Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 252

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 252

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168

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY.

Doctor P. A. BRUMAGIN, who for about thirty- six years has been a successful practicing physician at Mariaville, was born in Root, Montgomery County, February 4, 1816, of which town his parents, John and Elizabeth (Carr) Brumagin, were natives and life-long residents. He attended school in Root and received a higher education at the Ames Academy. He studied medicine with Dr. Thompson Burton, of Charlestown, attended lectures at Albany Medical College three successive terms, and graduated in the class of 1844. He at once began practice at Currytown, Montgomery County, and in 1848 located in Mariaville. He married Mary, daughter of Albert and Susan McMaster, of Root, Montgomery County, and has two children, Patience, now the wife of Peter Turn- bull, of Albany, and Charles, a resident of Florida, Montgomery County.

Doctor P. I. DODGE, of Duanesburgh, is a native of Palmyra, Jefferson County, Wisconsin. He was born April 13, 1857, and is a son of Rev. C. F. and Catharine (Darling) Dodge of that place. He attended the public schools of Palmyra and took an academic course at Big Rapids, Michigan. Later he was a student at the Indiana Northern Normal School. He studied medicine at the Ben- nett Medical College, graduating in 1880. After attending the Eclectic Medical College of New York in 1883 and 1884, he entered upon his prac- tice at Mariaville under auspicious circumstances.

JAMES McMILLEN, deceased, was the progenitor of a numerous family in this section of New York. He was born in Scotland in 1785, and in 1792 emigrated to America with his parents, locating in New Scotland, Albany County. Marrying Sarah Jane, he located on the present James Cullings Place in Duanesburgh. They had six sons and two daughters named as follows : John, James, Isaac, Alexander, William, Samuel, Mary, and Sarah. William succeeded to the ownership of the old homestead. He married Leah, daughter of William and Margaret (Walker) Allen. Their children were : James L., Margaret I. (now Mrs. James Cullings), Samuel, who lives in Livingston County, Michigan; and William (deceased). Hugh McMillen, a prominent farmer of Duanesburgh, is the only one living of the three children of Isaac McMillen, son of William.

DAVID W. WALPOLE is the youngest son of Rich- ard Walpole, deceased. Richard Walpole emi- grated from Ireland, where he was born, to America about 1836, and located as a farmer in Princetown. Removing to Duanesburgh he erected the Walpole Mill in 1844, and managed it until 1873, when he removed to Oswego County, where he died, aged 79 years, in 1881. He was an active business man, and as a citizen held high in the public esteem, as is attested by the fact that he was elected Justice of the Peace, serving thirteen years in succession. His wife was Margaret, daughter of Thomas King, who bore him eight children. In 1873, David W. Walpole purchased the mill prop- erty, which he has since greatly improved by the introduction of broom-handle machinery and a

cider-mill and otherwise, doing a good business in the different branches. He married Julia, daughter of William B. and Martha (Barrows) Dorn, of Duanesburgh, and has three children, Mary Belle, Martha J., and Mansfield B.

WILLIAM J. GARDENIER, the present merchant at Braman's Corners, is a grandson of William S. Gar- denier, who located in Duanesburgh on William J. Gardenier's farm about 1830, coming from Colum- bia County, where he was born. Samuel W. Gar- denier was one of the ablest of his family of three sons and six daughters. He married Mary M., daughter of John Clayton, of Charlestown, Mont- gomery County. Their children were: William J., born July 18, 1847, and John A., born March 31, 1854, now living on the homestead. William J. Gardenier made farming his principal business until the spring of 1884, when he opened his store. He carries a well assorted general stock, and aims to do a cash business at the lowest possible prices. He married Miss Ellen Nethaway, of Duanesburgh, but formerly of Schoharie County, and they have five children, named Judson, Wilmer, Arthur, Mary E., and Martha.

