USA > New York > Niagara County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Niagara County, New York > Part 22
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The Richmonds are members of the Epis- copal church, the old mother church of England, and are regular in their attendance and devotion to the cause of religion. They are sincere in their belief, and consistent in their conduct; with them morality and religion go hand in hand, and are essential characteristics of true men and women.
Politically Mr. Richmond is a democrat, and an important factor in the politics of Niagara county. While he has not sought political distinction, he has never failed to discharge the duties of good citizenship, or refused to accept office when his services were demanded by his party and the people. He served the city as alderman, and gave the people the benefit of his good business sense in the management of city affairs. In 1883 his party nominated him for mayor, and he was elected mayor of Lockport by a handsome majority. He showed the same unflinching courage, sound judgment, and business capacity in office that he dis- played in his private affairs. His adminis- tration was marked for ability, and he discharged the duties of the office in such a manner as to give dignity to the mayor- alty and win honors for himself.
H ON. ALBERT F. BROWN, who has been prominently identified with the manufacturing interests of Lockport for over thirty years, is a son of Capt. Jeremiah and Abigail (Davis) Brown, and was born in Orleans county, New York, July 18, 1818. Capt. Jeremiah Brown was a native of
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Cheshire county, Massachusetts, where his family had been resident from an early day in the history of the Bay State. He served as a captain in the war of 1812, and his father was an officer in the Revolutionary war; was at the burning of Buffalo, and afterwards settled in Orleans county, where he purchased a tract of five hundred acres of land, which he cleared and improved. HIe was a democrat in politics, served for many years as a justiee of the peace, and represented his connty for one year in the New York legislature. He was alike prom- inent and active in his community until his death, which occurred in 1863, when he was in the seventy-seventh year of his age. His wife's maiden name was Abigail Davis, who was a daughter of a Baptist minister by the name of Davis who came from Massachu- setts to Chantanqua county, this State, when she was but a mere child. She passed away in 1862, aged seventy-seven years.
Albert F. Brown passed his boyhood on the Orleans county farm. He attended the common schools and entered Gaines' academy, but completed his academic course at Canandaigua academy. Leaving school, he remained on the farm for a few years, then took the position of teller in the Farmers' bank of Orleans county, in which he served for two years, and at the end of that time went to Lonisiana, where he was engaged for three years in teaching. Returning from the south, he gave his attention to farming for four years, when, in 1854, he was elected superintendent of the poor of Orleans county by the Know- Nothing party, and at the end of his term of three years, was elected for a second term of the same length of time as his first term. On December 7, 1860, he came to Loekport, where he has resided ever since.
Soon after his arrival in Lockport he became identified with the Holly Mann- facturing Company, of which he served as treasurer for five years. He then, in part- nership with Philip Winnegar, purchased a paper mill, which they operated for seven years, when Mr. Brown converted it into a pulp mill, of which he was the proprietor for seven years, when he withdrew from business, and was succeeded in the manage- ment of the mill by his son-in-law, Jesse Peterson.
On June 29, 1847, he married Augusta S. Angevine, daughter of Eli Angevine, formerly of Duchess county. They have one child, a daughter, Arabella A., now Mrs. Jesse Peterson, of Lockport.
Within the last three years Mr. Brown has been retired from active business life, with the exception of personally superintending his fruit farm and holding some stock in the Holly Manufacturing Company, which has a capital of one-half million dollars, and is one of the largest manufacturing estab- lishments of its kind in the United States. Mr. Brown is a tall and well preserved man, of nice appearance and pleasant and agreeable manners. He has traveled ex- tensively during the last ten years in the United States, Mexico, and West Indies, and throughont Enrope. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and was a democrat until 1872, since which year he has been an active and ardent prohibitionist. In 1870 he was elected mayor of Lockport by the democrats, and in 1876 received the nomination of the Prohibition party for lieutenant-governor of New York, but could not hope for success against the overwhelming opposition of the old parties. Strong in purpose and morally firm, Albert F. Brown has never been led into the vis-
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ionary or impracticable. Reliable, accurate, careful, and energetie, he has won suceess by persistent effort and by deserving it.
