JOHN C.
CHURCHILL, LL. D.,
Of Oswego, was born at Mooers,
Clinton county, N.Y., January 17, 1821. He is sixth in descent from
John CHURCHILL, who settled at Plymouth, Mass., about 1640, and who married
there, December 16, 1644, Hannah, daughter of William PONTUS, a member
of the Plymouth Company to whom King James granted in 1605, the North American
continent between 41 deg. and 45 deg. north latitude. His oldest
son, Joseph, married Sarah, granddaughter of Robert HICKS, an eminent non-conformist
of London, also a member of the Plymouth Company, who sailed in the “Speedwell”
in company with the “Mayflower” in 1620, and, on that vessel becoming disabled,
returned to England and in the following year sailed to and settled in
Plymouth. Joseph, grandson of the last named couple, born in Plymouth
in 1722, settled in Boston, where in 1748 his son John was born, who married
Sarah STACY, of Salem, Mass., and settled in New Salem, Mass. Soon
after the close of the Revolutionary war, he removed with his family from
New Salem to Benson, Vermont, in the valley of Lake Champlain, to which
at that time the people of the older settled parts of New England were
greatly attracted, and where he died August 23, 1798.
In 1804 Samuel, this third
son, with his brothers and sisters and their widowed mother, removed to
Clinton county in this State, in the same beautiful valley, then almost
an unbroken wilderness. February 8, 1814, he married Martha, daughter
of John BOSWORTH, esq., of Sandisfield, Mass., and died February 23, 1865.
Their second son, the subject
of this sketch, fitted for college at Burr Seminary, in Manchester, Vermont,
and entered Middlebury College, where he graduated in July, 1843.
The ensuing two years he taught languages in Castleton Seminary in the
same State, and subsequently, for a period of twelve months, was a tutor
in Middlebury College. Having decided on adopting the legal profession,
he entered the Dane Law School, of Harvard University, and having completed
the required course of study was, in July, 1847, admitted to the bar.
About this time the Chair of Languages in his alma mater being temporarily
vacant, he was called to fill it and remained thus engaged several months.
Early in 1848 he established himself in the legal profession at Oswego,
where he has since resided. A year later he married Miss Catherine
T. SPRAGUE, daughter of Dr. Lawrence SPRAGUE, of the United States army.
From 1853 to 1856 he was a member of the Oswego Board of Education, and
during a part of the same period he was a member of the Board of Supervisors.
From 1857 to 1860 he held the office of District Attorney, and in the latter
year was chosen County Judge. October 15, 1862, he was appointed
by Governor Morgan commissioner to superintend the draft for Oswego county,
which office he held for about one year, and until that business was transferred
to officers appointed by the general government. In 1866 he was elected
by a majority of 5,634 to represent the Twenty-second District of New York
in the XLth Congress. During the XLth Congress he served on the Judiciary
Committee, and with Mr. Boutwell and Mr. Eldridge formed the sub-Committee
that drafted the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution in the form in
which it was finally adopted. On the question of the impeachment
of President Johnson he joined with a majority of the Judiciary Committee
in a report in the affirmative. In the XLIst Congress Mr. Churchill
was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings, and
was second on the Committee of Elections. He introduced at this Congress
the act to secure the purity and freedom of elections at which members
of congress were chosen, which subsequently became a law with slight amendment,
and furnished means for national supervision of such elections. The
determined attempt to repeal this act, and the equally determined defence
which kept it on the national statute books until 1894, show the importance
attached to it. In 1876 Judge Churchill was a delegate to the Cincinnati
Convention, which nominated President Hayes, and the following year (1877)
he received the Republican nomination for Secretary of State of the State
of New York. At the presidential election in the fall of 1880 Judge
Churchill was elected one of the presidential electors-at-large for the
State of New York, and as such voted for James A. GARFIELD and Chester
A. ARTHUR, for president and vice-president of the United States.
During the years 1879 and 1880 he was again a member of the Oswego Board
of Education and president of the Board, which he resigned to accept the
appointment of Justice of the Supreme Court, made by Governor Cornell,
January 17, 1881, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Judge
Noxon. In the fall of 1881 Judge Churchill was nominated, and at
the November election chosen by a majority of 11,092, Justice of the Fifth
Judicial District of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, for the
full term. The degree of LL.D., was conferred upon him by Middlebury
College, Vermont, in 1874, and by Hamilton College, New York, in 1882.
He is a member of the Local Board of the State Normal and Training School
at Oswego.
TIMOTHY W.
SKINNER
Timothy W. SKINNER was born
at Union Square, Oswego county, N.Y., on the 24th day of April, 1827.
His ancestors were of old and highly respected New England stock.
His grandfather, Timothy SKINNER, was a Revolutionary soldier and a participant
in the battle of Bunker Hill. His father, the Hon. Avery SKINNER,
was one of the pioneers of the northern section of this State, having come
to Watertown from New Hampshire in 1816. He afterwards moved to Union
Square in this county in 1824, and from that time until his death in 1876
was prominently identified with the best interests of this section.
Judge Skinner was a man of powerful intellect, combined with a vigorous
and athletic frame, admirably fitted by nature to take part in the settlement
and progressive movements of a new country. For fifty years he filled
a most important part in the history of Oswego county and the northern
section of the State of New York. In politics he was a Democrat of
the Jeffersonian school, a personal friend of Horatio SEYMOUR, Silas WRIGHT
and other prominent Democrats, and responsible political honors were repeatedly
conferred upon him. For twelve years he was judge and county treasurer
of Oswego county. In 1831 he was elected member of assembly from
his district, and re-elected to the same office in 1832, serving two terms
thereafter; and in 1836-41 was chosen State senator from the district then
comprising the counties of Oswego, Jefferson, Lewis, Onondaga, Otsego and
Madison. While in the Senate Judge Skinner was a member of the Court
for the Correction of Errors, which under the old constitution was the
highest court in the State and analogous to the present Court of Appeals.
