p.101
Sherman, Albert E., was born
in Sandy Creek July 19, 1846, a son of Elijah, born in Little Falls, N.
Y., who died aged thirty-seven, and Prudence Cole, born in Marietta, Ohio,
who died aged sixty-nine. Their children were: Franklin O.,
Hymeneus E., Sarah E., Albert E., Oscar G. and Julia P. Albert was
educated in Sandy Creek, and was a clerk until 1864, when he enlisted in
the 189th N. Y. Vols., Co. E, serving till the close of the war.
He was present at Lee’s surrender, and was discharged at Washington and
mustered out at Elmira, N. Y. He clerked for a time, then went to
Mannsville, where he had charge of the post-office for two years.
Returning to Sandy Creek he began working in the marble yards of Warriner
& Soule, then in 1871 managed a drug store for two years, the firm
being A. E. Sherman & Co. He then bought an interest in the marble
yard, and with the marble business commenced the manufacturing of granite
memorial work, which he has continued to the present time, the different
firms being Wright & Sherman; Wright, Sherman & Wart; Wright &
Sherman; Sherman & Allen, and Sherman & Hollis, the present firm.
They have several salesmen on the road and ship their goods all over New
York State, turning out annually about $25,000 worth, the principal granites
used being Barre and Quincy and some coming from Scotland. Mr. Sherman
is a member of the G. A. R. Post No. 217, and Sandy Creek Lodge No. 564
F. & A. M., also Pulaski Chapter. May 7, 1876, he married Frances
H., daughter of Major Minot A. and Helen (Wood) Pruyn, the former a soldier
in the late war. The children of Mr. Sherman are Maude, Hattie and
Nora. Maude married Fred N. Sargent, a merchant of Sandy Creek; Hattie
married Chena A. Powers a printer; and Nora is a graduate of Sandy Creek
High School, residing at home. Mr. Sherman has served as president
of the village, trustee, water commissioner, and a director in the gas
company.
Snyder, Daniel A., was born
at Boylston in 1832. His grandfather, John, and a brother came to
this country from Germany when young men. Both served in the war
of the Revolution. After the war, John married and settled in Herkimer
county. He raised a family of six, among whom was Abraham, who married
Lena Shoecraft and came to Boylston. He was a farmer and carpenter.
Some years later he moved to the center of the town where he died.
His children were Matthew, Margaret, Abraham, John W., Sally M., Rachel,
Henry J., Daniel A., William A. Daniel has always lived in Boylston,
except seven years spent in Wolcott. He married Anna M., daughter
of Rev. Allen Ridgeway. Their children are Allen D., who married
Anna E. Ridgeway and has two children, Daniel and Ruby; Martha, Mrs. E.
J. Dingman, Syracuse; Mina, Mrs. James English, E. Boylston; Minnie, Mrs.
J. W. Crandall, Orwell; and Maggie, Mrs. Ely Craft. Mr. Snyder enlisted
in 1862 in the 110th Regiment and served until the close of the war.
He has held the office of town collector and postmaster.
Stephens, John D., was a native
of Otsego county, born at Cooperstown, August 25, 1798. He came to
Volney in 1837 and located in Fulton in 1839. He worked at his trade,
wool carding and cloth dressing, for several years in Fulton, and afterwards
was in the grocery business. He was county superintendent of the
poor two or three terms, and was justice of the peace of Volney for sixteen
years. He died in 1877 aged seventy-nine years. His wife, whose
maiden name was Abigail F. Crombie, died in 1881 aged eighty-two years.
They had five children who grew to maturity: Emeline O., wife of Capt.
John De Forest, 81st N. Y. Vols.; Melvin F. and William C., both lawyers
in Fulton; Elizabeth, who married Dr. Scollard of Clinton, N. Y.; and John
J., now in the second auditor’s office of the United States Treasury Department.
Melvin F. Stephens was born October 11, 1826, received an academic education,
read law with J. Ames Crombie and also with Judge Tyler, and was admitted
to practice in 1859. In August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in
Co. B, 12th N. Y. Vol. Cavalry, served three years, and was mustered out
as quartermaster-sergeant July 19, 1865. While residing in the village
of Oswego Falls after the war Mr. Stephens served two terms as police justice
and justice of the peace. He is now a resident of Fulton, and in
the practice of his profession. In 1868 Mr. Stephens married Electa
D. Peer. They have no children.
p. 102
Stranaham, Nevada N., was
born in Granby February 27, 1861, and was the oldest of three children
of Smith and Lucelia (Huggins) Stranahan. He is of Irish extraction.
The grandfather of our subject came to Oswego county from New England early
in the present century and was one of its pioneers. Mr. Stranahan
was brought up on his father’s farm and was educated in the common schools
and Falley Seminary at Fulton. He read law with Pardee & Piper;
attended Columbia Law School, and was admitted to practice January 11,
1884. Soon afterward he formed a law partnership with Sheldon B.
Mead, and when the latter was elected district attorney Mr. Stranahan was
made his assistant, serving three years. In 1890 the law firm of
Mead, Stranahan & Spencer was formed and continued about one year.
In 1891 Mr. Mead withdrew and the present firm of Stranahan & Spencer
was formed. In the fall of 1889 Mr. Stranahan was elected to the
Assembly, representing the first Oswego district, and during the session
of 1890 was chairman of the committee on privileges and elections, and
also served as member of other committees of the House, among them the
judiciary. Re-elected for the session of 1891, and again in 1892,
Mr. Stranahan served on the judiciary, codes and claims committees, and
was prominently connected with the Maynard investigation and proposed impeachment.
In the fall of 1893 Mr. Stranahan was elected district attorney of the
county, which office he now holds. April 30, 1885, he married Elsie,
daughter of H. H. Merriam of Granby, and they have had three children,
one now living, Daniel M.
Stevens, James, retired confectioner
and paper hanger in Oswego Falls, is a native of London, England, where
he was born in 1838 and where his father, William Stevens, followed the
business of butcher and retailer of meats. Esther Stevens, the mother
of James, is still living in the village of Fulton, and is now eighty-two
years old. Of her ten children, five came to America, two sons dying
in Utica. One daughter, Mrs. Wm. Turner, resides in Utica, and another,
Mrs. Edward Breads, in Fulton. Leaving London at ten years of age
James Stevens resided in Utica until 1861, where he learned the trade of
confectioner, which business he followed at Fulton for more than twenty-one
years. In 1883 he closed out his business in Fulton and purchased
property in Oswego Falls, building a residence at No. 31 First street.
March 2, 1857, he married Mary Breads, also born in England. She
died in January, 1884, and May 4, 1885, he married Rhoda Cole, of Phillipsville,
Canada. Mr. Stevens is at present one of the Board of Health, and
for eleven years was secretary of Hiram Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 144;
Fulton Chapter, R. A. M., No. 167 for ten years; and has held other elective
offices in the same. He joined the Neahtowanta Lodge, I. O. O. F.,
No. 245, in January, 1873, in which he has also held all the elective offices,
being now permanent secretary. He is a charter member of Fulton Encampment
I. O. O. F., and secretary and charter member of Canton Bentley, of Fulton.
He was a member of Konoshiona Encampment of Oswego for seventeen years,
withdrawing when the Fulton Encampment was started. He was a representative
to Grand Lodge I. O. O. F. in New York and again in Syracuse. He
was representative to Grand Encampment in Ithaca, and to Odd Fellows’ Home
in Lockport. He is also a trustee of the Congregational Church of
Oswego Falls, and clerk of the board.
p. 103
Tallcott, Cyrus Sayles, was
born in Rensselaer county, N. Y., in 1836. Soon after his birth his
parents moved to Bennington county, Vt., where they resided for fifteen
years, when they removed to Constantia, Oswego county, N. Y. In 1851
Mr. Tallcott married Catharine, daughter of John C. Warn, and in May, 1864,
moved to Parish where he has since resided. During the early days
Mr. Tallcott kept a hotel in Constantia and later was the proprietor of
the Martin House in this place. He was also with a Syracuse business
firm for four years in the capacity of traveling salesman. In 1877
he established a wholesale liquor business in Parish. Mr. Tallcott
is one of the prominent merchants of Oswego county, whose trade is not
confined to that but extends over half a dozen adjoining counties.
He has two sons, both of whom are in business with him; serving at the
start as clerks, they have earned and secured a partnership entirely through
their own industrious and intelligent efforts. Mr. Tallcott is prominent
in Masonry, being a member of the York Scottish and Egyptian Rite, and
in addition belongs to the Order of the Mystic Shrine. Prominently
identified with Republican politics, his efforts are greatly appreciated
by his party, in whose highest counsels he is a trusted confidant.
Mr. Tallcott is a man of large and comprehensive ideas, who impresses his
individuality on those with whom he comes in contact. His successful
mercantile career has afforded him an ample fortune. He has two sons:
Frank Nelson, and Claude F., both in partnership with him in his business.
Tremain, Charles, was born
in Fayetteville, Onondaga county, April 23, 1843. His father was
Porter Tremain, his grandfather Judge Tremain. After completing his
education he was engaged in business on Wall street, New York city.
He then embarked in the manufacture of paper at Manlius, N. Y., and later
in Springfield, Mass. In 1879 he came to Oswego to take an active
partnership in Minetto Shade Cloth Company, located at Minetto. In
the past fifteen years this concern has grown from modest beginning to
very extensive proportions. In 1883 he married Esther H. Jackson,
daughter of Peter A. H. Jackson of New York. He is a thirty-two degree
Mason, Scottish Rite. He has been a member of Assembly from Onondaga
county.
In May, 1885, there was celebrated
at their home in Fulton the fiftieth anniversary of the marriage of Calvin
S. Osgood and Dolly (Howe) Osgood. Calvin S. Osgood was born
at Vernon, Oneida county, December 7, 1810. He removed to Pulaski,
N. Y., in the year 1849, and was engaged in the manufacture of wagons at
that place. In later years he was the owner of a large farm in Volney.
He came to reside in Fulton in 1854, becoming a pillar of society and a
deacon of the Baptist church, which could impose no burden too heavy for
his cheerful acceptance. He was a trustee of the village, and also
one of the original trustees of the Fulton Savings Bank. His death
occurred December 5, 1889, at the age of seventy-nine years. As a
man, a Christian man, a neighbour and a citizen, he was respected by all
who knew him. His end was blessed. The faithful partner of
his joys and sorrows survived him until May 24, 1892, she being then eighty-three
years of age. Of her devoted and unselfish life no eulogy is needed.
Their two daughters, Jane Frances and Elizabeth J., who of six children
alone remain, cherish the pleasant home on First street, where their parents
lived and died, as eloquent with tender reminiscences.
p. 104
Olmstead, Gilbert Orrimel,
was born in Orwell, June 5, 1848, son of Orrimel Olmstead, of Delaware
county, whose father was Samuel. Orrimel came to Orwell in 1835,
and engaged in farming, and was also a merchant in the village of Orwell
for many years. He served as supervisor several years and held other
minor offices. By his first wife he had two children, Permelia and
Prudence. By his second wife, Betsey E. Crocker, he had five children,
Celia M., Samuel M., Gilbert O., Arthur E., and Etta, deceased. In
1862 he enlisted in Company C, 110th N. Y. Infantry, as captain.
Upon his return home he resumed his mercantile business until a few years
before his death, when his son Arthur succeeded him in the business.
Gilbert began life as a farmer, which vocation he has followed for many
years. In 1882 he removed to Orwell and devotes his time between
his farming and engineering. Mr. Olmstead has served as town clerk.
He is a member of Welcome Lodge No. 680, I. O. O. F., in Orwell, and the
Pulaski Encampment of the same order, also a member of the Royal Templars
of Temperance. In February, 1869, he married Teresa, daughter of
Weaver and Mary A. Snyder, of Boylston, born in 1853, and died in 1876,
leaving two children, Samuel J., born June 21, 1872, and Etta, born June
7, 1875, died May 10, 1883. In March, 1877 he married Mary, daughter
of J. N. and Sarah A. Stowell, of Orwell. They have two children,
Ruth, born March 27, 1886, and Bessie, born May 1, 1889.
O’Keefe, Thomas ?. was born
in Oswego, June 19, 1842. His father and mother were both born in
Kilkenny, Ireland. Both came to this country in the year 1814, where
they have ever since resided. His mother died three years ago at
the age of seventy-seven years. His father is still living, aged
eighty years. In May, 1869, he started in the wholesale liquor business
in a small way at his present stand, Nos. 114 and 116 East First street,
which has continued to grow in size until the present time, and it is now
conceded to be one of the largest establishments of this kind in the State
of New York. He is the distiller and sole owner of the following
brands of Nelson county, Kentucky, whiskies: “Woodcock” and “Beaver Run”
Bourbons: “Monteagle” and “Hazelwood” Ryes.
Wilcox, H. Dwight, one of
the leading men of Granby and representative of an old pioneer family,
is the son of the late Morgan Wilcox, who with his brother, David Wilcox,
removed from Onondaga county to Granby at a very early date, and to the
personal influence of whose family the present state of advancement of
civilization in that vicinity is largely due. Morgan Wilcox lived
to be nearly eighty years of age, and David lived to nearly ninety-seven
years. His wife was Caroline Satterlee, by whom he had five sons,
Almon, Leroy (deceased), Dwight, Henry, and Morgan, half brother.
Dwight was born in Granby, June 7, 1838, and has for most of his life been
engaged in farming, having but recently retired from active business and
become a resident of the village of Oswego Falls. He married in 1860
Ann E. Fox, of Fort Plain, by whom he has three children, John M., born
December 26, 1862; Lena, born April 16, 1868, and Howard Albert, born January
15, 1870. The elder son died in Missouri, June 21, 1891; Lena died
in early infancy, and Howard, only surviving child, is now an employee
of F. J. Whitcomb of Granby.
p. 105
Wheeler, Fred D., was born
in Oswego, a son of Morgan, born in Jefferson county, who died in this
county aged forty-four, and of Margaret Glosford, his wife, a native of
Ontario, Canada, who survives him. The great-grandfather was one
of the men who assisted in unloading the tea from the British ships in
Boston Harbor at the time of the Revolution. The father of our subject
was a vessel owner, was city alderman, and a prominent man in the affairs
of his town. Fred D. was educated in Oswego, and first engaged in
superintending his father’s interests. He then conducted a grocery
store three years, and for the next four years was foreman of the Kingsford
Supply Store. He was elected alderman in 1886-87, appointed deputy
collector of internal revenue in March, 1894, serving four months, when
the Oswego Division was consolidated with the Auburn District, and is now
holding the position of city clerk. January 29, 1880, he married
Eleanor M. Crippen, of Elba, Genesee county, at Batavia, N. Y., a daughter
of John and Roxanna Crippen, and their children are Mabel E., born December
29, 1880; Raymond W., born October 29, 1883; and Pauline, born March 6,
1886.
Upton, E. C., was born in
Sandy Creek, November 30, 1840, a son of Elijah and Nancy (Vincent) Upton,
natives of Vermont, who came to Sandy Creek at an early day. Elijah
Upton was a farmer by occupation and located at an early day on the farm
now owned by our subject, where he died in 1863, and his wife in 1872.
Subject was reared on the farm and has always followed farming on the homestead,
which he now owns. He has 150 acres where he resides, and sixty acres
in the town of Richland, and caries on general farming and dairying.
He has represented the town as supervisor two years, commissioner eleven
years, and is at present highway commissioner. In 1863 he married
Victoria J., daughter of Lewis and Sarah C. Carr, of Richland, by whom
he has five sons: Clarence E., farmer in Nebraska; Charles B., a
farmer in Sandy Creek; Jay L., Malcolm J., and Earl D., at home.
They give their support to the M. E. church.
Stiles, Francis, was born
in Boston, Mass., in 1847. His father, Francis Stiles, sr., a manufacturer
of edge tools, removed from Boston to Leicester, Mass., in 1853.
During the succeeding eighteen years Francis not only acquired an academic
education at Leicester, but thorough technical training in mechanic arts,
supplemented by a commercial course at Springfield, Mass. At Riegelsville,
N. J., in 1870, he embarked in business life as a manufacturer of knives
and edge tools, and during the twenty-two years so engaged built up an
important and lucrative business. In 1891 he disposed of the New
Jersey plant and removed to Fulton, becoming associated with F. S. Taylor,
R. A. Skinner, and G. C. Webb, in the Fulton Paper Company, in the manufacture
of wood pulp, Mr. Stiles being president of the company. During his
short residence in Fulton Mr. Stiles has made hosts of friends by his genial
and unassuming character.
Remington, Rufus E., was born
in Ellisburg November 16, 1850, the oldest of three children of Allen and
Susan (Shoecraft) Remington, natives of Ellisburg and Boylston, respectively.
The paternal grandfather was Jonathan Remington, a native of Massachusetts,
and one of the first settlers of Ellisburg. The maternal grandfather
was Matthew Shoecraft, one of the first settlers of Ellisburg. The
maternal grandfather was Matthew Shoecraft, one of the first settlers of
Boylston, who was also in the war of 1812. The father of our subject
was a prominent man in town affairs, having served as assessor several
terms, and he and wife were active members of the M. E. Church. Rufus
E. was educated in Ellisburg and has resided nearly all his life in Oswego
county as a farmer, excepting four years spent in the milk business in
the city of Oswego. He came to the farm he now owns in 1892, buying
140 acres of the Oyer homestead, and also a part of the Tifft farm, and
keeping a dairy. He is a member of Sandy Creek Grange.
In 1874 Mr. Remington married Ruth C., daughter of Walter Pierce, and they
have three children: Virgil E., Dora J. and Kate R.
p. 106
Moss, J. S., was born at Volney
Center in 1855. He was the second son of the late King Moss, who
died in 1867, whose wife was Susannah H. Taft, and who died in 1891.
There were three sons, Herbert G., Joseph S., and Elbert K. H. G.
died in 1887. Joseph finished his education at Falley Seminary at
the age of seventeen and commenced the business. At the age of twenty-one
he found himself several hundred dollars worse off than nothing and his
home was sacrificed. He then began as a produce dealer and later
engaged in market gardening, which he has carried on successfully to the
present time. In 1880 he married Flora A Casten of Oswego, who died
in 1885, leaving one daughter, Mabel, now thirteen years old. His
present wife was Jennie A. Burkhardt of Oswego. In 1892 he purchased
the old homestead, and refitted and converted it into a model truck farm.
Some of his specialties are gold leaf sauerkraut, fancy pickles and vinegar.
His wife has contributed valuable aid in his business, and been instrumental
in its success and in beautifying their home. He is not only an energetic
and successful business man, but a genial and whole-souled gentleman, and
deserves the fullest measure of success.
Millot, John B., was born in Leraysville,
Jefferson county, September 11, 1838, son of Louis, born in France, and
Martilla (Bader) Millot, born on the Atlantic Ocean. The father was
a physician of forty years’ practice, and died in Jefferson county, aged
sixty-eight. The grandfather, John, was born in Paris and died at
the age of one hundred and four years; he was a surgeon in the French army.
John B. was educated in Jefferson county; he worked on the canal for thirteen
years, and in 1865 came to Oswego and opened a restaurant. In 1874
he started the Oswego City Brewery, located on the Oswego River, which
he still conducts. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. In 1865
he married Henrietta, daughter of David and Sally (Penfield) Doolittle
of Oswego. They had five children: Norman F., born May 28,
1866, deceased; Maud E., born July 21, 1869, married Owen K. Klinc of Lyons
June 6, 1893; Mabel C., born May 24, 1879; Genevieve, born January 27,
1882; and Henrietta, born October 30, 1884. The latter three are
in the High School. Mr. Millot has one brother, George R., who enlisted
in the 35th N. Y. Vols. at Watertown, served two years, and receives a
pension; he was born in Leraysville in 1840.
Tilton, James B., was born
in Hammond, St. Lawrence county, in 1847. His grandfather, Peter,
came from Dutchess county to Oneida county, where he married Nancy Atkins,
who came from England when nine years of age. Joseph A., son of Peter
and Nancy, was born in Oneida county. He was one of a family of twelve
children, and moved with his parents to Hammond, where he married Cecilia,
daughter of James and Margaret Battell. Joseph and Cecilia raised
four children: Rozell, married Rachel, daughter of C. J. and Catharine
Huffstatter of Boylston; Elizabeth A. (Mrs. John Helms) of Spring Valley,
Rockland county; Margaret (Mrs. Warren Horton) of Hopewell, Dutchess county;
and James B. The family moved to Boylston in 1858 and settled on
the farm where James now resides. The two boys cleared up the farm,
which was almost a dense forest, their father being in poor health.
In 1869 James married M. Alice, daughter of Adam and Sally Coppernoll of
Boylston; she was born September 30, 1849; her father was born in Oneida
county and her mother in Boylston, she being a daughter of Abram Snyder.
In 1872 Joseph B. died. The family were members of the M. E. church.
