USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York : with a historical sketch of the county > Part 35
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On December 7, 1858, he married Maria L. Lee, a daughter of Oliver Lee, of Silver Creek, who was a soldier in the war of 1812, and one of the earliest settlers in this town. They have an adopted daughter: Helen M. Abell, a daughter of William H. and Eliza (Lee) Abell.
Chauncey G. Talcott is a member of the Presbyterian church and serves it in the capa- city of an elder. For four years he was super- intendent of its Sabbath-school. He is a dem- ocrat and has held some of the responsible offices in the gift of the town. When Sylvan Lodge, No. 757, F. and A. M. was chartered, Mr. Tal- cott was a member of it and was elected the first secretary. He is a gentleman of more than or- dinary business acumen, of undoubted integrity, genial, warm-hearted and generous.
w ILLIAM MARTIN, the head of one of the largest and most important busi- nesses in Dunkirk, and at present the political head of the municipality, was born in the city of Exeter, England, on the first day of March, 1848, and is a son of George and Grace (How- ard) Martin.
William Martin was brought to this country in early childhood and in youth learned the machinist's trade. He was educated at the East Greenwich Seminary, Rhode Island, and from thence engaged in theological study and in 1871 came to Dunkirk and filled the pulpit of the First Methodist church of that city. He en- gaged in the ministry of that denomination for twelve years and for two years labored in the Presbyterian cause.
In 1872 he married Frances Helen Cary, daughter of David E. Cary, and their union has been blessed with four children : Sarah ; Cary ; Grace; and Howard. In the latter part of 1872 Mr. Martin left Dunkirk and returned in 1882 to develop the present immense business which he now directs. About this time an ani- mated discussion arose regarding the feasibility of replacing the ear stove for heating railway
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trains, and Mr. Martin believed he could solve the problem. He executed a model and induced the officials of the Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburg railroad to allow him the privi- lege of equipping a train, and by experience per- fect the system. The first model worked well, and in May, 1882, they applied for a patent and formed a stock company with an authorized capital of two hundred thousand dollars. He associated with him Frank E. Shaw of Sinclair- ville, and Charles A. Clute, then assistant su- perintendent of the D., A. V. & P. R. R. Their system was rapidly improved and in May, 1884, the " Bee Line " was equipped and to-day about five thousand engines and cars are operat- ing this mode of heating. The out put of 1888 showed about five hundred thousand dollars and some seventy-five people are employed in their beautiful buildings, recently erected at the cor- ner of Third and Dove streets. This invention ranks with the Westinghouse brake for safety, and with George M. Pullman's famous palace cars for comfort and convenience. The deadly car-stove is displaced by this contrivance, which, in case of a wreck, automatically shuts off the steam and prevents the horrors of burning in flames or scalding by steam.
w ILLIAM H. ARNOLD. One of the very oldest of Portland's successful agriculturists and grape growers, and one who has excceded by eight years, man's quoted allotment of three-score years and ten, all of which have been spent within the boundaries of old Chautauqua, is the venerable gentleman whose name appears above. William H. Ar- nold is a son of Elisha and Patience (Potter) Arnold, and was born February 7, 1813, in the little State of Rhode Island. His father, Elisha Arnold, was born in Rhode Island, in 1778 and came from Rhode Island to Portland town the year William was born. His occupa- tion was distilling and he followed this busi- ness in Westfield until able to secure one of his
own. In those days the business was not over- crowded, and he operated his still with profit for a number of years. He married Patience Potter, of Rhode Island, and reared a family of seven sons and five daughters, of whom our subject is the only one now living. Mr. Arnold was a universalist and affiliated with the whigs. He was learned in the law and was a member of the Constitutional Com- mittee appointed to alter the constitution of the State. He filled several of the local offices in his county and was a prominent man, re- spected and esteemed. He died in 1841, aged sixty-three years. Mrs. Arnold was a native of Rhode Island. She died in 1854, aged sev- enty-five years.
William H. Arnold was brought to Chau- tauqua county an infant in his mother's arms. The educational facilities at that time were meager, and farm work was more plentiful than school books. He, however, managed to secure sufficient knowledge to make a successful busi- ness farmer, as is attested by the value of his property to-day. Mr. Arnold has always been a farmer and the old homestead which he now owns, built, and for many years occupied by his father, contains one hundred and twenty- five acres of tillable land. In addition to this valuable property, he is the possessor of an- other of two hundred and forty-nine acres in Chautauqua town, where particular attention is given to live stock, in which he deals, and to grape culture.
