USA > New York > Ontario County > A history of Ontario County, New York and its people, Volume II > Part 28
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50
(VI) Nathan, son of Captain Jonathan (3) Whitney, was born at Conway, October 18. 1761, and married there (first), November 1, 1780. Olive Whitney, daughter of Lieutenant Jesse, born February 19, 1758. died November 17, 1828. He married (second) Thankful Caldwell. He lived in Conway until 1792, when he emigrated to Seneca Castle, New York. one of the first pioneers. He was a farmer by occupation. Nearly
+
C. P. Whitney
275
ONTARIO COUNTY.
all his children were remarkable for their longevity. He died April 19, 1838. Children : I. Luther, August 20, 1782, married Hannah Witter and Hannah L. Smalley. 2. Theodore, March 4, 1785, died June 29, 1792; killed by a falling tree. 3. Otis, October 19, 1786, married Betsey Hawley. 4. Polly, September 19, 1788; married, August 31, 1806. Seth Whitmore; died March 7, 1823. He was born in Conway, March 17, 1783, died August 27, 1869. 5. Nathan, January 22, 1791, married Sarah Gray. 6. Cheney, April 21, 1795, mentioned below. 7. Olive, Sep- tember 28, 1797, married Simeon Van Aukin; died January 15. 1821. 8. Jonathan, September 23, 1798, married Betsey 9. Julia Ann, December 17, 1799, married Dr. Sartwell ; died April 28, 1824.
(VII) Cheney, son of Nathan Whitney, was born in Seneca, New York, April 21, 1795. He was educated in the public schools and fol- lowed farming in his native town. He married Olive Colwell, born March 19, 1801. Children : Daniel H., born October 19, 1819. died January 1, 1910; Hackaliah, August 30, 1822 ; Sidney, August 20, 1824, deceased : Clarrisa, December 16, 1826; Sophronia, October 26, 1828; Byron, September 4, 1830; Emma, October 24, 1833; Cheney P., men- tioned below ; Anna, March 25, 18 -.
(VIII) Cheney P., son of Cheney Whitney, was born in Seneca, June 10, 1836. He attended the public schools there and the Phelps Union School and the Oswego Business College. He then engaged in farming, and in 1872 purchased his present farm on which for many years he raised thoroughbred horses, cattle and hogs. In later years he has made fruit culture a specialty and has taken first prizes on fruit at all the county fairs of this section. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church of Seneca Castle and for forty years has been elder. He is a member of Seneca Castle Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, and has been master and chaplain. He has been excise commissioner of the town of Phelps and trustee of the school district in which he lives. In politics he is a Republican. He has been a member of the Ontario Agricultural Society for forty years, and served two years as president and he is a member of the State Agricultural Society.
He married in 1861 Mary C. Chapman, daughter of John and Mar- garet Chapman. Children : Margaret, born April 7, 1864, married William F. Chapman ; Almon, April 15, 1867; Mary Matilda, November II, 1870, a teacher of deaf mutes in New York City.
276
ONTARIO COUNTY.
SAWYER.
Tradition says that three brothers came to America from Lincoln- shire, England, in a ship commanded by Captain Parker. Their names were William, Edmund and Thomas, and they arrived in 1636, although Savage finds no records of William and Thomas until 1643. In the Rowley records Edmund is given as Edward, who received land in 1643, with Thomas Sawyer, one of the boundaries of each lot being next the ocean. This seems to prove that the brothers, William, Thomas and Edward, came over just before 1643, and that Edmund came over sev- eral years earlier.
