Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 1

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Boston : Biographical Review
Number of Pages: 1256

USA > New York > Wyoming County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 1
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 1

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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01177 7304

Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015

https://archive.org/details/biographicalrevi00unse 1

4496

Biographical Review PREFACE

THIS VOLUME CONTAINS BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF

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THE LEADING CITIZENS OF

of LIVINGSTON AND WYOMING

COUNTIES Ces.

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NEW YORK

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"Biography is the home aspect of history"

BOSTON

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW PUBLISHING COMPANY

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1895

79 9591 12

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PREFACE.

ONTEMPORARY records may be said to be a debt due from every generation to the future. So much has the writing of annals and placing them in a permanent form been neglected hitherto that an additional burden has fallen on the present, which, besides doing its own work, must needs bravely endeavor to make up for things left undone of old. Hence this Biographical Review of Livingston and Wyoming Counties, which, thanks to the generous co-operation of an appreciative public, we are enabled to place before our readers, while finding its subjects mostly among the living, men and women faithfully intent on the business of to-day, mentions not a few of their ancestors, near and remote, - emigrants direct from the Old World, some who came from Pennsylvania, and more who journeyed hither from the rugged hills and wave-washed shores of New England. These pages call to mind the toils and endurance of the pioneers who sturdily hewed their way through the pathless woods, finding sweet pasture on the tufted hillsides and along the watercourses in the valleys for their flocks and herds, and, slowly upturning the sod to the sunshine, made the wilderness to smile with the early harvest. Here, too, are the chronicled names and deeds of stanch patriots who fought and bled for the "land of the noble free." Such progenitors may well claim from their descendants what a wise speaker has termed "a moral and philo- sophical respect, which elevates the character and improves the heart." It is the nature of personal memoirs like the present to increase in value as the years go by. Wherefore, the book should commend itself as of more than passing interest and fleeting worth, -a volume that will be prized by children's children for one generation after another. "The great lesson of biog- raphy," it has been well said, " is to show what man can be and do at his best. A noble life put fairly on record acts like an inspiration."

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MYRON H MILLS.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

YRON HOLLEY MILLS, M. D., a distinguished and honored resident of Mount Morris, where he is living retired from the active duties of life, has exerted a marked influence on the literary, so- cial, and political advance- ment of Livingston County, and has borne a conspicuous part in promoting its rise and progress to its high standing among the wealthy and well-developed counties of the Empire State. He was born December 8, 1820, on the homestead where he now resides, and which was then owned and occupied by his father, Major-general William A. Mills.

Dr. Mills is of New England ancestry, and comes of pure and undiluted Puritan blood. His paternal grandfather, the Rev. Samuel Mills, of Derby, Conn., born in 1744, was a graduate of Yale College, and prepared for the ministry. Attracted by the glowing accounts of the beauties and promised wealth and great- ness of the Genesee valley, he moved his family in 1790-92, and located near the little hamlet of Williamsburg, the pioneer settle- ment in what is now Livingston County, situ- ated midway between Mount Morris and Geneseo. Circumstances over which the little hamlet had no control placing the court-house and county buildings in the town of Geneseo, Williamsburg's prosperity and growth were summarily checked, its population gradually disappeared, and its individuality was entirely

lost forever. The Rev. Samuel Mills was the pioneer ordained minister in the valley. He preached the great truths of the gospel to the pioneers in an acceptable manner, after holding

church services in the open air, also in the large warehouse in Williamsburg and in pri- vate dwellings. He was held in high esteem by the early settlers, and his memory is pre- served in the religious history of the Genesee valley. Ile was a man of ability, a distin- guished scholar, and possessed in a marked degree the Christian graces which eminently fitted him to preach the great truths of the Bible. His cousin, the Rev. Samuel J. Mills, of Torrington, Conn., who was born April 21, 1783, and graduated at Williams College in 1809, was devoted to missionary work, and fully earned the proud title in history of "Father of Foreign Missions in America." The Rev. Samuel Mills's house took fire in the night and burned, with all his household effects, the family barely escaping. This mis- fortune, coupled with the loss of capital in- vested in land at inflated prices in the town of Groveland, embarrassed and so discouraged the good man that he became the victim of the disease known as the Genesee, or spotted, fever, which caused his death. His remains, at the request of James Wadsworth, Sr., were buried in what has since become the beautiful cemetery in Geneseo. No monument, we re- gret to say, in the interest of his descendants and posterity, designates the grave. Imme- diately following his lamented death, the family, except his son William A., returned to New Bedford.

