USA > New York > Steuben County > A history of Steuben County, New York, and its people, Vol. II > Part 35
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"Dr. Warren Patchin, who was born at Balston, in 1784, had graduated from Fairfield Seminary and had seen service in the war of 1812-14. He followed his father from Marcellus to the 'far west,' as this country was then known, and in 1816 he settled on what is now the Marlette farm. He was the most noted medical practi- tioner of his period in this locality, his clientele extending over a radius of fifty miles of territory, and at a time when bridle paths were the principal highways it was not an uncommon occurrence for him to be compelled, if overtaken by night, to fasten his horse . to a tree and make himself as comfortable as possible until daylight permitted him to continue his journey. He was an active member of the Steuben Medical Society from the time of its organization, in 1818, and was its first president. He again held the presidency of the organization in 1824 and in 1843-4. Aside from his profes- sional work he found time and energy to devote to business matters, and in 1820 he built the Patchinville saw mill, which burned the following year, and in 1822 he erected the grist mill. The long- time famous Patchin's Mills hotel was built by him in 1824. It was his intention to make it of brick, which he endeavored to manu- facture, but the clay was deficient and the bricks proved worthless, so the wooden structure was erected. It stood where now is the house of John P. Morsch and was a typical country tavern. Dr. Patchin became the father of six children: Warren, 1804-1879; Jabez, 1806-1825; Harriet (Mrs. Warring), 1808-186 -; Ira, 1812- 1898; Cameron, 1820-1896; Minerva (Mrs. John Young), 1826- 1900. Dr. Warren Patchin died in 1872."
Dr. Cameron Patchin, the fifth in order of birth of the six children of Dr. Warren Patchin, was born on the homestead farm in Steuben county on the 29th of February, 1820, and he died on the 13th of August, 1896. He was a man of fine intellectual and professional talents, and no citizen held more secure place in popu- lar confidence and esteem. Concerning him the following pertinent statements have been made: "Dr. Cameron Patchin was a man most highly esteemed by our older citizens, and but little known to the younger generation. A natural dignity of bearing lent a sternness of appearance that caused him to be frequently misunderstood by those who did not know the real man. In youth his desire to study medicine was not encouraged by his father, but his steadfast de- termination in the matter at last gained paternal sanction. He carried the same fixed determination to succeed into the work of
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his profession, for which he admirably prepared himself, and the result was that he attained to at least equal eminence with his father as a practitioner and in consultation, as well as in making substan- tial additions to his inheritance."
On the 27th of January, 1860, Dr. Cameron Patchin was united in marriage to Harriet M. Glines, who was born in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, on the 4th of October, 1832, and whose death oc- curred on the 6th of January, 1895. She was a daughter of Win- throp T. and Harriet (Beeman) Glines, the former of whom was born December 5, 1803, and the latter May 26, 1809, their marriage having been solemnized on the 24th of January, 1828. Dr. Cameron Patchin and Harriet M. (Glines) Patchin are survived by two sons, of whom the younger is Burt C., who retains the old homestead and is proprietor of the Patchin farm. The elder son, Frank G., was for nine years editor of the Rochester Post-Express, in the city of Rochester, and is a man of fine literary ability. He is the author of various books and at the present time devotes his attention almost entirely to literary work of various kinds. He is a resident of Rochester. The mother was affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church.
Burt Cameron Patchin, whose name initiates this review, gained his early education in the public schools of Wayland township and supplemented this by a course of one year in Dansville Seminary and by one year's attendance in the state normal school at Geneseo. He then entered Columbia Institute, in New York city, but before the completion of his course the illness of his father caused him to return home and assume the practical management of the estate. He has since continued to reside on the magnificent old homestead known as "Patchin Farm," and the same now comprises two hun- dred and fifty acres, upon which the improvements are of the best order. He erected, in 1900, the present beautiful mansion, which is conceded to be one of the best in this section of the state. "Pat- chin Farm" has gained a national reputation through the breeding of high-grade trotting and pacing horses.
