USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York : with a historical sketch of the county > Part 19
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W ILLIAM L. HIMEBAUGH. The term German-American is usually synonymous with success. William L. Himebaugh began life with nothing, and to-day, althoughi less than forty years of age, is at the head of a manufac- turing business employing not less than twenty- five men. He was born in Venango, Crawford county, Pennsylvania, April 14, 1854, and is a son of Joseph and Susan (Sherrard) Himebaugh. The ancestors of W. L. Himebaugh were all of sturdy German stock, his grandparents emigrat- ing to this country from the fatherland. The paternal grandfather was the parent of three children : Polly, Jacob and Joseph. These children were born in the northwestern part of Pennsylvania, near Erie. Joseph, the father of William L., died at Venango, Pa., where, up to the time of his death, lie was a farmer and car- penter, and also filled the office of justice of the peace for many years. He was a popular man in his locality, had recognized good judgment, and after once occupying the office the people continued to re-clect him to it, until advanced age compelled him to peremptorily decline to again serve. Like most of the Germans of his day he was an uncompromising democrat, but was also a deeply religious man and a communi-
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cant of the German Lutheran church. Susan Sherrard was Mr. Himebaugh's second wife, and she bore him seven children; with a former wife, Matilda Grear, he had five chil- dren. They were : Jacob, David, Gusta, Delila and Sarah ; and Matilda, now Mrs. Lesher, living at Venango, Pennsylvania ; Almira, liv- ing at Edinboro', Erie county, Pennsylvania, is the wife of Alex. A. Torrey ; Hiram, who mar- ried Orlina Hotchkiss, lives at Venango, Pa. ; Joseph, whose wife was Anna Beystone, lives at Jamestown and is connected with William L. in the manufacture of woven-wire bed-springs, cots and spiral springs ; John, also living at Venango, Pa, married to Lydia Hotchkiss ; Ransom, married Emma Baker and moved to a point in Kansas near Shiloh ; and William L.
William L. Himebaugh, like many of our best men, got his education in the public schools, and when grown to manhood began to toil as a day laborer in a saw-mill, alternating with farm work. This he continued for a while and then moved to the oil region, where for a season he continued to labor, but later took an interest in two wells while working by the day. This continued until 1886, when he came to James- town, and with his brother Joseph began the manufacture of bed-springs, in which they are still engaged. Politically Mr. Himebaugh is an unswerving prohibitionist, theoretically and practically, and also is a member of the Method- ist church.
On the 22d of May, 1877, he married Henri- etta Standish, daughter of Alonson and Lora Standish, who resided near Northeast, Pa. This union has been blest with three children : Bertha E., Neal and Henry.
William L. Himebaugh is still a young man, and the goods he manufactures are of recognized merit, so it may be expected that the business he has already made prominent may, in the future, become vast.
p EARL C. KIMBALL, a respected gentle- man, advanced in years, living at No. 338 Allen street, Jamestown, is a son of Sylvester and Lydia (Atwater) Kimball, of Montgomery county, New York, where he was born Dec. 16, 1818. His great-grandfather, Richard Kimball, came from English parents; lived in Novia Scotia for a time and afterwards came to the State of Connecticut, where he died. His paternal grandfather, Lebbeus Kimball, came to Ames, Montgomery county, this State, and fol- lowed the trade of stone-cutting in early life. Prior to his removal inland, he had been a sailor. He married Sarah Crafts and had three children, two sons and one daughter. Caleb Atwater (maternal grandfather) was born in New England, but came to this State, first to Columbia county, and later to Ames, Montgom- ery county, where he died, a farmer. Sylves- ter Kimball was born in Connecticut, but came. to New York and settled at Ames, where he was employed as millwright. He married Lydia Atwater and had four children : Matilda, died young ; Norman (dead) lived at Cherry Creek at the time of his death ; Jane, married Geo. N. Frost, and is living at Cherry Creek ; and Pearl C. Mr. Kimball was a democrat and a Mason, standing high in the councils of the lodge.
Pearl C. Kimball, after receiving his educa- tion, apprenticed himself to a carriage-maker and learned the trade. In 1836 he went to Cherry Creek and worked at his trade for a number of years and was also engaged here in the mercantile business for a time. In 1847 he came to Jamestown and established a carriage manufactory, continuing it until 1873, when he sold out and lived quietly for two or three years, but he was too energetic to remain idle longer, so he opened a grocery store, which he conducted until 1887, when having reached nearly threescore years and ten, he sold out and has since lived quietly and in retirement.
