USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York : with a historical sketch of the county > Part 36
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REN STODDARD. A prominent agri- culturist of the town of Busti, who was born in the "Green Mountain State," but who has been identified with Chautauqua county since his early manhood, is the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. He is a son of Alvin and Rena (Hall) Stoddard and was born at West Brattleboro, Windham county, Vermont, July 18th, 1818. The Stoddard family are of Eng- lish descent, and our subject's grandfather, Jacob Stoddard, achieved distinction by serving on
General Washington's body guard during the Revolutionary war. Until his enlistment he was a farmer in his native State and at the close of hostilities returned there and dicd in 1812; his wife drew a Revolutionary widow's pension until her death. Alvin Stoddard was a native of the same State and by trade was a miller and mill-wright. When a young man he was em- ployed as a school teacher, and, having acquired a superior education, was offered a professorship in Yale College, which he declined. He was a deacon in the Baptist church and died when fifty-eight years of age. He married Rena Hall, a native of Brattleboro, Vermont, of French extraction ; she, too, was a member of the Bap- tist church and died on April 5, 1853, aged sixty-three years.
Oren Stoddard was reared near the scene of his birth and was educated in the common schools of his native State until nineteen years of age, when, failing health compelling him to leave the rigorous climate of Vermont, he came to Chautauqua county and remained three years, and although he returned home at the end of that time, the salubrity of the climate and the natural beauty of Chautauqua county caused him to come back almost immediately and he has re- sided here ever since. He learned the carpenter and joiner's trade and followed it for some time in connection with his farming. In 1841 he moved upon the farm where he now lives and has resided there since without interruption-an unbroken period of fifty years.
In 1842 he married Catherine M. Smith, a daughter of William Smith of the town of Busti, this county, and they were blessed with a family of five children, two sons and three daughters : Rena is thic wife of Charles H. Johnson, a prominent manufacturer of this town; Eugene died when eight years and nine months old; Ella married H. E. Davis and re- sides at Warren, Pa .; Cooley died aged twenty- two years and four months; and May Belle is unmarried and at home. Mr. Stoddard owns a
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OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
fiue farm of well-improved land, and his resi- dence is a nice brick house.
The grape product requires a large number of baskets in which to market it; to supply this demand Mr. Stoddard is engaged in manufac- turing grape baskets, a business which he has conducted in connection with his farming for the past twenty-five years. Politically he is a republican and has held the honorable position of president of the Chautauqua County Agri- cultural Soeiety in the year 1882. He was his party's candidate for the Assembly at one time, but was not elected. Mr. Stoddard has always taken an active part in politics and is recognized as a very influential man. He is an intelligent and educated gentleman, fond of company and an excellent entertainer.
D R. RAYMOND M. EVARTS, a skillful
physician of the younger school, and a graduate of Howard University, of Washington, D. C., is a son of Charles H. and Lucy (Kellogg) Evarts and was born August 27th, 1859, at Leon, Cattaraugus county, New York. The Evarts family have risen to prominence, a citable example being the Hon. William M. Evarts, Ex-United States Senator from the Empire State. For some generations they were homo- geneous to New England, the paternal great- grandfather, Rinaldo Evarts, being a native of Conuceticut. He entered the ministry of the
Methodist Episcopal church and after coming to New York State was for a number of years presiding elder of the Erie Conference. Rinaldo Evarts married Eliza Morley, a descendant of one of the most distinguished New England families. They had six children, three sons and three danghters. The maternal grandfather, Captain Galord Kellogg, was born iu the eastern part of New York; he followed farming and carned his military title by several years service in the New York State militia. Early in life lic emigrated to Cattaraugus county, where he established for himself a uame and reputation
second to noue. Politically he was a whig and republican and he married Rosanna Warner, who bore him three sons and two daughters. Charles H. Evarts was born in eastern New York about 1823. He has always been identi- fied with agricultural work and now lives in Chautauqua county. Politically he is a repub- lican but is not desirous of political distinction, although he takes an active interest in the affairs of his party. He married Lucy Kellogg, who is yet living, aged fifty-eight years, and they have had six children, four sons and two daugh- ters: Julia is dead; Raymond M .; George, who lives at Irving, New York, and is engaged as a traveling salesman for a Saratoga wholesale drug house; Estella is dead; Grant lives at Collins, Erie county, New York; and Charles, who is dead.