(I) Thomas Sawyer, immigrant ancestor, was one of the nine per- sons in 1653 who organized the town of Lancaster. He was a black- smith and farmer, and was one of the prominent citizens. His farm was on the present ground of the Seventh Day Adventists, between North Lancaster and Clinton. His house was in the most central part of the Indian raid, but he seems to have escaped with all his family, except his son Ephraim who was killed at or near the house of his grandfather, John Prescott. Thomas Sawyer's garrison was a safe defence against the French and Indians, and there was said to be with the garrison a high French officer who was mortally wounded in the fight. Lancaster was deserted for three years, when the Sawyer family helped to build up the town again, and was prominent in its affairs for the next thirty years. Thomas Sawyer took the oath of allegiance in 1647, and was on the list of proprietors in Lancaster in 1648. He was admitted a freeman in 1654, when there were only five men who were freemen. He died Sep- tember 12, 1706, aged about ninety years. His will was dated March 6. 1705-06, proved April 12, 1720. He mentioned wife Mary, sons Thomas, Joshua, James, Caleb and Nathaniel, and daughter Mary Wilder, whose name was usually spelled Marie.
Thomas Sawyer married Marie, daughter of John Prescott, a black- smith from Sowerby in the parish of Halifax, England, West Riding of Yorkshire, where he married Mary Blatts, of Yorkshire. He was born in Lancashire, England, and came to Lancaster, Massachusetts, in 1645- 46, for the purpose of building up the town, and he took the oath of alle- giance in 1652. His family escaped the massacre and returned to the town in 1682. Children: Thomas, born July 2, 1649, mentioned below; Ephraim, January 16, 1650-51, died February 10, 1676, killed by Indians at Prescott garrison: Mary, November 4, 1652-53, married. 1673. Nathaniel Wilder ; Elizabeth, January, 1654, died young ; Joshua, March
277
ONTARIO COUNTY.
13, 1655, died July 14, 1738, married. January 2, 1677-78, Sarah Potter ; James, January 22, 1657, married (first) February 4, 1677, Mary Mar- ble, and (second) Mary Prescott, of Pomfret, Connecticut; Caleb, Feb- ruary 20, 1659; John, April, 1661, married, January 16, 1686, Mary Bull, of Worcester: Elizabeth, baptized January 5. 1663-64. married James Hosmer, of Marlborough; Deborah, 1666, died young ; Nathaniel, Oc- tober 24, 1670, married (first) Mary and ( second ) 1695. Eliz- abeth
(II) Thomas (2), son of Thomas ( 1) Sawyer, was born in Lan- caster, Massachusetts, July 2, 1649, the first white child born there. When he was about fifty-five years old, he was captured by the Indians, when he was living at the garrison during Queen Anne's war. On Octo- ber 16, 1695, he, his son Elias, and John Bigelow, of Marlborough, were at work in his sawmill when they were surprised and taken by the Indians, and carried to Canada, where Bigelow and Elias Sawyer were turned over to the French for ransom. The Indians kept Thomas Sawyer, intending to burn him to death. Sawyer offered to build a sawmill for the French on the Chamlay river if they saved his life from the Indians and gave the three captives freedom. The French were glad of this opportunity to get a much-needed mill, but it was impossible to persuade the Indians to give him up, as they had made up their minds to put him to death, knowing that he was a brave man who was not afraid of torture and death. The French governor, however, defeated their purpose by a clever trick. When Sawyer was tied to the stake, a French friar appeared with a key in his hand, and he described the tortures of purgatory so ter- ribly, telling him that he was ready to unlock the doors with the key he held in his hand, that they gave up their victim, fearing the unseen more than the real dangers. Sawyer built the mill, which is said to have been the first in Canada, and then came home after nearly a year of captivity. Elias Sawyer was kept a year longer to teach others how to run the mill. but the captives were well treated by the French after they were found to be useful.
Thomas Sawyer married (first) Sarah ------ , 1670. He married (second) in 1672, Hannah -. He married ( third) in 1718. Mary White. He died in Lancaster, September 5, 1736, and his gravestone still remains. His will was dated December 15. 1735, and proved Novem- ber 3, 1736. He mentioned four sons and two daughters, and bequeathed twelve pounds to purchase a communion vessel for the Lancaster church. Children : William, of Bolton; Joseph, mentioned below ; Bazaleel ; Elias; Mary, married Josiah Rice, of Marlborough; Hannah, married
278
ONTARIO COUNTY.
Jonathan Moore, of Bolton; (perhaps) Sarah, married Rev. Nathaniel Whitman, of Deerfield.
