USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York : with a historical sketch of the county > Part 32
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uary 25, 1831, and had five children, three sons and two daughters. One of the children died quite young ; another one, Fletcher J., lives in Kansas. John H. Flagler died in September, 1887.
James H. Flagler was educated in the com- mon, schools of Chautauqua town, and West- field academy, and began to earn a livelihood as a school teacher. He taught fourteen years altogether, including two terms of four months each in the corporation of Mayville. When he had completed his experience in teaching the young idea how to shoot, he moved to Chau- tauqua and from there to the farm of his father at Summer Dale, which originally contained three hundred acres, and of which he now owns two hundred and forty acres. In 1872 he operated a dairy farm at this location. He then moved to Mayville, where he has since re- sided, mainly engaged in the coal business. In politics he has been a republican since the birth of the party, voting for Fremont and Dayton in 1856, and has been a member of the board of assessors of Mayville for six years. August 8, 1890, President Harrison appointed him post- master of Mayville. In religion he is a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a member of Mayville Lodge, No. 284, I. O.O.F., of Mayville, of which he is N. G., and has been financial secretary of Mayville Lodge, No. 25, A. O. U. W. for eight years.
James H. Flagler was married November 1, 1859, to Nancy A Keyes, of Mayville, by whom he has two sons : Elmer E., who is mar- ried to Frances Van Volkenburg, and is in the dry goods business in Westfield ; and Grant S., married to Ala M. Owen, is receiving and pay- ing teller in the Westfield National Bank, in which town he also resides.
D. B. ADAMS, one of the substantial agri- culturists of Fredonia, is a son of Bishop and Betsey (Palmer) Adams, and was born in Van Buren, Chautauqua county, New
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York, November 5, 1829. Justus Adams (grandfather) was born in Dutchess county, this State, in 1764, and moved to Delaware county, where he bought a farm, on which he remained a few years and then removed to this county in the spring of 1811, where he purchased, in May of that year, one-half of lot No. 21, in township six, now Pomfret, comprising one hundred and cighty acres, which he cultivated until his death, in 1848, at the age of eighty-four years. The farm was then occupied by two of his sons, later by another son, Bishop (father) and now by his grandson, D. B. He married Jemima Bishop in 1785, by whom he had nine children, five sons and four daughters : Bishop, Morris, Jes- sie, John and Thomas ; Rebccea, who married a Mr. Ganung ; Eliza, married to another Mr. Ganung ; Jemima, married to Wm. Birch ; and Polly, married to Thomas Lacelles. Mrs. Adams (grandmother) died in 1837. Joseph Palmer (maternal grandfather) was born in Connecticut, and came to this county in 1810, settling in Pomfret, near Fredonia, where he took up a large farm, which he cultivated until 1834, when he sold it and removed to Indiana and took up a tract of land on the St. Joseph river. He married and reared seven children, four sons and three daughters : Daniel, James, Asher, and one whose name is forgotten ; Bet- sey (mother) ; Cynthia, who married Mr. Gier ; and another who married Mr. Stilson. Bishop Adams (father) was born in Dutchess county in 1789, came to this county in 1809 and bought a tract of land consisting of three hundred acres, for which he paid less than three dollars an acre. This he sold in 1836 and moved to the farm now owned by his son, D. B, one mile northwest of Fredonia, for the purpose of assisting and caring for his father, who had passed the three-score and ten years allotted to man, and remained here until his death, in 1866, at the age of seventy-seven years. Bishop Adams was married in the fall of 1811 to Bet- sey Palmer, by whom he had nine children,
five of whom died in infancy : John was a phy- sician in this county, and married Chloe Wil- bur ; Elizabeth married Smith Wilbur, a far- mer in this county ; and Philinda married Daniel Ellis, a farmer in Panama, this county.