H ON. JJOSHUA GASKILL, an ex- surrogate of Niagara county and a prominent lawyer of Lockport, is a son of Varney and Sarah (Bishop) Gaskill, and was born in the town of Royalton, Niagara county, New York, November 4, 1835. One hundred and forty-one years ago, in 1750, the founder of the Gaskill family left Yorkshire, England, to settle in one of the New England States. Varney Gaskill, Sr., was a follower of George Fox, and a con- sistent Friend or Quaker. He left his native State of New Hampshire to settle in the town of Royalton, where he was engaged in farming until his death in 1841, at the advanced age of eighty-six years. His son, Varney Gaskill (father), was born in New Hampshire in 1790, and in 1813 became one of the early settlers of the town of Royalton, where he followed his trade of blaeksmith, to which trade he added later in life the oceupation of farming. He was a man of extensive reading for his oppor- tunities, and supported the Whig party nntil the formation of the Republican party, when he identified himself wtih that organization. He served his town as assessor; married Sarah Bishop, of Montville, Connecticut, who died in 1863, aged seventy years, and after surviving her two years, passed away in 1865.
Joshua Gaskill grew to manhood in Royalton. He attended the Loekport Union sehool, and Wilson Collegiate institute, and then entered the University of Rochester, from which he was graduated in the elass of 1859. Leaving college, he commenced
the study of law in the office of George D. Lamont, of Loekport, and after completing the required course of reading was admitted to practice in the courts of Niagara county at the Deeember term of 1860. He imme- diately opened an office in Lockport, where he has practiced ever sinee, excepting part of the years 1862 and 1863, when he was a resident of Saginaw, Michigan. In political matters he has always been a republican. He has served as eity clerk, city treasurer and tax receiver, clerk of the board of supervisors, and presided for one term of six years, from 1872 to 1878, as surrogate of Niagara county. Judge Gaskill has always been active in his profession, to which he gives elose attention, and in its practice looks well and carefully to every interest of his clients. He is a member of Columbia Lodge, No. 20, Ancient Order of United Workmen, and No. 44, Integrity Lodge, Sexennial League, and takes a deep in- terest in any movement for the improve- ment of Loekport or Niagara county.
On May 25, 1863, he united in marriage with Salome, daughter of George H. Cox, at that time of. Cineinnati, Ohio, but now of Indianapolis, Indiana. To Mr. and Mrs. Gaskill have been born eight children, three of whom, one son and two daughters, sur- vive : Sarah Franees, De Witt Clinton, and Salome Birtha Gaskill.
G EORGE W. EDDY is prominent among the business men of Middleport and Niagara eounty who have won their own unaided way to prosperity. He is a son of William and Caroline (Flint ) Eddy, and was born in Flint, Genesee county, Michigan, June 8, 1845. The Eddy family is of English origin, and Ira Eddy, the
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grandfather of George W. Eddy, was a native of Vermont. He was a mechanic, and removed to that part of Genesee, now Wyoming county, where he settled in Gainesville. One of his sons was William Eddy (father), who was born in September, 1813, and in 1840 went to Flint, Michigan, where he died in 1874. IIe was a contractor and builder, and at one time did an extensive business. He was an honest, upright man, a stanch republican, and, although not a member of any church, contributed liberally to all religious purposes. He married Caro- line Flint in 1837, and reared a family of six sons : Colonel E. Frank (deceased ), Cap- tain Charles C., now dead; James E., a me- chanie ; George W., William P. (deceased), and Edwin N., who died at one year of age. Colonel E. Frank Eddy entered the federal service in 1862 as a lieutenant in the 16th Michigan volunteers. He was promoted to captain, received three wounds in the Wil- derness fights, and was afterwards commis- sioned colonel of the 29th Michigan, which he commanded until the close of the war. Captain Charles C. enlisted as a private in the 8th Michigan, and was successively promoted until he attained the rank of captain. William P. enlisted in 1862, at the age of seventeen, in the 4th Michigan cavalry, was taken prisoner in the Shenan- doah valley in 1864, and confined in Libby prison for six months. These three sons made a war record of which their family may well be proud.
