USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York : with a historical sketch of the county > Part 80
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Elmer Osborn was reared on his father's farm, and inured to hard work until 1879, receiving meanwhile a common-school educa- tion. In that year he came to Silver Creek, and for a time was employed in teaming. In July, 1890, he formed a partnership with his brother, Havilla, under the firm nanie of Os- born Brothers, and engaged in the furniture business, in which they are now carrying a large and well-selected stock. In politics he is a republican.
In 1885 he united in marriage with Aurelia Lincoln, a daughter of James Lincoln, of Sil- ver Creek. Mr. and Mrs. Osborn have three children,-one son and two daughters : Frank, Sadie and Olive.
D ANIEL N. PALMER, a gallant and daring soldier during the civil contest between the northern and southern States, and who, when the strife had ended, adapted him- self to the arts of agriculture and peaceful pur- suits, is a son of Ralph and Mary M. (Chides- ter) Palmer, and was born in Warren county, Pennsylvania, August 15, 1835. His grand- father, Nehemiah Palmer, was of English ori- gin, the last years of his life being spent in Toronto, Canada, where he died, aged ninety years.
Ralphı Palmer was born in Otsego county, this State, and moved to Warren county, Penn- sylvania. In 1865 he returned to the Empire State, and settled in Harmony town, where he has resided ever since. He has retired from active life, the infirmities of age making this step imperative ; but for the many years that he was engaged in farming, none had a higher
reputation for skill and execution than he. He married Mary M. Chidester, of Otsego county, who died in 1884, aged seventy-seven years, and had several children.
Daniel N. Palmer spent the first sixteen years of his life in Warren county, Pennsyl- vania, and attended the public schools, acqui- ring a good ordinary education. In 1851 he went to Tuscumbia, Alabama, and drove a four-horse stage for the Louisville and Nash- ville railroad, remaining there four years; but in 1855 he returned north, and engaged in lumbering at Spartansburg, Pennsylvania. Sep- tember 13, 1862, he enlisted in Company L, Sixteenth Regiment Pennsylvania cavalry, and served until June 15, 1865, when lie was dis- charged at the General Hospital, near Alexan- dria, Virginia. The entire term was passed as a private, mostly on detail as a dispatch-bearer. When peace followed the four years of carnage and destruction, Mr. Palmer came to Chautau- qua county, and settled on the farm in Port- land town, four miles from Westfield, where he now lives. His property is advantageously located between the railroads and beautiful Lake Erie, and contains fifty-four acres, eight of which are set to vines that are bearing.
In the latter part of 1865 he married Helena A. White, a daughter of Levi White, of Spar- tansburg, Pa., and they have one daughter,- Eva M.
Daniel N. Palmer is a member of the A. O. U. W. and of James A. Hall Post, No. 292, of Brocton. He identifies himself with the Republican party, and is a very pleasant gen- tleman, who takes a personal interest in the welfare of public affairs.
A LBERT P. PEIRCE, a leading jeweler and a resident of Westfield for the past fifteen years, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, September 21, 1842, and is a son of Albert A. and Mary Knox (Stevens) Peirce. Albert A. Peirce was born in Boston and died at Westfield,
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this ecounty, in 1879. He was engaged for over twenty years in the jewelry business and then (1862) removed from Boston to Titusville, Pennsylvania, where he was an oil operator and dealt in oil, besides condueting a jewelry estab- lishment until 1876, when he came to Westfield, which was his place of residence until his death, which occurred three years later. He married Mary Knox Stevens, whose people were resi- dents of the State of Maine, of which she was a native.
Albert P. Peirce was reared in Boston and fitted for Yale college, which he did not enter, on account of embarking in the steamboat busi- ness between Boston and Newport, Rhode Island. He was associated with the firm of Andrew J. Warren & Company, and remained with them five years. He then went to Titusville, where he was in the pipe-line business for three years. at the end of which time he took charge of the Church Run pipe-line, which he managed until he came to Westfield, where he established his present jewelry establishment.
In 1873 Mr. Peirce married Julia Guild, daughter of Joseph O. Guild. To their union have been born four children, two sons and two daughters : James Alfonso, born January 3, 1874, and now engaged in the jewelry business; Clara Guild, Mary Knox, and Albert P., Jr.
A. P. Peirce has served as trustee, school director and member of the board of water commissioners of Westfield. By strict attention to business he has built up a luerative trade as a jeweler. His establishment contains a first- class stock of jewelry, watches, elocks and everything else in his special line of business. The jewelry trade is a very important branch of commercial activity, and one deserving of mention in a review of the leading industries of any place. Mr. Peirce is a representative jeweler of his village, where he has met with good success.
