USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York : with a historical sketch of the county > Part 62
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Mr. Davis married Almira Van Namee, a daughter of James S. Van Namee, who was born in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county, New York. He was of German parentage and came to Carroll at an early day-probably prior to 1806-where he followed farming and lumbering until his death which occurred in 1834, at the age of sixty-two years. He mar- ried Polly Atkins and had six children : Minor, Milo, Loett, Howard, Almira (Mrs. Davis) and Adaline. Milo became a prominent farmer in Kiantone town-was the first inspector of elec- tion after the town was formed in 1854, and was re-elected the following year. Mr. and Mrs. Davis were the parents of one child, a son : Elanson C., who married Nellie Bailcy, lives in Jamestown and is the father of two children-Joseph and John.
D AVID M. FULLER. A prominent and leading industry of to-day is the harness business which has developed into large propor- tions during the last few years. One of the prosperons and reliable harness manufacturers of Westfield is David M. Fuller. He is a son of William and Cynthia (Cook) Fuller, and was born at Orwell, Addison county, Vermont, De- cember 1, 1817. The Fullers originally came from Wales and settled in New England where one member of the family, William Fuller, the grandfather of David M. Fuller, served in the Revolutionary war. His son, William Fuller (father), was a resident of Vermont, where he married Cynthia Cook, a native of that State, and reared a family of several children.
David M. Fuller was reared in his native town until he was twelve years of age. In the fall of 1835, he removed to the town of French
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OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Creek, where he purchased a sixty acre traet of land which he cleared and afterwards cultiva- ted until 1882, when he quit farming and came to Westfield to engage in the harness manufac- turing business with his son-in-law, Stacey N. A. Smith, now of Corry, Pennsylvania. Al- though over sixty-five years of age, Mr. Fuller soon acquainted himself with all the details of the business and attained a thorough knowledge of harness manufacture in all of its branches. In a short time he purchased Mr. Smith's interest and since then has continued successfully in that line of business. His assortment comprises everything that is useful or desirable in his line of business. His trade extends far beyond the corporate limits of Westfield and he makes it an object to supply his patrons with first-class work.
In 1837 he returned to Vermont where he married Sarah J. Royce, who died in June, 1840. He then married Cordelia Farnham, daughter of Walter Farnham, a farmer of the town of French Creek. To this second union have been born five children : Donna A., Cassie E., William W., Edwin D. and Earle P.
David M. Fuller has held several of the local offices of his town and village. He is a member of the Equitable Aid Union, in which order he holds the office of chancellor.
J ARED B. FLISHER comes from two old American families, his parents being Dan- iel and Mary (Boone) Flisher, and was born March 14, 1846. His great-grandfather Flisher, was a Continental soldier in the first war with the mother country, and his son, grandfather Flisher, was in the strife of 1812 and was killed in a battle. His grandparents were from New England but removed to cast- ern Pennsylvania where they were farmers until they died. His maternal grandfather Boone was elosely allied to Daniel Boone, the hero of many skirmishes with the early inhab- itants of the forests of Kentucky where he was
the pioneer. Danicl Flisher (father) learned the shoemaker's trade and moved to Centre county, Pa., where he still resides and is now engaged in farming and is a member of the Reformed church. Politieally a democrat, he pays more attention to his farm than he does to political matters and is now the possessor of many broad acres. He married Mary Boone and beeame the father of eleven children, seven of whom are living : Daniel H., is in Colorado engaged as a chemist at an ore mine. He early appreciated the benefits of a thorough education and secured it ; Isaac K., lives in Philadelphia and is employed as a traveling salesman ; Uriah S., is a farmer, residing on the old homestead farm; Jared B .; and seven whose names are not given.
Jared B. Flisher received an elementary education in the schools of his neighborhood and on becoming the proper age entered the college at Albion, Michigan, where he re- mained for some time but failing health eom- pelled him to leave before completing the course. When nineteen years of age he became interested in oil, and engaging in its production, has fol- lowed it continuously to the present time.
He married Emma V. Scott, a daughter of Royal E. Scott, a resident of Warren, Pa. One child has been born to them : Aliee M.
In 1882 he moved to Jamestown and has since resided here, being one of the prominent citizens of the city. In politics Mr. Flisher is a demoerat, a member of Mt. Moriah Lodge, No. 145, Free and Accepted Masons, at James- town and belongs to the Chapter at Bradford, Pa., the Jamestown Commandery and Pitts- burgh Consistory and Council.
