USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York : with a historical sketch of the county > Part 82
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Michael W. Sweeney lived with his parents until thirteen years of age and in 1848 came to seek his fortune in the new world. Landing at New York he first settled at Walton, N. Y., and from there went to Elmira, in the same State. He remained at Elmira a number of years and in 1861 came to Jamestown where he has lived ever since. He is a moulder by trade 'ing his life-time. He and his wife spent and followed it through his earlier life.
JAMES H. SWEET, who has been a resi- dent of Jamestown for the last quarter of a century, is a son of James and Sallie (Clark) Sweet, and was born on the site of Jamestown, Chautauqua county, New York, March 13, 1813. His paternal grandparents were life- long residents of Rensselaer county, while his maternal grandparents were among the early settlers of Chautauqua county. James Sweet was born in Rensselaer county, and came to the town of Busti, where he settled at what is now Lakewood. He was drafted in the war of 1812, but could not leave his family exposed to the wolves and bears then so abundant in his wil- derness home. He was one of the organizers of the first Methodist church in his town, in 1814, while his house and barn were used for preaching places for several years. He was a whig in politics, a peaceable citizen and a pious, honest and hard-working man. He brought his wife and five children in an ox-team to Buffalo, and thence through the wilderness to where he had purchased his farm of two hun- dred acres, of which he cleared out a part dur- seventy-five years of wedded life together, died
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upon the same day and their remains were bur- ied in the same grave. They reared a family of six sons and five daughters : James (dead); Sallie, wife of Judge Abner Lewis; Clark, who died at Panama in 1889; William and Ange- line, now in Wisconsin ; James H .; Maxon of Poland ; Ann, Amy, Finley and Mary.
James H. Sweet possessed but few advantages to obtain an education during his boyhood days, and spent a few months in winter sub- scription schools, which he often attended through severe snow storms. After working on his father's farm until he was of age, and then for a short time as a farm hand in his immedi- ate neighborhood, he went down the Mississippi river to Louisiana, which he soon left for the western states and territories, in which he re- mained for a few years. At the end of that time he returned to Chautauqua county, where he erected a saw and grist-mill on French creek, which three years later he exchanged for a farm of one hundred and seventy-four acres of land in the town of Busti, where he followed farming for twenty years. In 1866 he sold his farm and came to Jamestown, where he pur- chased some valuable lots and erected his present convenient and comfortable residence.
He married Lois Moore, who died and left two children : Franklin M., of Jamestown, who married Eliza Gray ; and Adaline, wife of N. W. Hall, a tobacco dealer of Corry, Pa. He married Lois Hart, and his children by this sec- ond union are: Albert L., of Jamestown, who married Augusta Davis; Reuben E. married Angie Stirdevant, has one child, Edith, and resides in Buffalo ; and Emma M., wife of D. S. Horton.
James H. Sweet is a republican in politics, having been formerly a whig, and has been a ! member for over sixty years of the Methodist church, of which his wife has been a member for many years.
LIAL W. SKINNER. One of the best known and most successful of Portland E town's grape growers is Elial W. Skinner, who is a son of David and Mary (Williams) Skin- ner, and was born on the farm where he now re- sides, September 30, 1838. David Skinner is a native of Chenango county, New York, and came from there to Chautauqua county in 1820, when he located in what is now Portland town and has ever since resided there. Although now (1891) in his eighty-ninth year, he is ac- tive and vigorous and enjoying much better health than would be expected of one of his age. He has always been engaged in agricultural pursuits on an extensive scale ; at one time he was the largest individual real estate owner in that town, and kept great numbers of live stock. Mr. Skinner is a democrat and is a great work- er. His staying powers in any kind of work were at one time a matter of renown. He is of Irish descent, while Mary Williams, his wife, was Scotch. She is still living, aged eighty- seven years, and is quite an active old lady.
Elial W. Skinner has spent his entire life on the farm. He received his education at the common schools and academy. He owns forty acres of his father's homestead and has a very fine vineyard and is one of the leading farmers.
In 1870 he married Bessie, daughter of Luke Haight of Brocton and they have two children, one son and one daughter: William and Lil- lian.
Elial W. Skinner is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church and the Equitable Aid Union. In 1862 he enlisted in Co. E, 154tlı regiment, New York Volunteers and served three years as a private, participating in the battles of Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. At the latter place on July 1, 1863, he was taken prisoner and held for eight- een months. Ten months of the time were spent in the vile and notorious Andersonville, where so many perished from want of the neces- saries of life. June 25, 1865, he was dis-
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OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
charged at Elmira, New York, and returned to his home. Mr. Skinner is a companionable gentleman and has a pleasant home, in which his friends are royally entertained. He is in- telligent and well informed and has the courage of asserting his convictions.
