USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York : with a historical sketch of the county > Part 75
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
Celin Burgess did not pass his early life in ease nor as a pampered child of luxury. His parents were in straitened circumstances and he soon learned to depend upon his own exertions.
Such education as he found nieans of securing he got in the public schools and then began life as a farm laborer. Industry, economy and good judgment soon began to tell, and it was not many years before he had money of his own. To-day he owns one hundred and seventy-eight acres of as good land as may be found in Rip- ley, upon which he keeps a herd of cows that is the deliglit of the county. He is a member of the Farmers' Alliance.
Mr. Burgess married Laura Edwards and has two sons : Andrew lives in Ripley, where he is a farmer. His wife was Mary Imbury, who has borne him two children, Laura and Louisa ; and Albert is married to Ida Rater and lives with his father.
Politically Celin Burgess is a republican, but it is not in politics that he has become promi- nent. He who can show his fellow-farmers how to make agriculture profitable, aye, a well- spring of wealth, is worthy of place beside statesmen, warriors and genii. We know too much of war but the arts of peace develop slowly.
JAMES C. BLANCHARD, one of the pub- lic-spirited and substantial farmers of the town of Charlotte, Chautauqua county, was born in that town on December 16th, 1856. His parents were Carlos and Lydia (Mccutcheon) Blanchard, natives of the State of New York, village of Dryden, where his father was a farmer and speculator. His grandfather was Moulton Blanchard, one of the earliest settlers in the town of Charlotte, whither he had come in 1810, the greater part of the county at that time being in a state of comparative newness.
J. C. Blanchard was educated in the district schools of his native town and at the age of ten commenced working on the farm, which business he has practically followed ever since in connec- tion with related lines of work. He is is now owner of the old Mccutcheon homestead, con- taining one hundred and fifty acres, and is
t
607
OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
engaged quite extensively in the manufacture of cheese, owning two large factories, one at Bemus Point called the Bemus Point factory, with an output of from fifty to sixty tons annually, and one in the town of Gerry, known as the Warner faetory, with an output of about thirty tons per annum. In addition to this industry he also raises and deals in thoroughbred cattle and registered sheep. Mr. Blanchard finds sale for his dairy products mainly in Buffalo, New York. to which city he is a large shipper. He is a re- publiean of the most radieal and steadfast type and has not stinted his services to the party of his choice. On several occasions he has been sent as delegate to both eounty and State Re- publican conventions. All matters pertaining to agricultural and dairying development claim his warm interest and attention.
On January 25th, 1882, Mr. Blanehard was joined in marriage to Emma Pickard, daughter of Elisha Pickard, of Ellery, who has given birth to four children : Ira E., Inez J., Everett W. and Hazel E.
R USH BROWN was born in Hanover town, Chantauqua county, New York, Decem- ber 12th, 1839, and is the son of Sidney and Harriet (Green) Brown. Marshal Brown, his paternal grandfather, emigrated to Chautauqua county, New York, from the State of Vermont. His grandfather on his mother's side was also a native of Vermont, where he lived the life of a farmer and died. In politics he was a Jack- sonian demoerat, was married and reared a family of seven children. His son, Sidney Brown, father of the subject, was born in Ver- mont in 1809 and after he had received his edn- eation and had attained his majority removed to western New York and located near the present residence of Rush Brown. In politics he had changed from the Democratic to the Republican regime. He married Harriet Green and had a family of two children, one of whom, Emily, is wife of Almarion MeDaniels,
a farmer living near Smith's Mills, Hanover town.
Rush Brown on June 30th, 1865, was united in marriage to Sarah Newbury, a.daughter of John Newbury, of Ripley, New York. They have one son, Sidney M., married to Irene Melissa Peters, a graduate of Bryant & Strat- ton's commereial eollege at Buffalo, New York, and at present a resident of Clyde, Cloud county, Kansas, where he is engaged in the merchan- dising and feed business.
Rush Brown gained his present education through the common schools and from actual experience in life. He commenced his career as a farmer, was reared upon a farm and has al- ways been attached to that business. He owns a good farm in a fair state of fertility and repair, ten acres of which are in grapes. He is a pro- hibitionist, a member of the Hanover Baptist church and belongs to the Royal Arcanum, at Silver Creek.
