  well 
adapted.  The  farm  contains  a  good  dwelling, 
barn  and  other  out  buildings.  In  politics  he  is 
a  stanch  republican,  and  has  held  some  of  the 
town  offices  and  for  fourteen  years  the  office 
of  school  trustee.  On  January  4,  1849,  Elijah 
Chase  was  united  in  marriage  with  Maria,  a 
daughter  of  Silas  Stark,  of  Pittstown,  New 
York.  To  their  union  have  been  born  two 
children:  Henrietta  M.,  the  wife  of  Webster 
Pratt,  a  produce  dealer  of  Buskirk's  Bridge; 
and  Edgar  B.,  a  farmer  in  the  town  of  Cam- 
bridge. 

(^HARLES  A.  JENKINS,  a  well  known 

^^  and  successful  dentist  of  the  village  of 
Cambridge,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Hebron, 
Washington  county,  New  York.  His  family 
was  among  the  prominent  and  early  settlers 
of  that  town.  Dr.  Jenkins  received  his  edu- 
cation at  the  Cambridge  Washington  acad- 
emy, and  after  leaving  school  he  engaged  as  a 
salesman  for  Carpenter  &  Livingston's  dry- 
goods  store  of  Cambridge,  with  whom  he  re- 
mained for  four  years,  when  he  enlisted  as  a 
soldier  in  the  late  Civil  war.  After  he  returned 
home  from  the  war  he  clerked  in  a  drug  store 
for  a  year  in  the  same  village.-  In  1867  he 
commenced  the  study  of  dentistry  with  Dr. 
Joseph  Stewart  of  this  village,  with  whom  he 
remained  as  a  student  for  three  years,  taking 
the  required  course  of  study.  In  1870  Dr. 
Jenkins  went  to  New  York  city,  where  he  be- 
gan the  practice  and  remained  for  one  year  ; 
thence  he  removed  to  Amenia,  in  Dutchess 
county,  and  remained  there  for  one  year.  In 
1878  he  returned  to  the  village  of  Cambridge, 
where  he  has  ever  since  resided  and  practiced 
his  profession  with  satisfactory  success.  In 
political  opinion  he  is  a  republican,  and  has 
been  clerk  of  the  village  board  of  health   for 

the  past  three  years.      At  the  breaking  out  of 
25 


the  late  Rebellion  Dr.  Jenkins  offered  to  enlist 
but  was  rejected  on  account  of  his  age.  He 
was  finally  accepted  on  August  6,  1862,  when 
he  joined  Company  I,  123rd  New  York  vol- 
unteer infantry.  Through  his  efforts  and  de- 
votion to  the  cause  -of  the  Union,  Company  I 
received  nineteen  volunteers,  who  enlisted 
principally  through  the  solicitation  of  Dr. 
Jenkins.  He  was  honorably  discharged  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  on  June  8,  1865,  at  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  In  all  Dr.  Jenkins  participated 
in  twenty-one  engagements,  and  was  with  the 
army  of  the  Potomac  at  the  battles  of  Chancel- 
lorsville  and  Gettysburg  ;  after  the  last  named 
fight  was  transferred  to  the  army  of  the  Cum- 
berland, fought  through  the  Carolinas,  and 
was  with  Sherman  in  his  famous  march  to  the 
sea.  He  is  a  member  and  has  been  adjutant 
of  John  McKie  Post,  No.  309,  Grand  Army  of 
the  Republic  of  this  village. 

Charles  A.  Jenkins,  D.  D.  S.,  is  a  son  of 
John  and  Sally  Ann  (Howard)  Jenkins.  John 
Jenkins  was  a  native  of  the  town  of  Hebron. 
He  received  a  common  school  education,  and 
afterleavingschoollearned the  tradeof  carpen- 
ter, which  occupation  he  afterward  followed 
themostof  his  life, doing  considerable  contract- 
ting  and  building.  Many  of  the  best  houses 
in  this  section  of  the  county  were  constructed 
under  his  supervision  ;  among  the  number  are 
the  Methodist  church  building  of  Cambridge, 
two  churches  in  Salem,  and  other  prominent 
buildings.  In  about  1840  he  started  a  wagon 
shop  in  the  village  of  Coila,  remaining  there 
but  a  short  time,  when  he  came  to  Cambridge 
and  operated  a  flouring  and  saw  mill.  Finding 
that  unprofitable,  he  again  commenced  work 
at  his  trade,  at  which  he  continued  up  till  1866. 
In  that  year  he  opened  a  wagon  shop  at  Cam- 
bridge, which  he  is  conducting  at  the  present 
time.  Formerly  a  republican,  he  is  now  an 
ardent  prohibitionist,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Sons  of  Temperance,  and  was  at  one  time  dep- 
uty grand  master  of  that  order.  In  1863  he 
enlisted  from  Cambridge  in  Co.  I,  123rd  New 
Yurk  volunteer  regiment,  and  was  discharged 


4'2f, 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


at  Washington  in  1865.  He  was  with  Sher- 
man's army  in  all  the  principal  engagements 
from  Chattanooga  to  the  close  of  the  war. 
His  wife  was  Sarah  Ann,  daughter  of  Silas 
Howard.  To  their  marriage  was  born  three 
sons  and  one  daughter;  Laura  M.,  wife  of 
W.  J.  Morgan,  of  Newburg,  New  York  ;  John, 
a  veteran  of  the  late  war,  who  is  now  residing 
in  Cambridge;  Dr.  Charles  A.,  and  Nicho- 
las L. 

Philip  Jenkins  (grandfather),  founder  of  the 
family  in  Washington  count}',  was  a  native  of 
the  State  of  New  Hampshire,  who  became 
one  of  the  earl}'  settlers  in  the  town  of  Heb- 
ron, where  he  owned  and  operated  a  saw  mill. 
The  Howards,  the  maternal  kin  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  are  descended  from  Sir  Walter 
Howard  of  England. 


AHARLES    E.  BLASHFIELD,  the 

^  leading  furniture  dealer  and  undertaker  of 
Salem,  Washington  county,  New  York,  and 
one  of  the  prominent  young  business  men  of 
that  section,  was  born  in  that  village  July  24, 
1862.  He  was  reared  in  his  native  place  and 
principally  educated  in  the  Washington  acad- 
emy. After  leaving  the  academy  he  entered 
Eastman's  Business  college  at  Poughkeepsie, 
from  which  he  was  graduated.  Subsequently  he 
accepted  a  position  as  book-keeper  for  a  firm 
at  Troy,  New  York,  which  he  held  for  two 
years,  when  he  went  to  Kingston  and  worked 
there  as  an  accountant  for  one  year  and  a  half. 
Upon  the  death  of  his  father  in  1886,  he  re- 
turned to  Salem  and  assumed  charge  of  his 
father's  business  interests,  and  has  since  con- 
ducted the  business  successfully.  In  1891,  he 
built  his  present  brick  storeroom,  on  the  site 
of  the  old  one,  which  had  previously  burned. 
He  keeps  a  well  selected  stock  of  furniture 
and  carries  on  an  undertaking  department. 

In  1884  Mr.  Blashfield  was  wedded  to  Katie 
E.  Pulis,  of  Troy.  To  their  marriage  have 
been  born  three  children  :  Harold,  Elizabeth 
M-j    and   Helen  T.      He   is   a   member  of  the 


Salem  Masonic  Lodge,  No.  391,  and  of  the 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  of  the 
same  village.  In  political  belief  he  is  a  re- 
publican, and  upon  the  death  of  his  father, 
succeeded  to  the  position  held  by  him  as  trustee 
of  the  Evergreen  Cemetery  association  of  the 
village. 