A SA TEFFT was born in the town of Leb- anon, Madison county, New York, Feb- ruary 1, 1819, and is a son of John and Eliza- beth (Dye) Tefft. Both parents were natives of the State of Rhode Island, where his father was engaged in farming. At that time he be- longed to the predominant political party-the Whig; while religiously he never allied him- self with any special sect or denomination. When past the middle of life, he migrated into the State of New York and died in Lebanon at the age of fifty-one years. His wife was by de- scent a Quaker. Grandfather Tefft came to Madison county, New York, from Rhode Island about ninety years ago, where he en- gaged in farming and passed the remaining years of his life.
Asa Tefft lived in Madison county until he was fifteen years of age, where he received a common school education and began his career in life. Upon coming to Chautauqua county he engaged in farming in the town of Ellery and in 1851 purchased the farm in the town of Stockton upon which he now resides. He is still living at the age of seventy-two years, en- joys good health and is as actively engaged in farm duties as when in the prime of life. Two years ago he became a member of the order of Patrons of Husbandry; religiously he is a spir- itualist, while politically he has always given the Republican party his warm support, at the hands of which party he has been a member of the excise committee on various occasions. Be- sides farming, he takes a special interest in breeding fine stock, notably Durham and Jer- sey cattle and is also the owner of a large and well-equipped dairy.
On August 28, 1841, Mr. Tefft became uni- ted in marriage to Elizabeth C., daughter of Nathaniel Miller of Forbes, Onondaga county, New York. They have had one daughter : Alice, who died in 1861. ℮ LEWIS B. THOMPSON, a rising young business man of Kennedy, who, by his industry and intelligence, has reached an emi- nence in the business community of his town second to none, is a son of William and Rox- ana (Bates) Thompson, and was born in Buf- falo, Erie county, New York, July 7, 1860. His grandfather Thompson was a native of Canada, but came across the lake and settled in the Empire State, where he followed shoe- making until he died. Joseph Bates (maternal grandfather) was a native of Ellington, and was a miller by trade. He married and reared a family of eight children,-three sons and five daughters. He was a devout church member.
William Thompson was born in Toronto, Canada, in the month of September, 1830, and coming to the town of Silver Creek, followed shoemaking. From Silver Creek he went to Meadville, Pa., where he still resides. In 1854 he married Roxana Bates, a daughter of Jo- seph Bates, of Ellington, and they were blessed with one child, Lewis B. William Thompson spent nearly thirty years in various capacities on the railroad. He was conductor on the Erie, and held the same position on the old N. Y., P. and O., which is now a division of the Erie railroad.
Lewis B. Thompson is the only child of his parents. He came to Forestville with his parents, where he spent his childhood and youth until ten years of age, attending the common schools. His folks then went to El- lington, then to Poland, and finally down into the Keystone State. He spent three years at the latter place, and then began life braking on ! the railroad,-an employment that kills no less than three young men, the flowers of the coun-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
try, for every working day in the year, and maims more than five times the number. Find- ing that there were much easier employments with superior remuneration and less risk, he left the railroad and its excitements, and learned the secrets of making confectionery. In 1886 he began the manufacture of baskets at Green- field, Pa., and stayed there three years, but in 1889 came to Kennedy, where he is now lo- cated. The factory is one of the leading indus- tries of the place, and employs from thirty to fifty men, making about three thousand to eight thousand baskets per day, or a total of over a million per year.
On November 7, 1883, he was united in marriage with Lola M. Luce, a daughter of Timothy J. Luce, of Kennedy, and they have two children : Harry L., born August 24, 1884, and Ford C., born July 14, 1886.
L. B. Thompson is a republican, and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, to which he has been attached for a num- ber of years.
A LMON N. TAYLOR, A.M., principal of the Westfield academy and Union schools, is a son of Gurdon M. and Catherine (Mosher) Taylor, and was born in the town of Portland, Chautauqua county, New York, November 1, 1855. The Taylors are of English origin and the grandfather of Prof. Almon N. Taylor was Erastus Taylor, one of the early settlers of Port- land. He was a farmer and served in the war of 1812, in which he was wounded. His son, Gurdon M. Taylor (father), was born in 1821, in Portland, where he died in 1863. He was a prosperous farmer and respected citizen of his town which he served as supervisor for several terms. He was a democrat in political matters, and had been a member of the First Congrega- tional church of the town of Portland for many years prior to his death. He married Catherine Mosher, who is a member of the M. E. church.