On December 3, 1840, he married Mary L. Spurr, a daughter of Amos Spurr, of Portland. They reared three sons and five daughters : Eliza, married L. H. Kendall, of Buffalo ; Sarah, wedded Warren Dickson and lives in Wilkinsburg, Pa .; Mattie, is the wife of Ver- non Kent, a resident of Westfield; William, is a citizen of Chautauqua town and is married to Etta Hardonburg; Chester, removed to Dun- kirk, married Nettie Burnell and is engaged in railroad work ; Redmond, Mary and Agnes,
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OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
W. H. Arnold has voted with the Republi- can party since it came into existence, but has refrained from entering active political life. He is now far advanced in ycars, but is one of the most highly respected and honored citizens of the county.
H ARVEY BEMIS is a son of Stephen and Clarissa (Huntley) Bemis, and was born at Moscow, Livingston county, New York, Sep- tember 15, 1814. Stephen Bemnis was a native of Connecticut. From there he moved to Liv- ingston county, thence to Genesee county, N. Y., and in February, 1825, he came to Chau- tauqua county and located in the town of Cly- mer, and engaged in farming until his death, which occurred in December, 1847, after he had passed the age of seventy-four years. Mrs. Bemis was a native of Vermont, a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and died in 1859. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bemis were of English descent, and they reared a family of eight children, seven sons and one daughter.
Harvey Bemis was a boy of eleven years when his father came to this county. He was reared on the farm and educated in the public schools, which were equal to any of the country schools of that day. Farming has been his life-long occupation, and to-day he owns seventy- two acres of very fine land lying on the Nettle Hill road, two miles east of Westfield. Grape culture receives a portion of his attention, and in the spring of the year, for sixty-five years past, he says, he has helped to make maple-sugar and syrup.
On May 8, 1837, he married Melissa Ann, a daughter of Nathaniel Dowley, who lived in Greenfield, Pa. By her he has three chil- dren, one son and two daughters: Emma, wife of Perry Saunders, who lives in Wisconsin ; Mary is the wife of Charles E. Flitner, who lives in St. Paul ; and Alton is an attorney-at-law in Cleveland, Ohio.
Harvey Bemis is a venerable and respected
old gentleman, who has the esteem of his neigh- bors and acquaintances.
J ESSE WARR, an adopted son of the United States, who bore arms in her defense when her misguided sons sought to rend asunder her time-honored institutions, is a son of John and Jane (Mould) Warr, and was born in Ailsbury, England, near the palace of the Duke of Buck- ingham, June 1, 1828. For generations the Warrs had acknowledged allegiance to the sovereign of Great Britain, and James Mould, the maternal grandfather, was in the service of the duke above mentioned. John Warr was born at Glancutt, England, and came to Ameriea in 1833 and settled in Durhamville, Oneida county, this State, and soon after moved into the city of Utica, where he made his home until his death in 1852. He attained the age of sixty- seven years. When he identified himself with American political institutions, Mr. Warr beeame attached to the Democratic party ; his trade was harness-making, an employment that he followed in the mother country, and for many years in his new home. While in England's military service he belonged to the cavalry, and was skilled in the manual of arms in that branch of the service. Jane Mould was born at Bucking- ham, England, and died in Utica, New York, when eighty-two years old. She was a very religious lady, and was thoroughly conversant with the Bible, which was her constant com- panion.
Jesse Warr came with his parents to America when only five years old, and the passage being made in a sailing vessel, it was long and tedious. He was reared principally in Utica, and secured his education at the public schools of that city, and after leaving school he learned shoemaking. During the month of August, 1862, Mr. Warr enlisted in Company A, 112th Regiment, New York Volunteers, as a private, and served two years and two months, when he was discharged on account of disability. He participated in
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many of the principal fights of his regiment, and conducted himself in such a manner as to win the respect of his comrades. Jamestown first knew him in the fall of 1859, when he came here and established a home, where, with the exception of the time spent in the army, he has lived ever since, and found employment at his trade until 1877, when, having a natural taste for floriculture, he opened a green-house and took front rank while he followed it. He is now retired from business and owns some valuable city property.
In 1851 he married Helen T. Osborn, of Utica, New York, and is now the father of three children : Mrs. Anna M. Wilcox lives in James- town; Mrs. Mary E. Rice resides here; and Emily I., who is superintendent of the training- school for nurses in the hospital at St. Louis, Missouri.
