USA > New York > Steuben County > A history of Steuben County, New York, and its people, Vol. II > Part 15
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
Norman Palmer was reared and educated in Cortland county, New York. In 1853, with his wife and five children, he went to Wisconsin and located at Milton, Rock county. From there he
648
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY
removed to Dodge Center, Dodge county, Minnesota. The last fifteen years of his life were spent with his daughter, wife of Dr. H. R. Maxon, at Nortonville, Kansas, where he died, aged ninety- three. His wife was ninety-one at the time of her death. They reared a family of five children, all of whom were living when this book was in preparation. Doctor Palmer is the eldest. His brother N. P. Palmer lives at Milton Junction, Dodge county, Wis- consin. His sister, Mrs. Olive A. Maxon, lives at Nortonville, Kan- sas. His brother Albert L. is a citizen of California. His sister Avaline A. lives at Dodge Center, Minnesota, the wife of a Mr. Ellis.
Doctor Palmer passed his childhood and youth in Cortland county, New York. When he was fourteen years old he went to Wisconsin, and he remained there until he was twenty-five. His education was begun in public schools in his native county and continued in those of Milton, Wisconsin. In time he became a stu- dent in what is now known as Milton University. For ten years he taught school in New Jersey, closing his work in that state at Salem, Salem county, "South Jersey," where he was superintendent of the city schools in 1870-73. From 1873 to 1879 he was a teacher in public schools in Rhode Island. He had now decided to become a physician and surgeon, and after three years' diligent study of medicine and its allied sciences he was graduated in 1882 from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York city.
Within a few months after he received his diploma as an M. D. Doctor Palmer located at Hornell and there, practically, made his professional beginning. He soon became in demand and had no difficulty, in working up a lucrative practice. He has remained there, adding year by year to his success. Among medical men of the Southern Tier he is well known through his membership of Hornell Medical Society, the Steuben County Medical Society and the New York Medical Society. Of the Hornell society, known officially as the Hornell Medical and Surgical Association, he has been president. He is now responsibly connected with the Steuben Sanitarium. He has from time to time been appointed medical examiner for some of the great life insurance companies.
In 1864 Doctor Palmer married Miss Margaret C. Noble, of Shiloh, Cumberland county, New Jersey, a daughter of Mark S. and Mary Noble. Though born at Shiloh, New Jersey, Mrs. Palmer was married in Wisconsin. She has reared three children. Ivanna J. is supervisor of music in the city schools of New York city. Jessie M. is the wife of Professor F. G. Bates, a graduate of Cor- nell University and of Columbia University, now connected with the University of Kansas at Lawrence. Everett C., who was edu- cated at Alfred University and at Cornell University, is employed as a draughtsman in the great establishment of Cottrell & Sons, Westerly, Rhode Island.
In his politics Dr. Palmer is a good Republican, but he would vote for a good Democrat for a local office as against an unpromis-
649
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY
ing Republican. He has pronounced views on all national questions and believes his ideas will be better promoted by the party of his choice than they could possibly be by any rival party. He is a Seventh Day Baptist and was one of the founders and has always been one of the most dependable supporters of the Hornell organiza- tion of that denomination.
FRANK CAULKINGS, M. D .- In the male, line of descent this popular citizen and medical man is of English extraction. Porter Caulkings, his father, a native of the state of New York, was a con- tractor and builder, living in Wales, Erie county, New York, but doing business exclusively in Buffalo. He married Angeline Rossell Andrews, also of New York state birth, and they had two sons. Mr. Caulkings died in 1850, aged about thirty-five years, and his widow survived to celebrate the eighty-fourth anniversary of her birth, with a prospect that she will see several more anniversaries of that event.
Doctor Caulkings was born in Wales, Erie county, New York, October 4, 1849, the eldest of his parents' two sons, and was about two years old when his father died. He began to support himself when he was nine years old, working at anything that he could find to do that was honest and would bring remuneration in any available shape. Notwithstanding the disadvantage at which he was as compared with other boys of his age, he gained a fair com- mon-school education, and he was only a mere lad when he began in an irregular way to study medicine. He was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Buffalo June 6, 1884. Later he was graduated from the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College and also received an honorary degree from the Hahnemann Medi- cal College of that city. He practiced in Wyoming county five years and moved to Erie county in 1880, where he continued his practice in Buffalo and vicinity until 1903, when he came to Hornell. He makes a specialty of chronic diseases, for the treat- ment of which he makes his own remedies in his own laboratories.