On May 27, 1838, he married Lucy Shattuck,
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a daughter of Pliny Shattuck, and they have been the parents of five children, four of whom are living: Matilda, now a widow, married Willard Smith ; Corolin, wife of Fred L. Far- lee, a traveling man for the Jamestown Plush mills; Maurice was twice inarried, first to Rhoda Williams, by whom he had one child, Ernest ; his second wife was Anna Spies, who bore him one child, Frances ; and Allen, who married Julia Macy, a daughter of William Macy, of Poland, and has one child, Pearl L.
P. C. Kimball is a republican in politics and has been town clerk for three years, in the town of Cherry Creek.
R' EV. ANDREW FREY, pastor of the marble altar, which was consecrated July 23, Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of 1882. Dunkirk, was born in the city of Cassel, Ger- many, February 26, 1856, and is a son of George and Christine (Baker) Frey. George Frey was a member of the Catholic church, served in a civil capacity under his government for several years, and died in his native city of Cassel in 1886, at sixty-seven years of age. His widow, who is a consistent member of the Catholic church, was born in 1827, and still resides in Cassel.
Father Andrew Frey was reared in Cassel, where he received a collegiate education; and then took a five years' course in theology at Louvain University, Belgium. Upon complet- ing this course in October, 1879, he was ordained priest, and came to Buffalo, New York, where he had been appointed by Bishop Ryan, as as- sistant pastor of St. Louis church of that city. He served in this capacity until June, 1884, when he came to Dunkirk, and assumed his present pastoral charge of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
This church, which is the second in age of the three flourishing churches of Dunkirk, is the successor of St. George's church, which was built by the German catholics of Dunkirk, in 1857, and used for church purposes until 1877.
The Jesuit, Franciscan and Passionist orders had charge of St. George's church until 1874, when it was made an independent parish, and on June 11, 1876, the corner-stone was laid of its successor, the present handsome Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was dedicated on November 18, 1878. It is a fine brick structure, admirable in architectural design, and beautiful and rich in all of its interior furnish- ings. It was erected at a cost of twenty thous- and dollars, and one who contributed liberally towards its erection was the late George Dotter- weich (died in April, 1884), who also paid for the town clock in the steeple, the chime of bells, and gave the beautiful five thousand dollar
Since 1884, the membership of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus has increased rap- idly under Father Frey's charge, and now num- bers two hundred and seventy-five families. In 1885 he erected the present handsome brick parsonage, which is gothic in design, conveni- ently arranged, and cost over five thousand dol- lars. After the completion of the parsonage he turned his attention to the educational needs of his congregation, and carried out the long cher- ished design of erecting a first-class school building adjoining the church. This three- story brick structure-St. George's Hall-was erected in 1884 at a cost of nine thousand dol- lars, and is fitted with gas, steam and water. The first floor is divided into three large school- rooins, the second floor is St. George's Hall and stage, while the third floor is occupied by the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association. Father Frey has labored faithfully in Dunkirk for his people and the cause of Christianity, and his efforts have been duly appreciated by his con- gregation and all who know him. He is a pleasant gentleman of classical education, gen- eral information and good address.
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D AVID H. TAYLOR is one of the promi- nent grape-growers of Chautauqua county. He was born in Murray, Orleans county, New York, September 4, 1822, and is a son of Jona- than H. and Polly (Heudrick) Taylor. He comes from an old and honored family, his ancestor, a Taylor, coming from England to America in 1630 and settling in Massachusetts. His grandfather, Theophilus Taylor, was born in Connecticut, January 28, 1760, and died No- vember 24, 1831. He was a farmer by occu- pation, and one of his sons, Jonathan H. Taylor (father), was born at New Fairfield, Connecticut, 1792. He was stationed with the State militia, of which he was a member, at New London, during the blockade of that port by the British, and in (1814) received a commission of lieuten- ant from Gov. John Cotton Smith. He came to Westfield in 1831 and built the first foundry in this town. In religion he was a member and a deacon of the Presbyteriau church, and died April 28, 1846, aged fifty-four years, at West- field, where he had resided fourteen years. He married Polly Hendrick, a native of Fairfield, Conn., by whom he had two children. She was a member of the Presbyterian church and died in 1860, at sixty-six years of age.