He was also interested in business and educational matters, having been
the first presiding officer and a director of the Syracuse Northern Railway
Company. He was also one of the founders of the Mexico Academy in
1826, and in 1876, a few months before his death, he attended its semi-centennial
as the only survivor of its original board of trustees.
The grandfather of Hon. Timothy
W. SKINNER on his mother’s side was Solomon HUNTINGTON, who settled in
the town of Mexico in 1804, and who was a near relative of Samuel HUNTINGTON,
a signer of the Declaration of Independence and president of the Continental
Congress.
Timothy W. SKINNER, the subject
of this sketch, spent the first twenty five years of his life on his father’s
farm, teaching school in the winter and having charge of the farm in summer.
In 1852 he was elected justice of the peace and served for two terms.
In 1853 he moved to the village of Mexico, where he has since resided.
In 1857 Mr. Skinner was admitted to the bar, and in November of the same
year joined with Judge Cyrus WHITNEY in the organization of the law and
banking firm of Whitney & Skinner. After this firm was dissolved
in 1870 by the removal of Judge Whitney to Oswego, Mr. Skinner took his
brother-in-law Maurice L. WRIGHT, now justice of the Supreme Court, as
his partner, under the firm name of Skinner
& Wright, and the partnership
continued until 1800. Since then Mr. Skinner has continued alone
in the active duties of his profession, and is to-day one of the oldest
and most widely known and respected members of the legal fraternity in
active practice. Though reared amid Democratic surroundings Mr. Skinner
has been an unswerving Republican for many years, identifying himself with
that party in its early days, and has had a prominent and influential part
in its county, judical and State conventions. No one has been longer
connected with the active politics of the county than Mr. Skinner.
He was elected surrogate in 1863, again in 1870, and re-elected in 1876,
thus serving as surrogate three terms – the longest time that any who have
filled that office have held it in the county. He has always taken
the deepest interest in the affairs of the village of Mexico; has served
as its president, and is one of the best known and most highly esteemed
of its citizens. He has been for many years a member of the board
of trustees of the old historic Mexico Academy, and a trustee of the First
M.E. Church of that village. He is also prominent in Masonic
circles, and has been High Priest of the Mexico Chapter for a long term
of years. There are but few men living in this county whose history
will show a longer or more honorable career in public life, and all his
public life, and all his public acts have been marked by the strictest
integrity and moral rectitude. He is a man of great force of character,
with a stalwart and vigorous physical development, and his assistance in
all matters pertaining to the welfare of the county has always been highly
valued. Aside from the arduous duties of his profession, Mr. Skinner
has large landed interests in the county, and in the past has been connected
with extensive business enterprises.
Mr. Skinner is the oldest
of a family of nine; his sister Eliza, now deceased, married Charles RICHARDSON,
of Colosse; his brother, Albert T. SKINNER, also deceased, was superintendent
of the Walter A. WOOD mowing Machine Co. of Little Falls. Of the
brothers and sisters now living the Hon. Charles R. SKINNER, of Albany,
is Superintendent of Public Instruction of this State; the Rev. James A.
SKINNER is an Espicopal clergyman near Rochester, and Mrs. Maurice L. WRIGHT
is the wife of the Hon. M. L. WRIGHT of the Supreme Court of the Fifth
Judicial District.
In 1856 Mr. Skinner married
Elizabeth CALKINS, who died in 1861, leaving one daughter, now Mrs. J.
B. STONE, of Auburn, N.Y. In 1862 he married Sarah L. ROSE, and their
children are Anna Grace SKINNER, died December 24, 1894, and Avery Warner
SKINNER.
JOHN ALBRO
PLACE
The history of a county like
Oswego would be incomplete without suitable reference to those who have
contribute to its intellectual, moral and political development as well
as to its material growth. Of this number few have labored longer
and more assiduously in all these directions, or wielded a larger or more
wholesomely shaping influence upon passing events than has the subject
of this sketch, the Hon. John Albro PLACE. Mr. Place is descended
from a long line of New England ancestry and possesses in a marked degree
the rugged qualities of integrity and industry so strongly characteristic
of that well known people. He was born in the town of Foster, Providence
county, R.I., February 25, 1822. While yet a mere child his family
removed to Manchester, Hartford county, Conn., where he attended the village
school until he was ten years of age, 1832, when the family again removed,
this time to Oswego county, taking up its residence in the town of Oswego
on the Rice farm, near the mouth of Rice or Three-Mile Creek, which was
the first place in this locality to be settled after the Revolution.
After a residence here of about a year, and the two or three following
years in the village of Oswego, Mr. Samuel PLACE, the father, having purchased
a tract of wild land on what is known as Heald’s Hill in the town of Oswego,
distant about four miles west of the river, removed thither with his family.
This was about 1836. Here, young Place, by this time a sturdy youth
of fourteen, attended the district school during those portions of the
winter months that he could be spared from the farm work, making the most
of such advantages as were thus offered him, till he was sixteen, when
he entered the office of the Oswego Weekly Palladium (this was in the spring
of 1838), to learn the printing business. Finding, after four years
of this kind of employment, that the business offered no immediate encouragement
for remaining in it, Mr. Place, then twenty years of age, engaged in teaching
in the schools of the, as yet, village of Oswego, and continued successfully
to do so for several years. Mr. Place was a student as well as teacher.
