USA > New York > Steuben County > A history of Steuben County, New York, and its people, Vol. II > Part 7
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to that position in the township for a full half century, and in 1909 he was elected to his present office of school commissioner.
Mr. MaGill married, February 16, 1910, Anna M. Bond, who was born in Bath, a daughter of Charles and Jennie (Gilbert) Bond, natives of Schuyler county, New York, Mr. Bond being now engaged in business as a music dealer. Mr. MaGill is a member of the Presbyterian church, and belongs to the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons. His father was for many years a member of Post No. 81, G. A. R., of Bath.
WILLIAM W. AVERELL .- A life conspicuous by reason of the magnitude and variety of its achievements was that of the late William W. Averell, one of the distinguished and honored figures in the history of the state of New York and one whose influence transcended local environment to permeate national affairs. So great an accomplishment as was his must, per se, imply exalted character, and thus, beyond and above all, General Averell merits perpetual honor by reason of the very strength and nobility of his manhood. He rendered service to the state and nation to the full extent of his powers; his labors were inspiring and his honesty of purpose was beyond cavil. The reflex of the honors conferred upon him are the honors he in turn conferred. It is not easy to describe adequately a man who was as just in character and one who ac- complished as much in the world as did General Averell, and the limitations of this article are such as to render possible only a cursory glance at the individuality and achievements of the man,- not permitting extended geneological research or critical analysis of character.
General Averell was a native of Steuben county and a mem- ber of one of its old and honored pioneer families. He was born at Cameron, this county, on the 5th of November, 1832, and his death occurred at the sanitarium at Hornell, this county, whither he had gone for medical treatment, on the 3d of February, 1900. He was a son of Hiram and Huldah (Hemmingway) Averell, the former of whom was born in Delaware county, New York, whence he came to Steuben county in the pioneer days, securing a tract of forty-seven acres of land in Cameron township, where he reclaimed a productive farm and where he became a citizen of prominence and influence, ever commanding the unqualified confidence and esteem of the community. He served as justice of the peace and also as postmaster at Cameron and was a man of strong mentality and sterling integrity of purpose. He passed the closing years of his life in the city of Bath, this county, where he died at the patriarchal age of ninety-two years. His wife also died at Bath, having preceded him to eternal rest by many years.
General William W. Averell was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and was afforded excellent educational advantages in his youth, including a course at Elmira Institute. He intended to prepare himself for the medical profession but he was deflected from this course by reason of receiving an appointment to a cadet-
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ship to the United States Military Academy at West Point, in which he became a student on the 1st of July, 1851. There he was graduated on the 1st of July, 1855, and he immediately received brevet rank as second lieutenant of mounted riflemen, in which connection he served in the garrison at Jefferson Barracks, in Missouri, in 1855, on the 1st of May of which latter year he was promoted to second lieutenant of mounted riflemen. He was at the Cavalry School for Practice at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1856-7; was on frontier duty in command of the escort to the commanding general of the department of New Mexico in 1857, and in that year was stationed for a time in Fort Craig, that territory. He was in active service in scouting and was engaged in a skirmish with the Kiowa Indians at Fort Craig on the 7th of December, 1857. He continued to be identified with scouting and other mili- tary operations in the southwest, including the Navajo expedition, in 1858, and he participated in a skirmish in Chusca valley, Septem- ber 29, 1859. Prior to this, on the 1st of October, 1858, he took part in a skirmish with Kyatano's band of Indians and in a skirmish at Puerco of the West on the 8th of the same month, in which engagement he was severely wounded in a night attack on the camp. He thereafter continued in frontier duty at Fort Craig until granted a leave of absence on account of sickness, in 1859.
