USA > New York > Niagara County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Niagara County, New York > Part 58
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In politics Mr. Hamlin is a stanch repub- lican, and takes an intelligent interest in the success of his party. He is a member of the Episcopal church, and also of Niagara Fron- tier Lodge, No. 132, Free and Accepted Masons. He is a capable, energetic and successful business man, and very popular among his many friends.
WILLIAM A. PHILPOTT, Jr., a lead- ing business man of Niagara Falls vil- lage, and the proprietor of one of the finest manufacturing establishments of the county, was born at Dover, Kent county, England, February 15, 1845, and is a son of William A. and Harriet ( Best ) Philpott. The Phil- pott family has long been resident of En- gland, and Arnold Philpott (great-grand- father) was born at Deptford and removed
to Kent county, where he died about 1836. His son, John Philpott (grandfather), was born in 1795, and died about 1861. Hc was a trinity, or cinque port pilot under the British government, and married a Mrs. Johnson, by whom he had two children : John and Charlotte. After his first wife's death he married Martha Johnson (nee Austin ), who bore him three sons and two daughters : William A., Mary, James, Sarah, and George. William A. Philpott (father) served a seven years' apprenticeship to the trade of carpenter, and in 1849 came to the village of Niagara Falls, where he has been engaged ever since in carpentering and con- tracting. He married Harriet, daughter of William Best, of Barfreston, near Dover, England, and has had seven children : Wil- liam A., Jr .; James B, George R., Char- lotte (dead), Charles H., Walter (dead), and Edward E. Mr. Philpott is a republi- can in politics, a deacon of the Baptist church, and a member of the Royal Temp- lars. For further particulars concerning him and his children, see his sketch, which appears in this volume.
At four years of age William A. Philpott, Jr., was brought to Niagara Falls village by his parents, where he received his education in the public schools of that place. Leav- ing school, he was engaged in the steam- boat business on the Niagara river for four ycars, and then went into the Pennsylvania oil field, on the Allegheny river, where he remained for two years. At the end of that time he entered the foundry and machine shops of McMullen & Bryan, at Titusville, Pennsylvania, and learned the trade of machinist, which he followed successively in the locomotive department of the Atlan- tic & Great Western railroad at Kent, Ohio, and the machine shops of the Holly Manu-
J. S. Fossett
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OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
facturing Company at Lockport, New York. He left the latter place to become machinist of the Pettebone Paper Company, with which he remained until 1880, when he formed a partnership with Frederick Leup- pie, under the firm name of Philpott & Leuppie, and they opened a machine shop on the State reservation, which they oper- ated until 1885. In that year they re- moved their shop to the river bank and hydraulic canal, in the mill district, where they remained until July, 1891, when they sold to McGarigle & Sweeney, and built their present large and substantial manu- facturing establishment on the corner of Fourth and Niagara streets. It is a large, two-story stone building, 40x80 feet in dimensions, with a basement, slate roof, and iron cornices. It is the finest building of its kind in the village of Niagara Falls, and will compare favorably in many respects with like establishments in the great com- mercial and manufacturing centres of the Empire State. Mr. Philpott is now manu- facturing the Perfection wire stretching machine for book-binders and printing offices, but expects shortly to add several other lines of work. It is unnecessary to say that success has attended his efforts in his latest field of manufacturing, as the de- mand for his machines in all parts of the country tells an indisputable story of suc- cess.
. In 1868 he married Alice Gladding, who died in 1872, and left one child, Maud A. After her death he married Lucy Hunting- don, nee Zeyfang, who passed away in 1885, and in 1887 he wedded her sister, Margaret Barber, nee Zeyfang.
Politically, Mr. Philpott is a republican, yet has no time to spare from a rapidly in- creasing business to give attention to poli-
tics or allow his name to be used as a can- didate for any office. He is a member and trustee of the Baptist church, and was the first select councilor of Niagara Falls Coun- cil, No. 17, Royal Templars of Temperance. He is a past master of Niagara Frontier Lodge, No. 132, Free and Accepted Masons, in which he has filled all of the appointed and elective offices. Mr. Philpott has al- ways been interested in the honor and mili- tary standing of his State, and enlisted on November 20, 1885, in the 42d separate company, New York State National guards, in which he served until November 25, 1890, when he was honorably discharged. He is widely known and esteemed in his community.
