USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York : with a historical sketch of the county > Part 43
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92
mainly along the St. Lawrence river. He married Cordelia Holcomb in 1830, and she bore him eight children, five sons and three daughters. Politically he was a democrat, and took an ac- tive and enthusiastic part in partisan matters. He was a member of the Methodist church, had a seat on the local school board and amassed his competency through his own industry and business tact.
Ira C. Nichols spent the first twenty-two years of his life in Clayton, and then, in 1862, he enlisted in Company M, 10th New York Artillery, and served three years and four months. His superior officers recognized his ability, recommended him for promotion, and he was given a lieutenancy in the 13th regi- ment, U. S. colored troops, heavy artillery. He was acting commissary at Cumberland Gap; was under fire at Cold Harbor and spent two months in the trenches before Petersburg dur- ing that long siege. While at Eddyville, Ken- tucky, he was captured by the Confederates but was soon after again at liberty. Immediately after returning from the army he came to Ken- nedy and embarked in the lumber business and has been located there ever since. He votes with the Republican party and has held several local offices. Mr. Nichols is a public-spirited man and has done much to build up the town of Kennedy in a material way, and the schools have been improved by his services on the board of control.
In July, 1867, he married Salina Abbey, of Clayton, New York, a daughter of Samuel Abbey, and their union has resulted in the birth of five children : three sons, E. Ross, Lynn A. and Leigh S., and two daughters, Mary and Edna. All of these live at home and make a pleasant and happy family.
ELLEN M. DAVENPORT, wife of the late Emery M. Davenport, is a daughter of Hiram and Mary (Earnes) Thayer, and was born January 29, 1846, in the town of Carroll,
367
OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Chautauqua county, New York. Hiram Thay- er was a native of Ware, Hampshire county, Massachusetts, where his father, Jeremiah Thayer, was born and reared. Isaac Earnes (maternal grandfather) was a native of Ver- mont, and came to the Empire State and died.
Hiram Thayer was born on August 24, on March 22, 1870, she married Emory M. 1798, and came to New York in 1815, where, on April 10, 1828, he married Mary Earnes, and had ten children : John M., was born July 20, 1829, married Margaret Cowen, and moved to Nebraska; Isaac W., born February 5, 1832; Mary A., born February 28, 1834, is the wife of William Mahan, and lives in Pennsylvania ; Lois Eliza, born February 21, 1836, and died when twenty-one years of age ; Hiram E., born May 8, 1838, married Mary Lawson ; Ezra E., born July 29, 1840 ; Sibyl B., born September 7, 1843, married W. H. H. Fenton, Jr .; Ellen M. (subject); Orris E., born October 6, 1848, and Edson Frank, born April 26, 1851. Hi- ram Thayer settled in Portland, this county, October 31, 1816, and began clearing the land ; then he took a trip to Virginia, and upon re- turning he went to Jamestown and followed lumbering until 1820, when he came to Carroll and engaged in bolting and shaving shingles until the following spring; he then bought a farm and tilled its soil until his death, in 1880, aged eighty-two years. His wife died Decem- ber 6, 1879. He was a man of industrious and frugal habits, and through good manage- ment amassed wealth. He was of the strictest integrity, of unremitting energy and untiring zeal, and in business matters seldom misjudged a transaction or incurred a hazardons risk. His character was meek and his conduct conscien- tious. Although not a strict partisan he in- clined towards the Republican party, and when he considered then worthy gave its nominees his suffrage. He took especial interest in edu- cational and military matters. Mary Earnes, his wife, was born at Dover, Vermont, May 7,
1810, the daughter of Isaac and Betsy Earnes. They reared a family of ten children.
Ellen M. Davenport spent her childhood in the town of Carroll and went to the village school, then Randolph academy, and finally at- tended the Jamestown union schools. After this she taught five or six terms of school, and,
Davenport, a farmer, hay packer, shipper and merchant of Kennedy. He died April 28, 1887, when forty years of age. They had six children, four of whom are living : Charles E., Harry T., Myra E. and H. Joe. They have a pleasant home in Kennedy, and are well-springs of joy to their mother's heart.
G EORGE ANDREWS, living at the village of Busti, is a quiet, unassuming gentle- man but nevertheless a leading and respected farmer in his community. He is a son of Asahel and Lucy (Merry) Andrews and was born where he now resides, on the second day of November, 1823.
