USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York : with a historical sketch of the county > Part 21
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Isaac A. Saytow
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OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
predict the future successful results of various investments in which many substantial business men were afraid to become interested. In polit- ical matters he supported the Republican party. After nearly half a century of active and suc- cessful business life he died on March 4, 1884, when in the sixty-sixth year of his age. His remains were entombed with appropriate cere- monies in Forest Hill cemetery.
On January 2, 1855, Isaac Saxton married Louisa W. Pier, of this county. Their union was blessed with four children, of whom one son still lives : Isaac Henry, who is married and resides in Chicago when not engaged on his horse ranch of nearly four thousand acres in the State of Kansas.
At the time of her marriage Mrs. Saxton was teaching in the city of New York. She resides at Fredonia, where she has a beautiful and pleasant home. Mrs. Saxton is a daughter of Daniel Pier, who was born at Cooperstown, New York, and removed to the site of Dunkirk city in January, 1814, where he engaged in farming. He and his father-in-law, Amon Gaylord, two of his brothers-in-law and four other parties sold their farms to a company who laid out on their purchase the village of Dunkirk. Daniel Pier had purchased the larger part of the site of the village for seventy dollars and sold it to this company for twenty-four hundred dollars. He died in 1837, aged fifty-four years. Before removing to Dunkirk he had followed merchan dising, although by trade a hatter. He was a public-spirited man, and married Candace Gay- lord, daughter of Amon Gaylord, by whom he had seven children, of whom three are living : Amelia S., Mrs. Aveline H. Morey and Mrs. Louisa W. Saxton.
W ILLIAM J. COBB, a prosperous merchant and retired agricultural implement man- ufacturer of Jamestown, is a son of Adam B. and Thetis (Bishop) Cobb, and he first saw the light of day February 17, 1823, in Elizabethtown,
Essex county, New York, where his father was married. Zachariah Cobb, grandfather of the subject of our sketch, was a native of Connec- ticut, but early in manhood emigrated to Essex county, this State, where he followed farming until his death. During the Revolution, like Putnam, he left his plow and with musket on his shoulder, remained in the Colonial service until the contest was decided, and again, at the breaking out of the second war with England, he went to the front. He married a Miss Brady and reared a family of four sons and three daughters. Elijah Bishop (maternal grandfather) although of English extraction was born in New Milford, Connecticut, 1760. While young he emigrated to Vermont and later came to New York where he died. He was a man of considerable ingenuity, which he employed to good advantage. During the war of 1812 he served as major with distinction. When interested in politics he was identified with the democrats. He was twice married, his first wife being Dorcas Holcomb, who bore him eight children, of whom Elijah Bishop and the mother of William J. Cobb, are the only ones now living. Adam B. Cobb (father) was born in 1801, in Essex county, and when thirty- two years of age, with his family, came to this county and died in Jamestown, in-1883. Like his son he was a whig and afterwards a republi- can. For a number of years he was associated with his son, William J. Cobb, in the manufac- turing business, but several years before he died he disposed of the business. He was a member of the Congregational church in which faith he died. In 1822, he married Thetis Bishop, who was born March 4, 1800, and who bore him four children : William J., Norval B., now dead, who served on the Union side during the Rebellion ; Sheldon B., (dead) ; and Lucy, who is the wife of William Broadhead, and resides in Jamestown.
William J. Cobb received his early education in the common schools of his home, and early in
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life engaged with his father in the manufacture of agricultural tools, from which he retired about twenty-five years ago and since then has been engaged in the grocery, business. An en- thusiastic republican he is also a patriotic cit- izen, and enjoys seeing the government properly condueted, and is with his wife an active mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Cobb has a very pleasant home which it is hoped he will yet enjoy for many years.
On Dec. 23, 1846, Mr. Cobb married for his first wife Miranda Woodward, a daughter of Reuben Woodward, a resident of Chautauqua county, who was the mother of two children : Ordello W. was a merchant tailor of James- town, but is now in the insurance business, and was married to Clara Brooks ; and Orlando W. (dead). The youngest son, George D., a conduc- tor on the electric street cars, is a child by Mr. Cobb's second wife, and is also married, his wife being Vesta A. Fox. After the death of the first Mrs. Cobb, he married Mrs. Martha T. (Simmons) Clements, with whom he had a very happy home for many years. Martha T. Cobb died June 11, 1891.