Medicine alone does not claim all of Doctor Caulkings' atten- tion. He is interested in a number of patents for automobiles, in- cluding springs of an original conception, some of which he is hav- ing manufactured on royalty. He is the owner of some good proper- ty and has a real interest in Hornell and its prosperity. On June 25, 1902, he married Alice M. Tefft, daughter of Stephen E. and Caroline E. (Jenkins) Tefft and a native of Springville, Erie county, New York, who was educated at Griffith Institute and at the New York State Normal School at Buffalo. Before her mar- riage Mrs. Caulkings had been a teacher twelve years, eight of them in her home schools at Springville.
ELIZABETH D. HUNT .- It is a matter of much gratification to be able to offer in this publication a brief record concerning Miss Hunt, who has been a resident of Steuben county from the time of
650
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY
her nativity and who is a member of one of the old and honored families of the county.
Elizabeth Dudley Hunt was born in Bath township, Steuben county, on the 17th of October, 1834, and is a daughter of Otis and Louisa (Fluent) Hunt, the former of whom was born in Benning- ton county, Vermont, on the 4th of November, 1804, and the latter of whom was born in Bangor, Maine, in 1803. Otis Hunt was a son of Ezekiel and Lavina (Thayer) Hunt, the former of whom was born March 3, 1772, and the latter, December 22, 1775. Their marriage was solemnized on the 28th of February, 1796, and both were representative of stanch old New England stock, the respec- tive families having been founded in America in the Colonial epoch of our national history. Ezekiel Hunt came to Steuben county in 1820 and located in Bath township, where he reclaimed a farm from the wilderness and where both he and his devoted wife passed the residue of their lives. He was summoned to eternal rest at the age of seventy-seven years and his wife passed away at the age of seventy-six years. They were numbered among the sterling pioneers of the county and their names merit a place on its records, as they did well their part in connection with the development and upbuilding of this favored section of the old Empire state. In 1834 Governor Marcy appointed Otis Hunt to the office of lieu- tenant colonel of a regiment of New York artillery, and in this capacity he gave effective service. Colonel Otis Hunt, father of her whose name initiates this review, was about sixteen years of age at the time of the family removal from the old Green Moun- tain state to Steuben county, and here he was actively identified with agricultural pursuits during his youth. In 1841 he became as- sociated with R. B. Stewart in the gerenal merchandise business in the village of Bath, and with this line of enterprise he here con- tinued to be identified for a period of five years. Within this time he also served as deputy sheriff and he was superintendent of the county house and farm for five years. He ever held secure van- tage place in the confidence and esteem of the community and is well remembered by its older citizens. He finally removed to Liv- ingston county, this state, where he was engaged in the hotel busi- ness for some time. In 1861 he removed to Illinois and located at Dixon, where he passed the residue of his life and where his death occurred on the 2d of November, 1882. His wife passed away in 1865, and of the five children Elizabeth D., of this review, is the only one living. Otis Hunt was a stanch Democrat in his political allegiance. Mrs. Hunt was a daughter of Jeremiah and Mehitabel. (Dudley) Fluent, both of whom were natives of Maine, whence they came to Steuben county in an early day. Mr. Fluent be- came one of the prominent farmers and influential citizens of the county, and here both he and his wife continued to maintain their home until death. The names of the deceased children of Otis and Louisa (Fluent) Hunt are: Barbara A., Cordilia, Kerin P. and
Edwin Carpenter S.D.
653
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY
Louisa M. Miss Elizabeth D. Hunt now resides with her nephew, Otis Moores, who is a son of her eldest sister, Barbara A.
Miss Hunt was afforded the advantages of the schools of her native county and remained with her parents until their death, after which she lived with her sisters, having gone to Mobile, Ala- bama, where she was with her sister for a period of twelve years. She then, in 1903, returned to Steuben county, and has since maintained her home in Bath, where she is surrounded by a circle of leal and loyal friends and where she finds pleasure and solace in the gracious memories and associations of the past. She re- tains a vital interest in social and religious affairs and is a devout. member of the Universalist church. It may be noted that her uncle, Phineas Hunt, was long engaged in foreign missionary work, as a representative of the Presbyterian church, and that he died in China.