M ICHAEL BARRIS was born in Villanova, Chautauqua eounty, New York, on De- cember 5, 1818, and is the son of Benjamin and Betsey (Stebbins) Barris. His paternal grandfather was a native of Vermont, a farmer of English extraction. Grandfather Stebbins (see sketch of Abraham Stebbins) emigrated to Chautaugna eounty during its formative period, originally being a resident of New England. He was one of the pioneer settlers of the town of Sheridan. Benjamin Barris (father) was born in the State of Vermont in 1789, came to Chautauqua county in the year 1805, and first located in the town of Sheridan, thence remov- ing in the Autumn of 1818 to the town of Villanova. In 1833 he removed to the town of Hanover, purchased a farm in 1854, and erected npon it the house in which Michael Barris now resides. Mr. Barris owns about one hundred aeres of land in a high state of culti- vation and in first-class repair. In politics he was a democrat and served in the war of 1812,
608
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
during which war he was present at the siege and burning of Buffalo. He was united in marriage to Betsey Stebbins and had a family of ten children, all of whom grew to maturity. He married a second time, to Anna Webb.
Michael Borris was united in marriage on the 13th of March, 1842, to Lucinda Bushce, a daughter of Anthony Bushce of Chautauqua county, but formerly a native and resident of Vermont. They have had six children: Caro- line, married to Walter Howard; Oren, married to Loana Griswold, a farmer by occupation, and at present living with his father; Emory, a carpenter and joiner, married and living in California; Sarah, wife of Doane H. Griswold, a tinner living in Dunkirk, New York ; Emma, wife of Frank Burthwick, a farmer and sailor living near Sheridan Centre ; and Mcclellan, at homc.
Michael Barris attended the common schools and has always followed farming as an occupa- tion. He is a democrat in politics, and was at one time a commissioner of highways. He is one of the most progressive farmers in the town of Hanover, owning two hundred and two acres of land.
D ONALD S. BROWN, a resident lawyer of Jamestown and a member of the Chau- tauqua county bar, is a son of Colonel James M. and Charlotte (Cook) Brown, and was born in the city of Jamestown, Chautauqua county, New York, September 24, 1854. The Browns are of that wonderful Scotch-Irish race that made its impress for morality and progress on every land in which its members have settled. Major James Brown, the paternal grandfather of Don- ald S. Brown, was born in Scotland where he died at an advanced age. He served as a major in the British army and married Margaret McConaghie, by whom he had three children, of whom two lived to maturity : Col. James H. (father), and Flora, who has always resided in Scotland.
On his maternal side the subject of this sketch is descended from the Cooks, and his great-grandfather, Thomas Cook, was born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1765, and became one of the pioneer settlers of Washington county, where he died. He was a covenanter in religi- ous belief and married Ann Mehan, who bore him cight children, one of whom was Dr. Rob- ert Cook (maternal grandfather). He was born at Lansingburgh, N. Y., in September, 1775, served as a surgeon in the war of 1812, and married Elizabeth Sutherland, daughter of a Major Sutherland who served in the British army during the war of 1812. Dr. Cook practiced medicine at Argyle, Washington county, for forty years, then practiced for some time in New York city, and in 1854 came to Jamestown where he afterwards died.
Colonel James M. Brown (father), was born November 24, 1825, in Scotland, from whieli he came to New York city in the autumn of 1844, and on the 22d of January, 1845, enlisted in the 4th U. S. Infantry to which Gen. Grant belonged. He tented for some time with Gen. Grant, and on account of having studied medi- cine was successively made hospital steward and assistant surgeon of the regiment. He was in all of the battles of Taylor's army until his company was detached to join Scott under whom he participated in the struggles from Vera Cruz to the Mexican capital. After the Mexican war he was stationed at Ft. Mackinaw until January 22, 1850, when he retired from the army and went to Detroit where he read law, was admitted to the bar and practiced for a short time. In 1853 he came to Jamestown, where he practiced law and served as captain of Co. B, 68th N. Y. Militia and the Lowry Light Guards until 1861. In May of that year he recruited and organized Co. B, 72d regiment N. Y. Infantry, which was first known as the 3d regiment of the Excelsior brigade. He commanded this company until November 9, 1861, when he resigned to organize the 100th
1
609
OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
New York of which he was commissioned colonel. This regiment became a part of the " Eagle" brigade, and was commanded by Col. Brown until he fell at its head on May 31, 1862, at the battle of Seven Pines or Fair Oaks. He was a good officer, a brave soldier and a man who never feared danger. He fell in defense of his adopted country's liberties, and left a record of which his county may be justly proud, while his name is honored by James M. Brown Post, No. 285, of the Grand Army of the Republie at Jamestown, and his niemory will live for all time to come in the history of his eounty and State. He was a democrat until 1860 when he became a repub- liean, and prior to the war had served as a justice of the peace for Jamestown. On June 15, 1852, Col. Brown was married in Detroit, to Charlotte Cook, and they were the parents of five children : Robert M. (dead); Donald S., Edward C., of Jamestown; A. F. Allen of New York city, who is an oil operator; and Malcolm J., who is dead.
