USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York : with a historical sketch of the county > Part 65
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Methodist Episcopal church, and by her had several children. She died in 1849, at Mans- field, Cattaraugus county, this State, aged forty- nine years.
Anson A. Stone was brought up in Mansfield, where he was born, and was edneated at the Union school at Ellicottville, Cattaraugus county, and at the Springville academy, Erie county. After leaving the halls of Minerva, he commenced the study of dentistry at Springville, and in 1861 began the practice of that professiou at Collins Centre, Erie county, where he re- mained a year and then located at Westfield, this county, where he spent another year and then went to Sinclairville, where he remained twenty-four years. In 1885 he moved to Dun- kirk and five years later to Fredonia, where he now resides and where he has an office over the Lake Shore Bank, in which lie receives his patrons, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday of each week, devoting Wednesday to Forestville, Friday to Sinclairville, and Saturday to Stock- ton, all in this county, and in each of which he has an office. He enjoys a very large practice and is considered one of the best dentists in this section. Firm in his convictions, affable in address, genial in manner, he is conceded to be one of the best of citizens. Politically he is a republican, and is a Royal Arch Mason.
Anson A. Stone was married April 1, 1866, to Sarah B. Furman, a daughter of Elijah Furman of Owatonna, Minnesota, by whom he has one daughter, Ella, married to Silas T. Crocker, of Fredonia.
JOHN W. MORRIS, a representative of an old and highly respected family, was born in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, July 23, 1839, and is a son of Smith E. and Polly (Williams) Morris. Johu Morris (paternal grandfather) was born in eastern New York, county of Durham, of Puritan lineage, and mi- grated to Crawford county, Penna., in 1812. Upon his arrival in this county, be took up
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OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
one hundred acres of land, improved it, built upon it, and there passed the remainder of his life. He was a whig in politics, aud served in the war of 1812 with distinction and valor. His religious tenets were those of the Methodist Episcopal church. He united iu the bonds of marriage with Ruhany Smith, who became the mother of five children,-one son and four daughters. Grandfather Josiah Williams was reared and educated in the State of Connecti- cut, from which he emigrated to Erie county, Pa., locating on a farm near Edinboro.' Thence he removed, in the latter part of bis life, to Quincy, Michigan, where his earthly career closed. In politics and religion he was respec- tively a whig and methodist. His life-long consort was formerly Miss Eunice Tryon, who gave birth to four sons and three daughters.
Jolın Morris came to Crawford county, Pa., when his son, Smith E. Morris, was about four years of age. The farm upon which he located at that time has uever since changed hands, nor has it ever been burdened with any incumbrances. The old homestead has been brouglit into a high state of cultivation, and is to-day one of the best in Crawford county. Mr. Morris cast his vote with the Whig and Republican parties, and, together with his fan- ily, worshipped at the Methodist church. Un- der the Republican party he was elected justice of the peace, and not only in office, but also independent from it, exercised a strong influ- ence upon the character of his neighborhood. He was a zealous, devoted Christian worker, and in his life and character embodied forth those ethical principles and conceptions of duty which he felt to be the basis of all nobility and true manhood. He was uuited iu marriage to Miss Polly Williams, who died in 1886 at the age of seventy-four years. They had nine children : Eunice, married first to Richard Nelson, then after his decease to Amos Sperry, of Conneautville, Pa., a farmer; Fannie (now dead), former wife of Daniel Bradley, by whom
she had three children, -two sons and one daughter; John W., subject; Charles, living on the old homestead ; Rosalia, wife of Jesse Sherod, a merchant and undertaker of Bangor, Michigau, by whom she has one son ; Mary, died young; Alpheus, died young; Josiah (married to Miss Rogers), now living in Craw- ford county, Pa., on a farm contiguous to the old homestead ; Mary, wife of Denuis Smith, of Crawford county, Pa.
John W. Morris, on August 31, 1865, was uuited in marriage to Sophia Palmer, daughter of Alfred Palmer (see sketch), and has one daughter,-Effie A.
John W. Morris owes his education to the common schools and to independent study. When he first stepped ont upon the threshold of active life, it was as a teacher. From this he passed to farming, and at the outbreak of the civil war he enlisted with the ninety-day men, and went to the front. At the expiration of that time he re-eulisted in the Fifty-sixth regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Company E, and served three months, wheu he was dis- charged, came home, purchased a farm iu Crawford county, Pa., and there remained four years. Subsequently he removed to Ripley, Chautauqua county, New York, and engaged in the mercantile business, during the first fif- teen years in partnership with his father-in- law, Mr. Palmer, but since that time independ- ently. He at present has one of the leading stores in the village, and as a business man, as a wide-awake, intelligent citizen, enjoys the confidence and good-will of his fellow-towns- men.
