USA > New York > Oneida County > Steuben > A narrative history of Remsen, New York, including parts of the adjoining townships of Steuben and Trenton, 1789-1898 > Part 22
USA > New York > Oneida County > Remsen > A narrative history of Remsen, New York, including parts of the adjoining townships of Steuben and Trenton, 1789-1898 > Part 22
USA > New York > Oneida County > Trenton > A narrative history of Remsen, New York, including parts of the adjoining townships of Steuben and Trenton, 1789-1898 > Part 22
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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
WILLIAM C. JONES, who with his family came to Steuben in 1798, settled west of Store Felen on the farm owned by the late Lewis Everett. He was a carpenter by trade, and one of the first deacons of the Welsh church, Capel Ucha'. He died December 27, 1828, aged seventy-eight years, and his wife, Ann, died March 20, 1841, aged ninety-one years. One son, Edward, survived them, and afterward removed to Albany, N. Y.
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JOHN EVANS (Boon) was born in Brynhynog Bach, North Wales, in 1772. He married Mary, daughter of John Parry, and emigrated to America in 1798 or 1799, coming directly from New York to Steuben, where he joined his brother-in-law, William P. Jones, who had preceded him to this country a year or two. For a time he lived with Mr. Jones who had settled temporarily north of Ty Coch, near the farm soon after settled by John Roberts (Creugiau), grandfather of the late John R. and Griffith Griffiths. Later he took up his residence at Trenton village, from which fact the appellation "Boon" came to be given him, since Trenton, or Olden Barneveld was called Boon by many of the country people, it being the residence of Gerrit Boon, agent for the Holland Land Company, and where Mr. Evans was for many years employed as gardener by Col. Adam Gerard Mappa, who succeeded Gerrit Boon. Shortly after he arrived in Steuben, Mr. Evans bought a bushel of wheat from a neighbor, which he carried on his back to mill at Whitesboro. In September, 1798, assisted by William C. Jones, he cut the first trees on the Capel Ucha' lot, to prepare a place for the grave of the first body buried there. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Evans were Mary, wife of the late John Perry, of Trenton; William, who married Mary, daughter of Griffith I. Jones; Joanna, who married a Mr. Cham- bers; Margaret, who married John Morris; Sophia, who married Robert Jones (Tyddyn-y-Felin); John, who married Mary Williams; Jane, wife of Griffith W. Roberts; and four other children who died in in- fancy. Mrs. Evans died April 11, 1852, and was buried at Capel Bont, near Remsen. Mr. Evans died De- cember 27, 1860, and was buried at Trenton.
The children of William and Mary (Jones) Evans
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were Maria, who died from the effects of burns received when the family home, situated north of Remsen near the Phelps place, was destroyed by fire in 1858 or 1859; Catherine, who died at the age of twelve years; Ann, who married George Mix; Harriet; Jo- anna, who married and lived in Dakota; John; Wil- liam; and Ursula. The children of Robert and Sophia (Evans) Jones were Jane; Sophia; William; John; Cornelia, wife of Archibald Moore, of Trenton; and Sarah, who married a Mr. Evans. The children of William and Joanna (Evans) Chambers were Andrew, Mary Ann, Julia, John, and another daughter whose name is not recalled. Children of Griffith W. and Jane (Evans) Roberts were Milton, who was killed in infancy by the fall of a ladder; Louise, who mar- ried Edgar B. Watkins, of Detroit, Mich. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts were married October 4, 1838. He died in Trenton township April 5, 1875, and Mrs. Roberts died at Detroit, July 4, 1897, aged eighty-two years. The children of John and Mary (Williams) Evans, were William Wallace, Christmas, and George. -
JOHN ROBERTS (Creugiau) came from Wales in 1800, and located on the farm afterward owned by his grandson, John R. Griffiths, about half a mile north of Ty Coch Corners. His children were Jacob, and Catherine, who was the wife of Deacon Timothy Griffiths.
