USA > New York > Broome County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Broome County, New York. > Part 23
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44
In 1868 Mr. Schnell became a member of the Binghamton Fire Department, and, as is his nature, went heart and soul into its spirit. In 1869 he became Foreman of the Excelsior HIook and Ladder Company, which was then a "crack " organization, celebrated for its ele- gant entertainments and high social position.
To this day the assemblies given them are matters of pleasant remembrance by the elder generation of Binghamton's best people. But it is as a member of the Grand Army that Mr. Schnell's chief interest is displayed. First a member of the original Post (Watrous), he became one of the founders of Walton Dwight Post, in which he was Commander for four
₹
639
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
terms. During these years he spared no trouble in working for the veterans, one of his achievements by hard work and push, in conjunction with the committee, being the finishing and erecting of the beautiful monu- ment for the soldiers on the Court-house Square, which was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies July 4, 1888. After serving many years in the Walton Dwight Post, Mr. Schnell retired from that organization with other gentlemen, and formed the Joseph J. Bartlett Post, which comprises some among the best of veterans of the city. In 1884 Mr. Schnell was appointed Assistant Inspector for the Department of New York; in 1886, Aide- de-camp on the staff of J. L. Sayles, De- partment Commander; and in 1889 was appointed on the staff of General Henry A. Barnum, as a Marshal, to participate in the ceremonies of the inauguration of President Benjamin Harrison; in 1890 was appointed Aide-de-camp on the staff of General Alger. In 1890 Mr. Schnell received the appoint- ment of Supervisor of Census for the Ninth District of the State of New York, which were one of the most important events of Harrison's administration, it being the Na- tional Census. This district comprised the counties of Allegany, Broome, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Chemung, Steuben, Tioga, and Tompkins. It was a heavy work; and Mr. Schnell received much commendation from the head of the department for the excel- lence of his work, which was said to be the best performed of any in the State.
Mr. Joseph Schnell was married May 25,
1875, to Mary Blois, of Savannah, Ga., widow of the late Theodore Blois, who was the founder of the Morning News, a well- known journal of that city. Mrs. Schnell is a graduate of the famous Convent of the Sacred Heart at Manhattanville, N. Y., hav- ing received the highest honors of the institution. Providence blessed her with a beautiful voice, which, since the age of thir- teen, she has devoted to His service, having been leading soprano for many years during her residence in Savannah in the cathedral, and also, after her removal to Binghamton, occupying the same position in St. Patrick's (Catholic) Church. To Mr. and Mrs. Schnell three children have been born, two boys and one girl, the daughter, Katharine Helen, who was born February 13, 1877, being the only one surviving. She is an accomplished, well-educated, and refined young lady. She graces many musical entertainments, where she has always been the happy recipient of unstinted applause. She has a natural love · and adaptation for society, and is a favorite in all social circles.
Mr. Schnell and family are members of St. Patrick's Church, of which Mr. Schnell is a Trustee. Handsome in appearance, of ex- ceedingly gracious and affable manners, he is a favorite in the best society of his city, and is a man whose word is as good as his bond in every transaction in which he is engaged. He is a Republican of Republicans, and is one of the strongest partisans to be found in that organization. He works for it at the polls without hope of reward or favoritism,
640
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
but simply from his sense of duty as a true citizen. Mr. Schnell needs not to be ashamed of his record in the city of Binghamton, where he is respected, and has the good will of the best element in the city he loves so well. Ile resides with his family in a dainty cottage on Front Street, where he enjoys his leisure moments in the society of his wife and daugh- ter and the charming neighborhood in which he lives.
ARTIAL R. HULCE, an influen- tial and honored citizen of the vil- lage of Deposit, of which he has been a resident for ninety years, was born here March 29, 1804, eldest son of Sylvester, who was the eldest son of John Hulce, the first white settler in this place. Mr. ITulce has an excellent memory, retaining an accu- rate knowledge of people and events of long ago. The following interesting historical and biographical sketch of the village from his practised pen will be highly appreciated by the readers of this volume. As a boy, Martial R. Hulce worked on the home farm, and learned his early lessons at a common school till seventeen, and during the three following years attended. for several terms a high school kept in Deposit by the Rev. Samuel G. Orton. In 1823-24 he taught a winter term of school, four months, in Stiles- ville, at eight dollars a month, to raise funds to enable him to go to Cortland Academy, to which he went on foot with N. R. Wheeler for three months. After this he kept school winters, and attended the academy three sum-
mer terms, at intervals between school terms working on the farm.