(III) Joseph, son of Thomas (2) Sawyer, was born about 1675. He died before March 31, 1739. when his eldest son Joseph deeded to his brothers Thomas, of Bolton, and Abner, of Lancaster, a quarter of his double share of the estate of his father. Joseph, but "not my right in the thirds." Children, baptized together June 22, 1718, in the First Church of Lancaster: Joseph, married Tabitha Prescott; Sarah; Thomas, men- tioned below; Abner, born 1711, married, April 8, 1736, Mary Miller ; Aaron, died aged forty-three, (his name not given in the list of those baptized) ; Asenath ; Mary.
(IV) Thomas (3), son of Joseph Sawyer, was born in Lancaster, 1710, died at Bolton where he settled when a young man, March 31, 1797, aged eighty-seven. The date of his death was found on his gravestone. He built a mill on Jackson pond in Winchendon in 1765, and one in Otto river for his son Thomas in 1762-63. He also built mills in Baldwins- ville in 1767-68. He deeded land in Templeton to his son Abner, Sep- tember 3, 1763, lots 5, 6, 36, 50, and others. He deeded land to his son Hooker, July 7, 1766. He married Elizabeth - -, who died May 28, 1761, aged fifty-one years, one month, and eighteen days. Children, born in Bolton: Abraham, September 19, 1737, died young; Thomas, February 6, 1739-40, mentioned below; Abner, May 9, 1742, married Hannah Piper, May 26, 1763 ; Hooker, November 3, 1744, married Relief Whitcomb, October 2, 1766; Elizabeth, June 12, 1747: Joseph, July 26, 1750, died young.
(IV) Thomas (4), son of Thomas (3) Sawyer, was born in Bolton, February 6, 1739-40. He followed the trade of his father, that of a millwright, and settled in Templeton soon after his marriage. He removed from there to Winchendon in 1771, where he was a constable in 1772-74. He served in the revolutionary war, the first service being at the Lexington alarm, April 19, 1775, when he appeared as sergeant on the roll of Captain Abel Wilder's company. Colonel Ephraim Doolittle's regiment. They marched from Winchendon to Cambridge, April 20. 1775, and served sixteen days. He was a private on the muster and pay roll of Captain Abraham Foster's company, Colonel Samuel Bullard's regiment, which marched August 18, 1777, to reinforce the northern army, and he was discharged November 30, 1777, after serving three months and twenty-four days. The northern army was a body of troops from Massachusetts and Connecticut, about Lake Champlain and south- ward, for defense of the frontier under command of General Schuyler.
279
ONTARIO COUNTY.
On the day of Burgoyne's surrender, October 17, 1777, although not formally discharged from the Massachusetts regiment, and off duty, he served for six days as a volunteer in a Vermont military company, raised by Captain Abraham Salisbury in Clarendon, by the authority of the committee of safety and the principal inhabitants of Wallingford, Claren- don, Rutland and Pittsford, on being alarmed by the enemy's taking pris- oners and plundering houses in Pittsburg. Soon after this Thomas Sawyer returned to Massachusetts and was discharged the following November. He moved with his family to Clarendon, Vermont, where he was chosen captain by his neighbors and the council of safety. During this period he built himself a house and grist mill, the first ever erected in Clarendon.
In 1778 the dangers of the war around Clarendon were removed, because of parties of British and Indians from Canada. Captain Saw- yer's first expedition was to Shelburne, on the then northern frontier. Whitfield Walker, a grandson of Captain Sawyer, wrote an account of the trip in 1847, having learned the facts of it from his mother, Prudence Sawyer, as follows :
THE BATTLE OF SHELBURNE.
"A man by the name of Moses Pierson emigrated from the State of New Jersey to Shelburne. Vt., in 1777, and built a block-house, which was in an unfinished condition, for the security of his family. That sec- tion of the state being infested by Tories and Indians, and being unpro- tected by any military force, he was made acquainted with an expected incursion of Tories and Indians from Canada. A message was sent to Clarendon for assistance. Captain Sawyer heard the call and his action was prompt. He called his company together and beat up for followers. L. Barnum and fifteen others caught their Commander's spirit and turned out at the tap of the drum. Capt. Sawyer had a wife and six children, the oldest of which was a son twelve years of age, whose business it was to chop and draw the wood, and assist his mother in tending the grist- mill. These he left and took up the line of march with seventeen volun- teers on the 20th of January, 1778. Their pathway was a trackless forest. except by the Indian, wolf and panther. The season was inclement and the snow deep. The march was tedious and their suffering and privations intense ; the last ten miles of their march the party came near perishing.