Almon N. Taylor, after attending the schools
of his native town, entered the University at Ann Arbor, Michigan, from which well-known educational institution he was graduated in 1882. During the same year, after graduation, he be- came a law student in the office of Clinton & Clark, of Buffalo, with whom he read for eigh- teen months. At the end of that time he ac- cepted the position of baggage-master on the W. N. Y. & P. R. R., which he held for one year. He then turned his attention to teaching and was elected annually for five years as prin- cipal of Sherman. In 1889 he left Sherman to accept of the principalship of the Westfield academy and Union schools. Prof. Taylor was re-elected in 1890 and again in 1891, and has labored faithfully and efficiently in the advance- ment of the academy and these schools. He has taken great interest in the culture of grapes in the town of Portland, where he has a flour- ishing vineyard of forty-seven acres. He is a democrat in politics and a member of the First Presbyterian church of Westfield. In Masonry he passed through lodge and chapter and is now a member of Dunkirk Commandery, No. 40, Knights Templar.
In 1882 he united in marriage with Adelaide L. Vincent, daughter of James Vincent, of Sherman, and a graduate of Syracuse university. They have two children : Almon V. and Cathe- rine M.
J OHN TALLMAN is the son of Abner and Thankful (Sparks) Tallman, and was born in Broome county, New York, September 8, 1823. His maternal grandfather, John Sparks, took passage on the first continental ship that sailed from an American port, and he fought all through the Revolutionary war on land and sea. The Tallmans are of Scotch descent. Abner Tallman (father) was a native of Essex county, this State, and came to this county in 1834 and located in Dunkirk. He was a car- penter and joiner by trade, and died at Arkwright this county, in October, 1849. He married
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OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Thankful Sparks, a native of Washington county, this State, who was a member of the Free-Will Baptist church, and died in Dunkirk in 1837, at the early age of forty-six years.
John Tallman was reared in Chautauqua county, received a common school education, and learned the carpenter's and joiner's trade with his father, in which business he continued until September, 1864, when he entered the Union service, enlisting in Co. A, 188th regi- ment, N. Y. Vol. Infantry, and served till the close of the war, being honorably discharged at Washington, D. C., May 30, 1865. While in the army he contracted chronic rheumatism and lias never seen a well day since, being very badly drawn out of shape. He has been granted a pension to relieve his mind from anxiety as to provision for his comfort, and owns a large brick house and a lot of land in Forestville, where he resides. In 1844 he moved to Great Valley, Cattaraugus county, this State, where he served five years as constable, and where he resided- excepting the time he was in the army-until the spring of 1890, when he came to Forest- ville. In politics Mr. Tallman is an uncom- promising republican.
John Tallman was married in 1844 to Elmira, daughter of Jarvis Bennett, of Villanova, this county.
DGAR B. TOLLES belongs to the class
and awe inspiring as was the forge of Vulcan to the mythical inhabitants of the orient. His career, however, as pioneer adventurer was short-lived ; while crossing the lake in a canoe, it was suddenly capsized and he was drowned. At this time his son Buel (father of subject) was four years old. Subsequently his widow married Nathan Thompson, a soldier and officer in the Revolutionary war. Captain Thompson came to Chautauqua county in the year 1828, bought a tract of land from the old Holland Land company, settled on and improved it and there lived out his days. He was a member of the Baptist church. Grandfather Zerubabel Curtis was born in the State of Vermont, but later became a resident of Malone, St. Law- rence county, New York, where he died. Hc was a farmer, contractor and lumberman and through his business tact, his foresight and careful judgment in the transaction and control of his various interests, accumulated quite a good deal of property, both real and personal. In his gifts to charitable, educational and re- ligious causes he was uniformly liberal. He was a member of the Baptist church, a Revolu- tionary sailor of valor and captain in the New York State militia. He married Esther Thompson, and had a family of thirteen chil- dren, twelve girls and one boy. Buel Tolles (subject's father) came to Chautauqua county, town of Sheridan, about 1830, having been
E of thrifty and intelligent farmers of the born in Skaneateles, Onondaga county, New town of Sheridan, Chautauqua county. His York, November 29, 1810. He was a cabinet- paternal grandfather, Chester Tolles, was of maker by occupation, and worked at that busi- ness for a considerable length of time after coming to Chautauqua county. Farming also came in for a minor share of his attention. He was a democrat in politics and was elected by his party to the office of supervisor for eight successive years. As illustrative of the entire confidence in which he was held by his fellow citizens, it is sufficient to say that he has, witli- out solicitation on his part, been elected to every Puritan lineage, a native of Connecticut, and came to the shores of the placid Skaneateles while the forests and lands were still free from the marks and innovations of Anglican pro- gress. His companions were pioneer farmers and foresters, but he was a blacksmith and farmer, and instead of conducting a crusade of destruction against primeval forests and virgin soil, he set up a forge and smithy, which, to the aboriginal natives, was quite as curious political office within the gift of his town. He
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
married Sarah S. Curtis (born March 3, 1816, and died April 24, 1889), who bore him the following named children : Almira D., died in 1863; Euphemia A. lives at home; Eliza, married to Alfred Hall, of the town of Sheri- dan ; and Edgar B. (subject). Buel Tolles was a member of I. O. O. F., and died in 1877.