Charles  E.  Blashfield  is  a  son  of  James  R. 
and  Maria  M.  Blashfield.  His  father  was  born 
in  Wadsboro  in  1816,  and  remained  there  un- 
til the  age  of  fourteen  years,  when  with  his 
parents  he  came  and  settled  on  a  farm  in  the 
town  of  Salem.  He  received  a  good  common 
school  education  for  that  day,  and  carried  on- 
farming  until  1853,  when  in  that  year  he  en- 
gaged in  the  furniture  and  undertaking  busi- 
ness at  Salem,  at  which  he  continued  up  to 
the  time  of  his  death  in  1886  at  the  age  of 
seventy  years.  He  was  a  successful  business 
man,  public  spirited  and  progressive  and  took 
great  interest  in  the  development  and  advance- 
ment of  the  village.  For  many  years  he  ac- 
ceptably filled  the  position  of  trustee  of  the 
Evergreen  Cemetery  association,  and  for  nearly 
forty  years  was  engaged  in  the  furniture  and 
undertaking  business,  and  was  highly  respected 
by  all  who  knew  him.  He  was  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Sa- 
lem. His  wife  was  Maria  M.  Heth,  by  whom 
he  had  three  children  :  Charles  E. ;  Merrill  C. , 
in  business  in  New  York  City,  and  Albert  J., 
who  is  engaged  in  business  in  St.  Louis. 


T^HOMAS    LOGAN  WARD,  a  well 

known  young  physician  of  the  village  of 
Cambridge,  who  has  won  success  in  his  chosen 
profession,  is  a  son  of  Peter  and  Mary  (Logan) 
Ward,  and  was  born  at  Newburg,  Orange 
county,  New  York,  November  8,  1862.  Peter 
Ward  was  a  native  of  New  York  State  and  an 
extensive  railroad  contractor,  and  was  senior 
member  of  the  firm  of  Ward  &  Logan,  whole- 
sale ship  chandlers,  of  Newburg,  where  they 
own  an  entire  block  of  buildings  and  carry  on 
a  large   business.      In  early  life   Peter  Ward 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


427 


was  division  superintendent  of  the  New  York 
&  Lake  Erie  railroad.  His  first  railroad  con- 
tracting was  in  Tennessee  ;  constructed  a  new 
branch  road  for  the  New  Jersey  &  New  York 
Railroad  company  ;  also  built  a  number  of 
miles  of  the  West  Shore ;  a  road  from  Fort 
Smith,  Arkansas,  to  Paris,  Texas  ;  and  fifty 
miles  of  the  New  York,  Ontario  &  Western 
railroad.  He  became  successful  and  accumu- 
lated wealth.  He  was  a  leading  democrat  in 
politics,  and  twice  served  as  mayor  of  the  city 
ofNewburg,  and  at  the  death  of  State  Senator 
Low  of  that  district  he  was  elected  to  fill  the 
unexpired  term,  in  a  district  which  was  one  of 
the  republican  strongholds.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and  in  1S57 
wedded  Mary  Logan,  of  New  Windsor,  New 
York.  To  their  union  were  born  two  sons  and 
four  daughters  :  Carrie  A.,  who  is  now  the 
wife  of  Royal  C.  Vilas,  president  of  the  New 
York  Air  Brake  company,  of  the  city  of  New 
York;  Mary  L.,  wife  of  Charles  Duffy,  of 
Newburg  ;  Sarah  E.,wife  of  Theodore  Wentz, 
also  of  New  York  city;  Dr.  Thomas  L. ,  Charles 
L.,  who  became  his  father's  successor  in  the 
ship  chandlery  business  at  Newburg,  and  Mar- 
garetta,  who  is  the  wife  of  Ives  Smith,  of  New 
York  city. 

Hon.  Peter  Ward's  death  occurred  at  New- 
burg in  March,  1S90,  in  the  sixty-fifth  year  of 
his  age  ;  his  wife  preceded  him  to  the  grave 
in  1888,  at  the  age  of  sixty- two  years. 

Thomas  Ward  (grandfather)  was  a  native  of 
New  Jersey,  who  removed  to  the  State  of  New 
York  when  a  young  man  and  located  on  a  farm 
for  a  few  years.  He  then  removed  to  New 
York  city,  where  he  followed  his  trade  and 
lived  up  to  his  death.  His  wife  was  Mary 
Daken,  by  whom  he  had  thirteen  children. 
The  Wards  are  of  Holland  extraction, and  the 
Logans  are  old  settlers  in  this  country.  The 
grandfather  Logan  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  a  brother  of  Major  Logan,  of  Revolution- 
ary fame. 

Thomas  L.  Ward,  M.  D.,  received  his  edu- 
cation in   a  boarding  school  at  Cornell,  New 


York,  and  the  Newburg  academy,  and  was 
graduated  from  the  latter  institution  in  his 
twentieth  year.  Soon  after  leaving  the  acad- 
emy he  commenced  the  study  of  medicine 
with  Dr.  Charles  H.  Wilkins,  of  New  York- 
city,  and  graduated  from  theDratsmouth  Med- 
ical college  in  the  class  of  1888.  After  leaving 
this  institution  he  supplemented  his  medical 
education  by  spending  one  )'ear  at  the  Man- 
hattan hospital,  also  in  the  department  of  the 
Manhattan  Eye  and  Ear  hospital,  and  spent 
some  time  in  the  dispensary  there.  At  the  ex- 
piration of  this  time  he  became  physician  in 
charge  of  the  Manhattan  for  a  period  of  one 
year  and  a  half. 

In  1N90  he  commenced  the  general  practice 
of  medicine  on  Eighty-fourth  street  of  that 
city,  remaining  there  until  1893,  when  he  re- 
moved to  the  village  of  Cambridge,  where  he 
commands  a  leading  practice.  Doctor  Ward 
is  a  member  of  the  New  York  County  Medi- 
cal society,  and  of  the  New  York  Physicians' 
Mutual  Aid  society  ;  he  is  also  examining  phy- 
sician for  the  Manhattan  Life,  and  Equitable 
Life  Insurance  companies. 

In  1892  Doctor  Ward  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Linda,  a  daughter  of  Peter  J.  Engell, 
of  Sharon  Spring. 


7jMlLLIAM  H.  DENNIS,  one  of  the 

^-"-*  most  advanced  school  teachers  of  the 
county  and  a  resident  of  Greenwich,  is  a  son 
of  Darenzo  and  Sarah  (Hill)  Dennis,  and  was 
born  April  7,  1859,  in  the  town  of  Greenwich, 
Washington  county,  New  York.  The  ances- 
try from  whom  Mr.  Dennis  has  descended  is 
supposed  to  have  come  from  Wales.  Thomas 
Dennis,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  removed 
prior  to  the  Revolution  to  the  town  of  Easton, 
where  he  afterward  became  a  very  prominent 
citizen,  served  as  justice  of  the  peace  and  as- 
sociate county  judge,  and  many  of  his  de- 
scendants are  still  living  in  this  town. 

George    Dennis    (great-grandfather)    died 
when    his  son,   Marvin   (grandfather),   was   a 


4£8 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


very  small  boy.  He  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Hoosick,  Rensselaer  county.  Marvin  Dennis 
was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  a  flax  mer- 
chant. Later  in  life  he  removed  to  the  town 
of  Easton,  where  his  death  occurred.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Greenwich  Baptist  church, 
married,  and  had  four  children  :  William, Eliza- 
beth Campbell,  Darenzo,  and  Adelaide  Conley. 
His  death  occurred  May  2,.  1884,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-eight  years. 