"On their arrival at Mr. Pierson's block-house, the place of desti- nation, a distance of sixty-six miles, late in the evening and nearly frozen, they found Pierson and family in a state of anxious solicitude for their safety, and that of a few other hardy pioneers. They were hospitably received and shared with them a frugal meal of hominy ground in a steel
280
ONTARIO COUNTY.
handmill, brought by Pierson from New Jersey. Glad were they to share his shelter, and to camp about his ample fire.
"When morning came the volunteers set about repairing the defenses by putting the block-house in better repair. The doors and windows were insecure and required to be barricaded. Operations were at once com- menced and they had nearly completed the defense, all except securing one window, when they found the block-house surrounded by Tories and Indians, the first notice of which was the discharge of a volley of mus- ketry through the insecure window, by which three persons were killed, named Barnum, Woodward, and Daniels, the latter two of whom were not of the party, but only came in for protection during the night.
"The battle then commenced in good earnest. The guns of the assailed were pointed with deadly aim at the enemy. Numbers fell, reap- ing a rich reward for their temerity, till at length they became desperate and set fire to the house in several places. What was to be done was the question, as there was no water at hand and the flames were rapidly spreading. Captain Sawyer ordered the contents of a barrel of beer to be used, and one of the number sallied out under a shower of bullets and fortunately extinguished the fire. A second attempt was made to fire it, but our little band became in turn the assailants. The enemy was driven from the field carrying off their wounded, and as was supposed a portion of their dead, leaving seven on the field, together with four prisoners taken.
"At morning's early dawn they surveyed the battle-field. Pursuing the track of the enemy to Lake Champlain, about half a mile distant from the scene of action, tracing it by the bloody snow which was deeply tinged, they passed down the banks of Bloody Brook, so called from the battle. They found, in the lake, holes cut through the ice, the edges of which were bloody, and into which it was evident some of the slain Indians had been plunged.
"Among the killed was an Indian Chief with ear and nose jewels. These jewels, also a powder horn, belt and bullet pouch. were trophies kept by the Captain as long as he lived, as mementoes of an illustrious deed, achieved by him and his followers, on the 12th of March, 1778.
"Three days previous to the battle, a Tory by the name of Philo left the vicinity on skates for St. Johns, to give the British notice that a patroling party were at Shelburne, and they projected the plan of their capture, and the extirpation of these devoted friends of liberty. The assailants came on skates that the surprise might be complete. but the cowardly miscreant, Philo, did not return, but stayed behind. They doubtless congratulated themselves with certain prospects of a bloodless triumph, so far as they were concerned, and that the scalps of this band of heroes would entitle them to a liberal bounty from the British govern- ment. But they learned to their sorrow the Sons of Liberty were awake. and ready to pour out their blood like water, in defense of their homes and fireside altars.
281
ONTARIO COUNTY.
"From the preceding facts it was believed by the victors that the number killed far exceeded what were found on the field, but nothing certain was ever known. Captain Sawyer, as a reward for the heroism of the soldier who extinguished the flames of the burning block-house with the contents of the beer barrel, presented him with his watch."