D. B. Adams was educated in the common schools of this county, of which, happily, the youth of the present generation have no knowl- edge. He worked on the farm during the plant- ing, haying and harvesting seasons, and winters he sawed, split and chopped wood, "done chores," attended to the live stock, attended the school which was located close by, on one cor- ner of the farm on which he lived, until he was fifteen years old. Fortunately nature partly compensated for this pursuit of knowledge under difficulties by endowing him with a phe- nomenal memory, so that his mind is a store- house of knowledge gained by a wide range of reading, and never fails to honor the drafts made upon it. He worked upon his father's farm and cared for him when the infirmities of age grew upon him, and after his death pur- chased the interest of the other heirs, the entire farm being now in the very centre of the grape- growing district, which materially increases its value. He has eight acres devoted to the cul- tivation of that succulent fruit of the vine, and is increasing the average each year. In June, 1863, he enlisted in Company A, Sixty-eighth New York Volunteers, but was honorably dis- charged on account of the expiration of his en- listment, August 1st of the same ycar, and is a member of Holt Post, No. 403, G. A. R. of Fre- donia, also of Fredonia Grange, and the Temple of Honor, Select Templars and of Fredonia Lodge, No. 338 I. O. O. F., all of Fredonia, and takes an active interest in each. In politics he is republican.
D. B. Adams was married November 9, 1848, to Mary E. Hyde, a daughter of Joseph and Laura (Woodcock) Hyde, her father being a farmer at Springville, Erie county, this State, which union resulted in four children, two
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Matton. E. Beebe
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sons and two daughters: Florence A., married to M. J. Mattison, a teacher at Cedar Rapids, Michigan ; Marvin B., a farmer in Pomfret and lives on Brigham street, Fredonia, married to Anna Fry ; Eva, married Delos Keith, a farmer on Brigham street, Fredonia ; and Frank M., a farmer, married to Sarah Van Wey, and re- sides with his parents.
M ILTON E. BEEBE, architeet and snper- intendent, of Fredonia, and who was the candidate against Grover Cleveland, in 1881, for mayor of Buffalo, is a son of Justus T. and Harriet C. (Quigley) Beebe, and was born at Cassadaga, Chautauqua county, New York, November 27, 1840. His paternal grandfath- er, Abel Beebe, was a native of Connecticut, and was one of the first white settlers on the site of Buffalo, where he purchased, in 1800, a traet of land called "Cold Springs." He afterwards sold this land, and purchased and eleared out a heavily timbered farm on the shore of Lake Cassadaga, in this county, where he reared a family of four sons and three daugh- ters : Delos, James, Justus T., Cyrenus C., Loeena, Elvira and Lucy. Justus T. Beebe (father) was born in Cassadaga, December 27, 1811, and died in Cassadaga, December 5, 1886. He owned a small farm and married Harrict C. Quigley, who is now living. They had two sons and two daughters: Milton E., Laura A., Francis M. and Helen M.
Milton E. Bcebe received his education in the three months winter school of his town and Fredonia academy, which he attended during one term. At an early age he exhibited consid- erable talent for music, as well as a taste for drawing and mechanical construction. At six- teen years of age he went to learn the trade of earpenter and joiner with Levi Totman, and in a short time was sufficient master of his trade to engage in earpentery for himself at Cassadaga and other plaecs. At nineteen years of age he commenced teaching in the winter schools, and
when the late war broke out, he enlisted in the 9th N. Y. Cavalry. He served at New York and Washington cities until 1862, then was as- signed to Col. Hunt's artillery, participated in the Peninsular Campaign until the battle of Fair Oaks, when his eommand was ordered to Washington City, where he took typhoid fever, and after his recovery was discharged for physi- eal disability, which prevented his re-enlist- ment afterwards. Returning home, in connec- tion with his trade, he took up the study of architecture, which he pursued from 1865 to 1873, under leading architects in the eities of Buffalo, Chicago, New York, and Worcester, Mass. In 1873 he established himself at Buffalo as an architect, and among the import- ant buildings that he has designed and built are the post office building at Buffalo, the court- houses of Cambria, Huntingdon and Warren counties, Pa., and Niagara county, N. Y., each eosting one hundred thousand dollars; the Board of Trade building at Buffalo, costing one hundred and fifty thousand dollars; and the Miller and Greiner buildings, costing one hun- dred thousand dollars each ; Manufacturers and Traders Bank building, Ageney building, Tucker's Iron building, John C. Jewett's build- ing, Zink & Hatch office building, and J. M. Richmond's building, each costing upwards of one hundred thousand dollars, besides many costly churches and fine private residences. He has also just completed one of the finest court-houses in the country, at Pottsville, Schuylkill county, Pa., costing about threc hundred thousand dollars. In 1885 he came to Fredonia, and purchased the old Gen. Risley place, where he has one of the finest and best furnished residences of the town. He is still actively engaged in his profession, with offices in Buffalo.