G EORGE W. FULLER, who sueceeded his
father in the pioneer firm of wine manu- facturers, Fuller & Skinner, of Portland, whosc cellar has a storing capacity of thirty thousand gallons, is a son of Ralph D. and Adaline (Coney) Fuller, and was born in the town of
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
Portland, Chautauqua county, New York, No -! vember 26, 1860. His grandfather (Fuller) was of German extraction and followed the trade of a shoemaker and farmer in Madison county, this State, where he died.
Ralph D. Fuller was born in Cazenovia, Madison county, in 1820. He was reared and educated at that place until his twentieth year, and then came and, in 1840, located in the town of Portland, engaging in a general mercantile business, which he continued thirty years. In 1866 he bought and constructed a wine-cellar in Portland and engaged in the manufacture of the sparkling fluid until his death, May 20, 1886. Politically he was a democrat and by that party was elected to various town offices in Portland. Mr. Fuller was essentially a self-made man. He started life without other capital than a well- developed brain and industrious habits, and at his death left a large estate. He was the first man to manufacture wine in the village of Port- land. He married Adaline Coney, who was born and still lives in this town.
George W. Fuller was reared in the town of Portland, and his father's store gave him liis first practical business experience. A superior education was received in the public schools supplemented by a course at the Westfield acad- emy. Upon returning from the academy he was employed in assisting his father in the wine business and grape-growing. Upon the death of his father he assumed the latter's business, the partner being J. A. H. Skinner, of Brocton, who is still associated with him. Mr. Fuller has sixty acres of vineyard, his individual prop- erty, in Portland, which yields a large quantity of grapes annually. He is one of the most sub- stantial and respected citizens of Portland, is a democrat and a member of Lodge, No. 219, Free and Accepted Masons, located at West- field.
C UY H. FULLER is a resident of James-
town who has come into prominence through his able management of the democratic papers, the Sunday Sun, and Jamestown Standard. His manipulation of these journals is truly worthy of more than a passing notice, for in the short space of time in which he has guided their fortunes, they have attained a sworn circulation of over six thousand copies per issue. Guy H. Fuller is a son of Almond and Adelia (Camp) Fuller, and was born in the pretty little country town of Herrick, Bradford county, Pennsylvania, October 5, 1852. He traces his ancestry to sturdy Welsh and English people who have long enjoyed American liber- ties, and had its principles thoroughly dissemi- nated in them by breathing its free air for more than two centuries. His grandfather, Jonas Fuller, was a native of Vermont, and came with a party of four other families to Susque- hanna county, Pa., where he ended his life. Being a mill-wright by trade, he was a valuable acquisition to that community which had to carry their grain sixty miles on horseback to be ground. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, married and reared a family of three sons and one daughter ; the latter now (1891) living at Nashville, Tenn. Mr. Fuller was a whig and republican and, although not identified with any church, he was a devoted student of the Bible and was familiar with its choicest passages. His was a character at once commanding respect and admiration for its quiet force yet unassum- ing demeanor. Israel Camp (maternal grand- father) dates his forefather's arrival in the new world at 1620. He came to Bradford county while it was still an unbroken forest and cleared the ground of its natural growth before he could sow his grain. He married Mersey Wells, a lady of marked ability, and they reared a family of fourteen children. A num- ber of the sons entered the civil war. Horace died in the service ; N. Judson enlisted from the State of Illinois, rose to the rank of first
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OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
lieutenant and made an untarnished reeord ; Guy entered the army from Sioux City, Iowa, and went to the front with two other brothers, making a total of five from this one family. The last named son is now living in California. Almond Fuller was born in Susquehanna county, Pa., and went over into Bradford county while still a young man and took up a large tract of land which he made into a fertile farm. By trade he was a shoemaker and while not busy on his farm he made a circuit of the section and did the repairing for families. This, in local parlance, was called " whipping the cat." He was a whig and republican until Horace Greeley electrified the country and raised havoc in party ranks, when he became a democrat and maintained that position until he died upon the farm his own hands, while in the strength of young manhood, had made arable. He was a pious and honorable man, but belonged to no church. He married Adelia Camp, who is still living upon the old home- stead and a member of the Presbyterian church. They became the parents of ten children, five sons and five daughters. One son died in infaucy, while the others all learned the carpen- ter's trade. N. A. joined the 52d regiment, Pa. Vol. Infantry for the three months service at President Lincoln's first call and having served this term of enlistment he rejoined for three years. Upon the expiration of that time he entered the veteran corps and remained to the close of the war. Having enlisted as a private he advanced to the grade of second lieutenant and received honorable mention for his courage as a color bearer.