His family trace their ancestry to England, both the Andrews and Merrys coming from that country. Asahel Andrews was a native of Herkimer county, this State, and came from there to Chautauqua county in 1813 and located at what is now Busti village, but was then an unbroken forest. He secured two hundred acres of land from the Holland Land Company and, clearing him a farm, conducted it until within a few years of his death, which occurred there in 1861, after he had passed his eighty- fifth year. He was a hard-working man, who gave little attention to politics but at elections voted the Whig ticket. His wife, Lucy Merry, was a native of Herkimer county, New York and came with her husband from thence, shar- ing with him all the trials and privations of pioneer life, and died one year before him.
George Andrews spent his early life on his father's farm and acquired such education as the common schools of that locality could give.
19
368
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
When he attained manhood he began farming for himself and now owns a well improved farm.
He has been twice married ; first, in 1846, to Charlotte E. Stoddard, a daughter of Rev. Ira Stoddard, a prominent local divine living in Busti. She died June 16, 1860, leaving two children, both sons: Clarence E. resides at Olean, Cattaraugus county, New York; and Adrian G., who went west and is now living at Colorado Springs, Colorado. George Andrews married his second wife in 1861; she was Mrs. Esther M. (Clough) Woodworth, and bore him three children, two sons and one daughter : Earl D. is a farmer in the town of Busti ; Wells G. is a merchant in Olean ; and Stella L. is teaching school.
Mr. Andrews is a member of the Busti Baptist church, toward the support of which he is a liberal contributor ; politically he is an out- spoken prohibitionist and belongs to the Royal Templars of Temperance, which has for its object the inculcation of purely temperance principles and the attainment of prohibition by moral suasion. Mr. Andrews is a modest, in- dustrious citizen, who is in comfortable circum- stances through his own efforts.
C HARLES G. ALLEN is a generous and patriotic citizen of Kennedy, who under- stood the principles of farming sufficiently to ac- cumulate a competency, which enabled him to cease hard work and live in comfort during that portion of his life, which is beautifully termed the zenitli, or before the sunset has commenced. He is a son of Charles C. and Delilah (Trum- bull) Allen, and was born in the town of Ellery, near the shore of Lake Chautauqua, on the sixteenth day of October, 1834. The Allen family descended from Scotch emigrants, although both grandparents were natives of New York. Charles C. Allen was born in Rensselaer county, this State, January 16, 1808, and, being educated as well as the country
schools afforded, was taught to work on a farm. Prior to 1826 he came to the town of Ellery, this county, and worked by the month until he was enabled to buy a farm. Then he moved to Poland, where he followed farming for about twenty-five years and then went to Frewsburg, where he now lives in retirement. In business matters he was successful and is now very well- to-do. Having married Delilah Trumbull, she bore him nine children, one son and eight daughters ; only three are now living: Alzina married James Webb, a farmer of Frewsburg ; Evangeline is the wife of Jefferson Fenton, who conducts a farm and is in the lumber business at the same place ; and Charles G. The names of those who died were Oscilla (Heath) ; Mary R .; Artemitia (Heath) ; Nettie (Fenton) ; and Mercy, who died when three years old. Charles C. Allen was a republican and did good service on the old school board. He was liberal-minded and generous in public matters, industrious in his private habits and gained quite a local reputation as a mathematician.
Charles G. Allen spent his boyhood and youth upon his father's farm in Ellery, learned the science of farming and acquired a good educa- tion. When he reached his majority, a clerk- ship was offered him in the town of Poland, and two years subsequently he went west. When he returned, he invested in a farm in the town of Poland, which he still owns. The place contains two hundred and sixty-one acres and is well kept. Mr. Allen farmed until about seven years ago, when he moved into Kennedy and now lives here in comfort and af- fluence.
On the 15th of February, 1865, he united in marriage with Mary R. Randall, of Panama, New York, a daughter of M. Randall. . Mr. M. Randall was a farmer of more than ordinary success and prominence and held all of the town offices within the gift of the people. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have had one child, a son, George R., now engaged in the advertising business at
369
OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Buffalo, and is achieving success through his natural ability and a good education received at the public and high schools and Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, New York. George R. Allen married Lois Wells, a daughter of Mr. M. Wells, of Kennedy. Charles G. Allen is a republican of recognized influence. He takes an interest in educational matters and keeps himself thoroughly posted upon current events. Himself and wife are members of the Baptist church, Mr. Allen holding the position of trustee. Mrs. Allen was educated in the schools of Panama and is intelligent and enter- taining. Charles G. Allen is a good business man and has been successful throughout his business career.