David H. Taylor was reared principally at Westfield and received his education in the com- mon schools and in the Westfield academy. In 1860 he began operations as a farmer, adoptiug the latest and most improved methods, and has continued to keep pace with the strides in in- provement. He has fifty acres in the village of Westfield devoted to the cultivation of grapes.
On November 22, 1851, D. H. Taylor united in marriage with Harriet P., the only daughter of Judge Thomas B. Campbell, who had been a prominent citizen of Westfield aud Chautau- qua county since 1817, when he came to this towu from Batavia, and built a saw and grist- mill. Westfield was then known as Portland. Judge Campbell was born in 1788 in Alexan- dria, Grafton county, N. H., a town now some-
what famous for its extensive mica mines. He continued the milling and flouring business for forty-seven years. He owned hundreds of acres of farm lands and in 1860 sold sixty acres in the southern part of the village for fair ground purposes. In 1819 he was appointed clerk of this county, associate judge in 1826, and first judge in 1845, which office he held until the clection of judges under the constitution adopted in 1846. He was supervisor eight years, 1819- '27, a member of Assembly from 1822 to 1836, aud a member of the board of commissioners for building the present county court-house. He had two sons and three daughters, all of whom are dead but Mrs. Taylor. Judge Camp- bell died at the house of Mr. Taylor, on Presi- dent Cleveland's inauguration day, aged ninety- seven years, in full possession of all his facul- ties. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have been the parents of four children, three of whom are living, one son and two daughters-Mary L., wife of Dr. Charles G. Stockton, one of the most prominent physicians in Buffalo ; Anna, wife of Henry W. Hunter, of Canton, Ohio, and Thomas B. C. married to Charlotte Flower, of St. Lawrence county, this State.
In politics Mr. Taylor is an uncompromising democrat, a good substantial citizen, honorable and enterprising, broad and liberal-minded and a very pleasaut and agreeable gentleman. A community which possesses such citizens gener- ally feels a just pride in them, and the more they have of such men the greater is their material advantage and advancement. Mr. Taylor occu- pics a high place in the respect and esteem of the people among whom he has dwelt so long.
RED. W. THOMAS. The press to-day is a factor of potential power; has a wonderful influence over the people among whom it circulates, and molds public opinion to a large degree. The gentleman whose name heads this sketch is the proprietor and editor of the Hanover Gazette, the successor of a paper
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called the Silver Creek Local. Fred. W. Thomas is a native of Wales, where he was born, December 28, 1853, and comes from Cymric ancestors as far remote as the family can be traced. His parents were James and Ann Elizabeth Thomas, honorable and respect- ed people of their native country.
Fred. W. Thomas was reared and educated in the old country and remained close to the seene of his birth until he reached his twenty- fourth year, having been trained and practiced in the art of book-keeping. As was customary with those who aspired to the higher employ- ments, he received a good classical and com- mercial education, in a prominent grammar school. After his arrival in America Mr. Thomas found employment in various capaci- ties until 1885, when he embarked in the fire insurance business in Silver Creek, and his suc- cess in this line has been pronounced. In Feb- ruary, 1890, his business mind saw that a news- paper here would be a good investment, and although it might not at once net large returns, the succeeding years would increase its value, and he bought the Hanover Gazette, the name to which the Silver Creek Local had been changed. This paper was founded by J. I. Spears, who was attached to the New York Sun's recent expedition to explore Greenland. The circulation of the Gazette is constantly in- creasing under the new management and it is entering into the confidence of its readers in a way that is gratifying and creditable to Mr. Thomas.
Journalism in Silver Creek has had a check- ered career for thirteen years, but the Gazette is founded on a solid basis, is a clean and care- fully edited paper such as commends itself to every home, and whilst its future is full of promise, it may truthfully be asserted, that to the present editor belongs the honor of estab- lishing the most successful newspaper ever pub- lished in Silver Creek.
Ward, a daughter of Dr. Spencer Ward, who was a pioneer physician of northeastern Chau- tauqua county, and lived in this village. Dr. Ward was a native of Vermont, from which State he came and settled here. Fred. W. and Mrs. Thomas have been blessed with three children, all daughters : Helen Elizabeth, An- nie Spencer and Marian Ward, who are yet, young and live with their parents.