Donald S. Brown received his education at Rochester University, from which he was grad- uated in the class of 1878. He then read law with Bootey & Fowler, was admitted to the bar in 1883, and since that time has been in the active practice of his profession in James- town. He is a republican in political affairs, and was elected as, a justice of the peaee for Jamestown. Mr. Brown gives close attention to his professional duties and is a member of the Sons of Veterans.
A LPHA BARNES, a prominent owner of farming land, the proprietor of a vine- yard, fifty acres in extent, and a genial and companionable gentleman, is a son of James and Amanda (Noble) Barnes, and was born in Portland town, Chautauqua county, New York, on the property where he now resides, June 9, 1823. His people had long been residents of the State of New York, having lived in the
central and eastern part of that State for many years. James Barnes was born in Rome, Oneida county, N. Y., May 5, 1796, and came to this county in 1818 with an ox-team, settling in Port- land where he took up one hundred acres of land, but not being suited with it he sold it and bought the farm on which his son now resides. He was a hard-working, energetic man and cleared a large farm from the forest. Politieally Mr. Barnes was a whig and republiean. He married Amanda Noble in 1818, a native of Oneida county, who was born June 4, 1798, and they had four children. Mr. Barnes died January 19, 1864, aged sixty eight years ; his wife followed him April 21, 1884, having be- come an octogenarian.
Alpha Barnes was reared on the farm which is now his home. The education which has since carried him through life was received in the public schools. He has always been a farmer and has added to the original homestead of his father's, until now he is the owner of five hundred and sixty acres-fifty acres are set to vines. He has been postmaster at Prospect Sta- tion for more than twenty years.
December 22, 1847, he married Sarah L. Bige- low, a daughter of Thomas and Jerusha Bigelow. She was born in Verona, Oneida county, Nov. 7, 1823. Her father came to Portland town when she was but two years old. Mrs. Barnes died May 30, 1889, aged sixty-six years. To Alpha and Mrs. Barnes were born three child- ren, one son and two daughters : James T., born February 3, 1852 ; Eva J., born June 30, 1855; and Hattie L., born May 3, 1863. Eva J., married Edgar Scrivens, a farmer of Portland town. They have two sons, Alpha and Arehie. Hattie L., is the wife of George Mawhir (see liis sketch), they have one child, Bert. James T. married Eva L. Webster, daughter of Samuel and Lydia Webster, Marclı 25, 1874, and lives with his father. Hc is a farmer, but also buys and ships grapes. He commenced this business in 1887 and shipped
610
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
the first car load of grapes from Westfield. Apples also receive his attention, of which he has shipped a large quantity. He built an oil refinery on his farm, and ran it with profit for a number of years and is now trading in oil, together with other extensive business interests, in addition to his farm. He is a republican. Samuel Webster was born at Warsaw, N. Y., March 6, 1806, and was married to Lydia Hall (born March 5, 1814) on November 19, 1830.
Alpha Barnes is a good citizen, is a kind and gentle neighbor and has the respect and esteem of the entire community. In politics he is a republican.
W ILLIAM A. BOSWORTH, a man prom- inently connected with the mercantile and grape-growing interests of the town of Hanover, is a son of Oliver Cromwell and Electa (Hale) Bosworth, and was born April 22, 1833, in the village of Nashville, Chautau- qua county, New York. His paternal grand- father, Alfred Bosworth, originally came from Rhode Island, located at Saratoga Springs, New York, and finally in the State of Illinois, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was a man of great energy and industry, and by slow degrees arose from the position of a hatter to that of considerable affluence. In his later life he became a money-lender. Politically, he cast his lot with the Whig and Republican parties, having, however, no official ambition. He received a good education in the beginning of his life, and throughout his entire career has been a man devoted to study, reading and self- culture. His wife was a Miss Childs, a native of and prominently connected in Rhode Island. They reared a family of five children,-three boys and two girls. The eldest son, Franklin, is a practicing physician in the State of Illi- nois, whose medical education was received both in Illinois and the east. Father of sub- ject was born at Troy, New York, in the year 1803, his father at that time being a resident
of that place and engaged in his occupation of hatter. In 1840 he removed to Chautauqua county, and located at what is now the village of Nashville, town of Hanover, where he en- barked in the mercantile business. From here he went west to Chicago, engaged in the mer- cantile business there, and finally in the bank- ing business at Elgin, Illinois. He died in Chautauqua county. Father of subject was a man of good education, and in politics belonged to the Whig party. His wife was a daughter of Aaron Hale, a native of Maine, but who became a resident of Saratoga Springs and died at the age of ninety years. Aaron Hale was a farmer and lumberman, and died in Saratoga county. Mr. and Mrs. Bosworth were the parents of four children,-two daughters and two sons, three of whom are still living,-two sons and one daughter : William A .; Franklin, a resi- dent of Elgin, Illinois ; and Julia E., married to Edwin L. Bishop, a large farmer and ice manufacturer of Elgin, Illinois.