General William Augustus Mills, the father of Dr. Mills, was born at New Bedford, May 27, 1777 ; and some seventeen years later, just one hundred years before the summer season of the present year (1894), this same sturdy infant, grown to a stalwart young man, and, having learned that "westward the course of

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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

empire takes its way," might have been seen with a small bundle of clothing under his arm, journeying on foot across the valley from Will- iamsburg to Allan's Hill, now Mount Morris, there to make a home. His only available capital was a robust constitution, a quick and active brain, a common suit of clothes, an axe, and a five-franc piece of silver. He located on land belonging to Robert Morris, and there erected a cabin on the brow of the tableland overlooking the Genesee valley, the site now being occupied by the residence of Dr. M. H. Mills. His only neighbors were the Indians; and, learning to speak their language and growing familiar with their ways of living, he became a favorite among them, and was a fre- quent counsellor in their dealings with the white people of this vicinity, and even occa- sionally arbitrated matters of dispute arising among themselves. He kept the chain of friendship bright, and retained the most ami- cable relations with them, until the Indians, by virtue of the treaty of 1825, sold their res- ervations, and left the valley. He always treated them with the utmost consideration ; and they recognized his friendship and gen- erosity by bestowing upon him the name of "So-no-jo-wa," which in their language sig- nifies "a big kettle" or generous man, and among the few surviving members of the Ind- ian tribes now living on the Allegany and Cat- taraugus reservation the village of Mount Morris is called "So-no-jo-wa-ge" in honor of his memory.

The land on which William A. Mills settled was, as before mentioned, owned by Robert Morris. At a later period it passed into the possession of the Bank of North America, and in 1811 was thrown upon the market and sold to different purchasers, the bank retaining one- eighth interest. Mr. Mills then bought twenty acres, paying thirty dollars an acre in silver, this being the minimum price he paid for property on the Genesee Flats. He was a man of inflexible purpose and resolute will, energetic and industrious, and not only placed his original purchase under cultivation, but, as his means increased, bought other tracts, and at the time of his death was a wealthy and extensive Jandholder, and one of the most in-

fluential and prominent citizens of Livingston County. Previous to the building of the dam across the Genesee River in this locality, the nearest mill was twenty miles distant; and much valuable time was lost in performing the necessary journeys to and fro. With charac- teristic enterprise, Mr. Mills succeeded in placing the bill for the erection of a dam across the river at this point before the legis- lature. The river being navigable for small boats, some opposition was brought to bear upon the project ; and he was forced to appear before the General Assembly in support of the measure, which was passed. Thus a valuable water-power was secured to Mount Morris, and was the immediate cause of new growth and prosperity to the town. General Mills was the founder of the village of Mount Morris, and was as patriotic as he was public-spirited. On the breaking out of the War of 1812 he organized the first militia company in Living- ston County, and from the command of that company rose to the rank of Major-general of the State militia, his command embracing the counties of Livingston, Genesee, Ontario, Steuben, Monroe, and Allegany. Many of the distinguished men of New York have served on the military staff of General Mills, among whom we may mention the names of Colonel Reuben Sleeper, of Mount Morris, General Frank Granger, of Canandaigua, the Hon. Daniel D. Barnard and the Hon. Charles J. Hill, of Rochester. General Mills was a man of unbounded generosity and kindness of heart, and extended every possible aid to the strug- gling pioneer, frequently making the payments due on the little tract of land, which might have otherwise reverted to the original pro- prietors. While yet in apparent physical vigor, the General suddenly died of heart fail- ure, on April 7, 1844, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, leaving to his surviving children a large landed estate and the mem- ory of a life spent in doing good to his fel- low-men.

The union of General Mills with Susannah HI. Harris, of Tioga Point, Pa., was solen- nized in 1803, and of this marriage ten chil- dren were born, of whom nine grew to mature years, and three are still living, namely : Mrs.

