Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 251

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452

USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations > Part 251

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tion of his talent. Mr. Featherstonhaugh, in his Journal, speaking of Cole, says:

" I have staying with me a young Englishman by birth of the name of Thomas Cole, who has quite a talent for painting. He is now at work finishing a view of the lake and house for me. He shows great talent and I predict for him a brilliant career.'

How well that prediction was verified!

That painting is now in the possession of the Featherstonhaugh family at Duanesburgh. Mr. Featherstonhaugh, with his friend, Stephen Van Rensselaer, originated the idea of a railroad be- tween Albany and Schenectady, and it was owing to his indomitable will and perseverance in ob- taining and selling stock, enlisting friends and arguing away countless objections, more than to any other cause, that the project was at last real- ized. He was the author of several works on agri- culture, and took an active part in promoting farming interests, by importing blooded stock and organizing a State Agricultural Society, and by getting favorable and salutary laws passed by the Legislature. He was also the author of several books on geology and travel, besides numerous essays on various subjects. He resided in Duanesburgh until about 1828, when, having just returned from foreign travel, he had the misfortune of seeing his magnificent house and all its contents destroyed by fire. His wife dying a few years afterward, he re- turned to England, and was appointed by the gov- ernment as consul. to Havre. He resided in his official capacity at that place until his death in I866. The following is extracted from a French paper :

"He was borne to his grave by six consuls of the English department, preceded by the clergy of the Church of England, All the principal author- ities, civic and military, followed, together with the officers of the English vessels in the port. An eloquent eulogy was delivered at the grave, com- memorating the eminent qualities and high char- acter which had distinguished the honorable dead."

Mr. Featherstonhaugh was descended from one of the oldest families in England, and one cele- brated in story and ballad of olden time. He be- longed to many of the literary and scientific soci- eties both of this Country and England, and was an honored Fellow of the Royal Society. By his first marriage two sons survived him. These were George William Featherstonhaugh, now of Milwaukee, Wis., and James Duane Featherston- haugh, of Duanesburgh. By a second marriage he left three children, all residing in England. Three grandchildren, sons of James D. Feather- stonhaugh, are now living in New York State, viz. : Dr. James Duane Featherstonhaugh, of Cohoes; Dr. Thomas Featherstonhaugh, of New York City; and George William Featherstonhaugh, a lawyer of Schenectady, residing in Duanesburgh. A young child of the latter represents the last gener- ation of the family to the present time-a great- grandchild of the founder of the family in America.

The Featherstonhaughs own and occupy the last of the family mansions erected in Duanesburgh.

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HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY.

This, known as the Duane Mansion, was built about 1810 by Catharine Livingston Duane, the younger daughter of Judge Duane, upon an emi- nence overlooking nearly the whole town of Duanesburgh, and but a short distance from the North mansion. It is large and imposing, a piazza seventy feet in length extending along its entire north side. The roof over the piazza, twenty feet high, is supported by eight massive columns, turned out of huge pine trees. Surrounded by ample grounds and sheltered by beautiful shade trees, this is one of the most charming of country residences. Miss Duane occupied it until 1852, when she died, noted for her charity and benevo- lence. By will it descended to her nephew, James D. Featherstonhaugh, and is the last property of any consequence in the town remaining in the pos- session of descendants of Judge Duane.

PROMINENT CITIZENS IN 1838 AND 1858.

The following were prominent citizens of Duanesburgh in 1838, as appears from the town records and other authentic documents ; Jacob A. Radley, Thomas Holmes, Jr., David Beverage, Charles O. S. Patterson, Samuel Slawson, John Wiltse, Israel R. Green, Bradford Berckley, Thomas W. Patterson, Silas H. Marsh, John Bentley, Ira Bennett, Alexander McMillan, Amos Chapman, Ebenezer Cady, Joseph Braman, Frederick Shute, Leonard Herrick, James Tullock, Jr., Thomas Holmes, Henry I. Smith, David Lander, A. C. Clogston, John Combs, Nathaniel Wiggins, John Tullock, Alexander Liddle, Alexander Eggleston, William McMillan, William Turnbull, Robert Liddle, Lester Mott, Joseph Eggleston, Thad- deus King, George Ingersoll, Lawrence D. Long, William H. Morey, Jacob Coons, John L. Jones, Jesse Abbey, John Shute, John T. Wright. Mat- thew H. Rector, Philip Paige, David Koon, Alonzo Macomber, Caleb H. Carpenter, James Ferguson, Samuel Ostrander, Ralph W. McDougall, Henry Ladd, Isaac C. Stevens, Kirby Wilber, Shelden J. Hoag, Jacob White, Nathaniel Jenkins, William D. Cary, John Tullock, George E. Cady, Stephen Badgley, Daniel P. Wing, Abraham Montanye, James Clement, Lyman Hows, George Lasher.