November 5, 1862, he married Rosina, daughter of Sawyer, and sister to Prof. Philip Phillips, the noted singer. They have one eliild, a son, Harry P., who was born May 15,
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1865, and is now engaged in architectural work with his father.
In politics Mr. Beebe is a zealous republican. In 1879 he was elected alderman in the second ward of Buffalo, and upon the organization of the board, was made its president, which was an unusual honor to be conferred on a new mem- ber. He was re-elected and re-appointed the next year to the same position, and in 1881 was nominated by acclamation as the republican candidate for mayor of Buffalo, but it was a year of adverse fate for the republicans in New York, and Mr. Beebe, although popular, went down with many other prominent candidates of his party. He was defeated for mayor by Grover Cleveland, whose political good for- tunes that carried him to the presidential chair were born in his success at that election. Mr. Beebe is a member of Bidwell Wilkinson Post, No. 9, Grand Army of the Republic, and Queen City Lodge, No. 358, Frec and Accepted Masons ; is now Eminent Commander of Hugh de Payens Commandery, No. 30, Knights Templar, stationed at Buffalo, N. Y., and is a Past Grand Master of the A. O. U. W., of the State of New York.
G ILBERT L. DAVIS is an artisan of recog- nized ability, whose well-trained hand has erected some of the most substantial and sightly buildings at the village of Falconer. He is a son of Simeon C. and Betsy P. (Benson) Davis and was born in the town of Carroll, this county, June 14, 1828. He is a grandson of Rev. Paul Davis, who canie to the town of Carroll from the State of Vermont in 1816. Rev. Davis resided in Carroll until he died in 1826. He was an orthodox minister of the Baptist church, a pioneer-one of the first in that section, and he was a liberal and fair- minded man. Consider Benson, lis maternal grandfather, was born in New Salem, Massachu- setts, on September 4, 1766, and came to New York in 1816, where he followed farming at
Carroll, Chautauqua county. During the second war with England he carried an old flint-lock musket and served throughout the struggle as a private. His death occurred at Falconer, April 3, 1855. He married Hannah Puring- ton, in Massachusetts, and became the father of seven children. Simeon C. Davis was born at Wordsborough, Vermont, October 15, 1788, and lived on a farm until twenty-one years of age. He received a good education for that period and then learned masoning, which he pursued in connection with his farming. In 1814 he came to Chautauqua county and spent twenty-two years here farming and working at his trade. On the 11th day of August, 1814, he married Lydia Tobey, who bore him four children : Simeon C., Jr., died in June, 1890 ; Mary married A. F. Fairbank and died in 1873; Joseph died February 12, 1888; and John T., is now living in the town of Carroll, an industrious and thriving farmer. His first wife died on January 19, 1822, and September 26, 1822, he married Betsy P. Benson. The latter also became the mother of four children : Lydia A., married George A. Hall, of Kiantone town, died in 1873; Susan P. is the wife of Milo Van Namee, also of Kiantone ; Gilbert L .; and Josiah, the latter a prominent engineer and surveyor of Jamestown. Simeon C. Davis was a whig and being a popular man, was elected to several of the town offices, his party being dominant at that time. He was strongly attached to the Baptist church and con- tributed very liberally to its support. When the country had been drained of its supply of men, who had gone into the army during the early war, he was one of the active promoters in organizing the boys' regiment of home guards, which did such effective service in defending the frontier at Plattsburg, Vt. Simeon C. Davis was a public-spirited and generous man, patriotic and self-denying. He died in Carroll, May 12, 1836.
Gilbert L. Davis was born and educated a
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farmer and although he has learned the trade of carpentering, the fascinations of farm life cling to him and he makes liis trade subservient to the tilling of the soil. He came to the town of Ellicott in 1875 and has since resided there.
On June 22, 1847, he married Adeline Van Namee, and reared three children : George G. was born May 9, 1848, and died November 2, 1885. He was educated in the common branches of English instruction and then went to the Medical department of the University of Michigan, from which he took the degree of M.D., following his graduation, he practiced at Frewsburg, New York, for fifteen years ; James A. died in 1861, wlien twelve years of age ; and Murray H. is a carpenter and joiner living at home.
Politically, Mr. Davis is a republican and takes an active interest in local affairs. He is now serving as justice of the peace, a position which he has held for fifteen years ; besides this many offices of minor importance have been filled by him. Mr. Davis is a member of the Congregational church and has been prominent- ly identified with improving the educational facilities of Falconer for many years.