B ENJAMIN J. COFFIN, a prominent resi- dent of Sherman, who at first became well known as a gallant soldier, and later, through his business abilities, was born at Nantucket, Massachusetts, on July 30, 1821, and is a son of John G. and Rebecca (Joy) Coffin. The Coffin family is of English extraction and the Ameri- can branch are all descended from Tristam Cof- fin, who landed from the mother country about 1642. His first residence was at Salem, Massa- chusetts, but during the persecutions he removed to Nantucket, where he might enjoy his Quaker religion without being molested. Tristam Cof- fin was remote from our subject nine generations. He married Dionus Stevens. The great-grand- father of our subject was James Coffin, who en- tered the world at Nantucket, lived there, served as justice of the peace and a member of the
General Assembly of Massachusetts, and died in the town of his birth. His son, Samuel Coffin, was born at the same place and learned tailoring. The latter's wife was Eunice Folger, and belonged to the same family as Ex-Secretary of the Treasury, Folger. They had six children. The maternal grandfather, Obed Joy, was of English descent, althoughi born in the town of Nantucket, and his father's name was Moses Joy. Obed Joy was a skillful mariner and fol- lowed the sea throughout his life. He married Ann Cartwright and reared seven children. John G. Coffin was born at the town of Nan- tucket in 1797. While yet young he went to sea and followed it all his life. He rose to the dignity of a master and died while on a voyage. His remains were interred at Tombos, Southi America.
Captain Coffin was a member of the Pres- byterian church and married Rebecca Joy, who was born October 29, 1798, and is still living (1891), and enjoying good health. They had three children-subject, and two daughters : Keziah J. now lives at Nantucket with her mother on the old homestead ; and Mary A., who married George Simpson, now dead, and she, too, is living with her mother.
Benjamin J. Coffin was educated in the com- mon schools of his native town, and as they ranked with the average of their day, the extent of his instruction may be imagined. When he left home he went to New York city and Brook- lyn and learned sash and blind making. In March, 1843, he united in marriage with Eliza- beth G. Paddock, a daughter of George Pad- dock, a Bay State mariner. He was master of a vessel and while at New Orleans was attacked with yellow fever and died. Mr. and Mrs. Cof- fin have been blessed with two children: John G., who married Adaline Miller, now lives in Westfield, where he owns and operates a saw- mill-he has five children : George, Ruth, Eli- zabeth A., Mary and Lucretia ; and Rebecca, now the wife of A. Jerome Peck, a gents' fur-
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nisher and clothing dealer at Sherman-they have a daughter Louise.
Benjamin J. Coffin first worked at carpenter- ing in Sherman and Westfield up to 1860, and then went to the oil regions of Pennsylvania and lived at Rouseville for one year, but in July, 1861, he returned to Sherman and re- cruited Company E, 9th regiment, New York Cavalry, and they were mustered out of service in October, 1864. Mr. Coffin was captain of his company for two years and eight months. After leaving the army he returned to the oil regions and engaged as a superintendent for two or three years, and then came back to Sherman, where, soon after, he was elected justice of the peace on the Republican ticket, and lie lias been re-elected at every election since. This is com- plimentary to the gentleman's integrity and per- sonal popularity. In addition to liis office of trust he does a large business in conveyancing and settling up estates, most of that work in this community coming to him. He has been super- visor of his town for eight years -- first in 1856, and for the last seven years has served consecu- tively. Benjamin J. Coffin is a member of Sheldon Post, No. 295, G. A. R., and also be- longs to the Equitable Aid Union.