BENJAMIN WILTSIE, of Mariaville, was born on the farm in Duanesburgh now owned by William and John De Graff, in 1824. His father was John B. Wiltsie and his grandfather Cornelius Wiltsie, who came from Dutchess County as one of the early settlers of the town. The pioneer had a family of four sons and three daughters, of whom John B. was the third, born May 26, 1803. The latter married Maria, daughter of Abraham and Rebecca (Van Vechten) Dorn, in 1823. Benjamin Wiltsie located at Mariaville in 1853. In 1856 he took possession of the Wiltsie House, which he has since conducted. He married Jane S., daughter of Hiram Hansit, who was for many years postmaster of Mariaville, and has four children: Emma H. (now Mrs. A. J. Bradshaw), John B., Emmet H., and Ann M.

BENJAMIN GAIGE was one of nine brothers, all of whom settled in Albany and Schenectady Counties within a circuit of ten miles. Their parents, Joseph and Mary Mortimer Gaige, came from England. Benjamin Gaige came in 1791 from Quaker Hill, Dutchess County, to the property now of Asa M. Gaige, a great-grandson. He brought with him a family of six children. Of these, Phebe married Henderson Smith and removed to Western New York; Ebenezer and Mortimer removed to Silver Lake, Susquehanna County; Abram removed to Pennsylvania and thence to Otsego County, where he died; Miriam married Abram Coon and removed with him to Broome County, where both died; and Jane became the wife of Isaac Stevens and lived at Quaker Street and later at Kirkwood, N. Y., where she died. Five other children were born in Duanes- burgh. Of these, Asa B. settled on the homestead, where he died May 2, 1869; Benjamin removed to Pennsylvania and thence to Michigan, where he died; Philip is living at an advanced age at Quaker Street; Mary married and located in Root, Mont- gomery County; and Lydia married John Lake and

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THE TOWNSHIP OF DUANESBURGH.

removed to Orleans County, where she ended her days. Isaac B. Gaige was twice married, first to Joanna, daughter of Joseph and Apphia (Mosher) Lason, of Columbia County, who died August 27, 1833, and secondly to Margaret, daughter of Abram and Helen (Ball) Sternberg. By the first marriage were born children named Walter, Ebenezer, Joseph L., and Phebe; by the sec- ond marriage children named Lucy B. and Helen M. The latter married Joseph Wright, of Brooklyn, N. Y. Joseph L. Gaige, the third son of Isaac B. Gaige, married Eliza J., daughter of Asa and Mary (Birdsall) Marshall, of Westchester County. He died in 1870, leaving two sons, Asa M. and Isaac B., both living in Duanesburgh. Asa M. married Fanny G., daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah J. (Forge) Estes, of Utica, N. Y., and they have a daughter named Jennie, born July 1, 1884.

ELNATHAN ABRAMS settled about one mile east of Braman's Corners about 1839. He was born in Florida, N. Y., and married Anna, daughter of Solomon Strong, one of the pioneers of that town. They had three sons : Solomon, John K., and J. Danforth Abrams. Solomon Abrams was born near Swan's Corners, Florida, N. Y., February 10, 1824; marrried Charlotte, daughter of John Vic- tory, of Duanesburgh; and has been a resident of Schenectady about thirty years. John K., a school teacher, lives at Little Falls, N. Y. J. Danforth enlisted and served in the United States Army in the late war, and died, in service, of fever, Novem- ber 12, 1864. He married Susan, daughter of Elijah Ladd, who survives him, living near Bra- man's Corners. They had two sons, one of whom is Dr. A. E. Abrams, of Hartford, Conn., and the other, Elijah D., is a machinist in the Ellis Loco- motive Works, Schenectady. Anthony Abrams, great-grandfather of the present generation of Abramses, was a native-born German, who emigrated to America when a young man and married a Miss Mickle. They had a son named Andrew, who was drowned at about the age of twenty-one years; another named John, who was the grandfather of Solomon and the father of Elnathan Abrams; and a daughter who died unmarried. The former or- thography of the name was Abrahams.