C
OHN H. ELY is a farmer of the town of Poland and has become noted on account of the fine stock he keeps for sale and breeding purposes. He is next to the youngest child of Samuel and Artless (Clark) Ely, and was born in the town of Ellington, Chautauqua county, New York, July 27, 1844. His grandfathers were Israel Ely, who came from a family of early New England settlers of English descent, and Joseph Clark, a native and resident of St. Lawrence county, New York. Samuel Ely was born in Hancock, (named for John Hancock) Massachusetts, September 23, 1786, and changed his residence to Washington county in 1800. He lived there forty years and then moved to the town of Ellington, this county, and died in
Gerry in 1885. His education was acquired at the common schools and his life-long work was farming. His first wife was Rebecca Duell, who bore him six children, and after she died he united with Artless Clark, by whom he had twelve children. None of the children by his first wife are living, but of the second eight survive : Rebecca, widow of George Broomley ; Mary, married Amos Bannore now dead; Ruth, marricd Samucl Gladen, also dead; Perry, mar- ried Ann E. Strong, of Poland ; Clark, resides in Ellicott, married to Camelia Mattocks; Sam- uel, married Victoria Mosher and lives in Po- land ; and John H. Samuel Ely affiliated with the Republican party and is a member of the school board. He developed ability in business matters and by judicious trade became comfort- ably wealthy. He was of untiring energy and took an active interest in public affairs.
John H. Ely led the life of a farmer boy un- til seven years old, and then left Ellington to go to Washington county, where he remained until twenty-two years old. He then returned to his native town and after spending two years in the employ of his father he bought himself a farm in Poland in 1875. Mr. Ely still owns and resides near this farm, and gives most of his attention to stock raising.
On April 25, 1872, he was joined in marriage to Sophia Fuller, a daughter of Arad Fuller, of Poland, and they have had two children : Eloise M., born February 22, 1879; and Lee, born October 1, 1887.
J. H. Ely belongs to the Democratic party and to Herschel Lodge, No. 508, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, and now lives in quiet comfort giving only a proper oversight to his farming and stock. He is a gentleman deeply read and keeps himself thoroughly posted upon the cur- rent events of all subjects. Probably no man engaged in the same business is better acquaint- ed with the affairs of the State aud Nation than Mr. Ely. He believes that every member of a republican form of government should be fam-
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iliar with what is transpiring, and with this end in view leads the van.
D° OCTOR SQUIRE WHITE, the subject of this sketch, was born in Guilford, Ver- mont, November 20, 1785, and died at Fredo- nia, New York, April 2, 1857. He was a son of William C. and Eunice (Rogers) White. Major William White earned his title in the Revolutionary war. He was a line officer at the battle of Bennington and received a wound. At the close of the war he was awarded one thousand acres of land lying adjacent to the Susquehanna river, near where the city of Binghamton now is.
Dr. Squire White secured an early education and then applied himself to the study of medi- cine, continuing it for seven years. In 1808 he came to Chautauqua county and taught its first school. In 1813 he married Sallie Bar- ker, a daughter of Hezekiah Barker, who was a native of Rhode Island. The latter, too, was a Revolutionary soldier and pensioner, and built the first saw-mill in this county. The machin- ery used in operating it was brought from the east by cattle. Mr. Barker came to Canada- way in 1806 and one year later brought his family. Hc owned large tracts adjacent to Fredonia and gave to the village the beautiful park that adorns the centre, and he also dona- ted them lots for their churches. He died in 1834 and was reputed to be among the wealth- iest men of that day, and, although a farmer, was one of the most liberal and public-spirited men in the country.
For his second wife Dr. White wedded Lydia Cushing, one of that family who made the name famous. She was related to ex-president Jolin Adams. When Squire White began practicing he settled at Fredonia, and made that village his home for fifty years, and his practice exten- ded for a radius of thirty miles. Politically he was an old-line whig, and for four terms he held the office of surrogate and served in the
legislature in the years 1830, '31 and '32, and there secured the friendship of many of the leading men of the Statc. At his death Dr. White owned two hundred acres of land within the corporate limits of Fredonia. Dr. White's popularity was almost phenomenal; he was probably as thoroughly known throughout the length and breadth of Chautauqua county as any other man and every acquaintance was his friend. He stood at the head of his profession and was much sought for in severe or desperate cases. Although highly educated, he never stopped studying and he kept himself fully abreast of the times, and up with the advance- ments of his profession, through his books and journals.