George W. Eddy attended the common schools, and commenced his business career in life as a dry goods clerk when but a boy. Ile next had charge of a general mercantile store, and in 1874 embarked in the lumber business at Middleport, as a member of the firm of Jackson & Eddy. Five years later
Mr. Eddy purchased his partner's interest in the business, which he operated until 1880, when he formed his present partner- ship with S. G. Rowley, under the firm name of Rowley & Eddy. They now oper- ate three large and amply stocked yards ; one in Middleport, another at Medina, and the third at Alabama, in Genesee county. They also do a large and prosperous busi- ness in contracting and building. In 1891 he helped organize and became president of the Middleport Manufacturing Company. The plant is of considerable area, and has all needed equipments for the manufacture of sash, doors, blinds, and all inside house furnishings for the eastern markets. They make a specialty of hardwood finish- ings. The main building is two stories high, 60 x 100 feet in dimensions, and has wings 30 x40 and 18x70 feet. They employ a regular force of sixty-five men. Mr. Eddy is an active republican, and was long one of the vestrymen of Trinity Prot- estant Episcopal church, of Middleport, in which he is now a warden. Mr. Eddy is a self-made man, who by his business ability and energy has, in a few years, built up a substantial and extensive business from a very small beginning.
April 30, 1883, he wedded Dora L. Sea- man, daughter of Edward O. Seaman. They have one child, a daughter named Mary Florence, who was born December 30, 1884. Mr. Eddy's residence, on South Main street, with its large and well-kept grounds, is one of the finest in the place.
H IRAM STRONG is a son of Amos and Mary (Goodwin) Strong, and was born at Lansing, Tompkins county, New York, January 23, 1808. Bennajah Strong
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(grandfather) was a man of strong person- ality. He was a native of Woodbury, Litchfield county, Connecticut, and mi- grated to Tompkins county, where he died at the advanced age of ninety-six years. He was a farmer, and at the time of his death owned a section of land in Tompkins county. At the breaking out of the Revo- lutionary war, he enlisted under the flag of the struggling and starving Colonies, and wore the uniformi of a captain. Ile was twice married, his first wife being Jane Cothran, by whom he had seven children, four sons and three daughters. His second wife was the widow of Judge Powers. He was an ardent whig, and was recognized as a local leader of his party. William Good- win (maternal grandfather) was a native of New Jersey, and after leaving the State of luis birth, he removed to Tompkins county, New York, where he died in 1825, having reached the age of four score and ten years. Hle was a leader among the whigs in the early history of this county, and was edu- cated in political matters. For a number of years lie was a justice of the peace in his native town. He was married to Ruth Gibbs, by whom he had eight children, two sons and six daughters. He was a devout Methodist, and was identified with all the reforms of his time looking toward the advancement of his church. Amos Strong, father of Hiram Strong, was born at Wood- bury, Litchfield county, Connecticut, Janu- ary 18, 1771, removed to Tompkins county with his family, and later came to New Fane, this county, in 1827, where he died in 1838. He was an extensive farmer, a whig in politics, and in religious belief a Presbyterian, of which church he was an active member for a number of years. He married Mary Goodwin, who was born in
1772, in New Jersey, and died in October, 1820. Ten children were born to them. His second wife was the widow of Gen. Bloom, nee Christine Sansmen.
Hiram Strong was educated in the con- mon schools of his native town, is a farmer, and owns 300 acres of valuable land. IIe is a democrat, and in political discussions is a foeman worthy of any steel. He is a Presbyterian, and in 1834 married Phoebe Casterline, who died in 1877. They had nine children, four sons and five daughters : Joseph (deceased) ; Margaret, at home ; Augustus, at home ; Augusta married Charles G. Dickinson (deceased), a son of Varsal Dickinson, who was a native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and removed to Hartland, this county, in 1835, where he died. Charles G. Dickinson was born at Hartland, this State, in 1837, was a farmer by occupation, a republican in politics, and in religious belief a Presbyterian. In 1870 he went to the Black Hills, Dakota, where he died in 1871. He married Augusta Strong in 1862, and this union was blessed with one child, Charles S., who was born at South Saginaw, Michigan, September 16, 1864, and attended the common schools until he reached the age of sixteen, when he entered the academy at Lockport, where he remained three years. In 1886 he began the study of medicine under Dr. Peter Failing, of Lockport, with whom he re- mained two years, and at the end of that time entered the Niagara Medical univer- sity, from which he will graduate May 3, 1892. He is a democrat, and a member of the Presbyterian church ; Phoebe married Dex- ter Wheeler, who resides at Hartland, this county ; Goodwin married Delisle Thomp- son, who died November 25, 1882; Harry married Abbie Creelman, and they reside
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at East Saginaw, Michigan, where he is engaged in the real estate business, and is also superintendent of the poor; Frederick, who married Sarah Wallace, of Lockport, resides at New Fane, this county; and Carrie is the wife of Stuart Pierson, a resi- dent of Brockport, Monroe county, where they reside.