Rev. DAVID COOK DAVIS is a son of David Davis, of New Hampshire, and was born in Stratford, that State, September 10, 1815: His mother was Mary Cook. He attended the Wolfsbury Academy, N. H., until the death of his mother, when he was obliged to abandon school for a time. In 1842 he began to study for the ministry at Boston, and in 1845 began preaching the Gospel at Dedham, Mass., and continued the work at other places in New Hampshire and New York. From 1851 to 1874 he was engaged in secular business in New York City. At the latter date he was called to the pastorate of the Church of the Redeemer (Univer- salist) at Braman's Corners, where he remained several years. He married Euphemia, daughter of John and Isabella (Russell) Murray, June 14, 1835. The fruits of this union have been David

M. Davis, of Trenton, N. J .; Alexander M. Davis, of Boston, Mass .; Mary E. (Mrs. George Turn- bull); Isabella R. (deceased); Jessie (Mrs. Dr. A. E. Abrams, of Hartford, Conn.); and Eliza H. (Mrs. G. N. Banker, of Duanesburgh). Mr. Davis has for some years lived the quiet and honored life of a retired clergyman.

Rev. DAVID B. HALL, of Duanesburgh, was born March 16, 1812, at Middle Granville, Washington County, N. Y. He spent two years in study at Burr Seminary at Manchester, Vt., and four years at Union College, Schenectady, where he gradu- ated in 1839. He studied theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, N. J., and was ordained to preach the Gospel by the Association of Pawlet, Vt. He has labored with success in several churches in connection with the Reformed Dutch Church of America, among them the Re- formed Dutch Church of Princetown, Schenectady County, of which he was pastor several years. He was many years compiling an elaborate genealogy of the Hall family of New England, which has re- sulted in a creditable work of 800 large octavo pages, and containing many valuable portraits. He was married April 14, 1856, to Jane Eliza, daughter of Mulford and Rosanna (Hitchcock) Dayton, of Middle Granville, N. Y. His children, born in Princetown, are Mary Jane, born August 31, 1857; Sarah E. D., born October 11, 1862; and Hattie E. M., born April 15, 1868.

SAMUEL BROWN, an old and respected citizen of the town, was born in Saratoga County in 1807. His parents were Daniel and Louisa (Palmer) Brown, his father a native of Saratoga County, and his mother of Stockbridge, Mass. Samuel was the second of a family of five children. He married Jane, daughter of William Rose, of Saratoga County, and has one son, named Samuel, living at home. He owns a farm of sixty-five acres, pur- chased of William I. McIntosh.

WILLIAM CHADWICK is a representative farmer. He was born in Rensselaerville, Albany County, a son of John Chadwick and a grandson of Aaron Chadwick, who was originally from Cape Cod, Mass., where his ancestors located as emigrants from England in the days of the old Cape Cod Colony. Locating for a time in Dutchess County, Aaron Chadwick removed to Otsego County, and soon afterward to Albany County. John Chad- wick, his youngest child, married Ann, daughter of Caleb Spencer, of Westerloo, and had five sons: Henry (deceased); Aaron; William, who married Martha, daughter of Joel Moore, of Duanesbugh; E. Spencer, a merchant at St. Paul, Nebraska, where he was a pioneer; and Thomas R., a farmer near Rensselaerville, Albany County.

JOHN O. BECKER has been a resident of Duanes- burgh since 1862. He was born in Sharon, Schoharie County, June 20, 1824, a son of David and Elizabeth (Bellinger) Becker, both natives of the town of Middlebury, N. Y., he of the second generation from Holland and she of German ancestry, their parents having been among the first settlers of Middlebury, where they lived in the wilder-

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HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY.

ness during the most perilous period of the revolu- tion, subjected to the many hardships of those times which tried men's souls. John O. Becker left home at about the age of fourteen, alone and penniless. He found employment for a time on public works at Fort Plain, and, accumulating some means, purchased property in Florida, Mont- gomery County, where he lived until his removal to Duanesburgh. In 1843 he married Margaret Cooley. She died in 1844, leaving a son, David. In 1847 Mr. Becker married Sophia Casey, now deceased. David Becker married Miss Melissa Levey, of Mariaville, and has a son and a daugh- ter.