E LIAS FORBES, who is now enjoying a well-earned and comfortable repose in the evening of life, was born in Greene, Chenango county, N. Y., January 10, 1819, and is a son of John and Statira (Phelps) Forbes. Nothing is known of his paternal grandfather, except that he was a sailor and passed to the world beyond when his son Jolin, (father) was nine years old. Jonathan Phelps, maternal grand- father of Elias Forbes, was a native of Con- necticut and a sea-faring man, who, became a captain of a privateer during the Revolutionary war and captured several prizes. With the money thus gained, added to the pension which was awarded him, he was enabled to live in luxury in his old age. He came to this county
in 1835 and settled in Fredonia, where lie re- sided until 1850, when he went to Rutledge, Cattaraugus county, to live with his daughter and subsequently died there at the age of ninety- six years. In religion he favored the Baptists, being an attendant at a church of that denomina- tion, of which his wife was a member. Jona- than Phelps married Charity Beckwith, by whom he had twelve children, of whom Rodney is a farmer in Chenango county ; Beckwith is a hatter in Central New York ; Newell is a farmer at Bear Lake, Penna .; Statira (mother), Julia, married Lyman Shattuck ; Susan, married Jonathan Thompson ; Celestia, married a Mr. Wheeler ; Asenath married David Shattuck, and China Maria married Edwin Adams. The mother died in 1870 in her ninety-sixth year ; husband and wife by a singular coincidence each lacking just four years of completing a century of life. John Forbes (father) was born in New Haven, Conn., in 1790, and being left fatherless at the age of nine years, was thus early in life compelled to aid his mother in the maintenance of the family, which moved to Che- mango county, this State, and settled in Greene; John having learned the trade of a tanner and currier. Afterward he purchased a farm of two hundred acres, which he cultivated in connection with operating a tannery. In the fall of 1831 he was compelled to dispose of his farm and tannery on account of ill health, and in the spring of 1832 he moved to this county and bought a farm of one hundred acres (now owned by Clinton Ball) in the corporation of Fredonia, where he remained two years and then sold it, shortly afterward engaging in the mercantile business at Fredonia, in which he continued until 1843. In 1852 he moved to Batavia, Genesee county, where he resided cleven years, and then went to Rochester, Monroe county, where he died May 2, 1878, aged eighty-eight years. He was colonel of a regiment in Cle- nango county and was drafted for the war of 1812, but peace was declared before he was or-
10
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dered into service. In freemasonry he was W. M. of a Lodge in Greene. In religion he was a member of the Baptist church, of which he was a trustee nearly all his life, and always a very prominent man in church affairs. John Forbes was married in 1814 to Statira Phelps, the union resulting in the birth of five children, three sons and two daughters : Julia A., born in 1815 and married Louis B. Grant, a merchant at Forestville, and later at Fredonia ; David S., a retired merchant of Fredonia, who married Catherine J. Abell; Maria, died at the age of three years ; and John B. The mother died January 8, 1850, and John Forbes married for his second wife Lavinia M. Grant, a daughter of Jared Grant, of Chenango county, in June, 1850. She is still living in Rochester, Monroe county, at the age of eighty-three.
Elias Forbes was educated at the Fredonia academy and left school when he was eighteen years old to work as a clerk in his father's store, in which position he remained four years. In 1844 he bought his father's interest in the store and formed a partnership with his brother David S., under the firm-name of D. S. & E. Forbes ; but David was later afflicted with inflammatory rheumatism and his father purchased his inter- est, which he subsequently sold to Elias and L. B. Grant, the firm then being known as Grant & Forbes. This firm continued eight years, when Mr. Forbes sold his interest to Mr. Grant, remained inactive for a year and a half and then formed a partnership with Robert McPherson, under the firm-name of McPherson & Forbes, with whom he continued two years and then bought him out and conducted the business alone until his health failed in 1858, when he sold to Horace Pemberton, and, in connection with Preston Barmore, formed a gas company for the purpose of lighting the village and streets of Fredonia. The use of natural gas in Fredonia was begun in 1821, and among the public places into which it was introduced was the hotel that occupied the site of the present Taylor House,
which was illuminated when Gen. La Fayette passed through the village by the first gas used in the United States, and the gas-works then established were the first of their kind in the country. The spring first discovered and from which this gas was used is located on the north bank of Canadaway creek at the bridge crossing the stream on Main street. The gas from this well was sufficient for thirty burners and was used until 1858, when Preston Barmore sunk another well in the northwest part of the vil- lage, the shaft being thirty feet deep, six feet in diameter at the top and fourteen feet at the bot- tom, with two vertical borings, one one hundred and the other one hundred and fifty feet deep. It was this well in which Mr. Forbes purchased a half interest. At first the well supplied two thousand cubic feet per day, through three miles of mains. In 1859 the company put in a gas receiver of twelve thousand cubic feet capacity and supplied private houses. In 1871 Albert Colburn sunk a well twelve hundred feet, for the purpose of supplying fuel for generating steam, but it proved inadequate and he bought out Mr. Barmore's interest in the gas company, connected his with the company's receiver, thus enabling them to supply the whole village. Of this company Mr. Forbes was elected president and held that office until 1878, when he sold out his interest and retired from business to spend the remainder of his days amid the sur- roundings of a most comfortable home. In re- ligion he is an Episcopalian. In 1858 he was elected one of the wardens of Trinity Episcopal church in Fredonia and still holds the same po- sition. He has been trustee of the village of Fredonia and held the office of treasurer for many years, and trustee of the old Fredonia academy here.
Elias Forbes was married November 5, 1843, to Rebecca E. Walworth, a daughter of Benja- min and Charlotte (Eddy) Walworth, her father. being one of the most prominent physicians and surgeons in western New York, and for thirteen
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years was judge of Chautauqua county, and for several years was examiner in chancery. He resided in Fredonia, whither he came from Hoosie Falls, N. Y., in 1824. By this mar- riage there were three children : Kosciusko W., born December 14, 1844, married to Nellie A. Payne, by whom he has three daughters, and lives in Buffalo ; Charlotte E., born November 26, 1846, married Isaac S. Kingsland, a civil engineer, and was J. Condit Smith's chief en- gineer-he died in 1883, leaving a widow, one son and three daughters ; and John B., born Au- gust 19, 1855 and died May 30, 1862.