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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Elizabeth Hamlin: Mrs. Susan H. Branch : and Dr. Myron H. Mills, of Mount Morris.

Myron H. Mills received a broad and liberal education, and when a young man began the study of medicine and surgery in the office of Dr. Hiram Hunt, a valued friend of his father. and the family physician. He subsequently entered the Geneva Medical College. from which he received his diploma in 1844. The following year Dr. Mills began practice in the city of St. Louis, where he soon won an envi- able reputation as a physician, and was ap- pointed a practitioner in the City Hospital. After the declaration of war with Mexico he resigned his position in the hospital, and vol- unteered as a private soldier in the company being then organized in St. Louis by Captain Hudson. At the instigation of influential friends, before being mustered into service. Dr. Mills applied for the appointment of As- sistant Surgeon in the United States army, going himself to Fort Leavenworth, the head- quarters of General Stephen W. Kearny, five hundred miles from St. Louis, to whom he presented in person his papers, hoping to re- ceive his indersement before applying to the Secretary of War for his commission. In this he was successful; and he served bravely throughout the entire war, and at the battle of Canada received a wound in the Heshy part of the right leg. below the knee. The Doctor, having recently graduated from the school of medicine and surgery, put into practice the knowledge of improved methods that he had acquired as a student, and was the first to introduce the "tap operation " in amputations in the "Army of the West." the circular method having been previously used from time immemorial ; and for this valuable service he was promoted by the medical director, Surgeon DeCamp, of Baltimore, to the head of the medical and surgical department of the army. At the close of the Mexican War the regular standing army of these States was increased by the addition of eight regiments. Upon the recommendation of Brigadier general Stephen W. Kearny, commander of the Army of the West, in which Dr. Mills served all through the war, the Hon. William I. Marcy, Secre- tary of War, tendered him an appointment of

Assistant Surgeon in the regular army, which he declined, and returned to private life. Having again become a resident of Mount Morris, he was invited by a special committee to deliver an address on "The Mexican War." He accepted, giving an eloquent and graphic description : and at the request of special committees he was induced to repeat it at Nunda and Perry.

Forty-five years ago, in the month of June. 1849, when the hillsides were fragrant with the breath of roses. Dr. M. H. Mills was wedded to Mary E. Mills, the only daughter of Hiram P. Mills, of Mount Morris. Theirs has been a felicitous marriage, she having found in him a devoted husband, and he in her a true companion and friend, who has faithfully dis- charged the duties of wife and mother. The sorrow common to mortals has cast its shadow over their pleasant home, four of the six chil- dren born of their union having passed to the "life elysian.

In the spring of 1850 Dr. Mills engaged in the drug business in Rochester, where for a while he carried on a lucrative trade. But. finding the occupation uncongenial to his tastes, he embraced the first advantageous opportunity to dispose of his stock of goods. and was subsequently employed in the con- struction of public works for the State of New York. He was well fitted for that responsible position, and received for his services a liberal remuneration, which, being well invested, en- ibled him to retire from the active pursuits of life in 1868, and to enjoy his well-earned leisure. In 1863. while a resident of Roches- ter, he was appointed by the Mavor and Com- mon Council to represent the city in the National Ship Canal Convention, held in Chi- cago. In June of that year he served on a committee with the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew and another man. Mr. Depew was then a young man, and had been a member of the legislature from Westchester County, Now York. Removing in November, 1820, to Mount Morris, his native place, the Doctor bought the parental homestead, which had passed from the possession of the Mills family; and he has since devoted his energies and money to its improvement and adornment. He

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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

has improved and enlarged the house, erected beautiful and convenient out-buildings, and converted the three acres of land surrounding the mansion into a veritable park. This at- tractive home is located at the northern extrem- ity of Main Street, and commands a magnificent and extensive view of the Genesee valley, the situation being one to inspire the pen of a poet or the brush of an artist to its highest effort.