Jesse Warr is a member of the Presbyterian church, is a republican and belongs to James M. Brown Post, No. 285, G. A. R. Mrs. Helen T. Warr is a member of the same church and is one of the active members of the Woman's Relief Corps, No. 73, attached to James M. Brown Post, G. A. R., and also belongs to the Royal Templars of Temperance. Her father, Henry W. Osborn, was in the War of 1812, where he served with credit. He was of German descent, a native of Albany, New York, and died in Utica, this State, in 1882, aged ninety- one years.
S AMUEL CALDWELL. It is said of Samuel Caldwell that when a young man he could do a bigger day's chopping, ont-jump or throw down any man in the district. He stands six feet tall and to-day, although sixty- nine years of age is still active, strong and vig- orous. Samnel Caldwell is the son of Samuel, Sr., and Nancy (Coman) Caldwell, and was born in Salem, Washington county, New York, March 17, 1822. James Caldwell (grandfather) came from Londonderry, Scotland, and served in the
Revolutionary war. At the battle of Bunker Hill he was twice wounded but recovered and died in Arlington, Vt. His wife was Mary Clyde, a Scotch lady, who was remarkable for her historical knowledge. She was possessed of a fine memory, an inveterate reader and a keen observer which made her of more than ordinary interest. She lived to an advanced age and re- tained her marvelons memory until the time of her death. She was also renowned for her skill in accouchement cases. Samuel Caldwell, Sr., was born in Arlington, Bennington county, Vt , in 1795, and removed from there to Washington county, this State, in 1812. Twenty years later he came to Portland town, arriving May 17, 1832. He was a lifelong farmer and lived in this town until his death in 1878, when he was eighty-three years of age. Many anecdotes are told of Mr. Caldwell. He was of striking ap- pearance, six feet and two inches ; straight as an arrow and weighing but two hundred and forty- five pounds, was perfectly proportioned. He was renowned for his great strength and many would be champions for wrestling honors fell before him. Mr. Caldwell had the reputation of being the best and neatest farmer in the town. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and officiated in the capacities of class- leader and steward. He married Nancy Coman, who was born in Warren county, N. Y., in 1799. They reared a family of twelve children, nine of whom are still living, five sons and four daughters. Mrs. Caldwell was a gentle Chris- tian woman, a consistent member of the Metho- dist Episcopal church and died in 1884, aged eighty-five years.
Samuel Caldwell came to Portland with his father and was reared on the farm and educated in the public schools. When a young man he learned the carpenter trade but never pursued it steadily, clinging instead to the farm. Mr. Caldwell is now the owner of a good farm, which he secured by hard work and pays con- siderable attention to grape culture.
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On Christmas day, 1843, he wedded Jane Ann Springstead, of Portland, who died two and one-third years later (April 21, 1846), leav- ing him two sons-Dewitt and Isaac W. The first-named died an infant and Isaac W. resides with his father. Mr. Caldwell married for his second wife Martha Ann Wilbur, of Portland, in 1848, and she died in 1868, leaving two daughters-Ellen E. and Martha J. Ellen E. is the wife of M. W. Brown, a Portland farmer, and Martha J. married L. A. Bigelow, similarly employed in the same town. In November, 1889, Mr. Caldwell re-married, this time to Mrs. Louisa (Wilbur) Smart, who came from the town of Chautauqua.
He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and Lodge No. 32, Equitable Aid Union. Politically he is an uncompromising democrat and has filled the office of road commissioner for two years.
N ATHAN BROWN. One of the oldest of Jamestown's citizens, and in his active days the leading and most enterprising business man of that section, who took the manufactured wares of that city's early factories down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and exchanged them for cash, is Nathan Brown, He is a son of the late Nathan, Sr. and Levia (Smith) Brown, and was born in Eaton, Madison county, New York, November 19, 1812. The family is of English extraction in both branches ; the pa- ternal grandfather, Joseph Brown, was a native of Boston and was born about the middle of the eighteenth century. Following the sea for many years, he rose to the rank of captain of a merchant vessel, plying between Boston and Liverpool, prior to the Revolutionary war, and he was lost at sea during a west bound voyage.