In 1828 Mr. Ilulce began practising sur- veying. In 1829, with the view of building a brick house, he travelled to Binghamton, Homer, and Ithaca, to find a competent man who would do the work without whiskey. At Ithaca he found a man who agreed to come to Deposit in May, and make two hundred thou- sand brick, which he did. In 1830 Mr. Hulce, selling the brick, purchased of Silas Crandall and William Wheeler, for two thou- sand dollars, the Butler house and lot of eigh- teen acres, where he now lives. He planted many locust and maple trees, and named the place Locust Grove.
On May 20, 1832, he married Eliza Ann, daughter of Gideon Curtiss, of Homer, Cort- land County, N. Y. She was then twenty-two years old, six years younger than himself. They began housekeeping on the Ist of June. Ile followed farming, lumbering, and survey- ing till 1833, when he engaged in mercan- tile affairs, and, purchasing a printing-press, established the Deposit Courier, the first newspaper in the place, with C. E. Wright editor. From 1855 to 1859 Mr. Hulce was Postmaster in Deposit. He had before served eight years as Justice of the Peace. In 1857, owing to financial strictures, he was obliged to make an assignment of more than double the amount of his liabilities. Through the friendship and generous kindness of the Ion. Charles Knapp, he was enabled to keep his homestead. From 1857 he followed survey- ing, and assisted in the resurvey of the Penn-
641
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
sylvania and New York State line, from the Delaware to Lake Erie. When Jay Gould was preparing his history of Delaware County, he was the guest of Mr. Hulce, and was aided by him, but forgot afterward to send the promised copy of the work. After that Mi. Hulce was employed to write a considerable portion of the large "History of Delaware County." He also wrote sixty biographical and historical sketches for county papers. He never used ardent spirits or brought it for- ward in connection with his business, and had no difficulty in obtaining help without it.
Deposit, in Broome and Delaware Counties, is situated on the west branch of the Delaware River, sixty miles from its source, in latitude 42° 4' north, and longitude 1º 39' cast of Washington, D.C. It is one thousand feet above the sea, nestled among the mountains which surround it, with their summits nearly a thousand feet above the river. Until the opening of the Erie Railroad it resembled the Happy Valley of "Rasselas," with no appar- ent mode of ingress or egress. In early times the place was called by the whites the. "Cookhouse, " from the Indian name "Kook- ouse hacka Sepus," meaning Owi-land River. In ISI1, when the village* was incorporated, the name Deposit was given because vast quantities of pine boards were drawn there by sleighs in winter from the Susquehanna River, to be rafted down the Delaware to Philadelphia.
The first white settler in the place was John Hulce, who came from Goshen, Orange County, N. Y., in the spring of 1789, and
took up habitation at the north end of the present village on the west side of the river. Ile was descended from Dutch ancestors, a lineal descendant of the second Burgomaster of New Amsterdam, as New York City was formerly called. His wife was a grand- daughter of General Herkimer, who disinher- ited her mother for marrying a Welshman, a Royalist - one Williams, private secretary of Sir Henry Clinton. When John Huilee came here, he cleared off some ground, and built a log house, and in the fall brought his wife and family by way of the North and South Pennsylvania Road through the beech woods. He was a religious man, a Presbyterian; and his wife, a Baptist. He had three sons - Sylvester, Samuel, and John W. - and four daughters. Sally married John Pinney, Julia married Comfort Pinney, Keziah married Henry L. Hubbard, all being residents of Sanford, Broome County. Polly, the fourth daughter, married Thaddeus Benedict, a life- long, respected resident of Deposit. Sylves- ter Hulce inherited the homestead. Samuel and John W. had adjoining farms. All had large families.
The next settler at the "Cookhouse " was Philip Pine, who came in the spring of 1791, with wife and sons - Peter and Daniel -and four daughters, namely: Sarah, who married Jonas Underwood; Nancy, who married Isaac Youmans; Elizabeth, who married Samuel Butler; and Martha, who married Matthew Brown -all long respected residents of De- posit with large families, except Peter, who married Phebe, daughter of Conrad Edick.
642
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
Before coming Pine bought four hundred acres of land, including the "Cookhouse " flats on the east side of the river. The Indians had about forty acres cleared around their council ground, which was about eight rods square. Here Mr. Pine resided till his death, in 1818, aged seventy-seven. His son Peter, who in- herited the homestead, lived there till the opening of the New York & Erie Railway, when he sold it. It was subsequently pur- chased by Judge N. K. Wheeler, and is now owned and occupied by the son, George D. Wheeler. Peter Pine was for many years Supervisor of the town, was Associate Judge, and twice a member of the legislature. He died in 1847, aged seventy.