EVAN GEORGE, from Llandygwdd, Cardigan- shire, South Wales, was an early settler on the R. R. Roberts farm, adjoining on the west the farm of John L. Jones on the road leading to Prospect. His children were Thomas; Henry; Evan; Jeremiah; Mar- garet, who married Daniel Bushnell; Ann, who mar-
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ried a Mr. Davis; and Sarah, who married David Davis, of Steuben. Mr. George died August 16, 1835.
REV. JOHN ROBERTS was an early settler in Steuben, coming here from Ebensburgh, Pa., in 1801. His family consisted of three daughters and a son: Rachel, who married Edward Price, Jr .; Hannah, who married Rev. Evan Roberts; Mary; and David. The last named daughter and the son lived for many years at Store Felen, west of Remsen village. Mr. Roberts died in New York city and is buried in old Trinity churchyard, on Broadway.
THOMAS CUFFIN, with his wife Catherine, came from Wales in 1801, and purchased land on which a small clearing had been made by Aaron Francis, where the house of R. Fremont Jones now stands. Their garden, filled with plants and flowering shrubs, became the admiration of the whole countryside, a veritable Eden in the wilderness, where rare varieties for those days were cultivated and nurtured. The farm still remains in the family, R. Fremont Jones being a great-grandson. The farm now comprises three home- steads of the early settlers, that of Robert Roberts, "Hughey" Jones and Thomas Cuffin. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Cuffin were Catherine, wife of William I. Lewis; Nancy, who married John H. Jones; and Mary, who married Richard H. Jones. The chil- dren of the latter were Elias R., Hugh R., Thomas H., and Catherine. Elias R. married first Rachel, daughter of Robert M. Jones, and second, Ellen, daughter of Thomas Williams, of Steuben.
ROBERT ROBERTS, from the parish of Llangybi, Carnarvonshire, came to Steuben in 1801. He built
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a framed house just west of Capel Ucha', his lot ad- joining the church lot in the rear, and the house stood about twenty-five rods north of the highway. By his wife Emily his children were Catherine, who mar- ried David Williams, and became the mother of David H. Williams, for years a prominent citizen of Steuben and later of Rome, N. Y .; Ellen, who married Wil- liam Lewis and was the mother of Squire William Lewis, long a representative citizen of Steuben town- ship; another daughter who married a Mr. Reed and became the mother of Ebenezer, Henry, John, David, Jane, Mary, Ann, Rachel, Harriet and Emily Reed; and William R., for many years a carpenter, cabinet maker and undertaker at Remsen, who married Jane Griffith, sister of Evan Griffith II, of Steuben. The children of William R. and Jane Roberts were Ellen, wife of Samuel Fairchild; Jane, wife of Cornelius Griffiths, of Remsen; Tryphena; Mary Ann, wife of Owen Richards, of Utica; Emily, wife of Samuel Douglas; and Robert W. The latter married first Electa, daughter of Gilbert Cole, and their children were M. Louisa, first wife of Theodore Worden, of Oswego; Lydia, who married a Mr. Smith and re- moved to Michigan; Grove, who died in infancy; and Charles O., of Oswego, N. Y. He married second, Mary Evans (Bryn-gloch ), who had one son, Willard, of Remsen.
STEPHEN BUFFINGTON, a Quaker, was an early settler on the Pen-y-caerau road, midway between Pen-y-caerau church and the Griffith An- thony place, on the opposite side of the highway. He later removed to the farm on the brow of the hill be- low the Perkins place, on the road from Prospect to Trenton Falls, where he lived for many years.