Edgar B. Tolles was born April 30, 1846, in the town of Sheridan, Chautauqua county, New York. In his childhood and youth he was surrounded with pastoral scenes, reared as a farm lad and educated in the common schools. He is and has always been a farmer throwing into it a rare business tact and penetration.
On November 12, 1873, he married Mary Bentley, a daughter of David and Ruth Keech Bentley, of the town of Hanover. Mr. and Mrs. Tolles have no children.
Z EBEDEE TRUESDELL. One of the most aged and venerable of Jamestown's citizens is Zebedee Truesdell, who was born to Jacob and Alice (Gates) Truesdell, at Calwell, Warren county, New York, July 14, 1806. With him was born a twin sister, who many years ago married Henry Dixon. She is still living, and with Zebedee, probably makes the oldest pair of twins in the State of New York, if not in America. Richard Truesdell (paternal grandfather) was born near New York city, and was the descendant of English ancestors, and gained a livelihood from his farm, supple- menting it by shoemaking. He lived to the un- usual age of one hundred and five years. Jacob Truesdell was born at the same place, but removed to Calwell, where he resided until nearly seventy-five years of age, when, in 1833, he removed to Harmony, this county, where he died in 1850. Mr. Truesdell's life-long occu- pation was farming. Politically he affiliated with the republicans, and was a member of the Baptist church. His wife, Alice Gates, became the mother of six sons and two daughters, of whom one of each are living.
Zebedee Truesdell spent his early life helping his father, getting such schooling as he could, and learning a trade-he chose to be a carpen- ter, paying particular attention to ship-carpen- try, and many of the boats that run on the Erie canal contained many results of his labor. Later, about 1842, he bought a farm in Har- mony, upon which he lived for twenty years. In 1881 he removed into Jamestown and since has lived a quiet and retired life.
He married Ellen Campbell, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Dobbins) Campbell. William Campbell was a native of Ireland, but coming to America, lie located at first in Phila- delphia and afterwards in Westchester county, this State, where he died. He was a painter by trade, and had a family of twelve children. Mr. and Mrs. Truesdell have two children : Almira J., wife of William Peckham, a carpenter and house-builder, living in Jamestown-they have one child, Clayton J .; and William H., en- gaged in the grocery business at Janiestown, married Alice Peckham, a daughter of George Peckham, who came from Rhode Island and now resides at Harmony.
Politically a republican, Mr. Truesdell is also a member of the Methodist church, where he usually officiates as class leader.
E RASTUS H. TAYLOR, an enterprising farmer of Scotch descent, was born in Portland town, Chautauqua county, New York, February 1, 1850, and is a son of Gurdon and Catherine (Masher) Taylor. His paternal grand- father, Erastus Taylor, was a native of Connect- icut and after serving in the American army through the second war with England, he came to this county and settled in Portland in 1816, where he followed farming until he died. Gurdon Taylor was born in Portland town in 1821 and died March 4, 1863, aged forty-two years. He was a pushing, industrious man with a disposition that made many friends and no enemies. His labor was rewarded with pros-
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OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
perity and when he died his family was in eom- fortable eireumstanees. He married Catherine Masher. Mr. Taylor was a member of the Congregational ehureh and the Masonie fra- ternity. In polities he voted with the demoerats and served one term as supervisor of the town. She was born in 1828 and is still living, aged sixty-three years.