Mr. Patchin is one of the most extensive farmers and stock- growers of this section of the old Empire commonwealth, and under his able supervision the reputation of the "Patchin" breeding stab- bles has been greatly amplified and emphasized. On the farm is a one-eighth mile track, all under cover, also a one-half mile open, and this is utilized for the training of the fine standard-bred horses raised on the place, while a specialty is made of raising only the best type. Mr. Patchin is enthusiastic in his work, and his success has been of the most unequivocal type. "Patchin Farm" has its own electric plant, which is utilized for the lighting of the residence and other buildings and also for various mechanical purposes incidental to the various departments of enterprise conducted on this beautiful place. The residence and other buildings are supplied with water from a private plant, and the improvements throughout are of the best modern order. Mr. Patchin is the owner of an independent
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telephone line from Wayland to Loon Lake, and he gave his capi- talistic support to the organization and incorporation of the Inter- Ocean Telephone Company, besides which he is a stockholder in various other corporations of important order and concerned with a number of local enterprises that have had definite bearing on the progress and upbuilding of his native county. From 1897 to 1901 he was associated with Martin W. Snyder in the retail drug busi- ness in the village of Wayland, where he is the owner of valuable realty, including the Patchin block, one of the best business build- ings in the village.
Though he finds insistent demands upon his time and attention in the management of his fine estate and its varied interests, Mr. Patchin is known as a loyal and public-spirited citizen-one who is every ready to lend his influence and co-operation in the promotion of enterprises and measures tending to advance the general welfare of the community. Though he has manifested naught of ambition for official preferment and the turmoil of practical politics, he gives an unwavering allegiance and support to the cause for which the Republican party stands sponsor, and he is an appreciative member of the time-honored Masonic fraternity, in which he has completed the circle of the Scottish rite body and attained to the Thirty-second degree. He is also affiliated with the Corning Valley Consistory, and as a master Mason he is a member of Warren Patchin Lodge, No. 883, Free & Accepted Masons, at Wayland. He is also identified with Damascus Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in the city of Rochester.
On the 27th of August, 1902, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Patchin to Miss Sally Gregory Nuttall, who was born in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 3rd of September, 1876, and who is a member of one of the distinguished families of that city. Her father, Robert Peel Nuttall, was born in England, and was a boy at the time of his parents' immigration to America, the family home being established in Philadelphia. He eventually became a manufacturer of surgical instruments. He continued to reside in Philadelphia until his death, and his wife, whose maiden name was Hannah Hardy, is now also dead. Mrs. Nuttall likewise was born in England and she was seven years of age at the time when her parents came to the United States and established their home in Chester, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Patchin has two sisters and two broth- ers-John and Robert, who reside in Philadelphia; Mary is the wife of Benjamin F. Jones, of Buffalo, New York; and Miss Hannah resides in Philadelphia. Mrs. Patchin was graduated in the high school of Philadelphia and later continued her studies in a normal school of her native state. For three years prior to her marriage she was a successful teacher in the public schools of Philadelphia. She is a woman of most gracious personality and social charm and presides most effectively over the beautiful home, which is a center of generous hospitality. She is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church, in which she holds membership. Mr. and Mrs. Patchin have no children.
Vol II-19
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EDWARD JACOBS .- Numbered among the well known and high- ly esteemed citizens of the thriving little village of Wayland, where he conducts a successful teaming and general transfer business, Ed- ward Jacobs is well entitled to representation in this work. He is a son of the late Elias Jacobs, and as definite record concerning the family history appears on other pages of this work, in the sketch of the career of an elder brother, John E. Jacobs, it is not necessary to repeat the data in the article at hand.