EDWARD A. SKINNER, a well-known business man and president of the Na- tional Bank of Westfield, was born in the town of Aurora, Erie county, New York, May 10, 1841, and is a son of Rev. Levi A. and Laura (Patterson) Skinner. His paternal grandfather, Levi Skinner, was a farmer, and a native of Massachusetts, from which he came to Oneida county, this State, where he died in 1850. He was of English origin and had been a member of the Presbyterian church for many years be- fore his death. His son, Rev. Levi A. Skin- ner (father), was reared in the faith of the Presbyterian church, in which he became a minister in early life. After preaching for sev- eral years in Erie county, this State, his voice failed him, and he was thus compelled to retire from the pulpit. He then (July 1, 1854) came to Westfield and succeeded J. N. Hungerford as cashier of the Bank of Westfield, which position he held un- til 1864, when he became a stockholder and director of the First National Bank of West- field. In October the bank commeneed busi- ness and he was elected cashier, which position he held until 1875, when he was elected presi- dent and served in that capacity until his death, April 12, 1876, at sixty-five years of age. He was a man of moderate means, stood well in financial circles, and married Laura Patterson, a daughter of John Patterson, who was of Scotch-Irish descent.
Edward A. Skinner was reared in Erie October 18, 1882, he married Hattie Wells county until he was twelve years of age, when
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he came with his parents to Westfield where he completed his education in the Westfield acad- emy, from which he was graduated. At six- teen years of age he went into the Westfield Bank as book-keeper, remained two years and then was engaged in mercantile business until 1861, when he enlisted in Co. G, 9th N. Y. cavalry, and served as second lieutenant several months. In 1862 he was promoted to first lieutenant and shortly afterwards was commis- sioned regimental quartermaster, which position he held until March, 1864, acting as brigade quartermaster much of the time. He was then discharged on account of physical disability, re- turned to Westfield where he became assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Westfield, which position he held until 1870, when he helped organize the First National Bank of Ottawa, Kansas, with which he is still identi- fied. He returned from Ottawa in 1874, was elected in 1875 vice-president of the First Na- tional Bank of Westfield, which position he held until 1886, when at the death of his father lie succeeded him as president, and has acted in that capacity ever since. This bank was organ- ized in 1848 as the Bank of Westfield, has a capital of fifty thousand dollars and its deposits average over two hundred thousand dollars. A well established and well conducted bank is a marked feature of progress in any community and the National Bank of Westfield has been so conducted that it has always commanded pub- lic confidence.
In 1864 Mr. Skinner married Frances M. Barger, who died in June, 1872. On August 19, 1874, he married Augusta Wheeler, of Portville, New York, who is a daughter of Hon. William F. Wheeler, president of the First National Bank of Olean, this State. By his second marriage he has three children : Flora, Egbert and Frances.
Edward A. Skinner is a republican in poli- tics and was supervisor of Westfield several years. He has served since 1880 as treasurer
of the Supreme Council of the Royal Arcanum, and disburses nearly three million dollars per year of the funds of that organization which numbers over one hundred thousand members in the United States and Canada.
C CHARLES D. COLBURN is a farmer of prominence and was born to David L. and Ann (Walter) Colburn in the town of Poland, Chautauqua county, New York, Dec. 2, 1841. David Colburn (grandfather) was a native of Otsego county, but died in Chautauqua county. David L. Colburn was born in Otsego county, this State, and removed to the town of Poland, where he worked by the day as a common laborer for a number of years, begin- ning when eighteen years of age. He after- wards became a landed farmer. He married Aun Walter and reared three children : William entered the Federal army in 1861, joining the 42d regiment, Illinois Infantry, where entering as a private he was discharged at the close of the war with a captain's commission. Return- ing to his home in Michigan, he died in 1873. He carried a number of scars of wounds re- ceived, none of which were permanently dis- abling; Mary married a farmer named John Smith, and lives in Villanova, this county ; and Charles D., who married Elizabeth Ingersoll, a daughter of Peter Ingersoll, who was a native of Chenango county, and from there removed into Chautauqua county, locating in the town of Ellington, where he died in 1872, aged seventy- two years. When a young man he engaged in merchandising, but later became a farmer. Politically a democrat, he was elected justice of the peace soon after his arrival in Chautauqua and held the office almost all his life. His wife was Lois M. Smith, who became the mother of the following children. Martin V. B., a farmer residing in the town of Ellington ; Erastus S., resides at Randolph, Cattaraugus county, and is a prominent merchant. He was a member of the New York State Assembly two years ;
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Charles P., also represented his district in the Assembly, and has until lately resided at West- field, but now lives in New York city, holding the position of grand dictator of the Knights of Honor ; J. Lambert was a lawyer and died at Jamestown, in 1881 ; and Martha, married Perry Slater ; she is now dead ; before her mar- riage she was a teacher in the public schools. They were all members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Colburn married the second time to Theda M. Lily, and had a large family, four of whom are living.