K R. PALMER is a prominent member of that class of business men so utterly indispensable in any community, a butcher and meat-market-man, and owns one of the largest and most completely equipped markets in this section. His qualifications for the business are partly inherited, as his father was also a practi- cal butcher and market-man. Amos Palmer (grandfather) was born in Massachusetts, and came to Chautauqua county and settled in Fredonia, where he opened a blacksmith shop, being considered a very fine workman. He married and they had seven sons: Levi, Alonzo, Alvinsy, Nelson, Stephen, Orange and Charles. Orange Palmer (father) was born in Massachu- setts and came with his father to this county and learned thoroughly the trade of a butcher with a Mr. Hughes. After a few years devoted to this business, he, with his brother Nelson, opened a meat-market and conducted it until his death, which occurred in October, 1861. In politics he was a demoerat. He was a member of Forest Lodge No. 386, F. & A. M. at Fredonia. He was married to Lucy Comstoek and had three children, one son and two daughters: Cassie married Benjamin Pond an operator in the stock exchange ; Elzora (deceased) was married to Charles E. Bartram, a butcher; and one whose name is not given. Mrs. Palmer died in 1865 and was buried beside her husband.
K. R. Palmer was born in Fredonia, Chau- tauqua county, New York, July 3, 1844, and is a son of Orange and Lucy (Comstock) Palmer. He was educated in the common schools, and worked in his father's market. In 1868 he, with his cousin, George H. Palmer opened a meat- market, under the firm name of Palmer & Pal- mer, and have more than kept pace with the demand of the times.
K. R. Palmer is a member of the Baptist church, of which body he has been a trustee for several years. He was elected a member of the board of trustees of Fredonia on the demo- eratic ticket in March 1889 and still holds the
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office. He has also been the chief of the fire department since 1885. K. R. Palmer was married to Florence E. Powell, a daughter of Charles Powell, a pattern-maker in Brooks' Locomotive works at Dunkirk, this county.
A BRAHAM S. PRATHER. One of the most important industries of early James- town was its lumber trade, and to-day it is still a leading business. Among the well-known representatives of that line is Abraham S. Pra- ther, who has been engaged for some years as a manufacturer and dealer in this commodity. He was born in Venango county, Pennsylva- nia, February 24, 1841, and is a son of Abra- ham C. and Sarah Prather. The Prather fam- ily is originally from England, the first of the name, the great-great-grandfather of our sub- ject, coming to Maryland during the seven- teenth century. Henry Prather (great-grand- father) was born in Maryland, the same year that Washington was given to the world. He married Elizabeth Hicks, a lady of Danish pa- rents, and among their other children was Thomas Hicks Prather, born in 1755, the grandfather of Abraham S. Prather. The homestead of the original Prather in Maryland, was a grant direct from King George. Thom- as Hicks Prather remained upon it and mar- ried Elizabeth Crunkelton, after which they re- moved to Franklin county, Pennsylvania, where on September 19, 1786, Abraham C. Prather (father) was born. About the year 1798, his father moved to Venango county, Pennsylvania, and was one of the first settlers there, the coun- try being thickly populated with Indians many of whom were not friendly. He was a tanner by trade and also followed farming. During the war of 1812 he enlisted and was present at the battle of Fort Erie. He married and had ten children. Mr. Prather was a whig and member of the Presbyterian church, in which faith he passed away July 7, 1850, aged sixty- four years.
Abraham S. Prather was educated in the public schools, supplementing them with a course in Duff's business college at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His business career began with Prather Brothers, lumber dealers in Venango county, after which he was banking and pro- ducing oil successively.
He married Lucy J. Holender, daughter of Thomas Holender, who is of English extraction, and has had three children: John H., born in 1866, studied law with C. R. Lockwood and was graduated from the Buffalo Law school in June 1890 and in January, 1891, was admitted to practice in all the courts of the State of New York. He located at Jamestown where he is now practicing; I. Myrtle and Alhama.
In addition to the business mentioned, Mr. Prather operated a brick factory in Jamestown until February 4, 1881, when it was destroyed by fire and he turned his attention to a binding office, but for some years has been in the lum- ber business. In politics he is a republican, and a member of the Congregational church. He joined Co. I, 142d regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry, in August, 1862, and served until 1863, when he was discharged on account of disabilities, being at that time first sergeant of the company.