THEODORE S. FASSETT, one of the leading business men of North Tona- wanda, and a member of the lumber firm of Smith, Fassett & Co., is a son of Major Asa and Amanda M. (Ver Valen) Fassett, and was born in Albany, the capital of the State of New York, on February 19, 1848. The Fassetts were of the Irish families which left the Emerald Isle to settle in the New England States of the American Un- ion. One member of the family in Ver- mont was Amos Fassett (grandfather), who left the Green Mountain State to settle in Albany, New York, where he died at eighty-two years of age. He married, and one of his sons was Major Asa Fassett, who was born in 1804, in the capital city of the State, in which he resided until his death in 1872. He was a man of quiet worth, not fond of ostentatious show, but everready when necessity or duty demanded to accept any position to which his fellow citizens called him. He served as chief of
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
staff with rank of major in one of the old militia brigades of the State, was a demo- crat in his political views, served as a super- visor of Albany county, and always attended the services of the Presbyterian church. He married Amanda M. Ver Valen, of Hol- land descent, a native of New York city, but almost a life-long resident of Albany. She preceded her husband to the tomb, dying in 1853.
Theodore S. Fassett was reared in his native city, where he obtained his education in the public schools and Albany academy. Leaving school he resolved upon a business pursuit, and became a tally boy in the lum- ber yards of Albany, where he was success- fully employed in different positions until 1873, when, having become familiar with every detail of lumbering, he came to North Tonawanda and helped organize the lumber firm of Lane, Fassett & Company. During the next year Mr. Lane withdrew from the firm, and his place was taken by James R. Smith, of Buffalo, and the new firm was organized under the firm name of Smith, Fassett & Company. It continued until 1881, when James A. Fassett, a brother of the subject of this sketch, withdrew, and J. R. Smith and Mr. Fassett continucd the present firm of Smith, Fassett & Company.
In 1875 Mr. Fassett united in marriage with Mrs. A. A. Bates, of New York city.
Politically Mr. Fassett is a democrat, and although no politician, served one term as president of his village. He was instru- mental in the organization, and served as the first president of the Tonawanda Lum- berman's association, serving also the second term. He is a member of Tonawanda Lodge, Ancient Order of United Workmen, and Tonawanda Lodge, No. 247, Free and Ac- cepted Masons. He has been interested, to
some extent, for several years in the finan- cial institutions of the village, and is now a stockholder and director of the State bank of Tonawanda.
In a recently published history of Tona- wanda we find the following mention of Mr. Fassett's lumbering interests : "The Tonawanda Island lumber district (owned by Messrs. Smith, Fasset & Company) is rapidly becoming famous as the ne plus ultra of all lumber plants. Situate in the east channel of Niagara river, though but a little more than one hundred acres in ex- tent, it is perhaps the busiest lumber center in the world. It is the very heart of the business in Tonawanda, and the value of the lumber yearly stored in the lofty piles that so thickly cover it, would mount well up into the millions. It is a busy hive of industry, dotted with mills, offices and store houses, and intersected by long rows of lofty piles of lumber, laid out in streets like a city, and many of the piles as high as a business block in New York or Chicago. The discouragements met by Messrs. Smith and Fassett in reaching the present grand development of the property, are said to have been many and great, but the work is done; and where but one year ago orchard, and swamp, and forest would have met the sight, now three mammoth planing mills are throwing out their smoke high in air, and millions of feet of lumber loom up in regular piles." In 1882 Mr. Fassett and his partner, Mr. Smith, purchased Tona- wanda Island of the late William Wilken- son, of Buffalo, New York, for forty-five thousand dollars. Since that time they have paid out over one hundred and fifty thou- sand dollars in ditching, draining, and dock- ing the island, which was formerly used by Mr. Wilkenson as a pleasure ground, and
M.N.CO
OFFICE OF SMITH, FASSETT & CO., NORTH TONAWANDA.
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OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
for raising fruit. They have nearly two miles of dock front under lease to several large lumber firms, and do an enormous amount of business themselves, handling yearly from twenty-five to thirty-five mil- lion feet of lumber, and from forty to fifty millions of shingles. Their trade extends over New York and the New England States, and south into Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The water works and the electric light plant of the village are situ- ated on this island.
Theodore S. Fassett is a regular attend- ant and contributor to the Protestant Epis- copal church. His success is due to his own efforts, and his great plant has largely added to the prosperity and material devel- opment of North Tonawanda.