J OHN A. HALL. The great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch was Elisha Hall, who emigrated to Hopkinton, Mass., from the vicinity of Boston about 1740. He married Elizabeth Young in 1742, and died in Hopkin- ton, February 25, 1794. He had eight chil- dren, and was by occupation a farmer. John and William were the only sons of Elisha that grew to maturity.
William Hall, the grandfather of the sub- ject, is the only male progenitor of this branch of the Hall family of which the family has any knowledge. He was born June, 1753, in Hop- kinton. Hc married Abigail Pease, of Upton, Mass., August 29, 1782, and emigrated to Wardsboro (now Dover), Vermont, at an early age, and lived there until he died September 28, 1828. He was a farmer by occupation, and served in the Revolutionary war in Capt Baker's Upton company, and afterwards held a commission as captain in the Vermont Militia. He had a large family of seven sons and five daughters. Six of the sons, Samuel, James, William, Josiah, Elisha and Orris, cmigrated to Chautauqua county, New York, and the neighboring county, Warren, Pa., between the years 1812 and 1820. Nearly all these brothers
engaged in the lumber business, and operated extensively on the Allegheny and other rivers tributary to the Mississippi.
Samuel Hall (father) came to this county in 1814. He bought land in the town of Busti and cleared up a farm which has been in the possession of his descendants cver since. He had seven children, five sons and two daughters. He died in 1859.
John A. Hall was born in Wardsboro, Ver- mont, December 27, 1813. He was six months old when his father emigrated to the wilder- ness of western New York. In his early boy- hood he shared the labor of the farm with his father and brothers, and at the age of sixteen left home and went to Warren county, Pa., where he embarked in commercial pursuits, and remained about eighteen years. Ten years of this time he was postmaster at Warren.
In March, 1835, he married Emily Perry, also a native of Vermont, whose family removed to Chautauqua county in the early days of its settlement, and to their union were born seven children : Marian E., Ann E., Edward L., Henri, John A., Jr., Irene A. and Freder- ick P.
In 1846, at the solicitation of his father, whose health was failing, he gave up his busi- ness in Warren at a very considerable sacrifice of his financial prospects, and went back with his family to the old homestead to take care of his aged father and mother, an act of pure filial devotion. During the civil war he held the position of clerk of the committee on claims in the United States House of Representatives in Washington, D. C., and rendered willing assist- ance to many soldiers and their families while at the seat of government. Wielding a trenchant pen and having a large knowledge in political mat- ters, he wrote during this time much for the press. His letters, under the nom de plume of " Paul Pry," to various papers were extensively read and copied. In 1872 he moved from Busti to Jamestown, engaging in business for a
370
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
few years, and in 1876 he purchased of Davis HI. Waite, the Jamestown Journal, which under the efficient management of himself and son, Frederick P., soon took highest rank among the newspapers of western New York, and secured a large circulation. Mr. Hall, while always a public man, because a leader and maker of pub- lic opinion, was never an office seeker ; though often urged to be a candidate for public favors, he never would put himself forward. He did, however, serve on the board of supervisors of Chautauqua county three years, and at the time of his death was filling his second term on the board of education for the city of Jamestown. He was a man of the strictest integrity, never flinching in the advocacy of whatever he be- lieved to be right and true. His death occurred January 29, 1886.
Frederick P. Hall, youngest son of John A., was born in Busti, in November, 1859. He re- ceived his education mainly in the public schools of Jamestown, and when his father purchased the Journal, in 1876, assumed the business management of the establishment. In a short time he was taken into partnership, and after a very few years, owing to his father's ill health, almost the entire management of the office devolved upon him. By his enterprise and business tact these papers have secured their present high standing and influence. In Sep- tember, 1883, Mr. Hall was married to Lucy H., daughter of Levant L. Mason, of James- town. They have three children : Henri Mas- on, born December 19, 1884; Levant Mason, born December 25, 1886 ; and Frederick Perry, Jr., born April 7, 1891. Mr. Hall is at pres- ent (1891) one of the executive committee of the New York State Press Association, and holds several places of trust in the business, church and benevolent enterprises of the city of Jamestown.