When the dark cloud of Civil war cast its pall over the national horizon General Averell was still with the regular army and forth- with became identified with active military operations. On the 30th of May, 1861, he returned from the west to the national capi- tal and from the 7th of June to the 2nd of July he was engaged in mustering duty at Elmira, New York, in the meanwhile having been promoted first lieutenant. From July 5 to October 9, 1861, he was acting assistant adjutant general to General Porter. In July; 1861, he took part in the Manassas campaign and on the 21st of that month he participated in the battle of Bull Run. He was on provost duty at Washington, D. C., from July 30 to October 9 of that year and was in command of a cavalry brigade in front of the defense of Washington, D. C., until March 1862, having thus served as colonel of the Third Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, to which office he was promoted on the 23d of August, 1861. He led the advance on Manassas in March, 1862, and was in the Army of the Potomac in the peninsular campaign in Virginia from March to August of that year. In this connection he took part in the siege of Yorktown and the battles of Williamsburg, Fair Oaks and Mal- vern Hill. On the 26th of September, 1862, he was made brigadier general of volunteers and in October and November of that year he was engaged in scouting on the upper Potomac, where he took part in numerous skirmishes. Later he was with the Army of the Potomac in the Rappahannock campaign in which he took part in the battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862. He was in com- mand of the second cavalry division from February 2 to May 4, 1863, and on the 17th of March of that year he was in command in the engagement at Kelly's Ford, where his gallant and meritorious
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service gained to him the brevet rank of major general. He par- ticipated in Stoneman's raid toward Richmond, Virginia, and was thereafter in command of the Fort Separate brigade in operations in West Virginia, in connection with which he had command in the combat at Rocky Gap and the engagement at Droop Mountain. On the 6th of November, 1863, he was brevetted lieutenant colonel in recognition of his gallant and meritorious service in the action at Droop Mountain. On the 15th of December, 1863, he was brevetted colonel, for gallant and meritorious service during the Salem expedition in Virginia. He commanded the second cavalry division in operations in Virginia from April 26, 1864, to May 18, 1865, being in command in the action at Cove Gap on May 10, 1864, and being wounded in this engagement. Thereafter he marched with his command across the Alleghany mountains to Staunton, Virginia, and joined the expedition against Lynchburg, in which connection he took part in several skirmishes. He marched his command to the Kanawha and Shenandoah Valleys and he defeated Ramseur's division at Carter's Farm, July 20, 1864. He took part in the combat at Winchester on the 24th of July and thereafter went in pursuit of McCausland's raiders. On the 8th of August, 1864, he took part in the engagement at Moorefield and thereafter he was in command of his forces in various skirmishes. He participated in the battle of Opequan on the 19th of September, 1864, the battle of Fisher's Hill on the 22d of the same month and the action at Mount Jackson on the following day. On the 13th of March, 1865, he received the brevet rank of brigadier general of the United States Army for gallant and meritorious service in the field during the rebellion and on the same date he was brevetted major general in recognition of his splendid service in the battle of Moorefield, in Virginia. He resigned his position in the army on the 18th of May, 1865, but was finally reinstated in the United States Army by special act of congress and was placed upon the retired list. Later he served ten years as assistant inspector general of the Soldier's Home of the United States. His duties in this connection were most arduous as they involved from fifteen thousand to twenty thousand miles of travel each year, besides the inspection of the various Soldiers' Homes. From 1866 to 1869 he was United States counsul general of Canada. Framed and hanging upon the wall of the attractive home so long occupied by General Averell, at Bath, is an interesting record concerning the honors tendered him at the time of the Civil war and the inscription is worthy of reproduction in this article: "At a dinner given to General Averell at Bath, New York, on January 26, 1864, by the oldest citizens of Steuben county, this identical paraphrase of his dispatch to Gen- eral Halleck, relating to the Salem raid, was written and dis- played on the walls by Guy Humphrey McMaster :
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" 'To General Halleck :
By marching and riding, By swimming and sliding, By dodging and squeezing,
By thawing and freezing, We went down to Salem And tore up the railin.' "'
General Averell was a man of much inventive ability and had the distinction of being the inventor of asphalt paving. His first successful work in this line was the paving of Pennsylvania avenue in the city of Washington, D. C. He organized a company for the manufacturing of asphalt and was eventually deprived of his inter- ests in the same by the fraudulent methods of his associates. For thirteen years the affairs of the company were in litigation and set- tlement was finally made with General Averell. This was a case which attracted national attention and interest. General Averell ever continued a close and appreciative student of the best in literature and science and he was specially interested in practical electrical affairs, in which he became well informed. He passed several years in New York city in perfecting a conduit for electric wires and he finally received a patent on this valuable invention. He was a man of most gracious and courtly manners, genial and kindly in his intercourse with his fellow men and no citizen of Steuben county held a more secure place in popular confidence and regard. He formed the acquaintance of many of the most distinguished public men of the nation, including President Lincoln and the mem- bers of his cabinet and in latter years also he had the close friend- ship of many prominent and influential citizens. He continued to maintain his home in the attractive little city of Bath until he was summoned to the life eternal and here his name is held in reverent memory. He was a stanch Republican in his political allegiance and was affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic and other fraternal and social organizations. He held membership in the Episcopal church, as does also his widow, who still resides in the beautiful old homestead at 121 Liberty street, Bath.