Jonas Underwood before his marriage taught school in the place. Philip Pine was opposed to the marriage, and also to that of Samuel Butler; but the parties would not be thwarted. Sally Pine slipped away to the house of John Hulce, where a minister had been provided; and the knot was tied. In the case of Butler, Pine refused to make a wedding; and Butler went over the river in his working clothes in the middle of the day, was married, and returned to his work. In both cases, the union . was happy. Both grooms became prominent citizens of Deposit, and raised large and respectable families; and so did Brown and Youmans.
Captain Nathan Dean, a native of Taunton, Mass., was an officer in the Revolutionary War, near Boston. In 1778 he married Lois Snow, of Raynham, Mass., and in 1790 re- moved to Kortright, Delaware County. The
next year, there being no roads, in June he lashed two canoes together, placed his family and goods therein, and floated them down the Delaware to the "Cookhouse," where he found an empty log cabin, which he occupied till he could provide one for his family on the place, since known as the Dean farm, consisting of two lots of two hundred acres each, now cov- ering all that part of Deposit which is in Broome County. His cattle were driven from Kortright by his son, Nathan L., ten years old, and an uncle Joshua, on the Indian trail. During the summer Mr. Dean built a saw- mill on the Oquago Creek on the premises, and sawed out lumber with which he built a house. Into this he moved his family in December. In 1792 he built a grist-mill by the side of the saw-mill, near the present New York & Erie Depot. Mr. Dean died in 1799, at Easton, Pa., leaving his wife and four sons - Nathan L., Joshua, Caleb, and Zenas K. - who all married, and had families on the Dean farm. The south part of the farm and the mills were sold to John Peters, who with ' a large family lived thereon for many years. The only male representatives of Nathan Dean now are: Addison J., son of Nathan L .; John P. and George, sons of Zenas K .; and Edward, grandson of Caleb - all honored citi- .
zens of Deposit. When the New York & Erie Railway was located, widow Lois Dean caused a survey of lots and streets to be made ; and it was called Deansville until incorpo- rated by statute with Deposit in Delaware County, with civil jurisdiction for both parts over each county.
643
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
In 1812 William Wheeler, Silas Crandall, and William Butler purchased of Henry Drinker, of Philadelphia, for fifteen hundred dollars, Lot 43, Evans Patent, covering the old village west of the river, excepting a few small lots before sold. They had it sur- veyed and partitioned it, each holding one- third. In February, 1814, William Wheeler removed from Partridge Island, east branch, to Deposit. William Butler came two years before. He was an intelligent, liberal, and courteous gentleman. He built the Deposit Hotel in 1813, and several other houses. In 1818 he built for him the house which for sixty-two years has been the residence of Martial R. ITulce. Mr. Butler had one daughter, Emily, who married in 1820 Simon Lusk, for many years a lawyer in Deposit. Silas Crandall was an active busi- ness man, as early as 1802 engaged in mer- cantile affairs. He had three sons and four daughters. lle died in 1831. After the estate was settled, his family moved to the West.
William Wheeler occupied a prominent position in society. Ile had five sons, namely : Nelson K., a lawyer, Judge and Sur- rogate of Delaware County, member of As- sembly, and District Judge in the city of New York; William, a banker at Olean, N. Y., and member of the legislature; Truman H., a lawyer, and Judge of the Court of Concilia- tion; Addison J. and George D., successful business men in Deposit. The latter has been Supervisor, and a member of the Assem- bly, and Postmaster. He is now a farmer,
owning and occupying the Pine farm, includ- ing the old Indian council ground. He has led an active life, has long been a member of the Presbyterian church and superintendent of the Sunday-school.
Colonel Samuel Butler came to the "Cook- house " at the close of the last century. Ile married a daughter of Philip Pine, as before noted. He was a Captain in the War of 1812. He built a large house, still standing, in which he lived a long time. He was a tanner and a shoemaker. Ile raised a large family, and brought them up to habits of industry and usefulness. His eldest son, Samuel P., is still living in Deposit, nearly ninety years old. Two other sons are bankers in the West, where he went with his family, toward the close of life, and died there.