Darenzo  Dennis  was  a  native  of  the  town 
of  Easton,  followed  the  occupation  of  farm- 
ing all  his  life,  and  for  several  years  was  en- 
gaged as  a  flax  merchant.  In  political  opinion 
he  was  a  republican,  and  served  as  road  com- 
missioner for  ten  years.  He  was  a  member  of 
Ashlar  Lodge  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons. 
He  was  twice  married.  By  his  first  wife,  Sarah 
Hill,  he  had  two  children  :  Willam  H.  and  Sa- 
rah Jane  (deceased).  Mrs.  Dennis  was  born 
July  1,  1836,  and  died  October  13,  1861.  By 
his  second  wife,  Martha  Adelaide  Spencer,  he 
had  two  children  :   Jessie  (dead),  and  Watie. 

William  H.  Dennis  received  his  education 
principally  in  the  Greenwich  academy,  and 
after  leaving  there  taught  f&ur  terms  of  school, 
and  in  September,  1883,  he  entered  the  State 
Normal  school,  at  Oswego,  New  York,  where 
he  took  a  thorough  classical  and  English 
course,  and  since  leaving  that  institution  has 
been  engaged  in  teaching.  He  has  taught 
twenty-seven  terms,  teaching  both  summer 
and  winter.  In  1893  Prof.  Dennis  was  elected 
school  commissioner,  being  one  of  two  elected 
to  superintend  the  public  schools  of  the  county. 
He  is  a  republican  in  politics,  and  takes  an 
active  interest  in  the  success  of  his  party.  On 
August  21,  1889,  he  was  wedded  to  Hattie,  a 
daughter  of  James  Howden,  formerly  of  this 
county.  To  his  marriage  has  been  born  one 
daughter,  Retta  S. 

The  Howden  family  is  of  Scotch  origin,  the 
immigrant  ancestor  of  whom  in  this  country 
was  the  great-grandfather  of  Mrs.  W.  H.  Den- 
nis. He  came  from  Scotland,  and  it  is  sup- 
posed that  he  located  in  the  vicinity  of  Cam- 


bridge, this  county,  with  his  family,  one  of 
whom  was  Alexander  Howden  (grandfather), 
who  was  a  Scotch  Presbyterian  clergyman  and 
spent  his  life  in  the  work  of  the  ministry  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Cambridge.  He  married 
Margaret  Wells,  and  had  nine  children  :  Wil- 
liam, Lewis,  Alex,  Kittie,  Helen,  James,  Mag- 
gie, Cornelia  Morse,  and  Olive  Brown. 

James  Howden  was  a  native  of  Cambridge, 
where  the  early  part  of  his  life  was  spent.  He 
was  captain  of  a  company  in  the  Civil  war; 
was  a  Knight  Templar  in  Masonary.  His  wife 
was  Marie  Smith,  and  they  had  one  child, 
Mrs.  Dennis. 

The  great-grandfather  and  immigrant  above 
mentioned,  was  Rev.  William  Howden,  who 
was  a  man  of  many  excellences  and  a  devoted 
Christian  worker.  Before  leaving  his  native 
land  he  did  a  great  deal  of  missionary  work 
in  the  North  of  Ireland.  He  came  to  the 
United  States  in  1828,  and  subsequently  had 
pastoral  charge  of  the  Reformed  church  of 
Cambridge. 


.JOHN  GANLY,  one  of  the  leading  mer- 
chants  of  the  village  and  superintendent 
of  Section  Two  of  the  Champlain  canal,  was 
born  at  Fort  Edward,  Washington  county, 
New  York,  March  29,  1849,  and  is  a  son  of 
William  and  Elizabeth  (McGann)  Ganly. 
Michael  Ganly,  the  founder  of  this  family  in 
America,  was  the  paternal  grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  He  followed  mercan- 
tile pursuits,  and  was  a  leading  member  of 
the  Catholic  church.  He  married  and  had  a 
family  of  five  sons  and  three  daughters  :  Mi- 
chael, who  was  a  merchant  in  Ireland  ; 
Thomas,  who  emigrated  to  this  country  and 
resided  in  Brooklyn  ;  John  (dead),  who  was  a 
merchant;  William,  Julia,  Mary,  and  Eliza, 
the  wife  of  William  Plant,  of  Brooklyn.  Wil- 
liam Ganly  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  who  im- 
migrated with  his  wife  and  one  child  and  loca- 
ted in  New  York  city  for  a  short  time,  when 
he  removed  with  his  family  to  Fort   Edward, 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


429 


where  the  remaining  days  of  his^  life  were 
spent.  He  was  a  democrat  in  politics,  and  a 
Catholic  in  religious  helief,  and  was  a  man  of 
very  temperate  habits,  using  neither  tobacco 
nor  intoxicating  liquor.  He  married  Eliza- 
beth McGann,  of  Ireland,  and  by  whom  he 
had  the  following  children  :  Patrick,  who  was 
killed  in  New  York  city' at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years  ;  the  second  child  died  in  infancy  ; 
Mary  A.  (dead)  ;  Elizabeth  (dead)  ;  John,  Ju- 
lia, Catharine,  and  William.  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Ganly  died  January  2,  1886,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-three  years. 

John  Ganly  received  his  education  in  the 
public  schools  of  Fort  Edward  ;  leaving  school 
at  the  age  of  seventeen  years  he  began  clerk- 
ing in  stores  of  that  place  and  in  New  York 
city.  After  serving  three  years  in  that  capacity 
he  started  up  in  the  mercantile  business  for 
himself  at  Fort  Edward,  taking  in  James  Lovv- 
ber  as  a  partner  in  1870,  with  whom  he  con- 
tinued for  three  years,  when  Mr.  Ganly  took 
his  brother,  W.  F.  Ganly,  in  as  partner,  and 
this  firm  has  been  doing  a  successful  business 
ever  since  on  Mill  street  in  Fort  Edward, 
where  they  carry  a  full  line  of  groceries,  pro- 
visions, etc.  Mr.  Ganly  is  a  leading  democrat 
of  his  village,  and  served  as  collector  of  tolls 
on  the  canals  ;  for  five  years  he  filled  the  office 
of  treasurer  of  the  village,  and  that  of  trustee 
of  the  village  for  four  years.  On  March  24, 
1890,  he  was  appointed  superintendent  of 
public  works  and  of  Section  Two  on  the 
Champlain  canal,  which  comprises  the  ter- 
ritory between  Saratoga  dam  and  Dunham's 
basin,  and  also  includes  Glens  Falls,  the 
feeder  dam,  and  nineteen  locks.  Mr. 
Ganly  is  a  member  of  the  Catholic  church, 
and  is  trustee  and  treasurer  of  St.  Joseph 
church  of  this  village.  On  March  24,  1875, 
he  wa"s  wedded  to  Frances  E.,  a  daughter  of 
Patrick  O'Connor,  of  the  town  of  Kingsbury. 
To  their  marriage  have  been  born  three  chil- 
dren :  John  M.,  born  July  18,  1876;  Francis 
L. ,  born  July  11,  1882  :  and  Albert  Cleveland, 
born  December  1,  18S4.  Mrs.  Ganly 's  father 
25<« 


was  a  native  of  the  town  of  Kingsbury,  where 
all  the  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  agricul- 
tural pursuits.  He  owned  two  large  farms, 
and  was  extensively  engaged  in  cheese  dairy- 
ing. He  belonged  to  one  of  the  old  Wash- 
ington county  families,  and  was  one  of  the 
official  members  of  the  Catholic  church.  He 
was  the  father  of  a  family  of  seven,  three  sons 
and  four  daughters  :  Ann,  of  Glens  Falls  ; 
Mary,  Margaret  (deceased)  ;  Thomas,  Frances 
E.,  and  Eugene.  Patrick  O'Conordied  Feb- 
ruary 8,  1881,  at  eighty-three  years  of  age, 
and  his  wife  departed  this  life  September  10, 
1861. 