EDWIN J. CARPENTER, M. D., who is prominently identified with the medical profession of Corning, New York, was born and reared in the county in which he lives, and he comes of a family long resident in New York. Dr. Carpenter's grandparents, Tim- othy and Nancy (Shaw) Carpenter, were born in the "Empire State," the former in Chautauqua county, March 27, 1800, and the latter, in Yates county, March 5, 1805. They were married on Sep- tember 10, 1824, in Cameron, New York, by Squire Mason, and with the passing years became the parents of a large family of sons and daughters who grew up and scattered and became useful and respected citizens. Their children in order of birth are as follows: Ann, born June 13, 1825, married a Mr. Jost; Hiram, born September 25, 1826, is a resident of Minnesota; Alva, born October 26, 1828, was for many years a resident of Avon, New York, and died in 1905; John, born March 13, 1833, died in Mis- sissippi in 1909; Jane, born April 14, 1835, is now Mrs. Brink and resides at Custer, Ohio; Phoebe, born December 6, 1837, mar- ried a Mr. Smith and lives in Minnesota; Uri, born in Cameron, New York, June 30, 1841, died October 8, 1908; Fidelia, born Au- gust 3, 1843, married a Mr. Fergown and lived in Wisconsin, where her death occurred in 1908. Grandfather Timothy Carpen- ter died December 29, 1882, at the age of eighty-two years and six months.
Uri Carpenter married Frances Merchant, who was born March 24, 1843, and died June 25, 1905. They were the parents of two children, Edwin J., born July 1, 1864, and Charles A., born in 1868. The father was a farmer and lumberman, and at one time had charge of a veneer factory at Bath. His whole life was spent in Steuben county. Charles A. is a resident of Kansas, at this writing employed as foreman of construction work.
Edwin J. Carpenter, after completing his studies in the Bath schools, engaged as teacher in the rural districts, and in this man- ner paved his way to a higher education. In 1888 he entered the
654
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY
University of Buffalo, in which he pursued a medical course, and where he graduated in 1891. Immediately after his graduation he settled down to the practice of his profession at Corning, and here for nearly two decades he has successfully conducted a general practice, making a specialty of surgery, and not infrequently being called in council. Dr. Carpenter is a member of the Corning Medical Association, the Keuka Lake Medical and Surgical Asso- ciation, the Steuben County Medical Society, the New York State Medical Society and the American National Medical Association. He is United States pension examiner and surgeon, and for three years has been city coroner.
Politically Dr. Carpenter has always affiliated with the Re- publican party, and while he has never been a politician he has maintained an interest in public affairs and in many ways his in- fluence has been felt for the advancement of the public good. At this time he is president of the School Board, of which he has been a member nine years. He is a member in good standing of both the F. and A. M. and the I. O. O. F., and he is a trustee of the Congregational church, with which he has for years been identified.
On October 12, 1885, Dr. Carpenter married Miss Helen L. Abel, a daughter of Harrison Abel of Thurston, New York, and they have two children, Edwin J. Jr. and Iri A.
MISS ELIZABETH A. READ .- One of the enterprising and in- telligent women farmers of Bath township, Steuben county, New York, is Miss Elizabeth A. Read, a native of Bath, New York, born April 8, 1839. She is a daughter of Daniel Van and Louisa (Smith) Read, the former born near Hope, New Jersey, in 1804. Daniel Read removed to Bath, New York, at the age of twenty years and spent the remainder of his life in farming in that vicin- ity. He spent eight years at a place called Dublin, in the town of Howard, and then removed to the present Read homestead, where he died in 1885. He was very much interested in public affairs and was a prominent Democrat. At the age of twenty-two years he married Louisa Smith, born in Massachusetts April 21, 1804, daughter of Stephen and Mary (Fenunder) Smith, who came to Bath township in 1812 and settled on a farm. Her parents were of Scotch and Irish descent and the family included many clergy- men. Mr. Read's father, John Read, spent all his life in New Jersey, where he was a farmer.
The children born to Daniel V. Read and his wife were: Stephen and Joseph, deceased,-both dying while soldiers in the Union Army; George, a farmer living near Howard; Franklin, a farmer living at Bath; Mary L., wife of Oliver Wheeler, a farmer of North Urbana; Elizabeth A .; and Samantha, deceased wife of A. J. Read, of Mineola, Kansas.