Mr. Morris is a republican in politics and an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, with which he is connected as trustee and Sunday-school superintendent for the past fifteen years. He is also a member of the A. O. U. W., and has filled all of its offices, to- gether with many other positions of confidence and trust in the place where he lives.
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
W ALTER E. STRONG, a prominent farmer of the town of Gerry, was born in that town on July 12th, 1840, and is a son of David and Sophia (McCollough) Strong. His grand- father, Gilbert Strong, came to the town of Gerry in 1817, and was one of the earliest set- tlers in that section of the county. He was a native of New England, of English descent and died in Ellington Centre at the age of ninety- one years. David Strong, his son and father of Walter E., has been a resident of Chautanqna county ever since 1817. He was a farmer pure and simple, a republican in politics and without any specific religious views, but with a tendency toward Methodism.
Walter E. Strong was reared in the town of Gerry, educated in the common schools and at the age of twenty-two enlisted in Company B, 112th regiment, U. S. Volunteers, under com- mand of Captain W. H. Chaddock. During his service in the civil war he took part in a number of battles, among the most important of which were the siege of Suffolk, Charleston, after which he was transferred to the army of the James, nnder Gen. Butler, and was shortly after severely wonndcd-so severely that he was thereby incapacitated for service and was ac- cordingly, discharged on May 26th, 1865. Upon his return home he took up the occupa- tion of farming and has since continued it. He is a republican in politics, has served as assessor and collector of his town and is a member of the Equitable Aid Union and G. A. R.
Walter E. Strong was united in marriage with Jane Wicks, daughter of the late James H. Wicks, of the town of Gerry, on December 6th, 1865. They have five children : Ida, Bernice S., George H., Lena J. and Eric J.
G EORGE EDWIN LEET is a son of William and Harriet S. (Belden) Leet, and was born at Point Chantauqua, Chautanqna county, New York, September 18th, 1862. The Leets were originally natives of England,
their first settlement in America, after emigra- tion, being in the State of Connecticut, where at one time William Leet held the office of colonial governor. Paternal grandfather, An- son Leet, was the first to emigrate to Chantau- qua county, New York, where he located at Point Chantauqna and took np a farm from the Holland Land company. This he retained during his life-time, when by succession it passed to his son and was finally sold in 1875 to the present management of Point Chautau- qua for the purposes of a summering place, and has since become one of the most noted resorts upon the lake. Prior to its sale in 1875 it was known as Leet's Point. Grandfather Leet be- longed to the Whigs, at that time the predomi- nant political party. His marriage to Abigail Dudley resulted in the birth of nine children : Jonathan, Simeon, Lewis, Maria, Caroline, Franklin, Mary, Eliza and William. Grand- father David L. Belden passed to his final rest in Chautauqua county, whither he had come in the prime of life from the State of Connecticut. He was united in marriage to Sarah Hall, by whom he had four children : Harriet S., Mary, George W. and Nathan D. He was a repnb- lican in politics. William Leet, the father of our subject, was born upon the old homestead at Point Leet in 1818 and is still living, a witness of seventy-three years of transformation in the home and town of his nativity. He always took an active part in politics, and next to his religion held dearest the principles of the Republican party. He served at one time as treasurer of Chautauqua county for a period of six years. The result of his union to Eliza Strong (his first wife) was one son, Anson G., married to Nettie Thompson and now living at West Chester, Iowa, where he has an interest in a large cheese factory. His marriage to Harriet Belden resulted in the birth of fonr children : Mary E., Willis D. (see sketch), Eliza A. and George E.
George E. Leet was educated in the public
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OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
and High schools of Mayville and afterwards graduated, in 1877, from Eastman's business college, Poughkeepsie, New York, after which lie embarked in the grocery business with his brother at Mayville, New York, under the firm name of Leet Brothers. In 1889 he purchased the interest of his brother, took in another part- ner and is now doing business with the firm of Leet & Belden. The firm of Leet & Bel- den, grocers, is one of the largest in the village of Mayville, carrying a large and well-selected assortment of staple and fancy goods. Mr. Leet is also interested in the ice business with Dr. William H. Chase. He is a republican in polities, active in the interests of his party and the present chairman of the Republican county committee of Chautauqua county. He is a member of the Masons, Lodge No. 696, at Mayville, and of the I. O. O. F., Lodge No. 284, of the same place.