James raised a family of three children: Orla A., born October 24,
1871, married Naomi, daughter of Charles B. and Harriet Woodard; W. Rozell,
born July 19, 1873; and Nina A., born April 29, 1879. Mrs. James
Tilton died August 3, 1894, leaving Nina to care for the home. Politically
James is a Republican, and has held several town offices, and his motto
is to do as he would be done by.
p. 107
Hutchins, Lewis H. – As early
as 1808 John Hutchins, of English descent and New England parentage, bought
200 acres of timber land of lot 11, now Bower’s Corners. Ten years
later he removed to the town of Oswego, on the Grayridge road, three miles
from then Oswego village. About 1835 he removed to Ohio, where he
died some ten years later. His second son, David Hutchins, remained
here, becoming before his majority a soldier in the war of 1812, serving
until the close in the 23d Regiment of Infantry. In 1830 he married
Electa Finch, and in 1835 purchased the farm which he occupied until his
death, which occurred in 1873 at the age of eighty-one, at that time being
the oldest pioneer in the town. To Lewis H., his only son, he left
the priceless heritage of an untarnished name and the example of a life
work well done. March 26, 1894, the subject married Eliza F., daughter
of John H. and Sophia Harris, by whom he has one daughter, Genevra E.,
born August 9, 1876; and the daughter of a deceased sister, Ethel A. Dix,
now eleven years old, has been adopted into their heart and home.
He has been justice of the peace and notary public, having held the latter
office fifteen years. Mrs. Hutchins taught school in town a number
of years; she is the granddaughter of Dr. Augustus Harris, one of the original
members of the Albany County Medical Society, which was organized in 1806;
in 1820 he removed to Van Buren, Onondaga county, where he resided until
his death in April, 1857, aged eighty-one years.
McCaffrey, Henry D., was born
on Island Noah, Canada (on Lake Champlain), June 14, 1841, a son of Charles,
born in the city and county of Armagh, Ireland, who died in Centerville,
Canada, aged seventy-nine, and was buried with Masonic honors. He
was a lifelong Mason. Mary (Davis) McCaffrey, his wife, was born
in Bath, England, and died in Centerville, Canada, aged seventy-two years.
The father was in the British service, connected with the Engineer Department
at the time of our subject’s birth. The latter first attended a military
school at Kingston, Ontario. He came to Oswego, N. Y., when quite
a young boy, and worked at different vocations, and attended school when
possible during the winter months. At the breaking out of the war
in 1861 he enlisted in the 12th Regiment, N. Y. Vols. After the Military
Telegraph Corps was organized he entered that department and served in
the line of construction of telegraph during the war, and has since, and
is now connected with telegraph and telephone construction. He has
been connected with all the chief lines of the United States during their
construction. He crossed the continent in the sixties, and is well
versed in the geographical lay of the country, having built lines over
the United States territories and British America. In 1870 he came
east to accept a position with the N. Y. O. & W. R. R. Co. as general
lineman, having full charge of the lines between New York and Oswego.
In 1873 he married Mary A. Fitzsimmons, and their children now living are
Ida M., born August 5, 1874; Cora A., Laura E., Henry D. R., Frederick
J., and Walter C. Mr. McCaffrey commenced constructing in a small
way in 1879, and has worked his way up to be one of the largest and most
successful constructors in telegraph and telephone construction in America.
In 1883 and 1884 he represented the First Ward in the city of Oswego as
alderman, and was elected mayor in March, 1888. Mr. McCaffrey is
a Republican in politics. He is connected with all the charitable
institutions of the city. He is now a trustee of the Oswego City
Hospital, Oswego Orphan Asylum, Oswego County Savings Bank, also a director
of the Oswego Casket Company. The family all attend and are members
of Christ Episcopal Church. Mr. McCaffrey has served as vestryman
of said church for a number of years. He is also connected with the
Masonic fraternity, is a 32d degree Mason, also an Odd Fellow. Mr.
McCaffrey is at present engaged in buying telegraph poles in Canada, and
supplies the various telegraph and telephone companies in the United States
and Canada.
p. 108
Highriter, D. C., M. D., Fulton.
His father was Henry H. Highriter, who came here from Auburn in 1837.
He first learned the hatter’s trade with an elder brother, John, at which
he worked about seven years. With the spirit of adventure and enterprise
he went to sea, cruising about the South Pacific in a whaling ship, and
was absent on a single voyage four years, a fact almost incredible in these
days of swift steamships and brief voyages. After his return to Fulton
he took up wagonmaking and the millwright trade, making of the latter his
chief business in later life. November 27, 1849, he married Charlotte
Robinson, by whom he had four children: Eugene, who died aged twenty-nine;
Henry Arthur, of Chicago; Frederick B., of Syracuse; and Dana C.
Mrs. Highriter’s father, Benjamin Robinson, came here from Manlius in 1806,
a pioneer teacher in Volney and Granby, and later became a farmer and reared
a family of twelve children. Dr. Highriter began the study of medicine
at Physicians and Surgeons in 1887, beginning practice in the town of New
Haven, where he remained six years. June 7, 1890, he married Miss
Maude Boomer, of Fulton, who was also born here, and is the daughter of
John V. Boomer. She has one daughter, Helen, born January 12, 1891.
In 1893 Dr. Highriter returned to Fulton, and is associated with Dr. N.
F. Hall. He has a very successful practice.
Hawthorne, Robert, was born
in County Armagh, Ireland, August 14, 1814, and is the son of Robert and
Jane Hawthorne. In 1822 the father came to this country, settling
at Deerfield, Oneida county. Two years later the subject and his
sister Jane followed their parents to America. For about five years
Robert, jr., was hired out by his father, and in 1829 he came to Schroeppel
where he lived for many years and became a prosperous farmer. Here
he married Mary Young in 1835, by whom he had seven children: Mary
J., wife of J. J. Keller of Syracuse; Carrie V., who died in 1877, the
wife of Prof. John E. Sweet of Syracuse; William, who died in childhood;
Delia, wife of George Huntley of Phoenix; Margaret, wife of Henry Owen
of Fulton; Kate, who remains with her in Fulton; and Robert W. of Schroeppel.
Of late years Robert has retired from farming and is living in Fulton.
The family is connected with the M. E. church.
p. 109
Lewis, Edward H., deceased,
was owner and proprietor of the Lewis House in Fulton. He resided
in the village of Fulton thirteen years. He was a native of Kinderhook,
N. Y., but in early childhood moved with his parents to Canada. He
married Miss Mary Nichols, by whom he had seven children. About 1858
he moved to Binghamton and thence in 1863 came to Fulton, and in 1869 moved
to Syracuse, N.Y., and in October, 1875, moved back to Fulton, where he
resided until his death, which occurred May 19, 1876. Thomas D. Lewis,
his youngest son, was born at Shannonville, Canada, July 7, 1853.
At the age of nineteen he became associated with his father in business
at Syracuse, N. Y., and after his father’s death continued the business
alone one year. In 1877 he came to Fulton and took charge of the
Lewis House, which he managed until 1881. Mr. Lewis is constantly
engaged with his coal, metal and real estate interests, and is one of the
most active young men of the town. He has been supervisor of the
town of Volney five years, and was elected last year, 1894, by the unprecedented
majority of 696 to serve for two years under the new law. He was
also elected the same year, president of the village of Fulton by 217 majority.
He is a past master of Hiram Lodge No. 144, and at present high priest
of Fulton Chapter No. 167, R. A. M.; noble grand of Neahtawanta Lodge No
245 and a 33d and last degree Mason of the Scottish Rite and a member of
Zigara Temple, of Utica, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Harrington, Jay C., born at
Granby Center February 21, 1861, is the only child now living of the late
John C. Harrington; another son, Goodell, having died in 1882 when twenty-three
years of age. John C. Harrington, born at Missisqui Bay, Canada,
in 1802, came to Granby about 1850 and thenceforward occupied a central
position in the social and political annals of the town. Among the
various enterprises which owe their success largely to his supervision,
were the Chenango Canal and the old Hannibal plank road. He was a
warm personal friend of Gerrit Smith and of Frederic Douglas, both of whom
frequently visited at his home in Granby Center. He was not only
an earnest and fearless advocate of abolition of slavery, but openly befriended
fugitive slaves, and was present at the Jerry Rescue in Syracuse.
Always a champion of temperance, he stood at the front of the prohibitory
movement when it first assumed political significance. His wife,
Mary Whitney, who survives him, is of an old Massachusetts family whose
genealogy begins at Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower. Jay C. Harrington
acquired a thorough business training at Rochester University, having been
a student at Falley, Lima and Cazenovia. In 1882 he engaged in the
grocery trade at Oswego Falls, and five years later found him across the
continent at Pasadena, Cal. He is now reckoned among the progressive
business men of Fulton, associated with Edward Quirk as dealers in carriages,
agricultural implements, etc., but still domiciled in Granby, where he
has with honor to himself and pride to his constituents served as town
clerk and supervisor. In 1893 he married Elizabeth, daughter of H.
H. Merriam, esq., of Granby.
p.110
Howe, Abraham, was born in
Marlboro, Mass., February 18, 1823, a son of Amory and Mary (Brigham) Howe.
Amory came to Granby in 1822, built a house and brought his family to the
town in 1823. Abraham was educated in the district schools, after
which he taught school, including three years in the Oswego city public
schools. Later on he entered Oberlin College for two years.
At Elyria, O., Mr. Howe read law for a time and returning to Baldwinsville,
N. Y., he continued the same study with Judge Stansbury, but was never
admitted to the bar. He returned to Oswego county and became surrogate’s
clerk and for several years following was an active factor in local politics,
was deputy sheriff, etc. At length Mr. Howe engaged in real estate
enterprises, and with Mr. Kennedy purchased the site of and built up Oswego
Falls, by establishing the first factory in that village. In the
fall of 1869, Mr. Howe was elected to the Assembly and re-elected in 1870,
where he procured the charter for the Fulton Savings Bank, and has been
its president since 1886. He has been its treasurer and managing
officer for the last seventeen years. In Lysander he married Eunice
Kennedy, by whom he had one child, Grace, wife of Graeme Drew, of Jacksonville,
Fla.
Emmons, Samuel, was born in
Pillar Point, Jefferson county, July 27, 1840, a son of Ebenezer and Chloe
Emmons. The father came from the Eastern States and was a blacksmith.
About 1869 he settled in this town, and bought a farm, which business he
followed till his death, at the age of eighty-four. His wife was
a daughter of Samuel NcNett, a captain in the War of 1812, and for whom
our subject was named. Samuel was the fourth of their seven children,
and for sixteen years was a sailor. At the time the war broke out
he enlisted, in 1861, in the 24th N. Y. Vols., first, and after the expiration
of his time he again enlisted in the 20th N. Y. Cavalry, serving until
the close of the war. He was in twenty-seven regular engagements,
and was slightly wounded three times. Mr. Emmons married Luella,
daughter of Lyman Wright, of Albion, and they have three children:
Eva J., Viola L., and Claude M. Mr. Emmons is a member of the G.
A. R. post at Pulaski.
Ebblie, William A., was born
in Lewis county February 15, 1863, son of William H. and Julia (Archer)
Ebblie, both born in Lewis county. They were of German descent.
The mother died in Lewis county at the age of seventy-four years.
The father is still living at the age of seventy-six. William A.
was educated in Lowville, graduating in the class of 1879. He first
worked as a machinist for one year; then clerked in a clothing store for
five years. After this he became manager of a store in North Adams,
Mass., then manager of a store in Watertown. In 1887 he came to Oswego
and opened a store for himself at 211 W. First street, which he still conducts,
handling household goods and novelties, such as glass, crockery, plated
and tin ware, jewelry, stationery, toys, fancy goods, confectionery, wood
and willow ware. It is the only store of the kind in the county.
He also has a store of the same class in Binghamton. He is a member
of the I. O. O. F. In 1887 he married Carrie M., daughter of Henry
and Sarah A. Cooper, of Watertown. They have one child, Lena J.,
born July 29, 1889.
David, Pierre, was a native
of Switzerland, though of French ancestry, and came with his parents to
this country at an early day – 1808 – settling at Baltimore ; thence to
near Albany, where he afterwards lived and died. Among his children
was Louis, also a native of Switzerland, who married in Kinderhook, Columbia
county, Elizabeth Saulsbury, and soon afterward came to this county, settling
in Parish, where he reared a large family and where he died in 1869, and
his wife in 1870. Their children were James, who died in 1893; Abram,
who died in 1878; Francis, now surrogate of the county; Charles H., lawyer
of Fulton; Lewis of Parish; Martin, of Hastings; Roswell, of West Monroe;
Leander, who died in May, 1893; and Alphoncene, who died in infancy.
Charles H. David was born in Parish December 28, 1828, and was reared on
his father’s farm. He was educated in the common schools and Falley
Seminary, read law with the late Ransom H. Tyler, and was admitted to practice
about 1859. He has always practiced law at Fulton since his admission,
and for several years in company with Judge Tyler. His practice is
general, though by preference inclining to real estate and office work.
Since the war Mr. David has held the office of town clerk of Volney, police
justice of Fulton, and has been elected to the office of justice three
terms. November 16, 1871, Mr. David married Eleanor F. Hubbard of
Fulton, and they have one daughter, Charlotte Elizabeth.
p. 111
Dunham, Anna M., is the daughter
of the late Amos Dean, who settled in Southeastern Granby nearly sixty
years ago, and took up his abode in a log house for nine years, later building
the one where his daughter now lives. He came here from Canaan, Columbia
county, where he was born in 1809. His first wife was Harriet E.,
daughter of Elisha Corning, and she died in 1875 leaving one child, our
subject, born December 1, 1838. Mr. Dean married second, in 1878,
Cornelia Hall of Baldwinsville, who has one daughter, Cornelia A.
Mr. Dean began life without capital, and by the production and sale of
lumber and speculation in live stock, accumulated a large property, largely
invested in real estate. He died December 10, 1893, aged eighty-four.
Anna Dean was educated at Falley Seminary. She married in 1856 the
late John Vedder, a man of distinction in Granby, representing his town
as supervisor for three terms and serving as justice of the peace several
years. He died in 1886, leaving one daughter, Harriet, wife of Elmer
Hazard of Phoenix. Mrs. Vedder married in 1887, Wallace R. Dunham
of Little Utica.
Chappell, Charles E., Fulton,
is senior partner of the firm of Chappell, Goodjon & Co., leading dealers
in dry goods, carpets, boots and shoes, millinery, etc. Centrally
located at First and Oneida streets, Oswego, this house does an enormous
retail business, besides jobbing boots and shoes throughout Central New
York. A recent and important adjunct is their dressmaking department.
C. E. Chappell was born in Fulton September 15, 1861. His father,
John, a long-time resident of Hannibal and a cooper by trade, now lives
at Niagara Falls. Charles is his only son, two younger daughters
being Mrs. Lockwood of Rose, Wayne county, and Mrs. John Bacon of South
Butler. When but fourteen years of age Charles began his mercantile
life in a clerical capacity at South Butler in the store of H. K. Graves
& Son. He then spent seven years with George H. Davis of Jordan,
N. Y., in 1882 purchasing one-third interest in that business. Four
years later he sold out of the Jordan establishment and after a year at
Baldwinsville where the firm name was Chappell & Tuttle, he came to
Fulton in 1888, establishing with F. E. Bacon the house of C. E. Chappell
& Co. Two years later Mr. Goodjon became a partner, a former
employee, Mr. Bacon retiring. Mr. Chappell is intimately identified
with the M. E. church of Fulton, and since his connection a prime mover
in its temporal and spiritual advancement. He is a Free Mason, a
citizen of character, a business man of probity, and is highly esteemed
wherever he is known. His wife, Ida, daughter of the late H. O. Baggerly
of Savannah, is of a family of much note in Wayne county, and among the
earliest pioneers of the town of Savannah. They were married May
7, 1885, and their children are Clayton B., Marion I. and Donald E.
p. 112
Barnes, Evert, only surviving
son of Charles E. Barnes, was born in Lysander in 1827. His parents
settled in the locality where the homestead is now situated about 1835,
reclaiming seventy-five acres from the primeval forest, and reared six
children. February 13, 1867, Evert married Anna M., daughter of Daniel
Rider of Van Buren, and their children are Emmett, Susie and May.
Mrs. Barnes and Emmett are members of the First Baptist Church of Phoenix.
Mr. Barnes enlisted in Co. C, 185th N. Y. Vols., September 3, 1865, and
was discharged May 30, 1865, at the close of the war, and may point with
pride to his record as a man and a citizen, having resided here sixty years.
Blakeslee, Sandford, was a
pioneer settler at South Granby, his residence there dating from 1836,
at which time he was twenty-four years old. He was born at Windham,
Greene county, December 22, 1812. His first wife was Amanda Brown
of Greenville, Greene county, whom he married in 1835. They came
to Granby in 1836. She died in 1876, and he married Mary Huntington
in 1877, she being a member of the well-known family of that name of Elbridge,
N. Y. His elegant home at Granby bears evidence of the artistic training
of the present Mrs. Blakeslee, she having been a student in painting of
Miss Franc Griffin of Falley Seminary.
Brower, Edgar J., was born
in Lee, Oneida county, in 1854, son of George G., who was also born in
Lee. His paternal grandfather, John Brower, of Dutch descent, moved
from Schnectady to Lee, where he died in 1881. George G. died in
1870, his wife Elizabeth Gue, having died in 1859. Edgar was fifteen
years old at the time of his father’s death, and came to live with his
uncle, John M. Brower, in Redfield, where he has lived since with the exception
of five years at Lee. He was educated at Sandy Creek High School
and Lee Center Union Free School. In 1878 he secured the Williamstown
and Redfield mail route, and came back to Redfield to attend to it.
He married in 1879 Lydia, daughter of Dexter Grant. Mr. Grant was
a native of New Hampshire and came to Redfield when a small boy, his father
being one of the earliest settlers in the town. Edgar J. has had
a long experience as teacher, twenty-eight terms in West Lee, Delta and
Belcher, Oneida county; Osceola and Lewis, Lewis county, in Richland and
fifteen terms in Redfield. He was excise commissioner, overseer of
the poor and justice of the peace many years. He has a brother, George
G. Brower, B. S., who is professor of mathematics at Cascadilla School,
Ithaca. He is a graduate of Syracuse University. He also has
two sisters, Margaret, Mrs. William Kenyon of Lee, and Clara I., Mrs. Henry
Balcom of South Redfield.
Sullivan, John R., postmaster
of Oswego Falls and a leading merchant, was born in Holyoke, Mass., in
1863. His father, John J., emigrated from Ireland in 1860 and died
in 1876, aged thirty-eight years. The subject came to Oswego Falls
when but a small boy, and has been closely identified with the business
interests of the place; first as salesman for Howe & Dexter, and assistant
postmaster under B. R. Howe, which position he held for five years, receiving
arduous and thorough training for his present position. His politics
are Democratic, and he has taken an active interest in the counsels of
his party. The success of Grover Cleveland’s election in 1884 resulted
in his appointment as postmaster when only twenty-one years old.
In 1889 he was elected village treasurer, and in 1890 elected town clerk
and re-elected in 1891 and 1892. In 1893 he received his present
appointment as postmaster. He started in business in 1886 in the
Emery block, handling a choice stock of dry goods, etc., and in 1889 erected
a handsome brick block on the corner of Broadway and Second streets, which
he now occupies. Mr. Sullivan’s mother is still living aged sixty
years.
p. 113
Gardner, H. Clinton, notary,
bank director, and retired merchant at Fulton, was born at De Ruyter, N.
Y., June 19, 1842. His father, Henry A. Gardner, a carriage manufacturer,
established his business at Lower Oswego Falls in 1847, where his widow
Minerva (Calkins) Gardner, still resides at the age of seventy-four years.
After a full course of study at Falley Seminary, he spent two years at
the business college, Poughkeepsie. He then engaged in the retail
drug business, having associated himself with W. B. Shaw, remaining from
1861 to 1864. Soon after he formed a copartnership with Prof. C.
S. Eggleston in the sale of books, stationery, wall paper, etc., which
he continued until 1876. He was at one time president of the village
of Oswego Falls, and has been for ten years a notary public.
Henderson, Washington T.,
was born in Albion, May 26, 1826, a grandson of Peter, born in Scotland,
who died in Jefferson county, aged eighty-nine, and a son of Thomas, also
a native of Scotland, who died in this county aged eighty-four. Thomas
married Eliza Jacobs, born in Connecticut, who died aged thirty-eight.
The grandfather Jacobs was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Our
subject was educated in this county, and is a member of the Masonic fraternity.
He began business in Albion, owning a lumber mill, and also timber land,
and conducted business there till 1868, also operated a general store in
connection with S. A. Comstock. In 1868 he joined Mr. Post, and conducted
business under the firm name of Post & Henderson, owning 6,000 to 8,000
acres of timber land, and operating four mills, as well as a grist mill,
the output being about 15,000,000 feet yearly. He owns the homestead
in Albion, has served as supervisor in Albion and Oswego, and is one of
the managers of the State Hospital at Ogdensburg. January 7, 1846,
he married Ellen A., daughter of Richard and Mary (Taft) Simons of Albion.