AWEN  D.  JONES,  a  successful  young 
business  man  and  dealer  in  household 
furniture,  etc.,  of  the  village  of  Granville,  is  a 
son  of  David  E.  and  Hannah  (Owens)  Jones, 
and  was  born  in  the  village  of  Amesville, 
Washington  county,  New  York,  July  20,  1865. 
David  E.  Jones  (father)  was  born  in  Wales, 
emigrating  from  there  to  this  country  in 
about  1859,  and  locating  in  this  county,  where 
he  resided  for  about  ten  years.  He  was 
first  employed  in  book-keeping,  and  later  en- 
gaged in  the  manufacture  of  roofing  slate.  He 
subsequently  removed  to  Poultney,  Vermont, 
where  he  resided  up  to  his  death  in  1874.  In 
church  membership  he  was  an  Episcopalian, 
and  was  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity. 
After  arriving  in  this  country  he  married  Han- 
nah, a  daughter  of  Owen  Owens,  and  who  was 
the  widow  of  John  James,  of  Fairhaven,  Ver 
mont.  To  her  first  marriage  were  born  three 
children:  John,  William  and  Laura,  the  latter 
now  the  wife  of  John  E.  Jones,  of  the  village  of 
Granville;  and  to  her  second  marriage  were  born 
two  children  :  Owen  D.  and  Ella,  the  latter 
now  the  wife  of  David  O.  Owens, of  Granville. 
Mrs.  Jones  resides  in  the  same  village,  and  is 
a  member  of  the  Congregational  church. 

Owen  D.  Jones,  after  leaving  the  common 
schools,  entered  Saint  John's  Episcopal  school 
at  Poultney,  Vermont,  and  after  leaving  there 
entered   the  Troy  Conference   academy,  from 


430 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


which  institution  he  was  graduated  in  the  class 
of  1882.  On  leaving  here  he  accepted  the  po- 
sition of  book-keeper  for  G.  A.  Eagus,  of 
Pittsford,  Vermont,  at  which  he  continued  for 
a  period  of  five  years,  and  at  the  expiration  of 
this  time  took  a  like  position  with  R.  E.  Lloyd, 
of  Fairhaven,  in  the  same  State,  remaining  in 
this  capacity  for  two  years.  He  then  became 
a  traveling  salesman  for  a. manufacturing  com- 
pany of  Pittsford,  and  remained  for  two  years. 
He  was  next  employed  with  Chappel,  Chase, 
Maxwell  &  Co  ,  of  New  York  city,  for  one 
year  in  the  same  capacity.  In  1K91  he  lo- 
cated in  Granville  and  started  up  in  his  pres- 
ent business  at  No.  23  Main  street,  where  he 
carries  a  well  selected  stock  of  furniture  of  the 
latest  and  most  modern  designs,  and  in  addi- 
tion to  his  general  furniture  store  he  has  a  well 
equipped  undertaking  department.  In  his  lines 
of  business  he  is  the  successor  of  the  Potter 
Furniture  company.  His  present  stock  is  val- 
ued at  about  four  thousand  dollars,  and  the 
aggregate  amount  of  his  business  annually 
averages  from  ten  to  twelve  thousand  dollars. 
Mr.  Jones  is  a  member  of  Lodge  No.  55, 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  and  of  Tribe  No. 
256  Improved  Order  of  Red  Men.  He  is  a  re- 
publican in  politics. 


£*APT.    JOHN    LAR3IOND,  who  has 

^^  for  many  years  been  an  active  and  well 
known  business  man  and  sheriff  of  the  county, 
was  born  in  Centre  Cambridge,  Washington 
county,  New  York,  May  5,  1829.  He  was 
reared  to  manhood  on  the  farm  :  received  his 
education  in  the  district  school,  and  afterward 
attended  Cambridge  Washington  academy. 
After  leaving  here  he  returned  to  farming  in 
the  towns  of  Cambridge  and  White  Creek, 
and  was  successfully  engaged  at  the  same  time 
in  carrying  on  the  produce  business  at  Eagle 
Bridge  up  to  1874.  In  that  year  he  was  elected 
sheriff  of  Washington  count}',  and  served  the 
full  term  of  three  years.  In  1878  he  started 
in  the  produce  business   at  Salem,   which  he 


carried  on  for  four  years.  In  1883  Mr.  Lar- 
mond  removed  to  the  village  of  Cambridge, 
where  he  has  been  extensively  engaged  in  the 
real  estate  business  and  in  buying  and  selling 
wool,  handling  from  one  hundred  to  two  hun- 
dred thousand  pounds  annually.  He  also  does 
considerable  auctioneering,  managing  many 
of  the  public  sales  in  his  locality.  He  owns  a 
valuable  farm  in  the  town  of  Cambridge.  In 
1  847  8-9  he  served  as  captain  in  the  Washing- 
ton county  regiment  of  the  State  militia  ;  is  a 
member  of  the  Cambridge  Valley  Lodge  of 
Masons,  and  of  the  Salem  Chapter.  In  politi- 
cal opinion  he  is  a  stanch  republican,  and  in 
addition  to  having  held  the  office  of  sheriff, 
has  held  the  offices  of  town  clerk  and  super- 
visor of  White  Creek. 

On  September  12,  1854,  Mr.  Larmond  was 
married  to  Laura  F.,  daughter  of  John  King,  a 
farmer  and  miller  of  Eagle  Bridge.  To  this 
marriage  were  born  eight  children  :  John  K., 
a  lawyer  of  Cambridge  ;  Charles  W.,  Alexan- 
der (dead);  William  E.  (dead);  Mary  L., 
Robert,  (dead);  Harry,  (dead);  and  Frank. 
John  Larmond  is  a  son  of  Alexander  and 
Ruth  (Cory)  Larmond.  Alexander  Larmond 
was  a  native  of  Centre  Cambridge,  this  county, 
where  he  was  born  in  1803.  His  education 
was  received  principally  in  the  old  Cambridge 
Washington  academy,  and  he  afterward  fol- 
lowed the  occupation  of  farming  in  Centre 
Cambridge  during  his  whole  life  and  was  suc- 
cessful. In  the  old  State  militia  he  served  as 
captain,  and  for  nearly  twenty-five  years  he 
was  an  official  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church.  In  politics  he  was  a  whig, 
and  held  some  of  the  town  offices.  In  about 
1825  he  wedded  Ruth,  a  daughter  of  William 
Cory,  a  carpenter  of  Centre  Cambridge.  To 
their  marriage  were  born  nine  daughters  and 
four  sons  :  Eliza  (dead),  who  was  the' wife  of 
David  English,  a  farmer  of  Cambridge  ;  Free- 
love  (dead),  John,  Catharine  (dead),  Eleanor 
(dead),  William  C,  retired,  now  of  Salem; 
Mary  (dead),  who  was  the  wife  of  D.  Esmond, 
of  Pittstown,  New  York  ;  Harriet  (dead),  was 


V.KHiRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


431 


the  wife  of  Francis  J.  Whedon,  of  Easton  ; 
Hugh  (dead);  Ruth,  the  widow  of  the  late 
Walter  Henry,  of  White  Creek  ;  Nancy  (dead); 
Alexander,  a  farmer  of  Jefferson  county;  and 
Fanny  (dead).  Alexander  Larmond  died  in 
May,  1849,  at  the  age  of  forty-seven,  and  his 
wife  died  in  1  <^ 4 5 ,  at  the  age  of  about  forty- 
four. 