M ARCUS SACKETT is a son of Niran and Catherine T. (Thorn) Saekett and was born November 28, 1830 in Irving, Chautau- qua county, New York, at that time called La Grange. His paternal great-grandfather, Samuel Sackett, and his grandfather, Jehial Saekett, were natives of Dutchess county, New York, where they were farmers. His grandfather was married to Samantha Knapp, who bore him twelve children, eight sons and four daughters. In religion he belonged to the Baptist church. John I. Thorn, his maternal grandfather, was also a native of Dutchess county but emigrated to Chautauqua county, village of Irving, in 1830, having previously stopped for a short time in the town of Portland. Here at Irving he purchased a small farm from the Holland Land company which he cultivated and at the same time carried on his trade of cabinet- making. He joined in marriage with Esther Thorn, by whom he had eight children, two sous and six daughters. Niran Sackett (father of Marcus Sackett) was born October 31, 1797,
on the old Sackett homestead in Dutchess county, N. Y. Ile received a common school and academic education, migrated with his wife and three children to Chautauqua county, and in 1834 built the first saw-mill on Catta- raugus creek at Irving. In conjunction with his manufacture of lumber, he also carried on farming and merchandising. He gave his politieal support to the Democratic party, and in 1844 he became an associate judge of the Court of Common Pleas, which offiee he held about four years. He received his appointment from William L. Marcy. Mr. Sackett has also filled the office of justice of the peace and other town offices a number of times.
Mareus Sackett gained his education in the common sehools of Chautauqua county and at the Fredonia academy, Chautauqua county, New York. He read law, entered the Albany Law School-in 1851-52-and was admitted to the bar in March of 1852. He first located in Buffalo, New York, where he practiced for four years, after which he removed to New York city and continued his profession until the year 1881, when he again returned to Buffalo. Two years later he retired from the active practice of his profession and removed to the town of Hanover, Chautauqua county, where he now lives on a farm at Hanover Center and also works the old home farmn at Irv- ing of which he is now possessor. He is in politics a Prohibitionist, but was formerly a democrat. With his family, he attends the Presbyterian church and is also a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Grange.
On June 16, 1857, Marcus Sackett was united in marriage to Henrietta Scaman, a daughter of John M. Seaman of New York city. To them has been born one son, John S. (born June 13, 1858), married to Stella Mckean and now lives in Harvey, Illinois, where he is employed in the car-works. They have one child, Marguerite. Subject was mar- ried the second time to Mrs. Susan M. Sloan,
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
(née Grand Girard) widow of Rev. Samuel P. Sloan, who bore him one child, Margueritc. Upon the death of his second wife, he married the third time to Mrs. Annie Ainsworth (née Sloan), widow of Joel Ainsworth.
C HARLES STEBBINS, one of the large landholders and successful farmers of the town of Hanover, was born in Cortland county, New York, February 28th, 1816, and is a son of Walter and Abigail (Gardner) Stebbins. His grandfathers, Reuben Stebbins and Simeon Gardner, were natives of England and came to Connecticut. Reuben Stebbins, who was a farmer by occupation and a republican in poli- tics, removed to Oswego county, this State, where he died leaving five children, three sons and two daughters. Simeon Gardner, who was a repub- lican in politics and a pillar of the Frce-Will Baptist church, in which he served for twenty- five years as a deacon, married Clara Pease, and when he died in Connecticut left a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters. Walter Stebbins, a son of Reuben Stebbins and the father of Charles, was born in Massachusetts, October 24th, 1799, and removed to Cortland county, this State, where he followed farming until his death. He was a whig and a republi- can in politics, an episcopalian in religion and married Abigail Gardner. They had five chil- dren, three sons and two daughters.
Charles Stebbins received his education in the common schools and at night grammar school, which he attended for a short time. At seven- tecn years of age he left school and learned the trade of a carpenter, which he followed for a few years. He then engaged in the wagon-mak- ing business, which he followed successfully for thirteen years. At the end of that time lie turned his attention to his present occupation of farming, now owning a farm of five hundred and fifty acres of first-class land, well suited for grain, grass and small fruits.
He married Sarah Denton, a daughter of
William Denton. They have been the parents of four children, two sons and two daughters : Jane A., widow of Wallace Cross, a resident of the town of Hanover ; Flora M., first married to Charles Crumb and after his death became the wife of Elijah Thomas; Charles W., mar- ricd to Belle Sackett ; and George, who died some years ago.
Throughout his entire life Mr. Stebbins has been remarkably successful and has acquired a very fine property which he keeps in excellent condition. He is a republican politically and has been a member of the Baptist church for many years.