Their children are Victor, who died April 25, 1874, leaving a wife and
one child; Mary; George (deceased); James D., who married Jennie Thomas,
and is in business with his father. He has one child.
Hamlin, Charles V., was born
in Williamstown, March 15, 1866, son of William D. Hamlin, who was a native
of Fulton county, born in 1833, son of Israel Hamlin of Connecticut, who
was a farmer, and came and settled in Williamstown, Oswego county about
1850. William D., the father, was a carpenter and farmer. While
in Fulton county he served some years as constable. His wife was
Anne, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Vernon, of England. To them
were born six children, Libbie, Charles V., Mrs. Mina Bradley, of Williamstown,
Tressa, Ellen and Ralph. Charles V. received his education in Sandy
Creek and Pulaski Academy. In 1892 he took a course in shorthand
in Oswego. Since 1884 he has devoted his winters to teaching school
in Orwell, Williamstown and Redfield, and his summers to carpentry and
painting. His industry and integrity can not but place him in the
front ranks of the young men of the country.
p. 114
Stevens, William Jay, was
born at Cleveland, Oswego county, June 12, 1840, son of Samuel H. and Susan
K. (Wood) Stevens. The father was born in New England and died in
Oneida county at the age of sixty-five years. The mother was born
in England, but died in Oswego county, at the age of fifty-three years.
They were the parents of twelve children, all deceased except William Jay.
The grandfather, William B., was born in New England and died in Oswego
county. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The father
was a farmer, merchant, speculator, and captain in the artillery.
William Jay was educated in Oneida county, and first taught school there.
He studied law in Camden and Rome. He was made station agent for
the R. W. & O. R. R. at Sandy Creek Station, in January, 1863, where
he continued for thirty years. He was freight and passenger agent,
telegraph operator, express agent, yard master, etc., and until the consolidation,
he also represented the Syracuse and Northern Railroad. In 1870 he
opened a coal yard, which he has since continued, and later adding agricultural
implements, etc. He has held the offices of village trustee, village
president, and was a member of the Board of Education for twelve years.
July 9, 1863, he married Lydia, daughter of John H. and Clara (Stansel)
Casler. The children were Maud, born September 18, 1868, who lives
at home; and Etta, born July 27, 1864, and died September 29, 1865.
Maud is a graduate of the Sandy Creek High School. Mr. Stevens is
a Mason, Knight Templar, 32d degree, and Mystic Shrine.
Pratt, John W., son of Timothy
and Hannah (Raynor) Pratt, was born at Manlius Square, August 4, 1818.
His father was a farmer during the youth of our subject but was engaged
in many business pursuits besides. He was the owner of a boat, and
when only ten years old, John W. went with his father on the canal; at
sixteen he had charge of a boat and managed it, his father transporting
lumber to Albany. In the spring of 1832 the family came to Fulton,
where Timothy became a prominent business man, having large mercantile
and milling interests, besides a considerable tract of land. At the
age of twenty-seven John W. began business for himself, renting from his
father a portion of his mill property. He built boats extensively;
he afterwards went to Tonawanda and continued in this line. While
actively engaged in building and milling, he has also a large farming interest.
He was one of the organizers of the old citizen’s bank, of Fulton, and
for years was one of its directors and principal advisers. He has
also been a director of the Fulton Savings Bank since its organization.
On March 3, 1847, Mr. Pratt married Harriet E. Slauson of Lysander, Onondaga
county, and to them these children were born: Charles, deceased;
Frederick, deceased; James T., of Fulton; and George L., of Buffalo, N.
Y.
Doolittle, Benjamin, was born
in Madison county, December 29, 1825, a son of Francis W., who died in
that county aged thirty-seven, and of Olive Lee, his wife who died aged
seventy-eight. The grandfather, Joel Doolittle, was born in New England
and died in Onondaga county aged sixty. His father was a soldier
(major) in the Revolutionary war. Benjamin Doolittle came to Oswego
at the age of twenty-one, and engaged in the general commission business
with his uncle, with whom he next took an interest in a retail store.
He afterwards began the manufacture of barrels, and later was in the hardware
business. He then bought the Empire Mills, which he still conducts.
He is a Mason, an Odd Fellow, and a member of the Episcopal Church.
He has served as president of the Board of Education, as member of the
Normal School Board, as alderman, mayor, etc., and has been police commissioner
for twenty-four years. He was elected assemblyman in 1868, and then
State senator. Mr. Doolittle married Susan Hitchcock, of Madison
county, in 1849, and she died February 8, 1852. September 20 of that
year he married Laura J. Mayer, of Madison county, adopted daughter of
Hon. George B. Rowe, and by her he had these children: Catharine
A., born July 20, 1853; George L., born February 15, 1856; Fanny L., born
April 1, 1858 (died in infancy). Mrs. Laura Doolittle died May 14,
1858, and March 23, 1859, he married Roxy, daughter of Harry Wilcox of
Onondaga county, and their children are: Henry W., born August 11,
1860; Laura J., born September 10, 1861; Lizzie W., born October 14, 1864;
Annie H., born August 21, 1866; Sylvester B., born December 26, 1867, and
Florence M., born July 5, 1870. Of his children, Catharine, Fanny,
Henry and Sylvester are deceased. Sylvester Doolittle, an uncle of
our subject, was born in Whitestown, Oneida county, January 11, 1800, and
died October 11, 1881. He built and commanded the first loaded canal
boat that ever reached Albany from Rochester. He was also the discoverer
of the Deep Rock Spring, whose water has a world-wide reputation, and he
built the Doolittle House over this spring. Mr. Doolittle was also
the first man to introduce screw propellors on the great lakes, and the
contract between him and Ericsson is still in existence, authorizing him
to build and operate five vessels.
p. 115
Hastings, C. Wesley, son of
C. D. G. Hastings, a carpenter and cabinet maker of Middlebury, Schoharie
county, was born at that place in 1826. His mother was Lavina Conklin.
The children were Asenath M., Byron W., Harriet L., Lucinda J., Katherine
E., Charles Wesley, Augusta A., and Lester. At eighteen years of
age Charles came to Fulton, first working at his trade, that of a carpenter,
and then engaged in various business ventures in the West, being five years
in the hardware trade at Owassa City, Mich., also connected for a time
with a furniture house, and was member of the common council several years.
He returned to Fulton in 1877. In 1854 he married Adelia Jones, who
died in 1870, leaving five children, George, Ella, Charles, Henry, and
Helen. His present wife was Edna Allen, of Oswego.
Cole, Harrison H., a native
of Sandy Creek, born October 8, 1840, is a son of Joseph and Fannie (Nobles)
Cole, natives of Hebron, Washington county, who came to Adams, Jefferson
county, in 1818; bringing his parents, Benjamin and Mary Cole, with him.
Joseph purchased a farm and his parents resided with him until a few years
before his death, when they went back to their old home in Washington county,
where they died. In 1846 Mr. Cole came to Sandy Creek and bought
land. He made several moves in the town, owning different farms.
The mother of subject died in 1842, and Mr. Cole married Mandy Noble, sister
of his first wife. Mr. Cole died in 1870, and his second wife in
1889. H. H. Cole was reared on the farm and has mainly followed farming.
He purchased the farm of ninety acres, where he now resides in Sandy Creek
in 1869. He carries on general farming and dairying, and keeps from
thirty to forty stand of bees. In 1868 he married Arabella, daughter
of James and Mariah Wilds of Sandy Creek. Mr. Cole enlisted in September,
1862, in the 147th N. Y. Vols., and served till the close of the war.
He was leader of the 3d Brigade Band, 3d Division, Sixth Corps. They
were at Gettysburg, where several of his band were killed, at Fredericksburg,
all through the Wilderness, and many others. A brother, L. J., was
also engaged in the war three and one-half years, and was captain of Co.
G, 24th N. Y. Cavalry. Subject has been town collector sixteen years
in succession. He and wife attend and support the Congregational
church. He is a member of Post Barney No. 217 G. A. R.
p. 116
Brown, Frank L., was born
in Oswego June 11, 1860, a grandson of Reuben, of Massachusetts, who was
killed while building a house in Canada, at the age of fifty-seven.
The father of Frank L., Loyal R., was born in Cornwall, Canada, and died
in this town aged eighty. He married Hannah Toomey, born in Cohoes,
N. Y., now living, aged fifty-eight years. Frank L. was educated
in this town, and first learned shoemaking. He worked at his trade
in the store he now occupies, beginning as errand boy, and working up until
he became proprietor in 1889. He handles a general line of everything
pertaining to footwear, carrying a fine stock, and catering to the best
city trade. He is sole agent for the Bannister Co. shoes, as well
as the E. C. Burt & Co. shoes. He is a member of the I. O. O.
F. lodge, encampment and canton. He is a member of the drill corps
of Canton Oswego, which won the first prize in the competitive drill of
cantons at the World’s Fair, Chicago. August 20, 1889, he married
Alice, daughter of Thomas and Samantha (Hall) Newell, of Collingwood, Onondaga
county, and they have these children: Leon N., born June 2, 1890,
and Clara Lovina, born August 21, 1892. He was one of the founders
of the Y. M. C. A. of this town, and has been a director and treasurer
since its organization. He also served five years in the N. Y. State
National Guards.
Bacon, Francis Eugene, was
born in Fulton, August 12, 1851, and was the son of Dr. Charles G. and
Mary (Whitaker) Bacon. Our subject was educated in the Fulton schools
and at Falley Seminary. At the early age of fifteen he formed the
determination to enter the mercantile life. He worked for R. J. Jones
for a while, then he taught school for one winter. Later he was employed
in Worden & Co.’s dry goods store, and in 1872 he formed a partnership
with B. J. Dyer, under the firm name of B. J. Dyer & Co. After
some years, Mr. Bacon bought out Worden & Co. and established the firm
of F. E. Bacon & Co., still retaining his interest in the firm of B.
J. Dyer & Co. He continued in active and successful mercantile
life until about 1890, when he became associated with H. E. Nichols in
the tanning business, now one of Oswego county’s staple industries.
In 1890 he became president of the Fulton Machine Co., and is vice-president
of the First National Bank. He has been a member of the Board of
Education, also its president, resigning in 1893. He is an active
member of the M. E. Church and for some years has been superintendent of
the Sunday school. September 22, 1872, he married Gertrude Andrews.
Six children have been born to them, five of whom are still living.
Brooks, James H., was born
in Bristol, England, August 18, 1860, and came to America in 1871.
His father, William Brooks, dying while James was an infant, he was thrown
upon his own resources at a tender age, and the honoured place among men
that he now occupies is due to his own labor and genius. His first
independent business venture was in the insurance line at Rochester, where
he remained six years, becoming a citizen of Fulton in 1889. At that
time he established a first class grocery at First and Broadway, where
he is now located. His wife was Ida A. Marckland of Picton, Ont.,
whom he married October 29, 1884. Their children are Charles H.,
Ida A. and James W. Both Mr. and Mrs. Brooks are members of the Episcopal
Church, and Mr. Brooks is a member of Neahtawanta Lodge No. 245, I. O.
O. F., also of Fulton Encampment No. 120, and Canton Bentley No. 35 of
the Partiarchs Militant.
p. 117
Near, Edward W. – His grandfather
was an early settler of Montgomery county; he had a family of three children,
two sons and one daughter, Betsey, Jacob and John, the latter the father
of Edward W., who married Betsey Thompson and moved to Oneida county, where
were born to them twelve children. Edward W., the tenth child, was
born September 2, 1835. He lived in the western part of Oneida county
until he was fifteen, when he came to Sandy Creek, Oswego county, where
he learned the blacksmith’s trade. In 1858 he married Harriet A.
Near, daughter of John Near of the town of Franklin, Butler county, Pa.
Harriet was born January 29, 1836, and lived in Franklin until she was
fourteen. She then came to Sandy Creek where she lived until 1858,
when she married Edward W. They came to Orwell in 1860, where he
ran a shop until 1864. During this time he entered the service in
the Black Horse Cavalry, returning in 1862. In 1864 he bought a farm
of 210 acres, where he now lives. Of their family of six children,
three are living: Ella A., born June 2, 1859, married Frank P. Marsh,
March 2, 1870, who died February 6, 1888; there was one child by this marriage,
Lula B. Ella married second George E. Stowell, and they have one
son, Edgar Lee. Clarence A., born March 5, 1861, died October 9,
1869. Johnny C., born November 5, 1866, died August 4, 1869.
Lula B., born December 14, 1870, married Maurice J. Wyman November 16,
1887; there were three children by this marriage, Mabel O., Maurice Earl,
Dayton H. Etta E., born July 5, 1873, married Charles B. Upton June
6, 1894. Charlie B., born April 11, 1875, died October 7, 1877.
Mr. Near has served as justice of the peace. His family belong to
the M. E. Church.
Peets. – Mrs. Elizabeth Deere
Peets was born in Wales in 1814, daughter of William and Elizabeth Deere.
In 1830, her father being deceased, she came to America with two brothers,
who became architects and builders in New York city. In 1834 she
married Mr. Burritt Peets, who was born in Connecticut, and three years
later they removed from New York to Fulton. Mr. Peets was a practical
and energetic builder, and was in most cases his own architect. Churches,
schools, residences and business blocks of Fulton stand to-day as monuments
to his skill and enterprise. He was a man of strict integrity, and
of a retiring and cultivated taste, never seeking notoriety, but has been
on the Board of Trustees of the village. Both himself and wife were
members of the Universalist church; for a number of years he held the office
of trustee and other offices of the church and society. Mrs. Peets,
who survives her husband, is yet devoted to that faith. In 1845 Mrs.
Peets went to Europe and spent the summer with her mother, brother and
sister in Wales. Mr. Peets died in 1874. Florence, their only
child, died in 1861 when sixteen years of age.
Sage, John L., is a son of
Hon. Chauncey S. Sage, and was born in Verona, Oneida county, September
28, 1848. Chauncey S. Sage was also born there September 5, 1816,
and came to Williamstown in 1850. He purchased the Rensselaer Burdick
farm of 100 acres, lying in the west part of the village and south of the
railroad, from which he sold a number of building lots. About 1868
he removed to the railroad station, where he erected that year the Sage
House, a large three-story frame hotel, which he always leased, first to
G. C. Potter and subsequently others. The same year he built the
present residence of his son, and erected and opened a store on the opposite
side of the street. He engaged in merchandising, lumbering, etc.,
and for several years before his death conducted business under the firm
name of C. S. Sage & Son. During his entire residence here Mr.
Sage was one of the leading men of the town. He was prominently and
actively identified with every public improvement, with social, charitable
and business affairs, and with politics. He served as supervisor
in 1857, 1858, 1860 and 1862, and represented his district as a Republican
in the Assembly of 1857, of 1858, of 1871, and of 1872. He also held
other local positions of trust, being postmaster about twenty-one years,
and discharged the duties of each office with fidelity and strict integrity.
He was also assistant assessor of U.S. internal revenue five years.
He married, first, Mary E. Cummings, in 1840, who died in 1842, leaving
one son, Hiram L., now of Beloit, Wis. His second wife was Lucy Lee,
whom he married in 1844, and who survives him, residing with her son, John
L. Their children were Mary E. (Mrs. N. H. Woodman), of Brooklyn;
Lucy E. (Mrs. D. E. Cox), deceased; John L.; and Cora E. (Mrs. A. B. Powell),
of Camden, N. Y. Mr. Sage died November 23, 1890. John L. Sage
has also served his town in various public capacities and succeeded his
father in business in Williamstown village. He was supervisor from
1878 to 1882 inclusive. January 26, 1876, he married Mary E., daughter
of Dr. W. N. Lundy, of Roscoe, Ill. They have two sons, Chauncey
S. and Lundy E.
p. 118
Boomer, John V., late of Fulton,
was born at Belleville, Jefferson county, May 22, 1829. He came to
Fulton when a boy and began business life as a clerk for Palmer Kenyon,
and was for years in the dry goods store of R. T. Jones. Securing
a situation in the engineer’s office under Maurice Kimball, civil engineer,
he became an invaluable assistant in the village surveys, and in the enlargement
of the canal and construction of locks. He was associated with this
work for a period of fourteen years, and afterward purchased the wholesale
liquor business of E. H. Lewis on Oneida street. In 1854 he married
Ellen J., daughter of Alfred Sabin of Fulton, by whom he had four children:
Walter J., born in 1857; Maude, born in 1868, now the wife of D. C. Highwriter,
M. D.; Blanche, wife of Albert J. Aubrey, born in 1870; and Hattie born
in 1878. Walter Boomer now conducts the business. His wife
was Nellie, daughter of John Harrison of Fulton. John V. Boomer was
a man of great force of character and benevolence, and his decease was
felt as a personal loss by a wide circle of friends. He was a Royal
Arch Mason.
Broadwell, Julia A., of Oswego
Falls, born at Marcellus April 24, 1816, is the daughter of Asa Phillips.
He might be termed the founder of the village and was during life a liberal
patron of its best interests, in fact “Phillipsville” was the original
designation of the village. His ancestry was English, and he was
born in Connecticut in 1794. Thirty years later when he purchased
and began utilizing the water power here, there was but one log house standing
and dense forests covered the adjacent locality, furnishing material for
various saw mills operated by Mr. Phillips. The first school house
here was built by him, and the first teacher was employed at his personal
expense. He died in 1865 aged seventy-two years; his wife, Polly
Barnes, having died a few days previous. Julia A. Phillips was liberally
educated in the academies of Geneva and Schenectady, and in 1884 married
C. L. Whiting, who died four years later, leaving one daughter, Frances,
now deceased. In 1858 Julia married the late Henry Broadwell.
He was a contractor and builder, doing a large business in Fulton and vicinity.
p. 119
Brown, John, was born in 1830,
is one of a family of ten children and a brother of A. C. Brown of Pulaski.
Their father, James Brown, was born in Rhode Island in 1788, came to Oswego
county in 1809, and located in Richland, where he died in 1859. He
was at Sackett’s Harbor in the war of 1812. His wife was Lydia Colegrove,
who died in 1853. John Brown married in 1851 Harriet E. Russell,
a native of Herkimer county. They resided three years in Minnesota
and five years in California, and returned to Oswego county in 1864, lived
in Richland two years and came to Mexico in 1866. He was a farmer
and stock dealer. His children are C. Courtland, born in Oswego county
in 1852, now an attorney at Denver, Col.; Levitt C., a stock dealer of
Jackson county, Ia., was born in Steele county, Minn., in 1856; John C.,
of Platt City, Kan., was born in California in 1862; and Capitola, born
in 1871 in Mexico.
Balcom. – This is a name that
has been familiar in the southern part of the town of Redfield almost since
its earliest settlement. Mark Balcom came from England about 1750.
He had a son, Samuel, who was one of the first settlers of this town, coming
here from Lanesboro, Mass., in 1816. His wife was Caroline Powell
of Pittsfield, who was of Dutch descent. They raised thirteen children.
Samuel’s children were: George E., born in 1819; Samuel second, born
in 1824; and Charles, a farmer and preacher, born in 1829. Samuel
second died in 1885. The other two and Nelson, another brother, are
living in the town, and Mark is in Oxford. Orin went to Ohio and
died in 1888; Samuel first died in South Redfield in 1892; George F. married
first Betsey Jeffries and second Ursula Mix of Camden. He raised
a family of ten children. Dennis lives in Florence; Lydia, Mrs. Harmon,
in Rutenburg; Samuel in Lewis county; Henry in Waterville; Chester in Illinois;
Betsey, Franklin, Almira, Martha and Ada. He is one of the oldest
citizens who were raised here, and is a member of the Baptist church.
Samuel Balcom second married first Lydia Grant, by whom he had five children;
and second Sarah Foster of Dexter. There were three sons and three
daughters of this marriage. Mr. Balcom had a farm on the State road,
on which his widow is now living. Franklin Balcom, fifth son of George,
was born in Redfield in 1857, and has always lived here. He is a
farmer and has seventy-eight acres of fine land. He married first
Alice Loomis of this town, who died leaving one son, Wilbur. There
were two other children who died in infancy. Mr. Balcom married second
Esther A. Duggleby of Utica, foster daughter of Dr. James G. Hunt.
Henry D. Balcom is a son of Samuel second by his first wife, Lydia Grant.
He owns a farm of 125 acres. He married Clara I. Brower, of Lee,
sister of E. J. Brower. They have two sons: Ray, born in 1885
and Leon, born in 1888. He conducts a dairy farm, and is treasurer
of the Balcom Cheese Factory. The family attend and support the Free
Will Baptist Church.
Coble, John Ephraim, was born
December 27, 1832, in Strausburg, Germany, son of John and Matilda (Schneider)
Coble of the same place. He was the youngest of six children, Constantine,
Julia, Catherine, George and Leo, and was an orphan from his birth.