Twenty years later the following list comprised most of the leading men in the town. It will be seen that some of the names appear in the preced- ing list. Henry Sniffers, Charles Dennison, Henry Pulver, John McCally, Charles A. Patterson, James M. Lasher, Elijah Rockwell, John D. Stillwell, Stephen Fuller, J. J. Green, Thomas Freydendall, Hiram Hausett, George Mason, Joseph Bennett, James Macomber, Amos Chapman, Charles Cady, Lovell Doty, Lysander Markle, Elnathan Abrams, Elijah Ladd, William Marsh, Samuel Wingate, William Turnbull, Silas Tripp, Henry J. Smith, Henry Quick, James Liddle, Daniel Wiggins, Charles L. Tullock, Thomas Liddle, Adam Hum- phrey, Jonathan Soule, William Waddell, William McMillan, John Combs, James Wilkinson, Peter Cameron, Joseph Eggleston, Lemuel Sisson, G. T. McFarland, Albert Morey, David Hughes, William Koons, Charles Ladd, Henry Jones, John

Shutt, Philo Avery, Peter Deyo, Orlando Root, Ira Marsh, M. H. Rector, William S. Gordon, Ben- jamin Warden, Joel J. Smith, Leonard Gaige, Jonathan Harden, Joseph Moore, Jesse Ketcham, John Ferguson, Elias Gey, Ralph W. McDougall, Charles Davis, Jacob Weaver, Charles Case, James Tullock, Reuben Briggs, David Griffith, Joseph Lason, B. F. Wood, Isaac Quimby, Allen Wilber, Samuel Rulison, Jacob Patterson, Abraham Ball, Alexander Dorn, Anthony De Long, Stephen Badgley, George Badgley, David Underhill.

OTHER EARLY SETTLERS AND MEN OF PROMINENCE.

The DENNISON FAMILY in Duanesburgh dates back to the early settlement of the town. Charles Dennison, the ancestor, was a native of Ireland. He located on the farm now owned and occupied by George L. Dennison, about 1773, and was a soldier in the patriot service during the revolution. He had but one son, Ezekiel, who was born on the homestead, and married a Miss Pulver, living to the advanced age of eighty-four years, and having a family of several children, of whom Charles Den- nison, the eldest, was born November 20, 1797. Charles was twice married; first to Maria, daughter of John Thomas, April 10, 1819. She was born November 16, 1793, and died in 1848. His sec- ond marriage was to Mary Lockwood, of Prince- town. His children by his first marriage were Margaret (deceased), John (living in Iowa), Eliza- beth, Charles P. (deceased), Ezekiel (deceased), and George L. and William, both of whom are farmers in Duanesburgh. George L. Dennison was born September 16, 1834, and was married January 9, 1866, to Miss Malinda A. Root, of North Norwich, Oxford County, Canada. Their children are Sherman H. Dennison, born October 3, 1867; John M. Dennison, born September 26, 1868; Sarah M. Dennison, born October 3, 1870; Mary A. Dennison, born August 21, 1872; L. Louise Dennison, born November 20, 1874; Martha E. Dennison, born January 12, 1880; and Margaret A. Dennison, born April 8, 1882.

RALPH MCDOUGALL was a son of Alexander McDougall, a native of the Scotch Highlands, and emigrated to America with his father-in-law, Ralph Wesley, about 1774. He first located upon land now occupied by Duanesburgh Four Corners. His son, Ralph McDougall, was born June 6, 1785, and married Abigail, daughter of Benjamin Armstrong. His father-in-law was a native of Albany County, and at that time a farmer in Duanesburgh. Of the nine children of Ralph and Abigail McDougall, Ann married Joseph Rector and is dead; Hannah died, aged twenty-one; Hugh settled on a farm in Duanesburgh, and died there November 7, 1878; John lives in Walworth County, Wisconsin; Ben- jamin is a farmer living near Binghamton, N. Y .; Alexander located adjacent to the old homestead, married Abigail, daughter of Alexander Gifford, and has a family of six children : Ralph A., Pur- son R., Elizabeth, John, Wesley and Hannah; Thomas and Abigail are dead; and Ralph W. occu- pies the old homestead of two hundred acres about a mile east of the village of Duanesburgh,

165

THE TOWNSHIP OF DUANESBURGH.

and is well known and highly respected by his fel- low townsmen. Ralph McDougall died June I, 1857.