Thaddeus Mather came to Deposit about 1810. He was an educated physician, and had three sons - Richard, John C., and Cal- vin -and three daughters: Caroline, who married Ira Bixby; Cornelia, married Dr. S. D. Higgins; and Sarah, married Benja- min R. Nickerson. Bixby and Iliggins had each families in Deposit.
Thaddeus Benedict came from Canaan, Conn., in 1806. He married Polly, daughter of John Hulce, who was the first child born in Deposit. Mr. Benedict had one son, E. Lysander, who became a Baptist minister. He had three daughters, one of whom married the Rev. Charles Fox. Mr. Benedict was a singularly pure-minded man, and an honored Deacon of the Baptist church.
John Peters came from Northumberland,
644
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
l'a., in the first decade of the century, and bought the southerly part of the Dean farm, including the Oquago mills, where he lived till the projected opening of the New York & Erie Railway, when he sold the property to Henry Sheldon, of New York. Mr. Peters had three sons - Henry, John, and William -- and six daughters, all of whom married and had families in the vicinity. George Peters, a son of Henry, who married a daughter of Sylvester Hulce, lives in Deposit. John Peters died in 1847.
William MacClure was a surveyor from Orange County, New York. He came to Sanford, Broome County, in 1786, and settled five miles west of Deposit. He built a log cabin, which he called "Castle William," where he passed the first winter after having surveyed through the summer. In February, 1791, he married in Orange County, and brought his bride and a few household goods on a one-horse sled to Castle William, where he lived till 1826, when he died, aged one hundred years. His eldest son, William, Jr., resided in Deposit many years. lle was an excellent man, an accomplished surveyor, and died in 1874, aged eighty-three.
Charles Knapp was born October 8, 1797, in the town of Colchester, Delaware County, N. Y. His father was a farmer. Ile re- ceived such education as the common schools of the day afforded. Having a strong and active mind, he improved himself by observa- tion and extensive reading, storing his mind with sound information essential to him in his subsequent career. He worked on the
farm. In 1815 he began his public career as a village schoolmaster, teaching winters and . working on the farm the rest of the year. His earnings all went for the support of the family. At the end of a school term of six months, at sixteen dollars a month, he gave his father one hundred dollars. When twenty-one years old, he began business on his own account at farming and in the lumber trade. In 1835 he commenced store-keeping with a capital of three hundred dollars. His unblemished reputation for honesty and fair dealing soon insured success, and so ably did he direct his business in his various inter- ests that by 1848 he had amassed a hand- some fortune. In 1841 he was a member of the legislature.
In 1848 he sold his property in Colchester, and purchased several acres in the middle of the village of Deposit, where he engaged in lumbering and farming till 1854, when he established an individual bank under the laws of New York. Ten years later he changed the institution to a national bank, an organ- ized association with a capital stock of two hundred thousand dollars, which in 1878, on account of onerous taxes, was reduced to one hundred thousand dollars. In 1868 Mr. Knapp was elected to Congress by a large. majority. . At the close of his term he de- clined a renomination, being over seventy- three years old.
During a long and active life he always took a lively interest in everything connected with the moral, intellectual, and commercial .
development of his town and country. A
-
645
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
faithful friend and counsellor and a tender father, his public and private course was a noble.example for all who would build up a fortune and honored name.
In early life Mr. Knapp married Sylvia Radeker, of Colchester. They had ten chil- dren, five of whom were living at his death, to wit: James; Charles Junius; Herbert; and Elsie, widow of the late Addison J. Wheeler; and Josephine. James succeeded his father as President of the bank. James and Herbert have since died. James left a son, Charles, now Cashier of the bank of which Charles Junius is now President. The last-named now resides in Binghamton, and is President of the Binghamton Trust Company. He inherits his father's business faculty and his moral and intellectual quali- ties, and has been a member of Congress.
On November 7, 1835, at sunrise, ground was first broken for the New York & Erie Railroad at Deposit, on the farm of Colonel George D. Wheeler, on the old Indian coun- cil ground on the east side of the river. General Erastus Root and Judge Drake, of Owego, were guests of Martial R. Hulce. The President of the company, James G. King, and many of the Directors and other distinguished men were present -about fifty in all. The President took a spade, and shovelled earth into a wheelbarrow, when the Hon. Samuel B. Ruggles wheeled and dumped it, followed by Conrad Edick and every other person present. A memorable occasion for the southern tier of counties! Mr. King made a speech predicting the future success of
the road and the great benefit it would be to the surrounding country. In 1848, after surmounting many difficulties, the road was finished to Binghamton, and on December 27 was opened by a grand excursion, in which, by invitation, Messrs. Wheeler and Hulce joined. At Deposit a great evergreen arch was erected over the road, surmounted by a noble buck with spreading antlers, which was presented to the Directors, who placed it on a car, and took it to New York. The people of Binghamton entertained the excursionists with royal hospitality. In 1851, May, 14, 15, 16, and 17, the road was opened to Dun- kirk on Lake Erie by another grand excursion of two trains. The President of the United States, Millard Fillmore, and his Cabinet were guests. At Deposit the Hon. N. K. Wheeler, Darius Maple, and M. R. Hulce became guests.