HI IRAM B. TABOR, M. D., was a prom- inent physician of Wilson for nearly half a century, and was held in high esteem by all who knew him, as much on account of his great personal worth as for his unusual skill as a practitioner. He was born at Topsham, Orange county, Vermont, on the 21st of November, 1813, and was the son of Luther and Mary (Bishop) Tabor. He was reared in the State of Vermont, and after acquiring a good English education entered Woodstock Medical college, from which institution he was graduated with the degree of M. D. He removed from Orange county to Grand Isle, Grand Isle county, Vermont; and from the latter place, in 1837, to Wilson, this county. Here he en- gaged in the practice of his profession, and on account of his skill and his sympathetic treatment of patients, he soon acquired an extensive practice. IIc was an earnest student of the practice of medicine, and an
enthusiast in his profession, always keeping abreast of the times in matters pertaining to the healing art. IIe possessed a rugged constitution with great powers of endur- ance, which aided materially in his success as a practitioner. Ile was an active and prominent member of the Niagara County Medical association, and served for a time as its president. He continued in active practice at Wilson until his death, in 1885, at the age of seventy-two years.
Dr. Tabor was twice married. In 1839 he wedded Charlotte Gifford, a niece of Squire Reuben Wilson, who was one of the oldest, wealthiest, and most respected citi- zens of the town of Wilson. Shortly after their marriage Mrs. Tabor fell a victim to typhoid fever, and in 1840 Dr. Tabor was married to Sarah MeNitt, a daughter of John W. and Catherine ( Hubbard ) McNitt. By this union he had a family of five chil- dren : Elbertine A., married R. Baldwin, now editor of the Warrensburg Standard, at Warrensburg, Missouri ; Justine E. (now deceased), who married Charles Johnson, a lumber dealer at Greenville, Michigan; Eldridge II., a painter by trade, who mar- ried Anna Sickles, and now resides in the village of Wilson ; Corienne, deceased, who married John H. Crossman; and Fred, who married Belle Dwight, and is a farmer of the town of Wilson. Mrs. Sarah Tabor was born in Jefferson county, this State, in 1818, and is a member of the Presbyterian church at Wilson, where she still resides, being in the seventy-fourth year of her age.
John W. McNitt, father of Dr. Tabor's last wife, was born in Jefferson county, this State, about 1784, and removed to the town of Somerset, Niagara county, in 1830. He lived here until his death, in 1848, at the age of sixty-four years. He owned a large
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farm and acted as a land agent. He was a prominent democrat, and served as a mem- ber of the constitutional convention. Hc occupied the position of associate judge of Niagara county at the time of his deatlı. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, to which he contributed liberally, and may appropriately be said to have been a pillar in that church. He married Cath- erine Hubbard, by whom he had a family of ten children, three sons and seven daughters.
In politics Dr. Tabor was a stanch demo- crat, and wielded great influence in favor of the success of democratic principles. He was elected and served as coroner of Ni- agara county, and was a member of the board of education in the village of Wilson for a number of years. It was principally through his efforts and influence that the Wilson academy was abandoned, and the Union school substituted, which has proved of such great benefit to the educational in- terests of Wilson. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Wilson, and was prominent in Masonic circles, being for many years worshipful master of Ontario Lodge, No. 376, Free and Accepted Masons.
J. CHARLES HARRINGTON, one of
the younger business men, and the present city treasurer of Lockport, is a son of Henry and Polly (Baer) Harrington, and was born in the town of Royalton, Niagara county, New York, November 25, 1859. His paternal grandfather, James Harrington, was a native of Vermont, and after arriving at man's estate came from the Green Mountain State to New York, where he resided until his death. He was a carpenter by trade and followed carpentering for several years. He
married Lydia Mory, by whom he had three sons and one daughter. His son, Henry Harrington, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Rensselaer county, in 1795. He came, in 1840, to the village of Orangeport, in the town of Royalton, where he followed farming until 1861, when he re- nioved to the city of Lockport, in which he lived a retired life until his death in 1874. He was a farmer by occupation, a republican in politics, and a Methodist in religious faith and church membership. He married Sarah Snyder, by whom he had five sons and five daughters, of whom four sons are yet living and are engaged in farming. After the death of his wife, Mr. Harrington married for his second wife, Polly Baer, daughter of John A. Baer (maternal grandfather), a far- mer and pioneer settler of the county, who came from Pennsylvania about 1831. By his second marriage he had three children, two sons and one daughter: J. Charles ; Mary E., wife of Robert H. Pearson, of Lock- port ; and Edward B., a member of the Ni- agara county bar and a resident of Lockport.
