USA > New York > Ontario County > A history of Ontario County, New York and its people, Volume II > Part 25
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Mr. Judd married, December 27, 1882. Addie, daughter of Marvin Hill, of Palmyra, New York. Children: Bessie N., now assistant pastor of Centenary Church, of Syracuse; Mary H., preceptress of the Andover high school, New York; Ruth Wright, student in the high school ; Leland. also student in the high school.
OVERACRE.
John W. Overacre, for many years postmaster of Manchester village, Ontario county, New York, is one of the veterans of the civil war, whose record in that struggle must make every right thinking person proud of the bravery and patriotism displayed by the citizens of the Union during that memorable time. He is descended from a family whose interests were those of the state of New York for a number of generations, and who in the earlier days were mainly engaged in agriculture.
John Overacre, his father, was born in Herkimer county, New York, and was by occupation a millwright, in which he was enterprising and successful. He removed to Clifton Springs, Ontario county, New York, in 1842, and to Manchester village, in the same county, in 1846, and there spent the remainder of his life. He married Emily Blanchard and had children : John W., see forward ; Franklin; Emily and Eliza- beth.
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John W., son of John and Emily ( Blanchard) Overacre, was born in the town of Warren, Herkimer county, New York, July 25, 1835. He removed with his parents to the town of Sterling, New York, in 1838, and to Clifton Springs in 1842, in which place he attended the public schools for a few years, and supplemented this after leaving school by devoting every moment he could spare from his more active duties to the study of the best books that he could obtain. In this way he ac- quired an education of which any might be proud, and he may say with truth that for the greater part of the time he was his own tutor. In 1846 the family removed to Manchester village, where he worked on a farm until 1850, but thinking there were but small prospects for advancement for him in this line of industry, he became apprenticed to learn the carpenter's trade, which he followed until shortly after the outbreak of the civil war. In 1862 he enlisted in the Eighth Com- pany, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth New York Volunteers, was ad- vanced to the rank of fourth sergeant in this company and detailed for duty as a hospital steward, a position he filled until the battle of Gettys- burg. He was taken prisoner at Harper's Ferry, in September, 1862, and exchanged in November of that year, but illness overcoming him, he was sent to a hospital in Chicago, Illinois, but as soon as he was able to leave the hospital he reported to his regiment, in March, at Centerville, Virginia, and was detailed for duty as regimental steward. At the battle of Gettysburg Mr. Overacre was taken sick with typhoid fever, was sent to Baltimore Hospital, and upon his recovery joined the regular army as hospital steward, serving until January, 1866, whenhe was honorably discharged from the volunteer service. Upon his return from the army he entered the employ of the Empire Drill Company, at Shortsville, Ontario county, New York, with which he was connected for a period of twenty-eight years, being pattern maker for the company for fifteen of these years. He removed to Manchester village, where he is at pres- ent living, and was appointed postmaster in 1894, an office he has filled so capably that he is still holding it. He has frequently received com- mendation for the model manner in which the details of his office are carried out, and his executive ability is of an unusually high order. He is a member of Herendeen Post, No. 107, Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which institution he has served as steward.
Mr. Overacre married in Baltimore, Maryland, December 31, 1867, Juliet S., who died in June, 1906, a daughter of Jacob Day. Children :
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Mattie S., married A. W. Hawks; Charles B., married Pearl Gaffney, and they have one child, Gordon W .; Elizabeth, married Eugene De- Vall, two children.
HILL.
Vigorous and active at the time of life when the majority of men are compelled by physical disabilities to surrender the cares and re- sponsibilities of their respective callings to their successors of a younger generation, Reynolds Hill, chief engineer of the pumping station at Geneva, is still attending to his daily duties with a regularity and watch- fulness which few veterans of the civil war can equal.
Mr. Hill comes from an old Yates county family, his grandfather, Reynolds Hill, for whom he was named, having been an early settler in Reading, that county, and his father, Seth Hill, was an old time lumber- man, a Republican and a Universalist, liberal-minded, upright and opti- mistic. His span of life lapped over into the present century, and full of years he entered into his final rest in 1902. He married Maria Rich, born in 1826, died in 1900. Children: 1. Reynolds, see forward. 2. Ruth Ann, who died aged two years. 3. Jeanette, born May 3, 1845, married Chester Giles, and has one child, who died at the age of twenty years. 4. Maud, born in 1860.