He was cared for by strangers until seven years of age, when he was taken
by a Mr. Schuler, with whom he lived until thirteen years of age, when
he was bound out by his uncle as a cabin boy on a ship, on which he sailed
six years. He then returned home and married his benefactor’s daughter,
Catherine Schuler. Three months later he shipped as a sailor to New
York, thence to Syracuse, where he obtained employment in the plaster business
and remained four years. From 1852 to 1862 he was engaged in various
occupations. In 1862 he enlisted and served until the close of the
war, participating in many engagements and being wounded four times.
He was with Sherman on his march, and during the battle of New Hope Church
received a severe wound from a shell and was left for dead on the field.
He crawled three miles during the night and reached the Union line.
Six weeks later he was with his regiment again and during the battle at
Chancellorsville was taken prisoner and confined in Libby prison twenty-seven
days, when he and a comrade made their escape and reached their home in
Brewerton. After ten days he returned to his regiment. Since
the war he has devoted his time to boating and farming. His children
are Oscar, John, Mrs. Julia Quereau, Charles A., Wallace and Edward.
His wife died in 1872, and in October of the same year he married Catherine
Jacot, a native of Oswego county. He is a member of the Masonic order,
and of the Isaac Waterbury Post G. A. R.
p. 120
Courbat, Joseph A., was born
in Switzerland county, France, in May, 1842, son of Anthony and Margaret
Courbat of the same place, who came to West Monroe, Oswego county, in 1845
and settled on a farm. Their children were Elexes, Joseph, John M.,
and Mrs. Mary Piquett of Hastings. He died in 1890, and his wife
lives with her daughter, Mrs. Piquett. Subject began life as a farmer
when twenty-one, and later dealt in agricultural implements. In 1886
he moved to Mallory, where he erected a saw, grist and planing mill.
He and his sons also conduct a machine and blacksmith shop. He is
the largest manufacturer and dealer in all kinds of lumber in this section
of the county, deals extensively in portable saw mills, engines and flour
roller mills and machinery of all kinds, and is the only contractor and
builder in this part of the county, and deals in all kinds of building
materials. In 1862 he married Mary Ann, daughter of Peter Piquett
of Cicero, and they have four children, Charles, George, Frank and Octavia.
He has a large farm in West Monroe, which his son Charles conducts.
He also carries a large line of second-hand and new threshers and engines
in hand and deals in doors, blinds, sash and glass.
Hazzard, Noble, son of Cyrus
and Mahala Hazzard, was born December 5, 1828. The father was from
New Hampshire and the mother from Massachusetts. The father came
to Oneida county in 1824. The great-grandfather of Noble Hazzard
was a seafaring man, and his grandfather at the age of fourteen entered
the Revolutionary war, serving at Bunker Hill. He settled at Springfield,
N. H., at which place he acquired a large amount of land. Noble Hazzard
has been a carpenter and builder for many years. He at one time kept
a hardware store at Sand Bank. For the last five years he has run
a saw and planing mill and wagon and blacksmith shop combined. He
built the tannery now run by A. & E. Lane. In 1854 he married
Caroline E. Edgar, of Albion. They have two daughters, both married.
One is Mrs. Levi Gleason, the other Mrs. Charles D. Palmer. Mr. Hazzard
has filled the offices of justice of the peace, postmaster, and was president
of the village for six years.
p. 121
Huntington, E. L., the present
supervisor of Mexico, was born in Mexico in 1839, reared at the same place
and finished his studies at the Mexico Military Academy in 1856.
He spent two years in Wisconsin, and enlisted in 1861 in Co. B, 24th N.
Y. Infy., served two years and three months and re-enlisted in 1863 as
lieutenant in Battery L, 9th N. Y. Artillery, being mustered out two years
later as captain. Since the close of the war he has devoted most
of his time to the drug trade in Mexico, and in 1881 was elected sheriff
of the county, serving three years. In 1868 he married Florence A.
Allen, and they have two children: Edith L., now Mrs. Clinton Avery
of Mexico, and Lulu Adelle. His wife died in 1886, and he married
Miss Mary A. Tudo. Mr. Huntington’s parents, Edwin and Lucy A. (Gregory)
Huntington, were natives of Otsego and Oneida counties.
Russo, Joseph A., was born
in Palermo, Sicily, Italy, April 28, 1858, and came to this country in
1867. He first settled in New York, then in 1874 came to Oswego.
While in New York he learned the harness trade, at which he worked three
years, then took a course in stenography. In 1874 his father opened
a tonsorial parlor in the Doolittle House, at which our subject assisted
till he had acquired the requisite knowledge of the business. After
graduating in stenography Joseph A. filled the position of stenographer
in a law office for about a year, then returned to Oswego and formed a
partnership with his father, who died in 1891, and the son bought the entire
business, which he now conducts, the place being one of the finest in northern
New York. They cater largely to ladies and children in their business.
The rooms are situated on the ground floor of the Doolittle House, which
is very centrally located. The sister of our subject, Sara, is a
musical composer, and a teacher of the organ, piano, and of the voice,
standing at the head of her profession in Oswego. Antonino Russo,
father of Joseph A., was also born in Sicily, was educated by private tutor,
and learned the barber’s trade, which in that country comprises much more
than the mere mechanical part of the work. He graduated and entered
the employ of Paulo Briuccia, a wealthy wholesale and retail merchant of
Sicily, and was promoted until he became confidential clerk. In 1866
he determined to come to America, and his employer gave him introductory
letters to prominent Italians in this country, as well as the Italian consul,
and offered to keep his position open for him one year, in case of his
desire to return. In less than a year, however, he sent for his family.
Austin, Zadoc B., was born
in the town of Hammond, St. Lawrence county, September 4, 1837, son of
Charles G. and Pamelia A. Austin. His home was in town of Hammond
until the late war, when he enlisted with Co. F, 10th N. Y. Heavy Artillery,
and endured for three years all the perils and privations of a soldier’s
life. In 1865 he came to Fulton, and in 1868, he began farming in
Volney, at which he is still engaged. February 16, 1868, he married
Constance A., daughter of Seth C. and Jane A. Graham, who has borne him
five children, Ulysses S., Clara, Warren S., Melvin S., and Maud M.
In the councils of the G. A. R. and of the order of Patrons of Husbandry,
Mr. Austin takes a leading part. Of the latter order he has been
secretary for eight years and a director of its co-operative fire insurance.
p. 122
Bishop, John, was born near
Bath, Eng., 1835, and when seven or eight years old came to Dutchess county,
and about two years later to Pulaski, Oswego county. His father,
Joseph, was a weaver in Pulaski, and died on a farm in Palermo in 1873.
In 1870 Mr. Bishop married Maryza, daughter of Robert Bell, and located
on his present farm of 130 acres. His wife owns the Bell homestead.
They have one child, R. Jay.
Pierce, Mrs. Annis R. (Young),
was born in Hastings in 1842, daughter of Godfrey Young, a native of Hastings,
born in 1820, whose father was John Young, a native of Germany. His
wife was Mary Klock, and their children were John and Godfrey. The
latter was a farmer and lived in Hastings until 1856, when he was accidentally
killed by the limb of a tree. His wife was Mary Yorton, and their
children were Annis R., Garrett, Matilda, Elizabeth and Mary Jane.
Mrs. Pierce cared for herself from the age of fourteen until twenty-eight,
when she married Emery Pierce, a native of Montgomery county, son of Joseph
Pierce of Massachusetts, who was a pioneer of Hastings. Mr. Pierce
received a good education, and in early life was devoted to the mercantile
business in Central Square. Later he moved to Syracuse where
for fourteen years he was traveling salesman and thirteen years conducted
a hotel. In 1884 he returned to Central Square and purchased what
is now the Johnson House, which he conducted until his death in 1887.
He was a member of the Masonic order and Royal Arcanum. Since his
death Mrs. Pierce has resided on her farm. Her children are Annis
C., Jennie, Ella W., Lizzie and Emma, two of whom are teachers. Mrs.
Pierce is a member of the Central Square Grange.
Gilson, Ward, was born in
New Haven in 1867, and is the only child of Cordon C. and Abby Y. Gilson.
His parents died in 1885 and 1893, aged fifty-six and sixty-six respectively.
He married in 1887, Lillie Coon, daughter of M. S. Coon, and a native of
New Haven. Mr. Gilson owns and resides on his father’s home place
of 150 acres.
Dimon, Justin, was born April
12, 1834, in Hastings, son of John and Polly M. Dimon. John Dimon
was one of the early settlers of Hastings, where he lived seventy years
and died December 15, 1893, aged eighty-nine years. Subject was educated
in Hastings, and then went to work on his father’s farm. From Hastings
he moved to Parish in 1859, where he purchased the farm on which he now
resides. This is a fine farm of over 100 acres under splendid cultivation.
He married Ursula L. Avery, daughter of Richard F. Avery of Hastings, and
has four daughters, Etta, Ida, Jenny and Mary.
Hill, A. K. was born in Scriba
April 15, 1832, and from 1847 to 1854 worked on the State scow in the summer
and attended school during the winter, and then followed farming until
1866, when he was appointed deputy sheriff, which office he filled four
years. He then entered the Oswego police force and served twenty
years, when he returned to farming. He has been on his present farm
four years, and is one of the assessors of the town. In 1854 Mr.
Hill married Sarah Crouch, and they have two children, Florence L., and
Ada M., now Mrs. Charles Osborne. Mr. Hill’s father was Asa K. Hill,
and his mother Maria (Briggs) Hill. His grandfather was Ferris Hill,
and his grandmother Polly Hill.
Morton, G. W. is manager of
the Nettleton shoe stores at Fulton. Mr. Morton took control of this
important business in 1876 and has proven a popular and efficient manager.
Born in Volney in 1849, his life has been spent in that place except three
years, during which he was engaged in mercantile business in Cincinnati,
O. He was for a time associated with the late C. S. Eggleston in
the book-store on First street. Of the Fulton branch of the Empire
Building and Loan Association he has been secretary and treasurer since
its organization. In 1879 he married Miss Kate L. Spencer of Fulton.
They have one son, Albert Irving Morton, now fifteen years old.
p. 123
Sperbeck, Harlow, postmaster
at South Granby, was born in Lysander January 1, 1859, son of Andrew D.
Sperbeck, who was postmaster here at the time of his death in 1877.
Harlow, educated at Baldwinsville Academy, entered the employ of the D.
L. & W. R. R. Co. in 1884, having spent six months in the mail service
on the route between Syracuse and New York. He is now station agent
and telegrapher at South Granby, and in 1881 established a trade in groceries
and drugs at the same location, beside dealing largely in coal and fertilizers.
Of an unbounded popularity, his appointment as postmaster in 1888 gave
general satisfaction. He married in 1886 Lizzie Herriman of Syracuse,
and they have four children, Bessie, born November 30, 1887; Edna, born
May 7, 1889; Ethel, born June 13, 1891; and Earl, born July 3, 1893.
Mr. Sperbeck’s mother, Hannah Nettleton of Pompey, now seventy-one years
of age, shares his home.
Whitaker, E. C., son of the
late James and Lucretia Whitaker, was born in 1840. James Whitaker
was an early settler here, coming from New Hampshire. He was for
many years a merchant in Fulton, in dry goods and similar lines.
He died in 1876 and his wife in 1888, leaving ten children, eight of whom
are living. E. C. was educated at Falley Seminary, and is now engaged
in farming near the village. He married first Mary J. Gillespie,
who died soon after. He married second M. Alice, a daughter of the
late John C. Gillespie. They have two children, Earl and Mabel.
Waterbury Bros. – David was
born in Rensselaer county in 1836 and Philip in Hastings in 1846, sons
of John A. Waterbury, a native of Rensselaer county, whose father was David
Waterbury, a farmer. John A. was a shoemaker by trade, and came to
Hastings in 1830. His wife was Harriet Haughton, and their children
were Isaac H., Cyrus, David, Sophia, Edgar, Palmyra, Philip and Mary.
In 1861 Isaac, Edgar and David enlisted in Co. C, 101st Regiment N. Y.
Vols.; Isaac and Edgar died in the army. The Isaac Waterbury G. A.
R. Post of Central Square was named in their honor. After fifteen
months David was discharged on account of disabilities. In 1864 he
again enlisted in Co. H, 184th Regiment, and served until the close of
the war, since which time he has been interested with his brother Philip
on the farm. At the age of seventeen Philip enlisted in 1863 in Co.
A, 24th N. Y. Cavalry, participated in many of the principal battles, and
served until the close of the war. Since then he followed blacksmithing
several years, when he returned to farming. In 1873 he married Cerelia
M., daughter of Lyman Kenyon, and their children are Edgar, born in 1877,
and Tillie E., born in 1880. The brothers, David and Philip, are
members of the G. A. R., Isaac Waterbury Post No. 418 of Central Square.
Mrs. Cerelia M. Waterbury is a member of the Women’s Relief Corps No. 55
of Central Square. Philip served as assessor two terms and collector
one term.
Sweeney, William, was born
in Ireland, January 17, 1852, a son of James and Ann (Somerville) Sweeney,
the mother being now deceased. William was educated in Oswego, where
he came at the age of six. He engaged on the railroad for a year,
was promoted brakeman, which position he filled two years, then served
as baggage-man eight years. He was next made conductor on a coal
train, after which he was promoted passenger conductor between Oswego and
Binghamton. He was then given charge of a train running between Detroit,
Mich., and Jackson. Returning to Oswego he engaged with the R. W.
& O. R. R., but resigned soon after, and in 1882 became a member of
the firm of Scully & Sweeney, 206 West First street, which still continues.
Mr. Sweeney is a member of the Elks. He married in 1894 Catherine
McGrath, of this town.
p. 124
More, M., was born in Albion
February 23, 1838, son of James and Mercy C. More. The father of
James More was one of the pioneers of the State. He was educated
in Parish, came here when twelve years of age, worked at clearing land
and lumbering, was associated with his brother and did a large business
in lumber and hemlock bark for tanning purposes. He conducted this
business till the bark was used up in this section of the country, then
went to Pennsylvania and Michigan, and returned about 1879 to Parish and
bought the farm on which he has since resided. His farm is one of
the most productive in the town. He married Gratia C. Watkins, and
has two children, James L., and Warren D. James L. is a physician
practicing in Holmesville, Oswego county, and Warren D. is now in his second
year in the Presbyterian ministry in Elmira.
Abbot, W. M., was born in
Schoharie county in 1834, moved to Onondaga county, and in 1871 located
on his present place near Phoenix. In 1865 he married Helen C. Soule,
a native of Onondaga county, and they have four children, Chancey M., Jackson
C., Henry and Mable F. He formerly dealt largely in tobacco, and
makes a specialty of raising it in connection with general farming; and
is also quite a horse breeder. The parents, Henry and Mary A., were
natives of Schoharie county, and died in Onondaga county.
Trimble, G.D., was born June
13, 1860. His father, David H., has been a prominent man in Palermo,
and is at present located there in a general mercantile business.
Our subject is a man of push and energy, having in the towns of Palermo,
Volney and Hannibal cheese factories, also a cheese box manufactory in
Palermo. He has earned a reputation as judge of the different grades
of milk, and certainly deserves the credit due a young man for the establishment
of such a business. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, Harman
Lodge No. 144 of Fulton, and is at present town clerk.
Boyd, David, was born at Rochester,
N. Y., in 1832 and followed the lake many years, being captain of different
vessels. In 1853 he moved to Clayton, residing there till 1871, when
he moved to Mexico. He was proprietor of the old Empire Hotel a short
time, then kept a hotel in Parish two years. He returned to Mexico
and kept the Mexico Hotel two years, and in 1879 purchased the Empire House
since known as the Boyd House, which he still owns and keeps. In
1851 he married Mary Ann Johnson of Rochester, and has two sons, John,
of Chicago, and Napoleon David, of Mexico.
Baker, R. H., who is engaged
in buying and shipping dairy products, resides at Mexico and was born in
Oneida county in 1840. He was a cheese manufacturer many years, and
also taught school fourteen years. His father, James Baker, died
in 1884, and his mother, Sarah (Weber) Baker, was a native of England and
died in 1883. Mr. Baker married in 1871 Alice I. Parmelee, and has
two children, Jennie and Hugh.
p. 125
Loomis, Martin, was born in
Albion, July 20, 1847, a son of Martin Loomis, who was born in Oswego county.
The father was a farmer and run a saw mill. He married Phoebe Safford,
and they had eight children. Subject is now forty-seven years of
age and through life has been a farmer. He enlisted in the 1st N.
Y. Light Artillery, Battery H, February 24, 1864, and served till the close
of the war. He was in twelve battles: Hatcher’s Run, Five Forks,
Petersburg, Peeble’s Farm, Gravelly Run, and others. He is a member
of Bentley Post No. 265 of Sand Bank. He married in 1869 Mary Black,
and their children are Walter L., Rose O. and Ethel May. Our subject
at one time was postmaster.
Ross, William, a prominent
mason and builder of Fulton, was born April 2, 1846, at York Mills, Oneida
county. His father, James Ross, was at that time an operator in a
cotton mill. Most of his life, however, was passed in the city of
Oswego, where he died in 1872, aged fifty-two years. He was born
in Scotland, and came to America in 1834. His wife was Charlotte
Thomson. Of their seven children William is the eldest son, and after
acquiring a good business education in Oswego, he entered the mills at
that city as a spinner, where he remained fourteen years. Subsequently
he learned the trade of mason, and as a contractor in that line, has traveled
widely in the larger cities of Canada and the Eastern States. Returning
to Oswego in 1882, he came to Fulton a year later, where he takes a leading
part in social and business circles, also in the I. O. O. F. His
wife is Emma, daughter of Morgan Dickinson, of New Haven.
Hoose, Jedediah, is a native
of Parish, Oswego county, born in 1839. From 1864 to 1866 he was
engaged in the introduction of school text books, and move to Mexico in
1865. He was engaged in the grocery and crockery trade from 1867
to 1874, and has been handling dairy products from 1874 and still continues
the business. Mr. Hoose has been quite successful in business.
Harrington, Frank, was born
in Ellisburg, Jefferson county, March 27, 1844, of New England ancestry.
His grandfather, Calvin, was drowned in Big Sandy Creek. His father,
Delos H., was born in Ellisburg June 27, 1813. He married Roxanna
Howard, and their children were Jerome, born in 1837; Cordelia, born in
1840; Henry, born in 1842, and subject, Frank. The latter was educated
at Ellisburg and at the outbreak of the war enlisted in the 10th N. Y.
Heavy Artillery, serving three years in the Army of the Potomac.
He was wounded in front of Petersburg, and was honorably discharged in
1865, when he returned home. He married, June 28, 1866, Mary McDowell,
daughter of John and Elmira McDowell, of Sackett’s Harbor, and their children
are Frederick J., born May 17, 1867, who is a general speculator and lives
at Port Ontario. He married December 25, 1890, Nellie Hemans.
Our subject moved from Jefferson county in 1887, coming to Richland, where
he settled on the Twitchell farm, which he still owns.
Gibbs, George W., was born
in 1861 in Schroeppel, son of Benjamin F. and Anna (Moyer) Gibbs, residents
of Schroeppel. Mr. Gibbs learned stenography and from 1979 was for
eleven years private secretary of C. J. Hamlin, Buffalo’s great stock man.
In 1890 he established the Brookdale farm, one mile north of Pennellville,
making a specialty of growing trotting and coach horses and Holstein cattle.
Among the several well known and finely bred horses at present on the farm
may be mentioned La Grange 5,689, and Autocrat, sons of Mambrino King;
Willful, by Playboy, 2.18 ¼ ; Wayward, by Palo Alto Chimes, 2.17
¼; St. Blaze 20,736, by Mambrino King; Misty, by Mambrino King;
Brookdale Queen, by Chimes 5,348, son of Electioneer, dam by Mambrino King;
Miranda, dam of Hollister, 2.21 ½; W. H. Nichols, 2.23 ½;
Peacock, 2.42, sire of Hartford, 2.30, by Mambrino; Patchen 58, etc.
p. 126
Green, Tobias J., of Mexico,
was born in Hoosick, Rensselaer county, in 1818. He is a graduate
in medicine, and commenced the practice of his profession in Syracuse in
1846. In 1847 he located in Parish, where he resided till 1884, when
he removed to Mexico. In 1864 he married Emily Hayes of Parish, and
they have two children, Roscoe H. and Vesta H. His father, Oliver
Green, died in 1868, aged seventy-three, and his mother, Almira (Moore)
Green, died in 1893, aged ninety-eight. They were both of English
descent. The doctor is seventy-six years of age, and is still engaged
in the practice of his profession.
Foster, C. Frank, of Foster
Bros., manufacturers of butcher knives, cleavers, steels, etc., at Fulton,
was born at Whitby, Ontario, March 24, 1847. His father, J. D. Foster,
came here in 1863. The knife manufacturing plant was built in 1880,
and the Foster Bros. Company organized, with a paid up capital of $40,000,
and employing thirty men. Beside machine knives of all descriptions,
they make several original specialties in the line of butcher’s cutlery,
and all their products are distinguished for peculiar excellence.