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JOHN WORDEN, from Black Rock, Vt., a revo- lutionary soldier, came early to Norway, Herkimer county, and there married Rebecca Clyde. Working by the month, he accumulated enough money to buy an ox-team and cart, with which and a few household goods he and his wife set out to look for a better lo- cation in some new settlement, eventually coming to Remsen township. This was early in the last century, and he later described Utica as containing at that time "a few log houses in the midst of a frog-pond." From there a corduroy road led to the foot of Deer- field hill, and following this causeway they reached Remsen after a tedious journey, where they finally selected a location on the Pen-y-caerau road, not far from where the Pen-y-caerau church now stands. Here they resided for twenty-five or thirty years, when they moved to Ninety Six. Their children were Isaac, John, Joseph, James, and Stephen. Isaac married Betsy Nichols, and their children were Calvin, Syl- venus, Joseph, Delphina, Sarah Ann, Brayton, and Delight. John married Anna Whiteman, and their children were Catherine, Susan Henry, Martha, and Ellen. James married a Miss Phillips. Stephen mar- ried Savanna Michaels, and their children were Nancy and Peter. The latter married Mary, daughter of John and Barbara Seiter, who settled in the township of Boonville, having come from Alsace-Loraine, France, in 1848. The children of Peter and Mary (Seiter) Worden are Joseph and Frank.
REV. CALEB ALEXANDER, who was the first missionary sent here by New England missionary societies, founded a church at Steuben. He was a native of Northfield, Mass., graduated from Yale in 1777, and, having been admitted to the ministry, was
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settled as pastor over the church at Mendon, Wor- cester county, Mass. He made a missionary tour through the newly settled parts of New York in 1801, under direction of the Massachusetts Missionary So- ciety, visiting various localities in the different coun- ties lying between the Hudson and Lake Erie. On his return journey he remained for some time in Her- kimer county, preaching at Fairfield and Norway, and also made arrangements for opening a school at the former place. A framed building was erected, and in May, 1802, he returned from Massachusetts with his family, and actively commenced to lay the foundation of the institution which developed into the celebrated Fairfield Academy. During the whole period he was at its head, he continued to preach at Fairfield and other places in Herkimer county. Early in the nineteenth century he was called to Hamilton College, then a small school, and was given the task of soliciting funds to enlarge the field of the school's activity. He raised $50,000 for this purpose, and was promised he should be made the first president of the college, which was to bear his name.
By the time the funds were spent, however, Alex- ander Hamilton, who had given land to the college, was given the honor of having the institution named for him. Mr. Alexander then withdrew from the school and moved to Onondaga Valley, in 1812, where he immediately set to work to found another college, which he hoped would become important enough to eclipse Hamilton. In this way Onondaga Free Acad- emy, which became quite celebrated and is still in existence, was founded.
A man of extensive learning and varied accomplish- ments, Mr. Alexander was a fine conversationalist and an author of some note. Among his many pub-
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lished works were his Latin and English Grammars, which were of high repute in their day. His educa- tion was as thorough, and as complete as could be obtained in this country at the time he graduated. He spent the remainder of his life at Onondaga, preach- ing and teaching, giving also a portion of his attention to farming.
REV. JOHN TAYLOR visited these townships under the auspices of the Hampshire Missionary So- ciety in 1802, from whose interesting journal kept at that time we have quoted in these pages. He was then not far from forty years of age, pastor of the Congregational church society at Deerfield, Mass., and has been described as "a gentleman of high re- spectability, of good reputation as a minister, of finished education for the times, and of more than ordinary capacity." About the year 1817, or perhaps a little earlier, he took up his residence in this state at Mendon, Ontario-now Monroe county, and at- tained considerable influence among his brother min- · isters and over the churches and community there. He continued to reside in that part of the state until 1832, when he removed to Michigan, where he died, at Bruce, Macomb county, in 1840.
MORRIS JONES (Felin Chwelog), of the parish of Llanarmon, Carnarvonshire, North Wales, having determined to emigrate with his family to America, took passage from a neighboring Welsh port in a small brig called the "Hugh Charles," bound for Baltimore, in 1801. In the Bay of Conway a fierce storm threat- ened at night, and riding at anchor, the brig with all on board was forsaken by the ship's crew; she being ' left to weather the storm as best she could, or to be
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dashed to pieces, and all to perish if Providence so willed. The storm having abated before morning, the crew returned at daylight, with the cheerful an- nouncement to those whom they had so unfeelingly deserted, that it had been their expectation to pick up their bodies on the rock-bound coast. With the intention of locating in a section called Beulah, in the interior of Pennsylvania, Mr. Jones had taken pass- age in the Hugh Charles for Baltimore, rather than wait indefinitely for a vessel that would take them to a point nearer their intended destination. Arriv- ing at Baltimore, he dispatched two of his sons to pur- chase a location in the section desired. The sons, in company with two other young men who had come from Wales in the same vessel, made the journey on foot from Baltimore, traveling through the wilds of Pennsylvania's sparsely settled territory. When at last approaching the borders of the coveted "Beulah Land," they frequently paused in their journey, sought some eminence, whence from the branches of its tallest trees they viewed the country, in an endeavor to locate water courses and to determine from the character of the surrounding forest timber where the best soil might be found. Eventually, however, they learned that all available land there had been pre- empted by previous comers. So they wearily re- turned to the old father at Baltimore, with the un- welcome intelligence. The family subsequently made the toilsome journey from Baltimore to Remsen.