Reynolds Hill, eldest child of Seth and Maria ( Rich) Hill, was born in Reading, Schuyler county, New York, May 7, 1841. He attended the public schools at Reading but his educational opportunities were limited, as at the early age of twelve years he began to assume the re- sponsibility of his own support by accepting employment at Beaver Dam, New York, and he later worked for his father in Millport, this state. When fifteen years old he went to work at Havana, and afterward de- voted two years to assisting his father in running a boat on the canal. In July, 1862, he enlisted at Elmira in the One Hundred and Forty-first Regiment, New York Volunteers, for service in the civil war, which was ordered to Maryland in the following September and went into winter quarters on Miner's Hill. He served under Generals Geary and Thomas ; was transferred to the One Hundred and Thirty-first New York Vol- unteers in 1863 with the rank of color-sergeant, and mustered out as such at Elmira, June 9, 1865. After leaving the army he found employ- ment on the lake steamers "John Arnot," "P. H. Fields" and "A. W. Langdon," plying Seneca Lake, and having acquired competency as an
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engineer he was advanced to the position of chief engineer of the steamer "Elmira." Removing to Bay City, Michigan, he served as chief en- gineer of several steamers hailing from that port, and he subsequently was employed in the same capacity on large steamers running between Detroit and Buffalo and Chicago. Among the latter were the steamers "Ramapole," "Oswego" and "Seneca." In 1903 he resigned his posi- tion on the "Seneca" in order to enter the service of the Geneva (New York) water department as chief engineer at the pumping station, and he still retains that responsible post. In politics he is independent. He was made a Mason in the blue lodge at Detroit some twenty years ago, and is now a member of the chapter and commandery at Geneva.
Mr. Hill married (first) in Geneva, New York, Olivia Andrus. He married (second) July II, 1904, Lizzie M. Patrick, and has one daugh- ter, Ruth, born in Geneva, September 16, 1905.
Mrs. Lizzie M. (Patrick) Hill was born in the county of Northum- berland, England, October 28, 1866. Her father, John Patrick, was born in the some county in 1835, and her mother Ellen ( Collins) Patrick, was born in England in 1843. Children: I. Lizzie M. (now Mrs. Hill). 2. William E. 3. Mary Ellen, married James Leroy. 4. John P., married Sarah McDole, four sons. 5. Arthur, married and has one child. 6. Frank, married and has one child. 7. Alice Ann, married Albert Rayner and has two children. 8. Emma. married E. Ward and has two children. 9. Cornelius, married Lillian Beals and has one son. IO. Bert.
ROCKEFELLER.
Rockefeller or Roquefeuillee, as originally spelled, was derived from two Norman-French words, meaning rock and field. It is the ac- cepted belief of the family that they are descended from ancient Norse- men, who established themselves in Normandy many centuries ago. To the original coat of arms, which consisted of a gold rock on a field of red, was added a hunter's horn on a field of silver, the emblem of an allied family. The ancient motto, "God is my Rock." was also changed, with the adoption of the new insignia, to "None More Faith- ful." The whole is surrounded by a border of gold and above is sus- pended the knotted cordeliers, a decoration peculiar to the period of the crusades, and still used by high dignitaries of the Church of Rome. Following the reformation the family accepted the Calvanistic faith, and
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its descendants on this side of the ocean are still firm believers in that doctrine. The history of the Rockefellers in America dates from about the year 1720, when John, Peter and Tiel Rockefeller arrived in Phila- delphia "from the country of the Palatines." They are said to have be- ionged to a family whose ancestral castle and estates were situated in the southeastern part of France. Tiel Rockefeller located in what is now Germantown, Columbia county, New York.
John Rockefeller settled near Flemington, New Jersey, where he ac- quired a large farm, and he and his fellow Baptists were wont to use a nearby stream for the immersion of converts.
(I) William Rockefeller, grandson of John, was married, June 3, 1772, to Christina, granddaughter of Tiel Rockefeller, thus strength- ening the ties of relationship between the two families.
(II) Godfrey Rockefeller, son of William and Christina Rocke- feller, settled upon a farm in Barrington, Columbia county, New York. He married a daughter of Miles Avery, who served as an officer in the revolutionary war. Godfrey Rockefeller had a family of nine children, two of whom, William and Norman, were well-to-do farmers and be- came nonogenarians. William was the father of John D. Rockefeller, whose munificent contributions in behalf of religious education, scien- tific investigation and moral improvement, amounting to more than one hundred and thirty-three million dollars, are almost without parallel in the world's history.