Hugh  Larmond  (grandfather)  was  a  native 
of  Scotland,  who  came  to  this  country  in  about 
1  772,  while  yet  quite  a  young  man,  and  became 
one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  in  the  town  of 
Cambridge.  By  trade  he  was  a  cabinet  maker, 
but  did  not  work  at  it  much  after  his  arrival 
here,  but  was  engaged  in  farming,  owning  a 
farm  of  two  hundred  acres,  which  cost  him 
twenty  shillings  per  acre.  His  farm  is  located 
in  Centre  Cambridge,  on  which  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  was  born.  For  a  number  of  years 
he  was  an  active  member  of  the  Scotch  Pres- 
byterian church.  He  married  Catharine  Laux- 
ier,  of  Dutchess  county.  To  them  were  born 
eight  sons  and  four  daughters.  His  death  qc- 
curred  in  about  1831,  at  the  age  of  about 
eighty-one  years. 


T\  CJSTIN  HALL,  a  successful  and  well 
known  farmer  residing  at  Buskirk's 
Bridge,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Cambridge, 
Washington  county,  New  York,  November  2, 
1817.  His  parents  were  William  and  Mary 
(Thomas)  Hall.  William  Hall  was  a  native 
of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  born  on  a  farm, 
and  received  a  good  common  school  educa- 
tion. In  about  1792  he  left  his  native  State, 
coming  to  the  State  of  New  York,  and  locat- 
ing on  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
he  had  purchased  in  the  town  of  Cambridge, 
and  where  he  became  one  of  the  successful 
farmers  of  his  day.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity,  a  regular  attendant  of  the 
Ouaker  meetings,  and  in  political  opinion  was 
a  democrat.  His  wife  was  Mary,  a  daughter 
of  Captain  Alexander  Thomas,  of  Rhode  Is- 
land, a  captain   in   and  a  veteran  of  the  Revo- 


lutionary war,  who  served  five  years  in  that 
struggle  as  captain  of  a  company  of  minute 
men.  To  William  Hall's  marriage  with  Mary 
Thomas  were  born  eleven  children  :  William 
(who  died  young);  Ruth,  who  was  the  wife  of 
Isaac  Abrahams,  of  West  Troy,  and  is  now 
dead  ;  Joseph  (dead);  Benjamin  (dead);  James 
(dead);  William  (dead);  Lovinas  (dead); 
Henry  (dead);  George  (dead);  Capt.  Oren,  a 
veteran  of  the  late  war,  and  now  residing  at 
Granville;  and  Austin.  William  Hall  (father) 
died  on  his  farm  in  the  town  of  Cambridge 
in  1852,  his  wife  having  preceded  him  to  the 
tomb  in  185 1  ;  she  was  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church. 

George  Hall  (grandfather)  was  also  a  native 
of  Rhode  Island,  where  he  lived  and  died, 
having  followed  the  occupation  of  a  farmer. 
He  was  a  leading  member  of  the  Society  of 
Friends,  and  a  "select  man"  prior  to  the  war 
of  the  Revolution.  He  married  a  Miss  Den- 
nis, by  whom  he  had  seven  children  :  William, 
Benjamin,  Joseph,  Ruth,  Hannah,  Ann,  and 
one  other.  The  Hall  family  is  of  English  ex- 
traction, and  its  founders  in  this  country  were 
three  brothers  who  came  from  England,  two 
of  whom  located  in  Rhode  Island  and  the 
other  went  into  Connecticut  and  was  never 
afterward  heard  of. 

Austin  Hall  grew  to  manhood  on  the  farm, 
receiving  the  rudiments  of  his  education  in 
the  common  schools,  and  later  attended  the 
Union  Village  academy  at  Greenwich.  Leav- 
ing school  he  became  a  clerk  lor  his  brother 
James,  in  a  general  store  at  Centre  Cambridge, 
where  he  remained  for  one  year  ;  he  then  re- 
turned to  the  home  farm  and  continued  to  re- 
side there  until  1854:  in  that  year  he  sold  the 
farm,  buying  and  removing  to  another  in  the 
same  town  :  since  that  time  he  has  owned  sev- 
eral farms  in  the  town  at  different  times.  In 
1879  he  purchased  his  present  home  farm,  con- 
taining one  hundred  and  forty-three  acres,  and 
has  since  added  to  that  tract  until  he  now  owns 
one  hundred  and  ninety  acres  of  good  and 
well  improved  land  in  the  southern  part  of  the 


432 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


town  of  Cambridge,  near  the  Rensselaer  county 
line,  and  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  successful 
farmers  and  business  men  of  that  section. 
In  politics  he  is  a  democrat.  In  1849  he 
wedded  Desire,  a  daughter  of  Erick  Brown- 
ell,  a  farmer  of  the  town  of  Easton.  Two 
children  have  been  born  to  this  union  :  How- 
ard, residing  on  the  farm  with  his  father,  and 
Anna  May,  deceased.  Mrs.  Desire  Hall  died, 
and  on  march  13,  1879,  Mr.  Hall  married  for 
his  second  wife  Lizzie  E.,  a  daughter  of  Hugh 
Geddes.  To  this  second  marriage  has  been 
born  one  child,  Charles  L.  Hugh  Geddes  was 
born  in  Ireland,  November  14,  1826,  and  at 
the  age  of  sixteen  years  came  to  this  country 
and  located  in  New  York  city,  remaining  there 
for  nine  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he 
removed  to  the  town  of  Cambridge,  where  he 
followed  blacksmithing  and  farming;  a  demo- 
crat in  politics,  and  a  member  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church.  His  wife  was  Eliza- 
beth, a  daughter  of  Samuel  McCune,  of  the 
town  of  Easton.  To  this  marriage  were  born 
five  children:  William,  Lizzie  E.,  Mary,Nel- 
son  and  Emma. 


HIRAM  H.  PARRISH,  teller  of  the 
Cambridge  Valley  National  bank  of  the 
village  of  Cambridge,  and  a  young  man  who 
has  already  achieved  considerable  business 
success,  is  a  native  of  the  town  of  Jackson, 
Washington  county,  New  York,  and  was  born 
July  3,  1858.  He  is  a  son  of  Henry  H.  and 
Mary  M.  (Parrish)  Parrish.  He  was  reared  to 
manhood  on  his  father's  farm,  and  received  his 
education  principally  in  the  Cambridge  acad- 
emy and  the  Hudson  River  institute.  Leaving 
school  he  returned  to  the  farm  and  successfully 
carried  on  farming  for  two  years,  when,  in  Oc- 
tober, 1879,  he  came  to  the  village  of  Cam- 
bridge and  accepted  employment  as  a  clerk  in 
the  Cambridge  Valley  National  bank,  and  in 
a  business  way  has  been  intimately  associated 
with  this  banking  house  ever  since.  To  his 
devotion    to   its  interests   and   his  ability  as  a 


financier,  his  promotion  to  the  position  of 
teller  is  principally  due.  Mr.  Parrish  is  the 
largest  stockholder  in  the  bank  residing  in  the 
village,  and  the  second  largest  stockholder 
outside  of  the  village.  He  is  one  of  the  bank's 
most  influential  directors,  and  has  been  for 
the  past  seven  or  eight  years.  The  Cambridge 
Valley  National  bank  was  originally  a  State 
bank,  which  was  succeeded  in  1865  by  the 
National  charter,  and  has  so  existed  up  to  the 
present  time.  The  present  capital  stock  is 
fifty  thousand  dollars  with  a  surplus  of  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars. 