C ILBERT W. STRONG, a prominent fi- nancier and business man residing in the village of Sherman, is a son of Henry and Mary (Christman) Strong, and was born in Erie county, New York, November 19, 1843. Both parents were natives of Herkimer county, and the father was a prominent farmer and business man. He conducted a tannery in addition to his farm, and when the Erie canal was under construction he took a number of contracts upon it. George Strong, father of Henry Strong, was a Connecticut Yankee of English descent, and our subject's grandfather, Christman, was a Mohawk Valley Dutchman. Great- grandfather, John Herkimer, was a brother of
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Gen. Nicholas Herkimer, who was killed at Oriskany while on his way, at the head of eight hundred troops, to relieve Fort Schuyler, at the | time besieged by the British colonel, St. Leger. Herkimer county, New York, was named com- memorative of this family. Subject's mother's grandfather, Captain Small, also lost his life in the Revolutionary struggle, being killed and scalped by Indians.
Gilbert W. Strong was reared upon his fath- er's farm and received his education at the Springfield, Erie county, academy, and upon leaving school, he learned tanning with his father. When twenty-two years old he estab- lished himself in the same business at York- shire, Cattaraugus county, where he pursned a successful career for five years. Succeeding this, he went to the oil regions and remained ten years, being moderately successful, but in 1883 Mr. Strong came to Sherman and built the "Strong Block," a two-story and basement structure, fifty by sixty-five feet in dimensions. Mr. Strong is a democrat with free trade pro- clivities, and in 1889 he was the nominee of his party for the Assembly, but the opposing party has such a large majority in the district that he was defeated. For the past six years he has been a member of the school board and was two years its president. Gilbert W. Strong is identified with the State bank of Sherman, be- ing one of its stockholders, and is the owner of three hundred and fifty acres of oil and timber lands in Mckean county, Pennsylvania.
In 1871 he was married to Mary Whitney, of Yorkshire, New York, and they have three children : Mary, Harry and Howard.
Mr. Strong has a fine home and happy sur- roundings, and is one of those who can afford to survey the strife of the world with non- chalance.
Lt AURENS G. RISLEY, a gentleman with many friends, and a prominent whole- sale liquor dealer in Dunkirk besides being
similarly engaged in New York city, is a son of General Elijah, Jr. and Nabby (Brigham) Ris- ley, and was born in Fredonia, Chautauqua county, New York, March 7, 1819. Elijah Risley, Sr. (grandfather), was early identified with the interests of Connceticut, where he was born December 7, 1757, and removing from that State to Cazenovia, N. Y., and from thence to Fredonia, reaching the latter place via Buffalo in 1807. He settled on the west side of Cana- daway creek, built the first house located there, and also erected the first bridge that spanned its banks, in the year 1809. His home was located in the northern part of the town, and was por- tions of lots No. 32-33, township 5, range 12, which was located in September, 1806. He died in 1841. He was a soldier during the Revolu- tion, and was a pensioner at the time of his death. Mr. Risley married Phoebe Bills, who was born July 24, 1761. They had twelve children, nine of whom attained majority : Bet- sey, married Seth Risley ; Horace, married Harmony Road, and moved to Illinois, where he died ; Elijah, Jr. ; Philena, wife of Thomas Warren ; Fanny, married James Brigham ; Phoebe, wife of Philip Fellows ; Sophia, married George French, who was a Dunkirk merchant ; William, and Levi, who lived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. All are dead. Elijah Risley, Jr., was born in East Hartford, Conn., May 7, 1787, coming with his father to America prior to the beginning of the present century. He resided at this place until 1807, when we find him at Fredonia, this county. His first week in Chau- tauqua county was accompanied by the unusual adventure of killing a bear that had a few hours before succeeded in disabling an Indian. In 1809 Mr. Risley opened the first store at Fre- donia, selling groceries and general merchandise, and a couple of years later erected an ashery for making potash, at that time a staple industry of the county. Following this he engaged in manufacturing and agricultural business, which he followed for twelve years, and was the pioneer
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garden-sced grower, profitably and successfully conducting their production for over twenty-five years, commencing in 1833. When military titles were not merely honorary, but were a recognition of ability and services performed, he rose step by step from a captain to major- general in the State militia, and in the latter position he was honorary escort to General Lafayette when he made his fraternal visit to the United States in 1825. Mr. Risley was active in politics, and became the whig nominee for sheriff in the fall of 1824, and was elected and served three years. In 1835 he represented Fredonia on the board of supervisors, and in 1848 was elected by the whigs to a seat in the National Congress, serving with honor, credit and distinction to himself and his constituents, through the Thirty-first Congress, serving in 1849 and 1850. He took an enthusiastic interest in educational matters and did much to advance its standard, and having a kindly disposition and ready to extend a helping hand to every good cause he was well liked by all. Among his early business investments was some stock of the (now) Erie railway, in which company he was one of the first directors. He was a prominent member of F. & A. M., being a charter member of both the Lodge and Chapter. General Elijah Risley died January 8, 1870, respected and esteemed by all. He married Nabby Brigham, of Madison county, and they lad six children : Florilla C., wife of Chauncey Tucker, dead ; Hanson A., became prominent for services rendered in the treasury department during the war and otherwise; Sophrona, mar- ried Charles F. Matteson, of Fredonia, and died in 1875; Laurens G .; Delia, wife of Thomas P. Grosvenor, living at Dunkirk; and Minerva, married Frank Cushing, who died in 1855. Mrs. Risley survived the General a number of years.