LULY PATTERSON, the founder of Pattersonville, was born in Duanesburgh, in 1812, and died February 19, 1881. He married Adeline Mont- gomery and she bore him five children, as follows : Alexander, a resident of Amsterdam, N. Y .; Will- iam H. Patterson, of Pattersonville ; Lina (Mrs. S. L. Marlett) ; Clara (deceased); and Frances (wife of J. W. Olney, who is connected with the West Shore Railway). He located at the little hamlet which now bears his name, in 1856, and bought the John T. Hoffman property. A man of energy and enterprise, he was instrumental in establishing a post-office at that point, and he soon erected a store, hotel and several dwellings, and opened quite an extensive trade. He was Super- visor of the town, and took an active interest in all public affairs. His son, William H. Patterson, began trade in 1884, his building and stock are new and fresh, and he is a prominent business man. He married Gertrude Wiley, who died, leaving two children named Harriet and Seely. Bina Brad- ford was his second wife, and died without issue. His present wife was Gertrude O. Dickerman, by whom he has a son, Freeman M.

JOSEPH GREEN, of Green's Corners, represents one of the old families of the town, Robert Green and John Manning, his brother-in-law, having located at the Corners about 1780. They came from Dutchess County. Sarah Manning was Robert Green's wife. She bore him six sons, five of whom lived to advanced age. John M. Green was their second son, born August 11, 1792, on the homestead at Green's Corners. He married Mary, daughter of Philip Radley, an early settler in Montgomery County, and located on a farm adjoining the homestead and there lived until December 16, 1883, when he died. He had two children, Susannah (deceased) and Joseph, who owns both his father's and grandfather's homesteads, aggregating 235 acres. He married Janet, daughter of William Lendrum, of Duanesburgh, and they have one son, John.

JAMES FROST, Sr., was born in Easton, Washing- ton County, N. Y., in 1783, and when a boy came with his father's family to Duanesburgh. His father, Lot Frost, came to the town soon enough to be placed in the catalogue of the earlier settlers. The boy, taking naturally to books and scientific knowledge, educated himself, and for a time was a schoolmaster. In the meantime he had become

an expert surveyor, and, in connection with the able surveyor Zoller, he made numerous important surveys. He was the engineer of the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad ; made many valuable and extensive surveys in Albany, Schenectady, Scho- harie, Franklin and Montgomery Counties, N. Y .; and laid out the City of Elizabeth, N. J. He married Mary, daughter of Major Marsh, and had five sons and five daughters, three of whom are now living : General D. M. Frost, of St. Louis, who served the Confederate cause during the re- bellion ; Mrs. Daniel Yost, of Fort Plain; and Miss M. Louisa Frost, of Mariaville.

The late Doctor JOSEPH BRAMAN came from Tolland County, Conn., to Esperance in 1811, and from Esperance in 1814 to Duanesburgh. He was a son of Joseph and Anna (Jenks) Braman, the former of whom was born in 1760 and the latter in 1764. Their children were born in the following order : Bartimeus, 1786; Isaac, 1788; Fanny, 1790; Joseph, 1792; Betsey, 1795; Sophia, 1797; Orsamus, 1799; Ephraim, 1801; John J., 1803; Aurora, 1806; and Orrin, 1808. Dr. Joseph Bra- man came of age in 1813, at which time he was made a Mason. He taught school and read medicine, and for many years was a leading physician and citizen. He died March 24, 1885. He was twice married, first to Rachel Shute, and second to Catharine Stewart. Their children were born as follows: Catharine, 1816; Elvira, 1818; Emma, 1822; Mariette, 1825; Delos, 1829; and Harriet, 1833. Doctor Delos Braman graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1852. He practiced his profession three years with his father, in Duanesburgh, and twenty years in the West, when he returned to Duanesburgh, In 1859 he mar- ried Miss Agnes Tanner, of Wisconsin. They have two children, named Anna and Joseph.