We have traced one more of the Revo- lutionary families of the republic, the blood of whose ancient sire fought for American freedom and liberty through privations and distress, the like of which the modern soldier knows but little. We regret that we have not sufficient data to do justice to the memory of this Revolutionary officer, but we cannot fail to note the fact that, historically, the family has been zealous in the Christian faith, which was characteristic of the Revolutionary soldier, and this faith has been handed down from sire to son.
MARTIN N. HASKELL, a leading dry goods merchant of Lockport, and one of her most enterprising business men, is a son of Allen and Lucy ( Harmon) Haskell, and was born in Peru, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, July 31, 1850. He is a descendent of the Haskell family who trace their lineage back to the days of William the Conqueror, and is of old Nor- man stock. Three brothers of them landed in this country in the early part of the seventeenth century, and settled in New England. Roger Haskell (grandfather) was a native of Massachusetts, and lived most of his life in Peru, where he died. He was a farmer and an old Revolutionary soldier, and received for his services in the war, the farm on which he lived, and on which his son Allen lived, and on which his grandson
Albert now lives, in Berkshire county, Massachusetts. He married and had a family of thirteen children. Allen Haskell (father) was the youngest child, and was born in 1803, and died in 1889. He was a farmer, a republican in politics, and a stal- wart member of that party. He married Lucy Harmon, who died in 1884, at the age of seventy-two years. Their family con- sisted of eight children, six sons and two daughters: Henry, who lives in New York city, and is engaged in publishing a direc- tory of the city; Albert G., a farmer, living on the old homestead; Charles lives in New York city, and is a trunk and leather merchant; George lives at Buffalo, New York; Phineas N. is a dry goods mer- chant in Meadville, Pennsylvania; Jane is the wife of Mr. St. Clair, of New York city ; Hannah ( Haskell) Watkins lives with her brother on the old homestead; and Martin N.
Martin N. Haskell, the subject of this article, received his education in the eom- mon schools of Berkshire county, Massa- chusetts. He started in life for himself at the age of seventeen, and went to Lake- ville, Connecticut, where he worked in a cutlery establishment six months, when loss of health compelled him to abandon that business. After working in a chair manu- factory for a short time, he came to Buffalo, New York, in the Spring of 1869, and took a course in the telegraphy department of Bryant & Stratton's Business college, and in July of that year engaged with Barnes & Baneroft in the wholesale dry goods business as a clerk, which position he held for eleven years. In 1881 he came to Lockport and embarked in the dry goods business with his brother, under the firm name of Haskell Brothers. This partner-
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ship was continued for nine years. Since March, 1889, he has conducted the business alone. His store is now located at No. 72 Main street, in a fine building 20 x 147, and three stories high. He is a member of East Avenue Congregational church, is one of the board of trustees, holds the position of secretary of the board; is also Sabbath school superintendent of that church, and is the chairman of its building committee. He is a leading member of his church, and is deeply interested in the cause of religion. He is a republican in politics, but is inclined to be independent, taking more interest in measures than party. He is a prominent Mason, and belongs to Red Jacket Lodge, No. 646, Free and Accepted Masons, and is a fourteen degree Scottish Rite Mason. Mr. Haskell is one of the leading dry goods merchants of Lockport, and has one of the largest stores in the city, in which he em- ploys twelve clerks. He always carries a large and well-selected fashionable stock. His social, business, and financial standing have placed him in the front rank among the best business men of the city.
On May 31, 1874, Mr. Haskell was mar- ried to Cornelia Marshall, of Angelica, Alleghany county, N. Y. To this union have been born four children : George Allen, Newton Marshall, Edith Lucy, and Demy Demond.
REV. WILLIAM C. WISNER, D.D.,
the common "friend of humanity in all its varied relations and duties of life," was born in New York, July 7, 1808.