Arriving here, he purchased a tract of land on which not a stick had then been cut. It comprised the farm known as the John G. Jones farm and that lately owned by the Lewis (Llanbadarn) family, including that portion of the latter reserved by Joseph I. Francis. Mr. Jones' sons cleared about one acre, twenty-five
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rods or so east of the site of the J. G. Jones house, built a log cabin and dug and walled a well; which latter was recently discovered by accident, after hav- ing been filled for nearly one hundred years. Shortly after their settlement here, the road leading from the turnpike across the creek opposite the Platt house, and terminating at the State road north of Prospect, was surveyed and cut through. This was a source of grief to them, for the new road took up a goodly portion of their clearing; and also brought past their door many travelers who would stop to ask directions as to the way they should take. To the old people who could not understand the English language very well, this was a sore annoyance. So their sons had another lot cleared, and built for them a new log house on the hillside, below where the J. G. Jones barn now stands.
Morris Jones was a son of Richard Jones, and in Wales was called "Morris ap Richard" (Morris, son of Richard), contracted to Morris Prichard, while the sons were given the father's christian name, "Mor- ris," for their surname. But in this country father , and sons resumed the family surname of the preced- ing generation.
The children of Morris and Anne Jones were Rich- ard M .; John M .; Laura, who died in childhood; Robert M .; and Mary, who married John G. Jones. Richard M., married Jane Roberts. They removed to Millen's Bay, on the St. Lawrence, about 1833. Their children were Ann, Isaac, Jacob, Abraham, Jane, Rebecca, and Sarah. The latter married William Richards (Penrhiwder). John M. married first a daughter of John Lewis (Ty Careg), by whom he had children, and second, he married Margaret Griffiths (Llanllawen). Children: Ellen (Mrs. Wheeler), Wil- liam and Jane.
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ROBERT M. JONES was born in the parish of Llanarmon Eifionydd, in Carnarvonshire, North Wales, in 1783. It is recorded in the book of baptisms in the register of Llanarmon parish church that on "June 24, 1783, was baptized Robert Morris, son of Morris Prichard by Anne, his wife." In boyhood he received fair educational advantages for the time, and at the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to the millwright trade in the neighboring shire of Mer- ioneth. However, before the expiration of his term of apprenticeship his father decided to emigrate with his family to America, so bought from the master the unexpired time of the apprenticeship, that he might bring the son to this country with him. Here he completed his trade, following the vocation and that of building for many years. He was the first in this section to build by what is known as "square rule." Thitherto framed structures in these parts were built exclusively by what was termed "scribe rule," or the method of "cut and try." He came here in 1801, and in early manhood purchased a farm, and subse- quently other parcels of land, and engaged extensively in farming and dairying in addition to mill-construc- tion and building. In 1839 he purchased the mills and water privilege in Remsen village, where in 1850- 1852 he replaced the Platt mills by new ones. In July, 1807, he married Jane, born in 1785, daughter of Rev. Richard Jones. He died December 3, 1873, aged ninety years; and his wife died May 3, 1850, aged sixty-five years.
Their children were Elizabeth, born December 4, 1808, married Hugh J. Hughes and died in August, 1868. Children: John H .; Jane, who married Mat- thew Jones; Cornelius; Lewis; Lydia, who married
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Evan Thomas; Dr. Robert H., who married Martha Lewis; and Ellen.