Subject’s home is in Oswego Falls. In 1870 he married Elizabeth,
daughter of Thomas Judson, and their children are Judson, Georgietta and
Lotta.
Buckley, James, son of Timothy
and Margaret Buckley, was born in Ireland, April, 1849, and landed in this
country at the age of three weeks. The parents settled near Albany.
The occupation of the father for about twenty years was section boss on
the railroad; he died at the age of fifty-three years. The mother
is now living in Sand Bank at the age of seventy-five years. They
were the parents of four children. James has proved himself an efficient
business man. He was employed for twenty-one years as station agent
at Sand Bank. Later he entered into partnership with Mr. Helm, the
firm being known as Buckley & Helm. They manufacture pine, hemlock
and hard wood and deal in other kinds of lumber. In 1882 Mr. Buckley
married Fanny Mead, of Madison county. They have two children, Timothy
and Fannie. He is supervisor of the town, serving his third term.
Auger, Rev. Joseph Julian,
pastor of St. Louis church, and manager and principal of St. Louis Parochial
School and Academy, also head of the convent of the Sisters of St. Anne,
was born in the Province of Quebec, Canada, October 6, 1838, his family
being famous for the number of priests they have produced. He received
his education in Quebec Seminary and in Laval University, was ordained
September 24, 1864, by the archbishop of Quebec, and was first sent a missionary
to the coast of Labrador, where he remained nearly five years; he then
acted as parish priest of St. John the Evangelist church in Baie des Chaleurs,
canon and parish priest of the Cathedral of Rimouski, and canon and parish
priest of Ste. Anne des Monts, all in Canada. In 1864 he came to
Oswego and assumed charge of the above church, school, etc. During
the ten years of his rectorship of St. Louis church and school both have
prospered greatly.
p. 127
Edick, Alonzo. – His father,
Michael, was born in the town of Columbia, Herkimer county, N. Y., in 1807,
and has been a resident of Fulton for the past thirty years. His
early life was spent on a farm; after leaving the farm he engaged in the
insurance and real estate business. He has always been a Democrat
and has filled many positions of trust in his native county. His
wife was Mary Ann Hayner, still living at the age of eighty-three.
Their only child is Alonzo, who was born in 1834. After completing
his education at Fairfield Academy, Herkimer county, he was clerk in the
post-office at Mohawk, and then in the retail drug business for himself
at Richfield Springs. He spent three years in the service of the
country in the late war, and after the close of the Rebellion removed to
Chicago, and was engaged in different business enterprises; for the past
ten years he has conducted no active business, but remained in Fulton to
care for his aged father and mother.
Cox, John A., a dealer in
flour, feed, coal, cement and all kinds of seeds, was born in Elbridge,
Onondaga county, in 1827, and settled here in 1830 with his father, Gabriel
Cox, a native of New Jersey, who settled in Onondaga county when a small
boy, being a son of William Cox, a native of New Jersey. John A.
Cox married Ann Maria King of Vernon, Oneida county, who died aged thirty-two
years. He afterwards married Emily A. Pearce of this town, and they
have one son, Charles A. He was educated at the Hannibal Graded School
and at the State Normal School at Oswego. Mrs. Emily Pearce Cox died
May 18, 1877, and Mr. Cox married in September 1880, Della M. Lankton of
Jordan. Subject held the office of justice of the peace twelve years,
and assessor three years.
Crofoot, B. S., of Martville,
Cayuga county, was born in that county in 1825, son of Joseph, youngest
of a family of nine, a native of the East, who settled here at an early
day, and died at the age of eighty-six. B. S. Crofoot married Caroline
Kimball, who died in 1851 aged twenty-two, leaving two children, Annie
and John. In 1854 he married second Gertrude Vine, by whom he had
four children, Edgar J., Emma L., Seymour, and George B. Emma L.
died aged eighteen; Seymour died aged two years; Anna married Adelbert
Collins and has one child, Bert; John married Sophia Johnson and has these
children, B.S., Estella, Pearl, Pernie, Anna and Cassie; Edgar J. married
Emma Porter and has one son, Alfred; George B. married Lula Cooper and
has two children, George and Willoughby.
Aubrey, Rev. A. J., was born
at Birmingham, England, in 1855, and is the eldest of three sons of John
and Mary Aubrey, who came to America in 1856. They settled at Meriden,
Conn., the elder Aubrey being a silversmith by trade. Alfred served
at that place an apprenticeship to the Britannia manufacturing trade, and
while so employed fitted himself to enter college. Graduating from
St. Lawrence University in 1880, he was ordained in 1882 to the ministry
of the Universalist Church. His successive pastorates were at Danbury,
Conn., Ludlow, Vt., and Beverly, Mass., after which, in 1890, he came to
Fulton, intending to retire from active ministry, owing to ill health.
But in 1891 he accepted the pastorate of the Fulton Universalist Church.
Mr. Aubrey is a speaker of marked ability. He was appointed postmaster
in Fulton in 1894 and proves a most efficient and popular official.
His wife is Amelia, daughter of Thomas Cousin, of Norwalk, Conn., well
known as a manufacturer of ladies’ shoes. Their children are Edna
L. and Florence C.
p. 128
Parkhurst, James C., was born
in Whitesboro, Oneida county, January 10, 1834, son of Asa and Nancy (Austin)
Parkhurst. The grandfather, Josiah, came from Massachusetts.
The father came from Oneida county in 1845, and settled in the town where
James C. now lives. He was a farmer. In his early days James
C. worked at various trades, such as coopering, sawing, hoop-making, etc.
He enlisted in 1861 in the 1st N. Y. Light Artillery and served nine months.
In 1855 he married Caroline, daughter of Ebenezer Buell, of Albion.
They have no children. He is a member of the G. A. R., E. L. Bentley
Post No. 265, at Sand Bank and has held several offices in connection with
this order.
Ott, Andrew, is a son of Joseph
and Rosalia (Smith) Ott, who came from Germany and settled in Vernon, Mr.
Ott working at his trade of blacksmith. They had seven sons and one
daughter, six of the sons now living. Andrew was reared in Vernon,
and learned the trade of cheese maker in the factory of G. Merry, Verona,
N. Y. In 1883 he made several show cheeses of large size, in the
factory of L. L. Wight, one weighing 5,233 pounds for Gass, Doe & Co.,
of Boston, which was one of the largest made to that date. He also
made five averaging 2,700 pounds each for an English firm for an advertisement.
He spent one year at Forrestville, came to Redfield in 1886 and bought
the Mayflower factory, which has a capacity of 150,000 pounds of cheese
annually. It employs the milk of 650 to 700 cows. The output
is entirely for foreign market. Mr. Ott is assisted by Mr. J. P.
Cooper. He married in 1888 Eva, daughter of Andrew S. Coey.
He was elected in 1891 and 1893 for two terms as town clerk.
Lyons, John, is a native of
County Antrim, Ireland, where he was born in 1827. His parents, David
and Catherine (Smiley) Lyons, were born in Scotland, and went to Ireland
where they were well to do farmers. John, being the eldest son, would
have had the property, but preferred to come to America, which he did in
1846. His wife was Ann King of County Cavan, who came to this country
with a brother and two sisters when Mr. Lyons was living on Long Island
and working in a wholesale store in the city. They came to Redfield,
and twelve years later, nine of which were spent in Washington county,
bought the farm of 400 acres now owned by them. Their children were
Maggie, Mrs. Samuel Stewart living at Redfield Square; Dr. George A., at
New Rochelle, where he has a large practice; Mrs. H. F. Newton, Orwell;
Edward, attorney at Orwell; James S., in the lumber business in New York,
and William, salesman in New York. Mr. Lyon gave his family good
educational advantages. He has twice been elected justice.
The family are all members of the Presbyterian church.
Hart, E. E., senior member
of the firm of Hart & Webb, dealers in coal, wood and hay at Fulton,
was born here April 5, 1854, and has for twenty years been closely identified
with the progressive business interests of the village. His father,
the late Samuel Hart, born in England and by trade a potter, came to America
in 1828, and after a residence of four years in Oswego, removed to Fulton
and with another brother erected suitable buildings and began in 1833 the
manufacture of stoneware. In 1840 he took exclusive control of the
business, and by industry accumulated a substantial property. He
married four times, and was the father of ten children, of whom our subject
is the youngest. In 1878 he retired from active life, handing over
to his sons the stoneware business he had built up. He died in 1891
aged eighty-six years. Elwin E. Hart in 1889 engaged in the coal
trade in copartnership with George C. Webb. He married in 1879 Asenath
Redman of Oswego Falls, and their children are Robert S., Clara M., Addison
E. and Edward R. Hart is a Mason and an Odd Fellow. He has
served on the Board of Health and was village trustee.
p. 129
Wilson, William S., was born
in 1856 in Rutland, Jefferson county. His father, John Wilson, of
Scotch descent, came from Ireland when a young man, stopping in Canada
and working on the St. Lawrence River and the lakes. In 1855 he located
in Watertown, and married Ellen M. Sloan, also a native of Ireland.
They reared three sons, William, John and James, all of whom are living
in Redfield. The family came to this place in 1858 and settled.
Six years later they removed to the village, where the parents now live.
William attended the village school. He learned the wagonmaker’s
trade of F. L. Butterfield, whom he afterward bought out in the spring
of 1876. His business is wagonmaking, repairing, dealing in wagons,
carriages, harnesses and implements. John was born in Redfield and
has always lived here. He married Alice E., daughter of James Petrie,
and they have two sons, Ward, born in 1885, and Edward, born in 1889.
Mr. Wilson is foreman in Burritt’s mill. He had full charge of Tonkin’s
saw mill for nine years before going to his present position. He
was elected collector in 1882 for one term, and two terms as supervisor
in 1892-93.
Stout, Frank J., was born
November 13, 1854, son of Ferdinand and Mary Stout, who emigrated to this
county from Germany when the father was about twenty-four years old.
They settled in Ulster county. The father was in his early days an
engineer, which occupation Frank took up and is now following with A. &
E. Lane, who run a tannery establishment at Sand Bank, Oswego county.
He was with the firm when it was Lane & Pierce; he was a superintendent
of a sole leather tannery in Forest county, Pa., for eight years.
June 20, 1885, he married Julia Dingman, of Orwell, by whom he has three
children.
Southwick, J. A., was born in Wayne
county, February 21, 1827. For thirty-three years he was engaged
in the starch business at Oswego. In 1853 he married Mary E. Norton.
They have one daughter, Mrs. Maria H. Edwards, of Oswego. Mr. Southwick’s
father was John Southwick and his mother Phoebe Libby, both of Vermont.
Tryon, Alonzo, was born in
Sandy Creek May 15, 1817, a son of Levi and Polly (Bartholomew) Tryon,
who came to Sandy Creek about 1800. Our subject was reared on a farm,
educated in the public schools, and followed fishing and farming for many
years. He now owns about 200 acres of land, and follows dairying
and general farming, keeping twenty-eight cows. Mr. Tryon has been
twice married, first, in 1843, to Mary Clark, by whom he has these children;
Ellen (deceased), Charles, Hiram (deceased), William, Emery, and Fred.
Mrs. Tryon died, and he married second in 1865 Mary S., daughter of James
Upton, and they have had two sons: Daniel, born February 2, 1866,
who is engaged in the nursery business in connection with farming; and
Frank, born September 15, 1868, who follows fishing and farming.
The family is of English descent. Mr. Tryon’s grandfather lived and
died in Oneida county.
p. 130
Tillapaugh, James J., was
born in Wisconsin March 18, 1858. He was a son of the late Frederick
S. Tillapaugh, who was born in New York State. His mother was born
in Illinois. His grandfather was a German. James was educated
in Pulaski and Mexico Academies, after which he entered the Medical Department
of the University of the City of New York in 1887-88; he then went to Baltimore,
Md., where he graduated in 1890. He married Jennie L. Rice; they
have three children, Golda, Mary and Zada. James was the oldest of
thirteen children; he left home at the age of fourteen and started out
in this great world to figure for himself; for two long years he worked
for a Mr. Bragdon for his board and clothes; during that time he studied
diligently; many a cold winter’s night he sat up all night and perused
his books; after which he entered the Pulaski and Mexico Academies, and
at this writing he is practicing medicine in Sand Bank, where he has been
for five years.
Tilton, Levi, was born in
Albion February 5, 1838, a son of Alexander Tilton. The grandfather
came from England, and to this county from the east when the county was
a wilderness. He cleared his land and built a log cabin. He
married Betsey Elizabeth Blair of Oswego county. The father died
at the age of sixty-eight years and the mother at the age of ninety-three.
Their children were Louisa, Huldia, who now resides in Parish, and our
subject. The latter spent his life in farming and lumbering, except
while in the late war. He enlisted in the 81st N. Y. Vols., and was
in nine regular engagements – Cold Harbor, Chapin’s Farm and others, and
was discharged October 22, 1864. Subject is a member of Bentley Post
G. A. R., No. 265, and has filled the office of junior vice. He married,
November 13, 1864, Lana C. Adams of Parish, and they have one adopted son,
Clarence.
Monroe, William, was born
in Lewisborough, Westchester county, in 1828, his parents, Eri and Rachel
Monroe, removing to this town in 1842. They first settled on a farm
which is now his home. The father was a carpenter by trade, but his
later years were devoted to farming. Of their five children but two
are now living, and William is the sole representative in Oswego county.
He has served the town as assessor for many years with credit. Mrs.
Monroe’s maiden name was Amelia Frances, daughter of Luther Hannum of Hannibal.
McCahan, Daniel, is the son
of John and Elizabeth Callaghan McCahan, natives of the town of Templastraugh,
County Antrim, Ireland. The father came to New York in 1845, and
from New York to Redfield the same year, and returned to New York the next
year, where he was married and lived for twenty years, and where Daniel
was born May 10, 1856. The family moved to Redfield in 1866 and bought
a farm of 175 acres of Peter Cooper, sr., on what was then known as the
Sturgeon road, which farm is still in the possession of the family.
John McCahan died October 25, 1880. There were six children, of whom
three are living – Rose and Samuel on the old farm, and Daniel on an eighty-eight
acre farm on the Osceola road, which he bought in 1884, and to which he
has since added making it 128 acres. He married, November 19, 1883,
Nellie, daughter of William and Eunice Currie, and has three children,
Claton D., born May 11, 1886, Harrison, born July 9, 1888, and Agnes, born
January 19, 1891. He has served as collector one term, and justice
of the peace seven successive years.
p. 131
Menter, A., was born in Cortland
county, February 14, 1835. The father followed the various lines
of tanner, currier and shoemaker. He is now living with our subject
at the age of eighty-five years. A. Menter is one of eight children.
His life has been spent at farming, except while in the army. He
enlisted in 1861 in the cavalry and was stationed in Utah, Nevada and Arizona,
fighting the Indians. He was discharged October 11, 1864, at Camp
Douglas, Utah. He is a member of Melzar Richard Post 367, G. A. R.,
and has filled the offices of guard and quartermaster.
Schermerhorn, Henry, was born
in Homer, N. Y., in 1821. His father, Jacob, moved from there to
Richland. About 1824 he conducted a hotel on the road between Port
Ontario and Oswego, and died there in 1862. Henry married Pamelia
A. Le Valley of Sandy Creek and went to Wisconsin, but returned again to
Sandy Creek, and in 1863 moved to Boylston, settling in the central part,
where he died in 1888; his widow is at present living in Smartville.
They had one child, Alfred H. He grew up at home and married Libby
J. Ethridge of the same town. He has spent his life in farming.
Their children are Herman H., and Mina (Mrs. Leslie C. Austin), who has
one daughter, Edith L. Alfred is the owner of several large farms,
two of them being in Sandy Creek. He has served as assessor and excise
commissioner.
Himes, John S., a resident
of Orwell since February, 1872, was born in Scriba, March 27, 1853.
His father, Morgan P., was born in Herkimer county, and came with his father
to Scriba, where he died in 1885 aged seventy-three. His mother was
Frances Borden, also of Herkimer county, who is at present living in Scriba.
Both parents were members of the Methodist Church. John S. married
in 1877 Sarah, only daughter of Artemus Carpenter, a farmer, who came from
Herkimer county to Orwell. She was born February 26, 1858.
Their children are Earnest, born July 1, 1878; Earl, born April 18, 1881;
Maud, born November 4, 1884; Mable, born September 6, 1887; Mina, born
June 8, 1890; and Mattie V., born October 5, 1893. The family belong
to the Methodist Church. Mr. Himes is a man devoted to his family
and his great ambition is to give his children fair education.
Lukentelly, A. A., son of
John L. and Mary (Lemonier) Lukentelly of Lysander, was born in that town
May 19, 1854. John L., the father, was a man of much prominence in
the locality where most of his life was passed. Alonzo is the second
son, and after the completion of his education at the Baldwinsville Academy,
took charge of the homestead in Lysander until 1879, when he purchased
a farm in South Granby. His wife is Margaret, daughter of Patrick
and Catherine McCarthy of Baldwinsville, whom he married April 9, 1874,
and by whom he had eight children: Ernest A., Frances G., Kenneth
G., Reginald J., Ruth G., Donald Mc., Arthur J., and Norman M. One
son, Raymond Vincent, died in infancy. Mr. Lukentelly is justice
of the peace, having been elected in 1890.
Gaylord, Charles. – The family
traces its history back to 1620, when three brothers came from England,
landing on Plymouth Rock. In 1804 Elijah Gaylord came from Connecticut
and settled in Florence. He died in 1846. Subject was born
in 1807, one of three sons and five daughters, all of whom located in this
State, three still living: Hannah, Mrs. Alsworth, born in 1801, and
Candace, Mrs. Thompson. Charles married Catherine Mills, who was
of Dutch descent. Their children were Jane, Mrs. Dr. Cox, of Williamstown;
Hannah, Mrs. Henry Gibbs of Camden; Lyman H., who married Ann Reynolds
of Redfield, formerly of Sandy Creek; Alonzo, who died in 1858 aged sixteen;
Sidney, who enlisted as private in the 147th Regiment at the age of eighteen
in August, 1872, and was killed in front of Petersburg in June, 1864.
He was then second lieutenant, and had command of his company. He
was buried in the Redfield Cemetery, and the G. A. R. Post is named the
Gaylord in his honor. Mr. Gaylord came to Redfield in 1850 and settled
where he now lives on a farm of 187 acres. His son, Lyman H., who
carries on the farm, has two married daughters: Mrs. Charles Ostrander,
living near Watertown, and Mrs. Edwin Burrows in Virginia. He also
has an adopted son, Fred. This family is noted for longevity, no
member having died under eighty-two.
p. 132
Bilque, Alexander L., was
born in Oswego, February 28, 1852, a grandson of Joseph, born in France,
who died in this town aged eighty-eight, and a son of Alexander, also born
in France, who died here aged seventy-six. The latter married Amelia
Hurtubese, a native of Canada, who survives him. The grandfather
was a soldier under the first Napoleon, and was wounded in the Moscow campaign.
Alexander L. was educated in Oswego, and is quartermaster-sergeant of the
48th Separate Company, N. Y. S. militia. He worked at his trade fifteen
years, then engaged in the shoe business with his father in May, 1887,
having now an elegant store at 197 W. First street, where they carry a
full line of the finest and best in the footwear line and carry one of
the largest stocks in the city. In 1878 Mr. Bilque married Pauline,
daughter of Justine and Jane Janny, and their children are Paul, born in
1878, George, born in 1883, and Marian, born in 1890.
Allen, John R., was born in
Oswego county, May 24, 1848. His father, Martin A., was born in Saratoga
county and died in this county aged eighty-four. He married Augusta
Greenwood, who died aged thirty, and their children were Byron E., John
R., and Augusta, all deceased except subject. The grandfather was
Erastus, who died in this county aged eighty. John H. was educated
in the common schools and is a member of the Masonic fraternity.
He has served as supervisor, also president of the village five years.
For sixteen years he followed carriage building, then engaged in the dry
goods business for three years, and was afterward interested in the manufacture
of granite and marble work. He sold his interest in this in 1893,
and erected the Allen building, where he engaged in the granite and marble
business alone, being interested in a quarry and manufacturing business
at Barre, Vt., and using this building as a salesroom. October 27,
1869, he married Ann E., daughter of Mason and Mary (Olmstead) Salisbury.
Her grandfather, Reuben Salisbury, was a lieutenant in the war of 1812.
The children of our subject are Albert and Edna, the former a student of
Rochester Business College.
Ney, Willis, of Fulton.
Among the representative families of this village, a prominent place must
be accorded that of Willis Ney, who was for many years a leading merchant
here and who has filled many positions of official trust and responsibility.
He was born in Oneida, removing to Fulton at the age of seventeen.
His wife is Agnes M., daughter of George and Mary Kenyon, late of Andover,
Mass., where she was born. Both families are of old New England lineage.