From early childhood he had shown a marked interest in current events,
especially those relating to politics, both in their local and national
bearings. Early, too, he had shown decided aptitude for writing,
and his spare hours, while teaching, were naturally devoted to the preparation
of various articles for such papers of the county as were open to the propagation
of his sentiments, with occasional contributions to other papers outside
of his immediate locality and supposedly wielding a large influence.
In these years of teaching and desultory newspaper writing, Mr. Pace was
a Democrat of the Silas Wright School, Silas WRIGHT then being the leading
U.S. senator from the State of New York and an outspoken and masterful
opponent of the further extension of slavery by the South. Mr. Place’s
earliest formed convictions were opposed to this system of human chattelhood,
-- convictions that grew with his growth, and strengthened with his years.
It was an interesting period in the history of slavery and its relations
to the Democratic party. For several years the slaveholders had had
their way and been duly though reluctantly yielded to. A protest,
however, against this exhibition of subserviency came with the result of
the Democratic national convention of 1844, when Van Buren, also an opponent
of the further extension of slavery into the free territory of the country,
was defeated and James L. POLK nominated and elected to conciliate the
slaveholders. This divided the Democratic party of the country into
two factions, one of which, in 1848, nominated Lewis CASS for the presidency;
the other, at a convention held in Buffalo, nominating Martin VAN BUREN
on a “no more slave territory” platform. The Whig candidate, General
Taylor, was almost necessarily elected. The Democratic party of Oswego
county also naturally divided on the issue thus created. The Oswego
Weekly Palladium, then published by the late Beman BROCKWAY, afterward
of the Watertown Times, took strong ground in support of Mr. Van Buren.
The Fulton Patriot, established in 1846 by Merrick C. HOUGH, had taken
equally strong ground for the election of Cass, the pro-slavery extension
candidate. Mr. Place was still teaching in Oswego. It occurring
to him that the Patriot could, perhaps, be purchased, without consulting
anyone, he quietly went to Fulton, made Mr. Hough an offer for his paper
and returned with a bill of sale of it in his pocket. In its
very next issue the Fulton Patriot flung to the breeze the banner of Martin
VAN BUREN, with the motto, “Free Speech, Free Soil and Free Men!” inscribed
upon it. The files of that paper testify with what earnestness and
ability Mr. Place contributed to the defeat of the pro-slavery extension
candidate, Lewis CASS. A union was patched up subsequently between
the two sections of the Democratic party, but the Patriot, notwithstanding,
continued loyal, under Mr. Place’s control, to those principles and measures
of freedom which, a few years later, were so successfully incorporated
into the doctrines of the Republican party and in whose support that party
has achieved its most signal triumphs. Mr. Place remained in sole
control of the Patriot for six years, when he sold it to accept the office
of school commissioner of the first district of Oswego county, which he
ably filled for several years, but he continued to write the editorials
of the Patriot so long as his successor retained connection with it.
In February, 1864, the Oswego Daily Commercial Advertiser, with a weekly
edition, was established, and Mr. Place became its editor-in-chief.
In February, 1873, the Commercial Advertiser and the Oswego Press were
consolidated, the new publication being called the Oswego Times and Mr.
Place being continued as its editor. This position he has held substantially
till quite recently, when he voluntarily resigned the charge of its columns
to Mr. John B. ALEXANDER, the two having been associated together in the
management of the paper for a number of years past. Mr. Place, however,
holds his experience and ready pen – an invaluable aid – at all times at
the service of his successors. And here we may say that whatever
of respect and influence the Oswego Times, through its daily and semi-weekly
editions, has won in the community and with the press of the State is cheerfully
and in the largest measure accorded to the able and conscientious labors
and wise guidance of Mr. Place. Mr. Place, from the organization
of the Republican party, has neither wavered in his fidelity to its principles
nor remitted his exertions to promote its success. He was a member
of the convention in 1856 at which the party in Oswego county was organized
and was selected to call this convention to order. This he did, and
took an active part in all of its deliberations. From that time forward
Mr. Place has shown a most earnest interest in the success of the organization,
receiving, meantime, many marks of the trust imposed in him by the Republican
party. He has frequently represented it in county, district and State
conventions, besides being a member of the State committee and serving
in that relation on some of the most important sub-committees. In
1868 he was member of assembly from the first district of Oswego county,
which included the city of Oswego, serving the interests of his constituents
with rare fidelity and conceded ability. In 1873 he was appointed
postmaster of the city of Oswego by President Grant. During this
term, under much discouragement, he succeeded in securing the free delivery
system, Oswego then being the smallest city in the State to receive the
benefits of a system now so general and everywhere so popular. He
also introduced various other improvements into the local service of essential
benefit to the business men of the city. Mr. Place’s services on
the State committee secured the friendship of many of the most prominent
Republicans of the State. Thus it resulted that when Alonzo B. CORNELL
became governor in 1880 Mr. Place was tendered the responsible position
of auditor of the canal department which he filled for a term of three
years. The appointment carried with it that of commissioner for the
construction of the new capitol building. His associates on the commission
were Lieutenant-Governor George G. HOSKINS and Attorney-General Hamilton
WARD. Mr. Place was elected treasurer, filling the position for the
term to the entire satisfaction of the commission and the public.
He is remembered to this day as one of the most faithful and painstaking
officials ever appointed to a capitol commissionership. One and a
quarter million dollars were annually expended during the life of this
commission, and so carefully was every feature of the business attended
to that neither complaint of the quality of the work nor hint of scandal
of any kind has ever followed. Mr. Place’s appointment by President
Harrison in April, 1890, as postmaster once again of the city of Oswego
marks his last official service. His retirement from it within the
year past by reason of the expiration of his term was accompanied by so
many expressions of appreciative regard that he is justified in feeling
that his administration of the office this time was no less popular and
satisfactory to its patrons than was the case on the former occasion under
President Grant. Relieved practically from the arduous labors of
the editorial chair and gifted with an unusually vigorous constitution,
there is foundation for the warm wishes of his numerous relatives and friends
that many more years of enjoyment and usefulness are yet to be the portion
of one whose whole life so far has been a singularly busy one and filled
with interesting incidents beyond the experiences of lives in general.