Dr. Raymond M. Evarts married Annie Tully, a native of Cortland county, this State, on the 6th day of February, 1884, and they have three children : Ruby T., Lucy and Cora Rnth.
Raymond M. Evarts was educated at the common and more advanced schools of the lo- calities in which he lived, and when twenty years of age he entered the office of Dr. A. A. Hubbell, then located at Leon, New York, but now professor of diseases of the eye and ear at Niagara University, Buffalo. After the usual term of reading, our subject matriculated at the Buffalo College of Physicians and Surgeons and took one course of lectures. He then went to Howard University, Washington, D. C., where he took his graduating course in the medical de- partment of that institution, and received his diploma March 7th, 1882. He first located for practice at Pine Valley, Cattaraugus county, where he remained one year and three months, and July 23d, 1883, came to Irving, Chautauqua county, where he has ever since resided. Dr. Evarts is a member of both the Chautauqua County Medical society and the Lake Erie Medical society, and iu politics is a republican, besides being a member of the Kuights of the
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Maccabees. He is an interested student of archæology and has in his possession an extensive and valuable collection of historical relics, both of the stone or Indian age and the early French explorations.
Dr. Evarts is a skillful physician, is thorough- ly familiar with his profession, because he loves it, and upon the appearance of every new and valuable treatment of practical value, he ac- quaints himself with it at once.
H ENRY R. CASE, sheriff of Chautauqua county, and loan commissioner by ap- pointment of the governor of New York, in 1873, for four years, is a son of Gardiner and Lucy (Cutting) Case, and was born in the town of French Creek, Chautauqua county, New York, April 28, 1839. While a large stream of pioneer settlers came direct into Chautauqua county from Massachusetts, the parent colony of New England, an indirect stream of consid- erable size came from the Bay State through the minor colonies of New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont, in which it had been arrested in its westward course for a generation in the lives of the fathers, but moved forward in the adventurous spirit of the sons who crossed the confines of eastern civilization and made homes for themselves in the vicinity of the great lakes. Among the families of English descent in Massachusetts, who moved to Vermont, were the Cases and Cuttings, and of the next gener- ation, which was born in the Green Mountain State, Rev. Joseph Case and David Cutting, the grandfathers of Sheriff Case, became early settlers in Chautauqua county, where they con- tinued to reside until they died. Rev. Joseph Case was a minister of the Baptist church, and served as a soldier in the war of 1812, while David Cutting was a farmer, and served like- wise in the second War for Independence. Gardiner Case (father) was born on his father's Massachusetts farm, and served on the Canad- ian frontier in the war in which his father, and
afterwards father-in-law were soldiers. Some time after peace had been ratified between Great Britain and the United States, he came to Chau- tauqua county, where he settled in the town of French Creek, in which he was a resident until his death, February 20, 1860, at seventy-one years of age. His wife was Lucy Cutting, who was born in Vermont, April 7, 1799, and passed from earth in April, 1871. To Gardiner and Lucy Case were born in their western home, four sons and two daughters : Luther H., a car- penter of Brocton, who owns and operates a vineyard ; Homer, a farmer of Bremer county, Iowa; Joseph, a justice of the peace in Mon- tana ; Darwin, who is engaged in farming in the town of Ripley ; Henry R. ; Ziba, widow of Eli N. Brown ; and Lucy, wife of P. N. Cross, now of the town of French Creek, but formerly a merchant of Corry, Pa.
Henry R. Case was reared on a farm, attend- ed the common schools of his town, and en- gaged in farming as his first business in life. In 1861 the oil fields of Venango county, Pa., attracted his attention as offering superior ad- vantages to investors, and as being far more profitable than investments in farming could possibly be at that time. He leased property in that county, and for four years was engaged as an oil producer. During the early part of that time he was seriously burned and lost the sight of one of his eyes at a flowing well, which caught fire and burned nineteen others to death. These injuries which he received prevented his entering the late war, and when he quit operat- ing in oil in 1865, he embarked in the feed and grocery business at Pioneer, on Oil Creek, which he followed for about five years. He then became a member of the mercantile firm of Cross & Case, at Corry, Pa., which lasted for eight years. In 1878 he returned to French Creek, where he has been engaged in the lumber and shingle manufacturing business ever since. In November, 1888, he was elected by the Re- publican party as sheriff of Chautauqua coun-
H. V, Case
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OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
ty, and assumed charge of that office January 1, 1889. Previous to this he had served for nine years as supervisor of French Creek, and in 1873, was appointed as a loan commissioner by the governor of New York.