He married a Miss Jones and had three chil- dren, Nathan Brown, Sr. being the youngest. Samuel Pomeroy Smith, the maternal grand- father, was of English Puritan stock and a native of New London, Connecticut. He mar-
ried Rebecca Armstrong and emigrated to Onondaga county, this State, and settled at what was then Geddesburg, now Syracusc. His union gave the world ten children, five sons and five daughters. The mother of Nathan Brown was born in 1786. Nathan Brown, Sr. was born in Boston, Massachusetts, June 30, 1782 and went to Madison county about 1806 ; later, in 1822 he came to Chautauqua county and bought a piece of land of the Holland Land Company, in the town of Ellington, and followed farming so successfully that he became one of the largest land owners of his neighborhood. Mr. Brown possessed a superior education for his day, and it cnabled him to reach a pinnacle, which, without it, would never have been at- tained. Politically he was a whig, without ambitious aspirations. In 1808 he married Levia Smith, and became the father of nine children, two of whom died in infancy ; all are now dead except Nelson, the twin brother of subject, who lives in Ellington, this county, and has retired from business ; Daphne, living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the widow of a Mr. Waterman ; Albro S., late mayor of the city of Vineland, N. J., a practicing lawyer for twenty years at that place, died December 16, 1890.
Nathan Brown was reared and passed lis early life in the uneventful manner usual with country boys. In 1823 he first came to James- town, but did not begin a permanent residence until 1832, when he engaged in manufacturing pails, and followed that line of business until 1843, when he commenced running store-boat cargoes of building materials down the Alle- gheny, Ohioand Mississippi rivers and selling at the larger towns. He enlarged his business until its scope included agricultural implements, doors, sashi and everything manufactured at Jamestown.
August 17, 1841, he married Caroline E. Le Fevre, a daughter of Daniel and Henrictta L. (Colson) Le Fevre, who was born in Mead- ville, Pennsylvania, March 24, 1822. Her
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father was of French extraction and took a prominent part in the politics of the Keystone State and served at Harrisburg in the Legisla- ture ; he was a prominent Mason, having at- tained the degree of Royal Arch Mason. The motlier of subject, is still living with her daugh- ter, at Jamestown. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are the parents of children as follows: Henry Le Fevre, born May 30, 1842, married N. Alcesta Fisher, March 27, 1865 and now lives in Jamestown. He entered the United States army in Co. B, 72nd regiment, N. Y. Infantry, in 1861 ; he re-enlisted, and served during the entire war. Leon G., was born July 18, 1844, and married Lucy Hayes, January 31, 1870; he now resides at Huntingdon, W. Va. He enlisted September 12, 1862, in Co. F, 112th regiment, and served to the close of the war. Amelia Marvin was born May 15, 1848, and married Theodore W. McClintock, a son of the late Dr. James McClintock, of the Philadelphia College of Medicine. Theodore W. McClin- tock was born May 28, 1846 and was the author of "The Analysis of Zell's Encyclopedia," a work of extensive circulation, consisting of an outline of universal history. He died May 12, 1889. Charles N., was born October 21, 1851, and married Alice Ross, January 13, 1881. He is engaged in manufacturing plush at Jamestown, the firm name being the "James- town Plush Mills Company." George B. W. was born September 15, 1853, and married Blanche A. White, July 20, 1884. He resides at Titusville, Pa., and conducts a pharmacy, being a graduate of the Philadelphia School of Pharmacy in the class of 1878.
Nathan Brown spent forty-four years in bus- iness and did not retire until 1885, after pass- ing three-score and ten years of age. During his career he took one hundred and fifty-four store boats down the river, the aggregate value of the cargoes being over half a million dollars, and most of it was manufactured articles made in Chautauqua county. With the advent of
the railroads in the South and other conditions arising soon after the close of the war, the busi- ness became unremunerative ; prices and profits being much smaller than before. Since 1885 Mr. Brown has led a retired life. He is a re- publican in politics and has been a member of the Presbyterian church since 1836 ; he is the oldest male member in the Presbyterian church of Jamestown ; Mr. Brown also out-ranks all others in term of membership in Lodge No. 221, I. O. O. F., at Jamestown, having been continuous for over forty years. For some years past he has devoted much time, as a recre- ation, to writing the local history of James- town and its environments, and so well is he posted, that he is considered authority upon local historical matters.
Nathan Brown's has been a life well spent ; public confidence rests with him implicitly, and it may be truthfully said " he is a good man," an assertion to which posterity may point with pride. Mrs. Brown came to this county in 1827, with an uncle, Augustus Colson, who married a niece of Andrew Ellicott, named Saralı Kennedy, after whose family the village bear- ing that title was named. Mrs. Brown lived in Kennedy but a short time and then went to Buffalo, where her young ladyhood was passed and she remained until hier marriage. Since that time she has lived continuously in the same home, in Jamestown.
H OMER J. SKINNER is a leading farmer of the town of Portland, and owns a property eighty-four acres in extent, two and one-half miles from the village. He is a son of David and Betsy (Hill) Skinner, and was born in Portland, Chautauqua county, New York, June 6, 1829.