Laurens G. Risley was reared on the old homestead and at Fredonia, receiving his educa- tion at the Fredonia academy. Upon leaving
school he engaged in the mercantile business at Fredonia, and in 1851 came to Dunkirk and established a produce and commission house whichi received much favor for a number of years. He then engaged in the wholesale liquor business which is still conducted in connection with a similar one at the metropolis.
He married Henrietta Houghton, daughter of Hon. Stern Houghton, of Fredonia, and has one son, George H., who is managing his father's branch business in New York.
Politically Mr. Risley is a republican and has served several terms as mayor of Dunkirk, as well as filling several other city offices. He is a member of F. and A. M., has been District Deputy Grand Master, and was one of the organizers for the first lodge of I. O. O. F. instituted in Fredonia.
A RTEMUS ROSS, M. D., a physician in active practice at Clymer, is a son of George and Barbara (Ross) Ross, and was born in the town of Clymer, Chautauqua county, New York, April 4, 1841. According to tradition there were three Scotchmen by the name of Ross who came to America and from whom all the Rosses of this country are descended. The pa- ternal great-grandfather of Dr. Ross was Samuel Ross of Scotch-Irish descent who was a resident of Chenango county and had served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. His son, Charles Ross (grandfather), settled first in Chenango county but afterwards came to this county where he purchased one hundred and eighty acres of land about four miles north of the site of the village of Clymer. He was a democrat, mar- ried Amy Woodburn, a cousin to Horace Greeley's mother, and had nine sons and four daughters, all of whom lived to maturity. One of these sons, George Ross (father), was born in 1807 in the town of Cherry Valley, Chenango county, and in 1825 came to the town of Clymer where he died March 29, 1889. He was a farmer and stock-dealer, a Jacksonian democrat
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and had served as justice of the peaee in Clymer and also in Mina where he resided once for several years. As a man of considerable legal knowledge he was frequently counselled in im- portant cases. He married Barbara Ross, who still survives him and is now in the eighty-third year of her age. They had four sons and four daughters all of whom are living exeept two of the sons. Mrs. Ross is a daughter of Ben- jamin Ross, who married Polly Coom, by whom he had seven children. He was a farmer and a demoerat and removed from Chenango to Al- legany county where he died.
Artemus Ross received his education in Nor- mal schools and Alfred university of Allegany county. He read medicine with Dr. D. W. Martin of Mina, and entered (1868) the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania from which he was graduated in 1872. He then opened an office at Corry, Pennsylvania, but at the end of one year eame to Clymer as a wider field for the practice of his profession, where he now has an extensive and remunerative practice. Dr. Ross is a democrat politically but has never been an aspirant for office and gives his time and atten- tion to his profession. He is a member of Olive Lodge, No. 575, Free and Accepted Masons at Clymer.
In 1874 he married Evangeline, daughter of Oscar Bush, a native of Erie county, Pa. Their union has been blessed with two children : Winifred, born December 7, 1877 ; and George, born February 18, 1883.
RICHARD REED, the proprietor of one of the largest hardware and tinning estab- lishments of Sinclairville, was born in Devon- shire, England, April 28, 1831, and is a son of John and Mary (Kell) Reed. His parents were natives of Devonshire and came in 1836 to the town of Charlotte, in which they settled on a farm one mile from Sinclairville, where the hus- band, John Reed, died in 1853.