COLONEL JOHN D. WOOD.

This well known gentleman, who has been a life-long resident of Duanesburgh, is a son of Doctor John Wood, who was an early and highly esteemed physician and surgeon in this sec- tion. Doctor Wood was the oldest son of Benja- min Wood, once a farmer in Wright, Schoharie County, who settled there in 1789, married a Miss Tygert, and had nine sons and three daughters. He studied medicine with Doctor Williams, in Knox, Albany County, and came to Duanesburgh about 1808, locating on the turnpike near the present residence of I. R. T. Wood, and beginning the practice of his profession in partnership with Doctor Peter Delamater. This association was dis- solved a year or two later, Doctor Wood continu- ing his practice alone and enjoying an extensive patronage for about forty years. He married Martha, daughter of Robert Dennison, of Knox, Albany County, who was a native of Mystic, Conn. She bore him eleven children. Of these, Eunice died April 1, 1831; Datus died February 12, 1817; E. Darwin died April 23, 1840; Edwin died August 24, 1843; Robert died January 28, 1846; Benjamin F., a merchant at Duanesburgh Corners,

THE TOWNSHIP OF DUANESBURGH.

121

Jacos & De Haven

near the old homestead, and at Esperance, N. Y., died May 11, 1882, aged seventy-one years; Ada L. is Mrs. Brice Jarvis, of Duanesbergh; Angeline L. is Mrs. William E. Knight, of Binghamton, N. Y .; another daughter is Mrs. Henry Sherburne, of Es- perance, N. Y .; Isaac R. T., who lives on the old homestead, married Clarissa M. Shoudy, of Guil- derland, and has a son named Edwin; and John D. is a farmer, whose possessions adjoin the old home- stead. The latter, whose name heads this sketch and whose portrait appears in this work, was Colonel of the 188th Regiment New York State Militia, succeeding Colonel Allen, and was formerly one of the best known and most popular of the old time military officers. His regiment was disbanded in 1835. Advanced in years, he lives a quiet and retired life. His friends are many and his friend- ships have been accounted hearty and helpful. His interest in the welfare and prosperity of the town has been earnest and unflagging, and all measures promising the enhancement of the public weal have ever received his willing and sub- stantial support. The Wood estate comprises 240 acres.

COLONEL JACOB J. DE FOREST.

The De Forest family, who were of Huguenot descent, came to America about the year 1620 and located on Long Island. There were three brothers, one of whom went to New England, one to Western New York, and one located in Greenbush, opposite Albany. From the latter branch Mr. Jacob J. De Forest, of Duanes- burgh, is descended. His grandfather, Jacob De Forest, came from Greenbush to Duanesburgh about 1780, and moved to Schenectady late in life and died there. His sons were named Jacob, Obediah L., Martin, John, and James. Jacob, the eldest, born October 23, 1797, married Anna Schermerhorn, born August 14, 1799. They had twelve children, of whom Jacob J. De Forest was the first born, October 10, 1820. Mr. De Forest died June 19, 1882, and his wife April 27, 1851. Jacob J. De Forest was born at the old Schuylenberg mansion, the birth-place of his mother and for two hundred years the homestead of his grandfather's family, about a mile south of Schenectady. He was educated at the Schenectady Lyceum, under the

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HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY.

tutelage of Rev. Dr. Huntington. He taught a winter term of school in Rotterdam, and afterward apprenticed himself to learn the carpenter trade with James A. Van Vorst, then a prominent car- penter and builder of Schenectady. His ap- prenticeship concluded in 1844, and in 1845 he re- moved to Albany and engaged in contracting and building on his own account, continuing success- fully till 1851, in the meantime erecting many large buildings and business blocks. In 1851 he formed a copartnership with R. J. Patten and Benjamin Myers, under the firm name of De Forest, Patten & Co., and leased the Kenwood saw-mills and opened a lumber yard at the corner of Columbia and Quay streets, at the extreme southern point of the old lumber district. The firm did a large busi- ness until the expiration of the term of their co- partnership in 1858, when Mr. De Forest retired from active business.