Elizabeth Read attended the public school until she was seventeen years old. She taught in the schools near her home until 1865, then attended Oberlin (Ohio) College two years and
655
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY
then taught in Illinois two years. Returning to Steuben county she kept house for a brother eight years and then cared for her parents during the rest of their lives, attending to the conduct of their farm. She now carries on general farming and stock raising on the homestead.
Miss Read is well known and highly esteemed in the com- munity and is much interested in all movements for the common welfare. She is a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church and active in Sunday-school and missionary work. She was a charter member of the W. C. T. U. at Kanona and is a past president of the same.
WILLIAM F. SCHULTZ .- One of Hornell's substantial citizens, a plumber by trade and a business man whose motto, "anything worth doing at all is worth doing well," strictly lived up to, has given him high standing in the business world, is William F. Schultz. He is also prominent in lodge circles, his fraternal rela- tions extending to several of the largest organizations. Mr. Schultz is of German extraction, both of his parents having been born in the Fatherland. William Schultz, the father, whose name the subject received, was born in 1821, and the mother, Amelia Schultz, was born in 1818. They were married in Germany, but shortly after their union followed the example set by so many of those with whom they had been associated and crossed the Atlantic to claim their share of the rich opportunities offered by the New World. This was in the early fifties. They located in Springfield, Massachusetts, and the father resumed the business of tailoring, which had been his vocation in the country of his birth, and he followed this throughout the course of a long and active business life. Mr. and Mrs. Schultz, now arrived at a great old age, reside in Syracuse, New York, where they enjoy in leisure the fruits of a former thrift and industry. Although of such advanced years both of them have excellent health.
William F. Schultz was born in Cohoes, New York, on Oc- tober 8, 1865. He attended school at Buffalo and commenced his business career at the age of thirteen, in which year he was graduated from the grammar school. Having decided upon the trade of plumbing as a life work he served a four years' apprentice- ship and then engaged himself on salary. He continued under this arrangement until 1900, when he decided to make an inde- pendent venture and started out in business for himself in Hornell. He is a fine workman and an astute business man, and he has prospered in the most satisfactory manner. When to this is added the fact that he is a right and honest business man, his value as a citizen is told. He is a self made man and his present competence has been derived from his own efforts, assisted by those of his wife. He has been commissioned to fit the new schoolhouse of Hornell with plumbing, both heat and light.
On the 12th day of June, 1896, Mr. Schultz was united in marriage to Miss Sarah A. O'Heron, a daughter of Morris
656
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY
O'Heron, the ceremony being solemnized at Boston, Ontario. They have three children: Robert O., born in 1900; Howard I., born in 1903; and Frederick Neil, born in 1907. Mr. Schultz is the friend of good education and his sons will, no doubt, receive the best to be had. The eldest is now in the third grade and shows much talent in music, frequently singing at entertainments.
Politically Mr. Schultz votes the Republican ticket and he and his wife attend the Presbyterian church. He is a member of the great Masonic body, and belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Maccabees.
EDWARD D. CROSS .- It is a matter of satisfaction to be able to record in this volume that so great a percentage of the native sons of Steuben county have here found ample scope for successful ef- fort in connection with normal lines of business, professional and industrial enterprise and that they have never severed their al- legiance to the county of their birth. Among the prominent and honored representatives of this class is Hon. Edward D. Cross, who was born in the house which he now occupies and who is one of the representative farmers and grape-growers of the county. That he commands a secure place in the confidence and esteem in the community which has ever been his home needs no further voucher than that offered by the fact that he has served eight terms as supervisor of Pulteney township and has represented his county in the state legislature. His attractive and well improved homestead is located in Pulteney township and is one of the fine places of the county.
Edward D. Cross was born in the old homestead in which he now resides and the date of his nativity was February 4, 1852. He is a son of Odell and Adelaide (Gibson) Cross. Odell Cross was born in Westchester county, New York, in 1826 and in 1829 his parents removed to Steuben county, where he was reared to maturity and where his marriage was solemnized. He became one of the successful agriculturists and grape-growers of Pulteney township, where he continued to reside until his death, as did also his wife. They became the parents of three children, of whom the subject of this review is the eldest. The father was a Republi- can in his political proclivities and both he and his wife held mem- bership in the Methodist church. He was well known in the coun- ty that so long represented his home and here he ever commanded unqualified esteem, having played well his part in connection with the material development of the county.