In September, 1885, was solemnized the marriage of General Averell to Mrs. Kezia Haywood, who was born in Surdan, England, and who has been a most popular figure in the best social activities of Bath. No children were born of this union.
REV. J. H. RYDER, D. D .- Among those who play a prominent role in the every-day life of Wayland is the Rev. J. H. Ryder, D.D. pastor of the United Evangelical church. He was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, in 1871, his parents being John and Hannah J. (Derrick) Ryder, who were also natives of that county. Rev. Mr. Ryder is one of ten living children, a somewhat unusual dis- tinction in the present day. He passed his early years within the borders of the county which gave him birth, attending the public schools and graduating from its higher department. This train- ing he supplemented with a course in the Lycoming county and
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Bloomsburg State Normal School, from which institution he was graduated in 1898. His natural gifts and inclinations particularly fitting him for the ministry, he took a theological course and was ordained in 1903. His studies preliminary to becoming an ex- pounder of the gospel were pursued in the Potomac University, which gave him the degree of B. D.
Rev. Mr. Ryder's first pastorate was at Dorsey, Maryland, where he remained for four years and from whence he was transferred to Grover, Pennsylvania. He remained four years in the latter place and in March, 1909, entered upon his present charge at Wayland. It has been his portion to make steady development and he is greatly esteemed by his church, which recognizes the unusual value of his services. He is an excellent orator and his sermons are brief, plain, comprehensive and convincing. In 1909 he was honored by the degree of Doctor of Divinity, after a four-year course in the Oriental University of Alexandria, Virginia. The church of which Rev. Mr. Ryder is pastor is less than twenty years old. In 1894, when the building was erected, it had a membership of only twenty, which has subsequently increased to one hundred, with a Sunday-school enrollment of one hundred and twenty- seven. The valuation of the church property is about seven thou- sand dollars. The first pastor was Rev. J. W. Thompson, who was followed by Rev. L. M. Dice and he in turn by Rev. C. C. Mizner. As stated previously, Rev. Mr. Ryder undertook its spiritual guidance in 1909.
In 1901 Mr. Ryder took as his bride Mary, daughter of Robert and Ellen Huston. To this union have heen horn two children, Robert H. and Helen J.
NICHOLAS MALTER, the proprietor of the Perkinsville Hotel, is fitted by natural geniality and hospitality for the post which he holds so well. The hotel which Mr. Malter purchased and fitted up in 1909 is well adapted to meet the demands of the traveling public. Mr. Malter is a native of the town in which he still resides, having been born here in 1865. Here he was reared and educated and here began his career as a wage-earner. His parents were Nicholas and Margaret Malter, the former heing also a native of Perkins- ville where in 1836 he was born. The mother was a native of Germany in which country she was born in 1842, and three years later was brought to this country hy her parents, whose names were John and Catherine Rauber. On the paternal side Mr. Malter is likewise German, his grandfather, also Nicholas Malter, with his wife, Catherine, coming to this country in 1834, shortly after their marriage and being among the early settlers in Steuben county. Their six children, Jacob, Catherine, Nicholas, John, Mary and Elizabeth experienced the peculiar advantages and privations of a new country and grew up to be strong and progressive citizens. Mr. Malter's parents were married about 1859 and to this union five children were born, namely, Elizabeth, Nicholas, Jacob, Frank and Stephen.
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Mr. Malter's father was a butcher by trade and this he fol- lowed for over forty years. He was a loyal citizen and a stanch member of society, serving his village as constable for twenty-six years. He was collector for two years and excise commissioner for twelve. He and his wife were consistent members of the Catholic church and their descendants have followed in their footsteps in this particular. The father died in December, 1897, his widow surviving to the present day.