A letter sent to Captain Ebenezer Allen at that time says: "Gen- tlemen : By the express, this moment received the account of Capt. Sawyer's late signal victory over the enemy at Shelburne. By order of the Council of Safety. Thomas Chandler Jr. Secretary." In 1777 all the continental troops were taken from the state and the people left to their own resources. In the spring of 1778 Rutland became the centre of the military forces of the state, and a fort was built, called "Fort Ranger," and Captain Sawyer was placed in command of the fort, hold- ing the responsible position for two years and rendering distinguished service. The forts at Castleton and at Pittsford were under his super- vision also. During his military service Captain Sawyer lived in Claren- don until 1783, when he moved to Salisbury, Addison county, New York, and erected the first sawmill and gristmill in the region. Later he built there a forge for the working of iron, and in 1786 he kept the first flock of sheep in Addison county. He was chosen the first representative of the town of Leicester, Vermont, to the legislature, an office which he held for three years. Salisbury at that time was supposed to be part of Leicester, but later Captain Sawyer's place was included in the town of Salisbury. In 1794 he moved to Manchester, Ontario county, New York, where he died March 12, 1796, aged fifty-five. He was a man of stalwart frame and iron mould, and had a fine moral and intellectual character.
He married Prudence Carter, who was born in Bolton in 1747, daughter of - and Prudence (Sawyer) Carter. Prudence Sawyer was a cousin of Captain Sawyer's father. They were married in Har- vard, a part of the original town of Lancaster, September 13. 1762. She died in 1818, in Manchester. The intention was dated August 7, 1762. He was of Templeton at the time of marriage. Children, born at Tem- pleton : Stephen, October 4. 1764 ; Prudence, January 14, 1767 ; children, born at Winchendon : Eunice, Tuesday, May 2, 1769; Hooker, June II. 1771 ; Lucy, February 25, 1774 ; Joseph, May 30, 1777, mentioned below ; Olive, at Clarendon, October 14, 1779; Thusebe, June 3. 1783, at Clar- endon, died August 27, 1790; Luke, July 8, 1785, at Leicester ; Mark, February 25, 1788, at Leicester, died July 27, 1790.
(VI) Joseph (2), son of Captain Thomas (4) Sawyer, was born on "Saber-day," March 30. 1777, at Winchendon. He married ( first )
282
ONTARIO COUNTY.
Desire Root in 1802. She died in 1807. He married ( second) Decem- ber 25. 1807. Anna Coats. Children by first wife : Henry, born April 25, 1803: Thusebe, April 25, 1805. Children by second wife : Desire, Octo- ber 23, 1809; Abelina, December 15, 1811 ; Joseph Norris, April 4, 1814, mentioned below ; Eliza A., October 19, 1816; Lorenzo Wesley, June 29, 1819: James Paddock, April 7, 1821, died June 26, 1822; James Mosely, June 16, 1823; Louisa M., August 21, 1825 ; Schuyler Seager, January 19. 1828.
(VII) Joseph Norris, son of Joseph (2) Sawyer, was born at Manchester, New York, April 4, 1814, died at Farmington, New York, March 16, 1883. He was educated in the public schools of Manchester and followed farming. He had a place of two hundred acres in Farming- ton and added largely to it during his life. He was a Methodist in reli- gion, a Republican in politics. He married, October 26, 1843, Caroline Johnston, born 1822, in Dutchess county, died April 1, 1908. Children : I. Caroline Elizabeth, born June 17, 1844, married, June 23, 1866, J. Jordan Snook, and had Agnes R., born March 16, 1890. 2. Arabelle Louisa, August 14, 1846, married, August 24, 1882, Luther Autisdale and had Mildred Autisdale, born February 10, 1889. 3. Anna, June 20, 1850, married, February 16, 1881, Arthur Root and had Herman H., born July 19, 1882. 4. Henry Howard, mentioned below. 5. Phoebe Johnston, January 17, 1856, married, August 15, 1878, Charles Frazer, from whom she was divorced February 13, 1882, when she and her sons took her maiden surname, Sawyer ; children : Joseph N., born May 30, 1879, at Victor, New York : Leland, August 15, 1880, at Farmington, New York. 6. Hattie, October 19, 1858, died March 14, 1861. 7. Charles R., December 21, 1860, married (first) November 5, 1884, Ella Chapman, who died December 25, 1886; (second), October 25. 1893, Elizabeth Palmer. 8. Joseph Norris, June 3. 1863, married Catherine Wynkoop and had Richard L., born February 11, 1898, died July 16, 1903. 9. Frederick A., May 26, 1867.