The venerable ROBERT LIDDLE, of Duanesburgh, represents one of the earliest families of the town. His grandfather, a Scotchman, emigrated from the shire of Roxburgh about 1775, and settled on the place now owned and occupied by Robert Kelly, in Princetown. He was a mason by trade and did much work in Albany, going thither through the wilderness to earn money with which to pay for his home. He was born in 1741, and had married and had a family before leaving Scotland. His wife, and his sons, Thomas and Alexander, and his daughter, Margaret, accompanied him. His daughter Elizabeth was born during the voyage. Christie and John, other children, were born after the establishment of the family in this country. Of this generation none are now living. Robert Lid- dle is the oldest son of Alexander and Mary (Gif- ford) Liddle and was born January 12, 1803. He has been three times married. His first wife was Sally Smith, daughter of Charles Smith, of Duanes- burgh. Her children were Alexander, Mary, Abigail, Ann E., Charles, Thomas, Abram S., and Robert W. For a second wife he married Sarah, daughter of John Robinson, of North Duanes- burgh, who bore children named Agnes, Mc- Dermott, and Janet. His third wife, now living, was Janet Young, of Duanesburgh. The Liddle family is both numerous and highly respected throughout Schenectady County.

EZEKIEL TRIPP was among the earlier settlers of the town. With his family of four sons and four daughters, he emigrated from Rhode Island to Dutchess County about 1789. There he remained about a year, when he removed to Duanes- burgh, and located upon the present home- stead of Daniel C. Hoag. This farm, then com- prising 110 acres with small improvements, he purchased for $30. His wife was Mary Lawton. Benjamin Tripp was their oldest son. He married Hannah Deuel, and located on the farm of 107} acres now owned by Darius Tripp, a grandson of the pioneer. They had a family of ten children. Silas Tripp was the seventh in order of birth. He married Martha A. Stevens, and succeeded to the ownership of the home. Of the children of Silas Tripp, Darius and Emily are living on the old Tripp homestead; Jedediah S. is in Wisconsin; Ezekiel, Mariette, Samuel B. and Ursula are de- ceased; Mercy A. is Mrs. I. G. Quimby, of Duanes- burgh; and Seneca is in Minnesota.

WILLIAM LADD was one of the pioneer settlers in the vicinity of Braman's Corners. With his two sons, Thomas and William, Jr., he came from Barrington, Mass., in 1781, and cleared about three acres of heavy forest at the spot now occupied by the farm buildings of Mr. Walthousen, being lot 160 Duane survey, and commonly known as the Old Ladd Homestead. This land was cleared, plowed and planted to wheat without the aid of team, plow or drag. That same year a small log cabin was erected, and late in the fall

Mr. Ladd and his sons returned to Barrington, Mass., retracing their tree-marked way to their old home. They came back in the spring of 1782, bringing with them Mrs. Ladd and other children named John, Levi, Sally, Betsey, Susan, Hannah, Polly, Nancy, Elizabeth, and Lemuel. In health, size and muscular strength, this generation of Ladds was a remarkable one. The ancestors of William Ladd were of pure English blood, and he, with two brothers, emigrated from England in 1633, and located at Saybrook, Mass. He was married to Elizabeth Vining, in Abington, Mass., November 4, 1776. John D. Ladd, of Sche- nectady, is a son of John Ladd, Jr., and Mary Disbrow, his wife. John Ladd, Jr., was a son of John Ladd, son of William Ladd, the pioneer in Duanesburgh. Thus it will be seen that John D. Ladd is of the fourth generation of the family in Schenectady County. He was born in Duanes- burgh, October 13, 1827, and until 1862, when he removed to Schenectady, lived continuously in his native town with the exception of about two years, during which he was a salesman in a dry goods store in Burtonville. In 1866 he entered the employ of William McCammus & Co., and has held the position ever since, though the old firm has been succeeded by T. H. Reeves & Co. He married Amanda, daughter of Joseph H. Jones, of Duanesburgh, who was born September 21, 1833, and has three children, as follows : Nettie, born December 11, 1862; Frank, born May 14, 1872; and Justus, born February 11, 1875.