Guy H. Fuller passed his life up to 1873, on a farm in Bradford county, aud secnred his education at the common schools and Camptown academy. In 1873, he went to Wisconsin and engaged in carpenter work. Having built a log house, he lived there for some time and ex- perienced the trials and tribulations of a pioncer. Then he went into the town of Royal, where he
resided until 1875. Upon returning to Brad- ford county, in 1877, he began canvassing for the Tunkhannock Democrat, published in Wyoming county, Pa., and, finding his aptitude for newspaper work, has followed it ever since and has been connected with various journals in Buffalo, Bradford, Mckean county, Pa., and Jamestown. He was general manager of the Bradford News, a paper of National reputation during 1882-3 and 4, and then became business manager of the Evening Star, at the same place. In the latter part of 1884, he came to James- town and founded the Jamestown Sunday Sun, which he conducted exclusively until May, 1886, and then purchased the Jamestown Standard, a democratic weekly. The two papers now have a circulation guaranteed to exceed six thousand copies.
On June 15, 1871, he married Martha Carr, of Bradford county, Pa., and had two children : Edna B. and Narom J.
Guy H. Fuller is a democrat, but realizes that political duties honorably discharged are not the source of much wealth and therefore has never been ambitious to be a star in that zodiac. He is a leading member of Jamestown Coun- cil, No. 137, Royal Areanum. Besides being a suecessful newspaper manager he is a pleasant, sociable gentleman and one of the secrets of his business triumphs is his knack of interesting those with whom he comes in contact by his personality.
N OAH W. GOKEY, one of the most prom- inent of Jamestown's opulent manufac- turers, is a son of Joseph and Rosetta (Berosia) Gokcy, and was born March 30, 1833, in St. Lawrence county, New York. Grandfather Berosia was a resident of St. Lawrence county, New York. Joseph Gokey married Rosetta Berosia, and had nine children.
Noah W. Gokey was educated in the public schools of Oswego, New York, and learned the trade of a shoemaker, which he followed at that
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
place for one year, and then went to Rathbone- ville, Steuben county, and worked for fourteen years. From there he went to Addison, and remained twelve years longer, and then, in 1877, eame to Jamestown. The last five years spent in Addison was in the manufacture of boots and shoes, and when he came to this city, he brought his skilled employees, numbering one hundred and twenty, along. He rented a building and started his works here. In 1881 he built the fine large six-story building, thirty- six by one hundred and twenty feet, now liis business home, at the corner of Third and Cherry Streets. They manufacture all kinds of footwear from the finest ladies' slipper to the coarsest man's boot, and employ about two hun- dred hands, and keep seven traveling men in this territory, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and Michigan. Mr. Gokey is also the owner of the beautiful post-office block, and other valnable real estate in this city. He built the fine brick residence where he now resides, located on the corner of Lake View and Eighth Streets, and it is said to be the most expensive and desirably located home in Chautauqua county. Politically Mr. Gokey is a republican, and one of the staunchest sup- porters of protection. While an active sup- porter of principles, he is not a politician, and has never aspired to office. While at Rath- boneville he was postmaster for four years, but resigned at the end of that period. He attends the Methodist church, and is one of the most liberal contributors to its maintenance.
Noah W. Gokcy married Anna Monroe, who was a daughter of Nehemiah Monroe, and they have three children : William M., married to Hattie A. Marvin, of Jamestown, New York. She is a daughter of Judge Marvin ; Clara and George F. Mr. Gokey is a self-made man, who has risen to his present prominence and affluence through superior ability, and in thor- oughly understanding his trade. He is a pleasant, affable gentleman, easily approached,
and for one with the business responsibilities resting upon his shoulders, which he has, looks remarkably yonng.