During his early years Mr. Malter assisted his father in his business, but later took up telegraphy and served in the employ of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. He remained with this railroad for fourteen years. He later took up the hotel business and in this new line of endeavor has proved eminently successful.
In 1892 Mr. Malter was united in marriage to Miss Angeline Dides and four children were born to them, Isabelle, Dorothea, Anna and Nicholas. Mrs. Malter died in 1904 and in 1906 he was united to Miss Cecelia McHale by whom he has had one child, a daughter named Cecelia M.
GEORGE W. PECK .- The present supervisor of Bath township is recognized as one of the most progressive and substantial busi- ness men of Steuben county and is president of the George W. Peck Company, which has built up a hardware business of wide scope and importance and which conducts a number of well equipped stores in this section of the state.
Mr. Peck was born at Landsdowne, Leeds county, province of Ontario, Canada, on the 18th of February, 1854. His father, Rev. James B. Peck, was a native of England, whence he came to America when a young man and in 1840 he settled in Jefferson county, New York. For forty years he was active in the work of the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church and he was known as a man of fine intellectual attainments and of consecrated zeal in his chosen vocation. During the greater portion of his work as a clergyman he maintained his home in Steuben county and here he died in the year 1900, at the age of seventy-five years. His memory is revered in this community and his life was one of signal purity and devotion. His wife, whose maiden name was Louisa Warren, now resides at Knoxville, Pennsylvania, and she has at -. tained to the venerable age of eighty-three years (1910).
George W. Peck gained his early educational training in the public schools of the state of New York and when but fourteen years of age he entered the employ of the firm of Powers & Wagner at Savona, Steuben county. He assumed this position in 1870 and in this connection he gained his initial experience in the hardware business in which he was later to achieve so much of prominence and success. In 1875 Mr. Peck became a member of the firm of Wagner & Peck and in the following year he purchased his part- ner's interest in the business, which he individually continued at Savona until 1880. He then removed to Prattsburg, this county,
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where he purchased the hardware stock of George H. Look. In 1883 he established a branch store at Pulteney, Steuben county, and in 1886 he purchased another stock of hardware at Cohocton, Steuben county. In 1888 he effected the purchase of the stock of Hodgman and MeNamara, of Bath, and in 1893 he established a branch store at Bradford, this county. In the following year he found it ex- pedient to bring his various mercantile interests into more effective control by the organization of a stock company, which was duly incorporated under the present title of the George W. Peck Com- pany. When he began operations as an independent business man, in 1875, the annual business controlled did not exceed four thousand dollars and the splendid growth of the enterprise under his able management is measurably indicated when it is stated that the aggregate amount of business done by this company in 1910 was fully two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The George W. Peck Company also conducts stores at Canandaigua, Penn Yan and Dansville. Mr. Peck is also one of the largest stockholders of the Bath Harness Company, which has built up a large business in the manufacturing of harness and in 1906 this corporation erected a substantial cement building in Bath for the manufacturing of its products. The company gives employment to an average of sixty persons and its annual transactions have reached the notable aggre- gate of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Mr. Peck is a mem- ber of the directorate of this corporation, which bases its operations upon a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars. He is also president of the Bath Knitting Mills.
Mr. Peck is essentially progressive and public-spirited as a citi- zen and gives a loyal support to all measures and enterprises tend- ing to advance the general welfare of the community. He is a man of high civic ideas and ideals and his political proclivities are in line with the Democratic party, in whose local councils he is an influential factor. He was elected chairman of the Democratic coun- ty committee of Steuben county in 1907 and he has been called upon to serve in various public offices of a publie order. While a resi- dent of the town of Prattsburg he was elected supervisor, in 1888, serving one term in this office and also having been a member of the board of education of that town. In 1907 he was elected super- visor of the town of Bath, by a majority of fifty-two votes and the popular estimate placed upon his service in this connection is clearly indicated when it is stated that in 1909 he was re-elected by a majority of four hundred and forty-two votes, carrying every voting precinct in the township. He has been on several occasions a delegate to the Democratic state convention and he has been otherwise active in the work of his party. Mrs. Peck is a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Bath and was also a member of the local board of education from 1905 to 1908. The family is prominent in the best social life of the community and here its members enjoy unalloyed popularity.