C OL. SILAS SHEARMAN & SONS, of
Jamestown, have been prominent in the manufacturing interests of that city for many years, and the sons, Rufus P. and Addison P., are the members of the present upholstering and furniture firm of Shearman Brothers. The Shearmans are of English descent, and the family was founded in New England by three brothers, who settled respectively in Massachu- setts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Froni the family is descended Col. Silas Shearman, who was born at Tiverton, Rhode Island, De- cember 11, 1803, and is a son of Silas and Elizabeth (Perry) Shearman. Silas Shearman, Sr., removed, in 1808, from Rhode Island to Cazenovia, Madison county, New York, where ten years later he died. He was a cabinet- maker and an excellent workman, and his two brothers, John and Carleton, learned cabinet- making with him in Rhode Island. He was a democrat, and married Elizabeth Perry, who was a daughter of Godfrey Perry, of Rhode Island ; he was a son of Stafford Perry, and a relative of the famous Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry of American naval fame. They reared a family of nine sons and one daughter : Perry, a lumberman of Pennsylvania, where he died ; Noble (deceased), a farmer of near Mayville; Eliza (dead) ; Silas, David, who is farming near Hartfield; Edward, of Ohio, on
part of whose farm the town of Plymouth is built ; William, who went to Virginia about the commencement of the civil war, and of whom nothing has been heard since; Godfrey P., who died in Detroit, Michigan ; John P., of Jamestown, where he died ; and Elias, who removed from Jamestown in 1890, and from whom nothing has been heard since he left. Col. Silas Shearman attended the schools of his boyhood days in Madison and Chautauqua counties. He learned the trade of saddler and harness-maker, worked for a time at Fredonia, and in 1827 commenced in that line of business for himself in Jamestown, where he opened a shop in the Budlong building, afterwards known as the Hawley block. In December, 1832, he removed to a brick building, which he had erected on Third street opposite the Allen house. He dealt to some extent in saddlery and hardware, and gradually enlarged his busi- ness. In 1854 he associated his son, Rufus P., and afterwards his son, Addison P., with him under the firm name of S. Shearman & Sons, in which partnerships he was an active member until 1870, when he retired from busi- ness life. The sons were in various business operations until 1881, when they engaged in the upholstery business, and in 1882 erected their present large furniture factory. In early life Mr. Shearman took considerable interest in the military affairs of his State, from which he held, at different times, five commissions under Governor Troop and Governor Marcy,-three in the cavalry, and those of major and colonel in the field. He cast his first presidential vote for Andrew Jackson, and was a Democrat until the close of Polk's administration, when he be- came an abolitionist, and acted as a conductor on the underground railroad in assisting slaves to reach Canada. Since the late war he has been a Republican. He has been a remarkably strong man physically as well as mentally ; and to-day at eighty-seven years of age is still active in both mind and body. He has always been
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strictly temperate as to his use of food and drink, and during the last sixty years of his life has used no stimulants of any kind. He has witnessed the erection of every building in Jamestown except one, and still resides in the house which he built in 1829. While no poli- tician, Col. Silas Shearman expresses the hope that he may live to see the day when the elective franchise will be extended to women.
On the 29th of March, 1829, he married Mary C. Marsh, daughter of Ebenezer Marsh, of Windham county, Vermont. They have been the parents of six children : Rufus P., Addison P., and four that died in infancy.
RUFUS P. SHEARMAN is the eldest son of Col. Silas and Mary C. (Marsh) Shearman, and was born in Jamestown, May 31, 1831. He received his education at the Jamestown acad- emy, and embarked in 1854 with his father in the harness business, in which he continued until 1870. In 1880 he became a member of the present upholstery and furniture firm of Shearman Brothers. On October 19, 1854, he married Sophronia M., daughter of Adam Neff, of Cortland county. They have two chil- dren : Fred J., a locomotive builder who mar- ried Ella Mccullough, who died and left him one child, M. Evelyn, after which he married Minnie Rugg; and Frank E., who has charge of his father's office, and married Catherine Derry, by whom he has three children : Lulu C., Frank E. and Florence M. He is a Repub- lican in politics, but never takes any active part in political affairs.