January 1, 1861, he married Mary Hubbard, daughter of Jonas L. Hubbard, of this county. In 1862 Mrs. Case died, and on December 25, 1866, Mr. Case united in marriage with Susan- na Hubbard, a sister to his former wife.
H. R. Case has always been identified with the Republican party, which has always re- ceived his undivided and active support. His time has chicfly been devoted to his various business enterprises. In addition to lumbering he is largely interested in dairying, and owns a large cheese factory. He also owns a valuable stock farm of nine hundred acres, which is till-
able and well adapted to grazing. He is a member of Columbus Lodge, No. 164, F. & A. M., at Columbus, and Clymer Lodge, No. 51, Ancient Order of United Workmen, of Clymer, N. Y. Sheriff Case has always been diligent, energetic and active in every business enterprise in which he has been engaged. As a business man he has been successful, as a citi- zen he has liberal ideas as to public affairs, and as a sheriff he is prompt and faithful in the dis- charge of every duty of that important office.
JAY WINCH, the proprietor and manager of the Clymer butter and cheese factories, is a son of John S. and Sarah (Schulster) Winch, and was born in the town of Marilla, Erie county, New York, November 3, 1867. The Winches and Schulsters are both of Eng- lish ancestry. The paternal grandfather of Jay Winch was William Winch, who was a soldier of the war of 1812, and died in Erie county ; while his maternal grandfather, Mr. Schulster, was a resident for some years of Wyoming county, in which he died. Jolin S. Winch (father) was born in the State of New Jersey, and in 1835 removed to Erie county, where he
died in 1869. He was a farmer by occupation, a republican in politics, and a presbyterian in religious faith. He served as supervisor of his town for a number of years, married Sarah Schulster, and rcared a family of five sons and three daughters. The sons are Martin, Frank, Alfred, Andrew and Jay, and all reside in Wy- oming county, New York, except the last named one.
Jay Winch was reared on the farm, obtained a good academic education at Franklinville, Cattaraugus county, and commenced life for himself as a clerk in a store of East Aurora, Erie county, New York. After some time spent at the latter place he received an advan- tageous offer and went to Charleston, the me- tropolis of South Carolina, where he was a clerk for cighteen months in a large store. From Charleston he returned to his native State where he was employed as a clerk in a mercantile establishment of Warsaw until 1886, wlien he went to Sherman, where he occupied a position for five years in thic employ of Mr. Ed- mund's butter and cheese factories. During the time spent in the factory office he learned all the details of the successful manufacture of but- ter and cheese, and in the spring of 1890 he came to Clymer where he established his pres- ent butter and cheese factories, the one at Clymer, and the other at North Clymer. The Clymer factory has an annual output of ninety thousand pounds of butter, while the North Clymer factory turns out sixty thousand pounds per year. Mr. Winch makes a very fine arti- cle of butter which finds a market in the larger cities of the United States.
In politics Jay Winch is rather independent and supports the man or the measure more than the party or the nominee. In religious matters he is a presbyterian, and has been a member of the church of that denomination at East Au- rora for several years. Mr. Winch's present enterprise has added much to the business pros- perity of his village, and from its present pros-
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perous condition promises to be an assured suc- cess in the future.
SARDIUS FRISBEE, a descendant from an old New England family, and one of the substantial, wide-awake merchants of Ellington, is a son of James and Eunice (Harris) Frisbee, and was born at De Wittville, Chautauqua county, - on the twenty-fourth day of September, 1839. Subject's father came from the State of Vermont, of which he was a native, to the county of Chautauqua, New York, when but a mere boy, being accompanied by his mother. He learned the trade of brickmaker and mason and moulded the brick for the first county buildings in Chau- tauqua county-the old jail and court-house. At this time he was resident at De Wittville, but shortly afterwards moved into the town of Ellery, where he engaged in farming. From Ellery he again removed to Ellington where he lived eight years ; he died in 1881, at the age of seventy-one ycars. In the year 1853 he made a pilgrimage to California, and there pur- sued the business of brick-making for about a ycar, when he again returned to the east. Ou his way back, which was by steamship, ria the Isthmus of Panama, he suffered the horrors of shipwreck, but was finally succored and safely landed at New York. James Frisbee was a man of great energy and force of character, somewhat set in his ways, but kindly withal. Both he and his wife were members of the Christian church at De Wittville, and regarded as con- scientious in life and conduct. His wife is still living at Ellington, in her seventieth year. James Frisbee was an ardent, hearty supporter of the Republican party.