In the year 1884 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Peck to Miss Flora Griswold, daughter of the late Benajah Griswold, of
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Darien, Genesee county, New York. Of this union have been born five children, namely, George G., J. Arthur, Flora M., Warren S. and John Elwood. All of the sons except the youngest, who is still attending school, are identified with the business enterprise of their father and are being thoroughly trained in connection therewith. The only daughter is a member of the class of 1912 in Elmira Col- lege.
FRED E. BRADLEY .- A man of undoubted enterprise and sagacity, industrious and progressive, Fred E. Bradley, of Bath township, is a valued representative of the prosperous agriculturists of this part of Steuben county, as a farmer displaying excellent judgment in his operations. A son of Zera S. Bradley, he was born, October 20, 1867, at Kanona, Steuben county, coming from dis- tinguished patriotic stock, his great grandfather, Sterges Bradley, having served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war.
Mr. Bradley's grandfather, Zera Bradley, was born in 1796, in the town of Butternuts, Otsego county, New York. Coming from there to Steuben county in 1830, he located in Bath township, and ten years later bought the Bradley homestead property, on which he continued his residence until his death, November 13, 1879. His wife, whose maiden name was Emily L. Osborn, was born August 19, 1818, and died February 16, 1882.
Zera S. Bradley was born on the Bradley homestead, in Bath township, June 30, 1844. He received a good education, after leav- ing the public schools, taking a course of study in a commercial college. Succeeding to the ownership of the home farm, he was here engaged in general agriculture until his death, December 29, 1908. He married Lida Shaver, September 25, 1866, who was born Octo- ber 1, 1845, in Avoca, New York, a daughter of Alexander Shaver, and died on the home farm, in Bath township, February 10, 1893. Three children were born into their household, namely, Louis K., engaged in farming in Bath; John D., engaged in the grocery busi- ness at Prattsburg; and Fred E.
After his graduation from the Bath High School, Fred E. Bradley taught school two terms in Wheeler, but since 1897 has been successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits at his present home, having one of the finest improved and best equipped farms in Bath township.
Mr. Bradley married Evangeline Warren, October 15, 1890, who was born May 21, 1867, in Kanona, a daughter of Francis M. and Sophia (Willis) Warren, of Bath, both of whose families were among the pioneer settlers of Steuben county. To Fred E. and Evangeline Bradley two children have been born, namely, Alida Evangeline Bradley, born March 20, 1894, now a junior in Haver- ling High School at Bath and Fred Warren Bradley, born Feb- ruary 14, 1900. Mr. Bradley is a member of Bath Grange.
CHARLES D. BAKER .- Numbered among the essentially repre- sentative members of the bar of the national metropolis is Charles Duane Baker, who is now special counsel and attorney for the
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department of justice in New York city, of which position he has been incumbent since 1910, having been appointed to this office by the attorney general of the United States. Mr. Baker is a scion of old and honored families of the Empire state and the name which he bears has long been identified with the annals of Steuben county. He was born at Painted Post, this county, on the 17th of September, 1846, and is a son of Harrison H. and Elizabeth (Flem- ing) Baker, both of whom were likewise born and reared at Painted Post. Harrison H. Baker was a millwright by trade and followed the same in his earlier career. He later turned his attention to the lumber industry and became a successful lumber manufacturer at Painted Post, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred when he was about forty-seven years of age. He was a progressive and public-spirited citizen and was influential in local affairs while he ever commanded the unqualified esteem of the community, in which his long life was passed. His father, Jonathan Baker, was a native of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was one of the pioneer settlers of Painted Post, Steuben county, New York, where he achieved marked success as a business man and where he established the first mill in that county. In politics he was a Democrat and a stanch supporter of the policies of Pres- ident Jackson. His wife, whose maiden name was Dorcas Gorton, was a member of the well known family of that name in New York. Mrs. Elizabeth (Fleming) Baker was a daughter of John Fleming, who likewise was a sterling pioneer and prominent busi- ness man of Painted Post, the lineage of the family being traced back to stanch Flemish stock; she was seventy years of age at the time of her death and of the children who attained to years of maturity, the subject of this review was the second in order of birth. The only other surviving son is Clarence E., who is a resi- dent of the city of Chicago.
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