ADDISON P. SHEARMAN, the second son of Col. Silas and Mary C. (Marsh) Shearman, was born in Jamestown, June 25, 1843. He at- tended the Jamestown academy, and then en- tered the Jamestown office of the A. & G. W. R. R., in which he learned telegraphy, and served as a telegraph operator until 1862. On Angust 25th of that year he enlisted in Co. F, 112th regiment, N. Y. Vols., and served under Grant at Cold Harbor and Petersburg ; Terry
at Ft. Fisher; Gilmore at Charleston, and Sherman in his capture of Johnston's army at Raleigh, N. C. He returned home in 1865, and was engaged with his father in the manu- facture of harness and various other lines of business until January 1, 1870. In 1881 he became a partner with his brother in their pres- ent upholstery and furniture business. He is a republican in politics, and a member of James M. Brown Post, No. 295, G. A. R. He mar- ried Caroline L. Havens, of Elmira, N. Y., October 1, 1867, by whom he had one son, William Brown Shearman, who died March 20, 1877.
The furniture factory of the Shearman Brothers is located at Shearman Place, opposite the Union R. R. Depot. It is a five-story building 40x100 feet in dimensions with an L 32x40. It is equipped with all necessary machinery and modern appliances, and the firm gives employment to a force of one hundred workmen. In addition to the factory there is a large storage building. They make a spec- ialty of lounges and couches, of which they are probably the largest manufacturers in the United States. They keep six traveling sales- men constantly on the road, fill all orders promptly, and have an extensive wholesale trade throughout this and adjoining States.
W. S. SLY is a son of William H. and Maria (Smith) Sly, and was born at Parish, Oswego county, New York, March 20th, 1847. His grandfather, John Sly, was born in London, England, in 1784, and came to Amer- ica with an uncle, when he was eight years old, who settled in De Kalb, St. Lawrence county. He remained with his uncle until he was twelve years of age and then he went to live with a Captain Fowler, with whom he resided until he was eighteen years old, when he went to Canada. In 1812 he returned to the United States and enlisted with Captain Fowler in the American army and was stationed at Sackett's Harbor
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during the war. Forty-two years after the close of the war he received a land grant for his services. After the war he was engaged for a few years in running lumber from Oswego to Montreal and Quebec. He then purchased a farm in De Kalb, St. Lawrence county, New York, which he occupied and cultivated until his death, which occurred in his eighty-ninth year. He was twice married. First to Ellen, daughter of Hiram Lovejoy, by whom he had four children, two sons and two daughters : William H., father of W. S .; James, Julia, who married Philip Fellows, of Parish, N. Y .; and Laura, who married Bradley Taylor, of Michi- gan. His first wife died, and in 1842 he mar- ried Mrs. Maria (Fordham) Belden, daughter of Theodore Fordham, but had no children. The maternal grandfather of W. S. Sly was named Harvey Smith, who was born at Cobleskill, W. S. Sly received his education in the public schools of St. Lawrence county, this State. At sixteen years of age he entered the shop of G. W. Burhaus at Jamesville, Onondaga county, New York, manufacturer of doors, sash, blinds and broom handles, where he remained about a year and then enlisted January 6th, 1864, in Company C, 9th New York Heavy Artillery. He participated in the battles of Cold Harbor, Monocacy Junction, Winchester, Cedar Creek, and Petersburg. In the last named battle he was wounded in the right arm between the elbow and shoulder. He was honorably discharged September 20th, 1865, and returned to the shop of G. W. Burhaus at Jamesville, remaining there until the next spring, when he went on a farm in De Kalb, St. Lawrence county. Sep- tember 6th, 1866, he came to Fredonia and worked at his trade of carpenter and joiner for Robert Wolfers for three years. He then went to Forestville and formed a partnership with Schoharie county, N. Y., and was of German descent. He lived all his life and died on a farm in Parish, Oswego county, New York, where he owned three large farms. He died March, 1871, aged 77 years. He was a mem- ber of the Baptist church and was a quiet, re- served man, attending strictly to his own affairs, and accumulated considerable wealth, as fortunes were counted in those days. He was married in 1822 to Catherine, daughter of Charles Simonds, and had five children, three sons and two daughters : Maria (mother); Nancy, who married C. H. Davy, of Parish ; Hiram, a farmer and lumberman in Oswego county ; and David, who died while a young man, just after graduating from Fredonia academy. Mrs. Smith died in 1874 aged 76. William H. Sly (father) was born at Antwerp, October 18, 1825, and was educated in the public schools, supplemented by two years in Gouverneur academy. After leaving school he served an apprenticeship of Robert Wolfers, under the firm name of Wolfers & Sly, contractors and builders. Mr. Wolfers retired from the firm after a year had passed and Mr. Sly carried on the business for two
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