Under the familiar nom de plume of "Corn- planter, " Dr. Mills has published a valuable series of articles on Indian history, and has besides written the only true and complete history of the Mount Morris tract. His ser- vices as a public speaker and lecturer are often in demand. In 1878 he delivered the address of the day before the Wyoming Historical Pio- neer Association, at the dedication of their "log cabin" at Silver Lake, the twenty thou- sand people there gathered listening to his eloquent words with unabated interest till the close of the very last sentence. In February of the same year Dr. Mills was induced by special invitation to lecture before the literati of Dansville on "The Prehistoric Races in America, " and the intelligent and scholarly audience which greeted him was enthusiastic

in its approval of his utterances. On the 14th of September, 1880, the residents of Detroit listened to an address given by him to the State Association of Mexican War Veterans, reviewing the results and benefits of that war to the country, and stating the claims of the veteran soldiers upon the government for a pension. At the annual meeting of the Liv- ingston County Pioneer Association in August, 1877, at Long Point, Conesus Lake, he held a vast audience enthralled for more than an hour, even though black and lowering clouds and the ominous peals of thunder betokened the near approach of a deluging shower, from which their only shelter was the wide-spreading and friendly boughs of the forest trees. At various times he has spoken with great acceptance be- fore the farmers' institutes and kindred associ- ations. Dr. Mills was one of four citizens in Dansville and Mount Morris who originated the idea of forming the Livingston County, New York, Historical Society. At the organ- ization of the society at Mount Morris, Feb-

ruary 13, 1877, the Doctor formulated and presented the able and comprehensive constitu- tion and by-laws of the society, which were adopted. Though in use now eighteen years, the society have not found it advisable to change them in the slightest particular, except in one instance, from the second to the third Tuesday in January to hold its annual meeting, to accommodate the then secretary. He was the founder of the Livingston County Pioneer Association. He has ever taken an active interest in educational and local affairs, and has served as President of the Mount Morris Board of Education, and twelve successive Years as President of the Livingston County Historical Society, and is now President of the Mills Water-works Company and Railroad Commissioner of the town of Mount Morris. The system of water-works, which has added more than any other enterprise to the welfare of the village, was constructed after plans submitted to the village trustees and the citi- zens of Mount Morris by Dr. Mills, at a meet- ing held on the 4th of June. 1879. and has greatly improved the sanitary condition of the town, besides being most useful for domestic purposes and of great protection to the prop- erty of its inhabitants. For this enterprise and the great benefit and protection to the village from destruction by fires and the bless- ings resulting therefrom, the citizens are in- debted wholly to Dr. Mills, who furnished the entire capital.

In politics Dr. Mills has always affiliated with the Democratic party, and, though never an aspirant for official honors, has occasionally accepted places of trust and responsibility : and these he has filled with credit to himself and to the honor of his constituents. He is thoroughly democratic and simple in his man- ners, the honors heaped upon him during his career having in no way elevated his pride or detracted from his frank and cordial friendli- ness in his intercourse with others.

The home life of the Doctor and his attrac- tive wife and their two daughters is replete with domestic comfort and happiness. He can look back upon many long, useful, and well- spent years, by which the community and the world are not the losers. A portrait of Dr.

[11]

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Mills accompanies this sketch, and will be of more than ordinary interest to the readers of this volume.

RS. RHODINA (KUHIN) LAW- RENCE, of Springwater, Living- ston County, N. Y., a woman of charming personality, quiet and unassuming in her ways, amply endowed by nature with strong mental powers, a book-lover and student, especially interested in history, biography, and genealogy, has ever striven to promote the educational interests of the com- munity in which she lives. Mrs. Lawrence's paternal grandfather, Peter Kuhn, emigrated from Germany, where the days of his youth had been spent, to this country, and settled in Maryland, where he carried on farming for a time, but later came to this section of New York, being among the early pioneers of the town of Sparta.

The parents of Mrs. Lawrence, Jacob and Eleanor (Prussia) Kuhn, were well-known and prosperous members of the farming community of Sparta, N. Y. Of the ten children born to them, seven are still living; namely, Jere- miah, Joseph, Lovina, Jacob, Mary, Rhodina, and Eleanor. Mr. and Mrs. Kuhn were worthy Christians, following the teachings of the Lutheran church, to which they belonged; and both lived to a venerable age, the father dying at the age of eighty-three years, and the mother at the age of eighty-five years. Mrs. Lawrence's maternal grandparents were Chris- tian and Anna Maria Frederika (Kephart) Prussia, who emigrated from Prussia to Berks County, Pennsylvania, whence they came to this State. They raised a family of four sons and four daughters.