Mr. De Forest had long had a liking for military life. December 28, 1855, he was commissioned Engineer of the Twenty-fifth Regiment of the Eleventh Brigade, Third Division of the Militia of the State of New York. July 1, 1856, he was pro- moted to be the Engineer of the Eleventh Brigade. June 9, 1858, he was commissioned Inspector of the Eleventh Brigade, which position he held until the outbreak of the rebellion. In April, 1861, he was placed in charge of the old Adams House recruiting rendezvous in Albany, and served there until the following August, during which time the first thirty volunteer regiments of the State were recruited and organized. During the month last mentioned he was ordered to repair to Oswego, and there organize a regiment which was designated as the Eighty-first Regiment New York Volunteers, and of which he was elected colonel by unanimous vote; but, in deference to Colonel Edwin Rose, of Long Island, he withdrew in the latter's favor. February 19, 1862, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the regiment with rank from December 20th preceding, when the regiment was mustered into the United States ser- vice. July 19, 1862, he was promoted to the col- onelcy of the regiment, with rank from July 7th.

The regiment formed a part of the Fourth Corps of the Army of the Peninsular, under command of General Keyes, and participated in all of the ser- vice incident to McClellan's Peninsular Campaign. At the battle of Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862, Lieuten- ant-Colonel De Forest, at the time temporarily in command of the regiment, was shot through the left lung. He was sent to the Douglas Hospital at Washington, and when he became convalescent was granted a furlough to return home. He recovered his health in a measure and rejoined his comrades September 1, 1862. On the 5th day of that month he was mustered as colonel of his regiment under authority of his commission previously issued as above mentioned. About January 1, 1863, the command to which the Eighty-first Regiment was attached was ordered into North Carolina and took part in the active service which followed in that section. Thence the command was sent to Beau- fort, South Carolina, and attached to the command

of General Hunter. March 30th a reorganization of the forces was effected, preparatory to the siege of Charleston, under which Colonel De Forest was placed in command of the Second Brigade of Heckman's Division, Eighteenth Army Corps. After the conclusion of that unsuccessful attempt against the Confederate stronghold, the Union forces gathered in the vicinity were ordered to Morehead City, N. C., where the Eighty-first Regiment and other troops did garrison duty until late in the fall. During this interim, Colonel De Forest was placed in command of the sub-district of Beaufort. The forces there were sent to Fortress Monroe, and the Eighty-first Regiment and a company of cavalry were ordered by General Benj. F. Butler to North- west Landing, Va., where they were engaged in a desultory warfare with guerillas until April 1, 1864, when the regiment returned home on veteran fur- lough, having re-enlisted for three years, at the ex- piration of which it joined Grant's army and par- ticipated in all of the campaigns, from the battle of Cold Harbor (June Ist, 2d and 3d) until the close of the war. In the memorable and bloody engage- ment just mentioned, the Eighty-first Regiment was literally cut up, no less than seven out of nine of the company commanders falling in the fight, and Colonel De Forest having several hairbreadth es- capes. On account of disability, arising from his old wound, the Colonel was sent to Point of Rocks Hospital, near Petersburgh, Va., and thence to the Annapolis (MId. ) Hospital, where he remained until he was mustered out of service on the Ist of Sep- tember, 1864, the lieutenant-colonel commanding the regiment until the close of the war.

Since the rebellion, Colonel De Forest has lived a quiet life on his farm in Duanesburgh, broken only by service at times in the census bureau, taking a deep, but not active, interest in politics, and doing his share in developing the resources of his town. He has been three times married, and has seven children living. He has always been inter- ested in educational questions and has done much to advance the standard of the schools of Duanes- burgh and elsewhere. At one time, in association with the late Hon. Horace Greeley and others, he was a trustee of the People's College, at Ovid, N. Y.

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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 252

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