Cornelius R. was born in Trenton township Octo- ber 27, 1809. He attended school at Remsen, and when a youth worked at the mill-wright and carpenter trades with his father. When about eighteen he went to Johnstown, N. Y., where he assisted at carpenter work for a time, and thence went to Albany. Return- ing to his home, he remained here until his time was his own, when he left again, in the spring of 1831, with the intention of journeying to Ohio, then the Eldorado of the west. He walked to Rome, and from there followed the tow-path of the Erie canal to Syracuse, where he met a friend who secured work for him at the Lodi dry-dock. He remained in Syra- cuse, where he later began to take mill-work and build- ing contracts on his own account. In December, 1831, he married Phoebe, daughter of Zimri and Eliza- beth Barber, of Canton, N. Y. Their children were Nelson O., who married Celestia Root; George W., who married Elizabeth Platt; Elizabeth, who married Frederick Gardner; Loren, who married first, Ellen Hymes, and second Gertrude (Bedel) Smith; Charles H., unmarried, who served in Company C., 185th Regi- ment, N. Y. volunteers, and died June 17, 1872. In the winter of 1849-1850, Mr. Jones returned to Rem- sen, where he resided until 1855, during which time he rebuilt the Platt mills, now known as the Remsen Mills. He died at Syracuse April 3, 1898.
Morris R. was born in the township of Trenton, February 16, 1812. He learned the trade of mill- wright, and at an early age located at Syracuse where he was engaged in mill-wright and contract work, boat-building, largely. He was of an inventive mind and devised many useful inventions, among which
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was a gate paddle, which came into general use on canal-lock gates throughout the country. On August 16, 1837, he married Elizabeth, born August 22, 1819. daughter of Alfred and Orpha (Winchell) Little. Their children were Orpha J., born November 8, 1839, married Augustus Platt February 22, 1865, to whom was born February 15, 1866 a son, Charles T., who married Lulu Parks September 5, 1893. Allen M., born December 15, 1844, married Anna M. Hitchcock February 25, 1874, by whom he has one daughter, Myrtie Elizabeth, born December 25, 1875, and who married Myron Terpening November 20, 1902. Mr. Jones died October 9, 1874; and his widow July 13, 1903.
Mary A., born January 25, 1814, died April 5, 1893; married Isaac W. Roberts in April, 1834. Children: Jefferson W., died March 7, 1862; I. Newton, served in Company E., 1st. Regiment of Illinois Light Ar- tillery, married Barbara Louise Sayers, died May 16, 1872; Lydia A .; George W., who served in Company B., 149th Reg't., N. Y. S. Vol's .; died January 27, 1888; Frank C., married Ellie Copeland, of Canton, N. Y., to whom were born two children, Frank Marcy, and Clayton who died in infancy; Frank C. died November 19, 1886; Marietta E., who married Edward R. Walsh, of Chicago, to whom was born one daughter, Annie M .; Mrs. Walsh died September 1, 1909; Clinton M., who died September 26, 1905; and Millard F., who married Agnes L. Gay, of Syracuse, N. Y., October 7, 1886.
Hannah, born June 7, 1816, died in January 1871, married Griffith W. Jones. Children: Gordon G .; Eliza J., who married Edward J. Utley; and Robert M., who died at the age of fourteen years.
Jane, born February 17, 1820, married Griffith W.
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Wheldon. Children: Jane E., who married Lewis Richards; Elnora, who died at the age of nineteen; William; Mary E., who married Dr. B. Frank Has- kins; Rachel, who died in infancy; and Leah A., who married William H. Jones. Mrs Wheldon died Oc- tober 4, 1881.
Leah, born January 17, 1823, married Evan P. Owens by whom she had two children, Ann Jane, and Robert Lloyd, both of whom died in infancy. Mrs. Owens died March 26, 1852.