Rhodina Kuhn was a rosy-checked maiden, familiar with book-lore and thoroughly trained in the domestic arts, when she became the bride of Loren Lawrence, a stalwart young farmer of Springwater, and the son of John Lawrence, both being ripe in age as well as wisdom, he being thirty-nine and she twenty- eight years old. John Lawrence was a native of Onondaga County, where he was reared to agricultural pursuits. When a young man, he

migrated to Livingston County, and, purchas- ing a tract of timbered land, reared a "shake" cabin as his first domicile in this county, its location being in Sparta, where he lived for several years before becoming a resident of Springwater, where the last days of his busy life were passed. He married Mary Thiel, a New Jersey girl; and she bore him eleven children, namely : James; Loren ; Ira; Charles ; Elijah; David; Clarissa, deceased; George ; Eliza; Mary ; and Henry, deceased.

Loren Lawrence was born during the resi- dence of his parents on their homestead in Sparta, October 30, 1822. When he was eighteen years old, his people moved to Springwater, he remaining beneath the pater- nal roof thirteen more years. lle and his brother Ira purchased his present homestead in 1853, they two keeping bachelors' hall a good share of the time, but having occasional visits from their sisters. In 1863 Ira Law- rence married a young lass by the name of Juliette Lewis, daughter of Jacob Lewis; and then the two brothers who had lived together thirty-eight years had to separate, Ira purchas- ing of Collins Gardner the farm in Carney Hollow where he still resides. In 1881 Loren bought fifty-one acres one-half mile north of his residence, making in all one hun- dred and fifty-six acres. He has labored with persevering diligence and energy in its im- provement ; and his efforts have been crowned with success, the farm being well cultivated and amply supplied with every convenience for carrying on his work after the most approved methods. His union with Miss Kuhn was solemnized in 1862, and has been blessed by the birth of six children, three of whom are now living. Nellie married Edmond L. Al- bright, a contractor residing in Rochester; and they have three children -- Lawrence, Harold, and Leland. Ulysses Grant, a railroad man residing in Rochester, married Sadie Moose; and they have one child, Grantyne. The third one is William Artman Lawrence, now stay- ing at home, carrying on the farm. Mr. Law- rence is in all respects a most valuable citi- zen of the town, fulfilling his obligations as such with fidelity. In politics he is a stanch adherent of the Republican party, and in re-

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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ligion is inclined to the Methodist church, of which his wife is a faithful member.

The following interesting reminiscences have been kindly furnished by Mrs. Lawrence : "My father was born in 1794. He received a good English education, was a good writer and reader, always figured up the interest on his notes, and kept good accounts. He was a good singer, too. In 1813 he was drafted, and served in the army three months, for which he enjoyed a pension in his old age. I have heard him tell that they lived in Hagerstown, Md., when he was six years old; and he saw General Washington go through the town. After they moved to New York, they stopped in what is now the village of Dansville one year, then only a country place, with a grist- mill, one store, and a blacksmith-shop, visited frequently by wild Indians. Grandfather soon went on the hills to get him a home; for land was cheaper there, and he had a big family to support, seven boys and three girls. He at first settled on the land now owned by Fred- erick Traxler, one mile north of the Lutheran church, Sparta Centre. After a good many of his children were married, he sold that home to Peter Traxler, one of his sons-in-law, and bought eighty acres of heavily timbered pine land south-west of the church. He built a saw-mill, which stands there yet; and it must be sixty-five years old, if not more. It is now owned by my brother, I. A. Kuhn, and, with an addition where he saws wood and shingles, is in running order yet. In 1834 grandfather sold the mill lot to my father, and in 1835 bought and moved on to the farm now known as the Daniel Kuhn place, now occupied by his daughter, Lucinda Steffa. Grandfather did not live to be very old, for he had heart dis- ease. He was buried in that beautiful resting- place for the dead back of the aforesaid church, which ground and that where the church and school-house now stand he gave to the public for those purposes. Shortly after my father moved on the mill place, the community built the church, and my father sawed the timbers and lumber for the same.

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 1

Author: Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Boston : Biographical Review Number of Pages: 1256

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Boston : Biographical Review
Number of Pages: 1256