Mr. and Mrs. Ney were married in 1854 and have one daughter, Bertha, who
married Herbert Rose, of Syracuse. Mr. Rose is now manager for the
Singer Machine Co., with headquarters at Buffalo. Their children
are Howard and Millicent A.
p. 133
Osborn, Isaac R., of Oswego
Falls, is of old English stock, inheriting the sterling qualities of his
ancestry. He is the oldest son of Hurum and Olive Osborn, of Ira,
Cayuga county, where he was born April 2, 1833. Amos Osborn, the
father of Hurum, was one of the first settlers in Cayuga county.
Isaac has devoted his attention to farming, with marked success, now owning
200 acres of choice land devoted to dairying and thoroughbred stock.
He was for several years assessor of Ira, and has served Granby as overseer
of the poor. Both himself and wife are members of the Congregational
church of Oswego Falls. Mrs. Osborn’s maiden name was Jane M. Henderson
of Tully, Onondaga county, where her father, John Henderson, was a pioneer
and with his wife, Polly Hunt, accumulated a large property, and reared
eight children. Mrs. Henderson was one of the five organizers of
the first Presbyterian church established in Onondaga county. Mr.
and Mrs. Osborn married October 29, 1858, and have two children, Frank
H., who married Ruth Chapman of Hoosick Falls and who now conducts the
old homestead in Cayuga county, and Hattie, wife of Sandford Wells, a traveling
salesman, residing in Fulton. A younger son, Hiram, died when less
than one year old, in 1864.
Olmstead, Samuel J. – His
father, Gilbert O., is a son of Captain O. B. and brother of Arthur E.
Olmstead. Samuel was born in Orwell, June 11, 1872. His mother
died very soon after and he was taken to the home of his grandfather, where
he has always lived. His grandfather died in 1884, the boy being
generously provided for in his will. Samuel was educated at the Orwell
public school and Pulaski Academy. Early in 1894 he opened a general
store in the village and has every prospect of success. He has a
small dairy farm running up to the village. His home is the home
of his grandfather and is kept by his grandmother.
Wells, Willis M., M. D., was
born at Newport, Ill., in 1851, the second son of William W. Wells, a farmer
at that place. After attending Falley Seminary, he entered the University
of Vermont, pursuing the study of medicine, and received his diploma in
1874. His first medical practice was at Martville, Cayuga county,
where he remained four years, and came to Oswego Falls in 1879. His
wife is Alice B., youngest daughter of John Edwards of Hannibal.
They have two children, Floy (Floyd) and Leon. Dr. Wells is highly
esteemed, no less for his professional ability, than for intellectual attainments
and moral worth.
Wybron, Mrs. Eliza (Incledon),
of South Granby, is the widow of the late John T. Wybron. Both she
and her husband were born and reared in Devonshire, England, where they
were married in 1840, and where two of their children were born.
They made a home in Canada for four years, and came to Granby in 1850.
Mr. Wybron was a blacksmith by trade. During the last two years of
the Civil war he was at the front, receiving an honourable discharge in
1865. He died in 1871, aged fifty-four years, and his widow continues
to reside on the farm in Granby, which is operated by her son, John S.,
whose wife, Mary, died in 1885, leaving one son, Frank A. Mrs Wybron
has been the mother of fifteen children, of whom ten are now living.
She has twenty-four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Now seventy-three years of age, she is still erect and vivacious with faculties
little impaired by time.
p. 134
Sharp, John N., is the son
of John L. Sharp, a boat-builder of Albany, also engaged in the dry goods
trade, who came to Fulton in 1841. He died at the age of forty-two.
His wife, Adeline Oman Sharp, still lives in Fulton. John N. Sharp
is the elder of six children, and one brother and sister now reside here.
He married in 1871 Mary Liscom. They have one adopted daughter, Edna.
Mr. Sharp has made for himself an honoured place among men, and holds at
present the responsible position of police judge, to which he was elected
in 1889. He has also served as village president trustee and excise
commissioner.
Rumsey, George B. – His father,
David Rumsey, was noted as a skilled teacher of vocal and instrumental
music in the vicinity of his former residence at Victory, Cayuga county.
He came to Granby about 1859. His wife, Maria J. Andrews, was the
mother of three sons and three daughters. George, the oldest son
was born at Victory, February 4, 1842. His wife is Mary Elizabeth,
daughter of Thomas Coles of England. Mr. Rumsey is a member of the
A. O. U. W., Lodge No. 347. Their children are Guy Louis, Clarence
David, Stelle Ceamer, Charlie Henry, Gertie Jane and Earl Clay. Guy
married Cora Palmer and operates a farm at Granby Center; Clarence married
Nellie Baker and resides at Lamson’s. Stelle’s wife is Lydia, daughter
of Philo Lampman, and their daughter, Pearl Jane, was born May 2, 1890.
Reeve, Silas A., son of James
and Melinda Reeve, was born at Erieville, Madison county, in 1835.
In the vicinity of Cazenovia in Madison county, one of the earliest settlers
was Silas Reeve, grandfather of our subject. He was in earlier days
a resident of Long Island, by trade a cabinet maker, and Mr. Reeve has
now in his home an arm chair made by his grandfather during the period
of British occupation. It is in good preservation and highly prized
by Mr. Reeve. James Reeve also began life as a cabinet maker, but
in later time became an extensive farmer in Madison county. He was
a prominent advocate of the abolition of slavery, and a leading spirit
in the Baptist church. Silas Reeve has for a quarter of a century
been an honoured resident of Fulton. He still owns a farm in Volney,
now operated by his son-in-law, Edward Aylesworth. March 14, 1859,
Mr. Reeve married Rebecca, daughter of Samuel Reese of Nelson, and Mrs.
Jennie Aylesworth is their only child.
McCarthy, George D., was born
in Canada, July 25, 1841, came to Oswego in 1867, and served in the Army
of the Tennessee, being honourably discharged in 1865. While in Canada
he learned wood working, and on coming to this town he again took up the
business, which he still continues. In 1890 he formed a partnership
with V. A. Converse at 106 West Second street. In 1869 he married
Julia Breen of this town, a daughter of William and Margaret (Hayden) Breen,
and they have had two children: Ina, born August 16, 1871, who resides
in Albion; and Hallie, born August 24, 1873. The business of McCarthy
& Converse, carriage manufacturers, 106 West Second street, was organized
in 1890. They manufacture all kinds of carriages, sleighs, wagons,
etc., and also are general blacksmiths and wood workers, doing all kinds
of special order work, from the finest grade down. They carry a full
line of carriage trimmings, doing everything pertaining to the manufacture
of carriages. They employ from four to six men, and have one of the
largest shops in the county.
p. 135
Edwards, James W., was born
in Jefferson county in 1844 and settled in this county in 1873, and on
this farm in 1884. He is a son of O. A. and Mary (Wilson) Edwards,
she a daughter of James Wilson and he a son of Hiram Edwards. The
family are of Scotch origin, but the great-grandfather, James Wilson, was
one of the first settlers of Jefferson county. James W. Edwards married
Alwilda, a daughter of Horatio and Rosanna Fox of Clayton, Jefferson county,
and they have one son, James Bert, born in 1878. Subject owns a farm
of 150 acres, situated one and on-half miles east of Hannibal.
Fuller, J. M., elder son of
Almarin Fuller, was born in Columbia county July 26, 1815, and when fifteen
years of age his parents removed to Granby. His education was acquired
at the common schools, supplemented by reading and personal research, and
for a number of years was engaged in teaching. He began farming where
now located in 1842, and a barn upon his premises bears the date of 1844.
Mr. Fuller married first in 1842 Phoebe Berry of Lysander, who died I 1845,
leaving one son, Willard C. His second wife was Martha Crawford of
Granby, who died in 1869, and he married third Lucy Lewis, who died April
20, 1887. September 14, 1887, Mr. Fuller married fourth Eliza Morris,
who was born in Sussex, England, the daughter of the late Reuben Morris.
Willard Fuller became a volunteer soldier in Co. A, 185th New York, and
died in the war.
Campbell, John M., of the
Fulton Machine Co., manufacturers of the Kendrick ensilage cutter, automatic
engines, wood split pulleys, etc., came to America in 1855. He was
born in Favelkirk, Scotland, in 1833, and learned the foundry trade in
Glasgow. After two years at Fort Hope, Ontario, he settled at Auburn,
remaining there until 1879, when he removed to Fulton, and for seven years
was foreman for E. W. Ross. In 1886 he built the Pearman Foundry
on First street, operating it three years, when he became stockholder in
the Fulton Machine Co. upon its incorporation, and where his practical
and thorough knowledge of the business are of great value. In 1858
he married Mary Sinclair of Kingston, Ont., by whom he had fourteen children.
Mr. Campbell occupies a high position in the Masonic fraternity, having
made his way to the top of the pinnacle of degrees.
Crow, Charles, was born in
1852 at Oriskany Falls. His parents, William and Charlotte (Trafford)
Crow, were natives of England and came to this country in 1849. They
settled in Oneida county, Mr. Crow working at his trade of wood turner.
They came to Redfield in 1865, and for the past twenty-five years Mr. Crow
has been an engineer. They reared ten children, of whom five are
now living: Mary, Rose, living in Utica; Mrs. William Quigley in
Ottawa, Canada; Eva, Mrs. Charles Williams in Camden; and George in Redfield.
Two sons, George and John, were killed in the army. Charles worked
in the tannery for nine years until he was twenty-five, then clerked in
the tannery store five years, and in 1884 embarked in the mercantile business
with his brother-in-law, C. Williams. He bought out in 1887 and has
since carried on a general store. He married in 1885 Jennie, daughter
of James Petrie, and has two children: Harry P., born in 1887, and
Ellen G., born in 1891. He was elected collector in 1884 for one
term, and in 1888 and 1889, town clerk.
Church, Carlon, is remembered
as having been for many years one of the successful merchants of Fulton.
His parents were early residents of the village. While Carlon did
not inherit his business from his father, he was associated with him for
some time. Carlon Church was a self-made man. His first wife
was Martha Boardman, whom he married June 3, 1863, by whom he had two children,
both dying young. His second wife, to whom he was married January
25, 1876, was Gertrude E., daughter of Samuel F. and Susan M. Merry, of
Utica. By this marriage he had two children, Leila A. and Grace.
Carlon died July 1, 1884.
p. 136
Barber, David, was born in
Herkimer county, N. Y., April 16, 1822, son of Aaron of Connecticut.
Aaron Barber removed to Herkimer county for a time and then to Albion and
settled about two miles south of Pineville, which is an old historic spot.
Here he conducted a chairmaking industry, some of the chairs being now
in the possession of his son, David. Aaron Barber first married Betsey
Thorp, of Connecticut, mother of David. He was afterwards married
to Betsey Cole and Eunice Eblston, respectively. David Barber has
devoted his time to various lines, lumbering; boating, and at present is
a farmer. He was married in 1848 to Harriette L. Kellogg, of Onondaga,
Onondaga county. By this marriage they had one daughter, Harriette
L. He afterward married Caroline, daughter of Isaac and Deborah George,
of Essex county, N. Y., by whom he had two children, Henry D. and William
L., the latter deceased. David Barber has been excise commissioner
for twelve years in the town of Albion and in politics is a staunch Democrat.
Brown, John M., son of Philip
and Nancy Brown, was born March 16, 1820. This family is one of the
old pioneer families of New York State. John M. has spent a life
of usefulness as a lawyer. He was admitted to the bar in 1867.
He first read law under H. S. Nelson, of Florence, Oneida county.
He has also had the degree M. D. conferred upon him. He has also
followed this profession for many years. In 1847 he married Jane
Coffin, of Oneida county. They were the parents of two children,
Libbie, now Mrs. Holland, of Herkimer; and John C., who is in the drug
business at Sand Bank. Mr. Brown has been justice of the peace several
terms and notary public since 1848, being appointed by Governor Fish; town
school superintendent from 1850 to 1856, in Oneida county, N. Y.
Beardsley, Almon L. – About
1829 Ephraim Beardsley, who was born in Fairfield county, Conn., and had
for a time lived in Oneida county, settled at North Volney, where he engaged
in farming. Almon was born June 1, 1833, at the old home near where
he now resides. His first wife was Sarah Hubbard, of Volney, who
died in 1870, leaving three children, Lawton D., born 1856, now one of
the leading farmers of Granby; Emily L., wife of Howard Van Buren, of Volney;
and Arthur M., a stenographer in the employ of a mercantile house at Utica.
He was married again in 1871 to Mary J. Adams, of Richland. No children
have been the result of this marriage.
Benjamin, E. P., was born
in Brooklyn, June 6, 1853. At eleven years of age he was a cash boy
in a store. In 1873 he entered the employ of a Boston house manufacturing
shade rolls, and represented them in twenty-eight States for eight years
and three years in Europe. In 1884 he became connected with the Minetto
Shade Cloth Co. The business of this concern has been greatly increased,
and with this growth Mr. Benjamin has been closely connected. In
1874 he married Florence I., daughter of E. C. Hume. Mr. Benjamin
is a man of superior business ability and is very popular with his friends.
His parents were Edwin and M. L. (Holcomb) Benjamin. His grandfather,
Daniel Benjamin, was State grand master of the Masons in Vermont, who have
erected a monument to his memory. He was also a colonel in the State
militia.
p. 137
Whitney, Charles Fred, was
born in this county December 17, 1850, a son of Cyrus and Jane E. (Brown)
Whitney, the former deceased. The grandfather Brown was in the war
of 1812. Charles F. was educated at the Mexico and at the Pennsylvania
Military Academies, the latter located at Chester, Pa. He is a member
of the I. O. O. F., and read law with his father, who was county judge
for ten years. He was admitted to the bar in 1874, practicing in
Oswego until 1877, when he went to San Diego, Tex., and to Laredo, being
county attorney of Duval county, and acting district attorney, also attorney
for the Mexican National Railway Co. during the entire time. In 1885
he returned to Oswego and engaged in the practice with his father, which
continued till the death of the latter, when he entered into partnership
with Hon. C. N. Bulger, but in 1893 he opened an office in the Arcade building,
where he now is. He married Mattie E. Davis of Scriba, daughter of
Allen Davis, and they have one child, Jennie. The Davis family is
descended from a noble French lineage.
Dilts, Frank, late a prominent
iron manufacturer of Fulton, was born near Auburn, N. Y., October 17, 1824.
His father was a small farmer and his advantages were limited. Having
learned the moulder’s trade, he became a foreman for a Fulton foundry and
when it was destroyed by fire, started one on his own account. During
this time he had some experience in the Pennsylvania oil fields and as
an army contractor. His business was at first a small one, but gradually
grew into an important factor in the business interests of Fulton.
Twice his plant was destroyed by fire, but was each time replaced on a
larger scale. His demise in 1893 at nearly seventy years of age was
mourned as a personal grief by the people of Fulton. Mr. Dilts was
especially interested in temperance reform, and in his many years of fearless
conflict with the liquor cause struck many a telling blow, earning nevertheless
the respect of his opponents. He married twice, first in 1855 Charlotte
King of Fulton, who died in 1872, and in 1873 Lydia Butler, by whom he
has these children: Frank and Lucy.
Burr, J. Gilbert, was born
in West Monroe December 14, 1856, on the farm where he now resides.
He is a son of Freeman Burr, a native of Smithfield, Madison county, born
in 1817, and of seven children of Aaron Burr of Massachusetts, of English
ancestry. Freeman came to West Monroe in 1845, and has resided on
his present farm forty-nine years. His wife was Alice Claxton (whose
people were among the first settlers of Amboy, about 1815) by whom he had
three children, Isaac A., George F. and J. Gilbert. Mrs. Burr died
in February, 1894. From 1873 to 1892 our subject has followed teaching
during the winter seasons, the last four years of which he taught in Caughdenoy,
Constantia and Bernhard’s Bay. In December, 1891, he engaged in the
general mercantile and agricultural implement business in the village of
West Monroe, which he still conducts. He also supervises the farm
on which butter making is his specialty, caring also for his aged father.
In 1882 he married Christina, daughter of John Feikert of Amboy.
Mr. Burr served as justice of the peace eight years. He is a member
of the West Monroe Grange.
Fillmore, Asa D., was born
in the town of Lee, Oneida county, August 24, 1867, son of Albert D. and
Margaret (Treenham) Fillmore, who came from Oneida county and Oswego county
respectively. The father spent most of his life farming, except two
years in the milling business at Pulaski. He at present resides in
Connecticut. They became the parents of three children, Bertha M.,
Lillie, and Asa D. The latter has always followed farming up to within
the last two years, since which time he has conducted a grist mill at New
Centreville. The mill runs by water power entirely. February
24, 1891, he married Rose, daughter of Joel M. Stewart, of Richland, Oswego
county, who is a prominent farmer in that place.
p. 138
Whitcomb, James D., fourth
son of the late Jasper H. Whitcomb, was born on the old Whitcomb homestead
at South Granby, March 29, 1863. Jasper Whitcomb, born in Vermont
in 1822, of old English descent, came first to Granby in 1827. His
wife was Louise Harris of New England birth, and they reared a large family
of children, of whom five are still residents of Oswego county. James
D. Whitcomb succeeds his father in the management of the homestead farm
at South Granby. He was educated at Fulton Union School. His
wife is Emma Cook of South Granby, and a daughter of Carlon Cook.
They have one daughter, Ethel, born May 7, 1891. A son, Jasper, born
in 1893, died in infancy.
Husted, Charles, was born
July 22, 1843, in Hastings, Oswego county, son of Abram and Betsey Husted.
Abram was born in Johnstown July 4, 1809, and came with his parents to
Parish at the age of eighteen. He took up a farm in this county and
cut the first tree. He went from there to Hastings where he married
Betsey Herrick, returned to Parish and settled on the homestead, where
he has lived for forty-five years. They had two children, Francilia,
who died aged fifteen, and Charles, our subject. He has lived on
the homestead since he was five years of age, received his education in
the district school at Parish, and helped his father till he was married,
December 31, 1867, to Susan Lothridge, by whom he had one son, Harmon.
Since Mr. Husted’s marriage he has conducted the homestead farm.
His father is still living, aged eighty-five. Subject is a member
of the M. E. Church of Parish, of which he is steward and trustee.
Matteson, Judson E., was born
in New Haven, Oswego county, February 10, 1846, son of Charles M., born
in Herkimer county. The grandfather was Stephen A. Matteson of Herkimer
county, born in 1790, son of Jesse, a native of Vermont. Charles
M., while a young man, taught school, was a prominent man in his town,
served in all the highest town offices, was colonel in the N. Y. State
militia, and while at Washington on business was a guest of General Scott.
He came to Hastings in 1844, but died in Herkimer in 1855. His wife
was Clarissa A. Loomis, who died in 1887. Their children were Judson
E., and Ellen. Subject was educated in Whitestown Seminary, later
taught school six years, and from 1869 to 1875 was engaged in the lumber
business in Midland, Mich. He returned to Hastings, where he has
since been engaged in farming. In 1870 he married Alice, daughter
of Derias and Mercy Britton of Caughdenoy, and they have one child, Charles
D., born in Midland, Mich., in 1875. Our subject is a member of the
Central Square Grange, Masonic Order, Oswego River Chapter, in Phoenix.
Mrs. Matteson is a member of the Eastern Star of Syracuse.
Taylor, L. P., was born in
Otsego county, April 15, 1841. He studied law in Albany and was admitted
to the bar in 1862. He practiced in Albany for twelve years, then
came to Oswego and engaged in farming. He was elected supervisor
of the town of Oswego in 1887, and again in 1894. Mr. Taylor married,
in 1863, Mary J. Davy.
p. 139
Whitcomb, Frank J., was born
in South Granby, January 1, 1859. His late father Jasper H. Whitcomb,
who died aged sixty years, was widely known and not less widely regretted
as one who contributed a full share towards the growth and prosperity of
the town. Frank Whitcomb in 1888 purchased a farm of 100 acres adjacent
to the village of Oswego Falls, devoting his attention to the manufacture
of butter and with such marked success, that his product demands a premium
above the market price in New York and elsewhere. His chief product,
however, is sweet cream, which he markets in Syracuse and New York, buying
of others in this county and in Onondaga, to supply his trade. For
the separation of cream Mr. Whitcomb employs the famous De Laval centrifugal
machine, which may be said to have effected a revolution in the dairy business.
The introduction of about twenty-five of these separators into Oswego county
since 1880 has been largely due to his personal effort. Mr. Whitcomb
married Luella, daughter of C. C. Wilcox of Granby, and their children
are Bertha M., born December 29, 1889, and Ralph J., born January 9, 1891.
Acker, Dr. Dillon F., physician
and surgeon, has held the office of supervisor, postmaster and town clerk
of Hannibal. He was born in Hannibal in 1845, and read medicine with
his father, Dr. W. J. Acker, whom he succeeded in practice. He attended
lectures at the University of Ann Arbor, Mich., graduated at the medical
department of the University of Buffalo, and is now in practice here.