JOHN McFADDEN is a prosperous and in- telligent agriculturist, and grape grower of Portland town, and owner of one of the best vineyards, forty acres in extent, in the county. He is a son of Manassas and Mary (Magee) McFadden, and was born in Venango county, Pa., February 24, 1824. His grandfather, Manassas McFadden, was born in Ireland and came to the young republic about 1796. He soon heard of the fertile lands in Venango county, Pa., and took his family there to make a home. Land was cheap and he secured a large tract which before his death was improved into a fine farm. He married and reared a family of four children, and died in 1810, aged seventy years. Manassas McFadden, Jr., (father), was born on the sod of Erin about 1792, and came with his father to America when four years of age. His early life was passed on the farm in Venango county, which was four hundred acres in extent. Upon his father's death, the young man took the farm and made many improvements, among them the raising of good cattle, in which he was highly successful. He died in 1847, aged fifty-five years, a devout member of the Catholic church. In 1811, Mr. McFadden married Mary Magee, who came from eastern Pennsylvania and they reared a family of ten children. Mrs. McFad-
Eng by James R. Rico & Sons Phila.
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OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
den died in 1824, he married Cecelia Griffin in 1827, rearing six more ehildren, also a com- municant of the Catholic church. Mr. Me- Fadden was a soldier in the war of 1812, and joined his sympathies with the Democratic party.
John McFadden was reared on the farm in Venango county and attended the public sehools of the district. When reaching manhood he did farm work for several years, but in 1865, he came to this county and settled on his present fine place two miles southwest of Port- land village, containing seventy-five aercs. It was different then. To-day all is changed. Where the grain-fields stood productive vines send forth their branches and at harvest time the air is filled with the fragrance of the fruit.
In 1849, he married Catherine Maguire, daughter of William Maguire, of Crawford county, Pa., and their union has been blest with five children, two sons and three daughters : Mary J., Emaline E., James S., Raphael M. and Hattie A., wife of Auguston Weagraff and lives in Warren county, Pa.
John McFadden is a member of the Catholie church, and a Grover Cleveland democrat. He is one of Portland's citizens who feels that the town's welfare is his interest and uses every opportunity to advance it.
R EUBEN G. WRIGHT, of Westfield, is one of the representative self-made men of Chautauqua county, a man of good judg- ment, of remarkable energy and strong will, but generous and kind withal, and ever ready to as- sist in whatever would benefit his town or county. He is a son of Reuben and Betsey M. (Seymour) Wright, and was born at Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York, July 1, 1824. One of those who left the peace and quiet of his Connecticut home to risk his life in the Rev- olutionary struggle for American independanee was Reuben Wright, Sr., the paternal grand-
father of Reuben G. Wright. When peace and independence came to the Thirteen Colonies, Reuben Wright returned to his family and the tillage of his farm. One of his sons was Reuben Wright (father) who removed to Red- field, Oswego county, this State, and thence to Ohio. After a short residence there, he returned to New York in 1817, and settled at Westfield, where he was engaged in the weaving and cloth dressing business and where he built a carding machine which lie operated for fourteen years. About 1829 he bought a farm about one mile east of the village and gave some attention to farming until his death, which occurred in October, 1847, when he was in the sixty-third year of his age, and at the time of his death left an estate worth in the neighborhood of twenty- thousand dollars. He married Betsey M. Sey- mour, of Scotch 'deseent, who was a first cousin of Gov. Horatio Seymour and died in 1874, at the advanced age of ninety-three years. They were the parents of seven children, of whom six lived to maturity : Allen, Mrs. Betsey Knight, Mrs. Charlotte: Bradley, Reuben G., Franklin M. and Mrs. Martin Warren.
Reuben-G. Wright grew to manhood at West- field where he attended the publie schools and Westfield academy. At eighteen years of age he entered the mercantile establishment of Hungerford & Knight where he remained for five years as a clerk. In 1849 he left the store and went to California whose then newly dis- covered gold-fields were the wonder of the world and attraeted throngs of treasure seekers from every part of the United States as well as from various countries of Europe. On arriving on the. Pacific slope, Mr. Wright followed gold prospecting and mining for two years and then was engaged for four years in supplying the city of Sacramento with water. He was very successful both in the gold fields and at Sacra- mento eity which he left in 1855 to return to New York, where he became a permanent resi- dent of Westfield although conducting and per-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
sonally supervising important business enter- prises in adjoining and distant states. He purchased four thousand acres of timber land in Clarion county, Pa., and large tracts of timber- land in Wisconsin, the former of which required his supervision for cleven years, while the latter demanded his attention for fourteen ycars. He also engaged extensively in grape culture in the town of Westfield where he now has one hun- dred acres of vineyards. At the present time he owns over fifteen thousand acres of heavy pine timber-land along the borders of Lake Pontchartrain, east of Baton Rouge, in Wash- ington parish, Louisiana.