MAURICE LAUCHLIN
WRIGHT
Born November 27, 1845, in
Scriba, Oswego county. Came from New England ancestry. Received
an academic education at Mexico Academy and Falley Seminary. Enlisted
in the navy in the summer of 1864; was appointed yeoman of the U.S. Steamer
Valley city of the North Atlantic squadron under Admiral Porter, and served
until July, 1865; was under fire in several engagements. After the
war he taught school. In 1867 began the study of law in the office
of Hon. John C. CHURCHILL at Oswego. In 1868 entered the Columbian
College Law School at Washington, D.C., and graduated in the class of 1870.
In the following year formed a law partnership with the Hon. T. W. SKINNER
at Mexico.
In 1883 was elected county
judge and in 1889 was re-elected. In 1890 was appointed by the governor
with the confirmation of the Senate, a member of the Constitutional Commission
to revise the judiciary article of the Constitution. In 1891 resigned
the county judgeship, and in the same year was elected justice of the Supreme
Court. In 1893 removed to Oswego. In 1869 was married to Miss Mary
Grace SKINNER, daughter of Hon. Avery SKINNER, late of Union Square, N.Y.
Has one child, Avery Skinner WRIGHT. Always been a Republican in
politics.
CHARLES N.
BULGER
Was born in school district
No. 16, of the town of Volney, Oswego county, N.Y., on the 19th day of
August, 1851. He is a son of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick BULGER, notice
of whose lives is given in a sketch of Dr. W. J. BULGER herein. Charles
N. BULGER was fortunate in his opportunities to obtain a liberal education,
studying first in the district schools of his native town and later in
that at Gilbert’s Mills, in the town of Schroeppel. He then entered
Falley Seminary, in Fulton, which was at that time an educational institution
of considerable note, where he remained until 1870. It was his determination
to adopt the law as a profession, but previous to beginning his legal studies
he taught school one year in the town of Granby, Oswego county, at the
close of which he entered the law office of Stephens & Pardee, in Fulton,
where he continued eight months.
At this time he was enabled,
through his own efforts and those of his sympathetic parents, to gratify
his early ambition to obtain a classical education. For this purpose
he entered St. John’s College, Fordham, New York city, and after a year
of preparatory study, passed through the classical course of four years
and graduated with credit in June, 1875. He then settled in Oswego
city and resumed the study of law in the office of Hon. Albertus PERRY,
at that time one of the foremost lawyers of this part of the State.
His offices in the Grant block were the same now in use by Mr. Bulger.
An ardent student and an omnivorous reader, Mr. Bulger was admitted to
the bar in June, 1879, immediately began practice and has continued since,
meeting with a large measure of success.
A Democrat in politics and
possessing the qualifications necessary to success in the political field,
Mr. Bulger soon became prominently identified with his party. He
was early chosen a delegate to the county conventions, where he was able
to practically advance the interests of his party and his friends.
His first nomination to public office was to the school commissionership
of the first district, which followed closely upon his return from college.
In March, 1882, he was appointed attorney for the city of Oswego, and in
the fall of the same year, while still incumbent of the office of city
attorney, he was nominated for the office of recorder of the city and elected
for the term of four years. He resigned the first named office, but
the Common Council declined to accept his resignation until the close of
the year. His administration of the office of recorder was eminently
satisfactory to the community, as indicated by the fact of his re-election
in 1886, followed by two subsequent re-elections in 1890, and 1894, leaving
him still in the office after thirteen years of service. In 1892
he was chosen a delegate to the National Democratic convention in Chicago.
To the foregoing brief sketch
it is proper to add that as a lawyer Mr. Bulger is recognized among the
leaders of the Oswego county bar. By continued study and reading
he has kept abreast of the times in legal knowledge, while the interests
of his clients are always efficiently protected by careful preparation
of their cases and their able presentation before court and jury.
In the office of Recorder, which he has held so long, he has shown the
possession of excellent judicial qualifications and capacity for discrimination
in dealing with offenders against the law. But the prime source of
Mr. Bulger’s efficiency at the bar and of his strength and popularity in
the political arena must be sought in another direction – in his power
as an orator. He is a natural as well as an educated speaker.
His public addresses are logical, argumentative, convincing, and marked
by courage, beauty of thought and brilliancy of diction. With a broad
knowledge of general affairs, a retentive memory and a large share of that
personal magnetism which enables one man to sway and influence thousands,
he is often found upon the platform, where he never fails to distinguish
himself and where he is always listened to with satisfaction.
Mr. Bulger was married on
June 5, 1883, to Caroline Adelaide DUNN, daughter of John DUNN, a former
large mill operator and merchant of Oswego.
DON A. KING
The ancestry of the subject
of this sketch is directly traceable back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
when John KING, father of the original settler in this country, was secretary
for Ireland to that famous ruler of England. A son of John, named
Edward, was a classmate of John MILTON, was drowned later in the Irish
Sea, and is commemorated by Milton in the poem of Lycidas. John,
the ancestor of the family in this country, came from England and settled
in Northampton, Mass., in 1645. He was from Northamptonshire, England.