He married Vina E. Barrett, in 1867, and they have two children, Nellie
M., and Dr. W. B., a physician in practice in New York city, whose grandfather,
Dr. W. J. Acker, was a native of Schodack, N. Y., who commenced the practice
of medicine in Hannibal in 1842, and continued nearly until his death in
1884. His father, Nicholas Acker, served in the war of 1812 and his
grandfather in the Revolutionary war. Dr. D. F. Acker was ten years
examining surgeon for the United States Pension Department. He was
a member of the 84th Regiment N. Y. Inf. during the Rebellion. After
the war he joined the 48th Regiment N. G. S. N. Y. of Oswego, holding commissions
as second lieutenant, first lieutenant, captain, assistant surgeon, and
surgeon, and also surgeon of the 29th Separate Co., serving twenty-three
years.
(There are date discrepancies in
the following paragraph. Transcribed as appears in text.)
Olmstead, Arthur E., was born
in Orwell June 20, 1850. His father, Orimel B., was born in Delhi,
Delaware county, February 14, 1806. When Arthur was seventeen years
old his father died, and he, being the oldest of seven children, assumed
the duty of caring for the family. In 1838 he moved to Orwell and
engaged in farming; in 1840 he opened a store, and carried on both farm
and store. In 1844 he furnished the ground and built the Orwell Union
church. In 1862, as supervisor, he was called to Oswego to devise
means for raising men for the Union forces, and, returning home, within
ten days enlisted Company C, 110th Regiment N. Y. V., going himself as
captain. After a few days at the barracks at Oswego the regiment
was forwarded and arrived at Baltimore September 1, 1862. The Second
Bull Run battle had been recently fought, and his son, Melvin S., a member
of the 24th Regiment was wounded in the engagement on Saturday; he lay
upon the field where he fell until Tuesday, when he was found by a nurse
who cared for him until he died, when he was buried in his blanket.
A letter from his mother disclosed his identity, and the nurse sent the
sad news to his mother at home. His father, at Baltimore, obtained
a furlough, went to Washington, found the nurse, and going to the battlefield
obtained the remains of his son, and by driving day and night with an ambulance,
brought them to Washington, and on to Orwell. The next night he started
on his return to his regiment at Baltimore. The journey and exposure
brought on a fever, and the regiment being ordered to the front, he was
taken to a private residence in Baltimore. His wife hastened to his
bedside, and ministered to him day and night, until fatigue, anxiety and
loss of sleep brought on insomnia; opiates were administered by the physician,
and she fell into a sleep from which she never awoke, her death occurring
November 17, 1862. Her remains were brought home by her brother Erastus
of Brooklyn, and after their interment the oldest daughter went to Baltimore
to care for her father. When convalescent he was taken to Washington,
and as there was no probability of his being able to join his regiment,
he was discharged January 1, 1863, and returned home, to again resume business
as his strength would permit, continuing until 1874, when he sold his store
to Arthur E. He died in October, 1884. When the Grand Army
Post was formed at Orwell it was named S. M. Olmstead Post, and the veterans
insisted that Mr. Olmstead should be its commander. Arthur E. is
one of nine children, namely; S. M., deceased; Gilbert C. of Orwell; Mrs.
H. N. Weed, deceased; Mrs. T. C. McKenna, who died in 1893; Mrs. A. H.
Bean of Orwell; Etta, who died in 1865, aged seven; Mary and Samuel, deceased.
Arthur E. was educated in the public schools at Orwell and engaged in the
mercantile business in 1874 at that place. In 1883 he built a brick
store on the old site where his father began business, the store being
101 by 35 feet, three stories including basement, which he now occupies
with a stock of dry goods, groceries, etc. He is also heavily engaged
in farming and lumbering, having a cheese factory and steam saw mill at
Orwell village, a dairy farm of 230 acres near Richland Station, and 500
acres in dairy farms in Orwell, which he carries on. He is a Republican,
and has served as supervisor three terms, also town clerk and assessor.
The Orwell chair factory is one of his enterprises. In 1887 he bought
the tannery property, which he converted into a chair factory, and successfully
conducted it until 1882, when he sold it and bought the Ontario Iron Works
at Pulaski, which he now is conducting, manufacturing portable engines,
boilers, plows, etc. Mr. Olmstead takes great interest in the G.
A. R., and was instrumental in the erection of the handsome soldiers’ monument
in Orwell. In 1876 he married Ida J. Davis of Clinton, Mich., and
they have two sons, Orimel B., born October 16, 1880, and Fred L., born
November 19, 1881.
Murphy, Cornelius S., was
born in the city of Oswego August 15, 1846. His father, Cornelius,
and his mother, Bridget Sheehan, were both born in County Cork, Ireland,
where they married and whence they came to this country in 1840.
He first landed in Canada, and lived at Picton, and was engaged in what
was known as the Windmill fight. He came to Oswego and from there
to Fulton about 1850, and where he died in 1873. Cornelius S. was
the youngest of five children, four boys and one girl. He worked
with his father and brothers in the flouring mills, packing flour in barrels,
until the war broke out, when his two brothers, Michael and Daniel, enlisted
– Michael in Co. E, 12th N. Y. V., and was killed at the first battle of
Bull Run. Daniel enlisted with Major Joseph Kenyon in Scott’s 900
Cavalry, and died in the service from exposure in 1865. When Cornelius
was scarcely seventeen he enlisted in Co. E, 79th N. Y. V. and did faithful
service at the headquarters of the Ninth Army Corps in front of Petersburg
until the evacuation of that city and was at the finish when Lee surrendered
to Grant at Appomattox, April 9, 1865. The following August he returned
home and worked for W. S. Nelson in his flour mill for a number of years,
and then opened a retail meat market. He has been constable ten years
and deputy sheriff under Sheriffs Beadle, Van Buren, Amos Allport and the
present sheriff, Wilber H. Selleck. Mr. Murphy has been identified
with the Fenian movement to invade Canada, and was one of the circle in
Fulton; he was the first president of the Father Mathew T. A. B. Society
of Fulton and was a delegate to the State convention of Father Mathew T.
A. B. Society held in Syracuse in 1874, and was one of the vice-presidents.
He is a member of Branch 86 of the C. M. B. A., and for a number of years
has been a trustee of the Catholic church; he is a member of Post Schenck
No. 271, G. A. R., of this village, and has represented the post in department
encampment as commander and delegate. In 1879 Mr. Murphy was married
to Julia A. Burke of Oswego, and they have three children: Robert
C., William J., and Alice M. He lives in a pleasant home, 33 Erie
street. When Mr. Murphy first moved to Fulton there was no street
open north of Erie – it was almost a wilderness. The Catholics had
no church or regular pastor but occasional services were held in private
houses. He in company with Patrick Cullen, Peter Conley and forty
others walked to Oswego to be confirmed in St. Paul’s church, where the
late Cardinal McCloskey, who was then bishop of Albany, held confirmation
services.
p. 141
Howell, William H., was born
in Sterling, Cayuga county, in 1834, a son of John and Sarah Howell.
Their children are Mrs. Ann Cooper, Mrs. Charlotte Burr, William H. and
David. The grandfather, John Howell, was a native of Scotland, came
to America and was in the war of 1812, and was lost on Lake Ontario while
in the service of the United States. William H. enlisted in Co. E.
184th Regiment N. Y. Vols., August 29, 1864, and served in that regiment
until the close of the war, and was mustered out at City Point in 1865.
He married in 1858 Elizabeth, a daughter of Zenas Barlow. They have
two children living: Mrs. Nettie R. Ottman and Elmer Z. Mrs.
Sarah Bradfoard was the grandmother of our subject. The grandfather,
Hosea Bradfoard, was in the war of 1812. William H. and David Howell
were both in the war of the Rebellion. David enlisted in 1862 in
Co. G, 110th Regiment N. Y. Vols., and served until the close of the war.
The great-grandfather Bradfoard was in the war of the Revolution.
Fisher, Urbane, one of Orwell’s
prominent young men, was born in Boylston, in 1853, son of James E. Fisher,
a native of England, born in 1821. He was one of twelve children
born to Edward Fisher, who was a farmer. James E. came to the United
States in 1844 and settled in Schenectady, where he engaged at farm work.
In 1850 he removed to Boylston and purchased a farm. Five years later
he removed to Orwell and settled on the farm now owned by Urbane, where
he and his wife, who was Cordelia Chapman, of Knox, Albany county, now
live. They have four children: Lodema, Urbane, Josie, and Drucilla.
Urbane, began life as a farmer, which vocation he has successfully followed.
He has always devoted considerable time to the carpenter and blacksmith
trades, and has made a specialty of breeding fast horses, Hamiltonian and
Golddust. Mr. Fisher has served as excise commissioner. He
is a member of the Orwell Grange No. 66.
p. 142
Delong, Philando H., was a
son of Cornelius and Nancy (Hall) Delong, who were natives of Herkimer
county and went in 1837 to St. Lawrence county, settling in Hammond.
In 1853 they moved to Boylston and settled on a farm in the central part.
They reared five children, all now living in Boylston. Mrs. Delong
died in 1871, and Mr. Delong in 1885. Philando married Mary D. Sweet
of St. Lawrence county, and they have lived on the farm occupied by them
since 1865. Their children are Alice, now Mrs. Edwin Mead of this
town; Ellis E. G., who married Hattie Dunlap of Holmesville and lives in
Brownville; Olin P., and Howard H. B. Mr. Delong has been assessor
of his town seventeen years, and auditor three years.
Brackett, Levi, was born in
Cortland county in 1828, and settled on his present farm in 1838.
He is a son of James A. Brackett, who bought the grist mill at this place
in 1828, and conducted it until 1836, when they removed to their present
home and farm. He was supervisor of this town one year and justice
of the peace for twenty-five years. The family were formerly from
Massachusetts. Levi married Elizabeth L. Schenck of Granby, and they
have three sons, James, John and Jay. James and John are at home
with their father, and Jay is at Frankfort in the lumber business.
Subject is justice of the peace, having held the office for about forty
years.
Sivers, Henry, was born in
England, February 27, 1834, and came to America in 1851. He learned
the butcher’s trade in Oswego, but in 1862 moved to his present farm where
he has followed market gardening, and recently the culture of tobacco.
In 1855 he married Frances McLean, who was born in the West Indies, of
Scotch parentage, her father being a British officer. They have a
family of four sons and two daughters. Mr. Siver’s uncle, Charles
Crocker, of Chichester, Sussex, Eng., was a noted English poet, also sacristan
of the Chichester Cathedral and bishop’s verger, born in 1797.
Stewart, Thomas T., of Massachusetts
ancestry, was born in Richland, November 23, 1822, a son of Alexander of
Massachusetts, who died here aged ninety years. He married Sarah
Taylor of Connecticut, who died aged sixty-seven years. Their children
were Rhoda (deceased), Thomas T., and Abigail. The father was a soldier
in the war of 1812, and the grandfather of the Revolutionary war.
Subject was educated in Richland and has served as town assessor thirty
years, constable six years, collector three years, and is a dairyman.
December 10, 1855, he married Mariah Joslyn, who died in 1866, and their
children were Fred A., Mary L., Ella V., all of whom survive. October
23, 1867, he married second, Susannah, widow of A. B. Taylor, and daughter
of Hiram and Mary Smith of Onondaga county, and their children are Carrie
M., (married Chas. Jewell), Cora M., Fred A. (who married Mattie Rood),
Mary L. (who married Andrew Holmes), Ella V. (who married Fred Calkins).
Mrs. Stewart had one child by her first husband, Lizzie Taylor, who married
S. R. Butterworth. Mr. Stewart is a Mason, and a Granger. Mrs.
Stewart had one brother who was in the late war.
Whitney, M. S., son of the
late Jared Whitney of Kirkland, Oneida county, was born at that place,
June 20, 1859. A younger son, Fred, remains at Kirkland with the
widowed mother, Mary F. (Miller) Whitney, and the daughter, Cora M. Miller,
resides in Augusta, being now twenty-three years of age. In 1880
Morris married Rose L. Hastings of Fulton, and in 1881 purchased a farm
at Volney Centre near Bristol Hill, one of the pleasantest localities in
town. Their children are Rubie and Junie, aged respectively thirteen
and eleven, and Jessie and Bessie, twins, born in 1886.
p. 143
Sabin, A. A., son of the late
Vincent Sabin of Southwest Oswego, was born July 3, 1846. His father
located upon the farm which he now occupies in 1858; it is the same farm
originally owned and reclaimed from the wilderness by his grandfather,
the late Stephen Tilden; it contains eighty-four acres. In 1864 he
enlisted in Co. C, 184th N. Y. V., serving till the close of the war.
In 1867 he married Mary J. Chase, daughter of the late J. H. Chase, for
many years postmaster at Southwest Oswego. Six children have been
born to them – three sons and three daughters: one son and three daughters
survive. Mr. Sabin was a charter member of John Stevenson Post No.
609, G. A. R., in which he has served as commander, quartermaster, adjutant
and officer of the day, having held office ever since its organization.
He is also a member of Hope Grange No. 115, P. of H., having joined the
organization in April, 1875, and has held the office of master, overseer,
treasurer, etc. He is also justice of the peace, having been elected
in 1890 and re-elected in 1894.
Robbins, George J., was born
in Pulaski in 1838, and lived there until seventeen years of age when he
went for two years to Peoria, Ind. Returning to Oswego county, he
married Rosina, daughter of Marcus Stowell of Orwell. In the fall
of 1863 he enlisted in Co. G, 24th N. Y. Cav., and served till the close
of the war. He was wounded April 5, 1865, at Burkeville Station,
but was able to rejoin his regiment, and was in at the final surrender
of Lee. After the war he returned to Orwell and worked at farming
and in the bark woods. In 1876 he bought his present farm of ninety-seven
acres in the southern part of the town. They reared a large family
of children, seven of whom are living: Mary, Mrs. James Domeburg
of Sandy Creek, who has one child, Foster; Ella, Mrs. Nelson Waldon of
New Haven, who has two children, Edwin and Nina; Nettie, Mrs. Charles Filkins
of Syracuse, who has three children, Bessie, Leon and Berton; Frank and
Berton live in Sandy Creek, while Newton and Vera live on the home farm.
One daughter died in 1864, and the eldest son, Henry, in 1865, soon after
the father’s return from the war. Mr. Robbins’s father, Philip, married
Elizabeth Rogers, and they had but one child, the subject, Mrs. Robbins
dying soon after he was born. Mr. Robbins married a second wife,
and died in Pulaski in 1889.
Allen, Joel, was born in Sandy
Creek May 25, 1846, a son of Octavus and Ruah (Reynolds) Allen, he a native
of Vermont, born June 1, 1867, and died in this town July 16, 1881, and
she of Medina, N. Y., born November 23, 1814. The father of Octavus
was Erastus Allen, and the family descended from a brother of Ethan Allen.
Octavus Allen came to Sandy Creek when about thirteen years of age, where
he died. Mrs. Allen’s father was Lyman Reynolds, a native of Rhode
Island, who went to Medina and finally to Oswego county, where he died
about 1860. His wife was Ruth Purse, a native of Rhode Island, who
died in Sandy Creek. Subject was reared on a farm and educated in
the common schools. At the age of nineteen he began sailing on fresh
water lakes, and has been thus employed since. He owns a farm of
sixty-four acres, on which his father settled. He married in 1877
Lavina Fitch, a native of Sandy Creek and daughter of Gilbert Fitch, who
came to Sandy Creek in an early day, but died in Ellisburg November 12,
1883, and his wife, Eunice Lindsey, in Sandy Creek, February 8, 1889.
Our subject is a member of Sandy Creek Lodge No. 564, F. & A. M.
Octavus E. Allen, jr., a brother of Joel, died in Sandy Creek October 15,
1894.
p. 144
Bell, William, was born near
his present home in Volney, July 29, 1832. His parents, Minor and
Polly (Dean) Bell, came here from Massachusetts among the earliest settlers
of the locality. Mr. Bell has in his possession some of the hay forks
brought by his grandfather from Massachusetts, and used by his father,
which bear every evidence of having antedated the present century in their
manufacture. Minor Bell was born June 14, 1797, in Massachusetts,
and came to Oswego county in 1815 with his parents, two brothers and one
sister, and located on the farm where our subject now resides. November
16, 1820, he married Polly Dean, by whom he had four children: Melissa,
Melinda, William and Mary, of whom three survive. He spent eight
years in farming at Palermo, but otherwise has been a life-long resident
of this town. In 1853 he married Nancy Stanton, of Volney, by whom
he had two children, Frederic, who died September 7, 1867, and Minerva,
who was born October 7, 1868, and who in 1888 married C. S. Henderson,
then of Phoenix, but now of Volney.
Sutton, Reuben, was born in
Manlius, Onondaga county, July 5, 1818. His parents came to Oswego
county in 1819 and settled in the town of Schroeppel (then part of Volney).
They were the first permanent residents of the town, where they cleared
four farms. Reuben was educated in the district schools of that day,
much of his education being at home in the chimney corner by the light
of a tallow candle. His first night in Oswego county was spent on
an ox-sled, stalled in the snow about two miles from their destination,
beneath the broad canopy of heaven with only the boughs of the forest intervening.
At the age of nineteen he was commissioned lieutenant in the 48th N. Y.
Inf., serving three years. He was commissioned captain, served one
year, and resigned at the age of twenty-three. He also served two
years as a member of the board of court martial. At twenty years
of age he was elected clerk of his school district and served as clerk
or trustee for thirty years. At the age of twenty-one he was elected
inspector of common schools, and re-elected each year until school commissioners
and inspectors were superseded by town superintendents. He was the
first superintendent elected of the schools in the town of Schroeppel,
has served two terms as commissioner of highways, and nearly half his life
as overseer of highways. In his earlier years he was frequently elected
inspector of elections, and in later years has often been called upon to
serve as executor of estates, etc. Most of his life has been spent
in agricultural pursuits, lumbering, etc., having also taught school three
terms. He has reared a family of two sons and two daughters, all
living. Mr. Sutton was a Democrat as construed by Jefferson and Jackson,
a free soiler as construed by Polk, Cass, and Pierce, but has been a Republican
since the organization of that party. In religion he is liberal in
his views, though belonging to no sect.
Sweet, Menzies M., was born
in Providence, R. I., February 21, 1855. He took a course in mechanics
in Providence, and also in Oswego. In 1878 he entered the employ
of the Minetto Shade Cloth Co., and has been their superintendent since
1890. In 1892 he married Elsie Ostrander, by whom he has one daughter,
Leah. Mr. Sweet’s father was James Sweet, his grandfather Menzies
Sweet, both of Rhode Island.
p. 145
Rowlee, A. A. – Since 1827
Esquire Rowlee has been a resident of Volney. At that time, he being
eight years old, his parents, Nathan and Dorothy Rowlee, came here from
Groton, Tompkins county, where he was born, April 8, 1819. In 1844
Esquire married Polly Graham, and has three children, Albert A., Burdette
D., and Byron E. Burdette is principal of a normal school at Orange
Grove, Fla. Byron is in the hardware trade at Wichita, Kansas, and
Albert manages the homestead farm. His first wife was Addie E. Bentley,
of Mannsville, who died in 1884, leaving tow children, Laura A., now Mrs.
George H. Wright, of Oswego; and Edith E., a student at Chaffee’s School,
Oswego. In 1891 he married Addie, a daughter of Gordon D. Ball of
Fulton.
Snow, Henry Alfonzo, was born
in Hastings in November, 1859, on the farm he now owns, son of Leonard
Snow, born in the block house at Brewerton in March, 1820, whose father
was Aaron Snow of Connecticut, who built the first frame house between
Central Square and Brewerton. Leonard was an industrious farmer.
His wife was Geraldine Ramsey of Onondaga county, whose parents were Scotch.
They had two children, Seward and Henry Alfonzo. Subject has always
remained on the farm of 100 acres, making a specialty of dairying.
In 1887 he married Carrie, daughter of Charles and Adaline (Devendorf)
Breed of Hastings, by whom he has one child, Charles, born in March, 1894.
Subject is a member of the Masonic order.
Stevens, Mortimer, justice
of the peace and postmaster at Pennellville, was born in Onondaga county
in 1844, and located at Pennellville in 1865. He married in 1866
Hellin Owen, and has three children, Nettie, Timothy and Walter.
In 1862 he enlisted in Co. E, 149th N. Y. S. Vols., was wounded on the
17th day of April, 1863, the ball passing through the right shoulder and
lung. He was taken prisoner May 8, 1864, at Buzzards Roost, Ga.,
and held eleven months and twenty-two days in Andersonville, Dalton and
Savannah.
Smith, Samuel P., was born
in Westchester county, N. Y., March 7, 1843, son of Isaac and Annis Smith.