Charles D. Colburn has always followed farm- ing and owns a farm of one hundred and eight acres, a portion of it being in the corporate limits of Jamestown, and has recently pur- chased one hundred acres on the shore of Chau- tauqua lake.
On February 15, 1865, he married Elizabeth E. Ingersoll and their union has been blest with three children : Mina B., is a very popular teacher in the Jamestown Kindergarten schools, having graduated from the Jamestown High school and prepared especially for teaching ; Martha died when fourteen years and five months old ; and B. Vincent. The maternal grandmother of Mrs. Colburn was among the oldest inhabitants of Ellington, and lived to the advanced age of one hundred and two years.
Mr. Colburn is a republican, and with his wife and entire family are members of the Methodist church. He is also a member of Lodge No. 34, Ancient Order of United Workmen.
EVERETT BARKER GREENE, of Fre-
donia, is a grandson of General Leverett Barker, and a lineal descendant of the brother of General Nathaniel Greene, of Revolutionary memory. He is a son of Rosell and Eliza (Barker) Greene, and was born at Fredonia, Chautauqua county, New York, November 23, 1839. The Greencs are of English origin, and the founder of the American branch of the
family was a Quaker, among whose descendants were General Nathaniel Greene and his brother, from whom Rosell Greene (father) was descended. Rosell Greene was born in Herkimer county in 1815, and came, about 1830, to Mayville, where he attended school. He afterwards removed to Fredonia, learned the trade of tanner with Gen. Leverett Barker, and then took charge of the tannery of the latter. He continued in the tannery business until his death, in 1859, when he owned the Fredonia tannery, besides a large tannery and mills in Cattaraugus county. He married Eliza Barker, the second child and eldest daughter of Gen. Leverett Barker, and had two sons and three daughters, all of whom are dead except Leverett B., the subject of this sketch. General Leverett Barker (maternal grandfather) was a son of Russel Barker, of Branfort, Connecticut, where he was born May 6, 1787. He came to Chautauqua county in 1817, and on March 3, 1811, married Desire, daughter of Hezekiah Barker, who had come to Canadaway in 1806. He built at Fredonia the first tannery in the county, had an interest in a large tannery afterwards erected at Jamestown, and died in 1848. He was one of the prime movers, in 1831, in establishing the first bank in the county-the Chautauqua County Bank- of which he was president for several years. He served in the war of 1812, and was succes- sively commissioned lieutenant, adjutant, lieu- tenant-colonel (1818), colonel (1823), brigadier- general of the 43d brigade (1824), and major- general of the 26th division of New York Infantry (1826). He left a family of two sons and six daughters.
Leverett Barker Grecne spent his boyhood days at Fredonia, where he received his educa- tion in the old academy of that place. At the death of his father he assumed charge of the estate, and is now engaged in the tanning busi- ness and looking after his real estate interests in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Erie counties.
On February 27th, 1868, Mr. Greene married
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Isabella Burnham, a native of Madison county, and they have one adopted daughter, Kate. Mrs. Greene is a lineal descendant of the De Burnham, who was lord of the Saxon village in England which was afterwards known as Burnham.
L. B. Greene is a republican in politics, and has been for several years a member of the Masonic fraternity. He is a stockholder of the Fredonia National Bank, the successor of the Fredonia Bank of which his father was the first president. He owns some valuable property at Fredonia, which is his present home. The General Leverett Barker homestead was bought by his uncle, Darwin R. Barker, who willed this property to the village to be used for a public library.
A RAD FULLER. The material wealth of a community is largely advanced by the possession of good live stock. Chautauqua county is justly renowned for the superior stock she raises, and to Arad Fuller the credit is largely due for its introduction. This gentle- man, a son of Amos and Charity (Roberts) Fuller, was born November 13, 1822, at Nor- wich, Windsor county, Vermont. His great- grandfather, William Fuller, was born in Bos- ton, Mass., where he married Persis Paine, either a sister or niece of Robert Treat Paine. Their children were: William, Persis, Witt and a daughter (name forgotten).
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