HENRY SHUTE was born in Chatham, Columbia County, N. Y., October 13, 1769. He married Sarah Irish, September 25, 1788, and doubtless located in Duanesburgh that same year, on the farm now owned and occupied by his two grand- sons, F. W. and J. H. Shute. He had a family of four sons and four daughters, named Daniel, Henry, Betsey, Ruth, Eunice, Cynthia, John, and Frederick, all of whom are dead. Frederick W., John H., and Luther Shute represent the third generation in the town, and are sons of John Shute who was the seventh son of Henry, and married for his first wife Fannie Norton, who died, leaving three sons and a daughter, named Jensen, Jerome, William, and Sarah A. Of these Jerome only sur- vives, living at Ballston Springs, N. Y. His second wife was Prudence, daughter of Asaph Eddy, of Albany. The latter was born in 1758, and married Sarah Moon, who was born of New England stock in 1763, and whose ancestry in the line of the Moons is traceable back to about 1693. William Shute, Henry Shute's father, served under Lieuten- ant Washington at the time of Braddock's defeat, and was a daring soldier.

JOHN L. JONES is one of the oldest residents of Duanesburgh, and is a son of one of the early settlers of the town. His father, Lewis Jones, came from Westchester County in 1787, and located near Braman's Comers on the farm Mr. Jones now owns and occupies. He was a revolu- tionary soldier, and married Eunice Ketcham

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HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY.

while yet a resident of his native county, and had nine children, named Ephraim, Jonathan, Nathan- iel, Hannah, William, John L., Benjamin, Polly, Joseph H., and Lewis. John L. Jones was born December 28, 1798, and married Amy Bagley. She died, leaving a daughter named Polly Ann, and he married Catharine Koons, by whom he has eight children, named Julia, John E., Augusta, William, Amy, Lewis, Janet, and De Witt. His farm consists of 175 acres.

WILLIAM TURNBULL was the first of the name in Duanesburgh. He located on the property now in possession of Charles Titball, 100 acres taken on a lease. George Turnbull was a son of this pioneer, and grandfather of John L. Turnbull, the well known merchant and present town clerk. He was a native Scotchman. A professional gardener, he worked in the royal gardens, and was a man of prominence. His ancestry is traceable in a direct line to the Douglasses, a great and powerful Scot- tish house. He married Jane Kennedy, lived to the close of his life on the homestead, and raised a family of three sons and three daughters. William Turnbull succeeded to the ownership of the homestead. He is remembered as a thrifty farmer and a popular townsman. He never mar- ried, and is dead. James, the second son, began life as an employee on the Union College Grounds under President Nott, and by economy and indus- try was enabled to enter mercantile life. He was a flourishing merchant at Esperance and Burton- ville, Montgomery County, and later was a farmer on the George Lasher Place, where he died in 1 858. lle married Isabel, daughter of Alexander McIn- tosh, an early Scotch-American settler of Prince- town. They had a family of nine children, eight of whom grew up: Jane, now Mrs. James Warner, of Redwing, Minn .; Arseneth, now Mrs. Burr Deuel, of Winona, Minn .; George A. (deceased), who served two years during the Rebellion as captain of Co. A., 134th N. Y. Volunteer Infantry ; John L .; Rebecca, who became Mrs. T. Romeyn Herrick; A. G. W., a farmer in Dakota; William J., a part- ner with John L., who married Alice Jarvis; Isabel, living in Duanesburgh; and Helen, who died at the age of two years. The family has always fig- ured conspicuously in the social and business cir- cles of the town, and, in addition to the other im- portant trusts which have been confided to him, John L. Turnbull has been chosen Supervisor of Duanesburgh.