The family was originally from Rhode Island, but settled in Westchester
county when the country was new and took up farming. John Smith,
the grandfather, was a soldier in the war of 1812. Isaac Smith, the
father, came to Albion in 1866. He followed both farming and lumbering,
and was the owner of a saw mill. Isaac and Annis Smith were the parents
of eleven children. Isaac married the second time, Louisa Burdsell,
by whom he had four children. Samuel, in his early life, followed
lumbering, but since then has devoted his time to farming, and at present
owns a farm of eighty-eight acres, mostly under cultivation. In 1866
he married Julia, daughter of John Fry. The children are Gertie and
Jennie C. Samuel P. is a member of the Grange. The grandmother
of Mrs. Smith lived to be one hundred and eight years old.
Tucker, J. Cooley, Mrs. was
born at Lee, Berkshire county, Mass., in 1824. She was the daughter
of Darius Chapman, who was at that time a farmer. The late J. C.
Tucker was born in the town of Fenner near Peterboro, Madison county in
1818. In the Tucker family were seven sons and two daughters and
all but one eventually removed to Fulton, ranking among the leading families
of the place. Almon Tucker, the eldest son, came to Fulton when there
were very few inhabitants, and conducted the first store here. Mr.
Tucker conducted for nearly half a century a crockery store, which was
the first store devoted exclusively to that line, and after his death in
1887 was for seven years conducted by his widow. There were three
children, Solon E., Grace J. and Willard C. The elder son is a government
employee in New York and the younger, Willard, is in the railway mail service,
between Syracuse and New York.
p. 146
Vant, V. V., is the proprietor
of the celebrated “Spring Brook” garden farm, of Fulton, producing and
distributing the largest and most complete variety of vegetables grown
in Oswego county. He is the son of Fred Vant, who was born in England
in 1824. He came to America in 1829, locating first in Palermo, where
he remained until 1854, and then purchased a farm of one hundred acres
near Chicago. In 1865 he returned and purchased the old homestead
near Mr. Pleasant, once the home of Ephraim Beardsley, and where he now
resides. His wife, who was Rachel Beardsley, is the mother of nine
children, eight of whom are living. Volkert V. Vant was born August
28, 1857, at Chicago and was eight years old when they returned here.
Acquiring the basis of a good education in the common schools, he brings
into his business large experience and industry, and fully deserves his
large measure of success. His wife is Gertrude, daughter of John
C. Hill of Volney, and their children are Don, born in 1889; Richard, born
in 1891; and Max, born 1894.
Jenkins, William, builder
and carpenter of Oswego Falls, was born at Ira, Cayuga county, May 10,
1831. His parents, Benjamin and Jane Jenkins, were among the pioneers
at Phoenix, the former dying in 1890 aged eighty-four years. William
Jenkins engaged first in the lumber business near Phoenix, but has since
become a citizen of Oswego Falls, where he takes an active part not only
in the business interests of the place, but in temperance and church work.
August 18, 1860, he married Sarah, daughter of Mead Hutton, of Yorkshire,
England, and has six children living, four having died in their infancy.
Mr. Jenkins went to the front with Co. A, 184th N. Y. S. Vols., making
an enviable record for personal bravery at Cedar Creek and other important
engagements.
Smith, Nelson, is one of Redfield’s
well known and successful men, born in Steuben, Oneida county, 1824, son
of Henry Smith, who was a native of Dillenborough, Schoharie county, born
April 10, 1793. He was a son of George and Hannah (Hall) Smith, born
1748 and 1758 respectively. They removed to Steuben in 1803, where
George cleared a large farm. Henry, the father, and his brother John
were soldiers in the war of 1812. Henry was a shoemaker during his
early life, and later he followed coopering and farming. His wife
was Harriet, daughter of Charles Weed, who was a Revolutionary soldier.
Their children were Sarah, Mary, Charles (deceased), Susan, Nelson and
Hannah. In 1863 they came to Redfield, where they lived until their
deaths in 1876. Nelson Smith began life as a cooper, and through
his industry and integrity has acquired quite a little property.
In 1863 he came to Redfield, and purchased a farm of two hundred and fifty
acres, on which he has erected large and commodious buildings. During
his first years in Redfield he did considerable coopering and lumbering.
He now makes dairying his specialty.
p. 147
Adsit, Samuel B., is the youngest
of nineteen children of Sylvanus Adsit, who was reared in Oneida county,
of Dutch parentage, served in the war of 1812, and came to Redfield in
1844. He bought and cleared a farm east of the village, where he
lived until 1879, when he came to the village and died in 1881. He
married twice, first Catherine Cramer, by whom he had sixteen sons and
one daughter. His second wife was Hannah Bronson, who was the widow
of J. Reed, by whom she had one son, James, now living in Wisconsin.
There were two sons by the second marriage, Samuel and Ebenezer C., who
died in 1888 from the effects of wounds received in the war of the Rebellion.
Samuel married Millie R., daughter of Rolon Fox, who came from Osceola,
and they have seven children: Ralph B., Elida E., Minnie M., Delbert
S., Effie R., Lura M. and Fern De L. Mr. Adsit has a farm of 200
acres, and a good deal of wood land. He also runs a saw mill.
Another line of business is gathering and dealing in spruce gum, of which
he has handled no less than three tons in one season. He has been
town clerk three years. On the 13th day of January, 1894, he followed
three grown black bears, overtook them on still hunt, shot and killed the
whole three. They were all kicking at the same time. The three
netted him $71.13.
Breed, Oliver, was born in
Halifax, Windham county, Vt., in 1810, and in February, 1822, his father,
Henry G., moved to Litchfield, Herkimer county, with his family of eight
children, where he remained two years. In 1824 they came to the town
of Onondaga, Onondaga county, hiring a farm of T. M. Wood, where they remained
four years. From there they came to Volney, Oswego county, in 1828,
and the father died that year on July 3. He was born March 10, 1781,
and married, June 10, 1801, Eleanor Fish, who was born January 15, 1783,
and died January 4, 1845. Both were born in Stonington, Conn.
Oliver was educated in the common schools, and at first followed farming,
then began the milling business, which he has followed for sixty years.
He has resided in Schroeppel most of the time, and has served as town clerk
and supervisor. Mr. Breed has three sons by his first wife, Juliet
Alvord. Clark resides in Fulton, and Frank and Charles live in Phoenix.
By his present wife, Cordelia Bradley, he has had two children, Joseph
J. and William, both deceased.
Barker, Albert S., was born
in Albion, February 17, 1846, son of James Barker, a native of Bridgewater,
Oneida county, son of Ebenezer Barker, who was a farmer, and a native of
Massachusetts. James, the father, was engaged in the mercantile business
for eight years and for many years in the law practice in Albion.
He served as justice of the peace and postmaster. Since 1884 he has
resided with his son in Orwell. His wife was Hannah M. Stearns of
Camden, Oneida county. Their children are James R., Albert S., Mary
E., Helen M., and Edward W. In December, 1863, he enlisted in Co.
K, 14th N. Y. Heavy Artillery, and served in the Army of the Potomac until
the close of the war. From the fall of 1865 to 1874 he was engaged
in the mercantile, coopering and farming business. At the age of
twenty-one he was elected collector of Albion. In 1874 he moved to
Orwell. The following year he was elected justice of the peace and
served eight consecutive years, he also served as justice of sessions two
terms, and in 1878 was elected justice and in 1882-84 was supervisor.
In 1884 he was admitted to the bar and has since been actively and successfully
engaged in the practice of his profession in Orwell. July 4, 1866,
he married Nancy A., daughter of Henry Jones of Albion. Their children
are Oscar, Minnie (both deceased), Charles, who is now in the adjutant-general’s
office in Albany, Mrs. Dora Graham, of Oriskany, Oneida county, Cora, Jennie,
Albert, Alice M., and Rollo. Mr. Barker is a member of the Olmstead
Post, G. A. R., in Orwell, the I. O. O. F. and Knights Templar of Oswego.
p. 148
Bonner, John F., was born
in Orwell in 1846, son of John Bonner, who was a native of Floyd, Oneida
county, son of John Bonner, a son of John Bonner, a native of England,
who came to America during the Revolution. He was the founder of
a numerous posterity in America. John, the grandfather, was a farmer.
He came to Orwell about 1835. John, the father, was a blacksmith,
and from 1846 to 1863 resided in Redfield, but in 1863 he returned to Orwell
and served in many of the town offices, and where he still resides.
His wife was Maria Burkett. Their children were Frances E., Hannah
M., Mary E. (deceased wife of Dr. George W. Nelson, of Orwell), John F.
and Ephraim. John F. has always devoted his time to farming.
In 1864 he enlisted in Co. E, 189th Regiment Infantry, and served until
the close of the war. Mr. Bonner has served his town as commissioner
of highways, town auditor and inspector of elections. In 1868 he
married Hanna E., daughter of Amos and Betsey M. Beadle, or Orwell.
Their children are Mrs. Francis E. Hadley of Sandy Creek, Clarence W.,
Ephraim, Mamie, and Lucus H., deceased. Mr. Bonner is a member of
the S. M. Olmstead Post, G. A. R., and of the I. O. O. F.
Brower, Nicholas B., attorney
and counsellor at law, was born in the city of New York, February 1, 1823,
and settled in Hannibal in 1859. He was educated in the public and
grammar schools of his native city, studied law with Weston Bros., New
York, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. In 1856 he went to Forrestville,
N. Y., and formed a partnership with E. S. Spencer, under the firm name
of Spencer & Brower, and remained in practice there until 1859, when
he removed to Hannibal where he has since resided. His great-grandfather
was Adolphus Brower, who resided at Hackensack, N. J. The grandfather
was a captain in the Revolutionary war living at that time in Fishkill,
N. Y., where Nicholas B., father of the subject, was born. At an
early age he made New York city his home, entering and continuing in the
mercantile business there until his death. Nicholas B. married Lodursky,
a daughter of Col. Perry A. Jenks of Erie county, by whom he has two children
living, Clarence B., publisher of the News & Reveille, Hannibal, N.
Y.; and Mrs. B. N. Hinman of Hannibal.
Brackett, William H., resides
at Hannibal Centre, Oswego county, is a farmer and owns sixty-five acres
of land, which is one of the representative farms of Hannibal. He
has held the office of commissioner of highways for that town, and was
a soldier, enlisted in the 81st Regiment N. Y. Vols. in 1861 and served
until the close of the war. He was born in Hannibal in 1841, and
is a son of William W. Brackett, who came from Cortland county to this
town, and was for forty years one of the leading business men of the town.
He was engaged in the fulling mill and cloth manufacturing business, and
after that was a merchant at Hannibal Centre for about forty years.
He married first Julia Flower; they had one daughter, Rebecca, wife of
the late A. Hulett of Brooklyn, N. Y.; for his second wife he married Sally
Ann, daughter of the Rev. Isaac Teller, a Methodist minister of some note.
They had six children: Isaac T., William H., James W., Franklin T.,
Anna E. and C. H. Our subject married Mary E., a daughter of P. Sherman,
and they have three children: Eva M., Lynn S. and Lucy Belle.
p. 149
Bennett, Roswell W., was born
October 20, 1823, in the town of Richland. He was the youngest son
of a family of ten children, of whom only three are living: Philo
S. Bennett of Appleton, Wis., Mrs. Nancy Trumble of Pulaski, N. Y.
His parents, Reuben and Elizabeth Bennett, came to this county about the
year 1800 and settled in the town of Richland, then a wilderness, and cleared
off the farm now owned by William Woods. He also fought in the war
of 1812; also his father, Roswell Bennett, fought in the Revolutionary
war, in the battle of Bunker Hill and also other battles. He died
at the home of his son in the town of Richland at the age of eighty years.
Reuben Bennett died in March, 1859, at the age of seventy-eight years.
Roswell W. In his early life followed boating, but for many years has devoted
his attention solely to his farm, which consists of seventy-five acres
under good cultivation. On April 5, 1865, he was married to Luretta
White, by whom he had two children, George W., an engineer at Norwich,
N. Y., and Charles W., who is in a wholesale grocery in Chicago, Ill.
He was drafted as a soldier on the 28th day of February 1865, but was never
called out for service. His wife died February 23, 1886, at the age
of fifty-three years. On the 23d day of January, 1889, he was married
to Mrs. Jane Letts, daughter of Ansel H. and Keziah Morse of the town of
Hastings, and a member of an old and prominent family.
Douglas, Rev. James, of the
ancient Douglas family of Scotland, descended from the New London family,
was a son of Amos, born in Stephentown, N. Y., June 21, 1779 and died March
19, 1857. Amos graduated from Williams College and was admitted to
the bar in Albany in 1801. He commenced practice in Franklin, N.
Y., and held the offices of surrogate and county judge. James Douglas
was born May 7, 1823, in Franklin. He graduated from Hamilton College
in 1845, and from Auburn Theological Seminary in 1850. For three
years following he was professor of Latin and Greek in Genesee College,
Lima, N. Y. He resigned this position and was ordained August 15,
1853, and installed in Rutland, N. Y. In 1864 he accepted a call
to Pulaski. He entered upon his labor here in the prime of life,
and with great enthusiasm the society at once commenced the erection of
a new house of worship, which stands as a monument to his memory and to
his enterprise, perseverance and fidelity. He was zealous in the
cause of temperance and education. He was an ardent supporter of
the Union cause in the war of the Rebellion, exerting his influence by
voice and purse for the cause of freedom. The returning soldier always
received his heartiest welcome, and the soldiers’ widows and fatherless
children received his kindliest attention. He delivered the orations
on the occasions of obsequies of Presidents Lincoln and Garfield in this
town. When he resigned, January 9, 1883, he left a church united
and free from debt. In 1886 he accepted a lectureship in the theological
seminary of Oberlin College. Here his lectures were upon Divine Immanence
and Comparative Religions, and he found a most congenial field of labor
in speaking on the most profound and vital questions of life to students
who were soon to go forth as the world’s religious teachers. He also
wrote articles for the Bibliotheca Sacrae and Methodist Review. His
manner was earnest and sympathetic, winning the convictions and hearts
of his audience. As a pastor he was devotedly attached to his people,
which devotion was fully returned by them. His death occurred April
11, 1891, at Oberlin, O. September 14, 1853, at Ithaca, he married
Mary J. Burt. Their children were George William, born January 1,
1856, and Ellen, born December 22, 1861. George William married,
January 6, 1880, Mary Curry. Ellen married, November 1, 1883, Sylvanus
C. Huntington.
p. 150
Larabee, Willis, of New England
ancestry, was born in this county May 9, 1857, a grandson of John of Vermont,
who was drowned in Lake Ontario in 1840. The father, John, was born
in Oswego county, where he died aged sixty-seven. He married Margaret
Leslie, who died aged thirty-three, and their children were John H., born
May 11, 1855, died September 10, 1883, and our subject. The father
was a carriage manufacturer by trade. Willis was educated in Pulaski
Academy and has always followed farming. He married Sarah Battles
of New Haven, this county. She was a daughter of Lincoln and Amy
Battles, and they have these children: Charles, who was born February
18, 1880; Fred, born May 16, 1883, died November 15, 1883; Ida E., born
June 21, 1878, died April 14, 1879; Johnnie, born October 14, 1884, died
April 26, 1885.
Moody, Delano G., of New England
ancestry, was born in Jefferson county August 31, 1841, a grandson of Anson,
who died in this county aged eighty-six. The father of our subject,
Harry O., was born in Jefferson county, and died aged seventy-four.
He married Caroline Biffins of Saratoga county, who is now living aged
ninety. Their children are Anson, Arthur, Henry, Seymour, Ellen,
Carrie, Pamelia, Arolasman, Candice, Delano G., Eliza M. Of these
Seymour, Anson, Pamelia and Candice are deceased. The father was
a Royal Arch Mason. Our subject was educated in Oswego county, and
in 1864 enlisted in the 184th N. Y. Vols., serving in the army of the Potomac.
His brothers Anson, Henry and Seymour also served in the war, and Anson
was killed at the battle of Fair Oaks. The grandfather, Anson Moody,
was a soldier in the war of 1812. Delano G. married Annie Burk May
17, 1882, and their children are May, Delano and Lena.
Matteson, G. L., was born
in the town of Albion, December 29, 1863. Like the other members
of his family, he is a first class farmer and owns a well stocked farm
of one hundred and forty acres. September 14, 1884, he married Myrtie,
daughter of Alonzo Thorp, of Albion, and to them were born five children,
three now living: Lulu M., Ada L., and Reba L. Our subject
is a member of the Grange.
Ferris, Thomas, has been for
twenty three years a resident of Fulton, and for the same length of time
connected with the mill of Gardner & Seymour as bookkeeper. His
father was Peter Ferris, of Carlisle, Schoharie county, long a deacon of
the Dutch Reformed Church, and a colonel of militia. Born in 1883,
Thomas was thoroughly educated in Carlisle Seminary and East Bloomfield
Academy, completing his knowledge of bookkeeping under a private tutor.
In 1859 he entered the employ of Breed, Sprague & Co., afterward changed
to Glass, Breed & Co., of Phoenix as bookkeeper, remaining with them
most of the time for thirteen years, removing permanently to Fulton in
1871. In 1861 Mr. Ferris united with the Presbyterian Church of Lima,
N. Y., evincing a special talent for Sunday school work, being superintendent
of the Congregational Church, Phoenix, for over five years. E. Louise
Ferris, his daughter, is also interested in the same line and is corresponding
secretary of the Y. P. S. C. E. of Fulton Presbyterian Church.
Fancher, Isaac M., was born
in Winfield, Herkimer county, May 25, 1844, son of George R. and Elizabeth
Enos Fancher. The grandfather was from Connecticut. The father
was a blacksmith and farmer. As far back as can be traced all the
family have been blacksmiths. He came to Albion from Herkimer county
in 1845 and carried on his trade; he also run a saw mill and a cooper shop.
He married Elizabeth, daughter of David McLaughlin, of Herkimer county.
Her father was originally from Ireland. They had seven children.
Isaac learned the blacksmith trade, but on account of a wound received
in the war can not follow that trade. He is now a farmer. He
enlisted August 6, 1862, in the 110th N. Y. under Colonel Littlejohn and
Captain Garrett, and served three years. In September, 1866, he married
Arabella J., daughter of John Downes of Vermont. They had two children,
George D. and Oneretta M., both deceased. Mr. Fancher is commander
of Bentley Post No. 265 at Sand Bank, and has filled the office of adjutant
and commander; he has also been commissioner of highways and is now
justice of the peace. He is a member of Pulaski Lodge No. 415, F.
& A. M.
p. 151
Ford, James P., was born in
Oneida county, September 3, 1846, a grandson of William, born in England,
where he died aged sixty, and a son of William, a native of England, who
died in this country aged seventy-six. The latter married Susanna
Hedge, also of England, who died here aged sixty-two. Their children
were William, John, Ebenezer, Henry G., Jabez, Mary C., John H., James
P., Susanna F., and Smith T., of whom John, Ebenezer and John H. are deceased.
Their father was a Baptist clergyman for forty years. Our subject
was educated at Camden, N. Y. He is a member of the Board of Education,
and has taught school for several years, having also been a farmer.
He was a traveling salesman four years in the interest of school supplies,
covering five States. Later he formed a partnership with D. R. Fritts
of Parish in the hardware business. Selling his interest in this,
he bought of C. D. Rounds his stock of hardware in Lacona in 1891, and
in 1892 erected the store now occupied by him, carrying the largest stock
of hardware in this section of the county, embracing stoves, cutlery, wood
and hollow ware, tools, agricultural implements, etc. May 5, 1871,
he married Maria L., daughter of John and Julia (Curtis) Whiffin of Utica,
and their children are Mary E., Flora G., and Uridge W. Minnie E.
is employed in the millinery business, and Flora G. and Uridge W. are in
attendance at Sandy Creek High School at this writing.
Hutchins, F. F., was born
in Franklin county, July 19, 1859. He was engaged in the dry goods
business two years in Lawrenceville, St. Lawrence county, and in the town
of Moira, Franklin county, for five years. He then traveled a year
for a New York grocery house, then came to Oswego and conducted a restaurant
for three years. Then he opened a hotel in Fruit Valley in 1892.
Mr. Hutchins was formerly very active in political affairs, and was supervisor
at the age of twenty-six. In 1881 he married Jennie M. Dow, and they
have one daughter, Ethel M. His parents were Erastus and Lois (Drake)
Hutchins.
Newell, Charles S., was born
in Oswego county November 5, 1844. At the age of seventeen he took
up the trade of bricklaying and masonry, which he followed till the age
of twenty-five. In 1864 he enlisted in Co. C, 184th Regiment, and
served till the close of the war. In 1865 he married Addie E., daughter
of Madison J. Blodgett, and they have one daughter, Cora E. Mr. Newell’s
father was George S., and his mother Catherine McCoy. His grandfather
was one of the first settlers in this county. Mr. Newell has been
superintendent of the poor in Oswego since 1880. He represented the
4th Ward of Oswego as alderman for the years 1875-76. He was first
lieutenant in Separate Troop Cavalry, 24th Brigade, 6th Division, National
Guard, State N. Y., from December 7, 1874, until the troop was disbanded
by order of the Adjutant-General in 1882.