Edward Jacobs was born in Springwater, Livingston county, on the 6th of April, 1862, and his early experiences were those of the home farm, upon which he was reared to maturity, in the meanwhile duly availing himself of the advantages afforded in the public schools of the locality. He continued to be associated in the work and management of the home farm until he had attained the age of thirty years. He then went to Levona, Livingston county, where he lived twelve years, and in the later years he had practical super- vision of the home place. In 1906 he removed to Wayland, Steu- ben county, where he has since been successfully engaged in team- ing. Mr. Jacobs is an energetic and enterprising business man, and through his well directed industry has achieved success worthy of the name. He and his wife are held in high regard in the com- munity, and he takes a lively interest in all that touches its welfare. He is a member of the German Lutheran church, and Mrs. Jacobs holds membership in the United Evangelical church, in which she is actively identified with the Ladies' Aid Society and the Christian Endeavor Society. Mr. Jacobs has never had any desire to identify himself with practical politics and in this connection is non-parti- san. He is affiliated with the Wayland lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
In the year 1886 Mr. Jacobs was united in marriage to Miss Ella Hamsher, who was born in Sparta township, Livingston county, on the 12th of July, 1864, and who is a daughter of Albert and Mary (Chart) Hamsher. Mr. Hamsher was numbered among the prosperous farmers of Livingston county at the time of his death, which occurred in July, 1890, when he was fifty-two years of age. His widow, who is now seventy-two years of age, resides at Spring- water, Livingston county. Of her two surviving children Mrs. Jacobs is the elder, and Frank is a prosperous farmer of Steuben county.
THOMAS E. HARDEN, proprietor of the American House, Addi- son, was born at Sandy Hill, Washington county, New York, Au- gust 13, 1842, a son of Abner and Martha (Eldredge) Harden. His father had come to Sandy Hill from the Mohawk Valley. He was a shoemaker and worked there at his trade till 1848, when he went to Sabinsville, Tioga county, Pennsylvania, passing through Steu- ben county on the way. He died at Sabinsville when he was about sixty years old. Mr. Harden's mother was a daughter of Thomas Eldredge, of English descent, and a native of Tompkins county, New York. She died at Sandy Hill, New York, when more than
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eighty-six years old. The extraction of the Hardens, of whom the subject of this notice is a family member, is traced to Germany. He was the third born of his parents' two sons and two daughters, of whom, besides himself, his sister Frances J. is the only one liv- ing. She is the wife of Ralph P. Richards, of Sandy Hill, New York.
Mr. Harden was six years old when his father went by way of Steuben county, New York, to Sabinsville, Tioga county, Penn- sylvania. When he was twelve he went back to Sandy Hill to live. In 1863, when he was about twenty-one, he returned to Sabinsville, stopping on the way at Addison, where he was for a short time clerk in the village hotel, then owned by one of his uncles. He returned to Addison and from there went to Syracuse, New York, where he was clerk in the Globe Hotel about a year. After that he was employed ten years as a commercial traveler by A. H. Gillett, of that city. In 1877 we find him back in Addison, proprietor of the American House, which he has conducted continuously to the present time. For a time he was interested in the manufacture of bicycles, was also interested in the LaCost dry goods store and has had to do with other local business concerns, but first and foremost he has been the village "landlord" and one of the most popular ones in his part of the state.
In 1866 he married Miss Minnie M. Bennett, a daughter of Urson G. Bennett, and A. G. Harden, their son, is president and general manager of the Columbus Exhibition. Mr. Harden is a high Mason, a member of the Blue Lodge No. 118, of the Chapter No. 145, of St. Omar's Commandery No. 19, at Elmira, of the Shrine at Binghamton and of the Consistory at Corning. Everywhere among Masons he is greeted as of the thirty-second degree. He is a member also of lodge No. 364 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In 1882 he was elected master of Union Lodge No. 118, F. & A. M., of Addison, and he was a member of the Council at that place while it was in existence. He is a man of public spirit, who takes an active and helpful interest in all that promises to promote the best interests of Addison and its tributary territory and is consulted by his fellow-citizens in all matters of general im- portance.
LORIN B. ALDRICH .- This well known citizen of Steuben county has been connected with one business plant at Addison about fifty- one years and has for the same length of time been a contractor of sash, doors and blinds. He was born at Plymouth, Chenango coun- ty, New York, March 29, 1834, a son of Ethan Aldrich, a native of Rhode Island, who came to Addison, bringing his family, about 1844. His wife (Esther Brewer), a native of Chenango county, bore him eight children, of whom Lorin was the fourth in order of nativity. Mr. Aldrich was a farmer during his active years, but retired to Elmira, where he and his wife both passed away.