Rachel E., born August 23, 1825, married Elias R. Jones. Children: Jane M., who married William M. Jones, and has one daughter, R. Emily, who mar- ried Chauncey H. Williams; Catherine L., who mar- ried John L. Jones; and R. Fremont, who married Lydia, daughter of Thomas Evans. They have one son, Russell. Mrs. Rachel E. Jones died in Novem- ber, 1858.
Richard R., born April 20, 1830, married Mary A., daughter of John and Elizabeth Jones. Their chil- dren were Lida, who married William T. Murty; Robert M., and Nellie F. Mr. Jones died December 8,1866
ROBERT JONES (Tyddyn-y-Felin) emigrated from Carnarvonshire in 1801, landed at New York and came directly to this locality. He bought of the Holland Land Company sixty acres, situated just east of the village between the highway to Prospect which passes the J. G. Jones farm, and that leading from Remsen past the stone church to the State road. Here he made a clearing and built a log house nearly opposite the J. G. Jones house. But he lived only a few years after his arrival, and his widow and their youngest son, Moses, conducted the farm. About
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1820 they built a stone house at the top of the hill ten rods or so north of the Prospect road, though not a vestige now remains to mark its site. Of their children William the eldest married Jane in London, England, and immediately came with his bride to America, locating here a year previous to the arrival of his father and the rest of the family; Mar- garet, married Robert Evans (Nant), of Steuben; Emma married John Williams; Elizabeth married Hugh Jones; Jemima married Robert Owen; John; Moses married Dinah Davis; and Ann married Wil- liam H. Owens. The children of William and Jane Jones were Robert, who married Sophia, daughter of John Evans (Boon); Ellis, who lived for many years near Boonville where he died; Daniel; Ann, who married Griffith Jones; Moses, who married Evans; and Margaret, who married a Mr. Ketcham. The children of Moses and Dinah (Davis) Jones were Jane, born in 1818, married Henry W. Roberts in 1837; Ann, who married Moses Nash Fuller, and removed to Chicago; Ezekiel, captain of Company I., 146th Regiment, N. Y. Volunteers, taken sick in bar- racks at Rome, dying there at the home of Mr. John Parry, November 6, 1862, aged thirty-eight years; Simeon and Josiah, both of whom removed to Min- nesota; Benjamin; and Moses, who died in infancy. Ezekiel married Deborah Avery. Children: Avery D., Flora, Dean, Elvira, Lula and George.
EVAN WILLIAMS (Bryn Gola), from Carnar- vonshire, settled in Steuben in 1801, on the south side of the highway which branches north-west to French Road from the Ty Coch road near the late John R. Griffiths' farm. There was a clearing of about two acres when Mr. Williams took possession, and here
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he later built a stone house. By his first wife he had two sons, William E., and John E. The latter served in the Pensacola war, but returned here in 1856, and later removed to Chambersburgh, Pa. He had a family of nine children. Evan Williams had two sons by a second wife, Thomas E., and Richard E. He died May 17, 1837, aged eighty-three years; and Eleanor, his widow, died May 24, 1850. Richard E. died December 16, 1855; Thomas E., died December 29, 1885, aged seventy-two years, and Catherine, his wife, born at Aber, Carnarvonshire, died February 4, 1886, aged seventy years.
Shortly after the family settled here, they were annoyed by what they supposed to be a large dog belonging to Ebenezer Weeks. For several nights it had been coming into the Williams clearing, tan- talizing their smaller dog, and even wounding him severely. Determined to rid themselves of this trou- blesome visitor, the two older sons armed themselves with sled-stakes one night, and awaited the coming of the intruder. When he appeared they were in readiness, and pounced suddenly upon him, mauling him lustily with their clubs, until he finally lay dead at their feet. Then, fearing Mr. Weeks would resent the killing of his dog, and not wishing to get into any controversy with a neighbor, they buried the carcass. The following day one of the young men chanced to pass the farm of Mr. Weeks, and was astonished to see the latter's dog about the premises, apparently no worse for his clubbing and burial in a shallow grave. It then occurred to them that the dog they had killed also resembled one owned by William Prichard, an- other neighbor. So to ascertain whose dog they really had killed, they dug up the body, when it proved to be that of a wolf. Now, as a bounty was at that
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