Hiram  H.  Parrish  is  an  elder  in  the  United 
Presbyterian  church  of  the  village,  and  for  the 
past  five  years  has  been  the  treasurer  of  the 
church.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Cam- 
bridge Hose  company,  and  in  politics  he  is  a 
republican  ;  he  has  served  as  village  clerk  for 
eight  years,  and  was  three  times  elected  presi- 
dent of  the  village.  On  October  8,  1890,  he 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Ella  Maxwell,  a 
daughter  of  John  Maxwell,  a  retired  farmer 
living  in  the  town  of  Salem.  To  their  mar- 
riage has  been  born  one  child,  a  son,  named 
Malcom  M. 

Henry  H.  Parrish  (father)  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Hebron,  this  county,  March  8,  1828, 
and  early  in  life  removed  to  the  town  of  Jack- 
son, where  he  has  for  many  years  been  engaged 
in  farming.  His  present  home  farm  contains 
one  hundred  and  thirty-five  acres.  He  is  a 
leading  member  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
church,  and  for  a  number  of  years  has  held 
the  office  of  trustee  of  the  same.  On  January 
25,  1856,  he  wedded  Mary  M.,  a  daughter  of 
Leonard  Parrish,  of  the  town  of  Hebron. 
Their  marriage  was  blessed  by  the  birth  of 
four  children  :  Hiram  H.,  Jennie  C,  George 
L.,  and  John  F.  Mrs.  Parrish's  death  oc- 
curred January  17,  1892,  in  the  fifty-sixth  year 
of  her  age.  For  many  years  she  was  a  con- 
sistent member  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
church. 

Hiram  H.  Parrish  (  paternal  grandfather) 
was  also  a  native  of  the  town  of  Hebron,  and 


BIOGMAPKY  AND  HISTORY 


433 


an  elder  in  the  United  Presbyterian  church. 
He  married  Cyrena  Whitney,  by  whom  he  had 
six  children  :  William, a  retired  farmer  of  Iowa  ; 
Susanna,  wife  of  Alfred  McLansey,  of  Beaver 
Falls,  Pennsylvania;  Joel  (dead);  Henry  H.; 
John,  and  Sarah,  the  latter  now  the  wife  of 
Alfred  Soutenberg,  of  Penn  Yan. 

The  paternal  great-grandfather  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  was  a  native  of  Scotland, 
who  emigrated  to  this  country  and  became 
one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  in  the  town  of  He- 
bron, where  he  purchased  a  thousand  acres  of 
land  in  the  woods,  located  on  the  old  turnpike 
between  the  villages  of  Salem  and  Hebron. 


1A>ILLIAM  J.   ASHTON,  a    successful 

young  business  man  of  the  village  of 
Cambridge,  and  senior  member  of  the  firm  of 
Ashton  &  Brownlee,  millers  and  dealers  in 
flour,  grain,  meal,  feed,  etc.,  is  a  son  of  James 
W.  and  Sarah  (Armstrong)  Ashton,  and  was 
born  at  '"'Ash  Grove,"  in  the  town  of  White 
Creek,  Washington  county,  July  26,  1866. 
(See  sketch  of  father,  James  W.  Ashton,  on 
another  page.) 

William  J.  Ashton  grew  to  manhood  at  the 
old  homestead  of  the  Ashtons,  where  he  was 
engaged  principally  in  the  lumber  business, 
and  received  his  education  in  the  Putnam  and 
Cambridge  Union  schools.  In  1890,  associ- 
ated with  Alexander  McMorris,  he  engaged  in 
the  lumber  business  in  the  village  of  Cam- 
bridge, under  the  firm  name  of  Ashton  &  Mc- 
Morris, at  which  they  continued  until  January 
1,  1S94,  doing  a  business  annually  of  about 
twelve  thousand  dollars.  On  that  date  the 
firm  closed  out  their  business.  Previous  to 
this,  on  October  15,  1893,  Mr.  Ashton  formed 
a  partnership  with  C.  A.  Brownlee,  and  en- 
gaged in  the  feed  business,  and  has  since  clos- 
ing out  his  lumber  interests,  devoted  his  entire 
time  to  his  rapidly  increasing  business  in  this 
line.  In  addition  to  this,  Mr.  Ashton  has  an 
interest  in  the  Building  and  Loan  association, 
at    Pittsburg,   Pennsylvania.      He  is    a  mem- 


ber of  the  United  Presbyterian  church  of  the 
village,  and  also  of  the  Young  People's  Chris- 
tian union,  of  the  same  place.  In  political 
belief  he  is  a  republican,  and  is  destined  to 
make  a  success  in   his  business  undertakings. 


|3EV.  FREDERICK  H.  T.  HORS- 
\  FIELD,  the  popular  rector  of  Saint 
Luke's  Episcopal  church  of  Cambridge,  was 
born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  July  8,  1852, 
and  is  a  son  of  Dr.  Israel  and  Maria  (Kuhn) 
Horsfield.  He  received  his  education  in  the 
private  schools  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and 
subsequently  entered  Saint  Stephen's  college, 
at  Annandale,  on  the  Hudson  river,  and  was 
graduated  from  the  latter  institution  in  1873, 
and  received  the  degree  of  M.  A.  from  the 
same  college  in  1885.  In  1876  Reverend 
Horsfield  was  graduated  from  the  Theological 
seminary  of  New  York  city,  and  was  made 
deacon  in  the  same  year,  and  immediately  took 
charge  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church  at 
Suffern,  Rockland  count}',  New  York,  where 
he  labored  for  eighteen  months,  and  was  or- 
dained priest  in  the  Episcopal  church  in  1878, 
and  then  became  rector  and  was  stationed  at 
Hyde  Park,  Massachusetts,  where  he  continued 
in  his  ministerial  labors  up  to  1880.  In  that 
year  he  was  transferred  to  Cambridge,  New 
York,  where  he  took  charge  of  Saint  Luke's 
Episcopal  church,  and  has  since  been  the  rec- 
tor of  that  congregation.  Since  Reverend 
Horsfield's  pastorate  in  this  village,  he  has 
completely  rebuilt  the  church  edifice,  making 
it  new,  inside  and  out,  and  is  at  present  clear 
of  all  indebtedness. 

On  October  18,  1883,  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Marriana,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  John 
Moneypenny,  of  the  village  of  Cambridge. 
To  their  marriage  have  been  born  three  chil- 
dren :  Margaret  B.,  Frederick  G.  (dead),  and 
Mary  M. 