F LONZO C. HORTON belongs to the pro- gressive and substantial class of farmers in Hanover town. His parents were Benjamin and Ada (Angell) Horton and he was born May 14, 1828, in the town of Hanover, Chau- tauqua county. He sprang from a New Eng- land ancestry of Scotch descent, where (in New England) his grandparents on both sides were born, lived and died. Benjamin Horton (father) was born in Massachusetts, town of Cheshire, and emigrated to the town of Hanover, Chautauqua county, New York, about 1819, where he settled on the farm now occupied by subject. At that time it was entirely un- improved, and all the improvements in the way of clearing, etc., which have since been made on the eighty acres then secured from the Holland Land company, has been through the hard toil and untiring industry of Benjamin Horton. He has held different town offices at the hands of the Republican party and was numbered among the regular members of the Baptist church. His marriage resulted in the birth of ten children, all born in Chautauqua county, except two born in Massachusetts. They all grew to maturity except one child who died in infancy. Benjamin Horton was a life-long farmer, a man of good practical common sense and a kindly disposition. He stood high in the respect of his neighbors.
Alonzo C. Horton's education was limited to the common schools of his native county, and was obtained under great disadvantages, in fact, most of it in the hard school of practical experience. Hc had a brother who took up the study of medicine and was a prominent and successful practicing physician for many years.
Alonzo C. Horton was united in marriage with Cordelia Gage, a daughter of Sullivan Gage, a native and citizen of the State of Ver-
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OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
mont. To them were born three children : Mary, wife of Elgin Keith of Silver Creek, New York, at present in the employ of Simeon Howes of that place ; Willis B. (married to Lina Cushman, a daughter of Mason Cush- man, of Hanover, Chautauqua county, New York) now living on his father's farm, and engaged in its management; Ella, wife of Mason Shearer, now residing in Hanover town, Chautauqua county, a short distance west of Smith's Mills.
Alonzo C. Horton occupies and was reared upon the old homestead, for which he lias naturally a great attachment. He has added his efforts to those of his father in the im- provement of the old farm and now possesses one of the best cultivated and improved farms in the town of Hanover. He is a modest, un- assuming man, with the rare faculty of being contented with his lot in life.
G EORGE P. ISHAM, one of the leading wholesale tobacconists and cigar manu- facturers of Dunkirk city and western New York, was born in New York city, June 19th, 1840, and is a son of Edwin and Eliza (Brown) Isham. The Isham family traces an unbroken record back to 1424, and its founder in Eng- land was one of the Norman warriors who came into that kingdom in 1066 with William the Conqueror. Edwin Isham was born at Man- chester, Vermont, in 1812, and in early life removed to New York city, where he was en- gaged in the dry-goods business until 1843, when he removed to Dunkirk, where he was successively a partner in the wholesale and retail general mercantile firms of Bradley & Isham, 1843-63, and Isham & Co., 1863-68. He is a republican in politics, a Presbyterian in church membership, and organized the first Odd Fellows' lodge that was instituted in Chau- tauqua county. His wife, Eliza (Brown) Isham, was born in Nantucket Island, of French and Dutch parentage, became an active member of
the Presbyterian church, and died in the spring of 1887.
George P. Isham grew to manhood in Dun- kirk, where he attended the public schools. In 1857 he entered the junior class of Union College of Schenectady, N. Y., and was the youngest member of the class which graduated from that institution in 1859. In 1863 he became a partner with his father in the whole- sale grocery business, but in 1868 retired from the firm to form a partnership with J. H. Jackson, of Pennsylvania, under the firm name of Isham & Co., which partnership existed until 1878, when Mr. Isham purchased his part- ner's interest and fitted up the grocery estab- lishment into his present wholesale tobacco and cigar manufacturing house. This establish- ment is a three-story brick structure, forty by ninety feet, on the corner of Second and Buf- falo streets, where he handles large quantities of tobacco at wholesale, and manufactures over a million and a quarter of cigars yearly. Since its inception, his tobacco business has grown so rapidly that he now employs over twenty hands, and an examination of internal revenue statistics shows that he does a larger business than any other tobacco establishment in this district of New York. His "G. P. I." and " American Gentleman " brands of cigars are public favorites throughout New York and Pennsylvania.
Mr. Isham has also branched out into other lines of business, and at the present time is a member of the Mulholland Spring Manufac- turing Co., and a partner of the firm of P. J. Mulholland & Co., dealers in coal, lime and cement.
A late history of Dunkirk, in its review of the industries of that city, records the following tribute to Mr. Isham : "He is prominently identified with the manufacturing, mercantile and social features of this city, and his indom- itable energy and correct business methods have secured for him a high commercial standing."