(III) Norman Rockefeller, son of Godfrey, was born in Barring- ton, Columbia county, New York, October 17, 1812. Taking kindly to the independent life of a farmer, and acquiring proficiency in that calling, he settled upon a farm in Richford, Tioga county, in 1840, and resided there some eight years. In 1848 he removed to Phelps, Ontario county, and resided in that town for the remainder of his life. He was an able and successful farmer, energetic, ambitious and possessed sound judgment in business affairs. He was at one time quite active in public affairs, serving with ability and credit in various town offices, including those of assessor and road commissioner. His upright character and genial disposition gained the esteem and good-will of his fellow-towns- men. His ninety-second birthday, which occurred October 17, 1904, was fittingly observed, and his long and useful life terminated in 1905. In 1840 Mr. Rockefeller married Miss Christina Blakeman. She died in 1882. Their children are: Arabel B., born in Richford, New York, July 4, 1841 ; Ira P., see forward; Ida M., born in Phelps, married Clay- ton T. Bradley.
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(IV) Ira P., son of Norman and Christina ( Blakeman) Rockefeller, was born in Richford, January 22, 1843. He accompanied his parents to Phelps, at the age of six years, and acquired his education in the district schools of that town. His opportunities for study, although limited, were used to good advantage, and for superior scholarship when sixteen years old, he was presented by Deacon George Beckwith with a Bible, which he still regards as one of his most valued possessions. Since at- taining his majority he has taken a conspicuous part in the agricultural and business development of Phelps, and has entered into all movements calculated to advance its general interests. The ability and good judg- ment he has displayed in the management of his farm deserves special emphasis, and he has fully demonstrated the fact that tilling the soil, when conducted according to progressive ideas, can be made financially remunerative. For a number of years he rendered able services to the town as a trustee of the public schools. He is a member of the Phelps Businessmen's Club.
Mr. Rockefeller was married in 1875 to Miss Julia E. Tiffany. His children are: Norman L., born in 1877; Roy P., born in 1881. Mrs. Rockefeller died January 26, 1887.
WESTFALL.
The surname Westfall is of Dutch origin. It was variously spelled Westvall, Westval, Westvaal, Westfall, Westfaal, Westpool, Westphoal, Westphall, Westphale, Westphalen, etc.
(I) Juriaen Westvall, the immigrant ancestor, was among the ear- liest settlers of Ulster county, New York, at what is now Esopus, near Kingston. He and twelve others petitioned, August 17, 1659, for a church at Esopus and the petition was granted. He owned lot 25 of the original division of land in 1662 and another grant May 29, 1667. He was a steady, persevering, upright and influential citizen. He mar- ried Marretje Hansen. Their three sons Johannes, Symon and Niclaes removed to Orange county and were grantees of land at the town of Deerpark in 1696. Between 1737 and 1800 there were in the two churches at Menssinck and Machacheneck, at Deerpark, over seventy heads of families of this surname, descendants of the immigrant. Juriaen died about 1667. Children: Rymerick, married Thomas Theunisse Quick (published, December 7, 1672) ; Johannes, married Maritje Jacobz
F
A. P. Rockefeller
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Cool, January 28, 1682, at Kingston; Niclaes, married (first) Maria Montagnje, April 21, 1702 and (second) Zara Van Aken, October 20, 1712; Abell, baptized September 25, 1661 ; Symon, baptized September 30, 1663; Elsjen, baptized June 2, 1666.
(II) Cornelius Westfall, descendant of Juriaen Westvall, was born October 7, 1753, died May 13, 1826. He came from Orange county to Phelps, Ontario county, New York, among the early settlers and took up a very large tract of land. He brought negro slaves with him to clear the land and work the plantation. In the census of 1790 he was re- ported in Montgomery county, New York, with two sons under sixteen and one female in his family. In that census there were in Orange county and elsewhere, the following heads of family: Abraham, Benja- min, Frederick, Jacobus, Johannes, Peter, Petrus, Simon Westfall.
(III) Jacob Westfall, son of Cornelius Westfall, was born January 28, 1779, died October 13, 1812. He was a soldier in the war of 1812 and was killed at the battle of Queenstown, in Canada, captain of a com- pany of riflemen. Children: Catherine, August 1, 1799; Cornelius, June 1, 1800; Samuel, mentioned below ; Benjamin, April 2, 1804; Al- bert, May 28, 1806.