William A. Bosworth was united in mar- riage to Achsah Horton, daughter of Benjamin Horton (see his sketch), and are the parents of five children: George H., married to Miss Bertha H., daughter of Rev. John Wil- son, of Corry, Pennsylvania, now living in Corry, and engaged as a commercial traveler ; Belle, wife of Clarence W. Edwards, a com- mercial traveler of Chicago, Illinois (Mr. and Mrs. Edwards having one child, -Helen) ; Rexford ; Lucy H. and Harry A., at home.
William A. Bosworth received his education in the common schools of his native county, first engaged in mercantile pursuits at Nash- ville, Chautauqua county, New York, and sub- sequently in the lumber business at Chicago, Illinois. In 1857 he returned east, and again embarked in the mercantile business in Catta- raugus county, shortly afterward going to New York city, where he became a traveling sales- man for a wholesale grocery house. At present Mr. Bosworth is the owner of a small farm,
611
OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
and joint-owner of one of the largest vineyards in the county, to which he devotes considerable attention. He is unqualifiedly a democrat in politics, but without political or official aspira- tions.
C EORGE BILSBORROW, a skillful me- chanic, successful merchant and retired farmer, is the son of Jamies and Catherine (Davis) Bilsborrow, who were of English and Welsh descent, respectively. He was born in Oneida county, New York, February 6, 1832, came to Chautauqua county in 1870 and has since made it his home. James Bilsborrow was born in England in 1793, and came to America in 1822. He located in New York city and re- mained there eight years. In 1830 he moved to Oneida county, this State, and engaged in farming until 1869, when he came to the town of Westfield, and lived, until he died in 1878, having discontinued active business some years before. His wife was Catherine Davis, who was born in Wales and came to this country while young. She died in 1853, and had borne her husband several children, all of whom he gave a pecuniary start in life. Mr. Bilsborrow was a Jacksonian democrat, and his word once given lie kept inviolate.
George Bilsborrow spent fifteen years of his life on the farm and at school, and then learned the carpenter and joiners' trade, which he lias followed more or less ever since. In 1857 he went to Grant, Herkimer county, and engaged in contracting, building and operating a saw- mill, employing at times a force of twenty-five men. He remained there thirteen years, and for eight years of that time conducted a general store in connection with his other business. This proved profitable and Mr. Bilsborrow made money, but the place was not all that one could desire, and in 1870 he removed with his family, and bought a farm in the town of West- field, where they remained until the spring of 1891 when he sold the farm, moved into the
village and has retired from active business life. While farming he gave a portion of his attention to a vineyard, twenty acres in extent, which was very productive,
In 1859 Mr. Bilsborrow married Mary Rich, a daughter of Henry Rich, living in Herkimer county. They have had one daughter, Sarah.
He is a disciple of Jeffersonian principles and an enthusiastic admirer of ex-President Cleve- land and supported him for the nomination for governor, when his obscurity was relieved only by the political honors of a well-filled sheriff's office and mayor's chair. Mr. Bilsborrow is now filling his sixth term as town assessor, and, simultaneously, is excise commissioner. His personal popularity is shown in the fact that, although the Republican party has a large ma- jority in his town, he has never been defeated in his candidacy. George Bilsborrow although of strong will power is of a modest and nnassum- ing disposition. The competency, which his industry and good management has accumulated, is not used for vain display or vulgar show, but, instead, is used with taste and common sense. He is a courteous gentleman who pleasantly en- tertains those with whom he comes in contact in business or social life.
p AUL H. KIESWETTER, M.D., a distin- guished German physician, of Mayville, is a son of Theodore and Lonisa (Eberhart) Kics- wetter, and was born in Thuringen, Germany, on December 15, 1857. His grandfather, Peter Kieswetter, was a manufacturer and lived during his life-time in the same German State in which the subject of this sketchi was born. At one time he served in the capacity of private scere- tary to the distinguished soldier and statesman, Gen. Von Moltke. He was a very intelligent man, educated in a German university and mar- ried a Miss Lucass, who bore him a family of two sons and four daughters. Theodore Kies- wetter (father) was born in Germany in the year 1828 and is still living in his native land.