Mr. Aldrich was about ten years old when his parents took up their residence at Addison. He attended common schools as a boy,
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and in 1860, when he was about twenty-six years of age, became connected with the business of Mckay and Bliss, whose plant has been absorbed in that of the Park, Winton and True Company. Two years later he began contracting. For half a century he has been in the same position with successive firms on the same ground, performing the same duties, each year confronting a task larger and of more responsibility than that which he had confronted the year before, until now he is with the Park, Winton and True Company, one of the largest of its kind in the country. He has long been active in the affairs of his village, township and county. He was a member of the corporation board of Addison fourteen years, six years of the time as its president, and he was twenty years on the school board, and has for twenty years been a trustee of the public library. In his politics he is Republican. He is a thirty-second de- gree Mason, and is high in Odd Fellowship, with which he has been affiliated thirty-five years. He has been married twice, first to Huldah Houghtelling, who bore him two children, named Car- mitia and Ermine. The first wife is deceased, and he has married Ella Roberts, of Elmira, by whom he has a son named Harold.
ALONZO A. JACOBS .- He whose name initiates this article is in- cumbent of the position of engineer and general mechanician for the Gunlocke Furniture & Chair Company, one of the prominent industrial concerns of the thriving little city of Wayland. He has been a resident of this section of the old Empire state from the time of his nativity and has so ordered his course as to retain the unqualified confidence and regard of all who know him. Concerning the family history more specific data may be found in the sketch of the career of his brother, John A. Jacobs, on other pages of this work.
Alonzo Albert, Jacobs was born in Springwater township, Liv- ingston county, New York, on the 10th of June, 1872, and is a son of Elias Jacobs, who was a prosperous farmer and highly honored citizen of this section of the state. Mr. Jacobs passed his boyhood and youth on the home farm and gained his early educational disci- pline in the public schools. He continued to be concerned with the work of the home farm until he had attained to his legal majority and shortly afterward he purchased an interest in a threshing out- fit, with the operation of which he continued to be identified for eight years. In 1899, fortified with the practical experience thus gained, Mr. Jacobs established his home in Wayland and assumed the position of engineer of the power house of the electric light system. One year later he secured a similar position at the plant of the Gunlocke Furniture & Chair Company, of this place, and this incumbency he retained for three years. He then removed to Co- hocton, this county, where he erected and equipped a canning fac- tory, with the operation of which he was actively identified for the ensuing three years. He passed the following eighteen months as engineer for the Wayland electric light plant and then assumed his
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present position as engineer and general mechanician for the Gun- locke Furniture & Chair Company, with which he had previously been employed. Mr. Jacobs is found arrayed under the banner of the Democratic party, but has never had aught of ambition for public office.
In the year 1895 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Jacobs to Miss Carrie Belle Kimball, who was born and reared in Steuben county and who is a daughter of Sylvester and Lydia (Schutt) Kimball, who now reside in the village of Wayland, where the father is living retired after many years of earnest effort as one of the representative farmers of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs have five children, namely: Ruth May, Vera Catherine, Roy Albert, Dorena and Lillian Lydia.
WILLIS L. HAMILTON, a manufacturer of Campbell, Steuben county, New York, was born there April 14, 1860. John D. Hamil- ton, his father, a native of the state of New York, settled there in the middle of the last century and established a tannery at Curtis. He established another at Campbell and a large one at Emporium, Pennsylvania, and had an interest in a leather store at Boston, Massachusetts, where some of his products were marketed. As a Republican. he was several times elected supervisor of the township of Campbell. As a member of the Presbyterian church he was lib- eral in its upbuilding and support. In a general way it may be said of him that he was a man of much public spirit, who con- tributed generously toward the support and promotion of all causes having for their object the enhancement of the general good. He died at his home in Campbell, aged sixty-two. Lewis Hamilton, his father, grandfather of Willis L. Hamilton, was of Scotch extraction and was among the pioneers in Steuben county. John D. Hamilton married Miss Harriett Lovell, who died, leaving a son and a daugh- ter. The latter is Mrs. Sarah H. Pope, of Campbell.
Willis L. Hamilton was reared and educated in Steuben county and early in life became associated with his father in the manage- ment of the latter's business, of which he was sole owner and man- ager after his father's death till he closed it out to the United States Leather Company. About 1886 he engaged in the manufac- ture of wood alcohol at Newton, Mckean county, Pennsylvania. His business is one of the largest of its kind in the country and is constantly growing.