Don A. KING, son of Henry
and Betsey (ALLEN) KING, was born in Ellisburgh, Jefferson county, on March
27, 1820. His mother was a daughter of Joseph ALLEN, esq., the first
settler at Bear Creek (now Pierrepont Manor). His father, Henry KING,
came from Southampton, Mass., in 1806. Don A. KING graduated with
honor from Union College in 1844, in the same class with Professor JOY,
of Columbia College, Gov. A. H. RICE, William H. H. MOORE, James C. DUANE,
U.S.A., and Generals FREDERICK and Howard TOWNSEND, of Albany. After
graduating he began the study of law with a Mr. Blake, at Cold Springs,
on the Hudson River, opposite West Point, and finished with Hon. A. Z.
MC CARTY, of Pulaski, in 1847. On September 22, of that year, he
was admitted to the bar at Poughkeepsie, N.Y. In 1848 he formed a
copartnership with Mr. MC CARTY, which continued until 1855, in which year
he was appointed a director of Pulaski Bank, an office which he filled
until the dissolution of the institution. Upon the organization of
R. L. Ingersoll & Co.’s Bank, he became a partner and acted as attorney
for the institution until 1876.
Mr. King is a man of large
intellectual capacity, and of broad and progressive impulses, which have
impeded him to take a deep interest in educational matters and public affairs
generally. In the founding of the Pulaski Academy he was one of the
first energetic actors, was one of the incorporators of the institution,
and has contributed largely towards its prosperity.
In 1848 Mr. King married Mary,
daughter of Thomas C. BAKER of Pulaski, and they have four children, viz;
Ella M., widow of the late Rev. J. H. WRIGHT; Katharine D., wife of J.
L. HUTCHENS; Charles B., and Sarah F., now preceptress of Pulaski Academy.
Charles B. is a graduate of Union College, is an attorney, and now resides
in Peoria, Ill.
DANFORTH E.
AINSWORTH
Mr. Ainsworth was born in
Clayton, Jefferson county, N.Y., November 29, 1848, was educated at Pulaski
Academy and Falley Seminary, and is an attorney and counselor-at-law, having
been admitted to the bar in 1873. In 1874 he married the daughter
of Nelson B. PORTER, of Pulaski, N.Y. He was a trustee of the village
of Sandy Creek in 1881, 1882 and 1883, and has been a member of the Board
of Education of that village.
Mr. Ainsworth is a Republican
in politics and always has been, but prior to 1885, when he was first elected
to the Assembly, had never been a candidate for public office. He
served in the Assembly in 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1893, 1894 and 1895,
and during his service was regarded as one of the most ready and forceful
debaters in the House. His ability as a public speaker has rendered
his services to the State very valuable, and during campaigns he had done
effective work for the party throughout the State.
In 1894 Mr. Ainsworth was
chairman of the leading Assembly committee, that on Ways and Means, and
by virtue of that position was the Republican leader in the Assembly and
the manager of nearly all of its political interests. He paid
very close attention to his legislative duties, and in 1894 introduced
upwards of ninety bills, nearly all of which became laws, and during that
year was exceedingly economical as chairman of the Committee on Ways and
Means. He introduced a supply bill which appropriated only $1,497,034,
a reduction of $1,299,550 in comparison with the year before. In
1895 he was once more the Republican leader, being chairman of the Committee
upon Ways and Means, and a member also on the Committee upon Rules and
Codes.
Mr. Ainsworth is at present
deputy superintendent of Public Instruction, having been appointed to that
position on June 1, 1895.
H. C. DEVENDORF
Was born in Verona, Oneida county,
in June, 1828, and is a son of Peter DEVENDORF, a native of Herkimer county,
one of thirteen children of Rudolph and Barbara (THUMB) DEVENDORF, natives
of Mohawk Valley. Rudolph officiated as judge, assemblyman, county
clerk, and held other offices in Herkimer county. Peter DEVENDORF
came to Hastings in 1832, and was elected justice of the peace the following
year, which office he held twenty years. His wife was Rhoda A. SHERMAN,
a native of Oneida county. They had five children: Henry C., Rudolph
H., Mary, Mrs. Rhoda A. BREED, of Central Square, Mrs. Catherine BEEBY,
of Central Square.
At the age of sixteen years
he began work as clerk in Oswego, N.Y., and later was similarly employed
in various places until he was twenty-four years of age, when, in 1853,
he purchased of his uncle a general store in Hastings, which he conducted
until 1856. He then removed to Central Square, where he engaged in
the same business, and where he has since been interested. From 1871
to 1883 he resided in Georgia, where for ten years he served as postmaster
of Doctortown post-office. He then returned to Central Square, where
he owns and conducts the largest dry goods and grocery store in town.
In 1858 he was chosen captain of a company of New York State National Guards,
and later was elected lieutenant-colonel. The country’s call for
aid in her time of trouble found a ready response from Major Devendorf,
and he raised a full company of volunteers which went from Oswego as Company
D., in the 110th Regiment, he being chosen captain. The company served
with distinction until the close of the war, and in 1864 Mr. Devendorf
was promoted major. During the last eighteen months of his term of
service he was located at Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, where he commanded
the post when the Lincoln conspirators arrived; Colonel Hamilton was in
command in Key West. Major Devendorf’s wife, and their adopted daughter,
Mrs. Emma Dygert LOW, were with him during his service in that port.
In 1853 Major Devendorf was
married to Armonella, daughter of Lorenzo D. MARSHALL, of Mohawk, N.Y.,
and granddaughter of John MARSHALL of Warren, N.Y., who enlisted in Colchester,
Conn., as a soldier of the Revolution, and who was supposed to be the last
survivor who witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis,a fact creditable to
his youth at the time, and his great age at the time of his death.
His father was drafted, but was the head of a large family, and his eldest
son was accepted in his place, at the age of sixteen years, and was ninety-nine
years old at the time of his death. Major Devendorf is a member of
the Masonic Fraternity, and of Waterbury Post, G.A.R., of which he was
the first commander.