Erastus H. Taylor was reared on his father's farm in Portland town. He got his education at the Dunkirk schools and when arrived at man's estate began farming on his own aeeount which he has ever since followed. A fine traet of seventy-six acres of land, lying on the main road, four miles east of Westfield, is his property and upon it are forty aeres of well kept vineyard and a young orehard of great promise eontain- ing one-tenth that area.
In 1875 Mr. Taylor married Ada Munson, a daughter of Milton J. Munson, a sterling farmer living near by, and by her has had one ehild, Lottie M.
E. H. Taylor is a democrat, an enterprising farmer and a courteous gentleman.
w ILLIAM USBORNE is a son of Wil- liam H. and Fanny F. (Brooks) Us- borne, and was born in Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York, February 28, 1854. His father and mother were natives of England and eame to the United States the year previous to his birth, locating in Westfield. His father was a skillful tool dresser and driller, did a great deal of work in the oil country and worked for several years in the machine shop in Westfield. In religion he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal ehureh, a republican in polities and held the office of road commissioner in the town of Westfield for four years. He was killed in the terrible Prospeet disaster in 1872, being forty-seven years of age at the time of his death. He married Fannie F. Brooks, who was for some years a member of the Metho- dist Episcopal church but is now a presbyterian
and resides in Westfield, in her sixty-seventh year.
William Usborne was reared in Westfield and received the best edueation the schools of his native town afforded. After leaving school, in 1868, he went to work in the York machine shop, owned and operated by George P. York, where he learned the trade of a machinist and worked in that shop until 1889, when the death of Mr. York necessitated the closing of his place of business. In the same year Mr. Us- borne formed a partnership with William H. Wilson, under the firm name of Wilson & Us- borne and erected the buildings, on North Port- age street, they now occupy, where all kinds of machinery repairing and steam and water fitting is done. They are also the general agents for the Adriance, Platt & Co. mowing machines, reapers and binders, have the best harvesting machinery in the market and have charge of the extra parts for the celebrated Buckeye mowing machine, both old wood frame and new model, formerly manufactured by George P. York. They have a large and constantly growing bus- iness. Mr. Usborne is a democrat, has held the offices of trustee and assessor of the town of Westfield, is a member of the Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows, of the Equitable Aid Union and is a very stirring and energetie man.
William Usborne married in 1875 Martha E. Van Ness, daughter of Philo Van Ness, of Westfield. To their marriage have been born two children : Thomas W. and William H.
T THEOPHILUS J. VANDERGRIFT, a
well-known eitizen of Jamestown, is a son of William and Sophia (Sarver) Vander- grift, and was born in the eity of Pittsburgh, Penn., November 25, 1846.
The paternal grand father, Jaeob Vandergrift, was a native of the eity of Brotherly Love, although his ancestors eame from Holland ; he emigrated to Pittsburgh about 1815 and fol- lowed boat building for many years. William
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
Vandergrift was born in Philadelphia about 1806 and died in Pittsburgh in 1876. Hc, too, was a boat builder and followed that occupation through life. He married Sophia Sarver, who is still living, aged eighty-seven years. William Vandergrift was a whig in early life and after its assimilation by the Republican party, he cast his fortunes with the latter. By his mar- riage he became the father of ten children, five sons and five daughters
C HARLES H. WICKS, though a resident of Panama, Chautauqua county, New York, is one of the active, progressive and enterprising real estate dealers in the beautiful and well-known summering place of Lakewood in the same county. He was born October 15, 1849, in the town of Ellery, Chautauqua county, New York, and is a son of James H. and Sophia (Ward) Wicks. Paternal grandfather, John Wicks, was of English extraction, born in Saratoga county, New York, and immigrated to Chautau- qua county in 1818, settling in the town of Ellery. While here he pursued the occupation of farming, until he was borne to his last rest- ing place at a green old age. Grandfather Andrew Ward was a native of the widely- known Mohawk Valley, but, like many of his predecessors, followed the star of empire on its western course. He located in the town of Ellicott, where he took up, cleared and im- proved a large tract of land, on which he con- tinued to reside the remainder of his life. Con- siderable of his life was spent in active military service, whichi he regarded not only a duty but as an extreme pleasure. He married Angelina Trueax, who lived to be over one hundred years of age, and bore him seven children, five boys and two girls. James H. Wicks (father) was born in Saratoga county, New York, on August 2, 1817, removed to the town of Ellery where he lived for a time, then removing to the town of Gerry where he died March 1891. He was accounted a good farmer and an upright
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