T. ROMEYN HERRICK represents one of the oldest and most honored families of the town. His grandfather, Judge Jonathan Herrick, was born in Dutchess County, of Welsh and English parentage, in 1760, and located in Duanesburgh in 1792, on the property now occupied by John Holmes. He married Patience Palmer, of Dutchess County, by whom he had two sons ( James and Smith) and two daughters (Mary and Amanda). James loca- ted on the present George Bender Place, and mar- ried Julia, daughter of John Sherburn, and had ten sons and two daughters, of whom T. Romeyn Herrick is the eighth son and the tenth in the order

of birth. He lived on the homestead until he was about twenty-five years of age, when he married Rebecca Turnbull. He engaged in business in Albany, and later was for several years in New York City. In 1875 he returned to his native town, where he has since lived, and during the past eight years held the office of Justice of the Peace.

IRA ESTES, merchant at Quaker Street, is a na- tive of Duanesburgh, as was his father. The lat- ter-Benjamin T. Estes-was born on the Lister Farm in 1791. He was a carpenter and a Quaker minister, and was a regular attendant at the Qua- ker Street meeting for about fifty years. He was a son of Thomas Estes, one of the original settlers of the Duane tract, and doubtless a native of Rhode Island. He married Rebecca, daughter of Enoch Hoag, an early resident of the town and a member of another prominent Quaker family, and they had six children, of whom Ira Estes is the oldest liv- ing. He was reared a farmer, has been sixteen years a stock dealer and twelve years a merchant. He has been twice married, and has several chil- dren. He is justly rated as one of the leading men of the town.

Hon. ALONZO MACOMBER was born in Chester- field, Essex County, N. Y., in 1806. He is a mechanic by trade, and as such worked during his earlier years. In 1828 he located on a farm about half a mile southwest of Quaker Street, and there lived until he took up his present residence in 1846. In 1850 he entered upon a mercantile career, in which he continued successfully several years. He has served his fellow-citizens as Member of Assembly one term, as Assistant Internal Revenue Assessor seven years, as Justice of the Peace about twenty- four years, and as Postmaster one year. He retired from active life several years since. He married Eliza, daughter of Nathaniel Wilber (deceased), and has a son, who is a successful druggist, located at No. 42 Hudson avenue, Albany.

MELVILLE MEAD, one of the most enterprising young merchants of Schenectady County, is a son of Daniel and a grandson of Zaccheus Mead, both deceased. The children of Zaccheus Mead were Stephen, Zaccheus, Jr., John, Jehial, Nathaniel, Titus, Mary Jane (who married J. Shelden), and Daniel. The latter was in early life a money lender. Later he engaged in carriage-making at Quaker Street, in company with W. R. McGraw. His son, Arthur, was also for a time connected with this business, which was discontinued in 1881. Daniel Mead was twice married, first to Miss Lucretia Wait, by whom he had one son, Arthur, and afterward to Mary J. Haight, of Dutchess County. Melville Mead was the only issue of the marriage. Mr. Mead died May 6, 1884, aged seventy-five years. His widow survives him. Melville Mead is a prac- tical tinsmith. He began business on his own ac- count several years ago. He occupies the old W. S. Lang stand at Quaker Street and does a general trade, including tinware, silverware, agricultural implements, stoves, furniture and other articles, also doing jobbing in tin gutters and roofing and similar supplies.

16"

THE TOWNSHIP OF DUANESBURGH.

Another representative man is CORNELL W. BRONK. Since the year 1797, when Abram Bronk settled on the present farm of A. Bronk, the family have fig- ured more or less conspicuously in the business and social development of the town. He came from Columbia County and was of Holland Dutch parentage. He married Catharine Radley, or Ratcliff, as the name was formerly spelled. Nich- olas Bronk was a son of Abram, and married Eu- nice Wiltsie, and was the father of Cornell W., Margaret, Catharine, Eunice, and Isabel Bronk, of whom the first mentioned is the only one living in the county. Cornell W. Bronk married Elizabeth, a daughter of John Levey, of Princetown, and they have five children: Catharine, now Mrs. John Mar- clay, of Mariaville, John L., Abram N., William J., and Nancy E. Mr. Bronk has served his town as assessor six years. Abram N. Bronk, of Maria- ville, succeeded the firm of Lasher & Son, in part- nership with J. A. Bradshaw, in 1879, and in 1881 purchased his partner's interest.

His stock consists of a full line of such goods as are to be found in all important country stores. He obtained his first mercantile experience as a clerk during nine years with Lasher & Son. He married Maria, daughter of Marcus Delamater, of Mariaville, and has two children, named Berdella and Emmett. Another, named Clifton, died in in- fancy.