Mr. Hamilton married Mary E. Platt, a daughter of C. F. and Mary E. Platt, of Painted Post, New York. They have a daugh- ter, Harriet, who married Henry E. Joint, of Campbell. Mr. Hamil- ton is a stanch Republican and a Son of the American Revolution. Following in his father's footsteps, he is open-handedly helpful to all worthy local interests at Campbell.
ANDREW REDSECKER .-- Among the loyal and public-spirited business men of Steuben county, New York, Andrew Redsecker holds a secure place in popular confidence and esteem. Though a native
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of Germany, his patriotism to the land of his adoption has ever been of the most insistent order. He gave valiant service as a soldier in the Civil war, as did also his father and three brothers, and his entire life course has been marked by upright honesty and sterling integrity of character. He was born in Germany, and the date of his nativity was March 17, 1838. His father, Nicholas Redsecker, was a coachman in a noble family in the fatherland, and there was solemnized his marriage to Miss Barbara Strauss, who was sum- moned to the life eternal in 1907, at the age of eighty-seven years. They became the parents of twelve boys and two girls and of the number Andrew was the only one born in Germany. Nicholas Red- secker emigrated with his family to America in 1845, at which time Andrew was about seven years of age. They settled near Patchins- ville, this county, where the father engaged in farming, and he be- came a man of prominence in public affairs in the early days. At the time of the inception of the Civil war he enlisted as a private in Company D, One Hundred and Sixty-first New York Volunteer Infantry, and he sacrificed his life in the cause of the country, as he was killed in 1864 at the battle of Gettysburg, at which time he was fifty years of age. Four of his sons likewise gave gallant serv- ice in defense of the Union and three of them were killed.
Andrew Redseeker received his rudimentary education in the common schools of Steuben county and he is now the only one living in the family of fourteen children. He was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm, in whose work he early began to assist his father. When nine years of age he left the farm and entered the employ of Dr. Patchin, serving as a hired man for a period of five years. After his father's death he was drafted for one hundred days' service in Company D, One Hundred and Sixty-first New York Volunteer Infantry, his command being assigned to the Army of the Potomac, under General Grant. He served until the close of the war and was mustered out of service on the 14th of April, 1865. Thereafter he initiated his independent business career as an hotel man in Wayland and he continued to be engaged in this line of enterprise for a period of five years, at the expiration of which time his hotel burned down. He then engaged as an agent in the tomb- stone and undertaking business, with headquarters at Wayland, and he has been identified with this most important field of endeavor during the long intervening years to the present time. He is a stanch Republican in his political convictions and he has aided ma- terially in the progress and development of this section of the state. He is a charter member of Wayland Post, Grand Army of the Re- public, and his religious views are in accordance with the tenets of the German Lutheran church, in whose faith he was reared. In public life he is fair, honorable and outspoken-in private life he is true, kind and tender and at all times, under all circumstances he is just, loyal and markedly courteous. He is a man of most generous impulses and his charity knows only the bounds of his opportunities.
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In 1860 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Redsecker to Miss Catherine Wolfinger, and to them were born ten children, four of whom are now living, namely: John, who is engaged as a baker at Rochester, New York; Henry, who is in Rochester; Catherine, who is the wife of Casper Schultz, of Livingston county ; and Rose, who is unmarried, resides in the city of Rochester. Mr. Redsecker married in 1884, Matilda Richard, who died in 1902, leaving one step-child, Nettie Richard, known as Nettie Redsecker. She was raised by Mr. Redsecker.
HENRY V. PRATT, lawyer and ex-president of Wayland, is one of the best known citizens and Democrats of his part of Steuben county, New York. He was born at Prattsburg, Steuben county, February 5, 1865, a son of William B. Pratt, late of Prattsburg, deceased, and a great-grandson of Captain Joel Pratt, the first set- tler in the town of Prattsburg. His mother occupies the old Pratt homestead, where he was born and which has been in the Pratt fam- ily more than a century. Two brothers, William B. and Ira C. Pratt, live at Prattsburg, and two sisters, the Misses Emily B. and Alice C. Pratt, are members of their mother's household.
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