CHARLES TOLLNER
This enterprising citizen
of Pulaski is a native of Westphalia, Prussia, where he came of good ancestry
and inherited their best qualities. He was born on January 1, 1824.
After attending school in his boyhood he was brought up in the business
of his grandfather, but from sixteen to twenty-one years of age served
an apprenticeship in a large exporting house dealing in general hardware
and tools. At the age of twenty-three, just before the German revolutionary
outbreak, he skipped military duty and came to America, his wife following
in another vessel. On his arrival in New York he found it very hand
to obtain work, but finally succeeded in getting a place as salesman in
a small hardware store at the rate of five dollars per week. After
one year’s stay he engaged in the wholesale business of W. N. Seymour &
Co., in Chatham Square, and in May, 1851, opened a hardware store in his
own name, and was very successful; but the losses during the war time were
very heavy, and in 1864 he sold out his store and engaged with a man, C.
C. F. OTTO, of Pulaski, N.Y., in the manufacture of floor tiles.
This venture was unprofitable and Mr. Tollner soon found himself without
means. But his energy and faith in himself had not weakened and he
turned his attention for a time to the making of smokers’ popes of a carbon
composition. They were a good article and Mr. Tollner sold them himself
from place to place. He soon began placing these pipes in pairs in
fancy wooden boxes which he made himself, and the work upon them was so
fine and their appearance so attractive that orders began to come to him
unsolicited and he soon found himself fully occupied. Not only did
the pipes sell, but the boxes began to be called for to be used in manufacturers
of other goods. The pipe business was abandoned and he gave his entire
attention to making boxes and cabinets of various kinds; the demand rapidly
increased, and from that beginning has been developed one of the largest
industries in Northern New York, employing 350 persons, using several million
feet of fine lumber annually, and occupying buildings erected for the purpose,
which, with dry-houses and lumber yard, cover twelve acres of ground.
Most of the fine cabinets for holding thread, ribbons, etc., seen in dry
goods stores throughout the country come from this establishment.
Outside of his own business
Mr. Tollner is a public spirited citizen. When the natural gas excitement
found its way to Pulaski and vicinity, he obtained the franchise and laid
pipes through the village streets for the expected gas, which had not at
that time been discovered, for his use; he simply pinned his faith to the
existence of the article, and was determined that the village should have
it when it arrived. When the Pulaski Gas and Oil Company was formed
he bought up its stock and is now president of the company and substantially
its owner. Gas is furnished to consumers at twenty-five cents per
thousand feet. He also established the local electric light plant,
which has been of great benefit to the place and which he recently sold
to one of his townsmen. These brief statements indicate to some extent
the kind of man Mr. Tollner is, in a business way. Energy, persistence,
faith in himself are his chief characteristics; he is looked to in all
public improvements to take the lead and any measure that meets his approval
finds him enthusiastic in its support. Mr. Tollner is a Republican
in politics, but he is too busy a man to give very much attention to that
field of activity. He has held the offices of president of the Board
of Education and president of the village, and could have had further advancement
if he would have accepted it. Social and courteous to all, generous
with his means, ever ready to exert his influence for the good of the town
or for an individual, Mr. Tollner has gained a wide circle of sincere friends
an admirers. His family consists of his wife, three sons, Charles,
Eugene, and Hugo, all living in Brooklyn and well-to-do, and one daughter,
Bertha, wife of Chas. F. HOWLETT, living at Pulaski.
MOSES A. DU
MASS
Moses A. DU MASS was born
in Sterling, Cayuga county, N.Y., May 28, 1836, and came to the town of
Hannibal, Oswego county, in April, 1842. He received a limited education
in the district school, working on the farm and doing carpenter work with
his father during the summer season, lumbering the last few winters before
he was twenty-one years of age. He then went to Hillsdale, Mich.,
and for three years labored on a farm and at his trade.
Mr. Du Mass then returned
to Hannibal, and was engaged in carpentering until August 8, 1861, when
he enlisted in Company C, 44th Regiment New York Volunteers, which was
an independent infantry regiment with headquarters at Albany. This
regiment was called the “Ellsworth Avengers,” and was organized to avenge
the assassination of Colonel ELLSWORTH at Alexandria, Va. The name
of the regiment was afterwards changed to Ellsworth’s People Regiment and
was mostly officered by men who had served in the Ellsworth Zouaves, and
the regiment thereby came to be known as the Zouaves. The plan of
the organization of the regiment was one unmarried man between the ages
of eighteen and thirty from each town in the State, and was to be of good
moral character and not less than five feet eight inches in height.
In October, 1861, the regiment was mustered into the United States service,
and left for the seat of war, and spent the winter of 1861-62 near Hall’s
Hill.
In the spring of 1852 the
regiment was removed to Old Point Comfort, and afterward took part in the
siege of Yorktown; on the evacuation of that place the 44th occupied it
for a few weeks. During the siege of Yorktown Mr. Du Mass was detached
to do carpenter work, and was engaged in building signal towers.
The regiment was then ordered to become part of the advance army, and went
to Hanover Court House, where in an engagement with the Confederates on
May 27, 1862, Mr. Du Mass was wounded in his right leg just above the knee,
the ball passing through the limb. He saw that the flow of blood
was such that he would soon die, and having no bandages, he thrust his
thumb into the wound, thereby stopping the bleeding, and after a few hours
it was hurriedly bandaged. The following day, which was his twenty-sixth
birthday, he returned to camp, some sixteen miles in an ambulance, being
in a very weak condition. A comrade lay by his side, who was so injured
that the shaking of the ambulance caused him much pain, and Mr. Du Mass
grasped his arm and steadied him for the whole distance.