Dr.  Israel  Horsfield  was  a  native  of  the 
city  of  New  York,  and  was  born  February  29, 
1^3.2.       His  education  was  received  mainly  in 


434 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


the  private  schools  of  that  city,  and  his  medi- 
cal education  at  the  New  York  State  Medical 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  from 
which  well  known  college  he  was  graduated  in 
the  class  of  1K54.  He  began  the  practice  in 
his  native  city,  where  he  remained  for  three 
years,  at  the  end  of  which  time,  on  account  of 
ill  health,  he  removed  to  Fordham  1  now  a  part 
of  the  Twenty-fourth  ward  of  New  York  and 
engaged  in  the  drug  business.  He  continued 
to  follow  this,  doing  but  little  work  in  his  pro- 
fession the  remainder  of  his  life.  In  the  lat- 
ter years  of  his  life  he  gave  up  all  attention  to 
business,  and  removed  to  Flushing,  Lpng  Is- 
land, where  he  continued  to  reside  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  December  28,  1887. 
He  was  an  active  member  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  church,  and  was  junior  warden  of 
Grace  church  at  Port  Jarvis,  and  in  political 
thought  he  was  a  democrat.  In  1851  he  wed- 
ded Maria  M.,  daughter  of  Frederick  Keeler, 
a  hat  manufacturer  of  New  York  city.  To  that 
marriage  were  born  two  children  :  Rev.  Fred- 
erick H.  T.  and  Sarah  J.,  widow  of  the  late 
Rev.  John  Gardener  Rosecrantz,  formerly 
rector  of  Saint  Peter's  church  at  Port  Chester, 
New  York.  Mrs.  Israel  Horsfield's  death 
occurred  November  10,  1886,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-three  years.  Thomas  W.  Horsfield,  M. 
D.,  (grandfather)  was  also  born  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  was  a  graduate  of  the  New 
York  State  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons. He  began  the  practice  in  Alabama, 
but  the  most  of  his  life  was  spent  in  his  native 
city,  where  he  became  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  Academy  of  Medicine  and  of  the  Episco- 
pal church  of  the  Advent.  In  1864  he  retired 
from  business,  and  in  the  same  year  removed 
to  Manhasset,  Long  Island,  where  he  died 
February  19,  1868,  in  the  sixty -fourth  year  of 
his  age.  His  wife  was  Sarah  A.  Peiarte,  a 
native  of  England.  They  were  the  parents  of 
five  children  :  Tondsen,  Israel, William,  Mary 
and  Sarah.  His  wife's  death  occurred  July  9, 
1890,  aged  eighty-seven  years.  Israel  Hors- 
field,    the    great-grandfather   of    Rev.    Hors- 


field, was  a  native  of  Brooklyn,  and  for  many 
years  was  one  of  the  leading  hardware  mer- 
chants in  that  city.  For  a  number  of  years  he 
was  warden  of  Christ's  Protestant  Episcopal 
church  of  New  York  city.  His  death  occurred 
on  Long  Island  in  May,  1844. 


JOHN  HOMERS,  an  old  and  prominent 
citizen  of  Fort  Edward,  is  a  son  of  Mich- 
ael and  Mary  Somers,  and  was  born  in  the 
county  of  Carlow,  Ireland,  August  10,  1829. 
The  Somers  family  is  an  old  and  well  known 
family  of  that  county,  where  Patrick  Somers 
(grandfather)  was  born  and  reared.  He  was 
a  man  of  good  common  school  education,  and 
was  a  member  of  the  Catholic  church,  as  all 
the  members  of  the  family  have  been  for  many 
generations  back.  By  his  wife,  Bridget  Byrns, 
he  had  a  family  of  three  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters :  John,  Patrick,  Michael,  Mary  C, 
Bridget  and  Kate.  Michael  Somers  was  a  man 
of  good  practical  business  ability,  and  was  for 
many  years  overseer  or  superintendent  for  a 
large  commercial  house  in  Ireland.  He  was  a 
zealous  member  of  the  Catholic  church,  and 
led  an  honorable  and  successful  life.  He  was 
identified  with  the  Democratic  party,  belonged 
to  the  Catholic  Benevolent  society,  and  was 
charitable  to  the  poor  and  needy.  His  wife 
was  Mary  Byrns,  by  whom  he  had  a  family  of 
five  sons  and  three  daughters:  John  fi),  de- 
ceased at  seven  years  ;  Garret,  John  (2),  Wil- 
liam, Patrick,  Sarah  Dyer,  Eliza  Doyle  and 
Ann.  Michael  Somers  died  in  1852,  when  in 
the  seventy- sixth  year  of  his  age. 

John  Somers  was  principally  educated  in 
the  parochial  schools  of  his  native  county,  re- 
maining until  at  the  "age  of  eighteen,  when  he 
emigrated  to  the  United  States,  locating  in 
New  York  city.  He  had  commenced  learning 
the  trade  of  stone  mason  with  his  brother  Gar- 
ret in  Ireland,  which  he  afterward  followed 
successfully  in  connection  with  contracting 
and  building  for  a  period  of  forty-one  years. 
On  his  arrival  in  this  country  he  found  lucra- 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


435 


tive  employment  in  New  York  city,  where  he 
remained  up  to  1856,  and  during  much  of  his 
time  while  in  New  York  he  was  traveling 
through  the  south  for  the  purpose  of  finding  a 
suitable  place  to  permanently  locate.  During 
this  time,  in  1854,  he  came  to  Fort  Edward, 
and  in  1857  permanently  located  there.  In. 
the  same  year  he  married  and  has  since  been 
a  citizen  of  Fort  Edward.  For  the  past  forty 
years  Mr.  Somers  has  been  inspector  of  pub- 
lic mason  work  in  the  employ  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  has  also  acted  in  a  similar  capacity 
for  the  State  of  New  York,  inspecting  canals, 
docks,  etc.,  and  was  for  a  few  years  in  the  em- 
ploy of  the  Danamora  prison.  As  a  contrac- 
tor and  builder  he  constructed  the  Glens  Falls 
Catholic  church  ;  the  Fort  Edward  Catholic 
church,  and  the  Fort  Edward  Presbyterian 
church.  Formerly  a  democrat,  Mr.  Somers 
is  now  identified  with  the  Republican  party, 
making  the  change  principally  on  account  of 
the  tariff  question.  He  takes  an  active  inter- 
est in  educational  matters,  and  has  for  the  past 
six  years  been  a  leading  member  of  the  board 
of  education  of  the  village  ;  he  has  also  filled 
the  office  of  trustee  of  the  village  for  four  suc- 
cessive terms.  During  the  Civil  war  Mr. 
Somers  was  a  stanch  Union  man,  and  in  1864 
collected  the  war  tax  of  his  town.  In  religious 
belief  he  is  an  ardent  member  of  the  Catholic 
church,  in  whose  welfare  he  takes  deep  inter- 
est, and  is  one  of  that  church's  chief  contrib- 
utors and  supporters  ;  but  his  generosity  is  not 
confined  within  the  limits  of  that  one  denom- 
ination, but  other  churches  have  received  en- 
couragement and  support  at  his  hands.  It  was 
principally  due  to  his  influence  that  the  fine 
Catholic  church  edifice  was  built  at  Fort  EJ- 
ward.  Mr.  Somers  is  a  member  of  the  Union 
Temperance  society,  and  is  at  present  inspec- 
tor of  the  new  water  works  of  Fort  Edward. 

f3<>SS  WILSON,  M.  I).,  one  of  the  lead- 
\   ing  physicians  of  Sand}'  Hill  and  a  mem 
ber  of    the   Washington   County   Medical  so- 
ciety, is  a  son  of  David  and    Mar}    E.  (Ross) 