G. W. CONOVER has been a resident of Duanes- burgh about twenty-five years. He was born in Florida, Montgomery County, March 19, 1812. His father, Marcellus Conover, was a native of the town of Glenn, and was a son of Isaac Conover, who served as an aid-de-camp to General Washing- ton during the revolution. Mr. Conover's ances- tors were Holland Dutch and first located in New Jersey. The name as now spelled is an English modification of the old Dutch name of Covenho- ven, by which members of the family were known not longer than a generation ago. Isaac Covenho- ven and his brother Abraham were bold patriots and daring soldiers during the struggle for Ameri- can independence, as is attested by passages in Sims' "Border Wars of Schoharie." George W. Conover married Sarah M., daughter of J. P. Rod- ley, of Florida, Montgomery County, and they have one son, John M. Conover. They live at Scotch Church, where they own a fine farm of 265 acres.

ABRAHAM DEVENBURG is an aged and respected citizen. He was born in Knox, Albany County, November 2, 1807. He was one of the founders and a liberal supporter of the Free Dutch Church of Mariaville. He owns and, in company with his son, John, operates the Devenburg Mills, the only circular saw-mill in the town. His wife was Ann Lloyd. Their son, John Devenburg, was born June 27, 1845, and learned the trade of carriage- making at Port Jackson, N. Y. He carries on the business of carriage-making at Mariaville. July 3, 1 866, he married Martha A., daughter of William H. How, of Port Jackson. They have four chil- dren, named Ettie L., Ann M., William H., and

Satie. Harrison P., another son, died young. Mr. Devenburg is known as an enterprising and pro- gressive business man.

EBENEZER WRIGHT was born in the town of Wes- terloo, Albany County, January 27, 1800. His father was John Wright, his mother, Susan, daughter of Captain Nehemiah Bassett. His grandfather was Mathew Wright, and his grandmother Esther Lewis, who was born in Chatham, Conn. Some years before the revolution, Mathew Wright and wife, with their sons, Daniel, John, Earl, Mathew, Thomas, and Ebenezer, removed from Sinsbury. Conn., to Sharon, Schoharie County. He, with Daniel and Earl, shortly afterward removed to Otsego County, N. Y. He lived to be 103 years old and his wife 90 years. Thomas enlisted in the patriot army in the war of the revolution; was taken prisoner and confined in a British ship in Boston harbor, where he died from starvation with a chip in his mouth, with which he was vainly try- ing to satisfy the cravings of hunger. John Wright, the father of Ebenezer, was in both the revolution- ary war and war of 1812. After his marriage he moved to Albany County and afterward to Schenec- tady County. His children were Thomas, John Y., Justus, Nehemiah, Samuel, Anna, Fanny, Ebenezer, and Jane. Ebenezer married Susan, daughter of Olive Briggs, and settled in Quaker Street. He learned the carpenter's trade. As a workman, "Boss Wright," as he was called, had no superior in the town. There still remain many specimens of his work in buildings and furniture which show the ability of the builder. He was the undertaker for the neighborhood, When he began this business the Friends, or Quakers, who composed the largest part of the inhabitants in that part of the town, demanded Puritanical simplicity, and many of the coffins were of pine-wood, not stained or varnished, without handles or orna- ments. The height of extravagance was reached when for pine the native cherry was substituted. Instead of varnish, wax was used in finishing the coffins. He lived to see the time when the plain customs of the ancient Friends were forgotten, when ornamented and expensive caskets, and a hearse to carry them, were in as much demand from their descendants as from the "World's People." He was a man of sterling integrity and positive convictions. He was an earnest supporter of the Abolition party, and with John Sheldon, James Sheldon and Reuben Briggs, acted as agents for the "Underground Railroad," assist- ing fleeing slaves on their way to Canada and freedom. The next station west was the house of Mr. Griggs, a miller at Schoharie. He was one of the Washingtonian temperance workers, and Quaker Street thirty-five to forty years ago was noted for the intelligence, temperate life and indus- try of its inhabitants. Upon the organization of the Republican party he became identified with it, and was honored by his townsmen with several positions of trust. A champion of the unfortunate the poor, and the oppressed, he was sometimes called fanatical, but even his greatest opponents unite in pronouncing him honest and sincere.

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Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 251

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1452

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452