J. Charles Harrington was reared in the town of Royalton and the city of Lockport, and received his education in the excellent Union school of Lockport. Leaving school he was engaged for about ten years as a clerk in a grocery, and during the latter part of this time he acted as assistant treasurer under Edward J. Wakeman, who was city and county treasurer for about eiglit years. In April, 1889, Mr. Harrington was elected city treasurer to succeed Mr. Wakeman, and his services in that office were so satisfactory that at the expiration of his term, in 1891, lie was re-elected for a second term, upon which he is now serving.
November 8, 1882, Mr. Harrington united in marriage with Belle, daughter of Edwin
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OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
Mecorney, a native of Connecticut and a resident of Lockport, where he follows his trade of machinist. Mr. and Mrs. Harring- ton liave three children, two sons and one daughter: Harry, Sarah, and Howard.
In politics J. Charles Harrington is a re- publican, and believes in the triumph of the principles of his party as necessary to the highest prosperity and full development of the State and Nation. He is a member of John Hodge Lodge, No. 69, Ancient Order of United Workmen of Lockport, and stands high as an enterprising citizen and success- ful business man.
ISAAC BURTON was one of that sub- stantial class of men to be found in every scction, whose number, whose law- abiding and law-sustaining disposition tends much toward the establishment and sus- tenance of public authority and the main- tenance of civil and religious institutions. He was born in the town of New Lebanon, Columbia county, New York, September 15, 1812. His father, Asa Burton, was born in Colunibia county, June 20, 1784, and died there May 24, 1821, when in the very prime of mature manhood. He was of En- glish descent, and passed all the days of his life in his native county, where he owned a farm and gave his time to the cultivation and improvement of his land, which was a heavy labor in that day of farming, when agricultural machinery was unknown, and all farm labor liad to be done by main strength.
Isaac Burton was reared in the town of New Lebanon, and received his education in the common and private schools of his neighborhood. ITis father's early death left him at ten years of age to his mother's care,
and a few years later, when he left school, he turned his attention to farming, which was then the main business in Columbia county. At twenty-four years of age he married, and twelve years later, in 1847, re- nioved to the farm upon which his widow now resides, in the town of Wilson, where 'he spent the remainder of his life in farm- ing and stock-raising.
On New Year's day, 1835, he united in marriage with Sarah A. Darling, and their union was blessed with one child, a son, Asa R., who married Clara, daughter of Abner Sherman, of Columbia county, and is now engaged in farming on the old homestead.
Mrs. Sarah A. Burton is a daughter of Zepheniah Darling, a native of Dutchess county, who was a prosperous farmer of Columbia county, in which he died at an advanced age. She was born in the town of New Lebanon, Columbia county, January 3, 1809, and since her husband's death, in 1875, lias still continued to reside upon the home place of fifty-two acres, which is located on the Randall road, five miles from the village of Wilson. Mrs. Burton is a very active and industrious woman for her years, and enjoys the respect and good will of her friends and neighbors.
Isaac Burton was a republican in political matters, and gave his active and steady support to the party whose great leaders, Lincoln and Grant, had received his vote in the dark days of the war and the trying scenes of reconstruction. Mr. Burton was, in the true sense of the name, a home man, and never allowed the attractions of busi- ness or any other cause to draw him away any length of time front liis home, where he appeared at his best. Upon his farm im- proving its fields, and at his fireside wel-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY 1
eoming his friends, his life passed pleasantly away, and when his years in the sunlight had swept to the sixty-fifth milestone, the dark shadow of death fell on the 12th day of November, 1875. He passed from earth, from friends, and from time, and entered into the unseen world, and into the shore- less ocean of eternity. Isaae Burton had lived a useful life, had died peacefully in the full enjoyment of his mind, and left a vaeaney hard to supply in his family and in the eom- munity where he lived. His remains, after very appropriate services, were laid in North Ridge eemetery.