Slavery existed in the "Cookhouse," or Deposit, till abolished by law. Mr. Butler had two, Conrad Edick one or two, Benjamin Whitaker one, James I. White one or two. Some twenty-five or thirty of their descend- ants are still in Deposit. Two newspapers are published here, both of which have a good circulation. They are the Deposit Courier, published by Charles N. Stow, and the De- posit Journal, owned and edited by O. S. Wadleigh. Deposit has a Union school con- nected with an academy where the higher branches of learning are taught.
The first church in Deposit was the Baptist, which was formed June 26, 1812, with thir- teen members, namely: Thaddeus Benedict;
646
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
James P. Aplington ; James HI. Coburn and Eunice, his wife; Benjamin Coburn; Stephen Stiles and Sally, his wife; John W. Hulce and Eliza, his wife; Samuel Hulce; Sally Pinney; Molly Burrows; and Penina Hulce. First Deacons, Stephen Stiles and James P. Aplington. There are now (1894) three hun- dred members; the Rev. Mr. Bidwell, pastor.
The Congregational church was formed July 12, 1812, with nine members, namely : Will- iam MacClure; Aaron Stiles and wife, Catharine; Benjamin Hawley and wife, Theo- docia; Bathsheba Demander; Lois Dean; Aphia lawley; and Anne Nickerson. The legal society.
The First Presbyterian Society of the town of Tompkins was formed February 15, 1818, William Butler, William Wheeler, and Silas Crandall, Trustees.
The Methodist Episcopal church was organ- ized in 1830 with twenty members; preacher, the Rev. Alexander Calder; first class leader, lliram Banks. There are now over two hundred members.
Each of above-named churches has a fine brick meeting-house and a parsonage.
St. Joseph's Church, Roman Catholic, was organized by the Rev. "Father Hourigan, of Binghamton, about 1848. They have a chapel and parochial residence and a large congre- gation.
Christ Church, Episcopal, was organized July 2, 1860, with twenty members, by the Rev. Edward Andrews. Church Wardens, Truman Il. Wheeler and A. C. Moses. Vestrymen, N. K. Wheeler, W. L. Ford,
M. I. Cannon, C. F. Sherwood, William H. Gregory, and Isaac A. Burrows. They have recently built a fine stone church, consecrated in 1893.
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was organized in 1864-65. They have had a Sunday-school from the begin- ning, organized by M. R. Hulce, assisted by a corps of male and female white teachers for about two years. The white superintendents have been Albert Walling, G. L. Babcock, Henry Burrows, and G. N. Babcock. The church and Sunday-school have been greatly beneficial to the colored people, who have a chapel originally erected by the Episcopal society and given to them.
Charity Lodge, A. F. & A. M., was con- stituted at the "Cookhouse" in 1806, and for some twenty years was in successful ope- ration, till the opposition to Masonry initi- ated by the abduction of Morgan swept over the land, when it was compelled to succumb, like most others in the State. Its members were among the most influential citizens. About twenty-five years later another Lodge, No. 396, was instituted. There is also the Deposit Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, No. 187. Both have many members.
ON. FLETCHER PALMER, of Dc- posit, was born in Sanford, Dela- ware County, N. Y., October 13, 1810, and is a descendant of the old Palmer family, who trace their lineage back to Wal- ter Palmer, a native of England, and one of
0
647
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
the very first settlers of Stonington, Conn., he having come to that place many years before the Revolution. Jesse Palmer, an an- cestor of the subject of this sketch, was one of the very earliest pioneers in the town of San- ford, Delaware County. He was a hard- working, practical farmer and a brave soldier, serving with great honor through the whole of the Revolutionary War. Afterward he re- turned to the town of Sanford, where he re- mained until his death at the age of sixty- nine years. His wife, Abigail Palmer, died when seventy-five years old. Their seven children all grew to maturity, but none are now living.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.