In 1870 he was married to Cora E. Pierce, and has three sons : Paul D., Ralph G., and Pier R. He has one of the finest residences in Chautauqua county and in their beautiful and pleasant home he and his excellent wife delight to welcome and entertain their friends whose number include many who are prominent in social and political life in the Empire State.
b ANIEL M. FARINGTON was a gentle- man of quiet unassuming manuers but possessed of a strength of character much greater than the average man. He was endowed with Christian humility, honest to the last degrec and with a word he considered as bind- ing as his bond. He was born in Fishkill, Dutchess county, New York, in 1795, and came to Chautauqua in 1832, wlien he settled on the farm where his widow, whose maiden name was Jane E. Hulburt, resides. Daniel M. Faring- ton was a son of Matthew and Alice (White) Farington, well-to-do and highly respected people of Dutchess county. He was a stirring, energetic, industrious and economical man and amassed a competence in addition to one hun- dred and thirty-seven acres of fine farming land. Mr. Farington died in 1881, aged eighty-six years. In 1823, he married Maria Emeigli, of Dutchess county, N. Y. She died in 1858, and in 1859, he married Jane
E. Hulburt, a daughter of Jabez Hulburt, a farmer living in Westfield town. They had no children.
D. M. Farington was a model farmer and of a domestic turn of mind and was fond of his home. He favored the Republican party in voting, but was too modest and retiring in his disposition to engage in politics. He was buried in the Union cemetery. Mrs. Faring- ton resides upon the farm that her husband left, living alone. She is a member of the Baptist church at Portland, and although seventy-one years of age is active, strong and in excellent health. In 1883, she passed through an ex- perience which would, ordinarily, have caused the death, or at least dethroned the reason of an ordinary old lady sixty-five years of age. Living alone as she does, the house being some- what isolated, the house was entered by robbers who knew that considerable valuables were kept in a safe. They made their way to her room and arousing her compelled her to open the safe from which they took six or seven hundred dollars in money and a number of bonds. Fortunately the latter were regis- tered, and thereby were non-negotiable, but no trace of the robbers was ever secured. Having secured their booty they bound her hand and foot and tied her to the bed, leaving her in this uncomfortable position. By great effort she managed to release herself and going to a neighbor's house acquainted them with the outrage but the thieves had escaped. Some silver pieces given her by Mr. Farington, and which were valued highly on that account, were left at her earnest solicitation. It is remarkable that one of her age could pass through such an ordeal without serious results to mind or body. Mrs. Farington is an enter- taining lady and is much liked by many friends.
RESIDENCE OF R. G. WRIGHT, WESTFIELD.
F
$44+.
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OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
G EORGE W. PARKS is a son of George and Ann (Nelson) Parks, and was born January 21, 1855, in the city of Buffalo, New York. His grandfather, Daniel Parks, was an Englishman by birth, born in Leeds, emigrated to America and located at Black Rock, near Buffalo, New York. His business was that of combined farmer and hotel-keeper. He was connected with the Episcopal church, and was united in marriage with Eliza Harris, who bore him three children; he died at the age of eighty- eight years. The grandfather of Mr. Parks on the maternal side was also a native of England, and, with his wife and family, took ship for America, but during the voyage his wife died and he was forced to fight the battle of life in the new world single-handed and alone. Prior to his coming to America he was an overseer of one of the landed estates of an English noble- man. His death occurred shortly after his ar- rival in the United States. George Parks was born in the city of Buffalo, New York, in the year 1831, and is still a resident of that place. He has always been by oceupation a contractor in the line of pile driving and dock building. He votes the Republican ticket and gives his party a warm and energetic support, but has never yet claimed a reward by way of office- holding. Mr. Parks is a member of the Bap- tist church, holds the offices of steward and trustee, and has always been considered one of its prominent members. He belongs to the Royal Templars and is an advocate of temper- ance reform. In 1863 he enlisted in the 24th regiment, New York Cavalry, and entered the civil war. He was offered commissions on three different occasions, but uniformly refused. During his term of service he took part in twenty-six battles and thirteen skirmishes, and, in moments of imminent danger, no one was more ready to risk his life for the sake of vic- tory. His was a continuous tour of duty, with the exception of thirty days, when he was physically incapacitated. His marriage result-
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