Wilson,  and  was  born  at  Whitehall,  Washing- 
ton county,  New  York,  in  1847.  He  was 
reared  at  Whitehall  and  Albany,  and  received 
his  education  in  the  high  school  of  the  latter 
city.  Leaving  school  he  read  medicine  with. 
Professor  Ormsby,  and  then  entered  Albany 
Medical  college,  from  which  he  was  graduated 
in  the  class  of  1870.  Not  deeming  his  medi- 
cal studies  completed  when  he  left  the  doors  of 
that  excellent  institution  which  had  graduated 
him,  he  spent  two  years  in  special  courses  at 
the  university  of  New  York.  He  then  went 
to  Fort  Edward,  where  he  remained  a  short 
time  but  with  no  intention  of  practicing.  In 
1873  he  came  to  Sandy  Hill  and  soon  built  up 
a  first  class  and  lucrative  practice,  and  where 
he  is  now  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading  and 
successful  physicians  of  the  village  and  north- 
western part  of  the  count}'.  Dr.  Wilson  is  a 
general  practitioner  and  keeps  himself  well  in 
the  advanced  medical  progress  of  the  present 
day.  He  is  a  member  of  Washington  County 
Medical  society,  gives  his  practice  close  atten- 
tion, and  is  a  devoted  student  to  his  profession. 
On  September  30,  1872,  he  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Julia  A.  Guy,  a  native  of  Fort 
Miller,  and  a  descendant  of  the  old  and 
well  known  Gilleland  family,  founded  by  Wil- 
liam Gilleland  (great  grandfather),  a  pioneer 
on  the  Boquet,  in  Essex  county,  in  1765.  He 
was  a  wealthy  merchant  of  New  York  city, 
and  through  his  agency  and  that  of  other  capi- 
talists, several  miles  of  the  lake  shore  between 
the  mouth  of  Boquet  and  Crown  Point  were 
settled.  He  held  a  justice's  commission,  and 
for  many  years  was  the  only  judicial  authority 
in  that  whole  surrounding  country.  This  re- 
markable and  noted  man  was  the  great  pioneer 
of  the  western'shore  of  Champlain.  "  His  his- 
tory in  its  vicissitudes,  struggles,  wrongs  and 
forlorn  death,  surpasses  the  creating  of  the 
wildest  romance.  A  part  of  Burgoyne's  army 
and  Meet  entered  the  Boquet  and  British  gun- 
boats surrounded  and  captured  Willsborough 
village.  Essex  count}-,  during  the  war  of  1812. 
This  village  was  named  after  himself." 


436 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY 


HIRAM  COLE,  a  well  known  inventor 
of  Sandy  Hill,  and  prominantly  identified 
with  the  industrial  interests  of  the  county,  is 
a  son  of  Hiram  and  Polly  (Freeman)  Cole, 
and  was  born  in  Sandy  Hill,  Washington 
county,  New  York,  March  9,  183 1.  Hiram 
Cole  (father)  was  a  native  of  South  Shafts- 
bury,  Vermont,  and  afterward  removed  to  the 
State  of  New  York  in  1803,  and  settled  in  the 
town  of  Kingsbury,  where  he  died  on  Febru- 
ary 22,  1837,  in  the  forty-ninth  year  of  his  age. 
He  was  prominent  for  many  years  in  church 
work  and  politics,  being  a  deacon  in  the  Bap- 
tist church,  and  taking  an  active  and  promi- 
nent part  in  the  welfare  of  that  church.  In  his 
political  opinion  he  was  a  whig,  and  for  many 
years  served  as  justice  of  the  peace,  and  served 
one  term  in  the  State  assembly  in  1826.  He 
was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  married  Polly 
Freeman,  a  daughter  of  Phincas  Freeman,  of 
Cornecticut.  In  an  early  day  the  family  re- 
moved to  the  town  of  Kingsbury,  where  Mrs. 
Cole  died,  December  31,  1870,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-one  years.  She  was  also  a  member 
of  the  Bapiist  church.  Phineas  Freeman,  her 
father,  lived  for  many  years  and  was  one  of 
the  most  prominent  men  in  the  town  of  Kings- 
bury in  his  day.  He  was  a  carpenter  by  trade, 
and  served  as  a  colonel  on  the  staff  of  Gen- 
eral Montgomery,  and  was  with  that  general 
when  he  made  his  unsuccessful  attack  upon 
Quebec  in  1775,  which  resulted  in  the  death 
of  Montgomery  and  the  wounding  of  Benedict 
Arnold.  Phineas  Freeman  was  elected  to  the 
first  congress  in  the  United  States,  but  before 
that  body  convened  his  death  occurred,  which 
was  in  1783,  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  his  age. 
His  wife  was  Martha  Morrison,  who  was  a 
member  of  the  Morrison  family  of  Colerain, 
Massachusetts. 

David  Cole  (grandfather)  was  born  in  Dutch- 
ess county,  New  York,  being  a  farmer  by  oc- 
cupation, and  when  a  young  man  removed 
from  his  native  county  to  the  State  of  Ver- 
mont, remaining  there  but  a  short  time,  when 
he  came  to  the  town  of   Kingsbury,  where  he 


lived  until  his  death  in  1845,  aged  eighty-six 
years.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary 
war  and  was  taken  prisoner.  In  the  early 
Dutch  settlements  upon  the  Hudson  river 
were  three  brothers  of  the  Cole  family,  who 
came  from  Holland  in  the  year  1721.  One 
settled  in  Maryland,  one  in  Connecticut,  and 
the  other,  David  Cole,  at  the  place  above 
mentioned.  David  Cole  married  Zeruah  Hun- 
tington, whose  death  occurred  in  the  town  of 
Kingsbury  in  1804,  at  the  age  of  forty-four 
years.  She  was  a  niece  of  Samuel  Hunting- 
ton, who  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declar- 
ation of  Independence.  The  Freemans  are  of 
English  descent. 

Hiram  Cole,  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
reared  to  manhood  on  the  farm,  and  received 
an  academical  education.  At  the  age  of  twenty 
years  he  accepted  a  position  in  a  transporta- 
tion office  in  the  city  of  Troy,  where  he  re- 
mained for  two  years.  Going  to  New  York 
city  in  1853  he  formed  a  partnership  with  Ru- 
fus  L.  Cole,  jr.,  in  the  general  merchandising 
business,  under  the  firm  name  of  R.  L.  Cole 
&  Co.,  and  was  successfully  engaged  in  this 
for  six  years.  In  1859  he  sold  his  interest, 
and  returning  to  Washington  county,  accepted 
a  position  as  traveling  salesman  for  a  pottery 
firm  at  Fort  Edward,  with  whom  he  remained 
for  several  years.  Since  leaving  their  employ 
Mr.  Cole  has  been  considerably  engaged  upon 
inventions,  which  he  afterward  manufactured. 
In  1884  he  invented  his  "Paper  Stock  Dus- 
ter,'' on  which  he  received  a  patent  in  1886, 
and  which  has  since  come  into  general  use 
throughout  the  United  States,  Canada,  and 
Great  Britain.  He  has  also  taken  out  a  patent 
for  a  "  safety  collar,"  another  useful  appliance. 

In  1859  Mr.  Cole  wedded  Esther,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Daniel  Holly  of  this  county.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Cole  have  been  born  two  sons  and 
one  daughter:  Rufus  M.,  a  druggist  of  Glens 
Falls;  Annie  E.,  a  teacher  of  drawing  in  the 
Warren  institute  at  Warren,  Pennsylvania  ; 
and  Daniel  H.,  a  student  in  the  university  of 
Rochester. 


1277 


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