Sardius Frisbee was brought up in Chau- tauqua county, on the shore of the famous lake of that name, and passed his youth in a com paratively uneventful way. He passed through the common schools and also attended the academies at Mayville and Ellington. Upon leaving the academy he taught school for two
years, after which he engaged in farming for some six years, and finally, in 1869, purchased his present business stand. From this date, merchandising in its various forms has been his constant occupation. He has a fine general and miscellaneous store, embracing the largest.stock of goods in the town of Ellington, which he has successfully and with profit conducted ever since his embarkation.
In 1862 Mr. Frisbee was joined in marriage to Miss Lavantia M., daughter of Horatio N. Barnes, of the town of Ellington. She died in 1872 leaving one child, Cora L., who died at the age of fifteen years. His second wife was Miss Amelia Benedict, daughter of John Bene- dict, of Ellington, who died in 1884, leaving two children, both sons, Jolin B. and James H., both of whom are still living. Mr. Frisbee was married a third time, in January, 1887, to Mrs. Francelia D. Shannon (nee Hunt) of Leon, Cattaraugus county, New York. By this last union there has been no issue. Mrs. Frisbee had by her first husband a daughter, Inez E. Shan- non, who is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, and at present has charge of the music department of Peddic institute, at Highstown, New Jersey.
Mr. Frisbee is a member of the Congregational church at Ellington, and in that church holds the office of treasurer. In political affairs he is an adherent of the Republican party, and held the position of postmaster for a number of years. He is also a member of the A. O. U. W., and present supervisor for the town of Ellington. Mr. Frisbee is a man of sterling worth, exem- plary habits and conscientious conduct.
JAMES COCHRANE, who for eighty years was a resident and farmer of the town of Ripley, living in the village, was a son of Alex- ander and Nancy (Martin) Cochrane, and was born in the town of Ripley, Chautauqua county, N. Y., April 4, 1811, and died May 14, 1891. His paternal grandfather, Hugh Cochrane, was
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OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY ..
a native of Ireland, where he lived and died, the scene being Woodgrange, County Down. He belonged to the peasant class in which he was a representative man. He married Nancy Beatty and reared a family of eleven children ; but three are mentioned : Alexander, Robert and Hugh. The maternal grandfather was John Martin, also a native of Ireland, where he passed his life and died. The three brothers mentioned above all came to America and settled in Ripley, Chautauqua county, New York. Robert was twice married, had thirteen children, and died in October, 1854. Hugh married Sarah Nesbit before he left Ireland, and reared eight children ; he died early in 1854.
Alexander Cochrane was a protestant, or what is known as a Scotch-Irishman. He was the first settler in Ripley town, having bought his farm in October of 1804. Some anthorities state that he entered the town in 1802, which may be correct. His is the first name that appears on the Holland Land Company's books as a purchaser in this town, He took a tract of three hundred acres and built a house, in which his entire family of thirteen children were born. Politieally he was a whig, and an elder in the Presbyterian church. Alexander Cochrane was born at Woodgrange, County Down, Ireland, where he married Nancy Martin shortly before leaving for America. Their children were : John, Nancy, the wife of W. A. Robinson ; Hugh, Alexander, Robert, William, Samuel, Margaret, who married Jediah Loomis ; James, Martin, Andrew, David and Eleanor. The number of his grandchildren reached sixty-four. All of the above-mentioned are dead except Eleanor, who married a Mr. Dickson, Alex- ander Cochrane died in 1856 at Ripley, New York, aged ninety years.
in 1852. James Cochrane and his wife reared nine children : Joseph A. resides in Rochester, New York ; Elizabeth A. lives in Eureka, Kan- sas ; Francis Johnston resides on a portion of the old farm; Catherine is living in Eureka, Kansas ; Mary E. is living in the old home, so long made bright by her kind parents ; Sarah A. married Alexander Cochrane, who lives on a farm in East Ripley ; Julia Etta died in 1878, aged twenty-three years ; James Alexander owns the east part of the farm that belonged to his grandfather and lives upon it ; and Charles F., who resides on a portion of the farm formerly owned by his father.