During the following week,
Mr. Du Mass was returned to Yorktown, and the blood having stagnated below
the knee, on account of the wound not being properly dressed (as the Union
forces were driven back), an abscess formed, which was lanced and with
the discharge of pus the flesh sloughed off until the bones were nearly
bare. After consultation the medical director told Mr. Du Mass that
he could not live over three days, and asked what messages he wanted sent
home. Mr. Du Mass asked the director if there was any hopes of life
if the limb were amputated, and the reply was, that owing to the great
loss of blood, there was only one chance in a thousand of surviving the
operation. Mr. Du Mass’s answer was that he would rather die at once,
and wished to have the leg amputated, and the operation was performed.
He is unable to tell the exact date, being weak and delirious at the time,
but it was about the middle of June. He was cared for like a babe
by the nurses, for a number of weeks, and on July 4, 1862, the Yorktown
Hospital was evacuated, the Confederates having driven the Union forces
back, and he was placed on an ocean steamer and taken to Portsmouth Grove,
R.I., where he was discharged October 16, and returned home, and after
a while was able to walk with the aid of crutches.
A marked characteristic of
the Du Mass family is a progressive spirit and an indomitable courage to
carry forth reforms that will better humanity. So, early in the Abolition
movement, his father became a member of that party, and his home was the
resting place for runaway slaves.
Mr. Du Mass was early taught
to be self-reliant, and seeing the evils of intemperance, has given his
energies to educating public sentiment on the temperance question; has
allied himself with all temperance movements whenever possible; having
his name connected with all temperance societies, and aiding the W. C.
T. U. movement; has been an active member of the I.O.G.T. for years, is
now in good standing in the subordinate, county, and grand lodges;
will soon join the International Supreme Lodge, to which he and the most
of his family are eligible; believing that political education, and final
success of any principle is the ballot in a republic, and neither of the
great political parties daring to combat the evil, he allied himself with
the Prohibition party, and has for the last eighteen years voted that ticket,
and for ten years has been a prominent worker in their ranks, being a member
of the County Committee and has been its secretary and treasurer for most
of the time besides holding the position of chairman. He was for
two years town collector.
Although Mr. Du Mass is physically
disabled and almost sixty years of age, he is ambitious and actively engaged
in business, working from early morn till late at night. For the
last few years he has carried on a small dairy, using a “Cooley Creamer,”
making and marketing his own butter.
His grandfather, Peter DU
MASS, came from France to this country with La Fayette, and was a soldier
during the Revolutionary war. He afterwards settled in the town of
Sterling, and was one of its earliest settlers. His youngest son,
Jasper, was the father of our subject.
Mr. Du Mass married, March
19, 1865, Mary E. TALLMAN, who was born in the town of Oswego, May 1, 1837,
a superior humanitarian. They have three children: Milicent I., born
April 22, 1867; Olive R., born April 2, 1870; and Hattie E., born August
4, 1874; also an adopted son, Earl N., born November 1, 1886. Mr.
Du Mass believes and thus acts, that Christ’s kingdom will be set up, so
his work is given to that end, and has always been a prominent Sunday school
worker, as opportunity was given; seeing that rural districts are neglected,
he has given the most of his attention to that work, having been superintendent
in a number of school districts; he was converted and baptized in the Baptist
church on his eighteenth birthday and became a prominent church member;
his Christian zeal has not abated. An independent thinker, believing
the church wrong on communion, he, in August, 1887, joined the Free Will
Baptist church at Oswego Falls. Denominational lines are weak with
him; members of the true church, be they of any name, are his brothers
and sisters. Believing God, he daily goes forth relying on his providential
dealing. In his regiment he helped to organize and maintain a Christian
association of seventy members; he was its secretary and sexton, seeing
that the grounds were prepared for religious services, when it was needed
having a bright fire in the center, around which they gathered in song
and prayer; in camp having a tent arranged with split logs for seats.
At Yorktown he saw the only church there was refitted for worship, and
the Confederate General John MAGRUDER’s alarm bell was placed on the top
of the building to ring for service where it remained for a number of years.
LOOMIS FAMILY
“Faithful and freeborn Englishmen
and good Christians, constrained to forsake their dearest home, their friends
and kindred; whom nothing but the wide ocean and the savage deserts of
America could hide and shelter from the fury of the bishops.”
John MILTON
Such the epitaph due the forerunners
of the Loomis family in America, illustrated in each succeeding generation,
but in no one member more clearly defined than in Alanson (1806-1874) or
carrying more fragrant strength than in Abial Theodore (18?1-1878)
The first of the family in
this country was Joseph LOOMIS, a Puritan, who, born in 1590, was a woolen
draper of Braintree, Essex, England, and through religious persecutions
during the reign of Charles I left his native land, with wife and eight
children (five boys), took passage upon the ship “Susan and Ellen” and
was landed at Boston on July 17, 1638. The close of that year found
the family at Windsor, Conn. The passing years disclosed its members
doing their full share of duty in the New World, God-fearing, patriotic,
fervent; helpful in church and all good works; participating in the French
and Indian wars (Wait LOOMIS was in the Ohio campaign under General HARMAR);