C APT. JOHN I. LANPHERE, who is now
serving a second term as postmaster of Silver Creek, is a son of Chauncey and Wealthy Ann (Carpenter) Lanphere, and was born at Silver Creek, in the town of Hanover, Chan- tauqua county, New York, June 10th, 1835. The Lanphere family is of German descent and was settled in what is now the United States at an early day. Charles Lanphere, the paternal grandfather of Capt. Lanphere, died while serv- ing as a soldier in the war of 1812. His son, Chauncey Lanphere, was born near Brookfield, this State, in 1807 and died at Silver Creek February 1, 1849. When a young man he came to Villanova, where he purchased and cleared out a farm within about twelve miles of Silver Creek. He afterward moved to Silver Creek, where he carried on contracting, house, boat and bridge building, besides erecting and running three large lime kilns. He was a well respected man and citizen and an old-line whig in politics. He married Wealthy Ann Carpen- ter, who was reared in Villanova, became a member of the Presbyterian church and passed away in 1841, at the early age of thirty-three ycars.
John I. Lanphere was reared, until he was fifteen years of age, at Silver Creek and in the town of Villanova, and received his education in the public schools of that day. Leaving school, he went to Lake Erie and became a cook on a sailboat. He was rapidly and successively promoted to a place before the mast, to second mate and to first mate. In 1862 he was made captain of the schooner " Eliza Logan," which he commanded for three years in its trips between Buffalo and Chicago. Leaving the " Logan," he had command of several fine boats, owning an interest in two of them. In 1872 he quit sailing and returned to his home in Silver Creek, where he had resided while sailing, and where he has since remained. He is a republican politically, has held several village offices and served, in 1877, 1878 and 1879, as deputy
6
Et. Corbett
373
OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
sheriff of the county. He served under Presi- dent Arthur's administration as postmaster of Silver Creek. and in July, 1890, was re-ap- pointed to that office, which he is still holding. Captain Lanphere is a member of Silver Lodge, No. 757, Free and Accepted Masons, and Silver Creek Council, No. 139, Royal Arcanum.
January 15, 1861, he married Harriet, daugh- ter of Joseph and Sarah Hammond, of Sheri- dan. To Captain and Mrs. Lanphere have been born three children : Walter I., who married Luella Andrus, and was for some time in the book and notion business, which he recently sold, and is now assisting his father in the post- office ; William H., a stenographer in Chicago; and Hattie, who is assistant cashier of a large manufacturing company in Buffalo.
H ON. CHARLES H. CORBETT, one of the leading merchants and business men of Sherman, is a son of Newell and Persis (Newell) Corbett, and was born in the town of Mina, Chautauqua county, New York, October 5, 1845. The Corbett and Newell families came from southern New England to Chautauqua county about the year 1825, and settled respec- tively in the towns of Mina and Sherman. Robert Corbett, the paternal grandfather of Charles H. Corbett, was from Milford, Massa- chusetts, and bought, in 1824, a part of lot three, in the present town of Mina. He built and operated for some time the flouring-mills of Findley's lake. His children were: Ithiel, of California; Newell (father) ; David, a New York merchant ; Robert A .; and Otis, of Chi- cago ; Lucretia, wife of J. W. Robertson ; and Lydiann, who died at nineteen years of age. His second son, Newell Corbett, the father of Charles H. Corbett, was born in Massachusetts in 1819. He was brought by his parents, in 1825, to this county, where he has resided ever since. He married Persis Newell, who also was born in 1819, and is a daughter of Jesse New- ell (maternal gradfather) who came from Con-
necticut in 1825 and settled on Presbyterian Hill in the town of Sherman, where he was one of the earliest farmers in his section of the county.
C. H. Corbett was reared on the farm, at- tended Westfield academy and afterwards took the full commercial course of Eastman's Business college, of Poughkeepsie, New York, from which he was graduated. In 1866 he entered into mercantile life by engaging as a clerk with J. T. Greene. At the end of five years, in 1871, he left Mr. Greene's employ and purchased the interest of J. M. Coveney in the mercantile firm of Coveney & Hart, of Sherman. As a mem- ber of the new firm of Hart & Corbett, he gave his time and efforts successfully to the building up of a large and prosperous business. Their mercantile establishment is on Main street, and they carry a heavy and well-assorted stock of general merchandise, worth about twenty thousand dollars, which embraces special lines of dry goods, boots and shoes, and carpets. He is a democrat in politics, served as supervisor of Sherman in 1882 and in 1883, and in the fall of 1882 was elected, in the First Assembly Dis- trict of Chautauqua county, which is strongly republican, by a majority of nine hundred and eighty-six, as a member of the New York Legislature, in which he was made chairman of the committee on charitable and religious institutions.