(IV) Samuel Westfall, son of Jacob Westfall, was born on the old homestead in Phelps, April 10, 1802. He was educated in the public schools. He was a farmer. He died in 1870. He married Sena Cortright. Children: Catherine, Alfred, Harriet A., Benjamin Frank- lin, mentioned below.
(V) Benjamin Franklin Westfall, son of Samuel Westfall, was born on the homestead at Phelps, August 1, 1837, and was educated there in the district schools. He also followed farming for an occupation. He married Harriet Peck, born March 6, 1836, died October 20, 1896, daughter of Hiram Peck. Children : Jennie B., born January 19, 1866, married John Cross : Burton S., mentioned below.
(VI) Burton S. Westfall, son of Benjamin Franklin Westfall, was born on the old farm at Phelps, November 20, 1872, and educated there in the public schools. He worked on the farm during his youth and has continued to follow farming up to the present time. He is a member of Junius Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, and of the Maccabees. In poli- tics he is a Democrat, and in religion a Presbyterian. He married, January 16, 1895, Hattie Patten, daughter of William and Helen Patten, of Phelps. Children : Charles Stewart, born June 9, 1898; Leon Alfred, November 8, 1904.
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WILKENS.
Forty-two years ago Gustavus Charles Wilkens, a native of the fair land of Poland, left the dominion of the Czar to seek his fortune in America, and being favorably impressed with the possibilities open to him in this country he lost no time in renouncing his allegiance to the Rus- sian government.
Mr. Wilkens belongs to a race of liberty-loving people who have long cherished an ardent desire to regain their national independence, but the iron hand of imperial Russia still holds them in subjection. His father, Ludwig Wilkens, born in 1801, was in the service of the Russian government, having been at the mint for some time, and subsequently had full charge of large pulp and paper mills in Warsaw, Sacifa and Bozizno. In addition to his business ability he possessed a varied knowl- edge of the world and its affairs in general, having circumnavigated the globe, but his career of progress was cut short by his untimely death, which occurred when he was forty-seven years old. Ludwig Wilkens was married in 1842 to Caroline Teichman, who was born in Modzerowo, Poland, March 4, 1820, and is still living. Her father was the owner of three large freight boats plying on the Vistula river, which were de- stroyed by the Russian government forces during the Polish rebellion of 1830. Caroline (Teichman) Welkins' mother was before marriage, Minnie Anglehart, born in Vloclawek, Russia, in 1778, daughter of a Polish shipbuilder at Vloclawek on the river Vistula, who died in Mod- zerowo at the advanced age of ninety-seven years. The children of Lud- wig and Caroline (Teichman) Wilkens are: I. Gustavus Charles, see forward. 2. Caroline, born in 1846, married (first) Frederick Kroll; married (second) Frederick Schroder ; three children by first marriage. 3. Samuel, born in 1848, married twice and has a large family.
Gustavus Charles, eldest child of Ludwig and Caroline (Teichman) Wilkens, was born in Poland, August 8, 1843. He attended the public schools in Vloclawek, western Russia, and at the age of fourteen years was apprenticed to a butcher. He subsequently worked in various places in Germany and Austria, also in different cities in Russia, and was in the meat and provision business on his own account at Chechocinek for seven years. From Chechocinek he came to the United States, landing in New York, November 11, 1869, and proceeding to Philadelphia, was employed for a short time by Boucher & Company. In 1870 he began to learn the mason's trade at Mt. Vernon, New York, but was compelled by ill health to relinquish work temporarily, and upon his recovery he resumed his
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trade in Newark, New York, Mercantile pursuits were, however, far more congenial to him than the trowel, and he therefore determined to resume the provision business. Locating at Geneva, New York, in 1871, he opened a meat and provision establishment in the William Knight block on Exchange street, under the firm name of Wilkens & Zobrest. After the withdrawal of Mr. Zobrest in 1872, Henry Schroder was ad- mitted to partnership, and purchasing the latter's interest in 1873 Mr. Wilkens conducted the business for nine years. He was next associated with Frank C. Hofmann, for several years, and at the expiration of that time he removed to Rochester, New York, where for two and one-half years he conducted provision stores on West Main and Front streets. Return- ing to Geneva he re-established himself at 28 Castle street, and carried on a profitable business for fourteen years, or until his retirement. He is now devoting his time to his real estate interests and also the manage- ment of a farm of eighty acres located in Waterloo, Seneca county.