Richard Reed was reared in England and on
his father's Charlotte farm until he was eighteen years of age and received a practical education in the English and American rural schools. At eighteen years of age he was apprentieed with Ensign Baker, of Fredonia, to learn the trade of tinner. At the end of one year he was " sold " or his apprenticeship transferred to S. Judd, who had purchased the tin and hard- ware establishment of Mr. Baker. He worked with Mr. Judd until he closed up business. Mr. Reed afterwards went to Dunkirk, where he apprenticed himself to Daniel Lord for two years in order to finish his trade. After the expiration of his apprenticeship he traveled as a journeyman for some time and in 1854 pur- chased the stock of tin and tools of E. H. Brown, of Sinclairville, with which he opened a stove and tinware store. In 1857 he built his present business establishment, and in 1870 associated a Mr. Reynolds with him as a part- ner under the firm name of Reed & Reynolds. Mr. Reed now carries a large first-class stook of hardware, stoves and tinware which is worth over eight thousand dollars. Much credit is due him for the push and energy that has characterized his successful efforts in the establishment and judicious management of his present business. He possesses fine social qualities and ranks high as a good business man.
On May 28, 1858, Mr. Reed united in mar- riage with Therese Burlingame, a native of New York. They are the parents of two children : Charles M., a graduate of the Albany Law school and now in the active practice of his pro- fession ; and John B., who is engaged in the grocery business.
W ILLIAM H. ROBINSON, a well-known and highly respected citizen of the town of Hanover, is a son of Jared and Martha (Head) Robinson and was born on May 9, 1817, in Otsego county, New York. The paternal grandfather, Ziba Robinson, was in all
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probability a native of Ireland, and it is sup- posed that he came to America when a child, and that he passed most of his life in Otsego county, where he followed farming and, during the Revolutionary war, served on the staff of General Washington. He was three times married : first, to Rebecca Temple, by whom he liad six children ; the name of his second wife is forgotten and his third wife was the widow Swetland, by whom he had two children. Jared Robinson was born in Otsego county, March 7, 1792, and lived there all his life. He was a farmer by occupation and in politics a whig and republican. He married Martha Head, a daughter of William Head, and by her had five children, two sons and three daugh- ters.
William H. Robinson was educated in the common schools of Otsego county, and there passed his life until he had attained his majority. He acquired a superior education and taught school for twelve terms. In 1838, he removed to Cattaraugus county, and lived there until 1864. In the mean time he had married Emily Scofield, who became the mother of one child, Emory S., born October 12, 1846, and married Gertie Randall and is now living with his father and pursues farming. Upon the death of his first wife William H. Robin- son married Mrs. Polly (Scofield) Slawson, with whom he is now living, and with her came to Chautauqua county in 1864, where they have since made their home in Hanover town. Mr. Robinson is recognized as a farmer of no mean ability ; politically he is a republi- can and has been honored by being clected to the offices of school inspector and justice of the peace in Cattaraugus county and was assessor in Chautauqua county, twelve terms. He be- longs to the Methodist church, in which he holds the honorable positions of class leader and steward.
JOHN B. RUSH, a Jamestown merchant who came from an old family, is a son of Israel and Elizabeth (Russell) Rush, and was born in the town of Ellery, Chautauqua county, New York, May 1, 1833. His paternal grand- father, Jacob Rush, was a native of Canada, and descended from English ancestors, but came to Chautauqua county, and settled in the town of Ellery during January, 1811, at which time he purchased in sections No. 13, and No. 20 of Township. No. 2, Range No. 12, his house being built on section No. 13, where he followed farming until his death which oc- curred at Ellery. He was married twice, his second wife being Rhoda Silsman, who bore him three sons and one daughter. Grand- father, John Russell, came to Chautauqua county in 1811. He was an artisan, being skillful with the saw and with the trowel and also employed himself in farming. Mr. Rus- sell married Rhoda Scofield and became the father of nine sons and four daughters. Israel Rush (father), was born in Cassadaga, in 1807, and came to Chautauqua county with his father. He followed farming and, although at the com- mencement of life a very poor man, at his death had by industry and economy accumu- lated a competency and owned four hundred acres of land in Ellery. He married Elizabeth Russell, by whom he had four children : Lewis, a farmer residing in Ellery ; James B .; Rhoda, married Alvah Smiley, who is a successful farmer living at Bemus Point, near her early home ; and one dead. Politically Mr. Rush was a democrat and a conscientious, God-fearing, church-going man. He died at Ellery in the fear of the Lord, June 4, 1889.
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