On May 13, 1869, he united in marriage with Narcissa Dutton, of Sherman. They have two children, both sons : Harry C., born Oct. 24, 1873 ; and Frank D., born Nov. 23, 1879.
In the financial affairs of Sherman Mr. Cor- bett has taken an active interest. He was in- strumental in starting and outlining the suc- cessful course of the State Bank of Sherman, of which he was vice-president. From his hum- ble start as a clerk in the mercantile business it was his laudable ambition to honorably excel as a merchant, which he has creditably done. In the political field as a legislator and in business
374
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
circles as a financier his course has been such as to secure respect and commendation.
He is the present Grand Master Worknian of the A. O. U. W. of the State of New York ; was elected at Syracuse last March. Is the Grand Treasurer of the Select Knights A. O. U. W. of the State of New York, and has held the office for the past four years. He is a prominent Mason, and belongs to the following bodies : Olive Lodge, No. 575 F. & A. M., Sherman, N. Y. ; Westfield Chapter, No. 239, R. A. M., Mayville, N. Y. ; Dunkirk Council, No. 25, R. and S. M., Dunkirk, N. Y. ; Dun- kirk Commandery, No. 40, Knights Templar, Dunkirk, N. Y .; Palmona Lodge of Perfec- tion, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite at Buffalo, N. Y .; Rochester Consistory, A. A. S. R., Rochester, N. Y .; and Damascus Temple, An- cient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
TRA D. ROWLEY, the representative of the
Lake Shore and Michigan Southern rail- way at Silver Creek station, this county, is a son of Abner and Phoebe C. (Hurd) Rowley, and was born in Holland, Erie county, New York, August 23, 1845. The Rowleys are New England Yankees, but came from Eng- lish ancestors. The paternal grandfather was a native of Vermont and removed to Holland, Erie county, this State, about 1815, where he followed his trade, carpentering, and tilled a farm. Being a man of character and strict in- tegrity he was very influential and at his death, which occurred in 1855, there were general ex- pressions of sorrow. His wife was Mary -, by whom he had six children. Abner Rowley (father) was born in Holland, Erie county, in 1821, and having reached maturity he went out in the world to look for work. About that time the Erie railroad had built to Buffalo and there was an agent needed for the station called Town Line, in Erie county, which Mr. Rowley took and held for forty years. He passed away in 1884 sincerely mourned by a large circle of
friends. He was a member of Alden Lodge, No. 284, F. and A. M., of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of the Democratic party. In his younger days Mr. Rowley was an enthusiastic military man and attended, with his company, all the gatherings for military trainings. Connected with his railroad agency, lie dealt in coal, a business which, as wood grew scarcer, developed to large proportions. In 1841, he married Phobe C. Hurd, who came from the same town in which he was born and they spent a happy married life until Mrs. Rowley was summoned to cross the broad river whose other bank is enveloped in mist, in 1863, when forty-four years of age. She was a kind, gentle and affectionate mother and passed from earth consoled by her confidence in the teach- ings of the Baptist church.
Ira D. Rowley as a boy was bright and wide-awake. He was reared in Erie county and lived at home until fourteen years of age, when he secured a place as newsboy on the Erie railway, running from Buffalo to Corning. This life he led for three years and in 1862 joined Co. D, 116th regiment, N. Y. Vols., at Buffalo and served until the close of the war. His regiment saw service along the Gulf, and later with Sheridan in the Shenandoah valley and participated in the engagements, twelve in number, of the armies to which it was attached. Mr. Rowley was wounded but not severely enough to cause permanent disability. He was discharged at Washington and mustered out in Buffalo, having served the entire term as a musician. Then he took a course at Bryant & Stratton's Business college, in Buffalo, and learned telegraphy and soon after secured a place as operator and station agent on the Erie railway. Remaining there four years he changed to the L. S. & M. S. R. R., and had the Angola office two years and was promoted to the general dispatcher's office at Buffalo. Six months later he was given the Silver Creek station which he has held to the present time-a continuous ser-
375
OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
vice of nineteen years. The American Express company is also represented by him. Mr. Row- ley is a stock-holder in the Silver Creek Uphol- stering faetory and has been largely identified with its prosperity.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.