612
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
He was educated at the Gymnasium of Arm- stadt, and upon the completion of his education he embarked in the manufacturing business which he has pursued uninterruptedly and with success ever since. His marriage to Louisa Eberhart took place when he was twenty-seven years of age. They were the parents of four ehildren : Kathrinka, Rudolph, Withbald and Paul H., all of whom with the exception of Paul H. are residing in Germany.
Paul H. Kieswetter received his preparatory education through the public schools of Germany and in 1881 entered the University of Berlin, where he remained until 1884, after which he completed his medical course at the University of Jena. Immediately after the completion of his medical education he emigrated to the United States and first located in Cortland county, New York, where he began and continued the practice of medicine until the year 1886. At the end of this period he removed to the State of Ohio and practiced in Cleveland until 1889, when he came to Chautauqua county, where he has since remained and practiced his profession in the village of Mayville. In connection with his medical practice he operates a drug-store- the leading store of that description in the vil- lage. In politics Dr. Kicswetter is a republican and also a member of the Lodge No. 1105, Royal Arcanum, at Mayville.
C HARLES J. FLAHAVEN, a member of the city council of Dunkirk and a foreman in the Brooks Locomotive works, is a son of John and Mary (Stewart) Flahaven, and was born in Erie, Erie county, Pennsylvania, May 28, 1856. John Flahaven (father), was born in County Limerick, Ireland, and emi- grated to Canada, where he learned the trade of machinist, and in the autumn of 1855, came to the United States and located in Erie, Penn- sylvania, where he worked at his trade two years and then came to Dunkirk, where he has since resided, pursuing the same vocation. In
religion he is a member of the Roman Catholic church. He married Mary Stewart, a native of County Limerick, Ireland, by whom he has several children. Mrs. Flahaven is also a member of the Roman Catholic church.
Charles J. Flahaven was brought up in Dun- kirk, and acquired liis education in the publie schools, after which he followed the example of his father and learned the machinist's trade, being now considered a fine workman. He entered the employ of the Brooks Locomotive works, where he now occupies the position of foreman of the tools and plant department. In politics he is a democrat and in religion accepts the faith of his ancestors, being a member of the Roman Catholic church, and his heart and purse are always open to the needs of the deserving portion of humanity. He was elected a member of the city council of Dun- kirk in 1889, and attends carefully to the needs and welfare of his constituents.
Charles J. Flahaven was married in 1883, to Agnes McKenney, a daughter of John Me- Kenney, of Dunkirk, by whom he has two sons : Charles and Paul J.
G EORGE R. DEAN, a prominent news- paper man of Chautauqua county, is a son of Riley and Lucretia (Briggs) Dean, and was born January 10, 1837, in Wyoming county, New York. William Dean, his pater- nal grandfather, was a native of Onondaga county, of English parentage and emigrated into Chautauqua county, town of Harmony, about the year 1814, and took up a farm near Blockville. He was married three times : first, on October 27, 1799, to Asenith Hamlin, who bore him ten children ; on June 29, 1824, he was united to Rebeeca Brown, by whom he had three children ; and on March 13, 1852, he was again married to Sarah Ingersoll, but with- out issue. Grandfather George Briggs traees back his ancestry to an early New England family of that namc. He settled in Wyoming
613
OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
(then Genesee) county, N. Y., in the year 1808. He was a farmer, a member of the Methodist church at Attica, New York, and was united in marriage to a Miss Esther Paul, by whom he had seven children. Riley Dean, the father of George R., was born in Onondaga county, October 1, 1809, and died in the county of Chautauqua, New York, where he had spent the greater part of his life, on January 17, 1883. While in Chautauqua county, he car- ried on farming, which had been practically his life-long occupation. He was a whig and later a republican in politics, a member of the Frec Methodist church and was the father of four children, two sons and two danghters: Esther, Sophronia, Orlando D. (a lumber producer of Sherman, Michigan), and George R. Riley Dean was married the second time to Mrs. Jonathan Eddy.
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.