Homer J. Skinner traces his ancestry to the Emerald Isle ; his father, David Skinner, was born in Chenango county, in 1803, and came to Portland when sixteen years of age, located in this town, began to farm, and has followed it
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uninterruptedly for seventy-two years. The old gentleman still lives, aged eighty-eight years, is a prosperous farmer enjoying fair health, and is now happy in the association of his grandchildren of the fifth generation. On aeeount of his advanced age, as would be ex- pected, he is not actively engaged, but is a mem- ber of the Methodist church at Portland, and belongs to the Democratic party, as do all of his sons. On December 25, 1825, David Skinner married Betsy Hill, who was born August 14, 1803, and having borne her husband five chil- dren, four sons and one daughter, died in the faith of the Methodist church, December 22, 1836. He then married for his second wife, Mary Williams, who is still living, and is the mother of three children, two sons and one daughter.
Homer J. Skinner was reared on the old farm, and seeured a district school education. He, like his father, has made farming his life work, and is now the proprietor of a fine vine- yard twenty acres in extent.
On October 20, 1851, he married Martha Fuller, a daughter of Michael Fuller, of Port- land, and they have one son, Norman Lester, who is united in marriage with Fanny Secord, of Erie, Penna., on the 2d day of August, 1888, and now lives with his father.
Homer J. Skinner is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, a demo- erat, good citizen and a prosperous farmer.
A NDRUS M. HUYCK was one of the earliest settlers of the town of Arkwright, having located here in 1826. The following spring he built a log-house, which was soon occupied by his family consisting of his wife and sons, Shad- rach and Oscar. When Mr. Huyck ar- rived there were no neighbors near him but so rapidly did new arrivals come in, that they ereeted a log school-house in time for a term in the winter of 1827 ; and a few years subsequently a large and comfortable frame building was
erected. The " Abbey school," as it was called, prospered, beeame a popular institution and many men, who afterward became prominent and useful, received an education within its walls. Our subject was a successful teacher and to liim in a large measure was due the credit for this successful school-house. He filled the office of commissioner of schools and for a number of terms was justiec of the peace. He had four children born in this town: Elijah and Avery and two daughters, Tamar and Hester, three of whom went west. The youngest son Avery en- tered the Union Army and served three years, passing through several battles without injury.
L EVI BALDWIN was a prominent man in the town of Arkwright, Chautauqua county. He was a son of Isaac and Parthena Baldwin, and was born in Pawlet, Vermont, January 26, 1802. When ten years of age he accompanied his father to this county and they at first made their home in the town of Sheridan, where he remained until after his marriage with Eliza Ann Putnam, which occurred October 23, 1831, and he then moved into this town and made himself a home. His first wife died No- vember 10, 1863, having borne him three sons : Oliver T., who went to California about the time he reached manhood, married Nancy Wright ; L. Courtney, who married Amoret Saunders and settled in this town, and Orville D., who married Eglantine Dawley, and for many years conducted a drug-store in Fredonia. For his second wife Levi Baldwin married Eleanor B. Phelps on March 26, 1866.
Levi Baldwin was quite active in political matters and for eight years held the office of supervisor, was justice of the peaee for several terms, and town superintendent of schools. The duties of all of which he discharged with fidelity and to the satisfaction of his fellow- eitizens.
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SIMEON CLINTON was well known to the
carly citizens of Arkwright town, having for many years followed the profession of sur- veying, and thereby coming in contact with most of the early settlers. He was born in Saratoga county, this State, on the third day of February, 1779, and went from there to Otsego county, from whencc he came to Chautauqua and settled in the town of Arkwright in 1813. Being a bright and intelligent man and of a companionable disposition, he attained consider- able prominence in the northeast portion of the county and about 1825 it is said that he made the first survey and plot of the village of Dun- kirk ; he performed a similar service for Sin- clairville some years later. Mr. Clinton kept the first tavern in the town of Arkwright and was also the first postmaster, holding the posi- tion for twenty years; politically he was a whig and was town-clerk and justice of the peace for several terms. In 1859, during a thunder shower, he and an only son were in a barn and upon leaving the building, when just in the act of closing the door, he was struck by lightning and killed. The son was prostrated but soon recovered. Simeon Clinton had a family con- sisting of a son already mentioned and five daughters. The last of the latter being triplets, all of them are now dead. A grandson of Mr. Clinton, Charles Cole, a son of Milton Cole, has been town-clerk of Arkwright, a highly respectable man.
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