(VIII) Henry Howard, son of Joseph Norris Sawyer, was born at Farmington, New York, March 31, 1853. He attended the district school and the Palmyra high school. During his boyhood he worked on his father's farm and afterward cultivated a farm of one hundred and forty-three acres of his own. Afterward he moved to the Rushmore farm consisting of one hundred and forty-five acres, owned by his wife's father. From 1876 to 1903 he lived at Farmington and since then has lived at Victor, where he has charge of two large farms. In politics he is a Republican and he is postmaster of Victor. In religion he is a Methodist.
283
ONTARIO COUNTY.
He is a member of the Farmington Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. He married, January 15, 1880, Ella P. Rushmore, born at Farmington, De- cember 25, 1858, daughter and only child of Lewis and Deborah A. (Dennis) Rushmore. Her father was born in 1828, died in 1897, a pros- perous farmer, a Republican in politics and a member of the Society of Friends. Her mother was born in 1838 and died in 1895.
ROBSON.
The prosperity of a country depends largely upon the condition of its commerce and agriculture, and the ability of the men who are in closest contact with these forms of industry. Among those who have taken a foremost place in their section of the country in improving and enlarging the agricultural output, and in increasing the commercial interests of the communities in which they live, may justly be mentioned the name of Edward B. Robson, a man of innate force of character, which he has augmented by constant, energetic and indefatigable labor. His family has been owners of land in the state of New York for a number of gen- erations.
(I) John Robson, grandfather of Edward B. Robson, owned a farm at Seneca, Ontario county, New York, with the cultivation of which he was occupied during the active years of his life.
(II) William N., son of John Robson, was born in the town of Seneca, New York, in 1822, on the homestead farm. This later passed into his possession and he was engaged in its cultivation until his death. He married Katherine J. Smith, who is still living on the old homestead.
(III) Edward B., son of William N. and Katherine J. (Smith) Robson, was born in the town of Seneca, Ontario county, New York, November 19, 1867. He received the advantages of an excellent business and classical education. At first he was a pupil in the district school, then at the Canandaigua Academy and the Geneva High School, and finally received his business training at Eastman's Business College, from which institution he was graduated in 1891. During his early years, while he was still a student, his spare time was employed in assisting his father in the cultivation of the homestead farm, and he thus gained a detailed and practical knowledge of all pertaining to general agriculture. His first position in commercial life was with the Adams Express Company, in Geneva, with whom he remained for a short time, resigning to accept a
284
ONTARIO COUNTY.
position as bookkeeper with the hardware firm of T. J. & R. M. Skilton, which position he held for a period of seven years, and until he started in business for himself. About 1899 he established himself in the agri- cultural implement business, a branch of commerce with which he was thoroughly well acquainted, and of this he made an immediate success. He keeps in stock a large and varied assortment of every tool and imple- ment in use in the cultivation of the soil, and the branches of work con- nected with it, his annual sales averaging at the present time twenty thousand dollars, and they are steadily and constantly increasing. The business is conducted on the most modern and approved lines, and fully equipped with everything which will draw trade. In addition to giving this business his personal attention, he continues to manage his farm, which consists of one hundred and one acres in Fayette, Seneca county, New York. Mr. Robson is a man of great versatility and is practically unacquainted with the meaning of physical or mental weariness. He has been one of the most active members of the Democratic party in his section of the country, and has creditably filled a variety of public offices. He served as supervisor of the city of Geneva for two years, and when he was elected to this office, he carried every ward in the city and received a majority of two hundred and fifty-one votes, a testimony to the high esteem in which he is held personally by his fellow citizens, as four of the wards are strongly Republican. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, a Mason, and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He was a member of the committee on the improvement of the Courthouse, and was chair- man of the committee that purchased the site at Holcomb, prepared the plans and awarded the contract for the erection of the Tuberculosis Hos- pital. Mr. Robson married (first) Anna B. Watson: (second) January 3. 1906, Flora Willower, born in Seneca county, New York, 1872. Chil- dren : John C., born January 29, 1908, and Margaret, born June 29, 1910.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.