Twice married, he had three children by each wife, three of whom are now living. Al- though more than a third of a century lias elapsed since his demise, he is yet fondly re- membered by many of the older people of this community, and tradition has handed his mem- ory down to those who are yet children. A truly good man lives long after the breath leaves his body and the heart ceases to pulsate.
A LBERT L. PHILLIPS comes from two German families that left the fatherland over a hundred years ago, came to this country and have become thoroughly Americanized. He began life humbly, secured his education by personal efforts, gave three years of service towards preserving the Union intact, and then returned to the pursuits of peace, and after a few ycars preliminary skirmishing, has estab- lished one of the largest flouring-mills in this section of the county. Albert L. Phillips is a son of George and Lydia (Shaver) Phillips, and was born in . Stephentown, Rensselaer county, New York, April 12, 1842. Zachariah Phillips was a native of Germany, but in early life he emigrated to America and settled in Rensselaer county, this State, where he died. Being one of the pioneers of that county, he attacked the
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forests with his axe, subdued the natural growth and in its place sowed the seeds which, spronting and maturing, fed the hungry mouths of stock and children. After serving in the Revolutionary war he returned to his farm, where he died in 1852. His wife bore him five or six children that grew to maturity. In politics he was a whig. Of the mother's family the same might be said ; the grandfather came to America and settled in the same county. George Phillips was born in Rensselaer county, and learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed, with con- tracting and building. He died in 1867, aged seventy-eight years. Most of his life was spent in Rensselaer county, although, for a time, he lived and followed his trade in Dutchess county. In 1811 he married Lydia Shaver, and reared a family of seven childreu, four daughters and three sons. Two of the latter and one daughter are still living : George E. is at Stottville, New York ; and Sarah A. is married to Alberton Hick, of Rensselaer county, New York. Mr. Phillips was a democrat.
Albert L. Phillips passed the early years of life and received his education through his own unaided efforts. He worked hard during the day aud studied at night and during spare momeuts. While still a youth he learned the secrets of milling, and before he was legally a man he was a master miller. Seven years apprenticeship was passed, and he then took charge of a mill in Chatham, Columbia county, this State, where he remained until August 22, 1862, and then enlisted in Company I, 1st regiment, New York Mounted Rifles, and served as private and corporal uutil the close of the war, his discharge being dated June 12, 1865. His regiment was commanded by Col. C. C. Dodge. He was mainly on detached duty during his service, and was with Generals Spinola and Terry at Suffolk, Va., Fort Dar- ling, Bermuda Hundred, City Point and Peters- burg. While Mr. Phillips was engaged in bearing dispatches from Gen. Terry to Col.
White he was pursued by Confederates and four bullets passed through his clothing. Much danger was incurred while doing duty as dis- patch-bearer, scout and spy, but he seemed to bear a charmed life, and always escaped uu- injured. When Richmond capitulated, his company was among the first to ride trium- phantly through the streets of the rebel capital. Upon returning home, he was employed at the following-named places : Phoenix mills and Revere mills, Rochester, New York ; Gowanda, New York, and was burned out in the latter place in March, 1870; then at Versailles, Otto, New York; Union City, Pa., and in 1873 he removed to East Raudolph and remained until 1877. From there he went to Dayton, Ohio, aud engaged in the graiu business for about one year, then moved to Niles, Ohio, and ran a mill; from the latter place he went to Meadville, Pa., and in 1881 he came to Kennedy, where he has since remained, aud conducts one of the largest mills in Chautauqua county, having a capacity of one hundred aud twenty-five barrels of flour and a car-load of feed per day, and employs ten men. Mr. Phillips is associated with William Thomas, a resident of Meadville, Pa. Politically he is a democrat, and belongs to Jamestowu Lodge, Knights of Honor.
In 1869 he married Jennie Barlow, a daughter of Alauson Barlow, of Gowanda, New York, and they have one daughter, E. Maud, born March 14, 1876.
Mrs. Phillips died August 5, 1890, after having spent considerable time in Florida search- iug for health. Albert L. Phillips' success in the milling business is a proud monument to his perseverance and skill. Under his management the business has expanded to its present propor- tions, a large proportion of their product being consumed by local trade. It is not alone in business that he is successful ; socially he is a pleasant gentleman, aud numbers his friends by his acquaiutauces.
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