Farming was the steady employment of James Cochrane all his life, until he bought the prop- crty where he died in Ripley village, and moved there in 1887. Mrs. Cochrane died May 9, 1891, only five days before her husband.
H' ENRY REYNOLDS. Prominent in the business circles of Sinclairville is the well-known hardware merchant mentioned above, who has conducted his present establish- ment since 1870. Henry Reynolds is a son of Abraham and Elizabeth (Smale) Reynolds, and was born in the suburbs of the village where he now lives on the 2d day of April, 1827. His parents were natives of "merry old England," and his father, Abraham Reynolds, was a baker in the city of London. They left that metrop- olis of the world and came to the wilderness of the Empire State in 1819, and settled on what is now his farm near Sinclairville. Two of his daughters are yet living in England, and one son, George S., left home in 1849 and has not been heard of since 1850. Abraham Reynolds secured a farm and made a fine property of it. He died in 1853, aged seventy years.
Henry Reynolds was reared on the farm and followed that occupation until twenty-four years of age, securing a common school education at the district schools. At the age of twenty-four
James Cochrane was reared on his father's large farm. He married Nancy Johnston, a daughter of John Johnston, who was a native of Woodgrange, County Down, Ireland, brought his family to Westfield, this county, and died | he entered the service of Alonzo Langworthy,
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a dry-goods dealer at Sinclairville, and remained with him six months and then accepted like employment with C. J. Allen and staid there two years. The succeeding two years were de- voted to John Dewey, and in 1860 he took a trip to his father's native land, but rc-crossed the water in the spring of 1861, and again went back during the latter part of the same year and staid there one year. During the fall of 1862 he came to Sinclairville, and in 1863, '64 and '65 was supervisor of the town. During his term of office he speculated some in real estate at Dunkirk. The present business of Mr. Rey- nolds was inaugurated in 1870, in partnership with Richard Reed, and has been conducted with constantly increasing success ever since. Henry Reynolds inherited the old homestead and now owns it and other farms.
In 1867 he married Mrs. Helen (Kimball) Richmond, a daughter of Dr. Joseph E. Kim- ball, for many years a prominent physician of the town of Ellicott. Two children have come from the union of Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds : Elizabeth M. and Elliott K. Henry Reynolds stands high in the estimation of his acquaint- ances as a man of integrity and honor.
W ESLEY MILSPAW. Among the promi- nent business men and progressive citi- zens of western New York, Wesley Milspaw stands in the front rank. He is a son of Jere- miah and Margaret (Waggoner) Milspaw, and was born in the town of Townsend, Huron county, Ohio, February 23, 1823. His grand- father, George Waggoner, was a native of New Jersey, and at the outbreak of the Revolution- ary war, withont a thought of self, placed him- sclf at the service of the country which gave him birth. He served in that memorable strug- gle through seven years of hardship, privation, battle and National darkness with unswerving patriotism, and, strange to remark, without hav- ing received a single wound. Another fact showing the strange and somewhat remarkable
workings of fortune, was that his death occurred in the country against which in early life he had risked his life. When he died he was seventy- eight years of age. The father of our subject was born in Orange county, New York, but soon became a resident of the State of Ohio, whither his father removed. In 1827 he re- turned to New York State and located in what is now known as Cherry Creek, Chautauqua county. Here he resided for a period of three years, after which he went to Canada and re- mained a couple of years, thence returning to Ellington, where he died in 1852, at the age of seventy-two years. By trade Mr. Milspaw was a tailor, having served a long apprenticeship in that business in New York city. He was regarded as a very skillful and artistic workman in his line, but his abilities as a manager were rather mediocre. He was in religion a commu- nicant of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in his political views a stanch democrat. The Milspaw family is of French extraction, though on the maternal side was of German origin. Subject's mother was a native of New Jersey, an enthusiastic churchwoman, and during their residence in Canada devoted much time to teach- ing and Christianizing the Indians. She was a woman of rare gifts, sincere and devoted to the cause of truth and religion and, above all, filled with unbounded enthusiasm and energy. Her missionary efforts bore fruitful results, and she lived to enjoy the benedictions which arise from a life of devotion and good works. Her death occurred in 1842, when at the age of fifty-eight years.
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