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
He is a republican in politics, and has served as alderman and member of the school board. In addition to his business establishment, he owns some other desirable real estate in Dun- kirk. He has passed through lodge, chapter and commandery in Masonry, and is a Past Commander of Dunkirk Commandery, No. 40, Knights Templar.
In 1863 Mr. Isham united in marriage with Ellen, daughter of John Scott, of Dayton, New York. They have two children : Amelia, now Mrs. Gerry Jones, of Binghampton, N. Y .; and Edwin, who is preparing himself for opera in the Conservatory of Music.
JOHN KOFOD, the proprictor of the large grocery store at the corner of Barrows and Willianis streets, Jamestown, was born in Den- mark, December 29, 1839. His parents were John and Gertrude Ann (Malina) Kofod. His grandfathers and father were farmers in Den- mark, where they died.
John Kofod secured his early education in the old country, and lived there until twenty- four years of age, when he came to the United States and settled in Jamestown, securing work at Mr. Jefford's ax factory, where he worked for eighteen years. He then formed a .part- nership with Elial Carpenter, and ran a similar establishment on their own account for six years, the site being now occupied by Mr. Powell, who is conducting the same business. Mr. Kofod then sold his interest in the ax fac- tory, and embarked in the sale of groceries on Williams street, with the success shown by the magnitude of the establishment to-day, the store- room having a ground area of nearly two thou- sand square feet.
On September 24, 1868, Mr. Kofod married Mrs. Louisa M. Morgan, a daughter of Andrew O. Peterson, who came froni Sweden to Amer- ica in July, 1853. Mr. Peterson was born March 7, 1814, and died at Jamestown, Feb- ruary 13, 1863. He married Anna Stine Frank,
in the mother country, May 20, 1840, and had eight children, four of whom were born in Sweden. Mrs. Kofod was twice married, her husband being Peter Morgan, who was born in Denmark, August 16, 1843, and came to Amer- ica in 1862. He was drowned in Lake Chau- tauqua, July 15, 1867, leaving his widow with one child, Charles, born August 18, 1866. To Mr. and Mrs. Kofod have been born the fol- lowing children : Julius H., born November 12, 1869, died August 6, 1872 ; Arthur J., born July 14, 1874; Julia H., born June 8, 1877, died April 15, 1881; Bertha G., born April 10, 1880; Gertrude A., and Christina B. (twins), born October 4, 1883; Theodore M., born September 13, 1885; and John M., born May 26, 1887, died October 23, 1890.
John Kofod's residence in Jamestown has been continuous since 1863. In politics he is a republican, has served two terms as school trus- tee, and for five or six years has been assessor of the city. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, giving liberally towards its support.
W ILLIAM L. MINIGER, a resident of the town of Ripley and a descendant of two old and highly-respected pioneer fami- lies of Chantanqua county, is a son of Capt. John C. and Charlotte M. (Hutchins) Miniger, and was born in the town of Westfield, Chau- tauqna county, New York, April 17, 1826. While most of the pioneer and early settlers of Chautauqua county were from New England, there were a few from southern States, and it is quite likely that the only representative from South Carolina, among the early settlers of Chautauqua, was Thomas M. Miuiger (paternal grandfather). Thomas M. Miniger served through the Revolutionary war, and, according to the history of him, as preserved by his de- scendants, came in 1803 to the town of West- field, where he followed farming until his death. He was accompanied from South Carolina by
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OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
his son, Lawrence Miniger (grandfather), who was a Presbyterian, and Jacksonian democrat, served in the war of 1812, and died on his farm in 1842. He married a Miss Wynn, who bore him five children, four sons and one daughter. One of the sons was John C. Miniger (father), who was born in 1800, in Virginia, and was three years later brought by his parents to the town of Westfield, where he died in Feb- ruary, 1871. He was a farmer, a democrat and a Methodist. He commanded an inde- pendent rifle company, and married Charlotte M. Hutchins. They had four children, three sons and one daughter, of whom two are liv- ing : John H., a farmer, living on the sliore of Lake Chautauqua ; and William L. Mrs. Miniger was a granddaughter of Gen. Pell Hutchins, who was one of those who gained notoriety at the "Boston Tea Party." He served in the Revolutionary war, and came from Vermont, the State of his nativity, to Westfield, about 1806. His son, Benjamin Hutchins, the father of Mrs. Miniger, was also present at the Boston Tea Party, and came to Westfield with his father, where he followed carpentering until his death.
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