Hon. Edward D. Cross was reared to maturity on the home- stead which is his present place of abode and after availing him- self of the advantages of the public schools of his native township he continued his studies for some time in the graded schools of Bath, this county. He has always been identified with the line of industry under whose influence he was reared and in connec- tion therewith he has achieved success worthy of the name. His
657
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY
present homestead comprises sixty-five acres, of which thirty acres are devoted to vineyard purposes, the remainder being utilized for diversified agriculture. Mr. Cross is progressive in his business associations and the substantial improvements and dis- tinctive thrift that characterize his homestead well indicate the excellent management he has given to the property. Like his honored father he served as supervisor of Pulteney township, he has taken a loyal and public-spirited interest in all that has touched the welfare of the community and his political allegiance has ever been given to the Republican party, in whose local ranks he has been a prominent factor. In 1880 he was elected supervisor of his native township and he continued incumbent of this office for eight years, by successive elections. In 1898 he was elected to represent Steuben county in the lower house of the state legislature in which he served two terms and in which he made an admirable record. He was assigned to membership on important committees of the house and was a faithful and earnest worker in the deliberations of both the floor and committee room. Since his retirement from this office he has continued to take an active interest in political af- fairs in his home county. Both he and his family hold member- ship in the Methodist Episcopal church.
In the year 1878 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Cross to Miss Sylvia McConnell, who was born and reared in Pulteney township and who is a daughter of the late Mr. McConnell, a suc- cessful agriculturist of this township. Mr. and Mrs. Cross have two daughters,-Stella and Mary A. The elder daughter is now engaged as a trained nurse in the state hospital at Willard and she is a talented musician, having been graduated in music at Utica Conservatory of Music.
JOHN DE KAY .- The De Kay family sprang from an ancient family of Picardy, France. It was a Huguenot family. Members of it came from Ghent, in the sixteenth century, and found refuge in London, England, and later in Holland. The head of this branch, one Guillaume de Kay, was one of the Lord Directors of the Dutch West Indies Company. His son William, a native of Lon- don, was the first of the line to come to America. He settled at New Amsterdam (New York), in 1641. His descendants became land owners, officials and men of weight and authority. One of the descendants of Guillaume de Kay located in Sullivan county, New York. There John De Kay was born March 5, 1832, a son of Richard and Lizzie (Knapp) De Kay. In 1842 his father took him, with other members of his family, to Chicago, Illinois. Thence, they went to McHenry county, Illinois, where the elder De Kay bought and settled on a farm. Here they remained till 1852, when they moved to Minnesota, where the father of the family eventually passed away.
John De Kay had few educational advantages, but he was intellectually alert and gained a practical knowledge of the world that stood him in good stead in the battle of life. He married
658
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY
Eliza Ellsworth, a teacher, who was a most excellent wife. She was of the Ellsworth family of Yates county, New York. She died in 1904, having borne her husband seven children, -William A., Amelia, Lewis F., Mary, John W., Henry E., and Ada. Amelia is deceased and Mary married James Muldoon. Mr. De Kay sold his interests in the West in 1903 and returned to Steu- ben county and bought fifteen acres at Prattsburg. He is a Re- publican in politics, deeply interested in the success of his party and with an intelligent grasp of national events, but has never devoted himself to political work. As a citizen he is eminently public spirited and helpful.
JAMES N. ROBINSON .- Steuben county claims the nativity of this progressive young lawyer and man of affairs of Hornell. Mr. Robinson was born in Canisteo September 14, 1881, a son of the late Hon. Frank H. Robinson. The latter, a native of Cuba, Al- legany county, New York, attained prominence there as a lawyer and came to Steuben county about 1880. He was twice elected county judge, was district attorney and was a candidate for the office of attorney general of the state of New York. In all his active years he was prominent in political affairs. As a Mason he was no less conspicuous and popular and he was a member of several other secret and beneficial societies. He married Miss Jennie Nichols, a native of Limestone, Cattaraugus county, New York, who survives him. They had five children, all of whom are living. Charles P. has gained success as a lawyer in New York city. F. Hurd is connected with the city engineer corps. Eliza- beth is next in order of nativity. Robert is the youngest of the family.
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.