He is also president of the Allen Drug Company, of Geneva, and associated with Frank C. Hofmann in the drug and ice cream business at Auburn, New York. In politics Mr. Wilkens is a Republican. He be- longs to the Masonic Order, being a member of the blue lodge and chap- ter. He is a prominent member of the Evangelical Church of America, serving as trustee, class leader, treasurer, and upon the advisory board and for forty years has been active in church work.
Mr. Wilkens married in Bozizno, Russia, November II, 1862, Caro- line Kroll, a native of that place. Children: 1. Olga, born in Russia, January II, 1865, married, in Geneva, New York, H. J. Finn, and has Irene, born July 17, 1892 ; Hazel, born April 10, 1893. 2. Louise, born in Russia, November 12, 1867, married Carrie Miller, of Auburn, New York, in 1901, and she died in September, 1906, have one son, Fred Wilkens. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkens also brought with them from the old country an adopted son, Charles Crane, who married, and after the death of his wife, they took charge of his two children, one died soon after and they reared and educated the remaining one, Olga Crane ; she lives in Roches- ter.
Mrs. Caroline (Kroll) Wilkens' father was Fred Kroll, and the maiden name of her mother was Nellie Schroeder. He was born in Germany in 1813, died in 1863. The brothers and sisters of Caroline are : Frederick, Charles and Nellie.
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SALISBURY.
The Salisbury family is one of the most ancient in England, and its progeny in America is quite numerous. There is a possibility that it is of remote Welsh origin, but this fact cannot be definitely determined. The first of the name in New England was John Salisbury, who settled in Boston between the years 1630 and 1640, but the Ontario county family, mentioned below, are descended from an immigrant who arrived there at a later date.
(I) Humphrey Salisbury, born in England about 1685, came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1706, and settled at Braintree, where he died July, 1708. The tradition asserts that he was the youngest son of an English nobleman, and being excluded from inheriting the family estates through the ancient custom of primogeniture, he determined to seek his fortune beyond the sea. He was married in England to Mary Milburn, and had one son William.
(II) William, only son of William and Mary (Milburn) Salisbury, was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, April 19, 1707. He married, in 1728, Lydia Thomas. Children: William and Ambrose.
(III) William (2), son of William ( 1) and Lydia ( Thomas) Sal- isbury, became an officer in the colonial military service and was for some time in command of the fort on Castle Island, Boston Harbor. He had a family of seven children, four of whom were sons, and among the latter were Stephen and John.
(IV) John, son of William (2) Salisbury, was born in Boston, December 8, 1769. He and his brother Stephen resided for a time in Conway, Massachusetts, but about the year 1800 they removed to On- tario county, New York, and John settled as a pioneer in the town of Phelps.
(V) Benjamin F., son of John Salisbury, was reared in Phelps, and in his younger days shared in the hardships and vicissitudes encountered by the early settlers in the wilderness.
(VI) John V., son of Benjamin F. Salisbury, was born in Phelps, January 26, 1843. From his youth to the present time he has always resided in his native town, devoting his energies exclusively to the culti- vation of the soil, and is one of the most able and successful farmers in that section of the state. For a number of years he served as a trustee of the public schools, and in various other ways he has demonstrated his interest in the general welfare of the town. He married Ellen Stryker.
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Children : Frank A., born September 22, 1873 ; John Lewis, see forward ; Anna M., born January 7, 1880.
(VII) John Lewis, youngest son of John V. and Ellen (Stryker) Salisbury, was born at the family homestead in Phelps, September 17, 1875. After graduating from the Phelps high school he pursued a course in agriculture at Cornell University, and being thus well equipped for the cultivation of the soil upon scientific principles, he proceeded to apply himself with energy to that honorable calling. In addition to general farming he specializes in the production of fruit, and through the appli- cation of scientific methods to that branch of agriculture he has obtained results which have proved both gratifying and remunerative. He is ac- tively interested in the Patrons of Husbandry and at the present time is master of the local grange. He is a leading member of the Presbyterian church, now serving as its treasurer, and also as a member of its board of trustees.
Mr. Salisbury married, in 1904, H. Lulu Ringer, daughter of Jacob Ringer, of Phelps. They have one son, Arthur J., born August 8, 1907.
HOFMANN.
For the opening of Hofman and Grant avenues, the establishment of an up-to-date sewer system and important public improvements, the people of Geneva are indebted to Frank C. Hofmann, an enterprising and progressive German-American citizen, whose faithful performance of the various duties he has been called upon to fulfill under both town and city governments, has proved of inestimable value to the city of his adop- tion.
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