DANIEL V. HIBBARD is one of the enterprising and prosperous business men of North Tonawanda. He is the son of D. J. G. and Hannah A. (Vosburgh) Hibbard, and was born at Buffalo, New York, December 12, 1856. His paternal grandfather, Daniel Hibbard, was a native of New York State, and served in the ea- pacity of justice of the peace, at Black Rock, and also had the honor of being the first postmaster at that place. He was a good business man and enjoyed the distine- tion of being a leader among the men of his day. D. J. G. Hibbard (father) was a resident of Buffalo, this State, was a straight republican, and at the time of the war was an anti-slavery enthusiast. He was a man of striking personality, broad and liberal in his views, and his adviee upon eurrent matters was sought by all who enjoyed his confidenee. He was the owner of many large eanal boats, and devoted his attention principally to that line of work. He died in 1866 at the age of forty years, and he is yet remembered for the many good and charitable deeds of which he was the author.
His wife, Hannah A. (Vosburgh) Hibbard, was liis counselor in all his ventures, and his success was greatly attributable to her Christian fortitude. She was born in Derby, Connectieut, in 1827, was a member of the Episcopal church, and is still living.
Daniel V. Hibbard was edueated in the common sehools of Buffalo, and at the early age of thirteen years he began at the bottom of life's ladder as a messenger boy in the Western Union telegraph offiee. Subsequently he obtained a situation in the Grand Trunk railway depot, and in appre- eiation of his perseveranee and striet appli- eation to his duties, he was given a elerk- ship, in which capacity he served for ten years. For five years he was a elerk in the office of the Erie railroad company. The officials of that road discovered in him that keen pereeption which is the foundation of all business sueeess, and as a reward for his faithfulness, he was appointed agent . at Warsaw, Wyoming county, on April 24, 1886, which position he held until Deeem- ber 1, 1888, when he was made tieket, freight and express agent at the Erie depot at Tonawanda. Mr. Hibbard is recognized by the eompany of which he is an employee, as a faithful, industrious agent, who eom- prehends the faet that his employer's inter- est is his interest, and to that end is his every effort expended.
On June 5, 1883, he married Hattie B., daughter of F. Henry Damon, formerly of Buffalo, this State, but now a resident of Milwaukee, Wiseonsin. Mr. and Mrs. Hib- bard enjoy the confidenee and esteem of the eitizens of their town, and a nobler tribute cannot be paid to man.
Mr. Hibbard, like his father, is a repub- liean, and believes in hewing close to the line, let the chips fall where they may. He
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OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
is of that class of men who, whenever placed as representatives of the people's interests, are always true to the trusts re- posed in them, regardless of consequences. Mr. Hibbard is an Episcopalian, and is earnest and faithful in his religious duties.
G EORGE W. BATTEN. The prosper- ity of a country depends upon the active measures taken to advance its public inter- ests ; and of those who have labored success- fully in this work is George W. Batten. He is a son of Joseph and Ann (Hawkins) Batten, and was born in the city of Lock- port, Niagara county, New York, February 22, 1856. Daniel Batten (grandfather) was a native of England, and set sail for Anierica about 1826, and became one of the pioneers of Lockport, where he resided until his death, at the ripe old age of eighty years. He was a well educated man of his day, followed the occupation of book-keeper, and adhered to the religious creed of the Pres- byterian church. He married a woman of Irish descent, and to them were born two sons and three daughters. Joseph Batten (father) was born in 1832, in the city of Lockport, where he has spent the greater part of his life. For a number of years he was manager of a glass factory, is a glass blower by trade, and has always been a firm sup- porter of the Democratic party. Being a man of good judgment and keen perceptive powers, and one interested in public affairs, he has been called to fill many important positions. Twenty-five years ago he be- came chief engineer of the fire department of Lockport, then he served as alderman of the city for a number of terms, and for a time was chief of police of Lockport. In 1875 he was elected sheriff of Niagara
county for a term of three years, and ever since the expiration of his term of office, in 1878, has lived upon a farm in the town of New Fane. His years of business life have been years of activity and usefulness, while success has marked his career as a public official. He married Ann Hawkins, a daugh- ter of Edward Hawkins, who is still living. She was born in England in 1833, and when three years of age was brought to America. She first resided at Niagara, Ontario, Canada. where she remained but a short time, when she was brought to Lockport, and has lived there ever since. To Mr. and Mrs. Batten have been born one son and four daughters, all of whom are attendants of the Episcopal church : George W .; Corrinne M., married W. F. Ellison, who is engaged in the mer- cantile business in New York city; Lizzie J., united in marriage with Oscar Loosen, who is in the boot and shoe business, under the firm name of J. K. Perry & Co., of Lockport; Ann M .; and May Belle.
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