in the Revolution (in which Icabod and Daniel served in Capt. John HILL’s
company under Gen’l Israel PUTNAM: and in which at least two members gave
up their lives – Elijah and Remembrance, both in Captain BEEBE’s company
of Colonel BRADLEY’s regiment, were captured at Fort Washington and died
upon the prison ship); striking stalwart blows in the war of 1812, and
again in the Great Rebellion (in which Loyd A. lost his life, and Alanson
R. and James H. served until its close).
Before 1770 several scions
of the family settled in Litchfield county and became a recognized force
in church and town. In 1797 Asher LOOMIS was a tanner at Winsted
in that county. Captain Abial LOOMIS followed the same business and
shortly after returning from the war of 1812-14 he bought the Dudley tannery
at Winsted and removed to the house adjoining, wherein he died in 1818
leaving his widow with five young children, Alanson aged thirteen, the
eldest. The story of the struggles and trials of this young lad and
his brothers, and the success which they earned, would be one from which
the young men of to-day might well take lessons. Alanson LOOMIS continued
in business in the town of his birth until 1847, and won for himself not
alone a competence but name unsullied, a character untarnished, a reputation
for generous kindness and Christian sympathy which is still remembered
and cherished with tender love though he has not been known as a citizen
of that community for nearly half a century. When he removed to Fulton,
Oswego county, N.Y., in 1847, he embarked in the tannery business with
his brother Lewis E. and Mr. George SALMON. He continued in it either
alone or in partnership until near the close of the war when he retired
from business, selling out to Mr. George FALLEY. As was written of
him “In every good work he was a foremost doer. In anti-slavery times,
from first to last he was the consistent friend of the down-trodden and
oppressed.” (Frederick DOUGLASS and Gerrit SMITH were his friends).
“His hand, and not an empty hand, and always outstretched to aid and assist
the needy. In the temperance reform he was prompt and active.
Indeed, there was no good work but received his countenance and no deserving
enterprise but he extended to it substantial help. Fulton never knew
a worthier citizen nor one who has done more for its prosperity.”
He died at Mattoon, Ill., July 22, 1874, and his remains were brought back
to Fulton for interment, being met by a committee of citizens. At
a public meeting held on the 24th the following resolutions wee unanimously
adopted:
Resolved, That we have learned
with unfeigned sorrow and regret of the recent sudden demise of Alanson
LOOMIS, for many years and until quite recently, a resident of our village.
Resolved, That it is due to
the sterling qualities of the deceased, his public spirit, his unostentatious
generosity and his high moral worth, that we, his old neighbors and friends,
should pay this last tribute of respect and affection, and hold up his
example to the rising generation.
Resolved, That in the decease
of Alanson LOOMIS, the village of Fulton mourns one of her oldest and most
respected citizens, the poor an ever generous friend, the cause of temperance,
morality and Christianity an ardent supporter, and his family an ever kind
and indulgent parent.
Resolved, That in token of
our respect an affection for the deceased we attend his funeral in a body.
Resolved, That a copy of these
resolutions be presented to the family and that the village papers be requested
to publish. Signed, M. L. LEE, George M. CASE, W. G. GAGE, A. HANNA,
H. C. HOWE.
Mr. Loomis never accepted
public office; he did, however, serve as school trustee and was mainly
instrumental in the erection of the present academy during his term.
He was twice married but survived both companions. His first wife,
Polly RICHARDS (1803-1862) of Winsted, Conn., left five children, Calista
M. (married Marshall LEWIS and bore several children of whom but one, Calista
M. now survives); Abial Theodore; Alanson R. (married Antoinette FRANCISCO
of Cleveland, O., an had two children, Edward J. and Alanson); Julia Coe
(married her cousin William A. BROWN and died without living issue); and
James Holly. By his second wife, Annette VORIS (1832-1872) of Akron,
Ohio, he had one child, Myra Belle (now Mrs. Edward THOMAS OF south Evanston,
Ill.)
Abial Theodore LOOMIS of the
eighth generation in the line of Joseph LOOMIS, was born at Winsted, Conn.,
December 30, 1831, and there resided until 1847, when he came to Fulton
with his father. In boyhood he was an active wide-awake lad and in
early manhood a bright and promising scholar. Having completed his
studies at Falley Seminary he entered Rensselaer Institute at Troy and
began his preparatory course for college, Gen. Albert L. LEE being his
room-mate. While there he had the misfortune to shoot away a portion
of a finger, which became a painful sore, and combined with overstudy,
threw him into a fever which obliged him to discontinue his college course,
and which indeed seems to have been the beginning of his long years of
sickness and suffering. Upon recovery from his sickness he in company
with Mr. Marshall LEWIS opened a leather store at Geneva, N.Y., and was
in trade there several years when he sold out and came to Fulton again
and became partner with his father in the tannery. In this he retained
connection until 1864. For quite a number of years he was interested
in various business ventures including a shoe store, a grocery store, bedstead
and table factory, with brickyards at Fulton and Norwich,
N. Y., but through the great strain
of his physical ailments, which frequently confined him to his bed for
months at a time, he was unable to give enough personal attention to their
conduct, with the result that heavy losses ensued. In search of health,
nearly always accompanied by his devoted wife, he traveled much and visited
many parts of this country and England, but never secured any permanent
relief from the fell disease which caused his death October 16, 1878.
Mr. Loomis was an ardent admirer
of Speculative Masonry and gave much time to the study of its laws and
rituals. Oswego county has produced very few men who were better
workers in the different grades. He belonged to Hiram Lodge No. 144,
F. & A. M., and served as wor. master. He was high priest
of Fulton Chapter No. 167, R.A.M.; T. I. master of Fulton Council of R.
& S. M. during its career; and also performed more or less work as
a Knight Templar attached to Central City Commandery K. T. of Syracuse.
Of Puritan descent he naturally
was attached to the Presbyterian church and associations, although anything
good and true had ever his warmest co-operation and support. He was
an earnest Christian gentleman and of him it may be and oft has been said,
“the world was better by his having lived in it.”
When twenty-three years old
he was married to Valonia H. ROSEBROOK of Oswego county, by whom he had
two children, C. Mella (now Mrs. Henry BALDREY and the mother of Lona P.,
A. A. Loomis and Haynsworth), and H. May (now Mrs. E. U. HOWLAND and the
mother of Mella I.)