William C.Wisner attended Homer acad- emy, New York, and then entered Union college, from which he was graduated. Leaving college, he qualified himself for the Presbyterian ministry by a theological
course. In 1838 he became pastor of the Second Presbyterian church of East Lock- port, and four years later assumed charge of the Presbyterian church of Lockport, which enjoyed his labors until death ended his life upon this earth on July 14, 1880, when he was well advanced into his seventy-second year. In 1840 and 1841 he conducted a series of revivals in adjoining towns, which added over one thousand converts to the church, and again in 1868 he met with great success in adding scores to the church. He was opposed to the institution of slavery, and when he came to Lockport waged a successful contest against the infidels of that place and their organ, the Boston Investigator.
When called to receive his celestial re- ward for labors terrestrial, his death was sincerely deplored by the citizens of Lock- port, irrespective of church membership. His remains were borne to his church, which was tastefully and artistically decorated, and where appropriate exercises were conducted by Revs. Shaw, Freeman, Norton, and Mar- vin, after which the casket was borne to Glenwood cemetery and lowered into the grave. Many eloquent tributes were paid to his memory, and it was said " that his life-work as a pastor must be regarded as the chief gem in the crown you are weaving for his memory, and I cannot believe that gem will cease to glitter alike in the homes of affluence and of poverty in Lockport till time itself is lost in eternity."
JOHN L. CHASE, a prosperous farmer of the town of Hartland, is a son of Leonard and Lucy A. (Lewis) Chase, and was born in the town of Franklin, New London county, Connectient, November 10th, 1829.
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His aneestors were of English extraction, and settled in Newburyport, Mass., when they first eame to America. Leonard Chase (father) was born in Northampton, Mass., February 11, 1797, and died October 10, 1868, at Ware, Mass., at seventy-one years of age. He was a farmer by oeeupation, and spent his life on a farm engaged in agriculture, and prospered as well as the average farmer generally does. He married Lucy A. Lewis, and as a result of this union had four children, three sons and one daughter, all of whom he reared, educated, and set off in life, giving each a fair start, and they have all prospered well. He was originally a whig, but on the dissolution of the old Whig party became a republican, and adhered to that party throughout life, always taking a deep interest in the polit- ical affairs of the country. He was a men- ber of the Episcopal church, in which he was reared and to which he adhered until his death in 1868. A christian by nature, honest, moral, and upright in all his dealings with his fellow-men, it was an easy matter for him to be a consistent member of the old mother church.
John L. Chase spent his boyhood in the common schools of Connecticut, where he received a first-class English education, which qualified him for a business man. He entered the employ of a Hartford firm who were wool dealers, soon after arriving at manhood, and continued in that business until he came to Johnson's Creek in 1879, when he went to farming. He now owns a good farm of one hundred and five acres of land in the town of Hartland, and has met with excellent success in farming, in which he takes a deep interest, always studying everything that bears upon his favorite pur- suit and adopting all the improved weth-
ods of agriculture, keeping pace with the advance of the age.
On November 27, 1850, he married Sarah Taylor, a lady well qualified to be a count- panion for such a man. To Mr. and Mrs. Chase have been born three children : Susan, the wife of Peter Culver, who resides in the town of Hartland, and is a farmer by occu- pation, being the only one uow living.
. J. L. Chase was formerly a republican, casting his first vote for John C. Fremont, and was an active member of that party until Cleveland ran for governor of New York, when he became a mugwump. He was supervisor of the town of Hartland for six years, commencing in 1876. He is a leading Mason and a member of Johnson's Creek Hartland Lodge, No. 218, Free and Accepted Masons. He is held in high esteem by all who know him, and is re- garded as one of the most intelligent farmers of Niagara county. He is comfortably sit- uated to enjoy life, and having put himself beyond the reach of want, he is now taking life comparatively easy, enjoying all the comforts of a good home.
W ALTER L. CRAIN, of Johnson's Creek, who is now living a quiet and retired life, enjoying himself in the fullness of ripe years among his friends, is a son of Asa and Catherine (Lyon) Crain, and was born in the town of Hartland, Niagara county, New York, August 2, 1822. The Crains are of Irish stock, and came to this country at an early period. The grand- father of Walter was Rufus Crain, who was a native of Herkimer county, this State, where he lived most of his life and died. Moses Lyon (maternal grandfather) was of German descent. Asa Crain (father)
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